The update that I didn’t finish...

So, I intended to give a little update in my last post, but it ended up just being the 'tagged' thing that I got from Gwen.

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 ....

School just back in swing, and already planning for our next big break…

Today marks the end of the first week of the new school year.  It is also the end of the kids' first week at "Metairie Academy for Advanced Studies".   I see some challenges this year, but I'm convinced that we (or they-the kids) can handle them.  Homework will be plentiful and tough.  Studying is now REQUIRED.  And behavior must be kept under control.  It's a new year…a new school...a new beginning.

One of Zachary's biggest struggles is keeping himself organized.  His backpack is always a mess of crumpled and folded papers.  His desk becomes a total disaster.  More than once last year, Chris brought him into his classroom to search for missing materials required for an assignment, and spent 15 minutes removing old un-needed papers that were crumpled and shoved into his fully packed desk.  We are trying very hard to make changes this year, including finding Zachary's organizational skills.   

For both of them, they have skated through school, making mostly A's with a few B's – without having to study or work very hard for those grades.  That doesn't happen at M.A.A.S.  You have to study.  Philip fought with me for over an hour Wednesday night about studying his spelling words.  He took the list, read it once, and told me his was done.  No son, that isn't enough - STUDY.  He told me to quiz him.  Naturally I picked the hardest two words on the list to quiz – and he got them wrong.  I sent him back to REALLY study.  You guessed it – three minutes later he's back, yet again proclaiming that he has finished!   I made him write each word ten times, which made him furious.  That was not an assigned written homework, why should he have to write the words?  In typical Philip fashion, he tries to negotiate with me … how about writing them FIVE times each, and then reading them another five times each.  No, son.  That is not what I said to do.  How about eight, then?  In the end, he wrote the words ten times each, and studied them for another 20 minutes.  But, it took over an hour to accomplish that.  It should not be such a struggle.

I'm afraid that they will learn (and in some respects already have) that they can get by with very little effort, and do 'ok'.  Last year, we told them both that B's were not acceptable.  That makes me feel like a tyrant parent.  But, they were both capable of making A's with a bit of effort (and in some subjects, with very little effort at the level they were learning at the old school).  Getting an easy B without any effort is not an earned B.  If they can get a B with no effort, I expect the effort to earn an A.  If they studied hard and struggled and ended up with a C, then I would consider a C an acceptable grade.  But they are both capable of so much more.  M.A.A.S. is a tougher school.   They will have to work hard, and B's may become perfectly acceptable for them if they work hard for them (maybe even an occasional C).  But first, they need to learn HOW to work hard.  This will be a struggle this year, I can tell.

So, as we embark on this new adventure, I'm already looking forward to the first big break from it.   And I've figured it out.  We are going camping for Thanksgiving!!   Because of a major dispute in Chris's family (and him basically now cut off from the majority of his family), for probably the first Thanksgiving in the 15 years we've been married, I will not be told where I have to be, what time to be there, and what to bring.  I get to make our plans for Thanksgiving.  And I'm going to plan to not be home.  It is really kind of funny given that for years I've dreamed of having a very quiet and simple Thanksgiving at my own house.

But, instead of the traditional Thanksgiving meal at home, we are going to go CAMPING!  Well, I guess that makes it more "traditional" than anyone in my family has ever seen.   We'll cook our Thanksgiving meal over an open fire.

Chris and I used to go camping a lot before we had kids.  We would wake up on a Friday morning, and before work decide that we would go camping for the weekend.  We'd rush home form work, throw the camping gear in the car, and drive to Grand Isle, or Hattiesburg (to a state park outside of Hattiesburg), etc.   We had our gear set that we could quickly go on a whim without the need for much preparation.   

But, since having kids we have not been ONCE.  My poor boys have been deprived of the joys found in childhood camping.  I've thought about it and talked about it, but haven't actually taken them.  I do not like camping in the summer (or southern summers anyway).  It is way too hot here to sleep inside of a tent without circulation (and air conditioning!).  I would much rather camp in October/November (sometimes even December given that we have VERY mild Decembers), or March/April. 

A lot of the gear we had was damaged in the garage (our garage had deeper water than the house, and the stuff on the bottom shelves of the camping shelving was ruined).  The tent we had was too small for a family of four.   It is time to replace it.  Some of the basic camping supplies are rather cheap, and some things we had can still be used.  Really, you don't need a TON of stuff to camp anyway.  

Thanks to a birthday gift from my dad and step-mother, I've got a new tent that can sleep 10.  It's a three room cabin tent – the two outside rooms sleep 3 (2 comfortably) each, and the center sleeps four.  We'll use the two smaller rooms as 'bedrooms' – or 'sleeping bag rooms' .  The larger center room will be a 'living room', for storing gear, hanging out in case it rains or we want a place to just relax - making it the perfect "four person" tent for us.

We'll go to Paul B. Johnson State Park in Hattiesburg.  I've reserved a premium spot right next to the lake from Wednesday through Sunday.  We'll be able to fish, canoe, roast marshmallows, the works.  I may do a slow-cooked rotisserie chicken over the campfire for our 'Thanksgiving feast'.  Or I may bring along some smoked turkey drumsticks (both kids LOVE those!).  Hell, we may even catch our Thanksgiving meal and cook it over open flames – but I'll have back up food in case the fish are not biting or the kids feed bait to the branches in the water instead of actually reeling in fish.

Paul B. Johnson State Park

Near the campground is Black Creek – which runs through the DeSoto National Forest.  They have several great floats for short canoe trips.  They also have overnight trips but I would much rather have camp set up at the state park, and do a day trip than to deal with setting up camp on the bank of the creek, after paddling all day.  Depending on the water levels, we may hit the creek one day for a canoe trip, or we may just limit our canoeing to the lake inside the campground.

Black Creek Canoeing   (we've used this canoe rental place before - they are great!)

From reviewing the park's website, they have expanded some camping sites and made some improvements.  But in general it was always a very well kept state park, with lots to do (nature stuff – hiking/canoeing/etc – and a game room with a snack bar/pool tables/arcade games/etc). 

So now, even though we are only a week into school – I'm already very much looking forward to the next school break.  Only 14-1/2 weeks to go…

still on a high

Excuse me ... but I'll ramble here.  So much is going on, life seems to be spinning.  I'm trying to catch up, really I am.

 

My baby, my youngest is turning EIGHT this week.  EIGHT!!!   How can this be?  I still remember his birth like it was yesterday (well, sorta - don't ask me to recite the exact time, his exact weight, or exact length without looking at his birth certificate ... there, I said it, I'm a bad mom!).

The kids start school on Monday and I'm not ready.  School supplies are mostly done (thanks to the program at the school where I could write them a check and they provide me with a box of the required school supplies).   But I still don't have the uniform situation worked out.  We went last night and they were out of the size shirts that Philip needs.  They had a LOT of the larger shirts for their school, but were out of the smaller kids shirts.  So today I'll run to another uniform shop to look for them.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh?  But really, it snuck up on me and I've been so busy.....

Busy ... that's my excuse.

Busy with things like The Columns for drinks last night.  Or the reunion the weekend before.  Or the Farmer's Market yesterday.  Important stuff, ya' know?

Seriously, I'm still on a bit of a high from the reunion.  It was such a great time.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and that makes me happy.  Last night was a mini-reunion at The Columns and I had a few mojitos and relaxed.  It was fun. 

I haven't been cooking as much lately.  Just doing things like throwing together some grilled (ummm, by grilled I mean thin slices thrown in a hot cast iron skillet with some olive oil) eggplant, onions, bok choy, shrimp - tossing in oyster sauce/fish sauce/soy sauce/butter/brown sugar/shallots/scallions, and serving over soba noodles. 

I'm hoping to change that.  Yesterday at the Farmer's Market I got more eggplant (I think the house is getting tired of me buying/serving eggplant, but it is in season and I love it!),  tomatoes, some rosemary, and oyster mushrooms.  I don't know what I'll do with the oyster mushrooms yet.  I'm still researching and thinking. 
Speaking of cooking and food shopping .... this economy is cramping my cooking style.  I have never paid much attention to my grocery budget.  I have a long list of standard/staples that I keep in the house at all times.  I like a full pantry/fridge.  I do not plan out meals.  I like to go into the kitchen, dig around, see what I've got, see what inspires me, and throw something together - either something I've cooked before or something I make up on the spot. 

In order to do that, you really need a well stocked kitchen.   I've always got flour tortillas, corn tortillas, rice paper wraps (for spring rolls/etc).  I've always got a HUGE supply of Jasmine rice, soba noodles, bean thread noodles, rice noodles (wide and skinny).  I'm never without at least 10 kinds of cheese (an expensive habit!!), and the basic veggies: onions, more than one color bell pepper, green onions, shallots, cucumbers, celery, carrots, lettuce, radishes, mung bean sprouts, fresh cilantro and parsley, and in season-great tomatoes.   My freezer always has shrimp (size depends on what the Farmers Market has - yesterday I got BEAUTIFUL HUGE JUMBO 9-12 count shrimp), beef (roast, ground, and thin round steaks), chicken (stewing hen and smaller frying chicken, and sometimes packs of thighs)...etc.   You see how this can get expensive????   But, when I want to cook, I want to COOK! 

This week - I haven't really cooked.  We had that stir fry over soba one night, Popeyes one night, very very bad Chinese take out last night (I was going out - no time for cooking).  Hopefully tonight I'll cook a proper meal.....

Great news!

I am so excited.  I cried last night I was so excited. 

I've posted about issues with our kids' school in the past.  We have lots of them.  My kids struggle in their classes - they make A's, but get very bored, cause disruptions. 

They HATE HATE HATE the boring worksheets that are the same repetitive material all week.  Zachary's science class is doing worksheets - the same ones (new/different material each week) worksheets.  Monday is a vocabulary list of science words.  This week it is parts of a plant.  Monday was fill in the blank defintions.  Tuesday, those same words were in a "find a word" sheet.  Wednesday, it was a crossword puzzle.  Thursday it was a review worksheet, the same "study guide" fill in the blank defintions they got on Monday.  On one hand, I agree that repitition is important.  On the otherhand, sitting doing these worksheets is BORING for my kids - they aren't learning something new, and they zip through them in 3 minutes, and then have lots of time to talk and be disruptive.  They aren't challenged. 

Anyway, a while back I had posted that we had applied to the school system's "magnet" school (they said that they don't use that term), the "Academy for Advanced Studies".   They took the test for it in January.  Acceptance is based on openings available, and then test rankings.  I was worried because I had heard that 4th grade was a hard grade to enter (this year they have three 3rd grade classes and only two 4th grade classes).  They don't have another classroom to add another class, and squeezing the three 3rd grade classes into two 4th grade classes would mean if there were any openings, there were few.  I also had heard that there were very very few applications for next year's 3rd grade class. 

Given those two bits of information, I was worried that even if they both scored really well, that Philip may get in and Zachary not, because of space constraints.  And I can't have them at 2 different schools - logistically it wouldn't work. 

We got our letters yesterday.  I was on the phone with Chris when I opened them.  I cried when I read the first line of each letter to him "Congratulations, Zachary/Philip has been accepted...". 

Of course, this means that I am not buying another single uniform shirt this year, and they are starting to get holes in some of their shirts.  I commented this weekend that I needed to go get a few new uniform shirts.  Won't do that now.  They had better make the ones they have now last.  Even if it means I'm washing every night for the next day but the end of the school year.  I'll have to buy ALL new uniform shirts next year. 

I go next week to do registration.  I need to gather up the latest report cards, and their gifted program IEP's because the school wants copies of those.