With a Heavy Heart

I began this week with enthusiasm & with the hope that I would find time to post about our little spring break get-away to St. Augustine & JAX. But no one could have seen the tragedy that was to come.

On Monday afternoon, I received a phone call from one of my best friends. She shared news that a lady, a sister if you will, had just been discovered by her teenage daughter after committing suicide. I knew her very well. Our daughters, (hers is in 4th grade),were to sing together in the upcoming mother/daughter banquet tomorrow. Even though we were not terribly close, the disbelief, grief, & anger that I felt rode thru my body in sickening waves. She had been battling mental illness for some time now, & I guess things had become unbearable, at least in her mind. My heart is grieved at what her children must be going thru as I can not begin to fathom the intense grief & sorrow they must feel. It has all been so surreal, especially since most of us had seen her at worship the night before & things seemed to be going well. How difficult it is to explain to my own children in a way that is age appropriate while being honest and gentle.

In the midst of this tragedy, however, something amazing happened. I saw God. No, not in the ridiculous sense of seeing the image of Christ or Mary on a piece of toast or a random cheeto, but in the sense that we learn about in the New Testament. I saw God in the many people who flocked to the family's side in the wake of devastation. I saw God in the hands of ladies preparing food, men bringing in coolers of ice for drinks, in the loving kindness of our youth & even some of our elementary age children who hugged and cried and sometimes just sat in silence with the bereaved. I witnessed these young people show great maturity and concern for others that I have never seen before. God was there in a dear brother & sister in Christ who opened up their home to this aching & hurting family. A couple who have since taken off the week from work to help the family with arrangements, making sure the children receive immediate counseling & even sitting up all night with a teenage girl struggling with the memory of that terrible day.

Oh, God was there. In His people, in their eyes, their hearts, their hands, their feet He was there.

TWO Posts in ONE Day!!

To my faithful readers, or uh readER, don't die of shock at my posting TWICE in ONE day instead of in one month! :)

I just could not resist adding this link to one of the blogs I LOVE to read. This post is simply hilarious, as are many of Christie's. (I hope you enjoy it as much I do!)

Also, we are traveling to St. Augustine in the morning. We'll spend the day there & then spend some time w/ Joe's family. I hope to have some great pics when we return! Now it's off to clean, do laundry, & put the kids to bed....although, probably not in that order!!! LOL

Manalays & Birthday Princesses

Does your husband have a manalay? Well, apparently my husband does, or at least in his dreams. One of the fun things about Joe is when he talks in his sleep. The other night as I slipped into bed, Joe was already snoozing. I leaned over & kissed him on the head. He immediately popped up, kissed me, & then leaned way over his side of the bed. You know, like Micah does, where only his legs are still on the bed? I asked him several times what he was doing, but couldn't understand the grumbles. He finally righted himself, & snuggled in beside me. I again asked him what he was doing. He replied he was getting his "manalay." Trying desperately to hold back the giggles, I asked him what a manalay was, & apparently it is something you pick up metal with! Seriously it's not even a word, & when I asked him the next morning what a manalay was, he looked at me like I had three heads. He had no idea what I was talking about.

Of course, that was funnier than the other morning when I tried to wake him up because his alarm was going off and he said, "shut your mouth, it's not my ADDING!" If I didn't know about his sleep habits & that college algebra was stressing him out, I would have pushed him out of bed. In fact, maybe next time...

Here is our birthday princess who just turned eight last Saturday! This is the outfit she put together to go & spend her giftcards:

She is a shopping queen! She found a couple of shorts/pants & SEVERAL tops for around $75 at the "Children's Place" store. Let me put it this way...two of the items were $9, the rest were between $3-$6! I am never so lucky. I'll post pics of her new outfits soon.

Here are some interesting pics of Micah's toys that I took after he went to bed one night:

That is the preschool version of Magnetix he used to create what I assume is an impound lot. He loves to line up things like cars & crayons. He sometimes even sorts by color. If you really knew him, this type of OCD behavior doesn't quite fit. And, yes, if you look closely, that is a Christmas M&M character playing the part of night watchman!

Shameless

Last Saturday, Joe & I went on a date. A friend of ours, Brian, agreed to watch the kids. (Brian is a great guy, but Rebekah was probably in charge!) Once we left the restaurant, I told Joe not to forget that we HAD to get toilet paper before we went home. Seriously, if we didn't get TP, we would be in dire straits. The night was a lot of fun. At the end, we returned to Brian's house to pick up the kids. (Just to let you know how great Brian is, I believe he watched Freaky Friday w/Bekah twice! I mean what guy doesn't love a teeny-bopper flick w/ Lindsey Lohan:) As we talked, we realized it wasn't really 11:00, but midnight with the coming "spring forward" time change. We said our farewells & loaded the kids in the car. Then it dawned on me, we had forgotten to get TP. At this time, the grocery store near us would be closed, & I didn't relish the thought of a trip to Wal-Mart at this hour. So, as most mothers, I did what I had to. I rolled down the window (sidebar: why do we still call it "rolling" down the windows when we have automatic windows now??) & called out to Brian, "Hey Brian, would you give us a roll of toilet paper so we don't have to go to the store?" I thought Joe was going to die. Brian immediately ran inside & returned with not one, but two, rolls! Is that Christian spirit or what?!

Fast forward to the ride home. Joe, obviously, unnerved by my lack of shame & self-respect told me that he would ask me never to do something like that again, but he knew that was useless. Instead he asked that I never do it again while he's around. He went on to sarcastically suggest that we should just stop by everyone's house that we knew on the way home & ask for TP. I replied enthusiastically, "Then we'd have a 24-pack!" Note: Joe was still not laughing.

Here's my thought: if I can't ask someone who is most like a brother for TP, who then, can I ask?? Sure, it's a little more personal than borrowing a cup of sugar, but certainly more important. Yesterday at Joe's work, I realized that Micah had a huge rip that had torn the toe of his shoe. I told Joe, forget TP, I should have asked for shoes!! (Yes, Micah now has a sporty new black pair of Lighnin' McQueen shoes from the movie Cars. He was convinced that these were the "fastest" shoes that he needed to win races against his friend Dalton. I mean , after all, it has to be the old shoes that were causing him to lose in the first place, right?)


I Couldn't Make This Stuff Up...

This past Monday we had 9 weeks exams. In order to prepare, we worked on study guides last Thursday. The students were paired together & allowed to work cooperatively. As I made my rounds, I began to help one of my favorite students & his partner. You guessed it, the same big guy with a passion for food. (I'll just call him Bob from here on out.) Near the end of class, my co-teacher was wrapping up the assignment & giving instructions before locker break. She held up the guide we had been working on for almost an hour and stressed to the kids not to come to class on Friday w/o it completed. But most importantly, DO NOT come to class w/o it. With enthusiasm, Bob looks at me & says "Oh Ms. , we gettin' a study guide?" At which time, I had a strong urge to turn & bang my head on the concrete wall.

I also work with a sweet kid with autism. He speaks in a very deep, monotone voice- flat affect. The one class that he has the most problems with is social studies. I believe there may be a little bit of a personality clash or power struggle with the teacher. He calls me to his desk & here is our conversation:

Him: I passed my social studies test.
Me: (with enthusiasm) That's great!
Him: (still w/a deep, flat monotone voice) For the very first time, I love it.

I love these kids.

Just When I Needed it Most....

...God provided the comic relief that I needed. Just when I thought I could not see a light at the end of the educational tunnel, one of my kids (at school-not to be confused with the 2 I gave birth to, although I feel like they are my own :) totally cracked me up, as he often does all of his teachers. This is a pretty big kid, with a love for food. He's not really overweight, just a big guy. If I could connect all the concepts with food, I think we'd have a breakthrough! One of our interns came in, & he wanted to know who she was and could he go to her class because "she's pretty." When the other teacher told him she was taken & had a baby, he replied that he was going to "throw pies at her man." Okay, this may not sound as funny in print, but here's this big kid who looks like he could play linebacker on the high school football team, & the most violent thing he can think to do is throw pies at someone!! Just last week at dismissal, he told us his bus driver "looks like Aunt Jemima....you know Ms. J., the one with the grits and pancakes." The other students were cracking up.

The 80's are so Totally Awesome, Like Gnarly Dude!

...TV Land is showing movies from the 80's that are my all-time faves. Last weekend was The Breakfast Club, and to end my very stressful week, last night was Sixteen Candles and Say Anything... Is there anything better than a great movie & raw cookie dough?? The best thing about the latter movie is "In Your Eyes", the only song that I truly like by Peter Gabriel. Sixteen Candles is probably my favorite of all, that & anything else with Molly Ringwald. She is like the quintessential actress of this era. Like, you know what I'm sayin'? Like I need to quit. Seriously.

Could I have thought of a more corny sub-title? Well, yes! Just ask those who know.

A Day in the Life...

...of a middle school teacher. Could someone please tell me how to motivate the unmotivated?? What do you do when 7th graders won't even do 4, YES FOUR, problems for homework?? Try 3 out of about 25 students completing this assignment. Another 7 did only the odd, and the ANSWERS for the odd are in the BACK of the book! (On a side note: 7th grade math is not what we remember. We've already covered elements of college-level statistics, 2-step algebraic equations, and geometry that we didn't do until about 10th grade. Thanks to some of the elements of No Child Left Behind, a lot more children are not even at the "bus stop" to catch the ride!!)

I've always worked with struggling, difficult to teach students, but I've never experienced little to no effort. I can handle a kid with any type of ability level, but I'm running out of ideas to motivate. I've even watched Freedom Writers for my own motivation. There are so many influences and distractions for them, and many lack the desire for something better. Isn't the natural pattern of things to desire something bigger and better for your own children? Where are their dreams and hopes, and why can't they be realistic and legal? What can we offer them that beats what the street offers?

The "DOG" is on His Way Back!!

With the risk of ruining my reputation, I must confess a love for some things redneck. Here is my weakness confessed:

Woohoo! Imagine my excitement as I found this on Yahoo! It seems that A&E is bringing Duane "The Dog" Chapman back to their weekly lineup.

There is something to be said for mindless reality TV, and I am not ashamed to give into it once or twice a week! Wow, confession is really good for the soul.