The Latta Family

Yesterday I was sitting in my classroom with my kids and just had to laugh, what else can you do? After lunch yesterday, my class was working on a sorting page.  There's a list of 12-15 words that we were supposed to sort into 3 different grocery departments.  So I am showing one of my girls that if she would cross out the words as she sorts them . . . it would get easier as she goes along.  So I get her started and turn to the girl on my left to get her focused and when I turn back, I realize the girl on my right has erased the words I crossed out, and recrossed them out- because the way I did it was . . .  not according to her standards?  Who knows.  So I watch her for a minute, really absorbing the fact that she is that particular about crossing out words in a list.  Meanwhile, I notice that the girl on the left has started sniffing me.  That's a new one.  My kids don't usually sniff me.  So I look at her and I say, "What are you doing?"  She responds, "

1.  Why can't Andrew get it through his thick skull that Alexa does NOT want him to invade her space?!!!!  I attempted to have a rational discussion with him about it.  It went like this, "Andrew, why can't you understand that Alexa does NOT want you in her space?  Everytime you get within a foot of her- she literally screams at you."  Do you know what he said, "Well, I want her in my space."  Poor Andrew, he's just like his dad- a toucher.  And Alexa is just like me, she doesn't want anyone near her.  (which is why we're still struggling with biting- 3 months later.  The kids in her room just can't get it through their thick skulls- she doesn't want anyone in her space!!!!)  2.  This one is a real mystery.  Why did Andrew want to put the breading from his Chick Fil A nugget- in his shoe?!  Just try and come up with a logical explanation for that one. 

While many of you are probably getting your Christmas music fix on, I went old school and busted out my cd's from college.  For some reason the last several days I have been in the mood for Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Blues Traveler.  As I was blasting Big Head Todd's, "Sister Sweetly"  I started thinking back on my freshman year of college.  Then I started thinking how random to think of such a LONG time ago.  Then I started thinking how there are just some songs that you associate with certain people, events, or moments.  You will now realize I am a) even more random and weird then you originally realized and b) I clearly have a very bizarre range of music tastes.  1.  Michael Jackson's Thriller album.  Whenever I hear any song from that album I think of the girl who lived down the street from me when I lived in New Jersey.  I have no idea what her name is.  She wasn't part of my usual crew, she was sort of random.  But what I do remember is that s

I think I could get Alexa to eat just about anything: bugs, dirt, slugs, if I'm eating it, she wants it. Tonight, we went to Panera at Andrew's request.  I ordered her a grilled cheese and strawberry yogurt.  I should have ordered her a French Onion Soup and Roast Beef on Asiago because that's what she ate.  Andrew ate her grilled cheese and his.  What 16 month old eats French Onion Soup?  The same one that dips her nuggets in my caesar dressing, eats black beans like their going out of style,  and loves steamed broccoli.  The thing is, I don't really like to share my food, unless it's been predetermined and you order something that you intend to share with me as well.  Then by all means . . . I'll happily share, but only under those circumstances. I have a student that remembers things about myself and the classroom assistants and will randomly come up to you and repeat the thing he remembers- often.  So for one of the assistants he remembers that she wor

I have a student that has a personality characteristic that is not generally accepted among . . . well any society, but particularly polite society.  However, whenever we try to . . . correct/change/reprimand his tendency he responds rather forcefully, "I'm a redneck and that's just the way it is!" The second part of that response, "That's Just The Way It Is" has become a bit of a catch phrase to my class.  It perfectly describes my stubborn self and . . . my stubborn son.  Today we enountered Andrew's stubborness yet again.  There is one situation and one situation only in which he is a total blockhead.  And when I say blockhead, I mean you might as well bash your head against a cement wall, because that's exactly what you're doing when Andrew has dug his heals in.  Clothes.  Since he was close to 3 he's been a complete blockhead about clothes.  When he was 3 all his classmates were wearing long sleeve shirts because it was cold.  No

A friend of mine posted something on facebook this week about her crazy neighbor.  I bet you're thinking, "Wait, did I post something about . . .?" because we all have crazy neighbors.  Her post started me thinking about my other friends and their crazy neighbors and then I thought about my neighborhood and realized . . . I might be the crazy neighbor.  You would assume our crazy neighbor would be the dude who has shot at students doing burn outs in front of our house (they were excited that they figured out where we lived, and being stupid- as teenagers can be) and our dogs when I accidentally left the backyard gate open and they went for a romp around the neighborhood.  One might think it would be the dude who wears green, plaid, flannel pajama pants . . . all the time.  Or maybe it was the lady down the street who kept goats- in the city limits (I am pretty sure even Monroe doesn't allow farm animals within the city.  I could be wrong.) But I just might be the cr

Andrew's Nana and Poppy (that's Doug's parents) gave him a book called The Troublesome Cub .  It's such a cute book.  It's all about how this little bear cub slips away from his napping mama and finds a world of trouble.  I often find myself thinking how Alexa is . . . a bit troublesome.  The trouble is . . . she's a disaster waiting to happen!!!!!!!!!!! I thought Andrew was a disaster waiting to happen.  Yet again I realize, I had no idea how good I had it with him!  Yes, he played rowdy and jumped and climbed and slipped and fell, but . . . he had no one to show him daring feats that were not intended for his lack of age or development.  Alexa, who doesn't need anyone to show her daring feats, as she comes up with plenty on her own, has someone that does just that. Yesterday we discovered that she is able to climb up the playset ladder- all by herself!!!  That's almost 6 feet off the ground!  There are 3 openings in which she could tumble out and

This weekend I am running my first half marathon (that's 13.1 miles).  I hope it's not my last.  I am clearly running the gamut on emotions.  Sunday I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  It was like Christmas, birthdays, and night before you went for your driver's license excited.  I can't wait to see if I can actually do this.  Monday I got nervous.  What if I had clocked my neighborhood wrong (and believe me- I've clocked it several times just to be sure.  I come up with the same number: 4.1 every time)?  What if the times I've thought I've run 7, 9, or even 10, I actually ran 3 or 4 miles less?!  So the most I've actually run is 6 miles?!  Today I am reflective.  See, I decided to do this on a whim.  Way back in June I started back really running.  When I signed up to do this Half Marathon, I was only able to run 2 miles, but my friend who signed up had another friend say the race course was flat.  No matter that I was 11 miles away from being