I must be doing something right...

So I've heard parents say that when you're kid tells you they hate you, you must be doing something right, right? Well, it sure doesn't feel good when it happens. Let's travel back 45 minutes...I put my kids to bed, read them a story and turn on their music. My daughter is asleep after maybe 10 minutes, my son...yeah, right! He gets up and I make him go back to bed. I usually use the Supernanny technique where you don't talk to them you just lead them back to bed. Well, it's now 30 minutes later and I have gotten up at least 20 times to take him back to bed. During the times he has gotten out of bed, I have had 2 pillows thrown at me and 2 books thrown at me. He has slammed the door on me at least twice, told me he didn't love me and stuck his tongue out at me. To put a cherry on top, he yelled "I hate you!"

Now, almost 45 minutes and he just came in and apologized to me for throwing books at me, "dicking" (he can't say his "s's") his tongue out at me, shutting the door and being mean to me. At the beginning of this post I was crying because I felt like my son didn't love me, and I wasn't doing anything right. Now, I am crying because he knows he did something wrong, and he knows he should apologize for it. When it comes down to it, maybe I am doing something right.

The only video game I can play!!!

I found these old video games to put on your blog, and I thought I would try adding them a few at a time. The next one I'm going to get is Mrs. PacMan. My sister will never leave my site!!

Test your travel IQ

I found this link on someone's blog and I clicked on it and started to play. It's a little addicting - so beware!!

http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

6 Word Story

Do you think you can do it? Ernest Hemingway did! He once wrote a story in just six words. Want to hear it? "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." It has been said that he called this his best work. There are several listed on the internet at:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/sixwords.html

I gave this challenge to my middle schoolers earlier this year and they had fun with it. Some of their stories included:

I'm blessed. Blessings gave me friends.

Serving in the gym, playing volleyball.

Shoes, very comfy, fun to wear.

Cute shoes in the store. Now pinching.

Cow born, makes milk, fresh beef (I think this one is my favorite!)

Volleyball, smooth going, Friday. Going down.

Good luck coming up with one of your own!

Teacher of the Year

No, I didn't get nominated from my school just in case you were wondering. I do want to explore the criteria for someone to be voted on (by other teachers) for teacher of the year. What does this title mean? Can this title only be held by people who are veteran teachers? For example, does a teacher who has only taught 2 years deserve this title as much as someone who has taught for 20 years or longer? What about education? If someone has more education, do they deserve that title more? I can't complain too much because I forgot to turn my nomination in so I really have no room to talk. I am just confused because of a situation that happened which involved a so called "Teacher of the Year." I guess the question comes down to who deserves it and who has worked for it. If they are the same person that's great but if they're not, one needs to do more consideration before a vote is cast. I'm sorry if this is a confusing post but I'm just trying to blow off some steam. You know my phone number if you need more explanation. By the way, this stuff will happen at any school :-)

My list of books

I love to read and that's just the beginning. One day, I started a book in the morning and I didn't finish it until the afternoon. I think I read from 9 until almost 3. Sometimes I will see or hear about a book I want to read but then I forget about it. I am forever making lists about books I want to read so I won't forget. Of course, then I lose the list! So, here's my list (I can't lose this one!)

1. Blink by Tim Deeker
2. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
3. The Gift by Richard Paul Evans
4. The Witness by Dee Henderson (I actually have this book from the library, it's just a matter of opening it and starting it.)
5. House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton (this one should be first on my list because my 7th graders are reading it right now. They're on chapter 7 and I have to get ahead of them!!!)
6. Any new books from Terri Blackstock's Night Light series. If you have not read these, you should. It is a great series!

That's my list for now. We'll see how I do!

Josh's Arm

As many of you know, Josh broke his arm in early December. He was playing at school and fell. The break was right at his elbow joint so there was a concern about whether or not it would heal right. If it didn't heal right, there was the possibility he would have to have surgery and have a pin put in. He had his final appointment in early Feb. The doctor took x-rays and said his arm looked great. She said it looked like it had never been broken in the first place. Many people would contribute that to us being lucky (which we aren't) or to him being a child. Us, on the other hand, are contributing it to the amazing healing that God can do. We fully believe that God healed Josh's arm and allowed it grow back the way it did. Thank you to all of our family who prayed for him - we so appreciated it. I've included a picture of what he looked like with his cast on. His first cast was blue and his second cast was glow-in-the-dark.