Final days of Fall Break!

As I said before, I was so happy to do nothing over this break.  I really can't say I accomplished anything significant and I am okay with that.  I'll let that go.  If I had one major thing to celebrate...it would be the return of Carmen, the wonderful lady who cleans our house once a month.  When we got Teddy, we weren't sure how we were going to have her come and leave the new puppy at home, so we had to do without her for a month and I will let you know that I was doing the happy dance the morning she came back.  There is nothing better than walking into your house and your nose hairs burning from the smell of bleach.  I love that smell!!!!!

And, I will say that I made significant growth with Teddy as far as potty training him.  Do you call it potty training?  Or is it house training?  Or is it...learn to pee outside or you'll have a new address soon training?  Whatever one it is....we've made growth and I think he is doing much better.  Let's just hope he continues at this rate!

Because the weather has been fabulous, we headed to the park today to play with friends.  Camden and Kirsten met us at the park for some much needed run around time.



Kings Practice!

Last night we went an open practice at Arco Arena to kick on The Kings 2010-2011 season. With our "Fast Pass", as Matt called it, we were able to walk right in and get these great seats down front. It was a fun evening and nice to see some of the new players.

Here is the picture that was on the SacBee website this morning.

Ryan Marini of Lodi looks through the Sacramento Kings schedule in the lower seats.



BREAK!!!!!!!!!

THANK GOD WE ARE ON A BREAK!!!!  No, not the "Friends" kind of break, the school kind break.  I am exhausted.  And this blog is dedicated to Kelly...Guido that is...because she expressed her disappointment in me on my slacking in the blog department.  Guido...this is for you, now get off my back!

I have the best news to report....I am now exclusively a fifth grade teacher again!  YEAH for me!!!!  I did something on Friday that I have never done at school before...I got emotional and a little farklempt.  I never do that.  And I almost lost it yesterday in class because I had to say goodbye to my sixth graders.  Even though I am much happier being a straight fifth, both classes been warriors together this first quarter of craziness and I was heartbroken to let them go.  Our team was broken up and now they have a new coach and because I have control issues, I see myself still coaching from the sidelines from time to time.  

Dude...what's with the sports analogy???  I know, I know.  It must be because we are back to double sports.  Matthew is continuing week 117 of football and Ryan started basketball this morning.  In true Ryan fashion, boyfriend was all business and followed what the coach said like a pro. 

And now that we have this break it is time to take back my house!  This is the first school break that we have had that we are not taking a vacation and I am so grateful.  I have so much to do.  Transfer summer clothes to fall/winter clothes, potty train a dog, clean the bathrooms, potty train a dog, dust every surface that air touches, potty train a dog, organize the kitchen area so that it is a functioning kitchen again and not an office space for my husband, and most important....potty train the damn dog!!  If I am not successful with that, emotional scaring put aside, Rich is going to do away with little, lovable, peeing machine Teddy! 

He's trying.  Really.  He is. 

Marini Family Weekend

The Marini Family was in town for the weekend....not us, the other ones.  Nothing makes my boys happier than a little cousin lovin'.  On Friday night Mason stayed the night with us.  Matthew was in HEAVEN!!!!  Ryan stayed with Mikayla at Richard and Sharon's.  I don't have pictures of that...however if I did it would probably be a pic of Ryan leaning over Mikayla's face waiting for her to open her eyes because that is what I hear happened.  I told Mikayla sorry...he was just so happy and excited you were here and wanted you awake!!!

The boys took over the toy room and played until 12:30AM!!!!!  

Look who wasn't invited in and he was NOT happy about it!!!

Saturday we headed to Matthew's football game!

Ryan and Lulu trying to stay cool under the umbrella.

The another game of skins and ....skins.

Lulu getting some sun.

Here are my boys after they left.

Just Jack

He showed up in a basket with a red gingham towel. I had just gotten back from the store and my mom came around the corner with this puppy, that at nine weeks already had paws the size of small hands. I was in shock. I couldn’t believe he was actually here and he was exactly what I thought and hoped he would be like.

You see I had started this campaign the previous June. I had started cutting out pictures and putting them on the refrigerator in hopes of wooing my parents with the “ultimate family dog”. They thought I was crazy. I was. I was also determined to change their mind. I had even named him. I thought Jack sounded like a strong name for a strong dog. My relentless nagging was carried on through the holidays and I remember my parents asking me what I had wanted for Christmas and I said…”Hello? The dog of course.” And in true naïve fashion I assumed he would be there Christmas morning. Because that’s how it works, right? You ask Santa…and he brings it! I was truly shocked Christmas morning when there was no puppy barking under my tree. I thought for sure my parents had grown soft on the idea and they too wanted a dog. I was wrong.

It wasn’t until two months later in February when my mom shocked all of us and brought him home. He was perfect. He was exactly what I had thought he would be like. And we named him Jack.

We soon became aware that this dog was not just any dog. He was truly a member of our family now. He was a lap dog….even at his heaviest weight. The floor and backyard did not apply to him. He simply was not going to follow any rules or guidelines that any other dog followed. We know that to be true because he failed two obedience classes….badly. We joked that he was a disgrace to his breed because he was afraid of water and what kind of a retriever is that? When it was clear that he preferred to lounge rather than get his coat messy, we simply renamed him “Just Jack” courtesy of the character on Will & Grace. Being a little light in the toes will get you a nickname like that.

I truly believe that we have been blessed with the best dog. He would never think to harm anybody and as much as we joked about his lack of being a strong guard dog, it was simply because he loved to be around people. And frankly, at times, he thought he was one of them. He put up with three grandkids coming into his house using him as a pillow and trying to ride him like a horse. He never once growled at them or snapped at them…he was just happy they were there.

As much as my heart aches…and it hurts like hell…I know that he is better now. There is no struggle to get up anymore. There is no pain in his step and there is no hurt in his eyes. He is at peace. There are no words that can express our loss. Our family, especially my mom, has lost a true friend.

I will eventually get used to opening the door and him not being there…but I am not there yet. His love and commitment to us was showed every time we opened the front door or the garage door because no matter how tired he was or hurt he was, he ALWAYS got up to come greet us. We would say to him…your fine, we see you, just don’t get up. And he would ignore us and come greet us, tail wagging.

For my mom, I have no words. Jack has been a savior to her the last couple of years and I don’t think she can imagine life without him. His companionship is irreplaceable and for that we will forever be grateful. Yes, she’ll get another dog someday, but it will not be the same. Because he is Just Jack…and will forever be in our hearts as the greatest dog and we were lucky to have him in our life.

Fridays

Remember when Fridays used to be the best day of the week?  From the beginning of the day it's like TGIF mania.  Nothing can get you down.  You have basically started your weekend that morning and are really just killing time until work is over.  They don't call it Casual Fridays for nothing.  Casual is the word and mood of the day. 
I miss those Fridays.

My new Fridays are not casual, nor are they enjoyable.  I don't love them anymore.  Because Fridays are now a gathering of my week.  A gathering of papers and correcting for the week.  I took this picture after school today of my desk.  I started laughing when I came back in from yard duty after school and looked down at the mess.  At this point...I laugh, so I don't cry.  This is my new Fridays.  Thirty-six kids times six different subjects times two different grade levels.  Exactly what time does Happy Hour start and why am I not there more often?

Someone asked me the other day how I am doing.  I said I am doing fine.  I drink more now, but I am fine.  If I am successful this year...and by successful I mean I do not enter a twelve step program by the end of the year...I will look back and remember what a fantastic class I had this year.  I have twenty-five fantastic fifth graders and eleven fantastic sixth graders.   I'm a lucky girl.

Are you ready for some football?

Soak it up!  Take a look and get it out of your system!  Enjoy it while you can!  Because this will be the only football my boys play...the flag kind.  There will be no shoulder pads, helmets or rib protectors.  The only tackles that will be happening are the ones that occur on my living room floor.  I am not a fan of putting my son in a game where the only job of the opponent is to level my son so another kid can carry a ball for a few yards.  Not going to happen.  So enjoy...this will be the extent of their football career.

Our first game was this morning.  And after having two practices a week for the last month we thought we were prepared for our first game.  We were way wrong!  We were so wrong that practices next week will probably be WAY different than the last month.  When it was clear that the other team had a defensive coach and an offensive coach...and we had one guy, the game turned ugly fast.  The up side to this situation is that we will only get better.  And we can gage how well we are doing each week because we play the same team....each Saturday...for nine more weeks.  That's right...the same team for ten weeks straight.  So our goal is to show up with game between now and the last match.

The highlight of the game for us was that Matthew did score the only touchdown his team had.  He was playing quarterback and successfully took the ball the length of the field in a very "Vince Young--I'll Do It Myself Move." 

The touchdown run sequence.

Sleeping Boy=Easy Target

Before you call CPS on me...Yes he was in a time out and yes he fell asleep.  I promise, I SWEAR, he was only there a few minutes.  It's Thursday and so that means preschool, followed by a fun afternoon at daycare with favorite friends and that equals sleepy, cranky boy.  Hence the time out.  Anywho...Teddy (who has been in his room all day waiting for playmates) was not happy about this boy falling asleep.  So he decided to take care of things himself.

The approach.  He was just thinking about digging in but heard me come up.  I gave him the green light.

Teddy's thinking....Finally, some movement!!!

What??  Wait!!  Where are going????

Excellent!  I love ears.

I'm done!  I give up!  This kid won't wake up for nothin'!!!

Seriously...this is our new life.

Our old life...BT...Before Teddy, went something like this.  Wake up, get ready, leave just enough time to grab a bite to eat before we rushed out the door to work/school.  We'd come home in the afternoon, have a snack, do homework, play for a little while or watch some tv, take showers and off to bed.  Bam! That was our day.  Those no longer exist.

Our day now consists of waking a little earlier because if we don't we won't have time to play with you know who before work.  We rush home in the afternoon because the thought that we left him yelping and crying for us breaks our hearts.  There are no afternoon snacks.  We go straight to the floor and play until dinner.  After dinner we play more and try to get him exhausted for the night.  We love it.  He is addictive. 

Some of the things he loves....
1.  Being carried.  Which is easy to do because he is lovable and weighed in at a hefty 2.9 pounds the other day.
2.  Following everyone.  And if he loses sight of you, you'll know it immediately because a panic bark comes out.
3.  Rich.  Like crazy loves him.  I am not going to call Rich out again on the blog he "never" reads...but if you spent as much time with Teddy as Rich has....on purpose at certain times of the day/night because the thought of Teddy being upset kills you...Teddy would worship you too.
4.  His bed.  His pillow.  His blanket. 
5.  His toys.  Especially the one Shelly (aka Mrs. Schatz) brought him the other night.  He loves his rope.
6.  Standing outside the shower when the boys are in it.  He barks like crazy because he can't get to them.
7.  The other doggy in the dishwasher reflection.  He's there, I promise.
8.  Running like crazy through the house....bonking his head on things when he can't control stopping himself.
9.  Cuddling on anyone.  Likes to be in laps instead of by them.

10.  And finally....he likes to pee and poop wherever he pleases.  People keep telling me he is just a baby, and that is the only reason we let him get away with it.  Well, that and his cute face.