Catching up

November really is the month for being thankful, isn't it?  I guess every month should be one in which to be thankful, but November, bringing the beginning of the holiday season and Thanksgiving, is a good way to remember what is important.  So far this month has brought a good balance of social time, productivity, and relaxation.  I've been having to relearn how to prioritize my to do list and get everything done during the week (I really REALLY miss being able to run errands during the work day), and I think it has been going okay.  The house is clean (sort of), we are eating meals every night (pretty much), I am in pretty frequent contact with friends (thank god for texting), I spend a lot of time with Trey (love him), and I've been reading a lot (see below).  

Kris and John got a new puppy a few weeks ago (do you ever feel like everything happened "a few weeks ago"?) and we went by for a visit.  As much as Trey has been around dogs all of his life, puppies kind of freak him out.  This little guy is freaking adorable and we love him already.  Kris told us yesterday that he has already gained seven pounds since they got him, so we are definitely due for another visit.   Meet Cooper, the cutest puppy ever.  

I'm sure everyone loves their child as much as I love mine (but do they?  really?), but words cannot express how much I am loving on my boy right now.  He is at such a great age, and we have been having so much fun together.  His constant learning, questions, and vocabulary astound me, and there are many times when Randy and I just look at each other and either raise our eyebrows in astonishment or laugh at something silly that Trey did.  The other night we were reading a book and Trey pointed to a word on the page and said, "Zap!"  I kept reading and then paused and said, "How did you know that said zap?"  He said, "Because it says Z-A-P with a question mark.  No, a straight question mark."  What????  I'm still not sure if that was a word he memorized or something he really read, but I'm still amazed.  I've been teaching him some words as we read, and he does remember them.  I could probably bring home the materials I am using at school with some first graders and teach him to read this year, but I am trying not to be "that mom."

After 16 hours of parent-teacher conferences (an exhausting experience but one that I actually really like), we drove to Eugene for the weekend.  We hadn't been there in a while, and Trey was really excited to go.  It was great to see my dad and Sandy as well as other family, and it was also nice to have a few days away.

On Saturday we spent A LOT of time (and I mean A LOT) like this.  I got through a bunch of my novel, and Trey enjoyed A LOT of screen time.  I felt a little guilty about it, but we rarely have days like this, so I tried to enjoy it (which I did).

On the way to Erika's for a family dinner/birthday party, I pretty much threw Grandpa Gerts under the bus and took him and Trey to Target.  Grandpa said he'd buy Trey a new toy, and Trey was in heaven.  He picked out a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy (of course), and he was over the moon happy.

Last week was a crazy week.  Monday I went to happy hour with old friends from Woodburn and had a great time.  It is such a blessing that we are all still in touch with each other.  Tuesday was a holiday and I had a perfect day with my boy.  That night Adam came into town to defend his dissertation at the University of Oregon.  He stayed with us and it was so good to see him.  He left before dawn on Wednesday to drive to Eugene, and of course he rocked it at his presentation.  Wednesday night we got a sitter so we could go out and celebrate the new doctor.  Nice work, my friend!

Thursday was a day off from school because the whole region freaked out about snow and ice that never came, and I had an unexpected day home with my boy.  I also am/was fighting a cold, so it was nice to have a slow and quiet day.  It was also a day that changed the lives of some people who are very close to me and I still feel in a daze about that (more on that at a later date - this isn't the blog post for that).  Friday I was still in a daze and also feeling crappy from my cold, so I took a half day and came home sick. I actually fell asleep on my couch.  In the middle of the afternoon.  I honestly do not know the last time I took a nap during the day.

Yesterday, we spent the majority of the day running errands and getting crap done around the house.  I had some clam chowder in the slow cooker (didn't like how it turned out), and Julie and Tim and the boys came over for dinner.  Trey has been bugging me about making a birthday cake for his stuffed animals, so yesterday he said, "Can we make a cake for my boys and girls?"  I said, "Sure," and he said, "Really????"  We baked a cake (Julie asked later if it was from scratch - bwah hah ha ha ha) and Trey sat here for almost the entire time it was in the oven.

My boy gathered all of the decorations for his special cake.

I didn't take a picture of the final product, 

but the frosting was orange and he used all of these sprinkles.

It was(n't) pretty.

I've been in a bit of a book slump lately, but I think I've come out of it.  After at least five books that I put aside after starting (very unusual for me), I have finally come upon a string of great books.  I usually manage my holds at the library pretty well, but all three of these came in at once.  Do you think I can read them in three weeks?  Ummmm, probably not.

This was the last good book I read before my slump...

The library had it marked as "mystery" and when I turned it in, I actually told the librarian that they should reclassify it.  Yes, that's me.  That person.  Granted, this book is about a death, but it's not really a mystery.  It is more about a family in the mid-70's who doesn't know each other well, and the story of their daughter's death is how the family's story is unraveled.  It's a great book and so well written.  I highly recommend.

I read Goldfinch this summer and didn't love it (hell, I didn't even like it).  This book came up on a list of 30 books to read before you're 30 (I know I've missed that mark), and I thought I'd give it a shot.  Donna Tartt really is an excellent writer (I will agree that Goldfinch was well written, just a terrible story), and this novel was such a breath of fresh air after the several books I started and put aside.

This was one of the holds that came in at once, and I knew it took the longest to get, so I thought I would read it first.  It's not going to win any awards and, for me, borders on what I like to call grocery store fiction, but it read fast and was enjoyable.  In fact, on Thursday, our no-snow snow day, I read over 300 pages.  I'd recommend it because it was a good quick read, but after reading the Secret History, I almost felt a little dirty reading it.

This is what I'm reading now, and I can already tell that I'm going to like it.  Again, really well written, and a story that is different from what I'm used to.  From what I can tell (I'm only on page 30), it takes place in Nigeria, and I like stories that take me out of my norm.  I wish I had a little more background knowledge and visuals to go along with it, but maybe that's just the reading teacher in me talking.

Enough blogging for the day - I either have a book to read or laundry to put away.  A quarter to each of you who guesses correctly what I'm going to do...

Turtle Treat!

Trey changed his mind about a bazillion times about what he wanted to be for Halloween (usually was some type of Super Hero), so I told him the Friday before Halloween that he needed to make a final choice.

He was leaning towards Superman, and we were looking on Amazon when he discovered Leonardo, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  Sigh.  I'm not a fan of the turtles (I think they are way too aggressive and violent.  I usually don't care about these things, but this is an exception.  I felt validated a few weeks ago when a parent of one of Trey's friends from preschool said that watching the show gives her son nightmares.  I KNEW there was a reason that I don't let Trey watch that show.), but he was adamant about it.

Before there were costumes, there was pumpkin carving, of course.

Trey's preschool had a costume party on Friday.  I guess he wasn't the only Ninja Turtle.

Friday night we braved the rain and went trick-or-treating with Grady and Case and Deena's son Coen.  Luckily, it only rained on us for about 10 minutes before letting up.

Trey, Case, and Grady 

"Turtle Treat!" was what Trey said every time the door opened.  

As soon as we got home, Trey dumped his candy out in a pile and sorted through it.  How do they learn to do this?  It must be an innate skill.

I was looking for a picture for Trey in our old photo albums and found these from 1978.  I don't know if this would be a very PC costume these days...

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!  If you want any extra candy, we still have a lot at the Clark house!

Disney on Ice

A few weeks ago, Mindy and I took the kids to Disney on Ice.  I think I'm still a little traumatized by my Disney Live experience at Disneyland, so I'll do what I can to make it up to Trey (even though he probably doesn't even remember).  Trey was super excited to see the show, and I will say that it didn't disappoint.

One mama brings popcorn from home 

and one spends gold on a bag of popcorn... 

I think the child on the left was happier.

Trey has never seen ice skaters before, and I think it was fun for him to see a new kind of show where the characters weren't just on stage.  It was a great production and he seemed to love every minute.

This is the look of two kids who just duped their moms into 

really expensive intermission treats.   

Here's Trey's expression when the Toy Story characters came on to the ice. 

It was worth every cent, and, don't tell Trey, but Disney Live is coming in January, and I bought tickets for that too!

Feeling grateful

I've been trying to enjoy the little things: rainbows, sunrises, staple removers, fall leaves, and be grateful for what I have.  There is a lot of tragedy going on in the world right now - from as close to my good friend who lost her daughter suddenly at the age of 41 from an aneurysm to as far as Africa and the Ebola epidemic.

The job hasn't changed, but I'm getting into the groove of the instruction and I'm hopeful that I'll teach these kids a thing or two by the end of the year.  Right now my goals are the short vowel sounds and how to add to twenty.  I'm setting my sights a little low.  I've been challenging my students to think a little deeper, and it's not really going well, but we have our moments.  This week, after reading a book about sharks which started out with some information about dinosaurs, one of my students said, "Mrs. Clark, I'm confused.  How did life start on Earth and how did people start being born if there weren't any people?"  I try hard not to impress my views on my students (e.g. evolution), so I told them it was a very important question that people have been talking about for a very long time.  The student on the left shouts, "People evolved from monkeys!" while the student on the right said, "My parents said we came from God."  The student who asked continued to process and push me for an answer, and I kept telling her it was a very confusing question (not really, in my opinion) and she needed to talk to her mom about it.

A few weeks ago I babysat for Grady and Case while Julie and Tim went to a rehearsal dinner and also celebrated their five year wedding anniversary.  We Facetimed with Grandpa and Sanny (mostly to see Max, the dog), and we probably called them six or seven times because Grady LOVES Max.

This is on my sister's fridge and is from my mom's fridge from years ago (the fortunes are Julie's).  I love that these principles were important to my mom, and they continue to be important to me and Julie.

 Here are the real ones:

After I got the boys down, I had a scintillating Friday night and worked on IEPs...

Trey is continuing to take swimming lessons.  He has advanced to the level where they swim the length of the pool instead of across.  Randy and I both like the fact that he is doing well in swimming and making progress.  It's important to Randy because swimming is an important life skill, and it's important to me because Trey is building his gross motor skills. We both win.  Three weeks ago, Trey had a bad swimming experience and got water up his nose while he was diving.  He started crying and we ended up leaving early (I didn't know until later why he was upset).  All week he cried about swimming and said he hated swimming and never wanted to go again.  The night before his next lesson (this was a few weeks ago), I posted on one of my hippy Facebook mama groups asking for some ideas on how to make the next morning of swimming lessons go smoothly.  I was really surprised, and still am, that several mamas told me I should let him quit and that I shouldn't force him to do something he didn't want to do.  I was shocked.  I've been known (and accused by some) to not have any limits with Trey and let him get whatever he wants.  But I do not understand and really do not agree with letting my child quit something after just a little challenge.  What kind of lesson does that send a child that they can quit something if they struggle just a little bit?  I think that is a terrible message to send and not a life lesson I want to teach.  If Trey continues to struggle week after week, then maybe we need to talk about taking a break from swimming.  But after one time?  Really?

We went to swimming on Saturday morning and I told Trey we would talk to his teacher about his worries (diving and getting water up his nose).  I told him I wanted him to dress down and sit on the side but he didn't have to get in if he didn't want to.  Then I bribed him and said for every ten minutes he stayed in he could get a DumDum sucker (I know, I'm a sucker).  After about 20 minutes of the 30 minute swim lesson, Trey turned around and asked me tearfully, "Has it been 10 minutes yet?" He ended up staying in for the entire lesson but we are still dealing with some residual "I hate swimming."  I'm not sure why or what to do, but time will tell.

Success! 

Julie's friend Bianca got married this month and Julie was honored to be a part of the wedding.  Randy and I were planning on going together, but our sitter came down with the stomach flu.  Randy stayed home, so Tim was pretty much my date.  We had some time to kill between the ceremony and reception, so we stopped for some beers.  We tried out a newish place on Williams called the Tin Bucket; it was alright but nothing different than the typical Portland watering hole.  We were on our way to the reception and passed a new brewpub called Ex Novo.  We both commented that we had never seen it before, and when we were about three blocks past, I said, "Wanna stop?"  "Sure," Tim replied.  And here we are...

Deena and Logan were at the wedding too, and luckily we were seated together since I was solo and Tim was at the bridal party table with Julie.

On Sunday, Trey and I went to Maclyn's fourth birthday party.  It was at Curious Comedy Theater and I knew Trey would love it.  There was a show put on for the kids, and it was great.  After the show ended and Kathleen got out the cupcakes, Trey got all clingy and weepy and said he wanted to go home.  When my boy says he wants to go home rather than eat cupcakes, I take it seriously.  I was paranoid that he was getting hit by the stomach bug that went through his preschool, but luckily he didn't.

Super fun show for the kids - plus, they have a bar for adults. 

Maclyn showing off his talents on stage 

My friend Ardis, who is a pseudo-mother to me, lost her daughter this month because of a sudden brain aneurysm.  Jenna leaves behind two teenaged daughters, so not only does my heart break for Ardis but also for her daughters.   I attended Jenna's funeral and was glad to be there to support Ardis and her husband Dan.  There were several other people there from the Woodburn School District who came to support the family.  Afterwards, I went to Yun Wah's with Shelley and Stacy, and we had a great conversation about all sorts of things - living life fully, cancer, sudden death, grief... good friends + a few cocktails + the shock of losing someone suddenly = an afternoon I'll never forget.

 Shelley, Stacy, and myself - my old special ed team from Nellie Muir

Recently, I had the opportunity to go to a really great conference for school psychologists (which I'm not) about assessment and special education.  I was really looking forward to getting away from school for a few days, and I was also really excited to spend some time with Beth and Sarah, my old colleagues from the ESD.  Wednesday night I had the thought that our old old colleague Michele might also be attending, and on Thursday morning I got the return text that she was.  OMG!!!  So happy!!!!!

With Michele and Beth after the first conference day 

I used to walk with Sarah and Beth a lot at the ESD during our lunch breaks.  

Walking the trails at Skamania was a nice way to spend lunch together.  

While I was gone, Randy and Trey spent some time at Kris and John's house.

Trey convinced them to make brownies one night.  Lucky Trey.

Driving home from work, I got to see this double rainbow.  

The rainbow on the left was one of the brightest I've ever seen, 

even though you can't really tell from this photo. 

Thursday night I went to see Cheryl Strayed with Kellie.

It was great to catch up with Kellie and wonderful to hear Cheryl Strayed.

I can't wait for Wild to come out. 

Cheryl Strayed talked a lot about loss and love, and one of the things she said really resonated with me.  She said that the love her mother felt for her was so deep that it was now a part of her, part of her cells.  She said that because of the love her mother had for her she knew what it felt like to be truly loved.  I definitely feel like that was the experience I had with my mom, and, if I do my job right, that is what Trey will be able to say about me.

While I was out, Randy kept sending me pictures of Trey, dressed up for the Bronco game, in his boat headed to Walla Walla.  The boat kept getting fuller and fuller.  Super cute.

My sister and her husband spent a week in Mexico to celebrate their five year anniversary.  Julie put together a week of babysitters that included the boys' grandparents.  My dad and Sandy had the shift from Thursday to Saturday.  We all went over there for dinner last night, and Trey and I spent a lot of time with them today.  While it was fun to see them, it was also sort of a shit show.  This afternoon, my dad and the boys came over and right now my house looks like a tornado hit it and I'm exhausted. I have 9,500 steps for the day, and the only place I went besides Julie's was swimming lessons, if that gives you an idea. 

Friday night madness 

Grandpa and his boys 

Saturday morning troublemakers 

"Grandpa, wake up!"

Trey and I made our holiday sugar cookies today, and I told him we would frost them when the boys were over.  

 The expression on Trey's face pretty much shows how
he and Grady got along all day.

 This room was clean at one point today,
but now it looks like a tornado came through.
At least the boys were entertained...

Grady, future cookie decorator