Making Some Changes

My neighborhood book club is a ton of fun and I love the variety of books we are reading. This month we are reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle. This book has honestly influenced me in a way very few books have. It is probably a combination of this book and the documentary Food inc. Both really discuss and show the way in which food is produced in the U.S. and problems within this system that make it less healthy.

In an effort to create a healthier life for my kids and family I am now making all of our bread at home, as well as making a concerted effort to eat as locally as possible. This is my happy little bread maker that has almost paid for itself now. Am I going to the lengths that Barbara does? No, we like fruit too much to let go of it until Summer. We are however making the most of our backyard garden and CSA from Great Country Farms. I have made a couple different tomato sauces to freeze, frozen some raw tomatoes and frozen some blanched corn from the farm. I even made peach freezer preserves.

No Longer a First Year Teacher

It is hard to believe that my first year has come and gone and that I started my second year yesterday! I am so happy with the decision I made to go with the district and school I am in. I work with some really amazing teachers and I feel like I have made some great friends. My first year was not without its bumps but they were far fewer than I had been warned they'd be. My students for the most part were fantastic and really interesting to work with. The great thing about my job is that I worked with seven different teachers and co-taught with each of them. So I was never to the point of annoyance with any students, I would have had to move on to my next class before that could happen.

In the beginning of the year we had to make professional goals. I am not one who is comfortable tooting my own horn but I am really proud of myself and I want to remember that in the future. My principal felt I'd set some pretty lofty goals for myself and was concerned I would actually be able to meet them. I had planned to make the ESOL department's time used more efficiently. I worked all year on a plan and eventually it came to developing a whole class for each teacher to teach themselves. I'm so proud of the outcome and I think our productivity with our caseloads this year will really show in their scores.

I was also nominated for First Year Teacher of the Year. I didn't win but honestly it felt great to know that people did really value my teaching, my efforts and me. I was loving my first year and having fun, so to see that people responded to that meant a lot. I think this year I also gained some self confidence that I'd been lacking for awhile. And again that's something I'm really proud of myself for.

My second year is starting now and I'm really excited to put into place this new class and step up my teaching. I've thought long and hard about improvements I can make and I'm excited to dive in and do that.

The Blog is BACK!

I did not really expect the blog to take such a backseat when I started working. Really, it's a combination of factors, the job and Facebook. Posting pictures and status messages on Facebook has kind of taken over my blogging. But I really do miss the blog and want to make a point of getting it back up and running. Normally I would try to get it all caught up but that's just too much and most likely we're friends on Facebook and you've seen/read it all already. So I'm just going to pick up and start running it again. So enjoy and try visiting us regularly again!

Sky Meadows

It is a definite, Sky Meadows is our favorite park. Gosh that place is so gorgeous! We went a couple weekends ago and had a lovely time. The weather was beautiful, they were having "war of 1812" demonstrations and the girls did great on the hike. The demonstrations were really interesting, but even more so because I'm reading the Little House on the Prairie series with the girls and the houses there were very similar to the house the Pa just built in the book. It was great for Luli to see it, and see the fireplace in action cooking a meal, seeing the people dressed, and what life was like. She loved it.

We did our usual hike there and the girls hiked the entire way...almost 3 miles. They did wonderful, no complaining, and no carrying.

I love that picture of Oscar and the girls. He's a wonderful father and I think this picture is a perfect representation of that.

Educator's Night

Have I told you I love my job? Maybe not, seeing the posts have been few and far between! Well I love it, like love it a lot. It is nice to be working and really be using my brain intellectually for what I'd been studying forever. Not only do I love my job, but I think I'm pretty good at it. I love the people I work with, I love the building, I love my students, and I'm just overall feeling very happy with life.

Along with being a teacher now I finally get to attend the Smithsonian's Educator's Night! I have been wanting to attend forever, and finally I could. And not only was I excited about this in general but this year it was held at the National History Museum...oh god! So if you don't know about this event, it is for educators only (except apparently 19 yr old nursing students who crash it, act like idiots and sit on me...seriously, literally sat on me!) Ok anyway... The Smithsonian is closed, except to those registered educators, I really thought it was going to be a limited number but it was pretty darn crowed. They give away lots of free education stuff (score!) and it's catered ...food and bars on each floor...FREE (score!) --Side note: seriously people do you really need to get drunk and act like an ass here? ---ok --Outside of the catered food and bars the exhibits are totally open, and lots of docents eager to talk about each exhibit. These areas were considerably less crowded and very enjoyable to peruse. I took my brother to this museum years ago before it was renovated and it was a horrible layout...much better now!

I went downtown with the librarians from my school and met up with one of my co-teachers and her mom. It was a good time and a lot of fun to do something different for the evening. I miss going into DC all the time! Kids and the burbs, they change things! Anyway I think my Dad would totally love this, so I'm going to register him as a retired teacher next year...hey, if 19 year old nursing students can crash it for the free food and bar, I can get my history loving father in (who by the way went to college to be a teacher, so he has a lot more right than those girls, and I'm positive he wouldn't sit on anyone!)

Fiona goes full day...

With a full time job comes the need to have the kids someplace all day without me. Man that's a hard adjustment. Not knowing exactly what they are doing, who they are playing with, how they are behaving, what they are eating, etc. is a really tough adjustment. Oscar and I did a lot of research on where Fiona could go to become really prepared for Kindergarten next year, and be stimulated for the entire day. For us Montessori seemed like the right fit. Did you know how many Montessori schools there are around here? Well I didn't before we started looking, and there's A LOT! Thank god for Oscar, he did most of the research and leg work here. Again, perhaps I was in some denial on my baby going full day, me not being there all day, and just all of the change that was happening all at once. Thank god for Oscar, he's a rock. We decided on a school and for the most part we are very happy with it. Unlike our previous preschool, we receive a monthly newsletter about the curriculum, we get weekly emails from the director and teacher about special events, and they go on field trips. Fiona is very happy there and usually cries when I come to pick her up because she wants to continue playing with her friends! But she's a happy camper and man is she hilarious!

Holy Smoke's KINDERGARTEN

I mean really, Kindergarten? Really? Oh God. This is both exciting and extremely sad for me. I remember giving birth to this beautiful (stubborn) little gal. I remember holding her teeny lil body in my arms and wondering what she'd be like at five, and what she'd be like when she went to Kindergarten. Then five seemed like a lifetime away, Kindergarten seemed like an eternity. And now it has come and gone and I have held off for so long on this post. Yes, I've been busy but I'm also in denial. My baby, my little tiny 6lb 13oz baby girl is in Kindergarten! Somehow I've blinked and five and a half years have passed. Can I just get one week to rewind and relive just one more day at each age, so I can really remember it forever? Nope, not gonna happen. So I'm moving forward, with a big proud mama smile, because my gal is in Kindergarten and she's rockin the crap out of it.

Now for awhile I had been preparing myself for missing the first day, because as you know I went back to work this year, and it was my first day with the students also. But really quickly I learned that the school I work for is freaking awesome! Some places talk the talk of being family friendly, but this place walks the walk! I wasn't going to ask for the morning off, but several co-workers told me I would be wrong to miss this and that I should ask for the time. Well I'll be damned, they let me come in late! And it was one of the most amazing moments of my life and I thank my school for allowing me to have it.

Luli was ridiculously excited...I mean you know her, she's usually a body of energy but this was 100 times more! She was ready to go to the bus at 6:30am! When it was time we walked hand in hand, the three of us (Fiona was off to her new school already). We waited for the bus and Luli told all of the kids "I'm in Kindergarten, I'm going to ride the bus." The bus came rolling down the street and my throat closed up, oh god I can't do this, I can't let my baby get in a vehicle with someone I don't know, with all the big kids, oh you're letting go of my hand, oh god I'm crying, keep it together, don't get the cry face, Luli will get upset, oh god keep it together. Man that kid just marched up those bus steps and went for it! The bus driver told her to turn around so mommy could take a picture. And that was it. She sat in the first seat and looked out the window. I tried desperately to smile and not look emotionally twisted. She just smiled her huge smile and blew me a thousand kisses. Later that night I asked her how the bus was and she told me "at first I was nervous because I didn't know what it would be like. But when I got on and saw that the seats were comfy I was ok. Did you know I didn't wear a seat belt? And that's ok?!"

After the bus left, I was sobbing uncontrollably, Oscar held me and we walked back to the house. A few of the veteran mothers had sympathetic faces but I felt ridiculous and emotional. Oscar took the day off of work and followed the bus in to make sure she was OK and help her get settled (and bring her BAGS of school supplies.)

But now that the school year is in full swing, we've had her first parent teacher conference (yes I teared up there also). Man this girl is doing great, she's writing sentences, she's starting to read and she loves it. I couldn't be more proud of her. And back when I was holding that lil baby in my arms my wildest dreams could not have shown me what an amazing girl she has become. Yes she's a spaz, yes she's stubborn. But she is also the kindest child, she is the most inquisitive child, she says the most amazing things. I am more proud of her every day, and I love her.