I actually used that expression the other day and I couldn't believe it. It came out without even knowing it and I was completely embarrassed. I didn't acknowledge that I said it, I just kept talking, hoping that nothing quite as ridiculous would come out again.
This evening I admitted my blunder to my husband and he laughed. Not quite hysterically, but pretty good. The hysterics didn't come until later and they were from me. Bill proceeded to spout off a list of 80's sayings beginning with the complete version of of gag me..."gag me with a spoon!" Here's what else we came up with...
Like, TOtally. (you TOtally agree with them)
What-ever. (emphasis on the E in ever.)
I'm soooooooo sure.
Like, OK. (usually sarcastic)
As if. (was that the 80's or just from Clueless?)
Barf me! (or Barf me out)
Bodacious. (That could refer to anything. Boys usually used it in reference to tatas.)
Don't have a cow! (I think we used that to the max! My friend was known to moo.)
Fer sure.
Gnarly and grody were good discriptive words for anything nasty.
Tubular (just an expression, I'm not sure what it means)
Grody to the max. (this doesn't even need explaining, does it?!)
Totally radical, dude. (another guy one, I think I hear Sean Penn saying it)
Well, now that I've got that out of my system hopefully I won't let any of them slip out again.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Bad Hair Month
I realize that it is only the 4th but it is and will be a bad hair month. Literally. I've been fighting with my hair since my last cut and it made me mad. Mad, hormonally challenged, emotional women should not be allowed near scissors. Especially in the morning when they are late getting their children to school. Especially a second day, when they are late again and their hair is wet. Especially when they tried calling 2 salons the night before and both were closed and there was not hope in sight at a real person helping them out.
It was a mess and I almost cried. Then I determined that I wouldn't get out at school and would head to the nearest Great Clips. That sort of worked except that nobody keeps hair books out so that you can show them what you want done. I can't ever explain what I hate and how I style it. So now the bangs are much shorter than I ever would have wanted just because the sides were angled funny. Whatever! I almost cried again. I know it's just hair so I only got to the teary eye stage.
So now I will take it out on my house and clean the heck out of it for as long and Tasha will let me. Maybe I'll put up the Christmas tree and the nativity and try to get the Christmas spirit. As for my me and my hair, we'll be the ones hiding under the Santa hat.
It was a mess and I almost cried. Then I determined that I wouldn't get out at school and would head to the nearest Great Clips. That sort of worked except that nobody keeps hair books out so that you can show them what you want done. I can't ever explain what I hate and how I style it. So now the bangs are much shorter than I ever would have wanted just because the sides were angled funny. Whatever! I almost cried again. I know it's just hair so I only got to the teary eye stage.
So now I will take it out on my house and clean the heck out of it for as long and Tasha will let me. Maybe I'll put up the Christmas tree and the nativity and try to get the Christmas spirit. As for my me and my hair, we'll be the ones hiding under the Santa hat.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Rainy Day Hike
Kyra's school hikes. They hike 3-5 times each year. The first all school hike is planned usually a month in advance and lasts all day. It's amazing to see 100 kids plus teachers and parents zooming up a desert hill. All right, there is no zooming (except for the 20 or so that have to prove a point or are avid hikers) but it is pretty great to see all that energy.
The first all school hike was this past Friday. Yes, Friday, November 30th, 2007. Check the weather report. We got more rain that day than we have all year. And we were hiking in it. That was crazy, but fun. All the kids were decked out in garbage bags. This is Phoenix, who has rain gear?! So we didn't win the "friendly to the environment" award that day, but I think the school makes up for it during the rest of the year.
We didn't get to play on the rocks because common sense made us leave early. And I'm sure it was record time getting back to the car. It only took 1 hour to hike out because it was raining on us the whole time. We didn't really get cold until it came to the car ride home. That was fine though because it gave us an excuse to stop at Starbucks for some Hot Cocoa. Try it with a little Amaretto syrup, yum!
We didn't get to play on the rocks because common sense made us leave early. And I'm sure it was record time getting back to the car. It only took 1 hour to hike out because it was raining on us the whole time. We didn't really get cold until it came to the car ride home. That was fine though because it gave us an excuse to stop at Starbucks for some Hot Cocoa. Try it with a little Amaretto syrup, yum!
The Wheels on the bus...
My baby rode the bus today! Yes, my baby is 3 1/2 but holy cow she's little! Ever since she started preschool she has been talking about riding the bus. Her friends ride the bus. Her friend even rides the bus when his mom has to come to school at the same time. I thought kids hated to ride the bus. When does that start, elemenatry school? Jr. High? High Schoo? Personally, I never rode the bus. My parents strategically picked a house within walking distance of every school I ever attended.
Back to Tasha. What made me think that this was OK? When Kyra was 5 I was terrified to send her to all day Kindergarten. But now there's Tasha and I don't think it is a big deal. Is it because she's my second? I'm less protective? She's more independent? I don't know but neither one of us looked back after she was on. As I was driving, I thought about driving by her school to watch her get off but then I knew that would be ridiculous. Silly me. She was soooo cute!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Rhyming and reading
It is important for kids to learn to rhyme at an early age. It helps with everything related to reading and spelling with confidence. The traditional nursery rhymes, which are sometimes quite absurd, are really good for kids. If you don't like them, make up your own or find better ones. The point is, kids learn how to hear the text flow and hear the repetitive sounds in words even when the initial sound changes. Even a child with a learning disablily or speech impediment will soar if they are given a solid foundation to start with. Some of my kids with the most severe auditory processing difficulties excel when it comes to reading text because they know what a book should sound like. Many times they still have a hard time rhyming, but they can fill in the gaps or the words they can't sound out (the, what, who) because they know what kind of word should go there.
Here are 2 inspiring stories that illustrate why an actual book and story are important to reading developement:
1. A Braille story: A dedicated mother was trying to gain the tools to help her son. Her son was blind so she was trying to learn to read Braille. Of course, the initial books she got while her son was young were for her but she let him "read" them. One day when the family sat down to read a story her son was reaching out to find the book and feel the words! He was under 2. He understood where the story was coming from and wanted to read/feel along.
2. An ESL story: A principal and staff at a local school was determined to get their largely ESL, low-income population of elementary students to read. They held a parent meeting and asked all of the parents to read to or with their children every night. I believe the meeting was translated and the principal spoke. Weeks later one particular student was excelling and the teacher wanted to know how because there was nothing specifically that she had changed. They called the mother in for a conference. The mother thought she had done something wrong. Through a Spanish-English interpreter they discovered that the mother could not read. However, every night since the parent meeting she would sit down with her son and make up a story to a book (in Spanish). Now here son was an excellent reader (in English).
Yes, I realize that actual reading is not always taking place here but it is the "act" of reading that is important. It is the communication to your child that is important: here is a page with words on it, I will say them, and you will get something from it. Even the best TV show (and we love TV here) doesn't replace physically turning the pages of a book. Internet and games are great for supplementing. Books on tape are fabulous IF they are not replacing you. Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk on choosing between good, better and best. Different situations call for different things. A book on tape might be the best option for a long car ride, but good conversation might be the best idea too. Listening to a book on tape is better than watching TV, but reading to your child would be best.
But now back to rhyming...can't we all figure out words by associating them to words we already know? If I wrote the word "medge" you would know what that sounds like because you would think of the word "hedge". Have you ever read a rhyming book and had to go back because you mispronounced a word and found out what it was supposed to rhyme with? There's a line in a Madeline book that makes me crazy because nobody pronounces the word like the word they are trying to rhyme it with. It LOOKS like it should rhyme but it doesn't the way Americans pronounce it. It is great practice to let kids try to fill in the blank at the end of rhyming text. I would even accept made up words if they rhyme!
So my point is...just read! There is no right or wrong way to do. You have to just do it. You have to make your kids do it. I love to read a good book but sometimes I don't let my kids know that. Bill likes to read the sports section of the paper, and ESPN magazine. I should let him do that in front of the kids so they know he reads. Kyra didn't really like to read until I made her do it. The summer before third grade she had to read for an hour while I put Tasha down for a nap each day. Now, she can be reading 3 books at one time. She has read a couple of stories twice because she really liked them. Tasha likes to hear the same story over and over and over and over and over....again until she has it memorized. I'm pretty sure she can "read" about the first 10 pages of The Cat in the Hat to you. In fact, today she wanted to know why it was so dark out. I told her it might rain and that the sun was hiding behind the clouds. She said, "the sun is not sunny?" She is always talking about "down the wall in the hall". See, that's one kid that won't have problems with the "all" words. Thanks Seuss!
Here are 2 inspiring stories that illustrate why an actual book and story are important to reading developement:
1. A Braille story: A dedicated mother was trying to gain the tools to help her son. Her son was blind so she was trying to learn to read Braille. Of course, the initial books she got while her son was young were for her but she let him "read" them. One day when the family sat down to read a story her son was reaching out to find the book and feel the words! He was under 2. He understood where the story was coming from and wanted to read/feel along.
2. An ESL story: A principal and staff at a local school was determined to get their largely ESL, low-income population of elementary students to read. They held a parent meeting and asked all of the parents to read to or with their children every night. I believe the meeting was translated and the principal spoke. Weeks later one particular student was excelling and the teacher wanted to know how because there was nothing specifically that she had changed. They called the mother in for a conference. The mother thought she had done something wrong. Through a Spanish-English interpreter they discovered that the mother could not read. However, every night since the parent meeting she would sit down with her son and make up a story to a book (in Spanish). Now here son was an excellent reader (in English).
Yes, I realize that actual reading is not always taking place here but it is the "act" of reading that is important. It is the communication to your child that is important: here is a page with words on it, I will say them, and you will get something from it. Even the best TV show (and we love TV here) doesn't replace physically turning the pages of a book. Internet and games are great for supplementing. Books on tape are fabulous IF they are not replacing you. Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk on choosing between good, better and best. Different situations call for different things. A book on tape might be the best option for a long car ride, but good conversation might be the best idea too. Listening to a book on tape is better than watching TV, but reading to your child would be best.
But now back to rhyming...can't we all figure out words by associating them to words we already know? If I wrote the word "medge" you would know what that sounds like because you would think of the word "hedge". Have you ever read a rhyming book and had to go back because you mispronounced a word and found out what it was supposed to rhyme with? There's a line in a Madeline book that makes me crazy because nobody pronounces the word like the word they are trying to rhyme it with. It LOOKS like it should rhyme but it doesn't the way Americans pronounce it. It is great practice to let kids try to fill in the blank at the end of rhyming text. I would even accept made up words if they rhyme!
So my point is...just read! There is no right or wrong way to do. You have to just do it. You have to make your kids do it. I love to read a good book but sometimes I don't let my kids know that. Bill likes to read the sports section of the paper, and ESPN magazine. I should let him do that in front of the kids so they know he reads. Kyra didn't really like to read until I made her do it. The summer before third grade she had to read for an hour while I put Tasha down for a nap each day. Now, she can be reading 3 books at one time. She has read a couple of stories twice because she really liked them. Tasha likes to hear the same story over and over and over and over and over....again until she has it memorized. I'm pretty sure she can "read" about the first 10 pages of The Cat in the Hat to you. In fact, today she wanted to know why it was so dark out. I told her it might rain and that the sun was hiding behind the clouds. She said, "the sun is not sunny?" She is always talking about "down the wall in the hall". See, that's one kid that won't have problems with the "all" words. Thanks Seuss!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Boggle online
I'm addicted. I can't blog. I can't sleep. I can't watch TV. AND I can't see anymore. My eyes are so bugged out from staring at the screen that they really hurt. I just turned off the light to see it that helps. I have many people to blame for this addiction:
Brittany for saying she was addicted.
Jaylee for organizing a fabulous dinner.
April and her family for playing Scrabble.
Bill for not playing Scrabble with me.
Bill again for playing Boggle online and making it fun.
Bill again for going to bed.
My eyes have adjusted to the dark so maybe I'll go try again...
Oh, and I DID get all my Thanksgiving list accomplished! Including finding the china and using it. Yay for us. Fancy plates!
Brittany for saying she was addicted.
Jaylee for organizing a fabulous dinner.
April and her family for playing Scrabble.
Bill for not playing Scrabble with me.
Bill again for playing Boggle online and making it fun.
Bill again for going to bed.
My eyes have adjusted to the dark so maybe I'll go try again...
Oh, and I DID get all my Thanksgiving list accomplished! Including finding the china and using it. Yay for us. Fancy plates!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Thanksgiving To Do List:
Write down menu
Check recipes
Make shopping list
Find china or buy paper products
Find out turkey cooking time
Put turkey in the oven
Go shopping
Cook
Finish cleaning
Set table
Eat 5:00pm
Hmm, doesn't look too bad. Unless of course it's Thanksgiving day. YIKES! My mother would be proud.
Check recipes
Make shopping list
Find china or buy paper products
Find out turkey cooking time
Put turkey in the oven
Go shopping
Cook
Finish cleaning
Set table
Eat 5:00pm
Hmm, doesn't look too bad. Unless of course it's Thanksgiving day. YIKES! My mother would be proud.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)