Egg Extravaganza

I love to decorate Easter eggs. I am so happy that Chris and Little Bear enjoy decorating eggs too. I can still remember E's first Easter. Abby and I stayed up til 2 am decorating eggs. I am sure we used the excuse that E needed these for her 1st Easter to be special, but really I just love it. This year I shopped early for our kit. I believe Chris and I picked it up back in February when the Easter items first came out. We had the PAAS Deggcorating Party kit. It was wonderful let me tell you.

Little Bear was totally pumped about this event. She really didn't remember from last year how it went. We did a quick refresher course and she was ready to go. In our kit we had 12 colored tablets, glitter, glue to put beads on with, foil to wrap the "cracked" eggs in, 3 bands to make stripes with, and much more. Let's just put it this way, we began at 8 pm and didn't finish till 10:30 pm. I think next year I will look for the same kit. It just offers so much for 2 dollars more!

Dad helping to make sure it is done right!


Chris and Little Bear using the prep time wisely!!!

Nice glasses....

Busy working.Eggs drying for the next step....2nd color, glitter, or paint!

OUR FINAL PRODUCT!

Thank You TRAVEL CHANNEL

You know the Travel Channel is great for many reasons.....learning new ways to life, new vacation ideas, and new spots to eat. Therefore, I give the Travel Channel a great big THANK YOU!!! Okay this thank you comes from my heart, with a small bit of sarcasm you will see why.

Man vs. Food did a great piece on AMARILLO. Well guess who watch the whole darn thing, Chris. Now guess who wants to eat at all the places they hit up. I was not really up for the Big Texan 72 oz. steak in one hour this weekend. Chris who really believes he can do this task....72 oz steak in 1 hour, wanted to go there so bad. I the mean girlfriend that I am really can not event think about him doing this without getting sick to my stomach. I know Chris can put some food down, but I just am not sure about this one. Of course Abby and Brian were not backing me up at all. They really want to see him do this! This will be for our NEXT trip to Amarillo.

Instead of the Big Texan, we hit up a nice little (and little is probably and over statement) hamburger joint in town. Food Network hit this spot up too on their show....and so Chris really had to go there! Coyote Bluff Cafe here we come! When this aired it showed people waiting outside to get in to eat. I of course asked my dad if that really was the case, he said get there early. Well we go there around 1.....to find a line! Yes the line was out the door and it was raining. However, determined to eat here for Chris we sent him and Brian to stand in line.

The WHOLE place!

Poor Chris and Brian...in the rain! What good sports.

The smart girls waiting in the car!

Once we got in the door it was pretty much a first come first serve place. The reason the line was out the door is due to the size. Once you walk in the door you are in the table area! There were about 15 tables in there, various sizes. Size didn't matter though you sat if there was a table! Our party of 5 had a nice party of 4 table. Now what to order? Adam (the host of Man vs. Food), tried out the Burger from Hell on his show. Therefore, Chris and Brian were up for the challenge. We each placed our order from the board menu hanging in the middle about the beer in the bathtub! We also enjoyed some amazing cheese fries....

Finally inside....ready to eat.

2lbs of Cheese Fries....DELICIOUS!

E really liked the cheese fries....she is my sister's child!

As for the Burger from Hell....it was HOT! Chris and Brian both were needing some water along with their burger. They really enjoyed it and I think one can tell from the pictures below.

Chris enjoying the Burger from Hell!

Brian going in for more....the heat was up that is for sure!

Thanks to Chris for watching the food of Amarillo and wanting to try them all. We can now mark this one off the list. Maybe soon he will get to tackle that 72 ounces of goodness (sarcasm again), but for sure we will hit up Coyote Bluff Cafe again.

Our weekend in Amarillo

Chris and I headed to Amarillo for Easter. This was Chris' first trip to the "big" A-town, therefore we had to show him around. I was very sad though that we had to leave Winston at the puppy hotel for the weekend. He still doesn't feel amazing in the car, plus we flew! Thankfully Chris is the one who dropped him off....

We got in around 7, so really Friday night was just spent doing dinner with the family (Abby, Brian, and the kids were there too they got in earlier). The rest of the weekend was pretty booked. Saturday morning Little Bear requested that we eat breakfast at Donut Stop. She just knew Chris would love that place. Therefore, off we went for donuts. I think she really just wanted to use Chris as a good reason to go there. After enjoying our breakfast we hurried off to Lowe's. This past weekend was their Build and Grow project weekend. The project was a bird house. E just loves going to these workshops. They are really amazing and it allows her to build many great things.

Little Bear working hard.

B really wanted to help too.

Mommy had to give him a hand with the hammering.

The finished product, certificate, and badged for their apron.

Emery showing it off again.

After building the bird houses, we headed to see grandma and grandpa. This is of course grandpa's first holiday at his new home. When we first arrived he was a little crabby, but shortly that wore off. Chris got to answer many questions, since it was the first time he met them. It was really great getting to see grandma and grandpa interact with him. Things seemed to really go amazing and grandma was pretty alert. All in all a nice trip to the nursing home!

Pee pants, specimen cups, and more....

I love my job, okay most days any ways. I do have an amazing class that makes me laugh every day. These kids are great....and say the darnedest things. However, today was one of my most unusual days EVER!!!!

Okay let me give you a few ground rules for the way our room works. Due to the fact that we are a LARGE elementary school (over 800 students), and have only 2 boys and 2 girls bathrooms it makes breaks a task. Therefore, as a class we take 3 WHOLE CLASS breaks. At this time my kids MUST go to the bathroom. In class we have a rule....if or when we return from bathroom break, and you choose to ASK to go to the bathroom within 20 minutes of return for our group break; you will have to change your color. The reason for this rule is that a few of my sweet angels choose not to use their bathroom break time wisely, instead playing. Then when we return for instructional time they now NEED to go to the bathroom. Hence the need for our 20 minute rule. Let me tell you about TODAY'S EVENTS!!!!

Please take a seat for this....


Today I have a child (whom I will call Bobby) who chose not to use the group bathroom break time wisely. After specials we take a group break, he goes into the bathroom and PLAYS!!!! He returns to line, we head to our room. The students then tear out their math TEST and we all prepare to take it. In the middle of the test (about 5 minutes after our bathroom break), Bobby comes running up to me...............he is frantic! I look at him and ask what the problem is that he is disrupting our test. He claims that he could not "hold it" and well he pottyed on himself. Sure enough I look down to see a completely wet right leg but notice a large bulge in his pocket. This child tends to be one who does not follow the bathroom break rule, so his mother send "back up" clothes. When he returns from changing we continue our test. Then thinking to my self what the heck is that bulge in his pocket...and I hope it is not anything that will be turned into me to grade or touch, now that it is covered in pee!!!!

I move along to our next lesson. We continue our day as if nothing has happened, then it comes time to head home. I send my bus and after school kids on their way. I am now down to my 6 parent pick up kiddos, including Bobby. On Thursdays I do locker checks to make sure we have clean lockers...well Bobby's locker is out of control. I then explain to him that he needs to clean EVERYTHING. This is when I notice something unusual....I see that he has a specimen cup. You know a cup that most of us would pee in at the doctors office.

LIGHT BULB goes on in my head. I think back to the fact that during our pee pants problem he had a BULGE in his pants. I then realize that either A: he did actually pee in his pants or B: he had peed in this cup then placed it in his pants pocket. Then when he sat down in class to take his math test it spilled all over his pants.....

This is the dilemma I am left with at the end of the day: did he pee? or was it the pee in the cup that leaked out? What I do know is....he had not had the cup in his pants all day, and must have just grabbed it out of his locker prior to specials. Now why would this child do this. I have no clue. One can imagine how I approached the parent on this situation. The good thing is she actually is a teacher at my school.

That is when I got more crazy information.....yes it can get even more messed up! She informed me that yesterday when he went to the doctor he was to use this cup, but would not. Therefore the nurse sent it home with hopes that later in the day she could get a sample brought back in. Instead Bobby chose to use this cup this morning before they headed to school. The mom told him to throw it away and how gross it was. Now we come to another question....was it pee from this morning or from the bathroom break???

Honestly I don't know that I really want to know the real truth to this whole messed up situation. However, I did ask the mom to see what she could get out of Bobby. Maybe tomorrow I will have some answers...........I think I can say I am the only person that this crazy stuff would happen too! Just your average day in FIRST GRADE!!!

Elephants and Puppys!!!

Tonight we were off to Puppy class #6. Winston, Chris and I make the trip to Petsmart just like normal only to find a different scene. As we are pulling into the Montgomery plaza we begin to see many moving trucks. Per our normal routine, when we get out Winston likes to take care of business. Well as he is taking care of business there are many people wrapping things up at the store next to us. Come to find out Pier 1 had been taping a commercial all day. They had a cute little elephant holding a Pier 1 bag acting like he was going into shop. Once Winston had check out all the people and more....he was back on the trail to Petsmart.



Off to class #6!! Yikes, this is where I had a puppy school freak out.....we only have 1 more class to know EVERYTHING. Only 1 more class to STAY FOR 30 seconds! Oh no, he may not graduate. Okay so I am freaking out just a bit...well the truth is we have 1 more class til graduation.

This weeks tricks:

• Stay for 20 seconds
• Greeting new people- this is where he will just sit and greet people, and not jump up
• Leash walking
• Shake- where we teach him to shake...he does okay so far

These are the big new tricks. Of course she told us that this is the puppy "teenage" phase. Meaning they will not do tricks even though they know how just to be a pain. So more than anything we are not to get frustrated and keep working. I just hope that in the next week or so we can be ready for graduation!

Lessons, sometimes learned the hard way!

I will begin this with this statement, "I do not have children (I know a shock to a few!) and I understand lessons must be taught but really!!!"


Okay since I do not have children, as stated above, I do not always understand the way parents think. My dear sweet friend Ms. Yang (she is our ART teacher) has been teaching her sweet daughter (who is 7 I believe) a lesson the past 3 weeks. Her approach is very different this is why I must "blog" about it. Let me set up this picture please.....The Yang's are very simple people: they are vegans, do not have cable TV, and her daughter can only watch the non cable TV on Saturdays (and not for long either). So Yang's daughter has been wanting a pug dog for a very long time. Yet Yang wanted her to PROVE she was responsible enough to take care of this dog. (As if being a very smart, well behaved child is not enough)


Therefore her daughter got a STUFFED PUG DOG!!! (yes stuffed, as in NOT REAL) Yang told her daughter if she could prove to be responsible for this stuffed dog for 2 weeks then MAYBE she could have a real alive one. Her daughter very determined (like her mom) has taking this responsibility to the extreme. Every morning she takes her STUFFED dog out on a leash to the front yard. She waits for it to "potty" and then comes back in. From here she takes the dog in and plays with it, talk to it, and feed it. She even goes to the pet store and buys it cute things like shirts, toys, and collars. Yang will even pretend the dog has had an accident (place some chocolate chips on the floor) and call her daughter to clean up after her puppy. I believe that this may be the extreme side to proving a point....but I am happy to say it has all been worth it. What Yang's daughter doesn't know is that on FRIDAY....when she gets home she will have a REAL ALIVE PUG PUPPY waiting for her.


Man I hope when I do become a parent I am as creative as Yang. I know it seems silly but you know that when that dog arrives it will be well taken care of and loved. I can honestly say I probably would have given in about 1 week into this craziness. Yang I love your ways...you are such a wonderful mom and have raised an amazing little girl!

Sweet...

Chris was such a sweet heart. When I got back from my trip to Amarillo he and Winston surprised me with these beautiful tulips. He knows how much I love tulips....they are my favorite. I think the 2 tone colors red/yellow look so beautiful. My kids love them too, they really have never seen flowers that live in a vase. It has been fun as the kids watch the tulips open up and grow. For those of you who may not know, tulips are the only flower when cut....that continues to grow in the vase!

These 2 pictures are just for fun....I love my camera (thank you, thank you, thank you Abby and Brian). It is so fun because I can pick a specific color and when I shoot the shot it will only focus on that color. The above picture is the red/orange color on the tulips. The below picture is the yellow in the tulip. I know I can be a nerd but I really do love using this feature...only problem is that it doesn't have the auto stabilizer...so you can only use it on non-moving things really!

Day 1 down....

As of tonight grandpa has spent one full day at his new home. How was it? Well simi-okay I guess. Last night I just knew the nursing home people were going to call and tell us that he had left....thankfully this did not happen. He instead told my mother today he was up all night, and not one person checked in on him. This was one thing I told him they would do....so that he would not lose his oxygen and worry like he had been doing at home. He claims they never came not once and that was not right. Well of course you have to remember he still "dislikes" this place, so will only say or see the things he wants. Reality of the matter was that he acutally slept most of the night (the nurses do a bed check every 2 hours for each person). Each check he was asleep on his couch, that was wonderful news. I who have been staying with him since Tuesday night had been up with him from 12-4 am everynight.

Later mom and I both went up to see him and grandma. Well just as I thought he would be, he was very angry with me. He would not even say hi hardly. Then when I tried to explain something to him about hospicis (as the lady was there trying to set it up with him)....he yelled "you stop I have hear enough from you...." I then asked mother to try and explain it to him. She said the exact same thing I did and he was fine with it. I knew it wouldn't be easy being the person who asked him to move in, drove hem there, and then left him. However, I did hope he could at least speak to me. I am praying like crazy by the time I come back on Friday (Chris and I orignally had planned to come for Easter, I just got an extra little trip!) he will speak to me. It wouldn't have been normal though for him to have gone in and not been some what mad.

I do think though he does like being close to grandma again. It has been a year now since they had been seperated. I also believe if he will join in on some of the activities he will enjoy the social part of this. He currently has been at home with just one lady watching him....and he loves to talk. As mom and I left tonight he did lean over to mom and say....you know sitting out here in the main room there are a few people to gossip with. Mom said yes daddy, try and make some friends it isn't that bad here. I hope tonight he does well. Tomorrow I plan on taking a few more of his personal homie type items up there before I head home. Maybe that will help ease the anger he is still holding inside at me.

It all takes time....

Well the week seems to just be dragging by here in Amarillo. I knew when I flew down late Tuesday night this would be a week I was not ready. However, I think it is one I will never forget or recover from....I guess it all takes time.

Thursday morning I took grandpa back to his doctor to discuss the right decision for his "SAFE, STRESS FREE" future. Thankfully my father joined us at the doctor and Abby and Brian provided me with wonderful questions to ask (since they were not there). While I check grandpa in I did ask if I could speak with the doctor just for a moment before or after. However, I guess they felt as though I was too young or not the appropriate family member to speak with and would not allow this. Therefore I had to do all the hard questions with grandpa in the room. You see sometimes when we speak about death or time of life around grandpa he tends to not feel motivated to live, and spirals down some. Therefore the reason I wanted to do this without him....Not the way it went at all today.

The doctor arrived and did the normal chit chat with grandpa. Asked about how he was feeling, what all was bothering him, you know the normal thing. Then we began down the road of his aches and pain...This is when the doctor brought up the fact that he should get hospices to help with is pain management. From there the conversation turned to where he should be living, at home with 24 hour health care plus hospices or the nursing home (where grandma is) with hospices. The doctor flat out said to grandpa, NOW you have to pick! He very angrily said it just sounds like DEATH to me....and I will not. Therefore she went on to say to us all, "I think you need to move out with Lottie that is what is best for your safety." I then asked to repeat this to grandpa (he is very hard of hearing), just to make sure he understood it all. He looked at her and said that just is not good.

After we finished up in there, it was very clear to us all that he should be with grandma at the nursing home. This of course is not what grandpa would like at all, but then he also does not want the 24 hour care at home. I took him out to the nursing home and asked the wonderful people to show him around again. They showed him the room he could have and all the activity rooms. I then took him home to rest and think everything over. This is when I had to really work on what the right choice was!

I know that grandpa will be angry with either choice I make for him. This is honestly the hardest thing I believe I have had to do yet. I took into consideration all sides, the fact that he can be at home and still have his freedom.....and the fact that at the nursing home the socialization and full care will be there. Then also I took in everything the doctor had stated and her recommendation. This is when I realized I should do as the doctor recommended, she is the one who knows hes health best. Yes I know his personality, crabbiness, and disliking; but at this point his health is what we are concerned about. I then went to the nursing home and did all the work that I could, with some help from mom.

You may be wondering right now why my mom was not more involved in this since it is her father. Well a year ago when her and Abby had to do this with grandma it really took a toll on them both. Also I know grandpa and this is something he will be very angry about, therefore I did not want MOM to be the person he was angry with. I mean she lives here and will be the one to visit, take him to out and about; and I could stand the fact that he would always hold this against her. Me, I can take that he is angry with me...I think he truly knows I am doing this for his well being and because I love him.

Thursday night was a long one....as I packed up all his things and labeled his name. It was like moving to college again, yet I was moving him from his home to a new place. It was very hard to this and yet I managed to. I found a few wonderful pictures to send up, as well as his CD player. Come Friday he was not happy with me...he even called me many choice word names! But I managed to get him to his new place at around 1:45. I then quickly called my dad to bring his couch (this is the place my grandpa has slept my entire 28 years I have known him) so he would know this was his new place. Grandpa and I made a deal that he would go and try this for 2 months...if then it was the worse place he had very been (which is what he believes it to be) we would reevaluate the situation.

From here I let the nurses do what they needed to get his meds and other stuff all set up. I spent the day trying to make him feel at home and okay with this new way of life. I explained to him everything he could do as far as movie night, bingo, snacks, drinks, you name it I covered it. Mom then joined up with us after school and tried as well to ease him into this new place. When we left that evening I had a great happiness knowing that tonight he would be safe from falling, or losing his oxygen (which he tends to pull off at least 4 times a night)....but a bit of sadness too that I have left him. As I left I told him, it takes time to get use to your new change, please give it time. I love you.

Decisions, I hate them!

Decisions are probably my least favorite thing. Okay well let me rephrase this, making decisions for others. You see as a business management major/teacher I am very good at managing and probably even micromanaging (not that this is a good trait at all times), however I really don't do the decision thing. I hate decisions so much that a year ago on Chris and I's first dated I said, "I don't like to make decisions, you should know this up front." Thankfully this didn't scare him off.

As a teacher (and parent for those of you that are) we tend to need to make decisions daily that affect other lives. I mean everyday I am faced with trying to teach my students to make the right choice. Whether it be to walk down the hall and not run, or what goal they are trying to achieve this week in class. I am fine with making these. I am even fine with telling my principal face to face which children I can honestly not feel okay to send on for second grade next year (this is a decision some teachers can't face or wont). As an AUNTIE I can decide what I think is best for E and B when they are with me or if Abby ask me. I think the reason I am okay with all of this is because I know that these decisions are ones that will shape their lives. They are going to benefit positively from these in the future. For sure the reason I am okay with making these IS NOT because I know what is best, but what I feel will help not hinder.

This brings me to my week....this week has been a rough on as I have had to head home to Amarillo and help force a decision upon my grandpa. His health has not being good over the past 18 months and seems to be going down rapidly. In the beginning he was just needing extra help around the house and such, but now it is very clear he must get 24 hour care. Sadly as it is, I have had to come here to help him make a decision he very much is not willing to make. I have had to offer him 2 choices, which in any other case would be easy for me....I do it everyday with my students! This one not as easy I think because I am not only giving him choices, but making his life seem more evident of the end. This is not something my mom was willing to face, as she and my sister had to do it with my grandma a year ago.

Today was a bit rough as I informed my grandpa that he will no longer be able to stay at home on his own with only his day helper. Instead he must have either 24 hour home health or move into a nursing home. As hard as it was for me to be "harsh" and tell him he has this choice to make and it must be done this week, it was much harder on my sister last week. She mentioned to him that he may want to look into more help. With this he simply cried his eyes out telling her how he would have no life in a nursing home....and he doesn't want to waste away like that. Yet he doesn't want strangers coming into his home either.

You can imagine how our conversation went today....as I tried my best to make him understand that this is not a decision I wanted to force upon him but rather allow him to pick between the two so called "evils". He was not happy with the fact that I was even having this conversation with him. Much less that I told him he really had to pick by Friday. The reality is that I a person who hates decision wishes more than ever this was not one I had to make. Yet in the end will have to do so. He spent most of the night kind of quiet; not sure if that was because he is mad or actually thinking the two over. Tomorrow we head out to visit his doctor. I am hoping that she too can help him understand that we are not against him, but only looking out for him. I am also hoping the visit goes better than Monday's, which is why I am now here. I just don't know how it is that we as adults can honestly know what is best for our elderly. How do we know if letting them be at home or in a nursing home is the right choice? What I do know for sure is that for his safety he must get 24 hour care? The problem from here is: Which way would you want to live it out? (and not even knowing how much time that will be for.).....which leads me back to the beginning of this.....................DECISIONS, I HATE THEM!