First Week of School, Chris in Manila

We love our new school!  Both girls love their new teachers, and I am falling in place with the rest of the faculty and my students too.
A few weeks ago, Chris got an amazing promotion, that makes him director of the call center at his company.  They were in the process of opening a call center in Manila, Phillipines, and asked him to go over there for a week.  Which just happened to be the first week of school.  So it was a tough week, and I have a new found respect for single moms and military moms etc!  The girls did ok without him, but now, exactly 2 weeks after he dropped them off in Joplin, they are really ready to see him tonight!  Maybe I didn't feel the need to come home as quick since I knew he wouldn't be there, but we got home late every night.  So that made the time we had at home very rushed with homework and bath and lunches etc in time for bed.  I'm excited for him to get home too!

This is the only pic I remembered to take on the first day of school!

These pictures with the signs are the 2nd day of school.  I ran out of time on day 1!

Loving the uniforms.  G told me earlier this week that she loves wearing uniforms because then she doesn't have to be stressed about what to wear each morning.  Took the words right out of my mouth!

I asked them to show me a tooth smile!

Chris sent me flowers for my first week back.  Love that guy.

Here are last years pictures!

Back to Work Again!

Wednesday night I got the call that the next day would be my first day.  The teacher I am subbing for was put on bedrest and then induced the next day.  (baby and mama are doing fine!)

Its been an ok transition back to work- I am working with the same 3rd grade team I worked with last year plus my old teacher friend (the teacher I subbed for last year.)  So in that sense, its been great.  The hardest teaching part is getting adjusted to a whole new set of kids in such a short amount of time.  When you are teaching full time, you have 9ish months with them and are ready to let them go on to the next grade level.  But 3 months at a time is really hard.  I was getting to the point last semester in 2nd grade where I knew each student really well and could truly help them learn and grow.  And now that I am in a brand new class I am starting back at zero.  Learning a whole new set of names and a new schedule and switching gears to a new curriculum (not to mention worrying about the durn STAAR test!) is much harder than I remembered.  Its going to take me quite a while to get to that point with these 3rd graders where I can truly help them learn and grow.  I feel like it is a disservice to them.  They will survive of course, as will I, its just frustrating sometimes.

That, and its been really hard leaving the girls.  We had such a wonderful time with me being back at home for those 5 weeks.  They have been adjusting ok.  They both love their preschool and are super excited on the days they have it.  The daycare I am using is in home, and it is a 1/2 mile from our house.  The woman who runs it has a son at their preschool, so that has been great for them.  So honestly I think its just me missing them and they are really fine. 

I try to make the most of our precious time together.  Even if it is super cold I try and get them outside each day.

Going to Costco to shop and eat is one of our fave Friday nights!

Elia pushing the baby while G gets on her bike with her sweet new basket.

 

Obsessed with putting stuff in the basket- especially dandelions.

Running at the field by the park.

I already have a mental countdown- 11 weeks to go!

My First Day Back!

Yesterday around 4 I got the message that the teacher I am subbing for is going on bedrest. So today was my first day of work!! It is basically like I am starting the year out with them since this is the first week of school for the students. Gianna was really excited because she got to bring her lunchbox to daycare. Here they are this morning before we left.

Its been a hectic 24 hours but it was a great start for the year! More details later...

School Days...

So I don't usually write about drama on the ole blog, but it just had to be done.

I had 4 interviews in a span of 3 weeks and nothing came of it. And by nothing, I mean no job. I could go into all the gory details, but it just makes me more frustrated every time I talk about it. Why couldn't I, from those 4 interviews with 3 different schools, get hired? What was wrong with me? Do I interview poorly? Were more experienced people picked over me? I'll never know. At least I had the November sub job lined up.

Then this morning, the principal from the school I am subbing for called me and asked me if I could do 2 sub jobs this year. The first one starts at the end of September and goes until January and the second one starts right after that and goes until end of April. I will be teaching 2nd grade first and then 3rd grade after that.

So essentially, I will be teaching almost a full school year. Its going to be a wild ride!!!

I'm So Lucky

Grandma Rowles was here until Tuesday afternoon. I went to work on Monday and came home to her folding my laundry. Awesome, right? Well it gets better! I went into the kitchen to find this:

She made 5 meals for me! 5! And they are all yummy, classic Mary dishes. I started crying as soon as I realized what she had done for me. This was a pretty stressful week with it being my last week and trying to wrap everything up etc that it was just perfect that I didn't have to worry about dinner.

Thursday, my parents gave me a goodbye party. They had all my students sign a Fancy Nancy book and put that and an $85 american express gift card in this really cute tote bag that is monogrammed with Rowles on it. They served M&M cookies and lemonade, because they know it was my favorite. I was close to tears again!

I could go on and on about how wonderful my experience was at this school. It seriously put my faith back into public education, and teaching for that matter. I was officially asked by one of the second grade teachers to do her maternity leave (she is due in November) so I will be back!

After School Activities

This new job rocks. I am almost always home by 4pm, which is right around the time the girls wake up from nap. So there is plenty of time to get in a walk to the park, play with play-doh, or even a quick run at the gym before the dinner rush.

Last week we did lots of chalk drawings outside at our front sidewalk.

I love Boom's hair here- a perfect water fountain.

Practicing shapes

And here G drew a hot air balloon. I thought it was pretty good!

My First Day Back

Ouch. The alarm at 5:30 this morning, telling me that I had to get up and out of bed, was not very fun. I didn't sleep very well, as I was worried that my alarm would betray me and not go off. But, I got to school all in one piece, and on time. The day FLEW by becasue I was so busy and ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. When I called home on my break (did I mention my mom is in town to help me transition back to work? Best.idea.ever.), she told me Gianna was being a complete know it all. No, grandma, thats not how mom does it, let me teach you all the rules, etc. Hilarious.It is crazy that I have to just throw myself back into grading, planning, and actually teaching all in one day. Thank God my mom is here this week. I came home to a sparkling house, happy girls, and a wonderful home cooked meal. When I saw my girls for the first time when I got home, I just cried seeing their lovely faces. As soon as I pulled myself together, we headed off to the park. We even had a little time to get some play-do action.

This weekend is 3 days long for me, so that will help a lot. Then spring break is 3 weeks after that, so it helps that I'm being slowly eased into it. Ok, bye for now! (and say a prayer for me once my mom is gone- that will be the real test!)

My Bags are Packed...

I have kind of been drawing the whole going-back-to-work-situation out in my head. L is due February15th so that puts her at about 38 weeks right now. Technically, she could go into labor anytime, which means I could be going back to work anytime between now and then! I have been really good about staying on top of household chores, keeping the house clean and organized, and prepared for that first day that I have to go back. Its like I am pregnant and I am getting ready to have a new baby, or even like I'm a kid waiting for the first day of school! I have an outfit picked out for the first day, I have a bag packed to take to school (pics of my family, stuff for my students, some files, etc.), and I have a bag packed for the girls for their sitter. Last week I wrote up my own version of "sub plans" to help the girls transition better with Ms. Eleanor. In my plans I wrote all about their schedule, discipline, important info, etc. I hope all of this preparedness makes everything seamless and smooth. (yeah, right)

Now all I have to do is enjoy my time with the girls and wait...

Last Day to Teach

Today was my last day of teaching Preschool Playdates. There is one more next week, and then Gianna will be going on to preschool in January! Sniff sniff.

We learned about St. Nick and the letter J. J is for Jesus (duh!) and St. Nick made a special stop to the kiddos while we were at preschool. It was a fun last day.

St. Nick came to see us!

Decorating St. Nick's miter (hat).

Last week, I went and visited my future class. I'm not going to give too many details out on the blog-o-sphere, but I can tell you a little. It is a brand new school (this is its first year!) in a very nice neighborhood. There are 20 kids in my class and they seem like a good enough bunch. I read them Our Teacher's Having a Baby to them and we talked about how excited they are for their teacher to have a baby. After teaching preschool today and seeing the 3rd graders a few days ago, it has just reaffirmed how I am way more cut out for 8/9 year olds. You have to have way more energy and patience for 3 year olds than 8 year olds. Not only that, but you have to have EVERY second planned or the 3 year olds go crizazy. Who knows, I might be singing a different tune in 2 months! I plan to visit 2 more times in Jan/Feb. The teacher is due February 16th, so as soon as she "goes", I'm in. It is so bittersweet. I am truly looking forward to working again (and earning a paycheck :) but it will be so sad to leave my girls with someone else. It will all be worth it in the end!