Holiday Catch-Up (AKA more excuses for lack of posting)

So, as usual, the holidays around here were incredibly hectic. For me it kind of started with our school Christmas party on the 20th with the massive amount of obsessive parents my homeroom students have. Seriously, I think there were 50 people in my classroom with all the students, parents, and younger siblings. Other teachers were walking by gawking at the crowd. The worse part was that they wouldn't leave. School is over at 2:25 and at 3:05 my last parent finally left! They're all under the impression that their precious little darling is my only student and that I have all day (during a Christmas party!) to sit and chew the fat about them. To all of you future parents of students, yes, it's wonderful to be involved, but within reason. As I've mentioned before, they drive me crazy. Here is a picture of the ornament I had my homeroom make, along with our little Christmas tree covered in their ornaments. By the way, the ornament took us several weeks to make. It involved 3 layers of papier mache, lots of painting, and a good bit of hot glue. Also, the 2nd grade did a Christmas around the world presentation, and Drew's class covered Africa. Here's a picture of me and her, and her in her little African outfit. So, almost immediately after school was out, we started our regular Christmas. Of course, before all of that, Andy finally got home from Oklahoma late on the 19th, and we still had to finish shopping (insanity!), so we did all of that, and wrapped like crazy, and got it all finished Saturday night. We spent the night of the 23rd with my parents and woke up the 24th and opened presents there. Then that evening we went to Andy's dad's and had Christmas with the Clark's. Of course, the 25th we woke up after Santa came to our house and had real Christmas here. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids at my parents' house.Unfortunately, that's kinda where the Christmas cheer ended for us grown-ups. Andy's grandfather passed away on the 23rd. He'd been sick for a long time, but that sure didn't make it any easier. We decided to do our regular things with the other sides of the family for the kids, but also because Andy felt like his grandfather would've wanted us to try to enjoy Christmas. From the 25th to the 27th we were in and out of the funeral home. It was all pretty hard on Andy's mom's family, especially this time of year, but they seem to be doing as good as they could be. I didn't know his grandfather very well because by the time I came into the family, he'd gone downhill enough that he didn't talk very much, but aside from Andy's dad (and me and the kids of course), this was the person he was closest to, so most of my tears were for him. On top of everything, not that this really even compares to the loss of a grandparent, I went to the doctor today and found out I have the beginning of walking pneumonia and pleuracy, which is an infection in the lining of my right lung. I've been walking around for a week thinking I had a broken rib or something. I feel fine other than a horrible cough and killer pain on my right side when I cough or breathe deep. But, instead of sending me home on antibiotics, the doctor gave me a shot and I already feel much better. And, for those of you wondering, we've changed our moving date to Feb. 1 because the people in the house right now (Andy's cousin) had some set backs with the house they're moving into. With everything so busy, that's fine with me. My goal now is to relax a little before I have to go back to school. Most of my laundry is folded and all the Christmas stuff is put away, so wish me luck!

Not for the Squeamish

There are times when I find myself asking, "What is wrong with my children?" All 3 of them have cut their hair more than once. And, I know you're all thinking, why don't I just put up the scissors? Well, in a normal house where normal children live that might be sufficient. Not mine. I cannot explain to those of you who don't live near me exactly what level of nuts my kids are. They're precious, and I love them, and they're not those kids that are referred to as brats. In fact, I get compliments all the time about how well my kids behave in restaurants and at church. Random old ladies come up to me at the grocery store and tell me I'm doing a great job. But, we're always dealing with MAJOR wounds and disasters. Evan rode his bike (which he rides quite skillfully without training wheels I might add) down the front porch, and later down the slide. He always has cuts on his face. He has a huge burn where he tried to get on Andy's dad's treadmill and fell. Sounds like a good case for neglect, right? Not so. I know there are others in my family who have the same types of children, and Andy was one himself. You can see my latest disaster pictured. The first picture is Evan after his personally done haircut, crying, not because he was in trouble, but because I said I was gonna shave his head. He, for some reason, was more embarrassed at a shaved head than this retarded haircut. I called Andy (who's been sent to Oklahoma for an ice storm) to tell him, and he said to do a mohawk, which he knew would traumatize Evan, even though it's quite the trend these days. So, I did. I know, all the grandparents are probably flipping out, and I can imagine what we'll get at church. Oh well. I've been saying, "I don't care" about a lot of things for a long time, and I think that's Andy's motto.

A New Post...Finally!

I find myself regularly apologizing for my blogging neglect, so here I go again. For those of you who haven't given up on me, sorry it's been so long. I've been packing like crazy around here, and the house is sort of sad right now. I've taken all the pictures off the walls and what's left is the nail holes and a few scratches that were under the frames. Almost all of my knick-knacks are now in boxes, and the only Christmas decorations we have out are the tree and stockings. The good thing is there's not much to clean up after Christmas. We had an inspection done on the new house and the guy found a couple of pretty big things, so we got a little nervous that things may not work out. But, we talked to them today and I'm feeling pretty good about it, and we've all agreed to keep on packing. The main thing I have left is the kitchen pantry and the closets. Next to the kitchen, that will be my biggest ordeal. Of course, there's the garage, but that's Andy's world in there, and I would have no clue where to begin. We have a hot-pink 1970 Chevelle that's in about a million pieces, and a countless number of tools. It's amazing the amount of stuff that can accumulate in 7 years. We're pretty good about cleaning out and getting rid of things. Neither one of us are pack-rats. But still, there's just a lot of stuff. I'm so excited, though, and ready to move. It'll be a little sad leaving here, because it's the only house the kids have lived in, except for our little apartment that we moved out of when Drew was 2 months old, and we've done a lot of work here. The biggest things were the major plumbing project Andy took on in putting a bathroom downstairs where there was nothing plumbed, and then the hardwood floors he put down. I jokingly mentioned that the next people to move in here would probably put down carpet. Andy didn't find it very humorous. I usually try to include pictures of the kids, but I'm also slacking on taking pictures these days. It drove me crazy trying to get a decent picture for Christmas cards this year. Trying to get all 3 kids in a half decent pose at the same time is like spinning your wheels, but we finally got one I can live with. So, sadly, here's the only other picure I've taken lately: all the packing I've done thus far:
No, the boxes aren't really full of eggs. We just have access to an unlimited amount of free egg boxes thanks to Andy's dad. As usual, the picture doesn't do it justice. I sure do feel like I've packed more than that, anyways.