Happy 9 months!

Remember this guy? It's hard to believe that my little guy has now been out in the world as long as he was inside me. He has his "official" 9 month check up tomorrow, so I will update on all his data then. But when we went to the dr. to check his ears he weighed 21.5 lbs.! And he has his first ear infection. But he looks amazingly happy in these pictures.

Plus the blog hasn't had any pictures on it as of late. So what better than a beautiful baby boy to brighten a blog. ( and add a bunch of alliteration! )

His hair doesn't really look like Eddie Munster's that much in real-life. Don't ya just want to kiss those cheeks?!
Edited to add his stats: 21 lbs. and 28.5 in.

Looking forward to tomorrow

Thinking back on a year ago, I can honestly say I am looking forward to this school year. Being a teacher is like running a marathon. There are two big hills to get over. The first is the long stretch from Sept. to Nov. without a break. We have to do this because down here when there are snow days (which may start in Jan. and end in April) school is usually called off. If it is REALLY cold and doesn't melt then you miss another day because the school buses will not go down impassible roads. Anywho, I digress. The final is at the end of the year when all the state tests are administered. My original post was about how I am looking forward to this year. And then...... on Saturday morning......my son awakes with



a fever.


He was blazin' hot too. Not just a slight thing, but one that only subsides with a sizable dose of ibuprofen. This now poses a conundrum because he is not to go to daycare with a fever. But it's the FIRST DAY! I will feel SO bad if I can't be there. They give you all the important info. and expectations and I will miss it. Normally that would be a welcomed break, but I am at a new school and you just can't miss the first day. I have Open House on Wednesday!!! My room is NOT unpacked. There are still scheduling decisions to be made. I feel so unprepared.
We'll hopefully get a walk-in appointment between 1 and 3 at the doctor later. I'm hoping it is just his 4 top teeth trying to come in, but in case it isn't then maybe we can get some medicine in him and get that fever down.
But still, I am looking forward to this school year.

A run-in with a homeless man

Unfortunately our town has had many layoffs and there seems to be a growing number of homeless. Or maybe I should say there is a growing number of people who will stand on a median or interstate exit with a sign requesting help. Tonight I return from getting diapers at Target and I am faced with this decision. You see I don't talk about it much on my blog but I do believe in God and I very strongly believe in Matt. 25:40 about "whatever you do unto the least of these you have done unto me." This verse hits me in the face when I see people with a sign requesting help. While I am certainly by no means rich financially I feel obligated to show that I am not just a reader of the Word so to speak, but also a do-er. I have also seen a car in front of me give someone money and then in turn see the "homeless" person in the store buying beer. Sometimes I say a prayer for them. This feels safer to me because it has no direct contact, other than the uncomfortable feeling that lasts as you try to figure out where to place your eyes for the duration of the red light. I have bought them food and brought it to them, but tonight was different. I'm not quite sure what to learn from it.
I am sitting at the light which of course is a long one and the man can barely keep his head up. I had just spent my money on dinner and did not have cash, but there was a water sitting on the passenger seat. His sign read "homeless, any help will do." The water had been in the car all day and alas it has been mighty hot here, quite possibly a preview of hell! I roll down my window and say "Sir, I have a water - it's hot but you are welcome to it." Evidently he did not hear the "It's hot" part because he comes over and grabs it and yells "It's hot!". Then he throws it in the bushes beside him. I just shook my head and thankfully the light turned green so I could drive away in dismay. I guess I'm back to just sitting in my car and praying until I get the bad taste out of my mouth from this one.

We have a winner!

Is what my husband yells out from the bathroom tonight as he is preparing to bathe our daughter. He pops his head out from the doorway with a smile and exclaims - "In the skid-mark race!" Apparently the speedy or lack of wiping has caught up with our daughter and made a mark in her underpants. I'm wondering - is this something babybook worthy? LOL. I mean there is the first tooth, first birthday, first skidmark? She might laugh later on when she can read it.

Last dance

I'm noticing many of my titles have song references. I guess that is the musician in me! I can't get Donna Summer's song out of my head as I type this.
Anyway tomorrow is my last day of summer vacation and I can't believe it. To celebrate or perhaps mourn the loss of freedom for the next 10 months I have done a few special things for myself. I know so often as women my friends and I do for others, but not ourselves. Yesterday I had my hair cut and colored. This morning I had a somewhat religious experience as I had an HOUR massage! I have NEVER had a massage let alone for an hour. I now know what I will do with my birthday money EVERY year. Oh don't worry, you didn't miss it, it was back in February and since I have a hard time making decisions it just takes me this long to use it. Actually, as I filled in my calendar the other day I realized it is just under 18 months until I turn 40! Later today I will use a gift certificate from my student teacher and get a "mani and pedi" as they call it in the business. That would mean I was getting my fingernails and toenails painted and not having to do it myself. I get to eat lunch with my hubby tomorrow and dinner with a good old friend. Saturday I eat with some colleagues (oops, need to make the reservation!) and Monday it is back to work. I feel refreshed and generally oblivious to the deluge of parents, paperwork, and unpacking about to hit me. I'm not really even feeling guilty about the money I've spent. yet.

Maybe it runs in the family?

Besides the lovely snoring the first thing I heard this morning was my cell phone ringing in the kitchen. I peep at the clock across the room which is my husband's and I can't figure out what time it is because he has it set at like some ungodly time fast. Most people set theirs in 5 min. increments like 5, 10, or 15 minutes fast, but he has his somewhere like 42 minutes fast. So I peer at my little clock which is difficult to read in the dark and without glasses and it says 7:38. Ummmm, he's supposed to be at work by 7:20. The next thing I do is get up and go see who called (I had an idea anyway) and notice a very bad smell. I stand and sniff to see if perhaps it is I who smell. So I leave the room, but alas it is not me who offends. I walk back in the kitchen and notice that one of the burner knobs is not in the upright position. DH HAD LEFT A BURNER ON WITH THE EMPTY FRYING PAN PERCHED ON IT!!!!!! Maybe it's something about this house that we can't control the stove. Or maybe it's just stupidity!

Burning down the house

I actually almost did it! I was multi-tasking, but paying attention to the clock so I thought it would be all right. I left the kitchen with the apples for some babyfood steaming. I went to check and see how much money was in my bank account, pay a bill, and then head over to see what some of my friends at the birth club I frequent on Babycenter were up to. ONLY 10 minutes out of the 12 recommended in the recipe had gone by and I am sitting at our computer which is in the room beside the kitchen and I start to smell something that is definitely NOT apples. It's more smokey.....Oh My God. It must be the pan! I'm thinking the water must have boiled away and now the pan is going to melt on to the eye of the stove. I rush to the kitchen where smoke is pouring out the top of the pan and in one swift motion quickly shut it off and turn the fan over the stove on. Luckily there was a small pot of water on the back burner and I pour it into the pan with the apples. Time passes........pan cools.......and the science teacher in me HAS to investigate. I remove the steamer and toss the apples in a trash bag. The bottom of the pan is black and bubbly. However the bubbles are sort of crystally and pretty. Scrubbing and scraping ensues. I'm reminded how cool the element Carbon is. I remove what I believe to be part of the teflon coating layer. Now I wonder if I should use the pot again - if it's safe? I mean we cooked without teflon when I was little. I actually can't see any rips or tears in the teflon that could come off while I cook and pose as a choking hazard. This pot is the mac n' cheese pot. It's the tomato soup pot. I don't think I can throw her out. What's a girl to do? At least the house is still in tact for a few more hours and my family is none the wiser!

He don't know his greens

So we were having lasagne last night and what goes better with lasagne than a salad and garlic bread? It's practically a standard. So instead of braving the grocery store with a tempermental toddler and a not-so-solid sitting up 8 month old during the busy part of the shopping day I asked my husband to bring home a head of lettuce. NOT the bagged stuff because well, it is getting SO expensive even when it is on sale and a head of iceberg is 1/3 the cost so we agreed that this would be a way for us to save a few bucks easily. I prepare the Stouffer's lasagne and garlic bread - all I need is the lettuce to whip up a quick salad and dinner is ready. Husband arrives home with something green. I must explain that this is not the best time of night for our children. Grant is tired and teething and Grayson is sporting a summer cold complete with revolving low-grade fever and bad attitude and so I wasn't really paying close attention to what the green thing was.(which is another reason I did not want to go to the store). The usual chaos of daddy arriving home ensues and I go to prepare the salad. Alas, he brought home CABBAGE. Now, I must say he has lived on his own, cooked at a restaurant briefly, and is 32 years old but did not know what a head of lettuce looks like when it hasn't been chopped and placed in a salad bag! Well, I tried. I suppose we'll just add that night on to the others where there isn't something green on the plate.

The wind knocked out of me

Remember as a child playing football and getting tackled so hard that it felt like your lungs collapsed and you couldn't breathe? Well, I have had two events recently in my life that caused me to feel that. First, this past week I was informed after moving 4 truck loads of stuff from a school that I loved that my position at the new school was being cut. I suddenly felt like a small child in a big department store who had walked away from his or her mom and was lost. And then (second) I realized that for all intents and purposes I have lost my mom. So, it's been hard to write. Plus, my husband has this Warcraft game he likes to play at night after the kids go to bed (which has been REALLY late some nights, like 10 p.m.) and I have not received my work computer yet, SO we've had to share a computer. Which basically means he gets to use the computer at night. I'll get the airport hooked up ASAP after getting it and then we'll be in touch more!