Cut and Color . . . Getting ready for Winter

The first picture was taken on Tuesday at Tino's Student of the Month breakfast. Do you remember last year when I attempted to "go red" for Cristian and it ended up bright orange with hot pink stripes? It has taken almost one year to fix that mess. This time, I think it worked out a lot better.

It's All About the Karma . . .

Karma. Are you a believer that what comes around goes around? I always have been. And now that my children are in school that karma has come to bite me in the behind. All of those years of me being a teacher and completely "not getting it" have come back to HAUNT ME with a vengeance. Remember all of those mission projects, book reports/book projects, decorate the (fill in the blank) . . . that I thought were so cool assigning to my students or in many cases parents of my students? This weekend we were slammed with TWO projects. Actually, Sarah's project was supposed to be turned in on Friday. But it so WAS.NOT. And Mateo's was a weekend project.

Sarah had to do a "I am thankful for . . ." collage. Sarah is thankful for lots of things. I would be thankful if I could learn how to upload/download and/or print off the hundreds and hundreds of pictures that live inside of my digital camera and/or memory card. It would make projects like this a whole lot easier. Mateo had to do a "Decorate/disguise the turkey so it doesn't get eaten for Thanksgiving" project. Do you realize we wandered aimlessly . . . AIMLESSLY . . . up and down the aisles of Joann's for a good 1 1/2 hours this morning? (And yes, you read that right . . . this morning . . . which means one child may or may not have been taken out of school 1 hour early and one child may or may not have gone to school at all). I know that Joann's has one million and one great project ideas and crafty things to do said projects. BUT, if you are not a project doer, Joann's to me is what Home Depot, Costco, or Magic Kingdom is to Sarah . . . hell on earth. Anyway, I just spent $20 on a bunch of nothing. But Mateo and Sarah are in the other room entertaining themselves and working on their family projects. Family= Sarah and Mateo right? And since I was the one that drove them to Joann's and Cristian is the one that is at work right now earning the money we just finished spending and since Tino is about as crafty as me so why even bother . . . This is a family project right? O.K. Thanks. Now I can cross that off my list. WHEW!

Now I can gear up towards making a board game for English Language Learners. I get to look forward to that tonight at school. Terrific! Can I get any more excited? We were told to bring supplies and materials we might need to create our board game. We won't know until we get to class who is in our group and which theory our game has to represent (constructivism, nativism, cognitivism, or behaviorism). Do you wish you were me right now or WHAT?

Back to the karma. For the last month I have had major swelling from the left knee down to my ankle. It doesn't matter if I elevate, hydrate, stay off of it or continue with my normal everyday routines. Cristian gave me the "will you please go to the doctor and find out what is going on" speech the other day because he was getting really worried about me. (Or maybe he is just embarrassed hanging out with his wife that is waddling around like a 90 year old woman). Just for the record, DO NOT . . . I repeat . . . DO NOT consult with WEB MD on a weekend. You will most certainly diagnosis yourself with the deadliest disease out there. What I thought was some kind of cardiovascular issue or diabetes . . . was not. I've got some major ligament damage in my knee and all the fluid is pooling there instead of properly going where it needs to go. Why is this karma? Well it's the same knee that I messed up when I went skydiving 20 years ago. It's the same knee that when I went to the BYU Health Center I told a little lie and said that I messed up my knee by tripping down the stairs at the dorm. (My health insurance at the time did not cover skydiving . . . and my parents did NOT approve of my skydiving activities. O.K. actually I think I waited until AFTER the fact to tell them I had jumped out of an airplane AND messed my knee up). So there it is. Maybe if I would have just come clean 20 years ago and told the 99 year old doctor working at the health center that I was clumsy because I didn't know how to properly land after jumping out of a plane instead of clumsy because I don't know how to walk up or down stairs . . . I might not have been cursed with this problem today.

So those are my two stories for the day. Now I better get back to what I was supposed to be doing . . . finishing up my homework for tonight's class.

Mr. Mateo

I figure since it has been OH SO LONG since I have blogged, I better give an update about everyone. Mateo has changed from a very outgoing individual to being very SHY. I think that after years of being Tino's spokesperson (who is so painfully shy he would rather crawl under a rock then look you in the eye, shake your hand, and say "hello") and for doing all of the talking for speech-delayed Sarah, he just threw in the towel. I've never known a person that will say "I AM SHY." Mateo can not control Tino's baseball performance nor Sarah's ups and downs that go along with her seizure disorder or sensory processing disorder. However, Mateo has learned that he can control how much he does or does not talk and interact with others.

Although he chooses to be "shy", he has developed an ability to write. He writes ALL DAY LONG. I have scraps and scraps of paper scattered throughout my entire house with notes he has written. He might not be on speaking terms with you, but he has no problem writing a note. (I just did a major house cleaning/note throwing away session yesterday. Give it another day or two and I will scan some of his notes.)

Some of my favorites: "Mateo is an excillent lisener." "Heidi, I love you so much." (He crumpled up that note because Tino told him it wasn't respectful to call your mom by her first name). "Mateo is a car rider on Monday. Heidi Ramírez." (Um, I didn't learn to write notes to the teacher/school until I was in the 9th GRADE. I had to explain to Mateo that he would get into very big trouble if he wrote notes to the school AND signed my name. He has now left the signature part to me.)

Some of my not so favorite notes: "I don't like you any more Tino. You are NOT MY BROTHER!" or "You are STUPID Sarah." Last week Mateo was on a naughty note-writing streak. I CALMLY went into the office and wrote Mateo a note. I didn't address it to him, I just set it next to his stash of paper and pencils. My note said: "Santa visits children who are NICE. Kids who write NAUGHTY notes will not be getting any presents this year." I think Mateo got the message because he let out a big giant SIGH and then went running into his room CRYING big alligator tears. He then was yelling from his closed bedroom door "But I didn't know. I didn't know. I will be nice."

Out of all three kids, Mateo is the most challenging. He is my super sentimental/gentle giant on one hand, but then has these uncontrollable fits of rage and breakdowns that come OUT OF NOWHERE. I anxiously await the day that his maturity level can catch up with his intelligence. There is a huge discrepancy and it frustrates him to no end. Lately I have noticed him reverting back to how he was last year when he started talking about life and . . . death. I am TRYING to help him find his niche. I am TRYING to help him be happy. I am TRYING to give him special one on one time so he doesn't get lost in the cracks between Sarah and Tino. All I can say is . . . I am TRYING. I hope he knows how much I do love him . . . naughty or nice.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Last week report cards got sent home. And last week we also received an automated voice mail message from Tino's principal saying if we'd like to schedule a conference, call the school. This morning was a first for all four of Tino's teachers. His teachers have been teaching anywhere between 10 and 24 years. This is the first time his teachers have received a conference request for a student who is getting straight A's. I have a split personality. I know, hard to believe right? I have a difficult time drawing the line between the "teacher" part of me and the "worried mom" part of me. Whenever Cristian mentions he is concerned, I know that it is time for "worried mom" to take action. As we all assembled around the table, the facilitator of the conference said "Let me guess, you are here because Tino is getting straight A's and he is bored. You want to know what else we can do for him, right?" Wow, well, yeah that was the reason for the conference but I was going to make it a little more fluffy and not quite so to the point and direct.

Bottom line is there really isn't a lot they can do for Tino. Unfortunately, Tino is going to be the student that falls through the cracks not because he can't master grade level expectations . . . but because due to the lovely No Child Left Behind , the teachers are pretty much forced to dumb down the curriculum so that EVERYONE can be successful. (And those were not my words, they were the words of two of his teachers.) Teachers don't have time to focus on the students that are excelling and doing well. Differentiation? Yeah, right. I guess the one good thing that came from the meeting is they are going to move him into Algebra. That will at least give Tino more of a challenge in math and he will be getting high school credit at the same time.

Socially Tino's teachers report that he is doing just fine. And two of his four teachers HAD.NO.IDEA that he was 2 years younger than his peers. I have followed the recommendation given by Tino's elementary school principal a couple years ago when he didn't pass the Gifted testing. She said to get him involved in extracurricular activities. We have done that. In fact, we . . . I mean Tino is extracurricular activitied out. There is only one day per week that Tino doesn't participate in baseball, boy scouts, or barritone . . . and that is on Monday night when I have class.

Anyway, that's the update on Tino. And I am still waiting for someone to tell me how to get the pictures off my camera phone. Then I will be able to do a Halloween post.

Don't Get Too Excited . . .

I am going to try . . . keyword TRY and be better at updating my blog. Starting today. Now if anyone can tell me how to get the pictures from my phone to my computer I would be greatly appreciative. I can't find my crackberry user manual. And by the way, the crackberry isn't nearly as fun when you don't have internet access. It's just another phone.

Timpanogos Cave

One of the things Tino wanted to do while on vacay, was hike Timp. Since his mother is absolutely 100% NOT a hiker, we decided to compromise. We hiked to Timpanogos Cave instead. My sister Heather (the picture stealer) and I did a marvelous kid-swap. I took the three kids that would not whine and cry while on a 1 1/2 mile straight up the mountain hike and she took the three kids that most likely wouldn't even be able to get out of the car without help/assistance. It was a win-win situation.

As you all know, Heather is SUPER-MOM. She's the kind of mom that every mom wants to be some day. She's fun, super spiritual, great cook, a project do-er, birthday party planner . . . well you get the idea. She's also the mom that writes cute/lovey-dovey letters and sneaks them into her kid's lunch box. She's also the kind of mom that writes an inspirational note to her child and sticks it in her shoe the night before the BIG HIKE. Do you see this picture of Abbie? Is it not the CUTEST? I can't remember the exact wording of the note Heather wrote, but it had something to do with "I am proud of you for doing this hike, I love you, etc. etc." About every 20 steps of the hike, Abbie wanted to stop and rest so she could read the note. Her entire face lit up and she would do the cutest ever giggle. She then told me :"Aunt Heidi, do you know why I'm reading this note my mom wrote so much? It's so I can be brave and keep on going on this difficult hike." What a cutie. LOVE that girl! And of course, LOVE my sis. She's a great example to me.

P.S. If you want to see pictures of my Sweet Sarah on a pony ride or to see the expression on her face when the ponies in front of her stopped to pee or poo . . . please visit Heather's blog for her post about Day at the Farm. Oh yeah, that's right. She forgot to take her camera . . . so she probably won't blog about it.

My Sister, The Picture Stealer

So I have the greatest sister in the whole planet. She is smart too. Every time we went on one of our adventures this summer, she conveniently forgot to bring her camera. I always had my camera with me. But . . . there are two major problems. #1 My camera SUCKS (excuse that word mom and dad . . . please don't wash my mouth out with soap.) and #2 I do a great job of taking pictures, but definitely need improvement in the area of POSTING pictures via blogger or Facebook. Anyway, Heather has been having a lot of fun doing blog posts with MY pictures. She knows I will never ask for the pictures. At least they are SAFE so the next time my computer crashes, I won't lose everything. I can just ask her for all my pictures that I think are "lost", but really aren't because she has them all.

When you get a chance, please leave a comment and ask Heather to post the pictures from our trip to San Francisco. She wasn't with us, but I bet she can leave a witty and/or snarky commentary about our SF pics. Have you ever been to J. Dawg's or has your kid ever been the FIRST kids to take a little ride 110 feet up in the air? I mean who needs Disney World, Sea World, or Universal Studios . . . when you have the Lehi Fire Department? My kids were DEFINITELY impressed.

Maybe if Heather is NICE to me, I will post pics of her kids when we went to Jordanelle Reservoir or when we hiked Timpanogos Cave. I might even have some other good pics on my camera of her family . . . or other cousin fun.

All Stars 2009

As you know, I am going on vacation . . . . in about 4 hours. Since I can't sleep, I figured I would upload some pictures from my camera. I will format the pictures and write about the All Star game when I get to Palm Desert because I think Anne has her laptop with her.

And the only pictures I have from the wedding we went to tonight are the pics of Sarah. First is with her shirt on underneath her dress. When she saw her teachers from school had their "backs and shoulders showing" . . . she wanted to have her back and shoulders showing also. So right after the ceremony and before she went into the kids reception area (where she wouldn't be seen by ANYONE other than the two ladies babysitting and the rest of her friends) . . . I let her take the undershirt off. I know. Bad mom. But this was a case where I just had to pick the battles. I will not let her shoulders show once she gets into Young Women's . . . or even once she turns 8. Don't worry . . . I won't lead my child down the wrong path.

Good night! Now I think I can go to sleep!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yeah, so I had a birthday . . . about 3 weeks ago. And it was lovely. It all started out with a birthday party at the gym . . . with my favorite Silver Sneakers friends. Whenever it's party day, we have a quick 30 minute cardio-workout so we can get straight to the most important part of the day . . . the food.

My best Florida friend Shannon joined us in time for the food and birthday cake. (P.S. If you ever run into Shannon, please don't tell her I posted this picture on my blog. She doesn't let anyone take her picture when she is pregnant). Cristian also slipped away from work during his lunch break so he could enjoy the party.

After the Silver Sneakers party, Mateo told me he wanted to go to Wal Mart so he could buy me some flowers for my birthday. He made me close my eyes while he was picking out the flowers. When we got to the checkout line, he told me I would have to pay for the flowers because papi wasn't with us and he forgot all his money.
We then went and picked up Tino (because you see he is too "cool" to go to the gym these days) and we went to Sea World. I know that most of you are thinking Sea World on your birthday? What kind of a CRAZY idea is that? Out of all the parks . . . Universal, Disney, etc. Sea World is my absolute favorite. And since it was "my day" I got to choose what kind of activities we did at Sea World. We went to my favorite show, saw the new aquarium exhibit next to the new Manta ride, and ate dinner with the sharks. When it was getting late, we headed over to the other side of the park next to all the kiddie rides. The kids had that whole part of the park to themselves because everyone else in Sea World decided to hang out with Shamu.


Birthday Weekend was spent with Cristian at St. Augustine. I told him that all I wanted for my birthday was 24 hours ALONE with him. I think we got almost 28 hours. It was fabulous. I also got some new workout shoes . . . which I needed. And, I bought myself some personal training sessions since I packed on 20+ pounds over the last year and need some help getting that extra weight off. Happy Birthday to Me!

And don't forget to PLUG YOUR NOSE!

Every year we get the same phone call from Orange County Health Department about two to three days before school lets out. It's a friendly community reminder about a killer single cell amoeba that thrives in hot, fresh water. Once exposed to the human brain through the nasal passages it is almost always fatal.

At first people exposed to the amoeba, naegleria fowleri, suffer from flu-like symtoms. Soon afterwards, the symptoms worsen. Coma, abnormal movements of the eyes, and then parts of the brain start to die.

My kids are HORRIFIED of fresh water lakes. I am horrified because of the gators that lurk among the fresh water lakes. My kids have an intense fear that the amoeba will eat their brain if they don't plug their nose while swimming . . . which they never do. We have decided to err on the side of caution and we avoid fresh water lakes altogether from June until about October or November. But this year we will be going to California and Utah for almost one month. How do I start prepping my kids now that it will be o.k. to swim in a lake there?