Stop A Moment

The Tween has Spoken

Not long after fourth grade began,
these rules were suddenly found hanging from my son's door:

Family Rules Laws

1. Never go in my room without permission!

2. Never and I mean never call me "honey" in public!

3. Don't give me a hug or kiss at school!

4. Don't come in without knocking on the bathroom door!

So, I'm trying to follow these laws. I may have slipped on the calling Mr. Almost Ten "honey" in public. But I'm working on it. I am on my best behavior at school. I promise. And I do not go in his room except to put laundry away or straighten the mess. Thus far there have been no complaints about continuing my Mom Chores in the confines of his room. When the door is closed, I knock. And well, if Mr. Almost Ten would close the bathroom door now and then, well, then I could work on knocking more often! That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Otherwise, I plead the Fifth.

Missing all of you

I started this blog as a way to keep in touch with family and friends across the miles, never knowing that our path this year would lead us to the Memphis TN area. Who knew?

However, I've always said that as long as you have your health, then you have everything. That holds so true especially for a mom who sat for two months in a NICU watching my baby breathe and forget to breathe and then breathe again.

Yes, I miss our friends and neighbors dearly in OSW. Our home was our haven. Our neighborhood was our family. We know the house and OSW will shelter and love the next family as well.

We cherish our friends back in OSW who are taking care of our home for us until we return to pack the rest of our belongings. I'm glad that we left when we did though so that Nicolas could get settled here in his new school. It would have been more difficult for him to start at Forge and then have to say all of those emotional goodbyes.

Last week, I was walking through a cool store here in Collierville. Hobby Lobby. And I saw these quotes which I quickly typed in my I-phone to share with each of you:

"Friendship is a promise made in the heart. Unbreakable by distance. Unchangeable by time."

"Truly great friends are hard to find. Difficult to leave and impossible to forget."

Thanks to Mr. L for mowing the lawn

...to Mrs. R for cleaning and nearly daily checks of EVERY thing.

...to Mr. F for taking care of the pool

and all the rest of you that are helping in countless ways!

So many friends have pitched in to make our move easier. We are blessed to have each of you in our lives.

I hope that the new family will enjoy a seasonably warm Fall so that they can christen the pool with a refreshing swim. Nothing like a night with the pool cranked to 89 now is there?!

I hope the family enjoys peaceful sunsets from the gazebo while sipping on a refreshing beverage.

I wish for festive family dinners in the kitchen where we cooked many Thanksgiving meals for visiting family members.

And I hope we will soon find the next home that will love and shelter us as well. However... no friends will ever replace those from OSW!

Oh, and pixie dust. Given my obsession for all things Disney and my work with WDW and DCL, I must add some of that fairy dust to my wishes.

I wish the new family pixie dusted moments in their new home.

And I wish our friends pixie dust days filled with love and friendship!

Catch a rising star

My son participated in a two week drama camp at the Hershey Playhouse which followed with an evening performance of their play.

Nicolas played Detective Richard Georges in the play, The Case of the Missing Violin which was co-written by the kids.

At Nic's age I would have been filled with nerves and nearly terrified to get up on stage. Nicolas was confident in his lines and I was so proud of his performance.

Catch my rising star...

Giving away some Sun!

So, we finally saw some sunshine the last couple of days.

And although my world has been a bit gloomy of late,
I'd like to pass on some SUN shine to my readers.

Give a little sun and maybe my I'll get some in return!

A giveaway of Sun Burst Laundry Detergent should do the trick.

I'm giving away five coupons for
a FREE full size bottle of Sun Burst 45.4 oz. 2X Liquid laundry detergent
or
49 oz Powder Laundry Detergent
in any scent.

The rules:

• leave your email address or contact info in your comment
• Random.org will be used to select the winners.
• I will contact the lucky winners via email. 

• EXTRA WAYS TO ENTER:
• Twitter the giveaway
• Blog about the giveaway and include a link in your comment
• Email two friends and copy me
• Add a link to my blog

Add a comment that includes the ways you are entering or comment more than once if needed. It's all for some Sun in our lives!

Giveaway begins today, June 13 and ends on June 22. Winners will be notified the week of June 23. I will email the winners as well as post them on my blog.

What time is it?

Tomorrow is my son's last day of school. Well, last couple of hours, really. School dismisses at Noon but we may pick him up a bit earlier.

Then, it's time to hit the road to Chantilly, VA for a 3 night getaway.

We are staying at Westfields Marriott which I booked with a AAA promotion for $69 per night on March 30th. It's important to jump on hotel deals when you see them especially if there are reasonable cancellation policies. Total for a 3 night getaway $225.63.

I can't wait to escape for a few days. It's been a gloomy and stressful Spring and there's nothing like an escape from reality to help the doldrums.

Our plans are to relax at the resort's indoor and outdoor pool as well as have dinner out tomorrow night. We may visit a local Mall or a book store to pick up some vacation reading.

On Saturday (which just happens to be my birthday), we'll go to Mount Vernon. I haven't been there since my parents took me as a kid. We are all looking forward to our day of discovery visiting the museum, gardens and house that represent George Washington's life.

On Sunday, it's off to space with our feet still planted on the ground. We plan to tour the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport. It is the companion facility to the Museum on the National Mall which we've visited many times. We can't wait to see the Space Shuttle Enterprise!

So, today it's all about tidying up things at home. Laundry, bills, WDW work, taking care of the pets, picking up snacks at the store, etc. I would have more motivation if the sun was shining.

This is also my last full day at home without the sound of "Mom" echoing through the house every two minutes. With karate, violin lessons, visiting with friends, drama camp and other fun things planned, the summer is sure to go way too fast. And I'll admit that I do look forward to Nic's "vacations" to his grandparent's homes in Buffalo and Rochester NY. While he's gone, every night is date night! Michael and I look forward to those evenings but inevitably we can't wait for our boy to return.

"What time is it?
Summertime
It's our vacation

What time is it?
Summertime
School's out, scream and shout!"

 

 

 

 

8 things...

My friend Darcie from Such the Spot tagged me today. She's a talented writer and I hope that even if you do not have time to play tag today that you'll bookmark her blog. Trust me, you'll get lost over there reading about her honest and hilarious moments as a mom to four great kids - from toddler to teen!

So here's my eight things. If you want to play, copy and fill in your answers. Then tag 8 of your friends to play too.

8 Things I’m Looking Forward To:
1. Summer nights swimming in our pool with the water heated to 89
2. Our WDW vacation in September
3. Having the nerve to send my book out to agents/publishers
4. Finally getting my house de-cluttered
5. Nicolas going to his grandparents for a vacation and then his return home
6. Going to see Mount Vernon this weekend.
7. Sailing on a Disney cruise in 2010
8. Lazy summer days with friends and family

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Eyebrows waxed
2. Ran another day of Couch Potato to 5K
3. Took Nicolas shopping for new sneakers
4. Answered questions at disneyworldmoms.com
5. Tweeted, blogged and facebooked
6. Paid bills
7. Spoke with the school nurse
8. Ran errands with Michael and Nicolas

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. See my name on a book that I've written
2. Buy a beach house
3. Take my family on a Mediterranean Disney Cruise
4. Pay off all our debt
5. Return to my pre-marriage size (yep I'm blaming weight gain on my husband. yes i am.)
6. Travel more
7. Get a make-over with a new wardrobe
8. Re-live my son's babyhood as it went too fast

8 Shows I Watch:
1. General Hospital
2. Jon and Kate Plus 8
3. Lost
4. Survivor
5. Amazing Race
6. Oprah
7. Bachelorette
8. House Hunters

8 Favorite Fruits:
1. Strawberries
2. Bananas
3. Red grapes
4. Oranges
5. Mango
6. Watermelon
7. Peaches
8. Blueberries

8 Places I’d Like To Travel To:
1. Hawaii
2. Yellowstone/Grand Tetons
3. Mount Rushmore
4. Mediterranean
5. Paris
6. Australia
7. Fiji
8. Any Adventures by Disney tour

8 Places I’ve Lived:
1. Hilton NY
2. Syracuse NY at Syracuse University
3. Tonawanda NY, University of Buffalo
4. Greece, NY
5. A friend's basement while waiting to find an apartment
6 in our first apartment with orange hand-me-down furniture. (yes we were living in sin)
7. Our first house in Linglestown PA
8. Our current home

8 People I’m Tagging:
1. Mrs. Dogood Writes
2. Multitasking Mommy
3. Mommy Musings
4. A Work in Progress
5. Forever Young
6. Diane's Blog
7. One Fabulous Mama
8. All Things Choisez

No time to tag, No worries. Just delete!
 

Parmesan Potatoes

On backyard BBQ day, I love to make these potatoes for a side dish.

Parrmesan Potatoes

  Cut each potato in half. Then in half again.   Melt 1 1/2 sticks of butter. Pour in large baking dish.   Sprinkle 3 tablespoons parmesan all over melted butter.   Place potatoes on top, skins up.   Pour a little oil over each potato.  

Bake at 425 for 50 minutes uncovered.

Going with my gut

I promise to listen to my gut instinct. It's amazing how often it leads me in the right direction. And when I ignore it. I end up astray.

 It has been a tough school year. This teacher has definitely dampened Nic's enthusiasm. Nicolas loves to learn. He gets very excited over new lessons, reading, writing etc. I researched our teacher options and actually requested the teacher Nicolas had this year.

My gut instinct on Back to School Night was that this request was the wrong one.

 

My regret is that we kept giving her the benefit of the doubt because she is new. We didn't request a change in classrooms because our other two teacher choices were probably even worse. Or at least we thought so at the beginning of the year.

 

We also highly respect teachers and admire what they do. Now that we are parents, their jobs are even more important to us.

 

In the future, I've promised my son that we will go with our gut instinct. My gut told me back in September that she was not the right teacher for our son (or us) to work with.

 

Just a few more days...then we can start anew. Of course, now we are deciding if we even want to remain in this school district.

 

On the upside, we have a wonderful, caring guidance counselor. She is going to talk to Nicolas today.

 

I am so sad that I didn't listen to my motherly instinct. It wasn't a whisper. It was a loud thump on the head. I didn't listen. Next time, I will.

 

Maybe I'm just old school

So, my son's teacher replies via email:
" I don't think I was nearly as firm as I could have been in this situation."

What? The child was handing in work from his writing portfolio and he was missing one piece of paper which happened to already be placed in his school memory box b/c this Mom was proud of this particular writing piece and didn't realize that it needed to be returned to school.

LACK of communication.

After telling me that she tried to tone down her firmness with my son b/c "we both know" he is sensitive, she doesn't once express any concern that the kid returned to his desk crying and that she never checked on him.

I find out today that he privately asked to speak with the guidance counselor. Um, yeah. I think you were firm enough.

It's been a weird year. Where is the compassion for the student? The year began in this manner with a very strange encounter that our son had with his teacher that led to a rather heated discussion between us parents, the teacher and the principal. Now...it's ending on this sour note. There have been little issues all year with her teaching style but nothing that warranted calling the Principal or asking for another meeting.

Until this past Friday. And now, she's making it sound like a horrible offense that my child was missing one piece of paper. One piece of paper that Mom and Dad showed off to our son's grandparents and then proudly put in his memory box.

A piece of paper that she says "the fact of the matter is that he lost something that he is responsible for". Um, yeah. No. His parents failed to return it to school.

Now, I could see this severe uproar if missing papers and such were a constant part of my son's school career. But. Um. No.

I'm not in to conspiracies much but I'm gonna think again that the low scores that we put on that anything-but-anonymous survey just might have acted as some catalyst. I don't know. I'm just sayin'. Maybe.

Nicolas came out of school today and he's okay. But he's not his jovial, happy go lucky self. And shouldn't the last week of school be a little bit more, well, exciting? Maybe I'm just old school.

Not the teacher's pet

So, my son gets out of school this past Friday and he is deeply upset. This worries me as we have a fun evening planned for him and I know he doesn't want to miss it.

Instead, we sit in our living room with him sobbing. Finally, he calms down enough to explain that he was at his teacher's desk (another student was standing nearby) when she asked him where his rubric was for a certain writing piece that he did. He didn't understand what she needed. She told him that since he lost it, he would not get a perfect grade in writing on his report card.

Nic returned to his desk and cried.

All weekend, we tried to figure out what was missing. Of course there was no note, email or phone call from the teacher. Finally, my husband remembered that before Memorial Day, Nicolas brought home a creative story that he had scored 20 out of 20 on. But the score wasn't the most impressive element, the story was great. We kept it out as Nic's grandparents were visiting that weekend and we hadn't seen them since January. Nic proudly showed off his creative writing piece and the rubric with the grade. We had a fantastic family weekend and obviously I forgot to return the signed rubric. I'm still not certain if the actual story needs to be returned as well.

No communication. Today I get an email from the Principal defending the teacher. Not one sentence expressed any concern for my son. And I was told that in no uncertain terms did the teacher mention his report card grade to him, accuse him of losing the paper, etc. Basically, the email implied that my son was lying. What would be the purpose?

Now, I'm not one to jump at conspiracies but last Thursday night we were sent home a teacher survey. No explanation. Just a rate the teacher on different areas survey. And it was not anonymous. My husband and I wanted to throw it out. How could we express our true opinions with our son still having to go to her classroom for another week? Then Nic guilted us in to filling it out because the teacher had told the class that if at least 19 of them were returned, then they would get a prize. So, we embellished most of our answers but scored two the lowest possible. Guess what one was on? Communication, that's right, Moms.

So, the very next day that the teacher receives our anything but anonymous ratings of her work, our son is being chastised in her class for missing work, told he lost it and his report card grade would no longer be perfect in writing and back at his desk he CRIES. And apparently, our son misconstrued the teacher's comments and the teacher in fact said none of those things.

My biggest issue. That she had all day to write us an email, note or call and inquire about the missing work. And that she NEVER went to his desk and asked if he was okay.

I mean REALLY. Who lets a child cry if you never said anything to them to upset them? If you never said anything "mean", then wouldn't you go inquire as to why the child is crying?

Okay. Momma Bear is done growling. For now.