More Singing.

When I was tiny, my dad created a new version of a familiar tune.  My brother and I both loved this "game," and now Bethany loves it, too.  This was about two days before Clara was born - but I was already having contractions.  In fact, I'm having one at the end of this.  If you look carefully, you can watch me turn bright red.  Fun times!

Bethany - Five Months.

Bethany turned five months old last Thursday. You should be very impressed I'm so on top of her monthly post. :) The big news in the last month is that she can now grab her feet AND stuff them in her mouth. Naturally, though, she will not allow this to be captured on film. You can see her abiding love of Sophie above, when really I was trying to get her eating her feet. She can also point her index fingers, but not actually at anything. We think she might be trying to raise her little fingers, too, which is bad news for our many OU fans.
Bethany and I made our first road trip to Macon, where we got to visit with Nana, Grandpa B, and our friend Erin, who made this amazing Smilebox show for us. It is about the neatest thing ever, and we are very grateful that she took the time to do it. As for the road trip, it went fairly smoothly, with the exception of my second-worst Chick Fil A visit ever on the way home. However, I am in no hurry to travel that far again by myself!
Of course, Bethany reads a lot. She loves all of her Eric Carle books, which is no big surprise, since I once befuddled by psychologist uncle by "reading" The Very Hungry Caterpillar before I was "developmentally ready." :)
Bethany has also engaged in her first protest activity. Due to extreme budget shortfalls, the Georgia Legislature threatened to end the summer program where Lindsey and I met. Thanks to Facebook, and the picture above, Bethany was able to voice her opposition to the cut. (In case you care, partial funding was restored, no doubt in part to our cute kid.)
Since the weather has gotten warm[er], we spend a lot of time on the porch swing. Sometimes this helps us get out of a bad mood, and sometimes we just enjoy it. One great thing about where we live is that there are a decent number of animals to watch, and even some exotic ones to hear from the zoo at the park. Bethany may have a future as a botanist, since she tries to grab every plant that is anywhere near her. We're hoping this is not an appetite for destruction.
Granny was able to come down and visit last Saturday, and she and Bethany had a very nice time. Of course, Bethany refused to cooperate so that I could get a picture of both of them smiling. Granny brought her a new crinkly book, which has been a big hit. (I told you, she's a reader.)
And finally, the "five month" portrait, which I should admit was actually taken on Mother's Day.

And finally... The Present.

Phew. I described the first 6 weeks of Bethany's life as being on a treadmill where someone else is controlling the speed & incline. And let's just say that someone was a lot like Jillian on The Biggest Loser. Nonetheless, we survived, and Bethany seems to be doing quite well. Last Saturday, she met her first author, Deborah Wiles, at Bound to Be Read books, and got her first autographed books, as well.

Nana visited this week, and commented on how much bigger she's gotten since Christmas. I suppose it has to be true, especially considering her insatiable appetite, but I still see a tiny baby. Apparently, this is going to be how I feel for many years to come. It's hard to believe she'll be 8 weeks old on Sunday! Last week she discovered her hands, and I *think* she's found her feet, as well. She's laughing and smiling a lot now (when she's not screaming - she's a woman of extremes).
Thought the cousins might like to see the Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls sent by Grandma G. G. (Grandma B.). Bethany likes them quite a lot, and really enjoys their bright red hair.
I made Lindsey take this picture last Sunday before church so that she'd have some photographic evidence of her mother. Of course, the top of my head was optional. :) I love that overall jumper, but it's about the dumbest piece of clothing EVER for an infant. At least it looks cute.

And finally, I'm putting some effort into my children's literature blog: www.readitmakeit.blogspot.com, if you've got time on your hands, stop by & say hi. :)

From the depths of sleep deprivation...

Bethany wanted us to say Happy New Year. She's awfully excited to see all of 2010. We're hoping she'll sleep through at least some of it. She'll be a month old in four days - CRAZY.

Soon and very soon...

...bunches of things will be checked off the non-baby-related to do list. They all swirled around this week (ugh), so after I present at the National Council for the Social Studies conference tomorrow morning (and you KNOW folks are just lining up to see a 9AM presentation on a Saturday), the work that's left can largely be called "fun."

Until then...

Hello, Internet.

(For the two of you who were worried, the mail lady battle continued, but I persevered. The mail box has now been relocated to the other side of the porch, and the "tree" is no longer Public Enemy #1. I just roll my eyes at the mail lady.)

Questions on Sunday afternoon:
1) Why do I get six or seven bug bites every time I am outside for longer than 10 minutes? Note that this is not pregnancy-related; it has happened for years.

2) Why did a bunch of yellow jackets decide to build their nest inside our bedroom window frame? Operation Yellow Jacket Removal is in progress, which means I have to sleep in the other bedroom. I do not like change.

3) Is the destruction of Yellow Jackets any indication of the result of the UGA/Tech game come Thanksgiving weekend? At that point I will be 9.5 months pregnant, so I doubt I will care.

4) Why is growling suddenly the preferred method of communication for my Sunday School class? I do not like having to say things like, "Speak, don't growl," repeatedly.

5) Why are vanilla malts not considered part of a balanced diet? There has to be a way to put vitamins in them, so that they are like broccoli, only yummy.

That is all for now.

Note to the mail "lady"

1) Delevry is not a word.  It is spelled d-e-l-i-v-e-r-y, which I would think you should know, given your line of work.

2) The "tree" in question is a hibiscus plant.  It's not currently blooming, so I'll give you an exemption for not being able to identify it from its leaves alone, but by no means does it look like a "tree."

3) It is not in your way. At all. And yes, I am going to cut it back, as requested by your stupid note, because otherwise you won't deliver my mail, and I'm not in the mood for that. But know that I am VERY underwhelmed with you.  Just as I was underwhelmed with you LAST summer for demanding that I trim this very same plant WHILE IT WAS BLOOMING.  You claimed the bees were going to "get you." Newsflash - bees will leave you alone if you leave them alone. I swear, I must not have taught your flailing around crazy self in second grade, because if I taught my students anything, it was to LEAVE BEES ALONE.  I digress.

4) You should be grateful that I am working on patience, because you almost got attacked by a crazy pregnant lady, had I not taken a deep breath and counted to 1293837423847438748.

The end.

I am embarrased to admit I like anything that this closely resembles High School Musical.

Nonetheless, I do.

Watch it, and tell me I'm not crazy.

Then, stay tuned for real news later in the weekend.

So sometimes I don't blog for a month and half.

And it appears that the world continues to move on without me. WHO KNEW??

Regardless, absolutely none of you wanted to hear the "I hate my job" that has become my everyday for the last couple of months. Now that I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I can ignore the idiocy that I deal with every. single. day.

See last we talked, I have torn up our house with the goal of doing some massive rearranging. Then, I lost any desire to actually DO that rearranging, so now we just have a torn-up house. I'm thinking I'll overcome this soon - the question is HOW soon. We are going to give away a bunch of stuff. This has already begun, and I know it will make our lives easier. I'm even being harsh with the classroom stuff. I GAVE AWAY AN ENTIRE BOX OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS, PEOPLE!!! Some of you will have to pick yourselves up off the floor right now, so I'll wait.

******************************whistles to self**************************************

Now that we've all recovered, I will tell you about my new favorite thing: www.pearbudget.com. It is fantastic. We've always been good about living within our means, but aside from tracking things sporadically, I've never been super sure where all the money went. Now, I know, for sure, that we're only really blowing money in a couple of areas. (Namely, food.) This is much easier to use than Microsoft Money (what I used in college, when I really had to know where all the money was going - only back then, the categories were a bit different, but I digress). It also makes you input everything yourself, so you feel the burn. My BFF Dave would be proud. Further news: Lindsey has quoted Dave's radio show to me THREE times in the last week, which is pretty funny.

The farmers' market opened this week, but we weren't there, because we were here seeing a preview of Ken Burns's newest documentary on the National Parks. Oh my heavens - it is spectacularly gorgeous (of course), and tear-jerking! I think I cried three times. He's done an amazing job of making it almost an inclusive history of our country, too. Did you know that a Japanese immigrant was instrumental in getting support for the Great Smoky Mountains national park? I didn't! Very cool stuff - it'll be on PBS in September, and I know that I am the only one dorky enough to dedicate 12 hours of my life to it, so you don't have to lie and tell me you're going to watch it. That's okay. I'll just tell you about it. :)

And I know it's dreadful to post this much text without a picture, but I'm on the work computer (SHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!) and there are no pictures on here. I should give you some pretty waterfall to look at soon, but that might be July. Ha.

Oh yes.

Courtesy of my brother - a little Macon love for all of you. Though this does prove that Jack McBrayer is more than a bit older than I am, because gym uniforms were happily forgotten before I started high school. Kenneth is on tonight, of course, along with the rest of the 30Rock gang...

Merit pay has been the hot topic for those of the teacher ilk here lately - our state legislature just approved extra pay for people who teach *some* subjects - what a crock. Anyway, I loved what this blogger had to say about merit pay in general (quit rolling your eyes, Petey).

And because y'all know I have some mad Mr. Rogers love, and because I forgot to remind you about his birthday this year, I thought you should know that you too can own your own trolley:

I know. I want one, too.

All is right with the world...

The windows are open.
Our neighbor is babysitting his granddaughter - she's making mudpies.
The daffodils are blooming.
The snow in our front yard has finally melted.

Hard to believe that cute picture below was just less than a week ago!

Days like today always make me wish I was with my college roommates "studying" in Audubon Park in New Orleans - we'd take our books & a blanket & fall asleep within the hour - it was great.

Happy weekend...

Merci beaucoup.

Big, huge, gigantic, slobbery thanks to everyone who answered the poll. I owe each of you some additional individual thanks, but please know already you've been a big help.

In other news, if you have not yet seen last week's 30 Rock, I sincerely recommend that you hightail it over to Hulu and watch it. Then, report back. It is, without a doubt, hilarious.

That is all for now.

Poll.

If you were a big social studies geek, and you could study whatever you wanted during your six weeks at nerd camp, what would you want to study?

Note: Those of you who never comment, now would be a good time. *coughcoughPetercoughcoughBarrettcoughcough*

Coming up for air...

I wish I could say that it's been fun, but it hasn't. When the highlights have included debating the finer points of state economics standards, you know it's been crazy.

One swap down, one to go, and I'm super excited to see what everyone has been making. In all fairness, making stuff has been more of a highlight than the econ discussion, so I should stop being an Eeyore.

I owe you a mantel picture, KK, but it will have to wait for a day when the clouds are not screaming "SNOW" like they are tonight.

Trying to devote some energy this week to figuring out where I'll be next school year - I'm entertaining all offers within a reasonable driving distance. Resume available upon request...

Happy Tuesday.

Dull.

We have had a comfortably dull week. Sometimes it's nice when that happens, I think. Lindsey's off watching "the game" with some friends - OU fans for you, Lennye. The TV and I are going to have some quality time, especially because there's a new 30 Rock tonight. It's safe to say I'm obsessed. I used to tease Lindsey about having a huge crush on Tina Fey, but now he says I'm the one with the crush.

Whatever. She's hilarious. You can't fault a girl for that, now can you.

Happy Thursday!

Look who's come to live with me....

Yep, it's a new yo-yo maker. Only this time, it makes hearts. Tonight, I read the directions (only in English, not in the other three languages, I'm not crazy), and tomorrow I'll attempt one. I know you'll be waiting with bated breath.

It is POURING here, which we desperately need, but it's too warm for January, and now it's humid! We'll have enough of this in July, thank you very much, I don't know that we need it today. Hmpf.

Happy Monday...

Ahem.

I would like to record for posterity's sake that we accomplished things today. Super fun things, like weeding through our mountains of books to give a bunch away - three boxes worth, in fact, and I haven't even touched the Everest-sized pile of school books.

We also ordered pizza and it was delivered. To our house. This is not something that can happen just anywhere - in fact, it's the first time I've been able to have pizza delivered directly to me since I lived in Macon. In 2004.

There are advantages to city living.

We spent New Year's here - it's a nice enough place, and much calmer than our hood on a major holiday, but as Lindsey pointed out, if you've grown up looking at woods, it's just not that exciting.

And if you aren't already a fan of Richard Peck's YA novels, I highly recommend them. I just read Fair Weather, which is superb, and definitely a whole mess better than all that crud full of fairies, wolves, & mist that the 10-15 set seems to enjoy reading these days. {For more fun, check out A Long Way from Chicago & A Year Down Yonder.}

Happy Friday!

Vintage Heart Swap, #2!

vntg heart swap 2
Originally uploaded by from my cherry heart

The lovely Dolly, who writes at From My Cherry Heart, is hosting her second annual Vintage Heart Swap. Sign-ups are open until January 9th, I believe. This is a fun one. To see my treats from last year, just look here.

In other news, I had an email today that the Handmade Toy Saving initiative is currently #1 in its division at change.org, but we don't want anyone else pulling ahead here at the last minute. Voting continues through the 31st, so click on that link on the sidebar. NOW! GO!! Thanks. :)

Observe --------------------------------------------->

I added this festive little widget to remind all of us to DO SOMETHING about a new law scheduled to take effect early next year. It's getting a lot of press in some places, though none here in Atlanta, as far as I can tell, but then again folks here do love them some plastic. I'm no libertarian, but this really is our sweet government going too far. The intent is WONDERFUL - protect children from toxic toys. The only problem is that it affects everyone, even your grandma who crochets little bears for the church craft fair. To learn more, visit here or here.

And even if you think I'm full of hooey, stop by the site and vote for SOMETHING.

For once, ANYTHING is better than nothing. :)

Definitely out of the ordinary.

Photo from www.nola.com.

Bear emailed me this morning to let me know the snow was on its way! This is just the most amazing image - decidedly not something I've ever gotten to see. To celebrate, we had yummy dinner, but we still haven't seen any flurries.