YAY! The kids are out for the summer, no more worries about getting them to and from school or not being able to give Matthew a nap at 1:30 because I have to leave in 90 minutes to get Austin.
Both boys made honor roll, way to go guys!!
Speaking of school…. BOBBY will have his associates degree next week!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU HONEY!! 
*Disclaimer* This is going to a mushy mom-brag post because I am so dang proud of my child. Read on only if you you don’t have diabetes, this is likely to be sugar-filled.
Yesterday afternoon around 3:30 I got a phone call from Austin’s school saying he would be getting an award at an assembly the next day at 1 and said they would love for me to attend. I asked Bobby to take a long lunch so he could come with me, but he opted to work a half day instead. So we get to the gym today at 1 and the very first name called is Austin, for an award for best in his class for fine arts. Nifty. They then proceed to call out names of other students broken down in 4 categories for each subject…. “Outstanding Student Award – Boys”, “Outstanding Student Award – Girls”, “Most improved – Boys”, and finally “Most improved – Girls”. They did all the subjects for 6th grade, and then 7th grade.
At the end of the ceremony, the Dean of Students said he had a surprise for the students. He went on to say that he got some extra grant money and decided that he wanted to award one student from each grade for overall excellence. Someone who maintained great grades, attitude, attendance, and went above and beyond as a citizen of the school.
He then went on to say that the first student awarded has demonstrated excellence in many ways, not only by being a friend to all in his grade, but by being cheerful and courteous at all times. He is the student who at the dances stands in the middle of the gym and rocks out the his air guitar all by himself without a care in the world. The student who demonstrates honesty by returning the snacks to the Dean when the machine accidentally gives him two because he “only paid for one”, the student who is always asking if there is something he can do to help his teachers, his peers, and the Dean.
Bobby and I looked at each other because that kid sounded a LOT like our goofy, care-free, honest little guy, but at the same time there are a LOT of great 6th graders at his school. The Dean went on to say that he could not imagine a more deserving student than Austin to receive the award!
You should have seen my little guy, he was SO proud of himself and his classmates were all so excited! His teacher and I were bawling our eyes out and Bobby stood up to grant his permission for Austin to receive the iPod (since the school will not give a student big ticket items without the parents permission). Since it was so close to the end of the day, the teacher told us to go ahead and take him home with us, and on the way to the car Austin says “You know, my iPod I just bought with my birthday money has a 30 day return policy!” LOL So we went home to get the reciept and took him Best Buy to exchange his iPod for something else. He picked up Guitar Hero III (a game where you play songs on the XBox on a life-sized wireless guitar), he then also got two games for the Wii, Super Smash Brother’s Brawl, and Sonic vs. Mario Olympics, as well as an iTunes gift card.
Right now the three little boys are playing the Smash Brother’s game, even though Matthew has NO clue what he is doing, his brothers keep praising him for doing well.
In other news, Austin and I went back to the Humane Society, and still no Sabin. On the way home we picked up some neon paper to print out some missing signs to hang around the neighborhood. Hope fully we find him soon.
Tomorrow I will be 38 weeks pregnant. Wow. I have 15 more days until my due date, which means I *should* have my baby in my arms within the next 29 days. Hopefully sooner than later, come on out little lady, mama wants to meet you! I am so crampy.
Sabin is still missing, we are now on day 5. I have filed a report with the humane society (and looked at all the kitties to see if he was there), contacted the company he is microchipped through. Talked to neighbors, call for him daily, Bobby walks the block with a flashlight each night after sunset. I set out some smelly food, but a neighbor kitty ate it all up. Now we just wait, and hope, that he finds his way home soon.
I had my home visit with my midwife on Tuesday, all is well and she seemed to get along well with Bobby. She told me that they way I was coughing, she could tell I did not read the manual that states I am not allowed to get sick at the end of pregnancy. LOL I am feeling a little better today, so hopefully I am not coughing when I am pushing.
The older boys only have a week left of school before summer vacation, I am really looking forward to having them home to help. Usually I dread it because they get *so bored*, but they are older and more mature and are SO helpful around the house.
My mom is coming to visit in 2 1/2 weeks, I am so excited to see her, it has been 3 years since her last visit at my house. Normally we all drive up to visit her since all my family is up north and I can visit everyone.
Bobby’s boss is coming next week to visit him from Texas. I told him I will try to wait until after his boss leaves and after the kids are out of school to have this little one, which is May 23rd, but realistically, this will probably be a June baby. I am just hoping she decides to come sooner than later so Grandma can meet her.
Austin and Christopher got grades this week, not only were we impressed with the actual grades, but more impressive was the improvement between 1st semester and 2nd semester.
Austin made the Dean’s List!! YAY AUSTIN!!!
He had 6 A’s and 3 B’s, up from 3 A’s, 2 B’s and 2 C’s.
Not sure if Christopher made honor roll yet, but he had 7 A’s, 1 B and 1 C, up from 5 A’s, 2 B’s, 2 C’s and a D.
Looks like we get to take BOTH kids out for a celebration this time, I am so proud of them! I am not sure I can pass the pride they are feeling for themselves though, good job boys!!
Seriously people… it is Friday, you don’t have to act like fools because the weekend is here. How many jerks can I encounter in a 10 minute drive??
To the man in the Suburban: If you plan on disregarding the STOP sign and pulling out in front of me, can you at LEAST have the decency to go the speed limit?? Going 15 under is going to do nothing but piss off the drivers you illegally pulled in front of. I understand that reading a stop sign may be too difficult, but if the speed limit sign says 35, could you please at least match up the number on your odometer that looks the same? I get that you are driving a beater, and it may not go that fast, but WHY on earth were you heading to a road with a 50 MPH speed limit?? You can’t even make it up to 35! However after meeting asshole #2, I guess you are just a mini-hole.
To the MAIN asshole in the green SUV: Your kids go to the same school as mine, which means I see you 2x a day. WHY do you have to act like the world’s biggest (or maybe I should say littlest?) prick? Let me educate you on something… the little yellow lane in the middle of the road is called a turn lane, to allow you to turn onto residential streets. It was NEVER intended to be a passing lane. If a truck stalls and takes up the right lane, and also takes up the middle lane, it is STILL first come first serve on who gets to go first. Since I was there first, that would be ME, not you. You do NOT have the right to zip around me just because the stick up your ass is pinching you and causing you physical pain. A nice head on collision might be a nice refresher on how to drive, but no one deserves to be injured at the hands of your road rage. The 30 seconds you saved by speeding past me is NOT WORTH THE LIVES OF YOU CHILDREN!! And VERY not worth the lives of my own children. Had I been an inpatient prick like you, you would have slammed into the back of my car and I would have sued you for everything you own, including the shirt on your back. Take a pill and calm the fuck down buddy, we ALL have to share the road.
To the police department: Sorry you are so understaffed, overworked, and underpaid, we could have really used the revenue from these assholes to balance the city budget.
While in the grocery store on Saturday, we ran into Austin’s little friend in 5th grade, whom I did not particularly care for (he was in trouble a lot at school). The mom asked what school Austin was going to and I replied [Name Withheld] Charter School, and she said “Oh, my son goes to [Name Withheld] Middle School. I figure, sure it has a lot of fights and drug problems, but what school doesn’t?”
My jaw dropped. As a parent, is that really the selling point you want to describe your 6th graders education?? I cannot begin to say enough about Austin’s school, how wonderful the teachers, administrators and support staff are.
Here is the rating that Great Schools gave the Middle School her son was in. This is the default school in the district for my neighborhood.
This is the school Austin goes to, the ONLY thing we did different is to enroll him at the end of 5th grade for the 6th grade year.
Here are the standardized test scores for the Middle School.
Here are the test scores for Austin’s Charter School. They are a new school, so they only recently have started standardized testing.
Obviously there is more of a problem than just the occasional fight the mom mentioned. I don’t understand defending a school with such a poor rating, low test scores, and obviously a hostile environment. The Charter School does not have the bullying problem other schools have because the children are ALWAYS supervised. The curriculum is more strict, and children spend less time in the halls getting from class to class than they do at the Middle School.
Which one would you chose? The middle school with drug, violence and education problems? Or the charter school with strict rules, higher standards and excellent test scores? Both are free. Can you believe these schools are only 0.3 miles apart?
With the time change, a cold and being in a bad mood this morning, Matthew and I already are butting heads. He is congested and coughing so I would not let him have a glass of milk with his bowl of cereal with milk and that turned into a 15 minute sob-fest of “Matthew SAD! No water mommy, Matthew MILK.” I do not deal well with his whiny days.
I have to leave NOW to get Austin to school, but no one is ready, then I have a 45 minute prenatal appointment today Mr. Whiny Pants is going to have to accompany on. I want to cancel it, but she should have answers of my test results this morning and I really want to get a treatment plan going NOW.
Once we get back home from taking Austin to school, I think I am going to toss Matthew in a hot shower to steam his sinuses clear and then a nice snuggle in bed before we go, maybe that will put him in a happier mood.
Disclaimer: This entry is rated PG-13.
I had today’s blog entry pre-written in my head, I was going to call it “Mommy’s Little Helper: A love story” and gush about my love of Starbucks Venti White Chocolate Mocha, or my lifeblood, and how even after only 4 1/2 hours of sleep I can accomplish so much before 9am and how much I had gotten done already…. then at 8:50am my good day went bad.
So when I look back it was not the best day, but with all the pitfalls I was still able to get the kids off to school without choking them, the car jumped which involved calling the dealership to find out how to override the shift lock and moving a dead car onto the street, still got Austin to school on time at 7:30, got $150 worth of groceries, got a roast & veggies into the slow cooker AND got myself a dentist appointment for today for the tooth I chipped on Saturday… and then with one simple phone call to DH the day changed and my good day turned bad.
Now I am not going to say my husband ruined my day, but that is because he reads my blog… but I think you can read between the lines. I guess the main issue I am having is getting the kids up at 6am just does not seem like early enough for them to get showered, dressed, get their chores done, breakfast eaten, hair & teeth brushed and out the door by 7:20 & 7:30. I am really debating whether or not I need to start getting them up at 5:30 which means either I need to get up at that time also, which is nearly impossible when I don’t get to sleep until after midnight, OR if I can trust them to get up on their own with an alarm clock, and get ready without waking up the whole house. Some mornings I want to duct tape the mouth of my 9 yr old shut because he fills the entire house with nonsense noise… throaty noises like “uh-uh-uh-uh” which serve the ONLY purpose of comforting him and annoying the shit out the other 4 members of the family.
So the car battery was dead this morning, either Austin or Bobby left a light on inside and the car would not start, nor go into neutral without being started. So I called the dealership who told me to look in my manual for how to override the steering lock, which was a delightful discovery that I hope we never have to use again. Backing the car into the driveway did not work, my cables were about 2″ to short, so we gave some lady a heart attack as we pushed it down the driveway thinking that we were going to have the brute strength to push the car uphill into her car and she gave us a friendly little honk while waving at us with a single finger, I was thrilled with her strong level of perception that roads are only made for one car at a time and choosing to get pissed instead of you know, going around and driving on the correct side of the road instead of the middle.
Ok, so whatever… I got the kids’ papers signed as I was trying to run out the door to get Austin to school in time after the whole fiasco. I hate it when teachers come into the house early Monday morning and sneak papers into backpacks instead of giving them to the kids on Friday, it makes Mondays so much more interesting I guess. By this time I am already losing my voice because the kids have been up over an hour and in that time have only managed to shower and dress. The animals are starved, they have not eaten, and the bathroom, the bedroom, and the kitchen looks like a hurricane swept through it. I swear, kids have the anti-midas touch and everything they touch turns to shit. Ok, maybe not that bad turns to dirty, wet, filthy garbage, that is nicer.
So I get Austin to school, I go to Safeway to get a much needed coffee & some milk and ended up with $150 worth of groceries and we will still not have anything to eat. When I got home I browned a roast, cut up potatoes and onion & tossed them all in a slow cooker with baby carrots, garlic, and seasonings and dinner is done. While unloading the rest of my groceries I put a call into the dentist and snag a same day appointment at 4pm to get a filling put in the molar I chipped this weekend when I bit on the barbell of my tongue piercing which keeps rubbing on my tongue and making it swell. I called DH and asked him if he could come home 30 minutes early because there is no way I can get Austin at 3:30, pick up Christopher from home, take them a sitter and be at the dentist’s office at 3:45. Well that was a no-go so I had to call and reschedule at their next available appointment 3 weeks from now… I must be the world biggest baby because after 3 days of this I am ready to just pull the damn tooth myself… but after three weeks I will be wanting to shoot myself, I cannot handle tooth pain!
Ok, so I am frustrated with the dentist and my husband and my child who has already had his third trip into time out for yelling at me, getting into the fridge and for not listening, and the tears are starting to flow. I toss the toddler into the highchair with a yogurt, drink my coffee and try to clean up my mess from making dinner. The trash of course is overflowing because that is my middle son’s chore (that is a rant for another blog entry… I got to clean underwear off my curb because apparently my MDS got lost in his 20 foot walk out to the trash can). I also busy myself with filling my in-sink soap dispenser with the dish soap I bought today because I ran out of the bulk soap 2 weeks ago and have just been using my little bottle. I guess in the two weeks it sat empty it broke because I can push the dispenser down, but it will not come back up… so I just wasted 1/4 a big bottle of Dawn into the empty abyss of brokenness. In the process of trying to fix it I overflow my sink with suds and I learn that we have no clean dishrags to clean up the huge mess with. I turn to grab a paper towel and knock the cutting board off my counter sending the 1/2 an onion I did not use flying through the air. I take another sip of coffee and clean up my mess.
Meanwhile the baby starts complaining that he is still hungry and asks for another yogurt. I offer a banana instead which he gladly accepted and I left the room to come in here and start writing. Next thing I know a yogurt covered baby had escaped from his highchair, abandon the uneaten banana and made his way to my couch leaving a trail of yogurt paw prints all over my kitchen table, cloth dining room chairs, walls, and my couch… as I jump up I knock over my cup and my coffee ends up on my carpet. I am SO ready to crawl back into bed and call it a day… the baby can pick up Austin from school at 3, I’ll leave the car keys on my desk within reach.
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Now playing: Ani DiFranco – 32 Flavors
via FoxyTunes
Austin has a photo project due today, and I thought he had it covered until he told us at 9pm last night he had not even started. So we scoured through 10 years of photos to find six acceptable photos, problem is, Bobby has not hooked up my new printer with me, so he had to take them in to be printed. He went to five different stores and did not get home until 11:30pm because he was trying to find a photo kiosk that was open that late. Of course, Austin will never understand how much we do for him, nor will he fully appreciate it, until he is at the fifth Walgreen’s in town, 15 miles from home at 11:30 pm making duplicate photos for his own child.
Tonight we had an orientation meeting for Austin’s school, I am so in love with this school, I asked when *I* could join. It is academic/success based with requirements being much like college. You must have a 2.0 to pass, failure is not an option. The school encourages character building activities, like volunteering in the community; and the high school is college prep, with AP classes counting towards college credits. The enrollment is capped at about 300 students for middle school; Austin is looking at a graduating class of 100. I also love that it is rated 23rd in the state, so it is in the top 4% of the state.
I also love that they believe in removing distraction by wearing uniforms and having single sex classes at the middle school level. Austin is currently in a single sex classroom and his grades and test scores have never been higher with him achieving honor roll. I absolutely love that he will continue this into next year and beyond.
After the meeting we went out to IHOP for breakfast for dinner. Austin was very excited for the new school, and Christopher is rearing and ready to go too. We told him that he has two years to get his grades up, and I hope he starts working harder so he can also go. Matthew was tired from not napping today, and was a terror at dinner, I hope he sleeps well tonight because he has been SO crabby lately!
Me: Heather, thirty-something mama to five wild kiddos. With such a broad age range, I can easily be nursing a baby while helping with Algebra homework. If I ever get spare time, I enjoy technology, knitting, reading, and just hanging out with my kiddos.
Bobby, my best friend and partner in crime for all of my adult life. Ex soldier, turned computer geek, he's traveled the world and then some. Truly an awesome husband, and dad, even when he is almost 7,000 miles away.
Christopher - 14. My professor, he always has a fact ready for any situation. Christopher loves math and science and is especially interested in the weather. Christopher loves to get lost between the pages of a good book.
Matthew - 7. My silly little jester. Matthew can make anyone laugh with the hilarious things he says and does. We are easily amused with his "Matthewisms", even as a baby his timing was impeccable.
Sophia - 3. The princess. With 4 brothers, it is easy to see why Sophie is such a diva, but behind all her drama, she is genuinely the sweetest kid I know. She is quick with a hug or an "I love you" and touches everyone she meets with kind words and a smile that lights up a room.
Liam, born 12/28/10. The n00b. Our 5th and final. Lovingly nicknamed "Mr. Grabbyhands", and about 300 other nicknames. Liam is easy going, laid back, cuddly, and sweet.