Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Up in the Air

A lot of things are really very beautiful when they are up in the air...fluffy clouds, hot air balloons, soaring birds, the sun, etc. However, when it is my life that is up in the air, it's not quite so pretty. Lately, so many things seem to be unknown.

For example, are we going to be in PA or in MI? If we are in PA, are we going to live in this house or are we going to be able to find something more accessible? If we are in PA, there's alot unknown about Jaden in school. They don't know: will he be upstairs, will he be downstairs, will he have a new teacher, or will one of the other teachers move, who will the new principal be and will he/she be willing to meet Jaden's needs without a fight, and perhaps the biggest question of all, will all of these changes make him so anxious that he won't even be able to go to school and Ill be homeschooling him. Is someone going to take over my job at church or I am going to be doing it again? Should I get some sort of job with all the "free time" I'll have in the fall and if so, what type?

I feel like I did when trying to get pregnant in that two weeks between ovulation and "knowing". You can't really plan anything one way or the other. I can't take a new job or make big plans...I could be pregnant. I can't buy maternity clothes and baby gear, I might not be pregnant. The only difference is I have no idea when this up in the air phase will end. Alot will become more clear I think by August.

There is one thing I know...God knows! "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." Jer 29:11

Friday, May 19, 2006

Shhhhh...

Don't tell anybody, but summer vacation is just around the corner (2 weeks from today) and I'm NOT looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, the precious little things that they are. But, there's something about the thought of being with them 24 hours a day/7 days a week, that is currently sending a shiver up my spine. There are certain things that I am looking forward to. I'm sure we'll have fun. I get their undivided attention for a few months to un-do some damage. (No, the world is not billions and billions of years old!) We won't have to rush in the mornings to get ready for school, we can be lazy. There will be some fun camps and of, course VBS. It's just, well, I like having some time to myself. I know, it's selfish...let's just keep that between you and I!

Monday, May 15, 2006

To Request or Not to Request...

That is the question.

To me, teachers are a lot like Obstetricians. Every single one of them has a following of people who love them and critics who'd be happy if they never had to deal with them again.

I would not say that I was overly impressed with the two of three first grade teachers we've had thus far. Trisha's teacher wasn't bad, but very strict and very CLEARLY does not like little boys. J & J's teacher was, well, horrible. (For us). Lots of people like her. I thought she brought out the worst in my boys and they had a very tough year with her. She is extremely sarcastic. Here's an example: At P/T Conference, she said that she has a very hard time motivating Jaden. I asked her what she's done to help him. She replied, " I call him names. He'll tell me to stop calling him names, but I tell him I'm going to keep calling him names until he finishes his work." Does anyone else find that as horrifying as I did? There was a lot of talk and a lot of prayer about pulling them out and homeschooling them (that's how damaging I thought she was being). In the end, things did turn around and by January, I think everyone got along fine.

So, now here's the dilemma. I certainly DO NOT want Ryan to have her. I would prefer him to have the third teacher who is nurturing. But, do I make a request? Do I become THAT kind of mom and request a teacher? AND, does requesting a teacher indicate that I do not trust God to match Ryan with the teacher that he needs?

Since we are getting a new principal, I have no idea whether or not this principal will even honor requests. The current principal did not honor any one year and honored them all the next. If I request and the principal decides not to honor requests, then I am guaranteed not to get the teacher I want. And, if I say I'm going to leave it up to God and Ryan gets the most horrible teacher, what do I do then?

Decisions....Decisions....

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Happy Mother's Day

I was spoiled today :) I got lots of lovely handmade gift and lots of kisses and hugs. And, well, suffice it to say, someone is going to see Grease (the musical) when it comes to Pittsburgh in a few weeks.

I was working on a project for my church's children's ministry and I came across these quotes about motherhood. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite:

"In becoming a mother, I lost my mind, but I found my soul. " - Anonymous

"The best inheritance a mother can give ehr child is a few minutes of her time each day." -OA Battista

"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children."-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Making the decision to ahve a child-its momentus. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." -Elizabeth Stone

"Parents are so often busy with the physical rearing of a child that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking the leaves." -Marceline Cox

Happy Mother's Day!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Sneaky Little Mister

Some stories just go down in family lore for all time. Just mention the words "Fried Eggs" to someone in my family of origin and we still laugh hysterically. So far this story, courtesy of Jaden, has had some legs.

We had only been in our house a few months. The triplets were 3 and Ryan was just a baby. Our next door neighbors were very friendly, older (not retired, but have grandkids older than any of my kids) people, occasionally giving my kids snacks and often stopping by for a chat. Mr. Neighbor loves to cut his grass, I mean really loves. Anyway, one Sunday afternoon, he was cutting his grass as Jaden watched in amazement. Neighbor went around and around in circles around his house and Jaden watches, getting excited everytime neighbor came back into view. WHen neighbor turned off his lawn mower, Jaden says to him, "Hey, what are you doing there you sneaky little mister??" THe neighbor says, "What?" Jaen repeats, "what are you doing you sneaky little mister?".

I have no idea even where Jaden got that phrase, and I'm not really sure why neighbor got offended. But, ever since that time, no more cookies, no more chats. They've erected a large tree border between our yards and he leaves the 12 inch strip between his lawn and our driveway that is technically our lawn. I think he really likes us!

Anyway, Sneaky Little Mister still enjoys cutting his lawn, so for kicks, let's keep track, we'll start with May.

SLM: 6 Rob: 2

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Field Day 2006















I had the pleasure of vounteering for field day this year, now that all four of my children were involved. Rob also took the day off so that he could volunteer, which I thought was pretty cool. Together, Rob and I were responsible for Lawn Jacks, which has been highly touted as The Most Boring Game at Field Day. Throughout the day, you'd hear kids chanting, "Par-a-chute! Par-a-chute!" or "Dodge-Ball! Dodge-Ball." When they canme to Lawn Jacks, it was, "Is this almost over?" :) Oh well, one set of volunteers had to continually set up 75 pizza boxes for a relay.

It was fun to see my kids have fun. When we left, I said to Rob, "I love our school." And I do. Before field day, we had Jaden's IEP meeting to plan his services fro next year. It went very well. I'll post more later about that.

BTW, that lady with Jaden is his new teacher (after the other one went on Maternity leave)

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

The weekend sports report



We had three soccer games and one wheelcahir basketball day camp. Very fun.

Trisha was the first game and she was a great goalie. She is one of the few girls ont he team who can punt the ball out of her endzone when she is goalie. Because she is a little bit shy (like her mother), I've had to teacher that's it's OK to get in there and get the ball away from someone; that she can be aggressive. Check shy and check nice at the door, sister. This week was the first game she really did that. SHe has some good height on the other girls and she was usign it to her advantage this week, which was fun to see!

I was not able to go to JOnathan and Ryan's games because I was with Jaden. But, from what I hear, Ryan scored four goals, a new all-time Klan family high. The previous record was held at three goals made by Jonathan in May, 2003. Of course, at Ryan's age they do not have goalies, but still, four goals is pretty good now! Jonathan also scored a goal in addtion to his killer defense moves.

Jaden had a lot of fun at hte basketball camp, I was SHOCKED at the level of play/competition that was seen. I was sort of expecting just a friendly game of wheelchair basketball. NOPE! The kids were zooming around, getting their fingers slammed between wheelchairs (no one complained), ripping balls out of each others hands...it was pretty cutthroat. I have to say the mother in me did not at all care for people ripping the ball out of Jaden's hands while he's try ing to hold on to the ball and move his wheelchair at the same time. I wanted to yell: "Hey! Cut him some slack; he's in a wheelchair." Of course, everyone was in a wheelchair! The first picture is Jaden's pregame workout. The second is him playing...look at the intensity in their eyes!