West Virginia, Mountain Mama. . .

Okay. Let’s have a little quiz. Why? Because this is my blog and I just said so. That’s why. Grand prize goes to the first person to name the next 5 words in the title song. And extra bonus points to who can name the musician who made it famous. And no looking it up online. That would be cheating. And I would be even more impressed if anyone knew more words than just the chorus.

Why this little trivia, you ask? Because we just spent the weekend in beautiful WV among the mountains of Wheeling at a place called Oglebay Resort. For any of you outdoorsy people, (and even those of you not so outdoorsy), I highly recommend it. I took a walk the first morning I was there and saw 14 deer. The colors on the trees were gorgeous. We got a cabin with Conrad’s parent’s, sister, bro-in-law, and their 2 little girls (who are around the same age as B and L) and had a great time together. We ate some great food, stayed up late playing cards (Rook and Hoss are the family favorites), visited the zoo that is right on the grounds of the resort, took a trip to Cabela’s, and spent some time just reading and relaxing. I should also note that while we were at the zoo, we went to this bird exhibit where we could walk into a fenced in area and feed these cool birds (sorry, can’t remember the name of them). Well, I was in there about 2 minutes when a bird came and landed on my arm and promptly peed on me. The girls thought it was hilarious, but I wasn’t too happy about it.

Here’s a few pics from the weekend:

Bryn and Lydia enjoying the birds, just moments before I got peed on.

The whole fam. . .

Here’s my little punkin. . .

A Little Perspective

I just got back from B and L’s school where I volunteered for a while this afternoon. I am trying to do that about once a week. Last week I helped some kids who were struggling with letter sounds. Today, I quizzed kids on counting to 100. It was adorable to hear some of them say, “17, 18, 19, 100.” A few of them breezed right through it while others needed a lot of prompting.

Afterward, while the kids were at recess, I was talking with Mrs. Trout and she was telling me a little more about the students. I learned that of the 20 kids in the class, only 5 of them live with both parents (and 2 of them are B and L). Two students have a parent in jail, one is homeless, and one dear little girl has been smuggling food home from her lunch so that she’ll have something to eat at night. I almost cried when I heard that. No child should have to worry about what they’ll eat or where they’ll sleep at night. I’m talking about kindergarteners! Right here in the good ol’ USA. And this isn’t inner-city either. It’s the suburbs, where life is supposed to be sweet. So now, I’m broken hearted for these children and don’t know what to do about it.

One thing I will continue to do is volunteer in the classroom. I love having the opportunity to sit across the table from each child, look them in the eye, and say, “Are you ready to count to 100? I know you can do it!” Knowing that those words might be the only positive ones they hear all day long is a hard to imagine. . .but that’s why they matter!

So there’s my thoughts for the day. I am more and more convinced all the time that we made the right decision by sending our daughters to the public school. They are thriving in their classroom, and I am so very thankful for the opportunity to interact with their classmates.

Fall, Glorious Fall

I’m sitting in my favorite jeans and my new Urbana Hillclimbers hoodie (showing my school spirit).  I love pulling out the jeans and long sleeves this time of year.  It’s only about 60 degrees outside today so I put on a  pot of coffee and enjoyed a leisurely morning.  Now, I’m looking around and seeing numerous projects I should be working on, but, what’s the hurry?

Let me tell you a little about this week:

1.  Monday, Conrad took the girls to school.  They got all the way there and then realized they didn’t have their backpacks.

2.  Tuesday, Conrad took the girls to school.  They got all the way there and then realized Lydia wasn’t wearing any shoes.  (WHAT???)  He called me very frustrated about this and asked if I would meet him half way and bring her shoes.  I was still in my bathrobe and I knew we were in a big hurry, so I slipped on my brown dress shoes that were sitting by the door, grabbed her shoes and headed down town.  We met on Main Street right in front of his office and he was gracious enough to come to me, saving me the humiliation of walking around on Main Street in my Bambi bathrobe and brown loafers.

3.  On Wednesday, Bryn came to me and said, “Mommy, I was choking on a button so I drank some water and now it feels better.”  I said, “Bryn, when you were choking, did you cough and it came out in your hand?”  She said, “No, Mommy.  I drank some water and the button went down, down, down, into my belly.”  I said, “What were you doing with a button in your mouth?”  No reply.  I still haven’t figured out what to do about this situation.

Today is Thursday.  So far so good, but, it’s only 10:30 a.m.

Friday Morning

I just survived the morning scramble of taking the girls to school.  I’m hosting my coffee group this morning at 10:00 (an hour and a half from now) and my house could use a little attention before then.  Nothing major, just picking up a few things here and there.

We spent last evening working on a project for school.  B and L each brought home a picture of a pumpkin that we were supposed to decorate.  So, I got out the pipe cleaners, yarn, glitter, beads, silk flowers, crayons, etc. and we had a good time.  I wish I would have taken pictures of them. . . darn it, why didn’t I think of that??  They turned out really cute and the girls were very proud to take them to school today.

My husband was very sad about his beloved Philadelphia Phillies losing their second play-off game against the Colorado Rockies.  The Phillies better get their act together or we will have a sad household.

Under the pillow

Last night, when I was tucking the girls in for the night, I felt a lump under Lydia’s pillow.  I lifted the pillow and here’s what I found:

7 books, a bible, a notebook, a marker, a baby rattle, a necklace, a plastic sheep, a lollipop, and, of course, a harmonica.