A little Fall, y'all

I love fall. It is my favorite time of year by far. Here are a few things I love...


My little snack mix of candy corn and dry roasted peanuts--an awesome combination of salty and sweet.


My fall wreath on the door. (I'm not a big wreath person, but I do put one out for fall and Christmas.)


My little yellow mum hanging by the entry way.


My Pumpkin Pie Yankee Candle.

All I need is a Starbuck Caramel Apple Spice and a Paula Deen pumkin gooey cake...

Maybe a Weekend Blogger

I'm thinking I might just have to do my blogging on the weekends.

School + motherhood=very exhausted person

During the week, I feel so rushed that by the time I have a moment to sit down, I'm so tired I just want to go to bed.

This week was a doozy. First, I was beyond tired from Elmo Live on Sunday. (I was too tired to eat my dinner. If you know how much I love food, then you know I was really tired.) I already had a busy week that included meetings, lots of grading and class prep, and an honor roll party I was in charge of that was for 150 students. Then, on Monday, I received an email reminder that it was my week to do "teacher appreciation snacks" for Amelia's daycare teachers. And while that may not sound like a big deal, let's just call it what it is: a competition between the mothers to see who can produce the best tasting snacks presented in the cutest way possible.

I hate that kind of stuff.

Anyway, I produced an acceptable basket, I think, and now my turn is done for the year. Thank goodness.

So all that was going on, and the rain just seemed to exacerbate everything. It was a week I was glad to put behind me.

Other than that, school is going very well, knock on wood. We've had a nice weekend (well, except for Darryl, who is still very unhappy about FSU's loss), and I'm currently experiencing that Sunday-afternoon depression that comes with the realization that a full school week lies ahead. And it isn't really the teaching part I dread; it's the getting up early, fixing the lunches, and rushing through the routine that wears and tears.

Alas...

Sesame Street Live!!

Last Sunday, Darryl and I took Amelia to a matinee of Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Green Thumb. This was our first attempt taking Amelia to anything like this, and I consider it a success.

First, Darryl, who is extremely wrapped around his girl's finger, got tickets on the 3rd row. We both figured that if the action was too far away from Amelia, she would lose interest quickly.

She seemed to really enjoy it. She was either wide-eyed with interest, pointing and babbling to one thing and then another, or else she was dancing and jumping up and down.

I didn't get any great pics because the child would not stop moving the entire time. Here's a pic a tried to get with her in front of Elmo at the merchandise booth, but I couldn't get her to stop looking at Elmo long enough to look at me:

Darryl even tried to get a pic of both of us with Elmo, but you see who was the object of her affection:

Watching the action...

This next photo makes me laugh. The character Zoe came down to our row and approached Amelia. Amelia went to her (this is totally not something she gets from me, as I still have a phobia of life-sized costumed characters), but she was a little shy. I love the hand behind her back as Zoe left.


I do actually have a few photos with Amelia's face in them. :) This one is my favorite; I think it was taken before the show actually started.

We had lots of fun, and I look forward to doing this kind of stuff with Amelia in the future!

This little obsession hobby of mine

I've mentioned once or twenty times on this blog that I love scrapbooking. Love it.

At the end of last school year, after a horrible week that capped off a pretty yucky year, Darryl surprised me by registering me for the Creative Escape scrapbooking retreat in Phoenix, Arizona. That's right. Arizona. When Darryl decides he wants to give a great surprise, he does it right!

The retreat is held at Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort, and it feels like it is in the middle of the desert. Bazzill Basics paper is one of the sponsors of the event, and Heidi Swapp, one of the "bigwigs" in the world of scrapbooking, is also one of the hosts and teachers at the event.

Here's the basic concept: Each attendee signs up to be in one of eight groups. There are eight classes taught by eight different teachers, and in each class, attendees make a different project, using new techniques or products to apply to scrapbooking or any other type of craft project. So over the course of two days, each attendee goes to eight classes and goes home with eight projects. We didn't really scrapbook in the traditional sense, but we were doing what they kept calling "off the page scrapbooking," which is basically a craft project that features photos, but might not be a traditional scrapbook. (If you are not remotely even interested in scrapbooking, you have probably stopped reading by now, right?)

Anyway, the retreat was three weeks ago, the last several days of August. It was wonderful. Here's a little recap of what it was all about...

I actually flew out on Wednesday evening after school. That's a story in itself because I missed my plane (technically, I wasn't there in time to get my bag checked before the flight, and since I was carrying a bag full of Exacto knives and sharp scissors, carrying it on the plane was not an option). Then I had to wait a few hours for the next flight, and then we had to wait for another hour because of lightning on the runway. I finally landed in Phoenix at about midnight Phoenix time, and as I waited for my shuttle in the wait area outside the airport, I was keenly aware that even in the late-night hours, Phoenix is HOT.

By the way, here's a photo of the view outside my room. Pretty cool, huh?


Thursday
Thursday was more of a relaxed day. I got up and had breakfast at the hotel with my friends Blayne and Mary, who had flown out there on Tuesday. Then we did a little shopping. One of the scrapbooking megastores in Phoenix sets up shop at the resort, and this little shop was almost as big as one of the places I frequently shop at here. They also had all kinds of stuff we don't get in Atlanta. I had to practice some great restraint and willpower, but I did walk away with a decent stash. I think Darryl was a little concerned when I called home that evening and said, "It was understood, wasn't it, that I would be doing some shopping while I was here...right?"

That afternoon, our last friend in our group--Cathy--joined us and we went to a trunk show where we met our teachers and looked at some of their projects just to get a sense of their personal "style." While we met all the teachers, here are the ones I liked the best:

Below is a photo of us with Tim Holtz, the lone male teacher in the group. I know the photo of us is blurry (thanks to the stranger who took our photo), but I had to include it because his class was my absolute favorite. He is pretty well-known in the scrapbooking industry because of his line of scrapbook tools and inks and such. His class was the last one we took that weekend, so we ended on a high note.

And here's the project I made in Tim's class. It's a little mini-album that is titled "Moments from the Journey." I love it.


Heidi Swapp was also great. She spoke at one of the evening events, and her class was wonderful also. I am not a big cryer, but that woman had me tearing up several times as she talked about her passion for preserving memories and showed us lots of "little moments" in her kids' lives that she had scrapbooked through the years. One of the main reasons I even started scrapbooking was to preserve little memories of Amelia that I don't want to forget, so Heidi's message really resonated with me. Anyway, here we are with her:


The other teacher whose class I really enjoyed was Heather Bailey. She has a background in fashion and is known for her great bright retro-floral fabrics and sewing patterns, but she is now breaking into the scrapbook industry. I loved her stuff, and her class was lots of fun, too.

After the trunk show was over, we had dinner at a great Mexican restaurant and then went back to the hotel to rest up for the next two days.

Friday and Saturday
These were the days we actually went to the classes. Basically, each class was an 1 hour and 45 minutes long. We'd break long enough to grab a coke or some water and head to the next class. Then we'd break for lunch and go to two more classes before going to dinner. Both evenings, there was some kind of event after dinner--Friday it was another "project" that I stayed for just part of and then left early to go to bed, and the next evening it was a big celebration with lots of door prizes and a keynote speaker. It was a fun evening that capped off a wonderful weekend.

I also really enjoyed the time I spent with my friends. I knew Blayne pretty well before we went, but Mary and Cathy were more like acquaintances who I feel I can truly call "friends" now. Great ladies, great fun, great time!

Am I the Only Teacher Who...

...periodically asks herself if her students are learning anything?

...sometimes wonders if she understands the material enough to teach it effectively?

...questions if her essay grading is really fair and not some arbitrary mark on a paper?

...takes forever grading things and never seems to catch up?

...feels as though her lesson plans are stale?

Please tell me I'm not the only one!

(Can you tell I've had a rough teaching day?)

What's New With Amelia

I thought I'd share some Amelia cuteness with you.

First, here's a pic from a day when someone at her daycare managed to get her hair into a ponytail. I can never get her to stay still long enough to do anything with her hair besides put a bow on one side.



I could have cropped this picture below, but I wanted you to see how Amelia's toys have taken over the house. I was always one of those people who swore my living room would still look like an "adult" living room when I had kids. Hahahaha! Because we are a little cramped for space, we decided to turn our used-maybe-twice-a-year dining room into more of a play area for Amelia so our guest room could once again have a real bed in it instead of a sofa bed.


Here she is doing a little dance to Sesame Street:

And here she is, just running around the living room. Just a typical afternoon in the life of Amelia.

Indoctrination: Are You Kidding Me?

My AP students were assigned this book by M@lcolm Gl@dwell to read over the summer.When they returned to school, they had rave reviews for the book, some students even giving it such praise as, “This is one of the best books I’ve ever read!”While not everyone agreed wholeheartedly with Gl@dwell’s point—that the success of a person is based on much more than that one person’s efforts and motivation—the students still loved it.

At the beginning of our second day of discussion of the book, I showed a short video clip of an interview Gl@dwell had with Anderson Cooper. In the video clip, Gl@dwell hails Obama as an “outlier” and criticizes a comment Jeb Bush made once that he is a “self-made man.”(It should be noted that Gl@dwell doesn’t believe in anyone being “self-made”; his book argues the whole “it takes a village” premise.) After showing that clip, several of my students, convinced Gl@dwell is an Obama supporter, declared they no longer liked the book.

Are you kidding me?

Several days later, my colleagues and I got into a discussion in the teachers’ lounge about how we have fallen into this rut, for lack of a better word, where we can no longer have enlightened discussions in the classroom and discuss issues without misinformed opinions and bias. People are labeled either “liberal” or “conservative,” and if someone falls into the category different from what we are, we have no interest in what that person has to say.It’s frustrating to me as both a teacher in the classroom and a citizen in this country.

I was disappointed in those few AP students because I was hoping they would be, well, more enlightened. A book they had been raving about minutes before had suddenly fallen from grace because of the perceived “liberal” views of the author.

But after spending some time on Facebook last night, I realize I shouldn’t have been surprised by my students’ response to Gl@dwell. The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. My students are merely reiterating what their parents are saying at home.

I am frustrated/perplexed/annoyed by the reaction to the Obama’s upcoming address to our nation’s students. I saw statuses and comments along the lines of, “If my child’s school is airing that on Tuesday, my kid is going to be ‘sick’ that day.” I even saw one comment on a friend’s page (the comment was made by a “friend” of my “friend) that compared this to Hitler’s indoctrination of Germany’s youth.

Are you kidding me?

What do these parents think Obama is going to say? “Okay, kids, when you go home today, tell your parents that you want universal healthcare.” Perhaps “When your parents are asleep tonight, whisper in their ear, ‘More government! More government!’” or better yet, “Socialism! Socialism!”

Obama is supposed to talk about the importance of education, hard work, and perseverance. In all honesty, I think that is a message that all students can benefit from. I think of my 3rd period class; two-thirds of them (at least) come from disadvantaged homes. I’m also thinking about my minority students who probably don’t feel inspired by me (although I try!), but could possibly be inspired by a President who shares their race.

Ironically enough, many of these same parents who are threatening to keep their kids home are also arguing that the Obama speech is a waste of instructional time. So…giving up twenty to thirty minutes for a speech is a waste of instructional time, but keeping a perfectly well student at home for the whole day isn’t?

I have never stated my political preference here. For the most part, it is because I don’t think it matters. The bottom line is that regardless of whom I voted for in the last election—regardless of whom anyone voted for—the man who was elected President deserves respect for his position. He deserves to have an audience. To dislike Obama and his views is fine; we are all free to our opinions. But to boycott a speech about the importance of education simply because he isn’t your presidential choice? What is that teaching our children?

Basically, it is teaching them intolerance. Disrespect for opposing viewpoints. Closed-mindedness. I fear the rut I mentioned earlier is only going to get deeper, wider.

I’m one hundred percent for standing up for one’s beliefs. I’m also one hundred percent for being respectful. I’m one hundred percent for having different views from those of the President of the United States. But I also believe in hearing the message first before becoming paranoid about secret agendas and indoctrination of youth.

And frankly, if the youth I teach are indoctrinated to work hard in school and stay the course, that’s okay with me.

(FYI—Now that I have stepped down from my soapbox…My intent is not to offend anyone. It’s just that I really cannot believe the ridiculous things I’ve heard about this. I’m still reeling from the comparison to Hitler…)

In the words of Pink...

..."Please, please don't leave me."

I promise I will blog again. I actually have stuff to blog about. Right now, though, I'm making "Blueberry Yum-Yum" to take to a teacher potluck tomorrow (we have a half day, thank goodness).

So come back this weekend. I'll have a blog post waiting for you.

And now a little about school

School is still going well.

I'm teaching 11th grade all day. This is new. In the past, I've either had a 12th/11th split or a 10th/11th split, but I'm teaching American Lit in some form or fashion all day now. That's fine with me. I think I'm an "American-ist" at heart when it comes to literature.

I'm teaching three preps for the first time, too: AP Language and Comp/American Lit (a new course for me), Honors American Lit (another new course--new entirely to our school), and College Prep (a.k.a. "regular") American Lit. (Ironically, the students in College Prep are the least likely to go to college. Gotta love education rhetoric.)

I think teaching AP is the kick in the pants I needed to put some more passion into my teaching. I think I kind of lost it last year because last year was so difficult for many reasons, but I'm really working hard to meet the needs of these extremely bright students. I taught them all last year as 10th grade honors students, and I'm thrilled to get to teach them again. They're a good group of kids. If I had one complaint, it would be that the class is too big for AP (26 kids), and because the kids already knew me, there was already this air of familiarity with me...not the typical first-of-the-year nervousness and quietness that accompanies truly "new" classes. They tend to get off track frequently, but fortunately, they will eventually get back on. They're fun. And nerdy. I love nerds.

I'm less than thrilled with my Honors kids so far. I like them, but goodness, they got really lazy over the summer. I guess I just need to whip them into shape.

And the "regulars"...look, y'all. I have one class that is just sad. The kind of "bless their hearts" sad. The other two regular classes I have are pretty good--good attitudes, good natured.

I'm pretty optimistic about the year. I really need a good teaching year because frankly, by the end of last year, I was emailing Darryl articles to support the notion that I could be a stay-at-home mom. (In all reality, I don't think I could be one. But that's another blog post.)

On a somewhat school-related note...I took Amelia to her first football game last night. She was very good. Fortunately, my friend Sheri and her kids sat nearby, and Amelia played with their toys. But Amelia watched the game some, clapped when everyone else did, and danced a little to the music. I think she enjoyed it!

Dear Goodness!!

I have been a horrible blogger. But here is my reason/excuse:

I'm tired, y'all.

The kind of tired you feel in your bones.

So when my choice has been to blog or to go to bed, I've chosen the bed. No offense.

Since school started two weeks ago, every day just seems to be cycle of continuous activity. Here's my day:

4:30--Alarm clock beeps. I hit snooze twice.

4:45-ish--I get up, grab a cup of coffee, check email. Maybe have to finish up packing lunches.

Before 5:10--shower, wash hair, straighten it (men, you just don't understand), etc.

6:00--fix Amelia's waffle to take to school, pack her bag for the day, haul stuff to the car.

6:10--wake up Amelia, give her a sippy cup of milk while I dress her (sometimes Darryl steps in and does this if I'm running late. I usually do the morning stuff for her and he does the evening stuff. Usually.)

6:25--get in the car and head out

6:50--arrive at daycare and get Amelia situated

7:00--arrive at school

7:15--first period (my planning period). Grade papers and run copies for the day.

8:12-2:30--teach American lit. All. Day. Long. Somewhere in there I have 20 minutes to eat lunch.

2:30-4:45--lesson planning, grading

4:50--pick up Amelia

5:30--arrive home and start preparing dinner or preparing to go out to dinner

6:45--dinner done (usually), play time with Amelia, clean kitchen

7:20--start bathtime ritual with Amelia (if Darryl does this instead, I go to the gym or work on school stuff)

8:00--put Amelia to bed

8:01--begin packing lunches, do things around the house, work on school stuff, do laundry, load the dishwasher, fix sippy cups for the next day--all this stuff seems to take until 10:00 at least.

10:30 or later--go to bed

And the next day I get up and do it all over again. I know my schedule isn't any more hectic than any other working mom's, but I AM TIRED. I think the whole getting-into-the-groove-of-school thing is still going on. The past two weeks have also involved lots of beginning-of-school work: curriculum maps (ugh!) and finishing up summer reading books and making tests for those. (Our school is requiring summer reading for everyone for the first time this year, so we're giving the students a 2-week grace period to get the book read.)

But school is good. I really have one class (so far, knock on wood) that I dread, but at least the class is small. Eighteen knuckleheads are better than 28 knuckleheads. I have lots to discuss as far as school goes, but I'm just happy to have a post on my blog. Maybe some time this week I can elaborate on some other things going on.

Edited to add--I feel I should say in all my "oh, I'm so tired and busy" that Darryl DOES help me. Cleaning isn't his forte (sorry, honey...I have to call you out on that one), but he often helps with dinner and watches Amelia for me when I need to get something done. Usually he gives her a bath. Sometimes he does the dishwasher stuff and fixes sippy cups. I just didn't want you to think he was sitting on a satin pillow eating bonbons while I flittered about.

If it isn't apparent from my lack of blogging...

...school is keeping me busy, busy, busy. I will try to blog soon, within the next day or two.

So far, things are going well...just hectic. I haven't fallen off the planet, though.

Farewell, Summer. It was nice knowing you.

So today was my official last day of summer vacation. It was a good day, complete with lunch with Darryl and a fun time with Amelia at the indoor inflatable playground. She had a blast, and so did I.

I'm sad to say goodbye to summer because truly, this summer was great. I was able to visit some friends, take Amelia on various adventures--to the beach, to playdates, to inflatable playgrounds, to birthday parties--and I was even able to have some "me" time to scrapbook or chill out. I saw Jersey Boys with my mom, had a couple of date nights with Darryl, and read some good books.

I really have enjoyed Amelia this summer. Last summer was nice, but now she is able to do more things, and that's been fun. Sure, there were some hairy days in there where we both thought we would lose our minds, but I really am going to miss seeing her as much as I have the past couple of months. She is growing up way too fast, but I'm enjoying her personality so much.

So goodbye, Summer 2009. It was fun!

The Last Week...of Summer (sniff!)

I didn't post last week because, frankly, I wasn't in the mood. Here' s the rundown of how I spent the last official week of my summer:

Monday--Attempted to buy classroom supplies with a not-so-cooperative Amelia. Watched The Bachelorette finale. (I was pleased with the outcome. Don't judge me for watching that show.)

Tuesday--Worked on school stuff in my classroom while Amelia was with her sitter, Alisha.

Wednesday--Had a playdate with a "kind of" new friend, Sophia. (To make a long story short...Sophia's mom (Michelle) and I have been running into each other in various places--the pediatrician's office, church, and even a unbeknownst-to-us mutual friend's birthday party--so we finally decided to get the girls together. We went to another inflatable bouncy playground and had a great time!

Thursday--Went to the pool. Went to Open House at Amelia's daycare. She's moving to the 2-year-old room even though she won't be two until November. It made me a little sad.

Friday--Had to go back to work so I could be available to help/answer questions for three new teachers in our English Department. Luckily, they were pretty low-maintenence, and I got lots of work done.

Saturday--Met Darryl's Uncle George and cousin Camille at Mary Mac's for lunch. They were in town because George was picking up Camille from a ballet academy that she had been attending for several weeks this summer.

Sunday--Church. Shopping. (Scored some great deals at Old Navy, of all places. I haven't bought anything for me there in a while.)

Thanks to the state-imposed furlough days that Georgia teachers are required to take, we won't be returning to school tomorrow as originally scheduled, so technically, I have one more day off. (Technically, I have two because we are off Thursday as well...the day before school starts! Don't get me started on that one...) Anyway, tomorrow I plan to hang out with Amelia and do something fun with her.

I might have to do a "Farewell, Summer" post tomorrow...it's really been a good break for me.

Another Day, Another Slide

Before I get into today's "slide" adventure, I have to show you this pic of Amelia form this morning. My cousin bought this Florida State dress for her about a year ago, and Amelia is now big enough to wear it. And I think Amelia looks pretty cute in it, even if it isn't an LSU dress:


That is, by the way, her new "cheese" pose. I'm not sure where she got the idea to cock her head sideways, but she's workin' it.

This afternoon we decided to take Amelia back to the cool toy store, but this time, we also let her go next door to the inflatable jumpy playground. (I have no idea what it is called for real.) She wasn't too sure at first, but it wasn't long before she wanted to slide. And because it was such a big slide, Darryl or I had to help her climb the ladder and slide down. Here are Darryl and Amelia sliding; you can kind of get an idea for how big this slide was:
And here I am with her. My eyes are closed and Amelia is wide-eyed and smiling:
At the bottom, I look relieved and Amelia looks drunk from the fun:

Then Girlfriend got brave and did it on her own. We just let her do it solo one time. Figured we shouldn't press our luck:

Okay, I'll be honest...Darryl totally decided to let her go on her own when they got to the top. I would have been too chicken. I was waiting to see the two of them through the view finder on my camera, and then I was so shocked to see Amelia by herself that I almost forgot to shoot.

Anyway, we had fun. She is such a daredevil. Again...another trait she did NOT inherit from me. :)

(And I apologize if I just bored you to tears with pictures from our inflatable slide adventure; it's been a slow news day.)

Bella's Birthday Party

Today Amelia went to her friend Bella's birthday party. At home, we hear Bella's name a lot, I guess because it is easy for Amelia to say. When she gets on her play cell phone, she starts her conversation with, "Bella? Hey!!!" then babble babble babble. It's probably just a hint of what's to come in her teen years.

ANYWAY...

Bella had a super-cool water slide/pool set up in her yard, and Amelia loved it. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after just a few pictures, but I did get this action shot:

(But let me tell you, after this party, I was worn out. Worn. Out. And I wasn't even hosting it.)

Books, TV, Music, and Toy Stores

I think I've started several blog posts in the past week and never finished them. It's as though I don't have the gumption or the focus to finish one post. So here it is, all put in one post, with little snippets of everything.

Books
I've read two books "for fun" over the summer. Only two, because Amelia keeps me so busy that I might manage to hold my eyes open to read for twenty minutes before falling asleep at night.

I read My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I thought I wanted to see the movie, but when I heard the movie ending was not the same as the book's, I figured I'd wait to see it on DVD. Anyway, of the few Picoult books I've read, this one was my favorite.


The other book I read, oddly enough, was Getting a Grip, the autobiography of Monica Seles. Darryl picked this one up at an airport when he was traveling, and he thought I'd like it. He was right! Even if you aren't a tennis fan (and I'm not), her story of her rise to fame and her emotional, physical, and mental struggles after her stabbing was very interesting, real, and inspiring. Even more impressive is the fact that she wrote it herself...and it's good! I think I'm definitely going to keep put this on my classroom bookshelf; even my students who aren't "readers" might like it.

TV
My two guilty pleasure TV shows this summer have been The Bachelorette and Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. I should be ashamed, but I can't tear myself away!

Music
I recently discovered a satellite radio station I love: XM 51, The Coffeehouse. It's lots of different artists playing mostly acoustic arrangements. I don't know if it's just me, but I'm not liking a lot of the Top 40 right now. Wow, that makes me feel old, like I'm somebody's MawMaw saying, "I don't like that racket the young people call music these days." Oh, well. It is what it is.

Toy Stores
Needing to buy a birthday present for a 2-year-old's party tomorrow, I took Amelia with me to a toy store a friend told me about. It was so cool...the store had lots of toys set up for kids to play with. They even had chairs for the adults to sit in while the kids played. I wish we had found this place at the beginning of the summer because there's nothing like indoor, air-conditioned, free fun! (Of course, I also think that when she is old enough to start begging for toys, this might not be the best place to go!)

Here's Amelia picking something off the shelf to put in her already-full grocery cart:

Amelia's fun with the grandparents

First of all, these last few weeks of summer have been flying by; it does not seem like almost a week has gone by since my last post. I mean, seriously. This isn't fair.

My parents came up this past weekend for their Amelia fix. Darryl and I, as a result, were able to have a couple of child-free outings. Friday night, we went to see The Hangover after several people told us how hilarious it was. Was it funny? Sure. But I think it was one of those situations where everybody went on and on about it so much that our expectations were really high, so we were a bit disappointed. It was still fun to go to the movies, though. Saturday, we looked at some houses for sale in the area (we haven't sold our house, mind you--we just wanted to see what our "price range" could get us), browsed in some stores, and had dinner. It was nice.

Well, back to Amelia and the grandparents. While we were having our fun Saturday afternoon/evening, the grandparents took Amelia to Bass Pro Shop to look at the big fish tank. They also rode a carousel, had chocolate ice cream, and ate at Five Guys Burgers & Fries. They said Amelia was a perfect angel through all that. I hope so! Of course, I'm sure she was having a blast!
It was a good weekend!

Just a breath away from a minivan

Last week felt like a real "mom" week to me. Saturday, Amelia went to a birthday party for a boy in her daycare class, and that, combined with the "playdate," just made feel like it was the official start to many years of playdates and birthday parties. And, lo and behold, when I checked my email last night...Amelia had another birthday party invite!

I hope this doesn't read as a complaint, because it's not. I'm actually enjoying all this. (I'm sure that in the future, when we have three birthday parties to go to in one day, I might be a little tired of it, but so far it's fun.)

At the party Saturday, the cake consisted of a chocolate layer and a yellow layer. Amelia ate the chocolate and left the yellow. As much as Amelia looks like Darryl and acts like Darryl, I think she has my food tastes. (Except I would have eaten both layers, but I would have much preferred the chocolate!)

Ha!

Amelia's playdate

Amelia had her first "official" playdate today. We went to her friend Tanner's house. Tanner is a girl in her class at daycare, and her mom is a teacher in our English department. It was lots of fun to see the girls play together.

They really enjoyed playing on this slide. I think they spent close to two hours on this. Amelia showed Tanner how she prefers to go down the slide:
They also just enjoyed standing on the top, stomping their feet and giggling:


They also read books. After all, they are the daughters of English teachers.
Another activity they enjoyed was chasing each other while squealing. It was cute, even if it was tough on the ears.

We had a great time! And Amelia was asleep after about five minutes in the car. :)

"Hello, my name's Amelia, and I like to do drawings"

This was what happened when I was trying to cook dinner the other night and I let Amelia play in the living room. I thought we had confiscated all the crayons. Oops.

Thank goodness crayon wipes off easily. :)

The Fourth

Is it just me, or is having the Fourth of July fall on a Saturday completely confusing? I thought yesterday was Saturday, and I thought today felt like Friday...I'm just lost, I guess.

Last night (the 3rd), we took Amelia to see some fireworks. I'm not going to lie. I like some fireworks. (I'd like to clarify, though, that I'm not a big fan of backyard fireworks, which is apparently what our neighbors are enjoying as I type. Sheesh.)

Anyway, the weather last night was PERFECT. A couple of times, it felt downright chilly. Why can't the weather be like this every evening in the summer? Here's Amelia hanging out before the big show:


I also want to show you this picture:
I want you to notice that Amelia, completely uncoached by me or anyone else, already knows how to eat an Oreo. Sometimes she gets the filling with her teeth and sometimes with her finger, but she knows that you eat that goodness first before eating the cookie. Smart cookie!! (I know. I know.)

Today, we went to a parade. Darryl will never let me live it down because it was my idea to go, and it was pretty awful. It was long and drawn out, and it was pretty much an opportunity for politicians to shake hands and for businesses to advertise. Let me give you a sampling of today's festive parade:
Yes, folks, we had men dressed as Confederate soldiers waving Confederate flags. Because nothing says "Let's celebrate freedom" like the rebel flag.

And then there was this festive float. I think it speaks for itself.

But here's my girl, being a pretty good sport despite the dismal showing of floats and entertainment in the parade. A small football landed in her stroller, so that provided her some entertainment. (Please forgive me for the patriotic dress. Part of the fun in having a girl is dressing her up from time to time. And she rocked this dress, y'all.)

Well, as I typed this post, I just listened to Neil Diamond sing "America," so I guess my 4th is now complete. (I also think I freaked Darryl out a bit when it got to the "Today!" part and I joined in...because how can anyone stay silent when Neil gets to that part of the song???)

A sign

Feeling drained from the heat today, I decided that what I really wanted for lunch was a small Chick-fil-a milkshake. Yes, it's high in calories, fat, and all that other yummy stuff, but it was going to be my meal, so that assuaged some of the guilt. Well, when I got to the counter, I had a last-minute change of heart and ordered a "traditional" lunch of nuggets in fries. But when I got my lunch, I realized it wasn't really what I wanted, and I barely ate any of it.

But...

When I went to pick up my car from the repair shop this afternoon, one of the mechanics asked if I liked Chick-fil-a. Then he handed me...wait for it, wait for it...a coupon for a free small milkshake!! I told Darryl it was like the milkshake gods WANTED me to have a milkshake. I happily took my coupon and cashed it in. And that milkshake was delicious.

Of course, it could have been a test of tempation.

If that was the case, I failed.

A girls' weekend in Florida

That title sounds much wilder than what it really was.

Friday, Amelia and loaded up our rented Kia Rondo (long story there) and headed to Florida to see my parents and visit with Darryl's family.

On the way down there, Amelia was PERFECT. No tears, no whines, no meltdowns. She looked at books, bopped her head along to the music, talked on her play cellphone, ate snacks, and took her shoes off and on. And she napped only 45 minutes of that 6-hour trip. We even stopped at a McAlister's Deli for lunch so we could have a break from the car, and she was even good in the restaurant!

Over the weekend, we were able to visit with family, go to a farmers' market to get some watermelons, and chase Amelia around. Seriously, the girl doesn't stop.

One of the highlights of the weekend was taking Amelia to the beach. She absolutely loved it. Here are a few of my favorite pics:
The above pic makes me laugh because Amelia loves to do this thing--in the bath or apparently at the beach, too--where she "stirs" in a container and then tastes what she is stirring. I'm not too sure what she thought about the salt water and sand mixture.


You see those seagulls? Once they discovered we had Goldfish crackers, these birds were a captive audience. They were starting to creep me out a bit. Even when we left our post to swim, they were watching us, waiting for our return. A bit Alfred Hitchcock-ish, don't you think?

Anyway. Amelia and I made our trip home yesterday. While she wasn't quite as angelic as she was Friday, she was still pretty good, considering that she's confined by a 5-point harness in a carseat that doesn't offer a whole lot of cushioning.

We had a great time!

Reasons Why I Love Sesame Street

The only TV show Amelia has shown any interest in is Sesame Street. Now, I'm not a big fan of letting the TV babysit kids, but sometimes Momma needs to take a shower. Or cook dinner. Or just sit down. In those moments, Sesame Street comes to my rescue.

Amelia's obsession began about six months ago when, on a whim, I bought the DVD Sesame Street's 25th Musical Celebration. She loved it. Then I started TiVo-ing the "real" episodes on TV. Now she comes to me with remote in hand and says, in her pitiful voice, "Elbow [Elmo]."

And let me tell you, I think Sesame Street is a great show. It's educational. It's entertaining. Here are a few reasons why I love Sesame Street:

1. I watched it when I was little, and now I find it comforting to see the same people on the show: Gordon, Luis, Maria...they're there. And they look good!!

2. I like how the show repeats letters and numbers. Heck, if Amelia is going to watch something, at least she is getting exposed to some useful things. They still do this, too: "Today's show was brought to you by the letter _____ and the number ____." Love that.

3. They get some pretty impressive celebrity guests who are often hilarious in their roles. Neil Patrick Harris shows up as a "shoe fairy." (Y'all, he might have come out of the closet, but I've had a thing for him since he was Doogie.) Brian Williams is too, too funny as a newscaster reporting how everyone on Sesame Street has a case of the "mine-itus" and won't share. Kristin Chenoweth (love her!) plays Mr. Noodle's sister in the segment "Elmo's World." Ben Stiller, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kim Catrall (that last one surprised me) have shown up on the show. And Michelle Obama is currently doing a little bit before or after the show where she talks about fitness.

4. I like how the show includes kids who have disabilities. I don't know if I'm being PC in discussing this, but every episode includes these kids, often in scenarios where they are playing with kids who don't have these obstacles. I feel I should say something more profound about that, but I just think it is cool.

5. Many of the songs are the same songs I loved growing up. And I don't know why it is, but a lot of the slower songs have melodies that make me want to cry. When Burt sings "Imagination" or Ernie sings "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon," I seriously feel like I could boo hoo. Why is that??

So that's my little Sesame Street tribute. For the record, I hope Amelia never discovers Barney. He drives me nuts. I haven't really tried The Wiggles. Any thoughts on them?

For now, though, I give Sesame Street a mom's thumbs up! For your viewing pleasure, I leave you with NPH as the Shoe Fairy. Enjoy!

Father's Day Weekend and Waterslides

Y'all, I love water slides. I don't care that I'm 35 years old. I'm excited that having a child now gives me permission to ride waterslides again like I'm twelve years old. Let me clarify...Amelia hasn't been down any waterslides and isn't going down any in the near future, but in a few years, she will.

We spent some time at the pool where we have a gym membership, and there's a cool waterslide at the pool. It's not a big one, like ones you fine at "real" waterparks, but it's enough to whet my appetite. I was hesitant to ride it because I thought it might just be for the kids, but once I saw a few adults go down it, off I went. I loved it.

And goodness, Amelia loves the pool. (For my mother...Darryl was watching her when I took a break to ride the waterslide.) My parents say that when I was little and we took family vacations anywhere, all I was interested in was the hotel pool. Forget sightseeing--I just wanted to swim. I think Amelia might be the same way. The only not fun part is the meltdown that ensues when we leave. :)

We had a good Father's Day weekend. We mostly hung around the house except for pool time. We ate most of our meals here, which is actually kind of unsual for us. (We typically go out on the weekends.) I'm also hoping that eating at home more will help in my effort to lose a few pounds, ahem.

Anyway....

Busy, Yet Uneventful

This week has been a weird week of sorts. I feel like it has been pretty busy, but at the same time, I don't have much to report. Here are a few tidbits:

Amelia went an extra day to daycare this week. She typically goes Tuesdays and Thursdays, but she went Monday this week as well because we got a call Sunday night that someone wanted to look at our house Monday afternoon. (Our house has been for sale for a while...don't know if I mentioned that on the blog or not. We're not leaving the area; we're just running out of room!) Our house wasn't in "house showing" condition, so I took Amelia to daycare so I could do some heavy-duty de-cluttering. I'll fast-forward to the end of the story and let you know that the couple decided our house was too small. Bummer, but not surprising.

I've also been continuing with the sleep training. If you are a Facebook friend, you already know how it's been going, but if you're not...

--the first night took an hour and a half
--the second night took 20 minutes
--the third night took 5 minutes
--the fourth night took...no time

I'm pretty shocked. Honestly, I was mentally prepared for this to be a month-long battle. The real test came last night when Darryl was left at home with her while I had dinner with a friend of mine. (I had put her to bed every night so far.) She only cried a few minutes, Darryl said, and then went to sleep. I don't know that we've reached the finish line yet, but I'm at least convinced she has the ability to do it. Naps haven't gone as well, but we're getting there.

And between all of that, I was able to fit in a little scrapbooking (I know I was going to take a week off, but oh well), a lunch date with Darryl, a little shopping, ice cream with Amelia at Bruster's, and a little more cleaning.

So there you have it...not exactly a super-exciting week, but a full one nonetheless.

The Weekend...and Turning a Corner

This past weekend my friend Casi came to visit. We pretty much shopped, scrapbooked, ate, shopped, scrapbooked, and ate. And ate. And scrapbooked.

It really was a fun weekend. Amelia hung out with us some of the time and was (fortunately) well behaved, but I really appreciate Darryl for keeping her some of the time so I could have some "girl time."

And while I have enjoyed scrapbooking, I think I'm taking a week-long hiatus from it. I really need to get some stuff done at the house.

Tonight was a big night in the area of parenting...we made Amelia get herself to sleep. I've been rocking Amelia every night, and while I have enjoyed that time with her, it was getting to where it was taking an hour or so a night to get her to sleep. So after reading a book on this (a book that I actually agreed with, but can't remember the title of at the moment) and getting a big "you can do it" from the nurse practitioner we see at the pediatrician's office (I love her...if you've ever watched Everybody Loves Raymond, she reminds me of Robert's wife, Amy), I actually made it to "the end" tonight--it took her an hour and a half to get to sleep. My book (and the NP) told me to stick my head in every 15 minutes and speak to her in a soothing voice, but that seemed to make her madder, so I pretty much left her alone. She was actually calm a good bit of the time with a few screaming outbursts here and there. So, whew. I hope we get this knocked out by the end of the week.

I'll keep you posted.

24+ Hours

The last 24-plus hours have been slightly rough.

Yesterday
First, you need some background info for this to make sense. I'm going to 'fess up and admit that twice a month, a lady comes to my house and cleans it. Yes, I know that money could go somewhere else. Yes, I know I'm capable of cleaning a house. But about a month before Amelia was born, I made a hormonally-charged, tearful plea to Darryl that I really wanted someone to come in every other week because, as a working mom, I didn't want to spend my weekends mopping floors but would rather spend them with my daughter. And because no one should ever say no to a crying pregnant woman, Darryl agreed, and thus we hired this woman to clean our house twice a month.

Okay, so yesterday was house cleaning day. I never like to be home on those days because I feel awkward, so I took Amelia to daycare and then went to the scrapbooking studio and scrapped my heart out.

I picked up Amelia, and because Darryl was having dinner with one of his best friends who happened to be in town for a business trip, I grabbed Chick-fil-a drive thru and headed home.

When I went to unlock the door, I realized I had the wrong set of keys and that the cleaning lady had uncharacteristically locked the deadbolt. (I later realized that her daughter had actually cleaned our house that day, thus the deadbolt issue.) I called Darryl to see where he was, and of course he was dining about 10 exits down the highway. Awesome.

So I got back in the car to head that way. Amelia, who was not thrilled to be back in the car, began Meltdown #1.

The one fortunate thing in this whole debacle is that I made the super-mom choice of waffle fries for her CFA kids' meal (I usually try to force the whole fruit cup thing), and I was able to pass chicken nuggets and fries to her in the back seat. She was a little happier after a full belly.

I made it to where Darryl was and he gave me the key. Amelia realized that Daddy was not going to be joining us, and this began Meltdown #2.

People, there's nothing like a meltdown in rush hour traffic. There just isn't.

Anyway, we finally reached home. And Amelia took her sweet time falling asleep at bedtime.

Exhuasted, I decided to go to bed early, and I was OUT in probably five minutes. I was so out that I wasn't thinking when I locked the deadbolt.

I was awakened at midnight by a loud knocking on the window beside our bed. It is a miracle I didn't have a heart attack. It was Darryl, who had tried knocking on the door. I had locked him out because, you know, I had his key.

Today
Today I took Amelia to her 18-month appointment since she's going to be 19 months in two days. Anyway...

Darryl usually goes to these "milestone checkups" with me, but I had heard there was only one shot involved in this one (but there were two!), so I told Darryl he could bypass this one.

What a mistake.

I was hoping that by having a morning appointment, we wouldn't have to wait, but I was wrong. When we finally got in, I had to answer a million and one questions about Amelia's development: Does she throw a ball? Does she mimic sounds? Does she show affection? Does she take off her clothes? And on and on and on...

My favorite part is always the measurements. Apparently Amelia is tall. Really tall. Over 99th percentile for height. I'm sure I sound like one of "those" parents when I say I hope the girl can dribble a basketball. :)

All was going well until I was told that they would do a vision screening. I took Amelia to the special room for vision screening, and I'm told by the old lady that I have to keep Amelia perfectly still. She then proceeded to stick several sensors on her head and put an eyepatch over one eye. If you have ever met Amelia, you might understand how difficult of a task it was to try to keep her still, especially with all that paraphernalia on her head. Amelia was surprisingly good to have one eye tested, but by the time the woman did the other eye, Amelia was mad. And every time she moved too much, the test would cancel out.

The woman finally gave up and said she would try again at Amelia's 2-year checkup. (And Darryl will be going with me to that one.)

And when I say Amelia was mad, I mean she was MAD. The woman gave Amelia a Barbie sticker and Amelia threw it on the floor. When we got back to the regular examining room, Amelia was in full meltdown mode. And we hadn't even had the shots yet. I'll just let you imagine how those went over. :)

Amelia has been in a bit of a funk since the vision test. She didn't nap well, and has just been sort of grumpy all day. It's been fun. Really fun.

And Tomorrow???
Um, let's hope for a better day.

Pool Time and Scrapbooking

We had a really nice, relaxing weekend. We spent a lot of time at the pool, which Amelia absolutely loved. Here are a couple of pics:



I also finished my London scrapbook today, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

And really, that's all I have to report. But at least you got some cute pics, right?

The best laid plans...

Today was another daycare day for Amelia. Even better, it was supposed to be "water day," and Amelia LOVES water. So here is Amelia all dressed for water day this morning:


I know the picture is out of focus, but if you saw all my other attempts to get her to be still--especially while trying to prevent her from having a meltdown because I wouldn't let her have my camera--you would understand why this is the best shot I have. (Is there anything cuter than a little girl in a bathing suit? I think not.)

Anyway, we were optimistic that the weather man was wrong about the rain, but this was one time he was actually right. It started raining about halfway to daycare, and Amelia never had her water day. Bummer.

I was also supposed to spend the day scrapbooking with my friend Blayne, but she had a last-minute house emergency and was able to scrapbook with me for just a couple of hours. Oh, well. I ran a few errands and scrapbooked a little. Still a good day.

And in case you are wondering, I do plan to do other things this summer besides scrapbook. I just haven't been able to do it in several months, so I'm just kind of crazy with it now. I'm almost finished with my London book, though. :)

Summer Catch-up

I know I kept you in suspense with Post-Planning Days 2 and 3, didn't I?? I'm sure you've been chompin' at the bit in anticipation.

Those last two days of post-planning included meetings, counting textbooks, and, for me, some major cleaning and organizing. Oh, and we had a somewhat awkward end-of-the-year luncheon at which people whose contracts hadn't been renewed who were not returning next year were given parting gifts. (Is it just me, or is that odd?) The program/luncheon finally ended with a nice farewell to a retiring English teacher, so at least it ended on a not-awkward note.

So far, the summer has been wonderful. Amelia and I had a great day Friday, and it involved a somewhat hilarious adventure at the playground, where I ended up chasing Amelia down a really big tunnel slide. She thought it was hysterically funny, and I just prayed I wouldn't get stuck or flash anyone.

My mom came up for the weekend because for Christmas, I gave her tickets to see the musical Jersey Boys at the Fox. While the actual gift was a long time coming, the musical was great, and my mom loved it. If you don't know...the musical is basically the story behind Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. When I was in high school, my mom took me to see the real Frankie Valli and Four Seasons, so I figured she would love the musical. And as I already said, she definitely did. I really enjoyed it, too. I'm thinking I might even put it in my Top 5.

Yesterday my mom went back home after lunch, and Amelia and I took a long nap and ran some errands.

Today I had a "me day." I'm taking Amelia to her daycare two days a week this summer. Yes, it does give me some time to get things done, but Amelia is also at the age where she really seems to enjoy being in the company of her daycare friends. She practically ran in and hugged her teacher when I dropped her off today, and then her friend Addison walked up and they jabbered at each other. Too cute.

Anyway, I ended up going to a scrapbooking studio and scrapbooked pretty much all. day. long. I have finished up the photos with Amelia's "first year book," and I even got a little bit done on my London book.

Speaking of London, I finally transferred some pics from Darryl's computer to mine. At some point this week, I'll try to post some.