Saturday, May 31, 2008

Prom #16

It's Saturday, it's almost June, and my parents are taking the kids for the night! YEAH! What prompted this brief respite from parental responsibilities? A night at the theatre? A fancy dinner out? A night at the Del? No, it's what every nearly-forty couple would dream of for their date night: prom. Prom #16, to be exact.

Okay, so maybe it's not our dream date, but we LOVE going to prom. And strangely enough, our students are really insulted when we don't go! I don't remember caring who was standing around supervising our prom, but our students start asking us months in advance if we'll be there (I've even had one ask about next year already!). Then they want to know what we're wearing, and whether or not they can take me shopping. (???) And they promptly ditch their dates upon arrival to snap quick pictures with their teachers before heading off to the dance floor. Who could resist such adoration?

Prom in our late thirties is a little different from the version when WE were in high school. We drop the kids off, grab a bite at home, Scott puts on his suit and I put on whatever dress has been donated to me by some charitable friend or student, we get into our compact car, and we go. I do my own hair, don't bother with nails, and try to throw together some sort of jewelry that's not tarnished. It's the more economical version of prom. :)

But seeing the kids and staff all dressed up (and nearly all the staff attends!) is SO much fun. Plus, the food is great. We pose for a group photo with the staff, several photos with students, and take piles of photos of beautiful seniors who, in just two weeks, will be leaving us to forge their own paths. It's one last chance to celebrate the wonderful young adults they have become.

It may not be everyone's dream date, but we just love prom.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Pomp & Circumstance

I graduated. Again. Yeah! No more school for me...EVER!! I'm SO excited!

Graduation was good for closure. Most of my cohort was there, and our professor who advised us. Scott came with the kids, and my mom and dad. We even had one of our alumni, Jackie, join us! VERY nice of her considering it was at 8:00 on a Sunday morning!

So now I'm back to just being a mom and a teacher. A teacher who is REALLY looking forward to summer when I can just be a mom. Time to focus on my family for awhile.

And Scott is back to coaching, just as I am finishing up. The Lord worked it all out for us.

My friend Angela graduated at the same time as me. She's seven years younger and just earned her SECOND MA. She sat and prayed with me as I was struggling with the decision to go back to school and was one of my cheerleaders throughout the program. She kept saying she was proud of me. But really, it had a lot to do with my wonderful husband, who picked up my slack. And my friends and family who supported me through this. And the fact that the program wasn't that rigorous. ;)

And it proves this point: I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Catching up?

It's been a BUSY week!

Nikki's Girl Scout troop went camping this weekend. Also during the weekend, they bridged to Cadettes. So exciting! And exhausting (YOU try sleeping in a tent with five twelve-year-old girls!)!

Nikki ran for student council! She was running against two seventh graders for the office of Religious Affairs. She wrote a great speech, we stayed up until midnight making pins and posters, and she did wonderfully during her speech in front of the school (I was told by two teachers). Unfortunately, she did not win (she and the other girl split the female vote so the boy won). Regardless, it was fun and she's excited to try again next year.

Caleb is turning four tomorrow! I can't believe he's going to be four!! He is very excited and wants to take cookies to school so he can celebrate with his friends. We still don't know what we'll be doing for his actual birthday, but his pool party is Sunday. My mom saved the day and went to Party City yesterday to buy all the supplies. I sent out E-vites two days ago. I am a VERY bad and unprepared mom. :P

On the same morning as Caleb's party, I will be graduating from SDSU again!

So we're very busy this week. I'm looking forward to Memorial Day!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Answers

Caleb and I went to the ENT today. We got answers.

Fortunately, I was a prepared mom because they couldn't access his audiogram records. BUT I have a folder with every referral, report, receipt, and anything else that starts with an "r" that I've received since we started this odyssey. So while the doctor didn't have his audiogram, I DID! The wonderful woman explained to me what it meant. It's something like this:

Caleb has a mild to moderate hearing loss which is neural in nature. While he did have fluid in his ears at the time of the test (which is normal for up to six months following an ear infection), she was able to conclusively tell me that his hearing loss is in the same range as speech. The verdict? Caleb can't hear us clearly when we speak.

And so, I asked, would he need hearing aids? And she said that he will, and once he has them he will catch up so quickly that we will be able to toss his IEP!!! Because he will actually be able to HEAR what we are saying!

At least two people I've told this have seemed concerned about him having to wear hearing aids. I, on the other hand, am ECSTATIC to have answers and a solution! Caleb will finally be able to HEAR. I can think of so many terrible scenarios: we're sorry, but your son has a cognitive delay, OR we're sorry but there's nothing we can do for him, OR we'll have to perform some big scary surgery on your son. What a blessing that this is easily fixed and the delays will be easily overcome.

Yeah for answers! Keep 'em coming!!

Friday, May 9, 2008

SAHM-for people made of sterner stuff.

We're testing this week at school, which means shorter days, no papers to grade, and early release times. Today, we were done by lunchtime. Tonight, I am exhausted. Why, you might ask? Let me tell you what I did after testing ended at 12:30:
  • Loaded items onto a van for Ronald McDonald House (we just finished a food drive)
  • Went to AP US History study session to offer moral support and (mostly) eat lunch.
  • Drove to Girl Scout Headquarters to buy vests for my bridging Girl Scouts (20 min.)
  • Drove back to school to pick up the kids (20 min.)
  • Drove home (20 min.)
  • Fed the kids a snack
  • Washed the car
  • Made Caleb clean up his toys which were strewn all over the house
  • Made dinner (I HIGHLY recommend that you try sweet potato fries!!)
  • Ironed regalia on Nikki's Girl Scout vest
  • Bathed Caleb
At this point, our neighbor was coming over to sit for the kids so Scott and I could attend a meeting that was back at school. However, it occurred to me that we never received any confirmation that this meeting was happening, so I sent Scott (who was still at school with the AP kids) to investigate. He did find the meeting, but by that time it was too late for me to go. So I took the opportunity to get some errands run while the sitter was there:
  • Costco (to buy breakfast for AP kids, did some returns)
  • Bed, Bath & Beyond
  • Target
  • Petco (and dropped off plastic bags for recycling at Henry's next door)
  • Kohl's (got a new quilt for the bed-YEAH!)
And now it is 10:30 and I am wiped. This, my friends, is why I work. Being at home is just too exhausting.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Do you hear that??

It's "Pomp and Circumstance" playing in the background!!

Yes, it's actually happening...I'm GRADUATING!!!

Tonight was my last class meeting for my research class and we presented our final project for my technology class. The professor gave us a perfect score! NICE!! Now we just have to show up next week and listen to the rest of the presentations.

The really cool thing about this project is that I get to use it next week in my classes that I teach. So now I get to breathe a sigh of relief and ponder the fact that I'm DONE! Two and a half years later, there will be no more school. It's still unbelievable at this point. I'll give it some time to sink in.

"No more pencils, no more books..." Oh, wait. I'm a teacher. Oh well, at least I don't have anymore homework. :)

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Surprise!

On Thursday, we had our Girl Scout meeting at the house. When this happens, Scott and Caleb go out for "boys' night." This generally involves a dinner consisting largely of sugar and white flour (for example, IHOP) and some other fun activity.

When they got home after the meeting, we had this conversation:

Me: Caleb, did you have pancakes??
Caleb: Yeah, and I paint!
Me: You painted?! What did you paint??
Caleb: I paint a cup for you!
Scott: So much for your Mother's Day surprise.

Surprises are overrated, anyway. :)