Color blind?

It's late, and I know I need to be asleep, but I am online researching color blind tests. Now, anyone who knows me well would know that I know my colors and am big on matching - things have to be just the right shades to go together, and I feel that I am quite good at my color matching skills! Anyhow, recently I had my eye exam for contacts, and I get a bit stressed every time I have to go. Since my first eye exam when I guess I was in 7th grade, I have failed the color blind tests. You know those circles of dots? Well, in many, I see nothing. And once again, I failed it. So I got online tonight to try to figure out why I fail those tests. I made Marc come over and look at the dots, and he saw things I didn't. It really frustrated me, to not understand why I see nothing, but seem to know and see all my colors well. It's a lot less common for women to be color blind than men. I know there are lots of variations of it, and I read that it can be inherited. So family members, anyone else out there ever fail it? And if you're not sure what I'm talking about, then you must have good vision. You can go to the following site to take a mini-test. Let me know if anyone else has issues... I'm just frustrated about it all right now!!


http://colorvisiontesting.com/online%20test.htm#demonstration%20card

Easter

Ok, so I'm a late with photos. I know. We went to church in Killeen, and then drove to Brenda's for brunch and our annual egg hunt. We had a bad day of photos though - noone wanted to cooperate much, so there's not really anything where everyone is looking. Oh well. :)If you look closely at the one of Luke adn Mia dressed for church, you'll notice her teeth are blue. The only way she'd sit quietly without crying was if she was eating blue peeps!!

Spring Break Hilights

So I know break isn't quite over, but the majority of our outings are done since mom, dad, and grandma leave tomorrow morning. We have kept busy this week. Sunday Marc and I took Luke to Houston to the Rockets game (Marc's birthday present) and spent the night there. It was good to have that time with just Luke. We went to the Aquarium for dinner and had a great time there. Yesterday we went to see Horton Hears a Who, and I hear it was a great movie... I only caught about 40 minutes of it since Mia was fussing and I had to keep leaving with her. Luke summed it up for me today - I asked him if there were tiny people in the speck, and he said "It doesn't matter how little you are -we are all people." So I guess he got the underlying message of the movie! (If you haven't seen it, that may mean nothing to you!)Today we all went to the zoo in Waco, and then hung outside at Brenda's enjoying the sunshine, and unexpectedly got our first sunburns of the year. By the way, another very exciting moment this week when was we got our replacement Samsung TV! We only had to call them for 8 months and complain before they did something about it. And Mia had her 1 year appointment yesterday. She is still at 18 pounds, and went from being in the 80/90th percentiles to the 10th! Not sure what is going on there. She looks great to me and the doctor, so maybe she's just watching her figure and doens't want to gain too much weight. The girl sure does eat enough though!

At the Rockets game, with his new Clutch bear


Hanging out outside the Aquarium Restaurant, waiting for dinner


On the balcony of the restaurant



Leaving the hotel


Luke and Carsyn, outside of the zoo, waiting for everyone else to arrive. They found this little pile of leaves and were so happy playing in it! We don't get piles of leaves around here much.


Checking out the stinky elephants (they argued on the way to the zoo about whether they were stinky or not... and they sure were!)


Mia, checking out the elephants from the stroller view


I wanted to make sure we got a photo of the kids with great grandma, and we found a great spot out of the sun at the end of our zoo trip. Thanks grandma for making the trip to see us!!

Oprah's Big Give

Does anyone watch the show? I have heard negative reviews, but I like it because people are actually helping someone else for a change, not being selfish. Anyhow, I called dad from Houston last night and talked him through the process of recording it on my DVR for me, and I'm glad I did! I watched it tonight, and they were helping out two Texas elementary schools. The one school, Velasco, wanted a Christmas celebration because its kids are so economically disadvantaged and they wanted them all, for once, to get a gift. The neat part was that Velasco is in Freeport, TX, where Marc and I taught 5 years ago! I interviewed to teach and that school, and of course they loved me and wanted to hire me, (seriously, they did!) but I didn't like the principal at all. He seemed nice enough when he got a 50 inch TV though! I just thought how neat it was that I could really picture those kids, as that school was maybe 2 miles from the one I taught at, and I know the kids are quite poor - many are even from migrant families. Now I appreciate the efforts of the show even more as I can personally identify some of the people affected by unselfish generosity.

Princess Mia's Birthday Bash

Today we celebrated Mia's birthday with a princess party. Thanks to everyone who came - grandma and grandma Davis, great grandma Davis, Nonno, Nonni, and Michael, Brenda, Marcus, Carsyn, and Payton (and a brief visit from Scott), Doug and Jill, and Malcolm, Adrian, and Kennady. Once again, my cake lady came through with an awesome crown cake. Mia received many great gifts, but seemed to enjoy her spoons from her tea set the best for now!

Good morning! I'm ready for my party!!


Mommy and Mia pre-party


The cakes


The princess, posing on her throne with her gifts


Blowing out the candles (with help from big brother Luke)


Mia enjoying her smash cake


After a bath and a costume change, Mia took some time to check out her American Girl Doll of the Year, MIA!


Luke and Mia playing with her new little people house


And towards the end of the party, she just couldn't take it anymore. Within a minute of laying her down, Mia was sound asleep and snoring!

Happy Birthday Miss Mia!

It's hard to believe little miss Mia is already 1 year old. She started her day off by getting her new chair, which she loves! After school we took her out for ice cream since it's her favorite thing ever. She will get the rest of her gifts at her party on Saturday.

At one year old, Mia...
... has 8 teeth, including a new molar
... eats everything and loves big people food!
... walks holding onto things, but not on her own
... waves and smiles at everyone, and is learning to blow kisses
... knows "eat" in sign language and looks to the kitchen when we say it!
... can find mommy, daddy, Luke, and Molly when we ask her where they are
... and her favorite trick - opening her jar of puffs with her teeth!


Here she is, in her new big girl chair, taking the lid off her puffs as mentioned earlier, and wearing her birthday tshirt (compliments of Aunt Brenda!)


Enjoying her ice cream


Not the best shot, but Luke had cookie monster ice cream... blue with cookies in it. Nice. I believe his hands and face are stained blue still.

Random photos from the past weeks

Baby "Linus"


Sound asleep...


Last game of the year, kicking the ball in


Luke celebrating the end of soccer and showing off his medal


Mia stealing Luke's hat and soccer medal!

Quote of the Day

In the words of one of my third grade girls...

"Mrs. Minatrea, you look like you just came from Las Vegas, like one of those girls that shakes everything."

Um, is that a compliment?
(For the record, I wasn't wearing anything sparkly or with a feather headdress!)

TAKS Time

Tomorrow is the much anticipated TAKS day for my third graders. I can't believe how hard we've worked the past weeks to get ready. I'm not as stressed this year, but it's also the first year that all my kids have a shot at passing the first time, so my hopes are a bit higher. I can't wait until Tuesday afternoon when it's over!!

In other news...
This week is sure to be busy! Tomorrow is TAKS. Luke has 3 soccer games -Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. This is conference week for me, so I have some pretty much every day and quite a few on Thursday. Marc is balancing soccer and being in Austin for the state basketball games Thursday-Saturday. On top of all this, I'm preparing for Mia's birthday party, and battling illnesses. I woke up early Saturday morning very sick, and finally felt better last night. However, today at school it all came back but I made myself stay to get the kids ready for TAKS. Luke had a fever Saturday and Sunday. We did what any good parent would do - shoved him full or Tylenol and sent him on to school today - and so far, no call that his fever came back. Hopefully he's done being sick!

I'm excited about Mia's upcoming party. It's not a huge ordeal, but it's princess themed and I also found out mom, dad, and grandma Davis will be making the trip down for the party. Now my biggest stress is what she'll wear, and getting her 1 year photos taken by someone other than Aunt Amy!

February seemed way too crazy - with TAKS prep, soccer, basketball season, birthdays, valentine's day, sick people, family job situations and doctor visits... so I sure am glad to welcome in a new month. Hopefully March will be full of positive experiences and good news for everyone!

I know I have some photos to post, and will try to put them on in the next day or two.

Long Time No Blog

Wow, the past weeks have been very busy and even more tiring. To sum it up, basketball is over, Mia's been sick and got 2 new teeth, we've had birthday parties and soccer games weekly, and it's 2 weeks to TAKS time for me. Marc's team missed playoffs by just a few points in a tie-breaker game. They played well, but just didn't pull off a win in the end. School has been crazy for me. I interviewed for a new aide for my grade level and the one we hired started Friday. It's nice to have a little help again since we've been without an aide for about a month. Below are a few photos of everyone from the past days.


Causing mischief, her new favorite thing to do!




Watching buddy's soccer game


Hanging out, waiting for some action as goalie. He enjoyed it, until the ball went in. Then he just looked at me and said "I don't want to be goalie anymore!"



Waiting to block a goal at last Thursday's game

Luke's Ticket

When I picked up Luke at school today, he was sitting on the floor with Ms. Kuehl getting tested. She told him to go and show me his ticket. He pulled a little ticket out of his cubby that read "Putting together a 36 piece floor puzzle (backwards!)". She proceeded to tell me that her teacher was observing her today, and they looked over at Luke, who was working alone on a puzzle. He had it turned over upside down, so every piece was just plain white. He sat there and put the whole thing together on his own. Not only was Ms. Kuehl impressed, but she said that her teacher (she's doing classes with KISD) said she'd never seen anything like it. So, since they were so impressed, Ms. Kuehl wrote him a good work ticket award. She went on to say that she barely ever gives out tickets, and if anyone gets 3, they get some great prize. She also said that none of the kids knew what they were, because she hadn't found a reason to give one out yet this school year, so Luke is the first! I was so proud of him. I never thought my son getting a ticket for doing a puzzle could bring me so much pride as a mom. I'm not sure what I did with my time before he came into my life, and I'm just not sure that I ever could have truly been happy, because I know what true happiness is at times like this - when the littlest thing seems so amazing, just because MY child did it.

Go Vikings!!

Today was Luke's first soccer game, and it was a perfect day for it! After all the cold and windy days lately, today was sunny and 70. I was so proud of the kids for getting out there and trying. It was so crazy - 18 little kids all running around, falling on each other. I have to give a shout out to our goalies for a couple of good blocks! Luke did well. He had a good kick once or twice, but towards the end got a bit tired and lagged behind the rest. He did spend a lot of time pulling at his shirt, which is way too big. At least he wasn't one of the kids that ran off the field crying, so I am proud of him! And thanks in part to the 7 year old on the team, we scored one goal and won the game. Thanks to all our fans today that made the drive to watch this high-action sporting event- Brenda, Carsyn, Nonno, Nonni, and Michael. We appreciate your support!

In other news, we've been absent from bloggerville for a while due to being busy and sick. I was knocked out most of this week with a sinus infection and the flu, and even skipped a few days of work due to it. Basketball season is winding down too. The last regular season game is a week from Tuesday, and hopefully that won't be our last game of the season though and we can get to at least one playoff game.

I'm off to join the rest of the family for nap time. We are run down and just need a rest. Have a great weekend, and I know there are many others out there feeling sick, so get well and stay healthy.

Luke, pre-game


Luke kicking the ball in


Looking tough??


Team huddle - Go Vikings!


Mia, enjoying some puffs more than the game

Little Miss Mia (and a Purple Viking)

Last weekend, Mia grew up right before our eyes. In 3 days, she decided to start kneeling and pulling up, sitting up in her crib facing the door (waiting for us to come and get her!), and has even climbed up onto Luke's chair. It's so exciting to see her learn so quickly, but hard to watch, knowing my baby is turning into a toddler already.



Also, last Saturday was Luke's first soccer practice - with daddy as the coach. It was about 45 and very windy, so I was proud that none of the kids cried or gave up. I will have many more photos to come of soccer season, but had to take one of his first day as a purple Viking! (Could be worse... a coworker's son's team is called the Smurfs!)

Questions to Ponder...

A friend sent me an email called "Haunting Questions." Most forwarded emails I've seen before, but this one was new so maybe it'll be new to some of you. Enjoy!


Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Just my kids

Nothing much to say about this. Just wanted to share a cute photo of my kids hanging out in their jammies, watching Yo Gabba Gabba!

Gulling anyone??

So, I have heard of TPing, egging, chalking the street, forking, reflectoring, and even yamming (don't ask... high school memory!) but tonight I had a first. Driving onto my street, I first noticed an odd round thing in the road, about 6 inches wide, with a blinking light. Then I turned the corner, and saw what I thought was a cat on top of a car in the street. Turns out, as I got closer, I was wrong. It was actually a ceramic frog! Then I pulled in to my drive and just busted out laughing. There, in front of the brick post of my front porch, was a seagull sitting on some logs. Someone had a few laughs at the expense of a neighbor's lawn ornaments, and I have to admit that I had more than a few laughs at it! I had to snap a few photos just to show how silly it was. Not the best quality of photos due to the rain, but you'll get the general idea!



When I returned from Marc's game tonight (sad loss to the Death Star) I stopped down the street to get the mail, and there sat the frog, on a water drain cover, greeting me as I got out of my car. Enjoy the photos, and hope they bring a silly laugh to you too. It's been a long, draining, and hard week, but a simple seagull lawn ornament managed to brighten even this cold, rainy day. And by the way, I still don't know what the odd blinking light was, but it was a nice touch to the other decor.



So, I've been "gulled." Can anyone top that?

***UPDATE***

I went outside after posting this to show Marc, and we both had a laugh... until I noticed that the pumpkin cutouts that I had staked in my flowerbed were missing. Yes, I know... I still had pumpkins in January, but they were small, and I kept forgetting to remove them! Guess some neighborhood punk took care of that for me. I'm still laughing about it, but not quite as loudly.

Grey Wolves Shout Out Time

I had to take the time to give a shout out to Marc's team. As of today, they are ranked #13 in the state in class 5A! He's enjoying it today, because who knows what tomorrow's game could do to that ranking. Way to go guys!

Our Family's Fantastic Friday

What a good day for the Minatrea family! Each of us had a shining moment today, so I wanted to share!

Mia - She is 10 months old today! She had a doctor appointment to check if her ear infection is finally gone, and her ears are good.

Luke - I picked him up from school today and Ms. Kuehl told me to check his report card. He had great improvements since his last one 9 weeks ago. He was tested earlier this week and he spoke loudly and answered all of his questions. Now, that may not seem like a big deal if you aren't aware that my child is very shy and shuts down when it comes to talking to other people. Then Ms. Kuehl said that his BIG test came today. He was the lunch helper, and the class was short one sandwich, so she sent Luke to ask the cook for another one, and he actually delivered the message! What a huge step for him. I'm a very proud mom right now.

Me - We had a short staff meeting today and my principal said she wanted to recognize a few people for their good works. She gave out 5 certificates, and I was the fifth one. She told everyone that I've taken on 2 new teachers to mentor, am helping out the other new teacher on my grade level, and I still ask her what else I can do with a smile on my face. I was pretty touched to be singled out like that in from of the whole staff, and it really made my day!

Marc -Marc played Ellison, another Killeen school, tonight. That is the school he was the assistant at a few years ago. Ellison was undefeated in district games, and is always a hard team to beat. It was a low scoring game, and Shoemaker was down 10 points at the half, and it wasn't looking good. Then one of his players got fouled shooting a 3 pointer, and immediately after that call, the other team got a technical. The player made 4 of the 5 points, and that turned the game around, and Shoemaker had a huge win in the end! My throat is actually hurting from yelling so much, and Marc's dad commented that I scared Mia at one point. But it's all worth it to finally get a win against such a good team. I feel like it's Marc's best win ever.

What a good day. Now it's not even 9:00, and we are all home and exhausted, but feeling very content. I hope everyone else had a wonderful day too.

P.S. Luke starts soccer very soon, and as of a few hours ago, guess who will be his coach??

I love my puffs!

Mia is finally successful in eating her little puffs. After the first tries at home where she gagged and threw up, I turned the task over to her teachers! After all, they feed babies for a living. With just three days at school last week, she now eats them by the handful. I couldn't resist taking some photos last night of her eating. And by the way, the jar says the serving size is 80 puffs! Does any baby need to eat 80 of anything at one sitting???







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