It’s getting chilly around here in the evenings!
Story time
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Neglect
My poor, neglected blog. I have run out of time in my days. Run out of energy. Every last drop this week and last has been spent on UVEI writing assignments and lesson planning. And, of course, life. I’ve yet to find that “pause” button allowing things to slow down a bit. I can’t say this is unexpected though. I know this will be a full, action-packed year! So far I’m loving it, Alan is hanging in there, and the kids are doing just fine. Well… they have become video game junkies, but otherwise doing fine! I dropped them off at school on Tuesday because UVEI didn’t start until a bit later and Alan really wanted to sleep in. He’s not used to these early mornings. :) When we got to school Lex asked if I was going to walk them to their classrooms. I said no, though inside I really wanted to say yes! I said “Daddy drops you off right here and I think I’ll do the same.” He considered it for a moment then said ok, gave me a hug, and ran inside. I think the separation was harder for me than it was for him! As it should be, I suppose.
Hmm… what else?! We mostly go to school and come home. Last weekend we were busy all weekend, but I don’t remember many details. We had a goodbye brunch with friends who are moving out of the country and we had some other friends over after school a few times this week. This weekend we have a flu-shot appointment. Hopefully we won’t have to drag Lex out from under the doctor’s desk like we did last year!
I’m trying to keep my jealousy under control as I think of most of my family in VA this weekend, visting Joyce! The kids and I were researching airline tickets yesterday. Still expensive! :( Alan said we should just hop in the car and drive down… and I thought real hard about that! Alas, I am a realist (and maybe a bit boring these days) and really can’t swing it. That and we would be ditching school in so many different ways! So we’ll stay here and just be with you in spirit!
Sleep
I have been so tired this week. The night before last (Thur/Fri) was a terrible sleep. I kept waking up thinking the alarm was going off. At one point the radio started making a weird static noise and woke us both us. Alan was awake off and on as well, so we both kept disrupting each other’s sleep. It was awful. When the alarm finally did go off, for real, at 5am I dragged myself out of bed. Last night, while putting the kids to bed, I had a little conversation with Lex about sleeping late on Saturday mornings. :) I suggested maybe he could try coming downstairs by himself when he wakes up at 6am. We’ve had this conversation in the past and he always rejects the idea immediately, but this time he said, “sure!” Two key changes here: he’s a bit older, of course, and he had a new computer game he loves to play. I think he thought getting up early without me would equal more computer time! :) This morning he got up at 6:25 (which is sleeping late for him!) and went right downstairs. I wasn’t sleeping well anyway, so I heard him get up, then I heard Eve get up, but I stayed in bed and dozed for awhile longer. I got up at 7:15am and found them both happily playing on the computer. It was worth it! Even the post-computer fuss when I told them it was time to shut down and come have breakfast was worth the extra time in bed! :)
One step closer
When I picked the kids up at daycare yesterday Lex was playing air hockey with a 4th grader. I came in, put my hand on Lex’s back, and said hello. The other kids says, to Lex, “Is that your mom?” Lex said yes and the other kid said, “Your mom is a teacher!”
Sweet!
Open house
Open house was tonight. It was very different than it has been in the past. For starters, my day went like this:
7:30am – parent meeting at school
8:15am – UVEI all day
3:30pm – errands
4:45pm – pick up kids from daycare, feed, and change them (Lex was a mess!)
6:00pm – open house, but this time I sent my kids to sit with friends while I stood in the teacher line! Alan got there a few minutes later, so I didn’t totally ditch my kids with others.
6:15pm – Hanging out in 5th grade. Eve was with a friend and Lex was with Alan. I’m chit-chatting with my 5th graders and their parents.
6:45pm – Sneak (not really) out to dash over to Lex’s room. He had a ton he wanted to show me, but he was spacey and couldn’t focus so we only got through a bit of it.
7:00pm (after the “closing time” announcement) – quick stop at Eve’s room. No one there. Fortunately the teacher is super nice so we stayed and chatted for a few minutes and she didn’t kick us out. :)
7:15pm – heading home with two tired kids. Actually, Alan took Lex home, so I only had one tired one in my car. Then all the usual snack (since dinner was early), shower, stories, etc.
8:15pm – homework! I’m writing my first lesson plan and I’ll be teaching on Thursday, so I wanted to get it done tonight to review with my mentor tomorrow.
9:30pm – Shutting down! Literally and figuratively. Morning comes early these days.
I missed wandering around with my kids, taking pictures of their work, and chatting with their teachers. Instead we rushed through the whole thing. Alan was there with them, but he doesn’t have the guided path of open house, he just followed behind them while they did whatever. :) I guess this is one of the many times I’ll have to switch hats (teacher/parent) quickly and only be partially present for both. Overall a good night though, not complaining.
Would you like my to post my full schedule every day? :)
The sweetest thing ever
It’s 5:30am. The kids’ bedroom door is cracked open. I peek in and see Eve, laying on her side, doggie tucked next to her head, reading light on, and a book propped open. She’s reading silently to herself and doggie. My heart melts and I once again wish for a photographic memory.
On a side note, I wonder how long she’s been awake?
Eve bakes
Yesterday Eve was browsing through her fairy cookbook and decided to make some cookies. Her first choice, pink pinwheel cookies, didn’t work out because we didn’t have the right ingredients (much to my surprise we were out of powdered sugar!). After much deliberation she finally settled on pink sparkly heart cookies.
Eve did all of the work on these cookies. Measuring, mixing, etc.
When the cookie dough was chilling in the fridge she went down to the basement and never came back, so she finished them this morning.
She rolled out the dough and kept say “Oh, this is such hard work!”
She cut out big hearts and little hearts, then got bored of the rolling/cutting process and started just making shapes with her hands.
The directions said to brush with egg whites then sprinkle with sugar. She thought that process took too long so she asked why you can’t just go from egg white to sugar to cookie. I said “go for it!” She tried one (top left corner) and said, “Oh, they kinda get all messy when you do that.” Then she went back to the original way.
The first step of the recipe said to mix red food coloring with granulated sugar to make it pink. She decided she wanted purple, so she added red and blue food coloring. It ended up being a red/blue/purple combo.
Into the oven they go. Like I said, she did everything!
I was right near by for the “into the oven” process, but a little more involved with the “out of the oven” process so no pics of that. She helped though. She wore oven mitts and held one side of the tray. :)
Not quite what the picture showed, but all Eve.
Her favorite part! :)
Saturday afternoon
The kids were all wound up and buggy and driving us crazy today. Alan and I each made our escapes, individually of course, to get some exercise, but the kids wanted none of that, instead they fussed and argued and bugged. Typical back-to-school weekend stuff.
It all turned around this afternoon though, when Alan was able to convince Lex to help out in the basement. We are so close (still!) to being able to move stuff back in from the garage. Alan just has to get the baseboards and trim done. Today he was working on that and Lex started installing door knobs. He opened the packages, read the directions, and did it (so says Alan) all on his own! Everyone was pretty proud.
Lex, hard at work installing a door knob.
Proud boy! He’s wearing headphones because Alan was running the saw.
Starting on another door.
Eve wanted to make cookies all on her own, but when she put the dough in the fridge for the required 30 minute wait, she decided to go down to the basement and work on her “project.” A project she started last weekend involving scrap wood, nails, and the hammer. She says she’s making furniture for a dog house she plans to build some day in the future.
Eve, hard at work on her “project.”
She choose to spend extra time in the basement and finish her cookies tomorrow.
So for awhile this afternoon all three of them were hard at work in the basement and it was quiet up here! I was able to cook a good dinner and get started on my homework. Yay! UVEI sessions start up again this week and I need to have five writing assignments completed before then. I have four done already, just working on the fifth.
Look at that awesome workshop Alan has set up! So tidy and organized. :)
Happy Saturday!
School update
I finished my second almost-full week of school. We’ve had two four-day weeks so far, next week will be the first full five day week!
Things are going really, really well! I’ve taught a few lessons and learned a ton. The 5th graders are smart and funny and just plain fun. I am surrounded by a super supportive, fun, welcoming staff. I couldn’t have asked for a better first placement… though maybe they are setting the bar high for future experiences.
I’m in the process of planning my first lesson. A basic map skills lesson. Wish me luck! :)
Observations
Eve is the most observant person I know. She regularly amazes me with random observations she makes. Awhile ago she asked me why me and Mema always pat each other on the back when we hug. I didn’t even realize we did it, but she notices. Tonight, while putting a band-aid on the inner/back of her thigh, just above the knee, she told me that “baggie” parts of the body don’t do as well with band-aids. I said, “what?” and she started talking about how lots of women have baggy parts “right here” she said, rubbing her upper/inner thigh. Sometimes men too, she added, but mostly women. I love that she says it in a totally non-judgemental way, just as a simple fact related to her band-aid situation. Another time she was sitting on my lap and started tucking my hair behind my ears, just like I always do to her. Her observations are never judgements (not yet, anyway) just simple observations.
I had more to this thought, but I’ve lost it now. I guess I’ll summarize with, Eve is pretty awesome. :) I’ll update later if the rest comes back to me!
Oh, I remember my other example. Eve came home from school yesterday and was telling me that one of her friends had dark circles under her eyes that “were kinda baggy.” She has noticed such things on me before as well. She said her friend doesn’t usually have them (thankfully, she’s just a little girl!) but she did in school yesterday and didn’t look very well. Last night that girls mother posted on FB that her daughter was sick and throwing up. I think Eve noticed she was unwell. So perceptive!