The orange blonde.

There's always one in each class: a beautiful, orange blonde.  Since I'm teaching two classes this semester, I have two :)  Lucky me! 

Last Thursday, I was real nervous.  My kids were quiet.  They were either staring into space or looking at the floor or acting like they hated their life.  Great.  I must be reeeeeal boring.  Was I wearing Anna's infinity scarf the wrong way?  Were they too embarassed to look at me because of it?

That damn scarf.  I tried 3x to put it on and had broken a sweat by the time it was said and done.  The first time, I basically choked myself.  The second and third times, there was this "extra loop" that I ended up just hiding under another layer.

Thank goodness for Friday.  I finally figured out the scarf (yes, I wore it 2 days in a row), and my kids were much more alive.  Or normal.  I think they were just normal.  I don't think my Thursday kids were normal.  The orange blonde on Friday is beauuuuutiful.  I want to ask her who her trainer is.  Or her hair stylist.  Or where she tans...every day.

I'm excited to get back in the groove of teaching.  I actually think I'll have to teach, for real, this year.  All of my kids are juniors, and half of each class has never taken a writing class even though they're journalism students.  It took me half the semester last time to figure that out.  I was dumbfounded.  At least I know what to expect...

In other news, yep, Ali.  Ali is pretending to potty train herself.  She says "sit on the potty" and sits there till she goes.  She throws a fit when I get impatient and try to get her off too soon (like before 5 minutes is up).  She doesn't go every time, but she's definitely figuring it out...

I am NOT potty training her.  I think potty training is the WORST of the good habits to teach kids.  I mean it's beneficial and necessary, but I HATE it more than anything else.  I'm leaving it up to Zoey to make sure Ali gets it.  

Leaving you with a good one...maybe when I gather my thoughts on this one, I'll blog about it. 

Proud Mama.

Is there a difference between being proud in general and being proud of your child?  I hope so...cause I'm having a hard time checking my pride right now when it comes to my first-born. 

I took Zoey to her preschool screening today.  I decided to get her tested with CPS (the public school system here) because I've heard some good things about the program and we're "shopping" programs.  They have a couple different options - one for kids who are a little delayed in any area and one for kids who may be good "mentors" for their peers. 

Secretly, I thought Zoey may qualify for the first option because she says "free" and "fink" for "three" and "think."  Other than that, she really is not developmentally in my opinion.  But who am I to judge?  I'm her mom!  One of the questions on the form was "In what areas does your child excel?"  Um......um.......where do I begin?!  I had no problems filling out the "challenges" question though: Zoey definitely has a hard time waiting her turn to talk :) 

She was really excited for school today.  Julia put cute, cute braids in her hair, and Zoey talked nonstop till we parked.  Of course, she was a little shy at the beginning of the "test."  She refused to say her ABC's.  "Yessssss...maybe she'll get in FOR SURE now." 

No such luck.  99 pts. out of a possible 100.  Darn. 

Wait for it...

..."I'm going to give you this paperwork for the Peer Modeling Program.  You'll probably want to discuss it with your husband."  (Doubtful...sign us up!! No, of course I'll talk to my husband about it)

The Peer Modeling Program means Zoey would start preschool in the fall, half days, 3-4 days a week, in the Columbia Public School system.  12 total kids in the class, 4 kids at her academic level, 8 kids who may be delayed in some area.  2 (TWO) certified teachers in each class. 

I'm thrilled.  Mainly, I'm thrilled because I think this program "fits" our family.  We like being around all different types of people and Zoey likes to be a helper.  I'd love for her (and all of us) to learn to be even more accepting of EVERYONE and although a private school would make me feel more "comfortable," I know this could be a great opportunity for us all.  (Plus...it's cheap...)

So we're supposed to get the call in March, Joel and I will attend a Parents' Info meeting, and then we'll decide. 

Parents' Info Meeting -- does that mean we're old?? 

Where does the time go??

Bathroom Vanity pt. 2

Yay!  Our bathroom vanity came in and Joel picked it up and installed it. 

He also picked up a couple nifty white tile squares just to "see" what it would be like to take one of the existing ones off and put the new ones in their place. 

Hence...

Bathroom vanity replacement turned entire bathroom remodel.

"As the leader of this family, we are going ahead with a full bathroom remodel."

Floor, walls, shower, paint, decor...

It's a small bathroom, not a huge project, but still, a project.  And until then, one bathroom. 

Poor Anna.

TMI.

There's not many things that make a girl feel uglier than having a fever blister on her lip.

I had my first fever blister after I had Ali (along with my first-ever cavities).  Unfortunately, I've had several since then.  They hurt, itch, and are ugly. 

Here's the grossest fever blister story, to-date.

After having just returned from the bathroom where I applied yet another dose of Abreva, I'm sitting at my desk when I get a shock in my mouth.  A tiny bit of liquid that tastes horrible; sour, bitter, horrible.  So horrible I say, "That is gross!" out loud. 

Yep.  My fever blister(s) popped...and the contents dribbled into my mouth. 

Hey -- the title is TMI.  It was your choice to open it and read for yourself. 

Lint-Free Cheese Cloth

Let me start by saying I love my husband.  He's funny and spontaneous and passionate and handy around the house.  So as you're reading this, "Joel, I do love you so much...promise."

What a crazy weekend we had.  I've been thinking about how to document how the Eislebens do home improvement, and decided just to create a timeline.  Hopefully your imaginations will do the rest.

RENOVATING THE MASTER BATHROOM

9:00 a.m. - Joel talks to Phil about how to pour a concrete shower basin.  Phil suggested practicing by building a box out of plywood and 2 x 4's.  I suggested he not put the box in the middle of the yard.  Joel says, "If I get real good at pouring concrete, I can fix our driveway curb."

10:15 a.m. - I suggest putting a pedestal sink in the hall bath and moving the hall bath small vanity into our master bath.  Bad move.  I should've suggested in my head and not out loud.

10:25 a.m. - Joel gathers his tools and disappears upstairs. 

10:45 a.m. - The master bath sink/vanity is sitting in our bedroom.  Yay!  That thing is U-G-L-Y. 

(At this point, I'm swooning because of Joel's above-mentioned spontaneity and passion)

10:50 a.m. - "Before you move that upstairs, I say, I want to wash the floor."  "Already did it," Joel said.  Yessssss.  More points.

11:00ish a.m. - Downstairs hall bath vanity/sink disconnected, moved upstairs, installed.  Wow! This is going well! 

3:30 p.m. - Load up kids, head out to find a pedestal sink.  As soon as I stepped into the Lowe's parking lot, I realized I still had on my black sweat pants with paint stains all over them.  Great.  I hope I don't see someone I know. 

4:00 p.m. - Comparing pedestals with vanity combos, we realize they have our dream vanity.  Back to the pedestal.  Stare a while.  Back to the vanity.  Stare a while more.  Check out the P-Trap Kits (cause of course, there's a leak we didn't know about until the disconnection process).  Back to the pedestals.  I say, "Whatever you want, I'm ok with."  He says, "It's only a $_____ difference, right?"  "Right," I say, trying to remain neutral.  (Really, I'm just praying we find something because there's a vanity sitting in my bedroom and no sink in the hall bath)

4:30 p.m. - We decide to get the dream vanity.  They have 2 in stock!  Yay!  Wait, no they don't.  Their system says they do, but they don't. 

5:00 p.m. - On to Home Depot.  Maybe they have it in stock.  They don't.   They actually have next to nothing. 

"Mooooooommmm!  I'm hungry!"  Oh yeah, it's dinner time.  And I'm still in my sweats.

5:15 p.m. - On to Menard's.  (Sitting in the parking lot, we're trying to remember the jingle...oh yeah..."save big money at Menard's).  Here's hoping.  Walking down aisle #2, Joel says the best line of the day, "Save big money at Menard's my **."  Seriously.  Horrible decision to go there. 

5:30 p.m. - Home we go.  No vanity.  Still in sweats.  Hungry kids.  Vanity in my bedroom.  Joel starts disassembling the hall bath he moved from downstairs to upstairs, moved it back downstairs, reinstalled it.  I did my part and moved our toothbrushes to the girls' bathroom, took a shower, and put on a clean pair of sweats. 

5:40 p.m. - Quick trip to HyVee for dinner materials.  On sale: "Lint-Free Cheese Cloth."  Cause other cheese cloths unfortunately have lint, thus resulting in linty cheese.  Really?!

Sunday morning, 10:45 a.m. - Head to Lowe's to actually buy the P-Trap Kit to fix the leak and order the dream vanity.  "Oh, the system says we have 2 in stock."  Blah blah blah.  We've been through this.  They look for it, tell me something must be wrong with the system because they've been looking for it for 3 weeks in the store (it must be hiding...it's a small item, you know...), and order it with an ETD 7-10 days.  Fine.  No need to clean the bathroom, or the bedroom for that matter, for a couple weeks. 

Monday morning, 9:30 a.m. - Make arrangements for someone to come pick up the ugly vanity sitting in my bedroom and give me $50.  Only 5 more hours until we see if it's too good to be true. 

Who's tired?!

I'm not a supermodel.

Today I took myself to the Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale.  The sale used to be an event I looked forward to twice a year; I even had a budget for it.  Then I got married, had a kid, went part time at work, dieted, had another kid, dieted, you get the picture.

Without going into too much detail, I tried on something I thought my husband would really like.  I took at least 4 of these babies back to the fitting room because, honestly, I had no idea what size I needed.  I started putting the first one on by stepping into it, only to realize it MUST be designed to go over the head.  Take two.  I start sweating, wiggling, jumping around, trying to get it past my...shoulders.  Surely, people.  I gave up and gave in, realizing it was the smallest size I had.  Better luck next time. 

Take two.  No luck.  Starting to feel less like a supermodel.

Take three.  Starting to visualize getting stuck in this thing and having to ask the attendant to please help me get out of it.

Take four.  Feeling fat. 

Take five...there's no take five.

It's the thought that counts, right?!  Stupid marketing, stupid advertising, stupid supermodels.  Some of us are just normal people who want to feel like a supermodel for a night...an hour.  You make it next to impossible.

In other news, Ali pulled a plate out of the trash can and started eating the dried hot dog that was stuck on it.  That child.  (And yes...you'll always know there's a story about her coming because I'll start it with "in other news").

I want to share my current favorite recipe. http://www.food.com/recipe/apple-bread-20549

Yum.  It's completely customizable.  I made one batch of apple muffins and one batch of blueberry muffins.  Because of Ali's restrictions, I substituted applesauce for the eggs (3 Tbsp per egg) and today, the batter seemed a little dry so I added a bit of almond milk.  I usually always 1/2 the recipe and make muffins instead of a loaf of bread.  Best part: the batter is safe to eat because there are no raw eggs in it!  You'll quickly learn...I'm a batter freak. 

Juice.

Last night, J and I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  It's a documentary about a guy who goes on a 60-day juice fast to try and save his life.  It was super interesting and impactful.  About 10 min. before it was over, Joel goes into the kitchen and returns with a bag of baby carrots.  He starts chomping away, and I realized it must've impacted him as well. 

He said, "I could juice breakfast and lunch and then eat a regular dinner."  I told him I had been thinking of doing this since last year when my friend Brenda taught me how to make a green smoothie. 

I, of course, used this very wide open door to mention how great it'd be to have a Vitamix. 

He was SO on board, we almost had a Vitamix by the end of the night!  Alas, we're still on the hunt. 

I went to bed thinking about juice, woke up thinking about juice, and during my trip to SAM's, bought apples, oranges, dried cherries and blueberries, and raw almonds, because, well, "you have to start somewhere." 

(I also bought J a 36-pack of Pepsi during my shopping trip, but we'll ignore that fact for now)

Watch out: as soon as I get my hands on a Vitamix you'll never hear the end of it.

In other news, Ali busted her lip yesterday.  As Joel said, "She had it coming to her."  She insists on climbing on our tall kitchen chairs, whether we're watching or not.  This time, she fell off and hit her mouth on the wood trim.  I was sleeping (or attempting), but I'm sure she dusted herself off and tried again. 

Conversation as Joel was leaving for work this morning:

J: Opens the fridge and takes out the bag of carrots he started munching on last night
J: "Do we have any bananas?"
L: "No."
J: "Apples?"
L: No.  We have grapefruit..."
J: Grunt

Oh well.  If he only knew how tasty they are!

 

One day, this beauty will be mine...