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!

First Week of School

A whole week has come and gone!  Dropping Gianna off in her calssrooom Monday morning was so sad!  Its cliche to say, but I can't believe that sweet baby G is a kindergartner.



Gianna's classroom theme is the ocean- her name is on the octopus in the top right corner.

Her little seat.

 

 

 

First Day Pics:

I want to be a gymnast.  (Gabby Douglas, duh.)

Elia hamming it up.

The hardest part has been watching Elia go off to daycare.  Since I went back to work 18 months ago she hasn't really had separation anxiety and I think part of that is due to the fact that she was always with Big Sis.  Now, I am dropping her off all alone and she knows Gianna goes with me and that I get to see her all day long.

Which is actually pretty great.  My break is right around the time G has lunch, so I always get to give her a quick squeeze and that holds me over until I see her again right after school.

Its all an adjustment, I know, so Elia will get through it.  When she tells me about school, it sounds super fun!  Play- dough, coloring, playing on the dinosaur playground etc.

When we get home, the girls play really hard together.  I think they are making up for lost time together because as soon as their feet hit the inside of the house they are running off to find the next imaginary adventure by dressing up, jumping on the couch, or playing outside.



Friday we came home and went straight to the park for a picnic.

And of course, a movie night to end the first week!

A Week without the Girls

After our fun filled camping trip in Colorado, Grandma took Gianna and Elia back to California with them for a week so that I could get work done to prepare for this upcoming school year.  Chris and I drove 17 hours back to Dallas from Grand Junction, CO on Sunday.  Then, while I went to boring trainings and made my classroom look awesome here in Dallas...
 

Leveling and categorizing my library took me all day Saturday!

The girls had a blast hanging out with the Rowles!  I got an iphone (finally!) and so we were able to share pics and of course facetime every day!

Aunties and cousins

Gianna is channeling her inner Gabby Douglas

Crafty stuff

I wasn't at school every waking minute while they were gone, so I managed to surprise them with some crate chairs for the playroom.  Of course I found it on pinterest, and it was surprisingly easy.  Chris and I managed to get out for a few dates too!

Bedtime story.  Elia conked out while I was reading a Care Bears book.  So happy to have them back!

My New Job!

Since March, I have had 6 interviews at 5 different schools- 3 catholic and 2 public.  I interviewed at Spears (a public school in Frisco) the day Aunt Shanny came to visit with Baby Brendan.  The following Monday the principal called me to offer me the job!  I will be teaching 3rd grade, which I am super comfortable with and excited about. 
Also, probably the best part is I get to bring Gianna with me to this school as a Kindergartner!  I'm glad I'll have that extra eye on her.  I found a cute little Christian preschool/daycare for Elia that is a mile away from Spears. 
It took Frisco almost 4 weeks to get me into one of their new hire orientations to sign all the paperwork, which I did Thursday afternoon.  On Wednesday, right before we picked up Daria, I got to have a peek into my classroom and drop my stuff off.  The teacher who was in my room last year hasn't finished moving all her stuff out, but I can see so much potential already!

I'm so excited I have a window!  I didn't have one at my last full time teaching job.

See all those blue boxes on the table?  That is all mine.  The rest of the stuff is the other teachers. 
I am starting out pretty fresh!

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!

We're Back!

I know its been a while. Once we came back from St. Louis in mid- August, I had so much to do and catch up on, and didn't have time to blog. And everyday that goes by there is more to write about and I feel like it keeps piling up and so then I just don't. And a lot has happened!

I think the most exciting thing for us is Chris started his new job. He seems really happy, and that makes the rest of us happy. I always joke that one of Chris' favorite things to do is tell others what to do, and now that he is getting paid to do it, he is even happier!

We drove to StL on a Friday with the intention of driving back the following Thursday with my mom. (Chris flew back Sunday night) Instead, we drove back the following Sunday. Chris went to Napa to attend Aunt Judy's funeral, and so, instead of returning home to an empty house in Texas, I decided to keep my childhood home full of 2 little girls for a few more days. We saw Aunt Judy just 3 weeks before her death while we were in Napa. She will be missed at all the potlucks and poker nights. Gianna has learned a little bit more about heaven because of her. She has been telling everyone she sees that her Aunt Judy is in heaven.

Since we stayed in St. Louis a little bit longer, I got to see and catch up with a lot of high school friends. It was a great week. We went to the zoo, the pool, the library, and lots of different parks. The weather was unseasonably cool (like 75-80) so we were literally outdoors all the time. I kind of forgot what it was like to be outside. Thankfully since I have been back to Dallas it hasn't been as hot as Hades.

Elia can eat from utensils now, which is seriously exciting for me. She can eat all by herself, so now I can still eat my dinner while it is warm! Gianna told me the other night that she is so glad she has a little sister. It was so cute and sweet. I think they really enjoy each other's company. Today it was raining alllllll day long, so we were stuck inside all day. They loved chasing each other around a chair for a good portion of the day. Elia's attention span is a little longer now, so she sat with Gianna and watched a movie for a few minutes. They like to share the rocking chair together, so sweet.

And what is up with this girl and her silly faces?

St. Louis post will soon follow!

Party Animal

That's right, Elia is a party animal. She discovered how to babble a few days ago, and boy is it cute!!! Ababababa and amamamamama is too cute for words.

EXCEPT when its 4 in the morning. Then it is not cute. It is frustrating and maddening and so, so tiring the next day. That party animal babbled for about an hour and a half until she finally went back to sleep. So mama needs a nap now! Except, there is no time for napping! We have so much to do in so little time! Chris is working long hours now so that he can have a relaxing 3 day weekend and then an even more relaxing week off when we go to Napa in January. That leaves me to do everything to prepare for our Christmas. Which is fine by me, I love wrapping and baking and cooking all things Christmas.
On top of all of this business, I just got hired to tutor part time! I will be tutoring for elementary aged kids just north of where I live. I am really excited about it too! And in January, aunt Shanny and I are going to launch a weight loss blog, called Skinnie Twinnies, so there is much to be done around here!
I'm not sure when my next post will be, considering all of the above! Have a wonderful christmas and a happy new year!