Oh how different life is!

Thank the Lord it is a 3 day weekend...no school Monday! That gives me some time to accompolish something like grocery shopping this week...maybe! I'm still staying after school is out to get things done in my classroom and I'm there at least 4 hours each Sat or Sun. I know that will come to an end as soon as I can get a grip on the days that just fly by!! but for now, I'm working 6 days a week and 9-12 hours a day. What a change of pace. I did manage to get my house clean today, the clothes are washed and my mom bought some groceries. I think by Tues. I'll be in a good position for the new week.
I have 12 students, 7 girls and 5 boys! They are a cute bunch! They are quickly learning their new routine and feeling more comfortable as the first full-week is behind us. They make me smile with their prayer requests and stories. One girl has invited me to her b'day party...which is pretty understandable but she has also invited me to go with her family on a disney cruise!! I'm going to have to get those dates down, I don't want to miss that!!
I have realized that I never truly appreciated Christopher's teachers...don't get me wrong I did appreciate them greatly but, now I know how much of a sacrifice it is to be a teacher and a mom of younger children! Last week I just cried...thinking there is no way I can do this...and that is the truth of it...there is no way I could do this in my own strength! I know that God has brought me here and it is only through him that I can accomplish the tasks set before me. My body is so very exhausted as I begin to adjust to this new routine and life!
On another note, we finally joined a church! We are new members of MobberlyBaptist. We are excited to be "part" of a body again...we've been there for several months but there is something different about being a member of a local body!
Ok, it is 9:30 and I'm headed for sleep...I'll try to blog again soon...at least before the weekend is over! Maybe I'll catch up on reading blogs too!

Happy 6th birthday to Catherine...a day late!

I put these pictures together to send to Cat's birth mother, and decided to just post them on here too although there are a lot of them. It is a year in review...excluding her 1st day of school and b'day...I hadn't downloaded them yet.
I can't believe my baby girl is 6 and in kindergarten!! She is doing well in school...with one minor mishap so far! She'll be getting glasses this week, if I can ever get to the office before they close to pick them up.
We can't imagine our lives without her joy, laughter and positive view on just about everything! Her birthday is always such a special thing as we reflect on how she came to be and how she came to be part of our family! 6 years old...16 is just around the corner!!!!

I don't know if I'll ever have time to update again!!

How is it possible that my little girl is old enough to go to school?



In the midst of getting ready to teach I've almost forgotten that Cat will be starting school! Where has the time gone?! It is great that I'll still be with my kids all day...but, my heart is sad as my youngest child is moving out of one stage of life and into another...I won't even get started thinking about Christopher's age and the stage he'll soon be moving into...ok, I'm gonna be crying tomorrow!!!

My classroom!

Here is a glimpse of my room...so far...it is still in progress.

Last night we had Meet-the-Teacher night in which all the parents and students come to the room say hello, drop off supplies etc. It can be quite overwhelming for all involved. It went well, I enjoyed meeting and talking with everyone...now I'm exhausted!

This time tomorrow we'll be about to start the new school year-yikes! After a hair cut appointment this morning I'll be back in my classroom putting away supplies that are piled around the room and preparing myself for tomorrow...we'll do some activities with the moms before they tearfully leave their precious little ones in my care! I took pictures of the kids to put on the door and they are all just sooo cute! I'm sure we'll have a great year as we navigate Kindergarten together!

Here is the first of the watermelons from our garden! I kept waiting for it to get bigger it never did so I finally picked it and it was very ripe

We were all so excited to see what it looked like inside

mmm, nice and red! It tasted very good but it had tons of seeds which made the eating difficult...we've gotten spoiled eating seedless melons!

We have a few still growing-one hanging from the fence! Hopefully we'll have some more juicy goodness soon...we've had many tomatoes over the past weeks that have been really good...just not as good as "Jersey" Tomatoes!

Mystery solved...

I finally found out why the water in my "growing" avocado plant was mysteriously disappearing each day!

Well...I think it is time for a post!!
My life has been so busy and tiring! Only 1 week til I go to work full-time! Eeeek! I've been working on getting my room together, I'm feeling pretty good about the direction it is going. I want my room to be bright and airy not stuffed with bunches of stuff...so far I have achieved that! You see I have to wander around school and "find" things that I could use and or need for my classroom. Of course as one of the new teachers I'm pretty low on the proverbial totum pole, but fortunately for me I already know most of the teachers so they've been pretty sweet to share.
I'm am not used to being on my feet on a concrete floor with low pile carpet and so my legs have ached everynight when I try to sleep! Between my achey legs and my brain that just won't turn off I haven't gotten much sleep...I'm thinking that won't get better for a few weeks.
Last night the other Kindergarten teacher and I had a meeting to introduce the parents to "Writing Road to Reading". I think it went really well and I shared almost as equally as the other teacher. The Dean of Lower School wanted to make sure I was sharing knowledge equally to make sure the parents understand that although I'm new I do know the reading/spelling/writing curriculum. I'm sure some parents will/do prefer the other teacher since she has been there for 5 years and I'm new! I'm trying to deal with the emotions of that...hopefully I won't "hear" of any parents not wanting me as their child's teacher!
This week I wanted to get my room together so next week we can sit down and get lesson plans done. The other teacher has some amazing ideas and plans that she'll be sharing with me so we can pretty much stay on the same page throughout the year.
Aside from pre-school year stuff we haven't been doing much. christopher has been working with Calixto which has been good. On Sat. they were working at a friend's lake house and he was invited to stay and play instead of work...he had a blast tubing, wake boarding and jet skiing! Sure beats pushing a mower in the 100 plus degree weather! It was very sweet of them to invite him to share in their family fun.
I'll save the rest for another post!! I'm gonna go veg out...right after I take some ibuprofen!