the illness continues...

This has certainly been the year for sickness. While I was gone over the weekend (shopping and eating with my sisters in Davenport- it was wonderful!!), Brennan began running a fever. By Tuesday the fever was still there, so I took him to the Dr. His glands were a little swollen, so the Dr. ran a strep test, which was negative, and then he ran a mono test, which was positive! So now we have a case of mono to add to our list! Thankfully it's not a very severe case. I believe his fever is gone now, so he's been OKed to go back to school. I need to watch Bradley though because he is the one most susceptible to get it if anyone does.

Don't have much time this morning. Lots to do. We got our new carpet and it's awesome! I still have A LOT to do to put everything back in its place. Thankfully I'm not on a time schedule to get all that done.

Toodles.

new carpet!

I am surrounded by a complete mess- but it will be worth it when it's done. Today and tomorrow we are getting all new carpet in the house. The guys are working as I speak. We had to do half of the upstairs and half of the downstairs today (so we could move all of our stuff into the other half) and then tonight after Bradley's track meet, we'll put all of that stuff back and move the other stuff so the rest can be done tomorrow! Gary and I were up til midnight last night getting all of the old carpet ripped up. Our upstairs carpet was replaced after we moved in, so it was less than 10 years old, however the downstairs stuff had been there a long time. It wasn't the original we discovered (this house was built in 1971), but it was old. I was completely mortified and disgusted to see the amount of dirt/sand/residue underneath the pad. Gross!! Now I can completely understand why people with allegies need hard wood floors! It is nasty to realize what lurks beneath your carpets! So that has kept us very busy this week along with just life itself. I've been tutoring tons, sat out in a cold windy track meet Monday night, but thankfully today's meet will be sunny and 80!!! Bradley will be doing more events today since it's just 7th graders against each other, so I'm planning on taking the camera and will hopefully get some good shots.
Well I need to run and errand or two before my haircut today. Tomorrow I head to Davenport for sister's weekend! I am so ready!!
Toodles!

Can you say busy????

Well I certainly should be in bed after the week I've had, but we've had lots of exciting things going on and I wanted to post before I got into the hecticness of next week.
Monday started with subbing for me all day in H.S. science, and then I tutored until 8 PM. Gary worked all day and then headed back down to Corydon for turkey hunting. He and Bradley hunted all weekend, but unfortunately Bradley was unsuccessful in his quest for a turkey. Tuesday I went to the gym and used the weights and ran 1/2 mile (a new high for me!!) and walked 1 1/2 miles. I managed to work out 4 times last week, and I really want to stay on a 3-4 times per week routine. As soon as I was done working out, I ran errands/got groceries all afternoon, tutored from 3:30-5:30, got boys to piano, and had Brennan's first baseball game at 6 PM. Gary is coaching his team this year. They won, and Brennan went 3-3 on the night at the plate! Yeah! Wednesday found me trying to wade my way through dirty dishes and laundry in the morning, a 1/2 hour workout on the treadmill at home. School dismissed at 1, homeschool visit from 1:15-2, tutor most of afternoon til 6, fly through the McDonalds drive through as I take the boys to AWANA, come back home and tutor til 8 and race back into church to get them. Gary is still hunting in Corydon, and no luck yet on the turkey front. Thursday I had to sub in the morning for 7th grade science, raced home to eat and change clothes, and get the boys from school for dentist appointments. They got their teeth cleaned in the afternoon, and then we raced back to Carlisle just in time to miss the bus for Bradley's track meet. Gary was on his way home from hunting, and we all planned to ride together, however I had to race to Saydel to get Bradley to the meet, so Gary came on his own. I love track meets. Call me crazy- I know a lot of people find them boring, but I've always enjoyed them (as long as the weather cooperates!!). Bradley ran the mile, which I saw, and then he ran the 800. He was really happy with his performance in the 800. I had to leave to get back to tutor before that race, so I didn't get to see it.
And two hours before he was going to throw in the towel for this year's hunting, Gary got the bird. 24 pounds with a 9 1/2 inch beard- for anyone that cares about the details. He was very pleased. Now I have turkey breast hogging up the refrigerator. I don't clean it. I don't cook it. That's up to him. I don't like the taste of game. He and the boys will eat it next weekend while I'm gone!


Friday I had to sub again all day. I was in 5th grade, and it marks the day I sent my first student to the office! He was extremely disrespectful and finally just totally ignored what I would ask him to do. He was also one that needed to be monitored constantly. If you took your attention off of him for any length of time, he was throwing pencils at people or out of his seat, or doing something he shouldn't have been doing. I am a pretty patient person, however I had lost my cool by the end of that day! Wow. I was glad for 3:10 to come. Bradley had another track meet in Winterset that I headed out to, however he was only running the mile and told me to just stay home since Brennan had a baseball game. I keep the score book, and Gary usually needs my help keeping the kids in the dugout ready in their batting order etc. Bradley ran the mile again and cut about 30 seconds off of his time from practice. I am really proud of how well he is doing!!

Brennan had a very exciting night at his baseball game. We had to go into extra innings since things were all tied up. At the bottom of the extra inning, we were down by one. When Brennan came up to bat, we had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. He hit a triple scoring both runners winning the game for us!!! He was thrilled! And to top it off, he received the "Pirate Pride" award. Coach Gary and Coach Tammy give two awards each night- Player of the Game and Pirate Pride Award (ie Hubba Bubba gum and Big League Chew). He is so proud of his prize! And mom and dad are so proud of him! He has been doing awesome in his games!

Saturday found us at another rainy ballgame for Brennan. Even though it rained through most of it, we got it played. And once again, we won!! Brennan made 2 outs tonight, and went 3-3 again with a double. So our Pirates are 3 and 0! Bradley umped his second game of the season, but the field he was on was a lot messier and muddier than ours so they had to call their game after only an inning and a half. Here he is in his umping attire. He is loving it, and I'm so happy that he's earning his own money!

After we came home and cleaned up the mud we traipsed in the house, my head was pounding! I think it was due to too much stress and running and not enough sleep. So I napped for awhile, and then started my RBP lesson. The deadline was less than 48 hours away, and I hadn't even started it! Normally I do not wait that long to get going, but I literally couldn't find any time to work on it any sooner. I wrote all evening until bedtime. Today found us at early church, cleaning things up in the afternoon, and out the door a little before 3 for Bradley's spring league ball game. He pitched a couple of innings, and did pretty well for his first time out and not having thrown much this season yet at all. They won too! Then we headed back to church for our evening service and the mission trip auction afterwards. Gary bid on an hour massage and got it for $60, so I think that was a pretty good deal. He gets to enjoy this massage, since I got one from him last Christmas. He's never had a professional massage before. We got home about 9 PM, and after getting the kids to bed, I finished up my RBP lesson and sent it off! Whew! This next week has a lot on the schedule with two track meets, track and baseball pictures, and 3 baseball games, and getting new carpet throughout our whole house, so we'll have plenty to keep us busy. I do NOT look forward to moving all of the furniture to get the new carpet, but I'll love it when it's all in.

Alright, enough rambling. I need to head to bed. I am hoping I will get to exercise more than the two times I did last week. I don't sub until afternoon tomorrow, so I'm hoping I'll have the energy to go work out tomorrow after I get the boys off to school instead of going back to bed!! We'll see how that goes!

Toodles-

what a week!

I'm so tired right now that I can hardly keep my eyes open to type this... and it's only 6:30! I'm off to Brennan's ball game in about 10 minutes, but thought I'd jot a note quick. This has been such a crazy busy week! I literally feel like I've been running nonstop. And the weekend will not be any more relaxing. But thankful for sunshine today!!! Temps in the 70's!!!!!! It's FRIDAY!!!!!!! and exactly one week from now, I will be enjoying sister's weekend!!!! So in the midst of my busyness, I have much to be grateful for!
Hopefully I'll have a chance to post more this weekend- with pictures of course. I really hate posting much with nothing fun to look at!
Well I'm off to Brennan's game- second of the season. They won their first one 10-9! Brennan did a great job going 3-3 at the plate! I was so proud of him! And he did an awesome job cheering for his teammates too.
Toodles!

This is why I keep working...

Brennan's jean selection
Sometimes I look through the checkbook and wonder why it seems I'm always spending $100 a shot at Walmart and Target. But then I remember- I have 8 and 13 year old growing boys. 'Nuff said.

I'm ready for spring!!!

Just thought I'd share a layout I did actually a few years back, but it gets me in the mood for nice weather! I love lilacs, always have. They remind me of my mom. Growing up, we had a lilac bush and she always cut them and brought them into the house and placed them in a vase. She loved them too. When we lived in Ankeny, the neighbors had a lilac bush which was right outside my kitchen window. We had a church diagonal from us, and I have fond memories of washing my dishes (well that wasn't the fond memory) in front of that window in early June, inhaling the sweet smell of that blooming lilac bush while listening to the vacation Bible school kids playing games out in the church yard. Ahhh...... My dad brought me a starter lilac bush when we moved into our house here, however we put it in a place that didn't get enough sun, so it never took off. That makes me sad.
A few years ago I first discovered "lilac park" here in Des Moines. Nothing but lilac bushes for as far as you can see!! I wish I had a wide angle lens to really capture it! I'm looking forward to visiting it again in another month or so. Anyway, I took this picture of Brennan experiencing lilac park for the first time.This was before he was even in kindergarten.

Here's to warm weather and spring around the corner!

Toodles!

tutoring room makeover

This is what I spent my spring break doing- painting and giving the tutoring room a fresh look. I am really happy with the results. It was yellow ("corn cob yellow" as my husband referred to it, however, keep in mind, he hates yellow). Anyway, I'd had it that way for years and I was ready for a change. I wanted something bright and fun for the kids. I found the orange curtains very early in my process, and decided I was going to have those before I even had picked out paint or anything. I love orange! I used to have the 3 tables in a U formation, however I really like this new arrangement. When I have two students at a time, it gives them a little more room to spread out. The bookshelf behind my chair was moved from another wall and contains several of my most used textbooks, so I love having that right behind me for easy access. The cubby shelf on my desk that is holding pens, highlighters, paper clips, etc. was against the far wall before, pretty much unused. This has been a great way to organize all of those things without taking up a lot of room. On top of that cubby I have a quotes calendar I made a couple of years ago, a new card file I just recently put together, and my birthday calendar. You can see these all more clearly if you click on the picture to see it full size.


This is my favorite thing in the whole room, I believe. I love this United States map created from license plates! When I was reading a magazine last night, I saw that this piece, in its original form, sells for $3900! Of course, this is a replica now sold at Target for $35! That's more of my kind of deal! I love all of the colors involved, and the tutoring kids have loved it. We've spent a lot of time looking at it. Learning states and capitals is something I am often helping kids with, so this was perfect for my room.

This next shelf is how I organize my students' folders and work. I've got their names labeled on each cubby. Most of the ones who share a cubby are in the same grade, so I use the same things for them. This system has worked well. Ignore the pile of notebooks etc. on the floor next to the shelf! That is my "to do" pile! On top of the shelf I have a container of candy. Something I started from the very beginning of my tutoring days 5 years ago was giving the kids a treat at the end of each session to say "thanks" for their hard work. When I taught in the classroom, any student can attest that my M&M machine was always full and ready to go! Many people who see that candy are amazed that it's still there! In other words, don't I eat it or don't my own kids come in and take from it??? Actually, my kids do not. I guess they are used to it and know it's off limits. And there's enough junk food in the kitchen that they don't need to! I need to change that, but for now, that's our life. I will admit, I have robbed from that candy bowl a few times. I am not interested in any of the non chocolate items though. I will steal a candy bar once in awhile when I'm desperate! I am a true chocoholic.

As soon as I saw this kitty print, I had to get it! It's so cute! The white letters are rub ons that I found at Big Lots for a GREAT price! They sell them at Hobby Lobby and other places, but these were really cheap. I've also got another kitty print in the room that I did not take a picture of, and there's usually a live kitty (Maizy) perched up on the table with the tutoring students! She loves to be in there with the kids. I've got one that is allergic, but she's even more of a magnet for Maizy! It seems like she knows when Hannah is coming, and is usually sleeping on Hannah's chair as she comes in for her session! So my lint roller gets a lot of action!

After I found the kitty print, I found these plastic balloons at Hobby Lobby. I loved how they matched the picture so well. These are right next to the picture in the corner. Oh, and this shows the one wall that's orange! The other three are green. Then I have some splashes of red as an accent.

That's about the size of it. Most of the kids really like the new look. I believe Gary's statement when he came in and saw the brightness was, "Wow! I'm glad I don't have to come in here everyday!" Don't think it was his cup of tea.

Alright, I should get busy. I am going to make some cookies for my boys who are heading out turkey hunting this evening. We're really hoping Bradley will get his first turkey this year! Brennan and I will be going over to my dad's on Saturday to spend Easter with them. I haven't been there since Christmas and I'm ready to see them.

If I don't pop in before then, I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

Toodles!

This post is way overdue...

I think I mentioned OVER A MONTH ago that we got to enjoy celebrating my mother-in-law's birthday with her (and no, this picture is not of my mother-in-law!!!) I never posted pictures from that night, so I thought I would tonight.

This adorable baby is Twister. Doesn't he look thrilled??? He belongs to Gary's Aunt Norma and Uncle Lynn. He wasn't too fond of being dragged out from underneath the bed (no need to mention who went searching for him), but once he was out, and the bedroom door was shut so he had nowhere to escape to, he enjoyed a little petting and playing!

Gary's mom with her cake (and in case you can't see the candles, they read 65!) Brennan couldn't resist getting in the pic too, as you can see.

Bradley and Grandma- I don't think that's the best picture of either one of them necessarily, but a cherished memory nonetheless.

After a delicious supper of tacos- Aunt Norma does 'em best- we played dominoes. We have been teaching Bren so he got in on the action too! Bradley's got a real scowly face here for some reason- not sure why? He was having fun too. It was a great night. We were glad to finally have a chance to get together!

In other news:

*my strep throat is finally getting better. I have hardly had a voice all week, and today is the first time I'm feeling good. This one really wiped me out!

*Tomorrow I sub in high school math- Statistcs and Calculus no less. This ought to be interesting. I sure hope this teacher doesn't plan on me knowing any of that!

*I just got assigned another RBP lesson. I have my first deadline on Monday, and thankfully I have already got most of that part done. I hate procrastinating until the end, but sometimes the ideas just aren't flowing. I take that back. Actually I can think of ideas, but often times I think they're not good enough. I'm always striving for something better which results in me thinking about it all of the time. I have a hard time turning it on and off at the right time. Balance has been a struggle with this writing process for me.

*The weather here has been crappy lately. 60 degrees one day, and 30, wind, and snow flurries the next. It's crazy. I am SO ready for spring. My tulips are emerging from the ground. I planted tons of them this fall. I'm so anxious to see all of the color they'll bring!

*We were supposed to go to a youth retreat with Bradley this weekend, but due to lack of interest it got cancelled. So I've got a little extra time on my hands this weekend, which is nice! DAV is coming to my house on Monday so I want to do a little cleaning and sorting and give them plenty to haul away!

Well that's enough rambling for now. Toodles!