In Which I Pour Out My Guts...Some Humor Included

I truly do not even know where to begin...

Well, we'll start with a quick Hello.

Hello, very few people who still actually follow me!

I know it's been QUITE sometime since I posted here. It seems that Twitter has overtaken my "blogging" life. It's not that I haven't wanted to blog, it's just sooo much more convenient to tweet what's happening at any given moment. But I have missed pouring out on my blog.

Y'all better roll up your pants legs and move to higher ground because I am about to let loose of all the nitty gritty details of the crappy day I've had. It probably won't seem like much to you but all rolled into a single day...it's nearly been more than I can take. I'm looking at this post as being cathartic, of sorts. At least I pray it will be. Tomorrow has GOT to be a better day...



Let's start with the fact I'm still not back in the full swing of things after the holidays. Today was no different. I'd planned on running Ellis to the dentist at 8 so he could eyeball a bump on her gum. Mind you, Mark had just had them there Monday for some fillings--don't get me started--since I had to go back to work. This little bump had appeared over the weekend, I believe, yet neither Daddy, nor Ellis, saw fit to point it out the the dentist Monday. They "forgot."



We stopped by Chik-Fil-A to grab chicken nuggets to round out their lunch as we have done all to often lately. As always, I also got a large sweet tea. In my world, a large sweet tea at my favorite Chik-Fil-A location is actually 1 large tea AND 1 large tea with NO ICE, i.e. 32oz. And as I do often, I set both cups on top of my car while I crammed nuggets into lunch boxes. I promptly got in the car, backed out of my space and rolled to the street. I hear a blump and realized I had again left them on top of the car. What happened next was just a classic bonehead move yielding quite unexpected results.



Only seeing tea trickling down my front windshield, I think that I can salvage at least one of the cups and throw my door open to grab for it. Mistake. BIG mistake. In rains all 64oz of tea all over the left side of my body~head to toe. Seriously. Worse than rain. And wouldn't you know, all I had in the car to sop it up with was a single washcloth. At this point, once I stopped screaming, pulled out into traffic and assessed the situation, I realize that I'm not buckled up. I yank on my seatbelt to find it's stuck...in the door. Outside the door actually. Yeah, it just keeps getting better and better. Not! So, I'm in motion, trying to soak tea out of all the electric components on my door, my seatbelt is dragging the pavement, there is tea dripping from the ceiling and I'm a walking sponge. I figured it couldn't get any worse and that if that's all the curve balls I was thrown today, it'd be a piece of cake. So I skip out on the dentist for obvious reasons and drop the girls at school.



I have to admit, the whole scene had to be absolutely comical from someone else's vantage point. Really. I would have gotten a good chuckle out of seeing it happen to someone else. Well, we all know how I love my sweet tea. (That's such an understatement, no?) So much so that I went straight back to CFA, parked and went inside...quite obviously dripping wet. Of course, all of my "friends" who work there wondered why I was back. But Cheryl took one look at me and said, "You did it again, didn't you? But why are you all wet?" After my brief explanation and a good laugh, I was restocked and on my way.



This was supposed to be my "Mental Health" day. Finally. After weeeeeks. I had 4 hours of desperately needed "me" time scheduled prior to a much needed hair appointment and then on to do some PTA work at school before carpool. Needless to say, plans changed. It took me an hour to hose the syrup off and out of my car, wipe down the inside, take another shower, get dressed and start my tea soaked laundry.



Mental Health Day~ Take 2: Action!



I leave the house again. By this point, it's lunchtime. I go to meet Mark for lunch and attempt to crack the windows when I park. Drivers window goes down. Passenger side...nothing. Hmm. Try again. Nothing. Panic sets in. I try both rear windows. Nothing. Great. I just fried 3/4 of my windows. This should be an interesting and equally unpleasant admission to the husband. I told him as we stood in line waiting to order figuring it was safer. It went over just as I had expected...like a lead balloon. He was very unhappy to say the least. {Insert a not-so-fun lunch experience here} As if this was helping get my day back on track.



Fast forward to my sprint between the restaurant and the salon. I'm obsessively trying all the window buttons again when I accidentally hit the windows lock button. And that's when the light bulb went on. I must have pushed it while I was scrubby sugar off the door and out of the window buttons. Great. I've just admitted that, not only to Mark, but to all of my friends on Twitter. That's some kind of smart! Oh well, lesson learned. But thank goodness I hadn't shorted out some electrical stuff.



I arrive on time for my appointment only to find my stylist coloring someone else's hair. Whaaat? It's my time! I sit down and wait...15 minutes. I was already pushing it to the last minute to get to help at school and now I'd be late. {Lots of stuff in between, blah, blah, blah} I do my PTA stuff, grab the girls and skip carpool line. Hooray!



I'm finally in a better frame of mind and decide to take the girls to a nearby coffee house for a sweet treat. No available parking? It's ok. It's all good. Go with the flow. We get our treat and I grab a coffee to take home and mix with this fine Whiskey Maple Cream Sauce I made Christmas day. I pull back out into traffic heading straight back through what we refer to as the "gauntlet" towards home. Mark was waiting to see us at home before he headed to the bowl game. Smack dab in the middle of said gauntlet, with no options to turn around, it surfaced. Ellis reminds me about the dentist. This re-starts the decline of my day. I call the dentist and explain my concern while I'm making my way to his office.



Thankfully, we're friends with our dentist, so dropping in is never an issue. Cutting to the nitty gritty here, after a visual exam and xrays, Charlie tells me it's an infection. An abcessed tooth to be exact. Oh, and it's going to need pulpectomy. In other words, a root canal on a baby tooth. It's necessary because she is nowhere near losing it. (Caroline hasn't even lost that same tooth yet.) I preceed to have a near breakdown, again, in their office. No tears were shed this time. But a stream of very unpleasant words began to well up inside me and somewhat quietly begin slipping out in conversation with Charlie. Not a proud moment then or even now typing it. It's just the truth. I call Mark, explain situation and ask if he can take her Monday since his schedule is more flexible than mine that day. Yakkity yak. No can do. Guess where I'll now be spending my Tuesday afternoon? All the while, Caroline is balking because she doesn't want to get a 30 minute early dismissal to sit at the dentist for Ellis. Sisterly love, you know. We get our prescription, make our return appointment and head to the car.



Words. Bad words. Disbelief. Swirling through my brain. So much so that I had a hard time even negociating our way to the pharmacy. This cannot be happening again. Yes, again! This is the 2nd baby tooth Ellis has had this happen to. UnFREAKINGbelievable. It's nothing she did or didn't do. No way to predict or prevent it. Of course, I asked..."Why? Why my child...again? Pleeease tell me this is not going to keep happening!" One of the hygienists, trying to calm me, tells me how she has "seen lots of kids with all silver teeth" due to the same thing while working with a Pediatric Endodontist. And this was supposed to help me feel better? She failed!



Prescription in hand, we hit CVS thinking it may not be all that busy. The plan was to grab it and head to get dinner on the way home since Mark had to go ahead and leave for the game. Backfire. Wait time was 20 minutes or more so we pressed on to a locally owned pharmacy closer to the restaurant and home. No line, no waiting. BINGO! Part way thru the fill, I realize that our insurance changed January 1st. Why? Why all these hurdles? I search my purse for the new cards...nothing. I call Mark to see where they are. He says I have them, blah, blah, blah. No, I don't. They're at home in the desk drawer for safe keeping until needed. Welllll, I needed them...right then...away from home. Major fail. Great. I apologized to the pharmacist, explaining the new coverage, cards at home, etc. I told him I'd run home, get them and be right back. That's when the eleventy-seventh shoe dropped. Oh my good Lord in Heaven. I'm not hearing this. I'm not. Well, actually, I heard it the 2nd time he told me, "I'm so sorry, but I don't have this in stock today. I can get it in tomorrow." This would be the exact point that I went over the edge; willingly AND kicking and screaming all at the same time. Which makes NO sense, I know. Then commenced the beginning of another meltdown. I'm not even going to elaborate on this one at this point. Let's just say that when I was driving home to retrieve the cards and realized that the 2nd pharmacy didn't have a script that needed to be started tonight, my blood began to boil.



At home, I went straight to the drawer and found them posthaste. Finally, something was working. Until I saw this bright colored sticker stating that it needed to be registered online before use. Unfortunately for Liz, she called at that moment and took the brunt of all the day's frustrations. It wasn't pretty. Not pretty at all. I then realize that sticker is only for when you order scripts online. I obviously had some mad comprehension skills going on when I "read" it.



We load up; revising our plan to eat first and then go to the dreaded 3rd pharmacy. Things are clicking along. We even end up with an extra kid for an hour when we leave dinner heading to the Walgreens. Of course, all 3 girls act out in Walgreens. Ya know, dancing in the aisles and doing cheers around other shoppers. Nice. We're on a 30 minute wait time and I'm trying to wrangle that?! Oh, and of course, there was a parent from my school milling around waiting just like us. Not just any parent. A parent with 2 kids...both of whom I've taught. Sweet. Now she's seeing today's crazed "parent" side of me versus the wonderful, calm teacher she's known for 3 years. Comforting, I'm sure. At this point, I've waited in line twice and I'm just letting the girls run up and down the aisles because it was more peaceful for ME that way. This is total honesty here. Sometimes you just do what ya got to do. The girls finally settled in on an aisle sniffing candles in glass jars. Real safe and responsible, I know. Again, that was what was working for me. Stick a fork in me because I am done! Finally, the 3rd time in line, I come away with Ellis' antibiotic. It was all I could do to grab the children on my way out the front door.



At home, I get a good look at the medicine bottle. "1 teaspoon 4 times a day" dosing instructions. You have GOT to be kidding me, right? Anybody? Just how exactly are you to do a 4 times daily dosing of a school aged child all while working yourself. It's not possible. I give her a double dose to start with and wonder if I should do it again later on tonight. Which I was really leaning toward. Thankfully I ran it past Nurse Lori and she advised against it citing possible irritated stomach. Lord knows we don't need any other problems. After our "extra" kid went home, we worked on homework, took showers and they got into bed late. Way late. A late bedtime and arguing about toothpaste...just what I needed after wallowing through the events of the previous 16 or so paragraphs.



There was actually more between bedtime and when Mark got home but I'm done purging my overloaded brain. You probably haven't read this far anyway. And I certainly don't blame you. If you did, I not only appreciate it but I applaud you. Good job!



And in other news, my hair looks great, I made a friend's day and had a good giggle from Twitter. Those are the three highlights of my day. Seriously. Good night.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sequence Of Innocence

Oh, I just wish I knew what she was thinking as I snapped these pictures driving thru the Smoky Mountain National Park a few weeks ago! (We were driving the short distance from Cades Cove, where we'd just seen a black bear foraging for food ~ up close and personal, to the little Methodist church and cemetary that"s the next site on the Loop.)

What I do know is that it's one of the sweetest memories I'll carry with me from that day on.

Hurricane Katrina~The Aftermath

...it is, indeed, always darkest before the dawn. This day was no exception.

When things quieted down and the sun finally rose, we began to see what Katrina had left behind. A big mess is what it was. It always is after any hurricane. Fortunately for us and most of our neighbors, we sustained no damage. Of course, there were leaves, sticks and branches along with varying colors of stray roofing shingles laying all over the ground. They had been ripped off during some point of the storm. Earlier while it was still light out, we had even watched out of our kitchen window as the wind whipped underneath several patches of our next door neighbor's shingles before ultimately snatching them off all together. Needless to say, they got a new roof. Remarkably, we did not lose a single shingle from our house or our garage. Yeah for us!

The friends we carpooled with from around the block had a huge tree uproot during the storm and actually move their garage from its concrete foundation when it fell through it. That was in interesting sight. Well, to us it was. I'm sure Rob and Angie thought differently of the situation.

For the most part, everyone we knew came away from Katrina with very little damage compared to everyone along the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf coasts. That's where it gets tragic.

I am no fan of being hot. Not even in the Winter. You have not experienced hot until you've been through a hurricane and have now power...no way of cooling off...AT ALL. Too say that it is miserable is an extreme understatement. Sooo, the end of August with no power for days on end will drive you to the brink of insanity. Well, it will for me anyway.

Thankfully, all our neighborhood friends pulled together. We all shared what we had, including intermittent "mooching" off the only 4 generators on the block. We all planned our days around grilled meals and watching the kids play outside. We took turns scouting out our surrounding area and reporting back. We shared info and muscles when it came to searching and procuring gasoline and ice. We even held air conditioned movie showings in different family vans to help keep the kids entertained and our tempers in check. A mama can get a little crazy in such conditions. I speak from experience.

Something we did a couple of days into it all is still talked about to this day amongst the parents and children. Even as recently as a couple of weekends ago at one of our weekend hang-outs. It was probably our 3rd night or so that we devised a new shower system. We had all been outside {in the shade} all day since it was cooler outside than inside. We had all eaten dinner and the children really needed baths but the sun had already set. Not wanting to put them to bed nasty and not wanting to risk injury showering them in near darkness, we came up with a rather unorthodox plan. First, we lined all the neighborhood kids up along our next door neighbors windy walkway. Next, with Huggies All In One baby wash, hoses and dry towels in hand, we stripped all the kids down under the cover of darkness and had a "car wash" style outdoor shower that night. They all thought it was hysterical. We just called it ingenuis. Oh, how I wish I could have been in that line-up. {No comments here please!} Outside where it was not near as hot as the inside of our homes where we had no choice but to "sleep".

Sleep...what we got very little of until about the 4th whole day post-Katrina. We were out driving around in THE AIR CONDITIONING when we got a call from our friend, Liz. They themselves had family in from out-of-state running from the storm. Anyway, THEY HAD POWER! We beat a path over to their house and promptly invited ourselves to spend the night. Of course, after taking one look at us, they wanted us to stay as much as we wanted to suck up some of their precious cooling air. We were definitely a motley looking crewe! We went home and retrieved some necessities and slept in peace for 2 nights. Ahhh...

Luck was on our side after that as we finally began to see lights coming back on around our part of town. With much begging and pleading and praying, we finally got our power back. There was alot of flickering on and off and lots of sitting on pins and needles but when it came back on for good... we were in Heaven. That is, until we had a television to watch and see all the devastation to Mississippi and Louisiana.

As we all suffered through nearly a week without power in the wretched, sticky heat, feeling like it would not end soon enough, it was only getting worse for others around us; both here at home and in New Orleans. The pictures coming out of the most hard hit areas were just devastating, to say the least. They're still devastating to look at 5 years later. It was, and still is, utterly unbelievable that Katrina left such a huge path of destruction with so many deaths. The days, weeks and months that followed Katrina all ran together and seemed never ending to me. But here we are 5 years later. There are still people and communities affected by the storm that have not fully recovered. That seems hard to imagine, doesn't it? So many people have been able to pick up and move on but there are so many more that lost everything they had and just can't seem to recover. And yet another blow with the oil spill. Some people just can't seem to catch a break.

Would we choose to stick it out again when a major hurricane is barreling down on us? Yeah, I think so. One thing we won't do without is a generator. I will NOT swelter in this tomb house again. That's just more than I can take people. And I'm not ashamed to admit it!

5 Years Ago Today...Waiting on Hurricane Katrina

WARNING: It's so long your retinas are sure to bleed. Don't say I didn't warn you...

It's been on the Weather Channel all week.

First, it was about Hurricane Season in general.

Next, there was the big special on Hurricane Camille back in 1969. Boy, was that a biggie. I was just a baby when Camille hit and remember nothing. I've seen many news stories about it over the years, seen lots of pictures and heard lots of stories from my parents and grandparents. Let's just say it. was. bad.

We had our full-on hit during Hurricane Frederick. I remember my Mother taking all four of us kids to the grocery store to scavenge whatever was left on the shelves before the storm hit. We had an entire cart (or maybe two) FULL when we got in the long checkout line. That's when my Mother realized she didn't have her wallet. She surely wanted to scream at this point but instead left us in line with strict instructions to stay put and let one person at a time go ahead of us until she returned from home with the money for said rations. That should have been seen as a sign of things to come. Frederick was a rough ride, to say the least. That's a whole other blog post!

We've weathered many other storms in the years between Frederick and Katrina. Heck, we even moved into our house DURING a hurricane, for goodness sakes. Sleeping in a hot house (thanks to no power) uncertain if we would be blown away, with no window coverings, on a mattress in the living room floor, surrounded by all of our belongings and scaredy-cat dog locked in her kennel in the same room was not to way we'd envisioned our 1st night in our new place.

I digress...

Then came the Hurricane Katrina episode. It was like traveling back in time 5 years. Like you were watching it as it was still happening. So frightening. So amazing. So devastating. So {insert any other extreme emotion you wish}.

Here is where our story begins...

5 years ago we were watching Hurricane Katrina churn her way through the Gulf heading right towards us. She was only 5 days old and was now a Category 5 hurricane.

Had 5 been my favorite or lucky number at the time; I surely would have changed it that day.

Caroline was 5 and had just started Kindergarten. Ellis was 1 and it was my 1st year teaching at her Mothers Day Out. We were settling into a new routine. Then comes the news you sit waiting for for 6 months out of every year; yet it's news you don't ever want to hear.

This time, against all logic, we decided to stay put. In a couple of previous big storms like Ivan, we had loaded the car, the dog and the children and headed North to stay with Mark's family. Who wants to be stuck at home with no power, no air, no nothing with 2 little kids? Not us. Not to mention the safetly issue of it all. However, this time, we just didn't want to deal with all of that. Our house was pushing 70 years old and we had seen the inner structure numerous times and knew it was well constructed so we decided to ride it out right here at home. While we knew it would not be "comfortable" after the storm had passed, at least we would be at home instead of having to call neighbors to check on our house as in storms past.

Since it was looking pretty good for Katrina to come right on in on top of us, we made extra preparations for a lengthy recovery period:

*Both cars were filled with gas to overflowing
*Extra gas cans were filled and waiting in the garage
*We were more than covered on fresh drinking water
*We had plenty of non-perishable food
*We ate all we could out of freezers & re-filled with ice
*All the coolers were cleaned and full of ice
*All propane tanks were filled and ready for grilling
*We had any and all medications ready
*Diapers were fully stocked
*All clothes were washed & ready to be sweat in
*And last but not least, everything in the yard had been stowed in garage to prevent being hurtled through someone's window.

The winds had been gusting all day. The feeder bands of rain showers had been rolling in. Everyone had been scurrying about with the last minute hurricane details. We had all been communicating as to who was leaving and who was staying. We knew where everyone was going to be and who's house we needed to check on once it was safe to go out after the storm had passed.

Now we wait. That's all you can do. Mother was required to stay at the hospital working during the storm. At least we knew she'd have electricity. My sister, Debbie, didn't want to stay by herself in her own house so she came and stayed with us. We watched television until the winds grew so strong that the power company finally just cut the power all together for safety reasons. I don't remember exactly what time that was that night. 8o'clock, maybe.

Once there's no power, there's no air and no lights. Not fun. There's only so long you can stand to be awake in those conditions. So we all decided to go upstairs to the oven bed. Unfortunately for us, only 6 of our 37 windows are NOT painted shut. And to make it even more fun, only 3 of those 6 actually had screens on them. That would be the room Aunt Debbie, the girls and I slept in when Katrina came a' calling. Mark slept in our room with a couple windows open.

It was, to that point, the most miserable night I had ever spent trying to sleep. I was sharing a queen size bed with another adult and a 5 year old and 21 month old. Not exactly anyone's idea of comfortable. All 3 windows were open and I was literally laying against the screen across the side window. Why, you ask?
A) I was afraid one of my children would roll against the screen, it would give way & they would plummet 20some odd feet to their death .
B) I. was. SO. freaking. HOTTTT.

All four of us girls were clothed in nothing but underwear (a diaper, in Ellis' case). The wind was blowing outside like crazy which was good for those of us melting into the sheets. And it was raining. Alot. I could not sleep at all because I was so miserably hot. I had been in and out of bed several times just trying to cool off. I finally had the bright thought to go get in a cold shower. I turned the water on and was too tired to even stand up. I put the plug in the tub and laid down in the cold water. It. was. DIVINE. So much so that I actually fell asleep. Of course, between my body temp and the air temp, I woke up in warm water later. So I drained it and started over. That proved good for a few more winks of sleep. Then I started worrying about my babies falling out the 2nd story window again and it was back to the oven-like bedroom.

Stay tuned for the aftermath; coming soon to a blog near you (like here...tomorrow).

It's always darkest before the dawn...

Wasting Away Again In Margaritaville ~ Well, Actually...Florida

We've been on our annual family vacation with Granny and Robby this week. They arrived last Wednesday and we headed to Panama City Beach 1st thing Saturday morning.

So far we've had excellent weather except for the blistering heat. The heat index today is 109*. Yep, I said 109 ... DEGREES! It was so hot on Tuesday that even my sweat was sweating. Can you say "miserable"? That would be the day that I decided to gut it out, hang out with Mark by the pool, sans children, and burn my self to a crisp. Somehow, I don't think he appreciated my effort as all I've done since then is walk around stiffly in immense pain.

We've eaten out a few times at some of our favorite LOCAL restaurants around the beach area~Angelo's Steak Pit, Cap't Anderson's, Omelette & Waffle House(not to be confused with the Waffle House chain!) and Schooners. Tonight is a special night for Mark...Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville! Not that it will be a first for any of us, because we have dined there several times in cities like New Orleans and Orlando. But it's exciting to my ParrotHead of a husband all the same. And fun for the kids.

There had been talk of Mark and Caroline going to ShipWreck Island Water Park today (Ellis didn't want to go) but they've put that off until tomorrow because of the steep price and our plans to go out to eat at 5o'clock. There just wasn't enough time to make it worthwhile. And wouldn't you know that Ellis has now changed her mind and wants to go which means Uncle Robby will need to go. That leaves me and Granny here at the condo all day tomorrow.

Right now everyone is down at the pool and I'm headed out on the balcony to sun my feet. Alone. At least for the moment. Granny should be coming back up shortly.

In other very unsettling news, it appears my iPhone battery has been zapped and rendered almost useless. After a few pleas for help via Twitter and texts, I decided to head into an AT&T store this morning. Unfortunately it was a fruitless trip. The only thing there is for a battery issue is sending it to Apple for a replacement battery, or purchasing one (or an external battery) from a free-standing Apple store. And the closest Apple store to our condo is in Jacksonville.

As much as I'm DYING to go to Jacksonville to not only get my phone fixed but to meet up with my friend, Jenna; I just can't do it here at the end of the week. Well, I guess I could if I took Granny along for the ride. Um, no. Why this couldn't have happened days ago, I have no clue. Looks like I'll be getting a brand, spanking new phone when we get back home. Ya know, since the closest Apple store to home for repair is in New Orleans. Hmmm, but if I went to the Big Easy, I could f.i.n.a.l.l.y met up with my other partner in crime very good friend, Lori.

Not to mention, it appears from the little box at the top left of this post that my blog template will be removed tomorrow. And I can't get thru to them on this computer. I'm just hoping it let's me post this, actually. Yep, let's just add one more thing to my list of unhappiness. Grrr!

It's going to be one looonngg, sad, Twitterless drive home Saturday morning with the broken charger port in Robby's car since the only reason I'm able to keep the last remaining charge is by keeping it plugged in 100% of the time now. :(

Catch y'all later...

Wordless Wednesday~Mmm, Mmm, Good

Remember your Mom letting you do this as a kid?

Yeah, me too!

It was one of those days today.


Happy Wordless Wednesday!

"All Hawaiian. All The Time." ~ An Explanation

Sometime ago Mark declared this Summer to be "All Hawaiian. All the time." Meaning he was going to wear a Hawaiian shirt every day this summer. Not to work or church or anything. But if he was home for the day and lounging around...he was going "All Hawaiian, all the time."

I, of course, got a good giggle out of this.

He, of course, was serious.

The few he had in past years had been done away with because they somehow "shrank" while hanging in the closet. Sooo apparently the hunt was on to stock his closet with said Hawaiian shirts. Little did I know that he was stockpiling these shirts in preparation for his previously announced May 1st start date.




While I did not think to take pictures the first 3 days...




I did begin to realize that this was indeed blogworthy...

Once he realized I was snapping pictures everyday...

he informed me that he had consulted his attorney...

and warned me that I was barred from publishing anything about...

his Summer Mantra {including any&all photographs} without his express, written permission. I gotta tell y'all...that was just a challenge in my book. So if my blog is yanked from the internet never to be seen again, you'll know he was actually serious. But I know my husband. He loves to have fun. And how could I NOT document his big, Hawaiian Summer?!

By the way, this is only a fraction of his stash and he's still on the hunt for more.

Wordless Wednesday~Happy Cinco de Mayo

What's a pinata and a baseball bat amongst friends?

A free-for-all!

And it WAS...

Now where did I put my Margarita?

Be sure to check out other great pictures here sponsored by Lacie at Life Down Our Lane.

Overheard From Room 114

Working with 2 year olds can be really fun yet really trying at times. Wednesday was one of those really trying days.

It dawned on me that not only do I say the same things over and over (and over and over) again but that some of them were actually quite funny; particularly when simply heard but not "seen". You know, especially if you weren't the one trapped in that room with 7 toddlers.

So without further ado...


"Lamey, please put your socks and shoes back on your feet and do not take them off again. Shoes stay on feet while you're at school."

"The Weeble Treehouse is NOT a riding toy; so please get off."

"Will, please do not stand inside the fireman's hat or you WILL slip and fall."

"That riding toy is only approved for one rider at a time so you'll have to wait til she's done."

"We do not bang pots on the kitchen set so please stop."

"Buddy, I know you love your friends but we do not kiss on the mouth."

"Lilly, Miss Pam has told you 100 times that we do not do gymnastics at this school. Remember last time when Lauren kicked you in the head?"

"Please get out of that cabinet. It is not a play place."

"Will, we do not headbutt our friends just because they are standing on a toy you want."

"Remember boys and girls, toys go on the shelves, not in the trashcan."

"Only Miss Pam or another teacher is allowed to open our classroom door; not you!"

"Please stop hanging from the coat hooks like monkeys."

"We never, EVER stand on table tops."

"Will, if you want Lamey to get her foot off of your hand, just use your words."

"Lilly, you are NOT the teacher; therefore you cannot tell anyone to 'hush'."

"Please sit in your chair with your feet in front if you'd like your lunch."

"No, we do not bang on the table to show me you want your lunch."

"If you would like to play with Legos or puzzles, please pick the 30 toys up off the floor and put them back on the shelves."

"We need to use our inside voice while we are inside so PLEASE stop screaming."

"Why? Because Miss Pam is the teacher and those are the rules of our class, that's why."


And of course, the standards...


"Boys and girls, listen to Miss Pam, we do not {fill in the blank with any of the following}:

run inside

put our feet on the wall

throw toys

tell Miss Pam "no"

throw toys out the open window

stick our hands in our dirty diapers

hit, push, pull, tackle, kick, bite or spit on your friends

The list goes on and on. Don't kids teachers say the darndest things?!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Lemonade!

This was Ellis' first ever lemonade stand a couple of weekends ago.

Her partner in crime?

Stan, of course!

(And a sidenote, they made $7.97 EACH in a single hour!)

Apparently cute works well for them.

Hop on over to Life Down Our Lane to check our some more Wordless Wednesday pics.