Final Week

Well so much for healthy and well. On Thursday morning N woke up complaining that he didn't feel well. At first I didn't take him seriously because lately he's been wanting to stay home from school. He is totally ready for his school year to be over even though he still has 2 weeks left. I told him that I thought if he had something to eat maybe he would feel better. Don't you know that when I kissed him on his forehead he was HOT!!! Now this wouldn't be such a big deal normally but it was my LAST day teaching this year! I couldn't be out. So I had to call around looking for help. My friend 'M' whom is almost always available had a doctors appointment so that wasn't the answer. Well R ended up coming home to take care of N. During the day his fever evolved into a stomach thing. He was sick through the night and had to stay home on Friday too. By noon on Friday he felt well enough to go stay with Dad for a few hours so that I could go to n's graduation from kindergarten. Nothing like a little stress to end the school year, but it all ended up fine thank goodness.

Back to Thursday...n delivered her teacher gifts to school with my help. They were beautiful and her teachers and Mrs. A loved their gifts. n helped in every step of the process. She even picked out and helped to arrange the flowers. She made very thoughtful cards too. I think she was proud of the work she did for her teachers.


So on Friday I was able to attend n's graduation ceremony. At her school this ceremony if very special and usually just attended by the children and the teachers. I was honored to be a guest. The children sit on chairs in rows with the teachers at the front facing the class. Each child is called by his or her full name to come to the front of the . At this time the teachers ask each child to share the most important thing he or she learned in Kindergarten that will help them in the future. The answers were beautiful and I was on the verge of tears at several points during the ceremony. When the children answer the question they are awarded the 'Silver Acorn'. The sterling acorn is given to the children in a beautiful pouch with a lovely poem about strength and wisdom. When n was asked what she thought was most important she said "helping others". I couldn't be more proud of her. After the ceremony we had a special snack...ice cream cones. After snack the children went outside to play. It was a wonderful and emotional day for everyone. I will treasure the memories of this day and I hope n will too.


PEACE!

Healthy Again and All is Well

Well over the past month I've done my share of tending to ill relatives. Most recently little 'n' had another bout with a fever virus. At one point her fever was up to 103! Fevers make me nervous especially when they start to get over 101. Poor little thing was lethargic, tired and just down right miserable. She even had the chills throughout the night. It is such a helpless feeling when your children are sick and there isn't much to do except comfort and stay close by. The virus she had lasted for three days. By Saturday afternoon she was starting to feel more like herself. The fact that she was yelling at her older brother was a tell tale sign. I'm also happy to report that I did not have to bring Dad to the doctors today. Last week the nurse practitioner was so happy with his progress that she extended his appointment out for two weeks and I had to extend it out for an additional week do to scheduling conflicts with school. So he doesn't go back until June 4th. It is nice to have a break from his doctors office. Unfortunately I didn't get away scott free as I had to bring both children for a long overdue dental appointment. They go to a pediatric dentist who is wonderful. She has a great staff and a beautiful office. She is thorough and kind. A couple of cavities later and two dental appliances in process in the hopes of keeping the children out of the orthodontist office and we were back on our way home. The next week will be very hectic as it is 'n' last week for Kindergarten and my last week teaching the 3-day for this year. We have gifts to assemble, cards to construct and thank you's to write. I will take pictures of the teacher gifts and post next Monday if not sooner. I'm off now to attend to our bedtime routine. Always something to do.

Oh and I almost forgot...the folks who were trying to micro manage Grammy and J have been stopped by Elder Services. Grammy is so grateful and relieved to have the power returned to it's rightful place. I'm thrilled that the drama will end for a little bit anyway.

PEACE!

Give Peace a Chance

Over at http://judyinthedyes.blogspot.com/index.html I found the newest button you see on the left hand side of my blog. I feel strongly that our troops should be brought home from the war in Iraq. I support all the men and women who risk their lives every day so that we can have and enjoy the freedoms we have in our country. I think that there good will and courage is being taken advantage of by our President. They need to come home. Maybe we bloggers can spread the word and make a difference in own way to stop the insanity of this war. I hope you will check out the One Million Blogs for Peace website.

PEACE!

A Lovely Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I hope you all did as well. My children 'made' me breakfast in the morning and we spent most of the day together. The day was leisurely and restful and I was able to spend time digging in the earth and working on some artistic projects with 'n'. This is a picture of the vase that I worked on for a special person at 'n's school.

I used the modge podge glue to adhere various pieces of soy silk papers as well as coffee filters that 'n' and I had painted in green hues in preparation for this project. I am thrilled with the outcome. The plan was to give it simply with beautiful flowers from us in thanks for all that has been done for our family over the past years. I think I will also include a small candle because the vase lit from inside is even more beautiful. It almost looks ethereal.

 

'n' spent a good amount of time creating the purple hued vase for one of her teachers. At first I didn't think I would like it as much as the green but I have changed my mind. I think it too is beautiful.

I don't think the pictures do these pieces justice. The papers on the glass are translucent and when held up to the light the fibers of the soy silkfusion can be seen. The camera only captured a fraction of the beauty. Perhaps I'll try to take some more creative pictures. Actually I can't take credit at all for the pictures as R and n took them. It was wonderful to flex that creative muscle again. It seems that lately all I have done is talk about elder care. I do have stories on that front too, for a later date. Well it is time to think about dinner.

Peace!

Happy Mothers Day!

I'd like to wish all of you fellow Mom's out there an early Happy Mother's Day!! I hope you all have a restful day full of what you love. I am looking forward to sleeping late and spending the day with my little family. Hopefully we will be able to visit and do some planting at both my Mom's headstone and R's Mom's headstone. We will not be venturing down to Chatham to visit Grammy this weekend. Being a little selfish I decided I wanted the day all for myself at home or close to home with N, n and R. We will be visiting Chatham next weekend to sort out some difficulties that have been going on with J's family. I'll post more on that another time. It is too much to go into tonight.

Back to crafting and art work is another goal I have for my day tomorrow. I am planning on cutting up some of my soy silk fusion and adhering to glass vases. n and I worked on one vase and used a variety of materials including painted paper towel. I don't like the texture of the paper towel on the glass. It just seems too scratchy to me when I hold the vase. So we are going back to silk fusion and painted coffee filters. I'll post some pictures one of these days when things settle down.

Peace

Busy Days

It is hard to believe that almost a week has gone by since the last time I posted. This past week was like a blur. The end of the year is upon us at school so we have been very busy. I spent the week preparing for end of the year conferences. I have 9 all together this time around and I am proud to say they are all typed and ready to be printed. When I sit and think about all that children learn in a school year I find it amazing. My own children will be moving on to the 1st and 3rd grades. 'n' will be venturing forth into the larger school community for the first time. She has been with me at the school in which I teach since she was in her car seat! At that time 'N' was in the preschool program there and I was a full time Mom. Since that time I have transitioned into a teaching position that I love and 'n' has gone through the 2-day, 3-day, 4-day and Kindergarten programs. She is ready to move on and I am certain that she will do well and be able to manage the situations that arise each day, BUT for me this is the end of an era. It is the transformation from having very young children to having school age children. Things will be different and I am very bad at change. Just thinking about her leaving the safe cocoon where she is close to me every day makes me teary. She had developed such strong relationships with all the women at our school. I don't think she will ever replicate these strong ties. She will always be able to come back, but it will be different. I know that every mother goes through this yet it doesn't make the process any easier. I love both of my children so much that just having them out in the world vulnerable makes me crazy. I fight the urge to keep them home and home school them, knowing that they need to be able to manage in the bigger world. I can't make it safe for them but I can give them the tools to keep themselves safe. I am fortunate to work with a group of women who have gone through this before and will be sympathetic and supportive as I try to manage my own emotions as we go through this transition.

Well this post went in a different direction than I intended, but I feel a bit better having put my feelings to paper so to speak.

Peace!

Caring for Dad

Yesterday was spent visiting and caring for Dad. The day started off dropping N off at school and then n and I went to CVS to pick up Dad's medicine. We stopped for some breakfast treats at the local bakery and then off to Dad's we went. n enjoys visiting with Dad's cat Fluffy. Dad enjoys seeing both of my children and often asks for them when they stay home. So we made sure Dad had his meds, took a shower and was ready for his doctors appointment later in the afternoon. n and I went home to prepare to drop her off to school. We had to make arrangements so that she could have a ride home with a friend rather than having R pick her up early from school so that they could get home to get N off the bus. All this rearranging is so that I can take Dad to his appointment at 3:20. Juggling young children and elderly parents and grandparents is quite and undertaking.

So after working in N's classroom for the afternoon I went to pick up Dad and we were off to the Doctors. Both of us hoping it would be a quick visit. Well, we were wrong. Evidently it was a busy day at the office yesterday and they were running a bit behind. After all was said and done Dad is now on another antibiotic and set up for an addition appointment next Monday. The fistula that was there last week has improved a bit but it now seems that there are two others as well. We are going for the least invasive approach possible as Dad would have difficulty keeping up with the requirements of a surgical intervention. Hopefully the next round of antibiotics and faithfully soaking the wound in a sitzbath will clear up the situation. It is challenging because he doesn't always remember or want to take the actions necessary.

On a different note I spent a good deal of time being productive this weekend getting things done for school. I have nine end of the year conferences coming up in the next two weeks. Usually I would wait until the night before to write and type them well hold onto your hats.....I wrote all nine conferences and have three typed and ready to go. I couldn't be more proud of myself. Even R was impressed! Now I just have to get a handle on the coarse work I've started. I'm about half done with the first session's assignments. Not bad for a lifelong procrastinator.

Anyway I hope everyone has a great day. It is going to be a beautiful day!

Peace!

Caring for Dad

Yesterday was spent visiting and caring for Dad. The day started off dropping N off at school and then n and I went to CVS to pick up Dad's medicine. We stopped for some breakfast treats at the local bakery and then off to Dad's we went. n enjoys visiting with Dad's cat Fluffy. Dad enjoys seeing both of my children and often asks for them when they stay home. So we made sure Dad had his meds, took a shower and was ready for his doctors appointment later in the afternoon. n and I went home to prepare to drop her off to school. We had to make arrangements so that she could have a ride home with a friend rather than having R pick her up early from school so that they could get home to get N off the bus. All this rearranging is so that I can take Dad to his appointment at 3:20. Juggling young children and elderly parents and grandparents is quite and undertaking.

So after working in N's classroom for the afternoon I went to pick up Dad and we were off to the Doctors. Both of us hoping it would be a quick visit. Well, we were wrong. Evidently it was a busy day at the office yesterday and they were running a bit behind. After all was said and done Dad is now on another antibiotic and set up for an addition appointment next Monday. The fistula that was there last week has improved a bit but it now seems that there are two others as well. We are going for the least invasive approach possible as Dad would have difficulty keeping up with the requirements of a surgical intervention. Hopefully the next round of antibiotics and faithfully soaking the wound in a sitzbath will clear up the situation. It is challenging because he doesn't always remember or want to take the actions necessary.

On a different note I spent a good deal of time being productive this weekend getting things done for school. I have nine end of the year conferences coming up in the next two weeks. Usually I would wait until the night before to write and type them well hold onto your hats.....I wrote all nine conferences and have three typed and ready to go. I couldn't be more proud of myself. Even R was impressed! Now I just have to get a handle on the coarse work I've started. I'm about half done with the first session's assignments. Not bad for a lifelong procrastinator.

Anyway I hope everyone has a great day. It is going to be a beautiful day!

Peace!