itchy, scratchy hives!

Hello to all. First, I just want to brag on my husband for a minute. We found out last Wednesday that he made rank so he is now a Staff Sergeant. YEA HONEY! Kaylin and I are very proud of him!

Secondly, my work has been interesting. The fourth and fifth graders are great in every sense of the word. The other teachers and I were so impressed by them this first week of school. Hopefully their strive to get all their home work and in class work finished will continue throughout the year. Last but not least I have HIVES! I believe it all started on Wednesday when I was stressing to what I thought was not much at all. I have taken on a full time position at the school this year and with full time comes a lot more responsibilities. It is not that I don't think I can handle more responsibilities, it must have been when I was fretting about falling behind on paper work. Anyway at about 11 am on Wednesday I started feeling a little itchy. I just continued on with my daily routine and didn't go check out why I was itchy. By the time I got home from work (3:30 pm) I was a red, welted, and hived up mess. Then, Thursday wasn't so bad and I thought maybe it was just a one time thing. WRONG!! That night I was up pretty close to the entirety of the night itching, scratching, bathing in aveeno oatmeal bath treatment, and being very irritated. Of course the irritation caused me to not be able to go back to sleep plus made my hives worse than before. I decided last night that if I was not better by morning I would call the doctor. So. . . that is exactly what I ended up doing. Doc says, "I know your hives are uncomfortable but try not to scratch them." HA! What a joke! My reply to him was, "Have you ever had a problem with hives?" I am so bad when it comes to not scratching something that itches. Anyway, I asked the doc to prescribe me some steroids (Predinisone) and thankfully he did just that . Awwwwe. . . . what a relief. Between taking a cool bath with my aveeno or baking soda (Grandma B recommended that, thanks Gramms worked like a charm) and taking meds I am hoping I have this thing under control. Stress: absolutely, positively, without a doubt need to learn how to deal with stressfull situations better.

Stop Running Please!

Well new school year has begun, lots of new faces to see and get to know, and new sets of rules to follow. New, new, and more newness but if there is one thing that hasn't changed about students is that they always think it's necessary to run full blast down the hallway to get to their next class. How many times can one person try to instill in these students that running inside the building can cause very bad end results. I have been run into, pushed, my poor feet stepped on, and last but not least given dirty looks from the so called "upper classmen." What age are these upper classmen you ask? Try 12 - 14 yr. olds. Whew! Is that a crazy age for kids or what. Hormones and attitudes jumping everywhere! Why am I getting dirty looks? From what I have been told in only the first two days of school, I am A LOT stricter than the lunch/recess monitor from last year. Oh yes, I am not only an Educational Aide for 4th and 5th grade but a MM (mean monitor) for all grades 4 - 8. Lovely label to have put on you, but someone has to be the bad person and I have been told that I do it well. For some reason last year our 7th and 8th graders were aloud to move around and do anything they wanted during their lunch room time. Well, this year that is no longer an option and lets just say they (mostly girls) are having a bit of a problem with that. Oh, and lets not forget the groups of girls that want to be released to use the restroom together. Aaaaa. . . WRONG ANSWER! One at a time please. Our new principal is very impressed at how we (2 lunch/recess monitors, Lisa and myself) are handling these little tyrant ladies. On another note our little 4th and 5th grade students and teachers have been nothing but wonderful and we are going to have a great year. Hopefully I will have some really cute stories to share with all of you very soon.

Memory Game

Got this from my cousin's blog. Thought it would be fun as well. Memories are the best!
God Bless and I pray everyone has a great weekend.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together (or my husband). It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

My Swans!!

OKAY, I know you are going to say, "why in the world would you take a picture of a swan"? I will answer by saying that they were just so pretty and relaxed in the water. The three of them were just swimming around our boat and looking up at us. Soooo that's why!! I love swans. Especially since the sun was shinning on the water that made it even better. I have a few more pictures of them and the one has his leg sticking straight up in the air. But it is kind of blurry so I didn't put that one up here.

Well I hope that everyone is doing well and is in good spirits. I had a very fun trip in Delaware. Although I was very happy to come home cause the states is so much different then over here. When we first moved here I was like oh its not to bad over here it is pretty much just like the states. Well it's NOT!!! I was so ready to come home like the third day I was there. But other then that I had a lot of fun. I can tell you guys one things I sure do miss playing softball in the states. That was probably the hardest thing to get over. I was there thinking man I could be here playing in the states with more compitition. GOT TO LOVE THAT!! But it has been a very good experience over here so far.

Anyway, I just got done with my lunch so I better get back to school. Hope to hear from all of you shortly.

Love
Kaylin

Delaware and Softball

Hey everyone, sorry it took me so long to blog about Kaylin's trip to Delaware to play softball. The girls from what we heard through the grapevine did fairly well considering that 95% of them have never played softball in the states. That is a big deal if you are not prepared for what competitive softball consists of. Here in Germany they have great opportunities for the kids to get involved with playing softball on high school, travel, and dad's club teams but it is just not the same as ASA, NSA, or Little League teams in the states. Our girls only had to win 3 games or play 3 games to get to the Little League World Series, whereas the teams they played against in Delaware played at the least 10 games and on up to 20 games at the most to get to Delaware. Below are the scores and teams we played us being EMEA. (Europe, Middle East, Africa) You can log onto www.distric3.org and see pics if you so desire. Kaylin's team is Royal blue and she was # 15. Click on any icon that says EMEA vs. ?

Games and scores:
#1 EMEA vs. Asia Pacific (Bacalod City, Phillipines) 1-3 Lost
#2 EMEA vs. Central (South Bend, Indiana) 1-16 Lost
#3 EMEA vs. Southwest (Albuqueque, New Mexico) 10-3 Won
#4 EMEA vs. South (Virginia Beach, Virginia) 7-8 Lost
#5 EMEA vs. Canada (Windsor, Ontario) 12-2 Won

Growing Up

Well. . . . I will share no pictures today. I only have "reality" to blog about. The Momma bird has lifted her wing and baby bird has left the nest. Sigh. . . . Hmmmm what will Momma bird do now? I have officially decided that Kaylin can just take online courses or go to a community college when that time comes. Why leave? Really? I see no point in pushing her to go away for college, not if she doesn't want to. I am fully confident that the child is plenty prepared for life without her parents, when God calls us home. She cooks, cleans, does laundry, knows how to pay bills, will make a great wife and mother(a long time from now), and a very smart shopper. What else is there to learn? Oh, responsibility or being independent she has that mastered. I know, I know I'm not being realistic. Children must leave their parents eventually, all I am saying is there is no need for it to be as soon as she graduates from high school. Right?

I know the kiddo will have a great time in Delaware and will probably play softball better without the company of her parents critiquing her every play. That my friends is the "reality" of it all, me admitting that I know our daughter has reached the age of independence and responsibility of being out on her own. Sigh. . . . and Ugh!