She's growing up.....

Chloe was making a Valentine card and asked how to spell Avery, a girl in her class.  Ashlyn said, "Don't worry Mommy, I can help her."  So she proceeded to spell her name sounding out the letters.  Chloe wrote it down.  She couldn't make an R so Ashlyn had to write it (out of place).  It's so nice to see her progress in reading and writing.....

On a side note, I spoke too soon yesterday about the fever.  Chloe had a fever before bedtime.  I think Ashlyn is all better.  Chloe has a little more spunk in her too.  In fact, they have been picking on each other all afternoon.  Isn't that a sign of feeling better???

On and Off Fever

Here is our fever schedule:

Sunday:  Ashlyn

Sunday night 11pm:  Chloe

Monday:  Nobody

Tuesday:  Ashlyn

Tuesday night: Chloe

Wednesday:  Nobody

Hopefully this pattern stops at "nobody."  I stayed home Monday and picked them up at school at 1:30 on Tuesday.  Brandon stayed home with them today.  My 2:00 math class is begging me to not miss any more days.  It's my first run-in with sickness as a working mom.......

The thing that kills me is they play all day, run around, and act like nothing is wrong.  Then comes the sporadic fever.  Let's hope we can make it through the next two days and then relax on the weekend.

Chloe-isms

"Mommy, you are nice and sometimes mean."  She said this because I wouldn't help clean up all of the toys she got out.

"Where is the Big Dipper?  Does it hide in the morning?"

"Ms. Tubbs told me I fell out of the wrong side of the bed."  I asked why.  She said, "Oh I was not in a good mood when I got to school."

"I don't eat sauce anymore.  I changed my mind."

"I don't play with boys and I told my friends they shouldn't either."

"I am boring."  Again, she had to clean up her toys and didn't want to.  She was trying to express that it bored her.

I can't think of any more right now but this kid has been cracking us up lately.

A Day Off--yeah right

I don't really consider today a day off work because I have been doing laundry and cleaning all day.  I have an appt. for an oil change later which is always fun dragging two kids along.  Chloe pulled out a glitter stick and wanted to make a pretty picture.  Did I mention that there was more on my hardwood floor than on her paper?  I have lesson plans to write and papers to check.  Do I turn on the TV and let it entertain them while I get some things done?  Does that make me a bad mother????

On a side note, I just signed up to run the Color Run on April 6 with a bunch of friends.  I ran last night after the kids went to bed and I got some work done.  That means that I was running at 11 pm.  Obviously I can't be doing that during the week.  Dare I get up early and run?

Raising a Cheater......

So let me set up the following two videos for you.....Ashlyn and Chloe got a lot of board games for Christmas.  We probably spend an hour playing games each night.  Chloe could care less if she wins or loses.  In fact she'll walk away from a game, come back five minutes later, ask if it is her turn, then go back to what she is doing.  Ashlyn, on the other hand, can not stand to lose.

 So tonight, we were playing a match game.  I was winning(we don't let them win:).  It was her turn and she told me to close my eyes.  I asked her why and she said she didn't want me to see which card she turns over.  I closed my eyes but turned on the video on my phone.  She never noticed until I said something.  Then she got really mad--see video one.

She continues to cheat and I call her out again and whiny-I-can't-understand-you-bc-you-are-whining Ashlyn comes out.  It was all I could do to keep from laughing.  After cutting off the video, I explained that nobody wants to play with cheaters, cheaters never win, blah, blah, blah. See second video.

I thought I solved the problem.  Then we went on to play Ants in the Can.  She beat me the first game--she is pretty good at this game.  The second game, I was winning and only had one ant left.  She picks up her three remaining ants, puts them in the can with her hands, and yells that she won.  I guess I am raising a cheater..............

Making a Difference...

So today was a teacher work day.  I was dreading going back.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job and really enjoy the kids and what I do.  However, I just spent an extra long break with my biological kids and had a great Christmas.  When I got to work, I had presents piled on my desk.  That wasn't the highlight.  It was a note from a mom of one of my 2nd grader's mom.  It was a Christmas card with the sweetest note about how much her kid enjoys my class and can't stop talking about me at home.  Now I only see 2nd graders two days a week and he is a very quiet boy who doesn't say a word in class unless I call on him.  So this took me by surprise.  Yes I get to teach them fun things instead of the normal subject areas.  For those that don't know, I teach gifted kids.  Contrary to popular belief, gifted kids are not always the kids who want to learn.  In fact a lot of them are lazy, don't like school, or just do enough to get by. I don't think that this kid has those qualities, but I wouldn't say he was excited to be in my room.  The mom was so sweet and it was the best present ever!  It totally made my day!!

Happy New Year

Well I am proud to say that I stayed up past midnight tonight.  The last three years resulted in me going to bed and Brandon coming in and giving me a kiss at midnight.  I didn't even have a drink this year!!  Life with young kids...........

I did try a few recipes over the last few days and was happy with them.  The first was a ham and bean soup using the leftover Christmas ham and northern beans.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The second was a hot spinach dip.  I've made cold spinach dips but I love hot spinach dip and was happy with this too.

Happy 2013.  I recently heard the song, "Let's party like it's 1999" and then thinking how long ago that was.   Man I'm getting old..........................