Schools Out, Schools Out, Teachers Let The Monkeys Out

Overhead projector, transparencies and film projector along with film strips

Filing cabinet filled to the brim, refrigerator, pencil sharpener

student desk chairs

cubbies, dry erase boards, bulletin boards


teacher's desk and more charts


bookcase, globe, world map


lots and lots of educational supplies, and I do mean lots.

This is by no means our homeschooling room. I just don't go there. I am okay with all of you who do, but I tend to go for the public school thing.

Anyway, I really don't blog much about Gage as he asks me not too. Every time I take a picture or say something about the blog, he tells me every time to not blog about it or him. He is at that age, and I feel if they ask you not to blog about them, then you should not. It is not that I don't love him or love Aidan more, Aidan just can't say now right now. But this, oh he was fine with this. This is his pride and joy. You see, my son who is going to soon be 13, going to have to get a job to support his habits of buying teacher resource materials and to buy all the shoes he is outgrowing and the clothes too, wants to become a teacher. He has dreamed of this since a very small age, and has been collecting this stuff for years. This my friends is Gage's teacher room above our garage. This is a nice room, long and narrow but has a nice window in the end, good lighting, privacy and hardwood floor, and he has it filled to the brim, very neatly I might add, with his teaching room. He spends hours tucked away in this room, grading papers, making worksheets, using all the ink in our printer cartridges, hint, hint, and doing things teachers normally do.

The filing cabinet is stuffed with Mailbox Magazines, magazines that teachers subscribe too, and yes he has a subscription. This company publishes ideas submitted by teachers, and he has had a few published, that is until they found out he was only 12 at the time and kindly sent us a note they would not be accepting any more of his ideas. I say boycott them, but he does love this magazine, and actually reads it. There are numerous teacher resource books and materials in this room. They fill every nook and cranny. The overhead projector and cart, a Christmas gift. The white board, a wonderful DIY project by my hubby as well as the white bookcase. He is handy like that. The local teacher stores know Gage when he comes in. They think it is just cool that he likes this stuff. Of course, he is spending all his money there, and well on Ebay. Did I tell ya he was very fluent on Ebay. Yep, does his own bidding, paying and emailing, of course upon my approval. Last week he got a Macmillan Box thingy, who knows what it was, and well he had no money, so that thing cost him, washing both cars inside and out and lots of little chores. This week, another Macmillan Box thingy, and well he had money for that that he forgot about in his closet. Go figure. Who forgets about money? Wait he is just 12.

I know, I know, my husband thinks it is crazy. But you see, the way I look at it is if it was not this kind of stuff, which is very helpful and educational, it would be video games or gasp, even girls. He is just too young for the latter I think. You know, I am his mother. I don't even want to think about this stuff.

Needless to say, this is a room I once had plans for, a nice little bedroom, a workout room, something I felt was useful. Well it is very useful, housing Gage's stuff, and believe me he has plenty of it.

By the way, if you have any FREE, I cannot stress FREE enough, teacher materials you would like to get rid of, I am sure Gage would be glad to take them off your hands. The teachers take advantage of us at the end of the year like this, and I get all their junk.

Teresa

A Day in the Life of the Burke's

Nope, we are not the Duggars. I am not sure how they do it with all those kids and another on the way. We are lucky to manage 2. Darrell commented yesterday sometimes he has to remember if he dropped Aidan off at my mom's house in the morning. Two kids are hard, especially when you have to do everything for 1 of them, and most everything still for the 12-year-old. This morning. I don't have deodorant. Me, I say, I told you where it was. Okay, (stands there waiting for me to get it). Geesh Louise. Do I have to do everything around here? Darrell is a big help and I am grateful for that. I know many times I forget this and take this for granted, but he does help. So I thank him. Again, I seriously do not know how the Duggaars do it all. I secretly in the back of my mind look to turn on the news 1 day and they are divorcing, 1 of their children has committed murder or in drug rehab. I don't wish this on them, but I just keep thinking this picture may not be what it seems. How could it? Look at the Gosselins, Jon and Kate. Nuff said.

Anyway, yesterday Aidan was due for vaccinations. Hate these, and boy did he ever cry yesterday. They kept coming back in to check on him, and when he would see the nurse, he would cry even harder. He even cried with her listening to his little chest and all the weighing and measuring. Can anybody say my baby has stranger anxiety. This would be to say the least. As you can imaging, he had grown quite a bit. They actually measured his head twice to make sure they measured it right. It had grown 3 inches in 3 months. Yes, he has a fat head. We have known that all along. His brother has a fat head and so does his dad. I live in a house with a bunch of fat heads. LOL. This little head thing was 1 of the things that made me decided to go with a repeat c-section if you know what I mean. Back to the subject at hand. Aidan now weighs 21 pounds and 9 ounces and is 27 1/4 inches long. Well actually 27 and 3/8 inches long according to what Darrell told the nurse yesterday when he helped her measure Aidan. She said, go figure a man would measure that way. She said they were not that precise. Now me, I would have to say 27 and so many little marks. He is wearing size 4 diapers, sitting up great, I look for him to start crawling soon, he says ma ma (at least it sounds like it), he is trying to hold his bottle, still sleeping with me, eating like a little pig, and still loving his paci.

We were super busy yesterday getting things priced for my huge living estate sale on Saturday. I am hoping I don't start deciding to keep things as they are coming out of buildings and garages. I have already decided on some things. And then there is this little estate sale tomorrow, and I have already previewed some of the stuff, and I am sending Darrell down 1st thing in the morning to get what I want. I told you I am definitely a hoarder of junk. Well, good junk that is.

Back to Aidan, yesterday just wore him out, messed up his entire schedule of napping and eating. The eating still took place but the napping, not so much. He literally fell over last night, but was up again from 4:15 until 6 again. Can somebody tell this baby to go back to sleeping. Gotta love him. I so wish yesterday I had my video recorder out. Gage literally had Aidan doing a belly laugh. I just love it. Listening to my 2 babies interacting like that. It is wonderful.

Well, back to the grind today after being off yesterday for appointments, and I have to stay motivated today. Just gotta.

Teresa

Ketchup Anyone!

Ketchup anyone. Well not that kind of ketchup, but catch up, or maybe catsup for some of you folks. Not me! I hate catsup, pronounced by me Cat SUP, yes 2 words. I can tell the difference, and as far as I am concerned, if it is not Heinz, I don't like it. And no, Heinz did not pay me to say that. Believe me when I tell you they have no clue who I am. But wait, don't we share the same 1st name.

Anyway, here we go catching up. We are still super busy but this weekend we took Saturday to do some things we like to do.

We went to the flea market, did not buy any fleas but did get some neat old junk to add to all the stuff I already have. Seriously, I think I need to be on that new show, Hourders.

Next, we went here and did some pictures. I love this house, always have, and always will. I wanted to buy it but way to expensive for our blood. This house is absolutely beautiful. I have more pictures of the architectural detail. I was not able to get a good front facing picture as I would have had to crossed the road and stood on the other side, and risked getting caught trespassing again. No thanks!

Gage and Aidan paid some bills. Oh way, they don't work. They just surfed the web, right.

And Aidan ate crackers, lots and lots of them. He loves crackers.

He even resorted to picking the crumbs up out of the swing. This little chunky monkey loves to eat. He is about 22 pounds now, outgrown his infant car seat and moving on up to a convertible seat. He eats about 2 jars of baby food at a time, has 2 teeth, eats about 5 crackers at a time, and loves yogurt bites. Gage loves chicken, Aidan not so much. We tried it the other day. He gagged and refused to take another bite. Little Miss Bailee our little black shih tzu loved it though. Guess cause it reminded her of soft dog food and smelled about the same.

We have still been working on house projects, finished a few with a post on these later. One involves an old door from a house we bought, and the other involves lots and lots of white plates, and an old crib. Been cleaning out some of my junk, getting ready to have a huge antique/living estate sale. Ad has been paid for and should be in the local paper. Can't wait. Still lots of pricing to do.

TIME FOR SOME RECOGNITION

Having a baby is very time consuming, and sometimes we seem to forget, well not forget, but not really have the time or the energy for other people in our lives. I know I seem to blog more about the baby than Gage but Aidan is attached at the hip and well, Gage is quickly growing up. I know that eventually he will be doing things on his own and quickly moving toward being an adult.

I want to take this time today to recognize 1 special guy in my life. Remember, I have 3. This guy is my baby and will always be my baby. I can still remember his cute little face as a baby, things he did, things he said.

Gage is a really good kid. He does great in school, is very well behaved and we really do not have any problems with him. All the teachers say they wish they had an entire classroom of kids like Gage. He is aspiring to be a teacher, and this is fine with us. We do wish he would chose something that would make him a little more money since teachers deserve so much more money than they make.

Gage is a great helper. He gets me stuff for the baby, loads the dishwasher, vacuums, picks up laundry, feeds the dogs and many more countless tasks to which some are prompted and some are just on his own. He also cleans and vacuums the pool. He is so insistent it stay clean. He showers every day without us having to tell him. I mean, how many 12-year-old boys do that. We do have to remind on the teeth brushing still. And, I do still fix his hair. I joke I will be doing this until he is 30, but that is fine with me.

Lately I can see him changing, his voice is changing, he is taller than me now, almost wears the same size shoe as his dad, and they do wear the same size clothes. How did this happen? Can I change this somehow? Where did my baby go? Time goes buy so fast and I can see this already happening with Aidan.

I wanted to take this time to tell my #1 guy how much I love him and love having him as my son. Mommy is busy a lot with the baby, and you are moving on in things in your life. I know that in 3 years you will be driving a car. Scary, huh? I cannot even begin to imagine these changes taking place in your life. I just want you to remember I will always love you, you will always be my baby and I am always here for you no matter what.

Love,
Mom

Just another Manic Monday

Except it is Tuesday and I meant to do this yesterday. Oh well, like I said, manic Monday, and not talking about the 80's group, The Bangles. Yes, I grew up with this kind of music and still like to listen to 80's music. Most of Gage's friends are amazed at how much he knows about 80's music too, but what can I say, we sing along together and act crazy to these songs.

Boy have we been busy, staining the porch, painting the entire house including trim and ceilings, being general contractor to my mom and dad's house, which has all the foundation laid and they are bringing the wood today, Yippee!!, moving right along. I think Darrell spent about 4 hours on the phone yesterday with companies getting price quotes and estimates. Saturday we spent all day going to a discount building supply store to get windows, and she got some of the most adorable glass doorknobs I have seen. I have coveted these knobs, I must say, even though I know I am not supposed to covet. Note to self, pray about this. These knobs remind me of old knobs on older houses, love them!

I have been so busy trying to pull off some of those artsy photos MckMama takes. I think I have used an entire package of batteries trying to get that blurry background down. I have come to the conclusion my camera will do this slightly but not so much. I have also been playing around with several Photoshop programs, and I must say, I am loving these. I have not had much time to do much with these, but working on it. I have a 30-day trial of the Photoshop Elements program before I decide to purchase this. I am so wanting to learn more about photography so I can choose to take more pictures of my children and family without all the expense professional photographers take, plus having to load them up and get there in 1 piece with everyone still having clothes on and no mishaps in the car seat with the poopie diapers. I am hearing a new more expensive camera calling my name, hint, hint to Darrell for our anniversary which is coming up.

Meanwhile our house is a shipwreck right now and not like the Titanic. I tried to get Darrell to just concentrate on 1 room at a time. This worked fine for a bit and then he decided to let the guy do all the trim and doors upstairs. At this time we have no doors on any of the bedrooms, family room and at 1 point even the bathroom. I did make him put that door back on as soon as it was dry so I could shower. I mean, I am not too crazy showering without a door on the bathroom with people in here helping to paint our house.

Aidan is growing so fast, sitting up great in his high chair we just got him, liking his exersaucer and his jumper and becoming oh so vocal. He smiles constantly at you and is my little hip baby so to speak. He is always on my hip while I am doing things.

Gage is growing too. He will be 13 in October, an official teenager, and just think, 3 more years he will be allowed to drive. Where has time gone? Right now he has just finished reading "23 minutes in Hell." Yes, you heard me right. He reads books that are more mature for him. He has read several along this line and is awaiting the "90 minutes in Heaven" book as soon as we come across this. He has also read "The Shack" and liked this book too. I would do links for all this stuff but I have not had time to figure this out yet. You could say I like to blog but I am lazy and just like to get it over with, but mostly because I need to be working and not blogging, speaking of which I need to get back to.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Teresa

Christmas in July

Gage has wanted this lamp for a while, just too expensive.

Aidan does not look too thrilled with Santa, but it won't take him long to figure out what this is all about.

No, we are not having a sale here, just a few more pictures from our vacation to Pigeon Forge.

Gage is my Christmas man. He has always loved Christmas from the beginning of life. Now don't get me wrong when I say he likes the presents because he does, but actually likes all the decorations. He has always been in awe of Christmas lights. He loves to look at them and actually play with them. Yes, you heard me right. He would string them literally all over our house all year long. He kept them in neat little rolled up balls ready for decorating at just about any time. We would buy these on Ebay, yard sales, junk stores and even new ones when they were out. Christmas to him was a time to play. As you got older he started to want Christmas lights that were old, and many times we have obliged him by buying them for him. I figured no different than buying a toy. At least he played with the lights longer. I can remember many times for presents family members would buy him miniature Christmas trees and even boxes of lights. My mom did bring to my attention once that there was a lead warning on the lights, and that did freak me out a little bit, but he is fine.

Over the past few years he has gotten out of playing with the lights especially since he got his own laptop, the lights are not cool now, but he does help with all the decorations here, all 9 trees he feels we need. He still feels like everything has to be over the top when it comes to Christmas, and still enjoys looking at the lights each year. I just know that when he is older his house will be like the house on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. And yes, he loves this movie. He just could never realize why we used light clips and did not staple our lights like Clark W. Grizwald. I have watched several Extreme Christmas shows on HGTV before, and a lot of these people started their decorating frenzy when they were younger so I know this will be Gage. He is destined to be on 1 of these shows.

These pictures are from Pigeon Forge at The Christmas Shop. He loves to go here and look, but this year he seemed a little less impressed. I knew this was coming, girls might be creeping into the picture, UGH!

Teresa

SUMMERTIME MAKES ME FEEL FINE

I know, I know, it is supposed to be summerbreeze makes me feel fine, but just had to change it a bit. You see, this is my blog and I can do that, write whatever I want.

The weather has been hot here and Gage has been living in the pool most days. Little Aidan just watches him and my niece and nephew and gets excited. He is still way to young at 15 weeks to let him take a dip. We did put his feet in the water and he just puckered up and cried. I can only imagine next year when they are swimming and Aidan will be standing at the back patio door probably screaming he wants to go outside. There goes having a clean door right. What am I saying, the clean door went out with the dogs and the cats and all the other kids. I am sure I will be loving his little lip marks and sticky hands all over the door.

As far as being outside much, which I usually am, I mostly stay indoors now with the baby with the exception of an occasional stroll around the farm or swinging the baby in the porch swing. We live on a farm and it is so quiet and peaceful. We have no neighbors, and that is the way we like it. Well, Gage hates that since there is no one for him to talk to and play with. I do feel pretty bad about this. If only my children could have been closer in age. Who knows, maybe we can have another baby next year! Wait, I think I hear my husband running for the hills now with this comment.

The Lord wakes us up each and every day, he breathes life into us, he gives us these days and we should be thankful. When you look around at God's Coloring Book you see all the colors and the beauty he created.