More Luke-isms

Luke is under the impression we are moving to Burgerham.
He calls CVS "The Robot Store", Toys R Us "The Spiderman Store", Publix--"Where Cakes Live", McDonalds "Mrs. Donald's"
Can you guess this one? He calls this fast food joint "Star Food".
Whatcha think?

Skunk Grinders

Luke "helped" me in the yard today. He is confused about the treestumps being gone. We had them removed. The grass is being put out tomorrow. Right now it's piled high in our front yard. Nice. It's a bit browner than I expected. Anyway, Luke seems to be getting skunks and stumps confused.

"Where's the skunk?" Luke crouching near the hole of the former stump.

"The STUMP is gone. There is no skunk."

"Smells like a skunk. P.U." He digs at the area.

"What happened to the skunk?"

"There is no skunk. The STUMP got removed by the man."

"It might come back."

"No, I don't think so."

Bunch of Crap?

The Poop Report.

Weird.

Okay. You Can Buy My House Now.

I want you to know...it's hard keeping things this neat. Those of you who know me...you know what a CLUTTERBUG I am. Hey, check out my new carpet in the den! And the new "stagin'" goin' on!

Wed

For Sale Sign's in the yard.
New carpet is down.
Magazine was taken to printer.

I'm tired.

I also feel like Nicole Kidman in The Others, always opening and closing the door to the den (with the new carpet) when Frank (the dog) is in the house. Doghair and Dirty Paws: Do Not Want.

I Fought the ReesterBunny and the ReesterBunny Won. Or Lost, Cuz He's Gone...

"Is someone threatening to stop the music? Is this an issue?"--Chris, not a fan of "Please Don't Stop the Music" (I personally like the song.)

Hope your Easter was happy. Or hoppy. Whatever you prefer. We cleaned and packed. Or should I say, Jen cleaned and packed...Chris played football on the Playstation and zoned out. I think he's kinda stressed out. Of course, Jake picked this weekend to have his first cold.

Click here for some more pictures from Easter at the homestead.

Paint, Tadpole Men, and Jakers

Well, the kitchen has been painted a more neutral color. (And no, I don't know why a comforter was on the table.) And that white stuff was patching up some stuff before we painted. And by "we" I mean the men we hired. :) Before the sign goes in the yard, I'm gonna put fresh flowers in the vase on that table. Speaking of flowers, I'm gonna miss the camellias that grow around here. Look at the different colors! Me likey.

New carpet goes down in the den (Chris's "man room", Luke's "cartoon room") on Monday and GRASS (!) goes down in the backyard on Monday too. Imagine that. Grass in a backyard. We had a little, but because of the shade trees and a certain black dog named FRANK it is not what you'd call "thick and lush". At all. "Patchy" is a good adjective.

Speaking of Patchy, here's Luke's Magnadoodle of our family. It is noteworthy because it's his first drawing of legs. When I saw it, I immediately thought of a class I took in college that examined the relationship between language acquisition and drawing. Here's something about it. I have to laugh a little at the over intellectualism of the explanations under the examples. This website is probably easier to understand.

Extending the Scribble

Between the ages of two and three the child begins to form what Kellogg (1970) has termed shapes. The scribble forms a cross, an X, and enclosures resembling primitive circles, squares, triangles, and oblongs. Soon after, two of those shapes are used in combination. By age three the child puts together several shapes to form what Kellogg termed aggregates.
An important point is reached when the child converts the linear scribble into an enclosed shape. The enclosed shape seems to be the focus of the child's first attempt to make a realistic drawing. That first realistic drawing is frequently a primitive person. When lines are used as boundaries of objects we see a typical tadpole person, so named because it resembles a tadpole. One large circular shape with two lines extending as legs float on a page represents every man.
Tadpole guy becomes shorthand for every guy or gal. What economy! Tadpole guy may be embellished with facial features...or maybe not. He may have arms extending from the head but they are added last and may be forgotten unless arms are needed for holding or acting. The circle part may represent just a head, but it may also represent the head and torso combined into a sort of person lump. Children will often place a belly button onto the lump, indicating that it includes the torso. However, if the leg lines are longer than the lump, the belly button may be placed between the leg lines. It could just be that the person lump needs to be big to allow enough room to place the eyes, nose, and mouth. After all, it takes a lot of space to draw all of that.
The configuration of tadpole guy does not seem to indicate that children are unaware of body parts or how they fit together. They tend to add parts when reminded that something is missing. They can complete a partially drawn person correctly, and can "build" a person with both head and trunk when given blocks or tiles (Cox, 1992). Tadpole guy simply seems to be a symbolic, rather easy, and convenient way to convey the idea of a person. It isn't until the child is six that outlines replace single lines used to depict legs and arms. Shoulders don't usually appear until age nine, and body proportions begin to take some importance around age eight or nine (Cox, 1992).

I think this is absolutely fascinating.

Another thing fascinating? My Jakers. Here he is yesterday morning. I was trying to get him saying "Mama, Dada, Mama, Dada" on camera.

Textin' Is Stupid. Especially in the Middle of School.

Me: I think I'll start a new club at whatever school I end up at. A Fight Club.
Chris: Jen ________(maiden name)'s Fight Club. You ought to change your blog name to that.
Me: If I started this club at school, the thing is, you couldn't talk about it.
Chris: You'd all meet up in a classroom and not talk.
Me: Exactly
********
Today we started Animal Farm in all my classes. During class today, while I was in my director's chair, a cellphone went off. It was a text message and I knew exactly whose cell it was, because he jumped and looked funny.
I held my hand out. "Gimme."
He brought it to me.
I looked at it. "It's a text for you."
I read it. "It's from Rachel."
I said, "I'm gonna text her back."
Everybody laughed, except for the boy. He looked sick. :)
I slowly texted her back: THIS IS MRS. _______. (The students made fun of how slowly I texted. Showed my OLDNESS, I guess.)
We went on with class.
Minutes later, BABEEP! Rachel. Everyone laughed. I checked it.
YOU MUSTA TAKEN HIS CELL UP.
I read it to everyone, then messaged back YES. WHERE R U?
The kids all said, "She won't tell you what class she's in, I bet. She'd be crazy to do that."
A long time passed, we went on with Animal Farm.
BABEEP!!!
I read it out loud.
"She says....
Y?"
Ha.
I turned it off and put it away.

Overheard in My House

"My train table's gone. It might come back."---Luke to my parents.
How do you explain the whole storage unit to unclutter the house thing to a 3 1/2 year old? I've tried, but it must be really weird through his eyes.

"So what's up with your literary magazine? For weeks, it's was all lit magazine all the time. Now it's B'ham all the time."--Chris to me, as we were packing in the living room.

The lit mag is being looked over by a department head to make sure nothing is in there that is inappropriate. I like to have confirmation so it's not just me on the line. :) Then it's off to the printer. Thank the Lord. I'm tired!

Let Sleeping Strangers Lie

Told my boss about moving today. He didn't seem very surprised. I think he may be reading my blog. If so, hello! He called a friend of his who works up there to put out some "feelers" about jobs. Cross your fingers that I get some calls about interviews relatively soon.

****

Spent time outside after school, planting flowers in the beds and in pots in the front of the house. The painter came outside to talk with me and stepped right on some of the flowers I had just planted. He never noticed.

****Check out this sleeping girl. Totally asleep at the mall. I would feel way too vulnerable to sleep like that in the open. It made me wonder if she a)didn't mean to fall asleep, b)meant to take a nap or c)was dead.

And here's some pics of the boys. And Frank.

What Up Cuz?

Here's one reason I'm excited about the move. Luke and Jake will get to know their cousins, Mercy (over there in pic) and Addison and her twin brothers, Parker and Grant (who are Jake's age). Dylan will also be much closer.

And yes, my weight loss has stalled once again. Damn that emotional eatin'! :)

Your Opinion Please

To "stage" the den, I think we need to remove all Auburn stuff. Do you agree or disagree?
I'm thinking that we need to be allllll neutral. Chris thinks we should leave it. Who's right?

Do you know some other staging tips for the rest of the house? I've packed up so much stuff already and had Chris take all of it to storage...it's starting to look very...minimalist already. I can't believe how much crap we have around here that we really don't "need".

So go ahead. Gimme some advice.

Friday

What is it with vacuuming and little boys? What makes Luke go ape shit over me plugging in the vacuum? He runs around screaming joyfully, doing karate moves, jumps, etc., nearly tripping over the cord... I hope he is this excited about vacuuming when he is a teenager.

We've gotten a storage unit and are putting clutter/extra stuff in there to get the house ready to show. We need to get new carpet for the den and paint several rooms. We met with our realtor today and should have a sign up very soon. I've had some great friends and family members shooting my resume everywhere and I love the new website for teaching in AL. Makes looking for a job soooo much easier. Wish this had been around when I first moved here.

Head spinning...so much to do...

So it begins. The boy making fun of me.

Listening to John Cougar Mellencamp in the car. "Every Heart Needs a Hand to Hold Onto".
Laughter from the backseat.
Me: What? What's so funny?
Luke: That song. It's weird.

Holy Crap

We are pretty much moving to B'ham...

More as it develops...

PS I'm freaking out a little...but I'm excited too.

If you know anyone who wants a house in our area let me know. If you have ties with any education peeps in B'ham area let me know that too!

Off to freak out a little more.

Jake Update

It's been a busy two days for Jake. Yesterday he had his first playdate.His girlfriend Cassidy came over. Cassidy was born five days before Jake was, so she's an older woman. They had a lot of fun grabbing each other and chewing on things while staring at the other one. Luke was bored with the two of them. He mainly watched Noggin in silence. If Luke knew how to eyeroll, he would have yesterday.

Today Jake had to have his 6 month old shots and well baby appointment. (Yes, he is 7 months now, but the flu epidemic at the doctor's office kept us away last month.) Dr. W said he is in the 75th percentile in weight and height. He weighs twenty pounds and is 28 inches long. He said "Mama" about a week ago, but won't say it again. I'm frustrated about that! Luke's first word was Dada, so I'm hope Jake goes back to saying Mama and doesn't switch to Dada. I wish I had taped him saying it...(pout).

Bowling for Fajitas

Yesterday Chris and I got a chance to go out and have fun without having to be "Mama and Dada". I can't tell you how long it's been since we've gone out with friends. Big thanks to Crystal and Tanner for getting our butts out of the house.

Go here for more pics.

Also, click below for Tanner and Crystal explaining the weird hand thing that Tanner does when he orders a salad.

Freshman Coed Murder

The OA News has a pic of the guy they think murdered the AU girl. I sure hope this is the right guy, as he's a black dude and she's a white woman and hey...it's the South. I hope no one jumped the gun (ugh horrible metaphor...let's change that). I hope the police have LOTS of evidence on this guy and the Burk murder.

It's so weird seeing pics of MY college campus on the news and it not be about football. I know exactly where this girl was killed, I know exactly where her car was found burning, and when they say the gascan was found "downtown", I know it probably sounds far away from the campus, but we (Auburn alum) know it's right there ON campus...

That girl who videotaped the car burning? The one who has been interviewed a million times? Bless her heart--she needs to dial it down a notch. She is obviously excited to be on the news, but that doesn't mean she can smile and laugh and sparkle. A girl was murdered, dummy. Act a LITTLE melancholy!

When I was a student at AU, this was the big murder mystery. It is still unsolved.

Here's what I don't get---if this guy they arrested did it, and took her car....what are the odds he knew exactly where she lived or hung out (the Hill dorms) and took it back there and then went to the trouble to burn it in a public parking lot? If this guy didn't steal her car, but wanted to destroy her car for possible evidence, how in the hell did he know which car was hers, etc. UNLESS HE KNEW HER? I'm sorry, but this guy was not an acquaintance of Lauren's.

I'm inclined to believe someone who knew her did this. But...I've been wrong before.

Trip to the Bookstore

Last night I actually got out by myself. Went to Booksamillion to get a book on Adobe InDesign CS. I got frustrated in the bookstore, surrounded by all these computer books that I didn't want, didn't understand, and didn't want to understand. I just wanted an Adobe InDesign for Dummies, dammit. Well I gave up and turned around to put my hands on my hips and there it was right behind me. I felt like a dummy, all right. (By the way, check this out. Your lesson of the day. One that I have problems with...everyone has their thing.)

So I'm at Booksamillion (Chris calls it Bookscostamillion. Not a fan.) and I see this kid I taught years ago. He's a little weird. Okay, REAL weird. Problems. Anyway, he sees me and I see him and I can't be rude. I say hello and make small talk. He mumbles away. I start to walk off.
"Mrs. ******!" He suddenly yells.
"Yes?" I look around at the people who look to see who is yelling in a bookstore.
"I have something for you." He rummages through a black backpack.
At this point I'm freaking out just a little bit. I'm thinking, He has something for me? Like a gun? Like a Say Hello to my Little Friend something? What could he possibly have for me? He didn't know he'd run into me! This is like something out of "The Demon Lover". I seriously (you think I'm kidding?) look straight ahead of me, visualizing myself sprinting thataway if he pulls out a gun. Seconds pass.
"Here you go." He hands me a few sheets of paper. Whew.
I open it.
"It's a novel me and Joe started." Joe is his bro.
"Oh..." I scan it, "Well this looks interesting. Good job." I hand it back.
"No no," he waves it away, "I have a copy."
"Um, okay. Thanks man." I put it in my purse and pay for my book.
And make sure he doesn't follow me to my car.
:)

Wow.

I have such talented students. This kid is a sweet boy named Justin. I just discovered this, his self portrait, in the art room. I don't know what type of art this is...Cubist? Justin never told me he was so good.
It's going in the lit mag. Full color page.

Speaking of the lit mag...if you have a small business you'd like to advertise, the two smallest ad spaces are $25.00 (bus. card size) and $75.00 for 1/4 page. Let me know, yo!

Thanks for sharing

Two weird things from today:

Got out of work, went to my car, saw that someone had written "vaginal" in the dust on the front hood.
What the...
Chris said, "It could have been worse."
Then he added, "It's a c-section protest!!!" Stacy, do you have anything to do with that message? HAHAHAHAHA.

I am kind of impressed that they (assuming they=students) knew the word "vaginal". Only one kid knew what the word "affluent" meant the other day. I asked who wanted to be affluent and only one person raised their hand.
I said, "I want to be affluent" and raised my hand.
A few said, "Well if you want that, it can't be bad."
Then they raised their hands. I love these kids. They truly make my day.
Speaking of students...
**********
Today I noticed a student hanging out in the office.
I thought she was in trouble and asked what happened.
"I started my menstruation."
I said, "Oh" and moved on.
Sometimes kids tell you more than you actually want to know. :)

Success!

"I'm having a Fievel moment! Somewhere...out...there..."

-----Tanner, holding the companion piece to his tin American flag canister today at the yard sale.

He bought the big one today (it had been hiding up in the attic for years). He bought the smaller one at one of our yard sales years ago. "The circle is complete."

It was so awesome seeing so many people today that I've missed. It really meant a lot to me that so many of you either donated stuff to the sale or came by and bought stuff, or BOTH. I also want to give a shout out to those who came by and didn't buy anything but gave a monetary donation. Thank you! Neighbors came out and talked, I got to show off my baby boy who bounced happily in his exersaucer ("would you like to exersauce?"), I got to enjoy the beautiful weather while sitting on a sofa on my driveway with a steaming cup of coffee and the companionship of a sweet hubby. Thanks go out to Chris, too, by the way. You know how much Chris abhors clutter and people on his turf, and yard sales make him feel really...invaded...for the first thirty minutes or so. OH, and thanks to Crystal and Tanner and Crystal's mom who brought us breakfast!!! AND thank you to my parents, who watched Luke last night and both boys today for us. We could not have done this without them. (Sounds like I'm accepting an Oscar, not completing a yard sale. Ha.)

After the yard sale was over, I took the remaining girl clothes to a family that has three little girls. Love this family---Luke jumped on their trampoline and ran around in the back yard with all of them. I got in some good talkin' time with a former coworker of mine who now teaches in a neighboring county. Talking with him made me miss all my buddies who have left my current workplace...

Anyway, great day. Now Chris and I are sore as heck and tiredddddd....cozy TV night with the boys to look forward to.