Just Braggin'!

Braydon told me on the way home from school today that he got a sour candy in class today for "being really smart." I asked him why he was smart and he said he was the only one in his class that knew what the date would be two months from now. I asked what it would be and he said "January 5, 2009." I was impressed! He even got the year right. And I am sure Mrs. Kvasnicka said, "Smarty-pants, do your dance!" because that is what she says when anyone answers a question right. It is so funny!

Anyways, just wanted to brag a little! Now, I am going to go to bed and prepare for another day of 7th grade computer labs and study halls! I am substituting as the 7th grade para for the rest of the week and that is the grade my sister Jacey is in. She was so excited (or maybe it was mortified)! I told her she had to call me Mrs. Weekly in school :).

Halloween!

On Thursday night, (the night before Halloween) the kids put on their costumes and we headed to downtown Hickman for the Trick or Treat Trail (or as Josh mistakenly called it, The Trail of Tears, which luckily it was not). Breck was Ariel, of Little Mermaid fame, and Braydon was Waldo, as in the guy in the goofy stocking cap that you try to find in the books. Ariel is Breck's favorite Disney princess and Braydon has really gotten into Waldo books lately. It took mommy a couple times and much direction from Braydon to get the Waldo costume right. He was not very happy with the Harry Potter glasses that we got because they were not "Waldo" glasses, so he had Grandpa Mike take off the Harry Potter logo and all was right with the world again. It was the first year for the Trail and it was kind-of fun. It did not take long to do, but the kids had fun sorting out their loot when they got home.

On Halloween night, the kids decided they wanted to go to the Halloween party at church rather than going Trick or Treating around town. They had a magic show, games, a hayrack ride, and some inflatables. Breck read about the "15 foot slide" on the flyer and told everybody about it! It was a favorite of both kids. The magician impressed them by turing two doves into a fluffy soft rabbit that they both got to pet. We rode the hayrack around the church. It was a beautiful night for a ride around the parking lot! They played games and got more candy, pop, and little toys. After heading to Don and Millies for supper and hearing "I found Waldo!" for about the 33rd time, we headed home. The kids had a great time and have plenty of candy (even after Josh and I took our "parent tax") to show for it.

The National Anthem and Book Parade

Last week, the 8th graders had an event on the football field and because Breck's teacher's daughter was taking part in the event, Breck's class got to go out and watch. Mrs. Hartman's (Breck's teacher) daughter asked if anyone would like to come up and lead The National Anthem. Breck apparently raised her hand and went right up and grabbed the microphone! She led the eighth graders and her entire class in our National Anthem! She was born to perform!

This morning was the book parade at school. It is very exciting for the kids. Every year they have an author come and speak to all the kids at school. Then on Friday, the author is the Grand Marshall of the book parade. All of the kids dress up as a character from a book and they all march through the hallways. This year, Breck dressed up as Laura from "The Little House on the Prairie". We had Jacey's heritage school dress (we are all set for fourth grade, when they go to heritage school), so Breck thought it would be perfect for her to be Laura. Then at the last minute, she decided she just wanted to wear the bonnet and not the whole outfit. I think she may be getting too cool to dress up for the book parade. Braydon dressed up as Waldo from the "Where's Waldo?" books. He discovered one of Grandma Brenda's "Where's Waldo?" not too long ago and he is really into finding Waldo, Odlaw, Wenda, and Woof. They both had a great time participating in the book parade.

Fallin' Behind!

As you may have noticed, and as some of you have pointed out, since I started working, I have fallen behind on my blog. Let me just tell you, that it is not the only that I need to catch up on! I have been working pretty much everyday. At school I have been substituting in special ed and recently in the 5th grade. When I am not at school, I am at Hallie helping them out however I can. It is taking awhile for all of us to get used to mom not being home during the day to get things done.

Since I last wrote, Josh has started a new project at work, I have had my 31st birthday (I am not sure why, but that sounds so much worse than 30 to me), we went to Kansas City for a NASCAR race, and we had school conferences for the kids.

It seems like I don't talk about Josh much, so I thought I would tell you what he is up to. He is now working for Hausmann Construction as a Superintendent. He started that job in May. He just began a mulitcultural center at the University a couple weeks ago. Thus far he has been finishing up projects that were already started, so the center is the first job that he will be in charge of from start to finish and it is a very big project. He is excited though and it has been keeping him very busy.

For our birthdays, my parents gave Josh and I tickets to the NASCAR race in Kansas City. Our seats were great! They were right on the start/finish line and in the shade, thank goodness, because it was 90 degrees and so hot! My dad just finished up a retirement community in KC, so we stayed in an apartment there. They have some very good soft serve ice cream! Oh, and the building is very nice too. Though, I did have a very traumatic experience there. At breakfast, I went to the buffet and got some fruit and what I thought was vanilla pudding. I sat down and took a bite. It was not vanilla, but BANANA pudding! I absolutely loathe bananas! I would not even feed my kids banana baby food because I could not stand the smell. I held it together though, and got myself a bagel. Anyways, the race was great and I told Josh that we will be returning next year!

Lastly, the kids' conferences went really well. Breck is reading above her grade level. Her teacher says she is a very sweet girl and that she takes pride in her work. Braydon's teacher said he is a real leader in the classroom. She also told us that while they were practicing writing nines, Braydon told the her that nine is an odd number. We told her numbers are kind-of his thing! And Braydon is definitely listening to his teacher in class. He came home one day and told us that he told a little boy in his class, "If he started making good choices, he would be his best buddy."

Now we are getting ready for Halloween, trying to decide what we want to be. While looking at ads for costumes last Sunday, Breck saw a costume that was half an angel and half a devil. She said, "That one is not half bad...actually it is half bad!" Ha! Kids are so funny!

Well, I hope you all are having a good fall! It is my favorite time of year!

My Room

My room is very fun. Oh, and who is Kevin Grandma? Corrin, thanks for the message. Do you like my room?

THANKS!

Finally...The Transformation is Complete!

I know some of you have been patiently waiting for the "after" pictures to be posted. The room is finally done! Obviously, things got a little behind schedule. We had a bed picked out at Nebraska Furniture Mart, so the plan was to go there, buy it, and bring it home. We borrowed Josh's brother Andy's pick-up and headed to Omaha. We found a salesperson, and she told us the bed was on backorder. So instead of borrowing a truck and spending the gas money to drive down again, we paid the $60 to have them deliver it. They also set it up so it was totally worth it. The bed was delivered on Tuesday, but we just got everything moved back in last night. Breck's bed is really cool and her room feels so much less cluttered. It is a captain's bed, so it has four drawers underneath to put all her clothes in and we got rid of her dresser. It also has storage behind the drawers that you can access from a door on the side. As you can see from the pictures, Breck has chosen to use this, not for storage, but as her own private reading area. It also has a huge bookcase headboard, so we put her books and all her little knick knacks on it. The shrine to Camp Rock survived and is still intact on her closet. The magnetic wall is kind-of disappointing. It won't hold very heavy magnets and you really can't put anything under the magnets. But, Breck has some High School Muscial and Camp Rock magnets that decorate her wall, so she seems to be happy with it. So far, Breck's new room is working out nicely for her! By the way, the neon green glow is not nearly as offensive when the room is full of stuff!

Goodbye Freedom!

As some of you know, I have been going back and forth about whether to substitute at school for paraprofessionals or work at Hallie Management, where I have worked off and on for about 2 years. I have made a decision! As of last week I am doing both! Ok, I guess that is really not a decision (I am not really good at making those), but it works for me right now :). At Hallie, they have agreed to let me come in and work on special projects whenever I can, so I am able to work at school whenever they call me in. I started at Hallie on Thursday and it was good to be back. Someone said to me, "Just when you think you've made it out, they suck you back in!" For those of you that don't know, this will be my third time working at Hallie. It's a long story, and my decision was not influenced at all by my father, as much as he would like to think so! The good news is, I am back in his will! Friday morning, I was suppose to sub for a para at school with a special needs girl in the middle school, but she was sick. Instead, I just spent the morning in the elementary with another para to see how things work. It may have been overwhelming coming in and doing it on my own, so it was nice to watch someone else do the job first. I guess I am no longer a free woman!

I have noticed that I may tend to overuse exclamation points! But, I have been told that I talk rather loudly, so I guess I just type the way I talk!

On another note, I promise to post "after" pictures of Breck's room. We have everything done and are just waiting on a bed. It will be delivered on the 16th, and we can hardly wait!

Room Renovation

Breck has decided she needed a change in her bedroom. The tea party theme she has had since we moved in to this house had to go. Here is the before picture. I found a blue, green, and pink plaid bedding set on clearance that I thought she would enjoy, so I bought it. She loved it! Breck is into plaid right now. So, we set about picking out paint, curtains, etc. Since they did not have school on Tuesday, we went to Home Depot and picked out the color "Friendly Frog". We also bought some magentic paint, so she can use magents to put things up on her wall. That is very exciting! It's amazing how many Jonas Brothers and Camp Rock pictures one pre-teen can put on her walls! (By the way, in case you were wondering, Joe is the cutest!) Breck and Braydon helped paint a little, but mom and dad did most of the work. Well, the little 2 inch by 4 inch sample of "Friendly Frog" was not quite as neon as an entire room turned out to be, but we will make it work. There is a green glow coming from her room now. Josh was not entirely impressed with the color, but what's done is done and he has been a good sport about it. We have been bed shopping and I think we have settled on a captain's bed we found at The Mart. Breck has been bunking with Braydon the last couple nights and can't wait to get back into her room. By this weekend, she will be sleeping in her brand new bed and hopefully, the neon glow from her walls won't keep her up!

A Message from Breck

Breck asked if she could write on my blog. I told her she could. She typed it all by herself!

My name is Breck. School is going great. I am on words in cursive. Cursive is very, very fun. I know the letters, P, A ,R, S, W, U in cursive. I have new friends. I also like walking on the walking path. There are baby birds.

Babysitting and Volunteering

I know, I know. Only three posts in and I am already falling behind. So, this one is for all my loyal fans (ok, maybe it is just one fan, Tom) out there that have been patiently waiting! Ha! Ha!
On Saturday, my sister and brother-in-law, Jenny and Andrew, had their 10 year class reunion. So, I got to watch my three nieces. For those of you that don't know, Mckenna is 3, Kaedyn is 2, and Brea is 9 months. As you can imagine, it can be a bit chaotic and I am a little out of practice when it comes to toddlers and babies. Josh, Breck, and Braydon went to a birthday party, so I was on my own. McKenna and Kaedyn kept themselves entertained most of the night playing with Breck's Littlest Pet Shop pets. Brea entertained herself by crawling EVERYWHERE very quickly and keeping me on my toes. I had to keep her away from outlets, stairs, and the precious TV. Apparently I did not do a good job of protecting the TV, because Josh discovered numerous handprints (I saw two, he saw hundreds) and he had to get out the lint free cloth and screen cleaner when he got home. Later, McKenna found some grapes on the counter. She asked me, "What about those grapes?" I took that as a hint and gave them both a bowl of grapes. Overall, the night went well. Then it was bedtime. It took me about an half an hour to put up the pack n play, while poor Brea was following me around crying because she was tired and hungry. That goes back to the out of practice thing I mentioned before. Breck, Braydon, McKenna, and Kaedyn all slept in Braydon's room. Braydon let them both borrow stuffed animals to sleep with. Kaedyn got a crab. She attacked me with the crab and in her best demonic voice, she yelled, "Crab! Crab! Crab!" They all went to sleep within 10 minutes after a minor incident. McKenna had snuck some of Braydon's cars into her sleeping bag and was playing. Braydon told her to put them away and she started crying. We compromised. I told her she could have Lightning McQueen. Brea decided to wake up at 10:30. She slept all night for my mom the night before! I told Josh she likes me more and just wanted to see me. She talked and played and I got her to sleep again around 12:30, right before mom and dad got home to take over! As Jenny was rolling up McKenna'a sleeping bag, I told her to check the little pocket on the outside. They told us they usually have to pat McKenna down before they leave someone's house, because she tries to take toys home that she likes. The pets she was playing with before would fit perfectly in that little pocket. She opened it. There were not pets, but a little flashing diamond. I told her it was not Breck's. She said it wasn't McKenna's. McKenna had stuffed it in there the night before at my mom's house, so my sister Jacey is short a little light up diamond! Like Josh said last night, McKenna may clepto, Kaedyn may talk in scary voices, and Brea will not sleep for us but we love them all! It is so fun when they come over!
Yesterday, I got to go volunteer in Braydon's kindergarten class. I just did some cutting and hanging of pictures. If you ever get the chance to spend some time in a kindergarten classroom, I suggest you do it. You will have new respect for teachers and paras. It is amazing that they can keep 22 five and six year olds all moving in the same direction. And they all know the routine so early in the schoool year. My baby looks so grown-up sitting at his table working on his schoolwork and lining up for lunch. The kids say funny things too. When I was in Breck's kindergarten classroom once, a kid raised his hand during storytime. The teacher called on him and he told her, "My mom had to get a job because we ran out of money!" She just said, "That's nice." and kept on reading. I cracked up, quietly of course. But she just went on reading. I guess that sort-of thing happens all the time in kindergarten. Mrs. Kvasnicka (Braydon's teacher) did tell me that he is doing really well and he is a good leader. I see those leadership qualities at home when he is screaming at his sister that she is not playing the Wii right! Breck also has some very good leadership skills :)!
Now I have done my duty! Hope I got you all caught up!

Settling In

Well, we are starting to get settled into the school year routine. Each day, since the first, has gotten a little easier. Breck has learned three letters in cursive already. She loves Mrs. Hartman and says she is really nice. She felt like a big kid yesterday because Mrs. Kvasnicka (Braydon's teacher) had her lead some kindergarteners to Reading Club before school. Breck also decided this weekend to redecorate her room. The walls are now covered in Camp Rock posters and pictures. Braydon says school is "awesome." On the first day of school, he learned to spell red. He really loves seeing his best friend Treyce everyday and has made a new friend, Brianna. And apparently, he has fully recovered from the "terrifying" (his words) bus ride on the first day, because that is now his favorite part of the school day. Braydon asked me yesterday morning when he can go to the bus stop by himself and told me this morning that I did not need to wait for the bus this afternoon. I guess he has grown up quite a bit since he has started kindergarten!
I, too, have accomplished a few things in the last couple days. The refrigrator is clean and stocked, the dining room floor is sparkling, and the kitchen is spotless. Now I just need to decide what I want to do when I grow up!

First Day of (sniff) School

Well, after eating a roll of chocolate chip cookies (Hello, my name is Jaime and I am an emotional eater) and staying up all night watching the Olympics, I came to the conclusion that I had no other choice but to send my babies to school. Breck started third grade today and Braydon started kindergarten. Most of you know Braydon and how much he likes to be at home with mommy, so it was kind-of a big day for us, as it is for any other kindergartener. As I did with Breck, I have been worrying for months! The kids and I have been celebrating the end of summer together for the last couple days. Tuesday, we went extreme bowling (black lights, glowing balls, disco lights, and loud music). We had alot of fun and the kids bowled pretty well. Breck squealed each time she got a split or a spare. Braydon was mad at me though. I tried to give him some bowling advice (my sparkly pro bowl in Wii bowling qualifies me to do that) and I told him he needed to worry more about throwing the bowl straight instead really hard. He would try to throw it hard and it would pinball all the way down the lane off of the bumpers. Well, after a couple of times trying it my way, he stomped up to me and said, "I get the splits when I try to throw it straight!" I let him bowl his way and he put up much better scores! Yesterday we went to the Lincoln Children's Museum. The kids love everything about it, but their favorite is the Prairie Dog Town. The tunnels are so fun to crawl around in. So, we gave the summer a proper send off. We picked out our first day of school outfits and talked about what to expect. Breck was very excited about learning cursive this year. That is something she has been looking forward to since she started writing. Braydon prepared by learning his lunch number (the four digit number they need to punch in to access their lunch account) and mom giving him a lecture about not googling stuff on the school computers. They were both excited about today. Braydon must have sensed that I was not quite as excited as they were because he offered to make me breakfast. He suggested cereal because, "I know how to pour cereal and I know how to pour milk." We put them both to bed and talked about the upcoming day. Breck was excited about wearing her new clothes and outfit and was calm, cool, and collected, because Breck is calm, cool and collected. Braydon was worried about, as he put it, "I might get all sweaty and my underwear will stick to me!" because Braydon, well, he just worries. So we got up, and he made me breakfast. He was giggling and shaking while he was eating because he was so excited. They both brushed their teeth and got ready without me having to tell them to or hurry them along. We got to the bus stop fiifteen minutes early. They are the second to last stop, so the bus was pretty full. I gave him a hug and he told me he would miss me. We watched them get on and look for seats. Unfortunately, there was not two seats left together, so they had to sit in different seats. I got inside and was feeling pretty good about the morning and how well I was holding it together. Then, I heard it. My phone played the tone that meant I had a text message. You see my little sister Jacey also rides their bus and had her cell phone with her. Josh picked up the phone and I could tell by his face. The message said Braydon was crying because he could not sit by Jacey or Breck. That was it! I lost it and all at once I realized that as of this morning, I had two kids in school and none left at home with me! Jacey texted me again and said Braydon got off the bus with Breck. Breck will be a great big sister and show him to his room and he will find his friend Treyce and he will have a great time and be fine. I, on the other hand, am not so sure about me!

Why not?!

Well, I have decided to start a blog! My mother-in-law introduced me to the world of blogging and said I should give it a try. Since I will have a little more free time on my hands, I decided it sounded like something constructive I could do. I used to enjoy writing and considering I won a writing contest in fifth grade I must be good at it, so why not make an attempt. As a bonus, all those people out there that say I don't call them enough will at least be able to keep tabs on us :)! I am sure it will be nothing too exciting, but it gives me something to do besides trying to master Guitar Hero, which my husband says I am not allowed to do.