school Archives - laxmom.net

Do You Have a Morning Routine?

Do you have a morning routine. . .

Do you have a morning routine other than rolling out of the bed and crashing to the floor? I was reading something the other day about having a morning routine and how it made you more productive throughout the rest of the day. When the boys were little we had a strict morning routine and yes, I was very productive throughout the day.

My morning routine of the past. . .

My morning routine when the boys were little was to get up before anyone else in the house. By getting up before anyone else I had time to myself to do my devotions, read my Bible, and pray. This time was very important to me because it was my only time to myself and it did set the tone for the rest of the day. Not sure if that gave me a boost to be more productive or not. Goodness knows with the boys I did not stop till I lay my head down for sleep.

My current morning routine. . .

Since we are almost empty nesters and I am working a lot right now, I am not getting up as early but still reading my Bible, doing my devotions, and praying. I am trying to walk again first thing in the morning because that does make me more productive and relaxed for the rest of the day. My morning routine would not be complete without my infamous smoothie for breakfast. How you start your day does affect how the rest of your day goes.

Breakfast Smoothie: Blend the following in the blender till smooth.

frozen pineapple cubes
frozen cherries pitted
fresh ginger
8oz coconut water
beets chopped (I use my frozen cubes)
1 scoop of protein powder

Conclusion. . .

I encourage you to start a morning routine, just do it for two weeks and see how it goes. Leave a comment and let me know how it goes, even if it is negative I would be glad to read your comments. Life is about trial and error and if you do not try you are not going anywhere. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is courage to continue that counts” Winston Churchill. Have courage and stay tuned. . .

Did You Fail Your Kids? I Have. . .

I failed my kids. . .

I love my boys more than anything, some days I love them so much it hurts. You want your kids to be successful in life and to be good humans. Recently I read a post about teachers humiliating students and it struck a cord with me. I posted about my son and his being humiliated by a high school football coach, someone that was supposed to be a leader and a role model. My son is in college now and upon graduation plans to teach history, he also wants to coach lacrosse. He will be a good coach, goodness knows he has had plenty of bad coaches to learn how not to coach. I am thankful for the few encouraging coaches he has experienced and no shock that they were all lacrosse coaches.

Saddened daily by the state of our education system. . .

Both of my boys were bullied and humiliated by coaches, teachers, and students they thought were their friends. It saddens me more that my kids did not share this with me until after the fact. They were good at putting on a good face. I prided myself on being open and approachable. Some things they did talk to me about but for things they knew I would go to the mat over they kept to themselves. I found out too late to do anything about the turmoil they went through so, I am sharing my humiliation as a parent that did not stand up for my kids.

The high school and middle school teachers, coaches and administrative staff have a responsibility to educate our children and not beat them up. Their responsibility is to act like adults and be mature in dealing with students. Teachers should not be demeaning students or shaming them for anything, they should be trying to bolster the students’ self esteem. Some children only get negative reinforcement at home and need that positive influence elsewhere. Some students are looking for someone to say; “good job,” or “I knew you could do that problem” or ” way to go on that test.” They do not need someone else saying ugly things to them and embarrassing them.

I had my fair share of humiliation. . .

I had my fair share of humiliation in high school from teachers. My best friend and I were taking an advanced math class and our teacher would put these very difficult problems on the board and then say that his daughter could do this one and she was only nine years old. How helpful is that to students? I remember distinctly one day going by after school to try and get extra help on an assignment and his response to us was: ” you two are dumb and I do not know how you will ever graduate college.” This is why I majored in biology and my friend majored in history. My friend and I walked away and we never said anything about him acting like that to the administration, I cannot remember if I told my mom and dad or not. Probably not. My friend and I still talk about that day and how bad we felt after being told we were dumb.

Conclusion. . .

My friend graduated college and so did I. She has just retired from teaching and I know she was an awesome history teacher. The students that she had always reach out to her to tell her how glad they were that they had her as a teacher and they share their successes with her. I pray daily for our teachers because I know it is no easy job. It scares me terribly to think of Sprat teaching but, I know God is moving him where he needs to be. It is never our plan but God’s plan for our lives and God does not make mistakes.

I am Grateful and Blessed

Grateful and Thankful

I am grateful and thankful this Christmas season. There are so many things in this world you could be angry at right now but, I am choosing to be thankful and grateful. My boys are home for Christmas and I so glad. They came home for a very short stay at Thanksgiving but, I get them for a month over Christmas.

Updates and News. . .

The thankful and grateful begins with the boys surviving their first semester on the same campus. They had fun and Big T practiced and did conditioning with the team and seems to be doing well for a freshman. Sprat was named one of three team captains for the 2021-2022 lacrosse season and we are very proud. Sprat has a plan for his graduation and will most likely stay for one more year to double major and finish his student teaching. Big T has picked his major as business management with a minor in music. He also spent finals week in quarantine due to COVID. Some might say that is great he had time to focus on finals. It was not good, he is the germa-phobe in the family. He freaked out when he learned he had tested positive and was going to be “locked”down for eleven days. Thankful and grateful they made it through finals.

Looking Forward to 2022

We are looking forward to 2022 in the hopes that we get to go see the boys play lacrosse this year. Sprat did not have a season last year and Big T opted not to play his senior year of high school due to the lack of following COVID protocol among the student athletes. My fingers are crossed that they get a season and the hubbs and I get to go see them play. It would be very sad if the Fall sports got their full season and the Spring sports got canceled due to COVID yet again.

Stay tuned. . . Christmas merriment is about to begin at our house. . .

It Is Time to Open the Time Capsule. . .

Big T got to Open His Time Capsule this Weekend.

The Boys had their last hurrah at Grandma and Grandpa’s house this weekend before they head off to school next week. We celebrated Sprat’s birthday since his actual birthday will be while he is away at school and we celebrated Bit T’s graduation once again. The hubbs and I sealed a time capsule for each of the boys when they were about two years old and set the date they would open it as their high school graduation.

Big T and his Time Capsule, the hubby sitting beside him.

Celebration and Time with Family . . .

Food, family, and fun was had by all. Mom got on my brother-in-law’s motorcycle. Now just to tell you, Mom just celebrated her 90th birthday this year and recently had hip replacement so the motorcycle thing was a big deal. Mom and Dad have always been willing to try new things and we reminisced about Dad riding my brother’s motorcycle years and years ago and going over the embankment in front of our house doing tricks. Growing up we all rode horses and I have seen both Mom and Dad thrown off horseback at one point or another. Luckily neither suffered devastating bodily injury.

How to Set Up Your Own Time Capsule. . .

We sealed each of the boys time capsules when they were about two years old. We enlisted family and friends to add things to the capsule. Sprat had an official Gerber time capsule, Big T had a make shift (mommy made) time capsule. A great time to set these up is at the child’s 1st or 2nd birthday, that way everyone is there and can add their items to the capsule. Below is a list of somethings we enclosed:

Pokeman cards
toys that were popular during that time
lists of what things cost at that time
sentimental family things
Special Coins: non circulated coin set from the year they were born
items they loved that first year of life
birthday cards from their first birthday
Sprat had some “Joe Camel” memorabilia since his great uncle worked for RJR and “Joe Camel” was no longer allowed to be used as advertisement.
Baby pictures, pictures from their first birthday
Both boys got one of their Granddaddy’s police patches and official police badge from his time of service.
Big T got a very special case knife from Grandma and Grandpa
there was a local publication that folks would put pictures of their grand kids in and Big T was in that and that was in his time capsule.

Conclusion. . .

Stay tuned we are packing both boys to go to school. More to come on how the hubbs and I will adjust to sorta empty nesting.

Road Trip with Big T for College Orientation. . .

Getting Ready. . .

We drove up to Massachusetts to visit the campus and so Big T could participate in orientation. Spent the night in Connecticut so we could get up the next morning and just have an hour to get to the school. The plan was to meet the coach and talk with the folks in financial aid all before orientation began.

Orientation. . .

The lacrosse coach is great, we really enjoyed talking with and hearing about his style of coaching and taking care of the players. I was very impressed by him and so was Big T. We had not met him before and had only heard about him through Sprat and Sprat thinks the world of him. Big T is looking forward to getting back on the field again. He did not play his senior year of high school due to the lack of care from the school with regard to COVID 19.

It was a stroke of luck that we were able to talk with financial aid, they found some more money for both boys to add to their already generous scholarships. It pays to go to orientation, in more ways than one. Even though Sprat has been attending this college for two years Big T had never been with us to campus, he always stayed home with the dog. This was his first glimpse of the campus and was able to see the dorm he will be in and meet a few teammates.

The College. . .

Big T cannot wait to get on campus. There is one freshman dorm and only one floor of boys and three floors of girls. Let that sink in for a bit, the boy/girl ratio of this freshman class. This is a small private college so no athletic scholarships but the boys both landed wonderful academic scholarships and I am so very proud of them. Sprat was awarded Academic All Conference two years in a row and we hope for a third.

Big T and I out side of College Hall on the balcony

The Trip Home. . .

We drove to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to the US Army Heritage and Education Center and War College for a visit. The helicopter and tank pictured below are visible from the highway and every time we have passed it my hubby says we need to go there and check that out. This trip, we planned for just that. There is a museum that chronicles the wars from Spanish American War to our current conflicts. Lots of hands on simulators and things in the museum. I tested the parachute simulator, it was pretty cool not as scary as I thought it would be. We sat inside a bunker that was being bombed and it was really LOUD. The trail around the facility has tanks, helicopters, memorials, bunkers and trenches. You cannot climb on the tanks and helicopters but we were allowed in the bunkers and trenches.

this tank is similar to the one that my father-in-law trained on when he was in the military. Check out the website for more information https://ahec.armywarcollege.edu/

The hubbs and Big T checking out the bunker

Conclusion. . .

We rounded out the day with a bite to eat and a trip to the store for supplies for the dorm. I love our road trips and I am looking forward to more this Fall and Spring to see my boys take the field together again. Stay tuned for more pictures of our road trips and tales of the garden and what we are cooking.

Summer Excitement. . .

The boys are officially employed for the Summer. Yayyy!! I feel very accomplished. Add this to the lists of things Mom’s celebrate for their kids. Their first official day of work is this week and the hubbs and I will celebrate with the first quiet night/day at home by ourselves since the pandemic shut down and they both came home to stay!

It is the little things . . .

My post the other day was about all the things we Mom’s celebrate for our kids, this is another one of those. It is exciting to watch the boys out in the work force earning some money for themselves. I remember earning my first income, I remember the satisfaction of buying my own clothes and going out to eat with my friends and being able to pay for my own food. That is a little sappy but still very true. My hope for the boys is that they find that feeling of satisfaction of job well done, and let’s face it the money does not hurt.

Earning their own money. . .

It is important for the boys to have a paycheck so they can open their own IRA and start saving for their retirement. Yes, I said retirement. If you have read anything I post you know that I am a Dave Ramsey fan/follower. I do not want my kids to be in debt and I have preached Dave to them so much that neither of them have credit cards and I do not think they ever will. Thank you Dave Ramsey! Big T is majoring in business so he is all about earning and saving money and he knows about debt. Both boys save up their money for items they want to buy, bless poor Sprat he saved for almost a year to buy his own gaming computer. Sprat is trying to rebuild his savings so he will have money to spend at school this Fall.

Just another moment to Celebrate the Grad. . .

Big T’s graduation ceremony was great, I do believe it was the best I have attended. One of the teachers had created a story that included all the graduates names as characters. She told a Zombie story, which seemed fitting with the year the kiddos endured their Senior year. They surprised the kids with the gentleman that was the Principal their freshman year and who played an integral part in this STEM school getting off the ground and being so successful. These kids loved this guy and had so much respect for him and you knew it when he came on the stage. The other thing that was so cool about this graduation ceremony was they gave each graduate a framed $1 and they said they wanted to be the one to give them their first earned dollar. I am so glad that Big T did not attend a traditional high school, he would not be as prepared for college as he is if it were not for this school and these teachers.

A Little More Advice for Mom’s

These are few things I wish I had done sooner. . .

I found this on Pinterest many years ago. You can find neat things to do with and for your kids on Pinterest. You write your child letters and enclose money in each letter, not a lot of money a five, a twenty, whatever you have extra. According to Pinterest you are supposed to write one letter each year and give them to your child at their high school graduation.

Did not find this one until the boys were older, so I wrote to the boys more frequently throughout the years. Sprat got his letters when we left him at school his freshman year in college. I did give him direction on opening them, he was told he could only open one a month. When he realized there was money in them I was afraid he would tear through them and not really read what I had written. My goal here was to give my child something that I had written in my own hand that told him how much he was loved when he was growing up and how I felt when we argued and that no matter what his Dad and I were very proud of him. Let’s face it, teens do test their parents to the very end.

The picture is a little dark but those are Sprat’s letters in his hand as we get ready to leave him in Boston.

School teachers and your kids. . .

I saw this one on Pinterest too. I did not do this one personally but I thought it was neat and had I found it when the boys were younger I would have done it. Take one of your child’s favorite books and each year have their favorite teachers write a note to them in the book. Pinterest suggested books like Dr Seuss or the Berenstain Bears. When your kids graduate high school they have a book full of positive notes from their favorite teachers throughout their school years.

A little garden stone. . .

Throughout your child’s school career they will make hand print turkeys, footprint I love you notes, and cut out hearts with their pictures for mom. Hobby Lobby and other shops of that nature sell make your own stepping or garden stones. We purchased two when we moved to our new house in 2006 and the boys created their very own stones to put in our flower bed. These stones still adorn our front flower bed today. They have their hand prints and some shards of glass and the date they were joyfully created. I wish I had done a few more at different times I could have my own garden path made with their little hands and feet.

Big T’s stone, you just barely see his little hand print.

Pinterest is a neat little library of ideas. . .

Pinterest holds a wealth of information from everything to job searches to recipe ideas. I found many little things to do with my kids to enhance their education and expand their horizons. Check out my Pinterest boards for yourself. https://www.pinterest.com/pamperedpage

Year in Review . . .

Review of our year 2020, what a doozie it was. Mom recovered, they got a new house and the boys have survived being on lock down for the pandemic.

2020, Let Us Look Back. . .

2020 was a whirl wind of ups and downs for our family. My mom recovering from hip replacement and she and Dad staying in an apartment while the basement of their home was being renovated for one level living. I say renovated I should say gutted and re-built because that is what really happened. My sister, her husband, and my brother worked tirelessly to get everything up to date and code. We moved them back home in November and we celebrated Thanksgiving in the newly renovated basement. Mom and Dad could not be happier in their house and familiar surroundings.

Sprat Came Home. . .

Sprat came home from College in Massachusetts early and his lacrosse season was cut short. A strong finish for the Sophomore year with Academic All Conference award. He continued his College courses from home remotely. He is heading back to Massachusetts in a week to start his Spring semester and fingers are crossed for a lacrosse season.

Family pictures over the Christmas break, this will be Sprat’s Jr year of College picture. Such a handsome devil.

Big T had a Banner Year . . .

Big T had his Junior year lacrosse cut short by the pandemic and he completed his Junior year of school from home. This Senior year has also been a remote year for Big T. We found out that if he completes his course work that he is on track to complete that he will not only have his high school diploma in May but he will also have an Associates degree in business administration from our Community College. We are very proud of him for this huge accomplishment. This is not only big for him but big for us, this will be a savings on his Bachelor’s degree and if he chooses to go for a Masters it will not take as long.

Big T, this will be his Senior portrait since I hated the ones that the school took. How hard is it really to get a decent picture of a kid???

Apparently it is harder than I thought to get that good picture I was hoping for.

The Hubby and I Survived. . .

Finally, the hubbs and I survived being shelter in place for the better part of 2020, with two boys teen and twenty, due to the fact the hubbs company sent him home and my office sent me home and we kept the kids home. Sprat was more angry about being at home than Big T, Big T is of course the hypochondriac of our group and was thrilled to learn he could complete school at home. Sprat was not so happy, he wanted to visit with his friends once he had returned home. We kept them on lock down to start with and then we gradually let them start going out with masks and only to certain places.

Love these goofy boys to the moon and back!!

Would not Have Survived without this Guy. .

Love this guy too! Do not know what I would do without this one.

This guy has been our rock through all of this mess. He has done the shopping, the cooking and even some of the cleaning. He cooks for me when I am working and cannot go up stairs to grab a bite and he brings it to me sometimes with a little special treat. (chocolate) Always making sure I have plenty of caffeine cold in the fridge and will even go out in the worst of weather if I need some.

Fair Warning, this is a RANT!

This is the product of being at home almost two weeks with: my husband (cooking all the time) and my two teenage boys eating all the time. And here we go. . .

What is going on????

What is going on in this world? People think just because their kids are out of school and they are on furlough or work from home order that they can pack up and go to the beach. Why would you do that, why would you put yourself and others at risk by going out of town to stay where you do not know anyone or have any family near by? What happens if you get sick then your family is stuck where they do no know anyone and have no help for your kids if you get put in the hospital? What happens when your hometown goes on lock down and you cannot get back to your home, family, pets you may have left?

Folks you need to wake up. . .

Folks you need to wake up and realize that this is not a vacation it is a serious issue. My husbands Bass club plans to have a fishing tournament two hours away in an area that has many cases of this virus and has been on lock down longer than we have. My husband is not going nor is his brother, they have a little more sense and wives with more sense than that. The shelter at home orders are for everyone’s safety. This is not a time to go visit older relatives, this not the time to pack up the family and go to the beach. My husband and I have been on shelter in place since March 17th, that was when I started working from home full-time. I work with the Organ Donor organization for our State, we started our precautions to protect employees as well as: doctors, nurses, donors, donor families, and recipients. The boys have been on lock down since they both have been home from school.

What I would like to see. . .

What I would like to see come out of this Pandemic is, people starting to care about someone other than themselves. I am tired of hearing about the poor seniors that did not get this or that how about we start caring about those that are sick and dying and worry about how we can keep everyone safe and healthy all that other stuff can be done when this is over. I would like to hear how the Senior class of 2020 is going to do something to help the folks affected by this pandemic not hear them, “oh woe is me.” It is not even the kids that really care about it, it’s the parents that are crying about it.

I will get off my soap box now. . .

Yes, it is sad that the Seniors may not get their graduation in a timely manner and they may not get a Prom. Let’s look at the BIG picture and think about the lives that are saved because they stayed home. I am sad my sons’ did not get to have a complete season of lacrosse and bless Sprat’s heart he has had two seasons cut short. Life happens and it does not always go the way we would like it to go. My prayers through all of this are that God is watching over our young people and that we make it through this and we are better for it in the end.

Life, Home Schooling and the COVID19. . .

Life in the Pandemic. . .

We are sheltering in place, not because we have to, but because it is logical. When faced with the possibility of the spread of a virus like this one, it makes sense to limit contact with others. I am an introvert so, this is not as difficult as it sounds. The boys are having a little harder time with it all. They have gone out just to ride around and get some fresh air, I have threatened them within inches of their lives if they go anywhere to visit right now. They went out yesterday and Sprat took some pictures of two fields near our house and sent them to his “friend” in MA. The closest field to the friend is apparently a good little stretch in MA. I had to giggle just a little, the things we take for granted.

PE in the COVID 19. . .

The boys have both been out every day a couple times a day to throw and play wall ball (lacrosse). They are keeping their skills for the next season of Lax, whenever that might be. The hubbs has been practicing his gardening skills, he bought me some celery plants and has planted potatoes. We have radishes and peas to plant also. We have onions in the ground already from the winter.

Big T did not get a Lax picture so here it is.

PE in the COVID19 homeschool…
The big green orb is our composter for the garden. LOL!!

My Lax boys. . . love them to the moon and back.

Life does go on. . .

The hubbs is home until further notice, I am still working but from home. The boys are still doing school work and practicing their lacrosse skills. They are sometimes testing my patience. The one thing this “pandemic” has done is bring us all a little closer. Our family dinners around the table had sort of gone away, we all had somewhere to be but, with this virus none of us have anywhere to be but here. There is always a plan, nothing happens by chance, perhaps this is the message we should be taking away from all of this. Be home with your family, take care of your family, love your family.