Friday, December 30, 2011

Merry Christmas, for real.

Ok guys, Christmas this year ROCKED!

And honestly, I think it was because of my new(ish) strong ties with my church. The Wednesday before Xmas I went caroling with some members of my church, my group of carolers went to an assisted living/nursing home and got to sing to a lot of members of our church who have a hard time getting out and about. It felt so good to see the joy on their faces, and also was kind of eye-opening since none of the elder generation in my family has had to go to any facilities yet.

Then on Friday, I signed up to go bell-ringing for Salvation Army - again through church. I thought it was just gonna be me and Buddy, but an older couple from church that I idolize came with, and I talked my dad into coming, and one of my girls from the B&G Club met us there... and that was awesome too! We sang carols in 4-part harmony (which always makes me happy), we made a lot of money for the Salvation Army, and afterwards my dad, Buddy, and I went out to dinner with that couple I love and had some great conversation.

And that was all BEFORE Christmas! Christmas Eve we went bowling with Buddy's dad's side of the family, which was fun. Buddy's grandma from that side made us a scrapbook type thing on shutterfly which was absolutely amazing!
Then also on Christmas Eve we went to 2 church services, one at 5pm which Buddy got to participate in and one at 10pm where my dad and I sang in the choir. Oh, and we also fit in a quick stop at my grandparent's house!

On Christmas Day we went over to my mom's house and had a delicious brunch.

I got a lot of great presents, and so did Buddy, but our favorites so far are a new camera (Mom) and a pillow pet (Buddy)! This year we didn't have much money to spare on gifts, so I had to struggle not to feel guilty receiving nice things... I just had to keep reminding myself that when I give, I don't do it expecting something in return, so hopefully my family and friends feel the same way.

Anyway, XMAS WAS GREAT and now I'm almost done with Buddy's vacation week. Next week he goes back to school, then a few weeks later I start up again... but I'm enjoying the free time till then!
My boys! Before I figured out how to use the flash on my new camera.

Buddy with his pillow pet

Super cool hot wheels track!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Merry Christmas!!

Too lazy to update about everything that has gone on within the last few weeks, so instead I'll leave you with some cute pictures I took of my buddy tonight WITH MY NEW CAMERA I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS!

He loved his soap mohawk!


I told him to make a "Sid Vicious" face, this was his best effort!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

This is my life...

So I was uploading my pictures from my phone today, and I realized that I have a bunch of videos that I never post. Mostly because they're short and ridiculous. But, since I'm out of things to write about... enjoy!

Taken today. I'm really irritated with the weather.



He's singing "they got a touchdown" and at the end he shouts "Lambeau!"


From this fall, Buddy's cousin can do cool tricks on the playground!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Paranoia About Pride

You know what I'm stressing about all over again? Buddy's school next year. Because the time is coming soon where I have to decide between 3 options...

1) stay in the Montessori Preschool that he went to this year, just go full days. This would be great because so far this year he has flourished, and learned things I didn't expect him to be able to comprehend hello, place value? and after a few bumps in the road he ended up making friends and really enjoying it. (I am concerned about this because I worry that he will end up stagnant, and since he loves teaching others I worry that he will just focus on helping his younger friends, rather than moving forward with his own learning. This is already starting to be the case, so I'm  not just being paranoid)

2) Send him to the Montessori Charter School that is currently housed in a local middle school. This would keep him in the same style of learning that he's so far done well with, and let him continue to be challenged by his older classmates and move at his own pace through different studies. (I am concerned about this because I worry about him graduating this school at 5th grade and then having to go on to middle school... what an awkward time to have to get used to another style of teaching/learning! Also, selfishly, it would mean I would need to drive him to and from the school every day, which might be fine but also might be a pain, depending on the job I had at the time)

3) Send him to Lincoln Elementary. Now, this one is tough. Lincoln is known for being in one of the lower-income districts of town (makes sense, I'm low income as well). And it houses a lot of students who need remedial help in English Language Learning, and it's also the school that gets the toughest Special Needs kids. HOWEVER, I know the teachers there. And they are absolutely amazing. And if my kid ends up being advanced, I have no doubts that they will notice and help him as best they can. And if he needs help in things, I know that they are capable of helping! Also, I know that it is almost immeasurably good for my child to be brought up with diversity, and understanding of others situations. (Honestly, the only dilemma here is a social one. Should I send my child to a school known to hold 'disadvantaged' kids? My kid is technically disadvantaged because of his family situation and our financial hardships, but I try as hard as I can to keep him as stimulated in all ways as possible. Also, is it possible that because this school has to work so hard to help the students who are behind, that it maybe couldn't help my son go as far as he wanted?)

I don't know what to do. I'm full of dilemmas. Buddy wants to either just take Kindergarten at his current Montessori and then go on to Lincoln, or go on to Lincoln right away.

Also, I feel like I'm making this assumption on the basis that Buddy is advanced in his learning. And even though I think that, and his close family and friends think that, it's obviously possible we are biased...

Does anyone have advice? Is Montessori really that much better? So far I'm not feeling like it is...
Either way, I don't have to start looking at schools seriously till February. Told you I was paranoid!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Work Update

I just wanted to quickly post about my job here, because I think last time I wrote I was sort of negative. I think I'm finally finding my groove, finally starting to be accepted by the kids and understand my place in the whole scheme of things!
I'm running the art program, like I said, but that's really just an excuse to get kids to do SOMETHING, anything. Because honestly, with no space to display artwork, and no specific art room it's tough to motivate the kids to feel like there's a point in making anything.
But the kids (I should really stop calling them "kids", they are all at least 12) like to hang out with me now, and so they come do activities just because I'm running them, and I'm worming my way into lots of different groups of friends, so I feel like I can sit down with anyone and they will want to talk to me which is awesome :)
Anyway, I'm feeling like I'm sort of important, kids look forward to seeing me and talking with me, and I hope I'm making a difference!
So this is all good, and it makes it much easier to go to work every day now that I feel like there is a point to what I'm doing. I hope it continues to go this well!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like...

We put up our Christmas tree today! It took a lot of rearranging of my living room, since I don't actually have a lot of wall space in my living room, and I'm not exactly pleased with the way my couches/shelves/desk look right now.

However, the tree looks fantastic!
Shiloh just starting to get the decorations on!

Look how pretty! I don't like to have color schemes or themes in decorations on my tree, I want it to be fun and colorful and full of good memories. This is why I put on all the homemade felt ornaments I made at 12, even though now I think they look ridiculous! And there are disco balls, and lots of sparkly shiny tacky ornaments, and I love them :)

I like this picture lots, even though neither of us are making very normal faces. Also, you can see the stuffed felt angel I made when I was 12 (as previously mentioned)! I also made a camel, a snowman, a candycane, and a Christmas tree :)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Elf on the Shelf

So, even though Buddy's dad and I aren't together, his family and I are pretty close still. And I got some messages from Buddy's Aunt Bethany, who found this great, sort of interactive Christmas story called "The Elf on the Shelf". It is a story about an elf who is your friend for the weeks leading up to Christmas, and he goes and tells Santa every night if you were good or bad. It comes with an elf doll, that is supposed to be moved every night while the child is asleep so he looks like he has gone to the North Pole and back! Then, Grandma Lynn surprised me with the whole set when she came to get Buddy for the weekend at his dad's.

Anyway, Buddy just got home from his dad's to find this in his room:
Notice his rock collection, it's always growing and changing!
He was so stunned he didn't even know what to say! He wasn't sure if he was supposed to see it, or if he was supposed to wait for something, couldn't decide whether to get in and see or hang back for directions!
"Mom, is it OK? Can I check it out?"
We  read the story, Buddy named his elf "Fuzzy" and is really excited about it! My curious boy has asked about a thousand questions about the elf, has been running to tell Fuzzy things all night, and I caught him telling Fuzzy what he wanted for Christmas!

Anyway, thanks Aunt Bethany for the awesome idea, and thanks Grandma Lynn for getting this for us! We're having lots of fun with it!


Saturday, December 10, 2011

I Love Drama.

So, once or twice a year, one of my old professors takes a group of students from her college on a field trip to see some amazing theatre. And even though I haven't actually been a student of hers in a long time, she always invites me along, and I always jump at the chance to go with!
Last spring I wrote this post about the shows I went to and my experience, and I figured I'd stick with the tradition :)

So this year we again went to Milwaukee for our "fine art adventure". First we stopped at the Milwaukee Art Museum, where there was an Impressionist exhibit showing. Although I have to admit - even though it means I'm an uncultured hooligan - I didn't really enjoy that exhibit much. I liked much better the modern art, which was sometimes weird and nonsensical, but always amusing! Even if I didn't understand it, it made me laugh or think... rather than go "oh look, another pretty naked girl". Anyway, I'm uncouth.

Next on the agenda was The Rep, otherwise known as the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. And this time around, we saw a musical called Next to Normal, which I knew almost nothing about. I heard it was a musical about mental illness, and I chose not to find out anymore information so that I would be moved and surprised when I saw it.
So, it turns out that Next to Normal is about a woman who suffers from bipolar disorder that verges on schizophrenia and how she tries to cope with it. But more moving than her story, I thought, was the story of her family and how the disease affects them in different ways. The most moving part was how even though they all loved each other, they were all being hurt and all spiraling horribly out of control, because the disease took over each of their lives.

I'm not sure how much you readers know about my life, but a lot of this hit really close to home for me, especially the storyline about the daughter who felt neglected and then turned to drugs for comfort.
Needless to say, I sobbed through parts of the first act, and almost ALL of the second act. It was a healthy cry though, and we all came out of the theatre wanting to talk about how mental illness or other "shameful" illnesses had affected our families.

Anyway, it was a fabulous time, and a very good reward for me finishing up the semester, and now I'm exhausted and ready to go to bed! Goodnight everyone :) 

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Questions?

Things that Buddy has asked me today that had me baffled:

  • How come "craisins" sounds like cranberries but "raisins" doesn't sound like grapes? Shouldn't we call them "graisins"?
  • Why are soccerballs made out of pentagrams? Could they be made out of octagons instead? 
  • Why does milk get bad? How long can you leave it out of the fridge before you have to dump it?
  • If plastic is bad for the earth, why are so many things made out of it?
Can anyone come up with reasonable answers for these questions? Because it might just be because it's finals week, but I feel like all I said today was "I have NO clue!"
This is how my head feels this week.