kellerie's world

A moment of silence, please

2011-08-14T20:57:00.001-05:00

Today, dear friends, we mourn the loss of an important part of the Pancost family. After 13 years, our Mitsubishi tv has finally died.

We first met our dear Mitsu in Texas. Brian had talked me into shopping for a new tv. This shopping trip sequence would be an important lesson that has impacted our marriage together. First, I realized that we had very different ideas of the necessity of electronics in our lives together. Secondly, I learned some very important tips about shopping with Brian. (I'm not going to share these tips here, because I can't let him know what it is that I learned. The rules might change!) Let's just say this shopping trip was an extremely important step in the development of our relationship.

After many visits to the store, and Brian finally convincing me that yes, we really did need a 50 inch tv, our dear Mitsu was delivered to our house. I have to admit that after lots of protests in the store about how it was way too big, my first thought was "Wow, that's not nearly as large as I thought it was. How disappointing."

Since then, our Mitsu has travelled with us, from Houston, to Garfield Heights, to Amherst, and finally here to our permanent house. It has definitely been a commitment, as moving a 50 inch projection tv isn't exactly easy. We have also been judged by it, as at least one friend has visited us, looked at the tv, and stated "wow, that's big. I'm not really a tv person, myself."

So yes, our Mitsu has helped define us. We ARE tv people. We are movie people. We have spent many hours as a couple, and a family, cuddled in front of the tv. Kuky, our first pug, learned early on that if she needed to go outside, she should park herself directly in front of the tv so that we would see her. Judge us if you must, but tv is a part of our lives. It has taught us compromise, as we do have different tastes in entertainment. It has also taught us to broaden our horizons, as I learned that maybe action movies aren't so bad, and Brian learned that sitcoms aren't too awful. Tanis also truly loved seeing a life sized Elmo on the screen while watching Sesame Street, and family time playing Super Mario Brothers on the Wii is priceless.

We were told when we bought it that the Mitsu would last 7, maybe 8 years if we were careful. We were told that it didn't move well, and to make sure that we got it tuned up every year or two. It was also highly suggested, of course, that we buy an extended warranty. Of course, we promptly disregarded all of this advice, and managed to get 13 wonderful years out of her.

Alas, last Sunday, we noticed red squiggly lines across the top of the screen. Brian fiddled with the settings, but things only got worse. Today, the entire screen was essentially red squiggly lines, and anything on the screen also had a turquoise shadow. It was, admittedly, an interesting effect, but we had to face facts: our beloved Mitsu was dying. We discussed several options, including carving out the screen area and just putting in a new tv, but finally, the Mitsu was moved to the garage and a new, albeit smaller, one was put in its place.

So, our dear Mitsu, we thank you for so many years of your service. You will be missed.

This summer, so far (edited)

2011-07-26T00:09:00.003-05:00

Things we've done:

visited Kelley's Island with mom and dad
Harry Potter movie marathon, followed by
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 on opening night
Cedar point
Soak City (but not nearly enough)
the family waterslide at S.C with mom and dad (she swears every time that she will NEVER do it again)
visited with Joelle, Danielle and their families
landscaped the front of the house
planted the butterfly garden, replanted hostas and lanscaped the path
waterproofed the pool deck
bought, assembled, and enjoyed new furniture for the pool deck
rode the tandem bike with Tanis
stayed with Robyn and helped her buy an Ipad
read A LOT of books on my Nook
played a lot of legos with Tanis
drove Tanis to and from science camp
drove Tanis to and from the Huron Playhouse for "King and I" practices
killed time while Tanis was at play practice
delivered Frostys to my dad at the new store
took the box of light fixtures that have been sitting in the garage to Habitat restore
cleaned out cups/mugs/glasses and took them to Goodwill
played golf (sort of) for the first time
rearranged living room/bought new couch
helped Tanis paint his shield from swordfighting class with the family crests
finished making my last yearbook ever

Still need to do:
finish painting the house -sort of. I need a taller ladder. and a reduced fear of tall ladders.
lanscape the horribly weedy side of the house - done
repaint wooden chairs - done
waterproof deck - um, next year
get rid of the old hot tub - done
get rid of the damn fleas! - done, maybe
clean out Tanis's closets
paint Brian's bathroom - Christmas break, perhaps?
go to Valley Beach
ride Millenium with Tanis
go to Kelley's Island and letterbox
play tennis
buy frames for assorted art
scrub kitchen cupboards
read stuff for school
take a nap in the hammock
have a campfire
go to the zoo and see the new elephant exhibit
go to the westside market
go to imagination station
go to Cosi
see the new Winnie the Pooh movie
have a picnic at the res
host a playdate
host a grown up dinner

now I've only got 3 weeks left!

2011-06-02T21:13:00.001-05:00

End of another school year!

Natalie Monroe

2011-02-16T18:21:00.002-05:00

Natalie is a teacher who has been fired for expressing her opinion about her students on her blog.

I haven't actually seen what she wrote, as her blog as been taken down, but here's what I do know.

1. I don't remember signing away my freedom of speech in order to be a teacher. I would never publicly ridicule specific students in a public forum, but to state my opinion about students in general? I really don't see the problem.

2. Why is it perfectly acceptable for students to say whatever they want about teachers in a public forum, to make completely unfounded accusations, to video their teachers in the classroom, and then tamper with it to make it appear their teachers are doing/saying things that never actually happened!!!!! - but it's not okay for a teacher to publicly state general statements about things that are wrong with students?????

3. Why is our society so quick to blame everything that's wrong with society on teachers? We wonder why kids today don't value education - well, as an impressionable kid, if you constantly hear that teachers are no good, what are you going to think?

I went into teaching because I cared. I wanted to help kids be better people, like so many of my teachers helped me. Were all of my teachers fantastic? no, some of them were spectacularly bad. But I never, ever would have been disrespectful to them.

I still care about kids. I still care about helping them experience the joy of learning something new, of understanding the world around them. I want to help them be better people. But I can't be the only one in the relationship who cares. The student has to have some form of internal motivation. And I firmly believe that it's the parents' job to instill that in them, not mine.

I don't know all of what she said. I don't know what she was really like in the classroom. Maybe she was a horrible teacher, maybe she was a great one. But should she be fired for stating her opinion in an generalized, anonymous way?

Freedom of speech is a precious thing. We are supposedly free in this country to say whatever we want, even if it offends someone. If what I say offends you, then I am sorry. But instead of preventing me from saying it, wouldn't it be a better use of time to think about why if offends you?

In my classroom, I have to put up with all sorts of offensive things being said to me and about me. I can try to educate those students, and yes, parents who say these things. But at the end of the day, it is opinion, and they have the right to express it.

I think teachers need to be smart about the things they say and do, both in the classroom and in public. However, Natalie did not use her full name on her blog. She did not identify any student specifically. She also did not identify where she worked. She was making generalized statements about students in general. True, it may not be the smartest thing to do, but I don't think she should be fired for it.

This is my opinion as a teacher, and as an American. Hopefully I will not lose my job because of it.

Alien Adventure!

2011-01-22T20:59:00.002-05:00

Tanis and I discovered a new program called "Comic Life" on my mac, and he had a lot of fun with it today. It essentially lets you make your own comic strip, and it's really easy to use. This comic strip he made all by himself, and it's called "Alien Adventure."

Scene 1: Captain Tanis crashes his spaceship onto Pluto
Scene 2: "What's that wooshing sound," wonders Captain Tanis
Scene 3: The alien says "Boo" to try and scare Captain Tanis
Scene 4: Capt. Tanis laughs at the idea of fear
Scene 5: The alien, confused by Capt. Tanis's lack of fear, says "uuuuuuu" as he figures out what to do
Scene 6: The brave hero, Captain Tanis, shoots the alien
Scene 7: Captain Tanis says "Whew"
Scene 8: Captain Tanis needs help, since he is stuck in the the leftover alien goo
Scene 9: Our hero has made it back to his ship, safe and sound

The Nutcracker Prince

2010-12-24T10:48:00.002-05:00

This December, Tanis was in his first play. They started rehearsal back in September. At the first practice, the director asked each kid if they wanted a small, medium, or large part. Everyone said small, except for Tanis, who said that he wanted the biggest one there was!

He got his wish, and got the role of the Nutcracker prince. This involved a whole bunch of lines, and a few solo parts in songs, including an entire song and dance by himself. He did a great job with everything, except we still need to work on his dancing talents.

One of the things Tanis loved the most about the play was all of the little girls in the play with him. Whenever there was a break in rehearsal, he could be found flirting with the girls. He also tried to convince his director that the Nutcracker prince should really kiss Marie at some point in the play, but she wouldn't add it in for him.

He had a ton of fun, and has signed up for Oliver Twist in the spring. He has also decided that he might like to be an actor when he grows up, although I'm still pushing for him to be an astronaut.

The Nuttiest Christmas Story

2010-12-24T10:40:00.002-05:00

fall recap - Oct/Nov

2010-12-24T10:27:00.003-05:00

Looking back, I guess we really did have a very busy fall.

Tanis was an astronaut for Halloween. When he was two year old, he decided he wanted to be an astronaut when he grows up. I got this great costume for free from a friend at work, who's sister actually got it at NASA in Florida. Tanis added the medal, because he decided that astronaut Tanis would win all sorts of awards.

His birthday weekend was packed full of stuff. He opened presents on Friday, we went to Kalahari on Saturday, and he had a piano recital on Sunday. Kalahari was amazing. It is absolutely huge,and even when we were in the outdoor part, it was hard to remember that we were still in Sandusky. We want to go back sometime in the summer.

Tanis did okay at his piano recital. He really hadn't practiced that much, so we really didn't expect much.

Fall recap- soccer

2010-12-24T10:24:00.002-05:00

Obviously, he's not really an athlete, but he did have a lot of fun!

My little author

2010-07-19T15:07:00.002-05:00

This summer, instead of playing with toys, Tanis has spent more time creating. He's created robots out of boxes, a dog out of styrofoam and straws, and countless drawings that have been cut out of paper and taken over the house.

He's also started writing stories. As in, if there's a notebook left unattended, it will soon be filled up with drawings. He loves to read them to me, and can remember the storylines for everything he's written, even if it was last year.

Wal-mart had these composition books on sale for 25 cents each. I bought him four, but I think I'll be going back to stock up.

muddy playdate

2010-06-21T21:11:00.002-05:00

happy birthday to me

2010-06-07T22:14:00.002-05:00

I had a very nice time for my birthday this year. As usual, I managed to spread it out into a "weekend of Kellie." We went to Carrie Cerino's for dinner on Thursday, since Brian was off that day. On Sunday, we went to my parents' house for dinner - steak, cheesy potatoes, and salad, followed by a DQ ice cream cake. Then, Tanis stayed there for the night and Brian and I went to my friend Becky's house for an English Department end of the year celebration. Monday morning, I sort of got to sleep in, once we got the dog to stop barking at random things at 7 in the morning. Then I picked Tanis up and we headed to Cedar Point. After about 4 hours, we headed home. Tanis fell asleep in the car, so I carried him in to take a nap. I changed into my "sun lounging" clothes and took a nap outside on my favorite lounge chair. Then we headed in to Brian's store, I did a little shopping at World Market, and then we had dinner at five guys. All in all, a very nice day.

All day, people have wished me happy birthday, and several said to have the best birthday ever. This made me think, what was my best birthday ever? Almost every birthday has been good, with one notable exception that we won't go into now. But here's a list, in no particular order, of the birthdays that stand out as being exceptionally good.

1. My 24th, or maybe 23rd, i'm not sure: I'll admit, I love presents. And although I like nice presents, I'm all about quantity. This birthday stands out because it was before we were married, but Brian came down to visit and I opened presents from my parents, Robyn, and Brian all together. And there were A LOT of presents. They seemed to go on forever. The only one I remember for sure was a giant stuffed Eeyore from Brian. But I just really remember feeling loved and special, and the joy of LOTS of presents, just for me.

2. My 19th birthday: This was on a Sunday, and no one even wished me a happy birthday until I reminded my mom after church. But the reason it was okay that no one remembered was because it was Robyn's graduation day. It was awesome to watch her make that milestone, and it was very nice that it was on my birthday.

3. My 31st birthday: Brian and Tanis, who was 7 months old, woke me up with kisses and a poem, informing me that they had planned a surprise party. The party was fantastic, I had a sweet, loveable baby boy to help me open presents, and this started our annual summer party tradition.

4. My 28th or 29th: I'm not totally sure which one, but it was when I was teaching at Southview and we were in school on my birthday. My students invited me to lunch with them in the cafeteria. They had brought lunch for me, which was very sweet. The funniest part was that this was all just a distraction technique to keep me out of my room, which the rest of the class was decorating. They had brought a cake, and got a little over excited and lit the candles about 10 minutes early. This resulted in a lot of smoke, and a rather angry assistant principal. I managed to keep everyone from getting in trouble, and we had a fun party for the rest of class.

5. My 17th: it was during our ballet performance of Cinderella. As one of the senior dancers, I had one of the main roles, one of the stepsisters. (it was the Russian version, so I can't even come close to spelling the name.)

6. Several childhood birthdays rolled into one: I don't really remember specific birthdays, but I remember assorted things: My cousin Becky entertaining my party friends with a magic show, playing games in the field across the street, and, most of all, family always being there. I don't think things were ever really planned, but Grandma Fink, all the aunts, and Becky almost always ended up coming over. It's just very nice to look back and remember always being surrounded by family.

I am very grateful to have had 36 fantastic birthdays, with only one bad birthday in the mix. That's not too shabby. Thanks to everyone who's helped to make them great!

This time, I really mean it

2010-04-06T19:41:00.002-05:00

I am tired of being overweight. Last year, I did pretty well and lost about 30 pounds. I have managed to gain most of that back. Partly, it was the pregnancy and aftermath. Partly, it was just my lack of discipline.

So tonight, I shall indulge in one last night of eating whatever I want. I have finished my Easter candy (well, the chocolate anyways), I made fried eggplant for dinner, and I might have a piece of pie. Then, that's it. Starting tomorrow, I will eat right, work out every day, and lose this weight.

My vow to myself - I will lose 50 pounds by my anniversary on June 13th. I will wear a cute little sexy dress when Brian takes me out to dinner.

By announcing this out loud on my blog, I hope to make it more "real." I also hope that everyone will help me stay committed.

rummage sale at school today. . .

2010-03-20T17:01:00.002-05:00

The band held a rummage sale at school today. I had a table to try to sell yearbook related stuff. Lots of people stopped and looked through old yearbooks, but no one bought anything until about 1:00. Then an older man, who I think just really likes to barter, started asking me "what is your best deal? what if I buy a lot?" I told him he could have one yearbook from each year (there were 29) for $100. He offered 80, and we settled on 90. This might seem pretty cheap, but I have literally hundreds of extra yearbooks from the 80's and 90's, so I was pretty happy. I have no idea what he's going to do with them, though!

Tanis had a great time. He got to play on the computer in my classroom, run around the school with other young kids that were their, and he LOVES tag sales of any kind. He got a mostly unopened lego fire station set, a bunny easter basket, and a helicopter kite. I may also have bought a full size fridge for $10. I left early, so I told the parent in charge if no one bought it, just to put it in my publications room and I'd pay for it on Monday. I've kind of wanted an extra one for the garage, so I figure $10 is a good deal, even if I have to clean it up some. Of course, the publications kids will be thrilled when they see a fridge in the room, and I might have to fight them to get it out of there.

Now I'm waiting for Brian to come home so we can have dinner. Then, he and Tanis will do boy stuff while I go to an English department "meeting" celebrating spring, and the invention of the blender. We're having margaritas, but I'm the DD, so I'll only partake in one. Or maybe two. And, my friend Becky plans to bring a lemon meringue pie that she's making from scratch. Like, from actual lemons!

Enjoy your evening - I plan to!

Life

2010-03-04T21:08:00.003-05:00

Life is good. I did not get RIF'd, and for the most part, neither did any of my good friends. One friend who works part time did, but she can still sub, and I think they may be bringing her back. I am still frustrated by my job whenever we have a staff meeting and hear all of the "great new plans for our reinvention," but other than that, I just do what I know is best for my students. I also keep chipping in my weekly dollar to the staff lottery pool. If we hit it big, it will make all those stupid meetings much more bearable!

Tanis is doing very well in school. We went to "Burger King" night tonight (I admittedly was not thrilled about it) and I got to talk to his teacher some. She said he is always well behaved, and handles things very well for someone his age. His reading is fantastic, and his handwriting has improved greatly. (I think after seeing mine, her expectations for his may have dropped some!)
He is growing like a weed, and will be 48 inches by summer, which means he can ride all sorts of roller coasters at Cedar Point. It also means I should have renewed his junior pass last Christmas, because now I'm going to have to spend more to buy him a regular pass.

Brian has had extra time off this month, which has been nice. We've been able to spend a little more time together, although there still just isn't enough time in the day. He's also done a great job with working out every day; I'm extremely proud of him. Unfortunately, I can't say the same. I always intend to get up early, but I really, really enjoy sleep. I also intend to work out at night, but there's just so much else to do. I have managed to do my sit ups, push ups, and leg lifts for the past 3 days, so I am happy about that.

I am also happy that the days are getting longer, and we have actually had sunshine this week! I'll admit, I've enjoyed my snow days, and would maybe like one or two more, but I'm really happy that spring is almost here. It is my favorite season.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Have a lovely day!

Just Curious. . .

2010-01-30T18:22:00.002-05:00

Our superintendent used this video in his presentation to the public the other night.
I'm curious, what are your thoughts on it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

also, if anyone could tell me how to put a video in my blog, that would be awesome. I can't figure it out :(

Technology scares me

2010-01-20T19:39:00.002-05:00

I recently saw that 3-D tv's will be coming out soon. This made me think of the book Farenheit 451.

In the book, books are forbidden. People have tv's that are basically a room that you can go in and interact with the characters. sounds very cool, but it leads to the isolation of society, which leads to better government control.

It just makes me wonder how far off from this we really are.

In the newspaper tonight, the editor wrote a column about how "legacy media" - print and televised newscasts - are dinosaurs in today's world because young people won't read newspapers and won't watch the mainstream news.

As I talked about before, our school system is thinking about using Kindles - electronic devices that you can load books onto wirelessly. Even printed books are dinosaurs.

As I think about this, I see the advantages, but I still don't like them. I started wondering why. I think it's for a few reasons.
1. I'm a traditionalist. I like the feel of books. I like the idea of sharing a favorite book with people. What are future generations going to do? pass around the Kindle?

2. When a book, or newspaper, is printed, it can't be changed. It can be retracted, but some copies will still be out there. It will exist as it was first made. On electronic media, things can be changed, and no one will ever know, because there's nothing to compare it to. The implications of this are huge. The government doesn't like what an author has to say? Simple - they can just change it.

3. I don't like the idea that someone could be tracking what books I download, watching to see what kinds of things I decide to read. What could this be used for? Advertising, certainly, but what nefarious purposes could it be put to? Scary to think about.

All of this sounds very 1984, or Farenheit 451, which is sort of the point. Authors have been warning of this type of control for years. It all sounded very far fetched, but now the technology is actually real.

The best way to control a population is to control what they read. This was true in the Holocaust, which is why the Nazis held massive book burnings. How much easier will it be to control what we read when everything is done electronically?

Frustration

2010-01-15T18:59:00.002-05:00

It is very, very annoying to be passionate about a career, go to school and get two degrees, teach for 12 years, and constantly be told by people who have little to no classroom experience how to do my job.

This year, our district is undergoing some massive changes. Some of them are financial, some of them are crazy, and some of them I'm pretty sure are because our superintendent is trying to build his resume.

The mess started with our second failed levy. Now, keep in mind, the strategy to pass both of these was just to "sneak it through." If we don't advertise it, people won't vote against it. Well, turns out they won't vote for it, either.

The first thing we heard was that we were going to lose block scheduling at the high school. Block scheduling means that students take 4 classes a day that are 1 1/2 hours each for a semester, and then they take 4 different classes the next semester. They end up getting 8 classes a year, which is more than the typical schedule of 7 a year. Plus, it allows for more project based learning, more lab time in science class, and less homework. It has worked very well, and I'm sad to see it go. But supposedly, this will allow for teachers to be cut, which will save the district money. All of this is to save the district money.

We are also not going to buy textbooks any more; we are going to go paperless and use Kindles instead. Problem #1 We can't afford to buy Kindles for the students for another 3 years or so. #2 Even if we did buy Kindles now, no high school textbooks are available on them anyway. #3 We won't have Kindles, and we won't buy books, but right now we only have enough books for half the students at one time because of the block. If we go to a regular schedule, we don't have enough books, and can't assign any reading outside of class. The administration's answer was "Wow. We didn't think of that. Oh, well."

The next meeting was held to address all of these issues. The presentation was based on the idea that we need to think different. (grammatically incorrect, of course.) Just because we've always done something one way, doesn't mean that we have to keep doing it that way. I get that, but I want to know the educational basis for changing something. Are we changing it for a reason, or just to say that we are changing?

We were told that we need to use technology more. Use Ipods, cell phones, every kid needs a laptop, they need Kindles (see above.) We were told that these kids don't learn how we did, they multi task. Well, yes, that's true. That doesn't mean it's good! It's been proven that multitasking makes you less effective at everything.

So, in order to save money, we're going to cut teachers, cut staff, add technology, and tear down all of our buildings and build a state of the art new school for 30 million dollars. As long as we have great new buildings and lots of cool technology, we'll have the "wow factor." This will help us achieve excellence.

Confused? Join the crowd.

We're going to make a commercial and send it to Apple, unsolicited, so they will donate all the technology to us. We're going to partner with a community health provider so they will help build us a new school that houses everyone, k-12, in one building. Of course, when asked, none of the community health providers have any idea what he's talking about. The best part, we're going to have Lebron James come to one of our school board meetings. I have no idea why, but the superintendent's pretty sure he'll be there.

The next meeting got even better. We're going to close a building and consolidate starting next year. This will allow us to cut 20 teachers. Since our juniors and seniors will have more than enough credits, they won't need to come in to school; they can just learn from home. We're going to do all this to save money so we won't have to ask the community for levies, but we're putting a bond issue on the ballot in May so we can build that fancy new school. He's pretty sure it will pass, because it's not a levy.

We're going to cut our activities, but teachers get no say in it. He'll decide, based on a spreadsheet that will tell him which ones have "value." He also wants us to have our lesson plans posted so that when he comes in to observe, he can see what we're supposed to be doing on any given day. If we are doing something that's not on the list, we'll be in trouble. So much for "teachable moments." Or deciding that something isn't working, and trying to correct it by using a different approach.

He's also disturbed by the fact that our classroom windows, which are inside the building looking out into the halls, have curtains that don't match. And we can't put any papers or signs up on the walls in the hallways anymore because it "looks messy." (I'll admit, I tried to get around this one by posting fliers on the floor. He didn't like that one, either)

All of this is driving the staff crazy, and morale is way down, from teachers to building administrators to custodians to secretaries to lunchroom staff. Everybody is visibly wilted, rumors are flying, and no one knows what's going on. Students are told things before teachers. It's an absolute nightmare.

I love my job; it's what I've wanted to do my entire life. I think I'm pretty good at it. But if this is the future of education, I've got to find a different option. I can't do things that I know don't work because someone who doesn't understand how to teach is trying to throw out all the things that work, just because they're not new and fresh.

2010-01-08T19:09:00.001-05:00

Me: "Tanis! Sit in your chair and eat your food!"
Tanis: "But Mom, I am sitting, I'm in my chair, and I'm eating."

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T23:08:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!
We had a lot of fun for Christmas here. We started, as always, with church on Christmas Eve. I played bells, and then went to sit with Mom, Aunt Pat, Paul, Brian, and Tanis. The service is always wonderful, emphasized with the poinsettias and candles. After church, we went to mom and dad's for dinner, and presents. I got what I asked for - a studfinder and laser level,and it had an electric screwdriver thrown in, too. I can't wait to try them out! Brian got the nerf video game for the wii, which made both him and Tanis very happy. They spent a lot of time on Christmas day trying it out. Tanis got lots of stuff, including a Razor scooter. Mom's idea is to get one for herself, too, so they can ride around the neighborhood together.

Christmas morning, Tanis woke us up around 7:45. He immediately ran out to get the stockings, and also called my mom to come over and have breakfast. He also ran out to the living room to see what Santa brought. He was very happy to find exactly what he asked for - a wooden block game called Quintillions, and 2 zhu zhu pets! plus, a ben ten alien pack thrown in for good measure. He also got some Imaginext stuff - the space shuttle, and the dragon castle. I had a very Harry Potter Christmas. Santa brought me the new movie in my stocking, and Brian gave me the Marauder's map, a set of coins, and the mirror of esired, I got Brian some things that he asked for, including the new mario video game for the wii. We had breakfast, then mom went home.

For the next few hours, we basically just hung out in our pajamas and played. Around 5, Brian's mom, sister, and nephew arrived, and we had dinner, then opened more presents. Tanis was excited to get his very own Nintendo DS, and I was thrilled to get my traditional Coldwater Creek gift card. Alex, Brian and Tanis all got remote control battle cars, which they had a lot of fun playing with in the kitchen. Then Alex, Brian, Tanis and I played a lot of Mario until it was time for a very sleep deprived, very sugared up Tanis to go to bed. All in all, a very nice Christmas.

I hope you had a good Christmas, too!

Church Christmas Play

2009-12-25T22:59:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday, our church had their Christmas pageant. Tanis was selected to sing in a trio and be one of the wise men. He did really, really well at rehearsal, and sounded really cute - especially on the "alleluiah's" since he can't pronounce his L's yet - and sang really loudly into the microphone. On Sunday, he must have been nervous, because he didn't sing quite as loud. He, and all the other kids, still did really well though.

2009-12-25T22:59:00.001-05:00

Frustration

2009-12-15T21:30:00.002-05:00

I like my job. I really like working with kids, and most of the time, I feel that I do a good job with them.

However, my job has been really frustrating lately, and not because of the students. Our superintendent unveiled his big plan last week, and part of it is to save money by switching from block scheduling back to periods, which will effectively cut teachers. His "goal" is to cut about 16 teachers in all, most of them at my school.

It's never fun to hear that people are going to lose their jobs, especially when there's a chance I could be one of them. But, this is especially frustrating for several reasons.

1. cutting the block is a purely financial reason, even though he keeps saying it's not. Our kids have succeeded in block scheduling, it affords us to do several things that a regular schedule makes more difficult. Things like major projects and group activities that help teach the critical thinking skills, leadership skills, and teamwork that the superintendent stresses we need to start implementing in our curriculum. (never mind that most of us have been doing this for years already)
2. the other part of his plan is to tear down the old buildings and build a state of the art new complex. so, we don't have money to pay teachers, but we can build a new complex that will be very nice, but that we don't really need?
3. last year, the district spent a ton of money to install technology in all of the classrooms that nobody really uses. even our tech coordinator said he doesn't use it because it's pointless. We also paid two superintendents at the same time, so that the outgoing one could help "foster" the incoming one. We also created a position for a Chinese teacher, who teaches half a day, has a total of about 13 kids, but still gets paid a full salary. The year before that, every classroom had a special sensor installed that will turn off the lights when people aren't in the rooms. because, you know, it was very difficult to just hit the switches on the way out the door. And, over this past summer, our library was recarpeted, had a brand new computer lab installed, with brand new tables, brand new fancy chairs, new armchairs and glass topped tables (in a high school, mind you)
But suddenly, we have a budget crisis?
4. Our department was slated to get new books this year. But the superintendent's new plan is to buy kindles for all of the students, and download all of the textbooks to the kindles. in the long run, yes, this will save money. However, we won't be buying these for another 3 years or so. in the meantime, we are not buying any new books as a district. What the board isn't considering is that we currently have enough books for 3 sections of a class at at time, because we are on the block schedule. If we go to the regular schedule, we will need enough books for 6 sections at a time. This goes for all departments. But we are not allowed to buy any books. So what are we supposed to do??
5. classes will have to be cut. but the decisions for what to cut will all be made by the board of education, with no input from teachers, and very little input from administrators. they have supposedly talked to some students to ask them what they think the "value" of certain classes is. Should we really be depending on the opinions of 15 year olds to decide the future of education? Think back to when you were in high school. Would you have recognized the value of a class at the time when you were taking it?

It is extremely frustrating to have gone to school, gotten a bachelor's and a master's degree in education, and then be told how to do my job by people that have no background whatsoever in educational philosophy. I understand that this is how public education in America works, but I wish that the people in charge would not let their personal agendas decide the fate of hundreds of students.

I do like my job. I just wish I would be allowed to do it the way i know will be the best for students.

Can't they just leave Tiger alone?

2009-12-03T17:38:00.002-05:00

I am so sick of seeing all the updates about Tiger Woods and his wife. Yes, it appears he did something stupid. Yes, it appears his wife is very upset about it. So why do we really need to know any more than that? Can't people just leave celebrities personal business alone?

Some people argue that because they're famous, they gave up their right to privacy. Some people argue that because famous people are role models, they need to act like it, and when they don't, it's everyone's right to know what they did. I see two major flaws in this logic. 1. Tiger Woods is famous because he can hit a little ball with a stick and get it into a hole. Granted, he does this better than anyone else, and yes, I suppose he deserves credit for that. How does that translate into us needing to know the details of his personal business? 2. If he is a role model, it's because he's a great athlete. Kids look up to him because of that. So maybe he screwed up. Doesn't it affect those kids more if the paparazzi and gossip columnists can't let it go and spill all the sordid details? Aren't they the ones who are then "ruining" his image, rather than he himself? He is looked up to because he's a great athlete - he's still a great athlete. No one was revering him simply because he was a good husband. I'm not saying he shouldn't be punished for what he did, but I am saying that the "punishment" should be completely between him and his wife.

This goes beyond Tiger Woods, of course. Our society loves to put people on a pedestal, say how great they are, and then eagerly anticipate any mistake that is made so we can exploit it and feel better about ourselves. Why do we have to be so involved in everyone else's lives? Why can't we just acknowledge the flaws that all of us have, because we are human beings?

The whole celebrity gossip thing just makes me sick. It's like the entire world is a huge high school, and the people in it never grew up. ,

I love my sister

2009-11-26T20:51:00.001-05:00

"Please feed me. please?"

"Hi, I'm Robyn. I'm a brat! Happy Thanksgiving!"

It's a shame he's so shy!. . .

2009-11-15T16:06:00.003-05:00

I've always believed in stretching out birthdays as long as possible. For Tanis, this translated into him having 4 special days. The first was his friend birthday party on Halloween. Next, was the day before his birthday. He took his treat to school and got to wear the birthday crown all day. That night, we had a family gathering at the Eagles. On his actual birthday, his school had an early dismissal, so he got to spend the day at my mom's house. They made cupcakes, and had ice cream. He was so sugared up and cranky by the time I picked him up, he fell asleep in the car on our way to dinner. I drove around to let him sleep. He had originally picked to go to Bob Evans, but when he woke up, he said he just wanted to get McDonald's so he could go home and play with his new toys.

Saturday was his last official birthday day of fun. Tanis got to choose a family fun activity to do. His suggested options were bowling, indoor mini golf, painted penguin (a ceramic painting place), or the food network show at the IX center. Like any normal 6 year old, he chose the IX center.

Okay, a weird choice for a 6 year old. But Tanis has always been interested in cooking - when he was two, he climbed into the fridge, got the eggs, cracked them on pieces of bread on the kitchen table, and announced that my breakfast was ready! - and lately, he has been completely intrigued by the cake making contest shows on foot network. So when we told him he could go taste a bunch of food and meet some chefs, he was all for it.

The highlight of the night was the presentation by Guy Fieri, the host of Diners, drive-ins, and dives. We really didn't know what to expect. We had bleacher seats, which meant we were in the very back of about 2500 people. The first opening guy was very annoying, but he didn't stay on very long. The next guy was okay. He was making drinks, but doing it like Tom Cruise in Cocktail, so it was impressive. Then Guy Fieri came out.

I can't even tell you what he cooked. It was pork, and it involved bacon and spices. The cooking, oddly enough, wasn't the main part of the show. First, he got people dancing. Tanis truly enjoyed this part. He also asked for his biggest fan to come up on state. Tanis tried, but didn't get there in time. Then he asked for people in the back to come fill the empty seats in the front. Brian stayed back, but Tanis happily led me to the front.

Tanis's big moment came when Guy asked the audience if they had any questions. There was a guy on a bike, going around with a microphone. Tanis finally got his attention, and the guy leaned down quietly to ask what his question was, probably just to check if it was a good one. Apparently, it was good enough, because instead of just asking him there, Tanis was led up into the front of the auditorium and given the microphone. Tanis asked his question "What is your favorite thing to cook?" loud and clear in the microphone, no stage fright at all. Guy said that was a really good question, and pronounced Tanis extremely cute. Everyone applauded, and Guy gave him a wristband. Tanis was thrilled.

happy birthday to my baby!

2009-11-13T22:43:00.001-05:00

Birthday presents

2009-11-12T21:26:00.002-05:00

Tonight was the night before Tanis's birthday. It has started to be tradition that we celebrate with a Fink family gathering at the Eagles for dinner, and then he opens his presents when we get home. That way, he doesn't have to wait until the night of his birthday to open them, and both Brian and I get to be present.

This year, he got a Ben 10 alien creation chamber, which he has been asking for since we first saw it in July. He also got an Imaginext space alien playset, which he has wanted almost as long. Additionally, he got a new Leapster game, the movie UP, an r2d2 playdoh set, a scooby coloring book, batman gloves, skull footie pajamas, and a bunch of legos.

Yes, we know he's very spoiled.

Tanis's birthday party

2009-11-07T23:35:00.002-05:00

Even though his birthday isn't until Nov. 13, Tanis decided to have his party early. He really wanted to have a halloween party so his friends could go trick or treating with him. The day turned out fantastic; we had great weather, which was good because I wasn't sure how we were going to play games inside the house.
The first game was a variation of a game Tanis learned in preschool. Everyone tied a balloon around their ankle, and then tried to pop everyone else's balloon while keeping their own balloon safe. Easy rules, noisy game- for the most part, the kids loved it.
Next was Pin the nose on the pumpkin. other than a few tears, this game went pretty well, too.
Tanis loved his birthday cake. He wanted something from Ghostbusters, and a friend of mine was able to make him a very nice one.
Opening presents is always fun, and Tanis is still at the stage where he is just delighted to get something; it really doesn't matter what it is.
The party ended with trick or treating. Tanis was very excited that his friends got to go with him. We basically just went around our own neighborhood, but it still took quite a while. I'm always amazed at how many kids show up for trick or treat. This year, we probably had about 500! In addition to getting candy, the local masons group passed out cider and popcorn, and a local church gave out cotton candy. There was also a fire truck and fireman at the local library passing out candy, so Tanis's friend Luke was in seventh heaven.
Tanis had a great day, and said the best part is that it was just his "pretend" birthday. He still has all of the fun of his real birthday to look forward to.

Smile!

2009-10-23T20:09:00.002-05:00

Tanis has finally lost his first tooth! it's been wiggly for awhile, but he really resisted messing with it, so it didn't get very loose. Last night, when he was eating apple slices, it got pushed down so it was pointing horizontally forward out of his mouth. Man, did this set off a crisis! Tanis was sobbing, not because it hurt, but because it scared him. He kept saying there was no way he could go to sleep that way. I tried wiggling and pulling, but it just wasn't ready yet.
Figuring Auntie Amanda was an expert, having triplets who've recently lost several teeth among them, we called her for advice. Her suggestion of running into a wall face first made him angry (although he did try it this morning before school!) and her advice that all of the triplets thought it was fun to lose teeth at school caused another meltdown "I can't lose it at school! that would be awful! so embarrassing!"
An hour of wiggling and other attempts later - my favorite was when he was swishing water around and I asked him what he was doing. He replied that the ocean waves pick stuff up, so he was making waves in his mouth to pick up the tooth! - I finally got him to relax and go to sleep. Apparently, he tried a few things this morning (the wall, as mentioned, as well as trying to get daddy to pull it out) but to no avail.
Finally, tonight, after his shower, he was relaxed and happy enough for me to try again. This time, the tooth popped right out. I was afraid the blood would bother him, but he looked in the mirror, and exclaimed "That's so cool!"
And of course, school pictures are only a week away.

family fun night - lego style

2009-09-07T20:10:00.003-05:00

Tanis had the idea tonight to have a Lego sculpture contest. He and Brian got to build lego creations, and I got to judge them. (Tanis said this was because he knew I couldn't build them very well, and he didn't want me to feel bad!)

I liked them both in different ways, so I declared them both the winner in different categories. Tanis felt this was not right, so he told me to post them online, and let all of you decide. So, please cast your vote! Which creation is better, and why?

"There's just 104 days of summer vacation. . . "

2009-08-22T13:15:00.002-05:00

Oh, the last days of summer vacation. If I was a normal parent, I'd be excited because my child was going back to school. I am excited for him to start school; I just can't believe he's that big already.

But, I'm a teacher. And while I do have a few ideas brewing for the next semester, I'm just not ready to end my vacation just yet. I thought a look back at all we've accomplished this summer might help. So here goes, in no particular order:

1. painted living room, playroom, puppy room, and hallway
2. new furniture in Tanis' room
3. got pool fixed, have enjoyed swimming during the last month
4. great summer party!
5. Friday playdates - really enjoyed those. I think they may be more for the moms than the kids
6. Pennsylvania with dad and Tanis. I really enjoyed this, and I'm glad that Tanis got quality time with my dad. It was also nice to see my uncle and cousin.
7. Camping with Tanis and Brian. Had a lot of fun, saw some cool things, and I got camping out of my system for at least another few years!
8. African Wildlife Safari - Tanis really, really liked this. We'll have to go back next summer.
9. Stayed with Robyn while mom and dad went on vacation
(Tanis came in to help with my list. the following are his contributions)
10. Big Fun toy store in Coventry
11. played with dogs
12. tanis loves mommy
13. lots of Vargos
(he left the room. now back to me)
14. mini golf at Vargos
15. mini golf at goofy golf
16. Cedar Point with Alex, and again with Alayne
17. Tanis rode his first roller coaster, and the big water ride.
18. Soak City, but not as much as I would've liked
19. The beach with Alayne, Lutz and Michael
20. hiking/geocaching with Amanda, triplets, Gabe, Carmen, and Scarlett
21. bike rides with Tanis
22. Saw the new Harry Potter movie
23. Morgan's graduation party
24. Alayne and Lutz's summer party
25. got a really good tan for the first time since Tanis was born
26. managed to actually grow vegetables, enough to make an entire salad!
27. read a lot of books, including a few "school" ones
28. cleaned out the spare bedroom
29. camped in the back yard
30. Tanis started soccer, and did pretty well

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can remember right now.

move it, soldier!!!

2009-08-15T10:03:00.000-05:00

Small town parades are great!

2009-07-26T13:07:00.003-05:00

We got this much candy, plus the yardstick, and a bag of popcorn Tanis and his cousin Alex already ate, from a parade that only lasted about 1/2 hour. gotta love small town life!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-22T18:41:00.000-05:00

fun with cousins

2009-07-16T22:43:00.000-05:00

balance beam in the woods

2009-07-16T22:40:00.000-05:00

Pennsylvania

2009-07-16T22:30:00.002-05:00

Today we went for a long hike at a place called Marsh Lake. It was me, Dad, Uncle Bob, Tanis, Devin, and Uncle Bob's neighbors. The trails were built and are maintained by a group of mountain bikers, one of whom is his neighbor, Susan. Susan, her kids, and her very well trained dog took us for an adventure.
We started out following the trail up the very large hill. The kids soon took off in front of us. I was a little worried, but Tanis was loving it, especially since the older girls were taking good care of him. We caught up with them at the lake, where the kids were all just wading, at first. Naturally, Tanis decided that swimming, in his clothes, would be fun, so eventually they were all out there swimming.
After about a half an hour, we got them out of the water, wrung out some clothes, and headed off for another path. The kids all did great, with minimal whining. Tanis was wet, dirty, and loving every minute of being a "big kid. He also really enjoyed all of the raspberry bushes growing alongside the trails. His favorite part, though, was probably a skeleton we saw at the bottom of a cliff. He's pretty sure they're dinosaur bones, even if everyone thinks they're from a deer.

Geocaching fun

2009-07-03T14:48:00.002-05:00

Today, Amanda and I thought it would be fun to take Tanis, Luke, Johnny, Caitlyn, Gabe, Carmen, and Scarlett to the local nature trail to go geocaching. (this would be one of those "it seemed like a good idea" moments) Actually, things went relatively well.
For those who don't know, geocaching is a "treasure hunt" with gps coordinates. Unfortunately, I haven't gone for awhile, and Brian usually holds the gps, so I couldn't remember exactly how to find the right spot. I'm pretty sure that we were in the correct general area, though.
Our group quickly split up into two - the group who wanted to play in the creek, and the group who did not. I had Tanis, Gabe, Carmen, and Scarlett in the creek, and poor Amanda was left with the triplets, trying to follow the general route of the creek, which involved lots of sliding down hills in places where the trail wasn't.
Tanis immediately got completely wet, despite his earlier promise of keeping his clothing dry. This is why I keep a spare set in the car. Scarlett started out afraid of crayfish, snakes, alligators, and other animals she thought might be in the water. There was also a general fear of spiders from all kids in the creek. Scarlett then found a small dead fish, who she declared was her new best friend. This lasted until Tanis took the fish and flung it back in the water, which rather upset Scarlett for quite awhile. Gabe and Carmen did very well, especially considering they had both taken their shoes off and were walking barefoot on some rather sharp rocks.
We met back up with Amanda and the triplets after they made their way down the steep hill. The gps coordinates showed we were sort of maybe close to the cache, so we tried looking around for any large stumps in the area. After about 15 minutes of this, we gave up and went back to the cars for snack time. The kids enjoyed their gogurt, cheese, crackers, and carrots, and then played with the frisbee and blew bubbles. Amanda and I decided to head for the cemetery to try to find the caches there. For some reason, we thought the kids would listen better in a cemetery.
At the cemetery, we were able to locate one cache right away, simply by reading the clues. Kudos to Gabe, who actually found it. After I signed and re-hid it, it somehow managed to work itself loose and slide down the side of the very steep, very vine covered hill. (none of the kids have any idea how this might have happened. Luke especially has no idea at all. *cough, cough) Amanda did a very daring super heroic climb, and managed to rescue the cache, which we successfully re-hid.
The next one was a little harder to find, probably because it was located near a very creepy mausoleum which had it's door open! Amanda and I did not really want to go near it, but none of the kids seemed to have any qualms about it. Once the cache was found, signed, and re-hid, we wandered around looking at interesting things in the cemetery. We thought about finding the 3rd and last cache, but everyone was getting a little cranky and whiny, so we decided to call it quits.

I have a lot of pics from today, but I can't figure out how to get them off my phone to the computer so I can post them here. They are on facebook, so if you're a facebook friend, you can look for them there. Also, I think Amanda will have some on here blog, if you want to look there.

Busy, Fun day

2009-07-02T17:03:00.003-05:00

Today Tanis had his kindergarten immunizations. He was very brave, and even though I could tell he wanted do, he didn't cry at all.
To reward him for doing so well, I told him he could pick what we did today. He chose a trip to African Safari wildlife park in Port Clinton. I hadn't ever been there, but we always see signs and billboards, and had always said, "hey, we should go there sometime."

The drive through part was a lot more fun that I expected, but the walk through part was a little lame. They had two shows that Tanis really enjoyed, but that were a little boring for adults. Tanis was picked to hold the flag and be the cheerleader for the yellow pig at the pig races, and he also got to pet the huge python at the wild animal show. They also had a free pony ride and a free camel ride. He said that the camel was soft, but bumpy when it walked.

African Safari animals

2009-07-02T16:44:00.003-05:00

The drive through animal part was fun. It is very strange to have large animals with horns stick their head in your car!
At the beginning, the guides gave us a 32 oz. cup of food, and we were supposed to throw it on the ground for the animals to eat. But, it was hard to throw because they kept trying to climb in to eat it. A very large deer, or something, I'm not exactly sure, kept trying to eat the window seal on my car, but that was the only animal that truly annoyed me. Tanis had a blast throwing food at the animals and taking pictures of them. (most of these pics were taken by him) The group animal pic is when the tractor came with their "mealtime" food. Every animal in the place started galloping over. It was like being in a slow motion stampede.

summer projects so far. . .

2009-06-16T00:32:00.003-05:00

1. painted living room
2. sorted out books to keep and books to get rid of
3. painted laundry/dog room
4. painted hallway
5. painted whiteboard wall for Tanis's playroom
6. dusted everything in living room
7. touched up paint in bedroom
7. rearranged living room
8. bought bookshelves and desk for Tanis's room

Stuff still to do:
1. put together shelves and desk
2. rearrange/clean Tanis's room
3. finish whiteboard wall by framing it out
4. put up pictures in living room
5. new lamps for hallway, playroom, and maybe dining room
6. fix broken chairs
7. touch up kitchen paint
8. paint kitchen chairs and table
9. clean out all cupboards
10. clean out spare room closet
11. paint outside of house
12. mulch flower beds :(
13. take stuff to goodwill
14. lose 30 pounds

Start planning now!

2009-06-04T19:13:00.003-05:00

What: The Pancost Annual
Summer Party
When: Sunday, August 2nd
3:00 'til ???

Why: to celebrate summer with all of our friends and family

Cotton candy!

Snow cones!

Bounce house!

Games!

What to bring: drinks, a dish to pass, and lawn chairs if you have them. The pool will be open, so bring suits and towels, too.

BBQ chicken, hamburgers, and hot dogs will be provided

Email kpancost@yahoo.com for more info

Weekend Fun

2009-06-01T15:46:00.002-05:00

This weekend was both laid back and a lot of fun. On Saturday, we started out with piano practice. Tanis did a great job, and got 3 new songs. Because of this, he got treated to a happy meal for lunch. We went home, and just hung out and played. I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and then . . . a huge treat for Tanis. We went to see "Night at the Museum" at the drive in. Tanis and I had bought way too many snacks to take with us, plus we made our own popcorn. Tanis loved being able to move around in the car, although I'm not sure how much of the movie he actually watched. He fell asleep about half way through.

On Sunday, we hung out and played again while Brian was at work. Once he got home, we planned for our first picnic of the summer at the reservoir. We bought subway, and took leftover drinks and snacks from the drive-in. Tanis and I played on the swings, and then Brian and Tanis fished. Brian caught a couple small fish, but threw them all back. Tanis had the worms stolen off his hook a few times, but didn't catch anything. He ended up throwing the remaining worms in the water so the fish could have breakfast in the morning!

Next, we went for a walk. It nice just to walk, and stop and talk to people along the way. We took a path that we hadn't taken before (well, I had, but not in over 20 years!) It led to a clearing that is completely lined with raspberry plants, and would be a great place for a picnic (maybe with a whole bunch of 5 year olds and their moms? anyone?) We would have gone further, but it seemed like it went on forever, so we turned around and walked back.

It was a relaxed weekend, but very fun. And, relatively cheap, too.

singin' in the rain

2009-05-26T19:03:00.002-05:00

On the way home from school today, it started to rain. Tanis got very excited and asked if he could sing and dance in the rain "just like in the movie!"

The many faces of Tanis

2009-05-06T21:16:00.001-05:00

family pictures

2009-05-06T21:09:00.000-05:00

Happy May Day!

2009-05-01T20:48:00.006-05:00

May Day has been celebrated at the school where I teach for 73 years. Part of the tradition is that a little boy carry the crown, and a little girl is the flower girl. These are almost always kids of different teachers. This year Tanis got to be the crown bearer.

He was extremely exited, and not at all nervous. Tanis did a great job walking in, and mostly sat still throughout the ceremony. The last picture is from when the alma mater was played, and everyone stood up. Tanis figured it was time to dance!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T17:26:00.002-05:00

Easter started at 7 a.m. when Tanis discovered that the Easter Bunny brought baskets for everyone. Then church, where I played bells, and didn't mess up at all! After that, we went home and Brian started his cooking magic. He made ribs, chicken on the grill, and two types of stromboli. Brian's mom, our nephew Alex, my parents, and my sister Robyn all were here for dinner. After dinner, everyone just hung out and played outside. Brian, Tanis, and my dad put together Brian's new millenium falcon kite. It was a great, peaceful, pleasant day. I hope everyone else had a great Easter, too.

Easter Pinata

2009-04-12T17:17:00.004-05:00

pictures of breaking the pinata are on my facebook. It was a lot of fun, but kind of hard to break!

So, do you think he needs more stuffed animals?

2009-03-24T18:28:00.001-05:00

Malabar farm

2009-03-24T18:10:00.002-05:00

Last week, Mom, Tanis and I went to Malabar farm for the maple syrup festival. We met our friends - Denny, who grew up with my dad, and his wife Ellen, their son Mark and his girlfriend, and their daughter Alayne, who I've been friends with since birth, her husband Lutz, who is from Germany, and their son Michael.

Tanis loves Malabar, and always has a good time there. He was particularly excited about going because we hoped to get maple sugar candy. I had a recipe that we tried in the winter, but it was an epic failure, so I promised to try to find him some. (I did, it was good)

We had a beautiful day - sunny and warm. The weather has been right for getting the sap to run, and we got to watch them actually making maple syrup. Tanis's favorite part is always playing in the barn and visiting the animals, and he happily led Michael down to the barn. He also enjoyed taking a ton of pictures with my camera (He took the above one of me)

It was a great day, with friends and lots of exercise.

Jumping in Puddles

2009-03-11T18:45:00.003-05:00

Whenever it rains a lot, we get a huge puddle between our house and the neighbor's. On Sunday, I suggested to Tanis that he put on his boots and go jump in it. He thought this was a great idea. Yes, those are his good church clothes. I figured anything he did to them, it would wash out.

dieting and such

2009-02-28T15:57:00.003-05:00

The past couple of weeks, I haven't done so well on my diet. I knew I'd be giving stuff up for lent, so I went ahead and ate stuff I knew that I shouldn't. This resulting in me gaining about 5 pounds, which my team didn't appreciate at our last weigh in. This week, I tried to be a little better, and I also tried to work out more.

Since our weigh ins are on thursday, wednesday night i did a great workout. ankle weights, exercise ball, free weights, everything. I worked out for almost a whole hour. i was feeling really good, so when i was done, i figured i'd weigh myself, just to see. to my horror, i'd gained another 10 pounds! i was devastated, yelling at the scale, and just generally pouting.

about 10 minutes later, i realized i hadn't taken the ankle weights off yet.

I love redbox!

2009-02-15T20:07:00.003-05:00

Recently, we discovered redbox. for those who don't know, it's a vending machine for dvd rentals. you can keep the rental for as long as you want, and it's only $1 for every 24 hours.

what i love about it is that 1. they're all over. there's about 5 of them within 15 minutes of our house. 2. it's only a dollar! and, they send lots of promo codes to my email, so sometimes they're free. 3. you can go online to find a movie you want and reserve it. the only downside is that you have to pick it up using the same credit card you reserved it with. this is really only a problem if i reserve it and want brian to pick it up on the way home. 4. you can return it to any redbox, not just the one you got it from.

the main reason i'm so excited about it is because, well, we're movie people but we've stopped going to the movies because it's so expensive. now we really only go see stuff we KNOW we'll love - like harry potter, or the new indiana jones. or, we go to movies we know tanis will love. but we've stopped taking risks on stuff we might like, because a night at the movies ends up being like $40! now we can cheaply rent all of those "risky" bets, and if it sucks, we don't feel that we've lost anything.

what tanis told me yesterday. . .

2009-02-04T19:43:00.000-05:00

Tanis was busily playing in the playroom, when he suddenly stopped and looked at me. He said " you know, mommy, I heard on the radio that the reason that kids fail isn't because they're lazy or stupid. It's because they're overwhelmed with all the stuff they have to learn."

I really wasn't sure how to respond to that!

I fear kindergarten testing

2009-02-03T17:35:00.003-05:00

Well, Tanis had his eye doctor appointment this weekend. I tried to prepare him for glasses, but he assured me that he absolutely wouldn't need them. We did all the preliminary tests,and then he got into the main room. The assistant asked if he knew his numbers, and I said, yes, of course. So she puts the number chart up on the screen, and asks him to call out what he sees. Tanis, being the stinker that he is, starts saying a bunch of letters. I remind him that he's supposed to be seeing numbers, he giggles, and says some more letters.

at this point, the assistant, who is not overly patient with small children, seems convinced he doesn't know his numbers, so she puts a shape chart up. She points out the different shapes and says "now, this one's a truck, this one's a birthday cake," and so on. Then she puts up a different chart, and asks what he sees. Tanis names off a few, and then says, "that one's a typewriter." The assistant and I both remind him that a typewriter wasn't one of the options, but he insists that it looks like a typewriter. Finally he says " I know it's a birthday cake, but it looks like a typewriter to me" (he was right, it did look like a typewriter. but i just fear what he'll come up with when it's time to test him for kindergarten. he knows the "right" answers, but doesn't always like to follow the rules)

The doctor came in and did a bunch of different things. Basically, the doctor saw a lot of astigmatism, and farsightedness, but both of those are somewhat common in young kids and can improve on their own. If Tanis was in school already, he would definitely need glasses, but since he's not, the doctor wants to wait awhile and see what happens.

A really, really long doctor's appointment

2009-01-13T19:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was Tanis's annual physical. It also became his physical for kindergarten, so they did all sorts of extra things, like a hearing and vision screening. Everything went really well, except that he totally failed the screening for his left eye. He has a referral appointment to the eye doctor in two weeks. The nurse is apparently used to parents freaking out about this, so she kept trying to reassure me that it could be something simple and perfectly normal. I told her that both Brian and I have terrible eyes (or at least I did prior to lasik this summer), so I had figured that Tanis would need glasses eventually. I had just hoped he'd be a little older than 5!

The doctor asked a whole bunch of questions like "can he use a spoon and fork?" (yes, but usually chooses not to) "can he dress himself?" (yes, but we're usually in a hurry and I do it for him) and "can he skip?" (um, no, but when my mom and I tried to show him how, we couldn't either!) I was able to answer yes to most of these questions, so there weren't any major concerns.

The appointment was pretty routine, but it lasted about 2 1/2 hours. First, the doctor got called over to the hospital. When he came back, he apologized, but I said it was okay, I just hoped that no one was seriously hurt. He said no, just a recurrent emergency that always manifested after 5:00. During the course of the rest of the appointment, he had at least 5 phone calls from this recurrent emergency's mother. After each phone call, he came back in and apologized again. At the end, he thanked me for being so calm, but honestly, it never occurred to me to get upset. What good would it have done, and what example would that set for my child? No, I wasn't happy about it, but it wasn't anyone's fault.

I did get frustrated with my new insurance policy. The description we were given when we voted on it showed that yes, it would cost more, but more preventive services were covered. specifically, 100% of well child visits, 100% of immunizations, things like that.

well, it turns out that when they say "100% coverage", they mean they'll pay for all of it - up to $150 per year! That barely covers anything any more!!!!!! Very misleading, and I'm very, very upset that they can do this! So, instead of getting his immunizations yesterday, I have to make an appointment at the health department so he can get them there. Which leads to another thing I don't understand. The same 4 shots that will cost a total of $500.00 at the doctor's will cost $10-$15 each at the health department. Why is there such a big difference???

New Year's resolutions, take two

2009-01-05T22:00:00.003-05:00

Instead of just posting my resolutions for this year, I thought I'd take a look at my goals from last year and see how I'm doing.

1. I will become healthier, and will lose at least 75 pounds. 100 would be nice, but let's not push it. well, I guess I sort of did okay with this. I have lost about 30, but that's all been in the last few months. I do hope to keep this going- my goal is another 60 by June. I actually feel pretty good about this. I'm down two and a half sizes, and can wear "normal' sized shirts. I've cleaned out my closets of all the larger sizes, and I've promised myself I'm not going back! My ultimate goal is to get down to a size 12 for bathing suit season, then give pregnancy one more try in September. Although we still don't really know what causes the problems, a healthier body can only be helpful in this area!

2. I will strengthen my relationship with God. I think I did okay here, but there's definitely room for improvement. Brian and I read the daily Bible readings together for awhile - probably up through April. This year, I am going to try to do the reading on my own every night. I think it will be easier to keep up, and to catch up if I fall behind. I feel I've done a lot better at attending church, and I've really enjoyed being in the bell choir.

3. I will strengthen my relationship with Brian. I think we've come a long way since this time last year. We've learned to communicate better, and have tried to spend more quality time together, although I think the danger of falling into old habits is always present. I've learned that marriage really does take constant attention and work, and it's important to always make your spouse your priority, even when there's so many other things going on.

4. I will put more time and effort into doing the best job i can as a teacher. This is an area I really need to work on. I have changed up my lesson plans some, and have some new ideas to implement this coming semester, but the temptation is always there to coast through and do the same stuff I've done in the past. I really want to reexamine my lessons, and make sure they are accomplishing what I want them to do. Specifically, I want to make sure I'm challenging the students to think. It doesn't matter so much to me if they remember specific facts about Steinbeck or Dickinson, but it does matter if they can think for themselves, come up with creative solutions that aren't the obvious ones, and if they can evaluate the worth and meaning behind the information they encounter. I think these are the skills that have been neglected with "No child left behind," and I think that has really contributed to the state our country is in right now.

I will add one new goal for this year. I want to stick to a budget, and pay down our debt. I want to be more frugal and less wasteful. This goes for groceries - I want to plan meals better, actually eat leftovers, and ultimately, throw away less food. It also goes for "stuff." I want to buy less things that we end up not really needing or caring about. Less impulse buys, less buying of stuff just because it's a good deal. And, I want to buy less stuff for Tanis. I think that most of the time, we buy him stuff just because we think he should have it, or it makes us feel better to buy it, not because he really wants it. I want him to respect and take care of the stuff he has, and I want him to really understand the value of the things he wants. I want him to develop good spending and saving habits, so that he doesn't end up in a credit mess when he's older.

Hopefully, I can keep working on these goals, so that this time next year, I can check them all off and say, "yup, I did that one!"

Christmas day

2008-12-27T11:50:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Christmas here was a great day all around. Tanis was very excited that Santa brought the exact yellow bike that he wanted. Santa also brought the skateboard that Tanis really, really wanted, even though Mommy kept telling Tanis that he was way too young. At least Santa had the good judgement to bring a nice helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads, too. A favorite present from Mommy and Daddy was the imaginext batcave playset. Brian got a set of good knives, something he's wanted ever since we got married, and I got jewelry, and chocolate! (can't get much better than that!)

After opening presents, Brian made a huge pancake breakfast. We ate, and then just kind of lolled about doing our own thing for a few hours. I got back in bed and read my new "Tales of Beetle the Bard" book (I didn't have high expectations, so I found it pleasantly entertaining. it's also very nice that the proceeds go to help children's homes in England and Europe) Brian played his new Nintendo DS game, and Tanis played with assorted toys. Brian and Tanis also put together new lego sets while I took a nap. After I got up, dressed, and cleaned up the house a little, Tanis and I went outside so he could ride his bike.

Then my mom, dad, and Robyn arrived for dinner. We had pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, ribs, and pie from Mama Joe's for dessert. Tanis also had a green jello Christmas tree, although I am not nearly as skilled at getting jello out of the mold as Grandma Fink was.

In all, Christmas was a very relaxing, fun, and thoroughly enjoyable day. I hope all of you had a great Christmas, too!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-25T22:18:00.003-05:00

On Christmas Eve, we went to the early church service. I played bells for the beginning of the service, and then could go sit with mom, Brian, and Tanis. I've always loved church on Christmas Eve, ever since I was little. I love the carols, the full choir in their robes (although ours has gotten a lot smaller!) and especially all of the candles. At the end of the service, the congregation passes the light - everyone has a candle and we pass the flame down the pews. Tanis has done really well with this so far. He takes it very seriously, and I think he looks forward to it, too. Usually there are luminaries lining the church drive, but this year it was way too windy.
After church we went to my parents to open presents and eat. Mainly, we just have appetizer type snacks, and of course, candy. I also got to see the bell choir on tv. I think we sounded really good, but would have preferred not to see myself!
After we got home, Tanis got ready for bed, and played for a little bit with his present from my parents - the imaginext pirate ship. we got Santa's snack ready - cookies, milk, and carrots for his reindeer, then we read his new book, and Brian read "Twas the night before Christmas." I had to help Tanis settle down and fall asleep, since he was really excited for Santa to come.

Christmas Cookies

2008-12-25T21:26:00.003-05:00

On Christmas Eve afternoon, Tanis, Brian and I had quality family time making lots of Christmas cookies. We made gingerbread and sugar cookies, and homemade frosting to decorate them with. Everything was made from scratch, which is really good for me, since I don't really cook.
It was a very messy endeavor, and the cookies weren't all that attractive, but we had a lot of fun!

On the first day of Christmas. . .

2008-12-23T22:29:00.003-05:00

The Pancost Christmas season has officially started. On Sunday, we went up to Michigan for the Pancost family Christmas. Evidently, most people weren't expecting us to come since the weather up there was so bad. I was thankful for the Jeep, as the back roads were pretty much covered, and we really needed the four wheel drive. Tanis had a great time playing with his cousins. I am still getting used to how boys play, and cringe when they are are wrestling around, but Tanis loves to play rough, especially with the bigger kids.
After the family party, Brian, Tanis and I went to the hotel. Tanis had his choice of activities - go see the movie "Bolt," go swimming at the hotel, or go to a real arcade. He chose the arcade. We decided to have dinner first, so we went to Sir Pizza, which is excellent. Possibly even better than the Cameo, but I'll change my mind the next time I go eat at the actual Cameo. Then we went to Pinball Pete's, a hole in the wall arcade from Brian's high school and college days. I fondly recall visiting there with him and playing lots of Tetris, and other 80's arcade games. Much to Brian's dismay, and Tanis' delight, Pete's has been updated to be more "family friendly," complete with ticket games! Tanis had a great time, and earned 174 tickets. The guy at the counter let him round up, so he ended with up with two big bouncy balls as prizes.
We made it back to the hotel in time to swim, so we changed to go to the pool. To my delight, my swim suit from this summer that mostly fit, but was a little tight in the pants was actually really loose! Brian had to help me adjust the straps, and I had to be careful of pants so they didn't fall off! Woo hoo!!
We were the only ones in the pool and we stayed in there about an hour. Tanis did multiple cannonball until we made him stop, and I hung out in the hot tub. Tanis protested going back to the room, but fell asleep pretty quickly once we got there.
The next day was "Christmas morning" at Brian's mom's house. First we all went to breakfast at Bob Evan's, and then we went to the house to open presents. Brian had already gotten his present - an exercise bike, and I knew what I was getting - a gift card to Coldwater Creek - which I was very excited about, since I needed smaller clothes. Tanis was estatic with his two big presents - the planet heroes play set, and the talking "Earth" figure complete with skateboard, dog, and motorbike. He now owns all but two of the planet heroes collection. He would have all of them, but they introduced the talking action figures. Fyi, if you happen to see a "Pluto" planet hero, pick it up! they are selling on ebay for about $60 each!
We hung out at Brian's mom's house for awhile. Tanis played, and Brian helped Alex set up his new futon. Then we decided to go to the outlet mall about an hour away so I could spend my Christmas present.
I was a little disappointed because the size 16 pants didn't fit yet, but I did buy 2 size 16 skirts, and a bunch of regular XL shirts. Not the plus size of 1X, but the "normal" size of XL! Brian reported that I was in there for over 2 hours, but truly, I lost all track of time. I tried on everything in the store, and because of the great sale going on and the coupon I had, I was able to buy everything I wanted and only spend $6.42 of my own money.
After that, we had a long ride home. Tanis slept most of the way, so he was wide awake when we finally made it home. He and I put together his new play set, and he played for awhile and watched the dvd that came with it.
In all, we had a great time, and it was really good to see all of Brian's relatives. we really don't see them too often, so I'm glad we were able to go. Plus, based on the weather reports, I don't think his mom, sister, and nephew would have been able to come down on Christmas day. They are supposed to get 8 more inches of snow, and some freezing rain!
It's also fun to have the Christmas season spread out over a few days. I know it's not about the materialism and commmercialism, and I've really been trying to point out the true meaning of the season to Tanis, but, yeah, I love getting presents. I love giving presents, and I love watching my son opening up his presents. He's so easily excited.
I can't wait until the next day of Christmas!

what i've been doing for the last month

2008-12-19T12:40:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's been that long since i've posted. life's been full, and there just aren't enough hours in the day.

so, let's see. . .
i have pictures to post from tanis' birthday parties. yes, he's so spoiled, he got two. the first one was the weekend before his birthday at chuck E cheese. he's been wanting to go there forever - literally for over a year. (this is one reason why i try to limit his tv watching to channels without commercials. ) he had a great time, and hopefully, so did the harris and white families. it also wasn't nearly as expensive as i feared. they threw in a ton of extra tokens - we ended up having wayyyy more than we needed. we also had a LOT of pizza left over. I also seriously think that if that had been his only present, tanis would have been perfectly happy. it was enough for him just to hang out and play with his friends. not to mention the "dunk the alien" game. it's impossible to hit the stupid thing, but because it was so hard to actually get the ball in the thing, one token lasted over five minutes, and it still kept him very entertained.

his second "party" was for family - taco night at the eagles. it was an informal get together, but we got to see a lot of Fink relatives we haven't seen for a while. it also has very cheap but good food, and a huge room that tanis can run around and play with other kids in. Tanis opened his presents the night before his birthday so that both Brian and I could be there - mornings are just too crazy. He got everything he really wanted, including an R2D2 mr. potato head, and WAll-E and EVE robots that talk to each other and respond when he talks.

Thanksgiving dinner went really well. we had a full house, which i love, and lots of great food, which I didn't have to cook. I did help make the stuffing, although that's always a combined effort. Actually, the only person involved in all steps of the process was Tanis! and, I helped make the gravy, although that ended up being a group effort, too, with everyone adding something whenever they walked past. Brian's mom and nephew stayed the night, and we actually went out shopping the next day, although I don't think any of us actually bought any Christmas presents. I did so some online shopping, and got great deals, including the bike that santa will be bringing, which I got for almost half off!

The next day,my bell choir played downtown at the Christmas tree lighting. it was fantastic. we did really well, (at least until it got dark and I couldn't see the notes I'd highlighted any more!) and it really put me in the Christmas spirit. We've also played at the nursing home, at church during the advent craft and activity hour, and we even got invited to be on tv! okay, it's only for the local station, but we went to the studio and recorded about half of our songs and everything. still pretty cool, and it's great to know that we get to add to people's holiday spirit. i'm not sure i want to watch it, though, because i'm sure i don't want to know what i look like when i'm up there playing. plus, we forgot to take our matching yokes, so we just had on black pants and black turtlenecks, which is not exactly a flattering outfit for me.

As a family, we've actually done a lot of church related things in the past month. I had bell choir, Brian took new member classes and officially joined the church, Tanis has accumilated enough "points" from attendance and donations and taking his bible to sunday school that he got his picture taken to go up on the wall, and as a family, we lit last week's advent candle. This was momentous for me, as I have a Horrible fear of public speaking. (yes, i'm a teacher, and no, it's not the same) We had a selection to read, and Tanis memorized his line "Let us walk in the light of the Lord." He can't really pronounce "L' very well, but it still sounded cute and he was very proud of himself. He didn't really have to work hard to memorize it, either; I told it to him once, he repeated it, and he had it down. He even would correct me if I forgot what my part was!

School has gone well, but it's frustrating because this group of students is really the lowest i've had, ability wise. They are all very nice, and good kids, but they just can't think. They also just give up if something requires effort, so they just don't read anything. I am trying to focus on the end result, which hopefully is that I teach them to think for themselves, use common sense, and to analyze the information they get to know if it's valid. I think this has been my main goal for many years now. Content is important, as they need exposure to American literature and the people who wrote it, but if I can teach them to think for themselves, they can look at any content or information and process it themselves. This is increasingly more difficult, as students seem to just not want to work that hard. They'd rather just regurgitate information they've memorized, accept it as fact, and move on to the next thing.

Today is a great day, as are all snow days. they're even better than vacation days, since they're a gift! They're also so full of promise - so many things I could do with all of this free time. I haven't really accomplished anything yet, and I never accomplish even half of the stuff I want to do, but that's kind of beside the point. It's the thought, the anticipation, and the planning that counts. And there's nothing better than hearing the phone ring at 6:15, knowing that the automated voice will tell me I can go back to bed!!!

In case I don't post again for awhile, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, a fantastic New Year, and a great time enjoying your family and friends. Remember what the season is all about - love, family, faith, and being thankful for all that we've already been given.

Happy Snow Day!

2008-12-19T07:02:00.000-05:00

well, I guess i'll go back to bed now.

What are you thankful for?

2008-11-27T09:50:00.002-05:00

Tanis's teacher gave him a calendar to bring home, and each day, he was supposed to put the things he was thankful for on the square. Here's his responses:
Tanis is thankful for: Izzy (his dog), Scamp (daddy's dog), his cousin Alex, apples, pictures, finding his "Who's there on Halloween" book, 3 color pasta, building robots, birthday parties, turning 5, cake, and friends, cars, Kuky (Mommy's dog), Mommy, Daddy, and presents, Wall-e and Eve, playing the Batman video game with Daddy, beating the Joker stage, Landan being at Sunday School, we have lots of food, warm houses, white blanket!, the cuckoo clock bird, being able to change suits in the Batman game, playing Uno, fish that don't get eaten by sharks (?), building ships with blocks, superheroes, art supplies, scooby - doo, and family.

I am thankful for: a wonderful, caring husband; the fact that my husband cooks Thanksgiving dinner so I don't have to; my wonderful, adorable, intelligent child who is a lot of fun to play with; that my family is healthy and blessed; my mom and dad and sister are all alive and mostly healthy; we have a great house to live in and the money to pay for it; that we are blessed with so much - food, clothes, friends, family, pets, etc.; I have a job that I love going to and people that I love working with; I have friends who are always there when I need them; books to read; I live in a country that affords me the freedom to read what I want, do what I want, worship who and how I want, and believe what I want; my friends are all happy and healthy, and as of Saturday, all have homes to live in; our house is the place for the family Thanksgiving this year, and i figured out how to fit them all in the dining room; i've lost almost 30 pounds in 2 months, and can wear clothes I haven't worn in years; watching the Macy's parade with my son; the price of gas is down to a reasonable price; and so many other things that I could go on and on, but for now I'll just say I'm grateful for all of the things I've been blessed with, and hope that I have the sense to appreciate them and use them wisely.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

my epiphany

2008-11-04T22:40:00.004-05:00

As I said in an earlier post, staying up late and talking helped me come to an epiphany. It's actually something that has been formenting for awhile, but things just kind of clicked.

I've always believed that there are parts of life that are predestined. These are the points in everyone's life that God has planned will occur, no matter what the path the person takes to get there. Basically, we might take one of hundreds of possible journeys from point A to point B in our lives, but we will eventually get to where God has determined we need to be. These points would be things like people we are supposed to meet, jobs we are supposed to have, things we are supposed to do, etc. Some of these might be encounters with people we're supposed to impact somehow, or people who are supposed to impact us.

I've always thought Brian and I ended up living in the places we did for a reason. Specifically, I believed that I got the teaching jobs I did because there were students that I was supposed to influence in some way. But, recently I realized that this is a very egocentric view of things.

I think it is more likely that I have gotten the jobs I did because the students I have met have all taught me something that I needed to learn. When reflecting on things, I realized that I truly have learned a lot of important things (both good and bad) from students over the years.

In Houston, I learned for the first time what diversity is really like. It is easy to have a rose colored view of the world and believe that all people are equal when you grow up in a middle class, mostly white small town. In high school, and even college, I thought that the answers to the world's problems were simple. This was mostly because everyone I knew was just like me. Same morals, same religious beliefs, similar backgrounds, etc. Moving to a different state, and to the nation's 5th largest city opened my eyes to a lot of things. I learned prejudices I didn't know that I had. I also learned that maybe the answers really aren't that simple. Mostly, I learned a new appreciation for real diversity, not just my idyllic vision of it. Who am I to tell someone who has been through totally different situations how they should act, believe, and think? What makes me so sure I have the "right" answers? People who have different beliefs than I do are just as certain of their convictions. Often, they are more dedicated and more devout than I am. I learned that sometimes it's best to just accept that we have different beliefs, get past it, and respect each other for it. Interestingly, I learned most of these lessons from the students, not the adults.

Because of these lessons, I went to Southview with a new appreciation for the diversity I'd find there. But, the students there had new lessons to teach me. I learned that even though education is important, sometimes there really are more important issues for kids to think about - like how to keep their family together, or how to take care of themselves when they've been abandoned, or how to get enough money to pay the bills for that month, or how to survive the walk home from school through gang territory without getting jumped. It's difficult to look at a kid in situations like these and lecture them because they didn't do their homework. The fact that they were still showing up to school and functioning was amazing enough to me.

The kids at Southview also taught me about respect and loyalty. They showed me that respect has to be earned. They didn't believe in respecting someone just because they were supposed to. They believed that an adult had to show they were a decent, caring, positive person, and then the kids would truly show their respect. I learned a lot about loyalty. These kids were willing to go to jail or even die before ratting out a friend. This is truly frustrating, (especially to law enforcement!) but it says a lot about who these kids were. They didn't have a lot to share, but if you earned their trust and respect, they had your back.

After Southview, I thought Vermilion would be easy. After all, this was a "good" community, with "good" kids. Of course, the students there had a lot to teach me, too. Mostly, they challenged me to prove what I know. In my previous schools, it was enough to talk to the kids about things. These kids wanted proof; they wanted something that could challenge they way they thought. I learned that there are kids who are willing to stand up and fight to make this a better world. I learned that kids aren't willing to accept things just because we say they should - they want to find out for themselves if there might be a better way to do something. I especially learned that their are kids who aren't willing to give up on something just because it might be easier that way.

All of my students have had an impact on me in some way. I have realized that it is utterly ridiculous to think that God placed me in these schools just so I could impart some small parcel of knowledge to them. I was blessed enough to encounter these amazing people because they all had something to teach me. I am grateful for their lessons, because I know I am a better person for it.

I would like to thank all of my former students, but especially Julian, Marcus, Stephanie, Rachal, Rachael, Michelle, Sara, Nadia, Lori, Drew, Ashley, Patricia, Sam, Val, Janet, Amanda, April, Melissa, Chris, Brittany, Sarah, Borgio, Genevieve, Jess, Celia, Stephanie, Rj, Christy, Megan, Brooke, Nicky, Jon, Allie, Tom, Meesh, and so many, many more who's faces I can picture clearly but who's names escape me right now.

happy halloween!

2008-10-26T17:15:00.004-05:00

an interesting NEOEA day (finally!)

2008-10-25T20:12:00.003-05:00

Last Friday was NEOEA day. That means that there was no school, but teachers were supposed to go do an "approved educational activity." In the past on this day, I have toured a cemetary in Cleveland (interesting, but not necessarily helpful), taken a tour of haunted Cleveland (interesting, but really not helpful), taken a tour of historical Cleveland (the worst tour guide ever!) and toured bed and breakfasts in the Port Clinton area (well, at least it was short.)

This year, as my friends in the English department discussed the futility of NEOEA day, we decided we should do something fun. We came up with the plan of doing the bed and breakfast tour (it's cheap, it's short, and we could start late in the day) then go to Mon Ami winery for dinner, and stay overnight at Lakeside (a Methodist community modeled after Chatauqua).

It ended up that Becky, Karin, Jen, and I toured two B&B's, one of which is owned by another teacher at my school. It's actually very nice, and I'd consider staying there if it wouldn't be really weird to have someone I know waiting on me. Then, Jen left, and Becky, Karin, and I checked into Lakeside. Becky's husband is the hotel manager, so we got an extra special tour of the historic hotel. It's currently closed for the winter (no heat!) so we were the only ones in there. Very cool, and a little creepy, especially the story about the little girl who died there. Her ghost has been seen by a lot of workers and guests, but we didn't see anything that day.

After that, we met Pat at Mon Ami, and had a very nice dinner. Fairly reasonably priced, too, which I wasn't expecting. We lingered, and talked about just about everything. We've been working together for 6 years now, and it's really amazing the stuff I know about these women, and the things they know about me. We all come from different backgrounds, have different beliefs, and are different ages, yet we can talk about anything and no one gets offended. It's really great that such good friendships can come out of a work environment.

After dinner, Becky, Karin, and I returned to Lakeside and decided to walk around the grounds. It's such a neat community, even though most everyone was gone for the winter. It was really cold down by the lake, so we stuck mostly to the streets with houses. Later, we went back to the hotel, ordered snacks, and talked for about 4 hours. We covered religion, philosophy, sex, politics, how to fix education, and a few more things thrown in; all in no particular order. I know we came up with some fantastic ideas about education, the meaning of life, and religion, but we forgot to write them down, so alas, they are lost forever. Our conversation did help solidify an idea I've had for awhile, but that will be the topic of my next post (stay tuned, especially Borgio and RJ!)

The next morning, we went out to breakfast before going our separate ways. The weekend was a lot of fun, like a grown up slumber party. I'm really grateful for such good friends. It's very strange - we get along so well and are so close during the school year, but then we don't talk at all when school's not in session. And, everyone is perfectly okay with that.

In any case, I finally had a NEOEA day where I did something useful! I wonder what we'll do next year. . .

"go away, you cheesy socks!"

2008-10-20T20:55:00.002-05:00

I do not like haunted houses. It all began when I was about 6, and my mom took me to my first haunted house. I was very excited because it had a big slide out front. All I remember is that a gorilla was in a cage, and it came out and started chasing me. I also remember getting to the slide. I really wanted to go down it, but you had to go past the witch, and I did NOT want to go past her. I don't remember if I did or not. My mom refers to this as the time when she thought her child was having a heart attack.

Ever since then, I haven't done well in haunted houses. Actually, the panic kicks in so much that I usually don't remember much about being in them. Rationally, I know that it's only people in costumes and make believe stuff, but my theory is this. If you really wanted to murder someone, a haunted house would be the perfect place to do so. People would think it was just part of the show!

I do realize that this is an irrational fear I don't want to pass on to my child. So far, he hasn't been afraid of anything, so I didn't want to give him a reason to be afraid of pretend monsters. When he excitedly wanted to go through the haunted house at Cedar Point, I tried to calmly redirect him. When he insisted, I asked him why he wanted to. He jumped up and down and said "because it'll be fun, mommy!"

Well, let's just say after our first trip through, I started to understand how my mom felt about my first haunted house trip!

I was hoping I didn't do any permanent damage to my son's psyche, but I was very surprised when my sister asked Tanis if he'd go through with her and he said yes. His one condition was that she had to go first, and he and I could follow. I wasn't sure about this, so we walked through the fright zone first. It's dark and foggy with costumed people walking around, but less intense than the actual houses. Tanis walked with mom, flashlight in hand, while I drove my sister through. (it's much safer that way. otherwise she tries to run over the monsters!)

In the fright zone, Robyn taught Tanis to yell things at the monsters, like "Go away!" Tanis added things like "go away dummy head!" He was especially proud of this because normally he's not allowed to say words like "dummy" or "stupid." He was nervous the first time through, but visibily relaxed on the return trip. He then declared he was ready for the haunted house.

Mom led, then Robyn, then me holding Tanis. He seemed okay, but very nervous. He was also very inventive with the things he said to the monsters. Finally, he loudly yelled "Go away, you Cheesy Socks!" The "monster" started cracking up laughing, which made Tanis laugh and become very brave. He added names like "mashed potato head," "dog face" and "cheesy sock head." By the time we exited, he was laughing and having a great time. He looked at me and said "that was fun! it's not scary at all when you can make them laugh!"

That night, he slept in his bed the whole night, which he hasn't done for awhile. When I praised him the next day, he told me he did have a bad dream, but he just told the monster in his dream to "go away, you cheesy socks" and the bad dream went away.

Hopefully, Tanis won't ever be afraid of imaginary monsters again. But, I think this means I'll be dragged through lots of haunted houses, and I'm not sure I can handle anything more than a tame Cedar Point one!

my crazy family

2008-09-21T19:43:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2008-09-04T18:41:00.002-05:00

You are a great mom, and the best Nana ever! We love you, and hope you had a happy birthday.

Tanis says" I love you, happy birthday, I will hug you when I see you"

Fink cousins

2008-09-02T21:44:00.001-05:00

At my aunt's wedding this summer, we got a great picture of the next generation of Fink cousins. Of course, we had to take about 20 pictures just to get the good one!

AAARRRGGHHH!

2008-09-02T21:28:00.002-05:00

Frustrations at school - on top of everything else, our new tech people don' t trust us to do ANYTHING!!! we can no longer install printers ourselves, we can't install our own software - it has to be approved by 2 different levels of authority to make sure it is appropriate, and to top things off they have now blocked all web mail other than our school account, which we may not use for anything remotely personal. so, i can't send mail from it, and i can't access my yahoo account, which i did actually use for school related things. plus, students can't email themselves papers that are in progress, which stinks, because they have no way of saving at school. (no disks, usb, nothing!)

i'm soo sick of all of this nonsense!!!!

crappy day. . .

2008-08-28T20:48:00.002-05:00

today has not been the best of days. my sister went into the hospital last night with the flu. she was going to come home today, but they think she has aspirated, and so she will have to stay longer. that's basically how the 3 month hospital stay started the last time, so we are worried, but staying positive.

then at school we were advised to pack up our personal belongings today. that means that the union will probably be issuing our strike notice very soon. i am really hoping that the board will start negotiating again, so we can avoid a strike. i just want to do my job, without all of this mess. plus, i have way too much stuff. i ended up packing stuff i use often and stuff i really care about, and if the strikebreakers want to destroy the rest, they can just have at it.

after i dropped everything off at home, i went to go pick tanis up. because mom was at the hospital with robyn today, brian took tanis to work. tanis was great all day, and i was planning to wait until brian got off work so we could all go out to eat, but tanis started throwing a major tantrum because brian turned off his leapster game. It was obvious that he was really tired, so i decided just to take him home. he proceeded to cry and scream the whole way home because he didn't get to say goodbye to daddy and mommy is so mean and can't we go out to dinner and life isn't fair and so on and so forth for 45 minutes!!!

so now, i get to relax, unwind, and veg out on the couch. here's to a better day tomorrow, and a nice long weekend!

2008-08-27T19:33:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, Brian was able to suddenly get 3 whole days off, so we decided to take a mini vacation. He really wanted to go up to traverse city and mackinaw, but i really didn't want to drive that far right before I had to start school, so we decided to go to amish country. i found a place called wild horsed b and b, which rents out cabins to stay in. they have horses, goats, dogs, and really nice furnished cabins with air conditioning, so it looked like a winner.

on friday, we met my parents at geauga lake, something tanis and i had planned to do anyways, so it was nice that brian could come with us, too. only the water park is still open, but it's a really nice water park, so we'd been wanting to make it there this summer. we stayed for a few hours, but tanis started drifting to sleep as he drifted on the waves, so we decided to go. we all went out to eat, and then brian, tanis, and i headed down to the cabin.

it was a little hard to find, and they could really use a bigger sign, but the cabins were just what i was expecting. brian was less impressed, but he still thought they were okay. i had promised tanis we could take a hike, and there was a path right by our cabin that the manager said went all the way around the property, so i thought we could take a night hike. i figured we wouldn't be out very long before tanis got scared, but he kept wanting to go further. it was really fun, up until we realized that we had somehow lost the trail. tanis started getting upset because there were plants with really sharp things on them that were cutting up all of our legs, but i showed him how to step directly on them so we could mostly avoid them. Just about the time that i was trying to figure out how to present sleeping in the middle of the woods as a fun thing for my four year old, brian was able to find the path again, and we back tracked to the cabin.

when we got back, we all showered, and snacked and watched tv. tanis was really excited, and didn't fall asleep until after 12:30! I expected him to sleep in, but at 7:30, he woke me up asking if it was time to go feed the horses. we got dressed and walked down to the barn while brian made breakfast. we had just missed feeding the horses, but tanis got to feed horse cookies to Ivy. then we went and played with the potbellied goats, who were actually really cute. there was also a trampoline right by the goats, so tanis got on and jumped around for a while. he made it to 78 jumps in a row! then we went back to the cabin, had breakdfast, and tanis and brian went out for a walk while i cleaned up.

sunday morning was pretty much the same, except when we went down to see the horses, the owner asked if tanis would like to ride Ivy! of course, he was really excited, and not scared at all.

vacation activities

2008-08-27T19:01:00.003-05:00

Saturday and Sunday were busy days. We set off to find Lehman's hardware, and to see what else we could find along the way. we saw a sign for alpine alpa, which is where they have the world's largest cuckoo clock. I remembered this from when I was little and we would stop there on the way to visit Grandpa Carl. We went in, and ended up buying a cuckoo clock! Brian and I have always talked about getting one, and they had a little antique one with two puppies on the front of it, so we decided to splurge.

Next. we made it to Lehman Hardware, and boy, this place is huge! It is a really cool store that caters to the Amish and Mennonites in the area, but is somewhat of a tourist spot, too. We walked through the whole place, and ate lunch, and talked about what things we wanted to buy. out of the whole store, tanis picked animal shaped cookie cutters. (you've got to see their cookie cutter display. there were literally hundreds!) I wanted a cast iron pan, and brian wanted a cool candle that he saw. tanis also picked a candle that looked like a candy cane, with a little tin holder. I also got a little cast iron dog.

After Lehman's, we went to a local cheese shop and got a few different kinds of cheese to snack on. It was good, but nothing special. Then we went to Orrville to check out the Smuckers store. It was neat, but not as big as I'd imagined. Tanis really liked the Pillsbury doughboy statue. He also got a pair of peanut socks that he just adores.

After this, we tried to go to Grandma Shearer's to get a 3 pound bag of potato chips for my parents. (only $2!) But, they were already closed. So we decided to go back to the cabin for the night. We stopped on the way and got pizza for dinner.

The next day, Tanis decided we should go canoeing. We were concerned about tipping, so the rental people connected two canoes together, almost like a little pontoon boat. no chance of tipping! but, we did have to get out in several places because it was too shallow to make it through. Overall, it went well, but 6 miles is a LOOOONG time to paddle!

For our final event, we wanted to try a place that rented boats. Brian wanted to drive one, and Tanis wanted to go tubing behind it. I had never been tubing, so this seemed like a good idea.

my vision was that i could sit in the tube, tanis could sit in my lap, and brian could pull us around. this worked very well for about 30 seconds. then, we flipped off into the water. tanis thought this was fantastic, but i suddenly remembered that i HATE swimming in lakes, or anywhere that you can't see what's in the water with you. brian suggested that we lay on top of the tube, which seemed like a great idea, except that i couldn't figure out how to get back up onto it! so i put tanis in it, held on the sides, and brian pulled us around like that for a while.
my arms were getting very sore, so i decided we should get back in the boat. tanis loved the tubing, and had been yelling for brian to go faster! faster! so, he really wasn't too happy about getting back in the boat. i handed him up, and went to climb in, when i discovered there was no ladder, no platform, no step, nothing!!! i couldn't get back in!
brian towed me around for a while, with tanis in the boat crying because mommy was having all the fun! i meanwhile, was crying because i wanted to be back in the boat, but instead was being dragged around holding onto a stupid tube and my arms felt like they were being slowly ripped off. Finally, Brian found a shallow beachy area, and I was able to haul myself onto the boat that way.

afterwards, when we were walking up to pay for our ride, brian erupted in full blown laughter. he pointed out that once stressful situations are resolved, it is good to find the humor in them. I agree with this philosophy, but i really didn't find it nearly as funny as he seemed to!

and with that, our summer vacation was over, and it was time to get back home. For the most part, we had a great time, and made a lot of memories.

vacation cabin

2008-08-27T18:45:00.003-05:00

this is the cabin we stayed in. It was like luxury camping. out front, there was a little porch with rocking chairs and a swing. it looked out over the horse pasture, and there were a ton of flowers right by the porch. lots of butterflies hung out there, and we even saw a hummingbird! the dog, blue, followed tanis and brian back to the cabin after they went down to see the goats, and he hung out with us for awhile.

summer party!

2008-08-04T22:34:00.002-05:00

On Sunday, we had our big summer party. We had a great time, and hope everyone else did, too!

party pics 2

2008-08-04T22:26:00.002-05:00

party pics

2008-08-04T22:14:00.002-05:00

Tea parties - boy style

2008-07-25T20:27:00.003-05:00

the other morning, I found Tanis having a "tea party" with his lego guys. the black stove is a cast iron one i used to play with at my Grandma Fink's house, so I found this really cute and charming. Until he explained to me that the stove was a bad guy and it was eating up the bad lego guys to burn them up! The good lego guys were eating at their camp out when the bad lego guys attacked them.

ahhh, the differences between boys and girls!

brian's birthday present

2008-07-25T20:02:00.003-05:00

When Brian and I first got married, he said I could decorate any way I wanted to, but when we bought a house, the basement was his. So, we knew this house was right for us, because not only does it have a basement, but the door to enter it is through the garage, and I have no real reason to ever go down there. Brian finally had his very own space.

Unfortunately, it needs a lot of work. So for Brian's birthday, I decided to fix up the stairway niche for him, to at least get him started on basement renovations. Plus, he has lots of cool star wars lego sets that he needed a place for, away from the prying and not so gentle hands of our lego loving son.

//This is what it looked like when we started

Tanis wanted to help paint, too. This is his painting of a mommy fish and it's baby.

our finished product!

When we were shopping for a light fixture, Tanis and I saw this one at the same time and yelled "look, rocket ships!" We thought it was perfect for the space.

I knew we had to finish all in one day, so that he wouldn't go downstairs in the middle of the project and ruin the surprise. It all worked out great, even though the power went out and I had to buy and install the shelf brackets in the dark! (our hardware store is very old fashioned - the cash register didn't require electricity!)

Happy Birthday, Brian! I love you, and I wanted to give you something special. I hope you like it.

it's party time!!!!

2008-07-15T22:39:00.002-05:00

it's time for Kellie and Brian's annual summer party!

the party will be Sunday, August 3rd, from 3:00 until whenever.
we have plenty of room if people want to spend the night. All my blog readers who are not current students are invited, and I'd love for you all to come!

email me at kpancost@yahoo.com for all the details

we grew something

2008-06-25T22:03:00.004-05:00

okay, so it's not that hard to grow strawberries. but, given our usual luck with our garden, this was huge for us. we filled a whole bowl, and that was just our first picking. they were a little sour, but mixed with a little whipped cream, they were pretty tasty. tanis loved the whole experience - from picking to eating. he can't wait for more to turn red.

our weekend

2008-06-22T20:11:00.002-05:00

This weekend, Brian and I went up to Michigan for a golf outing in memory of his dad. We decided to take the whole weekend, since Tanis was staying with my parents. We left Friday night, and just took our time going up. We ate dinner at Tony Packo's in Toledo, which was pretty good.
Saturday morning was the golf outing. Brian, his mom, his friend Scott, and a friend of his dad's were a foursome. I had my own cart, and followed along. it was actually my first time setting foot on a golf course. I had a lot of fun driving around, and while they were playing, I read a book. The first half was really beautiful weather, so I also got a tan. It started to drizzle and then rain about half way through, but as the golf course director said, that was just Brian's dad saying hi. It seems that over the years, Bob had organized several events there, but every single time, it rained. So it was very appropriate that we had some rain that day.
I thought Brian's team did very well, but they tied for last. The prize was coupons for free rounds of golf, which I found ironic. We had lunch, and a few people talked about Bob and how much he meant to the Jaycees.

After the golf outing, Brian and I went back the hotel for a little bit, and then we met up with Scott and his wife for the sun festival. Basically, it was a tasting festival for several area wineries and microbrews. We paid to get in, and then bought tickets. For each ticket, you got a sample of a different wine or beer. They some food booths, and live music. Scott and his wife had saved us some seats, so we were able to sit right up front. The first band was a really good blues group, and then they had a latin band. The latin band was pretty good, and it got a lot of people up and dancing. After the festival, Brian and I went and got dinner at Sir Pizza, the best pizza place in town.

Sunday, we met Brian's mom, sister, and nephew for breakfast, and then left for home. We stopped at a nearby outlet mall, mainly to see a friend of ours, but we also did some shopping - clothes for me, a few clothes for tanis, some stuff from bath and body, and a few things from the kitchen store. After that we made our way back to my parents' house to pick up tanis. In all, it was a very nice weekend away together

our pets

2008-06-18T19:42:00.003-05:00

We are pug people. It all started almost 11 years ago with Kuky (top picture). Brian and I had just gotten married and moved to Texas, where we saw an ad in the paper. We drove out to pick out our puppy. she was the runt, and was absolutely tiny. Brian held her in his hand, and she growled at him. Her eyes weren't even open yet, and she growled! It was love at first sight!
About 6 months later, we finally had enough money to open a savings account. Our first deposit stayed in for about 3 hours, then we visited a puppy store. There were 2 boys, and a girl who was obviously the boss. We figured she would be perfect to hold her own with Kuky. We brought this little butterball home, and named her Scamp (2nd picture)
Once we moved back to Ohio, we joined a pug rescue and fostered lots of dogs. It's horrifically amazing how people treat their dogs! We also learned a lot about pugs, and adopted one of our fosters- Pugglett, who passed away a few years ago.

Our newest puppy, Izzy, (3rd picture) is about 9 months old. Brian's employee's sister's friend had bought her at a pet store, but apparently didn't understand a few key things about pugs.
1. pugs must be in the middle of everything, or they are miserable
2. pugs are smart, but are very hard to train. potty training takes a lot longer than for other breeds. and even then, if it's raining, or snowing, or they just don't want to bother going out, they will still go in the house
3. puppies from pet stores are trained to go in the cage where they sleep, so they are even harder to potty train than other dogs.
4. if you don't let your pug be in the middle of everything, they can be vindictive. there's a lovely story about kuky peeing on me that just cracks brian up.

so in any case, they decided they just couldn't handle her, and knew that Brian used to rescue pugs. I got a call one day that started off "honey, don't be mad, but. . . " and then Izzy came home to us. She is very playful, and very energetic. Tanis mostly likes this, but doesn't understand that if she gets too excited, she will bite. He also is not happy about her chewing on his toys. Kuky and Scamp tolerate her pretty well, and Scamp will run and play with her some.
Gilbert, our cat, who is not pictured, is not happy about Izzy at all. Which is weird, because she always got along fine with the other 2. But, since Izzy has been here, we haven't seen too mch of Gilbert. Other than her running madly down the hall with Izzy playfully chasing right behind.

The last picture is our other recently aquired pet, Tuck. He (and we're guessing he's a he, not a she. it's hard to tell) is a Russian Tortoise. He is the easiest pet to take care of, as he essentially just eats and sleeps. Mostly sleeps. I put some lettuce in once a day, and clean out his cage about once a month. I also give him a "bath" every couple of days, and then let him walk around the living room. We got him because Tanis wanted a lizard, but I was not wild about something I had to bring insects into my house for. So, we settled on a Tortoise. Tanis and Brian got bored with him quickly, but I find him relaxing. It's nice to have a lazy pet.

I'm thinking that as Tanis gets older, we are going to be that house that takes in all kinds of crazy pets. It should be interesting!

school's out!

2008-06-05T18:57:00.002-05:00

Leaving behind:
a classroom with a whiteboard that hasn't been cleaned in 2 months because the custodian is too busy putting all the chairs on top of the desks each night

a bunch of desks with obscene drawings on them (courtesy of my freshmen) that haven't been cleaned off because well, he can't clean them when they have the chairs on top of them.

a bunch of used office referral slips from one semester that total 3 times more than i've use in the other 9 1/2 years of teaching!

students whom i've bent over backwards to help that complained I must just want them to fail

parents who think that rules apply to everyone else but them and their offspring

an administrator who is too worried about how we will look to the public to stand behind his teachers, even when he admits they are right.

a school board who would rather spend a ton of money on lights activated with motion detectors so we don't have to take the time to flip the switch than pay the teachers a cost of living wage

Waiting at home for me:
a sweet little boy who's so excited he doesn't have to go to day care any more

a yard full of shade, flowers and a hammock

a nice, almost clean swimming pool that's just calling my name

a city full of hidden geocaches waiting for us to come find them

cedar point!

soak city!

michigan camp grounds!

cleveland zoo!

a reseviour (nope, still can't spell it!) full of trails to explore and fish to catch

a brand new creative writing curriculum to plan (yes, i do find this exciting!)

tons of new books to read

tons of old books to reread

a library full of more books for tanis and for me

a puppy to play with - and potty train

a tortoise to watch do absolutely nothing

a husband to learn how to play golf with

I love summer, don't you?

concerns for our country. . .

2008-05-30T19:55:00.002-05:00

3 things have happened this week that have caused me to have serious concerns for the future of our country. hopefully, i don't offend anyone by this. . .

At school this week, our history department had a ceremony to dedicate a memorial for all of the soldiers from our town who have died in wars. there are 24 of them, from the civil war to iraq. the ceremony was fantastic, absolutely terrifically done. i give a ton of credit to the teachers in charge; they worked really, really hard on it.

but, what disturbed me (concern #1) was that during the star spangled banner, almost none of the students, and few of the adults, other than the veterans in attendance, saluted the flag with their hand on their heart. yes, everyone stood, and most were quiet, but i just wondered when this stopped being common practice?

concern #2 came to me as i was pondering #1. as a school, we have not said the pledge of allegiance all year! in previous years, we said it only on fridays, which i always thought was sad, but this year, nothing. no wonder the kids don't have any patriotism! is this really what it's come to, because a few people in the country complained about being forced, that now no one says it at all?

concern #3 came later that day. i hope it doesn't offend anyone, as it became a big argument in my class. my students were talking about the essay topics for the american legion contest, and one of the topics was "should all americans and immigrants to america have to speak english?" thinking the answer was a given, i offered my humble opinion of "yes, absolutely they should! if you are going to live in a country, you should learn to speak the language."

man, was i unprepared for the backlash. 2 of my students in particular thought this was the most racist thing they ever heard. how dare i say that one language is better than another, and who ever said that english was better anyways? why don't we all learn to speak spanish, as that is what the majority of the world speaks?

let me say that i am all for everyone learning a second language. i wish i had paid more attention in my high school spanish class, and i think it's a great idea for elementary schools to teach spanish to kids. BUT i don't think for a moment that anyone who wants to have the benefits of our country should ignore our national language. yes, i respect the rights of all people to have their own culture, but what about AMERICAN culture? what about our national pride?

all of these things really made me wonder - what on earth is happening to our country? why isn't anyone proud of it anymore?

he wanted to climb a tree today

2008-05-25T20:15:00.001-05:00

at the motor city comic con

2008-05-25T20:11:00.001-05:00

good book, good friends

2008-05-04T12:53:00.003-05:00

I just finished reading "the friday night knitting club" by kate jacobs. it's a very good book, i highly recommend it. It's about a group of women, each with their own problems and issues who come to be friends because of a knitting shop.

the main point of the book was that each of these women needed to learn to reach out to others so they could help each other through their individual tests and trials. It made me start to think - why is it so hard for people to reach out to each other when they need help? Why is everyone too, something, - proud, ashamed, embarrassed, whatever - to let people know the difficulties they face and accept the help that they need? Why do we all feel we must be self sufficient?

I know all too well how hard it is to let people in. I always want to be the strong one that other people turn to, but i don't want to inconvienence anyone with my own problems. I'm not sure why this is, but I do know this - no matter how hard it is to let someone help you, it always ends up so much better in the end. When you finally break down and share the thing that you've been dreading anyone finding out, it's amazing how much better you feel afterwards.

I guess the moral is, if God wanted us to be self sufficient, he wouldn't have made us the way he did- programmed to reach out to other people. I just wonder why so many people, including me, fight it?

early mother's day present

2008-05-02T20:44:00.003-05:00

i'm still here

2008-04-12T17:01:00.002-05:00

no, i haven't abandoned blog world; it's just amazing how much stuff i have to do, and how little time it seems there is to do it in. i have tons of stuff i could post about, but right now i need to go get ready before brian gets home. we are going to lowe's to replace our 2 broken screen doors, and then probably to dinner.

only 38 more days of school, and then i'll have tons of time. yay!

sale alert!

2008-04-05T22:02:00.002-05:00

any crafters in the cleveland area - okay, maybe this one's just for you vic. . .
jo-ann fabrics in the cityview plaza (garfield heights, right off 480) is having a going out of business sale, 50-70% of everything. they don't have too much left, but they do have lots of fabric, yarns, and scrapbooking stuff left.
i got a ton of stuff at great prices. it was kind of a contest, because we were on our way to meet my dad for his birthday dinner, and i only had 20 minutes to shop. so i had to race through the store and find all the good deals on stuff i liked.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T12:18:00.000-05:00

quick one

2008-03-17T21:01:00.001-05:00

saturday, tanis and i went to the berlin heights basket factory so he could paint an easter basket and i could browse. eventually, the easter bunny came in, and i told tanis "oh look! don't you want to say hi to the easter bunny?"

tanis looked at me and said "mommy, that's not the easter bunny. that's just someone in a costume."

I thought we had a few more years before he figured this all out!

flat tire

2008-02-27T20:10:00.001-05:00

well, today was going along fairly well. my freshmen mostly did well on their test, the after school teacher meetings were okay, and somewhat useful, tanis had a great day at school, so on, so forth. then it happened.

we were driving home from tanis' school, and about 5 minutes from our house, when wham! i hit a huge pot hole. i didn't even see it, it must have been filled with snow. right away, i knew i had a flat tire. fortunately, the local high school parking lot was right there, so i pulled in and at least was off the road.

I called brian at work, and he tried to explain how to change it. I calmly explained that not only was i a girl, i was also wearing a skirt and heels and did not actually plan to change it myself. he then hung up to see what he could do. meanwhile, i tried to call around to see what i could do. i called to see how much it would be to have someone come and change it - $55 and an hour wait. I then called Amanda to see if Sean was home. He was, and said he could come out, but Amanda wasn't home, and he'd have to bring all 4 kids with him. I really hated to do that to him, so i told him i'd use him as a last resort. (but what a great guy!)

Brian called back and said he found someone to cover him, so he'd meet me in an hour. Tanis and i passed the time by reading books, and playing with the camera and video camera on my cell phone. if anyone can tell me how to post videos, i'll post the ones we made in the car.

Anyways, brian got there, changed the tire, and then he took it to get fixed. it turns out i not only blew the front tire, but the back tire was flat as well. and, since you can't have mismatched treads in the front, we had to replace the other front tire, too.

the really crappy thing was that brian had just gotten the tires rotated for me on Monday!

but to count my blessings - 1. i have great friends who are willing to help me out, even at great personal inconvenience
2. I have a wonderful, fantastic husband who always comes to my rescue 3. tanis and i could have been hurt, but weren't
4. we were in a safe place to wait for help.

snow day!

2008-02-26T17:53:00.002-05:00

i just love snow days. i really like getting the call around 6 a.m., but it doesn't quite match the fun of being a kid, anxiously watching the tv, hoping to see your school scroll across.

tanis and i pretty much had a lazy day. he built a "ship" out of a box, pillows, blankets, and the chair in my bedroom. I got to finish reading my book, which ended up being better than i thought it would. we had tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch, and then once we were nice and warmed up inside, we went out to play.

tanis is still a little nervous about sleds since he broke his leg when he was 2 (our first trip sledding didn't end so well) but he let me pull him around the yard. he thought it was really funny when he directed me to pull him in the corn field behind our house, which apparently isn't so level, and i sank into snow up to my knees. Then i built him a snow fort and taught him how to hide in it during a snowball fight. He also found this really, really funny, especially since he can aim pretty well and I kept missing him. partly, because i just don't feel right about smashing a snowball at my 4 year old, and partly because my aim does stink.

At this point I was ready to go inside, but he really wanted to build a snowman. it occurred to me that i've never built a "real" snowman, and wasn't quite sure how to. I tried making a ball and rolling it in the snow to make it bigger, but it just stayed the same size. If i tried to pack more snow onto it, it would all just fall apart. So, we ended up using the same method we used for the fort, buckets full of snow stacked up with more snow packed around it. it's kind of small, but he really liked decorating it - coal for eyes and nose, wood chips for the mouth, twigs (found by tanis) for arms, and red christmas beads for a scarf. tanis is especially happy because he can see it from his bedroom window. if we have a snow day tomorrow, we'll probably make some snow friends, because tanis is afraid the snowman will be lonely.

i don't think we'll have one tomorrow, but the snow is still falling, so who knows? even if we don't, my school has early dismissal, so it will be a short, crazy day for the kids anyhow.

hope you all enjoy your snow!

busy weekend fun

2008-02-24T20:31:00.004-05:00

Brian, Tanis and I had a lot of fun this weekend. Last night, Brian was able to come home early, and we all went to Strongsville to play glow in the dark minature golf. It was a lot busier than we expected, but it was cool. The picture isn't great, but the little white blob is Tanis, standing next to the astronaut statue.

We didn't keep score, since we were just playing for fun. Brian and I did each get a hole in one. of course, mine bounced over the divider wall and kind of richocheted in, but still, I think it should count. Tanis is definitely not the next Tiger Woods, but based on the way he was holding the putter, he might have a future as a hockey player.

After golfing, we went over to the restaurant Buca de Beppo. We'd heard a lot about it, and I had a $10 off coupon.
It was a really interesting place. before taking us to our table, we followed the hostess on a tour around the restaurant, including through the kitchen. There is a special table you can reserve where you actually eat in the kitchen. There's another special table with a statue of the Pope on it. I assume you have to reserve that as well.

We ended up at a basic, regular table. The first thing we noticed was that it was really loud in there. Tanis was really rambunctious, but no one else noticed because it was so loud anyways. The menu was different, too. instead of each person ordering, the food was family style, meaning brian and i had to agree on what to get, and then share everything. We ordered fried mozzerella, which was great!, salad, which was good but nothing exceptional, and cheese ravioli with a meatball. The ravioli was good, but the meatball was a little too sweet. Tanis ordered off the kids menu, but his order of pasta was bigger than the order of ravioli brian and i shared! We also all shared dessert - an apple/caramel pie thing with ice cream (on the side because I gave it up for lent) Tanis stole the bowl of ice cream, and Brian and i shared the pie.

in all, it was good, but rather expensive for what it was. we would probably go back if it was closer, but i don't know if we'll drive all the way to strongsville to go there. also by the end of the night, tanis was really, really tired and cranky, so our evening didn't end well.

today was really busy. first we went to church, (although we skipped sunday school, which i feel a little bad about, but it was nice to sleep in) after church, we all drove home together. then brian went to work and tanis and i drove right back to the rec center for the yearly rec center olympics! this event was big last year, but absolutely huge this year. tanis did well in the running race, but was the only 4 year old who couldn't pedal and steer the big wheel. (apparently, we need to work on the physical stuff and not just focus on the reading) He did do well in the throwing/accuracy games, though. He got 2 of the 3 balls in the baskets, and threw all the bean bags to the right spot.

We went and got lunch on the way home, but tanis was so worn out he fell asleep in the middle of eating it. we napped a little once we got home, and then brian got home from work and we went out to dinner again, this time a local mexican restaurant. we don't usually eat out quite this much, and i'll probably really regret it at my weigh in on thursday, but everything was really good. i guess i need to cook some really good stuff this week to make up for it!