Community Service

Today I took 6 of my students, one counselor (thanks Jeff) and went to my church to get some work done. Our parking lot was in bad shape. It is surrounded by a fence and other properties, and over the years trash, leaves and "crud" has piled up against the fence. We were there for four hours raking, bagging and cleaning the property. I think we removed about 30+ lawn and garden bags full of stuff! We also cleaned up all of the landscaping around the church grounds. I wish I could post pictures, but since they are juveniles, I can't. I wish I could show pictures of T, who has one of those smiles that makes you smile. He spent most of the time chasing Alison and playing ball with her. And A, who grabbed the camera and took about 10 pictures of himself. The same A who was in class last week talking about how he feels like a loser because of where he is and what he has done. There was J, a talented artist who rips up all of his pictures as soon as he is done, a talented write who says "I hate to write" who did the work of 4 kids. D, who misses his year-old son, who worked the whole time while joking with the guys. Lastly there was E & E. EA was away from his "boy from the out" for once, and it was nice to see him not putting on a show, and EG who worked hard and even seemed to forget that he is always trying to fit in, he just fit in for once. I wish I could show the great pictures I took of them when we were done, but they pictures go to the school, no where else.

There was one thing that happened that I will always remember. We went inside the church to use the bathroom, and the boys asked if there was somewhere they could pray. I opened the church door, and they silently went in to the darkened church, knelt down at the alter and prayed. As I stood at the door, and watched them, I saw them for what they really are. Not juvenile deliquents, not at-risk teenagers, but children of God. It is an image I wish everyone could see when they see them. Not rough teenagers looking mean, but children who kneel at the alter and ask for forgiveness. It is an image I will always keep with me. As we walked back out to get back to work, T turned to me and said "Now that was some good praying", and flashed that grin.

It is days like these that I know why I love my job so much, and why God led me to it.

writing or Writing

I had a professional development day last week, and although I abhor driving all the way out to Worcester and back, I do tend to come back with lots to think about. One thing that out instructor brought up was that it is difficult to teach writing if you aren't a writer. We don't have to be Writers (people who submit and sell) but writers, people who write. It really got me thinking. Do I consider myself a writer? I would like to, but I just don't write enough. Everything I have read says that to be a Writer (or writer for that matter) you have to write every day. Goodness knows I don't. Sure I write lesson plans as needs be, and e-mails along the way, but I don't just write.

So how do I start? A lot of people have suggested a journal. My problem tends to be that I am too tired when I go to bed to write in a journal. Maybe I need to start going to bed earlier and write in it. I also get bored with a journal (that says a lot for my life), so maybe I need to start looking for writing prompts for myself. I sure do have a million for my kids, I make them journal every day, but maybe it is time for me to. I have also thought about taking a course. The problem is, it needs to be an online course. I am just not ready to give up more time with Alison just yet.

I just have to start writing...

Favorite Quote

One of my friends from college has a blog, and she always has these great questions to answer. A recent one is "What is one of your favorite quotes?" I have quite a few. I have this great calendar at work, it is a daily one, and it is "Fabulous Broads." I forget who the quote is by, but I have it above my desk, it says:

"I may be a bad girl, but I am damn good company."

Another of my all time favorites is from Alice Roosevelt:
"If you don't have anything nice to say, come and sit by me."

A favorite movie quote? This one reaches back to a movie from the 80s, "Real Genius":
"I am thinking of the immortal words of Socrates who said 'I drank what?'"

And my favorite faith based quote:
"God never gives us more than we can handle, but sometimes I wish He didn't have so much faith in me"

podcasts

I have recently joined the masses in subscribing to some podcasts. I am not sure what took me so long, but I am addicted. I have 4 subscriptions, and I listen to them in the car on my way to work (after Ali is dropped off.) They are:

Merriam-Webster Word of the Day. I love this because a) I can use most of these word in a sentence, but I can't define them and b) the give the etymology of the word, and I LOVE etymology! After I listen to it I make up some sentences so I will remember it.

Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty tips for better writing. I think this is pretty self-explanatory. Love it!

NPR Story of the day. I love these, I get smarter with each one I listen to!

NPR Pop Culture: Gotta stay hip and up with the times!

For your enjoyment, a picture of me, wearing one of Ali's wigs. I love those wigs, more than her I think!

Mommy Favs

I have been thinking of the things that make my life as a Mommy easier. What are the new things that I think are cool?

1. Pediacare decongestant strips. Ali hates medicine. Hates it. She will fight me to the end about taking it, usually crying herself into a frenzy. Without it she sleeps horribly (all stuffed up and snoring). The strips are perfect. Once she is asleep, I slip them on her tongue and the melt away in a few seconds, giving her the dose with no fighting! Does slipping her meds when she is asleep make me a bad mom?

2. ToothTunes toothbrushes. These are the new toothbrushes that play music when you brush your teeth with them. It transmits the music through your jawbone, so you hear it loud and clear when you are brushing, but no one else can really hear it. It plays for 2 minutes (which is the recommended time for brushing), but only when brushing. When you stop brushing, it stops playing. Ali loves this, she is excited about brushing her teeth and I know she is getting the full 2 minutes in.

3. Baby Oatmeal. Although not new, it is a lifesaver for me. Ali has eczema and her hands have been horrible this winter because of all of the bitter cold we have had (well that and swim lessons). Oatmeal baths are great for her, but it is so expensive! It is like $5.00 for a few packs of oatmeal bath. I heard somewhere that regular baby oatmeal works just as well, so I tried it. It works better! It is a lot less expensive, and it really helps her skin. The only change I had to make to her bathing routine is to rinse her hair with clean water, the oatmeal was getting stuck in her hair!

I can't think of anymore, so I guess that makes it my top three!

Ali dressed herself this morning, and she was a sight! She put on a gold dress-up skirt with gold sequins on, and begged me to let her wear it. Why not? She added a purple tee shirt, black tights and black cowgirl boots. She topped it off with an off white knitted cardigan that is about two sizes too small. We went for a nice walk, then headed out to run errands. While in my mom's car (mine is in the shop - ugh!) she found her Cat In the Hat hat she made in preschool Friday and put that on. People stopped and watched her as we walked through Target. The nicest thing was, everyone was smiling. Don't you with you could put everyone in a good mood, just by what you are wearing. At Target she saw a pink cowgirl hat she wanted. I said no, but then she put it on, and it was so darn cute on her that I changed my mind. I also got her a orange terry-cloth hoody to replace the too-small sweater. The total look was amazing. Ahh, to be 5 again.

The Baptism

Here is Lily getting ready to go home after the party after the baptism. As you can see, she has had quite enough by now!










Here is Mia ready to go. She was a little less cranky than her sister (surprising given her nickname - Miss Mia Fussy Pants)










Here is Daddy, Mommy and the girls. Although from this picture it looks like the party was at a bar, it was not. It was actually at a very nice Italian bistro that Julie and Pete frequent. The food was amazing, and there was a lot of it!








Here are we three God Parents. Jeanne-Marie is Pete's sister and Frank is her husband and Pete's best friend. Let me just say that they tanned for weeks for the baptism.








And here is the proud cousin. These are the cups that were placed out for everyone to drink out of. She thought she was just the cat's meow with her cup (which is filled with watered-down coke).

I love how green here eyes are in the picture!

update update update

I have fallen behind on my updates! So much has happened in the last month or so! Ali has started a new preschool. Yet again I had a problem with her preschool and pulled her out. There is a preschool at our new church and they had openings, so Ali is now going there. She loves it! She is in a pre-k class with all 5-year-olds so she is being challeneged and learning daily. She comes home with homework! She loves having homework, it makes her feel like a big girl, and she is just learning so much.

Ali ended up in the hospital overnight recently. She developed a stomach bug on a Wednesday, had a fever and was throwing up. She started throwing up blood on Thursday, so our Dr told up to head to the ER. We were there forever, and it was determined that she was very dehydrated and needed to stay. She had an IV (and was such a trooper about it) where they gave her fluids, anti-nausea meds and Zantac for the bleeding (it was determined that the bleeding was from her tearing her stomach lining and throat from throwing-up so much). She was doing much better by Friday afternoon and was sent home. It was scary for a while there, late Thursday night she was pretty much unconscious, the Drs couldn't really wake her up. They sat her up and moved her around and asked her questions, they were able to get her to open her eyes for a few minutes and answer a question.

Ali had a fabulous birthday party at Pump-It-Up Party at the end of January. She had 17 kids come and just about as many parents. They had an amazing time! I highly recommend the place! Pictures to come!

This is vacation week. We started the vacation out with my nieces' baptism on Sunday. They askedme to be a God-mother which is such an honor. Jeanne-Marie (Pete's sister), Frank (Jeanne's husband and Pete's best friend) and I are the God-parents for both of them. I have the absolute pleasure of babysitting the girls today while Julie and Pete are at work. I will have lots of pictures to post soon.

I have to go make a bottle for Miss Lily.

sick sick sick

Well, Ali and I seem to be virus magnets this year. Combined I think we have gotten every illness that has been around. Right now we are both coughing, nose-blowing and sleeping phlegm factories. She has a fever, I may, and we are laying low. Thank goodness for the long weekend, an extra day to rest. I think I am keeping Ali out of day care and swim lessons tomorrow, she has to get over all of this! I think I sent her back too early last week, her immune system was down and she picked this one up. Ugh!

My baby's 5

My sweet girl turned 5 today. I can not believe how fast time flies. Here is one of her last 4 year old pictures:

As you can probably tell from her paleness, she was sick all weekend. She woke up at 3:30 am Friday throwing up, and it lasted all weekend pretty much. She was able to keep liquids down by Friday night, but the little she ate Saturday came back up Saturday night. Sunday night she ate some crackers and kept them down, so she had a half day at preschool today, her big day.

Her big day started out with a 6:30 am call from Afghanistan, Daddy didn't want to miss the chance to talk to his big 5 year old. From there it was off to preschool, where she had a party at lunch. After lunch Nindy picked her up, and when she got home, she had received flowers, balloons and a stuffed bear from Daddy! She spent the afternoon with Nindy, Bubby and Auntie. On my way home from work I picked up pizza and we had Nana join all of us for a little party. Here is Ali when we sang "Happy Birthday:
And blowing out the candles:


Like the cake? Ali wanted cupcakes, so I let her pick out the mix (the confetti vanilla one), the frosting (pink vanilla with sprinkles) and we even found heart shaped muffin tins.

Happy Birthday baby girl!

New Years Eve

It has been way too long since I have updated this! We had a wonderful Christmas, spent in New York with Julie, Pete, Lily and Mia. It was a perfect holiday, we went to Julie's church on Christmas Eve, which was Lily and Mia's fist time at church and first blessing. We spent time with all of Pete's family and enjoyed their Christmas customs. It was hard to come back home, but I knew it was time.

With 2006 coming to an end, I have been thinking about all the year has brought. Of course, most important is Lily and Mia. 2006 brought healthy babies to Julie and Pete, making me a proud aunt.

2006 was an important year for me. It seems most of my life I have just 'gone with the flow'. This year I had some decisions to make and situations to handle. This was definately the year I 'grew up'. When I was unhappy with Ali's old preschool, I had to deal with it. I had to make complaints, talk to people and decide what was best for my child. I ended up having to find a new preschool, luckily I went into this search much more prepared. At work I had to learn to balance my caring for my students with my job, which is to educate them in ELA, and then leave it all at the door when I head home.

This year I learned that I like perfume. I never wore perfume. I guess I never tried to find one I liked. Will always hated perfume (make-up too) so I never wore it. I now normally have perfume on, my new favorite being "London" by Burberry.

Speaking of that, today I looked in the mirror (I look in the mirror now before I go out) and was happy with what I have become. I was running errands, and was "dressed down" wearing fleece sweatpants and a long sleeve Patriots tee shirt, but I had my hair and make-up done. I never go out without make-up on. Not a lot, but I always have eye-liner on, and usually mascara and blush. Just a few short years ago, I NEVER wore make-up.

I now have a financial planner, a college savings plan for Alison and my credit rating is back on it's way up. I have my own apartment, car and furniture. I have a job I love and my life is mine. I guess this is really the year I found myself. I no longer go by what other people say, I make my own decisions, and don't regret them at all. I have made friends, gone out on a date (just one, but a start), and even gone out alone.

It has been a wonderful 2006, and I can't wait to see what 2007 brings.

Happy 2006 everyone, I hope yours was as wonderful as mine!

The babies are home!

Julie and the babies went home from the hospital on Tuesday. Lucky grandma Nindy is out helping them get settled in. Looks to me like they are settling in just fine!

Mia watching Lily sleep.

Two sleeping babies!

The Twins are here!

Yesterday, December 1st, a little after 11am Lily Marie and Mia Grace Sebastian were born! Lily was 6.03 lbs, 18.5 inches, Mia was 5.08 lbs, 18 inches. Mommy, Daddy and babies are all doing wonderful! Here are pictures from the day:

Mia is on the left, Lily on the right.

Mommy and the girls.

The Sebastian Family; Mommy with Mia, Daddy with Lily.

Nindy (Short for Nana Wendy) with Lily.

Uncle Frank with Lily, Aunt Jeanne-Marie with Mia (they were nervous, but you could never tell, they were wonderful with them)

Proud cousin Alison with Lily

And with Mia

Daddy holding Lily

Lily relaxing with Mommy

Simple Pleasures

Yesterday I was looking for a prompt for my classes and found a great one:

"Describe a simple pleasure you enjoy with someone"

It got me thinking of simple pleasures. I thought of last week when we ran to the grocery store after Ali's doctor appointment. When we were near produce I saw the boxes of Clementines and and exclaimed "Ali look!! Clementines!" We of course bought a box of them and proceeded to eat 3 on the way home (Ali ate 2, me 1). And of course I sang the song Clementine all of the way home. I thought of how wonderful simple pleasures really are.

Then this morning on my way to court (I had jury duty and was picked for a jury!!) I stopped at Starbucks for breakfast. I am normally not a Starbucks person, it is just so darn expensive, but the Dunkin Donuts parking lot was packed. When I looked at the menu in Starbucks, I saw my beloved Peppermint Mocha. Yes, back for the holidays is the Peppermint Mocha. Ahhh, simple pleasures once again. As I waited for my order to come up, I thought immediately of Deborah, my friend from Maine who now lives in Texas. One morning when we were both in Maine I was going over to her house, I think just for a friendly get-together, and I stopped at the Starbucks near my house. I knew Deborah was a coffee lover and wanted to bring something. They had Peppermint Mocha on the menu, it sounded wonderful, so I ordered one for each of us. When I got there, Deborah was thrilled, telling me that she LOVED Peppermint Mocha. So yes, once again, simple pleasures. I am not saying a dear friend like Deborah is a simple pleasure, absolutely not. A dear friend like Deborah is a rare gift from God; but a wonderful memory that warms your heart, that is a simple pleasure.

I have since decided that simple pleasures are the best of all pleasures. They are all around and always a wonderful boost.

Here's to simple pleasures.

Water baby

Ali has been taking swimming lessons and doing a great job. She listenes to the teacher, tries everything and gives it her best shot. We were fortunate to get Kelly, one of the best teachers in the whole world! We stared off on a bad note, she had a horrible teacher and hated going. We switched over to a different class with Kelly and she loves it. She has even gotten brave enough to try swimming without a bubble in the deep end. As a mom it is terrifying to watch, but with Kelly right there with her, I know she is fine. She takes the class with Christopher, one of her friends, which makes it easier for her. Christopher's mom is Ali's day care provider, so she is very happy with them there. Next week they start a new session, and hopefully we'll get Kelly as a teacher, and if not someone good.

Here are some pictures from swimming.
Olympics, here I come!

Ali and Christopher in the pool chatting as usual. Christopher had to have tubes put in his ears, so he has to wear a bathing cap. Ali saw his bathing cap and decided that she needed surgery on her ears too so she could wear one. I told her that I would get her one without the surgery.

pumpkin time!!

It's pumpkin carving time! I love Halloween! I think it may be something that they feed us subliminaly in the Salem School System, but I just love Halloween! Tonight Ali and I carved our pumpkins. I was thrilled to find great pumplins at an amazing bargain at Walmart. All of their large pumpkins were $4.00! We got two, one tall one and one round one (plus a bag full of gourds for Ali). The first one we carved Ali cleaned the inside of, she did a great job! She then picked out the design she wanted from the stencils that came with our carving kit and I carved. I put it out on the porch with a candle, and it looks great! Here is it:


For the next one, Ali "had no energy" so it was up to me. I tried to use a stencil, but I couldn't get it, so I did this one free-hand. I am pretty impressed with myself!


Here are the two of them on the porch all lit up!

And what is the best way to end a pumpkin carving night? Why baked pumpkin seeds of course! Ali was asleep before they were done, but I am sure she will be trying them when she wakes up! Yummy.......

Not broken!

On Monday I had yet another of my gracefull episodes. Yes, I fell. Luckily this time I did not land on my face but rather my knees. That's what I get for wearing big-girl shoes (platforms). I was on my way in to work, stepped on a broken piece of pavement, my ankle twisted and I went down on my knees. Ouch. I may have stayed there for a minute, but 1, there was a delivery truck RIGHT in front of me and I was mortified that the driver saw me go down and 2, I was afraid the curtains were open and my students saw me which I would never live down. The driver jumped out to make sure I was ok (nice guy). I went inside, but boy did it hurt! My left knee has an ugly bruise on the inside of the calf under the knee, my right side however was bad. I landed on my kneecap. I finally broke down and made an appointment to see my dr (after everyone who saw my knees said "OOOOOHHHH! Get that looked at!" I had x-rays and I am glad to say my kneecap is not broken, only bruised.

It's Fall!!

Alison and I were able to go leaf hunting today. For those of you not in New England, I am sorry. This has been a particularly beautiful season. This first picture is taken from my porch of the cemetary across the street.
Of course, Alison had to dress up to go leaf hunting. I mean, you can't be 4 and go leaf hunting in what you wore to school!
I think I took about a million pictures of this tree. The light was hitting it just right and the color was just amazing. I wish I had brough my *gasp* film camera with the telephoto lens, I could have gotten better shots. Maybe later in the week.

And just one more picture. My favorite color leaves. When I saw this I kept thinking Robert Frost's Poem "Nothing Gold can Stay." Although he is talking about spring, I think it also applies to the leaves. Gold is the hue least seen, and it is gone to orange and red so quickly.

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

- Robert Frost

New Church

Alison and I went to a new church today. Last year (school year) we were going to the church I grew up in, but I wasn't very happy there. Ali did have a great Sunday School class, but there was nothing there for me. There wasn't anyone there my age and any suggestions or ideas that I had seemed to fall on deaf ears. Then I read an article in the local paper and one of the people quoted in it was a lady who attended my church when I was little. She was in charge of the acolytes and she was also my confirmation teacher. When she was ordained she moved to a new church and I lost touch with her. This article mentioned that she is now the minister at a church a city over from me, so I decided to try that. It was wonderful! Everyone there was extremely welcoming, Alison had a ball in her new Sunday School class. I was able to talk to the minister briefly and reminisce a little. It is such a relief to have a new church!

visit to NY

Last weekend Alison and I headed out to NY for my sister's NY baby shower. We had a great visit. The shower was wonderful, she received most of what she had registered for (well, what was left) and enough money to get what she didn't receive. Ali was a huge help with opening and throwing away away paper while I sat in the back and chatted with her friends. The next day I helped Julie organize everything and pack it up. They bought the co-op last Tuesday, so hopefully they will be moving in the next few weeks.

Julie looks amazing. From behind you can't even tell she is pregnant. No stretch marks yet, and she is at 30 weeks with twins. She is going to kill me for this, but here is a picture from last weekend. We had a great time feeling the babies moving. Ali loved it. Julie was very sweet in sharing her tummy with us!

Julie had a dr. appt this past week, you can read all about it on her blog. The babies are doing great, Lily is now bigger than Mia. Julie is doing great.


School has kept me busy. I am definately holding myself to a higher level now that I am a "veteran"teacher. I know what is expected of me and I want to exceed it. I have been doing better organizing everything which really does make a difference.

Ali's dad has a blog from Afghanistan. If you are interested in what he is up to, you can go to it here: pain-in-my-butt. Yes, yes I know it is silly making that the link, but what the heck, simple things for simple minds.

I have to get off of this computer and go through the winter coats, I think Ali is going to need a new one. She has gotten so tall this year!

Time flies when I am back in school!

I started back to school the week before Labor day, it seems like yesterday, and now I realize that I have not updated this in a long time! The entries I imagines all about our vacation are not going to happen, so I decided to just include two of my absolute favorite pictures from out travels. The first is Stacey and I rocking out at Hard Rock Cafe in Boston. I had such an amazing time with them. I haven't seen them in almost three years, but it was like only a day had passed. That is the sign of true friendship!

After all of our time in Wisconsin and Illinois visiting family and friends, Ali and I had one more trip. Just the two of us. We were going to be driving near Niagra, so I asked Ali if she wanted to go. I figured I would get a resounding "NO!" I told her we would be near a famous place where there is a pretty waterfall and we could go if she wanted. She did and I am so glad we did! We spent about an hour there, but what a great hour it was! So here is Ali and I on our last day of vacation at Niagra Falls. This is my favorite picture from vacation.