My First Private Post!

Well, my blog has been made private... and while, at first I had reservations, now I just feel FREE!!!!  Free to speak my mind to those who know me, love me and understand me.... without worry that any random person could be reading....

Take for instance my boss (soon to be old boss!!!! more on that in a second!)... I could complain about her... talk about what a crazy control freak she is... without fear that she could stumble upon my blog!!!!

This isn't so bad after all!  ;-)

I can speak openly and freely about my kids... sharing the detailed stories of our life... with only friends, family members or other mom's who I know are just here to get much needed online support!!  I am loving it......

And I have no worries that anyone I don't know, like, or trust is reading any of my business, let alone the detailed business of those I hold most dear, my kids!

So... all that said... welcome to the new blog. Address is the same... I toyed with changing it and making the old one a simple, private blog that leads those on google reader to my private one, but let's face it. I can barely keep up one blog, let alone two. So, everyone is just going to have to do this the old fashioned way. Bookmark it and read it when you feel like.  :)  Those who this blog is MOST important to already do that anyway!

Look out for a facelift to come!  I have commissioned the oh so talented, Nicole Barczak to design a new blog look and banner for me from images she captured at our fall session! These will also be the images in our Christmas card... and for a new collage on our living room wall... can't wait for that!

Other happenings:

Took Luke to the doc this morning... he has had a cold (like we ALL have) for weeks and I just wanted confirmation it was nothing more. My gut told me it wasn't, but sometimes you just need a doc to tell you that.  Worth $25 any day!  He's fine. Well, as fine as you can be with a wicked cold, snot running all the time and a cough that keeps you up at night!  This bug is lasting 3-4 weeks and doc reminded me that the average healthy kid gets 6-7 colds a winter, and some can come one on top of another... so it seems like the same bug is lasting a long time. Oh joy. Another perk of winter!  ;-)

Later today, Ally has her classroom halloween party, which I am helping out with, both as room-mom and general part-time volunteer these days (hooray for being able to do that!).  We are having three activities that the kids will do, the first being a cupcake decorating station. The second is a donut on a string eating contest. The third is a mummy game where they will toilet paper one another to makes mummies out of each other.  Good second grade times.....

I bought a zillion toppings for the cupcakes.... these kids are gonna go nuts with their creations, I can just see it! The party is at the end of the day, so I am sending them all home with a good sugar buzz.  Parents everywhere will be cursing me.  ;-)

Tonight, the McIntosh family is going to carve pumpkins! Yes, this is late in the game... but it's how we roll.  We can't really do these things on school nights... Ally is so temperamental.... so we waited until today.  I am thinking pizza and pumpkin carving..... sounds like a good Friday night to me!

As mentioned above, I am getting a new boss!  I am not really changing jobs... but we are starting a new "project" in our department, and a new guy is coming on to lead that for the next two years... as a part-timer, and someone who will fit very well into this project... all my time will be devoted to working with him to get this up and running!  So, my boss thought it made sense for me to report directly to him as well.  THANK YOU SWEET BABY JESUS!  :-)

Right now, anyone is a better alternative.  :-)  Maybe I will feel differently, but I have a good feeling about this.....  ;-)  I am just thankful in this moment! He starts mid-December.  Hopefully I make it until then without quitting in a fit of rage... as I often have my moments at work!

Well, I should run and start to get things together for the afternoon festivities.  I feel bad for Ally's teacher today... all the kids are thinking about is their party and all their Halloween weekend activities. I think learning will be at a minimum today!!!!!

Oh and as promised, some pics of Ally and her diorama!!!

AWOL....

I don't feel like I've actually written anything of any substance in QUITE some time!!!!!  A lot has been going on in our lives... that's for sure. So, maybe that's why I haven't had the time to sit down and type.  Not to mention, I have been SICK for over two weeks... off and on.  It has been a HORRID virus that seems to have come to an end with my puking my brains out.... I have decided it was nature's way of ridding myself of all the bad germs inside me. So, now I am clean and able to move forward!  I can already tell that I've turned the corner and am on the road to health. Thank god, cuz it's been pretty rough....

The kids are doing great!  Just today, Ally completed a major homework assignment, a diorama/book report. She chose to do it on a Tales from Wayside High book, and she did a great job!  I need to snap a picture of it, and will do so and try to remember to post it!  She and I went to Michaels the other day so she could get all her supplies... $26 later, she had what she needed and then some.  :-)  She does love her art supplies.

She made the classroom of one of the teachers in the book as her diorama. We covered a shoe box with a plain paper, and then, she chose a color for the floor and a color for the walls. She made little desks out of these little craft pieces of wood we found, and put the names of the students on the desks.  She found these super cute stickers of kids, kind of whimsical stick figures of sorts, that she put on cardboard to make them "stand up" in the classroom. We made the teacher, Mrs. Jewel's desk and seated her behind it. She made a chalkboard and a "discipline board" with the name of a student from the book who was "always in trouble." Then, she chose to make windows on each side and remembered to make them for both sides of the box. She placed a boy by a window who was "always looking out the window" in the book. I was amazed at the little facts she could rattle off as we were working on it together.

She also created a playground on the other side of the box... the "outside" if you can imagine it being so. She found these super cute 3D stickers that she just had to have (that of course cost a small fortune!) because they would "work perfect!" I could not convince her to draw the things....  :-)))))   She just gets into a sticker aisle and about dies of excitement.

I was so proud of her..... of what she wrote in the report itself, as well as the scene she designed in a shoe box!  She had a lot of fun doing it too.....

She has really taken to getting her homework done early in the week lately.  I really commend her for this!  At first, when the school year began, she was getting daily homework... but after a few weeks, her teacher likely realized that the kids of different after school activities different days and created a system by which they get a "packet" of homework at the beginning of the week, that is due on Friday. I absolutely LOVE this!!!  It works perfect for Ally, because if she can't do her homework RIGHT after school on a given day, she is pretty much incapable of doing it at all. Once she is overtired, she's done for. We can't help her. She loses all patience and focus.  So, this allows us to chalk up Monday (gymnastics day) as a total wash. We don't even try to do homework on Mondays.  By the time she has gone to school, gone to gymnastics for two hours after, gotten home, had dinner and some down time... it's bedtime!!!

So, she has taken to doing ALL (or most!!) of her homework on Tuesdays!!!!  Today, she completed all five math worksheets (only getting one wrong and needing no help from me what-so-ever and YES, I'm bragging a bit. I'm the mom. I have the right!), 3 out of four of her spelling contract activities, AND her finishing up her book report and diorama.

I'm very proud of how she seems to be maturing lately.  Don't get me wrong. We still have our battles.... but most days, she seems a bit more peaceful than she has been in the past.... let's hope the trend continues.  :-)

Then, there's Luke.  Luke is 2... almost 3.  And, quite the handful!!!! Whew. Some days are just better than others and you got me on a bad day for Luke. He was just full of it tonight.  FULL.  OF.  IT!!!!  Even going to bed was a wicked battle (and it hasn't been for so long!).  He had to scream himself to sleep. I just thank god he stayed in bed to do so instead of running out of his room!!!!

He's been sleeping in his big boy bed for a long time now... and Scott is still yet to take down his crib! Yes, we have BOTH still up in his room.  I'm going to have to publicly state that I've about had it with this and it's time to get it down!!!!!!  Maybe this will convince my hubby???  Should you have his email address, I would be forever grateful if you just drop him a note.  ;-)  I suppose I should man up and do it myself.... that's what a good person would do right?  I guess I just feel this falls into the category of his job... and I want him to do it!  Luke is not going back to his crib... and I know it was really awful the last time around.... but I do believe it's safe to take the crib down now.  Very safe. It's been a month or two.

COME ON!!!!!!!!!

But... even though Luke can be a beast... Tonite he was pretty agressive. Angry. Didn't want to eat what I made. Didn't want to play with anything around him. Just disagreeable... he can also be the sweetest little boy in the world. I truly think that is more his personality. The sweetness.  He is always quick to say he is sorry. Quick to say he loves me. Quick with hugs and kisses.  He is more sensitive, and in that, his moods can be more extreme.  Oh Luke.... it's a good thing I always remember those sweet moments we have... cuz the number of times you said you hated something today was enough to make any mom cry!!!!

Kids, kids... life with them is never, ever dull....  :-)

We have been sick, running crazy with events - it seems as the older Ally gets, the more and more and MORE things she is involved in and trying to keep daily life as routine as possible for the kids' sake. That's what's been happening around here!!!!  We're doing just fine.  Just been quiet lately.  And you all know I'm gonna password the blog in a bit, so maybe I've been holding back since that's been on my mind too.  Who knows.  I promise to write more, because in this announcement of making things private, I sure have learned how many people out there enjoy the craziness of my life.  :-)

I will keep the crazy coming kids.  That's a guarantee!

Blog Requests

Just a reminder, I need your email address in order to give you access to the blog once it goes private. You will have to create a Google account, if you do not already have one. You don't have to have a gmail account, you can create a Google account with any email address.

I know this will be cumbersome for some of you and appreciate your patience.

You can email me with your email if you don't want to post it here.


-- Post From My iPhone

Going Private...

I have been convinced to privatize my blog by recent events and discussion among friends and fellow bloggers. This decision has been made to protect the privacy of my family, while still allowing those that I WANT to share my life with that window... and that opportunity.

That said, I need to send those of you that follow my blog an email to give you permission to continue to do so. I have not worked out the kinks yet, so you will need to bear with me... please send an email to ncmcintosh@yahoo.com  or post a comment if I have your email address, if you would like to recieve continued access to the blog. 

Those of you that read via Google Reader (that's you David!), I am sorry, but this will stop the direct send of blog posts to you.  I know this is an inconvenience, but it is the risk I am willing to take.

The blog will go private by the end of this week, Friday, Oct. 29.

Thanks for reading!!!!

A Little Help...

I recently recieved an email with the title above.... my sister's good friend, Dustan, has fought and survived a very rare form of cancer, but has recently relapsed.  He is a student of both my step-mom and dad. He is a close friend of all of theirs and a member of the community in which they live.

His blog is an inspiration and can be found at: http://www.dustancolyer.blogspot.com/

Like my little sis said "if you pray, please do... if not happy thoughts are always helpful too"  :-)

You can never ask for to many prayers and happy thoughts, so I promised I would share this on my blog.  I know I have some great friends, family and readers who are happy to send up a prayer or two.......

Then, there's the co-worker of mine just shared that his daughter is dying of lupus. She has survied two cancers and now, this will take her life within years.  As he looked around my office at all the pictures of my kids, with tears in his eyes,  he said... "cherish them."  She is 35.

Everyone needs a little help now and then. Some people need it more it seems. 

This morning, these stories have put my pesky cold in perspective....

What They Say...

I'm going to write down some of what Luke says today:

Started out this morning with him telling me his penis hurts. I asked him if he needed to go potty and he said "no. my penis just hurts mommy."

After picking up Daddy's iPad - "I being careful! (sneezes). Oops. I bless you'd on it!"

Upon watching me put on my bra which playing with another one - "You need another one mommy? Or I wear it?"

"Is it time to go now? No? Or yes?" - Luke

"Luke, I need to wipe your nose" ... "Don't worry mommy, I already did. With my blankie!"

"Luke come out of the closet please" ... "No mommy. I stay in the closet. I never coming out"

Lately, everything is "really, really, really!!!". As in "I really, really, really want to go!"

"I love you mommy" .... "I love you too Lukie" .... "I love you too" (he always says it like that)

"I play scabble on your phone? No? I play Angry Birds? No? Aaaagggghhhhh!!!!!"

"We going to the mall?!? Yay!!!" (I've brainwashed him)

Upon hearing me call him my baby' "I'm not a baby. Jilli and Lyla are babies. They came out of Aunt Jane's tummy. Remember mommy? Remember that?"


(all said on Friday, Oct 8)


-- Post From My iPhone

Ally's Progress...

Ally brought home her first progress report of the school year and I am happy to share that she is getting all A's  :-)  I am so proud of her.  She received all "check pluses" in her behavior and social markings... with the exception of one... and that had to do with talking a bit out of turn from time to time.

HAHAHA!!!!!!  MOM!!!!! Sound familiar????????  I will never forget the sixth grade.  Sister something or other.... there were so many, I forgot her name.... telling my parents repeatedly that I was such a good student, but had a tendancy to "visit with my neighbors."   A lot. I got all C's in conduct that year.  She was not a fan of my mouth......  :-))))))))

I did not want to dwell on this little fact when Ally and I went over her progress report. Come on! The girl was perfect in every other area! She should be praised!  I am proud of her.. this is a new school... it's not been easy, and she has proved to be a trooper!  Not falling behind academically at all!  So proud of her.

She was so proud to say all her prayers last night. She has them all memorized.... The  Hail Mary,  The Our Father, The Glory Be, and a couple other "school specific" prayers.  Last night she played "religion class" with her stuffed animals and Luke in the basement.  Super cute.

We also received a comment that Ally was a "joy to have in class." That she is respectful and helpful to others.  She is kind and fits in well with all her classmates. Kind, respectful, helpful.... can't ask for much more than that as a parent.......  :-)

Way to go Ally. I am so very proud of you!!!!!!!!

Wow...

We just had one of those days you only read about in books. Or see in movies. Or dream about when you fall asleep to the memory of your child screaming he hates you or that she thinks you are meanest mommy in the world.

I have to write about today... More specifically, tonite.... Because I want to look back and remember it. Especially during the bad times. I want to have hope. That it could happen again!

I had a great day at work. It was quiet. Got a lot of little things done. Stress-free. Left and grabbed a few things at the store to make beef stroganoff. I've never made it but for some reason got the urge. Went to pick Luke up. He was happy as hell to see me and to come home. He played independently and allowed me to prepare dinner for about an hour! Then, around 6... Scott and Ally got home (Ally had gymnastics after school on Mondays. She rides with a classmate and Scott picks her up at 5:30) and Luke was just thrilled to see her. Ally was sweet to him and took him down to the playroom to play for about half an hour while I finished dinner.

They came up and we enjoyed a scrumptious meal (if I do say so myself!) and there was peace! Everyone was polite. Ally even asked each of us what our favorite part of the day was. Luke had a bath after dinner. Scott did the dishes. Ally went back to the basement to play school and Luke joined her again after his bath. When we asked them to come up for jammies... They did. No arguments. They had some apple pie and went to bed. Ally showed me that she had memorized all her prayers and was so proud. She's still reading happily.

Luke is stirring. No quite ready to sleep. But he's staying in his bed. And trying to read Thomas.

Seriously. Want to bottle tonite. What a perfect nugget we had. Happy and peaceful.

Yay us. :-)

-- Post From My iPhone