Too Cute Tuesdays

I'm going to try something new. Every Tuesday I am going to post some funny story, saying, picture, etc from my kiddos at school or work. Hopefully it will bring a laugh and brighten a few days.

Too Cute Tuesday - Take 1

I help manage lunch duty for the third and fourth graders. I love having a chance to just hang out and kid around with them. Most teachers hate this time of day. They stand up at the front and chat with the other staff and try to shoo the kids away with frustrated sighs. I usually mingle around and enjoy my time with the kids.

The other day I walked by two of the fourth graders. The boy's mother is a good friend of mine. He was making a terrible face and holding his nose. I asked him what in the world was going on. The girl beside him was hysterical with laughter. Her mom used to work with us too. She told me that he hated carrots just as the little boy popped one in his mouth followed by a horrific face. I laughed and asked him why he was eating them if he hated them so much.

He stopped chewing and looked me straight in the eye and got very serious. "Mrs. Arian it's my eyes. I really need to work on my eyes."

I laughed and encouraged him to keep choking them down. I told him they were indeed good for not only his eyes, but his whole body.

I happen to take my lunch break with his mom and I told her about the antics of the two kids and we laughed at the silliness of it all.

The next morning she came to me and told me the whole story behind the carrot eating incident. He asked for carrots at dinner that night and she asked him what on earth made him want to eat carrots all of a sudden. "Boy" carefully explained to her that carrots are very good for your eyes. They can make your eyes very strong. With his serious face on he continued, "I have to eat as many carrots as I can if I want to get night vision, Mom!"

Something Amiss

Today should have been a great day. An unexpected hug from one of my favorite kiddos brought tears to my eyes. I finished an amazing door display for one of my classes and I love it. I finally finished rewriting thousands of words that I lost in limbo between Hubby's computer and mine on a project I have been working on. The last word I typed meant that I could finally sleep last night without nightmares of waterfalls spilling my words over a cliff. Hubby went in to work early today, so I had the whole house to myself with an added bonus of him coming home earlier and taking care of dinner.

What more could a girl want?

I don't know.

I have been struggling the past couple of weeks to hold my head above the water. I have been sleeping a lot lately. Some afternoons I come in and fall right to sleep, skipping dinner and waking just in time for the very last snooze alarm. My appetite is wonky and my mood is equally bizarre. I'm not angry, grumpy, happy, or anxious. I'm simply frustrated. Everything frustrates me. I spend my day arguing back and forth over silly things in my head.

I knew I was headed for a meltdown. It was inevitable.

Tonight it happened.

I was on the phone with Hubby griping about the state of our cluttered house and how it had me in a tizzy. I fussed about this thing and that for most of our short conversation. He finally managed a word or two and asked me what had happened to make me so disagreeable today. "I'm just really tired," immediately escaped my mouth. He mentioned that I had been sleeping a lot lately and asked for the umpteenth time if af had shown. I told him she was still MIA. He asked me if I thought things were out of sync again and I told him things were undoubtedly out of sync.

He softly mentioned that perhaps we should schedule that doctor's appointment we have been avoiding. I didn't say a word. He started to go over his schedule out loud and then said, "Call tomorrow and schedule it for next Tuesday. I'm off then."

My throat tightened and I could feel panic well up in my chest. I hung up with Hubby and promptly filled my pillow with hot salty tears. The thought of a doctor's appointment and all of the failure and pain that goes along with it makes want to throw up.

I think I found the source of my frustration.

A local myth

This week I have had many visits with our elusive friend, so I thought I would share her with you. This picture is not a very good one, but you can still see her. She is a white deer. They are rare and because of their color they don't come out from hiding too often. This one is an exception. She lives in a wooded area around the school. I suppose she has gotten used to people stopping to admire her and rarely starts anymore when we walk closer to visit with her.


For a long time people talked about a white deer, but few could support their story with a sighting. She became a bit of a secretive legend or myth in our town. Everyone knows about her, but not many will talk about her for fear of revealing "their special secret." Many don't realize that this particular deer is actually the offspring of another white deer. There was a short time two years ago that you could see the mother out in the open with her baby. She was completely white and absolutely stunning. Something happened to her though. That winter the little one began showing up alone and we haven't seen her since.


My mom and I stay at the school late a lot of afternoons and we are often blessed with a visit from her. Sometimes she will graze with her friends right outside the hallway door. I feel so lucky to have a chance to spend so much time with her.

Go see what the rest of the class is showing!

Issues

I know it has been a while since my last post. I apologize from the depths of my soul, but seriously, I've been having issues.

What kind of issues? Well every kind really. I feel crappy, I'm tired a lot, my appetite has been wonky, and I've been busy with more projects than I want to complete.

I just want to curl up in bed with the television and a never ending supply of tea and sleep the days away. I don't want to go to work. I don't want to teach other peoples' kids how to behave in the real world. I don't want to open the door to a toyless living room. I'm sick of spending my nights watching my husband play video games while I crochet, type, cook, clean, etc. I'm tired of not having anyone to interract with and giggle with. I hate that the only toys I can play with are squeaky and covered with a layer of dog slime.

I hate that my body is such a screwed up mess. I want to have a period like normal people. I want to have relations with my husband without him saying "I'll go get you something to drink. Don't sit up." or "Honey, it's been over half an hour. You're finished marinating now!"

I hate that this week has been such a roller coaster. I got eyebrows from some coworkers when I mentioned how tired I had been and I immediately laughed out loud, rolled my eyes, and cried, "Please! That can't happen." The roller coaster continued a couple of days later when Hubby said "Uh, are you ever gonna start?" It was followed with a day of microscopic cramps and a sudden frustration with the fact that the world is round and doesn't turn my way.

I can't stand seeing my husband mouth to me over Dan's head, "I want a baby like they have." I can't stand the helpless and hopeless despair that pours over me when he does that.I can't stand that there are two people having babies this week and I can't even lay a lousy egg.

I don't know how much more I can take right now. I need vacation from my life. Seriously!
Argh!

*** Sorry. I know this is a bit ranting and whiny to say the least, but I wanted to give you an honest reason why I had not posted for a few days. Truth is, I am in a bitter, frustrated place right now and any posting is going to reflect that.

Super secret show and tell!

I have a fun new project I have been working on. I've been trying very hard to keep it under wraps but darn it, it's just too much fun! I'm excited and can't wait to share, so here's the deal...

I'm going to show you my super secret project, but you have to promise not to tell!

Promise?

No really....

Ok....

These are Sensays. The one with green hair is Smooshie, the one with orange hair is Lucy, and the slug is Smoochie. The kids in one of my classes helped me name them.

My mother in law called one night and started talking about our four year old nephew. He is autistic. We just thought that this was a case of grandma vs. goo.gle. After talking to her for a short while, I realized she was right. He has so many classic behaviors of an autistic child. She mentioned it to the mother about a year ago and they haven't heard anything else about it until she went with her son to pick him up from daycare one day. He is enrolled in a daycare for special needs kids. That is the best first step his mom has made. They are clueless about any doctor's opinions and have found little information to help them help him. I've worked with a lot of autistic children in school and I gave her as many ideas as I could with a promise to dig up some more.

Ideas started brewing after we hung up. Wouldn't it be awesome to make him some toys that would comfort him. This is where Sensays began. I don't know if it will go any further than my nephew's toy box, but I love them. I plan on testing them out with some of the kids at school this week. If they work out well, I am going to send some to him and put them on my Etsy shop.

I don't know if you can tell from the pics, but I used different textured yarns for every part of each critter. The whole point is to provide tactile stimulation. I think these would be great for babies too. I almost purchased safety eyes for the dolls, but I think the knotted eyes add another tactile point and it makes it safe for little ones at the same time. I also have a little boy in my class with JRA I think one of these would be a perfect thing for him to slip in his pockets and squeeze throughout the day to help him keep his hand joints loose.

These are my first attempts, but I think they turned out ok. I plan on making some smaller versions that will fit in a pocket and I want to add some other fun things to them such as rattles or bells or crinkly paper. So what do you think?

Oh yeah...

Go see what the rest of the class is showing this week!

Miss Frizzle's Fun Friday!

I am sick of February. I hate the cold dreary winter days and I feel like I won't make it through to March. February is the shortest month on our calendar, but I swear it is the longest one all year for me. I need green grass and sunny days to be happy. February offers me none of it. In fact it seems to taunt me with its cutesy little naked cupids and gaudy hearts. Ick! I hate February!

Anyway, hopefully I can help you break up the dreary gloom for a day....

Keep reading beyond the pics! You won't be sorry!

First on the list: One of my projects. I finished this for one of our teachers. His wife is due some time in March. They are the same couple that lost their baby at eleven weeks last spring. Within a month or two they were pregnant again. I will save those feelings for a later post though.

Anyhoo, this is now in the etsy.

I also made this blanket. It is pretty on its own, but I added the most adorable ribbon around the edges and I think it is quite nearly one of my favorites! I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it with the ribbon but perhaps I can get the recipient to send me a copy of the pic from the shower.

Ok, Last but not least...

We have been studying space this week. We created the coolest "moon walk" ever for the kids to enjoy and hyped it up big time last week. We walled in an air mattress and lined the inside with black paper. Then we stuck glow in the dark stars all over the walls. The kids went in two at a time to "walk on the moon."

One of my mom's little boys has been out of school since before Christmas break. The story is a bit bizarre and complicated, but made us quickly realize that there is something a bit off color about this family. Just last week he came back to school but he and his family have had a difficult time adjusting to a routine again.

His dad brought him in an hour and a half late this morning. As he was signing the little boy in he looked up worriedly at our secretary and said "He hasn't missed the field trip today has he?"

Secretary looks up puzzled, "Field trip? I don't think the kindergarteners were going on a field trip today."

The dad matched her puzzled look and replied, "Hmm, no, I'm sure they were going on a trip today."

Secretary asks, "Well where were they supposed to go?"

The dad looks at her very seriously. "Well they were supposed to be going to the moon today."

The secretary chuckled and explained about our moon walk but the dad shook his head and walked out the door unconvinced.

I swear I am not making this up. The guy thought we were getting on a rocket ship for the moon today!

Blateration

It means to babble or chatter.

Go adopt your own word now...

http://savethewords.org/

Punxsutawney

Hope you had a great Groundhog's Day!

Bet ya didn't have as much fun as we did!

Quick

My fingers were cramping something fierce, so I finally gave in and took a break. I figured I could pop in and put up a fun show and tell while I was at it.

This is Otis. He is a baby Screech Owl that I had the pleasure of meeting on a field trip we took with the kids this week. I have tons of pictures and fun stuff from the trip to show you but it will have to wait another day or so.

Why? Well, I had two baby afghans to crochet this week and I really want to crochet a little hat and sweater to go with one of them. I'm scrambling a bit, but hopefully I can get it all done by (Gasp!) Tuesday! Here's a picture of one of the blankets. The other one is a bit larger with the same v-stitch pattern. I used the green in the border of this one and I have a pretty pink and green ribbon to weave into the border of it.

Go check out what everyone else is showing this week!