Monday Musings

It's Monday.  And no one has written a catchy song to make it exciting ... get on it, Rebecca Black.  Because I am sick of singing, "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down ..." on Mondays.


Let's see ... our weekend.  Sort of stinky.  Torrey is STILL sick.  Day seven people.  I think we have it figured out ... an overdose of antibiotics.  But, the good news ... the ears aren't infected anymore!  The bad news ... the rest of her is!


My day at school was good.  My Little Peoples are F-U-N-N-Y.  They are BIG on personality and super sweet.  Could possibly be my favorite year ever.  Which would explain my meltdown on the drive home.  I cried "the ugly cry" ... and it was bad.  I am dreading May 25th.  With a capital "D".


Next week is testing week.  I'm a bit giddy ... because I think my class is going to rock the test.  Most of them are smarter than me.  Truth.  It no longer intimidates me. Mostly because I am not smart enough to be intimidated anymore.  


Torrey's room is due for an overhaul.  She is in love with the color aqua ... so, aqua it will be.  And, it is the last room overhaul she will be getting.  I think.  I thought that the last time and look where we are.


Tomorrow is Tuesday.  We are taking a poll on whether or not you think Torrey will go to school tomorrow ... for all two of you who read this blog.


And, before I "peace out" ... a funny from today.  One of my littles regaled us with a story of her eating fish eggs.  She says they are DEE-LICIOUS (insert licking lips here) ... I'm not buying it.  Later in the day, she was thrilled to tell us she had eaten a clam (spelling word ... and I described it as a critter that lives in a shell) ... again DEE-LICIOUS.  One of my other peeps announced from across the room, "You sure do eat a lot of animals!"  To which my "animal eater" said, "I know ... I have eaten cow, and chicken ..."  Kindergarten is awesome!

iPhriday

Good iPhriday to you doubting Thomases who logged on thinking there wouldn't be one this week.  There is!  And, I'm a little shocked myself.

 My week started off with a day off from school.  It was the perfect rainy day to stay home!  Dean and I snuck away for lunch at Escalantes.  The perfect chips and queso.  They are only in Houston ... so, for most of you ... I am sorry.  So very, very sorry.  

 My date for the day ... with what he ALWAYS orders ... chicken quesadilla.  And that is all.  

 We then stopped by Nothing Bundt Cake.  I talked about it before, but it bears repeating ... I could eat everyone of these little gems.

 Torrey and Zoey after school on Tuesday.  Torrey was sick.  Zoey was beside herself.  She HAS to be as close to Torrey as she can ... at all times.  Torrey is hers.  

 At some point in the evening, Zoey turned into a freak ... she was jumping on and off the ottoman ... on and off ... on and off.  I was not so amused ... remember when she had the DOUBLE knee replacement?  And then she sat and stared at me ... and looked like a big, hairy spider.  I had to send a picture to my sister to see if I was crazy.  I was not.

Thursday was not a good day for Torrey.  She is getting betterish ... but not perfect.

 We are painting Torrey's room and I found these frames at the Hob Lob for her wall.  Jen was making something for an adoption auction and I told her about these ... they are so cute.  And 50% off this week.  Hurry.  You still have a day.  (And, we are painting ours because the colors are ug.)

 EagleFest is this week.  We are all excited at school.  One of my littles drew this on Thursday.  She was also holding it up in the air and doing cheers.  In the middle of stations.  I could have stopped her, but ... WE ARE ALL EXCITED!

 On Friday, EagleFest FINALLY arrived.  This is the official shirt ... everyone in the school was wearing this shirt.  Except for the seniors ... they wear the shirt from the college they are attending next year.  

 One of my littles drew this when he first got in the room.  And, he is right.  EagleFest is osome.  I feel funny showing the faces of my students, so you are going to have to imagine its osomeness ... but, it is just a day where the entire school comes together and has fun ... eating cotton candy and getting everyone with invisible ink.  And, the sweet part is the parents plan and put on this entire day (and it is over the top) to honor the teachers.  

 God is good.  So good.  EagleFest ended at 3:00.  We spent the day celebrating under dark clouds.  By 3:05, most everything was cleaned up.  This was the scene at 3:20 ... one of the worst storms I have seen in awhile blew in.  Hail, rain blowing horizontal, winds.  And we were cleaned up and in cars ... or, in my case, ALMOST in cars.  

This was my ride home.  For the love of Houston traffic!  I thought Orlando traffic was bad (hello ... tourists!), but Orlando has nothing on Houston.  I do pray for part of my ride home every day to one day live in a small town!  But, that would mean giving up Escalentes chips and queso ... I guess the traffic isn't so bad after all!

Happy iPhriday!  I am off to recover from EagleFest!

I Should Have Known

Sometimes, after something happens, you think to yourself, "I should have seen that coming."  Today was one of those days.

Torrey wasn't feeling well on Tuesday.  She actually went to the school nurse.  She hates going to the school nurse.  In Kindergarten, she fell on the way back from lunch and hurt her ankle ... she didn't tell her teacher because "you always GO to the nurse with a friend, but then the friend comes back and I didn't know how to get back to my class from the nurse.  I didn't want to be lost."  Kindergarten Wisdom.  She ended up with a badly sprained ankle and had to be pushed around in a wheelchair for a week.  For the record, she LOVED being pushed around in the wheelchair.

But, I digress.  She spent 2 hours sleeping in the nurses office.  Then slept the entire ride home from school (about an hour) and then fell asleep while I was making dinner.  We got her medicine and told her she could stay home from school the next day.  But, I told her, there was NO WAY she was missing school on Friday.

She was miserable on Wednesday.  Dean told her she could stay home on Thursday.  But, I told her, there was NO WAY she was missing school on Friday.

I left for school and left Dean a text message telling him that if she wasn't better he needed to take her to the doctor ... because there was NO WAY she was missing school on Friday.

The reason there was NO WAY she was missing school on Friday is because Friday is EagleFest which is our all school field day and carnival.  And, before you think I am a terrible mother for forcing my sick child to go to a carnival, she needed to go.  Because there is a drawing for free tuition for next year and I have a good feeling we are going to win this year.  Free tuition people ... I do not think I am being unreasonable in my insistence that she be there.

Well, Dean woke her up at 11:00 and she was worse, so off to the doctor they went.  It wasn't long before they sent me this picture ...

And, guess who is missing EagleFest tomorrow?  It would be the one with a fever and a double ear infection who is also suffering from dehydration so badly she had to get an IV.  

I will still be there ... wearing my "Mother of the Year" pin!

Day Off of My Own Choosing

I took today off.  My choice.  I wasn't sick.  Just took a day.  I get two personal days a year ... last year I forgot to take them.  I know.  Dumb.  I was not going to make that mistake this year.  Today was the day ... and I almost forgot about it because it snuck up on me.

But, I did remember and it was the perfect day.  Well, mostly perfect ... it poured this morning.  And thundered.  Which meant Zackie barked.  Non-stop.  Which also meant I didn't get to sleep in.  I may or may not have threatened to cut off his tongue.  OK ... I did.

Dean went to the office in the morning and then came home and got me for lunch.  We went to Escalantes .... chips and queso ... so yummy!  Then we decided to try out a new dessert spot .... Nothing Bundt Cakes.

 (Insert angels singing here.) Personal sized bundt cakes.  So delicious.  I am a girl who loves me a Crave cupcake ... but, ya'll, I may have seen the light.  It could be Torrey's new wedding cake ... before that Crave cupcakes were the front runner (who cares that she doesn't love Crave as much as me ... isn't it my day?!)

 The rest of my day was quiet ... I took a nap, made dinner which made me think of Robin, got a headache, ate my bundt cake, went outside and had my breath taken away by the beauty of these roses ...

 I'm not a gardner, but these things come back year after year.  The yard guys hacked pruned them to the ground about a month ago.  I was pretty mad.  But they're baaaaack.  And more beautiful than ever.  I usually only notice the beauty of the roses, but today I saw this ...

Are those thorns not gigantic?! And, isn't that like life, sometimes the beauty also brings the thorns.  

Enjoy your Monday ... I sure did!

Saturday Visitors

Mike and Jess (and the kids) came for a too short visit on Saturday.  We got the call they were on their way with "Rudy's" in hand ...

Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

That was totally for Dean ... I have never watched the movie.  Moving on ... they were coming to finally get the trampoline out of our backyard.

And, if you listen carefully you will hear our yard guys cheering.  Because for the past 3 years, they have moved that thing every week.  And, I'm pretty sure they cursed us every time they had to move it.

But, before they took it, they had to make sure it worked ...

 And, I am happy to report ... it does!  Most everyone gave it a try ...

 Dean got up there for a bit, but didn't jump too much ... he learned his lesson once before.  Trampolines and backs do not always go together.

 Had to throw in this picture of Zoey NOT barking ... because no matter the person, she isn't always the most welcoming of critters.  She only likes her people.  But, she sure is cute!

 And, speaking of cute ... these two.  Um, yummy!

 The kids got black from the trampoline, so they got hosed off ... SQ got to hold the hose.  So exciting!  For both her AND Zack.  Dean was trying to tell her not to get Zack wet ... how was she supposed to do that when the dern dog was running into the water?!

It was fun to see the gang.  I was surprised at how fast they took the trampoline down ... if I remember correctly, it was an all day affair to put the thing together!  

Thanks for coming to visit ... and for taking the trampoline!

Prom 2012

Friday night was Prom Night ... I know! I know! Early!  She was asked last Thursday ... I know! I know! Late!  I think it snuck up on everyone ... she had Spring Break and then didn't really have school for the next week and a half because of Interim Term and somewhere in there the invitations came in the mail ... and, well, you know the rest.

So, on Good Friday we headed out looking for a dress.  We dragged took Dean with us.  He got lucky ... she only tried on five dresses in two shops.  There was dinner and then three different shoe stores looking for the perfect shoes.  I heard him mumble something about "eight hours later" on our drive towards home!

 She picked this sassy dress from Betsey Johnson.  It is a bubble skirt covered in "roses" ... inside the bubble skirt is tulle so it poofed out quite a bit.  We all loved it.  Aqua is her new signature color, so she accented with aqua jewelry and a little phone clutch.

 The dreaded "putting on of the boutonniere".  I was zero help ... I actually told her this time she was on her own.  She didn't stick him and it stayed on for pictures.  Success!  There must be a YouTube video for the next time ... must google it.

 Her date for the evening was her friend, Hugh.  They have a few classes together and he is a nice boy.  Or is it guy.  Or man.  Geez ... I'm going to stick with boy.

 We went to a friend's house to take pictures.  Most of the boys in her grade decided to boycott the prom, so the number of Sophomores going was quite small ...

 See what I mean ... they were in a group of 12.  Which is what I love about these dances ... they go and come in a group.  And they go as friends.  And it is so fun for them.

 The girls ... at this point we were still missing one couple ... 

 The whole gang ... at this point I think they were a bit over the pictures.  Wait ... that might have happened on the stairs!

 Torrey and Hugh

 This picture makes me happy and sad all in the same breath ... happy because she is an incredible girl, sad because she will NOT stop growing up!

 Some of the girls ... they were all wearing heels and standing on the grass that was a bit wet from recent rain.  We had to pull heels out of the grass!

 She really had a fun night ... when I asked her how it was, she said "we made it fun."  That's my girl!

 Torrey and her friend, Natasha ... Torrey spent the night with Natasha, which saved Dean from having to pick her up at 1:00 in the morning!

I chuckled when we got home ... she handed me her flowers before she got in the limo.  They were wrapped in paper and when I unwrapped them to put them in water, they had a beautiful ribbon on them.  They are still beautiful!

I am happy to say Dean and I survived Prom 2012 ... unfortunately, we have two more years to go!

IPhriday ... the phone dump edition

So, the blog has been neglected.  The winter has been busy.  And hard.  Mostly hard.  Maybe some day I'll blog about it ... anywho ... here we are.  Three months later.  And, there has been lots going on.

 We celebrated the 100th day of school.  Dean was once again Zero the Hero.  He really is my hero ... for more reasons than that he dons a cape and mask once a year.  My kids LOVED it!

 One of them even drew a picture of him ... which I loved.  And, I think she totally got him.

 So, the garage.  Yeah.  This was the before of my school stuff.  Actually, it was worse.  I took this after I had started to move some things.  

 And, the after.  I can actually find what I need quickly.  There are a few things in the picture that needed to be donated and put up in the attic, but, it is so much better!

 We watched the Patriots lose the Super Bowl.  We don't talk about it anymore.  Mostly because we are all still in therapy.  

 Wash your feet day happened in Kindergarten.  Still my favorite day in Bible.

 I cleaned out the pantry.  And, since it took all day, it deserved a picture on this post.

Dean has traveled quite a bit.  When he leaves us, trouble ensues.  Which is how I knew this picture happened on a day that he was gone ... that and the fact that Torrey and I only feed the dogs when he is gone.  Which may explain why they love him so much.

We went to Florida for Spring Break.  When we landed at the airport we saw them filming this guy while we waited for bags.  Common known fact ... I am nosy.  I asked why ... it was for the Southwest Airlines show on one of the cable channels (FYI ... it is hilariously funny)  They saw him in the airport with the cowboy hat and thought, "He looks different" and had to ask him, "WHY?"  He was on his way home from the Houston Rodeo.  And, I guess we have lived in Texas for awhile because I thought it was completely normal that he was wearing the cowboy hat.

We call Caroline many things ... Cars being one of them.  When we saw this sign on the sidewalk we made her get on the ground to take her picture.  We thought we were quite clever.  The guy who ran the train nearby did not.  He thought she fell and asked us (more than once) if we needed to call someone ... as in an ambulance.  He must have thought we were off our rockers because we laughed ... a lot.

We were in Florida during the Strawberry Festival in Plant City.  Which meant a short drive for the biggest and yummiest strawberry shortcake ever.  The line was ridiculously long ... but, totally worth it!

And, lucky us ... we were there in time to see the Strawberry King and Queens!

A too-short trip to Orlando meant breakfast with Torrey's girl Ellie ... buddies since Kindergarten!  We also spent time with Gretchen and the Chevalier gang.  So fun.

Torrey turned 16 in March.  I'm OK now ... seriously, folks, therapy is a good thing!

The time change means we get to school when the sky looks like this.  So beautiful!

There was a night of prom dress shopping.  Which meant taking pictures and sending them to my sister for her help.  She thought Torrey looked like a cupcake in this one.

This one was a contender ... it was super cute on her.

But, this dress was the winner ... she did say everyone kept "petting" her skirt at prom, though.  

And, here she is ready to head out the door.  She got her hair done by our girl, Dawn and her makeup was done at the Mac Store by Shakespeare.  Funniest comment of the afternoon was her announcing, "It is Shakespeare and Dawn from now on!"

Our Dyson vacuum cleaner died this week.  It is our second one to die ... they both lasted about a year or so.  Anyways, we went with an Electrolux.  Hopefully it will last longer.  While Torrey was getting ready, Dean pulled it out of the box and did a small area on the family room rug.  And, disgustingly this is the dirt and dust he got out of rug.  It would appear that we didn't vacuum our carpet ... ever.  Um, sadly, that is not so.  Vacuuming has become our new family fun ... we are sort of fighting over who gets to vacuum!

And, these are the flowers Torrey got from her date to the prom.  They are quite lovely.

And, that, kids is an iPhriday catch up.  Happy iPhriday!