Busy Week Ahead

I know this is a fuzzy image, but I just loved the grin and had to share! My student teacher began today, and she is off to a fantastic start! I'm doing report cards this week and won't be able to post very much. I leave you with these photos of Lily.

HOLY COW!

I'm watching "Nature" on PBS this evening and it's all about rhinos. They were just performing an ultrasound on a pregnant Sumatran rhino and the lady said, "She's 169 days along, just 380 to go." 380 to go?????????? I'm SO glad I'm not a rhino!!

For Mom...

...and anyone else who needs to see how the girls are developing and progressing. This is a Lily movie marathon. I wanted to catch her toddling along, but these were the best I could get. I wanted to type a decent post as well, but well, it's getting late, the elliptical runner is calling and I have to work tomorrow. (I'm trying desperately to ignore the runner, but it's having none of it...)

So, pick and choose what you will, and ignore the rest.


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


That's all for now. I've got some great pictures and a weekend update tomorrow.

How it Really Is

This was such an awesome analogy both my mom and Paul forwarded it to me. From my educator's point of few, it very accurately describes the NCLB legislation and what it means for the students we serve.

The Football Version of No Child Left Behind

1. All teams must make the state playoffs and all MUST win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions and coaches will be held accountable. If, after two years, they have not won the championship, their footballs and equipment will be taken away UNTIL they do win the
championship.

2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time even if they do not have the same conditions or opportunities to practice on their own. NO exceptions will be made for lack of interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities of themselves or their parents. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL!

3. Talented players will be asked to workout on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all of their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability, or parents who don't like football.

4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4^th, 8^th, and 11^th games. It will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent, and all teams will reach the same minimum goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child
gets left behind. If parents do not like this new law, they are encouraged to vote for vouchers and support private schools that can screen out the non-athletes and prevent their children from having to go to school with bad football players.

Anxiety Settles In

As I was heading towards Melanie's house this afternoon, I called Brien to find out how he and Hannah were doing--Hannah got out of school at 2:30 today--and he asked me if it was snowing downtown since we had snow on the ground at home. At that point I knew I had better get Lily and get on the road as quickly as possible as the drivers in Hampton Roads have a tendency to flip out at the first sight of a snowflake.

I hustled into Melanie's and told her I needed to leave quickly today, retrieved Lily and her belongings and headed towards the door. As I was almost out the door, Melanie said, "Oh, by the way, I just wanted to let you know that this will probably be my last year doing daycare." HUH?? WHAT????????

Oh, my goodness! What am I to do????? Hannah began going to Melanie's when she was six months old. Lily slipped right in to Hannah's slot. We've been with Melanie six years in March. I absolutely understand her need to get back into the workforce, but I'm devastated at the loss of the most wonderful daycare provider ever. Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

Now, I'm in full-on panic mode, trying to figure out what we're going to do with Lily in the fall. My heart says I just need to stay home with her, but my head says, "Um, hello? You have bills to pay!" I'll begin looking around the local area to see what daycare we can find. Additionally, Brien said he would check into the base CDC (Child Development Center) to see what chance we have of obtaining a slot for Lily. I'm not sure what we're going to do, but we'll obviously have to do something!

I REALLY Messed Up

I have determined there is no way I can continue to commute to downtown Newport News every day. I love my school, I love my babies and I love my colleagues. However, I love my family more. We have managed to make it work this year, but not without a significant amount of sacrifice on Brien's part. Every day I'm thankful Brien's employers have been as flexible and understanding as they have. He has been able to stay at home until Han is on the bus, and then leave work early enough in the afternoon to get her off the bus.

Meanwhile, I leave the house by 6:15 most mornings and don't get home until almost 5:00. In between, I drop Lily off at Melanie's, go to work, pick Lil up and head home in rush hour traffic. I would like to spend more time with my girls and Brien, and more time at home.

So, at the end of the year I will not be signing my intent to return form. I've been updating my application and resume', and had planned on attending the W/JCC job fair. I logged onto the W/JCC website to ascertain the date of the job fair only to discover it was last Saturday. Last Saturday!!! Crap!! While I was busy visiting with Lissie, it seems I was missing an opportunity.

In my defense, the job fair has been held in February or March in years past. I thought I had plenty of time. Guess not. I'm still getting the application finished and turned in by the end of the month, but I've missed some face-to-face opportunities. Man.

Answers to the Riddles Below

Don't cheat--if you haven't read them yet, go to yesterday's post first!!

1. Two apples
2. Yes
3. The match!
4. 9
5. Moses wasn't on the ark
6. Your name
7. a chair, a bed and a toothbrush
8. Once. Then it's 3 from 22.
9. a-l-b-u-m-e-n
10. "o"
11. They all do
12. pigs don't talk ;o)
13. 11

There are definitely some "DUH" moments there :o). I hope you enjoyed the riddles!

Because I'm Tired

(Tired much like Hannah is in this picture! Okay, so she's not tired, she had just had a wipe-out with the bike landing on top of her. But, still...)


It was a tough night in our house tonight. I though Brien was going to strangle Hannah and I thought Hannah was going to cause her daddy to have a stroke his blood pressure had gone so high! NEVER get in a power struggle with a child over not eating something. They will win. End of story. Suffice it to say Han is now is MAJOR trouble for lying, throwing her dinner in the trash when we were busy with Lily, and screaming at Brien. Of course, B could have extricated himself from the situation had he been in a frame of mind to do so, but, you know how it is when you are in the heat of the moment. Meanwhile, I was busy with Lily and then the elliptical runner. I'm afeared the thing is trying to do me major bodily harm! Actually, I'm not only significantly overweight, I'm also incredibly out of shape so I need to be using the machine every evening. This way I don't have to leave the house and the girls to go back out to exercise. However, the end result is I'm about to collapse from exhaustion. So, I'm posting a little two minute quiz for you all. I'll post the answers tomorrow. :o)

1. Take two apples from five apples. How many do you have?

2. Do they have a Fourth of July in England?

3. If you had only one match and entered a dark room containing an oil lamp, a newspaper, and some kindling wood, what would you light first?

4. A farmer had 17 sheep. All but 9 died. How many did he have left?

5. How many animals of each species did Moses take into the Ark?

6. If you drive a bus with 42 people on board from Boston to Washington D.C., and drop 3 people off at each of six stops and pick up 4 people at half the stops, when you arrive at Washington 10 hours later, what is the driver's name?

7. What do you sit on, sleep on, and brush your teeth with?

8. How many times can you take 3 from 25?

9. If folk is spelled F O L K and joke is spelled J O K E, how do you spell the word for the white of an egg?

10. What could you be sure to find right in the middle of Toronto?

11. Some months have 30 days and some have 31. How many have 28 days?

12. Farmer Giles has 3 black pigs, 2 brown pigs, and 1 pink pig. How many of Farmer Giles' pigs could say that they are the same color as another of Farmer Giles' pigs?

13. A rope ladder over the side of a ship has rungs which are 1 foot (0.3 meters) apart. Exactly 11 rungs are showing above water level. The tide rose 8 feet (2.4 meters). How many rungs would now be showing?

Anne Shirley??

Last night Brien finally figured out who Hannah reminds him of, and I have to agree. He told me he knew my obsession with "Anne of Green Gables" would come back to haunt me one day. He was right. Hannah is Anne Shirley! Her flair for the dramatic, her penchant for getting into mischief--even unintended mischief, her vivid imagination. Yup, my child is channeling Anne! B is convinced she will one day sink a pontoon boat on a lake while portraying the "Lady of Chalot" ;o). I think he may be on to something there...

Student Teacher

This fall I agreed to be a cooperating teacher for our local college's teacher education program. I'll have a student teacher beginning next Monday through April 13. Kim came to observe and assist where she could during the first two weeks of school. It was wonderful to get to know her and she thinks I'm divine (what's not to love??) as well as thinking Mom is a goddess ;o).

I thought I was prepared to do this; to have someone else in my classroom, teaching my babies, but I'm having problems letting go. I went to a 2 1/2 hour meeting after school today, on the CNU campus to become oriented and familiarized with the CNU student teaching program. The meeting was mandatory, much to my chagrin, but it was nice to meet the university supervisor we'll be working with, as well as to see Kim, and Sarah and Bridget's student teachers, CJ and Erin again.

However, they also handed out the student teaching handbook, and I have to say I began to feel a little stressed! I want to do this right. I want to be a good cooperating teacher for Kim. I want her to feel as if she learned something from me and that I'm not just wasting her time. I'll not only be educating my babies, but also helping Kim become more proficient at what she does as well.

Kim comes in to observe for three hours tomorrow, and then Friday--which is a teachers' work day--she and I will sit and plan. I'm giddy and anxious all at once!

(As an aside, B picked up Lil, got Han off the bus, fed both girls, cleaned them up and had them in their jim jams by the time I got home. What. A. Husband!!)

Lily Toddles

As promised, here are two videos of Little Bit walking. She is still a little unsteady, but making progress =).


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

An Indoor Playground

Winter has finally decided to come to Williamsburg. In fact, it is cold and we are under a winter weather advisory. Yay!!! It's about time!

But, that means Lily can't go outside--it's too cold for someone who doesn't yet walk and doesn't wear shoes. This however is NOT acceptable to Miss Lily. She is very insistent that she MUST go outside.


Yesterday she began banging on the back door, fussing at us with her "uh uh uh" she uses to let us know she wants something. We hated to disappoint her, but knew there was no way she could go out into the blustery wind and cold.


Then, we came up with a solution. We brought her little playground inside! How smart was that? The playground was a gift from Dani as she was leaving for Germany. It had been left at her house by the prior owners and she figured Lily could have a good time with it. Boy, does she!


She is desperate to go down the slide but won't climb the rock-wall ramp on the opposite side to get to the top. Instead, she stands at the bottom, looking imploringly at the top or will attempt to scale the slide, all the time pitifully asking, "Eesh eesh! Eesh eesh!!" Each request more desperate than the last. If you try and show her the climbing ramp she will scream in frustration. For her, the down ramp must also be the up ramp.


Lily will also climb the swing and sit herself down, making the swing move back and forth, back and forth. She is so proud of herself when she does this. She gets a pleased as punch look on her face and will grin, showing her three and a half teeth =).

Lily also moved towards being more independent yesterday, walking and walking and walking. Okay, it was very unsteady; more like those toddling, tentative unbalanced first steps of babies first learning to walk. She has managed as many as 12 steps, and last night even managed to drink from her sippy cup while walking! She was also very proud of herself for this as well. We're going to try and get some footage of her walking and post it tonight.

Lily's Silly Coats

My mom has come for a short visit this weekend. She wanted to visit with the girls since they are both changing so rapidly. Anyhow, this is a post dedicated to Lily's silly outer wear, so here goes.

This lovely little coat was a baby gift for Jessie from our dear friend Dottie. Ella having been born in the summer grew too quickly to be able to fit the coat by the time winter rolled around. Meanwhile, Lily is such a tiny little thing she can still wear it.


It's fuzzy and warm and absolutely delightful =). Don't they make a cute picture?



The coat from the back. Isn't it fun?


Lily is very busy and wants to know how everything works--including this tube of Bert's Bees lip balm. She is continuously opening and closing things and putting lids on and taking lids off.


This little sweater was a shower gift for me from my wonderful friend Lana. The sweater is divine for many reasons.


First off, the sweater is toasty warm, hand knit by Lana's dear friend Gerry.


Second, it zips up the back, not the front. Nor is it a pull-over. I'm sure you all know how much babies LOVE to have items pulled over their heads. This sweater allows you to avoid that.


Finally, it has the best part of the sweater is the fantastic hood. Isn't it fantastic?

A Whole Buncha Lily Movies

Over the course of the past week I have taken many short little videos of Lily--she is changing so quickly! I know there are a bunch, just pick and choose the ones you think are the most interesting.


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

This one is Lily chattering away, playing with her tent. Hannah is in the dining room behind the tent, prompting Lil to try and get her attention.


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Lily's 12 Month Well Baby Visit

Yesterday was a very long day for Lily (well, me too). I interrupted her afternoon nap so she could get to her 3:45 doctor appointment. We arrived, checked in and waited. And waited. And waited!! I felt as if I were an actor in "Waiting for Godot" and it was excruciating. People who came in after us were being taken back before us. Grrrrr. While waiting, Lil watched a set of 18 month old twins and they were slapping "five" right and left. Lily grabbed my hand, turned it over and proceeded to slap my hand and make an "all riiiiight" kind of noise =). She was quite proud of herself!

We finally got called back at 5:30, saw the doctor (who is 34 weeks pregnant and very cute and anxious about adding another child to her family of three), and checked out as healthy, if petite. Lily is 19 pounds 4 ounces, and 28 1/4 inches tall. She is hovering just outside the 20th percentile for weight. She's very well proportioned, if tiny. After getting her flu shot, prevnar, polio and Hepatitis A vaccines, Lil and I finally left the doctor's office at 6:00!!


On the bright side, I got to get to know Lil's little personality all the better. When we are at home, she's busy with her toys, I'm busy cooking, cleaning, laundering, being with Hannah, and all those other mommy related jobs. I know that Lily is not nearly as verbal as Han was at this age (by 15 months Han had over 50 words clear as a bell), but I had no idea she has such amazing receptive language and cognitive skills.

Lily can follow simple one step directs. She understands of what you say to her than I realized, loves to open and close doors, drawers, etc. She LOVES lidded items and will take the lid on and off and put items inside them while doing this. She also has a fantastic sense of humor--she laughs at so much and does what she can to make us laugh.

Lily has also turned into an adrenaline junkie! It was a balmy 75 degrees Saturday so we took the girls outside to play. Dani gave us a little plastic playground for Lily when she left for Germany. The playground came complete with a slide. Initially, I thought Lily would be scared to go down the slide. Boy was I ever mistaken. In this picture, she is squealing with joy, not shrieking in terror. I would sit Lil at the top of the slide and she would arch her back and launch herself back down the slide! =)


Having mastered the small slide, Lily was ready to head over to the "Big Girl" slide on the girls' playground. There was no hesitation--she just sent herself head first down the slide! =)

Lily also cut her fourth tooth today. She is way too funny was she's grinning at you with those big old chompers =). She has come to the conclusion that if the food is on my plate, it tastes far better than anything else on the table and she will demand whatever it is we're eating. Tonight she had taco salad and seven layer bean dip. Brien and I have always said the chip is the vehicle for moving the dip to your mouth and Lily wholeheartedly agreed with this assessment. She would lick the dip off the chip and demand a re-dip! Who knew dip was that delicious??

Ella's Big Ball

For those of you who frequent Jessie's blog you are well aware of Ella's ball obsession. Here is the ball Jessie was talking about.


It is a giant silver exercise ball and in an effort to keep Ella distracted while Jess was cutting Bob's hair, Paul and I began to play with Ella and her ball. We laid her on it and began to rock her back and forth, back and forth. She squealed with delight the entire time!



Of course, this was my favorite. Seeing Ella pick up a ball that was as big as she is was an absolute scream! She would lug the thing all over the place and it was too funny! =)

Long Overdue...

My apologies for not writing this past week. My blogging time has been eaten away by time spent poring over Hannah's head with a fine tooth comb. Literally. Poor Monkey. I spend about thirty to forty-five minutes every night pulling out nits and it's not a pleasant experience for either of us. But, I think I'm getting the last of the nasty little boogers out--thank the Lord!


I wanted to write so many different things this week. I wanted to post about Paul. I wanted to post about Lily's new tooth coming in. About how our visit with Jessie was. I wanted to fill you in on our lives. But, those nasty little critters came along instead...

So, I'm going to back up a week and write about Paul.

Whilst living in the States for 12 years, Paul accumulated many treasures and special keepsakes. He was able to pack the most treasured of those items on a carry-on to England. However, he determined the stuffed animals we had given him needed to stay behind. He labored over the decision as to which child should get which animal.

Bob the bear went to Ella. Bob was so named because Jessie had hysterics over the way Paul said "Bob" when he first arrived. She rather harried him demanding again and again, "Paul, say 'Bob'!" Bob was a cute white polar bear who was soon joined by Connie, a soft white bear. Connie's name origin eludes me as of right now, but I know there's a story there...

Paul also received Gromit as a gift at some time during his early years here. In fact, Paul introduced us to Wallace the bumbling inventor and his dog Gromit long before they made the scene here in the States.

Paul finally selected Hannah as Gromit's guardian and you can see she bundles him well and takes good care of him.



Lily was given Connie. As young as Lily is, we didn't want her to play with Connie overmuch. But, the other evening, I got Connie down for her. She was tired, but more than happy to visit with her.


In fact, Lily discovered Connie made a dandy pillow, especially when begin cuddled by her daddy.



Here Lily again uses Connie as a pillow. =) I'm sure that while Paul agonized over his choices, each lovey went to the best possible home and I'm happy to have these little parts of Paul's heart with the girls. =)

Quick Update

Last night I drove Paul to Jessie's so he could be off tonight back home to England--forever. I could just bawl like a baby I'm going to miss him SO much! Paul practically lived with us for 12 years and became a family member in very short order. I've got a lot more to say, but I'm currently too overwhelmed to put it in words. Suffice it to say it's never easy to lose a family member, even if it is only overseas.

Then, about an hour from home, I got a phone call from Hannah's school nurse. Hannah had (note the past tense there) lice!!!! Oh, just hearing the word lice makes my scalp itch! I'm horrified in the sense that Hannah could have potentially infested her entire class. I'm SO sorry to her teacher and classmates. However, lice happens. It's nasty and itchy and the treatment is grueling--the Nix, the laundry (loads and loads), the vacuuming of every piece of furniture in the house--but they've been around since the dawn of time and they're not going anywhere. Hannah is currently louse-free, and I'm driving her crazy picking her nits. Brien, Lily and I are "clean", but B and I are itching like mad from the mere suggestion of them.

I'm off to fold yet another batch of laundry. Let's hope we got 'em the first time around--I don't know if I have the energy to do round two.

Because We Have No Winter

As far back as I can remember, I've been a funnies page junkie. I enjoyed them all, but really had a couple particular favorites. Garfield was always a fave, as were the Peanuts. For Better or For Worse continues to draw me in and I check the website for a "strip fix" daily.

However, two of my all time favorites were retired just as I was really getting into them. The first, The Far Side by Gary Larson was a riot. The man had a way of viewing life that was completely twisted and hysterically funny. There were very few strips I failed to at least snort at.

My other big favorite was Calvin and Hobbes. Initially, I wasn't sure how much I liked spoiled brat Calvin, but I LOVED Hobbes, his lovable tiger. Before I knew it, they had sucked me in.

Now, because we've had no winter weather here, because I fear we will never have winter weather here, I've posted a series of Calvin Snowmen for you all to enjoy. You may have to click the image to enlarge it enough to be able to read them.

Have fun! =)