Getting Sick of this Place Now...

No sooner did I get back to school after being sick than we set off on our field trip to the Franklin Institute. I was a bit jaded, having seen everything so often and so recently. But the kids were so excited it rubbed off on me. Plus, I was able to help my group with insider information and get them all on the Sky Bike for free, so I was Miss Popular Teacher for the day. I missed my kids at school while I was sick, and it was nice to be doing something fun with them.

Brush with Fame

A picture I took of campaigners at the polls for Tuesday's primaries was shown on CNN by Soledad O'Brian and Wolf Blitzer, and was published on the CNN website, too! It's dorky, but what can you say - I was excited, and my kids at school thought it was cool, too - especially since I mentioned them in the caption. The picture was to illustrate civil politics to my overly argumentative students. It also ended up illustrating that journalism is exciting, which is never a bad deal for an English teacher.

Meanwhile, Scott got to vote in the primaries as a Democrat. I'm independent, so I didn't count. We were both backing Obama, but Clinton took Pennsylvania. Oh well! Since I'm updating this blog after the fact, I know we win eventually! Scott took the kids in the booth with him to show them the voting process. You can see the three pairs of feet sticking out below the curtain. I told them to make sure he voted right!

Tyger Tyger Burning Bright

Whew. I don't know what's scarier - crazy face boy or the legless tiger. Yet another school project, and 3-D papercraft to the rescue again. This time it's the dreaded.... I mean much beloved... second grade animal project.
Nicky worked really hard writing his report. School work doesn't come easily to him, but he completely stepped up this year and rocked second grade. He got top marks in all of his subjects, and worked really hard. He's still a little inconsistent, getting bad grades on worksheets and tests when he doesn't pay attention, but generally, he's made huge strides, especially in reading.
Then he helped cut out and assemble all the little tiger bits, which took a long time.
Finally, he helped build a diorama of the tiger's habitat. He was so proud of his project, and his teacher Mrs. Weikert really liked it! She even asked where we found the tiger pattern.

Best of all - Nicky is our last second grader! No more 3-D animal models!!! Woohoo!

I Like Canoes Better

When Kairi went on a camping trip with good friend Amanda, and Nicky was at a playdate with Kaan, Scott and I decided to do something fun. We headed for Lake Nockamixon with the intention of renting a canoe. Alas, they don't allow canoe rentals that early in the season because if you capsize, it's very cold water. (We wouldn't have capsized. I've never tipped a canoe, and I've logged hundreds of paddling miles. Okay, I've never tipped a canoe unless I MEANT to.)

Anyway, they offered us kayaks, and we figured, ah, what the heck, how different can it be?

Different. The positioning of your body relative to the paddles is totally different from a canoe. My back and abs were killing me by the time our hour was up. Scott wasn't fond of it either.

From now on we rent canoes. Or maybe some day buy one. But at least I can say I've tried kayaking!

Crazy Cat Lady

I discovered that having three cats and being bedridden for two weeks is a short step away from being a crazy cat lady.
With my usual photography addiction limited by my stay on the couch, or maybe a slow walk to the mailbox, I ended up taking a lot of pictures of the cats.
But then, they are REALLY great cats.

Spring Has Sprung!

Images of my yard - it's going to be a 30+ year work in progress, I know, but I'm getting a little more in place each year. Eventually, it'll be a showplace. Someday.

District Band

We were so proud when Kairi was chosen to be in the PMEA District 10 Elementary Band Festival. Only three other sixth graders were chosen, and it's an honor to be selected. So a little thing like abdominal surgery was NOT going to keep me from watching her play! I just borrowed the wheelchair from church. Granted, that was the full extent of the exertion I could manage all week, but I was there! (And so was Grandma, since she was there to watch me, and Grammy, since she was planning on going... it actually worked out pretty well for Kai, audience wise.)

The kids did a fabulous job. You would never believe they were 5th and 6th graders. They really were the best of the best! We hope Kai will go far with her horn playing - she certainly seems to be on the right track.

Completely Blindsided

Normal, happy family gathering, right? Got your ice cream cake, got your crazy faced little boy, smiling grandfather. All's sailing along smoothly in our little world.

Looking at that photo, you'd never guess that the person who took it was in imminent danger. By nine o'clock that night, I was in agonizing pain. By midnight I was writhing on the bathroom floor. By one, I was actually begging Scott to take me to the ER. And less than 24 hours after this photo was taken, I was in surgery.

Turns out, I had acute appendicitis. Really nasty case, too. I ended up out from work for two full weeks. I had never had surgery before and it scared the life out of me - not to mention a few years off Scott's life. Mom even came down to take care of me for the first week. Everyone was very supportive, and I got help, gifts and cards from everywhere. My surgeon was wonderful (which, I guess everyone would say who survived an emergency operation, but he was very nice) and the hospital people were great.

But that doesn't discount that it was quite probably the most frightening moments of my life lying in the pre-op room on April 7th holding Scotty's hand, reciting the 23rd Psalm over and over.

Also, for the record - I DO NOT like drugs!!! I had some seriously scary reactions to more than one of the drugs they pumped me full of - just before surgery, I felt like my heart and lungs stopped when one of the drugs kicked in. Not nice. Not nice at all!

Anyway, by the grace of God and the skill of the doctors, here I sit, typing. Most people don't think of appendicitis as life-threatening, but it sure as heck can be, and I'm so grateful to be here with my family - even the crazy faced boy.

Someone's Very Happy

When you were a kid, did you ever get just what you wanted for your birthday? Even though it was probably a waste of money? And you would probably outgrow it or hardly play with it? None of that would have mattered to you, because you got JUST what you wanted. That face above is Nicky's I-got-it! face. He saw this really expensive R2 at the Franklin Institute and wanted it so much. It's voice activated and does all sorts of cool things. The logical part of me says he won't get enough use out of it to make it worthwhile. The I know my kid part went on Ebay and made it happen. I think the face is my reward.
He loved all his other presents, too, which was great. Then, he LEFT! His friend was having a slumber party on Nicky's birthday... I wanted Nicky at home, but it was his birthday, and he wanted to go - how do you say no to that?

When we got him back, we took him to Red Robin. He doesn't like cake that much, so the sundae made him happy, and we figured we'd have cake with Pop-pop on the weekend, since we missed Pop-pop's birthday during our Easter flu bout.

And hey, he did play with R2 - at least for a while!