Interesting Doctor Appointment



Chris playing doctor- see the stethescope around his neck?

 Chris had a half day so he took the girls to see the doctor.  The original reason was for Elia who has had a little rash on her tummy for the past few weeks.  The doctor gave her some topical cream so we should be good to go.  Both girls were weighed, and Elia has finally surpassed her sister in weight!
The doctor brought up the fact that Elia has grown so big and tall so fast while Gianna hasn't.  He suggested, just to rule it out, that Gianna get tested for Celiac's disease.  I am very skeptical that she has it becasue she doesn't really have any of the symptoms I've googled.  But we'll see- I'm going to make the appointment for my spring break.  I'm not too worried but you just never know!

Mommy Elia Time

Saturday, Chris took Gianna to Austin to go see UD play rugby, so Elia and I had some MUCH needed mommy- daughter alone time.  We ran errands, went to the park, and best of all, she got to bring her grocery cart to the store and help go shopping.  She even helped put everything up on the conveyor belt.







Starbucks donut- lucky girl!



After nap, she helped make mini pizzas for game night at John and Sam's!





Real Life Sudoku

Some people wonder what teachers do once the bell has rung and the kids are gone.  Its not just lesson planning and grading (although that too, takes a long time).  Its looking at your students and assessing their individual needs and changing your classroom and your actual teaching to accomodate them.  This is a rotation schedule I created so that while they are doing different math ativities on their own, I can pull small groups to reteach math concepts that students don't understand or push studnets who already get it to go the next step.

This took me 15 precious  minutes to do after school on Friday- and its still not perfect.

I have to savor this moment, however fleeting it may be.

Yesterday was rough.  After I picked the girls up from daycare we had to go to the grocery store.  Since I only needed 2 things, I told the girls we were just going to walk through the store and that we didn't need a cart.  For some reason, this set Elia off and she started fussing and whining very loudly that we needed a cart, and I threatened time out to her.  She continued to fuss, so I put her in time out, in the store.  As soon as I put her in time out, she started one of those awful toddler tantrums that you hope your child will never have in public.  It was awful- she threw herself on the floor, kicking and screaming.  So I just picked her up and took her straight to the car and straight home.  After she was settled down she was fine, but I was not about to go back into that store.
At dinner, I literally had to force feed her pizza becasue she didn't want to eat.  Seriously, who in their life has ever force fed a child pizza?  So that was a battle tha I barely won.  Then, I took the girls to the library for the evening storytime at our library.  It is such a great program- they do songs and lots of books and even a craft.  We look forward to it every week since we used to go during the week when I was home with them.  I warned Elia with threats of time out, going home, etc. to be a good girl while we were there.  Which she was, until it was time to go.  I was checking out books and I asked her to sit on the floor and look at her books while I checked out.  She started screaming the floor is too dirty mama!  And you know that even a speaking voice at the library is heard all over, and she was screaming so it was even worse.  I pleaded with Gianna to help her sister read her book quietly.  Elia quieted down immediately and so I finished checking out in peace.  When I finished I found them like this:

  

All of my anger and exhaustion melted away at that minute.  How sweet is that?  Fleeting though- we had another battle this very moring about washing her hands.  I think this might be the terrible twos!

Low Key Weekend

We did absolutely NOTHING this weekend, and it was great.  We only got out of the house to go to church, the park and of coure to ride bikes.  We went to the dragon park, which both girls have been wanting to go to, but besides the cool dragon head there, the actual park was pretty lame.  And almost as soon as we got there Elia had to go potty.  Le sigh.



Picture found here.

This was Elia's first successful pedal pushing bike ride!

School Artwork

I cannot bring myself to throw away the girl's artwork!  Both of their classes have been studying polar animals, hence the theme.  All this has been hanging on my window sill.  Now Gianna and Elia are talking about space, so it was time to switch the art out.


The 2 snowmen are from Christmas- a craft we did in December.



Elia's Creations

Gianna's Polar Bear

  

Fun Weekend

Somehow weekends are even sweeter now that I'm back to work.  Its not that I didn't enjoy them before but we seem to squeeze in as much as possible these days.  Friday we went to Fuzzy's with my teacher friend Lindsey and her husband and baby (the one I subbed for last year, she is almost 1!).  Fuzzy's was having a one year celebration for being in business in Carrollton, and everythng was $1!  Everytime we drive by Fuzzy's the girls ask if we can go there so you can imagine their excitement over getting to go.

Saturday morning we went to our hiking park and ran errands.  Saturday night my cousin Meghan babysat the girls so Chris and I could go meet Sam and John to see a movie.  Girl with a Dragon Tattoo was sold out, so we went out to a bar instead.  Seriously fun!  Whenever we get together we always have our kids with us (which is fun!) but it was nice to get out and be adults together.

Then Sunday was the usual- cartoons, being lazy and then church.
 

 

Then Uncle Patrick, Matt and Sarah came over to watch the football game.  There was quite a lot of shouting and liveliness with the 49ers losing, and of course G and E thought it was a little scary but mostly hilarious.  We ended the weekend with some ice cream and whipped cream.  Yum!

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!

First Day of School for Elia

We decided last minute to put Elia in the same preschool as Gianna.  The original plan was to just have her in daycare full time while I was at work but then it just worked out moneywise to have her in preschool.  She was so stinking excited to have her own backpack and lunchbox and everything.  I was sad to see her go off without me.  As soon as G and I walked her into her room and she saw all the toys and things to play with, she forgot who I was!  I could barely get a hug out of her as I was leaving.

Gianna giving Elia support.

She gets her own frog!

I am so thankful I didn't get the call to go back to work until the Thursday after their first days of school- it was really nice to be able to see them off on their first days!

First Day of School for Gianna!

Gianna started her new preschool Monday.  She was so stinking excited.  Sunday night it took her forever to go to sleep and at one point she yelled from her room that she could feel her heart beating really fast.  She is especially excited that she can bring her lunch to school everyday.

Waiting for her classroom to open up.  Elia was there for moral support of course.

This is where she hangs up her stuff.  This is a great view of her new haircut!

Elia and I spent the morning together shopping at walmart.  She was so happy to see G when she got home!