To Nap or Not? That is the Question

Doesn't he look peaceful in this picture?

As a child, I hated naps. As an adult, I wish that I could take them. My son is in the first category. He does not want to take a nap, and thinks he does not need a nap. Unfortunately, an alien takes over on afternoons he does not nap. My normally well behaved child turns into one of those kids from Super Nanny that hit, throw temper tantrums, and run around the house throwing things and doing everything you tell him not to. Of course, I am usually exhausted myself and want nothing more to do with him. On the days that prince charming naps, not only do I get a nice little break myself, he is usually much easier to deal with. When he naps, my son is a friendly, outgoing, and generally helpful child. He will pick up his clothes and dishes. He will cooperate. The world is a much better place. He even sleeps better at night when he has a nap, so we all get better sleep.

Memories of Grandma and Grandpa

The Lake home

About a year ago, my Grandma Seaton passed away. It marked the end of not only her life, but an era. Grandma was born in 1913 in Hewitt, Minnesota. She saw electricity, TV, computers, dishwashers, microwave ovens, and many other inventions that we take for granted. In 1913, the world was a simplier place. People lived near relatives. Family came first. There were no TV dinners, just good old home cooked meals. When I asked Grandma Seaton about her mom she said that "She taught her the finer things in life like manners and being a lady". I remember going first to the house on the roof in Hastings, Minnesota. I don't remember much other than Grandpa's store was downstairs, and they lived upstairs. We were just expected to be quiet. Then Grandma and Grandpa had a lake home. I have some very fond memories of the lake. I remember ice skating in the winter, making ice cream, swimming and fishing in the summer. They only got one channel on TV, but that was ok. We were always either on the lake or playing games like Yahtzee. Those Yahtzee games were very competitive. I could share more, but with a family of my own I am about out of time.

Summer living is nice

Oh how I love summer. First of all, I get to actually sleep 9 hours per night. What a difference that makes in life. Next, I get to get caught up with all my friends that are blessed to stay home all year. For instance, yesterday, my friend and I got together with the kids at McDonald's. It is not so much about the food unless you are a kid. It is a good place to go, because the kids can play on the playground while you have an adult conversation. It is either shaded or air conditioned which is a plus.
Today, we did a park and lunch. As a mom, I have discovered that parks are generally a good place to meet other moms. Also, it is a good place to meet a mom friend to chat while the kids play. Of course, once it is too hot to play, lunch is a big hit. Today, we did Ruby's. The food is fairly good, and they have milkshakes. A bonus for my son is that he gets cherries.
Yesterday, we got a plastic pool at Wal Mart. I have been looking for one, since ours broke. Hopefully, we will get time to play tomorrow.
Ah, Wal Mart... I do try to avoid that store. Although, the one close to us is a pretty upscale one and I can usually find good deals on stuff. I took Andrew over there to spend a birthday gift card. He had lots to choose from and ended up with a transformer that I could not figure out. Needless to say, Carl had to come to my rescue last night.

Mother's Day 2008

Andrew on the shark


Carl and Andrew petting stingrays


It is Mother's day. As usual, we had a busy weekend. Carl started it off by going to Bible Study on Saturday at 8am. As for me, 8am is a little too early for me. I just have to convince Andrew of that fact. He did manage to sleep until 7:30. By the time Carl got home from bible study and his errands, we were about ready to go. Granted, that was 3 hours later. Somehow, things take more time with a 4 year old wanting to play daddy airplane and baby airplane.


We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and got annual passes. We spent most of the time watching Andrew climb and watching and petting stingrays and starfish. It was a nice time for all of us. We also had a nice picnic lunch outside. Of course, we all came home and napped. It was a good day.

By popular demand.

Andrew at Bodega Bay in Northern California

Andrew kitty.








Andrew on his 4th birthday with his friends. (Andrew is in the middle)

Is it summer yet?

I am so ready for summer. As you can see in this old picture of me skating at the beach. Today, and this past weekend were perfect beach weather. So much for that idea, but Andrew and I did go into the jacuzzi for a good hour on Saturday. Now I am sure you are thinking somewhere along the lines about how a jacuzzi is not a cool thought on a hot day. The advantage of having your own jacuzzi is that I can heat as little or as much as I want. In this case, the water was about 85 and the outside temperature was about 100 as it has been for the past 3 days. It does get that warm here on occasion, but not too often. Someone was mentioning that South Dakota had snow this weekend. I can't even imagine snow, let alone snow the last week in April. It was a cool thought though. Besides the jacuzzi, we also have central air. That is essential in a climate that can get to 100 before the month of May. Granted, it still gets down to 65 at night; unlike Pheonix. Another thing we do to stay cool is have ice cream. Andrew loves vanilla ice cream cones. Yum. I hear that we are supposed to cool of to the mid sixty's by Wedneday. It keeps life interesting and our electric bill down.

Happy Birthday!

April is a very busy month in our home. 2 of the 3 of us have April birthday's. Husband is April 14 and child is April 23. For Carl's birthday, he wanted to spend the weekend Contradancing with a bunch of people at Mt. Baldy. I couldn't and had no desire to spend the entire weekend in the mountains. Late Saturday morning, Andrew and I got into the car and drove up to the mountains. I am so glad we went, because the weather down below was in the upper 90's. I got a massage and Carl got to hang with us. Sunday afternoon, my son and I went to the dance after naptime which just so happened to be the break. I presented Carl with a cake. He was surprised.

(Picture: Carl and I at dinner on Sat. night)

For Andrew's 4th birthday, we did a party at McDonalds. I know, some of you are thinking about how horrible it is nutritionally and taste wise. Well, for your average 3 or 4 year old it was the perfect choice. First, the kids all played on the playground. Then, they had happy meals. Now, I know for a fact that McDonald's puts something in the cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets to make kids eat them. As soon as they ate, which was after about 5 minutes. The kids were off to the playground. The hostess did Bingo and Hot Potato for the kids games. I am not sure how much they got it, but they had fun. Then we had cake and gifts. Any calories eaten were quickly burned off on the playground. Since I am working full time, it made things real easy. Easy is a good thing.

My first blog entry/ state testing

This is my very first blog entry. I know blogging has been around for a while. There is so much happening that it is hard to narrow it down.

State Testing

Ok, I am a special education teacher. This time of year is so crazy, that I kind of dread it. It is time for state testing. Now, I agree that no child should be left behind. However, not all children can keep up with the tough standards the state has imposed. My poor little special ed students are in that group. They spend their lives constantly struggling. The one part of the day they like and actually get what is happening is during RSP time. Then once a year, they have to take a state test. Like we need to know that they are still behind. They look at the long passages they are forced to try to read and usually just bubble in a nice design. Even the students who excel at math, get frustrated with all the words. Then to be told that they will not go on to the next grade if they don't pass this test. I am all for No Child Left Behind, however not every child learns at the same rate or has the same intelligance. If all the special education students were at grade level, they would not need me. So here we go again with the yearly state testing.