Wednesday, February 24, 2010

We Have a Teacher in Our Midst

No, not me, again, yet (we still have our fingers crossed there). I meant Andrew. Here he is, "teaching" with his dad at last night's percussion parent sharing experience. Love this kid (and his cool drool-ridden, drum shirt wearin' brother, too).



Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Waiting Game

We are waiting for some stuff.

And the waiting game is a tad stressful. It's okay; stress is a good thing sometimes; it lights a fire under you and can keep you on your mental and physical toes. That having been said, it still doesn't make for a good night's sleep, hence my three whopping hours last night, in between which I lay there, my eyelids feeling like they were made of elastic that would not stay closed, against my best efforts, with all I have running through my mind.

Monday, we put in a ridiculously low offer on a really great home in a nice neighborhood and are waiting to hear from the seller. We'll very likely get laughed at, but it is at least a jumping off point (and I stress "jumping off" here).

I have applied to six of the Columbia area school districts and hope I can convince at least one of them that they desperately need me as a music teacher. I'm waiting for a second interview for one and a first interview for the other five.

Speaking of applications, in the hopes of enhancing my resume, one thing I have done is delve into the world of transferring old VHS clips of some of my past students' performances to DVD. Sounds easy, huh? It's been a learning process, to say the least. Today, it took me to Radio Shack with an already cranky couple of kids. As I was discussing the benefits of an S-video connector cord with the thankfully patient sales-lady, Andrew threw a little fit and landed himself in time-out in the middle of the DVD player aisle. It wasn't pretty, and was even less attractive when he took off his shoes and threw them across the store. Here, I suppose, we're perpetually waiting for the secret to perfect preschooler discipline.

And, speaking of Andrew, and preschool, we are waiting to hear whether or not he gets into one of the four great preschools we've got his name on waiting lists for. Waiting, waiting, waiting...

So, if Mars aligns with Saturn or whatever is supposed to astrologically happen when you need things to work out beautifully, here in a few short days or weeks, I'll hopefully be reporting on the impending move to the wonderful new home, Andrew's first day at the finest preschool on the planet and my employment as a South Carolina public school music teacher.

But for now, we're just waiting...

Saturday, February 13, 2010

YEAH SNOW!

It started snowing here yesterday evening and snowed most of the night. It is the third time ever that Andrew and the hounds have seen snow, and EJ's first time, of course.






We ended up getting over five inches before it was all said and done. The dogs loved it (including the neighbor dog) and Andrew did, too, until he refused to wear his mittens and was therefore ticked off by the end of this morning's playtime.



YAY for SNOW!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Ethan's 5 Months Old Today

And, to celebrate the momentous occasion, he tasted his first vegetable: sweet potatoes! After a little initial apprehension,he was happy enough with them to show off his two teeth.
Happy birthday, our big little man.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Why...

...does Dora perpetually give her "ball ball" to Ethan? Given that he just recently located his own thumb, I am fairly sure he's not going to play fetch with our hopeful girl....does she surprise me like this? Does she think it's cute enough to get me to throw the ball for her? OK, she's correct.


Monday, February 8, 2010

Seriously?!?

Someone stole 1/2 of our Sunday paper before we got it out of the box yesterday afternoon.

The very obviously-defiled paper had an advertisement on the front about "$350 worth of coupon savings in this issue" or something along those lines (love me some coupons ~ I am a serious clipper). My hope is that the thief who has our coupons is in a truly desperate situation and is also not too lazy to go ahead and clip them and use them. And I suppose recycling is probably out of the question, but then again, the coupon-clipping bandit WAS courteous enough to leave us with half of the paper, so who knows?

Are times REALLY that tough? Seriously?!?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Goodbye, Grandpa Buck

Jon's grandfather passed away this evening after a long, fun-loving life. He was Andrew and Ethan's last living grandfather which makes it that much more sad for us. We are so happy he and Andrew got to meet this summer. Here are a few of my favorite photos of him.

He's on the far left in this photo of Jon's family (taken in 2003 at our WV wedding).
This was also at our wedding. We had those disposable cameras at each table.
Here he is, taking a rare non-smiling photo of himself.
And here he is with Andrew this past June in Sandwich, IL ~ their first and only meeting. I was looking on, with Ethan in my 6-month-along belly.


You will be missed, Grandpa Buck.