Happy birthday, Dad!

My dad turned 59 on Sunday. We had a little party for him that afternoon. I made chicken pot pie and Mom made a cake. Dan, Nathan and I gave him a container full of goodies to bring to work. He's pretty hard to buy for, but I know he likes goodies. Nathan had decorated the container with a permanent marker. It was really cute.

Retiring so soon?

Nathan: Mom, you should retire teaching.

Me: I'm too young to retire.

Nathan: You're not young. Just write a note. Say, "Michelle Cooper retired."

Sick

Nathan and I are hanging out this morning while Dan and Megan went to Stake Conference. We were all going to go, including my mom and my cousin Kathy, but Nathan started coughing in the middle of the night and he sounds horrible. He's been sneezing like crazy, too. I have the feeling I might need to stay home with him tomorrow, too. (I used to send him to my mom's when he was sick, but now that she works full time I can't do that.) Anyway, my mom is feeling sick today, too, so she didn't go. That left Dan, Megan and Kathy. I think that would have been really awkward for Dan and Kathy. I know I wouldn't want to go sit with someone else's husband at stake conference. I can just imagine the rumors that would have started (or at least questions). Kathy felt the same way, so she didn't go either.

I've been super busy with my master's class. I spend at least an hour a night each night either reading or writing papers. I hope it's not quite this intense the whole time. I've had several other meetings after school lately, too, which leaves me even less time with the fam. I'm trying to give my spot on the leadership team at school to someone else because that is another several hours a month that I really need. We'll see how it goes.

Nathan had a really hard time in the mornings this past week. He did fine for the first couple of weeks, but this week he cried every morning (except Friday). I think it was because I had morning recess duty, which I didn't have the first couple of weeks. I lined up the Kindergarteners and walked them in, but he didn't want to go to class after that. He cried and carried on. It was kind of embarrassing and I think the teacher was getting a little annoyed with him. Anyway, I think I solved the problem on Friday by having someone else walk the Kindergarteners in. He can't cry and carry on when he gets to his classroom because I'm not there. Hopefully, that will work next week, too.

I think it's time for Nathan and I to spend some time cuddled up on the couch with a big stack of books.

Delson is 1!

Delson (or DJ, as his new family named him) turned one on Sunday. He was our second foster baby, for those of you who are wondering. We had him from September to January. I thought of him so many times on Sunday. I thought it would get easier as time went on, but I still miss him so much. Pictures of him come up all the time on my computer slide show, and sometimes I feel a physical aching to hold him and see him in person. I just love that little guy! I bought him a really cute card the other day. It's an Elmo card that "talks" when you press a button. I mailed it to him today. I'm hoping his mom will send us a new picture of him. The last one we have is when he's 6 months old, so I bet he's changed a lot.

Julie & Julia

• My mom and I went to the movies on Saturday afternoon to see Julie & Julia. It was such a great movie! We both loved it.It made me want to come home and cook.
• Nathan has learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! Dan taught him when I was at class last Tuesday. He was so proud of himself. They went to Walmart on Saturday morning to buy a kickstand. He'd been wanting a kickstand for months, but Dan kept telling him he couldn't get one until he had no training wheels.
• I joined Facebook about a week ago and I've connected with a whole bunch of people that I haven't talked to in years. It's been so fun!
• I've been working on assignments or readings for my class for at least an hour a night all week. I hope it's not quite this time consuming the whole time. The assignments aren't hard, just time consuming.
• My parents are going to turn the old shop into a barn. Felicia will move her horse, AJ, there and my mom is going to get a horse. She knows of someone who is trying to find a home for one of her horses, free! How cool is that?

Who's my boss?

A couple funny things Nathan said/did recently:

The other day, I had to drop something off at the central office, so Nathan and I headed over there after school. I was in the lobby, filling out another form, when the superintendent came through. He asked who Nathan was, and then started chatting with him. He asked, "Do you know who Mommy's boss is?" Nathan paused and then said, "Me?" You wish, buddy! Dr. Eastman got quite a kick out of that.

Nathan was telling me about a little girl at school. He said she was a "meany-cat" because she wouldn't let them (Nathan & Branson) play with Kacie at recess. Nathan asked her, "Didn't your parents teach you to share?!" He's quite blunt. We'll have to talk about being tactful.

We'll also have to talk a little more about modesty. One of the ed techs who helps out in Kindergarten told me that Nathan said he had to go pee. She said, "Go ahead." There's a little bathroom right in the Kindergarten room. When she looked over, though, he was going pee with the door wide open! She quickly went over and told him that he should close the door before he goes to the bathroom. As he left the bathroom a little girl was waiting to use it, and he wanted Mrs. Donnellan to make sure she told her to close the door, too. I laughed because I doubt any of the other kids needed to be told.