Just Checking In

It seems like forever since I updated this crazy blog of mine. A week and two days...that practically is forever for me! So much has been happening. For one...I am exhausted. This whole month has been one of racing and running and Chris and I just passing like two ships in the night. The beginning of the month I was in North Carolina for 5 days. Then I was home less than 48 hours before Chris left for 10 days in the Boundary Waters. He got home and was grounded for all of 2 days before he left again for two days. Now he is back again...but just for 3 days before he leaves AGAIN! And so, in the meantime, that leaves me...the chief of discipline, transportation, chef, maid and social events coordinator. Added to all of that excitement, this whole week has been "early release" for Ben and Clara due to parent conferences, so my much needed "mommy" time has been cut EVERY day this week. Nice. Lovely!

Parent conferences went well. Benjamin has a marked falure to apply himself. His teacher feels strongly that he is capable of SO much more than he shares in class. (And I'm thinking...welcome to my world!) He seems to want to accomplish all of his work turbo speed (even though there are NO prizes for getting done first or fast) and his speediness, coupled with his carelessness is making for some less than ideal work. So he is going to need to work on slowing down and checking his work and getting more organized. That woman really has no idea what she is asking on that whole organization end. This IS the brother of Max, after all. And while those two boys can be so very different... in that area.. the blood bond runs deep! Clara's conference was great. Her only negative comment was that she tends to be a "chatty cathy". Hmmm. I wonder where in the world she would get a trait like that? It was interesting though. She's not chatty in a disrupt the class sort of way. Not at all the teacher assures me. It's more in helping others. Apparently the answers come so easily to Clara that she wants to help everyone else right along so they can keep up with her. Her teacher thinks it would be nice if the other kids are allowed to think for themselves sometimes. We tried to explain some of this to Clara.. we'll see if she can resist the urge to "help" everyone for a bit here. Then her teacher tells me that they are working on goals (can't remember exactly what the goal is), but if they achieve it, they get to choose something to do. And I nearly burst out laughing when she told me what Clara has chosen if and when she makes HER goal. Apparently, upon reaching this goal, the teacher will allow CLARA to TEACH the class for 15 minutes! FIFTEEN minutes! WOW! And so, once I composed myself a bit, I asked her..."ummm, are you sure about that? Are you sure you want to let Clara take over like that?" I'm thinking...15 minutes is a LONG time! She assures me that yes, she is good with that and that she is quite sure Clara could do it and do it well. Well, despite her assurances I was still sitting there thinking "Lady, you have NO idea what you are in for on that one!" The rest of the news on Clara was all good. She is reading on a 3rd grade level and is doing 2nd and 3rd grade homework sheets each night. She has her own spelling words aside from the class that are on her level. I assumed they must be drilling them in class as she spells them effortlessly...but her teacher tells me no...she just gives them to this little group of 3 and they have to learn and spell them. So I think she will be a good speller (she might actually have gotten ONE brain gene from her MOTHER!). It looked as though her Dibels scores were the highest of her class when I glanced at the scores and everything looks just lovely as far as she goes. No problems. Well...other than the fact that she might need a muzzle to keep quiet! But I figure that if that is the WORST thing that she can come up with about her...then very excellent!

What else? I got to take my first pictures of twins this week. Very fun. Precious babies those two little ones were! The session went well. I had never done twins and so that was a fun, new challenge for me. Of course...after the session was all said and done I have had like a zilliion ideas about how to do it. Isn't that always the case?! Lots of other picture orders have been picked up and my dragonfly printed on metallic paper arrived and it is STUNNING! Now I think i am going to print it even BIGGER and alternate out my downstairs bathroom with that and the bright water lily...just for something fun! More of a fall look.

That's all the news on this front right now. We are going to have a VERY quiet weekend. Going nowhere and doing NOTHING is my goal. I would love one whole day in my house! Just one! I am supposed to go to the gym to spin with Jenny today. But my lower back is killing me this morning. But not muscle like. I think it feels more like my kidney is hurting. So I am not sure what I am going to do in this next hour. To spin? Or not to spin? It doesn't really help that I totally hate spinning! My initial vote is to skip spin and just go back to bed! Going to let the ibuprofen decide. I will take some now and then, in an hour when I have to take the kids to school...if it is better...then I spin. If not....then I chill here! Till later!