Oh my God! I am totally turning into my Dad!

I just told Garrett, "If you are going to cry, I will give you something to cry about."

Other words (that belong to my father) recently out of my mouth:
"Where did you get your driver's license?? A Cracker Jacks box??? (said to a person who pulled out in front of me and then proceeded to drive 15 miles an hour - fifteen.)

I guess I'm okay unless I utter his favorite phrase of all time:

"I'm as serious as a heart attack."

Summer Fun

By fun I really mean children aggravating you to no end of course.

It is very difficult to be a teacher. The ten months of the year when you are teaching are emotionally draining and physically demanding. (Stop laughing at me! Until you have walked a mile in my shoes, don't judge me. I challenge each one of you to go to a school and observe, or better yet, volunteer and get a glimpse of what it is teachers do on a daily basis. And I say glimpse because what you actually see me do is just a small part of what I actually do.) And then to go from working constantly (because teaching is NOT an 8:00 - 4:00 job) to not working at all and being home 24 hours a day, seven days a week . . . well the transition isn't always so easy. Add to that two kids who are used to being in school with a scheduled day who are now at loose ends . . . it can be frustrating. I just want to be ALONE and they want to be played with! Imagine that - they want some of my time and attention. (Said sarcastically okay??)

Whoo boy . . . I sound a little . . . bitter about teaching. In truth, there is nothing else I can imagine myself doing. I really mean it.

I just had a wonderful year with great students who I really enjoyed working with. I work with great teachers - E and V I couldn't have done it without you - and a great staff and principal. I know that I make a difference in childrens' lives and that is why I do what I do. I just get a little tired every now and then!

I also love being a mom. I just wish that there was a week where the kids were in school and I had the week off.

So, what's a mom to do? Well I try to keep some sort of schedule for the kids and me. I try to find things for them to do (VBS, swimming lessons, etc) We go do simple things like go for ice cream and to the local library. That still leaves a lot of time where they need to occupy themselves. Don't get me wrong. I know a little boredom is good for kids. They need to know what to do with themselves. I just wish it was easier sometimes.

What do you do to juggle it all??

Overheard

To set the scene:



Garrett and Meagan were in the dining room and Jimmy and I were in the living room.



Meagan: "Garrett, you bit me!"



Garrett: "No, I scratched you with my teeth."





This kid never ceases to amaze me! (See my previous post about Garrett's funny sayings here.)

WALL * E

I took Meagan, Garrett, and one of Meagan's friends to see WALL * E today. The kids really enjoyed it. However, I don't think they really "got" the movie. I believe it is a commentary on how humans do not take care of the Earth and are inherently lazy. Hmmm. . . was someone making a political statement through a kid's movie? I think so.

Here's a review by Roger Ebert.

Wall•E

June 26, 2008

Cast & CreditsWith the voices of:Wall-E: Ben BurttEve: Elissa KnightShelby: Fred WillardCaptain: Jeff GarlinJohn: John RatzenbergerMary: Kathy NajimyComputer: Sigourney WeaverHoverchair mom: Kim KopfHoverchair son: Garrett PalmerWalt Disney/Pixar presents a film directed by Andrew Stanton. Written by Stanton and Jim Reardon. Running time: 97 minutes. Rated G.

By Roger Ebert

Pixar’s “WALL•E” succeeds at being three things at once: an enthralling animated film, a visual wonderment and a decent science-fiction story. After “Kung Fu Panda,” I thought I had just about exhausted my emergency supply of childlike credulity, but here is a film, like “Finding Nemo,” that you can enjoy even if you’ve grown up. That it works largely without spoken dialogue is all the more astonishing; it can easily cross language barriers, which is all the better, considering that it tells a planetary story.

It is 700 years in the future. A city of skyscrapers rises up from the land. A closer view reveals that the skyscrapers are all constructed out of garbage, neatly compacted into squares or bales and piled on top of one another. In all the land, only one creature stirs. This is WALL•E, the last of the functioning solar-powered robots. He — the story leaves no doubt about gender — scoops up trash, shovels it into his belly, compresses it into a square and climbs on his tractor treads and heads up a winding road to the top of his latest skyscraper, to place it neatly on the pile.
It is lonely being WALL•E. But does WALL•E even know that? He comes home at night to a big storage area, where he has gathered a few treasures from his scavengings of the garbage and festooned them with Christmas lights. He wheels into his rest position, takes off his treads from his tired wheels and goes into sleep mode. Tomorrow is another day: One of thousands since the last humans left the Earth and settled into orbit aboard gigantic spaceships that resemble spas for the fat and lazy.

One day WALL•E’s age-old routine is shattered. Something new appears in his world, which otherwise has consisted only of old things left behind. This is, to our eye, a sleek spaceship. To WALL•E’s eyes, who knows? What with one thing and another, WALL•E is scooped up by the ship and returned to the orbiting spaceship Axiom, along with his most recent precious discovery: a tiny, perfect green plant, which he found growing in the rubble and transplanted to an old shoe.

Have you heard enough to be intrigued, or do you want more? Speaking voices are now heard for the first time in the movie, although all on his own, WALL•E has a vocabulary (or repertory?) of squeaks, rattles and electronic purrs, and a couple of pivoting eyes that make him look downright anthropomorphic. We meet a Hoverchair family, so known because aboard ship they get around in comfy chairs that hover over surfaces and whisk them about effortlessly. They’re all as fat as Susie’s aunt.

This is not entirely their fault, since generations in the low-gravity world aboard the Axiom have evolved humanity into a race whose members resemble those folks you see whizzing around Wal-Mart in their electric shopping carts.

There is now a plot involving WALL•E, the ship’s captain, several Hover people and the fate of the green living thing. And in a development that would have made Sir Arthur Clarke’s heart beat with joy, humanity returns home once again — or is that a spoiler?

Happy 4th of July!

Well, the picture isn't as large as I thought it was going to be but this is my first attempt at using a picture off of the web. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great day! We don't have much planned. I wanted to go to the fireworks show that our town does, but the fireworks have been canceled due to the drought and burn ban that is over our county.

I plan on cleaning house (the laundry pile has multiplied overnight again on me!) and organizing my scrapbook materials. We'll see how much of that actually gets done!

Key Lime Cake

I mentioned Key Lime Cake in a previous post so I thought I would post the recipie. I found it at teachers.net which is one of my favorite teaching websites to hang out on. I will post a picture of the cake next time I bake one.

Key Lime Cake

Cake:
¾ cup oil
¾ cup orange juice
5 eggs
1 3 oz. package lime flavored Jell-o
1 box lemon cake mix
¼ cup lime juice
5 tablespoons powdered sugar

Frosting:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lb. box powdered sugar

Combine the oil, orange juice, eggs, Jell-O, and cake mix. Beat until smooth. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.

While cake is baking combine ¼ cup lime juice and 5 tablespoons in a small bowl. Stir until smooth.

When cake is finished, prick top of cake all over with a fork. Drizzle lime juice/powdered sugar mixture over the top of the entire cake. Let the cake cool while the frosting is being made.

To make frosting: beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla extract and then beat in entire box of powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.

Enjoy!

Yes, yes indeed

That was Garrett's reply when I asked him if he would like to go walking with me. I go to a nearby elementary school to walk and he enjoys playing on the playground while I walk.

Last night I walked 6 laps (1 1/2 miles) and he played in the rocks and ran around. I walk with my mother-in-law, Juanita. Thank goodness for mother-in-laws who call to see if you want to go walking even when you turned them down everytime they called last week. Thanks Juanita!

So, tonight I decided I would call her. She said yes and I went to put on my shoes. Unfortunately, before I even got a single shoe on she called back to let me know that it was raining. She lives near the elementary school. Darn. And I really mean it. I would really like to get started on a consistent trend of walking in the evenings.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the rain. The weatherman said we were in a severe drought. I watered the yard all weekend long and it could still have used more (I guess that's what happens when you neglect it for a while. Hmmm . . . ) but couldn't it have rained after we walked? Actually, my landlord does a really good job watering our yard for us. Thanks Mr. P!

Tomorrow I will be doing plenty of walking. But, not the kind of walking I enjoy. I will be walking in slow, slow circles trying not to make any noise. I am administering the TAKS test tomorrow and this slow, noiseless walking is called "Active monitoring." This is what I must do to make sure that my kids are not doing any thing that they are not supposed to.

For those of you out of the educational loop (or TEXAS educational loop I should say) the TAKS test is the high stakes test that third grade students take in Texas. They take it in two areas, math and reading. It is referred to as "high stakes" because if a child does not pass the reading portion of the test they may be held back in third grade.

Anyway, I have been teaching summer school since the day after regular school let out and tomorrow my kids will test. Our last day of summer school is on Thursday. At 1:00 I will be free to stay up late, sleep late (yeah right - with two kids who consistently get up by 8:00 EVERYDAY!) and generally have the freedom to do what I want, when I want.