Frostop

Today, I scheduled two dreaded doctor/dentist appointments for Ham and a trip to the grocery store all in the same day. I figured that all of these situations would be rough because they involved shots, teeth cleaning and a really long grocery list. So I jam packed them all in the same day to get it over with.

Expecting a two year old to behave through all of this is a lot to ask, but I was pretty surprised.

It's only been a recent thing, where Ham shrieks when he doesn't get his way and it doesn't matter where we are. You would think that being the somewhat shy kid that he is, he would avoid making such a statement in public, but on the contrary he's blissfully unaware of everyone who stops what they are doing to stare.

I always act busy like I have no idea that my son's volume has reached an ear drum splitting volume. I calmly scan the shelves like I'm thinking hard about whether we should get organic canned tomatoes or the regular stuff, but I can feel the piercing eyes of those who want me, for the love of Pete, to do something about it. But truth be told, toddlers know they have you hostage when your cart is full and they know there is no real place for time out in a grocery store. It's a hostage situation that can only be remedied with cookie bribery.

Today, when he tried to heave his body out of the cart, I'm ashamed to say I told him that I saw a dog running around the store and we had better go see if we could find it. He sat back in his seat and started looking down the isles. This kept him entertained for quite a while.

The things you do.

But today there were no screams, just lots of bribery and of course the dog search.

The doctor/dentist visits went smoothly too.

At one point as the dentist cleaned his teeth, she remarked at how good and well-behaved he was. "Whatever you are doing, it works," she said.

"Lots of discipline," I said smiling and thinking of the cookies I gave him a few hours before.

We ended the last doctor visit with a shot that Ham barely flinched for.  The doctor led him down the hall for his sticker. She gave him a Thomas the Train sticker and as soon as she handed it to him, he asked for "Another one choo choo". He placed one on each side of his shirt.

On our way home we made a quick stop at Frostop for French fries and Rootbeer float which made Ham so hyped up on sugar that he walked around dancing to the 50's music that was playing with a big grin on his face.

It was the perfect end to a busy day.

Welcome Summer

Summer started in full swing. It's my first summer as a teacher and my first summer without a single class to take. Thank goodness.

It's also a return to my stay-at-home mom days as I get to spend two months home with Ham.

Everything has been going really well.

Our first week off, Ham and I headed to Home Depot to buy eight Purslanes to plant in the pots outside of the house. As Ham napped, I labored away planting each one. I was a little confused because by the time I finished planting them it was late afternoon and all the flowers had shriveled up. I figured that they were in shock. But as it turns out,  Purslanes are gorgeous morning bloomers and anyone who visits are house in the afternoon will have no idea. That's not really what I was going for but oh well.

Purslanes and Hammy in the morning

I also took the time to blow up the pool. It only took me two hours in the blazing hot sun using my dad's air blower thing. When I was finished, I heaved the giant pool across the yard and set in the shade. A few hours later the top half was nearly deflated. Since then I have had to inflate it over and over again and hope that at some point I can find the leak though I doubt I ever will. It's 100% worth it though because for 45 minutes to 2 hours I pretend that I'm cement pool-side with a margarita.

Also, we started the summer reading program which last year, Ham I was required to read 50 books. This week we returned our paper with the first ten books we read. I asked the young girl who was working the desk for the next list of books. She politely told me that because of budget cuts kids are only being asked to read ten books this summer. Really?

Hammy and his cousins at story time

Disclaimer: This picture lasted 5 seconds before Ham pulled me over to sit with him
and proceeded to attempt to kick the child in the red shirt in the face. We timed out in the bathroom.

And finally I decided that THIS would be the summer that I would potty-train Ham. Let me explain how well this is going for us. I tell Ham he needs to go to the bathroom on the potty every thirty minutes. He tells me, "No." I take him to the bathroom, he refuses to go, and he gives me a thorough explanation of what goes in the potty and where that stuff comes out of. He even flips his toy airplane over and show me where "poo poo" comes out of it. I tried to tell him other wise but I give up because he can be so persuasive sometimes. Who's going to argue with someone who firmly believes airplanes poop.

A few days later, I bring him to my mom's house. Periodically, I catch him telling my mom that SHE needs to go the bathroom. He proceeds to take her hand and lead her to the bathroom. Potty-training Maw-Maw is not what I imagined when it came to potty-training Ham.

More summer adventures to come!

 

 

 

The little tree that could

Yes, one more story about the tree.

I can't help but tell you this.

Sometime around Christmas time, it was cold outside - freezing - which is unsually around here. Most of the time it's the beginning of February before the cold weather sets in.

But at any rate, it was supposed to freeze that night, and I was worried my tree wouldn't make it in the cold. Sheesh, I love that tree too much.

So I lugged it inside. Sliding it across the floor, because I was sure I would end up with a hernia if I even tried to pick it up on my own. I set in next to our fake fireplace and stuck a towel underneath to keep the floor from getting wet. But the most important thing, I forgot to do.

So I went to bed and when I woke up, I meandered down the hall. I rubbed my eyes and as my sight adjusted, my eyes rested on one big old Murphy (our cat) chewing the tiny (less than  pinky size) bark of the tree. While I was busy protecting it from the cold, it never occurred to me that the real danger was in our house. I swatted her away and knelt down beside it to carefully examine it.

It didn't look so good. I could see her teeth marks had nearly cut through it, but it was still holding on.

Thank goodness.

I brought it back outside and hoped for the best. That's all you can do anyway.

A few weeks later, as we were sleeping one night, some bad weather hit. The wind blew like crazy, tipping my potted plants over and sending my neighbor's Mardi Gras decorations onto my porch. The next morning, as I bent down to scoop up her wreath, my eyes caught my little tree bent in half. I knew it  would happen at some point. Not to be a half empty glass person. But it was the reality of it. Who can grow an orchid tree in a pot anyway. Especially one that was half-eaten by a cat.

So as bummed as I was about it, I remembered the seeds Bob had given me and decided in the Springtime I would try to plant a new tree.

For weeks I ignored my pitiful little broken tree stump. At some point, I even considered using the pot for something else while I waited to plant a new tree.

But, while I had so easliy given up on the tree, God had not.

He must have known what the tree really meant to me.

Because one day as I carried groceries up the stairs to our porch, I saw something I did not expect at all.

It was so unreal I dropped my groceries down to get a closer look.

And this is what I saw.

The tiniest hint of hope.

Just when I had moved on from, God had started his new plan for the tree, one that I didn't think was possible.

And the stump that was surely a goner, became a thriving tree again.

And that's fine by me, because I look forward to the Spring time days when this tree will bloom flowers like this:



A Week Off

Ham and I thoroughly enjoyed our week long holiday from school.

We went to the park, we threw a super early Mardi Gras Birthday party for Ham, and we took walks around the neighborhood.

I just relaxed which is not an easy thing for me to do.

Ham on the other hand engaged in his new toddler boy behaviors.

He wreaked havoc on the house putting his toys from one end of the house to the other.

He ripped the paint of our cabinets and he colored my sofa, computer and coffee table with a green crayon in a three minutes span.

He pee-peed on his new car potty twice and thankfully did not poop in the tub once this week. 

He poured his cereal on top of himself and he ripped apart one of his books.

He watched America's Funniest Videos and laughed hysterically whenever someone wiped out. 

It was relaxing for him too.

Here's some pictures from the week gone by.

Our Mardi Gras Crew

Maw-Maw and B hanging out on the porch

Hey Mister!

On one of our walks

Church around the corner

Running from Mom

Getting ready to say "Aw Hammy!"

Beaumont days

I find myself reminiscing about our time in Beaumont a lot lately.

Last year, Mr. Yardbird was living in Beaumont for work for 10 months. Almost an entire year.

Ham and I loaded the car up and spent 4 or five days at a time visiting him, in between going to school and taking care of Ham as a stay at home mom.

The trip was never easy and we started making it when Ham was just about 10 months old in January. We loaded the car up, which took forever, and I always managed to forget something important.

Pretty soon, we developed a system and Ham and I became traveling pros. We had a traveling routine that worked with regular stops on the way and variety of toys and snacks to pass the time on the drive there.

During this time, I spent hours catching up with old friends on my bluetooth as I drove. Time I wish I had more of now.

And of course I got to spend a few days with Mr. Yardbird, even if it was only lunch and dinner time.

Ham and I learned how to navigate Beaumont during the day while Mr. Y. worked, and spent most of the day at their mall which reminded me so much of my mall growing up that it felt like I went back in time whenever we went there.

And when Mr. Y could join us at the mall, we would walk over to the furniture store, pretend to be interested in furniture just to grab some of their never ending supply of keurig coffee.

It was good times.

But perhaps some of the best were the times we spent in the hotel, chasing Hammy down the halls. It was in this hotel that Hammy took those first unsteady steps toward his daddy.

It was in that hotel that he started saying his first words "light" and "hot".

It was there that we played hide and seek with Ham, chasing him around the room while he burst into laughter.

And it was there that he learned how to drink out of a straw and use a fork and spoon.

It might not have been an ideal place for firsts, or even an ideal place to be a family, but we made a home there.

And as time went on, we made family with all of the staff and people like us who also were in the business of extended hotel stays. So it wasn't so bad.

This Christmas, our "family" in Beaumont sent us a Christmas card. Every staff member signed it, which really made me smile.

And, it made me kind of miss those days.

Here's some of my favorite pictures from the Beaumont days......

January.....

 

 

Discussing new furniture

 

February....

March....

 

 

May....

 

 

June...

 

August....

 

 

September...

 

 



Aw Hammy

With Ham's 2 year birthday just aorund the corner, it makes sense that he would be experimenting with the "terrible twos". Most people don't believe me when I say this, because Ham is such a well-behaved reserved kid around everyone else.

However, at home, it's a different story.

Aside from the out of nowhere temper tantrums and fits when he doesn't get his way, he also finds time to make the biggest messes he can come up with.

In the past, I stuck to the five second rule. If I left Ham alone to load the dishwasher, unload the washing machine, etc, I would allow five seconds of silence  to determine whether Ham had gotten into something he should not have.

Now, I allow 1 second.

Just last week I walked into find my green sofa colored red with a crayon. Ham, of course, acted like he had never seen a red crayon and knew nothing about what might have happened to make the beautiful circular red crayola marks that stretched from one end of the sofa to the other.

And similiary, he couldn't explain how his cereal bowl and its milk landed on top of his head. And why his banana was smashed down on top of that.

Neither could he tell me why he thought it was a great idea to throw his goldfish snack all over the living room and smash them to bits with his feet.

Nor could he offer a possible motive for drawing all over the tests I just graded and then crumpling them up and well, taking them to the garbage to  throw them away.

And each time he showed me this sort of mess made by him someone else entirely, I said the same thing I always say, " Aw, Hammy!" in my same disapproving tone. Because I knew I would have to spend extra time cleaning it all up again.

Unfortunately, Ham misunderstood what I was saying each time he made mess after mess.

So this week, Ham took the apple slices I cut up for him, threw them on the floor and smashed them up with his shoes.

A few seconds later, I hear him trott into the kitchen. I already knew what he was going to say --- "Uh, Oh".

But, no this time he say "Aw, Hammy!" and he pointed to the mess he made in the living room.

And I couldn't help but laugh.

Since then, Ham refers to all accidents and things that are messes as "Aw Hammy!".

Like he did this morning when some of his breakfast was stuck to my shirt. He pointed down and said "Aw Hammy!" and I just smiled and brushed it off.

I sort of hope this doesn't stick, but I admit it's kind of funny.

It's not so bad.....

To give you the brief rundown since the last time I posted, things have been looking up for me in the 5th grade.

It took a few days after Christmas for the students to realize that I wasn't going anywhere. And to be honest, it took about the same amount of time for me to realize I wasn't going anywhere either. Even if I thought about it on a regular basis in those first few weeks.

Somehow after Christmas, everything came together. The students grew to genuinely  like me and vice versa. Now I don't get that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach when I go to school and no one stands on their desk and throws pencils at me when I turn my back.

Now, the kids bring me thin mint chocolates and one student wrote a letter actually telling me I was her favorite teacher that she had ever had. I thought about framing it. But instead, I tucked in a safe spot to take out and re-read on a rotten day.

They even rolled their eyes and huffed and puffed when I told them I had to have a subsitute come in for half a day so I could sign paperwork. Because, they told me, they would rather I was with them. I couldn't believe my ears.

Maybe time was all that was needed. At any rate, I'm glad I stuck with it.