I Hate Being Sick

So, with this H1N1 scare, things have gotten a little nuts. People are hyperconscious of germs and schools have been closed and then open again. (Not mine, but 17 others in the area.) So, I had a sore throat yesterday and go to the doctor's to see if I have strep or some other illness. Well, the 10 minute strep test is negative. You would think, okay, everything must be all right. But, no! They wanted to do one of the tests that you have send away and get the results back two days later because I had a fever of 99.1 and because I work with kids they didn't want me to go back to school until they know what I am battling. She didn't want to hastily prescribe me an antibiotic, which I guess is good. But, not only am I missing school, I'm also missing Cirque de Soleil! I paid around $60 for the tickets over a month ago! Kevan and I had a sitter set up. This was going to be the first time we went out since my birthday. And because of my quarantine, I couldn't go! I am so disappointed! I mean I am very tired and still have a minor sore throat and have to blow my nose every so often, but it is nothing major! But, oh well! I guess the less germs spread around the better! I have read two books during my bedrest. Both pretty good. Water for Elephants and Dogs of Babel. I would recommend both. The frustrating thing is I am supposed to be reading kid lit for the class I am in and can't get my hands on any kid lit because I can't go to the library and all of my books are in the basement and I don't want to spread my germs around to our neighbors with a new baby. Uggh! Well, at least now the kids are sleeping and I can watch a little tv. Kevan now needs the computer. I hope everyone that reads this is happy and healthy! Remember to wash your hands!! :)

quick update

I have a feeling that no one is reading my blog anymore because I haven't written in so long. I just have been very busy! With my grad school, real school, and finding time to sit and write at a computer is difficult.

Well, we had spring break a few weeks ago and my mom and my sister, Mary, came to visit. We had a great time. We went to the zoo (Zeke had to have his hat rescued by the zookeeper), saw the Bronze Fonz, saw the Mitchell Park Domes "light show," went to a brewery for a Friday night Fish Fry and polka, explored Schlitz Audobon, and just had fun hanging out with family. Everyone had a great time and was sorry to see them go.

Nothing else major to report. We went to a lasagna dinner last night at our church and the kids won some raffle prizes. (Zeke got matchbox cars and Maya got a necklace and a book.)

Today, I am supposed to be completing my final project for my current class. As you can see I am procrastinating. Luckily, I got to assess Maya for this project and just have to come up with a lesson that I would teach her after analyzing the assessment data. (I have to say that it made me realize that she needs to be practicing reading on her own a lot more. She is right where she should be for her grade level, but with her writing abilities, she should be reading much better than she is.) So, we had fun doing this project together.

Other than that life is going pretty well. After spring break, I am counting the days until the summer! Well, I hope all of my readers are doing well and can appreciate my little update.

FINALLY an Update

Sorry, I have been rather busy with the holiday season and school and school and other junk. So, here is the long awaited update.

The holidays were great! We got to spend a lot of time with family, which was wonderful. Got to see my cousin Greg get married. Maya turned 6 and got her ears pierced. She is counting the days until she can change her earrings. Zeke got crazier. He definitely is a terrible two! We returned to Wisconsin and got a call cancelling my Christmas sleigh ride, which was a present from Kevan and the kids. We were supposed to go before we went to Cleveland and it was too cold. Then we rescheduled for when we returned and there wasn't enough snow! Wisconsin weather is crazy! Now the temperatures are frigid. With wind chill it is supposed to hit -30 to
-40 degrees! Milwaukee Public Schools has been cancelled, which I think means that I get the day off tomorrow too. (I'm waiting for the phone call.)

Not too much has happened since we have been home. I started up with my 3rd grad school class. It should be pretty good. The books for the course are interesting and our professor seems very nice and accommodating. She has been telling us lots of ways to get free stuff, which is always cool for teachers.

Zeke goes to the allergist on Monday. I am not looking forward to the pinprick part of the appointment. However, it will be nice to finally know what he is allergic to. Mystery spots are no fun!

Kevan is getting back into the swing of things and hopes to start getting things together for his Doctoral Qualifying Exams.

Maya is having lots of fun using the craft supplies that everyone got her for Christmas. She already has made some things for some of you. So, don't be surprised if you get a picture in the mail or a bracelet or some other trinket created with love by Maya.

Candyland mania has continued into our house from Christmas. Kevan's parents own a game and our niece is addicted to it and got all of the kids and grandparents playing it. So, when we got home Zeke started asking for Candyland and continues to ask about every other day.

That's about it for now. I hope you all are doing well.

Update

So, I have been quite busy lately. I started my masters and am currently working through my first class. It is going well, but I have a lot of assignments to do. Generally it is 2 chapters of reading and a journal review every week. With 2 young children, a fulltime job, and school there seems to be no time for anything. Laundry is piling up as are the dishes. Kevan has been pretty good about helping me to get all of my work in on time and has even been editing my assignments for me. Even though every week he tells me that I do not need him to edit an article review that is worth 10 points, he does it anyways. I just want to make sure that I am crossing all of my t's and dotting my i's. And me as the over achiever, have been finding more articles than necessary and reading them all. I just really want to have all of the best information to teach my students with.

The kids are doing well. Exciting things about them during the past few weeks:

Maya has a loose tooth. It is her first one and she has been wiggling it as much as possible, which kind of grosses me out. She has also started reading on her own. She still loves to write and make up silly songs. The other day she wrote the word October all by her self! (Okay, I helped with the -er but the other letters were all right.) She has now tranferred the -er spelling to words like brother and yesterday. Actually yesterday arose from her writing "yes" and then Kevan told her to write "turd" and she wrote "terd" and I told her to add "ay" so that it was not a potty word anymore. So now Kevan has taken to using the phrase, " Yes. Terd ay!"

Zeke loves to shop. He always goes shopping with me and has taken to bringing one of Maya's pink purses with him and a little green shopping basket that I bought him at the dollar store. He loves to say, "Maya like that" or "Mama like that" when he sees something that he thinks we would like. Usually it is something princess or High School Musical for Maya and then purses or clothes for me. He has actually become a pretty good listener that I actually was able to spend an afternoon at Target with him out of the cart. (He did try to put some items that interested him in the cart, but didn't fuss when I removed them.) Last week, he had a successful potty incident, but has not wanted to repeat it since.

Kevan has been busy getting things in the works for his mission start. They have a timeline until May to get some churches on board and if that doesn't happen, we will approach plan B. He has also become Mr. Mom. He tried to make pancakes the other day and looked on the box and thought that there was a picture of a cookie sheet. So he tried baking the pancakes in the oven. The funny thing was right under the picture it said "preheat griddle to 375 degrees." He saw 375 degrees, but ignored the word griddle. So, he continues to claim that he cannot cook things out of a box. So when I have class, I go over the instructions for that night's menu with him. But, I give him props for trying.

We went apple picking last week and had a great time. We have made a few batches of applesauce and Zeke has taken it upon himself to eat about 4 apples a day without permission. He just goes and takes them out of the bushel. It really is difficult now because he can open our fridge and knows to get the step stool to reach anything he can. So ends child proofing. Luckily we have Maya as our constant spy.

Yesterday we were able to get together with some friends from seminary that just moved to Milwaukee. It was great to see them and learn that they plan on settling here. It is always nice to have some more friends in the area. It makes it a little easier to be away from family.

The Brewers made it to postseason and things have been crazy here. They are currently playing game 4 of a 5 game series and if they do not win today, they will be out of it. They are losing so far, but I am hoping for a comeback. We'll see.

So that is what is going on around here. Kevan's parents are coming to visit in a week, so I am sure we will have some adventures to share after their visit. I hope everyone is well. You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

It's Tough to Be Away

While I love living in Wisconsin, it is tough to be away from family when help is needed there. I am so glad that I have such great siblings that can pitch in and help out. With my grandma moving and trying to get the house ready for her and packing up her current residence, I feel bad that I cannot assist and it all lies in the hands of my mom and my brother and sisters. I also kind of miss doing those things with them and the slap happy crazy things that occur when doing those kinds of tasks. I remember one time when we were painting one of the rentals, we made superhero like costumes out of garbage bags. Or the zany things we would do while working the concession stand at Bingo. Or the crazy back breaking labor of putting in the retaining wall and complaining while doing it, but enjoying spending time talking to dad and my siblings. Even though there were times when it is stressful and I grumbled, I look back and kind of miss it.

It is times like these that I think of my dad. With his death occurring two years ago this week, it he is even more present in my thoughts. I think of my dad often and miss him terribly. I have been living away from home for over 10 years now and it has not been easy. My dad was always there to keep me in the loop about what was happening. I cherished the times he would write me in college and would type "Dad" below his signature. It always made me cry. He was very thoughtful. If I didn't call home once a week, he would call and ask why I hadn't called. I admit, it has gotten harder to be in touch with family and friends since I had kids and have been working full time. It feels like I arrive home, make dinner, then it is time to get the kids in bed. Then I throw in a load of laundry, get clothes out for the next day, and finally sit down. By the time I look at the clock it is too late to call anyone because of the time difference. But I do think about all of you, often.

I loved visits from my dad. He would always come with some present for my kids. He would constantly pick things up for Maya. He would be at the grocery store and see something that was Dora and Princesses and buy it for her. He was always thinking about his grandchildren. When he came to visit it was almost as if we had more quality time than when I was living closer to home because we knew that the time was short and needed to make the most of it. Especially when my dad would come to visit for the weekend during a trip to Chicago, it was great because there would always be time after the kids were in bed to just sit and talk to him or watch one of his favorite crime shows. We also would not miss a trip to the Jelly Belly factory for our pound bag of "Bellyflops."

I miss you dad! I love you.

To all of my friends and relatives that are away, I love you all and sorry for not being in touch more. Thanks for all you do!

Here is a quick update on my family. Maya started K5 (Kindergarten for 5 year olds). So far she likes her teacher and has only cried about going to school once. Zeke is still crazy and so aggressive he has had a black eye two weeks in a row from tripping and hitting his face on something hard. Kevan is now 30 and we ushered in his new decade with a small gathering of friends. I started masters classes this week and realized that I knew more than I thought I did. I will just need to be vigilant about keeping my scheduled times to do school work. So, that is it in a nutshell. I hope you are all well.

Trying to get all of the Summer fun in

So, I go back to school Monday. I was given the good news that I do not have to go in tomorrow (Friday) because it is just Math training and I teach reading. I am going to go in for a little while so that other people don't get mad and complain that I didn't have to attend. I need to get things organized in my room anyway. All of my stuff is in one big heap because I changed rooms in the middle of July and haven't been back since.

Since I return on Monday I have been trying to get as much Summertime fun in as possible. Monday was Kevan and my 7th anniversary. We weren't planning on doing anything too exciting for lack of a babysitter, but as luck would have it one of our friends called and asked if the kids could come over and volunteered to watch our children! So, Kevan and I went to see Mama Mia! I loved it! It was very cheesy and the plot didn't make sense, but the spontaneous singing and goofy dance moves were just what I needed! Kevan on the other hand proved how much he loves me by sitting through it! He said he actually was expecting it to be better. He could not overlook major flaws in the plot line and seeing older women dancing around like teenagers made him uncomfortable. But, if you like silly and nonsensical movies of the Ballywood style, you would love it. Then we went to eat at Maggiano's for some Italian food. It is attached to the mall where we saw the movie. It is like a classier version of Bucca Di Beppo. However they have single versions of their family style entrees.

Then on Tuesday I took the kids to a wading pool near our house. We love it! It is free and the kids love the park that is nearby. We had a great time and then we grilled hamburgers and had corn on the cob for dinner. Yum! Nothing says summer like corn on the cob!

Yesterday, Zeke was at the daycare, so Maya and I cleaned a little around the house and then went shopping for things to decorate my classroom at the dollar store and Big Lots. The teacher store is so expensive, I refuse to shop there unless I absolutely need to. We then went to pick up Zeke. Then we came home and walked to the library and got books, movies, and CDs.

Today I took the kids to the zoo. We went and saw the bird show and Maya got to participate and throw a fake snake out to a bird that looks like a roadrunner, but isn't. The bird then proceeded to beat the snake on the ground. Zeke kepts holding his arm out trying to entice a bird to come and land on it. (He has not fear!) We also saw the Seal and Sea Lion show. (I had free tickets that were about to expire.) I was expecting something like the show I saw at Sea World as a kid. Needless to say it was nothing like it. The sea lions did some neat tricks and my children loved the show. So that is all that matters.

Tomorrow, I think it is off to the wading pool in the afternoon. Then they are showing Bee Movie at a park in the evening. I am hoping to convince Kevan that this would be fun and that keeping our children up past their bedtime would be a fine idea. I don't think he'll go with it, but you never know.

Then Saturday we are having some friends over for dinner. Sunday, Kevan and the kids leave for Family Camp. I am really going to miss them! I am truly sad that I am unable to attend this year. Well, that is a snapshot of our life. I hope you are all doing well!

For Mom, Happy Thoughts

Things are going well with our family. We have been busy with a variety of different activities. We have been trying to beat the heat and staying cool as much as possible. Triumphs for the week: Zeke pooped in the potty! (He also pooped in the tub and on the floor.) Maya was a wonderful big sister and helped me to get Zeke through the doctor' s office and comply with all of the doctor's requests. (He had a rash on his arm, which is just eczema.) She got weighed, her heart rate checked, and they took her temperature. Maya even laid down on the table to be measured for her height! I've been having a lot of fun spending time with my kiddos. Maya is such a young lady now and Zeke is talking up a storm and has a fabulous sense of humor!