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Another toilet-centric day

Our gastric troubles seem to have progressed, er...digressed (???) from the front door to the back, if you catch my meaning. If you don't catch my meaning, let me speak plainly..we have diarrhea. 4/5 of our Family Unit, to be exact. Due to rain and germs, we are postponing Sam's corn mazing to another weekend. When that weekend will be, I have no idea. This was pretty much our only free weekend until the 2nd week of December. Not sure what we'll do in regards to that.
Tomorrow is, of course, the 2nd biggest night in kid land, Halloween. Sure hoping that we are well enough to trick and/or treat. Otherwise, we may have some seriously angry kiddos in this house. I think if everyone is well that we will be attending a local festival, so the kids can cake walk, hayride, trick or treat, face paint, etc. It seems to be the direction that we're leaning at the moment, but first, we must see which direction (literally) our intestines take us.
Next weekend, we're allegedly going to Dallas with friends to do a spot of Christmas shopping and dine. I have the day off Friday, but now that I've had to take a couple of days of this week, I'm not sure how that is gonna work out. We're staying at the Gaylord in Dallas if it all goes as planned, and I hope it does. If my principal decides to become all boss-like and nix my day off, I guess we'll have to do Plan B....and I'm not even sure what that is.
Looking forward to Le Happy Saturday tomorrow!

Regrets Kate DiCamillo, but it's because of Winn Dixie that....

I am a huge fan of Kate DiCamillo. So much so, in fact, that my 6th grade class novel shelf includes class sets of all of her books. Despereaux is one of my favorite novels of all time, no matter which side of the book store it is sold on. (Note: Despereaux the movie, don't bother. My 6th graders were so mad at the movie after reading, and intensely loving, the book. We barely contained them from rioting and looting the theater as we left.) The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane should be read aloud, at ALL costs, to your child. A better bedtime chapter book, you will not find anywhere on Planet Earth. Her latest novel, The Magician's Elephant, is a little harder to latch onto than some of her previous stories, but I love it no less. It's a story...like all of her books. Plain and simple stories as if told at fireside by a gypsy old woman. Not that I've ever been told a story at fireside by an old gypsy, mind you.
All of this is to say that my children recently watched the movie version of Because of Winn Dixie, her first novel if I'm not mistaken. Now, I'm no dog person. I'm also no cat person. I do; however, love me a good animal. And the dog who plays Winn Dixie in the movie is a GOOD ANIMAL. Oh, he's like a giant hairball human. I wanted to crawl into the television and bury my face in his fur and give him a hug. It's because of Winn Dixie, that I want a large, hairy mutt dog. Seriously, my next animal will be of indeterminate breed and will be covered in scraggily fur. Yes, so it is written, so shall it be done.
I've tried to convince DaddyP that we need a pup for our backyard. We have a very large, fenced backyard. What would be better than a doggie to live there? DaddyP isn't buying it...at ALL. He thinks we have a sufficient amount of dog at our house already. Currently, our family is blessed by two ridiculously, mentally deficient half Yorkie beasts. I never thought I'd be the owner of 2 small dogs. Small dogs are only special to their owners. If you own small dogs, you probably already know this. If you don't know this, let me tell you. Most folks that know you and your doggie probably hate Fido's guts. We recognized this early on when friends and family members who had dogs seemed to glow from the inside out when speaking of other dogs, but the same folks will smile at your teensy hairball with a pained grin and say, "oh...how....cute" as your little nipper bites and runs around them in circles. Mind you, their large hounds are no more loveable--and probably a whole lot smellier, they just don't seem to draw the ire that a little dog does. It's a fact of little dog life. Sad, but true. We love our little kibbles, no matter what our houseguests think of them. Growing up, my family always had big, outside dogs. 2 in particular that lived long, happy lives and were as good as any pet you could ever imagine. I tend to lean towards loving me a big dog. (As I type, hairy dog #1 is biting her squeaky Christmas elf and trying to entice DaddyP to play with her by throwing it in his lap repeatedly.) The kids, in particular, are totally attached. Jack and Pongo especially. Jack, being a couch potato, has a constant lap companion in Pongo. Honey thinks that she is everyone's mother/boss in the household, so we all have some sort of bond with her by default. She has, at this very moment, given up throwing her toy at DaddyP and is now laying with her head on DaddyP's lap and is staring at him with her brown eyes, and Pongo is curled up at my side...my little bun warmer. Who needs a heating pad when you have a dog?
Even though PDaddy won't cave on the third dog issue, we do agree that if/when we do get a large dog (maybe years and years down the road,) that it's very important that a large dog behave and have good manners. Because of this, we'll probably not make such a commitment until we can manage attending Obedience school with said large doggie. Very important. It's one thing to have hard-headed rodent sized dogs. It's another thing, as we learned personally years ago, to have a very large dog with the manners of a rabid rhinoceros. So, my point, I think, is that you need to read some of Kate DiCamillo's work. You heard me. Then, you need to go out into the world and find the pet that makes you smile. Next time, I'll tell you about my current bid with DaddyP to get a bunny to train to use the litter box. (Note: A college friend had a housebroken rabbit that weighed 24 pounds. How fun would that be?!!!)

Uh-Oh!

Well, this rather rainy afternoon finds me at home. Jack threw up at school this morning, after having complained on the way to school that he felt bad, but I thought he was coming down with a case of The Six Weeks Test. So, as the secretary is locating a sub, the elementary calls me that Sophy has tossed her cookies as well. Due to DaddyP being out of pocket all day Friday, I've had to get a sub for the, oh I dunno, 4,356th time this year to cover my classes tomorrow. WORST possible timing. Jack is missing all of his six weeks tests, and I'm missing GIVING my six weeks test....and grades are due Monday morning at 8 o'clock. Luckily, I can easily get my grades in the computer from home. With a 80% chance of more flooding rains today and tomorrow, I honestly can't say that I'm too sad about staying in for the next couple of days. What is with this rain? On the news last night, the weather dude said that we haven't had this much rain on record in the last 50 years! YIKES! The sad news is that Sam's birthday outing with friends on Saturday (we were going to go to the corn maze in Dixie) more than likely will have to put off until germs and mud have moved along. Sadness!!
I guess I should move along and check on my patients.

Shameless Product Endorsement '09.75

Sadly, all of my recent discoveries have been of the food variety, so if you're on a diet, I can't help ya. If like me; however, you are trying to increase your girth (and I'm not even sure what girth is..) then this update is for you, Dear Reader!

• Wheat Thins Toasted Chips - We are currently (not at this second, mind you) munching on Great Plains Mutligrain flavor. These are quite fantabulous. I'm not much on crackers, and I'm even less on Wheat Thins. However, I don't mind eating these adorned with cream cheese and various other accessories.
• Velveeta Shells & Cheese - You're unimpressed already, I can tell. This is old news, but I have not shared this here...and by golly, I WILL OR BUST! So, Velveeta S & C comes in a easy cup now (think Easy Mac.) It's awesome for those of us with macaroni addicts.
• Martha White Blueberry Cheesecake Muffin mix (& Chocolate Chip, also) - Again, what's so great, you say? Seriously, Martha's been around since Lot's wife turned to a pillar, but I have recently started baking muffins on Sunday to put under glass on the cake pedestal. #1. It's easy and looks like I've really gone Crocker. #2. My peeps can eat on them for breakfast throughout the week. Interesting side note: I substitute heavy cream for milk in the recipe. Makes for a slightly denser muffin, but oh you won't regret the creamy taste. Hey, I told you. Girth!
• Activia Vanilla yogurt - I know what you're thinking, and no, I'm not irregular anymore. But that's not the point. The point is that DaddyP makes yogurt parfaits with this stuff that are too die for! He layers sliced strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and honey granola and oats together. If I were of the notion to eat such ridiculously healthy stuff, I'd love it. As it stands, no...it's not enough to entice me away from muffins laced with artery clogging matter. Thanks, though.
• Tobasco Pepper Jelly - Is there anything this little jar can't do? Spread it on a sandwich, put it on cream cheese (GIRTH!) and serve on the aforementioned Wheat Thin Chip....you'll thank me. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
• Green Giant Honey Glazed Carrots (frozen) - I apologize for bringing a vegetable to this cellulite party, but you should try them. Really.
• Marie's Greek Vinaigrette (with feta) - This is THE best dressing you'll ever eat! We initially discovered it at Schlotsky's, asked our grocer to stock it for us, and wall-ah! It's amazing! We use it with some diced tomatoes, diced Kalmata olives, and sprinkle a bit of feta crumbles on our salad. Divine!

Ok, you digest that, and I'll talk to ya later! Get it? Digest that?? Hahhahaaa.

We interrupt the vomiting to bring you this lazy day on the couch...

(edited to say: Sam made it until 4:00 and started chucking again. Got a bit too warm in the tub and passed out--he does this when he's sick--and came to and threw up blue Gatorade on my bedroom carpet. YAY!!)
A friend snapped this pic in the portalet at the Austin Ironman Triathalon today and posted it on Facebook. I lifted it to share here. Hilarious.
Jack and pal at lunch yesterday after the game. This little guy is Jack's age, but he's about the heighth of Sophy. They are very much the true Mutt and Jeff.
Here is RNK chasing Sophy up her tree. He comes over to play with the boys and ends up spending most of his time following Sophy around. He's trouble with a capital T, haha.
Some of our guys getting situated after the game! I think they were mostly sad the season is over. I think I was mostly glad. I think.

After Sam's final game yesterday, we took the incredibly hyped up group of boys team to a pizza buffet/game room for lunch to celebrate a great season that is, HALLELUJAH, over!! DaddyP had an evening wedding, so the kids and I came home. I had a migraine starting at some point, so I took my Rx which, for the first time ever and not sure why, made me feel as high as a kite. And MEAN. Well.....I've felt mean before, obviously, but high is typically something I try to avoid. DaddyP made it home later that night, and I was pulled tight enough to fight, but I could barely keep my eyes open at the same time. Fell asleep around 11 only to be jolted awake around midnight by those words that strike fear in my heart (lest I remind you of our Rotavirus memories....sorry, we're scarred for life....,) "Moooom, I don't feeeeel goooddd." What proceeded was cookie tossing every 30 min-1 hour for the rest of the night and into the morning. Poor Sammy. Luckily, he did not run fever (bizarre) and didn't seem to be in much gut pain (odd) and didn't make us flee the wrath of his lower intestines (even more odd)....yet. He hasn't lodged in about 3 hours and is acting crazy as a loon beside me on the couch. Maybe we're over the hump of it. Maybe? I know what you're thinking....famous last words. Right. I know.
Poor kiddo has to get better for his Big Birthday #9 on Wednesday! We'll be having family over for a birthday supper of Sam's choice, Beanie Weanies. I kid you not. I told him we'd compromise and have baked beans with BBQ sandwiches(his all-time fav meal) with an ice cream cake. He is more excited about having baked beans for his bday meal than I think is normal, but whatever. I gave up on normal YEARS ago. On Saturday (Halloween Day,) we're taking 3 of his friends to the corn maze in Dixie. We'll be churning butter, watching pig races (I have to tell you how excited I am for this,) doing the corn maze, and other country funnsies. A few of our friends went a week ago and said they didn't see any pig races. I think I may howl if I do not get to see piggie races! The kids have been invited to a fall festival on Halloween night, so I'm not sure if we'll do our usual neighborhood caravan or hit the festival. We'll let the kids decide, but so far, the jury is still out.
For some insanely bizarre reason, I washed, folded and put away all of our weekend laundry yesterday, so today is the very best kind of couch rotting day. I better go get back to it. Oh, and no school tomorrow! Yeehaw~

Act of Sweetness (literally)

My dear sis in law sent me a package that lifted my spirits (but will probably cause my butt to drag the ground) and brought a tear to my world weary eye. Sweetheart that she is, and how she manages to hang with our family I'll never know, mailed me a care package of her ridiculously buttery, iced sugar cookies. The smell wafting from the box was intoxicating, and when I saw them, pumpkins, butterflies, sunflowers, etc. (Aren't they beautiful?? They were just as yummy.) in all their fall glory, well, it just made life a little sweeter. Other than my mama who frequently leaves a pot of chicken in dumplings in my car after school or a plate of cookies for the kids, God love her, treats on my doorstop are non-existant. Very nicely done. Thanks, Miss! Nicest thing someone has done for me in a long time~
(Spending the evening at home while DaddyP shoots a homecoming game. Sam's last game is tomorrow, and it's a home game. Very excited about that. Jack is planning to go to his first school dance tomorrow night, and I plan on looking for tickets for shows or activities for our Christmas vacation with the kids. Workshop with a teaching friend on Monday....a day away from school, no doubt, but I'd rather be with my awesome students! Yet another exceptional group of kids that I look forward to seeing every day (totally not being sarcastic)...I love those kids, every one. Oh well, at least we'll get to shop and do lunch!)

The week that keeps on giving.

No matter how smoothly your weeks roll along, there is always a week that jumps out to spit in your eye and kick you in the shin. Then you have a week like the current one that I have experienced that goes one step further and punches you in the face. I have no desire to belabor the point. It can be easily summed up:

• Monday: At an unexpected parent conference, I was confronted with the mother of a very wonderful boy informing me that she is dying of terminal cancer with an unknown lifespan expected. Very hard to listen to her talk about when she is "no longer here" and not knowing "how many more days she has left" and to hear her worry about her son's future that he will face without her, while she (and I) both cried. Oh I've had numerous students who had lost a parent at some point or other, but never have I faced the dying to plan for the inevitable grief that will affect her son and his education without her. Words are no good.
• Although the rest of the week pales in comparison to the events of Monday, Tuesday continued to be a bright spot of wonderment (I lie.) Not only is Jack's trying his darndest to fail 5th grade this week (and doing a very good job of it,) we also took him for his last appointment before the braces go on (2 weeks) only to learn that he had lost a filling. Sadly, he told me sometime a couple of weeks ago that his mouth was hurting. Pass the Mother of the Year Award my way because I told him it was all in his head. Well....wasn't it, technically?
• Had another one of those parent confrontations conferences today that required the giving of my mouth to God prior to phoning the Hover Mother in a desperate attempt to guard my employment. Turned out pretty well after HM realized her agenda was lost on me.
• Tomorrow I have the EXTREME (pun intended) pleasure (sarcasm intended) of watching a traveling troop of steroidical maniacs who inspire kids with their uplifting message, and while they're at it, they rip a phone book in twain. Twain? Er, in two? Anyway..oh yes, the perfect, oh yes, PERFECT, ending to this school week.

Morning, Glory!

Randomville

~She kinda puts the cheerleaders to shame~

See the group in the middle? Sam's in there somewhere. He played on the line this week, and it's certainly where he belongs!

The kids had a great week at school. 3 week progress reports came home, and all 3 are doing good. Some better than others, haha, but nothing alarming! Sophy finally did her Egypt/King Tut presentation, and Jack is trying his best to decide if he'll be going to the Halloween party/dance at school this Saturday night. He's excited about some of the activities: pumpkin carving, pizza, twister, games, prizes. However, he's not excited about having to decide if he wants to dance with somebody. We'll see! Sam has been receiving some reading testing to hopefully get him some assistance with his reading. We'll get the results soon, I hope.
Like I promised, I had my hair utterly removed on Friday after school. Wow, not sure what I think of it, but it's certainly different. No matter, it'll be grown out in about 3 weeks (I exaggerate somewhat.) You know people that have the same hairdo year in year out. Same color, same cut. Well, I'm not one of those people. Haha. Nope, constant change of the 'do is necessary. After getting my wig did on Friday, we went out to eat with some friends. Had a nice visit and dinner, and then woke up early on Saturday to make it Tyler for Sam's big game. And what a game it was! Our tough guys were down 14 points and came back to score two TD's in the last minutes of the game.

Jack and Cousin K had their own game going. This game later grew to include about 5 other random kids that were drawn like flies to syrup.

Good friends here! These 3 have been together since kindergarten.
~Cousin K again~
Speaking of flies to syrup. Pop also joined the football game.

Sam is somewhere in this wad of players.

Sophy earned a couple of bucks and 2 Chuck E. Cheese coins by making Team Flags (out of sticks and leaves) to sell to the waiting fans. Entrepreneur!!

More football . CHARGE!

Book Club Update

The Book Club gals braved the monsoonesque rains to congregate at Macaroni Grill to discuss The White Queen & The Sugar Queen. Without providing a detailed description of either (unless you want one, in which case, let me know,) I'll cut straight to our latest assignments. Our next meeting will be in December (which was necessary due to November being a crazy month for all,) which will allow us 7 weeks to do our reading. Because of this, we will not have one primary book with 2 optional reads. Instead, we have 3 books to read with no optional books. Our next meeting will be special....yes, it's a BYOM meeting at mi casa. We'll be bringing our own giant Christmas mugs (BYOM), wearing our PJ's and fuzzy slippers. On top of all of that, we'll be exchanging gifts, enjoying hot cocoa, hot tea, coffee, cider, scones, and Christmas candy. As always, snackage is an important part of the Book Club meeting!
Without further delay, our new books are (sorry, no links!)
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak (VERY excited about this book!!!!)
Cold Sassy Tree, Olive Anne Burns
A Homemade Life, Molly Wisenberg

It's Official!

Jack accomplished his long time goal. Today, at the LC, he completed a ONE MILE swim. Amazing! Honestly, I think he could've gone another mile. Not bad for an eleven year old, eh?
For the first time in days and days, it didn't rain. Sam may actually have football practice tomorrow after school. It's been a nice break this week not having practice. Only 2 more weeks, and we'll be done with football. Sam will be so sad. I will miss the games, but not the three practices a week.
DaddyP and I are planning a Dallas trip in a few weeks to do some Christmas shopping sans kiddos. Also looking VERY forward to a fun evening with friends there, and a possible trip in a TIME MACHINE! Oh yes! VERY exciting times! :-)
Ready for Friday, and looking forward to date night on Friday night and a football game Saturday morning!

All over the place

We had such a lovely weekend. Cousin E. magically appeared for a Wild & Crazy (i.e. Squeal Filled) weekend. Here you see a "makeover" that occured prior to a quick bit of shopping. Sophy's comment after this application, "MAN! I'M GOOD AT THIS!" They were also very good at spraying themselves with various and sundry body fragrances.
I'm posting this as a BEFORE shot. BEFORE what you ask? Why, before I paint the dining room, of course? What color? Oh, now that, my friend, is a secret! If I had been thinking (haha, thinking! WHO THINKS anymore? Geez...) As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself...If I had been thinking, I would've snapped a better shot of my new bar stools.
After we delivered Cousin E. to the designated drop zone this afternoon, we came home and baked chocolate cupcakes while the pot roast continued crocking in the crock pot. As you can see in this photo, Honey really wanted in on the cupcake action.
Jack and Sam and Rowdy Neighbor Kid, hereafter mentioned as RNK, also enjoyed a chocolate cupcake...albeit outside. It was a Wild & Crazy weekend, but it wasn't so wild that I let them eat chocolate cupcakes in the house. The photo doesn't do it justice, or else you'd see the chocolate smeared all over RNK's cute face. RNK and Sophy aren't allowed within 2 miles of each other. They have a Love/Hate relationship to end all Love/Hate relationships. Shortly after this photo was taken, they departed to continue building some secret fort in an undisclosed neighborhood location. (Luckily, I'm a good spy, and they apparently don't know how to cover their tracks.)

In other news:

*You should buy this SOAP because it's HEAVENLY, and because I said so.

*I'm getting my hair cut off on Friday, and by cut off, I mean REMOVED. Short. Oh yes, I'm telling the truth.

*We may or may not have a date night Friday night.

*We may or may not walk in a Cancer Walk for a friend/client of DaddyP's. on Saturday evening in Tyler. It's a Light Up the Night walk, and I think the kids would have fun. Still trying to work out logistics with Sam's game on Saturday, but we'll do it if we're able. DaddyP will be there shooting the event, so we'll see. Maybe it'll work out!

*Book Club is Tuesday night at Macaroni Grill! Very excited! If you read the books, email me if you're interested in a Book Chat!

Words

Homework
Spelling
Friends
Players
Footballs
Grading
Papers
Vitamins
Bullets
Harpoons
Deodorant
Groomers
Boxers
Fur
Rain
Shopping
Boots
Packages
Morning Glories
Toenails
Smothered Steak
Laws
Students
Squeaking
Toys
Pillow
Bed
Night

Another Saturday of Football

Out with our friends, The W's, for dinner after a movie. Sam, Jack, Kye, Kameron, Sophy, and Kennedy.

This was before they climbed a light post in the parking lot.

Well, we had another wonderful Saturday of football. The weather started off very cool, but it warmed up very quickly by the time the game started. Sam enjoyed himself as usual, but this is the second game that the coaches have played him as linebacker...a position he knows NOTHING about. And by nothing, I mean Nada, Zip, Zilcho, Zero! Not to mention, I think (and I'm by no means an expert) it's a position he doesn't have the acceleration or speed for. He's a decent blocker on the line, but I guess they're moving them around to see where they play best. Let's just say linebacker ain't it! He had a ball though, so that is all that matters at this point. Of course, DaddyP gets very agitated and filled with angst over Sam's lack of skill. All I can think is, THIS IS HIS THIRD FOOTBALL GAME EVER!! That's a mama for ya. Sam is only one of a couple others who haven't played for 3 years together. He has a lot of learning to do. A LOT! And by A LOT, I mean EVERYTHING! He and DaddyP watched a college football game together today, which they have done before, but all of a sudden, it made much more sense today. DaddyP was showing him where the linebackers were on the field and what they were doing vs. what Sam did on the field today. He was like, "oooooohhhhh." So, next Saturday, our game is an away game, so we'll see what kind of improving he does. He just loves it so much, and I'm very happy about that.
After the game, we got cleaned up to meet friends at the movies and then out to supper. It's always fun with six kids in tow. YIKES!
Weather Dude is calling for 100% chance of rain tomorrow, so I plan on cleaning out the cabinets in the master bath and closet. Could take alllllll day.
Sophy and her good friend, Audie.
Jack D. How old does he look here? OLD!
He definitely has his 3 point stance down!
Sam got to be one of the team captains today, and it really meant a lot to him!

Off to watch OU lose, we can hope.