More Snow!

It is crazy that we get about a foot of snow on the first day of spring! I can't believe it! I'm just glad that there was already no school today. All this talk about schools having to make up days is crazy. We don't, thank God. I just hope the weather gets better for Mary and my mom's arrival on Tuesday.

Not too much else going on. We are trying to stay in today. We haven't heard if church is cancelled for the evening or not. Everyone seems to be cancelling their services. Even a Catholic church! (My mom told me a few weeks ago that Catholics never cancel mass. I am assuming the reasoning behind that is that the priests live at the church.) So, I think it will probably be cancelled.

It's been nice to be home and just hang out. We've been playing with the kids, taking turns napping, and catching up on our DVRed shows. (Kevan says that only Americans make nouns into verbs. :) ) Hope you are all having some wonderful spring weather for this first day of spring.

Just an Update

Well, it is still freezing up here! I think it is supposed to be in the 20s until Wednesday. Then they said it might hit 50! Crazy! That probably means sickness with set in once again.

The kids have been equally silly lately. Maya has been heart-broken ever since she heard Bret Favre retired. She cried when she heard. She also cried when watching American Idol last night because one of the people she liked, Luke Menard, got kicked off. She is such a sensitive soul. Her tapdancing skills are advancing. She will have a performance on June 8th. She loves that it will be called" Enchanted" after the movie. She is dancing to "Rockin' Robin" and the theme song from "Enchanted" by Carrie Underwood. Her teacher also said that maybe some of the moms might want to be in the finale and dance to "Enchanted," as well. I am considering it. It would be fun to get up there and dance with her. Maya likes it when the teacher has parents come and dance with their children. I have to admit it is fun. It makes me think of the Friends episode when Monica takes tap dancing and becomes friends with the person that stole her identity. They really should offer classes for grown ups. It would be a good workout.

Zekey is just a ball of energy lately. He runs around the house and then stops and pumps his fist in the air and yells, "I win!" His language is advancing everyday. He currently loves Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and if you say it around him, he will insist that you sing the theme song over and over and over again. (It has replaced Bob the Builder and Jack's Big Music show in requests.) The people at the daycare also told me that he has some mad breakdancing moves. (He learned them all from me! :) Except for his strange turning of the head and walking sideways move, I did not teach him that one. That is his own invention. He does have some very lyrical hands though. I think he picked that up from Maya.

Missing Ohio

Well, now that we are settled in Milwaukee my homesickness has lessened a little. We have good friends and a support network has established itself around us. My family is able to come and visit pretty frequently and Zeke and Maya are happy here.

However, who would have thought that a toothbrush holder would make me miss home. I bought a new toothbrush holder at Target today and guess where it was made! China, but guess where it was designed! Solon, Ohio! Crazy, huh? Not really crazy, Solon is an industrial giant with Stouffers and King Nuts and other various companies. But it got me thinking of home. I also have been wishing I were in Ohio for the election. I love my family (hug and kisses to you all!), but they are not as passionate as I am about the forth coming election and may not even vote in it. (Sigh) I would happily vote for them if it were legal. I just wish that they felt the excitement that is stirring around this election. It is infectious! So, to all of my loved ones in Ohio and Texas and Rhode Island and Vermont. Please vote on Tuesday for me, who wishes that I had the power that you all have at this moment. (I know you have heard this from me before, but I thought I'd tell you all a different way. :) )

Cycle of Illness

Never before have I recognized how much one illness can travel through a family multiple times. The weather around here has been crazy, as mentioned previously, and I have been stupid. Kevan and I have gotten into the television series called Heroes. We got the DVDs from Blockbuster and have been staying up way too late watching them! Thus, I have a bad cold. I left school early because I thought I was going to fall over. My afternoon students were all gone because of a field trip, so it was a good day to be sick. If there is such a thing!

Wisconsin is buzzing with election fever. Today was Primary Voting day. We are excited to see the results. They even gave Maya a sample ballot and let her vote. She didn't give it to anyone, but she filled it out. You can ask her who she voted for. Who you vote for seems to sometimes be one of those questions like asking a woman her age.

Kevan needs the computer, so I have to end there. I hope you are warm and healthy!

Weather

Whenever, I think of the word weather, I want to start singing the Veggie Tales silly song that deals with homophones. ("Whether, weather, whether, weather, weather (whether?) it's cold or it's hot.") Well as many of you have seen or are experiencing, the weather around here has been crazy! We are currently in the midst of a major snowstorm. We are supposed to get around a foot of snow today. We had our third snow day of the year, which I have to admit is kind of nice. It would be nice if it were possible to have a snow day in April because I think that is a month when we have no days off. The kids and I walked over to a friend's house that lives 2 blocks away. It was pretty brutal. It made me wish we hadn't left our sled at church! The wind was blowing the snow pretty hard into our faces and it felt like we were getting pelted with little ice balls. Walking home 2 hours later, there was no evidence that we had gone out at all. Our footprints were already covered. We had a good time playing. They have two boys, one a year older than Maya and one that is about Zeke's age. We had a good time visiting. I felt a little bad because we got out the door so late. They called at about 8:30 to invite us and we didn't leave our house until 11:00. Which is an awkward time because I didn't want to impose on them for lunch. They invited us to stay anyways, but they forgot I was a vegetarian. I felt horrible about it, but they eat a lot of vegetarian friendly dishes and I got to eat some delicious leftovers. They always cook great healthy meals. I wish that I had the time and money to make healthier things from scratch. Kevan and I tried for about 4 months and it raised our grocery bill considerably. Which, put a damper on that idea. It also is difficult to find the time to cook from scratch all the time. I've started buying whole grain and wheat pastas and we're trying to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, but that gets pricey too. We have to limit ourselves to baby carrots, apples, and bananas. Then I just use frozen veggies for dinners. I did splurge this week and bought a few mangoes, which Zeke really liked. Ahhh, the plight of the working mother again. I hope you all are warm and cozy. We are doing our best to stay that way. (Kristen if there are any spelling errors, I blame blogspot because their spellcheck tool is not working.)

ARGGH!

As if motivating children to read and write were not hard enough, Soulja Boy has come out with a song about getting all F's and then taking his report card to his teacher and saying, "Put some D's on it." At the end he says something like, "I was just kidding I got all A's. Stay in school!" Which really does not delete the rudeness and disrespect he paid to teachers and the fact that it is the very end and most of the song is "Put some D's on it." The 20 seconds where his message is a good one will be forgotten. This just really gets my goat! He creates one song with a cute little dance and disgusting double meaning lyrics and he is a hit. Maybe I need to start creating cute little dances and my students achievement will be higher. However, the unfortunate thing is that parent involvement is the number one factor in student achievement world wide and we just don't have it at our school. Our parents are just trying to make ends meet and working all sorts of jobs and do not have the time to sit down with their child to help with homework or volunteer at school. Don't get me wrong, some do and I applaud them. I have seen this first hand. At our school students are leveled by reading level and the teachers of the higher students see more parents for conferences. It is not just an odd coincidence. I wish there would be some sort of reform to help these parents get regular jobs that makes them able to provide for their families, while being there to support their children. I know that a lot of parents are stuck in a cycle of poverty, but there has to be something that can be done to assist these children. So, if there are any children that actually read this, "DON'T think that just because the dance is cool that the song is a good one and the person is someone you should listen to and trust. Try your best and work hard. Not everyone can make it by dance moves that they didn't choreograph themselves alone. (I'm willing to bet he didn't write the song himself either.)"

That concludes my rant for the month. (By the way, I have taken the Soulja Boy link off of my site. He fooled me at first too.)

Wedding and Shower preparations

This is a picture that Maya drew of her Uncle Mark and Aunt Mariella getting married.
This is Maya, the flower girl. She came up with the creative idea to cut pieces of paper to look like the petals that she will "sprinkle not throw."

The three pictures above are Maya posing in her flowergirl dress. It will probably need alterring. But, we'll wait until it is closer to the wedding.

The Invitation for the m and m theme wedding shower for my brother and his fiancee.

(wine bottle in background not included.)

I made about 4 different primary colored cards with different colored m and m's and different colored lettering.