We got back and chilled until lunch of chicken, squash and salad. We kind of try to have Sunday lunch together as usually Stuart leaves on Sundays around 4 pm. Fortunately, he decided to stay for trick or treating this particular Sunday. Sadly, we split the kids. At 4 pm we headed to Grammie and Pop’s for the ‘special’ Halloween bag.
Harley Quinn and Spider-Man!
We then went our separate ways. Stuart took Jack to the Daniels’ house to hang out with Kyle and their buddies, while I went to the Ryan Elementary neighborhood so Millie could walk around with her friend Mallory. Initially Millie was mortified that I was going to walk around with her. She soon got over it when she discovered that Mallory’s mom was going to be walking around with Mallory as well. After a huge haul, we ended up at Mary and Todd’s. Stuart took Millie home and I waited for Jack to return. Jack finally resurfaced at 9 pm. When Jack and I finally got home Millie was already in bed so I went up to say good night to her. Jack took a shower and then had a bite to eat before going to bed.
Monday morning Stuart’s alarm went off at 4:45 am and he headed for Gallup at 5:15 am. I got the kids up at 6 o’clock. I took Millie to school first because I needed to drop off Jack’s top up medication at the school nurse’s office. When we went to the nurse, there was a student in there that I assumed was the nurse’s child. So I’m explaining the medication not really realizing that could be embarrassing to Jack. As he walked out Jack said, ‘Mom, that kid is in my social studies class. And now he knows I have ADD.’ Then, without skipping a beat, Jack said, ‘Hey, look at the pretty colors.’ He was trying to be funny saying that he couldn’t stay focused long enough to complete his thought and instead ‘notice the pretty colors’ on the wall. It was quite humorous and quick-witted of him. I got to school a little bit late, but my little guy who I thought tested positive for Covid did not, so I was misinformed and he actually came back to school on Monday.
I picked Millie up from school, took her to gymnastics, paid her gym fees and then headed to Casteel for Jack’s basketball game. They played against Bogle Junior High. Jack played really well. He only scored one basket, but he had a lot of assists. On the Bogle team was the coach’s son that played on Jack’s Gremlins team. So the victory was very sweet because we all remember the story with the coach from the Gremlins. Once Jack’s basketball game was over, I took him home for a bite to eat, then we headed out for volleyball. Once I dropped the boys off at volleyball I headed back towards gymnastics to pick Millie up, stopping at McDonald’s beforehand to get her chicken nuggets. She and I went home and took showers to get ready for bed, then headed back to the volleyball gym to pick up the boys. Our Mondays are quite hectic.
Tuesday morning we all got up and went to school. My day was rather boring. After school I headed to pick Millie up and she and I went home and I started dinner. I had stopped at the grocery store prior to picking her up and bought some frozen meals. I decided that processed food is all my children will eat. Tuesday night I was supposed to have company from my friend Bethany but she got held up and we had to reschedule for Wednesday night. So the kids and I just sat around and watched television and then it was time for bed.
Wednesday morning I was awake at 3:30 and just kind of tossed and turned until my alarm went off at 4:30 and I got up and went to walk with Sue. It is the highlight of my week for sure. Once home, both kids were up and nearly ready for school. There were still reminders of what needed to be done, but it was better than Wednesdays of the past. During the day my throat started to hurt. I also had canker sores in my mouth, so I decided after I dropped Millie off at gymnastics I would go to urgent care. I had a strep test that came up negative, which was good, but my mouth and throat still hurt. I headed home and waited for Jack to arrive. When he did, I fed him and he got ready for volleyball. His friend Trenton came over as he was going to start practicing with the volleyball boys. I dropped the boys at Vicki’s and then met Bethany at Old Chicago for dinner. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich for Millie but by the time I picked her up it was cold. I do have difficulty with feeding her after gym and still getting her to bed at a reasonable time.
Thursday after school, I left early so Millie could get her Covid vaccine. We then had a treat at Dairy Queen because of her bravery. Our next stop was Target for a gift for her friend’s birthday. Millie had a total meltdown in Target as she didn’t understand why I wasn’t willing to spend more than $45 on her friend’s birthday gift. I ended up leaving her in an aisle and going to check out. Ugh! When will these episodes end? After the Target episode we went to Jack’s basketball game. They won again. They really are doing well. We then came home and I fed the kids. We did absolutely nothing for the rest of the evening.
Friday I found out I would be getting a 6th grade student who would never have the option of phasing into the regular classroom. She had threatened to kill her teacher and this was her only option for school. I was told she would start Monday. After school I rushed to pick Millie up and then headed home to let the dogs out to pee. We then turned around and headed to the Ryan Elementary Fall Festival as I had volunteered to help the first hour. It turned out that I wasn’t needed, so I had rushed for nothing. Oh well!
Pie eating contest.
Millie went around with her friends and played the games and did different activities. Jack and Stuart joined us soon after. I won a silent auction voucher for a $1000 toward orthodontics. It cost me $200, but I find that to be a win since I have one more child who will need orthodontics. We got home after 9 pm and all showered and hit the sack.
Saturday we got up and took Millie to gymnastics. We were supposed to take the dogs to training but opted against it as we really hadn’t worked much with them since the trainer was first at our house. We just hadn’t had the time. We may have to admit that our dogs are jerks and we may need to live with them as they are. Instead of going to dog training, we got our Christmas decorations out. We then went to Ace Hardware to get some wood for our RV curtains my mom was making. We ended up buying some patio furniture and because they misquoted the price of the set, we got it for nearly half off the original price.
Millie went to a birthday party after gymnastics and then we picked her up around 2:30 pm. She showered when we got home because she hadn’t done so the night before as she had fallen asleep at Grammie and Pop’s when we stopped by after the Fall Festival to see Rony and his girlfriend, Christine. We also watched my longtime friend, Ronald Moore and his family on the Family Feud. My parents had recorded their episode. It was epic! They won!
We borrowed my dad’s truck to pick up our new patio furniture. We got it all set up and turned the fire pit on. I really think we will enjoy the cooler nights out in the back with this new set.
Once the patio furniture was in place, we met our neighbors Mitch and Elise on the driveway for a real fire, pizza and s’mores. It’s become one of our favorite events.
Sunday morning we were up and Stuart made breakfast for our neighbors and us on the Blackstone grill. It was delicious. We finished decorating the house for Christmas, with help from the dogs, of course.
Stuart and I headed to find him a warm jumper. It’s getting quite chilly in Gallup, he reports. We got home and Millie had set up our movie afternoon. She only stayed and watched the movie for about 30 minutes. It was kind of funny. We decided to watch Home Alone. Stuart left around 4 pm. Russ came for a visit around 5:30 pm. We talked about life and where we were headed as far as our careers were concerned. It seems we are both at a bit of an crossroad and are not sure what move to make next. He is heading back to Arkansas very soon and then will decide what his next move is. Once he left, the rest of the evening was chilled.
Monday my new student came. I met her in front of the school with her mom. She will be fine. She’s quite bright and will just do her work. She’s probably getting the best education of any 6th grader on our campus. After school Millie had a med check. Once I had dropped her at gymnastics, I headed to Jack’s game where they won against Newell Barney Junior High. After his game we headed home and let the dogs out. Chloe had actually puked in her cage which makes for a good mess for when she comes out of her cage. Trenton showed up and we headed out to volleyball. On the way back from volleyball I stopped at Walmart to try to find Millie a new lunchbox but I had no success. Her old lunch box had become infested with ants one day so of course we had to throw it away. I didn’t find her a lunch box but I did find a cookie jar. I love the Pioneer Woman’s line at Wal-Mart! I don’t think I’ve mentioned it, but my niece Emily’s bestie is Paige Drummond, who is the daughter of the Pioneer Woman.
Love it!
Already filled with cookies.
I did buy Millie chicken tenders and then I picked her up from gymnastics. I found out that I was getting another new student either Friday or Monday. It is a former student that was in the program last year who chose to go to a charter school. He was having a lot of trouble at his new school, so why not bring him back to us? Sure! My students require a lot of emotional support, which is sometimes draining on a soul.
Tuesday Jack had a basketball game. He played really well and they won by about 20 points. The season is really going well for them. Other than that, Tuesday was pretty uneventful.
Wednesday the kids had their normal activities. Stuart got home early and we decided to have a sushi date night. I do cherish our little alone times, especially now that I don’t know when we will be able to schedule things like this. We popped into the gym to watch the last half hour of Millie’s practice. She was being a bit silly so I asked one of her coaches if she was concentrating when she was at practice. The coach said she often goofed off. I then had a bit of a conversation with Millie about her natural ability and how she didn’t want to waste that talent and approach it so lazily. I also reminded her about the amount of money we spend to allow her to participate and if she wasn’t going to give it her all, then we would have difficulty justifying that money.
Thursday we were up just after 6 am to fix our back yard. It was Veteran’s Day so that meant no school for any of us. We had rock dumped on the drive the morning before. The dogs have wrecked our yard. I have no idea how they dig up the rocks in the back yard, but they’ve managed.
Prior to our work, we had coffee on the back patio with the fire on.
We love our new fire pit.
Thursday evening I went to Lauren’s house as she was having Melinda, Heather and myself over for a girl’s night. Stuart had dropped me off and Heather brought me home. I left my purse at Lauren’s which in turn meant I left my car keys, because I always have my car keys in my purse. This proved to be a bit of an issue the following morning. Stuart had to maneuver the Liberty out of the garage with a 17 point turn as my car was parked behind it. Fortunately the Liberty is small and our garage is big. Lauren met me at Ryan Elementary to bring me my purse. I then picked Stuart up at the Kia dealership because his car was being serviced. He took me to school and then after school picked me up. We went to get his car and then met back at home. Stuart had done all the house work in preparation of the Moore family’s visit. He had sandwich stuff ready for them once I collected them from the airport.
I got them from the airport just after 8 pm. Tammy, his wife, and Ashlynn, their daughter, were visiting to go and see a Cardinals game. We were thrilled to have them stay. Ronald and I stayed up late to talk and catch up.
Saturday Jack had a volleyball tournament. Grammie and Pop came to his last two matches. He didn’t play so well when they were there, so he was a bit disappointed. Overall they did well, though. Saturday evening we had smash burgers with the Moores, Grammie and Pop as well as Ken, Maytee and the girls. My mom and dad had a great time catching up with Ronald.
The Moores went to the Cardinals’ game Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately the Cardinals lost. By the time they got home Stuart had already left for Gallup. We sat around and talked for a bit. They had a little bite to eat and then they went to bed.
Monday morning we were all up bright and early. My mom and dad came and got the Moores and took them to the airport. The kids and I got off to school as we normally do on a Monday morning. Monday after school I rushed to pick Millie up from school and take her to gymnastics. I then went to watch Jack’s basketball game at Casteel High School. They played against Payne Junior High, which they knew would be one of the toughest games they had this season. They played pretty well at the beginning but then in the end they lost by about 14. Jack was very disappointed in his playing and was nearly in tears when we left the gym. So we hustled out of the gym to get to the car so that he would not be embarrassed if he did need to cry. Once we were home he got his gear for volleyball together and we headed out to volleyball. I drove the boys to the gym. I picked Millie up from gymnastics after I got her food from Burger King. Once Millie and I were home we took a shower, she finish her food, and we sat and watched television. Jack returned from volleyball just before 10 o’clock, he showered and went to bed.
Tuesday morning ran just about as it normally does. I am usually barking at the kids about all the things they need to get completed before we leave the house. Commonly on Tuesdays and Thursdays we are a bit later in the morning than normal because Jack’s ride to Casteel doesn’t need to leave his house until 7 am, so that helps us out a lot. Tuesday after school I went and collected Millie from Kids’ Express. We went and got some milk at the grocery store as well as her medication. We got home and I fixed orange chicken for the kids for dinner. Shortly after Jack got home from basketball, we ate and then Millie decided she wanted to watch the Santa Claus. Both kids showered and we just relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Wednesday morning started out with a bang again. I got up to go walk with Sue which is my only indulgence in the week. When I get home my expectation was that the kids would be out of bed, beds made, downstairs, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, and medication taken. However, that was not what I came home to. So my frustration was pretty high once I was home. That in turn caused Millie to lose her patience and start screaming at me that I was the worst mother ever and I should just go ahead and throw her out with the trash. I am well aware that her emotional state is not always rational primarily because of her background. I am constantly looking for sources of information that can help me deal with her behavior. I am so thankful that she does not display this behavior at school or in other social settings. We finally made our individual destinations, thank goodness, but it wasn’t without challenge.
I had several kids in my class on Wednesday that did not belong to me but were needing a place to decompress. When I was finished with the day, I packed up my things and got ready to leave to go to a dentist appointment. I received a call from the Ryan Elementary dean of students. She said that Millie had had an altercation at recess. Apparently Millie got pushed down by another student. Millie‘s part in the altercation was the fact that she called this kid a hippo. Here is the difference between Ryan Elementary, a southern school, and Shumway Leadership Academy, a northern school. I get death threats and the consequences are minor, whereas Millie calls a kid a hippo and is threatened that the next incident could result in a day in school suspension. I don’t agree with name-calling, however there is big discrepancy between the two schools. I am not even sure my school would call a parent regarding name-calling. When I was speaking with the dean of students, I told her that I was sorry that she had to waste your time on such an insignificant call. I told her I was hopeful after speaking to Millie that this would never happen again. I then said to her that I had made very similar calls from that exact office she was calling from, and that I did not appreciate my own daughter being part of the problem rather than part of a solution. I just couldn’t help myself.
Thursday I took Jack to his orthodontist appointment. I decided to take the day off. So my mom and I went to lunch and then went to Goodwill. I had a brilliant idea about starting an online business selling stuff I found at Goodwill. We shall see how that goes. Stuart got home in time to see Jack’s game. He played horribly. He was so disappointed that this first game Stuart was able to watch ended like this. Millie decided she didn’t want to go so we left her at home.
Friday Stuart was home all day and did some things around the house to get us ready for our Mexico trip the following week. Friday evening we watched Christmas movies and just relaxed at home.
Saturday we got up and took Millie to gymnastics. Stuart and I decided to have breakfast out, which was nice. We then walked around San Tan Village, even though there were no stores open. We needed to walk off our breakfast. We then hit Costco, which is always fun on a Saturday morning. We got home and Stuart went to pick Millie up from gymnastics. We made arrangements to go with Mitch and Elise to dinner that evening. I nearly goofed it up as I totally forgot I had told Jack he could have Gavin and Owen over for a sleepover. In the end only Gavin came and Vicki was fine with the boys being home for a couple of hours on their own. We had a great time with our neighbors. Mitch always says how much he loves our times together. We do enjoy their company for sure.
Sunday we picked up the RV. Our goal was to get all the new curtains up before we went to Mexico. My mom had brought them down Sunday afternoon. The Greens came over for lunch. Stuart made stir fry and we had a late lunch. There were a lot of leftovers, which was nice for the two days of school I would have. We figured out the curtains were too long, but decided not to say anything to my mom until the following morning. Stuart got the cab curtains installed Sunday afternoon, but the others would have to wait.
I had a student who was fully phased back into the general education classroom, return to me because of behavior. So he will be with me for 5 days before he can go back out to his other classroom. After school, Jack had a basketball game at Casteel. They won by quite a lot. Jack played well again, which makes things nicer for all of us. Jack had wanted to stay for the 8th grade game but since he had procrastinated over the weekend, he had a lot of homework to do Monday evening. Stuart went to get Millie from gymnastics and the rest of the evening was filled with packing up the RV. Stuart had completed the instillation of the curtains and they look fantastic. All are lined and make the RV so much darker inside, which helps with sleeping later.
Tuesday was an easy day at school. We did some Thanksgiving activities and were thankful we didn’t have to go to school the rest of the week. Jack had a game at Eastmark High School, which was supposed to be at 3:45 pm but ended up being put back to 4:30 pm, which was great because I was going to be hard pressed to get there at 3:45. It was their last regular season game and they won by nearly 40 points. Jack was very pleased with his performance. Tuesday evening we finished loading the RV and we’re ready for our weekend away.
Wednesday we got up and headed to Mexico for the holiday. Everything ran quite smoothly. We had decided to take the dogs, even though we knew they would be a pain in the butt. We arrived just before lunchtime and got everything set up. I made sandwiches for everyone and we decided to go down to the beach. 
Both dogs actually liked the water, but the kids reported that it was cold.
Stuart and I went down to the bar and had a beer while the kids stayed back with the dogs at the campsite. We played games and just enjoyed being around each other for the rest of the afternoon.
Thursday morning we took the car and went into town for a bit. Millie wanted to buy something at a shop but just couldn’t find the right thing. On the way back to the RV park we stopped at Jessy’s to get some jumbo shrimp.
They cleaned them for us as well.
Stuart grilled them and we ate them. Delish!!!! What did everyone else eat for Thanksgiving? It was shrimp for us!
We spent most of the afternoon at the beach with the dogs. We had brought our cooler to the beach. In it was margarita mix. Stuart had just poured each of us a glass when Bailey decided he would jump over our chairs, dumping the drinks, tipping the cooler and breaking the cup holder on one of our chairs. Stuart was furious and wanted to get rid of the dogs. I calmly went to the RV to wash the cups and refill them with ice. I then came back down and we tried to pretend our dogs weren’t total menaces. After dinner that evening the kids roasted marshmallows over our fire pit.
Once in a while the marshmallow would get a bit burnt.
And sometimes the mallow turned out perfect!
Friday morning there was much of the same, relaxing and walking the crazy dogs. We decided we would check out the Escape Room in town. We had so much fun! We didn’t escape, but we worked together as a team and did pretty well.
The theme was Alice in Wonderland.
We went to have lunch at the Boo Bar after the Escape Room. I had ceviche, Jack had a huge burrito, Stuart had red snapper, which came out as the whole fish. I can’t do it! Millie wasn’t adventurous at all and stuck to her usual, chicken strips and French fries. When we got back from lunch we went down to the bar and ran into Skip’s sister and brother in law. Skip had told them to be on the lookout for us. Skip’s sister has lost well over 200 pounds. I would not have recognized her at all. She looks amazing.
Barb and Tim!
We had leftovers for dinner on Friday evening. We sat around the campfire and enjoyed the quiet. We went to bed relatively early, which is the way we roll when camping.
Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast at Al Capone’s. The food was amazing! I had Mexican lasagna. It was corn tortillas with egg, ham and cheese in between. We then headed back to the RV park and played cards most of the morning. I made the kids Nutella sandwiches for lunch and Stuart and I just snacked. We decided to go and visit the bar one last time and hoped to run into Tim and Barb on the beach. Manuela came by and we purchased a couple of wreaths and some other things for Christmas gifts. We also bought some silver from Juan. Stuart went and got the dogs and the kids but took them back to the RV after a bit. Stuart opted to take a nap while the kids and I went to the beach to hang out with Tim, Barb, and their friends. Jack and Millie played with Barb’s grandsons who are 4 and 5 years old. It was so cute! Stuart finally came done after an hour or so. We called it a day just as the sun was setting. I took a shower in the bathhouses because I needed to wash my hair and the RV shower doesn’t have enough water pressure. We then made spaghetti bolognese for dinner. We also had roasted vegetables, which were delightful. We discovered that the Parmesan cheese was actually moldy, but that was after Millie had sprinkled it on her pasta. We chose to just say it was all gone and we threw it away. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her, right? We had an early night as we were going to pull out of the RV park as soon as we could the next morning. It was an excellent 4 days.
