I did it!

Tonight I earned the Mom of the Year award! I swore in front of my kids. I think it may be the first time they have ever heard the 'D' word come out of my mouth.

You know what they did?

They laughed.

I'm SO awesome!

It's Classified

This morning we went in to talk to the Principal at Ryan's school.

Some of the kids in his class saw us in there and they asked Ryan what it was all about.

His response:

"It's Classified."

I will neither confirm nor deny that I know who is behind the glasses.
It's classified too.
And, yes I know - my counter is a mess...I was COOKING!

Life's Little Breaks

It is pouring at BERGER HOUSE tonight.

Ryan came home from school and said he had a bad day. One boy kneed him in the crotch, another kid took his backpack and threw it in the garbage, and yet another one went through his desk and took what he pleased only to taunt Ryan with it later.

I spent a large portion of the afternoon pondering how I could handle the situation at school. Brett suggested I call one of the mothers. This isn't the first time we've struggled with one of the boys. The bullying has actually gone on for over a year now. I couldn't bring myself to call her.

Turns out I didn't have to call her. She actually called me. Apparently her son told her husband that he kneed Ryan today. So she called to see if we have been struggling with her son. I told her yes and told her what had happened. It almost seems like a daily occurrence, and we are trying to teach Ryan to turn the other cheek. Unfortunately his cheeks are getting calloused and his heart is breaking.

After bedtime, I got another call from the mother. She told me that this is a two way street and that Ryan has been throwing rocks at her son, and calling him names and trying daily to get him in trouble. All of which, Ryan denies.

I know my kids aren't perfect. However, I know Ryan's behavior fairly well, and some of the things he was accused of tonight are out of character for him.

Tomorrow he will have to face this kid, as he does every other day.

And tonight, He cried himself to sleep.

Hopefully soon he will catch one of life's little breaks.

Laughter

Making people laugh is fun.

I think it makes us younger.

My kids must want me to be younger because they make me laugh.

Take for example, Sydney. The other night we were doing the dishes and she said, "Mom, I'm not interested in doing dishes." I said, "Oh no? What are your interests then?" She said, "Oh, dancing, singing, but not dishes."

That made me laugh.

Now for Ryan. Ryan makes me laugh.

Yesterday I took him to the eye Dr.

I handed him is glasses that were broken and looked up and saw this.

I guess one lens is better than zero.

Then to add to our giggles, the Dr had him try on these:

An Answer to One of Life's Questions

Have you ever wondered
what would make a 6-year old girl
tiptoe through the house,
twirling and swirling like a ballerina?

It's simple really.

A ponytail

Lesson of the Day

Yesterday I took just over 25 minutes to finish my former blog post. Which means I was 5 minutes late to Sydney's classroom.

Dang it.

I'm not sure why I just can't say No.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy helping kids, but I enjoy helping my own kids more.

When I help in Sydney's classroom, I rarely help her. She's doing a pretty good job, so I help the kids who aren't. I guess I should just be grateful to see her during her class time.

We wink at each other, and I give the occasional side hug as I walk out the door with one of her classmates.

That, I suppose, is all worth it, and why I can't say no.

Yesterday, I got my instructions from the teacher and pulled the first child out. I wasn't there long when my cell phone rang.

I told the young man just a minute as I was going to silence my phone so as to not bother us again.

Then I looked down, and surprise! It was the elementary school calling me. In that case, I needed to answer the call.

It was Ryan.

He threw up.

I immediately gathered up my things and told the little guy that I needed to go as my son was sick.

I apologized for the teacher for my mere 5 minutes and headed to the office.

Ryan met me in the hall way. He had eaten a jelly bean and it made him gag to the point of throwing up. Since Sydney had a 24-hour bug last week I didn't want to take any chances so I brought him home. He rested for a few hours and then was perfectly fine by the time school let out. (How convenient)

Anyway, the lesson for the day:

Don't eat jelly beans. Especially if they are given to you by a classmate and they taste like onions.

Dang Harry Potter.

Magic

No matter how you look at it...

It's Magic.

Out With the Old

I love this time of year. I love looking back at the previous year and seeing all that I have learned, the many blessings that have been poured upon me, etc.

Every year Brett puts together our Christmas card.

He does an amazing job.

2009 was no different, except for the fact that he told me he ALWAYS does it. So, I began a lengthy, witty (I might add), letter that apparently had too many words because they were edited out of his final copy. Completely.

With that, and with the next 25 minutes I have to burn before I have to be teaching children how to sound out letter combinations in Sydney's classroom, I will have my own look back at the year 2009 and its accomplishments.

• We spent the first part of the year Ice Fishing. By first part of the year I mean the first day, or maybe it was the second day. Anyway, it was so wonderfully freezing that we didn't go again.

• I proved that I am the absolute coolest wife ever when I kidnapped my husband and flew him across the country for a vacation to our nation's capital. Sorry to the rest of the men in the world. I'm taken.

• We took the kids to Disneyland.

• I ran the Ragnar Relay. It was SO cool. I can't really talk about it.

• Brett went to Europe, and I went to AZ. I am just slightly jealous that he was on the Champs-Élysées the last day of the Tour de France

• I trained for a 100-mile race. I only got the training in. This is an out with the old post though so I won't elaborate. You can read about it here.

• Brett proved that he is the coolest husband ever when he actually got to ride the race that we both trained for. Sorry ladies, he is taken.

• We enjoyed Christmas, and got to spend time with family. Grandma Bowers was able to visit with my parents, but I'm not sure she knows she was here.

• I think one of the best things that happened is that I have convinced Sydney that she needs to spend her own money on paper. Maybe now I will have some in the printer when I go to print things....Maybe.

And, since this is an out with the old post, it needs a picture because in looking back on my blog, I've noticed that I ramble.

Without pictures.

So here you go.

Enjoy.

Just before the magic