Living, Loving, Giving

Lazy

I know I should be super productive now, since I don't have to go to work.  But, being home makes me lazy.  I did paint the small hallway between the kitchen and computer room, and started painting the computer room.  I have to finish that room and paint the hall over the next few days.  It's hard to paint with the girls home though, because as soon as I start doing something, they NEED me, or they think they do anyway. 

I did take the girls to the public library twice this week, and we checked out 29 books.  We also watched a magic show and a movie there.  Lauren has read four chapter books in the last two days, and I have read several books to Allison.  But mostly I play Sudoku on my Nook and read.  I will start my college internship supervising tomorrow, as I just finished the training last night.  So, I will be grading the student's assignments, which will cut into my Sudoku time.

Yesterday I took the girls to a waterpark.  We went with two girlfriends of mine and their kids.  The kids had a BLAST, and I was even able to prevent sunburns by using massive doses of sunscreen.  We were in direct sunlight for about 4 1/2 hours, and were all worn out when we got home.  Did I mention the girls had a blast?  They really did!

Otherwise, it's been a pretty boring, but very relaxing summer vacation.  I need to work on planning some vacations, but I can't decide what to do.  I have so many places I would like to go, but limited funds, so I am going to have to chose carefully.  I'm thinking Seaworld for sure, and maybe Atlanta for the zoo and aquarium.  I would also like to go to DC, to Disney, and on a cruise, but those might have to wait. 

I am also open to suggestions for great (and cheap) places to take the girls.  Any ideas??

Whirlwind Weekend

We had a fabulous weekend trip to Virginia for my hubby's graduation.  We left Thursday afternoon when I got home from work and drove a little less than halfway to Virginia and spent the night in a hotel in Florence, SC. Friday morning we got up and hit the road at 6:30 so that my husband could get to the college to pick up his name card and honor cords.  After doing that, we spent some time at the university's bookstore, which is actually a Barnes and Noble, complete with a Starbucks.  Side note- I could totally live in Virginia.  It is beautiful there and there is a Starbucks on almost every corner.

Friday night, we had dinner with one of my husband's friends from the Marine Corps and his family.  It was excellent food and company.  The girls were super well behaved, even though they were very tired from a long day.  

Saturday morning we were up early and on the road again for graduation.  The girls and I stayed in the stadium for the processional, but went to the bookstore during the ceremony because it was raining, and the bleachers were not very comfortable.  We read books and I had Starbucks while we waited.  Then, we went to a smaller location, which was inside, for the actual conferring of the degrees.  We were surprised when my husband had a special chair which was labeled for him due to his "academic excellence".  He received a special award for completing his degree with a perfect 4.0.  It is a nice, framed certificate with his name on it.  We are all VERY proud of him.

Sadly, the stars did not align for us to meet with the fabulous Danifred, but hopefully we will take a trip this summer and get to hang out with her and her family. 

Saturday, after the second ceremony, we drove back to Florence and spent the night in yet another hotel. 

Then, this morning, we got up, had a nice breakfast at IHOP and drove home.  We got home around 1:30, and I am trying to get laundry and housework done so I will be ready to go back to work tomorrow.  Lauren is already out of school for the summer, but I have two more weeks with students, then four days of post-planning.  Oh how I wish I taught in the same school system where Lauren attends school! 

But, even though we spent way too many hours in the car this weekend, we had a wonderful time spending time together.  The girls were excellent the entire time, and I couldn't be happier with the way things turned out. 

Now, time to get back to that housework......................

So Proud

Today Lauren's school had an academic awards day for first grade. I was expecting Lauren to receive a certificate for being on honor roll all year, but did not expect for her to win anything else. However, she received several awards, and we are so VERY proud of her. She did get an honor roll certificate, but she also won:

good attendance for missing less two days or less of school,

an award for being the top language arts student in her class,

an award for exceeding in all areas of her state standardized test (CRCT),

an award for making the top score on the language arts CRCT,

and an award for having the most Accelerated Reader (AR) points in the entire grade level.

She was super excited to win so many things, and we couldn't be happier :)

Job

Today I was offered a part-time job supervising internships for a large, mostly online university. I will be responsible for chatting with the students, who are adults, and for grading their portfolio submissions. I am very excited about this opportunity, but also a little nervous about the time involved. It is a start toward my goal of teaching either part or full time at the collegiate level. Wish me luck.........................

More funnies

Yesterday we (my mom, my girls, and I) went to dinner at Chilis. At one point during dinner, I asked the waitress for something and she came back because she forgot what I said. She made a comment about not being able to think well for some reason that night. Allison then told her that she (Allison) has to wear her thinking cap to school so that she can think well while she is there. The waitress said that she must have forgotten her thinking cap at home, and that was probably the problem. So, Allison told her it was ok, she brought an extra thinking cap with her and pretended to hand it to the waitress, who was very kind and played along with her, thus earning her a nice tip :)

Just now, Allison was running in circles around the living room. I asked her where she got all her energy, and my mom replied that Allison got her energy from taking a nice nap today. Allison replied "Well, actually, sleeping doesn't give me energy, but drinking healthy drinks does, and I had a healthy drink earlier today". She then got down out of my lap, saying that she was going to run as fast as she could. And, of course, she proceeded to run as fast as she could in circles around the living room again.

Never a dull moment around here!

Dinner Conversation

Another thing both girls inherited from me is the uncanny ability (or curse) of talking ALL the time.  Allison is especially bad; I swear she talks just to hear her own voice, because she NEVER stops!  Tonight at dinner we had a couple of very funny comments from her.

First- she exclaimed "I'm higher than all of ya'll."  Ok- we generally don't use the word ya'll, so I am not 100% sure where she got it.  And the higher part was because she was sitting on her knees to be taller at the table.  We certainly would not condone exclamations of drug use in our home :)

Second- Allison said that when she grows up, she wants to be a "big momma".  I asked how many kids she wanted to have.  Lauren said six, and Allison exclaimed- wait for it- 48.  Lauren said "that would be a lot of responsibility having to take care of that many babies".  Right you are Lauren, right you are! 

There is never a dull moment around here!

 

The best (or worst?) of both

My children confuse me. Lauren is a lot like me. She is scared of everything, does really well in school, and loves to read. But then, she is a lot like her dad. This morning, she attacked her Easter basket with zeal, pulling everthing out as fast as she could, and putting it down quickly to move to the next item.

Allison is a lot like her dad. She is very much a free spirit, and is not scared of anything, except maybe of getting muddy. But, then again, she is a lot like me as well. This morning, she took each item out of her basket, and carefully inspected it before she sat it down to move to the next item. Then, as she sat the item down, she did so by making piles of things that were similar. All the stickers and other art supplies went in one pile, while the books to read went in another, and the candy in another. So, I think she is going to be an OCD free spirit?? Pictures are on facebook. Apparently typepad doesn't like to upload pictures from any source for me right now :(

Happy Easter Everyone!

Funny Story (or three)

Yesterday my husband, girls, and I went shopping for a few hours. On the trip there, which takes about an hour, Lauren and Allison were talking in the back seat. I wasn't paying much attention to their conversation, but suddenly I hear Allison screaming, I'm not little, I'm the big sister, and Lauren trying to explain to her that she is her little sister. Allison continued to refute the allegation that she was "little", insisting that she was a big girl. I tried to explain to Allison that she is a big girl, but she is still Lauren's little sister. I'm still not sure that she gets it, but she did eventually calm down.

The other day we went out for dinner and saw a convertible in the parking lot. The girls were both intrigued with the car, and we told them it is called a convertible and that it has a top that you can put up when it is cold or raining. Every day since then, Allison has told me that she wants a convertible when she is older. She also wants a blue van. Lauren insists that she wants a pink Dodge Ram. I just tell them that we will have to see what they want when they are older. But Lord help me, I can't believe they are already asking for cars!

A couple of weekends ago, we took the girls to a new play place a couple of towns away. It was huge, and had jumpy things and lots of video games. As we left, the girls redeemed their tickets and got some big sunglasses. I took a couple of pictures of them with my phone, and Lauren proceeded to tell me that I needed to put the picture on my blog. "You know mom, go to typepad and put it on there" is what she told me. I tried to upload the picture, but typepad was being difficult, so I didn't. I did put it on facebook though, if you are so inclined to check there.

Today, Lauren made her and Allison's beds without being asked. She then told me I needed to take pictures of them and put them on facebook and on my blog. I put them on facebook, but once again, typepad obviously doesn't like pictures taken with my phone.

And now, I must go get ready because we are going out for Easter dinner with my mom's side of the family.

Back to the Real World

 We had a very nice time on our cruise last week.  It was relaxing and fun, and time we needed to focus just on each other.   We splurged for the first time, and got a balcony room, and it was fantastic.  We actually got a very good deal on the room price, and it was on the back of the ship, so the balcony was bigger than the ones down the side of the ship.  For those of you who might be considering cruising, Carnival gives a discount to those who are currently serving, or who formerly served in the military, but you have to call to get the rate.  Just FYI, in case any of you are interested.

In Key West, we just got off the ship and walked around seeing the touristy type places and window shopping.  My husband got new sunglasses, I got new flip flops, and we got a couple of shell necklaces and earrings for the girls.  In Cozumel, we took a boat to a private beach.  The boat ride was on a boat called "The Twister", and it did cool tricks like turning 360 degrees and such.  The thrill ride was my husband's idea, and I was a little worried that I might get sick.  But, it was a lot of fun, and the beach was FANTASTIC.  The water there is beautiful, and it wasn't too hot yet, since it is still early in the year. 

For the very first time on a cruise though, I was more than ready to get home.  I really, really, really missed the girls, and couldn't wait to see them.  They were so excited when we got home :)

This week at work was super busy.  We are giving the CRCT (our big state test) next week, so this week was very much "rush week" to get ready.  I hate that I feel like I am supposed to teach a test, rather than teach the basic skills my students will need in life.  However, hating it doesn't change the fact that I have to do it.  So, crunch time it was.

Only seven more weeks (with students) of work until summer vacation. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can................ :)

Change of Plans

I mentioned to my husband several days ago that maybe we should leave tonight and stay in a hotel about half-way to Miami.  I don't really want to leave at 5 AM, and I'm nervous about morning traffic through Jacksonville and Daytona Beach.  He said we probably shouldn't get a hotel because of the money.  Then, yesterday he mentioned that we probably should get a hotel, and I did.  We are staying near Port Canaveral, which, I think, is about half-way to Miami.  It is past Jacksonville and Daytona Beach.  And, we got the room for a little less than $60.  So, we are leaving tonight after the girls are in bed and driving about four hours, so that we will only have about four hours of driving tomorrow morning.  I'm VERY excited about our trip, but VERY sad about leaving the girls for a few days.

Speaking of the girls- Allison continues to grow up much to fast.  I taught her how to use the computer all by herself, and she is spending some time on starfall.com.  I heart that website.  She is learning to recognize several words and is learning math facts as well.  I think she will be reading before she starts pre-k in August, just like her sister :) Of course, I'm not sure if that is good or bad, since Lauren being so smart has caused some emotional problems over the last couple of years, but it's hard not to be excited and proud.

Yesterday at the grocery store, she had my phone so she could delete items off my list after I got them.  I use the memopad feature on the phone for my list because I can add things as I think of them, and I never leave my list at home.  I told her to delete dog food, and she said the cursor wasn't at the right place.  I asked her how she knew, and she said because you spell dog d-o-g.  Sniff, sniff, my baby's growing up too too too fast!