The Boys’ Room – Before and After

It took nearly 3 weeks for the new futon to arrive and the old futon to be picked up.  It was quite an ordeal!  But the boys’ room is done.

Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely

Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely was published  in 2009.  I bought it shortly after it was released.  And I used it.  It was fairly simple – a weekly meal plan that included shopping lists.  The food was varied and healthy.  It was easy to make.  But there were lots of veggies and the boys wouldn’t eat a lot of it.

4th Grade Sentences

I grew up in Glendale Heights, Illinois.  I was a child of the 1970’s and 1980’s.  The subdivision we lived in was newly built when my parents bought their house in 1973 or 1974 (I’m not sure).  The school they built in the neighborhood opened when I was in 1st grade (Black Hawk Elementary School).

From the Marquardt School District #15 website.

Very quickly our class earned a reputation.  It wasn’t a good one.  We were the most difficult class the teachers (many of them quite experienced) had ever had.  That reputation was pretty accurate and it followed us throughout our elementary school years. 

Blintzes

When the boys were in North Carolina, my parents introduced them to Cheese and Cherry Blintzes.  The boys had never had blintzes before, mostly because buying them from the freezer section is expensive.

The Myth of a Teacher’s Summer Vacation

“It must be nice to have summers off.”  Yes, well, it would be nice, if it were true.  I agree that teachers do not have to go into the classroom to work over the summer.  But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t working. 

Distributing Responsibility (Or How to Let Your Kids Grow-up)

I’ve been thinking a lot about parenting this summer.  Perhaps it is because David is hitting another milestone:  going to high school.  Whatever the reason, it has been on my mind.

Politics and Education

Currently, the DCF (Douglas County Federation – of Teachers) does not have a CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) with the BoE (Board of Education).  It is the first time in over 40 years that this has happened.  It has left teachers wondering about a large number of things.

Stop Sugar. STOP!

Sugar is now 4.  But she is still a puppy and I expect she will always be.  Because of her treatment before we got her, she is timid and aggressive.  She gets scared of the silliest things (like if she is on the couch and we sit by her, she’ll often run away).  Still, she is a sweet, loving dog.

Time to Change

Do you remember the Brady Bunch episode when Peter’s voice was changing? I remember feeling so bad for him. His siblings were teasing him. Since it was the Brady Bunch, it worked out and Greg wrote a song that Peter could sing with his cracking/changing voice and not be noticed.

No Longer Little

Michael, my baby, turns 12 in October.  He is still tiny, physically (very much like his dad was at that age) and it is easy to forget he is almost a teenager.