Hello Lurkers!

Hello out there. You can look. I don't mind. Isn't that why we do these blogs? (That and its cheaper than therapy).

Name callers

My kids are calling one of my kids names. Nasty names. And it is the good kids who are the ring leaders. I didn't even know until "darling child" decided to tell this girl he was going to kill her and that he'd already put someone in the graveyard. Nice. 

So I'm mad at that kid because good grief you just don't say stuff like that. But at least with him it is sort of to be expected. I know I'm not supposed to say stuff like that but this poor kid has had a hell of a life and it is kind of amazing he's not more messed up.

But my "good" kids! I want to scream. I almost did at them. They got to miss their whole PE while I chewed them out for not being good leaders and for making horrible decisions. The whole you can be a good leader or you can be a bully thing. And then I made them write about what they'd done, why, how it made them feel, why it was wrong, blah, blah, blah. 

So at this point I finish PE with the rest of the kids and child X comes up to tell me child Y called child Z a whatever! Seriously, I'm going to scream. Oh, and the principal didn't suspend or white slip the kid who threatened to kill the other kid. Lovely. At least it is snowing.

Things Kids Say

During a discussion on Native American pit houses:

Little Girl: How do the babies get out?

Me: They're too little to climb the ladder so the grown-ups carry them.

LG: NO! How do they get out of the mommy? (where the heck did this come from?!?!?)

Me: Um, the same way they do today.

LG: But they didn't have hospitals!

Me (light bulb comes on): Oh! Well, the other women in the tribe helped.

LG: Okay.

As I'm opening my Christmas presents from the class:

Me: Yum, fudge, my favorite.

Class: We'll help you eat it!

Me: Nope, I like it and I'm eating it all!

"Darling" Child: You're going to get fat! I don't want a fat teacher!

Me (in my head): Don't hit him, don't hit him.

It is Christmas!

I made it home for Christmas! It was a bit iffy for a while there. Camas is covered with snow! I don't think I've ever seen it like this. I'm taking pictures so I'll get them up eventually. I'm just glad to be here.

We have six dogs in the house for Christmas! Ava and Grizzy of course. (Ava survived another plane flight. She only whined on the landing). Krista brought Ricki and her foster Lily. (Who is cuter than all get out and tiny too). She is also pet sitting two more Italian Greyhounds. It is insane around here. I was napping earlier and next thing I knew I had five dogs on top of me napping too.

We're having lasagna for Christmas eve dinner. Since nobody is able to get here (the drifts are FEET deep) we're starting a new tradition. Mom will not allow Krista and me to start the new tradtion we wanted - opening the presents on Christmas eve.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, and warm holiday. I hope you are with the ones you love and not at an airport. I love you! Happy Birthday Jesus!

My Darling Student

Mrs. Bowen was teaching my class about the water cycle. She asked them to draw a picture illustrating the water cycle. As she walked around the room, she say something upsetting. That's right - one of my boys had drawn a toilet. And a penis peeing into the toilet. Yep. Fourth grade is always interesting. 

Being Grateful

I'm really working with my kids this year to be polite, courteous, thankful, all those good things. Some people say the schools shouldn't be teaching these things but I figure if the parents teach it, it won't hurt the kids to hear it again, and if the parents don't teach it, someone better! 

Anyway, we wrote in our journals about what we were grateful for in our lives. You'd think the kids would list Mom, Dad, the dog, and the X-box. Well, yeah, most of the kids mentioned these things but you should have read some of their work. I almost cried several times. Kids get such a bad rap in our society but they really are loving, caring, and thoughtful. 

So, as Anne says, is it uplifting? If so, share it. If not, stick a sock in it. Appreciate what you have and let others know you appreciate them.

Pictures of townhouse

I went to the inspection of my new place this week. It is so awesome. Everyone has to come visit now! I've got some pictures below. Looks like moving day will be Halloween through the weekend. Anyone want to help?

Master bath. The HUGE walk in closet is just off of here. Wish I had a picture...
Guest bath with water heater in the background.
Kitchen.
And kitchen. All appliances stay except the microwave. I also am on the look out for new stools.
Guest bedroom/office. Once again, not my furniture. The owners were rather foo-foo but they kept the place in really nice condition. It is a 2000 but looks practically spotless.
Obviously not my furniture, but here's the left half of the living room/dining room.
And the right half.
This is the entry to my place. You come in on the side of the building.
The garage on the left is mine and all the windows along the top. My master bedroom is above my garage so it shouldn't be too noisy.