Public school

First, I want to thank everyone who was thinking about me and praying while I was at the Mayo Clinic.  I am sure that with the experts help, I am going to have fewer headaches in no time.  I am off a bunch of medicine I never needed and I had Botox.  Don't get jealous though, most of the Botoxed areas are hidden by my hair, minus a weird area in the middle of my forehead that no longer moves when I raise my eyebrows.  No wrinkles went away.

Second, yesterday was my dad's birthday. He celebrated by going for a long bike (bicycle) ride and having dinner and wine with Michele, my sister, and her family.  His birthdays usually involve some sort of long exercise feat and he doesn't ever care if he gets a gift.  I can't figure it out either.

Here he is!  Happy Birthday Dad! (nice photobomb Todd)

Haley started public school this year (6th grade).  Being a worrier, coming from generations of worriers, I have been fretting about the transition since last year.  Would she be behind academically?  Would she make friends?  Would she be terrified of kids saying words like "ass" and "sh*t" (words she could never imagine saying)?  Would she get lost?  Would she cry in the middle of the lunch room?  Well, it has been 2 weeks and she has made friends and has not gotten lost or cried anywhere.  She has been worried about some bad language and one boy who wanted her phone number, but otherwise she is getting along ok.  The only thing that I worried about that has actually been a real issue is that she is behind in math.  She is barely keeping up with the other kids- not being able to finish worksheets, not getting questions correct, not understanding, etc.  So, the principal and I got her set up on a program called ALEKS which is an online tutoring system where she can  practice math on her own.  The school uses the program in their math intervention classes, which Haley qualifies for, but doesn't want to give up band or chorus for.  Is it terrible that neither her nor I want to take her out of music classes for extra math?  Is this a crucial parenting mistake?  I don't know.  But we are going to do the math program at home and try to catch up and if that doesn't help, I guess we will give up music for awhile.  You can use ALEKS without going through a school if your kids need extra math help.  Here's the website:/http://www.aleks.com/.  It isn't free, but it does more than just randomly practice math problems.  It assesses skill level and shows what areas your child is weak in and gives them more practice in those areas.

I am officially starting to work on classes; one of which is centered around how to use APA format and write like a graduate student.  Not like a mom writing a blog.

Waiting...

I have had a headache for forever.  Well, not forever, but since January/Februaryish.  Some days it's a migraine, some days it's just a headache, but it is always there.  So in a moment of desperation, Todd called my uncle Marty to ask a favor (Marty is a doctor).  And we are now sitting in a waiting room at the Mayo Clinic.  We have seen 2 doctors already, one family practice doctor, and one neurologist (and one neurology resident).  We are now waiting to see if we can get in to see the headache specialist neurologist earlier than our scheduled appointment (Wednesday).  I have too many things to say about all of this, so I have decided just to list them:

• I have an awesome husband. 
• Thank you, Marty, for helping us.  Dr. Franz is wonderful.  One of the nicest people I have met- just like you.
• Neurologists are really smart, but not always right-sometimes you need more than one.
• The Mayo Clinic reminds me of the airport. 
• My parents are awesome.  Todd's parents are awesome.
• It could be a lot worse.
• Todd and I don't really have that much to talk about, and that's ok.
• You should overpack if you are going to come here.

So far, I have just had some bloodwork and some medication changes (subtractions!).  No earth-shattering news. 

I am supposed to start graduate school today.  I bought books and got financial aid.  I suppose I should do something...

Here is something pretty for you to look at today!

Alyssa painted these for her room.  I scanned them and am going to make them into posters- unless I forget. 

Mornings and book shelves

I don't know if our struggles to get the girls moving in the morning are worse than any one else. I admit that I struggle to get ready for the day (headache or not).  But Todd and I are now the nagging duo.  Have you brushed your hair (obviously not)?   Have you brushed your teeth?  Have you brushed your teeth (different kid)?  Aren't you going to eat your breakfast?  Where is your backpack?  Surely some of you can relate to this.  Todd is seriously ambitious in the morning.  He wakes up with his brain "on".  So this morning in our shared annoyance at the girls slow moving pace, he thought it would be a good idea to come up with a checklist for the girls to keep them on track in the morning.  I was thinking about the flavor of my coffee creamer.  So after an internet search, here is what I came up with:

It is framed so they can use a marker and then wipe it off each night and start over.  I made 3- one for each room.  I will report back.  Here is where I found it (I changed it a little).  Free download: http://www.childreninspiredesign.com/content/free-download-back-school-morning-check-list

I also tried to trim down the bookshelves.  I have so many nursing books that I can't part with.  I know that is kind of nerdy, but I really like them.  I have this beautiful physiology textbook!  I don't want to get rid of them, but I'm not reading them every day either.  So they are going into storage to make room for new ones.

See that beautiful physiology book??  You should see the inside!

I love books.  I love owning books.  Todd is annoyed by owning lots of books, so I'm trying to humor him and get rid of some fiction books also.  The library will take our books that we don't want and put the ones they don't own on the shelves and the rest are somehow a donation to the library.  I guess I will have to start buying ebooks, but it's just not the same. 

Speaking of books, yesterday Alyssa got a new book at school!  She was very excited. 

Alyssa's 3rd grade Bible

What do I do now?

This is my experiment in blogging.  Let me know how it turns out. 

So, if you are reading this, you should know that I have 3 daughters (hence the name of the blog) Haley, Alyssa, and Sarah.  They just went back to school and I am not working and am not really sure what to do with myself all day.  I am starting a Master's degree in nursing education at Clarkson College (slowly), and suffering from migraines a lot (I will try not to complain too much), but really I have lots of free time alone.  I have never had this much time to myself and feel slightly guilty about it.  Watching daytime tv, occasionally napping, going out for lunch with my friends, hanging out with my sister- these are things that induce guilt.  I know it's all in my head and I do have an important purpose as a stay at home mother/student/wife.  Anyway, the point is that documenting this transition will give me, and you, some insight into what it is that I do with my time and efforts, and remind us that I am being productive.

Another purpose of this blog is to tell you all about the awesome, funny, intelligent, annoying, sweet, insightful, and possibly boring things that happen between my daughters and I.  Last night, for example, Haley (11) started reading a book that she and her friend picked out together at school.  This morning she decided that she was going to stop reading it because a boy character in the book offered the girl character a cigarette.  Haley is an extreme anti-smoker.  Like the "holds her breath when walking near smokers" kind of anti-smoker.  She took an oath from her DARE instructor.  She will NEVER smoke.  So today she is returning the book to the library and is going to ask the librarian to help her find a more appropriate book.  Wow.  I wonder if this is just a phase?

I may also include some super interesting discussion of my class content (only kidding- keep reading), and discuss my favorite tv shows- most of which happen to be on Bravo or E!  I promise only to refer to the Real Housewives when it is truly relevant.

Here they are! Haley, Alyssa, and Sarah at the Big Time Rush concert at the state fair! 

So today, what I have done is create this blog!! Hooray for me!  I have also done some laundry and worked on a knitting project with a headache (not the worst ever, but pretty bad).  So I feel fairly productive- could have done more minus the head pain.  Thanks for visiting!  Come again!