Two funnies

1. When we were out running errands this afternoon (after things had calmed down from the biting incident) Isaiah said to the lady that parked next to us: "You have a cool van!" Oh. It was so funny. And actually her van looked a lot like ours, but without the scratches, dents, and dirt! We all laughed.

2. Over dinner tonight, Dan asked me how many pair of underwear I have. What????!!!!! I guess he was trying to figure things out for the Blanchard house girls. I told him that I'm really not sure. I told him that ideally, a person would have about fifteen pairs of underwear, but that I thought about ten pairs would do.

My terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

I left this morning around 7:10 a.m. for a meeting at school. This is extremely early for me to be awake and out of the house, but it was a required meeting for all full- and part-time faculty. I figured it had to be pretty important. A new high school principal? Nice bonuses for everyone? Some other huge and shocking news?

On my way to school I got stuck in exactly eight minutes of Pine Richland High School/910 detour traffic. Argh. I ended up arriving late for the meeting. Now, that wasn't too bad because I was only the third person in the room, so apparently everyone else was late too.

It turns out that the purpose of the meeting was to review the procedures for turning in quarter grades. We've been using an online grading system called renweb for about three years. Toward the end of each quarter, the office puts out an instruction sheet on how to load your grades from your online grade book into the students' report cards. The instructions are simple, step-by-step, and include pictures. The purpose of this meeting was to show us how to do the steps on the instruction sheet! So the presenter (who did a fine job) had her laptop hooked up to a projector and walked us through the steps. For new teachers who aren't familiar with renweb, maybe the meeting was beneficial. But talk about poking pins in my eyes!!! I actually did learn two things, though. One thing about recording attendance and one thing about using renweb with vista. But worth getting up that early for? Hardly.

But the worst part of the day was that ISAIAH BIT ONE OF MY PIANO STUDENTS!!! I was shocked and horrified. He bit the 10-year-old girl on her arm hard enough to leave a black and blue mark. I don't know why he did it. Clearly he was overwhelmed by having all the extra kids in the house, and walked around whining and crying the whole time they were here. It just seemed like he was having an off day, but to BITE a kid?!? This was awful. So as soon as they left I spanked him (which I had never really done before) and put him in bed and told him not to even think about getting out of bed. That was an hour ago and I haven't heard from him since. I'm assuming he's sleeping.

Thankfully this is a family that I've been teaching for seven years, and I have a great relationship with them. That is until TODAY!! Oh goodness. Can you imagine if it had been a new student? Oh the horror! Well I guess that's the end of teaching lessons at my house for a while. Clearly my kid can't be trusted. It will mean more evenings out of the house, but oh well!

So that has been my bad day so far. And it's only 12:30 p.m. Argh.

Weekend update

On Saturday the four of us, my mom, my nephew, and brother-in-law and sister-in-law went to the Pittsburgh Zoo to celebrate my nephew's 10th birthday. The fun part? It was a Halloween dress-up weekend at the zoo. My newphew was Darth Vader, Isaiah was Superman, and Sam was a cowboy. It was a cold day that was threatening to rain. We had a few raindrops when we first got there. Then when we went inside for lunch, there was a major downpour! It is such a nice relief to go to the zoo when it's cooler, because I've been there many times when it's been so hot you didn't even want to walk around. The only thing that was cuter than the kids dressed up, was the two new baby elephants! Here are some pictures from our fun day:

Sick, sick, sick

I had a very mild cold two or three weeks ago. It was nothing more than an annoyance.

This version, however, has come with a vengeance. A major sore throat, sinus pressure, stuffy head, body aches, and this really sick feeling in my stomach after I eat. Yuck! Is it the flu or a cold? Then there's always the possiblilty of allergies. I don't know. I'm just trying to stay hydrated and take it easy. Thankfully the boys have been pretty well-behaved the last few days, making my job easier.

Is it just me or does anyone else wonder about germs being more concentrated when we're cooped up indoors in the colder weather?

P.S. The other day I was out running some errands and picking up some necessities. Want to know the one item on my list that I forgot to get? Tissues. Ironic!

Where's the line

As you may remember, I posted a list of nearly 100 books I want to read. I compiled this list for my own personal intellectual development. I want to fill in the gaps in my education and stimulate my brain. In the last few weeks I've read 1984, The Great Gatsby, and Things Fall Apart. I'm currently reading The Color Purple. This book has won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and has been turned into a Broadway musical.

The Color Purple contains some disturbing elements. The first part of the book wasn't too terribly objectionable, but suddenly at about the half-way point, one of the main characters has started using the f word profusely. There have also been some unusual sexual occurrences and abuse.

Where is the line between educating myself and reading things that I really shouldn't? I'm starting to wonder if my book list is a worthwhile endeavor. I want to learn, but should I put restrictions on what I learn? I don't know the answer. I don't know if there is an answer.

Mall Mondays

For our first Dan-less Monday I decided to take the boys to the mall. I figured I might be able to squeeze in a little browsing, then let the boys play in the kiddie play area. I loaded the boys in the double stroller and started out looking at H&M, my favorite clothing store. The boys were angels. I was amazed. Too bad there weren't any good sales. Then we headed down to this toy and hobby store that has a train table for kids to play with. Isaiah played nicely for a while, and I parked the stroller there so Sam could play too. After that we looked in another store briefly and headed to the food court to eat the lunch I packed. I'm too cheap to buy lunch at the food court, and it's not that healthy anyway. The boys both ate their lunches beautifully. Then I let Isaiah ride the carousel because he was being so good. We finished our afternoon by playing at the big bird kiddie play area. Isaiah was running around having a great time with the other kids. I was helping Sam climb around on everything and go down the slide. He was playing with steering wheel that had a button that made different horn sounds. It took me a while to realize that Sam was imitating the different horn sounds! It was so cute! He just amazes me with what he's able to do.

The most remarkable thing about the outing was how good the boys were! They were both so pleasant, and that never happens! It was such a success that I might just declare the first day of the working week "Mall Mondays."

Clarification

I realized after writing my last post that some of you would be confused about why I'm still at Bakerstown Alliance. The church hired me to stay on as the music leader until they call a new pastor. Once they call a new pastor, they'll reevaluate my staying there. Just to clarify...

God is good

Yesterday after church we had a meeting to plan our Thanksgiving dinner. This is by far the best large-scale community outreach Thanksgiving dinner ever (well, I might be a little biased). Everyone from our church donates and makes home-cooked food for the dinner. And it is delicious!

The dinner coordinator started the meeting by saying that she knows this is a hard year economically and that it will be more difficult than ever for people to reach into their pockets to buy the food.

Normally we have a big sign-up sheet listing everything we need. There are always a few items that are still needed even after the meeting. We rely on people that weren't able to attend the meeting to fill in the holes. Would you believe that this year we got everything we needed more quickly than ever? If we had taken all the food that people volunteered to make, we would have had way more than we needed. And we even had someone from another church volunteer to donate some food.

All I can say is that God is good. Even in tough times, He was still able to use our church friends to reach out to the community and some who may otherwise not have a Thanksgiving dinner.

Make a bouncer take ballet, even bouncers who aren't happy

It's not every day you go to a church that has a bouncer. Last night Dan and I went to a church on the north side, and one of the first people we saw was a very large dude in a security uniform, hanging out in the lobby. His face said, "Don't mess with me or I'll bust your face, spray you with pepper spray and beat you with my nightstick all at the same time." It was a slightly surreal moment.

Also at this church, I couldn't help but notice one of the members of the praise band. He played percussion, not the drum set, but other stuff like bongos, tambourine, chimes, and the like. He also had a mic on a stand and was singing. He honestly reminded me of a child (in a good way), because he was so free and comfortable in expressing his worship to God. Plus he had all those toys to play with!

We were blessed with great teaching from the pastor. He was teaching about how Jesus dealt with people with leprosy. Something interesting about leprosy: it is a disease of numbness. A leper's fingers go numb, preventing them from feeling pain. So they can't feel injury, which leads their fingers, limbs, etc to decay. Now get this. This will leave you with something to chew on. Jesus healed them from leprosy and therefore restored their ability to feel pain. Healing meant the ability to feel pain again. The pastor encouraged us, when we have pain of any kind, not to ask God to take it away, but to ask God to help us find Him in the pain. I've been turning that over in my head ever since last night.

Anyway, Dan and I had a great church date last night. =)

P.S. You get extra credit kids if you know what my title is from. And yes, googling it is cheating.

A window into life at the Borcherts'

The other night, I sat down for about 10 minutes to check my email, etc. I had just finished cleaning the house and was waiting for the dryer to finish, so I could fold one more load of laundry before bed. Dan started tickling my feet, bothering me. The rest went like this:

Me: (laughing) Hey, can't I just be left alone?!

Dan: (hesitating, laughing, knowing he shouldn't say it...) I left you alone while you were cleaning. (Laughing)

Me: speechless, outraged, throwing every stuffed animal, pillow, anything that wouldn't inflict too much pain, within reach (I wasn't about to get up at that moment!) right at Dan - this went on for about 10 minutes. He didn't even fight back! He knew he deserved it!

What an outrage. Of course, then I made him clean up the mess I'd made and sentenced him to 30 minutes in the doghouse. =) Haha.

The iffy economy has it's pros

I've been realizing an upside to a faltering economy: less Halloween decorations! Halloween is by far my least favorite holiday. Honestly, it just creeps me out. Sometimes I find people's yard decorations just disturbing, and I'm glad I don't have to see so many of them while I'm driving around.

Domestic dispute... in our yard

But it's not what you think! For those of you who haven't been to our house, we live in a fairly woody area. We have deer and turkeys roaming through our yard daily. We get to know the turkey familys that graze in the yard, and especially love seeing the turkey chicks in the summer! There is one particular turkey couple with several chicks. This couple does NOT get along. Almost every time we see them in the yard, the smaller one, the female, is pecking at the male, chasing him around! Their feathers are always flustered, and the seem agressive toward each other. They are not setting a very good example for their babies!

Moment of decision

Forget about November 4. Today is the day of decision. By the time you get your morning coffee, you had better know who you're voting for. If you've been at a 7-11 lately, you know they're conducting an interesting poll, of sorts. When you get your coffee, you have your choice of a McCain cup or an Obama cup. Right now, their poll shows that Obama is leading in almost every state. Every cup counts in their voting results, so maybe Obama supporters really like coffee?? Either way, I thought it was intriguing.

Fun day trip #2

This morning we headed down to Washington, PA (about an hour from home) to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. The museum is run by volunteers, and we could tell they all loved working there. We rode two trolleys, one built in 1947 and one from 1923. The restoration was incredible! The one from 1923 had beautiful wooden seats, and it was like taking a step back in time. What surprised me the most was just how much those trolleys weaved back and forth on the tracks! It was quite a bumpy ride.

Since the museum is having a pumpkin patch weekend, the boys each chose a pumpkin and decorated it.

In the gift shop there was a Thomas wooden railway set up for the kids to play with, and I think Isaiah would have stayed in there the whole time if we would have let him!

We topped the day off with a trip to Brusters (the cherry place!) where Dan, Sam, and I shared a hot apple dumpling with cinnamon ice cream. Yum! And Isaiah got one of his last free baby cones, because he is still under 40" - barely. He's 38". We told him he better not grow any more.

Another fun day.

1947 trolley


1923 trolley

Go go go geo

My 1996 Geo Prizm hit 200,000 miles yesterday. It hasn't cost us much at all in the last several years, but the good ol' geo is starting to show its age. There's not one major problem. She just doesn't drive like she used to. =) But it really has been a good car!

Fun day trip #1

Today Dan and I took the boys to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. It's so nice going there on a weekday, because it isn't so crowded. Today was my third time there, and I saw things I hadn't seen before. Last time we were there, Sam was just a few weeks old and did nothing but sit in the stroller the whole time. Today he crawled all around the museum, exploring everything! How fun! We just had a nice, relaxing time.
I made an interesting observation. For the four hours we were there, I didn't see one child misbehaving. There's just so much for them to do! I wonder how often kids act out because they are bored. I know Isaiah certainly does at home, but I have a hard time coming up with things to keep him busy.
Anyway, here are some photos from the day.

Best day in a while

Any day I get to spend a lot of time with Dan is a great day. My mom always comes over on Tuesdays to help with the boys. So yesterday she watched Sam while Dan and I took Isaiah to preschool. Isaiah was so excited to have both of us walk him to his classroom! Then we went to Sheetz and got some coffee, etc for breakfast. We headed over to church and spent the next two hours packing up his books and other things from his desk. We filled up 27 boxes with books, and then we ran out of boxes. We went together to pick Isaiah up from school. Again, Isaiah was thrilled to see both of us.

After lunch with the family, I left to teach band and piano lessons. Then Dan and I went out to dinner ALONE, which was such a treat. Just to have adult conversations without kids whining and not eating their food (Isaiah!) or throwing food on the floor or smashing it in their hair(Samuel!) was so wonderful. They're cute, but sometimes you just have to get away.

It has been so nice to have Dan around this week. I know in my head that his job at the Lighthouse will mean a lot of changes for our family, but I haven't totally accepted it yet. (I'm really good at being in denial...) I think the biggest change will be the predictability factor. For the last several years we have had fairly regular weekly schedules. We're not really sure what it will be like once Dan changes jobs.

But for this week and a half, we're just appreciating the family time we have together.

Quote of the day

During a piano lesson today, my ten-year-old student sat down to play a song that had the directions "Fast and Fun" at the beginning. She said, "Well, I didn't play it fast, but I sure had fun!"

Ridiculous!

On our way to see my grandma, we drove right past Thiel College. Right on the front lawn, there was a see-saw-a-thon. I'm not sure what they were raising money for, but it certainly was unusual. What impressed me the most was the way they had attached recliners to the see-saw.

Double trouble

On Friday, I was packing to go to my aunt's house for the night (see post below), so the boys and I were all upstairs. Sam and Isaiah were playing in Sam's room, and I had shut the door so Sam couldn't get near the stairs. I was packing our clothes, going between the other bedrooms, and I could hear the boys playing nicely, laughing and giggling. So I wasn't worried about them. They were only alone in there for about 10 or 15 minutes.

When I went into the room, I was in utter shock! The ENTIRE CONTENTS of Samuel's closet were pulled into the middle of his bedroom floor! Clearly, Sam was not capable of doing all that destruction by himself, because he couldn't reach all the shelves. Isaiah would not have thought of taking stuff out of the closet, because he wouldn't have any interest in baby clothes, blankets, old maternity clothes, etc.

What I thought happened was that Sam crawled in there and started pulling cloth burp diapers, various crib sheets and blankets, etc off the lower shelves. Isaiah must have thought that looked fun and joined in, totally devastating the closet. The story I got from Isaiah later confirmed my thoughts.

This, folks, is exactly why having more than one kid is so crazy. They are more destructive together than either one of them would be on their own. Maybe 1+1=3. =)

That's not the end of the story, either. On Fridays I have a babysitter who comes over to watch the boys while I teach band. Knowing that the babysitter was coming shortly and that I didn't have time to reorganize the closet, I just had to shove everything into the closet and shut the door as best as I could. I dread opening that closet! It will be a whole morning's work just put everything back in its place!

Weekend happenings...

On Friday we went up to stay overnight at my aunt's house in Greenvile. Greenville isn't far from Sharon, where Dan did a wedding on Saturday and our whole family was invited.

It was pretty fun weekend. We got to see my grandma on Friday night and Saturday. It was a gorgeous autumn day on Saturday, so we took Grandma outside and walked all around the home she lives in. We also saw some friends from camp at the wedding. We usually only see them once a year, so it was a special treat to get together at the wedding.

The bad part of the weekend? Sam had a really tough time sleeping on Friday night. He doesn't really like sleeping in his pack-n-play, so he cried for about an hour when it was his bed time. He finally fell asleep, but woke up and cried for another 45 minutes when Dan and I went to bed around 11:00. That was so frustrating.

This morning was our last Sunday at Bakerstown Alliance Church. They had a wonderful luncheon for us, and we got to say goodbye to a lot of people.

We have no idea where we are going to go to church now. There's just nowhere around that's as good as BAC! We've talked about some places we might try. But we really just feel kind of lost. We'll figure it out in time. But it was a great last Sunday at church!

They just keep comin'

Tonight we drove by Bruster's, and Isaiah said, in a voice filled with amazement: "Is that where you get cherries? NO WAY!!!" That cracked me up. You can tell we never go there, or else he would recognize it! I said, "No silly. It's an ice cream store." =)

Ewww!

Today I drove the prizm because the heat in the minivan isn't working. On the way home from school, I was reaching back and rubbing Sam's head (normally I can't reach him when I drive the van), hoping to keep him awake. Then I was touching his nose, and saying, "Nose." Isaiah thought that was funny. Then I said, "Where's Isaiah's nose?" He promptly stuck his finger up his nose, laughed, and said, "I found my boogers!" It caught me so offguard that I laughed too. This encouraged him to repeat it about 17 more times.

Is this what he's learning at school?

Drool problems

Got a baby who drools a lot? Won't keep a bib on? Here's what you do. You put a bib on UNDER his or her shirt. The plastic-lined ones work best. The shirt won't be any drier, but at least it won't soak through to the skin! (Thanks for the idea mom...)

Ear infections and funny smiles

Sam was woke up crying last night around 10:30 and didn't go back to sleep until about 11:15. He woke up again at 4:30 and 6:30. He had been pretty fussy since Sunday. I was holding off on calling the doctor, assuming Sam was just teething. But after last night, I took him in today. It turns out he has a double ear infection. Poor thing. So we picked up an antibiotic for him.

Then Isaiah and I had to get our pictures taken at Eden today. For some reason, Isaiah fell asleep on the way to the school. When we got there, his hair was sticking straight up from sleeping in his carseat funny. Boys! I wet it down in the bathroom amid cries of "Mommy, I don't WANT wet hair!" When Isaiah sat down to get his picture taken, he was being goofy, pointing up in the air while he was smiling, wiggling and stomping his feet. Looking at the line of three-year-olds waiting to go next, I realized we couldn't take forever. I told him we would go to Sheetz and get a cookie if he smiled nicely. He promptly gave the biggest cookie smile I've ever seen! Luckily, the photographer had perfect timing. So when you see his school pictures, you'll know what he was smiling about! (By the way, I'm not normally into bribery, but sometimes I just have to do what works.)

As if that weren't good enough, we went over to Sheetz, and he decided he wanted a muffin instead of a cookie. Then I noticed a sign that said it was free sample day (baked goods only). Woohoo! I'm not sure if it's every Sheetz, or just the one in Wexford, but you might want to check it out.