And now...the news

Okay, so now that that's off my chest, let's go to family news.
Hmm, taking a look at my last post, looks like we have to announce our little Debbers!  Deborah Violet was born in January, and she is a cute little twerp.  Likely to be musically inclined, and definitely with a mind of her own.  At least that is what I infer from the fact that every time I try to feed her, she keeps twisting around trying to look at stuff.  Sometimes I'm glad I can't nurse!  If she did that while nursing, I'd...well, you get the idea.  Chasing her with the bottle is hard enough, I've finally gotten to the point that I just hold it in one spot, and if she wants it, she has to come get it.
Her first spoon feeding was...interesting.  She made so many gaggy faces and spit it all back out!  Note to self: next time, mix it with formula instead of water.  If that doesn't work, throw in a little banana.  If THAT doesn't work, put it in a bottle and hope she swallows a little before she realizes what it is!  Stubborn as a mule, just like her sisters.
The older kids are doing good, Taea graduated out of her preschool class a month and a half before the year was out.  Sigh.  Yet another reason why I have issues with that school.  Would it really be so hard to let her finish out the freakin' school year?  And because her birthday isn't till November, she can't go to school next year either.  Testing into kindergarten is really hard, and those that I talked to can't remember a time when anyone actually got in, so that's out, and private preschools are dang expensive.  So looks like it's time for mommy school, and hope we don't drive each other nuts.
I've applied to get Esther into a charter school.  She is number 10 on a waiting list, but last I heard, three people had gotten in, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!  Ten is a lot of people to drop out in a year, but you never know.  If a whole family with 3 kids moves, and another one, and another, then she's in!  It's conceivable...right?
As for Bekkers, she is stubborn, willful, and two.  Terrible twos, right down the line.  Since the only person smaller than her is Debby, and I won't let her boss the baby around, she has taken to bossing the cat around.  Except the cat only tolerates a little, then starts scratching and biting.  And she just doesn't learn.  Between the two cats, she has been scratched at least a dozen times, but she still plays rough.  I never discipline the cat.  It's not her fault!  Instead, I just watch for drawn blood, and hope that eventually, Becky will get the idea.  Before she kills the poor little furball.
And finally...sigh, the hard news.  Grandma had a massive stroke, and is in the terminal ward.  She is basically comatose, and because she gave a "do not rescusitate" order, they can't put in any life support.  It is so dang hard, expecially when this is a woman that has been so freakin' healthy her whole life!  Doesn't know what a headache is!  Never had a cold, or the flu...of course, she did have morning sickness.  That's where I got it from.  But otherwise, she was perfectly healthy.  When stuff like this pops up out of the blue, it just throws you completely out of your groove.  I won't even discuss the condition of my house.  It's just too depressing.
Well, the garden is in, and we are just trying to stay sane.  This summer is going to be...interesting.  I plan to do some fun stuff with the kids, so long as the schedule with the baby permits.  And money, of course.  But we'll see how things go.  If I am not in some corner sucking my thumb by the time school starts, I'll consider that a triumph!

Teachers drive me crazy

Okay, so maybe it's not ENTIRELY the teacher's fault.  Just mostly.  I get Esther out the front door to school, still in my jammies, and the bus driver waves me out to the road.  I cringe.  I already look like a blob in normal clothes, I look like a beached whale in my jammies!  Still, I run out there, trying not to prick bare feet in the grass under the horse chestnuts, and she informs me that there is going to be a water party today!
Party?  Really?  Since when?  I hadn't received any notice.
Turns out there was a reason for that.  Sort of.  I run back in, get her suit, hand it to the bus aide, and watch her drive off all excited for a party.  The rest of my morning is consumed with getting our van into the shop (again) so they can figure out why it is shifting weird and flashing speed sensor codes.  I walk home with the other girls (the shop is only 3 blocks away, thank goodness!) and get home in plenty of time to greet the bus.  I'm standing on the porch, anticipating greeting a drenched 5 year old who will likely want a bath.
She gets off the bus.  She is bone dry, and in tears.
Say what?
She walks up to me, and through her tears, it takes several attempts to understand what she is saying.  Her class did not get to participate.  Others did, but hers didn't.  I guess her teacher said something to the effect of "no swimming at school".
Huh?
So everyone else got to participate, but not her class.  After we went to the trouble to get her suit and towel, holding up the bus, (apparently a lot of parents had this issue, NO ONE had been told) and she comes home and tells me it was all for nothing.
Teachers, I understand that you're busy.  I do.  BUT SO AM I.  I do not have time to be running around trying to figure out the kids activities from day to day when you do not send me proper notice.  Not to mention that it causes serious confusion and disappointment in the kids!  If there is a reason they didn't get to party, TELL ME.  Do your job, it takes all of thirty seconds to bang out a quick email to the parents, and I know darn well you have our email addresses!  Next time, maybe us parents will just bring the water party ourselves.