My Sabbatical Starts!

I have been smiling for two days. Why, you ask? My sabbatical has started. The school year from hell has ended. My wonderful husband has sent me to Baton Rouge for three days by myself. I've been reading, relaxing, shopping, eating, and shedding the toxicity of the last 9 months.
As each hour goes by, I can physically feel the weight of my stress easing off. I feel like I can breathe, and it is good.
Mom is driving to meet me tomorrow, and we're going shopping for bedding for our new bedrooms.
Oh yeah, another reason for the smile is that David and I are buying our first house! We've already sold our house, and apparently have to be out by June 3 (we're going to stay with my mom and dad until our house is ready)....but I'll worry about that when my minivacation is over.

Brokenhearted

Baylor went to live with his dad for the rest of the school year. We've been having some serious issues with him (he's been passive-aggressively insisting that he go live at his dad's house). He's been there about two weeks, and I've talked to him a couple of times.
I was counting on him having a lot of homework like he did in school here to make him see that the grass isn't greener. Unfortunately, apparently Church Point Middle School doesn't believe in the value of homework because he hasn't had any yet. So his dad and stepmom don't get the joys of spending four and five hours a night making him do homework...
He also has two kids his age in the same house, and a plethora of kids his age in his neighborhood. I can't compete with that either. Maybe it's too early and I'm just being pessimistic, but I have a feeling I'm in for an even rougher emotional road.
I miss him, and I want him to come home.

Life Updates

I turned 37 yesterday. It's really hard for me to accept the fact that I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I don't want to get old.
Nadia was running fever yesterday, so David took off the first half of the day, and I came home to relieve him after I lined up a substitute for school. (My students are so BAD this year that I can't just leave them with any sub. There are only a few subs that can handle them.)
We called the pediatritian for an appointment, and they didn't have any openings until today at 9:45. My child is running fever and complaining of an ear ache and they can't squeeze us in? Ridiculous.
I brought her to the Lourdes after hours clinic, and we find out that she has strep. It had spread to her bloodstream. Nice, huh? She got an injection of penicillin, and within 30 minutes the rash on her body was gone.
I'm staying home with her today, and David's going to take off tomorrow. It'll be nice next year when we won't have to stress about this.
Why is that, you ask? I'm taking a sabbatical next year. I'm going back to school to get certified in library science, and hopefully I'll find a librarian position the next school year. It's already been approved, but won't be officially recognized until the July school board meeting. There has been such a reduction in my stress level since the decision has been made.
Nadia will be in K4 at Lafayette Christian Academy, and I will homeschool Baylor. Hopefully I'll be able to catch him up to grade level so that he can attend Lafayette Christian Academy the next year. I'm going to do the 6th grade Abeka curriculum. We're going to start 5th grade math next week, and hopefully have it finished by the time we start school in August.
Dawson will go to Kasie's again next year (and probably the year after), and then he'll start at LCA as well. It is the plan to have all three of them at the same school eventually!

More kid-isms...copied from our facebook updates!

David: Today at boudin cookoff, there was live music. Great weather with a nice breeze. Nadia says, "Look, Daddy. The trees are dancing!"
October 18

David: Baylor says to me this morning, "Hey, I'm wearing size 14 and they are not even falling off." I'm thinking, "Wow, I'm like 250% bigger than that." Hmmm.
October 14

Gretchen:
Nadia crawled out of her bedroom wrapped in a blanket. I fussed at her and told her to go back to bed. She stood up, and her pajamas were GONE. I asked her to go put her pajamas back on and go to bed. Her face crinkled up and she cried, "But... Momma, I was pretending to be a boy!" (This girl is ALWAYS trying to be like her daddy.)
David's Comment: Gave her g'night kiss, D: I'm going to sleep in my room.N: I want to sleep on floor next to you. D:OK, but I don't think mom's going to let you out of your room. N: I know, you go now & I'll hide under a blanket go later. D: OK, is that going to work? N: Oh yeah! She can't see me under the blanket.Part of me is laughing at cute, clever, and slightly naive 3 yr old, and part of me crying cuz if she is this crafty at 3, what do I have in store down the road???

Gretchen:
I was doing some school work with Baylor, and he was reading aloud to me about how God sent Abraham to Canaan. He looked at me and said, "Hey, isn't that where you went?" I said, "No, I've never been to Canaan." He ...replied, "Mom, aren't you and Granny and Papa from there?" The lightbulb came on...I said, "OH, you mean CANKTON!" Now that is Facebook funny!


Nadia News: It was her turn to pray tonight before supper. Here's the transcript: "Okay, Here I go....God. Thank you for our food. Thank you for our food. Thank you for our family and for Dawson. Thank you for our house, and thank you... for our breakable stuff. Ok God, Amen." When she was done, Baylor looked at me and said, "Mom, that was Facebook funny!" I agreed, so here it is.
October 13, 2009

Gretchen:
has been up since 3:30 am...Dawson started screaming. I gave up on letting him cry it out when I started hearing the other two kids waking up. When I walked in his room, he looked at me and did the sign for more (which is his way of saying he's hungry). After about an hour of eating he went back to sleep, which was just in time for my alarm to start ringing. I'm thinking today is a good day to stop for coffee...
Sept 23

Nadia News: We were watching Golden Girls today (which Nadia calls the Grandmas) and Dorothy was fussing at Sophia. Nadia listened for a little while, and then she turned to me and said, "Mom, that Daddy-Grandma is fussing at that little Grandma."
September 20

Gretchen: is outside Nadia's dance class. she comes out the room and says, "Mom, I want you to leave me like that dad left that other girl."
September 14

Home today with the little kiddos...

Today is fall break. For some reason the school board decided we needed a day off in October. Okay, I'll take it! Tomorrow is parent-teacher conferences, which means I'm going to spend the day tomorrow thanking parents for doing the great job they are doing (because only the parents of the good kids show up generally!)
I enjoyed sleeping until 7 am, and I'm enjoying watching Nadia discover the joys of play-doh. She is having a ball! I'm not sure why I never introduced her to play-doh before. She is so creative, and is making me ladybugs, rainbows, and a carseat. It's precious to watch her little imagination working overtime to come up with new ideas. She did start out with the cookie cutters, but she's branched out on her own now.
Dawson is walking all over the house now. I'd say running is a better description! He still isn't talking much, but he is walking, running, and climbing all over the place. He does say "Momma", "Da-Da", and "Nayia"...So cute!
Baylor went on his first retreat this weekend with the middle and high school kids from Trinity Bible. He had a blast, and is already talking about going to summer camp this summer. There is a mission trip to Alaska, and he wants to look into going on that as well. I can't believe he's old enough to be going on retreats already. David went on the trip as a chaperone...partly because they needed chaperones, and partly because I wasn't quite ready for him to go alone!
We are taking the pictures for this year's Christmas card this afternoon. I've been brainstorming about this for about three months now, and I think what I've come up with is a winner. I'll post pictures later, but for now I don't want to spoil the surprise.
We signed up to attend a parent information meeting at Lafayette Christian Academy in December. Nadia needs to be in school, and she needs some structure. This school comes highly recommended, and is affordable and close to work. I hope it's a good fit for us. (Ideally, we'd send Baylor there as well, and then Dawson when he's older, but we'll see how it goes.)
Baylor is still being homeschooled at Mrs. Elaine's, but I think it's time to put him back in school. We decided when we pulled him out of public school that this was only going to be for a year or two to catch him up. This is his second year there. I've signed him up with a program called www.time4learning.com, which is online lessons in English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. I'm having him work on several lessons a day. This is partly to fill in some more gaps in his educational experience, and partly to make being homeschooled a little less attractive so he doesn't fight me on going to school too much next year!
David and I are in the middle of a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Class at church. We are really enjoying it, and especially enjoying the benefits of paying off debt. We are hoping to be in a house this summer, and getting out of this neighborhood!

Birthday Birthday...and a bunch of Nadia funnies transferred from facebook!

Today was Nadia Blair's 3rd birthday, and Dawson Nicholas's 1st birthday. Yes, time flies! We had their birthday party at the Baton Rouge Zoo. The weather was dreary and misty, but temperatures were cool, and we got to see a lot of animals. Overall, we had a very successful day. I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that my little baby is not so little anymore.

Nadia News... N: Can I have some water? D: yeah, baby in a minute. Several minutes later N comes into the living room with 2 cups. N: Momma, do you want some water? Momma: sure baby. N: OK, here is a cup for you to get some water, and when you get so...me water for you, you can put some water in this other cup for me.Read More
Wed at 7:54pm

Daddy: Nadia, finish your broccoli, baby. Nadia: ROAR!!! D: What?!? N(in her dinosaur voice): I'm a dinosaur. D: you're a dinosaur? N: I'm a dinosaur... and dinosaurs don't eat broccoli.
September 7 at 3:40pm

Swimming at an indoor heated pool this morning. When heated water started coming out of the pool jets, I had Nadia come feel the warm water. Her response... "Feels like my leg is in a microwave!"
September 7 at 3:30pm

Last night, she was punished on her knees and immediately had to go potty. When she was told she couldn't get up, she waited until parents were not looking, then kneel-walked down the hall to the bathroom and kneel-walked back. She didn't get off her knees, but she managed to get her way. It was priceless!
September 7 at 4:04pm

Nadia: whine, whine, whine. Daddy: Nana!, dry it up...quiet pause. N: the cries are coming. D: you have to tell those cries to go away. you are the boss and not them. N: (full authority in voice) CRIES, YOU GET OUT OF HERE AND GO OUTSIDE OR I AM GOING TO SPANK YOU. DO YOU HEAR ME? ... long quiet pause. N: (as a matter of fact) Well, Daddy, I guess it didn't work. I still feel them coming.
August 31

End of supper: Gretchen,"OK David time for invoices." Nadia,"Momma, I have to do my invoices, too." then runs to her toddler laptop and "gets to work". Momma,"time for bed." Nadia,"BUT MOM, I am not finished my invoices yet!"
August 6

Checkers combos for supper tonight Start of supper: "Daddy, can I pray?" asks Nadia. "Sure, baby". Nadia,"Dear Jesus, we really love you. Thank you for good family, good food, paper, and these really big cups of drink. Amen"
August 6

Sundays

I love Sundays. We start off Sunday with church. Then it's home for lunch and visiting, followed by an afternoon nap. It's important to have some down time, and Sunday seems to be our day for it.

Baylor had his friend Vaughn spend the weekend this weekend. I'm glad he's been able to maintain this friendship since he no longer goes to public school. The kind of take turns spending time at each other's house. Baylor is 11 years old now. That hardly seems possible. I know it is, but when I look at how much my life has changed since he was born it kind of overwhelms me.

Nadia is a little stinker. She is so independent, and fights us on everything. It's such a challenge, but it's also such a joy. She is so strong emotionally that we are going to never have to worry about some guy taking advantage of her. She would hurt that poor dude~

Dawson is walking. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. He and Nadia have a birthday in two weeks. He has really been growing a lot in the last few months. He's starting to sing and hum, but not much talking.