HOORAY!!!

I actually finished a project! It isn't one of the ones from my list (at least I don't think so, but I'm too lazy to check) but it's done anyway.

It's a Xmas card holder. If you look closely, you can see the green clips behind the letters.

All the letters have their own decorations. Admire them cause they took forever.

Halloween

That is all. =)

Happy Halloween!!

Today's reason why I hate the public school system..

So I tend to keep things pretty cheerful around here, but it's my space right? I can do what I want with it. It might make me slightly less of a spaz in real life to actually use my blog to vent about the crap that pisses me off or gets my juices flowing. Eww, not those juices. Pervs. =)

Munchkin has had some behavioral issues at school this year. We're dealing with them. That said, the kid is damn smart. As such I feel like I should be doing everything I can to help him and encourage his desire to learn. He loves to read. He spends more time reading than anything else. Kinda like I did as a kid.

The school participates in the Accelerated Reader program. I have mixed feelings about it. While I'm not sure the kids aren't reading just for the points, anything that encourages them to read can't be that bad right? What is great about Munchkin is that he'll read a book because he wants to, and then ask if it's on the AR list. If it is he takes the test on it, if not he doesn't seem to mind.

My problem is this: The list of book is available online, as well as the reading level of the book and the number of points the child will get if they pass the test associated with the book. Fab right? HOWEVER, they do not give you access to be able to see what tests your child has taken or the number of points that they have. He's been in this program for three years now, and has taken a ton of tests. He likes to reread his books. It would be nice to see if he had taken a test before prior to him arriving at school sitting down to take a test and realizing he took it already.

The teachers have access to this information. So the logical solution would be to get the list of tests he's taken from his teacher and then just write down all the ones he takes from here forward. Right? Makes sense to me. And so I wrote a note.

I send him to school this morning with a note requesting a printout of his AR tests taken and current point total. (FYI, the teacher offered these at curriculum night and volunteered to send them home in the coming weeks. That was 6 weeks ago.) Wanna guess what the response I got back was? No better yet, let me show you...


Obviously I edited out things like names and phone numbers, but the whole of the note's message is there. "Sorry I don't wanna waste my computer ink on helping with your child's education." ALSO, "I just wanna point out that public schools don't get enough funding to do everything we need to do."

Strangely enough, this same district that doesn't provide enough ink cartridges for their teachers to make it past the 1st quarter is currently building two new elementary schools.

Of course if you look closely enough, you can see where she wrote "two" over top of the word "one." Apparently two seemed a more acceptable number for what amounts to nothing more than a cop-out reason for not sending home the damn list.

This teacher isn't going to print anything out the rest of the school year? She can't copy and paste the list into an email? Give me a fucking break.

Just one more reason that homeschooling looks better and better every day.

Cleaning and lists, continued...

So... I finished the cow spots on in the kitchen. Yeah. Never again will I take on a project that requires so much cutting. My hand is still cramped. But I think it turned out cute. Here's the finished product:



Obviously I found the missing memory card. So here's the wreath:

Pretty right? I also got more of the ladybug costume done. It now has spots! It just needs buttons on the sides and elastic in the hem. Oh yeah, it needs a hem. Here's where that is:


I actually managed to get most of the cleaning done too. The basement is cleaned to the point the kids could actually play down there now without worrying about things falling on them. Laundry is almost caught up. I have a visible bedroom floor. The bathrooms are clean enough I wouldn't worry that visitors might call CPS on me for having my kids exposed to toxic conditions. From a laundry basket full of old mail I am down to a shoebox full that needs filing.

All in all a fairly productive weekend around here.

Craft list updates

So, I've made a little progress on my list but it seems to grow a little more every day. I start something and it leads to two more ideas. Sigh.

Also, we're having an "inspection" next week so I'm in hyper-clean mode. Okay maybe not, but I should be. We aren't dirty, we just seem to create a lot of clutter. Fire hazard levels of clutter. The rental office powers that be frown on having to climb over 10 pairs of shoes and a basket of (clean!) laundry to get in the door and then trek thru mail that needs filing from the last several (read: nine) months just to check the furnace filter.

But I'm avoiding the cleaning part so back to my list. Here's where we are:

1. Filling and hanging all the empty frames that are piled under my craft desk. This project has to photos in the bathrooms, as I am running out of walls to put things on. It also caused my number two project... I have an empty frame hanging in my upstairs bathroom and two small frames left under the desk that need a surface to sit on. Otherwise this is actually done!
   
2. Dress the kids in pretty (and coordinating) clothes, throw them in a big field, and take hundreds of pictures of them (in hopes of getting a couple that are good) to put into shadowbox type frame (that needs to be painted black) with pretty scrapbook flowers and paper. The photos are done (obviously) and I got the paint for the frame. That's the only progress so far here.
   
3. Since my kitchen is full of cow figurines and cow theme tins I want to cut the black cow spots out of my cow-print contact paper (that is left over from lining drawers and cabinets at our old apartment) and apply them willy-nilly on the 8inch section of wall above my kitchen cabinets. This is actually going to take a lot longer than I thought. I've done about two feet of the 20 ft I need to do. The husband seems to be less than impressed by this project.
   
4. I have started scrapbooking for the 1st time since before I was pregnant with my now 18 month old baby. With all these other projects that have a set deadline (Halloween, Christmas) I've only actually done two pages.
   
5. Making my own Christmas cards using adorable mini ornaments I found at Walmart. Ha! Ha Ha ha!
   
6. Making mini albums for all the moms and grandmas that I need Christmas presents for. Have you ever seen some one snort and have milk come out their nose? Imagine that sound minus the yucky milk part. Insert that here.
   
7. Making the Princess a ladybug costume for Halloween. Started this and have red dress roughed together. It fits, so I'll finish sewing it together tonight hopefully. I started on the wings but ran out of wire, so I have to make a run to Walmart before I can finish them. I soo need a sewing machine.
   
8. Add Blue bells to my all silver bell Christmas wreath. This is done and looks pretty. I'll take photos when I figure out where my camera's memory card went.
   
9. Borrow all our childhood pictures from our parents (my inlaws and my dad since I got all my mom's photos when she died) and scan them all into the computer so we can have copies of them too. We got photos from my mother in law. I haven't talked to my dad since I came up with this idea.

So some progress, but not as much as I would like. I guess I better get back at it. Later.

WoW withdrawal leads to overwhelming craftiness...

So the husband and I decided to take a break from World of Warcraft. Our planned hiatus is supposed to last from the beginning of September to the launch of the expansion in mid-November. We're a little over a month into this and things are getting strange around here...

• With very few exceptions we are getting to bed before midnight. Sometimes before 11pm!
  

• Munchkin doesn't get away with anything! He is not happy that we are able to notice everything he does. This makes for fewer messes.
  

• Speaking of fewer messes, with the exception of a few weekend days people can actually drop by our house on very short notice and enter without a hazmat suit.

• If asked I can now, without hesitation, tell you when the last time I did laundry was. Yesterday morning in case you were wondering.
  

• And lastly, I have had an overrunning of crafty ideas in my brain. This has led to several projects, most of which are not yet finished.

I really ought to make a list of all the things I want to do or make cause they are all jumbled around in there.

1. Filling and hanging all the empty frames that are piled under my craft desk. This project has to photos in the bathrooms, as I am running out of walls to put things on. It also caused my number two project...
   
2. Dress the kids in pretty (and coordinating) clothes, throw them in a big field, and take hundreds of pictures of them (in hopes of getting a couple that are good) to put into shadowbox type frame (that needs to be painted black) with pretty scrapbook flowers and paper.
3. Since my kitchen is full of cow figurines and cow theme tins I want to cut the black cow spots out of my cow-print contact paper (that is left over from lining drawers and cabinets at our old apartment) and apply them willy-nilly on the 8inch section of wall above my kitchen cabinets.
4. I have started scrapbooking for the 1st time since before I was pregnant with my now 18 month old baby.
5. Making my own Christmas cards using adorable mini ornaments I found at Walmart.
6. Making mini albums for all the moms and grandmas that I need Christmas presents for.
7. Making the Princess a ladybug costume for Halloween.
8. Add Blue bells to my all silver bell Christmas wreath.
9. Borrow all our childhood pictures from our parents (my inlaws and my dad since I got all my mom's photos when she died) and scan them all into the computer so we can have copies of them too.
   

I'm sure there are others in there but they're bogged down under all that mess.

We did the pretty kids in a field thing on Saturday evening. When I get done rambling I'll share some of the unedited photos. The downstairs bathroom got 4 frames on Saturday.

Sunday we took the kids to the pumpkin farm. They loved it. Many cute photos came from that excursion too. The hay ride was a big hit!

Okay, my lunch is ready so here's some new cuteness (click 'em to make 'em bigger):

Let the cuteness distract you from lack of actual posts...

Shhh...you don't see me!

Okay, it's been established in the past, but I will admit it once again: I suck at blog updates, correspondence, and contact with the outside world in general.

That said, I'm here now so enjoy it while it lasts.

What's new here? The Princess (currently giving her daddy a stern talking-to over matters of couch real estate) is 1 now and walks all over the place. Also, she climbs like a freaking monkey on speed. Sigh. We've only had one trip to the ER though, so we're doing good I think.

As a side note, should you have to take a one year old to the ER at 2am with a giant blue lump in the middle of her forehead (wearing pajamas which have a questionable date of previous washing), be prepared for angry stares and questions in accusatory tones. Double sigh.

We have 3 days of 1st grade left. Hooray for summer vacation! Mostly, mom just doesn't wanna get out of bed at 7am anymore.

I've officially been married to my own personal PITA for 3 years now. It's nice and I wouldn't trade him, but it's still weird sometimes that it's HIM. Guess you'd have to know the history to understand. He gave me a very pretty ring (that I picked out) and he got some sort of geeky gadgetry (that he sorta picked out but was still totally surprised by) that makes my head hurt to try and look at.

My basement now smells like teenage girl. Ugh. Junior is living down there (or rather, her stuff is since she's seldom seen) this summer while home from college.

Morgan graduated from Purdue 2 weeks ago, is engaged, and is moving to Atlanta by the end of June. If the poor girl doesn't have a breakdown by the end of the year I'll be surprised.

I just realized the links to my "Who people are" post is gone, so no one has a clue who I'm talking about...guess I'll have to fix that.

I've been taking lots of photos lately...even considered a photography class. A friend of mine (as well as several of the baseball moms) think I should be attempting to market my photo skills. I don't think I'm quite ready for that, but maybe someday.

Alright, I'm boring me... out for now. And of course, a recent photo to tide you all over till I decide to come back again. From a recent trip to the park:

Sweets...

So as I'm perusing the aisles in my monthly grocery shopping trip (yes, I only go once a month because I find shopping for anything hideously tedious) I notice something new in my local Wallyworld.



For those that are (blissfully) unaware of what this is, it is called Pocky. I'm not terribly fond of it, but thanks to an old friend of ours (and you know who you are!), my husband adores it.


And now they sell it at Walmart. Sigh...

1st attempt at Spring photos...

I'm attempting to get some nice photos of my kids in their coordinating Spring outfits (yes, sadly I've become THAT mom). Unfortunately until today Munchkin looked like a werewolf, so I've only started on the baby's pics. Here's one I took yesterday.

Before we headed out to purchase additional light sources cause our house is lit like a cave.

Blizzard!!

Blizzards may not be terribly fun for most people, but my kids seem to enjoy it!