Pre K Graduation

What a year for Caleb!!!! Last summer I fretted and fretted about what I would do as far as preK for Caleb. He has suffered from some developmental delays and I just wasn't sure if he was actually ready to go to preK. I went from should I just keep him at home and work with him or should I put him in a private preK or should I put him in the school district's preK.....what am I going to do???? I just couldn't make a decision that felt right for him or me!!! I finally made a decision the very day that school started......I mean I actually went to the district office on the first day of school to enroll him in a preK program......I had waited to late to get him into the preK program that I wanted him to go to so he was assigned to our neighborhood school preK.....we don't live in the best neighborhood .......and I am an educational researcher.......I have researched the schools in this district......I know which ones are performing and which are NOT and why they are not. This school wasn't. However, this was the schools first year to offer the preK program and because it is an underperforming school they were given tons of $ for their program........EVERYTHING was included........all the supplies, the napping mats, everything. AND, Caleb was assigned to the best preK teacher (in my humble opinion) ever!!!!!! She was wonderful for Caleb. She put up with my constant fears for him......you know, he isn't writing yet, he doesn't know his alphabet, he doesn't count very well, he this, he that!!! She promised me she would take care of my baby and teach him to do those things so that he would be ready for kindergarten. She kept her word. My baby tested in the bottom of the class those first few months of preK but by the end of the year......he was testing in the top tier of his class. Whew, thank you Ms. Chaffin for working with my baby!!!!

We still have some work to do on the handwriting but we are getting there.

So yesterday sweet hubby and I attended Caleb's preK gradutation at the not so good school that we have come to love. Sweet hubby dropped Caleb off at school and came home to pick me up for the graduation later......sweet hubby announces as he came in the door...."They are wearing Sunday best!!!!" I am horrified!!!! I sent my baby to school in his uniform!!!! I am so on top of things!!!

Luckily he wasn't the only child in uniform.....there are a few other moms out there who are on top of things too!!!! The preK students sang two songs (ok, so the cd sang the songs and the students tried to sing along with it ---- I mean really, what preK student actually knows the words to "Worlds Greatest" by R. Kelley????? I mean give me a break!!! Ooops, actually a few of them did know the words.....

He may not have known the words but he knew the hand motions and he even paid attention....well most of the time anyway!

Yes, the teachers were on the side giving cues to thier adorable preK students!

You can tell these students just want this to be over so they can have cookies and milk!

Notice the cute little boy in shirt and tie (picking his nose).....that is Caleb's buddy.....or you might say partner in crime!!! When Caleb got in trouble ......it usually was b/c he and cute buddy were doing things they shouldn't.....like cutting their own hair when they should be cutting paper!!! Both boys ended up with "buzz" cuts since they apparently flunked barber school.

Well, the first year is almost over. I didn't sit back this year worrying about what I would do in regards to Kindergarten......no, I learned my lesson on that......if you want your child in a certain school you get busy early on with those plans......and yes, we will be going to a new school for Kindergarten.....E-stem which is a charter school downtown......I am so excited for this new adventure that Caleb will embark on in July (yeah, school starts in July!). I am hoping I won't be the new teacher's nightmare mom......but who am I kidding....I will be!!!

For now the doctor is out.......wondering when did my baby grow up into a little boy ready for school???

Let's try something different

I volunteered to make a cake for a friend's bridal shower.....I have made cakes before......I have decorated cakes before.......I made my own wedding cake and decorated it (three tiers!) But a few of my facebook friends had been using fondant to decorate their cakes and so I decided I wanted to try to do this type of cake decorating as well. I mean, how hard could it be.....you bake the cake, you ice the cake, you make the fondant and roll it out, cover the cake and vavooom you are done with a georgeouse cake...right??? NOT!!!

First thing I learned was that I should have started the project 3 days before the event instead of the night before the event!!! I always make my cakes (from scratch of course!) the night before I want to decorate them. After they have cooled I use a powdered suger glaze to cover the cake -- this seals in the moisture for a great tasting cake. It is messy but does the trick!!

I don't have a lot of counter space so when I do stuff like this it automatically moves to the dining room where I use my large table as a counter!!!

The next morning I make my butter cream frosting to frost the cake with. This is an absolute must even if you are using fondant! Fondant does not taste like frosting.....it just looks good!! So you don't want to serve a guest your beautiful cake with fondant only on it b/c your guest will most likely scrape the fondant off and eat just cake.....dry with no frosting!!!

Since I am using fondant I decide that I don't have to be perfect with the frosting.....just basically slap it on there and go!!!!

My table is still in relatively good condition at this point!!! But just wait, I still have to make that fondant!!!! I read the directions that I pulled from the internet ( great place to find answers to every question I might add!). Ummm, I should have read directions the night before.....oh well, it is too late now....keep moving!!!!

Kitchen after making the butter cream icing......things are looking bad at this point.....I have no room here to "knead" the fondant so again I have to move to the dining room table!!! The fondant is marshmellows - melted in the microwave with a 2lb bag of powdered sugar poured on top then DUMPED on the kneading surface...... I am so glad sweet hubby wasn't home during this process....he hates anything to be put on this table..........

The fondant after kneading for about 8 minutes!!!! What a workout for the arms!!!! What a MESS!!!!!! There is powdered sugar EVERYWHERE!!!!!! Will it come up off the table???? Will I ever have a normal floor again where it flittered down off the table??????? What was I thinking??????

Well, after several roll outs with several tears in the fondant.........I finally got a piece big enough to fit the top tier (6" round) and then made the little stripes!!!! WOW ----- I am on a roll.......uhhhh, I don't have any more fondant that I can use.....so I clean off the table and start another batch of fondant.........more marshmellows and powdered sugar, more kneading, more powdered sugar on the table and onto the floors........things aren't looking so good at this point.....not sure if I can get this cake actually finished before the shower......trying to think if there is a bakery close by that maybe I can just run to and pick up a cake........NO, dang it I can do this, I really can........I hope I can, OH MY GOSH....WHY DIDN'T I JUST ORDER A STUPID CAKE!!!!!!!

This is what kept me going.......sweet sonic.........sweet diet coke........(oh yea, I only lasted one month when I gave up my diet coke).......you can see the picture of what I was going for -- beautiful cake with ribbon bow on top......I mean it can't be that hard can it??????

This is what I ended up with after another hour of trying to make a bow out of fondant......where are my cookie cutters?????? I just found a large heart to cover up the top!!! Who needs a bow anyway....they are so overrated!!!! I mean a heart means love.......sweet eternal love.......

The final product finished with at least 2 hours to spare!!!!!! A little lopsided, a few flaws, but dang it .......I DID IT!!!!!! Now I just hope the darn thing taste good!!!!

After finishing the cake that I was so proud of I starting thinking.....how am I going to transport this monstracity?????? Sweet hubby to the rescue......he delivered me and cake safely to the shower. The shower itself was wonderful........sweet friend had an array of gifts to open, shower attenders had tons of yummy food to eat and lots of conversation, stories, and laughter and opportunities to get to know people better!!! Bride to be tried on her dress to show it to us......ahhhhh beautiful bride to be! And the cake tasted good after all the worry!!!!

The doctor has a greater understanding of why people pay big bucks to have cakes made for them......they want to keep their kitchens clean and their table free of powdered sugar and marshmellows!!!!! It only took about 30 minutes to scrub powdered sugar off the table and floor....not so bad!!! EWWWWWW, there is still a sticky film on the table.......scrub again......now said table is resting under a coat of orange oil to get it's gloss back........

Until next time the doctor is out..........going back for a slice of fondant covered cake......yummmy!

What I learned in seminary this year.....

In August 2008, I was asked to teach a seminary class at church. Seminary is taught at 6 am every morning to a group of 14 to18 year old students. My first reaction.... I am NOT a morning person!!! I LOVE to stay up late working - sometimes until 2 am and then sleep late or late according to me!!! But this year I would have to give up that habit since I would have a little boy attending pre-k and he needed to be at school before 8 am so I said yes I will teach seminary. I actually attended seminary for 4 years when I was a youth - even though I graduated from seminary I always felt that I slept through most of it....so this would be a good opportunity to re-visit the scriptures ---- AWAKE!!!

Well the year has ended and I survived and so did my students!!! One of the assignments given to my students at the end of the year was to write a 500 page paper on "What I Learnd in Seminary This Year." They were to do this in order to "letter" which is basically to recieve a special award for their work.....in addition to the paper, they must also memorize 25 scriptures, attend 90%, read the New Testament, and pass a final exam.

So I decided I would write my paper (not 500 words!) on what I learned in Seminary this year.

First, I learned that yes I can get up everyday at 5 am to get ready for the day and then go teach teenagers about the scriptures!!! I also learned that 5 am is VERY EARLY and it is still dark outside!!! I also learned that I can go to bed at 11 pm or 12 am and still get up at 5 am!!!

I learned that preparing a lesson for teenagers is EXTREMELY HARD since they already know a lot!!! I also learned that these teens were not as awake at 6am as I thought they should be but we worked through that!!!

I learned that these teens are extremely knowledgeable about the New Testament and scriptures in general.....they taught me a lot!!!

I learned that it is easy to LOVE these teenagers and that they are so fun to be around early in the morning (or anytime). I learned to care about their well-being, about who their friends are, how they are doing in school, and what they like or dislike.

I learned that these teens love thier phones and ipods but they know how to put them away when it is time for class.

I learned that these teens have a great love for the gospel, for the scriptures and for the Savior. I learned that these teens are great examples to adults in how to live the gospel, in their actions, words, and in their deeds.

I learned that there are many ways to teach teens so they can learn -- you can bring do-nuts and bribe them!!! I also learned that I want to be more prepared next year than I was this year. I want to put in 150% instead of 100%.

I also learned to love the scriptures more than I ever have in the past. I learned a lot more about the life of Christ and his Apostles. I learned that I want to walk in His footsteps and strive to become more like Him.

I learned to LOVE seminary and everything it stands for.

For now, the doctor is out....preparing her lessons, games, and activities for next Fall....see you then bright and early!!!!

In February, my sister, my aunt, Sarah, and I went to Vermont for skiing. I LOVE to ski!!! I am not the fastest person on the slopes nor am I the best skiier on the slopes, but I LOVE to be on the slopes!!! Usually my Aunt Nita and I go to Colorado for skiing but a few years ago we decided we needed to try out some new places. So one year I took her to Utah for skiing which she absolutely loved. Then one year we decided to go to Lake Tahoe - which I absolutely loved. But this year we thought we would try the east coast for skiing. Since Sarah lives in NYC we decided to fly there and rent a car to drive on up to Vermont. My sister, Mimi, decided to go so she could have some down time. She and Sarah ended up shopping, sewing, and just relaxing while Aunt Nita and I hit the slopes from sun- up to sun-down!!!

The drive from the city to Vermont was a lot of fun. We enjoyed seeing the small eastern towns on the way up. We ended up getting to the hotel around 7:30 - 8:00 that night. When we went in to check in they didn't have rooms since they were doing some remodeling and decided to upgrade us --- I thought, oh, we will just get a suite - how fun!! Oh, no.....they upgraded us to a 2 bedroom condo -- full size living room, a dining room, full kitchen, and two separate bedrooms and enough room that the four of us could spread out without stepping on each other!!! It was heaven!!! We very much enjoyed our quarters especially since we could walk out our front door onto the patio then cross the street and we were in the middle of the village!!! Just a few feet away from the slopes calling our name!

Now, when my aunt and I go to the slopes - we go for the entire day!!! So that means you pack your jacket up with your bottled water, extra kleenex, snacks, and anything else you might need for the day. The jacket has a bunch of little pockes for everything.....so I stuff my goggles, camera, extra hat, neckband, etc into my pockets before I go out the door so my coat makes me look twice as big!!!! Not so good. But here I am in the condo right before we are going out to hit the slopes!

Vermont skiing is very different from Utah skiing.....Vermont snow is more "humid" or wet whereas the snow in Colorado or Utah is very dry. So there is a ton of difference in how it feels for the skis. Another thing about Vermont is that they still have the original "small" trails through the trees whereas when we are in Co or Ut the ski trails are extremely wide and open. I loved the small trails in Vermont. It was just so beautiful there!!

The trees were packed with snow.

On one of our trails we would ski down and under this covered bridge!!! So much fun!!

Several of the trails were right beside the housing area for the mountain. I loved the patio furniture for this house!!! I want sweet hubby to build me some furniture made out of old skis!!!

I think the Vermont ski trip was extremely wonderful!!! It was hard to leave and go home!! When we got to the airport we ended up getting bumped from our flight --- but that wasn't so bad -- they upgraded us to first class on our next flight and gave us a free flight coupon to use sometime during this year....wonder where I can go??????

For now the doctor is out......thinking upgrades are quite fun!!!!

My New Best Friend.....Gertie!!!

I have a new best friend!!! Now, my sweet friends, don't be alarmed....I still love you all too. But I have to introduce you to Gertie, my newest best friend!!! Gertie is very special....she is very helpful.....she can go with me everywhere!!!! She helps me find places like NYC.....or she can help me find things....like Sonic!!!! She also doesn't mind if I am on facebook or checking my email......she even helps with those things too!!! She is really a great friend!!!

This is Gertie!!!

Sweet hubby gave Gertie to me for Christmas!!! Usually sweet hubby will go buy me some diamonds or upgrade my diamonds (earrings/necklace) to a bigger diamond. But, this year I told sweet hubby I would really like a new phone...he was kind of baffled about it since I have always just gone down and picked out a phone at the phone store. But I explained to him that I didn't want just a plain ole phone.....I really wanted a Blackberry or a Blackjack this time......you know the ones where you have to pay a more $ to get it. So sweet hubby took me to the phone store and handed me over to the sales person then sweet hubby took Caleb to the pet store and the toy store while I talked phones. I told phone person what I was interested in and he started showing me the Blackberry and Blackjack then said would you like to see the iphone????? I told him that I didn't think sweet hubby would go for one that cost that much $$$. Well, it wasn't as much as I thought so sweet hubby said yes......(you have to understand that sweet hubby is a wonderful person, but sweet hubby doesn't like spending money). So I got my new iphone and a nasty rubbery pink cover!!!! They didn't have much to chose from. However, while shopping on Canal street I found a great RED hard plastic cover that so works much better.

I named my iphone Gertie.....because she is such wonderful tool that she deserved to be humanized with a name. Gertie helped me navigate to NYC to see Sarah. She also helped navigate on our road trip up the Hudson so I could go to Sleepy Hollow to see the headless horseman. Gertie also helped me stay connected to facebook while I was on the highway (I am SOOO addicted to Facebook!). Gertie also helped me check my email on the road as well. If I had had time to download music to Gertie, I could have listened to music on the road with her. Gertie also helped me find a SONIC!!!!! I have to have Sonic diet coke!!!! Of course I had to wait until I got to Virginia to find that darn Sonic!!!!

I think Gertie is a keeper!!!! She will be one of those life long friends (well, until someone greater, better, or faster comes along - sometimes I really am kind of fickle.)

For now the doctor is out.....loving her new friend Gertie and hoping her other friends understand that the new wears off eventually and then I can hang out with you guys again.....

Non-Traditional Christmas in New York City

For the past 4 years I along with my family have been struggling with Christmas. Four years ago at Christmas I was saying goodbye to my ex-sister-in-law who was also one of my best friends....she was dying from colon cancer. She passed in Feb. 2005. Then in April 2005 our family said goodbye to sweet hubby's mom and my uncle who passed on the same day. Two weeks later my beloved younger sister Robin passed away suddenly. Then in July our family lost a cousin. When September came around I lost my wonderful daddy. Then 3 weeks later my daddy's brother passed away. We left Arkansas for Christmas that year. We just couldn't bear to go through the Christmas traditions that we had developed with daddy and Robin not here to share with us. We went to Kansas where Sarah was living at the time. The day after Christmas we left Kansas to drive to Mississippi b/c Sarah's grandfather passed away. The following year we had a very somber Christmas awaiting Sarah's surgery for ovarian cancer. Since that year we have struggled through Christmas...trying to make things work.....overbuying for the kids....but it didn't replace the empty places at the table or everything else that was Christmas with the Family.

This year was no exception.....still not able to face Christmas with missing family members, my sister and I packed up our own kids and loaded Sherman the Tank and headed for NYC to spend the holiday with Sarah in her tiny apartment. My sister and I chose not to over buy on the gifts this year.....her kids got one big gift - the guitar hero and a couple little things. Caleb got one big gift and a couple of small gifts. Christmas morning was wonderful. The kids opened their small gifts and went off to enjoy. There was no mentioning of "he got that, why didn't I get one" or "is this all???" or " this isn't what I wanted.....I wanted such and such", it was just quiet fun. We played guitar hero and watched movies. Later in the day some of Sarah's friends (who used to live in Kansas and attend K-state but now live up here) came over and we laughed and laughed and had the absolute best time. Our Christmas dinner was 3 hours late...but it didn't matter to us.....

Sweet hubby didn't travel with us.....he wanted to go deer hunting......he too is battling the Christmas blues since both his parents are gone now and his brother passed two years ago. He doesn't have family left to share Christmas with (except us of course) so he spent Christmas with some friends in Arkansas before leaving out to hunt bambi. We missed sweet hubby but we totally understood his choices and he understood ours.

I think, or maybe I hope I am at the turning point now. Maybe I am not ready to give up on the traditional Christmas with family, gifts, etc. Maybe next year I will start sending out Christmas cards again (I actually stopped 3 years ago). Maybe I will plan out a Christmas party for my family again. Maybe I will play Santa again. Maybe I will stay home and have a traditional Christmas day with my family........maybe......we will see when next year rolls around.....maybe.....

For now the doctor is out.....hoping and praying this will be my last non-traditional Christmas....maybe....

Mapigating the USA

NOTE: This is a combined blog from The Doctor's Report and Confessions of a Mimi - since we are traveling together, we are sharing our blogs.

Well, it’s that time of year again when Dr. Mom and Mimi gather their meager possessions, load up Sherman the Tank and mapigate the USA. This year we are headed to the Big Apple to visit Sarah. If the beginning of the trip is any indication of what’s to come we are in big trouble.
We were set to leave on Friday afternoon…However, Sweet Hubby could not tune up the Tank until late that day. We decided to leave out early on Saturday morning. After ten years of devoted service the Tank threw us a curve. His hinder parts (rear brakes) were cracked and hurting. It took some tender loving care and new shoes to make Tank all better. We hit the road at 12 noon. We made a quick stop at our friend’s home to open some presents for Mimi’s brood and Franklin. We grabbed some lunch very quickly and set off. We encountered our first slow down outside of Lonoke. A semi trailer caught fire and traffic was at a standstill. We finally made it through that mess and enjoyed the wide open freeways. All was well with our little excursion until we hit Jackson, TN. Then we encountered something that has never happened before in 20 years of traveling together. The Tank had a blowout! We quickly pulled over and found that only a rim remained. What to do? We were packed to the gills, weren’t sure that we even had a good spare since we have never used it, and the wind was biting cold. A good Samaritan (he looked like our cousin Mike 20 years ago) stopped to give us a hand. He had to suffer through the cold, find a jack big enough to lift Sherman the Tank, and we had to unpack the back to get to our spare. The spare was in good shape, just needed a little air.

The blown out tire --- separated from the wheel all the way around!!

The Good Samaritans!!!!



Chicken Little trying to keep Franklin warm!!

The unloaded loot (for Sarah) so that we could get to the spare tire.

The loaded car....without the extra loot!

Ok, we have to get a BIGGER jack....this thing is too heavy!!!

Once all was packed back in we drove to a WalMart Tire Center just down the road and decided to buy 2 new tires for the back wheels. (Sweet Hubby had already put new tires on the front and saw that the back tires were fairly new so he did not change them) We were able to get to the tire center about 30 minutes before it closed for the evening! We decided to eat some dinner and because it was getting late, we found a hotel and stayed in Jackson for the night.
Dr. Mom and Mimi are quite impressed with the kind citizens of Jackson. We encountered good will throughout this city. Everyone was so helpful and kind to us. It now goes on one of our favorite places to be stranded in. Hopefully this list will remain small.

So…we are back on the road again suffering through all the little spats from the kids and the hundred million “are we there yet?” questions. Let’s hope we can continue the trip without any further happenings of the bad kind and stil keep our sanity.

For now the Doctor is out contemplating the fact that there are still good Samaritans in this world. Mimi is confessing that driving can still be more pleasant than flying, right???