AIG stuff. . .

AIG stands for Academically Gifted and Talented. We got our letter yesterday and Jack did not get in. I knew he was not going to because I had already talked with the AIG teacher at his school. One of the reasons he did not get in is because he was tested on Field Day. Yes, on a day that all he could think about was getting outside to play and have fun they chose to test him on his academics. Well, he only answered 42 questions out of 70. So I knew he was not going to make it.

Jacks' teacher brought this to my attention on Field Day and she was very upset and told the AIG teacher as such. She said it was unfair for the children to be tested on this day. She used to be an AIG teacher and she told me that she NEVER tested kids on Field Day. Their little minds are just not on school work that day.

So I also called and complained. I was told that if I pushed the issue that yes, they would test him again but if he did not pass then they would not look at him again EVER. I ask you how fair is that?

I have prayed a lot about this and I did not want to even talk to Jack about it because I knew how devastated he would be. He was so excited about getting to test and he really had his hopes up for this program. Last night Mark and I sat down and talked with him about it. He was upset and I told him that he would be on the "watch and wait" list. I am not sure exactly what this means except that they will test him again at the end of the fourth grade.

What really upsets me is the fact that I really wanted him to be able to participate in this program and when the teacher that is in charge of the program called to talk with me about my complaint this is what she said, "Being in AIG really doesn't mean anything, once they get to Middle School they don't even have AIG." So this is the "teacher" telling me the program she is over does not mean anything. So I asked her if she was just trying to make me feel better or what. She could not answer my question. This is not sour grapes, this is really what she said to me. How strange is it that the teacher in charge of the program says it does not mean anything. Should she not be more positive about the program?

I told Jack that his friends will probably be in the program and that he should be happy for them and congratulate them on a good job. I just hope he does not get ragged about not getting in. He did make straight A's for the entire year. I think that is a great accomplishment.

I don't know how much confidence I have in the AIG program after my odd conversation with the teacher.

The Garden. . .

The garden is doing quite well. All of the rain we have had in the past month or so has really done some good. I have picked about 4 zucchini every day this week. I have been eating them raw with ranch dressing since Marks' tummy still is not up to eating things like that.

Last night he came home from work and said he wanted some zucchini pasta. So I began looking for some recipes for this. I love the www.allrecipes.com site. You can type in the ingredients you have and they will search and find you a recipe. It is pretty cool, especially if you are looking for something different. Another site I love for recipes is www.foodnetwork.com they have some great recipes too.

I found a recipe I like and had most of the ingredients. You know me I always improvise. Sometimes that is good sometimes not so good. This one was a winner. Here is what I did:

olive oil
4 (fresh) zucchini
2 cloves garlic
3 (fresh) green onions
1 (fresh) Anaheim pepper
1 can diced tomatoes with basil and oregano
3 leaves (Fresh) basil
3 stems (fresh) lemon thyme

So in a skillet I sauted my garlic, onion, and pepper in the olive oil. I added a little white wine then added my sliced zucchini. I let that cook till the zucchini were soft then I added the can of tomatoes. After that had time to cook and blend together I added my (Fresh) herbs and some more wine.

I cooked a pot of angel hair whole wheat pasta and served the zucchini over it with some Parmesan cheese grated too.

Mark loved it, the kids not so much but they did eat a little of it.

I got the basic recipe of tomatoes with zucchini in the skillet but I added all the garlic and peppers and the wine and the fresh herbs. Now anywhere I said fresh that means it came out of my garden. Yummmy!! Not only was this a healthy meal but it was also cheap since most of it came out of my garden. Another bonus to gardening.

Until we eat again.

Day two of Summer Vacation. . .

Is it August yet? Just kidding. The boys did sleep in today they got up at 8:30 instead of 7. Yeah!!! I was up anyway though so I really did not get to sleep in. They seem tired this morning. It could be the baseball games they have played this week, or maybe the fact that the baseball games did not get over till late. Or, it could be that I let them stay up past 9pm. I think it is the last one. They do not ever stay up that late during the school year.



So what is everyone doing to pass the summer this year? I would love to hear what you have planed for your kids. Mine are going to be doing some educational stuff and some fun stuff too. Is anyone going some where educational for vacation? To comment just click on comments it will take you to a spot where you can post your comments. I love to hear what you are thinking.

I have enrolled Jack and Thomas in a Red Cross first aid class at our local Red Cross. Jacks' will be a little more advanced than the one Thomas is doing. It is 51/2 hours and they take a bag lunch. The Red Cross has a lot of different classes to offer for the kids and for adults. I am doing my CPR re-certification. They are also offering a pet first aid class for kids. I think that is pretty cool. The boys are also doing basketball camp at the High School and Jack will do football camp too. Jack is also talking about wanting to take an art class this summer too.

Let me know what you're thinking.

Public Service Blog. . .

Ok, Mark just got back from California on Thursday and has had stomach issues since Wednesday. He got violently ill on Sunday and the on-call nurse called us every two hours just to see if he was ok. Mark is mildly diabetic and so his blood glucose was going crazy along with his bowels. So he went to the doctor yesterday and they gave him an antibiotic for his stomach bug. He did ok throughout the day but early this morning it started all over again. He went to the bathroom 10 + times from 4 am until 8 am. I told him he was either going to the doctor again or I was taking him to the ER.

I called the doctor and they said they would work him in. They had done blood work yesterday and they had that back. According to his blood work along with his symptoms he has E-coli. This is some nasty stuff. You get it from poorly cooked food and food cooked in unsanitary conditions. Now when he goes to these meetings they stay in the best hotels and are supposed to be served the best food ect. . . Since this all started while he was in California it is quite obvious that is where it came from. So folks be careful traveling and eating out. Also be careful what you drink. You do not know where their water comes from or how it is treated.

Mark was also dehydrated and had to have two bags of fluid along with another IV antibiotic to kill this bug. He is sleeping it off now. I hope we make it through tonight better than we have the past two nights. He has really taken a beating the past few days. He had lost 3lbs since yesterday. He says he does not recommend this as a diet.

Allergies. . .

This is a hives update. Thomas is doing well, he only has welts every now and then. I went to find me a new vacuum cleaner the other day and I was not impressed with what I found. I went to Lowes and they had a lot of the wind tunnel type vacuums. I do not like those I had one once and it did not do the job I needed plus it was messy. I was looking for a vacuum with a bag. This way once I vacuum I do not spread the yuck around my house trying to empty it. I did that when I used the wind tunnel type. I looked at some canister vacuums and I like them, they were light weight and seemed easy to move around. They also felt really cheaply made if you know what I mean.

I was talking with a friend about my dilemma and she mentioned she had an Oreck. My Mom has an Oreck and I have used hers before and I liked it. It was really light weight but seemed well constructed. My friend said she really liked her Oreck and her family had allergies too. I decided I would take a trip to the Oreck shop. The lady that waited on me was great. She really knew her stuff. She showed me several different types of Oreck vacuums. I liked them all. She asked what had brought me in and I told her about my kids having allergies. She then showed me the Oreck air purifiers. They have one that is a tower for large spaces and a desk or table top model for bedrooms. They had a sale, of course, buy the tower and get the desk top for FREE. So I bit. Instead of getting a vacuum I got two air purifiers.

I did all this without talking with Mark. He was out of town all last week and I made this purchase on my own. I told him I had bought them and how they worked. He was intrigued. He got home late on Thursday evening and he said the house smelled really clean. He could smell the difference the air purifiers were making. I have also noticed that Jack is not sneezing as much in the mornings and he does not blow his nose for 20 minutes right after he gets up.

So for those that have allergies check out the Oreck shop in your area. They have the online thing but it means more to see it in action. I am going to get one of the vacuums but I have to wait till I get the purifiers paid for. Don't forget Dave Ramsey.

Good Sportsmanship?

How do we teach our children good sportsmanship when you have other children out there acting ugly. Thomas and Jack have both had some sports disappointments in the past few days and some of the kids have really been down right ugly. Thomas played yesterday and they only lost by one run. That was great! Their team is young and some of our kids have never even played ball before. We had our end of the season party after the game and our Coach said that one of the other kids went by him in the line and said, "We beat you, We beat you!!" Thomas is just starting to realize there are winners and losers in sports and he does not like to loose. I am trying to teach him that you can be a good winner as well as a good looser. This is very hard to teach a six year old. I told him the kid on the other team was being a poor winner. I also told him that he had to be a good looser. Of course that went in one ear and out the other he had cake and forgot about it.

Jack on the other hand is older and hates to loose. All kids do I know. Jack just seems to take it personally. I think he gets that from his Daddy. Yeah, that's a Daddy trait for sure. Well, he did not make All - Stars this year and he is quite devastated by this. He loves to play ball. He had a really good season this year but his bat was just not there. Last year his batting average was 821, and this year being in player pitch for the first time, his batting average did not get near that. He was walked and hit more times than he hit. Other than that he has had a solid year. He played third base which he has never played before and made some amazing plays there.

There were three kids off of his team that made the All-Stars and they proceeded to rub his face in the fact that he did not make it. Now, how ugly and un-sportsman like is that? They are on the same team and they are ragging him and talking ugly to him because he did not make the All-Stars. I know their parents and I cannot believe they would be so mean. One of the kids is his coaches son. I don't think the coaches heard all this but I am not so sure that they would have done anything about it had they heard it.

I told him that he had to rise above it and that he would face people for the rest of his life that were poor winners. They could not be happy just making the All-Star team they had to be ugly and rag my child because he didn't make the team. I told Jack that this was a character building event. God has his plan for us and it does not always go along with our wants.

I just hate it when kids act ugly to one another. Not to say Jack has not done that, but I don't think he has. I know I do not approve and if I knew I would correct him on it. I guess what really bugs me is that they are supposed to be his teammates. Not Cool at all.

Field Day. . .

We had Field Day yesterday and the day before. Thomas had his on Monday and Jack had his yesterday. The little kids they let have it in the early morning so it is not so hot. The older kids however, have to do it in the later morning. It was so hot out there yesterday. The kids had fun though. They got to run, splash water on each other, and just be rowdy. I guess they were burning that steam from all the end of year testing.

I went to watch both Jack and Thomas and I took a lot of pictures. Mark and I were talking the other day and poor Thomas has second child syndrome. No, that is not a health concern. It is when you take all the movies or pictures of the first child and then the second child does not get nearly as much. I had a video camera when Jack was little. We video taped Christmas, Birthdays, t-ball games. You name it and we had the video camera. Poor Thomas, I don't think I have him on tape for anything. That is "second child syndrome."

I think we are going to try and find a good digital video camera. Things have changed so much since Jack was little. I am going to be doing a lot of research on the subject before we buy. If anyone has any advice I would love to hear it.