The Latta Family

If you didn't know this- I work with Doug.  We have for years.  We met at our school.  Dated, were engaged, married, then I left for a bit.  Then I came back.  Then I left for a bit more. Then I came back. When I interviewed to come to work at the same school as Doug, I was asked, "What's the advantage of working with your husband?"  What I wanted to say was: "He always has a dollar, so when I get hankering for the vending machine, he hooks me up."  I didn't.  Instead I said, "We always know where we'll be on Friday nights."  For real, at the times I've worked at other schools, it was hard choosing between what football/basketball game we'd go to.  For the most part I think Doug and I work together pretty well.  We hardly ever see each other. We don't ride to school together.  I like to get there early and leave by 4pm.  He likes to get there at the last possible second and stay until 5-6pm.  (plus, I'm not a mornin...

Definition (according to Google): determined to do as one wants even if other people advise against it. According to www.theodysseyonline.com words associated with strong willed women are: bossy, headstrong, confident, stubborn, assertive, independent, demanding, hot-headed.  It also said: "She doesn't have time to sugarcoat things and she doesn't want to, because that's when meaning gets lost or confused along the way." I'm trying to decide if Alexa got her strong-will from me.  Some of those words don't describe me.  I don't think I am determined to do things even if others advise against it (unless that person is Doug.  If he advises against it, I hear- "Oh, you're challenging me?!  Well, I'll show you."  Mmm- that's not a good example to prove I am not strong willed.  Forget that example.  You never read it. 1. Bossy?  I'm not bossy. I give good advice.  Next. 2. Headstrong?  According to vocabulary.com that can mea...

Please tell me that this is normal.  That my kids aren't the only kids in the world who do this.  IT DRIVES ME NUTS!!!! Who put a random piece of a granola bar wrapper there?!  It's not even a convenient spot!!!  What about that spot says, "Here's a perfectly acceptable location to leave food wrappers?!!!"  Nothing.  Nothing about that spot suggests it's a good location for that.  Was that Alexa's food trash??  I feel like no.  It's taller than her, so she would have had to reach to put it up there. Surely in the efforts to reach up- it would have occurred to her that that's not the spot to leave it.  Although- she eats those granola bars at home, and she is notorious for leaving food wrappers everywhere: in the couch, under the couch, on the counter, wherev.  Andrew would totally leave a piece of a wrapper in that spot, but he tends to eat those bars as a snack at school, so I can't say for sure it's him.  Neither...

One of Alexa's friends called and asked if she could go home with them from school tonight (Wednesday) and then go to church with them.  I said sure.  It's after spring break- I'm practically on summer break, so yeah- come home after 8pm and no worries that we didn't get homework done and we'll be cramming it in tomorrow night.  I'm going through the motions y'all- but I'm practically on summer vacay. (I've got 8 1/2 more weeks, and like 39 actual school days . . . I've got a LOT of school to go.  Why I'm already slacking- I ain't got no clue, but it cain't be good.) Anyway, as I left school and didn't pick up Alexa I was filled with the most bizarre feeling.  I mean . . . what if I had the day wrong?  What if it was actually Thursday?!  What if the friend's mom had an emergency and didn't pick the girls up and forgot to tell me?  What if Alexa is sitting at school going- "WHERE IS MY MOM?!!!"  Then I was think...

Clearly food and Alexa has been a situation for years!  I mean- check out how many times I've posted about her and food . . . and this was "A Just Barely Looking Through all of My Posts" list.  Food Post #1 Food Post #2 Food Post #3 Food Post #4 My struggles with her and food were alluded to other times- but not the main focus of the post.  Anyway- to top off all of her pickiness.  Alexa likes to throw in surprise episodes of low blood sugar.  It's not everyday.  It's not even a few times a month.  The first time I realized she had a low blood sugar episode was when she was less than a year old- because she still took a bottle. I mentioned it at her next well visit.  We took a visit to the endocrinologist, but nothing significant was discovered.  As she tends to be a "grazer" (you know- walks around snacking most of the day, never really eating a meal) she never really had too many low blood sugar episodes.  And they were really s...

Clearly I didn't do games with my kids that had them develop skills to look for things.  I should have made cleaning up a game. "Can you find all of your . . . ?"  Usually when they're "cleaning up" I'm either nagging them by pointing out everything that's scattered all over the house.  Or I've already gathered it all and put it in a big pile (emphasis on big for Alexa). . . . Or done a better job with Easter Egg Hunts.  My kids have done 3 "hunts" this Easter.  My parents came up on Good Friday and we celebrated birthdays and Easter.  My mom "hid" Andrew's eggs.  We were pretty sure a toddler could find them. Andrew HATES looking for things.  He doesn't have the desire to look- even if there's a fairly good amount of money in them.  It's sooooo hard to put your hands in containers, or look behind picture frames.  Or . . . everything.  We're doing our final "hunt" this morning.  I told my kids...