Crying Babies

I went shopping today...and ended up at TJMaxx for awhile. I love TJMaxx. It is full of things I want and don't need.

While I was in there I heard more screaming babies than I have ever heard. I am NOT exagerating. I always hear crying babies.....in Walmart, Target, etc. But today was unbelievable. When one would settle down, another would pipe up across the store. These kids were screaming.....like they were being beaten. One that was near me was screaming about something down the aisle......as she kept reaching towards the air in the other direction. Her mother was focused on the things right in front of her. Like she couldn't hear a thing. Maybe she is a great mom who is ignoring this type of behavior so the child will learn a fit doesn't earn her anything. Or maybe she is an awful mom who would rather shop and ignore her screaming kid.......but either way, she had to be on drugs to totally tune that out.

I left there somewhat frazzled from the noise and wondered why do babies hate TJMaxx so much.

The Red Birds

I'm not sure there is an age where you can "see" the brain development, like the age between 5 and 6. Maybe the age between 0 to 1 or 2 to 3. My point is, one of the most awesome things to observe is a child who is developing right before your eyes. At the beginning of kindergarten many children walk in knowing alot of things......the alphabet, the letter sounds, the numbers, the colors, the shapes. But many don't know these things yet. Whether they are just not ready or they have not been exposed, some are way behind others at the beginning of the year. And those are the ones to watch.

Put in some long days, some hard work and watch it pay off by listening to a child read to you...........one that didn't even know his letters 9 months ago. I love it.

I can't even remember learning to read. My memories don't seem to go back that far. But I can remember that I was in The Blue Birds and I knew that was the best readers in the class. Thank you God for that blessing. And God bless The Red Birds.

These are the good ol' days..

Everyone was home today. I cooked a good meal and we all sat down at the table. And as expected, there was alot of arguing and picking on one another. Chuck gets stressed and uptight. Will can't take any joking when it's at his expense. Then silence. What can we talk about. The only thing to do is make fun of each other. We are a family, after all. Get over it.

They are such big kids now. Yet we all fall back into the same old roles. Mama, Daddy, oldest, middle, baby. Ahhhh. Good times.

I cut Jordan's hair and we took a lot of pictures of her.........preparing to send out her graduation announcements. So proud of her .....finishing college at A&M. How did 4 years go by? Only 6 more years and all will be out of college....God willing and the creek don't rise.

Help someone....

I really had a good day. And amidst all the bad news going on, I feel somewhat guilty about it. But also, I feel like we should all be taking each day in slow motion and holding on to every little thing that is happening. So lots of great little things happened today and I enjoyed this day so much.

My teacher friend was out all week last week with strep and tonsilitis. I had to kick into high gear and help the subs with lesson plans and crowd control. This week she is back and insisted on buying me lunch (chopped beef sandwich, potato salad and unsweet tea...yum) to show me her appreciation. She even bought a hanging plant for my patio.


They say to really feel happy, you should help someone. So helping her last week felt good...something I could do for her. And now I just feel very, very happy.

I hope my children got this lesson growing up. I hope all children get this lesson. Help someone. Pay it forward. Then feel that good feeling.... happy.

Duk Fax

I work as a kindergarten teacher's aide. I do this to help offset the college expenses for my 2 daughters. Basically what I make a month covers their apt. and grocery bills. Wow. I could do other jobs....better paying jobs...but I do it for the laughs.

Today, the teacher read the class a book about ducks. It was non-fiction and was full of facts about ducks. After she read to them, she asked them to go back to their table, take out their journals and write duck facts....as many as they could.

One little boy wrote in his journal.......Duk Fax Duk fax dUk faX dUX fax Duk fax DuK faX duk fax Duk faX

We got the giggles until I had to leave the room because my stomache was killing me.

More Than a 5 o'clock Shadow

I have known Chuck since 1978......I can't remember the first time I met him. But he can remember the first time he met me and exactly what I had on. Wow. I was so hot back then.

Chuck was the roommate of a boy I had gone to highschool with in Bay St. Louis, MS. By 1978, I had moved to Houston with my parents. Two sisters, who I was friends with in highschool, also moved to Houston. It was booming back then and great jobs were very easy to land. Chuck, James (the boy I knew) and Cindy and Chris (the sisters) and I became a group of friends. At any time, any 3 of us would hang out, go to happy hour, go to the show, go out to eat. Chuck was sometimes there, sometimes not. Because he was very quiet.....almost a zero......I never really paid attention to him. What I do remember was his long, curly hair. It was the 70's....days of disco.

In 29 years, I have never seen Chuck with facial hair. Never more than the 5 o'clock shadow that he gets around noon. This weekend, Chuck took the day off on Thursday to do yardwork and we had the day off Friday for Good Friday. By Friday afternoon, Chuck had not shaved since Wednesday morning. He had the beginnings of a great beard. I begged him to leave it until Sunday.......please, I have NEVER seen you with a beard!

Well, he left it 'til Sunday and after much begging by me and other family members we even talked him into leaving it until next weekend. He got up this morning and went to work with a beard.......came home at noon and shaved it off. He didn't like people looking at him. WHATEVER.......

Ten Projects at Once

This has been a wonderful 3 day weekend. The best.....

Friday, Cameron and I went to Roundtop and Warrenton to look at all the antiques and junk. We took Maggie and she was absolutely the cutest dog there. Really. I bought a child's chair and an old chair and a turquoise necklace. All needs. Cameron found an end table and chair. So the day was a success.

Saturday, I finished working on the clipboards I have been modpodging. I also painted the first coat of black paint on my kitchen fireplace mantel. During all of this, I cooked a casserole and did 5 loads of laundry. Between coats of modpodge, I loaded the dishwasher and read a catalogue that came in the mail. Just busy, busy, busy doing what I love. Well, except for the laundry part. I love that I have a family that just goes with the flow. We had chips and dip for supper amid the fumes of enamel paint.

Today is Easter and all day I have thought about the empty tomb. Please let that be true. I want to see Paul again one day. And I know my Daddy will be there, too. Waiting for us.

Happy Easter. He is risen indeed.

Way Ahead of Their Time

I work with kindergarteners. I absolutely love this age.....5 and 6. Lately, I have seen or overheard several of them showing their middle finger raised up by itself. Whether they REALLY know what it means, they do seem to know it means something rather naughty.

I was in 3rd grade and on the playground at Sul Ross Elementary in Bryan, Texas. Jimmy Eller showed me "the finger" and told me what it meant......we were under the slide and in my child's mind, we were well hidden. He told me it meant when a man tickles a woman's bottom. I literally pictured a woman standing there, fully clothed, while a grown man, fully clothed, tickled her on the cheeks of her bottom. Wow......I was in on a huge secret.

So, as an adult around these kids, I usually just tell them to stop, that it's not a nice thing to do......and they stop. But I wonder what the Jimmy Eller's are telling the girls it means these days.

When C equals DMC

Will is taking Algebra II this year and is having some struggles. I say "struggles" because he says it's hard. But then again, it probably is when you're trying to do your homework while listening to your IPod and talking online to at least 15 girls. Oh, and the tv is on. I remember being young, really. I remember doing alot of that while doing homework.......well, except there was only one telephone, one television and no computer. And instead of an IPod, there was a radio. I do try to give him freedom about his studies but then the 3 week Progress Report comes home. And the lecturing begins.

Why don't you ask for help? I will pay for tutoring if you are getting it, but you have to tell me you aren't getting it. If you blow a test, you can really never bring that grade up before report card time. Your only job is to make good grades. Blah, blah, blah. I am really tired of being the lecturing mom. At the last lecture, we told him everything that "plugs in" would be taken away if he didn't have all A's and B's on his report card.

Now enter stage left, today in Algebra class. They are taking a test. One in which he must do very well on to bring up the F he has in there now. His calculator is not working, not working, not working. He leans over to the girl next to him and ask to borrow hers. From stage right comes the teacher, grabs the calculator and tells them they will be getting a ZERO on this test for cheating. The teacher tells them both they better tell their parents before she gets hold of us.

So Will goes to see the teacher after class, and pleads not guilty to cheating. She says he can take a O on the test or take DMC (in school prison). Knowing that everything that "plugs in" is riding on this test, he takes the DMC while still denying he cheated.

So he gets home and tells me the whole story. And I want to believe him. He admits he was "stupid" (his words, but I agree) not going to the teacher with the calculator problem but he did not cheat. So I email her, she emails me back and whether he cheated or not.......C (cheating) = DMC (one day in school prison)

Gosh, I hope I am not being played a fool. He really looked like he was telling the truth.