Lots going on ...
I'm entering my 2nd trimester. If you didn't know, the actual start of the second trimester can vary between 12 weeks and 14 weeks depending on who you listen to. I've got 3 pregnancy books and they all say something different. But, at the worse-case scenario, I hit it this Friday when I hit the 14 week mark.
I've had several ultrasounds including the one at the hospital in California when I was bleeding. All have shown that things are going well. And I'm starting to feel better.
My morning (all day) sickness is mostly gone. I still get waves of nausea every now and then - mostly triggered by a strong smell - but it is becoming quite rare. I'm still tired. Not NEARLY as exhausted as I was, but still would love a nap every day.
Since I'm still tired - my house is still a wreck! It is messy! The kids pick up NOTHING, and their crap gets spread from one end of the house to the other. THIS is the weekend when I "fix" that. Of course I made that same promise to myself the last two weekends and ended up napping instead. But, I've got to get a handle on this mess or I will need a week's vacation to get the house in order. I do have a 4 day weekend coming up this weekend, so I should get a lot accomplished. I would be absolutely MORTIFIED if anyone showed up at my front door right now. Seriously. It's bad. BAD! So no one show up at my front door - I promise you it will be slammed if you do.
The kids are doing pretty well. Well, somewhat. Zachary has a sinus infection and the excess mucus stuff in his head was causing him to cough and then gag, and then vomit. He was sent home twice last week (therefore I had to miss work) because of it. I took him to the doctor, and sure enough, sinus infection. Hopefully that will clear soon.
They are slowly adjusting to their new school. Both are still struggling some in math because they skipped a year of math skills. They are both on academic probation (means that they HAVE to bring up their math grade this quarter or they are out of the school). They both got a D in math on their report card. Neither of them had ever had below a B in an academic subject (last year a C in behavior in PE kept Zachary off of the honor roll, but in general both were always on the A or A/B honor roll). It was a shock to them both. We are working to catch them up on the missed material - Zachary went from the 3rd grade math curriculum last year to 5th grade this year, and Philip went from 2nd grade to 4th grade. Skipping some important foundation skills needed for current work. Philip is getting tutoring at school (several other kids in 3rd grade have the same problem and they arranged for a tutor 3 days a week). 4th grade had fewer new kids, so we are on our own for tutoring. I've got something in the works though (Paula - I still need to call you back). The good thing is that this week and last week they covered material that Zachary just "gets" - very easy stuff for him that does not rely on skills he missed. That will help bring up his grade. He's GOT to do better this nine weeks.
I've talked to several parents of kids who moved into the magnet school system 'later' (not in pre-k/K/1st) and have heard the same story over and over again. That made me feel better. We talked to a parent one day that had the same thing with her child at their school last year. A lady at my dentist office was complaining that her daughter is failing 8th grade math (a 7th grader) after having never had below an A in any subject. She is failing and very depressed about it. Another lady was in the office last week when I was there, and asking about awards day. The secretary asked her if her daughter was on the honor roll, and she replied "every quarter, every year, until she came to this school", and then laughed. I laughed and told her that it made me feel better to hear that from other parents.
Honestly, I'm a little surprised that the school system doesn't have a program in place to help kids who jump into the system mid-stream. They know that these kids are jumping ahead, on top of being thrown into a system where they work harder and faster than the schools they are coming from. I realize that WE made the choice to apply to the magnet school - and were looking for a challenge. The kids are being challenged and working harder than ever. But it is a big transition. The 3rd grade teachers got together and worked out a solution for their students, but I know from talking to so many others that this is common. I guess as involved parents who care about our kids education, it is our job to address the problem - and we are.
We are still planning to go camping for Thanksgiving. I've GOT to get an air mattress. I've never used one when camping - making sure the tent site is flat (and free of tree roots) and having a good sleeping bag was enough . But I'll be 18 weeks pregnant and am already having a hard time getting comfortable in bed at night. I NEED it. I need to get to work on planning my menu. I've given it some thought, but not planned it out as well thoroughly. I also need to go through our camping gear to make sure anything damaged by Katrina is replaced, that everything is in working order, and organized. But, really, I've GOT to clean my house first. It would be poor prioritization to organize that stuff in the garage before dealing with the messes in the house.
I guess my 4 day weekend won't be as relaxing as I thought ....
