Pebble Up the Nose

Oh my, it's been a long time since I posted anything here. I had received a little pressure from my friend J.C. a couple months ago about this, but I blew it off. I'm hoping now that my family is settling into a routine with me working and the kids are back in school, my blogging will pick up : )

There's an excellent story to be told...a Maddy story, which seem to occur more often than not!

I first must give you a little background information, which Mike and I believe is NOT related to what Maddy did yesterday. Over the course of the past few years, basically since Micah was in 5K in Sauk Prairie, where he was in a team-taught classroom (2 teachers and 30 kids in one large classroom), Mike and I have been huge fans of the whole team-teaching concept (when done the right way). So, as the needs arose, Mike began talking with the elementary staff here in Johnson Creek about team-teaching, the benefits of it etc. In '08-'09 two teachers approached Mike indicating they would like to learn more out about teaming. Mike and the teachers set up a day to go to Sauk Pr. to see first hand what it was all about. The teachers came back very excited and implemented all kinds of strategies and techniques into their team-taught 5K classroom last year, which Maddy was in. As staff members began to hear more about how these teachers were really liking the experience and the students were benefiting in so many ways, Mike began to talk more and more with people. One of the examples he would give as to why teaming is good is that with two teachers actively engaged in teaching the lessons, if there is some sort of "crisis", Johnny has a break down, Suzy has a skinned knee, or someone gets a pebble stuck up their nose, the whole class does not need to come to a halt, rather, one teacher takes over the lesson while the other one deals with the "issue". It all makes perfect sense! Mike said these things to staff members, not to students or his own daughter : )

Anyway, I was at work yesterday, and remarkably, did not hear any word of Maddy's day until after school, which is weird in itself.

Long story short, Maddy is in a newly formed team-taught classroom this year in 1st grade (taught by two of my dear friends). Maddy came in from recess yesterday and went up to one of her teachers and said she had a pebble up her nose. I haven't talked to either of her teachers yet, but I'm sure they were like, "Oh great, the superintendent's kid has a pebble up her nose." I'm imaging that they check my schedule first, saw that I was at work, then called up to Mike's office. He said he'd be down, but that he was in the middle of something so it would be a bit, and that they had definitely not called the sympathetic parent. Maddy's teacher (which ever one was dealing with this "issue") told her that her dad would be down in a little bit to take a look. Upon hearing that Mike was going to have to come down from his office, Maddy covered up the nostril that was pebble free and began blowing out the blocked one really hard. Eventually, she blew that pebble right out!!!! Mike was called off and everyone's school day continued.

When I asked Maddy about this she told me that someone had KICKED the pebble into her nose!!!!!!! I later found out that that's also what she told her teachers. Whatever!!!!!!!!!!!!

Team teaching is a great thing - especially if you have kids sticking pebbles up their noses!!!!!!

June

The month of June is a very busy one around our house! It's par for the course that we jam 150 things into a small amount of time, but that's what we're use to and that's that! There's nothing we would change, even if we could.

Maddy had her skating party a couple weekends ago and Micah's party is tomorrow. I need to come up with a good idea for something people can do instead of gifts. Maybe a donation to the local humane society. The kids sure don't need more "stuff"!

Micah is enjoying baseball this summer. He's got a great arm and his batting is coming along.

Summer school starts on Monday. My classes are full. I have rethought the way that I'm doing the scrapbooking classes. I'll be curious to see how it works.

Two weeks from tomorrow we leave for Rhinelander. We are all very excited about getting away for a week! I'll think about packing another time :)

The end of the school year...

I've been subbing in 2nd grade for the past few weeks. It's been a real adjustment for our family. Around the house laundry piles up and so does the clutter. By the time I get home each day, I'm tired and don't feel like doing much of anything. Mike has been as helpful as he can, but his schedule has been super hectic, too.

2nd graders are A LOT different than middle schoolers. The #1 difference is THE TATTLING...
Envision a whining voice when reading from the list below (all names are fictitious, except mine and one other)...

Mrs. Garvey, Joey pushed me out of the line.
Mrs. Garvey, Micah keeps humming.
Mrs. Garvey, someone wrote on the bathroom door.
Mrs. Garvey, Suzy has stinky feet.
Mrs. Garvey, Micah is distracting me.
Mrs. Garvey, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...........

I've been barked at, sneezed on, and I've taken care of stinky feet.

And believe it or not, it's all been good. We've accomplished a whole bunch in a short period of time...

We've learned to add and subtract three digit numbers when regrouping is needed. We've read a variety of short stories, fables, and folktales.
We've completed end of the year assessments.
We've made fossils and learned about paleontologists and dinosaurs.
We've written letters to Mr. and Mrs. DiPietro and baby Samuel.
We've finished reading Charlotte's Web and will watch the movie.

Ramblings...

Life has been crazy. Between my two classes, running the kids, coaching soccer, volunteering, Friends of Our School, Newcomers and Neighbors, and the "stuff" that needs to get done around the house once in awhile...Calgon take me away!

The classes will be done in three weeks! Yeah!! I am ready for that. I taught my "big" lesson last night. I think it went pretty well. I need to watch myself on the dvd and do a critique - that won't be much fun. It's always so hard to be video taped and to then have to watch yourself! I know I will be my toughest critic.

I resigned from my board position with JCNNC. It was a tough decision; I'm glad that someone jumped right in and offered to take over. Not being able to go to many of the monthly meetings made it tough for me.

The kid's new play set gets delivered and installed today. They don't know about it and are going to flip out when they get home from school. I've been letting them walk home from school for the past couple of weeks. This is a big deal for all. I meet them at the railroad bridge so they don't have the long haul on Cty. B by themselves. It's been working out well. Tanner usually walk with us, too.

My May scrapbooking weekend is just around the corner. There have been a few cancellations, which is unusual. Guess it's a busy time of the year for everyone. I'm sure it will fill up and if not, no biggy.

I've applied for several jobs. I at least hope to get an interview or two. There's lots of competition.

Later...

In the Blink of an Eye

Spring break has come and gone....

The kids have had lots of fun with friends and family.

• Elizabeth here for the week
• Open gym at Gymtastics
• Milwaukee Zoo
• Candy shop
  
• Mike's b-day
• K and G Art Show
• Hide and seek w/ the neighbors
• Bonfire and smores
  
• Brewer game
• Wii
• Playing at park
  
• American Idol
• Playdates w/ friends
  

I need a long massage and then a nap!!

Maddy and the Gold Fish

I finally had a chance to talk with Maddy's teachers about the April Fool's trick I did with the kid's snacks. Both of her teachers were in stitches retelling the story to me.

I guess Maddy opened up her little carton of gold fish, dumped a few out, realized that they were noodles, and then made eye contact with one of her teachers with a confused look on her face. Her teacher played right along and asked what she had for snack. In the mean time, the teacher turned her back for a split second and before she had a chance to say anything, Maddy was crunching away on the noodles. At this point her teacher gave her the gold fish we had secretly taken to school. Maddy then munched on both the crackers and the noodles.

Life as a 5 year old couldn't get much better!

Gold Fish Crackers

We decided to send the small gold fish cracker boxes filled with macaroni noodles to school with both kids. We were a bit hesitant with Micah, but they had so much fun with their dad and his shoes, we figured it would be ok.

Here is the email Micah's teacher sent after snack time...

Micah just realized he had noodles instead of goldfish. The look on his face was hilarious (completely puzzled, then he read the carton again to make sure it was really supposed to be goldfish) and he started to laugh. He told the whole class what was in there and that it must be an April Fools joke. He wasn't upset at all! I think he's happy to have the real goldfish though!

Annie

The Kids Trick their Dad

3/31/09

The kids know what April 1st is. At dinner we talked about different types of jokes that people play on each other on April Fool's Day. They both gave examples...Micah tried to tell me that they had seen a wolf running down Hwy. 26 at recess. Maddy pointed to the wall and said, "Look mom, a big bug!" We laughed and talked about how tricking someone can be more than just telling something that's not true. When we were done eating I secretly called the kids into the living room to share the shoe trick with them. They thought it was the best idea in the universe. And boy were they excited! They quietly found their dad's shoes and took them upstairs to stuff the toes with toilet paper. In the mean time I told Mike to just ignore the ruckus upstairs.


They quietly (not really) made it back downstairs and put the shoes back exactly where they found them.


Mission accomplished!





4/1/09
I convinced Mike to hang around this morning until the kids were out out bed. They were so excited!

Here Mike is just getting ready to put his shoes on.









The kids ran to him to show what they had done. And they screamed April Fools!!!

I'm Ready for April Fool's Day

I've always been a big fan of April Fool's Day (as long as I'm the one playing the jokes)! Family Fun magazine had some great ideas this month and I'm using some of them this year. Here's what I have planned...

1. The kids will stuff socks or cotton balls or something into the toes of Mike's dress shoes. He won't be able to get his feet into them. The kids will think it's great! Does this mean I have to wake them up to see this happen or should I try to get Mike to stay at home later than normal in the morning?
2. I bought two little milk size cartons of Gold Fish Crackers. I very carefully opened the bottoms on the cartons, just enough to get the fish out, and filled them with macaroni noodles. I closed them up tight w/ some of my super strong scrapbook adhesive. I'm going to sneak the real Gold Fish to school before snack time and let the kid's teacher get involved. Maddy will think this is funny. I'm not sure about Micah. I may not send his to school. It might be better if we do his at home.
3. Most of you know that I rarely ever cook dinner. Mike enjoys it so much that I'm always more than happy to let him take charge in that arena. Well, for dinner on April Fool's Day I'm going all out.... Guess what we're having?????? Good old fish sticks and peas (no one in the family likes fish and only peas if they are fresh). The fish sticks are going to be those long skinny wafer type cookies covered in peanut butter and then rolled in crushed corn flakes. Yum!!!! The peas are going to be little pieces of green taffy rolled in balls. The kids will freak out...#1 I made a meal and #2 they will think it's the grossest combination ever. Mike won't like it either, but I bet he'll be polite about it. I am also willing to bet that once they realize that it's NOT fish sticks and peas, they'll be all over it!!
   

Wish me luck!!

PS Another good reason I need to get back into the classroom....April Fool's Day!!!!

Bacon and Eggs

Although I'm not real handy in the kitchen, I do enjoy making cute stuff for the kids once in awhile. I made bacon and egg candy a year or two ago and it was easy, so I thought I'd do it again this week for Micah's spring party. He will be able to help and that makes it even more exciting! Below are the instructions. I'll post a photo or two of our own.

What you need:

Pretzel sticks

12 oz pkg of vanilla or white chips (or a few squares of almond bark)

48 yellow M&M's

What you do: Place pretzel sticks on waxed paper in groups of two, leaving a small space between each. In a microwave-safe bowl, heat vanilla chips for 1 minute. Stir. If not completely melted, continue cooking in 15 second increments, until melted and able to be stirred smooth. Drop by teaspoonfuls over each pair of pretzel sticks. For "yolks", place one or two M&M's in the center of each "egg".

Mike Likes to Sing

Earlier in the week Maddy shared a tidbit of info at school that has everyone wondering...

Mike likes to sing song with the kids. Especially ones that he learned at Boy Scout camp when he was a kid. And he actually has a pretty good voice.

He must have sung with the kids this past week A LOT when I was gone at the conference because Maddy shared during "News Time" how much fun she's been having singing with her dad. Her teacher immediately told me how excited Maddy was about all the singing. She then asked if Dr. Garvey would come in and share his signing with the class. I chuckled and told her I'd talk to him. In my mind I'm thinking "There's no way Mike will do it."

I later find out that Maddy's teacher also went up to Micah to let him know that they would love having Dr. Garvey come sing to the class. I chuckled more and more each time I found out that the word was spreading.

When Mike got home that evening I approached him and wanted to let him know there were requests being made for his singing. Before I could even get a full sentence out, he interrupted me and said that he knows; Maddy's teacher cornered him earlier in the day about singing.

I guess the question everyone is waiting to have answered is...

Will Mike/Dr. Garvey go sing in the kindergarten classroom anytime soon???

I hope so....it would be a hoot!!

A Good Day

I volunteer at school on Thursday mornings. I spend an hour in Maddy's 5K classroom and an hour in 1st grade w/ my teacher friend, Julie, and all of her little rascals. One of the 6th grade teachers contacted me to see if I would be interested in helping a student with her writing one day a week. I met with this student for the first time today. We only spent about 40 minutes together, but I instantly felt right at home with this aged student (some things don't change). Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the little ones, but the older kids are who I'm use to and who I can relate to. I do need to get back into the classroom...my resume is ready and all I need now is for a vacancy to be posted. Time will tell...

Very odd...

I often find very odd and/or puzzling things around the house. Here's today's list...

1. Missing Socks - While folding laundry today and over the course of this past week, I managed to accumulate 12 socks without a match. Now, we're a family of four, so that's three missing socks per person, however, the ODD part about this was that ALL 12 socks without a match belonged to Maddy. Where do you suppose the other 12 are?
   
2. It's not unusual for the upstairs bedroom doors to be closed during the day. We close them to keep the dog from getting too comfy on our beds - he has two of his own! When I went to put laundry away today, all the closed doors upstairs were locked. I find this very ODD and am curious as to who would do such a thing and why??
   
3. Seems like laundry is the theme today...It's interesting that I found a muddy coat and snow pants in the laundry this morning. I thought Maddy said she and her friends would find something else to do at recess this week.
   

Life is good! And sometimes a little bit ODD.

What About Micah?

I don't have nearly as many funny stories about Micah as I do Maddy, but even so, there's plenty to tell about my almost 8, yes, 8 year old. First of all, I can't believe he will be 8 this summer! Where has the time gone!?!

Micah is a hard working student and a friend to all - straight from the mouth of his 2nd grade teacher. He is a leader in his class and has a great sense of humor.

At home I don't see these characteristics as much as I'd like to. Micah loves to whine when he's at home. In fact, when he was "Special Person of the Week" in his class earlier this year, he wrote that "pretend whining" is one the the things he does best. Go figure!

Micah loves playing soccer, basketball, baseball, and swimming. He is in an indoor soccer league in Fort Atkinson right now and will play again in JC this spring. Micah is an excellent reader and also enjoys time on the computer playing with his Webkinz, checking the weather, and emailing family members.

He completed his state quarter collection and started collecting the Presidential coins. His rock collection keeps expanding and we've had to buy several new storage containers for them.

Micah and Mike do a lot of neat things with Cub Scouts. It's a great father/son bonding time for them both!

I'm Still Shaking My Head

Monday, March 9 was a rather mixed up day. Daylight savings and the anticipation of my cancer scan really did me in. It was one of those days when I think to myself...Wow, I have a pretty good head on my shoulders, I'm educated, and I'm in touch with what's going on around me. But given all that, I barely made it through the day? Here's how the day went...

• The kids spent the weekend at grandma and grandpa's while we enjoyed time with friends. We went out to dinner, went to a Buck's game (I won four tickets in the third row). It was fun!

• Mike and Micah unexpectedly went to the men's Badger basketball game Sunday night. They didn't get home until 10 p.m. Way past Micah's bedtime.

• Maddy and I went to Patti's house Sunday night. Maddy dawdled with her shower when we got home and didn't get to bed until 8:45 p.m. Yikes, I'm asking for trouble.
  

• Mike got up to check the roads on Monday at about 5:00 a.m.

• I fell back asleep and never heard him come home to shower and leave for school.

• Maddy came stumbling into the bedroom Monday morning at 7:08 a.m. Holy crap, we overslept!! I get Micah up, both kids get dressed, brush teeth, pack their school bags, etc

• Micah had math homework that wasn't complete. I told him I'd rather he do it after school than rush and do a sloppy job in the morning. I'm thinking to myself...great, the Garveys are slackin' off again. But then again, we're just like any other "normal" family and these things happen. I try to convince myself of this all morning long.
  

• Because we're short on time, both kids grab a granola bar (or so I think) and we head out the door.

• We're not late to school and the kids actually have a little time on the playground. Whew!!
  

• I head back home to get ready for my Dr. appt. I no more than walk in the door and see the two granola bars sitting on the counter. Crap, the kids set their measly breakfast down and went to school with nothing to eat! Micah didn't have his homework done! I immediately go into panic mode, which I would not have typically done, but I was a bit stressed at this point. I call Mike. He's as calm as calm can be and simply asks, "What would you like me to do?" I reply, "I don't know! But kids need to eat breakfast before they go to school. And I'll be dammed if I'm going to take them anything. They had the granola bars in their hands. Why did they set them down!?! They need to remember stuff like this on their own!" He then tells me he's in a meeting and needs to go. Opps!
  

• We leave town at 10 a.m. and head to Madison for my appt. While driving, it dawns on me that the kids have Mad Science for the first time today after school. I hadn't gotten any confirmation on it, so it had slipped my mind. I didn't mention it to either one of them, nor did snacks get packed for the 15 minutes between after school and when Mad Science begins. At this point all I can do is shake my head...

• After we get back to town I run snacks up to school. Micah's teacher mentions that he did ask when lunch was a couple times in the morning. Poor guy going off to school without breakfast! At least they both had a snack to munch on.

• Needless to say, we all survived the day. The kids had fun at Mad Science. No one starved. I went off to class that evening and kept myself busy and distracted while learning about Dewey and MARC records. Wowzaa!
  

They're Not Just for Girls Anymore

I subbed in Maddy's class today. It's a team-taught class and the teacher I worked with is awesome! Regardless, it's 3:32 p.m. and I'm exhausted! Those 5k'ers keep you running. And I need to get ready for class and be on the road by 4:00. Arghhhh...

Within the first 5 minutes of being home, there was a screaming scuffle downstairs. Micah was hollering, "Yes I can!" and Maddy was screaming, "No, no you can't!" I continued changing my clothes and hoped that they would resolve the conflict on their own.

No such luck...

Maddy came running up to the bedroom in tears with two of the "Thanks A Lot" Girl Scout cookies in her hands (nice nutritious after-school-snack). I calmed her down enough for her to get out the following words..."He can't have those...sob, sob, sob. I told Micah he couldn't have those, they're only for girls...sob, sob." I foolishly asked, "What's only for girls?" Maddy replied through her tears, "The Girl Scout cookies, they're only for girls, not for boys. Girls, mom, girls! They are cookies for girls!"

I tried not to laugh and then explained that the cookies were sold by the Girl Scouts just like Micah and the Boy Scouts sold popcorn last fall. The popcorn we bought and eat while we watch movies is for everyone, not just boys and the cookies are for everyone, also.

Another important life lesson has been learned...

Now it's time for me to have a drink and maybe a cookie, too...

The end is near...

The sun is shining and it's 50 degrees outside. The end is near and soon the kids won't need to bundle up in snow pants, boots, and hats! Winters in WI can be brutal when it comes to dressing kids for the weather. However, on the flip side, these items do protect their regular clothes from the mud. But really, who goes in the mud these days anyway, that's so "not cool"!

My parting words to Maddy this morning before school were, "Maddy, please stay out of the mud today. Love you!" She stopped before jumping out of the car, smiled and said, "Yeah ma, maybe we'll find something else to do today at recess." For a split second I thought to myself, "Oh, what a sweet girl." Then reality hit and I thought, "Oh shit, I wonder what she'll get into today!"

Mud.. and lots of it!

I was at school today, which is a pretty regular thing since I sub and/or volunteer at least a couple times each week. While talking to Micah's teacher at recess, one of Maddy's teachers came to ask what I'd like her to do with Maddy's muddy clothes - should she bag them up or would I like to just take them out to the car? The first thing I asked was, "How did you know I was here?" I had just gotten to school and was waiting for our parent teacher conferences. Silly me to ask such a question... So-and-so had told so-and-so that she saw me down in a 2nd grade classroom. And I guess word travels fast when the Superintendent's kid is covered in mud from head to toe. Anyway, I chuckled a bit and went with Maddy's teacher down the hall to where a small crowd had gathered. I wish I would have had my camera... Maddy and another little girl are sitting in the middle of the hallway on one of those industrial type rugs that they have by the doors in the winter. The girls are covered in thick mud and they are trying to wipe if off with paper towels. Maddy's pink jacket, snow pants, boots, hat, and mittens are now a dirty brown in color. There were actually clumps of mud hanging off of her boots.

Maddy's teacher whispered to me that when she asked the girls what had happened, they simply replied, "We got dirty when we were playing in the mud." The teacher said their expressions said even more... "Hellooo, we're standing here in front of you covered in mud and you ask us what happened. You teach us all kinds of neat stuff every day and you can't figure out why we look like this? What's wrong with you?"

Needless to say, we bagged up all the muddy stuff, and everyone had a little chuckle. I sooo wanted to "accidentally" forget the bags of muddy clothes in Maddy's classroom after her conference, but I really like her teachers too much to do that!

Mom Knows Best

Back in 2006, I started sending out emails and then created a Blog that consisted mainly of me telling stories of the day-to-day events in my life as a mom of a 2 and a 4 year old. These daily happenings were pretty "normal"...the kids covering themselves in mud on a cool spring day, Maddy and a friend getting "naked" in the sandbox, the kids sledding down the big hill in our front yard and the dog crapping right on their fast-as-lightening path, etc, etc. They were funny, somewhat demented, and 100% accurate and true. One day my mom suggested that maybe some of these stories not be shared - that not everyone may understand my sense of humor about life. Was she serious!?! I guess at the time, YES she was! So, following the "Mom knows best" theory, my posts slowly came to a halt (the link to that old Blog is over to the left).

The kids were still the kids, and I still had funny stories to tell. And tell them I did! I just wasn't getting them down in writing.

Last night, Monday, March 2, 2009, totally out of the blue, my mom rescinded her previous suggestion.

I guess "Moms know best!" and sometimes it just takes them a few years to figure it all out! Love you mom!

So, here I sit, ready to share bits of wisdom and all kinds of funny stuff...

I'm still sitting....

and sitting...

The kids are both at school. The dog is snoring. The washer machine is running.

Well, maybe things will pick up later in the day : )