BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

Last night was back to school/meet the teacher for the littles. We gathered up all of the school supplies and headed to their little school. Miss Crazy was excited to see old teachers and friends and Mr. Insane was excited to start a new adventure all while being very nervous. And me?  Well, I was just emotional to see my little boy in a classroom and around other kids.

She's going to miss him!

This year they are doing things differently for the kindergartners. The first three or four days of school are only partial days. One reason is to let the little cuties get used to being away from home.  And the second is to be able to do evaluations to see which kids need a bit of help and which kids already know their stuff.  Mr. Insane will probably be in the needs help section, at least for awhile.  As most of you know, I don't believe in teaching kids too early and on top of it all, he learned a lot of stuff from his siblings just through filtering down but he forgot a lot of it when we had the great Singulair disaster.  He literally forgot a lot of stuff he used to know because of that horrible medicine.  But he will catch up quickly (as long as he doesn't rebel by not listening to the teacher. lol)  The knowledge is there, it just needs to come back out.

I don't like the fact that my days will be totally trashed because of the weird kindergarten schedule the first week, but I do like the fact that they won't be trying to teach the kids at the same time as they are doing the assessments to decide which group they are in. That just created a lot of confusion for a lot of kids.  Mr. Insane has his evaluation on the Tuesday which is cool.  Get it out of the way! But the kids are going crazy not knowing which teacher they will have yet.  By the end of the week they will have a 'home' teacher but in this district most of the schools have the teachers share responsibility.  They might have one teacher for math and one for reading and then the other for science etc.

He's going to be doing a lot of this soon!

One thing that really irks me...On thursday I think it is, I will literally have to pick up the boy and come home only to have to leave again a half hour later to pick up The Sophomore and then head over to pick up Miss Crazy.  It's just too hot to head to the school to sit in the car with everybody to wait for The Sophomore to get out.  At least Little Butt can crawl in and out of the car by herself now and all I have to do is hook her in. Yay for kids getting older. haha

SIDE NOTE: Sent an email to the high school protesting some bogus fines and they erased them all, even the ones we were willing to pay.  I love making people fear me. :p

Until Next Time...Don't let your kids see you break down on the first day of school, it just makes them anxious. I never really broke down with my kids until Miss Crazy and even then it was only a couple of tears in the car after I left her in her classroom. But with Mr. Insane I'm getting teary eyed every day leading up to it.  I'm going to have to kick him out of the car and let his sister remind him where his classroom is and then boob all the way home and have Little Butt say "it okay mama, you no cry please." :D

LOTS OF RANDOM CRAP :D

BIRTHDAY PICS - I was asked for some pics of our birthday celebration for Miss Crazy. Here are the only ones I can seem to get uploaded at this point. :D

Hugging one gift while sharing another with friend

Rapunzel wig.  It reaches the floor! :)

Princess ring birthday cake- chocolate!
\

SCHOOL SHOPPING: School shopping is DONE DONE DONE!!! We got all five kids clothes today for under 200 dollars. Some bought at big box store and some at our favorite charity thrift store. :D  I was so proud of us.  But....Next year I will remember to try to get the clothes earlier in the month because the thrift store had no shoes for any of the littles and no pants for Mr. Insane. But the expensive part is stuff we dont' usually buy at thrift stores. Socks (pairs never really match) and underwear (new are much better unless all you can afford are used). those right there were fort five dollars. (Of course we had to buy Little Butt some too. :)

LITTLE BUTT Well, she is doing much better but because she is under five they have to do an ultrasound on the 30th to make sure there isn't something structurally wrong.  I'm pretty sure it is from her sitting butt naked in the yard when she sneaks her diaper off, but no one listens to the mom. :/

RELEASE DATE: Well, the release date for my next novel is August 24,2013. Hopefully won't have to change it.  As long as editing is done and formatting isn't as difficult as I think it will be, we will have it out.  Hop on over to http://www.facebook.com/writerjjellis to find out about our relase day event!

OTHER BUSINESS: So, I got this email yesterday and I wanted to know what you all think about it.  They asked me to find beta testers for their product.  I will post the email here and let you check it out and I ask you to let me know what you think...(I in no way am endorsing this as I don't know much about it yet) I like the idea but am always wary of uploading my pics to strange places (I felt this way about dropbox at first too)

KairosLife.com is a place for families to save digital memories and heirlooms for kids and loved ones. Then digitally deliver those keepsakes to them at a predetermined date in the future, kind of like a digital time capsule or gift. 

Our founder recently lost a close friend who passed suddenly without warning and was again reminded of how quickly life can be taken away, at any age.

He woke up one night with the idea of this site.  He is a father of three and was thinking about the memories we want to keep forever - and how could they be stored, kept for the future, and delivered at just the right moment to have the greatest impact.

How does it work?

1. Upload photos, videos or letters from your PC or mobile device to a “KairosMoment” which is the album or capsule that will be delivered to your loved one on a future date.
2. Tag your loved ones to that KairosMoment and set a reveal date when it will be delivered.
3. As the reveal date approaches, if desired, other family members and friends can share their thoughts on that KairosMoment to add to the memories for that loved one.
4. Then on the reveal date, the loved one will get an email notifying them of a KairosMoment that has been unlocked.

We are still polishing up the site and are giving complimentary memberships to people who can help us. Just visit www.KairosLife.com and enter your email address.

Until Next Time...unplanned busy days lead to BS blogs, haha.  Do I hear complaining? ;)  See ya Friday! :)

AN EVENING AT THE ER

We had quite and adventure tonight. Little Butt kept complaining of a tummy ache and she had a fever that felt really hot (thermometer broken). She hadn't pottied in a couple of days and they say if constipation is mixed with fever they should be seen by a doctor so we headed off to the ER.  When we got there she started saying her pee pee hurt instead of her tummy. I know she is always stripping down to nothing - inside and out SMH so I mentioned that I thought she could have a urinary tract infection because she has been known to sit in the yard/dirt/grass/concrete/steps with nothing on her bum.  So they had to tackle the possibility that she had either a UTI or a blockage in her bowel system.

They were going to put a catheter in because she hadn't peed much all day, but just in time she asked to sit on the potty to go and we were able to get a sample. Phew...I know how much I hate catheters I can't imagine a baby liking it much either.

Next came the blood and they couldn't get a vein. They tried twice and gave up to call a phlebotomist to come do it.  Well, she couldn't get a vein either so they had to prick her finger and milk out three small vials of blood.  Believe it or not during all of this poking, she laid still on the bed. She cried and talked to me, but she laid still!!! I can't believe that (and her fever was temporarily down so she was feeling good, it wasn't like she was lethargic).

My poor sick baby! Laying on the bench at dinner 

Then she was taken to x ray to get a picture of her tummy where she cried, but laid calmly. I was holding her hands and daddy her legs. She is such a sweet big girl!!!

Then we waited and she started to play and have fun, only complaining of pain a couple of times and then she drank a full cup of water which made them very happy but it made her tummy hurt again.  Finally they came in and the results of all of the tests.....Bladder/kidney infection.  So, they gave her an initial dose of antibiotics and sent us on our
way.  She still won't eat much but is drinking a bit now and we have pain pills in her.  Hopefully in the morning (Monday - I am writing this Sunday night while it is still fresh) she will be on the mend.  We will take the hubs to work (Gwen is learning to drive so she does most of the driving these days) and then grab her prescription.

My hips are killing me from carrying, lifting and comforting my baby doll, but I could really care less. I would go through hell and back for that sweet little butt. :D

Until Next Time...If you feel, in your gut, that something is wrong, follow your instincts and take them in.  I'm glad I did because by morning she could have been really sick.  :(

SHE'S TURNING 7!!!

Well, tomorrow we celebrate birthday number seven for Miss Crazy. It should be an interesting day.  The Hubs starts a new position at work that we are all excited about and his hours become more regular which will be great. So at 4:30 tomorrow we can start our celebration.

Miss Crazy picked a beef and broccoli ramen meal that Gwen makes as her birthday dinner and then after dinner will be presents and cake.  We bought her a book on kindle(No, she doesn't have her own), a present yet to be determined because I just realized we haven't bought gift number 3 yet (can you say oops)  And the present she has been looking forward to all year....A rapunzel wig.  This girl is OBSESSED with rapunzel.  We used to have Tangled on DVR and she would watch it everyday if we let her.


She takes my old large fabric pieces and walks around with them on her head pretending that she is Rapunzel....and she knocks everything in the house over.  So we had to make a decision, continue to have the house torn apart or buy her a wig that she will probably wear day and night for weeks/months/years.  Well, since we someday want to sell this house we figured we better not mess it up anymore than it already is.  We are expecting the mailman to bring it any minute. It won't be a surprise, but it will be the most popular gift.  She will be ignoring everything else.

We got her a princess cake because they didn't have Rapunzel, not that she cares as long as it is chocolate with buttercream icing.  Done

Probably the highlight of her day will be playing with her little friend two doors down. At this point, little miss almost seven year old prefers to be away from her siblings and parents in favor of her friends. Now the question is, is she acting like a teen because of her sister's influence, or is this a new norm for seven year olds in this day and age.  On second thought, I don't want to think about that. I REALLY DON'T WANT TO KNOW. I'm just going to enjoy my baby girl's birthday celebration and give her an extra snuggle or two.

Tomorrow is also Little Butt's 2.5 year mark.

Until Next Time...Time flies when you're having fun.  So make sure that you truly do have fun or time will slip through your hands and you will feel unfulfilled.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND POLITICS

We just got back from school shopping for the kids (supplies, not clothes yet)  We spent almost eighty dollars on supplies for a kindergartner, second grader and maybe 1/2 of the supplies the 10th grader might need.

Holy cow.  That is insane.  I remember when my dad used to freak out if he had to spend more than five dollars for my school supplies.  Of course back then we didn't have clorox wipes and the school supplied the tissues and ziplock baggies and their own chalk (now dry erase markers). I complained for years about the Clark County School District because truthfully it wasn't that great, but now after having my kids in Wyoming school districts for the last nine years, I will never complain again.

You know, the joke used to be if we messed something up we would say, "well I went to the Clark County school district after all."  Now I'm seriously thinking of changing it to, "well, my kids went to NCSD1 after all" but then that wouldn't make much sense would it. But it would still be fun as hell to say.

I've come to realize that all districts have politics that I won't like, but you have to look deep down and see HOW and WHAT your kids are learning.  Now I truly wish the heat hadn't bothered me so much because I truly wish my kids could go to CCSD again.

The only good thing is that the colleges here in Wyoming are really good.  Casper College is a top rated community college and UW is a great school especially for certain majors.  Their education department is fabulous so hopefully we get some great teachers and future administrators that can affect changes here. Unfortunately my kids won't see it.  Unless they are willing to stick it out here and become teachers (Gwen's going to be a teacher but I have no clue where she will end up).

The good thing in all of this is that I got to go to the store and soak up all of the lovely school supplies.  You all know from previous blogs that paper and pens make me very very very very happy. :)  I even bought myself some! You know, if you go to our walmart at this time of year you will see this strange lady standing in the middle of the school supply aisles with stars in her eyes and I was going to say sniffing the air for the scent of paper and pen and glue but I really don't do that...much. ;)

Until Next Time...I know it's hard but when it comes to things like jobs, hospitals, schools and other things like that, sometimes you have to look really hard past all of the politics to see the good.  Sometimes you won't find any good, but sometimes you might just be surprised.

THE EXCITEMENT OF GETTING READY FOR BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

Well, it's that time again. Nope, not time for school quite yet, but it sure is time to get ready for school. And there is so much to do.

First we need to get Mr. Insane ready for school. I taught him his ABC's years ago but now he isn't grasping them so much.  That is why I will never again teach a child under the age of 3.5 anything of importance. The chance that they will have academic trouble later in life is too great, but that is a story for another time.

Miss Crazy is going to be the easy one this year. Just buy her school supplies (OMG so many needed and little money to do it on. I miss my old district where you needed pencil's paper and crayons...the end) and send her on her way.

The Sophomore has to go to schedule change day because they were once again stupid and gave my kids a teacher I will not allow them to have.  Gwen had one history teacher who didn't teach fact, but his opinion and tried to convert everyone to his political party.  Yeah, not putting up with that crap. He passed all the jocks so he was allowed to stay until he retired a couple years ago.  As for The Sophomore, she had a teacher last year who only went by test scores not previous experience or recommendations from other teachers. So the minute she stepped into this woman's classroom, not quite meeting the test scores, she was doomed and when the woman found out she was autistic well it just got worse.  I guess the teachers in this district aren't taught that autistic kids can be brilliant just like other kids.  So The Sophomore kind of stopped trying in her class and couldn't put up with the treatment so we had her drop with the official reason of teacher conflict.  Well, she got her schedule yesterday and guess who her math teacher is again???  Yep, isn't going to happen on my watch.  I usually let teachers do their job and teach, If my kid gets in trouble or a bad grade it is because they deserved it, but this isn't about grades or discipline. These two are just horrible and I truly believe they are two of the few teacher's I've met in the is district who really can't teach. And then there will be registration which will be a fight because they broke her computer and are trying to charge us for repairs. Yeah, again, it isn't gonna happen.

Then we get to Gwen.  She has books to buy ...OMG have you seen the price of text books lately?  Holy cow, easily double what I spent in college twenty years ago! RIDICULOUS. We will probably get her a few school supplies because her scholarship doesn't cover them and then it is off to college with her! How exciting. She gets to experience the joys of long boring lectures, long exciting lectures, crazy professors and the indescribable feeling of being part of a college community.  Damn, now I'm jealous, can I go back to college??? ;)

So, as we go broke shopping for  paper, pens, pencils, crayons, rulers, pencil boxes, kleenex, hand sanitizer, erasers, glue, calculators, dry erase markers, highlighters, colored pencils, scissors, and school clothes (And yes those are all actual supplies that we have to buy for all four kids - The elementary supplies just times by two) we are also a bit excited because of all of the fun and crazy adventures four of our five will have starting later this month.  Kindergarten and college adventures for the first time, second grade and sophomore adventures, just continuing along.  And then there will be me at home with only one child. My last baby. As the tears begin to fall at this bittersweet moment I get sad of course and excited too.  My baby and I will have such fun together but in a few short years it will be just me. And then the tears will really fall.  Heck don't be surprised if I'm writing novels every week at that time because what else am I to do without a kid at home.

Until Next Time...No matter how much something bothers you, if any part of it gives you joy don't deny it, embrace it!  Back to school is like that for me.  I hate the district and I miss my kids (sometimes) but dang the whole back to school excitement thing is just indescribable!!!!