Life as a Mom, Wife and Teacher

Kate's Tangled Party!

2011-10-23T08:49:00.006-04:00

We celebrated Kate's 3rd Birthday this weekend and it was so much fun! I just recently started throwing "themed" birthday parties. It does get quite addictive trying to find things to match your theme. Tangled was a lot of fun. The "Mom" in me wants to share where I got everything!

I started at my favorite website: Etsy! I found this invitation at this cute shop.

I also knew that I wanted it to feel like a princess party but wanted it to have the Tangled feel to it. The movie was so cute. Most of all, I wanted the Kingdom flags and lanterns! I started searching and found this awesome set. I bought bits and pieces. The shop owner was great and let me purchase only the things I planned on using. I saved a bunch of money!

Here is the entrance to our "Kingdom".

and our lanterns. (I bought the lanterns two for $1.00 at the Dollar Tree.)
I decided that the living room would be the "Kingdom" and put the lanterns in there. The kitchen was Rapunzle's tower, and I decorated with taffeta and curling ribbon. The pictures didn't come out great; it looked really pretty!

Of course we need a little Flynn Rider. :)

I decorated with more Kingdom Flags in the kitchen and put this banner above the food table. I love the way it came out.

The food. The food was the hardest part. The party was at 2:00pm, so it wasn't lunch or dinner, but I knew the guests would need something. I googled and came up with some ideas, but due to time and life, really, I went with the easiest. We had "Hazlenut Soup", Rapunzle's favorite! (really Zuppa Tuscana from the Olive Garden), braided breadstick, jello boats, Maximus' apples and some other munchies.

I stopped doing goodie bags a long time ago. I was tried of spending money on little things that easily break and end up driving parents insane. I found a baker on Etsy, Lisa, who makes the most gorgeous cookies. She's been making cookies for our parties for over two years. This year she made us our Tangled cookies. This is the only shot I got, but we had Pascal cookies, Kingdom flags and a few numbers 3s!

For her cake, I made a simple white cake with homemade butter-cream frosting. Then I bought flowers and put them on the top. I am very proud of how it came out. My inspiration was the scene in the movie when Rapunzle has her hair braided and the girls put flowers in her braid.

Happy birthday, Kate!

What 24lbs means to me

2011-10-13T09:17:00.003-04:00

It's no secret that I'm overweight. In my eyes, I feel that I've been overweight so long that it's a part of who I am. For years I've been unhappy with my weight, but didn't take weight loss seriously. I would try to "be good" for a week or two, but I would eventually lose my focus and go back to eating like I was 9 months pregnant, even if I wasn't. I wasn't shy about wanting to lose weight either. I talked to several doctors about it and they never really pushed the issue. They would beat around the bush and say thing like, "well, you could lose a few pounds, but overall, you're healthy!" How can a 5 ft 8inches tall girl who weight over 260 pounds be healthy?!? Nothing motivated me, nothing made me want to change...nothing until now.

My Dad.

My Dad died this past August from heart disease, diabetes and over all bad health. These are all things that are treatable with diet and exercise! In 2009 when this whole ordeal started, I started having panic attacks about my health and weight. Did you know that sometimes a panic attack can feel like a heart attack? I would lay in bed thinking I was having a heart attack at 29 years old. Still, it didn't motivate me to change. In my mind I knew I wasn't done having children, so what would be the point in losing weight if I would just gain it back?

Then, I watched my father fade away right in front of me.

First, he lost his toes due to bad circulation. He was confined to wheel chair. Then, two years later he had both of his legs amputated above the knee. A few weeks after that, he lost a leg up to his hip. Then he just slipped away, losing his life because of an infection his body couldn't fight.

I will not let this happen to my children. I will not let them watch me slip away after 60. I want to be there for their children and even there children's children.

That's why I joined Weight Watchers. That's why I've lost 24lbs. That's why I'll keep going until I reach my goal. Nothing can stop me.

7 months!

2011-09-24T21:00:00.003-04:00

Owen is 7 months! He's eating solids, sitting up by himself and talking (babbling) a lot. Time is going by too fast.

This time around, I'm making my own baby food. I'm LOVING it! I bought myself the Baby Bullet and have been experimenting quite a bit! Owen hasn't truly hated anything I've made so far. His favorite is zucchini! I highly recommend trying it to all my friends. I'm pretty sure it will be my go-to baby shower gift from now on....besides a personalized pillow, of course!

My Dougie

2011-09-14T13:28:00.005-04:00

This morning when Dougie was getting dressed, he put on his shorts and reached into his pocket. Without saying a word, he turned and ran from the room. When he came back, I could see that he was putting something into his pocket. When I asked him what it was, he told me that he had Grampy's "card" in his pocket. The prayer card, which he must have found somewhere in the house or car after my father's funeral, had tattered edges and a few folds in it.

I got a tear in my eye and gave him a hug. Dougie said he likes having it there because it has Grampy's picture on it, and then said, "I got it at that place, you know, where we saw Grampy in the basket? (casket)" and then went on and on about Jeff, the funeral director who talked to him about Tom and Jerry.

I love that kid.

Dougie making sand angels at York Beach.

6 months!

2011-08-22T21:26:00.003-04:00

Happy half-birthday, Owen.

What a 6 months it's been! If you had told me what my life would be like now 6 months ago, I wouldn't have believed you. But, life goes on. I love you, little man, all 22 chunky pounds of you!

Thank you for making so many people smile over the last 11 days. Your Grampy loved you very much.

I'm gonna miss this...

2011-08-21T14:33:00.005-04:00

The last week has been rough.

This little boy brought so many smiles to so many people over the last 10 days. But, every couple hours, I get to be with him all by myself and focus all my attention on him. It only lasts for about 10 minutes, but man, I'm going to miss it when he's grown.

Ketchup

2011-07-31T14:28:00.004-04:00

Playing Catch-Up...Owen is 5 months old!

Owen at 4 months...

Owen at almost 5 months on vacation in Vermont.

5 months, in the tub!

Owen is such a joy. He sleeps through the night (most nights), share's a room with his big brother and is getting his two bottom teeth two months earlier than his brother and sister did!

Potty Training 102

2011-06-23T20:43:00.003-04:00

Since I've been on summer vacation (it's been 4 days, 4 glorious days!) I've begun to tackle potty training Kate. She's ready. She's SO ready. She rubs it in my face that she's ready and since I've just been so busy back at work and my Dad and Dougie's surgery, I have not really pushed using the potty...

This week I started pushing, and you know what? I got results. BECAUSE SHE'S READY. (Yes, I yelled, for all of you who told me, "She's just not ready!") My sweet girl tells me she has to go potty by saying, "I want to try again!" even if I haven't made her try. She's growing up too fast. My only daughter. Sigh. Life is good!

Three Months (a week late!)

2011-05-29T12:31:00.002-04:00

Owen is three months old! I can't believe how fast three months have gone by. I went back to work last week and Owen did great at the sitter. Now we have just three more weeks of school before summer break!

Fun Pillow.

2011-04-23T09:30:00.001-04:00

I made a fun pillow for a friend of a friend's wedding. I was nervous at first (it's SO long) but I think it came out really nice and will look perfect on their bed!

Two Months!

2011-04-22T20:54:00.003-04:00

Owen is already two months! Can you believe it? He's tipping the scales at almost 15 pounds already. Owen's my big boy! He's smiling, almost laughing and brings joy to his brother and sister daily. Our family is complete!

This is the best shot I could get of all three of them that day. I'll keep trying. :)

Let's Go Red Sox!

2011-04-01T09:57:00.001-04:00

*clap. clap, clap, clap, clap!*

One Month!

2011-03-22T19:38:00.002-04:00

38 weeks, 2 days

2011-02-25T11:48:00.004-05:00

and he's here!

Owen Nicholas Starkey

9lbs 5oz

21 1/2 inches long

6:49 pm

February 22, 2011

Labor was not easy, but I wont go into the details here. What matters is that he is here, perfect and healthy.

So much to do, so little time.

2011-02-07T13:12:00.002-05:00

I've gotten in over my head, I'm barely treading water. It's sad to me that I'm actually looking forward to labor because it means that I wont have to worry about anything else going on in my life. I'm up to my ears in graduate work, preparing for my sub in my classroom, and oh yeah, having a baby.

Disclaimer: I'm a mom, if you don't want to read about my kids, stop reading now.

Kate had an asthma attack on Friday. There is nothing worse than watching your child struggle to breathe and hear her wheezing all night long. Her medicine works most of the time, but Friday night was just plain awful. On top of not being able to breathe well, she was also running a fever because her body was working so hard. But, on a positive note, she's been eating dairy quite regularly for the past month or so with no allergic reactions, so we're happy! One less thing to worry about.

My midwife told me last week that she was not allowing me to return to work after February vacation. It really only adds one week to my leave, so it doesn't mess up Nik and I very much, but things at school are still very much up in the air. My sub is not official yet and I'm not sure I'll have a final answer by the time I leave. We think we know, but we don't know, you know? So many factors play into it, that I can't get into here. We shall see, I guess.

Is it possible to have prepartum depression? I think I have it, or I'm close to it. I need a pedicure. I need a girls night out. I need to laugh. Don't get me wrong, I'm seriously excited about this baby. I can't wait to meet him or her and give them a name. I want to meet the little one that completes our family. Anyone out there in the blogosphere ever feel like I do?

Okay, now don't go feeling all sorry for me, I'm FINE. Sometimes it's just good to get things off your chest. I'll go back to being the happy me in just a few minutes.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T16:29:00.003-04:00

These are the best shots we could get. Kids had a BLAST trick or treating! Next year, there will be THREE Starkey kids out and about!

Happy Birthday, Kate!

2010-10-18T09:09:00.008-04:00

Happy 2nd Birthday, Kate! I can't believe it's been two years.

Two years, and your hair hasn't grown much, and we can't do a thing with it.

Two years of seeing this grin, which is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Two years of telling you to act like a lady and "Keep your dress DOWN!!!"

Two years of watching you become such an individual.

But you might take after me, after all.

Happy Birthday, Kate!

In which I complain about the month of October

2010-10-04T20:43:00.003-04:00

Do you know about October? I dread this month. At school it brings me NECAP Testing and Parent Teacher Conferences. I despise NECAP testing. It's SO boring for me. I end up spending hours on end surfing the internet and answering a question here and there. This time around it's going to last for SIX school days. My best friend lives in the future, people! This only gives me a couple hours a day for emailing before she retires for tea and dinner. NOT FAIR. Then there is the awkward Parent Teacher conference. "Hi, I've only known your son/daughter for 5 weeks. Let me tell you what I think about your child that you've know for 11 years. And now that Dougie's in school, that means that I not only have to have 19 conferences of my own, I also have to GO to a conference for him. He's in PREK. What can they tell me? He plays well? He can almost write his name?

And on top of it all, I went and decided to have a BABY in October! Which means I have to throw a birthday party! Oh, and two of my friends had babies the same week!! Do you know how many parties I have to go to in October? Please understand that I WANT TO GO TO THE PARTIES, but at the same time, I want to have a weekend where I can sit in my PJs and do nothing all day. There's also my mother's birthday and my nieces birthday. Thank goodness Nik and I didn't get married in October!

Plus I'm tired. I have prenatal appointments all the time and I like to complain!!!

Whoops!

2010-09-26T19:45:00.003-04:00

I've neglected this blog for a long time. It was a long summer and I spent a lot of time with the kids. It was a great summer, besides all the migraines and morning sickness. Oh yeah, I'm pregnant! 17 weeks pregnant, to be exact.

We're over the moon excited for baby number three!

Now that school has started and I'm a couple classes into my graduate program, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Dougie has started PreK and is LOVING it.

I hope to update more, but I can't promise anything!

Quilt Along

2010-06-18T20:07:00.005-04:00

I'm participating in an online Quilt Along (I know, right? When did I turn 80?) and I'm so excited! I bought my fabric and cut it this week, combining Weeks 1 and 2. (Quilt Along can be found here)

Here are some pics. It's going to be a twin size quilt, so I'm hoping it will be Kate's quilt for her big girl bed! I'm thinking she'll be ready for a big girl bed by Christmas, so it gives me a little bit of time to finish!

Pretty piecing...

Middle of the quilt...

My fabric choices for the quilt along....

All my strips ready to be cut into squares...

Wordless Wednesay

2010-06-02T10:16:00.002-04:00

It sounds fun, but after two weeks, it's not so much...

2010-05-29T21:26:00.004-04:00

Ahh, the solar car unit. The kids ACHE to start this unit all year long. The excitement builds as the snow begins to melt and we start talking about Pinkham Notch...then, after we return, it's go time. This year my students made 7 cars. Almost all of them ran in the races the other day. For some reason some of them didn't leave the starting line. Here's a few shots I managed to take on Thursday, the day of the race!

Getting ready to start a race, covering the solar panels with cardboard!

and away they go!

a shot of a couple cars from my class...

They are all so CREATIVE!

This car was not from my class, but won the "kids choice" award for most creative! (Each car had to hold a 'payload' which was a soda can) Love this one!

Pink and Orange

2010-05-25T08:24:00.001-04:00

my new favorite pillow combo!

Quilt in Progress

2010-05-18T22:36:00.002-04:00

What did I get myself into? My students, after I threw out MANY ideas of what to do for our artists and authors night, asked if we could make a class "Memory Quilt". Sure. Okay. Let's do it. Oh, it's due this Thursday and I only have 8 out of 20 squares done. Awesome.

I didn't die.

2010-05-08T08:18:00.007-04:00

I'm not trying to sound dramatic here. But, I didn't die! After two years of not being able to participate in Pinkham Notch hikes, this year I had no excuse. I wasn't pregnant, I wasn't nursing, I was physically capable, or so other people thought. I had my doubts and subconsciously I was afraid I couldn't do it.

I didn't go into this blind. I started walking on the treadmill every morning, but still, a treadnill does not compare to a mountain!

Here's the view at the top of our Alliteration Alley Hike, on Lila's Ledge:

I have a picture of my hiking group sitting on the rock at Lila's Ledge (before it started to hail like the Gods were angry at us) but I'm afraid to post it because I don't have permission from parents to post their kids pictures here.

Here I am on top of Brad's Bluff (are you seeing the Alliteration Alley theme?)

Yes, I may have been last, but the group was nice and called me the "sweeper". I didn't fall behind too often, but seriously, this hike was straight up. Every time I thought we were done going up, it got steeper. I was so proud of myself for finishing.

But, what goes up...

Must come down. I think going down might have been worse. Sure, I wasn't out of breath or stopping for water as often, but my shins...my god my shins! Down was just as steep, if not steeper (we made a loop, Leibskin's Loop, and didn't return the way we came) and my toes and shins were on FIRE. This is a picture of going down (Notice the kids backs, not their faces!) before it got really hairy. I didn't even have time to take out my camera when we were going down George's Gorge because it was so rocky and so steep. But, we all made it. No worries.

The last day (well, morning really), we took a short hike to Chrystal Cascades. Beautiful!

I have some great pictures of the waterfall, but unfortunately, they have students in them as well. I considered blurring out their faces, but come on, I don't have that kind of time!

I missed my kids. You know, MY kids. Kate and Dougie. When Kate woke up from her nap after I came home, I ran upstairs. Care to guess what the first thing she said to me was?

"Stinky Diaper!"

So, I changed her. Ahhh....Back to reality!

Wordless Wednesday: Photos by Ross

2010-04-28T09:39:00.005-04:00

Scrap Quilt

2010-04-18T20:45:00.001-04:00

I'm making color blocks from all my scraps....I'm not using a pattern, just making sure I end up with a square block, it's a really fun way of quilting! Can't wait to see it when it's done!

Red Block

Orange Block

My Boy

2010-03-31T09:51:00.003-04:00

Then:

Douglass Aiden Starkey

Born: March 28, 2006

8 lbs even

20 inches

Likes: eating, pooping, sleeping

Dislikes: getting diaper changed, sleeping through the night, losing his pacifier.

Nicknames: Little Dougie, LD, Dougie

Now:

Over three feet tall

44 pounds

Likes: baseball, Super Friends, Wii, pushing his sister, cuddling before going to the sitter's house, swimming, playing outside

Dislikes: potatoes, cooked carrots, waking up, timeouts for pushing his sister.

Dougie turned 4 this weekend while we were in Vermont. I can't believe 4 years had gone by since he was born! Time flies. This morning I called and set up an appointment to register Dougie for Pre-Kindergarten. Public School! I can't believe he's already ready for public school!

Dougie changed my life from the moment I found out I was pregnant. I love you, Dougie!

Harry Potter Humor

2010-03-12T12:53:00.001-05:00

I saw this picture on an ONTD post and almost spit out my water, hilarity ensued.

We need dry land.

2010-03-01T20:54:00.004-05:00

This is the way out. The way to work, to family and to friends. This way was blocked.

This is the water that was in our basement, so much that the sump pump couldn't keep up.
Being with family makes it worth it. Many thanks to the Coppolas!

Here's Ross with three kids. Don't you think he'd make a good dad?

Excerpt from Dear Dumb Diary that made me LOL (Laugh Out Loud)

2010-02-23T13:06:00.006-05:00

Dear Dumb Diary,

TEACHERS DON'T FART.

I spend something like eight months a year, seven hours a day with teachers. If they did, I'd know it. Moms do it. Dads do it. Beagles do it (sometimes so bad that your eyes burn and your lungs might try to escape by jumping out your mouth).

Even I do it. One time I had a fart that lasted so long, that around the midde of the fart I was thinking back to when the fart began.

Anyway, I was thinking about teachers and their intestinal gas today in school and that may have prevented me from learning anything. Maybe the teachers just need to try harder. (To teach me thing, that is. Not just to cut one.)

Seriously though, it's hard for me to blame teachers. It's probably pretty tough to stand up in front of us normal human beings and try to convince us that the equator is interesting, or the clothes that the people in Wheretheheckistan wear are beautiful. (Fashion in other countries sometimes appear to based on one person daring another person to wear something in public.)

Fortunately, I do have one teacher who I always like: Miss Anderson, my art teacher. She's my BFT, which is like a BFF but it's for teachers. She is pretty enough to be a waitress, and she notices important things like when I create my own private glitter blends. (Currently, I'm using a secret mixture of gold, red and magenta. It's pretty much magnificent.)

Hello World

2010-02-03T10:24:00.007-05:00

You are forewarned that this blog post is going to be random and will probably be LONG.

I'm thirty. THIRTY. When did that happen? We celebrated my birthday A LOT. Apparently, I'm a likable person. Nik threw me a surprise party with all my friends (except the ones that live overseas, AHEMLIZCONNORAHEM, and it was wonderful. He did a great job. I think he now appreciates how much work and stress putting together a party can be. I love that man so much. I'm so glad to be married to him. Nik and I also played hooky ON my birthday and just relaxed together. I was really wonderful. He took me out to lunch and we talked and ate and talked some more. I had a wonderful time. My students also threw me a surprise party that they told me about. (Go ahead a read that sentence again, yes, they told me about my party) They really put A LOT of thought and attention into everything and it was wonderful!

They gave me two Pandora charms for my bracelet and the best present of all? Food Poisoning. Yup. Seven kids from my class got food poisoning from the party. It was NOT a fun time. But, I've decided not to tell the parent who brought the culprit about it. No need to make her feel bad, I KNOW she didn't do it on purpose.

Friday, after my party, before I was sick, I chopped all my hair off. Well, I didn't chop it myself, I hired this lady to do it. (Julie's Mom!!)

and I think she did a pretty good job.

Sunday, Nik worked overtime, since he couldn't on Saturday since I was trying to keep all bodily fluids under control. The kids and I went to my Mom's and hung out with them, played some Wii and Scrabble and then went out to dinner. I was able to snap these adorable shots of Kate.

Now for more randomness.

I have "What's Next" syndrome. You know that feeling when everything is great, you know you love your life, but nothing BIG is happening and you're wondering, What's Next? Yeah, I have that.

I had a baby at 26, put on an addition to the house at 27, had a baby at 28, went to Ireland at 29 and 30? No big plans. We are going away for a long weekend in March...but no baby plans until I'm 31. (School year, DAMN YOU!) I wanted to work on my Master's Degree, but with the budget being frozen, the district wont pay for it. Why would I pay for it myself when it's in my contract that they WILL pay for it? (just not NOW, but they have to pay for it eventually) I want to have another baby, but Nik isn't ready yet, so we're waiting. Plus, if we did it now, we'd have another fall baby, and I couldn't do that to myself and my students again. So, What's Next, blogosphere?

Oh, I won two dollars playing Blackout Bingo! I have my first cavity, which I am getting filled today.

2010-01-27T22:08:00.002-05:00

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. I promise to spend more time with you, soon.

Signed,

Pam

Christmas Questions

2009-12-14T10:05:00.003-05:00

25 Christmas Questions

I stole this from Liz.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like to use both, but I'm getting the feeling that I'm the only one.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. It's a tradition that we go up to Holmes Tree Farm and chop down our tree. Also, Santa is there and the kids get to see him and sit on his lap (and it doesn't cost anything extra!)

3. When do you put up the tree? First Saturday or Sunday in December! Although, I'd love to get it the weekend of Thanksgiving, but Nik always vetoes that idea.

4. When do you take the tree down? We take it down before I go back to school. Usually New Years...

5. Do you like egg nog? eh. I could live without it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Is it bad that I can't remember??

7. Hardest person to buy for? Nik's parents! They both have everything and don't need a single thing.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Dougie, fo sho.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope. I want one though...the one I want is really expensive. It's the Willow Tree Set.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Last year I didn't mail them because I had a baby, and I think because of that I was kicked off everyone's card list. This year they are being mailed TODAY! :-)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmmm....

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I usually start in November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Absolutely!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Apple pie for Breakfast.

16. Lights on the tree? Colored inside, white outside.

17. Favorite Christmas song? "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas"

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I'd like to stay home, but we travel all the way to Eliot.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixon, Comit, Cupid, Donner, Blizten and Rudolf.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? An angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Nik and I have been opening our stocking and presents at midnight on Christmas Day...I like this tradition because then it's all about the kids on Christmas morning. I'm worried about it this year, because I think Nik is going to be so excited about his present that he wont be able to sleep.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The kids in my classroom.

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? My favorite ornaments are the ones that Dougie goes crazy for.

24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner? Anything that ends in apple pie.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? New makeup brushes, a purple iPhone case, a Pandora Bracelet with charms, Black Dansko shoes, White or Black picture frames, prescription sunglasses...I could go on and on...

Amputations, Vaccines and H1N1

2009-11-15T19:42:00.005-05:00

I'm getting over what could possibly be, one of the worst weeks in my life.

Wait.

The worst two weeks.

It all started with Election Day and snowballed from there.

Dad had his surgery on his foot at Brigham and Women's in Boston and his surgeon was awesome! Dad was able to keep his foot. Yes, KEEP. His dead toes were removed and his physical therapy is going to make leaps and bounds (yes, I actually hope to see my Dad doing leaps and bounds!) If you don't know the story about why my Dad had to have part of his foot amputated, I'll catch you up to speed by directing you here. Dad's in Dover at the rehab place there. We went to see him in Boston after his surgery, but haven't been over to see him in Dover because...

Nik and the kids had H1N1.

Wait, back up.

Before I tell you about the swine, I have to first tell you about Kate's 1 year well-child check.

I'd been dreading this check up because of two things. The first being that I knew the doctor was going to tell us that we needed to have Kate go to an allergist before we can start weaning her from formula. And, well, that's exactly what they told us. Allergy testing, for those of you who haven't done it before, is not fun. The allergist is going to do a bunch of "prick" tests to see how large the "bump" or reaction is and that will tell us exactly how allergic she is. Hopefully it will be a one time thing. I am not looking forward to it.

The second thing that I knew was coming was her MMR shot. Oh yes, I'm bringing up the dreaded vaccine conversation. It's almost as bad as the gay marriage conversation. Whether you choose to vaccinate or not to vaccinate, it's your choice. I have done a lot of reading on vaccines and vaccination reactions. When Dougie was a baby, I didn't know I had a choice. I figured since my doctor was telling me, this is what we do, that, well, this is what everyone does. Dougie got a lot of ear infections as a baby, and looking back at my calendar, I was able to pin point that each time he had an ear infection, yes, EACH TIME, he was at the doctor just the previous week and received a vaccine. I wanted it to be different for Kate, so I started my research.

Kate is on a delayed vaccination schedule. She doesn't get as many vaccines as the normal baby and I choose to only give her the ones that Nik and I thought were the most important. When she was born, she didn't get the vitamin K shot, the goop in her eyes or the Hep B shot. I mean, come on! Three shots before she even leaves the hospital?!? Welcome to the world Baby girl! Poke, Poke, Smear. Nope. Not my kid.

Each visit after that I had to remind them that we were delaying and waiting and choosing to not be so aggressive in vaccinating. Hey, I KNOW that the MMR shot is important. I get it. But during my research I read about kids that had SEIZURES after that got that shot. and I was scared. I knew they were going to push it on me and I knew I wanted to wait...but, I didn't push it, I let them give it to her.

Fast forward 29 hours and I'm driving Kate to the ER because her fever is so high, guess what? She's having SEIZURES. I'm so mad at myself that I'm crying on the way and I was stuck behind a car that thought it would be fun to go 35 on Route 4, when the speed limit is clearly 55. We get there, and they don't really fuck around with babies, so we went right back to the Ped room and within 45 minutes Kate's fever was down and she was sleeping in my arms. But, man, that was scary. She's tested for pneumonia, the flu and a whole bunch of other crap, but two hours later, her fever is down and we're being discharged with a diagnosis of "fever". I'm so tired I want to cry.

I came home and was relieved to put Kate to sleep in her own crib with no more fever and I walk into my room and surprise! Dougie is in my bed because he can't sleep. He's got a cough and a fever. I lean over to talk to Nik, and you know what? HE has a cough and a fever. Welcome to the H1N1 part of this post.

You know that old saying, "God doesn't give you more than he thinks you can handle"? Yeah? Well, I was almost at my breaking point last week. Nik, Dougie and Kate came down with H1N1. On top of it all, Kate got an ear infection (see paragraph in which I describe that my children get ear infections from vaccines) So, I wasn't sleeping (Kate, ear infection, coughing, needing meds every 4 hours, Nik and Dougie, coughing and needing meds every 4 hours...), I was still working because, somehow, someway, I did NOT get H1N1.

There is a God.

and he is Good.

and H1N1 isn't as bad as eveyone says it is. I mean, yeah, it sucks, but everyone survived and no one had to go to the ER again. Yeah, their fevers were high and they didn't eat and some of them, I'm not saying who, had diarrhea, and I wouldn't want to do it again, but it wasn't any worse than the regular flu.

Did I mention that I didn't get it? Thank you, God.

So, after ten days of being home and life being a little abnormal, life returns to normal tomorrow.

Whatever my normal is.

No longer a baby...

2009-10-29T09:52:00.003-04:00

My daughter is no longer a baby, even if we continue to call her "Baby Kate". She doesn't walk, she RUNS. She doesn't babble, she screams. She's not an infant, she's a toddler. Sigh.

My Best Friend's Wedding

2009-10-19T09:27:00.003-04:00

Tom Cruise tried to ruin the day, but in the end, The Connors came out married, again! :-)

Liz, anytime you need a personal assistant, I have experience and a great resume. LOVE YOU!

10 more days...

2009-10-08T21:19:00.004-04:00

until my baby girl is ONE. The last 12 months have flown by. I can't believe that a year ago this week, I was still working, very pregnant and would cry at school every time someone would say "Oh, are you still here?"

My friend Ross took Kate's pictures for her first birthday and they came out so good! Here are a few of my favorites...

Time to make a quilt...

2009-10-08T09:11:00.004-04:00

Okay, so I'm starting to really enjoy sewing. I mean, I love it. I love to pick out colors, pick out patterns and be able to say, YES, I made that. I MADE THAT. I've been making my pillows for about a year now, started making dresses for Kate this spring and now I'm entering the world of quilting. I'm so excited about my first project, which was inspired by this blog.

Hayley met me at JoAnns to get the quilting supplies that I needed...I can't believe I was sewing for a YEAR without a rotary cutter! My god! This is amazing! AND it's PINK! Hayley showed me a couple different ones, but I chose this one because of the safety features. The blade pops out and pops back in with the press of a button. With small ones around, I knew this was the best choice.

I had read about a technique for sewing together the pieces where you just keep sewing and leave a small amount of thread in between each set, and it worked great! You can see my pieces behind the machine here...

Here are my pieces (22 rectangles) all sewn together. This was before I went upstairs to iron them. I think the colors look great! Last night I sewed together two more lenghts of 22 rectangles and I have two more to go. Then I just have to piece together with white in between. Also, I have no idea what it means to baste, quilt and bind, but that's what google is for!

God Fearing

2009-09-23T11:21:00.005-04:00

I was reading a mommy-blog this morning and she was talking about her sister. I don't have a sister, nor do I have what I would call a very close relationship with my older brother and my my younger brother is still in college and we don't see him much, but man, I love that kid. Her post intrigued me, until she described her sister and I couldn't stop thinking about it after that. She described her sister as, "one of the nicest, most understanding and forgiving, God fearing, relaxed people I know." The "God Fearing" part just struck a chord with me.

I was raised catholic and have baptised my children in the catholic faith, but I wouldn't be what you would call a "good catholic girl." I had pre-marital sex (oh my!), lie and swear quite frequently (no, shit?) , don't take my children to church (gasp!), don't say grace before dinner (Rubba, dub, dub, thanks for the grub!), don't have my children say prayers before bed (now you want me to read a book and say a prayer? I've got to watch Glee at some point here.) and take the Lord's name in vain (Jesus!). But, let's get back to the God Fearing thing.

God Fearing...why is this considered a positive trait? Should I fear God, my creator? Should I live my life thinking that my choices are going to anger God to the point where he's going to be mad at me and I should fear his reaction?

I make thousands of choices and decisions per day. As a teacher alone, I answer 1,500 questions. It's not as simple as it sounds. For example, "Can I go to the bathroom?" The answer to this question is a simple yes or no, but the impact on the child is far from simple. I have to take into account, did I just let this person leave the room for something? Will they miss something important while they are gone? Did a friend of their's from another classroom walk by and that's why they want to go? Thousands of choices and decisions that I am held accountable by myself, my students, their parents, my principal and now also God? Should I fear that God wanted me to let little Johnny use the bathroom during his math test??

If I am God fearing, should I be authority fearing? Since God is seen as an authority figure, should I fear all authoritative figures? When I first began teaching, I was fearful of my principal. She was not supportive and caring. When she walked into my classroom, I froze, got beat-red and by the end of my two years there would break out in hives whenever she would talk to me, look at me or email me. Is this the kind of fear I should have for God?

As a catholic we are taught to fear authority. Do what the priest says, or you'll go to hell. Vote how the Bishop tells you to vote, or you'll GO TO HELL. Pray everyday, go to church every week, get married only once, don't have sex before you're married, read the bible, respect your elders, Go to CCD, give money to the church out of your paycheck even if you're on food stamps, be pro-life, don't use contraceptives, don't use the Lord's name in vain, don't ask questions or YOU'LL GO TO HELL.

What kind of God is like that?

Not my God.

I am a very spiritual and religious person, but I don't fear God. Do you?

glee

2009-09-10T21:56:00.001-04:00

This makes me want to go back to high school, start a glee club and sing my heart out.

Last Week (in pictures)

2009-08-29T17:05:00.005-04:00

My best friend came to visit from Ireland last week and she planned her visit perfectly! (I think that because her plan included three days in Maine with ME!) hehe.

She arrived Tuesday, her mom brought her up, and stayed until Thursday. Thursday night was her surprise bridal shower/pizza party and it was my job to get her there on time (I failed). The drive down was quite hilarious, and after quite a few laughs we decided to take out the camera. We were stuck in traffic most of the time, so don't worry, I wasn't driving very fast while taking these pictures. When you're stuck in traffic, you see quite a few strange things. It may only for funny to us, but I'm going to share them with you anyway.

Here's a car we saw. Do you think they could fit any more bikes on the back? No? Maybe that's why they decided to put one on the roof.

Seriously, guy. It's August and we're in a heat wave, or did you not notice? It was so hot this week that my eye lids were sweaty, yet this guy had a plow on the front of his truck. He's ready for a blizzard!

Justin Timberlake cures everything. Here we are making the iPod dock work in Nik's car. We had to stuff Nik's work id behind the iPod so that it wouldn't make this God-awful noise. Or right, and we didn't break Nik's speaker either. It was already broken. I said, IT WAS ALREADY BROKEN. Right???

Here I am waiting in traffic with baited breath to find the one Robert Pattinson, aka Edward Cullen. That's right! We saw him while we were stuck in traffic in a very nice Toyota Camry. We decided to stalk him and try to take his picture...

Success!

Oh wait, maybe that wasn't him...here's a closer look.

Part Two coming soon...

So Funny!

2009-08-26T12:34:00.002-04:00

Worthy of a post, I think.

2009-08-24T11:04:00.005-04:00

You know when you are just up to your ears in sh*t that every little thing bothers you? I'm at that point. I got this email today from a custodian, and it makes me want to scream.

Hi Ladys,

It has come to my attention that you removed the staples from your bulletin boards and left the mess on your floors. I would appreciate it if you do this again that you clean the mess up. Thank you

Let's start with the obvious. Ladys? Try Ladies. and OMG I removed staples from a BULLETIN BOARD. Say what? You didn't know that you use staples on a bulletin board? Well you do. They hold up the paper and other things (boarders and such) that go on a bulletin board. And then I had the nerve to not pick up each individual staple? GET OUT!! I thought we had custodians who would sweep up the staples, or perhaps, even vacuum them up. How was I supposed to know that now, on top of EVERYTHING ELSE a teacher has to do, I also have to PICK UP F-ING STAPLES.

End of rant.

Summer? What Summer?

2009-08-05T07:29:00.003-04:00

I'm sorry I've been neglecting my blog lately, things have not been good. My last post was about my family being sick, we were all sick (except the baby!) and it took a good two weeks to get over it. We've finally, just Monday, finished all of Dougie's meds and are on the mend.

Saturday, July 25th, was Sharon's wedding. She was beautiful! Nik and I were so excited to have a night out. Nik's mom came over, with a book and was ready to watch the kids and stay until we returned. I saw some of my most favorite people there and was having such a good time...

Got a call that my father was being rushed into surgery. Now, for those of you who don't know, my father does not take care of himself. He's had 7, yes SEVEN heart attacks. My first reaction was to be angry. Of course. Of course my father is having surgery TONIGHT, because I'm having fun and with friends and I don't have a care in the world, TONIGHT. Then I started crying, because, well, what if this is the time he doesn't make it and my last thoughts of him were that of anger? There were a lot of emotions in that 45 minute car ride.

So, LONG story short.

My Dad had emergency surgery to remove a blood clot that had formed by his right kidney, in the aorta. Blood flow was cut off to his legs for hours and at the time of surgery he couldn't feel them or move them. The doctors were able to save his legs, and his right foot, but his left foot doesn't look good. The tops of his toes have started to turn black and he will probably lose some of his toes on that foot. Saturday/Sunday we stayed at the hospital until 4 am. The surgery took that long. Marc, Mom and I were able to see him, once they finally got him to his room in ICU, he was asleep, but looked peaceful.

He stayed asleep for 7 days.

They couldn't wake him up. If they did wake him up, he probably would have died.

His kidneys became the new problem. Since there was lack of blood flow to his kidneys, the numbers (I love doctor talk, don't you?) that were supposed to be around 1 were up to 4.2. They had to keep him asleep until those numbers came down, and they didn't come down enough until Saturday, August 1.

He's awake now, but doesn't remember much from the last week or so and his short term memory is good either. (Plus, he keeps telling us that he wants icecream, and that Marc has brought it, but there is no icecream and he's not allowed to eat at all).

I've spent a lot of time in his room, but took the last couple of days off...since I don't want my kids to remember they spend their summer vacation in the Portsmouth Hopital ICU waiting room.

Now, it's August. I haven't been to school to work in my room at all, haven't been shopping for school, haven't even thought about the first day. I just want to enjoy the last two weeks of summer before they are gone and the leaves start to change color and it's over.

Sorry I've been gone...

2009-07-22T16:41:00.003-04:00

Our whole house has been under quarantine...it started with me last Tuesday...I had a cough that developed into bronchitus and pneumonia. Soon after I had a diagnosis, Nik was feeling ill and was told he had pneumonia. Through the weekend we had helpers come help us with the kids, as we were fevering, coughing and really were in no shape to tend to small children. Monday of this week, I thought we were in the clear and then Dougie started with a low-grade fever. The Dr. didn't even request an xray, she just put him on anti-biotics.

We're keeping our doctor and our small town pharmacy in business this week. Anti-biotics, inhalers, cough drops, cough syrup and anything else you can imagine we might need to feel better around here.

I believe we are almost in the clear...just waiting for Kate to start fevering...if she does, we know the drill.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T14:31:00.001-04:00

This is what life is all about...

2009-07-03T16:59:00.009-04:00

This morning I let Nik sleep in (okay, really - he won at rock, paper, scissors for the opportunity to sleep in) and when he woke up I informed him that IT WAS NOT RAINING. I packed up the kids and some lunch and we drove to York Beach (Short Sands) to check out the new playground they put in. The smile on my kids faces, that's what life is about!

We're trying to teach Dougie how to swing himself, he LOVES the swings!

It was bright for Kate, she needs some sun glasses!

The slide was really tall!

Playin' in the ocean.

We had such a good morning! Playground, lunch on the beach, walk on the beach, the arcade, and then we each got a special treat at The Goldenrod. Came home, before the rain and ~~the kids~~ everyone had a nap!

Our new swing set comes next week!

Corinne's Tree

2009-06-23T20:15:00.004-04:00

I don't think a lot of people know about my mentor, Corinne Devlin. She was a wonderful woman, who taught me more in 6 months than I learned in my two years at UNE. Corinne was my mentor and my friend. She died in 2005, just a year after I finished my internship. I never got to say goodbye, she went too quickly. The last time I spoke with her, I went to visit and told her I was pregnant with Dougie. She came to my classroom once after that at the Junior High, but I had already left for the day. She left me a note, telling me how proud she was and how great my classroom look. I wish I would have kept it.

This tree is planted at the school I currently work in, in her honor. Most days I don't see it. When I do, I always think of her. I took this picture on Field Day this year. I miss her.

Inside the cake...and my kids students.

2009-06-15T19:08:00.005-04:00

I told the ~~kids~~ students that the cake was a surprise and that there was also a surprise inside the cake. They were so excited (mind you, they had also just pigged out on pizza) that they really wanted me to cut it. They were yelling out ideas of what they thought was in it (pudding! chocolate! M&Ms! pudding! pudding! I bet it's pudding!) Yeah, they really thought it was pudding.

The first slice looked AWESOME! Exactly the look I was hoping for!

Birthday boy got the first slice...

The food coloring had some side effects.

but in the end, the cake was GONE.

This picture is just to show you that something went wrong with the yellow layer...why is it so much smaller?

A Baker...who me?

2009-06-14T17:25:00.007-04:00

Tomorrow marks the last Monday that I will have to work until September 7th....so, I'm throwing my ~~kids~~ students a party to celebrate. (I'm trying to get better at calling my kids in my class, my students and my kids, well, my kids.)

I saw this cake on this website and thought I'd give it a try. My ~~kids~~ students have been through a lot more than the typical class this year and I wanted to reward them. My long-term sub and I are buying them pizza for lunch and I made the dessert.

Let's set the record straight. I'm not a baker. I wish I was. I can follow a recipe very well, but I am not a baker. A baker tries to create their own recipes. A baker understands how ingredients will react with one another. MckMama is a baker. Her recipes always seem to work. I am not a baker.

I was very nervous to try this cake.

I bought two white cake mixes and had everything else I needed at home. I started the night before by mixing the cake mix, making the colored layers and cooking the cakes. I think I mis-measured the yellow layer, it was a bit smaller than the others!

I made butter cream frosting and then folded in a tub of cool whip to make it a little less sweet and also to help cover the cake...the cake is 6 layers!

I put a little bit of frosting on the cake platter to make the cake stick...

Trimmed the purple layer (it's purple...but looks like black in the picture.)

More trimming...more frosting.

All 6 layers! Looks good enough to eat! (But my red layer looks more like pink!)

The cake and the trimmings...

Started to frost...hmmm, the trimmings are dissapearing!

I found the culprit!

Nik likes the extra frosting!

The cake looks delicious! I can't wait until my ~~kids~~ students cut into it tomorrow!

This picture just shows you how tall this cake is! I had to take a shelf out of my fridge!

I'll post pictures of the cake tomorrow with the kids...I can't wait to see their faces when we cut it!

I opened a shop...

2009-06-10T19:14:00.002-04:00

I opened my own shop on Etsy...finally! I debated back and forth if I wanted to sell my pillows on Etsy and I decided to give it a try this summer while I'm home with the kids.

My shop is called, "Sleep On It!" and its web address is www.sleeponit.etsy.com. I have some pillows listed and lots of pictures...but my shop looks lonley with just three items for sale! I'm going to play around with some things next week when school is out.

Spread the news!

I'm down one useless organ

2009-06-04T14:55:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I allowed my brother in-law to cut me up and take out my gall bladder, and I couldn't be happier. I don't remember anything about surgery, except all the pre-op (pre-drug) stuff in the beginning. I remember being wheeled into the OR and seeing David in the corner by his computer and then I woke up in the recovery room.

Let me tell you about life with my gall bladder. The last couple months have not been that fun. I've been to the emergency room twice with severe pain. I had an ultrasound which showed that I had many stones and also that my gall bladder was very contorted. After my first visit to the ER, I scheduled surgery for June 19th, the day after the last day of school. After my second attack, we moved the surgery up to June 3rd. I couldn't live in fear of pain anymore.

Yesterday, the pain after surgery was pretty bad (but you have to remember that I've never had surgery or really ever been hurt). Most of the pain was gas pain, since they fill you up with gas so they can see all around. Most of the gas pain is gone today and I haven't needed to take any pain meds. I'm off from school until Monday, then we have step-up day and I just have to be there, I don't really have to do much!

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to feeling better and not worrying about everything that goes into my mouth and whether or not I'll be spending the night at the ER. Hooray for being gall bladder free!

My class made the news...

2009-05-27T14:24:00.002-04:00

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090527-NEWS-90527032

It's JAMES!

2009-05-23T09:24:00.001-04:00

Cam Gigandet vs. Twilight Fans from Cam Gigandet

Not Me! Monday

2009-05-18T14:20:00.003-04:00

This is my first "Not Me! Monday" post. I've been reading the MckMama blog for a few weeks and I'm going to give it a try.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

And away we go!

This week I certainly did not put my 7 month-old in the backpack and clean my house. Nope, not me! I did not find it to be the only way I could get things done around the house without her screaming to be picked up or played with. Nope! Not me! I also did not then wear the backpack outside to play with the dog and hit her on the back of the head with the ChuckIt, which did not then give her a bruise on the back of her perfectly shaped head. Nope!

At work, I did not figure out that I could use Tweetie to update Twitter and my Facebook status from work. Nope! Not me! I did not tweet multiple times from work updating the world on silly things my students said (Like, "Old Fashioned is like, two days ago") or tweet what I was teaching in math, (which happens to be plotting number pairs on a coordinate grid). Not me! I also did not video chat with my best friend's mother while my kids were at special.

Sunday, I did not ignore my daughter, who was babbling in her crib for 45 minutes (or longer) after her nap. I did not let her stay and play in her crib while I continued to nap. Nope! Not me! And I certainly did not find her completely turned around in her crib playing with the two dolls and personalized name pillow that were at the opposite end of her crib (I certainly would not have toys in her crib either, since they are dangerous!).

And finaly, I did not write this blog entry from my desk at work, while my kids were silent reading. Nope! Not me!

Baby vs. Shoes

2009-05-16T16:35:00.004-04:00

The battle began months ago. Kate will not keep shoes on her feet. The girl hates shoes. I bought her a really cute pair of Robeez. You know, the shoe that says, "Barefoot is best, choose Robezz next"? Yeah, how about, "Barefoot is best, your daughter can take these off in 2 seconds flat and trying to find them will be a pest."

The website even says "They stay on too, with elasticized ankles to ensure a perfectly snug fit!". Ha! I laugh in your general direction.

Dougie lived in his Robeez and couldn't get them off. I told all my friends about them, I raved about them! I think I was even a little depressed when he got old enough for regular shoes.

Kate can take these shoes off in 2 seconds. I literally put one on and she takes it off before I can put the other one on her other foot! We could play that game all day.

I've been on the search for ~~some really nice, girlie~~ any GD shoes that she will leave on her feet!! Today, my Mom suggested these:

I liked them. They were cute and girlie. So, $26.99 later they were ours. I tried them on her feet (in her excersaucer, where she can't reach her feet, so therefore, can't take them off!

Now for the real test. I took her and put her on the floor to play. And ten minutes later...

They are still on her feet! Hooray!

Pedipeds fo-evah.

Wow.

2009-05-15T09:58:00.003-04:00

"Did you say it? I love you. I don't ever want to live without you. You changed my life. Did you say it?"

Nik and I watched the Grey's season finale last night and it left me speechless. Speechless.

The show was so good, I wonder if when the writer's finished they all high fived each other.

Speechless.

Wordless Wednesday: This is how we roll.

2009-05-13T09:35:00.000-04:00

Ugh.

2009-05-11T08:44:00.002-04:00

Last year when I was pregnant with Kate, I got very sick the last three days of school. When I say sick, I mean, I wanted to die sick. The last three days were torture, but who calls in sick the last week of school? I was so sick that I slept in the corner for about 15 minutes while I had my kids watch a movie. Finally, the last day of school came and I went home to recuperate. That night I ended up in the ER with two things; dehydration and a gall bladder attack. The gall bladder attach was so painful, I thought I was going into early labor. I was scared, Nik was scared, and so were the people in the ER and Birth Center. No one quite knew what to do with me. They pumped me full of fluids and sent me home. They told me my gall bladder had sludge and that it was probably pregnancy related and wouldn't give me any more problems after I had the baby.

They were wrong.

Last Monday I woke out of a deep sleep (well, as deep as I can get since I'm still nursing Kate) in a lot of pain. I knew exactly what it was. I didn't wake Nik right away, hoping that it would pass. It didn't.

I ended up back in the ER. This time, since I wasn't pregnant, they pumped me full of pain meds instead of fluid. The pain went away and I slept like a baby. That stuff they gave me was awesome!

Long story short, my gall bladder and I don't get along anymore, and I'd like a divorce. We have irreconcilable differences and I want him out. So, my mother in-law and brother in-law have scheduled my ~~court date~~ surgery for the day after school gets out, Friday June 19th.

I'm very nervous.

I've never been under general anesthesia before and the two things I am most scared of is the damn tube in my throat and blood clots.

I trust my mother in-law and brother in-law with my life. Good thing they are the two doing the surgery.

Somebody has a case of the Mondays!

2009-05-04T14:00:00.003-04:00

This morning was a bit rough on me. My class headed out on a three day field trip to Pinkham Notch and I stayed behind. So many people asked me why I wasn't going, I'm starting to wonder if anyone really pays attention to what goes on during a school year.

"Well, I had a baby in October and I'm still nursing, so..."
"She doesn't take a bottle?"
"She takes a bottle very well, but I'd be gone for three days, so..."
"She wont drink formula?"
"She could drink formula, but I choose to breast feed, so..."
"You couldn't just give it up for a few days?"
"No, it doesn't work like that..."

After I got my kids, chaperones and the teacher who is taking my place on the bus, I went back into my room to gather my things. I'm teaching art while the art teacher is being me on the trip. She gave me a DVD to show the classes while she's away.
I lost the DVD this morning...turned my room UPSIDE down to find it. Recruited help to find it and still couldn't Taught three classes without any formal training in art. Gave the kids 6 paints and then said, "You can't use paintbrushes, only your fingertips. GO!" It was a disaster. Awful. I hate every minute of it.

I went back to my room after three classes hoping to find it. It was right there! Sitting on a desk. I know we couldn't have missed it. Someone took it or found it....and then put it there. Otherwise, I'm losing my mind.

The last three classes of the day got to watch it.

It's interesting, but it doesn't really hold the attention of the kids...and, he swears twice. Thanks for heads up, Gale.

2009-04-29T13:24:00.002-04:00

Remember this? I didn't worry about it then, and I'm not worrying about the "Swine" flu now...

April Vacation

2009-04-27T12:21:00.004-04:00

Recently, we traveled to Ireland to visit my best friend. Although traveling with children might be hard, it was worth it to experience Ireland through the eyes of a three year old and a 6 month old. Our host did a wonderful job finding places for Dougie to play in between adult things like shopping and bus tours. As I think about my children, I hope that this is an experience that they will look back on and feel extremely lucky to have such awesome parents. Parents that took them on vacation to Ireland, not Gettysburg (Kidding, Grays! I've got nothing but love for ya! hehe).

Here are some of my favorite shots of our trip...for more, check out my facebook.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-22T03:43:00.002-04:00

Seriously, Kid?

2009-04-16T14:54:00.002-04:00

"Are you driving or flying to Ireland?" - 5th grade boy in my class

Apparently, I've failed as a teacher.

oh Fantastic.

2009-04-15T13:13:00.001-04:00

Dougie has strep throat.

It was bound to happen...

2009-04-15T12:36:00.002-04:00

Sooner or Later.

Today I was taking care of my business like I do every day at lunch time. There is another mommy here at school that has an October baby, and we've worked out a really great pumping schedule. Since we have lunch at the same time, she pumps first, from 11:45-12:00 and I pump second, after she comes into the break room. Today was no different, she came in and I left to go do my business.

The pumping room that we have at school is an old locker room office. Our school used to be a Junior High, so the locker rooms are now used for storage, pumping and we have a boy that periodically needs changing and that is set up in the locker room as well. The room that I use is in the locker room, but has a separate door, a covered window and a desk that we pump at (Thankfully, it also has a sink so we can wash our pump parts!). Today, I was just settling in (you know, picture what someone might have to do if they are pumping their breasts, both of them, at the same time) when...

BAM. The head custodian comes barreling in! Seriously! The dude didn't even knock.

I think he was in more shock than I was, but eventually my supply came back and I was able to finish. How long do you think he'll avoid me for?

Less than a week...

2009-04-13T07:11:00.001-04:00

I'm leaving for Ireland in less than a week (Hooray!) I'm looking for travel suggestions and packing suggestions (anything but "Give them Benedryl!").

Thanks!

TGIF

2009-04-10T13:00:00.003-04:00

I've almost made it through the week. The week from hell....the week I was a single mom (I seriously don't know how women do this ALL THE TIME)

This helped me though...

Caffeine!

Going to see a new baby tonight, Lilana Pasqualina Blasi (a second cousin for Dougie and Kate!)

and

2009-04-09T12:52:00.001-04:00

I fixed it. Stupid little thing, really.

Arg.

2009-04-09T11:25:00.001-04:00

I just completely messed up my blog. Now when I go to my dashboard, the LAYOUT button is missing and I can't add widgets! ANyone know how I can fix this?

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-08T20:49:00.000-04:00

It's Opening Day!

2009-04-06T09:21:00.000-04:00

For the next 7 months, the sounds of the Red Sox will be filling my home on a (almost) nightly basis. In honor of Opening Day, I tried to get the kids dressed up this morning in their Red Sox stuff and take pictures and here's how it turned out...

God, I love my kids!

Dougie is 3!!!

2009-03-28T15:33:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Dougie!

Dougie learned how to put on his own coat!

2009-03-20T19:10:00.000-04:00

5 months!

2009-03-18T08:58:00.001-04:00

Here are some shots taken this morning...Kate's 5 months old!

She always has her fingers in her mouth! (Can she be teething? I forget....)

Sitting up pretty well now...

Dougie needed to get in on the action, too!

All Smiles!

I laughed out loud when I saw this pic...can she really be annoyed by her older brother already?

Mixed Emotions

2009-03-17T11:31:00.000-04:00

So much is going on this week and I'm not quite sure where to put myself.

I'll start with the best part; Liz is home! Yesterday after school, I packed up the kids, picked Nik up from work and drove to Logan to pick Liz up from the airport. She landed early and we got there right on time. It was so good to see her. We drove to her parents house and then went out to dinner before coming back home. I haven't laughed that much since the last time she was here. I miss her do much when she's in Ireland! Liz bought Dougie and Aer Lingus plane (which makes airplane noises!) and he hasn't put it down since he got it. He even brought it to the sitter's house today.

Worst Part; Nik is leaving on a business trip. He'll be gone for almost two weeks. Normally this wouldn't bother me, besides the fact that I'll miss him...but Kate hasn't been sleeping and it has been really nice to have Nik's help. Also, Dougie is at the age where he'll REALLY miss him and understands that he wont be home tomorrow or the next day...I'm hoping I can convince him that talking to him over iChat with video will be good enough while he's gone...but no one can replace Daddy.

Kids have been crazy at school since we've been doing MEA testing. We're finally done and back to work this week and I've been having a hard time wrangling them in to do ACTUAL work. I've decided that the best thing is to have them write about their pets...for the first time all day, right now they are quiet.

Time to head to lunch.

Look Who Learned Something New!

2009-03-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

My current obsession

2009-03-09T13:19:00.000-04:00

In one week...

2009-03-09T09:37:00.001-04:00

I'll be driving here:

To pick up:

and then dining here:

I can't wait!

Yummmmm

2009-03-08T18:46:00.000-04:00

I love when I make a dinner that looks like it could be served in a restaurant. Tonight I made Lemon Garlic Shrimp. It was SO good...I was tempted to eat a second helping, but I decided to save it and take it for lunch tomorrow.

I'm so satisfied, I love making yummy things! Yesterday, I made my Butternut Squash Lasagna, that was good too. I'm on a roll these days!

When I was taking pictures of our dinner, Dougie made sure to remind me to take a picture of his dinner! (Don't forget mine, Momma!)

I usually don't make two dinners...he mostly eats what we eat or doesn't eat at all! (Who sounds like a parent, now?) But shrimp has a weird textures for kids, so Spaghetti Os it was!

Here's the recipe I used for the Shrimp dish...I changed it up a little bit from the original recipe...I'll include both!

1 (8 ounce) package linguine pasta (I used thin spaghetti)
1 tablespoon olive oil (I used probably two...)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine (I used White Zinfadel)
1 lemon, juiced (I used 1/4 cup lemon juice)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (didn't have a lemon...)
salt to taste
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup butter (I used half this much!)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

*and I added a red pepper for some more taste!

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine, and cook for 9 to 13 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and saute garlic about 1 minute. Mix in chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is reduced by about 1/2.
Mix shrimp, butter, and parsley (and red pepper!) into the saucepan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until shrimp is opaque. Stir in the cooked linguine, and continue cooking 2 minutes, until well coated.

Lunch...

2009-02-24T12:39:00.001-05:00

So, usually I enjoy eating lunch with adults. I spend all day with children, so when lunch time comes, lunch is usually a break from the mundane and the conversation is quite good. Today, the topic of "guns" came up and we discussed the 11 year old who shot his stepmother, well, I was corrected at lunch, it is his Dad's girlfriend, in the head while she was sleeping. The woman was 8 months pregnant. Then we started talking about guns...

I think my first mistake was thinking that I'm a good parent. I stated that Dougie WOULDN'T HAVE ACCESS to guns. The boy who shot his stepmother, I'm sorry, Dad's girlfriend, was given the gun as a GIFT for Christmas. That would never happen in my house. The conversation turned to wether or not my husband was a hunter and/or paintballer. I told them that he was, but that my children wouldn't have access to his guns...apparently, I didn't make that clear. Nik's guns aren't even kept at our house. They are kept in a locked safe at his father's house, in the basement. I made another mistake when I stated my distaste for AirSoft guns and what they teach children and then it happened.

The one thing that I can't stand being told.

The one thing that makes me roll my eyes and just stop talking.

The one that that I will never say to another parent.

"You say that now, just you wait..."

Ummm...NO! I wont wait. I'm a good mother and I've already made the choice. Dougie WONT have guns. If he chooses to hunt with his father, he'll take a gun safety course BEFORE he is allowed to go and he wont have HIS OWN GUN. I wont buy him a paintball gun or a bbgun. I'm too afraid of what might happen if he isn't responsible enough to have one or his friends aren't responsible. I WONT change my mind.

End of Rant.

Teacher Post

2009-02-24T11:24:00.000-05:00

I'm at school right now, teaching Science for the first time this year. I love Science. I'm starting with my electricity unit, which is SO much fun. It's completely student driven and self paced. The kids do about 10 experiments with a battery, light bulb and foil ribbon. The first experiment is my favorite. I give them all their supplies and tell them to light the light bulb. The trick is...I don't tell them how to do it. They have to figure it out themselves. Once they figure it out, I FORBID them to help other groups. Almost always, someone tries to help. My favorite part of the experiment is when they start figuring it out. Here are some of the things my kids have said during this experiment:

"Look, Look! I got it!"
"I think my lightbulb is broken, I can't get it to work."
"Mrs. Starkey, it's so hard not to want to help somebody."
"Why is my battery getting so hot?"
"Eric, Eric, Look! I got it to work!"

I love my job. Today has been a fun day!

4 months!

2009-02-19T21:57:00.000-05:00

Kate is 4 months old...she used to sleep through the night, but has recently stopped and now we are going on week two of her not wanting to sleep AT ALL at night. We'll see how it goes tonight, since she had shots today.

Here are her 4 month stats...

Height: 24 3/4 inches
Weight: 14 lbs 15 oz.

She's chewing like crazy and blowing raspberries like there is no tomorrow.

Milestones...

2009-02-15T16:55:00.000-05:00

Kate's getting SO big. Since she'll be 4 months next week, we decided to try cereal (of the oatmeal, variety). We wont give it to her everyday, and we don't give her much...just enough so that she can practice to eat with a spoon! Enjoy the video below!

and enjoying her bib!

I completely agree...

2009-02-11T09:09:00.000-05:00

The punishment should fit the crime.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/sports-general/20090211/SPORTS-US-PHELPS-RODRIGUEZ/

My Birthday in photos and Videos

2009-01-28T19:39:00.000-05:00

I had a great birthday today. Nik stayed home from work and I got to hang out with my two favorite kids and my favorite husband. Nik and the kids let me sleep into 9:00am! Probably wont sleep that late again for a LONG time. Dougie ran in to give me my card and he was so proud to show me his "monster" and his "snowball".

We hung out this morning and Dougie and I played with my camera...you can see the video he took if you promise not to make fun of my morning hair, crooked glasses and double chin...promise? Okay.

Yes, I made those faces on purpose to make him laugh.

Here's another video showing how excited Dougie was to have cake!

Yeah, looks like that kid needs MORE sugar!

Pics from today!

And that's it! I'm 29 and I'm FINE. Liz promises it's going to be a good year.

Email

2009-01-25T19:10:00.000-05:00

I got an email today that made me think of writing this post. One of the things I hate about email is you can't tell what tone the person sending it is writing in. I've compiled a couple of examples.

#1: The "baby" issue.

I recently got an invitation to a party. The party is over two hours away and it's a girls party. Nik and Dougie are going to come with me and hang out at a family members house while I'm at the party, but I figured, since the party is so far away and Kate is still nursing that I would bring Kate with me to the party. I RSVP'd via email, asking if she minded that Kate would come with me and got this response:

"If there are no other arrangements you can make for your daughter, then
yes, bring her along."

So technically, that's a yes, but the way I read it, it's a no...and I've asked around, other people think she just doesn't want to tell me to "leave the kid at home!"

#2: Mom

I get these ALL THE TIME from my mom. I know she means well, but I can never sense her tone. I have a lot of examples...here's a couple:

"Let's talk about this later, k?" Is she busy? Is she annoyed with my email? or does she really want to talk about it later?

And before I post this one, let me tell you that I just recently had a baby and got A LOT of presents. I didn't have time to send out thank yous (to ANYONE) and got an email asking me to send one out. About 20 minutes later, I got this response:

"FYI: I sent one this morning with a photo of your whole family."

I was confused...she sent one? and yes, she did. After a couple more emails, I could tell she didn't think I would send one, so she did it for me. Even though I'm about to turn 29 (ugh), she didn't think I would send one, even though she asked. (Mom if you are reading this, I love you!)

#3: The Colleague

I don't have any examples, since I regularly clean out my school email. But one of the things I really can't stand about work email is the person who hits "reply to all" when someone sends something out to the district. It happens ALL THE TIME. We get emails that we don't need to read or shouldn't read even. I know one of the biggest culprits is when we offer flu shots...people hit reply to all and we learn all about their medical history, why they can or can't get the shot...blah, blah, blah.

#4: The Mistake Email

Have you ever gotten an email that wasn't meant to go to you? Have you ever sent it to the wrong person?

A couple years back I was having an argument with a friend. She accidentally sent me an email that was meant for her husband...in the email she said some pretty nasty things about me. We aren't friends anymore.

Sometimes people hit "forward" and forget that all the responses to previous emails are contained in that forward...that's embarrassing too. I've gotten a couple...probably sent a couple.

That's all I've got for now. Time to watch Nip/Tuck with Nik...oh, and check my email. :-)

I'm all about videos these days...

2009-01-23T20:06:00.000-05:00

Here's more Dougie. I promise to get one of Kate up here soon! :-)

My kid is WEIRD

2009-01-15T10:17:00.000-05:00

Today, while conversing on the internets with y UBF, Liz, my son decided to amuse himself by taking a sip of milk, running to the bathroom, spitting it out and then doing it all over again. For some reason, I found this to be hysterical and secretly took a video of him doing it. What you get is the masterpiece below!

Special prize to whoever can tell me what movie is playing in the background!

Potty Training 101

2009-01-14T08:54:00.000-05:00

I've been worried about this since I gave birth to Dougie...potty training. I don't know how to do it, when to start it or how hard to push it on him. Positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement? No diapers? Pull-ups? Potties? Potty Seats? It's all too much for me.

This past summer, while I was on summer vacation (and pregnant with Kate) I tried to potty train Dougie. He wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with going on the potty or the toilet. We had two potty chairs in our bathrooms and we literally had to BEG him to sit on them. He did pee a couple times on them, but both times were MONTHS apart and probably an accident. Both times he was naked already and started to pee on the floor before we picked him up and threw him on the potty to finish. I made a HUGE deal about him going on the potty those two times...HUGE. I jumped up and down, gave him candy, sang the potty song, the whole bit. He could have cared LESS. The kid just didn't care. Over the summer we got nowhere with the potty, but at least he was telling us when he had a messy diaper (no one likes to change a poop that's been sat on). I though we were headed in the right direction....but then Kate was born.

When Kate was born, he was very interested in her diapers. We tried the whole "Only babies wear diapers, aren't you a big boy? Don't you want to wear your big boy underwear?" to no avail. AND, he stopped telling us when he went and started RUNNING AWAY from us when we asked if he had a poppy diaper. I know that most kids regress when siblings are born, so my dreams of Dougie being trained by his third birthday (March) were being thrown out the window.

I was also getting mixed messaged from everyone. My family would tell me not to worry about it..."Boys take longer!" they would say. Meanwhile, my niece who is only a few weeks older than Dougie was fully trained. Others would wonder why the heck he was still in diapers! "Have you tried buying him special underwear?" Yes. "Have you tried giving him a reward when he sits on the potty?" Yes. "My son was trained when he was 18 months...have you tried having him pee outside with Daddy?" YES!
"Have you tried naked time?" YES, and that only resulted in me having to clean up pee and poop off the FLOOR instead of of his rear end.[;

In November and December, I just gave up. I didn't do ANYTHING. Nik tried with naked time, but it yielded the same results. While I was Christmas shopping, I decided to try one more thing. I bought a potty seat (It goes on the toilet, instead of being a separate thing) and I found Red Sox underwear. I had bought fancy underwear before with no luck. Lightning McQueen and Mater sat in his top drawer for months...it didn't motivate him at all. I bought the Red Sox underwear, hoping he'd still fit in them once he was finally trained.

After I bought those two items, I decided to try ONE MORE TIME before my maternity leave was over. I told Dougie, "After Christmas, no more diapers" he said okay and went on his business...I had a feeling I'd been cleaning pee and poop from underwear in a few weeks and it would fail again.

Well, Christmas came, he opened his potty seat and his underwear and he was excited, but didn't want to try them. Christmas left and the next day we went to see Liz in Natick. So, I lied. It was after Christmas and he was still in diapers, but I refuse to not see my friend when she's here just because I'm potty training my son. So, day after Christmas he wore a diaper.

Fast forward to the next day and he was in underwear....he peed in his underwear a couple times that day, didn't understand and I thought it was going to be a LONG week. The next day, he peed only a little bit before trying the potty, but wouldn't go pee to save his LIFE. BUT on the 3rd day...he POOPED on the potty. He still wouldn't pee, but he pooped! I was THRILLED! He still wore a diaper to nap, and would pee the minute it went on, but the thought of no poopy diapers was enough to keep me going.

Fast forward again 5 or so days. He WANTS to wear big boy underwear. He WANTS to go on the potty. He can pee on the potty, he can poop on the potty (he doesn't like to poop, but he will eventually go) and he's SUCH A BIG BOY! I really don't think this had anything to do with me, rewards, charts, candy or fancy underwear. I just think he was ready. He did it, I just helped.

And he loves his sticker chart that I made him last week, and it's fun for us...so here he is with his chart! (Notice the thumbs up here.)

Oh and Ireland is going to be so much easier with a potty trained three year old! Yahoo!

My new hobby...

2009-01-13T17:28:00.001-05:00

Since I've been home on maternity, I've picked up sewing. I saw a lot of things online that I wanted and they were SUPER expensive, so I tried to make them myself...with some success. Here's a couple that I made this week!

I have orders for at least two more...I'm having fun! I might even sell them on the internet! :-)

Happy 2009!

2009-01-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

31 days...31 days left of my maternity leave. A part of me wants to go back to work, see the kids, get back into the swing of things. But a HUGE part of me doesn't want to leave Kate. I know she'll be fine with our sitter. She be looked after very well and loved there. I know that she'll sleep most of the day and hardly even realize that I'm not there...but I don't want to leave her. I wish I could be a stay at home mom, but it wouldn't work...for one thing, I'd go out of my mind at home all the time. I know I would. There is only so much you can do with two kids, one that is potty training (Thank GOD) and the other that naps twice or three times a day. Plus, there is the money issue. Who, in their right mind, would give up a well paying job in this economy? We have so many things that we want to do...so many things that we can do, if we have two salaries. 2009 will be FULL of new experiences.

Okay, Okay, rant over. Kate is doing wonderfully, sleeping through the night and smiling, cooing and laughing all the time. She is such a joy, I just love her! Dougie is potty training and doing very well with it. He's been out of diapers since last Saturday and hasn't had an accident since Monday! He's taking to it quite well, and he's so very proud of himself. He should be! We are!

Last week I got our passport applications and had the kids and my pictures taken. I am SO excited about going to see Liz in Ireland this year. Liz is my very best friend and I miss her. I can't wait to see the life she has created for herself with her husband in Ireland. I hope they're ready for us! The Starkey's are coming!

Back to the kids! Happy 2009 Everyone!

8 weeks! Oh My!

2008-12-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

I started a "Day in the Life" post the other day and I was doing really well taking pictures and all...then I realized that I have two kids and not enough time to take pictures and take care of them! Oh well.

School has been crazy. I can't write about specifics on here but it's not going well. The grouping of my kids just doesn't work. We're trying to fix it (my principal, sub and myself), but it still needs a lot of work. They are behaving so badly that my sub rarely rewards them anymore and also decided against letting them do a Yankee Swap at the Holiday Party. I agree with him about everything, I would have probably have decided the same thing if I were there. February 2nd can take its time getting here, I wont mind! I have another 6 weeks of leave and I couldn't be happier. Only 4 weeks of my leave is unpaid, but we'll make it through it!

Christmas is just around the corner and I've been taking advantage of Dougie going to his sitter's house on Tuesdays to do my shopping. It's also been great just to have a day with Kate! She really enjoys being in the Baby Bjorn (which I got BRAND NEW for $12.99!!!) and everyone always stops me to tell me how beautiful she is (I don't mind it one bit, but it sure slows me down sometimes!)

Here are some pics for my blog readers!

I was "tagged" by Liz...

2008-12-07T23:04:00.000-05:00

These are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you. (see above)
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random, arbitrary things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

6 Random Things (that I don’t mind being posted on the internet) :

1. My daughter is seven weeks old and I am still in shock that I had a girl. I always thought I would have boys and she has completely thrown me off. I can't trust my instincts anymore! I am so in love with her.

2. I love my freckles. I hope my kids have my skin so they get freckles, too!

3. I think I have a wonderful singing voice. I'm not trying to sound egotistical, but I enjoy singing and I think I sound good. If I weren't married with two kids and completely happy with my job, I'd try out for American Idol...just to see what would happen.

4. I am so incredibly happy that my best friend found her true love, but so incredibly sad that he lives in Ireland.

5. I am a reality show junkie. I love it all, even though I know most of it is fake!

6. I am not good at keeping in touch with people. I tell myself 10 times a day to call people that I miss and I always forget too. When I was in college I used to have to write it on the calendar so I could remember when the last time I talked to people who lived far away was. I wish I was better at it and it is always a goal that I have.

I tag...I'm not sure I have a lot of blog readers, but I'll tag Hayley, Alison, Jim, Kaycee and Rawson.

He's my favorite...

2008-11-21T15:14:00.000-05:00

A good Question...

2008-11-11T09:18:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T10:35:00.001-04:00

I know I'm a day late posting these, but I was gone all day yesterday hanging out with Mr. and Mrs. Connor. Besides eating too much candy and then expelling the candy (Dougie "spilled all out" as he calls it--I call it vomit!) we had a great time!

One Week Old!

2008-10-25T13:47:00.000-04:00

I can't believe she's already a week old. Kate has changed so much in just a week. Here are some new pics, you can see her eyes now!

She's Here!

2008-10-21T15:41:00.000-04:00

I have a beautiful baby daughter, Kate Elizabeth Marie. She was born on October 18, 2008 at 5:05 am with NO pain meds! I'm absolutely in love with all 8lbs, 11oz of her. She is amazing. I have a daughter! We didn't know what we were having and everyone kept saying girl, but we figured we'd have another boy...NOPE! It's a GIRL!

Here's my birth story...

I had a doctors appointment on Thursday after school (I teach 5th grade) and I wasn't feeling the best, but I figured it was just because my due date was coming up and I was tired from working up until the end. The office was super busy so I was seen about 40 minutes late. My blood pressure was high, about 150/90 so they started asking me tons of questions. My symptoms were very similar to Pre-Eclampsia which I was watched for with my son in 2006. I was sent over to the Birth Center for observation and they decided to keep me overnight and induce me in the morning since my blood pressures were still high and not coming down even with rest.

Friday morning we started induction with miso-prostal at about 11:00 am (An emergency c-section and version pushed me back a little bit). The first round of miso gave me a few contractions and I was 3 cm dialted. The second did NOTHING. No contractions, no cramps, NOTHING! I was really depressed, thinking they were going to send me home and try again next week.

At about 9:45 pm, my midwife came in and said we were going to try miso one more time. I was let down because I didn't think it would work just like the second dose. At about midnight, my contractions were there, but not too strong. My midwfie checked in on me and told me to try to get some sleep....still depressed, I rolled over and went to sleep. About a half hour later I woke up to REALLY strong contractions. At 1:30 I woke up my husband and got on the birthing ball. At 4:00am I was 6 cm and BEGGING for an epidural. I figured it would still be hours before I gave birth, since I was in labor with my son for 28 hours. They started prepping me for my epi (it takes about an hour) but at 4:45 they checked me and I was 9 3/4! They said we could wait for the epi and have a baby in a couple hours or have this baby NOW! I choose now and it was the best desicion I ever made. 10 minutes of pushing and my daughter Kate was born. I tore a little bit, but not as bad as I did with my son. She is absolutely perfect and nurshing like a champ!