THE box.

Okay, it is official. I am done with my National Board portfolio. I revised my final entry tonight. I just need to copy it tomorrow before mailing it to NBPTS. It is all checked...and double checked...and triple checked. As I put the last envelope in and closed the box I got panicky again. Why?? I'm done? I don't know !!I couldn't breathe*. I kept thinking "I need to check this again. But I know it is all in there. I need to check it again. But I know I am done. But I need to check it, this is the last time I can." Andy worked me down, out of my state. I'll just blame this on the pregnancy. Yep, that sounds good. Crazy talk. Crazy National Board. Crazy DONE!!!!!!!! Wooooo-hooooooo!!!!!! I think it is starting to sink in. Just the test to complete on May 3rd.

*It has been a VERY busy day. I am super worn out and tired.

Organized Jenn's school baby shower which was after school today - a huge success thanks to all the wonderful people that helped! Andy's parents are in town and I stayed up late visiting last night because we don't get to see them enough! Big Organism Extravaganza at school tomorrow. Oh, and KTIP mentoring is done as well!!! One more day until spring break :) :) :)

The perfect icecream cone!

I accidentally stumbled upon a great invention! Mini sized ice cream cones. Notice the size of the cone in comparison to Luke's sippy cup! We went to Wal-Mart to get some icecream Friday night. We bought mint chocolate chip and icecream cones. I was trying to get the plain cake cones. I grabbed the box of cones that were not assorted colors. We came home to have some ice cream and I opened the box to find tiny sized cones! They are 2 inches tall. I was dissapointed at first. They looked so small! But, it turned out to be the perfect size for the boys. Wilson and Luke really enjoyed the cones! Okay, I'll admit it, I had two! Andy skipped the cone due to the size and had a bowl of icecream. For his size bowl of icecream it would have taken 10 c0nes at least. Just kidding!! Here is a picture of Luke last night enjoying some more icecream!

Wilson's not so sure about T-ball...

Hanging out in the dugout, trying to stay warm!
So, we had T-ball on Saturday. It was freezing cold and Wilson was not happy to be there. It was only our 3rd practice and the coach found a team to scrimmage. Wilson wasn't ready for that. He was still learning how t-ball works. Anyway, he fussed and whined. He cried. He said he was hungry and cold (keep in mind that I fed him peanut butter crackers between the egg hunt and practice so he could make it till lunch!). He walked everywhere- even though the coach told him to run. Walked from outfield to the dugout. Walked from the dugout to the t. Walked from the T to first base AFTER HITTING THE BALL. He wouldn't run. I was SOOO embarrassed. I tried to bribe him with getting him hot chocolate after practice if he would be tough. Well, he didn't get any hot chocolate. HOpefully he'll get some today. He is at practice right now with Andy. I'm really hoping he is having a better attitude. The other moms at practice were trying to help me. Andy was trying. It was no use! Later Saturday afternoon his coach called me. He is so nice and patient. He said not to worry about Wilson's attitude. He's just 4. That with time he'll get used to t-ball. Not to force him because we want him to like it. Said his son (who is now 6 and on the team) acted just like this when he was 4. That helped. I didn't feel like such a loser mom after that.

Hitting the ball!

Walking up to bat. Life is so hard for a 4 year old.

Easter!

What a busy weekend! We had a lot of fun. Saturday we had the Egg Hunt at church, t-ball practice, and dyed easter eggs. Sunday we went to church and later that afternoon went to Maw and Paw's for dinner. The kids hunted their easter eggs there in the yard. It was a great weekend. Enjoy the pics! There are a lot!

First Practice!

Wilson's first T-ball practice was today. We were there for an hour and after about 45 minutes he was ready for it to be over. He had a great attitude and worked hard. It looked like he was being a good listener and listening to the coaches. When we got there, I asked his coach, Jamie, what he wanted to be called. He said Coach. Simple enough! There were 3 stations that the team rotated through- ground balls, throwing the ball and batting. The first time Wilson threw the ball he threw it from his gloved hand! I was cracking up. He already met a friend, Mason, and I met Mason's mom and had someone to talk to. We have another practice on Thursday and Saturday after the Easter Egg Hunt. Will's first game is April 12th, if you want to come!

*It's nice to have something to post about b/c all I've wanted to do is complain about how crappy I feel. This takes my mind off of things. Last week wasn't so good. Got sick 5 out of 7 mornings. I'm 12 weeks. Hopefully this will fade. I'm still getting bad stomach aches. Thursday night I burst into tears because I'd had a stomach ache for 7 hours. I couldn't handle it anymore. That was the worst stomach day.

Soap=Wilson's Mouth

So, I was taking a shower this morning when all of the sudden Andy and Wilson came in, loudly. Wilson was screaming. Andy was saying, I told you to never say that word again. So in reaches Andy's hand to get the soap out of the shower. I'm thinking oh, no. This has never happened before, not that I can remember. Wilson picked up a new word at school. Damn. We don't want him to say that, obviously! One of the kids in his class apparently says it sometimes, in the right context, because Wilson has picked up on it. The first time he said it we were all- what did you say?? Then, where did you learn it. etc. Followed up with, this is not a nice word, we don't want you to say it etc. Well I guess Wilson decided to say it again. So Andy put soap in his mouth. Hopefully the message bubbled loud and clear! Wilson DID NOT LIKE IT!

Bleh...

That is how I'm feeling. Two days in a row. Plus a persistent headache for about 3 days. And a stomach ache yesterday evening and all afternoon today. Not to complain or anything!

I don't really like being pregnant. But I know it is worth it. I've just never understood the people who say "I love being pregnant!" HOW??

Busy Day

Throw up breakfast - Check
What a way to start the day! Thankfully I'm NOT doing it everyday :)

Field trip to Gattitown - Check
Lots o' fun!

Dentist appointments for Wilson and Luke - Check
They did awesome!! I'm so glad that teeth brushing every morning (Andy's job) and night (my job) is the hassle and not the time in the dentist's office. The boys were angels. I'll take the fussing and crying every night at home while brushing teeth if it means they'll act as well as they did at the dentist today, every time. Wilson was such a brave, big boy. He laid back in the chair and I sat on the bottom of his chair with him. They let him wear cool sunglasses during the teeth cleaning. He survived the flouride sponge and picked a small toy motorcycle out of the treasure box. He had lots of compliments for his behavior! Luke had his first checkup- 2 pics with the dentist, they looked in his mouth, that's about it! He laid down with daddy holding his hands and was a little afraid at first - but no crying or screaming- and was very brave. He picked a big green foam die out of the treasure box. Then they both sat on the bench and pretended to play video games (they weren't really playing) while I checked out and made the next appts. Very successful!!

First t-ball meeting - Check
Little crazy in that they said they'll be asking for our money all the time. FOR WHAT? That worries me! We don't have extra cash! We already paid our $80 to play! We'll have a fundraiser, I'll work the concession stand for 1 hour, lots of practices and weekly games. Wilson picked #5 for his uniform. He is on the Reds. Red t-shirt and gray baseball pants. Coach seems nice. Hopefully Wilson will get to play- it sounded iffy since he is 4. They talked about how the league is competitive and they play the good kids etc. (These kids are 4, 5, and 6!) So maybe not exactly what I had in mind. We'll hope for the best.

Boys in bed! - Check

Update

We told the boys about the baby last night and both are very excited! Wilson had LOTS of questions and went back and forth between hoping for a sister or another brother. He said the baby can sleep in his room. He really wanted to know how the baby would come out! He asked Daddy if it would hatch from an egg! This morning he asked me if my belly had grown more overnight. Thankfully, I could say no! I showed them pictures of what the baby looks like now and how small it is etc. Then we looked at ultra sound pictures from each of them. They were very interested and this morning Luke wanted to look at more baby stuff.

Today is my SIL's birthday, Happy Birthday Stephanie! We went to a surprise party for her last night which was lots of fun.

Yesterday, Andy and the boys went sledding with Uncle Mac, Aunt Stephanie, and their cousins. We'll get some pics posted soon. They had a great time! I stayed home and worked diligently on my National Board entry (#3) which is completely drafted! I emailed it to my mentor and to Jenn so they can help me revise. One more to go!

Preggers :)

Have you heard the news? I'm pregnant! Baby #3 is due on September 26th (thank goodness it won't be another January baby!) . Little rough with back-to-school but I know it will all work out. Andy and I found out on Feb. 1st and decided to wait a while to tell others. Here's the scoop.
*Had an ultra sound in Feb. and everything looked good.
* Kept a LONG secret from all of my friends and family. It feels good to be able to talk about it!
* Been feeling so-so and was taking lots of naps.
* Only gotten sick 3-4 times!
* Went to the Dr. on Monday and listened to the heart beat! Amazing! I can't believe you can hear the heartbeat so early.
* I'm about 11 weeks pregnant.
I guess that's it for now. We haven't told the boys yet since it's still a ways off.

Why??

(Andy you may want to skip this one! A little hostility. I only say this because you didn't like the picture post.)

Written post panic attack after today's meeting.

Questions:

Why does the National Board process have to be so HUGE??
Why does it cause undue stress?
Why are some people ALREADY done with their portfolios??
Why has it caused me to have 2 panic attacks?

Answers:

1. So you can work your butt off, yet again, to prove that you are good at what you do. It's the teaching profession, people.
2. The people at National Board want to make the process so overwhelming and specific just so you can be stressed. "NO, you idiot, don't paper clip pages 1, 2 and 3 in order. Paper clip pages 3, 45, 32, 1 in order. Duh!"
3. Because they have been totally committed since last January to get done way ahead of time. Or because they don't have two small children, a husband, an intern, a student teacher, a team in training, an EDC student, a small group, any friends, or maybe, just maybe, no life.
4. Because I get easily overwhelmed. Because there seemed to be a lot of people at the meeting DONE with the portfolio. Because one of the men in charge said "Everyone is done videotaping by now, right?" UHH NOOOOOOOOOOOO.

DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know this was voluntary. I'll be glad in the end, when it is done and I can take a deep breath. The National Board people on the hotline are really nice and helpful. I have a great mentor and a wonderful NB certified team teacher helping me (Thanks, Jenn!). I'm the one who didn't start writing entries until October. I work better under some pressure. But not this much pressure. Everyone I have met seeking NB Certification is nice and they have a life. Last one: I have issues. Honestly. I was fine during the meeting. I walked out of there and my eyes filled up with tears. I tried to call Jenn, since she's been through this whole thing before. Then I ended up talking to my mom who answered the phone to me hyperventilating (practically). As soon as she answered I said "mom, it's me. I'm ok, I'm just really upset." So she talked to me and calmed me down so when I got home and walked into my house I was smiling and happy for my sweet boys. Thanks, mom!

He says the funniest things!

Wilson is cracking me up right now. He is going through two small desk drawers in the desk that is in his room. He just found this keychain and told me he thought it would be perfect with Jennifer's baby gift! I told him it says "Alyssa" on it so I didn't think it was a good idea. He then said, "well can I put it in your dressing room then?" :)

A couple days ago he asked me when we could go to another "fair craft".

He's heard me say shoo before. I guess outside in the summer time or something, like shoo fly. Anyway, he's never forgotten it so from time to time he'll say "shoot Lottie" or something when he really means shoo, Lottie. He cracks me up.

He's staying busy right now so he can be awake when Daddy gets home from work!

Maybe Spring IS around the corner!

It is such a beautiful day! The sun is shining and it isn't too cold! We took the boys to get a haircut today. Luke is napping and Wilson is watching Lightning McQueen. I'm about to work on my NB entry. I did get a 2nd entry completely revised and in the envelope ready to mail by Tuesday of this week. I've started my 3rd entry and am about 4 pages into it. I'm hoping to write 4 more this weekend. This entry is a bit harder for me than the other two.
My student teacher's solo week will finish on Monday (due to the snow day) so I have one more flexible day at school. I didn't get as much NB stuff done this week as I thought I could. There was a lot of other stuff to do. I'm mentoring several people this year and it just takes time. So I had quite a bit of catching up to do there. It all keeps me busy but is also helping me to earn some extra money for the family. We have a couple big projects we need to do on the house plus we need to replace our heating unit by next winter.
Come March 31st my grade level will have some celebrating to do because KTIP will be over for Gayla and Abby and I will have mailed in my NB portfolio. Last night I went out to dinner with several friends from school to celebrate Maria's birthday, yes, her b-day is on February 29th! We had a great time. I came home and got Andy and we joined the group for bowling after we got the boys tucked into bed. It worked out nicely! I actually beat Andy on our first game. But he won the other two!
Tonight Andy is teaching a seminar along with our Children's Pastor at church about Parenting for Faith. I've read his outline and it all looks great. I'm so proud of him. I don't think I'm going to go because I want to stay home and hang out with the boys since I was gone last night. Good luck, baby!

**Keep your fingers crossed for NO MORE SNOW DAYS!!!**