Air Hogs

i know. you are like..."what the heck is an air hog?"

me too. i don't know what else it is, but it is an independent professional baseball team in grand prarie! we went to see the game last night. it was really fun. just right for families. even with young kids! they have a large playground area, a nice clean facility (with lots of bathrooms, including families!) and plenty of space! we had a really fun time!

well, we had a great time except for the air hog mascot, which terrified both of the children.

but, the game was fun. its cheap. playground, good concessions, lots of bathrooms. shaded. cheap. oh, and they do fireworks every saturday night. (that was a big hit with both kids. scared to death of the mascot....no problems with the crazy loud booms of the fireworks. odd.)

annnd....(we haven't done this yet, but soon) DOLLAR BEER THURSDAY!!! every thursday.

sooo...anyone finds themselves free on a thursday, call husband and i...we would love to go too!!!

indulgence....

....thy name is grandpa!!

today is father's day. we had a really nice day.

this morning we just hung out. then i took the kids over to my fathers house in ft worth. all the family was there. and then begins the indulgence....

grandma and grandpa rented a little train for the kids to ride on....and as, it turns out, adults are allowed too! little mama really enjoyed it. the boy liked it IF i rode with him, and IF he was held in my lap. no other adult would do, but he would happily sit in the train car and play until the guy started the "engine" up. then he would scream and scramble out as fast as he could!

but it was a nice time. and the kids loved it. and it was really hot. which worked out well, because in order to "soften the blow" of the train having to pack up and go.....it was all you can eat ice cream sundae time. the boy shared a little with me....and little mama ate a bowl of whipped cream with sprinkles. oh well...not everyday is an example of good nutrition!

so after a nice, quiet ride home from ft. worth (both kids slept almost the entire way) we went home and did fathers day again for husbands side of the family. brisket, home-made potato salad, home-made beans, fruit salad....and to top it all off, made-from-scratch blueberry cobbler, with berries fresh off the bush!!! it was very delicious. and fun. the boys played dominoes. little mama and the boy interrupted dominoes....everyone had a nice time.

it is such a blessing to be surrounded by family that loves you, and you enjoy spending time with. our family is very blessed in this respect. almost everyone we cherish lives within a hundred miles. only a couple of our favorites live far away, but email helps to close those gaps!

hope you had a happy fathers day too!!!

some stuff that is funny

these are a few things i have been meaning to post....(and i finally went and got a new camera cord!)

the first two are movies of the kids dancing at a fish fry....they boogied all night.

and i guess you could call this last one "little mama's first tattoo"

one of our friends came over for a bit, and she has a fish tattoo. and daddy had tattoos, and so do various aunts and uncles....so here is what happened when little mama found herself alone, and with a pen, and five extra minutes!

you can see the fish, and the water, can't you!!!!

update on the resolutions...

1. okay. doing good...making progress....learning new things....

#1 stay out of target....doing pretty good...only been ONCE in the month of may and june!!!
#2 haven't started the lesson plans yet.....lotsa summer left!
#3 grad school...putting that one off for now, i'll think about that a little bit later!
#4 sort and donate toys...this was a hard sell. i cleaned out THREE trash bags full of toys today.
and little mama found them, and started saving them. daddy and i tried to explain that we
are lucky to have lots of toys, so we are giving some to little kids who don't have any. nope.
didn't work....apparently, charity might start at home, but not with toddlers! we are still
giving them away! (and now everything fits in our various toy storage thingies!)
#5 clean out the closets...not yet.
#6 spend 30+ minutes outside each day...been doing really good with this one! we have been
playing outside alot (especially in the evening, or going swimming!)
#7 limit tv time. hmmmm...not yet. how do you think i have been getting the others done?
#8 sneaky-chefing....not happening. the boy and little mama are in the mood to try new things this month, so
its not needed at this point (growth spurt?)
#9 cook all the meals at home....really doing a lot better at this. we are eating at home, unless
it is truly planned (like we are spending the day at the mall, and chick-fil-a is a part of that)
#10 excercise daily. not the best at this, yet. i did mow the lawn tonight, and we have been
swimming alot, which is hard with two little ones. but, i am still trying.


oh, and i learned all about dry drowning (very scary...mommies and daddies take note. like we didn't have enough to worry about!!!! AND i learned how to use the weed-eater today. which explains the lawn, if you happen to drive by. that certainly wasn't husbands doing. he WAS a very patient teacher....and i think my struggle to learn amused him. thats okay. i am sure it was funny.

almost as funny as the HUGE bruise developing on my inner ankle as we speak. i dropped a frozen brisket on it. of all things. its already swollen and turning purple. husband was concerned i broke it. i don't think so....but it hurts like s#!t!!!!

summertime!

summertime...and the livin's easy....

written by someone without children, obviously.

school got out on thursday of last week, so i have only been off work for four days.

and it is truly amazing how quickly you (and the children) slide right out of daily routine, and into summer! we have been busy. i don't know if i can keep this up all summer. on fridays both the kids go to little gym, one after the other. it wears them out, so after lunch, both kids will nap.
saturday we went to a crawfish boil (thanks for having us, J and E...and thanks for the shoe!) and a birthday party that streched well past the end time, and i didn't walk the kids home until well after nine! (they slept very well!) and then sunday, a wonderful neighbor with a wonderful pool had all the neighbors over for swimming and grilling....and we stayed there almost four hours! it was so fun...and again, the kids slept well.

today we have a check up at the dr. and then i am going to try to take the kids to lunch solo. hubby didn't get home from work until about six am (he read the a.m. paper before coming to bed) so he needs to sleep until at least naptime is over.

not much else planned this week, but i am sure that will change! man, it is so great to be a teacher in june! (hee, hee)

home schooling:the great debate

taken from Parade Magazine (a supplement to our sunday paper):

"In February, a California state appeals court ruled that unless parents have recognized teaching credentials, they must send their children to school. The judge, citing a state education law, said that “parents do not have a constitutional right to home-school their children.” Parents and politicians were outraged, and the court will rehear the case this month.At stake is the education of the 166,000 California children who currently are home-schooled. But the court decision also could influence laws across the country. Nationwide, up to 2 million children are taught at home. Experts estimate that the number is increasing 7% to 12% a year. “If upheld, the California ruling will send shock waves nationwide,” says Richard Kahlenberg, the author of a number of books on education. He says the case “pits those who believe parental rights are paramount against those who place a premium on well-educated citizens.” Right now, only six states have strict regulations for home-schooling, usually requiring parents to have their curriculum approved, to show test scores and, in some places, to submit to home visits. Fourteen states, including California, mandate only that parents notify the state of their decision to home-school."

hom-schooling is an option that quite a few sahm's choose for their kids in my east dallas 'hood. private schools (that aren't catholic) are many here, but they are pricey. public schools are decent, but, many parents are hesitant to place their child at the neighborhood elementary school. ( i am too, and i teach there...) its not a bad place, but it might not be the best place. (hard to explain) anyways, so in between those two choices, some moms decide to teach the kids themselves.

i have to wonder how well that works. i am a certified educator in texas, and i just don't know about trying to teach all things to my own children. first, yes, parents are their childs first (and most important) teacher. i get all that. BUT, in my personal experience as an educator (who has now officially taught 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 9-12th grade children) there were MANY times i had to learn what i was supposed to teach!!! i know, terrible. but, it has been awhile since i learned spelling rules, and how to segment phonemes! so i probably study as much as my students do, so i am well-equipped to teach those skills the next day. do i always succeed? no, i don't. that is why the second day is spent re-teaching if needed!! (not that it occurs all to often...) and, part of knowing how to re-teach is accepting that whatever you did yesterday didn't work, so what else can you do? and knowing the alternate ways to teach something (like addition...there are MANY ways to teach that) is part of the reason you want a professional educator.

and speaking from only my own experience...HOW CAN YOU TEACH YOUR OWN ALL DAY???gack. seriously, gack. i love my babies to death. i adore them. i brag on them endlessly. i can't help it. but really, trying to get my child to do something as simple as use a fork some days is a huge fight. which makes no sense, i know. but....that is just a fork, and eventually social pressures will prevail, and they will not try to slurp spaghetti. BUT READING? i can think of no better way than to kill a wonderful thing than to have mom not only teach it, but then to FORCE practice of it, like i do for my students daily? they listen to me because i am their teacher, i am not mom, and i am a neutral party there to force them to do seemingly random things like learn to add, alphabetize and recite state capitols. and, they are stuck with me every day for eight hours, and there is NO playtime with me if they don't comply. (yea, i am kinda mean!) but i have all those tools, plus some, at my disposal. mom has things like time out, and spankings etc. i already do plenty for my two...i don't feel the need to personally educate them throughout their school careers. i do feel the need to find them a strong, nurturing environment in which to learn....FROM OTHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS. enough said.

odds n'ends

sorry that i have been neglegent! things are just crazy right now. school will be out in FOUR DAYS!!! woo-hoo! and with the close of school, comes much cleaning, prepping and moving!





also, things just stay hectic as i try to keep my twenty-three first graders engaged and learning to the bitter end!! i know, i know, you are thinking "ease up...let them have some fun, school is almost out!" you would think so, wouldn't you? BUT NO!!! they are sooo excited for summer, and sooo ready to just play and play and play...that i have to stay on them like white on rice! but, i am planning fun lessons for them. we are learning about cool, off topic things like nutrition and the food pyramid. and we have just finished reading the book Babe by Dick King-Smith. It took almost four weeks, so now we will watch the movie and compare the book and the movie on a giant diagram. so see, a little fun, but still learning!!! (also, if you do plan to read Babe with children, it is an english-english book, and they use the phrase "collie bitch" alot to talk about the dog fly.....this book would not be a good group reading assignment. i definitley suggest a read-aloud on this one!!!)





okay, other than that: my own kids have started with the summer fun. we have gone swimming, to the spraygrounds and other fun stuff.

so that's where i've been.

oh, and an update to the "summer resolutions".

• i have been walking or to the gym three out of four days (with time scheduled for today)
• i have only been to target one time
• we have gone out to eat much less since that post, but there is room for improvement!

so, if i don't post again until thursday, you know what is happening!