Eric and his English class

My oldest child is very intelligent. I would really love to have his IQ tested, just to see exactly where he falls. Someday when I have extra money, we might just gets this done.

This week we are dealing with his problems in English class. His HONORS English class to be exact.

The kids returned to school August 15th. That was what, 5 weeks ago? The English teacher calls me Friday afternoon at 4:00. She proceeds to tell me that they have had 11 assignments so far and he is missing 10 of them. 10? Are you kidding me? What the hell has he been doing in class? Did she not realize all of these assignments were missing before she had to turn in his mid-nine week grade? I knew his Autobiography and the 2 assignments that go with it were missing. He turned it in to her and it has been misplaced. So I keep bringing that up and asking her about it and she says she doesn't have it, but if I am confident that he turned it in she would keep looking for it. GRRRRR!!!!

I am telling her about his writing abilities and how if she wants to read his assignments he has to write slow. All she keeps saying is he may not be cut out for the honors class and maybe it is too hard for him. PLEASE!!!! He is in the 7th grade and reads at an 11th grade level. He is in the gifted program and has qualified for some program with Duke University and a Talent Identification Program. All of this and yet she thinks he can't handle her piddly worksheets? 7 out of the 10 missing assignments are nothing more than a Xeroxed 2-column story with a series of T/F and matching questions.

She starts going on about how he is unorganized (he is, I don't deny that) and that she gave him a pocket folder to hold all of his papers so he doesn't lose them. She told me she sent home a progress report that shows all of his missing work. Of course this is Friday after school has already let out, so honestly there is not much I can do about anything until Monday morning which incidentally is when all of this work is due by. Hmmmm?

Sunday evening, Eric and I find 1 of his missing papers and it was completed. I told him I was going up to the school on Monday and see if I could go through his locker.

After dropping Brandy off at school Monday morning, John and I head up to Eric's school. The secretary sends me to the counsellor's office. The counsellor's secretary agrees to see if she can help me get in his locker. Together we go in search of his locker. During the search process we run into his English teacher and I talk to her briefly and tell her what I am doing. The kids are in basically a non-class 1st thing in the morning. We find the locker and she unlocks it for me. Knowing my son as I do, I was a bit nervous about opening the door. Surprisingly enough though it wasn't all that bad (translate: nothing fell out). I go thought his locker one paper at a time. I found 2 more English papers (completed, but not turned in), but that was it. I nicely organized his locker and went back to the office who then sent me back to the counsellor.

"I found these papers. Can I run them back up to the teacher?"

"No, she has a class."

"Isn't it just Warrior time?"

"Yes"

"So, can't I just talk to her for a moment? I really need to get her these papers."

"Just leave them here, I will get them to her. We can't disturb her."

Ok! Whatever!! So I leave the papers and cross my fingers that they actually get to their correct destination.

Oh, and remember the pocket folder? I never found it. Hmmmm?

So during the course of Monday, the teacher sends an e-mail to his football coach letting him know he is failling. When Eric gets home on Monday we go over what is still missing since she never actually gave him any of the work to re-do. He agreed to go in during lunch on Tuesday, because now his eligibility for the game Tuesday night is on the line. I sent an e-mail to the teacher and another one to the coach explaining what we are doing and how we are going to fix the problem.

Oh and I asked Eric about the folder and that whole conversation and he just laughed. He said none of that ever happened.

So where exactly is his Autobiography? Who knows, but that teacher has it in her possession somewhere. Do I make him redo it? He spent a lot of time working on it and it was a hand written paper that he had to turn in his rough draft and everything together. We have no backup and no proof that he did it other than her word vs his. I only read a small bit of it, but the opening paragraph went like this:

"Hi! My name is Eric and I am a superhero. No, just kidding about being a
superhero, but now that I have your attention, here is the story about me."

Very creative opener and I believe him with all of my heart that he turned it in.

Moms Rule!!!!!!

I have to give you some background before I can tell you what I did.

1st of all, I grew up in a family of pranksters and have been pulling pranks on my loved ones all of my life. My washer and dryer are located in an outside building which we call the washhouse. It is probably 100 feet from the back door to the washhouse door. There are 2 very large pecan trees in my back yard as well as some very tall cannas growing in front of the washhouse. A lot of times, I go out after dark to go do laundry. Recently, Eric has decided it would be funny to sneak out the door after me and hide behind one of the trees or in the cannas so he can jump out and scare me. He has loved making me jump and scream. I also find rubber/plastic snakes and bugs in my bed quite frequently.

Last night, Mark and I finished watching The Messengers. Eric was still up finishing his homework, but finished about the same time the movie was over. **note - we did not let Eric watch the movie!!!** Mark was joking around about how I wasn't going to be able to sleep at night. Hahaha, right? I had to go out and put clothes in the dryer, so I told Eric he was coming with me so I knew where he was at. In his infinite wisdom he decided to try and hide and scare me even though I knew where he was at, but instead he stepped barefooted in dog poop.


So he goes to clean off his foot in the bathroom...................







and I.......................................










hide outside the bathroom door in the dark hallway!!!! And I jumped out to scare him when he came out!!!!!!!!!!!


MOM 1 Eric 0



And then for some stupid reason he goes back into the bathroom to take another shower. And you know what I did??????








YEP!!!!








I hid again!!!!! This time in the kitchen with the light on. When he came out of the bathroom he asked Mark where I was. He knew something was up. I figured he would find me since I really wasn't all that hidden. KWIM? He rounded the corner and I jumped out and he screamed AGAIN!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!





MOM 2 --- ERIC 0





MOMS RULE!!!!!!!!!!!






(of course I need to keep my guard up for a few days until he forgets plotting revenge )









I did take him in a few cookies as a peace offering but he accused me of trying to sneak up on him since I walked through his room slowly (so I wouldn't break my neck) in the dark.

Oh the Messes!!!

So in less than 2 hours my youngest little darling attempts to destroy the house while his siblings are at school and momma is distracted checking her e-mail. His latest adventure was to find a tube of lipstick and decorate himself. Now the funny thing to this, is that I don't have a clue as to where he got the lipstick from. I don't wear makeup and it was Mary Kay. I am clueless really! I had to call a friend to ask how to get it off of him because all I was doing was smearing it around. But like the good mom I am, I took a picture before I started the cleaning process. They didn't come out so well, but here they are anyway.

The Start

Hello all! Well I have been inspired by some pretty funny mommy bloggers so I thought I would give this a try as well. Not that my life is anything overly exciting, but life with 4 kids, a husband, and pets is never dull.

So let's start with me and my husband. My name is Michelle. Today is my husband Mark's birthday. We have been together since he was 17 and I was 15. That has been 16 1/2 years now!!! WOW! We met during football season. He was a Senior football player and I was just a sophomore and the athletic trainer for the team. He sprained his ankle and thus began our journey. He would stand on the sidelines during games, while his ankle was healing, and teach me everything he could about the game of football. Many years later and I am still learning, but I love the game. We have season tickets to the Oklahoma State University Cowboys football games. That is our thing! Football season is my favorite time of the year. It brings back all of the early memories of us.
Mark is a paramedic and a firefighter. He loves his job! In his line of work he meets lots of interesting people and tells me some pretty interesting stories. He is very good at his job. This was definitely his calling for a profession.
As for me, I am a mom, a student, a jewelry designer, and a friend. For the most part everything I do revolves around my kids and my family. I like to read, and bake, and make beaded jewelry, play with my kids, and talk to my friends, and hang out with my husband and ride horses. Oh, and football games!!!

My kids (oldest to youngest) --
Eric - he is 12 and in middle school, has a girlfriend, and plays football. You'll learn more about him as the days go on.
Ashleigh - she is 9 and in the 4th grade. She plays violin and rides horses and is a Junior Girl Scout. Everybody loves her so she is always busy with her friends!
Brandy Mae - my 4 year old little "angel".
Johnathon (John) - my 18 month old monkey.

The pets --
2 dogs - Wilson, a 2 year-old black lab, & Cheyenne, a 12 year old shepard mix.
1 cat - Scarlett, a stray that we adopted that has since infested our house with fleas. GRRRR!
1 red-eared slider turtle - Squiggy, a baby
12 hens
1 duck - very, very old and can barely walk