School Firsts

Well, Ann Catherine has officially had a few firsts at school in the past week. One was good and one wasn't, although it worked out OK in the end.

Last week, Ann Catherine came home a very silent little girl. Now, she can be a little moody at times. We are definitely getting closer to teenage-land! However, this time around she seemed a little quieter than normal. I asked her what was wrong and she told me "nothing" several times but, once we made it home and Will got settled in front of the TV, she came into the kitchen crying. She finally broke down and told me that she was having a problem with a girl at school. My child was having her first bullying problem! Not a first I was looking forward to at all! It was one of those moments where I had no idea what to do. She told me that this girl yelled at her that day and told her to "stop it!" I asked what she did and she said she hadn't been doing anything. And the more she talked about how mean that little girl had been to her all day, the more I realized that this wasn't the first time she had mentioned this little girl being mean to her. I could recall a few times where she had mentioned the girl getting mad at her for nothing, but it had never really seemed to bother her too much so I didn't really worry about it. This time it was bothering her - a lot. I asked if she had told her teacher what the little girl said and she said that she didn't because she thought she'd get in trouble. I asked if the little girl was bothering anyone else and she said that there was another little girl and boy who often received the brunt of her anger. I knew it was time to do something, but I wasn't sure where to start. After talking to Brian, I finally decided to talk to the teacher.

The next morning, I emailed the teacher as soon as I got to work. Brian asked Ann Catherine's permission first when she woke up in the morning and, while she was still nervous about getting in trouble, she agreed to let me do it. I prayed over my email and made sure to mention that I knew there are always two sides of any argument and that I realized I was only hearing one side. I didn't ask her to take care of the problem. Instead, I asked her if she had seen anything that maybe started the problem or if she had any suggestions on what I should tell Ann Catherine. Her response blew me away. Now this is a GOOD teacher who will make a great principal one day! She replied very quickly and said that she would not tolerate that type of behavior in her classroom - especially to someone as sweet and respectful as "Ann." She said she'd take care of it.

Later that day, when I picked up "Ann" at school, she greeted me with a very large smile on her face. She said that her teacher had pulled all the kids in the hall, two or three at a time, and asked if they had experienced any bullying in school. She said, "Mommy, I think she got your email. She asked me what happened yesterday." She couldn't figure out how her teacher knew something had happened. She told the truth and heard the other two kids with her in the hallway mention a couple more kids they were having problems with in class. Next thing she knew, all the "bullies" were in the hallway and they were talked to "for a very long time." Apparently, they also came back in looking like they were about to cry. Now, I'm not a big fan of revenge, but it was a little soothing to Mommy's heart to know that this little girl knew she was in trouble for the way she had treated my little girl.

So on to her other, better first! Today she had to give her first book report. Well, really it was a research report. In honor of Black History Month, her teacher gave a list to all the kids of people they could research. She chose Rosa Parks and was thrilled when her teacher assigned it to her. I found two books at the library for her to read and she devoured those books in a night! I have never seen my little girl so interested in reading! She read her report and like the good little girl that she is and not a bit like the procrastinator that her mommy is, she went straight to work. They had to make a poster person look like the person they were studying, put together a timeline, write a two-page report, and then give an oral presentation to the class. It was all due today and she had it all done by Sunday night! This morning, she turned in her work and was supposed to give her first oral report. How exciting! And believe it or not, my shy little girl wasn't nervous at all. I couldn't be prouder of this sweet little girl!

Winter's Last Blast

I'm posting this a little bit late but I wanted you to see our winter's last gasp here. At least I hope it's our last blast of winter!!! I'm ready for Spring and warm breezes like the ones I woke up to this morning!

This past Sunday morning, we woke up to a winter wonderland. Well, it may not have been a wonderland to my northern family (especially if you live in Canada!), but to us Southerners, it was a wonderland! We had two inches of snow and it was beautiful and pristine. We decided to skip Sunday School and spent an hour in the yard throwing snowballs and making snow angels. Ann Catherine had a ball creaming snowballs into Brian's head (only to discover his bald spot gets REALLY cold, quickly!). And Will enjoyed throwing snowballs - well, his little baby version of it in the form of a fistful of snow not so tightly packed together. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite tolerate the snowballs aimed at him!

After an hour of playing, we went back in and got ready for church. By the time we were out of the worship service, it was mostly gone. So sad, but, as I said before, I'm ready for Spring so I wasn't too upset at having to say goodbye to the snow!

We're Alive!

Seriously, it's so nice to be back in the land of living. I can breathe (mostly) now and don't get woken up by the sound of hacking coughs anymore. Our last battle now? Getting Will's ear to clear up! He's now on week seven of his ear infection and it just will not clear up! Yesterday, today and tomorrow, he's scheduled to get a shot each morning. Please pray with us that this ear infection will FINALLY go away! And even though I'm not a fan of tubes, I may just have to start talking to his doctor about getting them!

So you want another prayer request? OK - this one is too silly to actually be a REAL prayer request. But I'm still praying for it personally! Disney is doing a sweepstakes this month to give away five trips to Disney World! You can enter every day during the month of February and I've entered us almost every single day since I found out about it early in the month. So pray hard we win! I usually win NOTHING so I'm not holding my breath. Still, it'd be REALLY nice to get to win for once!!! (I'm not obsessed - no not me!!!)

Passing It Around

It's been a really bad week. I have a few other choice words I could use to describe this week but I'm afraid Mom would yell at me next time she sees me so I'll hold myself back. So it's just been a REALLY bad week.

We're still passing the bugs around. We thought Ann Catherine had the flu earlier in the week. She spent two days sleeping and complaining of her stomach hurting every time she was awake. Her doctor swears it's not the flu and just a stomach bug so there was nothing they could give her to make her feel better. Luckily, she seems to be back to the land of living today. Unfortunately, Brian just called to say that daycare almost called us today because Will seemed really cranky and kept complaining of his stomach hurting. We can't catch a break!

Brian and I are swapping illnesses as well. He and I have both had a nice sinus infection several times in the past couple weeks. I was sick last weekend, better earlier this week and, today, woke up yet again severely congested. I'm sick of being sick. And we've used so much tissue in the past couple days that we're now officially out and using toilet paper because I'm not feeling well enough to head back to the store!

As if bugs weren't enough, we had a job loss added to it. Not ours, but Brian's parents. How in the world is someone supposed to go from having the same, wonderful job for 17 years just to find out that it's been taken away from you? They're scared and we're scared for them. So we're all facing adjustments in the next couple months as they figure out where God is now leading them.

So no fun blog posts this week. No fun and witty things to think of. My brain's in too much of a fog.

Bugs

It's been a week of sickness. One after another, we've all had it. And not the same "it." We've all had different types of "its." Ann Catherine had strep last week and is now possibly working on the flu. At the very least, it's just a good cold.

All week long, I've been fending off a cold. Thank you, Lord, for Airborne! It's kept the worst of the symptoms away. But while I've managed to avoid the worst symptoms, I'm still awfully tired.

Will has battled both a cold and an ear infection that refuses to go away. He's now on his third medication for this ear infection and even had a shot on Thursday because it won't go away. When Brian called to say he'd had a shot, I sweetly asked Will if Daddy had kissed his boo-boo. He said no and whined. And in the background, I heard Daddy yell, "I'm NOT kissing your boo-boo!" Turns out he had the shot in his sweet little cheek (not the one on his face, of course!). That was his first shot in the...Well, I can't say the word because Mom would yell at me. Anyway, be praying for him - he goes back in two weeks and if it's still not gone, he has to have a shot a day for three days. Not fun. And very expensive!

And poor Daddy. He was so sweet and forced me to stay in bed all week since I was so drained at the end of the day. He worked hard to feed the family and keep the kids away. He even spent a week sleeping in Will's bed which, I can tell you from experience, is not a good way of getting rest. And poor Daddy still didn't manage to avoid the bug. He is now working on a cold of his own. And he's also avoiding me - not to keep me from getting it again. He's just avoiding me because I keep shoving Airborne down his throat!

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to spring. I'm looking forward to fresh air. And I'm looking forward to the bugs dying in the warmth of the sun!

A Chilly Spring Day

Saturday was cold. Well, it wasn't cold, but it was chilly. Friday was warm. Sunday was warmer. Saturday was chilly.

There's one thing I've noticed about the weather out here that has always baffled me. For some reason, when the weather people say it will be "in the 60's" that means that it will either be warm or cold. We never know until the day gets here. "In the 60's" is sometimes a warm 60. "In the 60's" is sometimes a cold 60. You never know what to expect.

Regardless, we headed to the zoo on Saturday. I allowed Ann Catherine to invite a friend and thought I'd be brave and head to the zoo on my own with the three kids. The more I drove, the more I started to second-guess myself. It wasn't because of any problems in the car, I think my morning cup of coffee was finally kicking in and making my mind a little clearer. Halfway down the road, my mind is screaming, "What the heck are you doing?!?!" So I grabbed my phone, called my friend Becca and announced that she was headed to the zoo with me. Luckily, she was awake and didn't mind!

Despite the chill in the air, we really did have a lot of fun. And I REALLY DID need a second set of hands. I can never repay Becca for how much she helped me on Saturday! I tended to have one child trying to run off at all times. And one would want to stay and look at something in particular while the other two got bored and wanted to walk on to the next thing. I was constantly looking at the kids to see what they were doing and, honestly, I have no idea what animals we saw that day.

Is this what life is like for parents with three kids? No wonder they feel so outnumbered!

See - Sometimes they actually like each other!

I couldn't help but laugh when I took a second look at this one!

Like my new hairdo?

Ride 'em, cowboy!

I saved the best for last! I KNEW Mom would love this one!

Spring Is Here! (Almost)

It's coming! I can feel it in the air! Well, kind of!

For weeks now, I have felt cold. Not sick-cold, but cold-cold. It seems like I'm constantly shivering. I shiver in my car as I drive to and from work. I shiver sitting at my desk. I shiver at home - even when I'm trying to cozy up under my favorite Grandma Sybert-type blanket or curling up under the covers at night. But I just can't seem to shake the cold. My fingers have been the worst! It's hard to type and do work at the office when my fingers feel permanently frozen!

But luckily, spring is here! Almost. Despite the fact that it's been in the 30's all week (I know, I know - some of you are thinking I'm LUCKY for having 30 degree weather!), we're finally making it in to the 60's this weekend! And, according to my favorite weatherman (who happens to look like he's 12 years old, by the way), it's even going to be 68 tomorrow! I can't wait! And to celebrate, we're headed to the zoo!

The best part about having a zoo membership is that I can go there as often as I want and not feel guilty about spending any money! In the spring, summer and fall, it's my favorite way to escape the drudge of playing single mom every Saturday morning. As often as possible, I'd grab the stroller and the kids, throw them in the car, and head up to the zoo. It would usually take about 2 hours to see everything we always want to see and since it's free, I don't feel like I HAVE to see it all! We just hit the highlights or see what's new. Or we just spend 2 hours playing in the huge playground!

Since the kids have been feeling sick since, well, all winter, I think it's time for some fresh air to get in to all of our lungs. It's time to breathe deep and enjoy the fresh breeze. I can't wait! My house has become stale. And the kids' eyeballs are starting to fall out from watching WAY too much TV (not to mention the fact that their ears and brains no longer seem to work)!

So we're headed to the zoo tomorrow. And we're going to love it. And I'm totally going to ignore the fact that it will probably be in the 30's and snow again next week.