I really am at my wit's end!

The last week has been proof that things are not going to get any better with Princess Bears (PB) school.  This is the second week in a row that the teacher has not been going over spelling words with PB.  Previously the teacher would go over the words daily and PB would almost always get 100% on her spelling test.  Sometimes a 90%.  My point is that she always does well as long as there is practice happening in school.  I also make her practice writing the words at home.  Last week I gave PB a practice spelling test on Thursday night.  She only got 4 of the 10 correct.  After a lot of writing and rewriting and rewriting some more she seemed to have a grasp on the words.  She took the test and she got a 90%.  Much better than I was anticipating.  I was very aggravated because it seemed liked the teacher is spending less time working on spelling with PB since the poop hit the fan in the IEP meeting.  Yesterday PB had her piano lessen and then we went out to dinner with my parents.  I was nice to have downtime with no fighting involved.  This morning I asked PB was ready for her spelling test.  She said no but she had a math worksheet to get down first.  I want to think that I'm reading too much into this but it's odd that the last 2 weeks PB is getting even less time being taught than she was before the IEP.

This morning I went in to talk to the teacher about the fact that it seems when PB needs her help in the classroom she isn't available.  Last week the teacher told the kids they could talk quietly.  PB was trying to finish some work and her bff Shay kept on trying to talk to her because the teacher said it was ok.  PB kept on asking Shay to leave her alone because she was trying to finish her work so she wouldn't have homework.  Shay kept on bothering PB so PB picked up her packet of papers and winged it at Shay.  No ok. Unfortunately I had a really hard time disciplining PB since I know how annoying Shay can be.  Her mom blames it on her special needs but I'm not sure it's the only thing to be blamed.  So I asked the teacher what it is that PB is supposed to do if something like this happens again.  She gave PB permission to get up  out of her seat to get the teacher or aide.  She also mentioned that usually Shay is behind a barrier because Shay does get into every one's business and tends to annoy the other kids.  Kind of a sad situation.  Then comes the kicker  at first the teacher said she knew nothing about the situation of PB throwing the packet at Shay.  Well she discussed the situation with the kids so why is she going to lie about it?  Then she said that she has separated PB and Shay and things were taken care of.  I really don't take kindly to being lied to.  It just makes me wonder what else she's willing to lie about.  I feel sorry for the teacher but that still enough to make lying ok.

There is also the fact that she went back to showing the kids movies again.  It hasn't even been 2 weeks since the IEP and she's back to not teaching and showing movies to keep the kids busy.  I didn't discuss it with her today.  I'll give her one more chance and then I'll call another IEP meeting.  She did try telling me again how PB is learning and progressing.  I again asked her how much more PB would learn if she was getting the appropriate amount of time and attention.  I'm also considering observing a few days in the classroom just to see what exactly is going on in the classroom. 

All about......me

Ok you've all seen them wondering around the blogosphere.  Those random surveys that are supposed to help your readers get to know you better.  I'm really not sure if I think that is the best way of going about it but what do I know?  Anyway here's my attempt at it!

50 little things

1.How many pets do you own?  2   a dog & a cat  which is about 1 cat short & 2 dogs short of what I’d like.

2. What’s your least favorite season?  Winter After Christmas and the end of football season you’re just left cold with nothing to do.

3. Do you prefer to text or call?  Call

4. Morning or night? Night.  There is nothing and I do mean NOTHING redeeming about mornings!

5. Do you like tacos? yep Who doesn't???

6. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? extrovert

7. What’s your favorite desert? Cherry cobbler

8. Do you enjoy walks? sometimes

9. Are you a frequent user of Facebook? yes

10. Do you watch animated shows still? no unless you count watching Disney Channel with Princess Bear

11. Can you roll your tongue?no.  My nephews both can and its kinda freaky if you ask me!

12. What’s your “lucky” number? 14

13. Are you scared of anything? I hate thunderstorms

14. Big mac or big whopper?  neither

15. Do you like to play board games? Yes. Love them!

16. Are you fond of romantic novels? Yes.

17. Fruitloops or cocopops? Neither

18. Would you eat a live spider for one million dollars? Little spider sure.  Something big probably not

19. Are you a heavy drinker? Nope.  Now if I had been answering this 15 years ago or so it would have been a totally different story.  Actually I have no tolerance now and the idea of a hangover is enough to keep things at a glass of wine. 

20. Would you forgive someone for cheating? Not at this point in my life.

21. Are you superstitious? Very. 

22. Have you seen A Clockwork Orange? No.

23. Do you like to read? Love it.  Do it almost obsessively.

24. Are you easily distressed? Yep

25. Do you believe in aliens? Sure why not.

26. If you were the last person alive besides one other person you get to chose, who would it be? Well since you couldn’t safely repopulate with only one other person I guess I’d want to hang with my daughter

27. Dogs or cats? both

28. Are you a grumpy person? sometimes.  Seriously who isn't sometimes?  Am I often?  No

29. What’s something you hate? Not being able to count on or trust someone that you thought you could

30. Are you a worry wart? Oh yeah.  Big time.

31. Do you like having your picture taken? Nope not really.

32. Do you like cotton candy? Of course.  Who doesn’t like cotton candy?

33. Would you ever use a dating site? Probably not.

34. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes.

35. Rap or pop? Both

36. What’s the weirdest flavor of ice cream you’ve tried? I don’t get adventurous.  Pralines N Cream or Mint chip please!

37. Do you like math? No and it doesn’t like me!

38. Are you the type of person to laugh at others misfortune? No. 

39. Love or lust? Love

40. Do you remember lyrics easily? Yes

41. What was/is your favorite school subject?  Brit Lit

42: Do you like tattoos? Yes

43. Are you the type of person to lie? No

44. Do you eat porridge for breakfast? No.  I don't like breakfast in general but if I must do a hot cereal then pass the oatmeal please.  It better have dried cherries & brown sugar too!

45. What music are you listening to right now? country

46. Are you allergic to anything? If its green & grows I’m allergic to it, a few meds & latex

47. Do you like Lady Gaga? In small doses

48. What about Nicki Minaj? Again in small doses

49. Do you like rainy days? Nope unless I need a good reason to curl up with a good book and a mug of tea. 

50. Last question, do you like pie? Yep! Pecan and cherry...yum!

Galvanized Container gardening & random thoughts

Well, while I give the sun credit for still shining (and my overall mood really appreciates it) once again the Midwest is experiencing bitterly cold temps.  This artic vortex stuff needs to stop!!!  I don't want to even wander outside to fill the bird feeders (not to worry.  I'm sucking it up and feeding the birds).  I guess a few days of temps in the 40's completely spoiled me!  On the upside of things today was a sleep in day.  The car had to go back to the shop so I dropped it off last night.  They needed the car all day to work on it and Princess Bear (PB) was scheduled for a 1/2 day at school and no after school activities.  It seemed like a nice day to let her play hookey.  Then she came home from school and told me that they watched Brother Bear in class.  The dumb a$$ teacher couldn't even make it 2 weeks without reverting to her old habits of not teaching the kids.  Yep, if you can't tell I'm a bit pissed.  So to get my mind off of things I went to an old standby.  Pinterest.  It's a playground.  A very very very addictive online playground! 

Wait!  Backtrack a little bit.  I first looked to see if I could find an online tutorial that was first published in Mary Jane's Farm Magazine a few years ago.  It was the first time I'd seen someone use a water trough as a self watering garden bed.  AWESOME!!!!!  Unfortunately I could not find that tut but I found a blogger that based their trough garden on it.  You can read about their experiences HERE AND HERE (an update).
Another gardening used some galvanized containers to do a garden sculpture.  You can see that one HERE.  I really do want to try the galvanized troughs for some blueberry bushes and raspberry canes.  Gotta check into that one.  I'm also all about self watering containers.  As much as I'm not liking the artic temps we're dealing with right now I'm not a fan of the 100* temps that we'll have in July and August.  I'm more of a temperate kinda gal.  Keep things in the 70's and 80's in the summer & I'd be happy!  I hate going outside and feeling like I've run smack dab into a wall of heat and humidity!    Below are a  few more galvanized container ideas to get your creative juices flowing.  Enjoy!

 

 

More gardening musing

Since a few people liked the strawberry pyramid that I shared the other day I thought I'd share this one from Gurney's as well.  This one is definitely more economical but the reviews are mixed.  The price point is so much lower though that it might be worth trying for a year and seeing how it works.  What do you think about this cutie?

 

You can find it at the Gurney's website HERE 



Again the sun is shining so I was digging through my pinterest boards looking for some gardening and upcycle gardening ideas. Here are a few of my favorites. What to you think? Most of them are pretty self explanatory but you can always hit Pinterest or Google to find
directions.

 

Now this looks like a new dresser but who hasn't seen a dresser that someone has left out for the garbage man? I found one last year and swiped all the drawers. I made message centers from the drawers. Big fun and oh so cute!!! This is just another way of upcycling a dresser!

Another way of growing strawberries. PVC pipe vertical planters! CUTE!

 

I love this turning a chair into a planter. Totally adorable isn't it???!!!!??? Again who doesn't have an extra chair in their basement or attic? It looks fairly simple and the end results would be awesome! 

 How about adding a beneficial bug house to your yard? It would help with pollination and keeping the bad bugs at bay! Seems like a win win situation!!!

  

I'm so so so SOOOOOOOOOOOOO in love with this cheery cherry garden shed!!!  

Another thing that I LOVE in gardening are galvanized containers. They look awesome and are sturdy as all get out. I'll probably do another post on entire gardens that are made from galvanized containers but I thought I'd share a couple of little gems here. What do you think of this cluster of small galvanized containers?

  

and how incredibly awesome is this galvanized planter with floating candles? I'm picturing a late spring garden dinner party? How about you?

So ready to dig in some dirt and play!

Ok I know a few posts back I said that I would try not to hurry time.  30 lashes with a wet noodle!  The the sun has been shining and I want to get in the garden.  Ok, I'd settle for starting seeds but my family swears that never again will there be seed starting in this house.  I think they have a very bad attitude!   I was at the mechanics again today and had to kill a couple of hours.  The fuel tank is fixed but the gauge is dead than a doornail.  So I sat there with a copy of Hobby Farm Home, Country Sampler and another gardening magazine that I'm just blanking on the title.  I finished the Hobby Farm Home while I was there.  It had a great article on making your own seed blocks.  I so could do that.  I'm really thinking I need to get a bit diabolical here and take over the workroom in the basement.  It's just basically storage and has a few banks of lights that would be great for seed starts.  I'm one of those people that more often than not works under the theory of its easier to ask forgiveness than permission.  I'm pretty sure I could pack up what is on the work tables down there and set up a dandy little seed starting set up complete with lights and timers before anyone was on to me.  Can you imagine.  I'd be able to grow my own tomato starts!  I plant between 3 & 4 dozen tomatoes every year.  That gets expensive!  I could also start some squash, zucchini & pumpkins.  Then there are all the options for flowers.  Go me!!!!  I could save a ton of money!  Again- go me!!!  What about the herbs!  I've never had a lot of luck with herbs from seeds but hey I can try it again!

While I was down there I also showed Frank (guy who owns the garage) this sweet little strawberry pyramid.  Frank is one of those people who knows everyone in town and if you need someone or something and don't know where to find it Frank is the guy!

So I showed him this beauty:  

and asked him who could make it. He knew right away and printed out the directions and picture (you can find it HERE.  I know it can't be cheap since it will have to be built with cedar.  That said how cheap are organic strawberries?  So I figure I can have this built and get some strawberry plants that will produce for a couple of years and it might actually be a cost saver in the long run!  Princess Bear (PB) could happily eat her body weight in strawberries without me thinking about going bankrupt.  There would probably even be enough to slice & dehydrate.  I'm so on board with this.  Now I just need to get some organic blueberry plants, raspberry bushes and a few apple trees that actually produce & I'll be in good shape!  

What's a Name anyway?

I call everyone 'Darling' because I can't remember their names. ~Zsa Zsa Garbor

Last night I was watching Duck Dynasty while prepping some work for Princess Bear (PB) to study.  Sadie was in this episode and I found myself thinking "I love that name!".  Which then brought me to the fact that it is a variation of Sarah and the fact that I'm not a fan of my name.  Basically because you walk into any crowded room and scream "Sarah!" you'll have a least a few of us turning our heads wondering which one you're addressing.   WAY WAY WAY too common!  

Then my sister & I were talking this morning and she asked me if I got her message that their puppy was born on Friday.  The odd thing was on Friday before we knew the puppy had been born we were discussing names.  She and my brother in law were trying to find an English name they all liked as a memorial to the time they lived in England.  At that time she was considering Gemma.  My sister stopped watching Sons of Anarchy last season.  I filled her in on what Gemma had done to Tara.  Suddenly the name Gemma lost it's appeal.  They were also trying to find a name that my nephews would agree on.  Yeah, lets leave the name picking to a 3 year old and a 6 year old and think they'll agree!  My youngest nephew was insistent on the puppy being named Minion.  Then he tried for Dave because it's his favorite minion.  Doesn't matter that the dog is a female.  I did say that they could go with Minion and call it Minnie.  It's didn't pass muster with my sister.  Sorry Lukie Aunt Sarah tried!  So the dog is going to be named Dailey.  

Then my sister & I started discussing how we named our kids and the names in our family.  Everyone in our family is relatively outspoken.  Actually my sister took note of how much grief I received when I was pregnant with PB and trying to pick a name that she wouldn't even discuss what names they were considering until the baby was born.  Definitely a good idea in this family!  There are also some unspoken rules for naming kids in our family.  My mom is Jewish and Jews have a tendency to name babies after someone that has passed away.  If you don't want to use their name then you take the first initial as a memorial and pick a name with that initial.  You do not name the baby after someone that is still alive.  It is considered very unlucky.  

So let's look at my name.  Sarah Rose.  My mom's mother's name was Sarah.  She hated it so much because it was so overly used when she was growing up that she legally changed it.  Sounds like a good plan to me.  What she changed it to I don't quite get but hey it made her happy.  Grandma changed her name to Shirlee.  My mom always said that her mother picked a hooker name.  I'm sure my grandmother loved hearing that.  My mother then took a name that my grandmother hated so much that she didn't just go with a nickname but legally changed it and saddled me with it.  Thanks Mom!  It could have been worse though.  My mom's middle name is Lee and there of course the Lee in the end of Shirlee the way my grandmother spelled it.  The Lee is from a cousin that was killed during the Holocaust.  My mom came oh so close to naming me Sarah Lee.  Seriously!  Then a few months before I was born my Mom's grandmother passed away.  Her name was Rose.  So now my name was changed to Sarah Rose as a memorial to my great grandmother.  Oh so much better than Sarah Lee, don't you think?  When I was born my dad had a itty bitty corsage made with a baby tea rose made and pinned to my little hospital onesie.  The corsage is still in my baby book.  Roses have always been a big thing because it being my name.  My nursery was done in yellow roses.  Every big accomplishment in my life has been celebrated with roses.  We have tons of roses planted around our house.  

My sister's name was picked just because of the fact that it sounds lovely.  Her name is Kathryn Paige.  Now if you call her anything other than Kate she will not respond in any way, shape or form.  My mom wanted her to be a Kate but put Kathryn on the birth certificate for use only when she graduated and got married.  She also picked the spelling of Kathryn because it is the most unusual spelling of the name.  Paige was just because she liked it.  It flows.  

Thankfully my parents stopped after having 2.  My dad really wanted a boy and wanted to name him Hezekiah.  Can you imagine?  I guess if you have a flock of kids that all have very biblical names Hezekiah would work but not seeing it with the names they'd already picked.  

So this will be one of those times I share PB's name- it's Kiernan Rose.  Now how did I come up with this name?  When I first found out I was pregnant I had a boy name instantly Cade William.  My Dad's name is William.  Remember how I said Jews don't name children after people that are still living?  Although I was raised Catholic my mom still was completely freaking out that I wanted to use my dad's name as a middle name for a boy.  For a girl I wanted to go with Kylie Rose or Jordana Shai.   Kylie was from my best guy friend growing up and I'd always said I wanted to name a girl after him.  Unfortunately we'd grown apart and hadn't talked for quite awhile by the time I was pregnant with PB.  I actually spoke to him for the first time in almost 4 years the night before I gave birth and he was one of the first people up at the hospital to see her.  Rose was obviously from my middle name.  Jordana is a character in a Leon Uris book (Exodus). Actually it was supposed to be my name but my dad convinced my mom that everyone would call me Donna.  My mom had gone to a girl with a girl named Donna that she hated and the name went out the window.  Um no Mom I would have gone by Jordie.  So those where the 2 girl names I thought I was going with.  My plan was to wait until the baby was born and see which name kind of fit the baby.  Half way through my pregnancy I became engaged to Wayne.  He was actually supposed to be PB's Godfather.  When we got engaged he asked if there would be any problem with him adopting PB.  Seeing has her birth father bailed immediately I didn't think there would be a problem.  In my mind that also meant that he had a bit of say in the babies name.  He wasn't thrilled with Kylie Rose or Jordana Shai.  He said one sounded like a cheerleader and the other like a stripper, neither of which we were having.  I never did ask him which was which.  Coming up with a first name wound up being pretty easy.  I'd had a baby name book from when I was in college with names highlighted and underlined and notes scribbled all over it.  We'd talk on the phone every night (he was in the Navy & stationed in San Diego) about names.  Kiernan was one of the names I'd had marked in the book.  He liked it.  Score!  We've got a name.  Now there are a few things I need to mention.  This particular name is actually considered a boy's name.  Seriously?  It didn't seem that way to us and we decided to go with it.  Then 11 days before I was due my sister was married.  One of the groomsmen was a good friend of mine from high school.  He now lives in Ireland and his wife is Irish.  She was asking what I was planning on naming the baby and I told her.  I also said I knew it was considered a boys name in Ireland but we liked it.  She said it is actually a surname.  As I mentioned this was 11 days before I was due to be induced.  Wayne was deployed at that point and I was so not going back to the drawing board at that point!  The middle name had been much harder for us to come up with.  We knew that Wayne was going to be deploying and we were up against a deadline.  Not that you can't email when they're deployed but it's not the same.  So I really wanted to use Delaney as a middle name.  I love it actually.  Wayne not so much.  He said it wouldn't pass the scream test.  You know when you go out on the front porch and scream the kids name because it's time for them to come home.  He thought it was too cumbersome.  We'd been going back and forth for a few days.  He called one day and was so excited and pleased with himself.  He thought he had the perfect middle name- Paige.  That might have been great except for the fact that it was my sisters middle name and kinda gave her dibs on whether she wanted to use it again or not.  Oops!  So we bounced some stuff back and forth and couldn't pick between Rose, my middle name, Lee my mom's middle name or one other name that I can't even remember now.  I left the decision up to Wayne.  He decided he liked the connection of the baby having my middle name.  Now I can say that from the time we had a name picked out I received a ton of shit about the name.  My mom wasn't a fan of the name.  Her brother and sister started calling her Kiki before she was even born.  By the way people don't nickname someone else child!  I got so much grief that at one point I emailed Wayne and asked him if we could possibly pick another name.  Of course he said yes but I decided to stay with what we had picked.  

My oldest nephews name was kind of predetermined in that his middle name was known from the time my sister and brother in law got married.  In my brother in laws family the first born son is always given his fathers name as his middle name.  There is leeway on the first name.  I think they just found a name they liked and my oldest nephew is Tyler Lawrence.  He is Tyler not Ty.  There were no guidelines for my 2nd nephews name.  He's Lucas William.  Lucas because they liked Luke and William because it's my dads middle name.  Luke was born shortly after my dads cancer diagnosis.  Remember the whole bad luck naming a child after someone living?  My mom was soooooo not happy that they choose William as a name with what was going on with my dad.  It's been almost 4 years so I figure it can't be that unlucky.  Of course with Luke you always have the Star Wars stuff going on.  I was at the hospital a few hours after Luke was born.  I picked him up and held him in front of me and in my best Darth Vader voice did "Luke I am your father".  It was most definitely the first but not the last time he'll hear that.  Actually at 3 he's all about Star Wars (without ever having seen the movie).  I was babysitting him last Friday and we were looking at the Star Wars stuff in the Lego catalog.  He wants the Ewok Village.  Yeah at $250 that is so above Aunt Sarah's birthday and Christmas budget. Sorry buddy!  Has for nick names Tyler has always been Tyler Bean.  Luke has been Lukie Bill.  

SO, this is how we do names in our family.  I think the lesson my sister & I both learned is to never share the name until the baby is born.  How do you pick names in your family? 

Spring sneak preview

The weather here has been gorgeous the past couple of days.  It's been in the low 40's and sunny.  The snow is melting and life is looking a bit brighter!  Yesterday was the first day that things really started to thaw and it sounding like it was raining when all the icicles started melting!  Of course all this melting after such a hard cold winter means that there is nowhere for the water to go.  We're supposed to get around 1" of rain between tonight and tomorrow.  Flood warnings have already been issued.  While this does present it's own set of problems I'm just glad to see some ok temperatures!  I actually wore a t-shirt yesterday.  Probably a bit premature but after this winter it's hard to contain excitement for decent weather!!!

I'd been playing phone tag with the Special Education Director for our school district since last week. We were finally able to talk last night.  Of course she called while Princess Bear (PB) was practicing piano.  She has a recital coming up and has been practicing like a crazy woman.  She wasn't thrilled to have to take a break so Mama could actually hear on the phone.  The Director claimed to have no idea that things were as bad as they are in PB's room.  I find that hard to believe but for now I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.  She told me that they are working on room scheduling and teacher assignments for the next school year in the month of March.  She asked me to give her until after Spring Break to get back to me with something definitive.  Ok.  I can live with that.  I did tell her that another year such as this one would be completely unacceptable and would land a lawsuit on the Districts doorstep.  I'm through playing games.  I do as much as I can to help my child learn but she is also guaranteed certain things by law that the district must deliver on. 

I also was looking for something to watch on TV earlier while making some phone calls and that brought me to the 32 episodes of Farm Kings sitting on my DVR.  That lead me to once again ponder if they are EVER going to release the show to DVD.  So I looked up Stage 3 Productions the company that produces the show.  I called them and asked.  My mom always said that you can only get 2 answers to a question but nada if you don't ask!  The people at Stage 3 Productions couldn't have been any nicer.  There still wasn't a real answer to whether the show will go to DVD but they were super nice.  When I mentioned that I blogged about the show a lot and the name of the blog he knew right away "who I was".  I was a bit stunned by that.  I explained that Farm Kings is PB's favorite show and that she really wants it on DVD as well.  Again all I can say is that the group working there are a very friendly bunch! 

One of the things that came out in PB's IEP meeting last week is the fact that PB is wearing her glasses.  As a matter of fact her glasses were bent in such a way they could no longer be worn.  I about flipped my lid.  For those of you who don't know the back story on this is that PB's left eye will not focus until her right eye comes into focus.  Therefore if something were to happen to her right eye she would essentially be rendered blind.  The Dr. decided that as a precaution the best thing to do was to have PB wear glasses as just a  bit more protection to the right eye.  When PB started school this year I wrote a FOUR page getting to know PB letter to her teacher.  It covered all her medical history, as well as other things I thought a teacher should know about PB.  The letter explained why PB must wear her glasses and how important it is.  This is just another example of the teacher really not listening to what is needed when it comes to general care and cautions for PB.  It's another example of the fact that the woman doesn't communicate.  She seemed honestly surprised when I again said how important it is for PB wear her glasses.  OK done with the back story.  PB brought her glasses home the other day.  Unfortunately our car was in the shop.  I finally got the car back last night- WooHoo!  Since today was another beautiful day and PB doesn't have any after school activities on Wednesday we drove to Washington which is the Walmart that we bought her glasses at.  The woman there looked at the glasses and said if she couldn't fix them that they had it in stock and would replace them.  Fortunately she was able to fix them.  PB also needed a new hard case to store her glasses in.  She picked Hello Kitty so now life is grand.  I'll just be happy if she starts wearing them at school regularly! 

So that's the story here morning glory!  Hope life is good on your home front!