Treetops skiing

So sorry. One day in the near future, I promise to learn how to turn my pictures. For now, humor me and turn your head slightly to the right. Trevor aka "Dr. T, the Politician" talked his way into Santa's pocket and wound up with light-up yo-yo's and lighting the Christmas tree at Treetops. Kaleb wound up with a cool skiing dvd and placed our tickets into Santa's bucket to try and win something cool. Well, we didn't win the Palace tickets to the rodeo (which Kraig was hoping for), but we won two XL t-shirts that had ski for life on them. The boys were super excited to actually win something!

Here are the super cool t-shirts. That night everyone wondered where the boys got their long pajama tops from. Trevor told one guy that if he just stayed one extra day, maybe the guy could light the tree and win a cool shirt, too. Not everyone is able to do these cool things. :)

An actual picture with everyone in it. We were super cold and ready to go back to the hotel. We had enough skiing that day and Trevor was cold because he continually wiped out for some reason. He thinks that he's probably growing.

The infamous hat...my family always knows where I am on the hill because they see the "ears" flying in the wind behind me. We had a really nice time and were able to safely navigate our way home in some pretty heavy fog.

Christmas photos

Kaleb received a surprise gift from Santa - a paintball gun. Dad received one from me and kaleb was super excited to be able to do something with Dad. Kaleb's favorite question, you ask..."Mom, you never would have gotten me a paintball gun, right?"

Santa also deposited a Wii at our house and I must say that you all have 8 safe years out on the roads because Trevor is all over the road. He plays Mario Kart like bumper cars.

I told Kraig that I am never in pictures because I am always the photographer. So, I always try and do the camera flip on myself. My brothers and I decided to stop with the gifts and do something together. We went bowling on Christmas Eve day and then everyone came to our house for sandwiches and games. It was a nice break to enjoy my brother. My second brother was stuck in Howard City with snow, ice and wind.

My two nephews, brother Greg and of course, Trevor. He had everyone in stitches with his Batman impression as he bowls.

Merry Christmas

My mom got this ornament for me after I had my first teaching job at B.V. She knew that my heart was for helping these kids to succeed. This is on our upstairs tree.

Kaleb's face on this ornament makes me smile because Mr. Grumpy pants is actually smiling, happy and full of joy.

Trevor made this wonderful angel that is our tree topper out of paper plates. Simple and yet sparkly too.

The painted Santa Claus is my favorite though because my mom painted it the year that I was born. Now, she was not crafty at all and would never admit to a paint by number, but I still smile when I think of all the jokes she would endure every year as she put up her painting.

SNOW DAYS AND VACATION

Merry Christmas everyone. Friday, I thought it was wonderful to be stuck at home - a snow day! Saturday was good as I got to leave the house and get milk, bread, the basics ya know. Sunday, another blast from old man winter had us with drifts up to our hips. Kraig got the snow plow truck stuck and he had to go to the job site to get his "heavy equipment" to dig out the plow truck and move the snow. Basically, Kraig had a wonderful day playing in his equipment. The boys made it outside for like 10 minutes and we stayed home as the wind howled around our home. I thought of you all as we missed the musicale.

Cathy waited very patiently and asked for pictures of any special ornaments or keepsakes. (The window is next to our tree and the camera wouldn't take a good picture. So, imagine something wonderful!) Christmas was my mother's favorite holiday and she used to deck out our house. So, I have 2 or 3 boxes filled with ornaments in the crawl space. I was the one who always had to help put the ornaments up and then put them back away (Half a day, at least). Yikes...I don't think there was a single branch that did not have an ornament on it. Sooooo, long story short, my trees are simple and anything that the boys want to put up, they can. I like a simple tree with just the lights. I have other things that I put up that remind me of "mom memories" because the thousands of ornaments and the Department 56 houses are definitely not my thing.

The update

Oh dear...what to write about. Hmmm, it's hard when life seems to be speeding by and I am just holding on by the skin of my teeth (except at school). The school days are going by exceptionally slow. These are the things that I hear from someone at least once an hour. "Ms. Klein, why we gotta do work every day?" "Ms. Klein, ain't you tired of teachin' yet?" "Ms. Klein, are we doing anything today?" "All we ever do is work, work, work." and the best statement is (drumroll please) "We don't have homework in anyone else's class!"

Do you know what it's like to hear the refrain of a child saying mom about 15 times in a row to get your attention? You know, the time when you are in the middle something that is actually important? The questions that aren't really questions but are those small notions of someone needing attention? That's what I get every day, and on most days, every hour! It is exhausting.

So, I've been pulling fast ones on the students and today after I heard the "work, work, work" comment, I said very quietly, "Bow to your sensei." I had the attention of a few...and then I used my best yell across the gym voice and repeated..."Bow to your sensei!"

It i s from a movie and only 1 student "got it" and laughed. I spent at least five minutes talking about Napolean Dynomite and still only 5 of my students had even seen the movie. However, after giggling with my one student after class, I had a smile for the rest of the day. Bring on those ridiculous questions. I am sensei, do my work!

The Tag

What is your husband's name? Kraig Allen
2. Who eats more? Ummm...I'm a girl. Of course Kraig does ;)
3. Who said, "I love you" first? My baby daddy.
4. Who is taller? Well, on those special occassions when I wear my four inch heels, I am.
5. Who is smarter? Dealing with trivial knowledge or how to fix or build something - Kraig. Everything else - ME!!
6. Who is more sensitive? Kraig, can you believe it. I am rarely sensitive.
7. Who does the laundry? Usually, I do. Kraig will help out if we get overloaded.
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I am...when we be laying in it.
9. Who pays the bills? Kraig has to pay all of the company's bills so I am stuck with the household ones.
10. Who cooks more? Well, I have a giant pig-fibber who believes (in his fantasy world) that he does.
11. Who is more stubborn? Stubborn...no one at this house is stubborn. We are slightly strong-willed though. I'll never admit to being stubborn!
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? I am because I hate to be silent. I have an opinion or a joke about anything, just about.
13. Who has more siblings? We are equal, both have two siblings.
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Kraig wears the pants, but I like to hide out in the back pockets.
15. What do you like to do together? Watch Survivor and MAD TV, go to the movies, play with the Bickerman's and listen to his long, drawn out work stories...those are the best. :)
16. Who eats more sweets? Kraig doesn't eat sweets at all. Therefore, I would win this category hands down and win the title of Candy Queen and Princess Coke Slurpee.
17. Guilty Pleasures? chips and salsa, slurpees for me, and iced tea for him.
18. How did you meet? I was coaching at a local high school and his sister was the assistant coach. He came to watch his sister coach. He found me to be not only beautiful, but oh so very intelligent also. He took me to a company dinner and he still remembers that I had on cream tights with my dress. There goes the beautiful and intelligent comment...of course, he was two hours late. Anyways, we met, kissed, fell in love, and now he is my babies' daddy.
19. Who asked whom out first? He did.
20. Who kissed who first? I cannot even remember that far back.
21. Who proposed? He did.
22. His best features and qualities? He reminds me of my dad, can fix or build anything, works hard on everything, growing in his relationship with the Lord, and continues to change bad habits. He may not be a talker or a fellowshipper, but this guy will work hard! See lower post on the Oprah paw.

Gotcha...

Kaleb has been taking art lessons on Wednesday nights. He found this dragon in a book and did a pencil drawing. He was very proud!

See the feet in this picture. You're probably wondering what in the world is going on at the Klein house. I just happened to run across the picture and when I asked the boys what was going on. Of course, I don't know was in my house. I felt like I was reading a Family Circle Sunday comic. So... those feet can't be Kaleb's. No way! AND...I'm sure that he wasn't telling Trevor to do the worm and that he'd take a picture. No, not the Bickerman's! The next picture is even better...I'm such a careful mom.

First, I thought this was a cute picture of Trevor trying to balance on the bed post. Oh no...he was balancing on the closet that Kraig made up in their room. Now, you need to know that on the other side of this is the steps to downstairs. Probably a good 10-12 foot drop. What were these two boys thinking????? And to think that I was actually wondering why my hair was starting to turn gray. Never a dull moment.

attendance

Well, the honeymoon is over. I had my first "bad" day at AHHS and it was a doozy. I have two girls who continually skip my class so that they can go to lunch with the older kids. I left my 3 students doing their work with another teacher so that I could go and search for them. I came up with nothing and went down to the office to have them paged. My principal came down and was angry WITH ME that they were skipping. Now, I do understand that I could have called home on them sooner, but I forget by the end of the day. I was "spoken to" about not calling their home much sooner. To say that I was upset would have been an understatement!
I cannot make these girls come to class. I don't see them in the hallways before 4th hour to persuade them into the classroom. I take attendance on the computer every hour and we have an attendance secretary. At what point does attendance become the problem of the teacher? I am perplexed and angry that my teaching students is no longer sufficient. I am tired of having to wear different hats because students refuse to come to school or class. Each parent has access to the Attendance and Grade book from a computer. So, I am curious. What are your expectations of a teacher if your child were missing a lot of classes? (Mind you, the girls had poor grades and attendance during the last 3 years.) Do you think that you would already know?

Because of this situation, I called four other students with high absence rates. Left messages on 2 answering machines...no kids in school today. I spoke with one mom whose daughter had 19 absences. She wasn't shocked and thought her daughter only had 10 or 11. Really? Only 10 or 11 - ummmmm, that's two weeks of school. The other boy had left our school two weeks ago. Maybe it's me?

My hard-working man

Kraig has been working so hard and found out today that hand injury number 4,679 has an infection. I'm telling you, I better take out some more life insurance. The lady at Med-Express asked him if he had a recent tetanus shot and of course he answered that he had one only a week and a half ago. Maybe I should buy some bubble wrap like we mentioned in earlier posts!
Anyways, Kraig let the boys keep the trampoline up because they just knew the weather would get better...said in a whiney tone, of course. So, tonight after seeing a movie, the three boys went outside and worked to take down the netting. Well, two boys worked and Trevor monkey just hung around. We enjoyed that last bit of warm weather and now on to ski season.

10 Fabulous Things

So...I was thinking about the number 10. Hey, I'm a math teacher, we tend to think in terms of numbers! Do I have ten things that I am thankful for without having to think about life being a bummer. Praise the Lord, I have more than that, but I will only share 10, because that is the number of the day.

1 - The TNT kids laughing and playing, even when the weather wasn't very agreeable.
2 - Kraig setting up almost everything for the party before he left to go to work for the day.
3 - A good friend coming home and making time to visit (no gangsta kitty here).
4 - Kaleb and Trevor playing ever so nicely upstairs...together!
5 - My brother Greg is coming over on Monday to watch the boys so I didn't have to pay a babysitter.
6 - My pal and movie partner is always available on a moment's notice. Love her for that!
7 - People allowing me to hold their children and get my baby fix for the week, every Sunday.
8 - Election day is almost here and I won't have to watch any more commercials!
9 - Little boy kisses for making hot chocolate with whipped cream and grated chocolate. Little does he know that I would have shoved in another marshmallow for that same little kiss.
10 - A content heart and a life being fulfilled with all that God gives!

These are my ten. I have more, many more.

Progress Reports

I know that a positive note or word encourages others. Well, Trevor received a "good job" note from his teacher. Last year, his confidence was down towards the bottom of a pit because he wasn't interested in school or his lessons and not paying attention. His teacher this year is full of positive remarks and praise, while still being able to say, "I know that you can do better!" He hs definitely exceeded my expectations and is focused on his work. Hooray!
Also, a student in my morning class was talking to me about not being able to understand the work. I paraphrased Philippians 4:13 loosely, I might add. He said (and I quote), " I know that verse...I can do everything through him who gives me strength." The kids then had a little mini lesson about using Christ to help them through their school work and when things aren't going well. They finally asked me if I knew the verse and we talked a little more and then moved back to math. Maybe they have taken prayer out of the public schools, but He was certainly present in my 3rd hour!

I hope that your Monday was as enjoyable as mine!

Opening Day

Oh my...could it be? Yes, it's opening day of bow season!

Kaleb is trying to work it out for bow season. Hmmm...I don't think that this bow is the same.

Just a reminder that I have a bow that is available for any woman out there who is losing the company of her man for the next few weeks. Who says that it is just bow season for deer hunting! I had way too much time on my hands tonight. HAHAHAHAHA :-)

Barakel Treasures

Who is Sarah about to kiss? Well, it turned out Froggy was just that... a frog. No Prince Charming appeared after she smooched him. What happened to those fairy tales? Froggy even had the nerve to relieve his bladder!

This was after the hay ride on Saturday night, right before chapel. Nora stayed back to get some reading done.

Sarah and Tracey paddled around in the funyaks. I snapped the pictures, held their electronic goods and sat on the dock basking in the sunshine.

Nora was nicknamed Sniper! She did a great job at riflery and if you are having squirrel problems, she can certainly take care of that.

Tracey, Nora, Sarah and I went to Barakel's Ladies Retreat this past weekend and had wonderful weather along with a good speaker. Many good tidbits that I will talk about later. This picture was at the top of the zip line. Sarah will swear that it wasn't swaying in the wind, but she's wrong, it sure was!

Well, you know how I feel about the singing...high and definitely out of my range. However, one of the songs spoke to me this weekend.

Restore My Soul

Restore my soul, refresh my heart, renew my life in every part,

Reveal to me what sin remains and lead me to the cross again.

Relight the fire that burned so strong reminding me what You have done.

My one request is to be changed so lead me to the cross again.

There is another verse, but I went to Barakel to be renewed and restored. School began and praise God, it is good. This weekend really showed that I was becoming so busy that I was "forgetting" to complete devotions or putting it off until later in the day. This song hit me Friday night. Nothing like starting the weekend with a good kick in the pants!

The speaker, Elizabeth Givens spoke about 2 Corinthians 1-5. She waas easy to listen to and gave some good thoughts. We talked with our room mates from Battle Creek Saturday night about Fragrant Walkers" and what would we smell like in the eyes of others. Would we have a sweet smell that would encourage others or would we be not so sweet.

Another tidbit was the treasure of affliction in 2 Cor. 4:7-11. She talked about a cracked jar and how the light would shine through if the jar were in darkness. God's light within each of us that allows others to see Him. The glory of God keeps the pot from falling apart during times of trial and adversity. It is during these hard times that God holds us together so that later we can see how much we had to rely on Him. This truly hit home for me because of the loss of my parents. During that time, I never thought that I would truly work through the anger and loss. And yet, years later, I am here and happy. I truly had to allow God to work through my anger and hurt on a daily basis sometimes.

There was more and hopefully, one of the others can share something else but I am refreshed, restored, and renewed because my sin was revealed. Amen to that!

80's music

Well, I have a request. I need some music from the 80's (think Michael Jackson thriller era) that I can play in my classroom on Monday. Next week is homecoming week and Monday is 80's day. The kids at school were talking about what a throwback!!! AAugh, I felt really old today. I do not actually want to buy the music, just borrow or download a cd or something. I have an ipod but not anything to dock it on because you all should know how much I love that music!
I am also trying to think of an outfit that I could put together from my closet. I know some of you young ones were probably only in elementary or middle school, but let me know if you think of anything.

A room with a view...

I have 20 by 30 pictures of Kaleb and Trevor between each window to cover the glue. If you noticed the flowers, don't be alarmed...they're fake!

Kraig came and put up a whiteboard over the nastiest wall of glue.

This was the longest bulletin board ever. Notice how far apart the math posters are? :)

Well, it's better. I can spend more than a few minutes in here without going stir cazy. The window in the door still is pretty shabby, but I like the door open, so I don't usually see the window. Baseboards are still missing, but I can overlook that. My mouse friends have not come back to visit me the last few days. Maybe, it's the Bounce sheets that I have in every nook and cranny around the room. I overheard a student say that it smells like someone just did their laundry. The first two days, while hot, were manageable. Students actually brought pencils, paper, notebooks and folders...shocking, isn't it? This is your peek into my classroom. Enjoy your day and maybe, if you're lucky, my mouse friends will come by to visit.

A Thumbless Man

Okay, I am wrong and if you are offended easily, do not continue to read...

It turns out that my room was once occupied by a thumbless male teacher. He could not hang posters on the wall very well so he used LIQUID NAILS!!!! I still don't understand the no thumbs = poor judgement in decorating thing, but oh well. So, this explains why I couldn't get the guck off of the walls. My camera didn't work today, no battery juice, but I will take some quick photos and post them later. Have a good weekend all.

The City Mouse in Room 232

Well, the summer days have flown by and once again the school bells are ringing for me. I finally went to my classroom last week and was mortified! I think my mice friends from the camper had distant cousins who lived in the city in room 232. Oh me oh my, why do mice think that I should be their toilet maid? Needless to say, mouse poo everywhere underneath the sink in my room. A former teacher had glued things...posters maybe all over the walls in my room and the ancient cement glue would not come off. So, I have been working on that to try and make it manageable for me to stay in for 8 or more hours every day. When you see the picture of the glue goo on the window of my door, let me know if you have any ideas. Well, I'd better be off to the snore zone because 6:00 comes around so early in the morning. Who knew it was so cold at that time? :)

Tackles and catches

This is not the "official" uniform but I wanted a glimpse of how my first born was going to look!

Trevor is very proud and told him not to get a big head if he plays in the Superbowl. Little does Trevor know that it's just 5th grade tackle football.

The stance that I had to get him in. I can't believe that he's playing football. Trevor thinks that he is way cool!

Football season has officially begun. Last night, Kaleb began conditioning. We were two days late because he decided to play at the last minute. The other boys will be in their full get-ups but Kaleb will still condition today and Saturday morning, without the pads. I am a nervous wreck but Kraig said it's a boy thing. I'm praying for a fast young man who skirts past all of the other teams' tacklers or a young boy who tackles without getting hurt.

Barfs and the historical adventure

At the National Zoo, we saw the panda. I think that this was the only moment that Ling Ling wasn't looking into his private area.

The boys at Union Station...trains, food, and Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Sitting on the lawn on the campus of Georgetown University.

Sitting in front of the Capital - Trevor's picture taking skills.

Sorry. Turn your head for a view of Trevor's future home. Did you know that the White House has 31 bathrooms? This was Trevor's biggest morsel of information from the bus ride!

The White House has 31 bathrooms and the WH Visitor Center has a dungeon of a bathroom. Trevor said that he was going to take care of this!

The scientist studying at the Museum of Natural History.

Just in time to view the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Barfs...how does this term come to life during our vacation? Hmmm, where to start. Unbeknowst to his clueless mother, Trevor gets car sick during long trips. Who knew? I thought that he just caught the flu on the way home from Florida. A half hour stop at a McDonalds (somewhere in Pennsylvania on the way there) let me know that vomitosis was alive and raging in my youngest son. Thank goodness Mickey D's was kind enough, or took pity on us to give us some large cups and we made it to the hotel in PA. to stop for the night. Tuesday morning, we continued the journey into DC with a trusty GPS system. Everything was fine until we continually took the wrong right turn because the GPS was like a minute behind. I was getting angry, Kaleb was getting upset and of course, Trevor didn't really care because he knew we'd get there...sooner or later. An hour later, we finally managed to find the hotel and I was never so glad to say goodbye to that van than at that moment!

The next three days were jam packed. We went on a tour bus that had a double decker. We toured the city and saw all of the monuments and memorials with the exception of FDR's because it was 90 degrees and I thought young one was going to die! The morning that we went to the White House, Trevor just knew that President Bush was going to see him and invite him for a tour. My friend Jodie called and broke the news that Bush was in China. This news didn't faze Trevor...someone would see him. Then he heard that some people were getting some kind of a tour and he wondered why we couldn't get one. As I was explaining that his mom decided on Friday that we were coming - there was no way to contact anyone to let them know that Trevor was coming. Chuckles came from all around us, Kaleb rolled his eyes and yet he still didn't understand why no one would take him through the house. Where do these ideas come from?

Museums galore, the National Aquarium, the National Zoo and so many historical places to visit...I thought that we would never finish. While it would not have been my first choice for a vacation, it was a treat for the boys. The Bickerman's rarely showed up because they were busy. Well, that and tired! Thank goodness for the pool at the hotel. Every evening, they came back and swam for over an hour and I was able to read and relax. The only downside was that hubby could not make it. He was home working 12 - 14 hour days but was so proud of the boys and happy that they could experience DC with mom. I did miss adults and adult conversation. Somehow, talks of "boy" things just don't do it for me. I had several friends call and allow me some glorious moments of adulthood. We left Saturday morning and Trevor took Dramamine and did not get sick at all...It was good to get back to a normal life. Even though that means that the dreaded school year will be starting soon. Summer just goes by so quickly.

And...they're off!!!

Tomorrow morning, Kaleb, Trevor and I are heading to Washington DC for a few days of history lessons. This was another last-minute August vacation decided on Friday. Today, I secured a hotel by the Capital Building and we'll arrive sometime on Tuesday. Kaleb wants to see the money being made. Rest assured, he knows that he won't be given any freebies. Trevor wants to see the monuments. He thinks that there will probably be a really cool gift shop. haha
Who knows...a few must sees and a couple of excited boys. Hopefully, the Bickerman's do not visit while we are there. Pray for safety during this vacation as I am a little nervous without Kraig being able to go also. See you all next weekend, God willing.

Camp Invention

The boys just finished their last day at Camp Invention. They learned about inventions, patents, trying new ideas out, and how to work collaboratively in a team. I was slightly concerned about Kaleb wondering if he would like it after his day long ranting of I donwanna go! However, both kids had a great time and found some friends. They both received t-shirts and patent certificates.

Kaleb and Gabriel made the silver viking ship to the right of the Big Gulp cup. It was able to sail through the stormy seas and make it to the other side of the ocean to get the gold coins. Hooray!

In the Superhero Module, Kaleb's superhero did not resemble this guy at all...but they could only use recycled materials because they were saving the environment.

This is Trevor's superhero...Snakeman something. He created a wonderful little story about all of the superhuman powers that this snake had. That's right, Trevor was writing and even enjoyed it. Hmmm...could it be that there were no worksheets? :)

This is Trevor's invention - the Laughbot 3000. This wonderful invention was created to get a laugh out of his crabby brother. Who would have thought that an old VCR, egg cartons, a slinky, and some duct tape could be magically transformed?

Kaleb's group created a machine that had to catapolt an egg across the hallway. Everything worked until the ball went through and wasn't heavy enough to hit the catapolt to throw the egg. A kid stepped on the system and the egg flew across the hallway and splattered on the wall.

If there is ever a Camp Invention in town again next summer, I highly recommend that you send your child. I saw a ton of enthusiasm with all of the hands-on activities and total participation by the kids.

YSP pictures from the no-go slide show :)

These are my children, aka The Bickerman's a day after camp. Believe me, it didn't last. :P

Boyne Mountain had the Cartoon Network's Get Animated Tour. The boys did several activities to get them moving. Trevor was talking this kid's ear off! Kaleb was traveling through the blow up obstacle course.

This was at the top of Avalanche Mountain. Trevor just knew that he was going to die on the way up!

The view was worth the trip for Trevor and it was good exercise. Of course, the stop at DQ afterwards probably nixed all the step work I did to get up the old ski hill!

Kraig and the boys played football in the lake all weekend. Trevor kept trying to tackle Kraig and there was one unfortunate incident involving the dad and forgetting to tie his swimsuit. He didn't make that mistake again.

Trevor was just plain tired out from two long weeks of vacation. What are the odds of an eight year old falling asleep on the beach for 30 minutes?

K and T were trying to do the splits.