First Week Update

Can I say Thank Goodness it was a 4 day week!? 

I made it through the first week at my new job.  Everyone is so super nice and helpful.  Since I was not over lapping the old teacher, they had the sub stay with me for the first 2 days to help me get the lay of the land.  That was REALLY helpful, esp. since the teacher’s aide was out my first day.  On Tuesday, there was so much info thrown at me and so many ideas bouncing around in my head that I had a headache that would not quit.  I ended up taking 5 200mg advil and one 800mg motrin throughout the day and finally just went to bed.  The next day was much better and I was ready to go it alone.  The classes are great but very different.  I have 3-4 yr olds in the morning at one school and 4-6th graders in the afternoon at the other school.  They are only about a mile and half apart but on post you have to drive 20-30 miles an hour so it takes me about 5-7 minutes from one to the next…not bad.  The kids all come at different times and on different days AND EVERY Wednesday is an early dismissal day with a different time schedule at both schools…. see what I mean about information overload!

The kids in the morning are great…a wide variety of “learning abilities”  The older kids try my patience but once I know what I am doing and get a routine going, they will fall in line.  I went through all my stuff and have it ready to drag to school on Monday.  The Preschool room is a mess, file cabinets, office area, closet etc and I have very little time to just straighten up.  the other room is empty and boring.  I spent part of the weekend looking for stuff to hang on walls to liven it up.

I have pictures on may desk and found the few of my “old team” in Maryland that will be added Monday.  Still miss everyone there…especially work a holic Chris, idea and miss organization Jen …really need you here to help whip this place into shape.  I will be sure to keep you posted on how next week goes!

Ryan’s pictures

     

Ryan with silly “puffed up” hair

 

Ryan thought the dogs looked cute like this.  They are like this most mornings

Ryan and a friend used the leftover snow to make one more snowman

Snowy Letters

Ok, here are the letters I found in the snow. The “G” is a bit of a stretch but have you ever tried to find a “G” shaped branch? It’s not easy.

    

I did my parents name too:

again the “O” is a stretch

Two new family members :)

Ryan’s class at school studied animal habitats by making habitats for crabs, millipedes and frogs.  They had a great time and Ryan talked about it often.  Then comes the note:  “The unit is over and anyone who wants an animal, please send in an appropriate container by TOMORROW”!  So I sent Ryan to school with his old empty fish tank and he came home with 2 crabs….a fiddler crab and another kind (I wasn’t really paying attention).  So now we have Evan and Emily. and freeze dried plankton, sea salt water stuff and other water treatment stuff……

 

Here’s a cute shot of our other crazy pets

Sport is sitting on the table and Ozzy is in the chair

Valentine’s Day

Today is Valentine’s Day.  Last night, Dennis and I went to a church candle-light dinner where the youth (Preston included) had to serve us. We had great steaks, baked potatoes, salad and brownies. It was a nice fund raiser for the youth group.  There were over 50 people there, all dressed up and having a nice time. (forgot to take a picture) This morning I made the boys a Twinkie and strawberry heart “breakfast” and had candy in heart shaped bowls out for them.  I gave Dennis an MP3 player with pictures of us and our favorite songs to take with him when he deploys in April/May (?)  I got a nice card and a box of chocolates (YUM!)

The Twinkie Heart…I added strawberries

While Dennis and I were dating…maybe our first Valentine’s day, we bought each other the same card!  Soul mates from the start I guess!  Now it has been almost 19 years of happy married life.  I saw a TV show where she suggested that they each name their top 5 memories of their marriage but could not include the wedding day or births of children.  I had many…which is truly a blessing!  Here’s to many more for us and all of you! Happy Valentine’s Day

Blizzard of 2010

Well by Alabama standards it was a blizzard.  It snowed all day.  Beautiful fluffy white flakes and heavy at times.  I thought when I left Maryland I would never see them again!  But we had close to 4 inches and the state went wild.  Everybody, every age, made snowmen and went sledding on everything imaginable…(you have to get creative in a state that rarely sees the white stuff).  You do appreciate it more when you rarely get it.  We even have a little left outside right now, 3 days later!

We started the day digging out our snow gear and then I realized I gave mine away….it was almost 15 years old and had seen better days.  I had to wear Preston’s old coat!  Dennis and I were the first ones out.  I made the date in the snow, and we started making a snowman.  The snow was PERFECT…easiest snowmen I have ever made.  Then the kids came out and we started the snow ball fights!  A friend came over with sleds and the “boys” started sledding in the slope-y yards.  Later we went over to my parent’s house to build more snowmen, sled, ride 4 wheelers and look for letters in the trees (Thanks Jen!)  I found all the letters of my last name and my parents last name and will have to figure out a way to frame them nicely.  It was fun and rather addicting.  As we were eating later, Grant and Ryan both said, “Hey Mom, there’s an O” and  a “V”.  We had a great day in the snow.

 

our house Friday Morning and the year above

Snowy Alabama

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“Let’s go to the Hop”

My niece Lauren and 3 other little girls had a sock hop birthday party.  They all turn 7 this month and had a great time celebrating together.  Here are a few pictures of the party and (hopefully) a video of “Dennis’s son” doing the Macarena!  A friend from church made poodle skirts for the birthday girls and 2 little sisters.  Many other kids came dressed up too.

Ryan and Lauren

The Hula hoops were a huge hit  (Autumn)

The birthday girls: Lauren, Mia, Jordan and Jaden

Limbo:  Autumn waited for Ryan every time:)

The “older” boys mainly watched

Ryan dancing

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we had a problem with the computer and after I worked long and hard on the sock hop entry, it would not let me load it.  My savvy husband finally figured it out.  he makes fun of all this but did admit that he will love it when he is deployed…well he didn’t say “love” but he said he would enjoy checking in!  It’s a start!

This is my last week at home!  I start work on Tuesday the 16th.  I am going to stop by the school this week and look at schedules and paperwork so I know what to do the first day.  I am a bit nervous but also excited.  I am TOTALLY BUMMED that I am missing all the massive amounts of snow in Maryland!  I have only been gone 6 months and they have already had RECORD amounts of snow!  I KNEW it would happen when I moved away!  Now they are teasing us with snow here in Alabama this Friday and it will either fizzle out or throw us two flakes!