The Latta Family

I personally think I have the best teaching gig.  I don't really have a curriculum that I have  to follow. Therefore, I have the ability to be creative.  That is one thing about the direction of education in the last decade, there is hardly no creativity allowed.  Especially at the elementary level- they're teaching what the district tells them and how the district tells them to teach it.  They want consistency.  Remember that when you're complaining about what your kid is learning- the teacher isn't choosing that, the teacher is being directed to do that.  So anyway. . . back to the purpose of this email (that was just a side tangent).  I am supposed to teach my students life lessons, which means we get to cook.  We LOVE to cook!  Last year we cooked weekly.   We got started back this week.  When I asked the kids what they wanted to fix, someone said "Sloppy Joe's!"  and everyone enthusiastically agreed.  I can't rem...

The brain is so weird.  The way neurons fire is so random.  You just never know the direction your thoughts are going to go. I was standing in the kitchen this afternoon, fixing myself a snack.  A peach in cottage cheese.  Man do I love a fresh, juicy peach in some cottage cheese.  It brought me back to right after Alexa was born.  For weeks after she was born I had the most absurd craving for fresh peaches in cottage cheese.  I thought it was the most fantastic thing EVER! This memory made me wonder, why was it after I had a baby that I had these intense cravings?  It made me think I must have needed the protein or something.  Which made me think, why?  For reasons I will not get into, I did not breast feed my children.  This lead to a memory from after Andrew was born. A few days after I had Andrew, I became a "bit" engorged with all the unused milk I had.  Someone said that I could relieve the discomfort, by putting f...

I was watching NCIS one night this week and a character on the episode was complaining about the fact that kids don't get to have unsupervised play time anymore.  I have no idea what the rest of the episode was about, but I remember that line.  It's true.  Which is good and bad. Once baseball was over this summer, Andrew became depressed.  He didn't have exposure to constant friends.  He was stuck with sporadic play dates with friends, and me and his sister.  (I'm pretty sure Alexa and I are not all that fun to an 8 year old boy).  Then one evening, there were some kids having races up and down our street.  We knew about the kids, but quite frankly my previous experiences with them were odd and as a result, I have not encouraged a friendship. The first time we met them was when Andrew was 4 years old. Randomly one afternoon, this boy shows up in our driveway wanting to play.  Turns out he lived on our street.  So, Andrew and this boy...

I decided today I'm going to change my tune.  I'm going to try really hard to be "the glass is half full" with Alexa.  We had a bit of a rough, late afternoon.  And while I was sitting on the couch, trying really hard not to lose my temper while I ignored her antics, I got to thinking, "I never say or think anything positive about Alexa."  For real.  How many negative Facebook posts have I made?  Today, every encounter I had with an outside person commenting on something positive about her, I came back with a negative experience.  The other day someone asked me, on a scale of 1- 100, how hard was Alexa, I said, "99."  There was no hesitation.  Andrew and Alexa were both present for that discussion.  The more I talk about her negative qualities, the more she will live up to them.  I'm going to practice reverse psychology- on her and myself.   It's time.  I mean, I started a positive behavior system with her that works- some...

Last summer my crew and I were at the beach with some good friends, when the adults all agreed, "You know, this whole vacation would be a lot more fun without kids!"  Then we said, "Hey, it'd be even more fun if we went somewhere super cool!"  So we planned an all inclusive vacation at an adults only resort, with a swim up bar. When I told people Doug and I were going to Mexico they were always surprised.  We don't vacation much and I'm not much for leaving my kids.  Quite frankly, I'm surprised I did this too. Before we went, I had a million concerns: some sort of national crisis that would shut down airports and I wouldn't be able to get back to my children, I'd get sick (not Bubonic Plague sick, Strep throat sick) and there wouldn't be an on site doctor and I'd have to feel awful the entire time, I'd forget something important, my parents would get sick, my children would get sick, I'd be terribly homesick for them, etc. ...

I have to take a bit to brag about Andrew today.  It’s my blog and I’m allowed to brag about my kid.  Plus, I want this to be part of his memories.  One day when he’s old and he wants to swap “war” stories about awesome things he’s done- this one is going down in the books.  I’ve talked about how Andrew’s playing baseball this summer.  He was lucky enough to be chosen to play for our rec league’s 7u All Star team.   He loves this part of baseball.  He loves palling around with the boys.  He loves playing the games.  He loves practice.  He doesn’t hate the practices where they run bases almost the whole time.  He doesn’t hate the tournaments when they play 3 games back to back.  He just loves baseball and being part of a team.    Tonight his team won the Western North Carolina State Tournament for his age division.  Talk about a proud parent moment.  I mean, to be part of a state winning tea...

Obviously I'm lucky for my parents in lots of ways, but especially today! This weekend is Andrew's All- Star State Tournament.  We did this last year, in the thriving metropolis of Marion, North Carolina.  You've never heard of it?  Don't worry, the only thing you're missing is a good bbq restaurant and an ice cream place. This tournament is not for the weak.  Last year, Andrew's team played in 106 degree heat. Surprisingly it wasn't that bad.  The parents all worked hard to keep the boys hydrated with lots of water, Gatorade, and wet rags we kept in a cooler.  Alexa lived off Jell-O, water, and yogurt.  It was like Heaven for her.  Not only was the heat oppressive, but . . . you're there for the long haul.  You're watching/playing 2 games back to back.  It's no easy feat to watch/play 2 games back to back like that.  Plus, the pressure of . . . if you lose two times, you're out.. Especially if you've never done it before. ...