We have 2!

Two adorable kittens. Their names are Bella and Lilly. They are mischevious, fun, sweet and feisty all at the same time. They are sisters from the same litter. We took them to the vet on Friday and all looks good. We'll bring them back again in a couple of weeks for 2 shots. The girls are around 12 weeks old.

Bella's in the front with the white paws. Lilly's in the back with the more defined stripes.

Kittens??

My kids have been begging to get kittens. We've been "cat-less" for a few months now since we had to put our beloved Olivia to sleep. She was sooooo sickly. She lived a good life and was almost 14. I didn't want to jump into getting more animals, so we waited and grieved. Now that summer is here the kids have really been asking to get kittens. I'm getting a pair this time. We did have another cat who was a year older than Olivia and she died a few years ago. They were the best of friends. I want to have that again. I guess I believe it will help relieve the guilt when we're gone all day at school. We're heading to the animal shelter here shortly. I told the kids to be open to cats that are a couple of years old, too. My daughter is referring to those as "kiddens" - get it? The cats aren't older adults, but aren't just born, so they are kids, thus "kiddens." Hey, I thought it was cute. I feel crazy for doing this, yet I'm excited. I miss having a cat. The plan is to let each child pick out their favorite.

Ok so it was a hard decision. So many adorable cats, kittens and kiddens there! In the end my children couldn't pass up kittens. I should have known it would be that way! They've picked out a pair that are caged together. I'm quite sure they were litter mates. We had to fill out an application and are coming in for an interview tomorrow afternoon. Then if we pass that (I don't see any reason we wouldn't, except for taking a dog to the shelter about 8 years ago - which I still feel guilty about) it's likely the girls aren't spayed yet, so they would do that Wednesday morning and we could take them home Wednesday afternoon. I did find out that you sign a contract to NOT have them declawed. I know it is controversial, but I admit we did it to our cats 14 and 13 years ago. I am ok not doing it since it's such an issue, but am going to be looking for ways to save my furniture! ;) Thoughts are welcome! Oh and the names of the kittens in the shelter are Lilly and Tinkerbell. My daughter wants to keep the one kitten as Lilly, but my son wants to change the name of the other one - he's contemplating Violet or Lilac to stick with the flower theme even though Lilly should be Lily. Other ideas are welcome as well!

First week of Summer break has flown by!

We had a PJ day on Thursday and just hung out around the house. We were able to complete Dogz 2 for the Wii. Friday we went to play tennis and then to the downtown public pool. I guess Friday is the day that all the area camps go to the pool, too. Live and learn. Saturday we managed to clean the TV room. All three of us pitched in. It took awhile, but it looks so much nicer. Today we went to church and Wal-Mart. We cleaned my son's room. All three of us pitched in again. It took us 3 hours, but we got rid of a lot of things and it looks so much better! Garbage day can't get here fast enough!
Tomorrow the kids are going to a Police Academy "camp" for 4 hours. It's a 3-hour camp and then they provide lunch. It's so close to school that I'm going to pop in for most of that 4 hours and file! I'd told the custodians I just needed to be able to get to my files today. I put more file folders and pens in one of the drawers so that I didn't need to get to my desk. It will be nice to get that done without interruption.
I start my online classes on Tuesday. They are 6 weeks long and have weekly assignments that you can do on your own time as long as you get them in by the due date. I pretty much know what to expect for the one class and it seems reasonable. Discussion board, journal entry and an assignment each week. The other class doesn't have any information up about it yet. It was nice to have a week off of school responsibilities, but I am actually looking forward to learning something, too! Perhaps it will provide me with good information that I can pass on to my students when we go back to school (which is August 25).
Alrighty, off to bed with me. I need to finish the book I'm reading (Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks) so I can return it, with many others, tomorrow.

Lived in or immaculate?

Does your house sport the lived-in look? Or are you one that keeps it looking immaculate all the time? I, for one, have never lived in an immaculate house and don't ever foresee it happening! I wouldn't encourage you to eat off of my floors, but my table is surely clean enough. Are there too many knick-knacks? Of course there are. Do I have too many of my children's papers on the refrigerator. You better believe it. Is there dust on top of the TV? Usually. Can you kick back and feel comfortable in my house? Absolutely. Do I have a junk drawer? How about a few of them!?! One's so stuffed I can't even get it open! My daughter and I cleaned out the fridge this morning. It was long overdue. I love that it sparkles now. I like things clean, but I don't like to spend enormous amounts of time cleaning. We keep saying we'll clean it and then keep it clean! It sounds like a great idea, but for some reason it doesn't happen! Our goal this summer on days we've got no plans is to pick a room and clean it together - top to bottom. It has been met with much resistance from my son, but my daughter doesn't seem to mind. Will we have the lived-in look? Yes, I can guarantee it. We can't seem to get rid of the knick-knacks or the 100 magazines or the 50 candles I have nowhere out of sight to store. Will it look a little better having purged some things? And organized others? And scrubbed others? Sure it will. That's the goal anyway!
Tonight's supposed to be Bunco at my house. We'd gotten our 12, but two bailed out a couple hours ago. The scramble is on to try to fill at least one of those spots. You can play with one stuffed animal, but not with two. I've got lots of food plans, and enjoy the social aspect, so I'd really like it to happen!
Yesterday at cub scouts each boy had to choose two chores they would do at their house for a week. My son chose watering the outside plants and cleaning the windows. I need to go give him a crash course in how to clean windows, because I told him he could do a room of windows a day.
Happy Wednesday!

My first day of summer vacation!

Yesterday I was at school all day getting my classroom ready for the summer. You'd think it would be easy, but they really do require you do quite a bit! Hard to believe in a relatively short amount of time we'll have to go back and put things up on the walls, out on the counters, re-do bulletin boards, etc. But I'm not focusing on that now! Instead I'm going to enjoy my break!
Today I'll be hosting a 4.5 hour cub scout event at my house. Another mom is staying to help me accomplish all I have set out to do! We're on the track of earning some special award (I forget the name) for completing all the activity badges for Webelos.
I finished the book "Home to Harmony. " It was a good read. A story with a faith-filled premise. I started this morning on "Over What Hill? (notes from the pasture)" by Effie Leland Wilder " - a funny story about live in a retirement complex. I see it's the second in a series, so I feel I'll probably have to go get the first from the library next. It's a quick, easy, lighthearted read. I was done with 1/2 of it in an hour. Maybe I really will get through the four books I got from the library in three weeks!
Ok time to go do the dishes. You see, my dishwasher has been broken for close to two months now and I haven't called to have it repaired. My neighbor says if I can wait 2 weeks he'll come look at it. I figure I've survived this long, I can wait 2 weeks. I know a service call will be $100 otherwise and frankly, I'm cheap!

I made the anklet...

It wasn't difficult at all. Next time I might even splurge and go with some fancier beads. These are just the very basic value-type beads. The anklet I made is red, white and blue. I wore it to church today. I worked in the church nursery as I do one or two Sunday's a month. When we work the nursery we're scheduled to be in there from 8-12:15. It covers the three Sunday morning services. I, however, am involved in a Single Parent's Ministry that I am co-leading with another single mom. We started the ministry back in March I believe, and recently began a 6-lesson Single Parents Bible Study. Based on survey responses, we determined 9:30 on Sundays to be the best time to hold the study. That obviously interferes with my nursery schedule, but there are some wonderful ladies that I work with (we're a combination of staff, like myself, and volunteers) that have covered my 9:30 slot so I can attend the bible study. Today's topic was about Forgiving your ex. I've done that. I forgive, but I don't forget. We also created a 21-day challenge to ourselves (because somewhere sometime I read that if you do something for 21 days it becomes a habit) to pray for our ex AND (I struggle with this one a little, but will do it) to pray for their significant other if they have one. My ex has a live-in girlfriend who I have never met. What I plan to pray for is that she is a godly person who treats my children well when she sees them.
After a nap this afternoon (ahh, bliss!) I managed to clean the kitchen (mostly) and am now going to go work on switching laundry around, vacuuming and tidying up a little bit before I craft some more and finish the book I'm reading. I tried to put a picture of the book up under where I state the name of the book I'm reading on the side bar, but it wouldn't work. I guess I'm doing something wrong! Maybe I'll be able to figure it out for the next book which I should be starting tomorrow.
Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers out there. My father died when I was 12. I haven't had a living grandfather since 1980. My ex has the kids this weekend. I'll do no celebrating of Father's Day, but encourage all of you who still have a father who is living to reach out to him today (call, letter, e-mail, something...) to let him know how much he means to you! And those fathers out there, don't forget to thank the mother of your children for her (crucial) part in making you a father!

I've contemplated starting a blog for awhile now...

And today seems to be the day to just "go for it!" I'm not sure my life is interesting enough to have any readers, but I'll give it a try!
I am a Christian. I'm a single mom of two wonderful kids. I am a 5th grade teacher. Our last day with students was yesterday. We have a teacher work day on Monday, so I'll work on getting my room in order for the custodians to clean it over the summer.

I have a huge list of blogs that I read on a semi-regular basis, but I will leave those for another day when I figure out this blogging thing a bit more. For today, I will say I went crafty. I'm relatively craft-challenged, but was inspired by this post http://thestaabfamily.blogspot.com/2008/04/seeing-spots.html and got the materials and went forth with the projects (yes, I did 2, but on a smaller scale than Tonya). Maybe one day I'll figure out how to post a picture on here, too! ;) I'm going to also attempt for the first time to make a beaded anklet. If that goes well I'll try a beaded lanyard. I would like something a bit more delicate for when I'm more dressed up, but at the teacher supply/homeschool stores they want a small fortune for the beaded lanyards. I was given one as a gift and out of nowhere one day there were zillions of beads bouncing and scattering everywhere!

I'd love some more simple craft ideas to keep myself and my two children occupied over the summer!