march snow

how funny is it that as we celebrate the nice weather that only a few weeks earlier we were making snow angels in our front yard?!
we had some nice snow, for our area, a few weeks ago. the kids loved playing in it! well, tommy liked it until he fell face first in it, twice. then he was ticked and ready to go in. mark anthony and lacee had a blast in it...until they decided it was too cold. of course they arent used to having to keep those hoods and gloves and extra clothes on, they both kept trying to ditch the gloves and hats, then fussing when the snow got down in their shirts or up their sleeves! ha!
the snow was gone by the afternoon, but it was certainly nice while it lasted!

its almost spring!!!!!

yay! today the weather was fairly nice!! the boys went to school, lacee home not feeling well. at noon mark and i walked 4 blocks. he has been walking everyday since his surgery, and this is the first time i have been able to join him. then this evening, we put the boys in the stroller and lacee joined us. our friends megan and tim also walked with us. we walked a full mile! i am not sore (yet..lets hope thats still true tomorrow!) and am proud of myself!!
after we got home the kids wanted to play outside. to nice to finally get to be out for awhile!! we are really looking forward to nice weather.

confused.....

i am confused. i took lacee to the doc today for stomach pain. i figured it wasnt anything, but since the flu, strep throat, and stomach virus are running crazy here, (enough so that school was cancelled friday) i figured it was better to be safe than sorry. sure enough, it turns out she is ok. probably something she has ate that had hidden wheat in it. that and we are about to have another woman in the house. any day now.
but thats not what i am confused about. for about 2 or 3 school years now, but gradually getting worse, i have noticed that lacee is spacey. haha cute rhyme. but seriously, she has to be reminded constantly of the littlest things. tie your shoes, brush your teeth. things she has been doing all her life. she forgets her pencil for homework. she forgets her homework. she forgets to bring the text book that goes with the homework. she forgets her progress reports. she forgets her lunch. she forgets why she walked in the room. she forgets she was tieing her shoes, spaces out in the middle of the task. you get the idea. at first i thought it wasnt as bad as i thought, we moms can be harder on our own kids than we are on others.
but last sunday night she spent the night with chrissy. chrissy has been my best friend since we were 16-17 yrs old. her son is my "nephew" and my kids call her "aunt chrissy". we love each others children and want only the best for them. monday morning while getting the kids ready for school, she got a small taste of spacey lacee. she could see exactly what i see.
so today while at the doc i mentioned the spaceyness to her and asked about add meds. i am thinking that a small dose of attention helping meds might be good for lacee. i was given a paper for me to fill out and a paper for a teacher to fill out.
i texted one of her teachers, the one that has her the most, to let her know i was sending the paper tomorrow and if she could please fill it out and send it back to me or the doc. asked her if she thought it might help. she said lacee had no trouble focusing at school, she is one of the best in the class!! i explained to her what i see at home, and that i was schocked, happily, that lacee wasnt struggling at school.
so i guess i will go ahead and send the paperwok to the teacher, then meet with the doc next week with the answers of mine and the teachers papers. doc said they would also test her hearing, vision, and do either an eeg or ekg, not sure which she said.
i dont want to medicate my child if its not needed, but as middle school approaches closer and closer, i want to do everything to help her be the best lacee she can be.

police bashing?

this is just a sample of common conversations. it was posted on facebook. i am deleting the names of those involved. the first one started, and i commented on it as i know two of the people involved in the conversation, A and S. the second conversation i started after the first one got under my skin!!i think they pretty much speak for themselves, these conversations, so no need to me to add anything else.


S is cant stand cops. 3:44pm ·
A at 3:46pm March 11
what'd ya do? haha
J at 3:46pm March 11
what did u do
S at 3:47pm March 11
nothing... but there jerks
A at 3:53pm March 11
truuuetrue. I was thinking maybe ya got a ticket.. haha
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 5:00pm March 11
oh hold up now!!! who exactly would you call if you were in a wreck or being robbed?? yep...those same people you fuss about are there to save your butts!!!
A at 5:49pm March 11
well now, I guess that's true Mrs Mitchell. they always seem to be waay late & awful timing though..
ohh wait, your husband.. haha =)
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 6:01pm March 11
but you gotta realize they can only come as fast as the call is made and the dispatcher gives them the call and the details and as soon as they get done with the call they are currently on as well.
plus, when there is only 2 or 3 of them to work the entire city or county....that doesnt leave enough to go around.
S at 1:07pm March 12
im talking about the one that have nothing better to do but to pull over kids as they drive in a parking lot
A at 1:17pm March 12
yeah, seems like cops here have nothing to do! Sorry, Mrs. Mitchell. :) hope your husbands not one of those cops.\
S at 1:18pm March 12
lol yeah srry miss gretchen
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 3:41pm March 12
lol from what i hear those kids fly into the city park like maniacs...not realizing there could be little kids walking over from those houses next door. the job of the police is to PROTECT people, not make people happy.
S at 4:16pm March 12
i got stoped goin 18 in a 15... other ppl were going 12 in a 15 and we got warnings... only 3 ppl o ticktes which ended up being warnings.... but my problem was there r billions of ppl doing drugs around this town and they cant stop them??? im not mad but i dont think the methods they took were right
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:19pm March 12but, the limit is 15 not 18. think of all the kids that live right there that could have been on that road going to play. and what do you think made the cops be there in the first place?? complaints from people who see it everyday.
and i agree...the drug problem here is terrible. rediculous. and whats more rediculous is that the way the laws are written, just knowing someone does it isnt enough...you have to have proof and you have to obtain that proof through insanely narrow ways.
A at 4:31pm March 12
I'm sorry Mrs. Gretchen. but maybe these cops should spend more time figuring out ways to catch these drug people. if they spent more time they'd get what they need for the insanely difficult way. it's not like they were going 30 or anything. it's was simply 3 over the speed limit. I'm sure there was much worse things going on in the small town of Savannah.
although I do understand there is kids there, 3 mph over I doubt makes a big difference.
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:40pm March 12
3 isnt much, i'll agree with that. but if 3 is ok, then why not 5? and if 5 is ok, then why not 10. you gotta have a limit somewhere.
and i could be very wrong, but i doubt they got stopped for only 3 over. i would guess they were either doing more, or doing other things such as running the stop sign, squealing tires, swerving all over the road, etc etc. and yes these are things i have done before and may even do again. but if i get caught i will put my big girl panties on and deal with it....and the lecture i will surely get when i arrive home.
matter of fact, i have to go to oakland in a few weeks for a speeding ticket i got.
now about the drugs....they can catch them all day long, but you also have to have a DA and lawyers and judges with the balls to make them pay for what they are doing, not slap them on the wrist and send them home. drug dealers are super smart people....they dont go down easy. one drug bust takes months, if not years, of planning.
it is not the cops place to write the laws or change them to make it so they can catch them the best way. if it was i can promise you this town would be a totally different place when i comes to drugs. its the congress and state reps and senators that do that. and most of them have never worked the streets to realize how assanine the laws they have passed really are.




Gretchen says: cops risk their lives for ungrateful people everyday! yet who do you call when you need help? the same people you whine about every other day!! 3:48pm ·
L at 3:52pm March 12
Wow, you are very passionate about that. Everything okay?
A at 3:59pm March 12
S & I, love youu.. =)
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:00pm March 12
yes. some baseball boys got pulled over and ticketed yesterday while flying into our city park, which is where they practice. another ball player posted his status that he cant stand cops and a couple others chimed in about how they are jerks, etc. so i am on a roll, posting to them and on here.
our city park sits right in the middle of a neighborhood filled with children, flying down that road is a disaster waiting to happen!!
i used to not understand cops either, til i married one. people just dont realize what they go through or their families go through, even in small towns. they walk out the door each day in their kevlar not knowing if they will make it home or not.
they arent paid peanuts for what they do, and most people dont even respect them or the laws they are there to enforce.
from what i hear, before practice was over those kids tickets were made into warnings, which does absolutely NOTHING to teach them any sort of responsibility whatsoever.
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:01pm March 12
a, i love you and s too. even when you push my buttons. =)
A at 4:04pm March 12
we're sorry.. we didn't mean to upset youu.
K at 4:10pm March 12
Well, they are still kids. They will grow up and look back on this, then realize they were jerks.
I have a "got drunk in the park and then thought the cops were mean to me for making me pour out the beer and then threatening to arrest me" story of my own. I was all indignant then, but now I realize what a fool I was.
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:13pm March 12
yep they are kids and i totally get it. i have a few stories of my own.
its ok a, i forgive you. =)
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:16pm March 12
the sad thing is that MORE people fuss about the cops than those that dont. so my rant isnt directed just at a or s or anyone in particular. i guess its directed at everyone. no one ever told me to look at the big picture either. i think society should do a better job of that.
M at 4:21pm March 12
Jeez, Gretchen.. you're such a badass.. this is why I love you :) haha
You remind me of myself when you get on these rampages.
Mark is my favorite cop by the way.
B at 4:26pm March 12
You are so right gretchen - when these kids grow up and have kids of their own - they will understand - these parents that had the tickets changed should make these kids get jobs and pay for them and their insurance - before they run over and kill someone - i was never fortunate enough to have a car bought and give to me - didn't even get a car until after graduation - and i understand that mistakes still happen - like accidently runnign red lights when you're jammin out to Ice Ice Baby : ) Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:29pm March 12
i love you too m!!! but you may wanna find a temporary favorite cop while mark is out of work the next 2 months....just in case... =)
and brandy, i couldnt have said it better myself!!!
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:32pm March 12
AND while i am at it.....
my cop hubby has been off work for 6 weeks already and will be off another 2-3 months at least, with NO PAY, because he got hurt off duty and is honest and moral enough to not lie and say he got hurt at work.
so i dont wanna hear no "cops waiste my tax money" garbage either!!
A at 4:38pm March 12
okay, only 18 in a 15.. I think saying S could've killed someone is a little bit of an exxagertion. the others were only going 12 in a 15.
hmm. I thought there was a like 5 over leeway or something.
M at 4:38pm March 12
Well I think that not everybody at high school gets to leave school at 1:20 to go off campus and play so the baseball players shouldn't abuse the privledge by speeding anyway.
B at 4:43pm March 12
Kids have been killed by someone backing over them and that would prob be at speeds not over 10???? Just guessing??? It's a PARK for goodness sakes!!! KIDS everywhere! and i am not saying that i've never went over the speed limit BUT i can say that there are lessons to be taught and when you think that you are above the law....well i have said enough - thanks gretchen for getting me on a soapbox!!! LOL!!! OH and m is so right!!!!!
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:49pm March 12
there is no such leeway its just a rumor that too many people buy into.
a car falling on you not moving at all can kill you, so yes, going any little bit faster than you should is really opening the door even wider than it already is for an accident to happen.
that area is so full of kids, kids that are tiny and hard to see going just 5 mph...never mind 10 or 12.
A at 4:52pm March 12
& I understand.
I'll make sure not to speed. especially in places where little kids are around.
& understnd cops have a job to do but still..
Gretchen Freeman Mitchell at 4:54pm March 12
they do have a job to do and it is a hard job and a super important one at that....they deserve our respect not our complaining.
A at 4:56pm March 12
okay, we appologize.

successful surgery

mark had his back surgery.
we had to arrive at the hospital by 6am, and his surgery began a little after 11. it lasted a little less than an hour, and by noon the next day we were home. we even stopped at ihop for breakfast and at sallys for some lip plumper.
i kept everyone up to the minute on his progress via facebook. how amazing laptops and wifi are!!!
he walked 2 blocks that afternoon and has already walked 2 more today.
the kids stayed sunday night with chrissy, and tuesday night with carmen. i am so thankful for wonderful friends i can trust with my kids and that my kids enjoy being at their house. we are so thankful for a great surgery and a great 2 days after. am praying the rest go just as well.
friends from church brought supper last night, and are bringing supper tonight as well. what a blessing that is too!

discipline

another parenting tip forwarded from our childrens minister:

• • • • •
Parenting Tip

March 9, 2009


Look for Ways to Make Discipline Positive


You may be saying, "Yes, I know discipline is supposed to be positive but how can I be positive when my kids are doing the wrong thing." Here are two practical ways you can make your discipline times a positive experience.

One way is to state rules and requests in positive terms. Instead of saying, "Don't shout," you might say, "We talk quietly in the store." Instead of "Stop being rough with the dog," you might say, "Be gentle." Instead of complaining about the clothes all over your four-year-old daughter's room, you could say, "Remember, we put our clothes in the hamper when we take them off."

It may take some work, but clearly stating or restating the rule in positive terms gives your child a clear picture of what you expect and keeps your interaction on a positive note. Give gentle, positive reminders to point your kids in the right direction.

A second way to be positive is to give children choices. Instead of saying, "Stop banging that drum," you could say, "You may play that drum outside or in your room." Or, "I've already said no to getting out the train set. You can either choose another activity or go outside to play for awhile." By keeping discipline positive you are training and teaching. Choices help children move in a more constructive direction.

Ephesians 6:4 says, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

The first part of the verse describes a negative way of relating to children. Exasperate gives the impression of being harsh and causing discouragement. In place of that negative response, fathers are instructed to do something positive, bring their children up in the training and instruction of the Lord. As parents, we don't want to discipline our kids to merely get rid of negative behaviors. The purpose of discipline is to train children and show them the positive direction they are to go.


For more practical ideas for working with your kids, consider the book, Home Improvement, The Parenting Book You Can Read to Your Kids Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN, BSN.



If this tip was sent to you by a friend and you'd like to continue to receive tips yourself, you can sign up at www.biblicalparenting.org.

disappointment

friday did not bring us the cheerleading news we had hoped for. i was so afraid of how crushed lacee would be. she has handled it very well. a few tears here and there, but nothing like i expected. i finally sat her down sunday afternoon, told her it was ok to be mad. it is ok to cry. it is ok to be dissappointed. she did admit to all of those feelings. i didnt want her to hold it in and not express herself. granted there is a time and a place for that, and at home with mom is the perfect place. or with a trusted friend. just dont let it bottle up inside and eat at you. that is unhealthy.
another mom critized me for lacee not being excited about the flower i had bought her and offered her after seeing the results of the tryouts. it was a single wrapped rose with a little greenery, and a tiny stuffed tiger attached. granted, had she been chosen for the team, she would have been in a much better mood and much more excited to be given a flower. yet two minutes after learning something you have dreamed about since as long as you can remember is not coming true doesnt put you in the gift receiving mood. i offered it to her, she said she didnt want it, i laid it down. she did not yell at me, she did not shove the flower away or throw it at me or down. i understood.
the next day i told her, that while i totally understood her feelings, she should have simply said thank you and then laid it down. that when you are having a bad day and someone does something nice for you, you should accept it, say thank you, and move on. she teared up, she obviously felt bad. i told her not to worry, i was not mad and she was not in trouble. just for furture reference, she needs to know to handle it a little better. thats all. i dont feel she acted horrid at all. and i wont bring it up again.
lacee and her friends had already had the "we will not be mad at each other no matter the results of tryouts" talk before mark and i asked her to have that talk with her friends. 1 girl out of her elementary school made it. they arent close friends, but they do have classes together. i am proud that they all had that talk without being asked, i think that shows maturity and kindness. i also know how hard that can be when reality sets in, and i am praying that today and the days that follow prove them able to hold to that pact.

thankful for a monday??

my status today is that i have come back to work to get some rest! this weekend was definately not the idealist refreshing relaxing 2 days we usually look forward to.
mark anthony woke up saturday morning with the stomach virus, as i posted earlier. then on top of his ruptured discs, mark took to the virus saturday night. sunday morning he looked more like a mummy that had just been unwrapped after 100's of years of storage in a tomb than the man i married. bless his heart.
by sunday evening, thankfully he was much better. i slept lightly last night, waiting for myself or lacee or tommy to start it, but so far we are all good. hopefully it was just a MARK thing, not a family thing.
this morning i am subbing at the high school. i am so greatful to have worked every day last week and have every day this week booked as well.
i am currently on my planning period, relaxing in the library with a 25cent latte listening to the highschools musical group..WIRED..perform. they are truly amazing...musicians, vocals...if you didnt see them and were only listening you would think there was professionals in the room! very impressive!!
yesterday the kids and i did get to play in a few inches of real snow....it was great...i'll post pics soon.
today starts the week of middle school cheerleading clinics with tryouts on friday. lacee is so excited to be trying out. i am a nervous wreck! i hope she makes it, but if she doesnt i hope she handles it well. this is the first year they have let upcoming 6th graders tryout, it has only been a 7-8 grade team for years.
mark goes to the back surgeon tomorrow. i am praying for relief and a plan to keep him well.