Okay- it really takes a lot to offend me, but I found this letter very offensive. Chad brought it home to me today, December 1st. I am not only responsible, but I work for the district and know how important it is to clear absences AND I am a total rule follower. So- in case you can't read the letter- Here is a recap:
Chad was absent on Tuesday, September 23rd. Reminder- I got the letter on Monday, 12/1. It reads: It is the accepted practice in our district, as well as State required, to send a written note with your child when he or she returns to school, stating the exact reason for his or her absence.
Since we did not receive a note from you, will you please be so kind as to send one with your child tomorrow?
We appreciate your cooperation in this matter, knowing that it will make school procedure more effective. If you have any questions, please call the school office. For your convenience, see below.
REALLY?? Of course I have questions!! Is it accepted practice to inform your parents over 2 months after the absence and after the trimester has ended? AND if this is accepted practice, who knows about it? I have NEVER received a note from any of my students. Why have an attendance line to report absences if it is accept practice to send in a note when they return??
Let me tell you my response: Chad was sick, but I did call in to the attendance line and report the illness on the morning he was sick. I also had his work sent home with his younger brother. Is this accepted practice?
Accepted practice! Is this a new term? For the record, Chad has only been sick once this year and my other two children have perfect attendance.
Okay- now I feel better! I got it off my chest.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
I AM a responsible parent-REALLY!!!
Monday, December 1, 2008
It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas!
Here is a (crooked) picture of my tree BEFORE decorating it! I just got it tonight and I love it! About 5 years ago, I picked out my perfect tree. I was in LOVE! When we moved to Santa Clarita, our ceiling was too low for our tree. The first year, Steve taped the top section lower so it would fit. The second year we lived there, he CUT OFF the top of the tree!! To this day, he claims he lost his mind when he did that. Over the weekend, we went looking for trees and could not find one we liked. If we only had my very favorite tree (which I had to throw away by the way- you can't cut the top of a pre-lit tree- it involves wires and stuff). He admitted again that he was wrong to cut the tree (at least he admitted it). I think it has been on his mind because he called me at work today and told me that we had not checked Lowes or Home Depot. After work, he went to Home Depot, I went to Lowes. I found the tree- and the bonus was that it was 25% off and this was the last day of the sale!!! (I never get that lucky).
When I got home, he was putting up the lights (another story). When he was finished, we set up the tree. In all our excitement, we forgot about eating! At 7:30, we took time out to eat and do bedtime routine. Decorating will come tomorrow.
Do you notice where I put my tree?? I had to put in an area by our stairs where we usually have a tall silk tree (all about artificial trees in this house). It was the only area that was tall enough. Let me tell you what I love about this. For those of you who have only known me for a few years, you probably wouldn't believe that I don't like change. I know, in the past three years, I have gone through some major change. I have dealt with it, but it has not been my favorite. When I say, I don't like change, I mean that I don't even like to move my furniture to put my Christmas tree up. So- by putting my tree by my stairs, I only had to move another tree and not my furniture. Perfect!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Twilight
I feel the need to put a blurb in about Twilight! A bunch of us went to see the midnight showing of Twilight. I am usually a night owl, so this is right up my alley. As midnight approached, I grew more and more tired. Even though I am a night owl, I have a horrible habit of falling asleep in movies (Bolt- at 2:30 in the afternoon). I struggled to stay awake- not because I wasn't dying to see it- more because I had done a week of parent/teacher conferences (that's enough to want to go to bed early). Anyway- I left the movie feeling less than satisfied. However- I went to see the movie again Thanksgiving weekend (I wish I had pictures), and I realized that I was asleep during more than just the fight scene.
I have to say that I enjoyed the movie more the second time. Maybe it was because my expectations weren't as high. I do feel like they left soo much out and that the story went by soo fast. I don't know if you would fully "get into" the story unless you read the book. I did enjoy the characters more the second time. I can't wait for New Moon! I was in love with Jacob in the book and wonder if I'll love him in the movie (maybe a haircut would help). I am hoping that there will be a bigger budget on the next movie since Twilight did so well!
Everyone got a kick out of this part! There was giggling both times I saw the movie.
Here we are, at the midnight showing! (I know these pictures have been around- thank you to whoever took them!)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Back to Normal!?
What is "normal"? According to the dictionary, normal is an adjective that means: conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; regular. Hmmm... Well, in the last 14 weeks, my life if finally back to normal. I get up at 5:30 every morning, get myself ready, iron everyone's clothes, get the kids up, do their hair, take the boys to the babysitters and I get to go teach 20 second graders!!! After school, I rush home to get the kids to their various sports or scouts 4 days a week. We finally get dinner around 8:30 each night, before putting the kids to bed around 9:00. Once the kids are in bed, I can grade papers,finish lesson plans, watch an occasional show on tv, clean up and do laundry. We are most tired on Friday nights- this is the night we go to bed the earliest! Saturdays are spent at games and/or cheer competitions. Finally- Sunday comes- a day to rest and go to church! This is my normal and I LOVE it!!
I look back at my summer (and my last post) and realize that I was really very sad that someone took part of my normal life away. I am so glad to get it back. Teaching is my passion! I was so happy when football started. As much as I try to pretend that it is not my favorite sport, it really is. I love the twinkle it puts in Chad's eyes. His love for the sport has grown on me. Westin tried flag football. He didn't have the same twinkle, but he really enjoyed the games. Now that the season is over- he can't wait to play tackle football next year! Secretly- I can't wait either. Madalyn started with Pacific Coast Cheer (competitive cheer)this year. She practices 3 nights a week in the gym. She had her first competition today in Irvine. They took 2nd place. It was awesome. If you have never been to a cheer competition- you may want to try one. Now that football is over, the boys started basketball. They have practice 3 days a week until games start in December. It is Westin's first season. They both really enjoy it and they love their coach. They are are different teams but have the same coach.
Madalyn said to me the other night- "Mom- we eat out like every night." "I know," I said. "But- Mom, everyone knows that about us and we like have a reputation for eating out." To that I said, "First of all, I'm not real concerned with what people think, and second- not everyone has our life." "I'm okay with it. That is all that matters."
Our life calmed down a little now that football is over. Basketball is not quite as time consuming (or dangerous). I don't have to stay at all the practices. My goal is to make dinner more often. Things come up- like a week of parent/teacher conferences- when you want to do something easy. But- for the most part, I am doing better. You know- the bad thing about making dinner is the cleaning up part. It always takes longer than I anticipate. Don't get me wrong- I am not trying to ruin our reputation, but I do have to admit that a home cooked meal is nice once in awhile!
I am so happy with my "normal" life. I am happy that Steve has been able to help. Sometimes I think that we are crazy but I have come to realize that we are happy with crazy. I am thankful to have 3 great, healthy kids who are in on the craziness with us! I have a great life!!
By the way- Kenny won Entertainer of the Year--AGAIN!
P.S. Pictures to come! I am in a little dilemma- I got a video camera for my birthday- so many of our sporting pictures are on video. I hope to find some good football pictures. I filmed the entire cheer performance today- so I didn't take pictures!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Laid Back Summer Turns To Laid Off Summer!
I have gotten to the point that I just avoid my blog. Finally- tonight I clicked onto my blog from a friend's blog. I know- it is embarrassing!!! I am sure since most of you don't love Kenny Chesney as much as me, you are getting sick of seeing him.
Well... as most of you know, I was laid off at the end of the school year. If this has never happened to you, then I hope you don't experience it. I know- I should just be happy to stay home and enjoy the summer with my kids and stress about it once school starts. That all seems logical, but it just didn't happen for me. Sure- we had a great summer. I was a great entertainer! But- I wasn't prepared for how this lay-off would effect me emotionally. I love to teach- bottom line. I felt so blessed to have the opportunity to teach in our school district. I actually was very happy with my crazy life. It just didn't seem fair to me that someone could just take away something that I worked so hard for! So- instead of making the most of my time off by catching up on projects at home and updating my blog, I didn't do anything unless it involved my kids. I just didn't feel like it- so I didn't do it. For those of you who know me well, that is rare for me. There are days and sometimes weeks where I never stop to take a breath, rarely sit down and never sit still. I did a lot of breathing, sitting down and sitting still this summer (at the beach, the pool and on my couch). So- I have made a pact with myself- to put this time behind me and get moving again! Last night, I downloaded my pictures for the summer. Once I go through them, I will give everyone a proper update (probably back to April). I must let all my blogging friends know that I have throughly enjoyed their blogs this summer! You are all my heroes and all your blogs will always be better than mine (and thats okay)! A special thank you to all my family and friends who have put up with me this summer (I hope a get a chance to stop talking about the whole ordeal sometime soon!)
These are the children who made it all worth it for me last year!
These are the children who make everyday worth living!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Entertainer of the Year.... again!
Need I say more??? He is still and will always be the best! Can't wait to see him on May 29th in San Diego!!!!!!!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Warning- Not for the faint at heart
Tuesday Night 8:00= One of my FAVORITE times of the week. Why? AMERICAN IDOL!!!!
Being the nice mom that I usually am, I agreed to let my children stay up a little later and watch the entire show live (as opposed to the DVR).
After the show was over, I was doing the idol recap with my friend Debbie on the phone. We were going on and on about how awesome David Cook is and how we kept rewinding the show and watching him over and over and how we can't wait to download his song. You know, the usual. Well, these two decisions- letting my kids stay up late and talking on the phone when I should have been tucking them in, cost me 3 hours in the ER.
As I was saying good-bye to Debbie, I was pointing Westin to the direction of his room. He ran ahead of me, tripped and fell into his wooden block container. Who would have ever known?? When he was one, he had stitches in the same place. This accident re-opened the wound (there was no denying that it was opened)!
We got to ER at 9:50, parked a mile away (it felt like it when I was carrying Westin), walked through all the construction and signed in promptly at 10:00. Westin fell sound asleep on my lap. We were called into Triage at 11:00 (I think they have a rule about making people wait at least an hour for this), sent back out to the waiting room, sent back to billing at 11:30, sent back to the waiting room, brought back at 11:50 and released at 1:00 this morning. CRAZY!!
Westin was so brave. Never cried at the hospital. It was funny because I let him see his face in the mirror when we were waiting for the doctor to go get the blue stitches. We looked at it and said, "Thats what stitches look like?" He thought that when I woke him up to go to triage that he got his stitches then (they just put a band-aid on). While we were waiting for the doctor to come back- I snapped these pictures with my PHONE (I have just now figured out how to download them to my computer)!
So... here they are. Just be glad I didn't take them with a quality camera. I was brave too and watched the whole thing. I wanted to take pictures so bad during it, but didn't think it was appropriate.
Eight stitches later! I think we will both be tired in the morning- my alarm goes off in 3 hours. (At least I can go to bed proud of myself for posting so promptly).
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Spring Break- finally!
I hope that you are as excited as I am that this/these posts are finally finished! We had a wonderful Spring Break and are excited to share our pictures. Before I do, let me give a little background on our trip.
This is how our first conversation went:
Carynn- "I can not wait for Spring Break! We will finally get two weeks off that we do not have to share with a major holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas. I want to go somewhere where I can relax, read books, eat and get a tan. Somewhere where the kids will have a blast but do not have to be with us every second of the day. I want a VACATION!!!"
Steve- "I have been thinking about this vacation and know exactly what we will do. I will plan everything. Don't worry about a thing!"
Carynn- "That would be awesome! Not only will I get a great vacation- but I don't even have to think about it. What could be better??"
Okay- in case you are wondering- I was thinking along the lines of a cruise. Great food, fun, relaxation. This was not what Steve was thinking, however.
I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed when I saw his blow by blow itenerary of the trip, but I would NOT change it for the world! The vacation was AWESOME!! By the way- I did get great food and I did read 3 books!! The tan is another story.
So... here are pictures of the vacation with brief notes. For some reason, I can only post 5 pictures at a time- so I had to break this up into many posts. Take a journey with our family up the California Coast!!! (it is 13 posts long- so you will have to go into older posts to see the entire trip).
Enjoy!!!
Solvang- a little Dutch town on the way to San Luis Obispo
This is how we toured the town. I guess that is why we don't have many pictures. This was harder and more dangerous than it looks. I was more worried about tipping over than taking pictures! In case your wondering about the flat little person with us. She is "Flat Keaton" (Stanley). She went everywhere on our trip with us before she was sent back to Hailey's first grade classroom in Chandler, AZ.
Leaving Solvang
On our way to San Luis Obispo
On the PCH- notice how close the ocean is- isn't California great!
San Luis Obispo
This is where we ate Easter dinner. It was my kids favorite restaurant on the trip. It is called The Cracked Crab in Pismo Beach. They bring your dinner out and pour it on the table. They give you any and every tool imaginable to crack your crab. It was so much fun!
Friday, April 4, 2008
View from the courtyard at Hearst Castle
Outdoor Pool
Outside the front door of the main house
Dining room- even the rich and famous like ketchup and mustard!
Indoor pool
