School projects

Well, I wrote a long post about Andrew and school projects and Blogger ate it. Grrrr.

A short synopsis:

1- When I thought about how many children I wanted, I never really considered the "extra" stuff. Like the sheer volume of laundry and food one more child would entail. Or homework and activities.

2- I am terrified beyond terrified about how crazy my life is going to be in a few years when all the kids are in elementary school.

3- Andrew is a very smart boy, but when faced with deadlines and projects? He drops his pencil on the floor 55 times and gets hand/leg/face cramps that cause him to double over. Also? His handwriting goes to crap and herunsallhiswordstogethersohehastoredoit which only makes the agony of the project last longer.

4- In one week he was Star of the Week in his class (do a poster), had a book report (diorama/3Dbox project), and wrote a letter to my friend's daughter for her Flat Stanley project. Epidural-free childbirth was less painful than that week. Imagine when I have 3 children each with 3 different projects to work on!?! Hide the knives and ropes!

Pictures of Andrew with Flat Stanley... We could have taken him to the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall, but we wussed out and took him just down the road to Washington's Crossing, where old Georgie boy crossed the Delaware with his troops on Christmas Day. We also dressed him in an Eagles jersey and stuck a cheese steak in his hand.




And here's the Mother's Day program at Andrew's school. I'm the face on the purple flower just to the right of Andrew. He cried while he sang to me, he was so moved. I swear, I had no chance at not crying. He is so sweet and tender-hearted. I swear I will hunt down and destroy the girl who breaks his heart someday.
Also? Since when do I have as many chins as I have children. Not okay, Giselle. Not okay. At least look up into the light. Have I learned nothing from my years of watching America's Next Top Model?

Sugar, running, and other despicable things

-- The sugar thing...or the lack of sugar thing...is going okay. The 2nd week of any challenge is always harder for me. I have great will power and attention for a short period of time. Then I lose interest and start saying, "Who cares if I'm fat and diabetic?!? It's not worth losing this gummy bear over!" Rational.

But who would have thought that Mother's Day would be such a deal breaker? I started my sugar fast last Sunday, May 1st. (Although I already started out as a cheater, since I didn't cut out yogurt or creamer in my coffee. Whatev')
Tuesday, May 3rd, Michael's little class had a Mother's Day feast. Where the kids serve you treats...pretzel's with a dollup of chocolate on top. And since this is a 2-3 year old class, the kids basically force fed us. Fail. Then Thursday, Lily's class had a Mother's Day Tea, where the pre-schoolers excitedly led us to a table they'd decorated and then served us cookies while the teachers poured us tea. How do you say no to your enthusiastic 4 year old? You don't. Fail. Then Monday, Andrew's class had a Mother's Day play. And they served us cookies afterward. Andrew was all teary-eyed with emotion...I couldn't exactly say no to anything he offered at that point. Fail.

But other than my 3 Mother's Day fails, I've been doing awesome. Michael was given a York Peppermint Patty at a friends' house and he ended up not liking it. I managed to throw away the perfectly good peppermint patty...even though it is like one of my favorites. I had a raging headache on Friday and Saturday when I switched to sugar free creamer. It felt vaguely like a caffeine headache, so I'm pretty sure it was sugar related. And yesterday afternoon the cravings kicked in high gear and I paced the kitchen like a caged bear at the zoo. But I prevailed. The good thing is, salty snacks don't really appeal or satisfy me at all. So I've just been eating less. We'll see. One of the deals with the sugar fast is I am not to weigh myself at all. This is NOT about weight loss. It is about not being a slave to sweets.


--Running...well, running sucks. I have to write about it, because I was so disheartened after reading a friend's blog that stated she was a couch potato and then decided to start running and in one month she got up to running 10 miles while pushing 2 kids in a jogging stroller! Holy Effing God. For the last SIX WEEKS, I have been going out 3 mornings a week, and I still feel like I am going to need an ambulance when I have been running for 5 minutes straight. I hit a big victory this morning when running 3 minutes felt okay. I spend the whole time running thinking about when it will end and trying to convince myself to just put one foot in front of the other. I feel great afterward. One reason to keep going. Jeff is, of course, up to running 26 minutes and pushing himself and doing awesome. I have to make this about myself and not anyone else, of course. I am the one who is 35 pounds overweight. I am the one who does zero physical/aerobic activity. I am the one with no muscle tone or stamina. I have further to go to get there. I just need to get out and go.

-- Every time that there is a parent function at one of the kids' schools, I am totally taken back to my junior high self. I always feel like I'm not in one of the "cliques". I never look as put together. People are polite to me, and then move into their little groups. Of course, I have my groups too, and I am old enough now to look rationally at the situation. I'm confident in who I am and how I act, I don't wear makeup because I'm lazy and I don't really care, and the women who are simply polite to me don't have children who are friends with my child...so what do we have to talk about, I only see these people at school functions and they are neighbors/playgroup friends/etc etc. I just have a little de ja vu...and then I shake myself and move on.

-- My parents are in France and on a cruise where they cannot easily be reached. And I ask...how is it possible for me to miss them so much? We don't live in the same town, we see each other only every couple of months or so. And yet I look foward to my morning call from my mom and the sneaking in between calls with my dad. I like having people to hash out the day with and hear what's going on with other family friends, etc. The only good part about them being gone is I hear from my sisters a lot more. :) I think they miss talking to Mom and Dad too.

-- Michael should be potty trained. He willingly goes when we get dressed for the day or for bed. He is almost always successful when he tries. We went 9 days with no poopy diapers, because he was going in the potty. I need to just bite the bullet and take diapers away from him. I bought a box of pull-ups yesterday. I think I'm going to make it the last. When we run out, he has run out of time. Yah, right. I suck at potty training. I have no patience for it. A few weeks ago, I forced him into underpants and then reminded him every 20 minutes or so. He peed through after 35 minutes. I cleaned him up and put another pair on him. 40 minutes later he peed through. And I was done. I just can't be bothered cleaning up messes. Soon, though. Right?

-- Speak of the devil, Michael is begging for the computer. He knows how to open the internet and get on PBS kids (it is saved as a favorite). He can use the mouse to open the game he wants and to manuever and do what he wants. It is amazing. And a little sad...because it shows I let the kids on the computer too much. At least it's Sesame Street?

-- I'm in full planning mode for S____ Summer Camp 2011. This year we're doing it by themes. I'm kind of excited. I love the planning part of things. It's just the follow through that is tough for me. I need ideas for field trips with 3 kids, though. Those are always the most fun for me...definitely not the crafts and cooking.

Okay, enough rambling. I'm off!

Back here again

Step 1: Be happy in life. Enjoy house, neighbors, kids' schools, groups and friends. Plan future possible part time jobs...in your head at least. Talk to people about which teachers are good in upper grades, when the correct age is to start la crosse, what dance school has the least creepy costumes for recitals. Make plans. Dig in roots. Feel contentment and stability.

Step 2: Husband lets you know he has an interview for a new job. (he is now under strict instructs to not tell you until he has an actual in-person interview) Talk obsessively about job and its possible pros and cons. Discuss what is known about new city. Pros and cons versus our current location.

Step 3: While husband is away on interview, fight urge to search for houses in new area. Fight urge (and usually fail) to talk to everyone you see about the possibility of moving. Look around house with the eyes of a potential buyer and begin panicking about how much work there is to do. Fight the urge to reconsider signing up for things that start in a few months for fear we will be gone.

Step 4: Listen to husband be excited when he comes home from the interview. Hear his hope and enthusiasm for taking his career in a direction more suited to him. Begin listing the reasons NOT to stay where we are. Begin justifying why it will be okay for us all to leave. Mentally begin pulling those roots up and out a bit. Imagine how you will tell your friends in the area that you are leaving. Start thinking of hiring a handyman and collecting paperwork from the children's doctors and schools and finding out where to live in the new location.

Step 5: Wait. And wait. And tell more people about the possiblity of moving. And wait. And wait some more.

Step 6: Find out the job went to someone else. Remind yourself why living here is actually really nice and the kids are happy and Jeff isn't too too unhappy in his job. Tell everyone that you blurbed the news to that you once again are the boy who cried wolf. Just kidding, no moving. Comfort your husband and bolster his dejected ego all while you secretly breathe a sigh of relief. No moving...not now. Not yet. Forget about all the fun things you brainstormed about the new location, perhaps you'll have to go on a trip there. Settle back in and let those roots stay put.

Now start over again at Step 1.



And now you know how my life cycles a few times each year. -sigh- It gets so old.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, whose words come out of my mouth daily as I deal with my own children. Who has taught me what it is to be a mother and wife and home caretaker. She is the one I strive to be in the day to day trenches of mothering. The memory of the mother she was when I was little is a level I feel impossible to reach day to day. Perhaps my children will not notice or remember my day to day struggles as well? She is the one who is teaching me that you never stop needing your mommy...and in fact perhaps you need their words and hugs and love even more in the cold reality of adulthood. She is the one that makes me ache that I live so far away. The one I can talk to every morning and never run out of things to say. The one who I can tease and vent to and still know I am loved.



Happy Mother's Day to my second mother, Linda. Who raised a son that became a thoughtful and caring and patient husband. Who is truly a super-mom...someone who has managed to have it all and be it all, career woman, fantastic mother, home maker extraordinaire. Who is patient and understanding of her less than super-mom daughter-in-law...watching me do things differently than she would and still being supportive and loving. I consider myself lucky beyond luck to have been born to a woman that I love, respect, and enjoy the company of. To have married a man with an equally wonderful mother? Indescribable.


Happy Mother's Day to my sister. She is another of those super-moms...balancing a career and family. She teaches me every day about the power of unconditional love. She bounces back from frustrations and perseveres in ways that I don't know if I could. She no doubt could spell persevere without spell check...something I can only dream of. :) I am proud of the mother my sister has become and I am so grateful to have someone to brag to and cry to and vent to that loves my children and me so much.


Happy Mother's Day to my grandma, who is recovering from a partial hip replacement and suffering from Alzheimer's. She raised 8 children, one of whom became my father. Like many from her generation, life was not always easy for her. But she is the model of unconditional love...keeping her marriage full of love even through illness and addictions, welcoming new family members (like step-grandkids, etc) and treating them like her own, and always willing to keep the peace enough for family functions to run like normal.

Happy Mother's Day to my memere, who is 91 and suffering from demensia. She manages to enjoy life and maintain her pleasant outlook, despite confusion and physical discomforts. She is childlike now, but still so sunny and loveable. All I can hope to be when I am elderly. (Although, who are we kidding? I am totally going to be the cranky one at the end of the hall who constantly complains and throws her bedpan at people.)


Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's that support me and keep me sane and give me a lifeline in the day to day trenches of motherhood. I'm talking to you, Mommy-bloggers. And you, neighbors and local friends. And you, random grandmothers in the grocery who tell me what delightful children I have. Not you, cranky librarians and impatient store clerks. But all the others. Thank you for walking this road with me!

What do you do all day?

You may have heard this one before, I certainly have, but I feel like it is worth putting in here for when I forget...


A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap, and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed into the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know how yesterday you came home from work and asked me what in the world do I do all day?"

"Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well...today I didn't do it."

A well-visit, a conference, a confession...oh my!

Michael had his 3 year old well visit yesterday. We saw our favorite doctor again. The one who patted me on the back as I sobbed in her office 3 years ago when she told me Michael was failing to thrive on my breast milk. The one who supported my desire to nurse anyway. The one who is kind and reasonable and non-judgemental. You know, that one. She chucked as she looked at his chart and said, "Well, my failure-to-thrive baby is 75th percentile for weight and 90th for height!"

He was still a little traumatized by the whole popcorn up the nose incident and struggled to let her look in his mouth and ears. But overall he was a good boy. He has a plantar's wart on his toe that is gross. He still has speech issues. But he is a sweet, healthy little guy.

When Jeff got home from work Michael told him, "I go to dock-er. I get a SHA! I so sceer." (I go to doctor. I got a shot. I so scared.) He's really having little conversations with us now. Yesterday he called me over to his train set and handed me a fire engine freight car that he got for his birthday. He told me, "Dis train too loud for dis roo. Take it away, it annoy me." (this train is too loud for this room. take it away, it annoys me).

He's also adding more and more endings on his words. Okay, so he's putting /s/ on the end. But with plurals, that equals a lot of words. We're now 3 1/2 weeks past his IEP meeting, and I still haven't been contacted by his new speech therapist. I've been e-mailing and calling my one and only contact at the IU, and she has not responded even once. I'm a little peeved, to say the least.


Today I had a conference with Lily's teachers. Just a routine one, no major issues. As expected, she is fabulous and helpful and agreeable and will do anything they ask her. They showed me a cirle that she cut out, despite the fact that when we try to cut together, she gets frustrated and refuses to open and shut the scissors. The said she balances on one foot quite well. My child? She can barely balance on TWO feet at our house. Whatev'. We'll love her anyway...she's got to impress at school.

I am frequently overwhelmed by what a good friend she is lately, though. We had our neighbor over Tuesday afternoon, and they came inside after getting scared by a bee. Lily turned to her friend and said, "I know! Let's go...no, wait, what do YOU want to do next, Ali?" What 4 year old is that considerate? There are teenagers that don't think to ask their friends what they want to do next. Heck, adults don't always do it. Sweet little thing.


Finally, it feels like around the blogs I read I've given a few confessions lately. Like bad parenting moment confessions (isn't that what this blog is for?) and sugar addiction confessions. We all know I have bad parenting issues...but I am starting to get quite worried about my sugar addiction. Last month I was actually buying bags of those chocolate eggs and then hiding them and eating the whole bag in a day or 2. And then I'd just think about the next shopping trip where I could buy them again. And if I didn't have anything in the house, I'd be stealing kids' fruit snacks...which I don't even like. It's sad and disgusting and it's time to stop. So May 1st, I'm having an intervention. Like Lent...except just for me. I'm prepared for headaches and sleepiness and general crabbiness. Sounds like a great blogging week, for sure. ;)

Easter

We decorated eggs.

We filled baskets and plastic eggs.

We ate lots and lots of candy. At 6:30 am.

We wore winter pajamas...because it was that cold the night before. Nothing like Christmas pj's in your Easter shots.

We helped each other find eggs and were not greedy or pushy.

Our dog stayed out of the mess of jelly beans and chocolate strewn about the floor. Good dog. (also, Michael is not collapsed in a sugar coma here...he's just driving around his new cars that came in some of the eggs...)

We took dorky photos showcasing our loot.

We are apparently confused about which direction the camera is in .

We could not stop playing and frantically eating candy to look at the camera. Who knew when this blatant breaking of the rules would be stopped!?! Enjoy it while it lasts!

We finally went outside to find the eggs that the Easter bunny hid. At our house, Mommy and Daddy want to share in the fun of hiding...so we hide the plastic eggs with treats inside the house. The Easter Bunny takes the hard boiled eggs outside and hides them. Luckily the rain stopped in time.

These photos are courtesy of Jeff, who was chasing Michael around, holding his carton of found eggs and taking pictures at the same time. Impressive.

When we came inside from the second egg hunt, I turned on the oven to cook our egg souffle. The clock read 7:06. It was a whirlwind morning. And so fun. Until Lily became a sugar monster and threw an enormous temper tantrum because I wouldn't let her hold a packet of M&Ms while she pooped on the toilet.

The kids happily played all day, Jeff did yard work, I cleaned the house and cooked a bit. Then we had some people over for dinner who also live far from family (she is from Washington state and he is from Slovakia!). Jeff had never met them although I am friends with the woman. We had a lovely meal, with traditional Slovakian Easter food as an appetizer, good conversation, and moderately well-behaved children.

All in all, we had a lovely lovely Easter. How about you?

Pre-easter

Andrew was on spring break all last week. My parents were here for the beginning of the week. Despite frigid temperatures and rain, we managed to stay moderately busy.

-We went to Andrew's baseball game. It felt like the coldest worst football game you've ever been too. I've never felt so sorry for Jeff in my life.

-While I took the older two to church and to teach Sunday school, my parents and Jeff and Michael went to New Hope to eat at our favorite French bakery. They also had the bonus of seeing a historical train take off. Probably the highlight of Michael's week.

- We took a hike at the local wildflower preserve. Yes, it was warm enough just a day after that horrid baseball game. Weird weather.

- We visited the zoo.

-We went out to dinner once.

Okay, so it doesn't sound like we did that much. Not entirely our fault! The weather was unpredictable and kind of miserable. For most of the time.

My parents left on Wednesday. Thursday Jeff took off work and we went to Longwood Gardens to use our annual pass one last time before it expired April 30th. It takes over an hour to drive there...and when we finally got there and the kids were so excited to enter...they scanned our pass and told us it actually had expired March 31st. This is why they should put the expiration date on the pass! We paid for a daily pass...because there was no way we were driving back home after this. To his credit, Jeff only gave me a few withering disappointed looks... :) It was well worth the ticket. The bulbs were in full glory. And the kids had a blast. We forgot the camera, so we have no record of the trip. Losers.

Friday was a laid back lazy day. Did you guess that the weather was crappy? Yup. You'd be correct.

Saturday we drove to Jeff's cousin's house for an Easter celebration. We again forgot our camera. But we remembered all the children...so that's something, right? Ellie once again treated us to a feast and the children were so entertained. A lovely lovely Easter celebration a day early.

Then we had a nice actual Easter at home (see next post).

And now it is back to reality. And it is going to be 83 degrees and muggy today. Urgh.

Recent pictures

Uncle Chad came last month and we went to Dave and Buster's. Some photos:

Michael needs a hair cut.

Store bought birthday cupcake cake to celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa while they were visiting. Michael's favorite color is green, so this was a hit!

Michael continues to take good care of his baby. Here he is "reading" a Magic Tree House book to his baby.

Michael making playdoh with his speech teacher. He has "graduated" to the next level...and already I'm underwhelmed. It's been over a week and no one has called to schedule a speech appointment. Even though they told me it had to be done by his 3rd birthday. Whatev's.

Andrew's class had another play. He was a blue bird. In case you couldn't tell.

We've been practicing bike riding. Our kids are bike-retarded. Seriously. Andrew has not a clue how to balance...and he is too big for training wheels anymore. -sigh-

Visiting the nearby historical farm. Love this place. It is baby animal time at the farm. We saw 7 day old lambs and 3 week old piglets.

Andrew also made friends with the farm cat, Patches, who was thrilled to cuddle in the sun on a warm lap. It was a bit of a struggle to get him up off Andrew's lap.

? Don't know why I took this poorly lit picture of the kids coloring.

A Recycled Birthday

Finally...a recap of Michael's 3rd birthday. It was a...well, a very earth friendly birthday. A few weeks ago, Jeff found a box in the basement filled with Andrew's toys from when he was 3. And we had thought they were lost or donated or something. Voila! Michael's birthday presents were done! And no money spent. He was thrilled. He did get new gifts from Andrew and Lily. Lily picked out a Dora backpack for him. Which was probably more for herself, but I let her get it because Michael loves Dora too. She was under strict instructions to let him play with it first. That lasted about 2 minutes. Andrew got him sidewalk chalk...which has already been used and enjoyed. We videoed the opening of gifts, so the pictures are just from the playing afterward.

Andrew's old Take and Go Thomas set. A big hit.

Seen here is Andrew's old Shake and Go Speedway. The biggest hit of the day, although we don't have pictures of Mikey playing with it. Odd.

Lily and Andrew enjoying the Tool Bench thingy...taken from a friend when she was cleaning out her child's toys. I'm telling you...all recycled gifts and Michael doesn't know the difference!

Then we had the cake. My most successful to date. And I felt bad that we weren't having any party for Mike. There is such birthday party pressure! I'm telling you! But he had a blast. He didn't have to share his new toys with anyone (except his siblings), no one else tried to snatch his presents and open them for him (except his siblings), and no one else tried to blow out his candles (except his siblings). Wait. I just realized by having a brother and sister he had a built in b-day party ;)

Three!

He arrives.

He's 1.

He's 2.

He's 3.

How in the world is this going by so fast?

Obsession

Yesterday I was cleaning up dishes as Lily sat and ate some chocolate Cheerios. The boys were not around...one being at school and one sleeping upstairs. I started singing a silly song to her...making up the words and tune as I sang. It went something like,

Lily loves chocolate. She loves to drink chocolate, and eat chocolate, and dream about chocolate. She thinks about chocolate day and night. It is her favorite thing.etc etc.

She was a bit indignant at first that I would dare make up a song about her, but she quickly got over it because a) it was all true and b) I make up songs all the time. She requested a song about Andrew. It went something like,

Andrew loves football. He loves to play football and look at football and read about football and dream about football. He thinks about football day and night. It is his favorite thing.

And then the inevitable request for Michael's song:

Michael loves cars. He loves to play with cars, eat off cars, dream about cars, and be a car. He thinks about cars all day and all night. It is his favorite thing.

Lily is giggling by this point. She announces that she has a song about Mommy. I got a little nervous. What has Lily observed about what I like? About what I'm obsessed with? I was cringing thinking of her singing a song about Mommy liking her computer or books or eating junk food. And then Lily sang,

Mommy loves Daddy. She loves to hug him and kiss him and make him laugh. She thinks about Daddy all day and all night. He is her favorite thing.

At least they're growing up knowing we love each other ;)

Prejudiced

Thank you all for going along with my April Fool's Day joke. I didn't think you'd buy a surprise pregnancy, but it has been almost 4 1/2 years since we last moved...so it's kind of due, right? Of course, now if we ever do move, you won't believe me until I post pictures of my new house and all of us breaking down into tears, right?

Moving on...

Friday was a very busy morning for me. Drop Lily off at school, kill an hour of time, watch Andrew's class do a cute little play, race to pick up Lily on time, race to our neighbors to drop off Lily and Michael, and then race back to Andrew's school to have a GIEP (Gifted IEP) meeting with that teacher.

First off, let me say that I am very impressed with this whole program. It is not called the "gifted program" but I will continue to call it that to disguise a bit what school district we are in. I really liked the teacher, and she will be Andrew's gifted teacher until he reaches 7th grade. 1st and 2nd grade they do a variety of subjects, science, math, reading, etc. For example, she said next week they are starting a Tangrams unit. The 2nd grade just finished a spy code decoding challenge. But starting in 3rd grade, it is all Social Studies. The kids simply take social studies in the "gifted" class rather than the "normal" class. And they do all kids of brain busting, accelerated thinking type activities with maps, governments, geography, etc. Throughout, one of the things they stress is that all people have gifts...these kids have a gift for learning easily, and the point of the class is to get them to push past the stuff that comes easily to them and really use those brains. I love that. The teacher also said it is a very humbling experience for kids who are used to being the superstars in their regular classes...they come and are suddenly surrounded by other kids who are also superstars.

Anyway, I'm pleased. That this much time and energy is going into adapting the curriculum and experiences of the children whom school is "easy" for. Andrew will start going 3 times a week starting next week. I'm excited for him.

But I've begun to realize through this whole process that I am a bit prejudiced against gifted people.

This teacher kept stressing to me how amazing Andrew's scores were. She would point and say, "Do you understand how high this score is?" and, "We're talking top of the class material here.", etc. etc. And after each comment about how gifted he is, I felt the need to say, "Yes, but he's really kind too." or "Yes, but he is such a good friend too." As if they are mutually exclusive. I had to pinch myself and remember that she was not actually insulting my child. ;)

I guess I just have such negative memories of some kids I went to high school and college with. The ones who were gifted and let you know that they were better than you. That told you their IQ or SAT scores 2 seconds after you met them. The ones who bragged about how big their scholarship was or what ranking they were in comparison to others. The ones who gloated during Trivial Pursuit about "how easy" every question was and "how could you not know this one?"

I have issues.

To be fair, I am married to a very gifted man. So my prejudice is not all encompassing. He is simply not a braggart. He understands that not everyone can comprehend the things he can and he never judges you for it. He does not use his intelligence as a weapon in arguments unless it is respectful and matter of fact. He does not lord his brains over anyone.

So I need to relax. Andrew can certainly be a highly intelligent and gifted individual and still be kind and empathetic and personable. I know this because I'm married to one. And hopefully Jeff can lead by example. And help him with his homework ;)

The more to follow

APRIL FOOLS!

Another year, another state

Well, it's official. We've been waiting for the final details to get worked out between Jeff and his new boss(es).

So, Minneapolis, MN...I guess...here we come.

I don't know how I'm feeling. I guess it is good that we won't actually be there until the snow is gone. Jeff's start date is May 15. But I'll stay here until Andrew finishes out the school year.

Ugh. Selling a house. Explaining to the kids. Saying goodbye...again.

More on this later...