Seriously?

Okay, now that the whole thing has blown over (I hope) it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. But it was a big deal to me. Last May for Mother's Day I had Isaiah's name tattooed on my foot along with a heart that is the same as my ring from James Avery (which is called A Mother's Love). So anyway, Meet the Teacher night was last Monday night and I thought it was a success. All of the parents seemed very nice and there didn't seem to be any issues. Well, Tuesday evening I get a call from my principal saying that one of the parents were offended by the fact that I had a tattoo on my foot and they wanted to know if it was allowed. I was asked to cover my tattoo because it was offensive to the parents and they didn't agree with having tattoos. Being that it is on my foot it is very difficult to cover unless wearing tennis shoes (they so do not go with cute professional outfits, even though tons of teachers wear them regardless). I did my best to cover it on Wednesday and Thursday, while doing some "investigating" with other teachers that I knew of who had tattoos. I even had my sister-in-law call the administration office to ask the superintendent if there was a policy on teachers having visible tattoos. As it turns out there is no policy and there are many, many other teachers who have tattoos on their feet or ankles. There is even a teacher who has a tattoo of a horseshoe on her neck at another elementary in Claremore. So anyway, I was trying to decide how to approach my principal in a nice manner, so as not to cause any trouble or try to be rebellious or disrespectful in any way. I'm a very non-confrontational person so I was thinking of putting it off until this week. After all, it was the first week of school and I know I was very busy trying to get used to a new group of students, a new curriculum, and a new grade. I didn't think it was a priority, other than the fact that it was bothering me. I suppose my principal must have realized that she was asking a lot of me to cover it with a band aid if I had to and decided that maybe she should check around to see what the other principals were doing about teachers with tattoos. As it turns out not another building had a policy saying that teachers tattoos had to be covered. My principal came down Thursday while I was in the middle of class and apologized, telling me that no other teacher was being told to cover a tattoo. So I can now freely wear my dress shoes and sandals without worrying about it. My biggest beef about the whole thing is I can understand if I had some offensive skull or dragon on my foot, but it is my son's name, something that is obviously very important to me and close to my heart. I knew when I had it done that it wasn't against the school district's rules. It very much hurt my feelings, and well... it still hurts a little. So, I have done all the complaining about it and I'm going to (as Tim says all the time) get better and not bitter. And seriously, does any of this really matter in the big scheme of things? It has nothing to do with how I teach!

More to come

Now that it's summer break and I'm not working (at school anyway)  I will most definitely have more time to blog!  Not that I really have that much to say, but it's fun to put pictures of Isaiah up and hope that people look at what a cute little man he is.  This is a picture from my first Mother's Day.  I don't think he could be any cuter!

I love this face!

Just thought I would share one of my favorite pictures of Isaiah right now!  I love his little face.

Never enough time...

Okay, so I realize it's been a little while since I've posted anything on here.  Isaiah is turning six months old this week and one would think that I would have adjusted to being a mommy, wife and teacher.  I have not!  I am having a difficult time finding the time to do everything that I want to do, need to do, and have to do.  For instance, instead of whining about not having enough time on here I should be doing a load of laundry or running the vacuum.  Thankfully when Tim is home he does a good job of entertaining Isaiah long enough for me to do these things.  I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed with the numerous things that come with being a responsible adult.  My house is in terrible disarray and needs some serious attention.  I have been pretty good about keeping up with laundry and dishes (that is a must for us to eat and wear clean clothes).  I feel slightly inadequate when I log onto Facebook and read people's comments about making all of these wonderful homemade dinners... Tim feels lucky when I make anything at all!  If it were up to me we would eat fast food every night just so I wouldn't have to clean up a kitchen afterward!  I should be enjoying the fact that I'm on Spring Break, but I keep thinking about the bathroom that needs to be repainted and the floor that needs to be retiled, the checkbook that needs to be balanced, the clothes that need to be folded, the tile that needs to be mopped (I can't even remember the last time I mopped and it shows!).  Then I feel guilty when I go to Lifegroup because I think surely I should have had time to read my Bible at least once during the week, but the truth is I don't even know where my Bible is!  Honestly, I have lost it!  I just feel like I am treading water, barely able to keep my head above the water at times.  So, now that I am done venting/complaining/whining/sharing, I'm off to go clean something just so I can sleep better tonight.

Feeling pretty proud

While I really should be cleaning up the house (especially because I'm skipping church for the 2nd week in a row), I'm messing around on the computer.  Just have to say that it's not rocket science and it's probably pretty simple for others, but I'm pretty pleased with myself for finally figuring out (or rather taking the time to read the directions) how to change the background on my blog!  Now I'm off to fold yet ANOTHER load of laundry.....

When Mommy is away...

Just thought I would post something new, since it's obviously been awhile!  Tim took this picture last Friday.  It was his day off and I had to work, so he got to watch Isaiah.  Notice the Star Wars shirt and no pants in the picture on the right.  If you look closely at the picture on the left you might also notice that Star Wars is on the t.v. in the background.  So Isaiah is already being exposed to plenty of Star Wars.  Just thought I would share because I thought it was funny what goes on when I'm not around!  I'm feeling a little frustrated that my pictures are a little wacky and my words aren't where I want them to be, but I don't really care.  I'm going to post it anyway because I'm tired and really I just wanted to share these pictures!

How time flies

I went to a baby shower yesterday and the mom-to-be was talking about how nervous she was about having a teeny tiny baby to take care of.  It made me think of when we first brought Isaiah home.  I cried when I put him in his crib that first night because he looked so small and I didn't want him to be all alone!  (thankfully I got over that and he sleeps just fine all by himself in his crib.) It was such a new and fun experience!  We had the pack-n-play set up in the living room with the diaper changer on it.  I remember having to change his little diaper (preemie size!) and he ate every 2 hours (just 2 ounces!).  Now he's wearing size 2 diapers and eating baby cereal and baby food.  It made me realize how quickly Isaiah has gone from being a tiny little guy, to being a fun 4 1/2 month old.  It wasn't so long ago that he was only 7 lbs 7 oz.  Such a tiny guy!  Now he weighs 14 pounds and is 26 inches long.  Just today he rolled over for the first time!  (I was folding laundry so I missed it, but I'm sure I'll get to see it soon enough.)  So I'm glad I cherished that time, even the sleepless nights, because it sure did not take long for him to change so much.

Sweet Little Man

It's so sweet when we lay Isaiah down to sleep at night!  He tucks his little arms, pulls up his little legs, and sticks his little butt up in the air!  Apparently he does it when he naps at Becky's, too, because she sent me a comment about it the other day.  I just couldn't resist taking this picture of my sweet little monkey man!

Merry Christmas... a little late!

Twas the season for being busy!!!!  I know it's a little late, but here is our little monkey man on Christmas morning with all of his goodies (from mommy and daddy) in front of the Christmas tree.  

Saturday morning fun..

When Mary asked us to watch Evan a few Saturday's ago, I'm sure she had no idea what we would do to her son.  It was just too tempting....  We usually spend our Saturday mornings cleaning up and doing our grocery shopping.  Tim thought it would be pretty funny to put a few "tattoos" on Evan.  It was a miracle we got him to stay still!  I held him while Tim drew on him.  Then we put his shirt back on and sent him home to his momma.  Later that night (bathtime) Mary calls us laughing hysterically about Evan's "tattoos".  We could hear dad in the background also laughing and taking pictures.  So, this is what Mary gets for leaving her son in our care on a Saturday morning!