Thursday musings

Gee, I haven't had the opportunity to blog in a while... I've been more of a nurse to my two sons. But now they are off to school, and I am the one home sick with strep throat. This would be a repeat of last year....click here for memory refresher. I hate missing work for this.

Anyway, my youngest son is now officially 7 years old. How cool! They are getting so big... we are hopefully having a party for him on Saturday (if we can eradicate the strep virus from our house by then). It will be a pirate party, complete with eye patches, a treasure hunt, and a treasure chest piñata. Gonna be fun! I just hope we're all feeling up to it.

I made a discovery the other day while sitting in Hannafords waiting for my oldest son's prescription. The overhead music was playing softly. There was an Elvis song playing... "It's Now or Never" (which I don't care for, by the way). BUT... the tune caught my ear. The entire song is to the exact same tune as one of my VERY favorite hymns we sing in church... "Down From His Glory". I was very excited at this discovery, and began singing the church words right out loud in the middle of the pharmacy. It was fun! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since Elvis got his start singing gospel music. Maybe it was his favorite hymn too.

Well, sick or not, I have a house to clean... hoo - rah. Have a nice day!

Quick post from sick bay

Hello all... welcome to sick bay! Good thing you can't catch strep throat over the internet. hee hee. Anyway, both boys have strep... Nick was really sick with it over the weekend... running a fever of about 101 ° for two days. My husband is a real trooper! He was home with the boys for two days, taking care of them while they were sick, so I could be at school. Thanks honey! Now that we have antibiotics on board, all should be well by tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, it is my Nick's birthday! Happy birthday tomorrow buddy! We are having a cool pirate party on Saturday. Should be fun!

Well, that is all for now... time to play with Nick and help Adam with his three days worth of homework... poor guy. See ya!

A neat day!

How fun has this day been? Let me tell ya. It started off kind of rough. My oldest son is having trouble with an older boy on the bus. The bullying has been occurring for a few weeks now. He was reluctant to get on the bus, but the bus driver is a friend of mine, and I spoke with her, then sent an email to the asst. principal at Adam's school. He is TOUGH! He assurred me he would deal with it. Tonight, I had Adam read a book I brought home from the school guidance counselor called "The Bully Blockers Club". It is excellent, and I saw Adam relating to the character. He really liked it. Hopefully, things will go much better from here on out. I spoke with Adam about looking confident...head up, shoulders back... bullies don't pick on someone who looks like they have confidence in themselves.

The students in my 2nd grade classroom got a real treat this afternoon. My husband came in to teach the kids about safety and injury prevention. It was a surprise visit, so they were very excited to see MR. ZITER! And Mr. Ziter blessed Mrs. Howard with a batch of VT 9-1-1 pencils... we were on our LAST BOX for the year!

My mom and Ray are finally home from Florida! YAY! They got home yesterday (Wed.). I called to say hi and my mom told me that they had someone come look at the house already today, and she was coming back at 5:00 with her husband. My mom showed her the whole house, then the lady said, "Can I go back to see the rooms upstairs again?" My mom said, "Sure." When she came back down, she said to my mom... "There is a picture of a girl up on your wall that looks a lot like a person I know named Michelle." My mom said, "It IS Michelle." The person looking at my mom's house? MY FRIEND NATALIE FROM MY CHURCH!!!!!!! How cool is that? So even after they sell the house, I can still go visit my friend Natalie, and be in my mom's old house! It will be weird, but neat! They were back in town less than 24 hours, and the thing that had stressed my mom out for most of the winter was over before she was even unpacked! God is good.

My brother stopped by my place this afternoon to show me his new Harley. It's cool! It is also strange to see him on a motorcycle. Gonna take some getting used to. His girlfriend is getting a BMW motorcycle, so they can go biking together.

We were eating dinner this evening when Nick randomly announced (at 6:39) that tonight was the school art show (from 6:00-7:30) that I need to go to. Great. It gets OVER in 50 minutes. Abandoning dinner, out the door we run, and head up to school. It is important to value the things your children do. He was so proud to show me the kitty cat he drew in cray-pas... on display with hundreds of other drawings by kindergarteners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders. I am so glad I chose to make the time to go. It does wonders for their self esteem when you take an interest in what they do. Parenting is a crazy thing, but I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING!!!! Children are an heritage of the Lord. A precious gift that we have for only such a short time. I treasure my boys. Thank you Lord, for trusting me to raise them!

And lest I forget the most important thing of all.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE ELLIOTT MITCHELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My sweet brother-in-law is 22 years old today! I love you George!

So.... that is my day in a nutshell. Boring? Maybe. Maybe not. I am just thankful for every blessing God poured out on me today!

Classic hymns, Harley Davidsons, and Powerisers

Hello everyone! Today has been an.... "interesting" day. It has had it's high points and low points. Of course, most of the high points occurred in church. Tonight was so much fun. We have been in the "contemporary mode" of worship for quite some time now, but this evening, our pastor hauled out the old hymnal, and we sang some of the old standards that are so near and dear to everyone's hearts. We sang "He is Able to Deliver Thee", "In the Garden", "Have a Little Talk with Jesus", "The Old Account was Settled Long Ago", and "Down From His Glory". Oh what a time! And those who are new converts and don't know any of these songs really enjoyed them... partly because they are just great to sing, with such powerful lyrics, and partly because they saw the passion with which the rest of us sang! That kind of passion for God is highly contagious! We alson had a mother/son baptized after the evening service.

Some of the lower points... one of my children opted to have an emotional meltdown this afternoon... that is no fun. My son's best friend opted to jump off the porch of my apartment (from the 2nd floor)... explain THAT one to his parents! They called him Evil Kenevil. Thank GOD he didn't get hurt! Both of my sons got into a fight with the neighbors upstairs... not a fist fight, but a fight of words and attitudes. I believe there was guilt on both sides, but the kids upstairs were definitely being very mean. HOWEVER... my pastor told us tonight that we are to GIVE THANKS IN ALL THINGS, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning..... ME! Yep! I need to give thanks for emotional meltdowns, children who are unkind to my children, and children who think they are indestructible and jump off the 2nd story porch! I know there is a lesson in here for me somewhere...... I believe it is probably MY attitude that needs some Holy Ghost adjustment right about now.

In other news, my brother got home from Las Vegas today, and will be the proud owner of a Harley Davidson Softail Deuce on Tuesday!
How cool is that?? And my parents are on their way home from Florida today! They should be home by late Thursday. Can't wait to see them!!!!

I mentioned in an earlier post that my son was becoming a pro on the pogo stick. Well, I found this very cool video of a product called Powerisers... the latest and greatest thing in pogo-ing. I thought it would be cool to see about getting a pair for Adam. Well, then I found this web site where you can buy them.... NOT!!!! They cost almost $500!!!! For probably about $30 max in materials. WHATEVER! I will wait for someone to come out with a cheap imitation. Adam thinks he would love to have a pair of these...

Anything else that needs mentioning? Can't think of anything right now. I am kinda bushed... was up late last night singing praise and worship songs with my friend Sandy, otherwise known as the Great Sandini... greatly loved by us and our two boys! Here is a pic of she and I on New Year's Eve...

Well... time to call it a night. Have a blessed week! I'm sure we'll be chatting again soon! Bye!

Random Friday thoughts

Today was a great day in our classroom! It was the final day of our student teacher's solo week, and the students all gave her a round of applause at the end of the day! She did an AWESOME job! She will be a fantastic teacher. She was just born to teach. The kids had so much fun and learned so much! We did biographies, healthy living, and fractions... and they all had FUN doing all these units... because she made learning FUN! That is the gift of a true teacher... to make learning fun. We will all miss her when she is gone! ;(

I came home this afternoon to a child with a mohawk.... yep. Dad was giving haircuts, and they decided to give mom a heart attack with an intentionally unfinished cut! It was scary. But now it is a bonafide buzz cut. Both boys are prepping for the warm weather. They look SOOOOO much better!

Adam is becoming somewhat of an expert on the pogostick... that kid can JUMP!!! And he goes, and goes, and goes... like the energizer bunny. It's good exercise, so I encourage him to jump literally to his heart's content!

Speaking of content, my pastor taught an excellent message Wednesday evening about the state of being content... how contentment starts on the inside, not the outside. People always try to find contentment in EXTERNAL things, like money, success, power, material possessions, even relationships with others. But true contentment and peace comes from an intimate relationship with God, that satifies every longing and need in your life. It was a very good message. Thanks, Pastor!

Well, time to start dinner. Ciao!

KMG 365

OK, here's the scoop. My husband, Mr. EMT of the year, is what he is because of the hit show of the 70's, EMERGENCY! Squad 51, KMG 365. Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage were his heros growing up. Now, through the miracle of DVD, we own all of season 1 AND season 2. Our children are totally hooked, and love Gage and DeSoto as much as Jason did back in the day. In 2 weeks time, they have watched ALL of season 2!!!!!! That is called "TOO MUCH SCREEN TIME, my friends. But the neat thing I see happening, is that my oldest son, who despises writing, is beginning to write things taken from episodes of this show. Who knew?? Perhaps that could help my writer's block/creative slump... start writing about Emergency... Nah.

I spent the day with my boys today. Took the day off from work because they didn't have school. Tomorrow is Dad's turn to play with the boys. He is going to give haircuts tomorrow! Hallelujah! They are beginning to look like little rebels.

Well, time for bed. TTYL!

EMT-I OF THE YEAR!

OK, there is no way I could be more relieved! I have been keeping this secret from my husband for almost 2 weeks, and now it is finally revealed...Jason won the 2006 EMT-Intermediate of the Year for the state of Vermont! YAY!!! Here's a few pics from the awards banquet Saturday evening...







What a blast it was seeing the surprise on his face! I am sooooo proud of him! We all are! The man standing with him in the 3rd picture with a greenish shirt is his good friend and co-worker, Scott. He is the one that nominated Jason for this award. THANK YOU SCOTT! Jason is thrilled.

And in keeping with the theme of keeping it fun, here are a couple pics of our boys...

OK, so now that uploading these pictures took me about a bazillion hours, I am totally exhausted! Time for bed. One last note... congratulations to my sweet brother-in-law and his wonderful wife... they are expecting a 3rd child at the end of 2006! YAY! Love you guys! Until next time, signing off... KMG 365.