SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo hoo!! I got the call late last night from our kindergarten teacher that we had a snow day today. I promptly rolled over and turned off the alarm clock.

In the morning I realized something. I hadn't been to the grocery store since looooooonnnnnggggg before Thanksgiving. Minor problem as I have an adorable minor who will eventually want to eat. hmmm....

So I flipped on the news, roads getting cleared, storm coming this afternoon. Yes, Gracie and I went out this morning to go to Price Chopper. Now before you all get worked up over my taking my little tyke out on icy roads let me tell you about some of my blessings.....

1. I am blessed to live on a primary route for the fire department therefore my street gets plowed and sanded first.
2. I am blessed that my street connects to an on-ramp for the highway and is also plowed and sanded early/first.

So the roads were clear and our travels were easy to the grocery store and we're home now safe and sound ready for round two.

Bring it on!

You Gotta Love It!!

So it was almost 70 degrees yesterday. But this is Kansas and if you don't like the weather wait 10 minutes. It was in the 30s when I left for school and by lunch time it was sleeting.

That's right folks, I get to drive home in the sleet! WOO HOO!

The good part is, most parents pick up early so by 2:30 I only had 6 kids and at almost 4:00 we only have a handful of daycare kids. Let's pray that they all get picked up quick!

Never Will Again NWA

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. I will blog later this week about all of our adventures in North Carolina but I have to take some time today to tell you about our travels.

About 6 weeks ago I made our travel arrangements on line with Northwest Airlines (NWA). I was a little nervous to make them so close to the holidays but I lucked out and was able to assign Grace and I seats next to each other. Well about a week before we left I realized I never received a confirmation email so I called customer service to make sure we had tickets.

The only way she could look my reservation was with the confirmation number.... argh! I didn't have one. Eventually I got her to admit that she could do it with my name and yes, we had tickets - YEAH!! But not before I was scolded by a customer no-service agent. I think this is where my troubles began.

Flash forward to the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We check in at KCI like a breeze and get on the airplane. Only then do I realize that Grace and I are not sitting next to each other on the next leg of our journey. Don't know how that happened as I had reserved adjacent seats but this happens often to us.

I made sure I was at the gate in Minnisota early so she could reassign us before too many people checked in. I was told that she couldn't do anything about it. So I tactfully *wink* sat by the podium and called my mom and told her about our exchange. About five minutes later I had new seats presented to me. Yes, Heather was evil but she got her seats. *insert evil laugh here*

We made it to Raleigh on time if not early but had to wait awhile to find someone to drive the jetway to our plane but all in all it was a nice flight out.

Monday--- hmmmm... there must be a full moon or something. It was weird weird weird.
We got to the airport a little behind schedule but no biggie. The oddities began when we hit the ticket counter.

I used the kiosk to check in and it only printed boarding passes for the first leg of our journey and didn't give us seat assignments. When I joined the line to hand over my bags I of course chose the wrong line. Karen ushered us into the right line and we finally got to the front. They were not helpful and kept talking to me like I was stupid, asking if I had printed bag tags --- ummm no?? I printed boarding passes. Had they asked my name, well you know.

So we say our good byes and get into security --- behind parents with two babies who of course get stopped to search their bags. Well we cut and then I had the brilliant idea to check my phone to see what time it was. 8:05--- the flight was at 8:30 and we have to be on board 15 minutes prior and we still have to check in to get seats. Gracie got on my shoulders and I ran through RDU with my backpack, package and girl. I'm sure we looked funny.

As I ran up to the counter they handed me boarding passes for Minnesota, but not to KC like they said they would at the ticket counter. AND we were 5 rows apart on opposite sides of the plane. When I commented that my 2 year old was not seated next to me I was told that I was too late so they just assigned us and that they didn't know she was two. I didn't want to get into it but I *maybe* made a comment about how ghetto the airline was. Then I had to humbly turn around and ask for my second set of boarding passes... they said they couldn't do that. Well they had given me MY boarding passes but not Grace's so I went back and demanded it. I won *insert evil laugh*.

When we got to Minnesota I went to the new gate to get our seats switched. I promise, I was nice. I was polite. I also had to wait until 20 minutes before we were scheduled to take off to talk to someone! ARGH and her solution was to move us to one behind the other rows. :P Keep in mind they were rearranging everyone since there was a change in aircraft. When we finally boarded and my pass was invalid I asked again and I was told to take care of it myself on the plane--- which I was planning on doing--- and I was told in a snotty voice.

So the story does end well. When we finally got to KC I was expecting my bags to be late or nonexistant. They were there, waiting. They had come in on an earlier flight-- weird. Never again will I fly NWA.

Some Things Money Can't Buy

If I worked in nearby Johnson County for the Shawnee Mission school district I would make $11,000 more a year. No, that's not a typo, that is really the difference in pay. I'd be able to drive a new car and have really nice clothes. Grace would wear more Gymboree and I'd probably have season tickets for K-State football. I'd have more things.

But today at school I was reminded why I love where I teach. Ana, who is 4 was sitting at the table coloring with me. She looked at me and asked, "Mrs. Wahab, do you have a Jesus is my friend coloring paper?" So we looked through some books and picked out a paper that fit her description. She got to take it to the office and have copies made - proud as a peacock.

Where else would I have my kids asking for pictures of Jesus?
Where else would it be important to them?

So I have less stuff - makes it easier to move right? We wear clothes from Target rather than Gymboree and Ann Taylor-- I don't have to worry about expensive clothes being ruined by preschoolers. My car is 8 years old with 100,000+ miles on it-- and I know it's noises and shakes.

My students know and love Jesus --- and that's what it's all about.

I think I'll stay right where I am.

Uggg

It is the bane of elementary school teacher's existence---- head lice.
And I have two cases of it in my classroom, a classroom full of dolls, blankets and soft fuzzy items. It's going to be a loooooooooooonnnnnngggggg weekend.

Blah

Nerd Shots

As promised here are some of the "unique" people we saw on Saturday. The first one is a checker at the grocery store--- that's a wig she has on folks. The next one is California boy who was wearing shorts and flip flops! I don't remember the temp that day but I had to scrape my windows on my car so sufice to say it was COLD! The third one was a bird jacket. 'nuf said. The last one is some goofy chick who had a booth there. :)

Just a Little Over a Week

Neilson reported to me that he received his first box from home today! The exciting part is, it took just over a week to get there! Not bad in my book. Drop me an email if you want his address as I'm not going to post it for security reasons. :)

This Blog is Being Brought to You by the Number 2

Yeah, it's gross but I have to brag. Gracie used the pooped on the potty twice today at her on initiative! We have been pretty successful with the potty training but this was our "Little Big Horn." The more I pushed, bribed and praised the more resistent she was. Then today, she decided today that she was going to use the potty. Stubborn little toot. Wonder where she gets that. (hahahahahaha)

Buttons and Bows

Way back last spring I got this crazy idea..... I should have a booth at a craft fair. Now in March, November seemed like eons away, plenty of time to get enough cards and albums ready for the show. Easy peasy squeezy cheesy..... yeah right. As you can probably guess, life happened and suddenly it was October and I realized, "Oh crap! Buttons and bows is 6 weeks away and I only have about 50 cards! I better get busy."

So Gracie got used to mommy scrapbooking everynight afterschool and on weekends being drug to such glamorous locals as Michaels, Hobby Lobby and JoAnns for supplies. In the end we made it with about 350 cards, 5 mini-albums, 5 paperbag albums and 5 altered clipboards. It all fit in one rubbermaid box and I started to panic.

What am I going to do with a 9 by 5 booth for 8 hours when all my stuff fits in one box????? Mom came to the rescue and made some of her adorable candy arrangements, wreaths and cute as a button snowman bricks and the booth was full.

We were lucky enough to be in the main gym right behind Mom's friend Gayla and we had a great day. I sold a fair amount and it was a fun girls' day. Later this week I'll upload the nerd pictures we took of some of our patrons.... believe me, I wasn't fast enough with the camera and you all are going to miss out on dead teddybear scarf lady, poodle head and nun with a babybag however I did get some doozies. :)

The find of the day was the little rocking chair you see pictured. Gracie loves it! Thank you Papa!! I also added in a picture of our booth and a close up of Mom's candy arrangement -- too cute!

To top the day off the Wildcat men's basketball team won against William and Mary and as we speak the football team is taking on the Longhorns. GO STATE!!

Attention Grandma Jo

Here is the dress Gracie is going to wear in Stephanie's wedding this March. Do you think you could alter it? :)
love
heather

I Have A New Friend

Being a teacher is a strange thing. It is my job to take care of my students. As a building we have adopted the BIST philosophy for discipline. We are committed to helping our kids make good choices. Part of this model means that all teachers get to know all the kids and build relationships with them - especially the challenging ones.
So though I am the lowly preschool teacher I know the junior high kids too. As one of the aftercare providers I get a chance to interact with the bigger kids on a daily basis. Well, and let's face it, since I'm the only certified teacher who does aftercare I get to take care of any "challenges" that come up.
Really I'm getting to my friend but I'm taking the long windy route so bear with me. Back up to last week. The junior high boys were giving my co-aftercare provider some heck. Mainly it was her two own children so I went down and brought them up to my room. I can't even tell you how mad they were with me - especially the older one. He wouldn't talk to me the rest of the evening nor for an hour the next morning--- but then he opened up.
Now the kid is my new best friend. Today alone he stopped by my classroom 3 times to see if I needed anything. And though he moans and complains that I checked with his teachers to get his missing assignments, he is anxious to get to work afterschool since he knows I will help him. The deal is he wants to come teach preschool one day and I won't let him until he is all caught up. And to top it all off the love of his life just happens to be the oldest daughter of one of my friends.
So I, the teacher who is afraid of the junior high kids, has been befriended by an eighth grader--- how did that happen??

Houston, We Have a Color

Mom, Grace and I met in Topeka, KS this Saturday and we bought out their stash of holiday decorations. We're going to use them for "part 2" in 2007. I hope I shrunk the picture enough so the fruit aren't the size of cantelopes! We're going to cut the tacky velvet leaves out and add in some Carolina pine cones and hopfully put in a nice purple ribbon.

Pumpkin Carving

Here are some pictures from last weekend's pumpkin carving. We made a daddy, mommy, Gracie pumpkin. Gracie drew them and mommy carved them. Great fun and we won 2nd prize for most detailed. Our pumpkin had 3 faces.

Burn Baby Burn

So here is a picture - all be it a bad one of my neck. Actually, I'm not even sure you can see said burn but it's down in my collarbone area.
:)
My lesson is learned and I'm going to wear protective gear to make hash--- oh, and I'm not going to let the pan get so hot before I put the potatos in either!

Good Grief!

As if it wasn't a crazy enough day allready, today ended up with a trip to urgent care at our doctor's office. I was making dinner tonight - hash - and when I put the potatoes in the grease it splattered up hitting me on the neck and face. YIKES so I called mom.

"Um, hey mom, I just burned my neck what do I do?" Dear mom reminded me to ice it and keep it cool which I did for the better part of an hour after which it still stung so I decided to head to our urgent care.

The kind doc took a look at me and declared first degree burns which were *almost* second degree burns. Thankfully they are small and should heal on their own but she did prescribe silvadene (sp) just in case.

So we are home, everyone is healthy and feeling well. I'm just finishing my report cards and wondering how many times I'll have to explain my spotty neck to parents tomorrow at conferences. Yep, I burned my neck the night before parent teacher conferences--- what a klutz :)

John Kerry

If you haven't been watching the news you may have missed this tidbit. In speaking to students at Pasadena City College he encouraged them to study hard and get smart so they didn't end up in Iraq. I don't know about you but I don't care for anyone insulting Neilson's intelligence.

I looked online and you can send Kerry an email through his government website. http://kerry.senate.gov/ If you are so inclined, I'd appreciate it if you'd help fill his inbox with nasty-grams :insert evil laugh here:

Iraq T-Shirts

T-Shirts

I just checked the frg website and they batallion is selling t-shirts. I can't post a picture because I can't figure how to do it. Anyway, it is a gray t-shirt with black letters that says, "Property of 3BSTB 3BCT Diyala, Iraq". It has the first cav insignia on it as well. They are $10 each and it's $3 per shirt to ship. There is an order form on the website. If you have any problems I'll try to get one that I can email to you.

Circus Circus and Trick or Treat

Gracie has a mind of her own. Since July we had been planning on her being a butterfly for Halloween. We got the wings in OKC at the botanical gardens and she loves them-- and is darn cute in them. However, a week before the big day she announces, "I don't want to be a butterfly, I want to be a mermaid!"

You see Little Mermaid fever has infected the Wahab house. She watched the movie with Grandma and got the toys from McDonald's and now it is all mermaid all the time. Off to Target we went where we managed to snag a costume. The toddler sizes were so skimpy and expensive. They weren't going to fit over a sweat suit and in Kansas you must count on sweats being a part of your costume for Halloween. So in the girl's dept. we found one that was sized to fit 8-10 years - YIKES but it was cheap and with two safety pins fit lovely. And happiness once again reigned in the house.

Friday night we went to school for "Trunk or Treat". For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, I'll explain. Everyone comes and parks their cars in the parking lot, decorates their trunks and the kids go trick or treating from car to car. It is safe and fun and we had a blast. As you can see from the pictures Gracie is the little mermaid and that is Daddy's car all decked out for Halloween. There is also a shot of her in action and a couple of her eating hotdogs with her friends Ariana and Andrew. She made out like a bandit and the 10 count them 10 bags of candy and 250 spider rings we brought were gone in 30 minutes- I kid you not.

At trunk or treat Ariana's mom offered us circus tickets for Saturday morning. We went and Grace thought the animals were great. She wasn't too keen on the lights going off between acts but I enjoyed it. We ended up leaving at intermission and the last picture I posted should let you know why--- such a busy social life for a girl leads to a tired chica.

I have to wrap this up as I am at school posting with the high speed internet. We are off to dinner and pumpkin carving party. Look for pictures from that soon.

Blessings and Boos!
Heather