We may never drive again!

Last week we visited my parents for Christmas. There was a big storm predicted so we left early hoping to avoid driving in it. We left Tuesday afternoon. The roads were fine until we got about 25 miles from my parents house and I didn't even notice it had rained. I guess it had just misted and froze solid. It suddenly got VERY slippery. I started sliding and was headed for a semi in the other lane. I got the car turned and pointed into the median where we had a nice soft slide in. No one was hurt but of course we were stuck. We called a tow truck and had to wait about a 1/2 hour. The car was running fine and we had just filled up with gas so we could keep it running and stay warm. It just cost us $107 to have the car towed out of the median. Then we drove less than 20 miles an hour the rest of the way. The trip that can be done in 4 1/2 hours took 8. We got there safely and the car was not damaged.
Last night Gerhardt was going to Mt. Pleasant to visit his friend Kurt. Shortly after Gerhardt left, Kurt called to say the roads were bad. Gerhardt realized it was slippery and was going to turn around at Roosevelt Ave and come home. He started sliding and to avoid rearending the car in front of him got in the other lane. Keep in mind he is on the freeway. He looked up and there were cars coming toward him. I guess there had been an accident or something blocking the road further up and some brilliant people decided to make a U turn and go down the freeway the wrong way. Gerhardt had the choice of a head on collision or the median. He went for the median. He was not as lucky as I because the other idiot hit him. He is fine but the car has $3000-4000 damage. The passenger side of the car is crushed in a little and the front passenger window is broken out. Gerhardt was fine but I am very glad I was not in the car also. Anneliese would have been fine in the back and I probably wouldn't have been hurt badly but would have gotten cut up with the glass. He was able to drive the car home after getting it towed out of the median for exactly $107. He is talking to the insurance right now. We may be looking for a different car because his is pretty old and not even worth $3000 anymore. Drive safe and watch out for ice and idiots!

Anne is a weird kid!

Anne loves celery but won't eat chocolate chip cookies. She sometimes wants to go to bed. The weirdest thing though is she seems to love the hospital. Yesterday morning she woke up and was having trouble breathing. I called the doctor thinking it was another asthma attack and got some medicine for the nebulizer. She got slightly better after the treatments but had a really nasty cough and some other symptoms she didn't have before so we took her to the ER. I said something a couple of times that maybe we should go to the hospital and she said, "Go to Hospital, Want this!" Finally we did. She was pretty miserable when we left home. When we got there they gave her another breathing treatment and an oral steroid and she was fine. She took the medicine right down and was excited about taking it. She ran around having the best time. They did a chest x-ray which last time brought on crying and screaming but yesterday giggles. She got stickers for being so good and felt great by the time we left. The diagnosis was Bronchialitis, a virus way into the lungs that makes them inflamed and therefore makes it hard to breathe. We continue with breathing treatments and liquid steroids for the next week. I have to keep her home from daycare until her cough is gone. She felt great today and I think I have caught it. I am hoping for a storm and no school for the next 2 days so I don't have to take sick days!

Halloween 2009

Mommy, Anneliese, and Aunt Marilyn going to Grandma's house.

Trick or trcating is over.

Halloween 2009

I still haven't got the hang of this program. I thought I downloaded 6 pictures but oh well. Anneliese had fun on Halloween trick or treating. She liked being a ladybug. We borrowed the costume from a friend. We didn't go many places but she had a good time. Our first stop was Aunt Marilyn, then Great Aunt Mary and of course Grandma. Since Anneliese is allergic to everything they gave her money. They didn't need to give her anything but that worked. We also stopped at Marcia Korb's where a dog jumped on Anneliese and scared her but she survived. She loved the Priebe's porch too. Our last stop was Aunt Leeanne's where Aunt Leeanne had a special trick or treat present for her, a book! Anneliese obviously is very comfortable there because she started taking off her costume when we got in the door and wanted to stay a while. She had a fun night!

Halloween 2009

The back of Anneliese's Ladybug costume.

What a cute face. She was excited about being a ladybug.

Leaving to go trick or treating.

Here is a happy ladybug!

Jeopardy!

Tonight Gerhardt is out of town for work so it is just me and Anneliese tonight. We came home and I was exhausted. I wanted to rest and Anne wanted to go, go, go. I tried to drug her with Sesame Street. She said, "No, Sesame Street!" She LOVES Sesame Street so I thought once it started she would be happy but she wasn't. She said, "Push button to stop!" then she said, "Watch Jeopardy!" Gerhardt always watches Jeopardy when he gets home. Anne watched Jeopardy instead of Sesame Street! She didn't actually watch she just went from toy to toy but it was on in the background. She likes to sing the theme song.

H1N1

Anneliese's fever came back on Sunday. I took her to the doctor on Monday and he though it was H1N1. They don't do labs to confirm unless you are hospitalized so we will never know for sure. She is supposed to stay home until she is fever free and feeling well without drugs for 24 hours. Her fever was gone this morning but she is still really tired and not feeling herself. I think it will be another day or two at least. She started this last Thursday.

Sickly weekend

Our apple tree in the backyard was full of apples. I wanted to can some applesauce but when do I have time? I planned on a taking half of a personal day on Friday, leaving Anneliese at daycare and doing it then. Hopefully getting the apples picked Thursday night after school. Thursday night Anne got sick. I was home Friday afternoon but caring for a sick little girl who had a fever for a long time and was pretty miserable. Her fever got to 104.7 Friday night which scared me half to death but the doctor said was okay for a child her age. The fever broke by Sat. morning. and she is feeling better. Gerhardt started feeling crappy yesterday and has pretty much stayed in bed all day today. They have different symptoms. I hope I don't get it now. A lot of kids have been gone from school, some have H1N1 others just colds. One school had 70 kids absent on Friday. The schools told population is under 400.
Today I got the winter coats and clothes out of the attic. YUCK!

Anne at Oktoberfest

Last night Gerhardt and I were supposed to play with Herbie's Little German Band at Oktoberfest in Burlington. We were going to take Anne to some friends of ours who have a 2 year old and a 5 year old. We were running late. We told them we would drop her off around 3:30. We were supposed to play at 4:00. Well, it was 3:45 when we got there and no one was home. I think they forgot! I am not sure what happened. So, we had to take Anne with us. I thought we would just take turns playing. I told Mike I would try playing with her on my lap but didn't think she would stand that for too long. I was wrong. She sat on my lap for 45 minutes then went to Gerhardt for 20 minutes. What a good little girl! It was interesting trying to play with her in my lap and I took some of the notes down an octave so I wouldn't damage her hearing. The man from the newspaper took her picture and asked what her name was but it wasn't in the paper today. Oh well, I was worried I would be puffing my cheeks or something a band teacher shouldn't be doing. They fed us for free and I filled my plate but didn't get to eat much of it. Anne is a true German girl. She loves Sauerkraut and German Potato Salad. She ate most of mine as well as all of the applesauce. I got a pork chop and a piece of strudel. Then she danced to the music and had way too much fun! Gerhardt works with the newspaper photographer's wife and is going to see if he can get the picture. There were many other pictures taken also last night.

I love you Mommy!

Tonight Anneliese put some letter magnets in a bowl, cooked them on her stove and brought them to me. She said, "Here Mommy, I love you." Awhh!!

I also bought her a new potty today. She is too tall for the other one now. I bought an Elmo potty that converts into a step stool and seat to put on the big toilet. She is doing well with the potty. She always poops on it and pees most of the time. We have had a couple dry days in a row but usually have only one wetting a day. Sometimes she just doesn't want to stop playing to go potty. I thought maybe the Elmo potty would be more fun for her. It talks. Elmo says he is proud of her when she goes and stupid stuff. It will probably drive us nuts. I really must be a parent now that I am blogging about a potty.

Yesterday I put Anne in one of her 24 month jean outfits for the first time and the pants were too short. Today I put her in another new pair of jeans 2T and they were too big around the waist and too long. Most of her 2T stuff is that way. She still fits in her 18 month stuff so I guess that is what she will wear. I was getting excited about her wearing some of her new stuff. I wish I had the problem that my pants were too big!

I love

Anne has told Daddy she loves him and yesterday told me "I love shoes!". Still no "I love you" for Mommy however she has told Daddy she loves Mommy.

busy week

We are finally all healthy again. Gerhardt was sick first, gave it to me, and then poor Anneliese got it and ended up with Croup. She finished the last of her antibiotics and steriods yesterday and is doing fine. She was home Monday and Tuesday but went back to daycare on Wednesday where Jamie took the kids to the pumpkin patch in Donnellson. I have never been there but I guess they have a bunch of games for kids. Anne had an absolute blast! Jamie said she played really hard and was asleep as soon as she put her in the car seat to go home. She wouldn't nap when they got back to Jamie's though. She was very crabby when I took her home but after eating her supper she went to her crib and asked to go to bed. I put her to bed and she slept until 7:00 the next morning! She had her first 2nd year molar come in on Thursday which made her especially cranky. She is fine now. She can almost sing the entire alphabet and picks up more phrases every day.

I started lessons this week and am having a lot of fun with the kids. There is one teacher who is very difficult to work with but luckily the rest of them are pretty flexible.

Gerhardt is in the last weekend of the play. Last night we took Rock Band to the cast party and that was a lot of fun.

Annual Daddy/Daughter pics

Gerhardt took a picture of Anneliese's hand in his on her original birthday and plans on taking one every year like that on her birthday. He almost forgot this year so it was a few days late.
Daddy getting hugs and kisses. Anneliese is not a real hugger. She will pat you on the back once in a while but isn't a fan of giving hugs. She is very independent and usually has something better to do!

Late posting of Anne's birthday pics

Elmo cupcakes I made to take to daycare!

We went to the park on her actual birthday

Anneliese's First Tuba lesson

I brought instruments I hadn't played in a while home to practice before I demonstrated to the 5th graders. She didn't care about the trumpet and horn and wanted me to put away the Euphonium but went nuts over the tuba and wanted to try to play it. She hums into the mouthpiece and I think she thinks she IS playing it. She even put her fingers on the valves and tried moving them while she was humming into it!

I wuv you!

When Anneliese crawled for the first time, Gerhardt was the only one in the room. When she took her first step it was for Daddy. Mommy was in the kitchen doing dishes or something. Last night as Gerhardt was leaving for play practice he told Anneliese she had to do 4 cute things for Mommy before she went to bed. As he shut the door to leave Anne yelled, "Bye, Bye Daddy, I wuv you!" That was all 4 cute things in one. Gerhardt didn't even hear it though. Mommy is still waiting for her "I wuv you."

Anne is becoming quite the singer. Her favorites are Twinkle, Twinkle and the Alphabet. She is getting closer on the Alphabet as far as getting the right letters. Her pitches have always been on. She sings all the time at home and I asked her daycare provider if she sings at daycare and she said she does. She also has taken a liking to the tuba. I need to get the pictures off of Gerhardt's camera.

School is going well for me. I am much happier in this job than I was at Oak Street. I have one more day of recruiting then the instrument trials begin for 2 weeks then finally I can start teaching.

Gerhardt is Linus in "Your a Good Man Charlie Brown" opening next week at the Player's Workshop. He says it will be better than a normal PW musical.

Great Day!

Today I met with Dr. Morrison our superintendent and Mrs. Evans the assistant superintendent about things that need to be changed to help the 5th grade band program. I called this meeting and had a list of requests including a bus to transport kids to the after school rehearsal at the high school, another rehearsal, time to teach(reading and math blocks) and a laptop computer since I go to 6 schools and have a good computer at one of them. I went in realizing I wasn't going to get everything but really wanted the bus. Both administrators listened to what I had to say and agreed with me. They did not think I was being at all unreasonable in my requests. They said there may be a problem getting a bus at the end of the day though because they may not have enough or something. Then the assistant superintendent said, "Why don't we bus them to the high school in the school day twice a week?" They do that at other schools. That would solve all of these problems. Hallelujah, yes it would! She is meeting with the elementary principals tomorrow and is going to push for it. I am pretty sure the elementary principals will not be for this so I may not get it but I really am excited that they listened to me and are going to try. I believe that some changes will be made. I also heard today that we are down 250 students this year and over million dollars will need to be cut from next year's budget. There goes my job but we will see.

Survived Kindergarten

I made it through the first week of going back to work and 2 days of helping out with kindergarten. Basically what I did was help label the kids supplies and babysit while the regular teacher took kids individually and tested their skills. We had half the class on Thurs and the other half on Fri. I could never teach kindergarten. The first day one boy cried off and on all day. He wouldn't do anything that was asked of him. At least I know Anne won't cry when she goes to kindergarten. She is very independent which is good. I think she will love kindergarten. Yesterday there were no criers in the classroom I was in but next door there was a kid SCREAMING worse than any infant I have heard, all morning. They finally got him calmed down at lunch because they let him sit with his older brother. When his brother took him back to his kindergarten class the screaming started again. That poor teacher, I talked to her before school started on Fri and she said the Thursday group was fabulous. She should not have said that. It is amazing to see the different levels of kids in the room. There were some very smart and well prepared kids and some that couldn't count to 10. How does the teacher deal with that? I have a great admiration for those teachers. The man whose classroom I was in has been teaching for close to 30 years and is very good. I was very impressed.

Better day

Last night I was still upset about the reading/math blocks and having no time for band lessons and I guess I tossed and turned all night. Gerhardt went and slept on the couch. I slept okay but must have been thinking about scheduling. Today was a better day. It started off kind of sad though. Normally if I get Anne out of bed the first thing she says to me is, "ungy" (hungry). If Gerhardt gets her up she says, "Go Mommy". Today I got her up and she said, "Go Jamie's". Jamie is her daycare provider. Gerhardt took her to daycare today and when she gave Mommy a hug and kiss goodbye this morning she did cry a little so I guess she does still love Mommy.
I started off my day at Corse Elementary. This is where the super awesome principal who sings, plays guitar and was an All-State trombone player was. He left the end of July. I had wanted to be assigned that building because of him but wasn't. He was also the music supervisor in charge of all the music staff in the district. The new principal is the old principal from James Madison and I like him a lot too. I really wish I had been assigned that school. The 5th grade teachers are awesome and said take the kids whenever you can. One of the teachers is a pretty cool guy that I taught with at James Madison. He told me, "You can come in my room at anytime and take 10 kids without giving me any notice and I won't get upset." The general music teacher there is a hoot. I think it would be a fun place to be. I may have to schedule some planning time (if I have any) there. I was also able to finally recover all the 5th grade files on the computer and schedule recruiting times and lesson times at North Hill. They were pretty flexible too. Actually the new 5th grade teacher at North Hill told me he plays trombone. I asked if he still could and he said, "Yes I live in Fort Madison and play in the municipal band in the summer." He agreed to help me recruit by bringing his trombone. Pretty cool. I still have lunch duty tomorrow and I am working with Kindergarten. I will survive. At least I am bigger than all of them at the elementary building!
Ted also paid me a huge compliment today. He told me not to worry about getting the numbers up because that will take time but he knew I was going to give the kids a great start. That was really nice.
I am exhausted. I was at school all day and then we had open house from 5-7. The first day is tomorrow!

Anneliese's birthday

Anne had a fun time at daycare again today and the Elmo cupcakes I took were a hit. I stopped by at lunch to take pictures. She didn't even eat hers but her little friend Gavin was covered with red frosting so I took pictures of him. She cried when I took her home. We celebrated her birthday by getting a balloon at the grocery store, having a picnic in the park and playing and the "Stuff" at the park. When we got home we had cupcakes and a bath. She was out like a light. She is doing well at daycare other than not wanting to nap. I think there is just too much stimulation for her to sleep. She will get used to it. It is time for me to sleep too.

What I do does not matter

Today I ran around to all my schools and of course my badge didn't work to get me into to ANY of them. The elementary buildings at least knew I was assigned there but the High School people were very confused. Trying to schedule elementary lessons will be interesting as many schools have started reading and math blocks. This is a time when EVERYONE teaches reading or math. This means no band lessons. When all the schools do this at the same time it makes my life difficult. I have one school to go to but 3 of them want all the lessons in the afternoon. Only one school has said morning is fine. In order to make this work I will have to put kids in larger groups and not have much to do in the morning. I can help out at the high school but why did they keep the 5th grade position if they won't let me do my job? I was very disheartened today. My phone kind of works. I can call out and receive calls but my voice mail doesn't work. My computer also kind of works. It works but my access to the proper district stuff is denied. I do not have a computer at 3 of my buildings. Have I mentioned how much I love the Burlington School District?

First day back to work

Where to start? First of all packing the bag for daycare and actually putting Anne in her car seat to go to daycare this morning was pretty difficult. When we got there she was very excited to see all the toys and the other kids. She sat in her chair and ate breakfast and didn't really care that Mommy was leaving her. I did okay walking away. If she had cried I would have but I held it together pretty well. Then I went to the Memorial Auditorium for the big District Rah Rah beginning of the year speech. At this point I am excited about my new job, new building and NO lunch duty. Our new superintendent could not be more boring. Our old one at least gave an entertaining first day speech. When that was finally over I went to North Hill for more meetings. Last week when I was in my room there was a desk, chair, 3 computers, flag, US map, World Map and a globe. Today there were NO computers, no phone, no piano. I did have my desk, chair, maps, flag, and my wonderful globe. For a while all I could do was rearrange my desk and chair and spin my globe. By the end of the day I had located a computer and phone and gotten them hooked up. Of course neither of them work but maybe tomorrow. The meeting at my new home school was great because my home school is the only school in our district to meet all the NCLB goals so it was a happy speech. Later we went through the handbooks and I noticed the Duty roster. You won't believe it. Yes, you guessed it, I was assigned LUNCH DUTY! I almost screamed. I tried to explain to my principal that I shouldn't have lunch duty as I will only be at that building one day a week. There were other teachers around and I don't think he understands my schedule. He asked, "how many schools are you going to?" I answered, "SIX" He looked surprised but said well, "When you are here you will have duty". I just sent him a lengthy email with a copy of the person who had my job last year's schedule explaining to him that she had no extra duties and ever other teacher in the district traveling to 3 or more schools does not have extra duties. Let's hope that makes a change. I did offer to help out for the first couple weeks until I start 5th grade lessons. I also found out the first couple of days when I thought I would have work time (which I need since my computer doesn't work NOW) I will be helping with kindergarten. I don't know what that means and am a little frightened.
I went to Anne's daycare over my lunch break. She didn't care that I was there. She did eventually bring me a book and sat in my lap to read. 3 other girls came and sat in front of me while I read. Anne got up to get another book when I was done with the first one and a little boy sat in my lap. She didn't seem to care. I scooted him over and put them both in my lap. Then the boy got bored and wandered off. I read another book and Anne went to play with other toys. Another little girl sat in my lap and I read to her for probably 5 minutes. When I needed to go back she gave me a hug but I couldn't get one from Anne. She didn't want to go home today either. I am glad she likes it there. I have to go back tomorrow at least I don't have lunch duty tomorrow.

Anneliese's second birthday party

Yesterday we had Anneliese's 2nd birthday party. Her birthday is not until the 18th but that is a Tuesday and I will be back at school. It was also Grandpa Borchardt's birthday on Saturday so we celebrated both. Grandma and Grandpa Borchardt came from St. Ansgar, Cousin Karen came from LeClaire and Great Aunt Karla and Cousin Emily came from Cedar Rapids. The Burlington Lachnitts were also there: Grandpa Mike, Georgia, Great Aunt Marilyn, and Great Great Aunt Mary. Great Grandma Lachnitt fell the day before and is still in the hospital with a possible broken tailbone. Great Aunt Leeanne stayed with her at the hospital. We missed them but understood and hope Grandma feels better soon. We had a nice picnic lunch with Gerhardt at the grill. Anneliese had a blast and got so many wonderful gifts. She loves them all! Last night she didn't know what to play with. She rode her Tricycle for quite a while with Emily pushing. She hasn't gotten the hang of pedaling yet but she is trying. She slept with her doll last night and this morning told me the doll was "ungy" and needed her bottle. She loves the Elmo doll and the books! Last night she played with all her puzzles. She can do the shapes one pretty well but has some work on the others to get them mastered. Last night she opened her gift from Great Grandma at the hospital, a tea set. She came home and sorted out the dishes and Gerhardt got his first taste of pretend tea. This morning she insisted on feeding her stuffed animals plastic food and even put some on her own tray. She has annoyed us by playing with the See and Say that uses Elmo's voice. Gerhardt keeps asking me why I bought that thing. I was thinking it would help her learn her shapes and colors but didn't realize it would be so annoying. It was a great day and she had a lot of fun. Oh yes and Aunt Lisa and Uncle Chris couldn't come because little Ethan is not ready to travel yet. They sent an inflatable Elmo in their place. I think she was a little scared of it though. I am going to take it to daycare on Tuesday, her actual birthday and I think the kids will like it a lot. Thank you everyone for celebrating with us! She is an awesome little girl. We are so blessed. Tomorrow I go back to school which will be difficult to leave her at daycare. She has a wonderful daycare provider though and I know she will be well taken care of. I am excited about my new job teaching 5th grade band. It will not be as much time and I think a lot of fun.

She got messier than this but we didn't take enough pictures!
Yummy Cake!
I got her the most annoying gift. It is a See and Say. When she puts the shapes in the right places Elmo talks and he gives directions. What was I thinking? She loves it though!
Grandpa Borchardt got a present too, a remote control John Deere Tractor. It was actually his birthday. Anneliese's birthday is not until Tuesday, the 18th. We celebrated both.

Tricycle Dolly ELMO!
Elmo books

Anne wasn't too excited about getting her picture taken with the cake. She just wanted to eat it!
The finished product. My frosting was too runny but it worked.
It took 2 bottles of red food coloring to make Elmo red.
Decorating the cake

Anneliese in her new room after it was painted and the new carpet put in. It now has furniture and cute decals on the walls.

New Room

I spent a lot of time last week cleaning out my former music room and painting it for a new room for Anne. She has much more room now for her big girl bed. She is not quite ready for it yet but I thought I needed to get things ready before school started.

strange actions of Anne

Last night Anne insisted on putting a diaper, shirt and shoes on her bear. Once the bear was dressed she picked it up by the head and shook it and said, "Sorry, Bear" ????
I bought her some plastic pants to go over her training pants at daycare. I bought the smallest size I could find but they are WAY too big. I ended up ordering some custom made online. The big ones are sitting on the changing table and Anne decided they made a good hat. She put them on her head last night and it looks like a chef's hat. I didn't know where the camera was but when she does it again I will have to take a picture.

These cats are full grown and live in Southern Africa. They look like kittens. Anneliese got very excited about them. The only thing she was more excited about were the tiny monkeys playing.
Anneliese really liked the Gorillas but didn't want to get too close to them.
The highlight of the day, Grandpa Mike gave her money for a treat at the zoo before we left. She had a frozen Strawberry Lemonade and it was yummy!

I am not sure what she is looking at.
Anneliese was less than thrilled with this photo op.
Peacocks were everywhere!
Walking in Zoo

Ostrich at Henry Doorly Zoo
There was lots of pointing
"phant"
Polar bear exhibit maybe. She didn't care about the other bears but really liked the Polar Bear.