Last Week

Last week was one of those weeks where everything happened at once.  I had volunteered to chaperone Mark's field trip, and the book fair came up so I signed up for two shifts of that. Not really a big deal, even when I realized they were both in the same week. Then, I suddenly realized that I also had a test on Thursday, and a paper to finish. Whew! Oh! And when I checked my Psychology syllabus I discovered that this was one of the weeks that I had to do two chapters instead of one.

It was a more than a  little overwhelming to think of all of the things I had to do, but I did it! I passed the test (89) and even got the paper turned in on Friday night so I wouldn't have to think about it over the weekend.

I kind of had expected to fall a little behind on Psychology, but I finished that work up last night. So I feel awesome about all of that.

This week is pretty low key on the school front (both the kids and mine.) Although, I do have to figure out what in the world I'm going to dress up for for my friend's halloween party. And also, I think I just remembered it is Red Ribbon Week at the elementary school, so I need to check what that means the kids need to wear or bring today. Last week was a good lesson for me that I can accomplish what I need to if I just take it one thing/day at a time. 

Observations from the 3rd Grade Field Trip

Yesterday, Mark's class went to see Jigsaw Jones at the Wesley Chapel Performing Arts Center, and I got to tag along. It was super fun!

I did come to an understanding that school buses are LOUD places.  Even well behaved children all talking at the same time can cause quite a ruckus. School bus drivers should be nominated for sainthood, because there is no way on earth I could drive under those conditions.

Teachers should also be nominated for sainthood because...well... they just should. We all know the reasons teachers are amazing, but seriously, on field trip day, it is totally amplified. All those buzzing boys and girls, excited for a break from the norm.  Managing to get there and back with the right number of kids is a feat in itself. 

I should explain that the kids were so well behaved! The day went off without a hitch, and zero issues in our class.  It just reminds me how much I love and appreciate the people who teach and care for my kiddos every day.

The Flock Has Arrived

Our school is in the middle of a super fun fundraiser.  Instead of spending too much money on stuff we don't want so the school can get a dollar off of ever ten (I don't know if that is the right math, but you know how I feel about this stuff,) we are doing a Flamingo Fundraiser. It's simple. You pay ten bucks to put flamingos in your friend's yard, and if the flock shows up in your yard, you pay ten dollars to send them somewhere else. If you don't want the flamingos to return you can buy "Flamingo Insurance." It is kind of the most fun idea I've heard of in a while.  It's cute to see the flash of hot pink as we drive around the neighborhood, and the thought of various PTA members sneakily moving the birds around is hilarious to me.

Yesterday I came home from my class, and there were no flamingos, I sat down to do some homework, and when I left to gather kiddos from school, the flock had arrived to our yard. The kids were so happy to see them when they got home from school.

Matching

I understand that kids sometimes have trouble matching.  It's no big deal. It's kind of cute when you can totally tell a little guy or gal has completely chosen their own outfit. To a large degree, if it's clean and it fits, it's all good. 

Except I have this little issue that I like to portray myself as having it all together (I don't - in fact if you are one of my friends, you probably just spit your soda all over the keyboard at the hilariousness  - sorry for that!) But anyway, to make it really easy for them, I have been folding their clothes into outfits. So grab the top two items, and put them on. Easy. Instant matching.  Except, they persist in pulling out stuff from who knows where... play clothes, the pile that isn't matched up yet, and even one from the top, and one from somewhere else in the stack. Resulting in mismatched kids: plaids and stripes, two different shades of red, and various other combinations that just don't work.

In the scheme of things, it's no big deal.  But it makes it harder for me to keep up this illusion.

So Everyone Was Safe

I tried to play it cool. After all, I only confessed to a few close friends (and anyone who might still read this poor, neglected blog) that I was feeling more than a little anxious about Kevin's trip to North Carolina.  First things first, 5 days all on my own with the boys had me worried.  They've been a little extra crazy lately, and while I can totally handle it, it's always nice at the end of the day to have an extra set of hands - and someone to talk to. 

Anyway, Kevin and his friend Anthony headed North on Wednesday afternoon with a promise that they would be safe.  I just had that nagging feeling that probably meant nothing, but it was enough to freak me out. The closer the race got, the less freaked out I was, and more excited that they were there and getting to hang out with some cool people and have a really awesome adventure. 

I watched (via internet tracking devices) them get started and sort of obsessively followed them in between my other daily stuff on Friday. I noticed they kind of stalled out in one spot, and started to get concerned, but it was time to gather kids from school, so I headed out. Then I got the call. A bolt on the rudder had snapped in half (OMG!) and they were looking for a place to try to fix it. Random people that lived on shore let them borrow tools, but the effort was to no avail, and eventually they had to drop out of the race. 

I am so very glad that they are safe. My worry shifted to one that Kevin would be so irritated and done with the whole thing. Luckily, that didn't happen and he is still excited to get ready for the Everglades Challenge in March, 2012 (just as soon as the boat gets all fixed up.) Thankfully for me, that's far enough away that I don't have to start getting anxious about it yet.