Wednesday, July 8, 2009
New Living Room Furniture!
Okay, so it's been 3 months since my last post and nothing has changed... NOT! Here are a few photos of our new living room furniture we got back on Mother's Day. It's awesome, comfortable and can seat 6 comfortably (not counting the old rocking chair). Enjoy!
Friday, March 13, 2009
What Does One Do in a Waldorf High School???
Jared and Charlie standing next to their drawings of each other with pastels.
Jared's Fairy House!
Jared's Fairy house and Bennet's Fairy house!
Jared's, Bennet's and I don't know who's on the right...fairy homes in the fairyfield at school!Can't you just see the fairies living there?! I can!
Eleven Days...
So it's been eleven days since my last, very quick post of the picture of dot kitty and I'm not really sure what I should or need to write about. So this is going to be one of those ramblings of many different things about life... I guess.
Shannon's health is doing very well. Ever since he started the beta blockers his BP has been the most normal it's probably ever been his whole life. He has been hitting about 135/80 every day! So yipeeee!!!! He is getting weaned off the HCTZ as the Dr. doesn't think it's really doing anything for him. So that's good in the whole drug taking event.
I am hoping to finally finish up my training for the animal shelter tomorrow which will be nice to start doing. Alex, at this point, is still going through with it as well. I'm sure as time goes on that may change, but for now he is still interested in taking care of and helping animals in need. They are building their new animal shelter about 1.5 miles up the road from school so we'll be able to volunteer there and walk or bike to it on the days we do it which will be awesome!
Alex and Jared are doing well in school. It seems to be that they are enjoying high school very much and have a great experience with the classes they have and with their friends. We still have a few of the kids over every other weekend for xbox, basketball and just plain goofiness. Having 4 teenage boys every other weekend means going through a lot of food and drink! All-in-all everything is going very well!
The weather here is insane. New England has nothing on North Carolina - trust me on that. I honestly do not look forward more than 24 hours in the weather predictions online. Consistantly the weather cannot stay the same for more than 3 days. I know, I know, we haven't been trapped in snow, ice, snow, ice and more snow for the last 5 months but I know if I were living in NH or Cape Cod right now that I would expect, snow, ice, snow, ice... not 70's, 30's, 80's, 30's, 70's, 30's, 60's, 20's, within 3 days or less! HA!
The forcythia has bloomed, daffodills, crocus, and about 3 trees have bloomed and then freeze then back to blooming again?! And it's only March 13th! The bee's are incredibly confused the poor things! So be happy with your more consistent, albeit boring weather.
I'm sure I'll find my topic of venting or frustration soon but until then that's about it.
Shannon's health is doing very well. Ever since he started the beta blockers his BP has been the most normal it's probably ever been his whole life. He has been hitting about 135/80 every day! So yipeeee!!!! He is getting weaned off the HCTZ as the Dr. doesn't think it's really doing anything for him. So that's good in the whole drug taking event.
I am hoping to finally finish up my training for the animal shelter tomorrow which will be nice to start doing. Alex, at this point, is still going through with it as well. I'm sure as time goes on that may change, but for now he is still interested in taking care of and helping animals in need. They are building their new animal shelter about 1.5 miles up the road from school so we'll be able to volunteer there and walk or bike to it on the days we do it which will be awesome!
Alex and Jared are doing well in school. It seems to be that they are enjoying high school very much and have a great experience with the classes they have and with their friends. We still have a few of the kids over every other weekend for xbox, basketball and just plain goofiness. Having 4 teenage boys every other weekend means going through a lot of food and drink! All-in-all everything is going very well!
The weather here is insane. New England has nothing on North Carolina - trust me on that. I honestly do not look forward more than 24 hours in the weather predictions online. Consistantly the weather cannot stay the same for more than 3 days. I know, I know, we haven't been trapped in snow, ice, snow, ice and more snow for the last 5 months but I know if I were living in NH or Cape Cod right now that I would expect, snow, ice, snow, ice... not 70's, 30's, 80's, 30's, 70's, 30's, 60's, 20's, within 3 days or less! HA!
The forcythia
I'm sure I'll find my topic of venting or frustration soon but until then that's about it.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Xbox Dilemma
So for many years I have been a huge proponent against the Xbox. I'm sure you're thinking, "Well of course you are since you are a Waldorf family." but that is actually not it. I think it started when I saw the movie "Bowling for Columbine" back when we lived on Cape Cod - and even though our boys are nothing like those two young men it just made this impression that there really is nothing good or redeeming about having an Xbox (or any of the other myriad of game consoles that one can sink their money into). Besides, we have our PC and a million games that the boys can play - some of them the same games that you get for Xbox.
Speaking of money, that is the other huge reason for never owning one. I cringe every time I look at how much a new game costs for one of those devices. They are as costly, or even more so, than a new game for our PC. So it just never seemed like a smart investment of our money, our time and our children's braincells.
Fastforward to our new life here in NC.
Ahh, high school! Even at a Waldorf school high school it is still full of hormones and laziness and strange desires for stupid and annoying things...like Xbox's. So for the first time one started coming into our life. Only on the weekends, and usually only every other weekend. One of the other boys that is good friends of both our sons owns an Xbox and also has 4 controllers.
So at some point last year as this "fun" continued to ooze into our house Jared really wanted an Xbox - and for the first time ever I actually started to consider purchasing one for him. Both Jared and Alex seemed to enjoy playing it with their friends. And though the one game that they played over and over (Halo) seemed pretty intense and violent they were mostly laughing and having fun. There was the occasional grumble or argument about someone "cheating" but they overcame their issues. So, because things seemed to be going well I decided to start looking into getting a used one (Ebay or Craigslist) as I was not about to pay full price for one.
Then the day happened - and thank goodness it did before I had purchased something.
Jared started getting stressed and angry and both Alex and Sasha. They must have been ganging up on him and it pushed him over the edge. He started yelling at Alex, I mean really yelling. He was shaking and incredibly angry. Of course, Alex and Sasha just didn't get the fact that he was upset and just continued laughing, which only made things worse. Luckily things never got physical - but I think they were close. He continued screaming at Alex and wouldn't stop. It took a threat from me to finally get him to listen. And that was it! No more thoughts of Xbox...no more Xbox in our house for awhile either.
Weeks went by with no Xbox coming over. Then, slowly it started coming back - with promises that the outburst and anger wouldn't happen again. All 3 boys tried to slowly convince me to give in and let the boys get their own Xbox and I was adamant that there was no way that we would have one of our own. I think my exact words were, "Jared can buy one with his own money if he wants to but it's never coming into our house." So Jared and Alex gave up asking, but Sasha continued for a short time - and then, eventually he even stopped asking.
They continued playing with Sasha's when he came over and one of the other boys, Kimani, also would play with them - so it was always the 4 of them having fun and never really getting angry or upset. They would stop and go out for a walk with the dog or bounce on the trampoline, any physical ways to blow off any stress and get moving. Things were going amazingly well.
Fast forward 5 months to just past this Christmas.
Alex had been having lots of opportunities for socializing with his classmates and having parties or going to the movies - things like that. Jared had a few offerings from one of his old classmates to go do things but unfortunately it was the one boy that we can't trust as he had gotten into some trouble in 8th grade and Jared had followed along - so there was no trust with this boy.
So, as time went by Alex was always getting "Yes" and Jared was constantly getting "No". As a parent I was truly starting to feel guilty and it was eating at me. I kept hoping that Jared would want to start inviting some of his classmates over to our house like Alex did or make plans to go see a movie - anything that didn't involve that one boy. But, Jared isn't as into the social scene as Alex. Jared knows that we would be happy to have the whole 9th grade over for a party if he wants (all 19 of them) and we would make it work - but he is not interested in it.
So the boys had been given money as a gift from their grandma and they were trying to decide what to do with it. So, after many months of silence and fair play with the occasional Xbox Jared came to me very grown up and kind and asked, "Could we please use our money to get an Xbox 360 that we can get online and play with Sasha and Kimani without them always having to come over?" I just couldn't say no this time.
And that was how the Xbox invaded our lives though they have very specific rules and understand that if they fight, argue or are not doing their homework then the Xbox is gone.
Speaking of money, that is the other huge reason for never owning one. I cringe every time I look at how much a new game costs for one of those devices. They are as costly, or even more so, than a new game for our PC. So it just never seemed like a smart investment of our money, our time and our children's braincells.
Fastforward to our new life here in NC.
Ahh, high school! Even at a Waldorf school high school it is still full of hormones and laziness and strange desires for stupid and annoying things...like Xbox's. So for the first time one started coming into our life. Only on the weekends, and usually only every other weekend. One of the other boys that is good friends of both our sons owns an Xbox and also has 4 controllers.
So at some point last year as this "fun" continued to ooze into our house Jared really wanted an Xbox - and for the first time ever I actually started to consider purchasing one for him. Both Jared and Alex seemed to enjoy playing it with their friends. And though the one game that they played over and over (Halo) seemed pretty intense and violent they were mostly laughing and having fun. There was the occasional grumble or argument about someone "cheating" but they overcame their issues. So, because things seemed to be going well I decided to start looking into getting a used one (Ebay or Craigslist) as I was not about to pay full price for one.
Then the day happened - and thank goodness it did before I had purchased something.
Jared started getting stressed and angry and both Alex and Sasha. They must have been ganging up on him and it pushed him over the edge. He started yelling at Alex, I mean really yelling. He was shaking and incredibly angry. Of course, Alex and Sasha just didn't get the fact that he was upset and just continued laughing, which only made things worse. Luckily things never got physical - but I think they were close. He continued screaming at Alex and wouldn't stop. It took a threat from me to finally get him to listen. And that was it! No more thoughts of Xbox...no more Xbox in our house for awhile either.
Weeks went by with no Xbox coming over. Then, slowly it started coming back - with promises that the outburst and anger wouldn't happen again. All 3 boys tried to slowly convince me to give in and let the boys get their own Xbox and I was adamant that there was no way that we would have one of our own. I think my exact words were, "Jared can buy one with his own money if he wants to but it's never coming into our house." So Jared and Alex gave up asking, but Sasha continued for a short time - and then, eventually he even stopped asking.
They continued playing with Sasha's when he came over and one of the other boys, Kimani, also would play with them - so it was always the 4 of them having fun and never really getting angry or upset. They would stop and go out for a walk with the dog or bounce on the trampoline, any physical ways to blow off any stress and get moving. Things were going amazingly well.
Fast forward 5 months to just past this Christmas.
Alex had been having lots of opportunities for socializing with his classmates and having parties or going to the movies - things like that. Jared had a few offerings from one of his old classmates to go do things but unfortunately it was the one boy that we can't trust as he had gotten into some trouble in 8th grade and Jared had followed along - so there was no trust with this boy.
So, as time went by Alex was always getting "Yes" and Jared was constantly getting "No". As a parent I was truly starting to feel guilty and it was eating at me. I kept hoping that Jared would want to start inviting some of his classmates over to our house like Alex did or make plans to go see a movie - anything that didn't involve that one boy. But, Jared isn't as into the social scene as Alex. Jared knows that we would be happy to have the whole 9th grade over for a party if he wants (all 19 of them) and we would make it work - but he is not interested in it.
So the boys had been given money as a gift from their grandma and they were trying to decide what to do with it. So, after many months of silence and fair play with the occasional Xbox Jared came to me very grown up and kind and asked, "Could we please use our money to get an Xbox 360 that we can get online and play with Sasha and Kimani without them always having to come over?" I just couldn't say no this time.
And that was how the Xbox invaded our lives though they have very specific rules and understand that if they fight, argue or are not doing their homework then the Xbox is gone.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
For My Atheist Friends
Here is a good read about myths on atheists... it's worth reading!
http://www.alternet.org/story/126118/10_myths_and_truths_about_atheists_/
http://www.alternet.org/story/126118/10_myths_and_truths_about_atheists_/
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Last Week's Work Craziness....
...on top of the health & tooth stress of poor Shannon, last week itself was just weird at school.
We had two subject teachers already out for the whole week that were needing to be covered and then all of the following happened...
So Monday was Shannon going from being at the dentist to the emergency room and me having to call into the office to say, "Shannon has a class to cover but he can't as he's at the ER." and the office staff stepped up to go find someone to fill in for Shannon for the rest of the afternoon. Yay office!!
Tuesday one of our teacher's was heading into work when she was in a head on car collision. Fortunately she came out fine, though sore, but her car was totaled!
Wednesday we had a 4th grader pass out in class first thing in the morning and hit his chin smack on the floor. He was fine but we had to call 911 and then our administrative assistant had to travel with the child to the emergency room. The boy was fine, though he needed 10 stitches on his split chin.
Thursday was another injury, though not quite as drastic, though possibly stitches needed in the mouth - I'm honestly not sure how that one ended up. The poor Admin. Assistant was left alone when that one happened.
Then Friday, fortunately no accidents or injuries, but it was the last day for re-enrollment contract to be turned it so it was just very crazy all day in the office.
Man was the weekend a welcome respite!!!!
We had two subject teachers already out for the whole week that were needing to be covered and then all of the following happened...
So Monday was Shannon going from being at the dentist to the emergency room and me having to call into the office to say, "Shannon has a class to cover but he can't as he's at the ER." and the office staff stepped up to go find someone to fill in for Shannon for the rest of the afternoon. Yay office!!
Tuesday one of our teacher's was heading into work when she was in a head on car collision. Fortunately she came out fine, though sore, but her car was totaled!
Wednesday we had a 4th grader pass out in class first thing in the morning and hit his chin smack on the floor. He was fine but we had to call 911 and then our administrative assistant had to travel with the child to the emergency room. The boy was fine, though he needed 10 stitches on his split chin.
Thursday was another injury, though not quite as drastic, though possibly stitches needed in the mouth - I'm honestly not sure how that one ended up. The poor Admin. Assistant was left alone when that one happened.
Then Friday, fortunately no accidents or injuries, but it was the last day for re-enrollment contract to be turned it so it was just very crazy all day in the office.
Man was the weekend a welcome respite!!!!
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