No place like home...

This is a picture or our new home. We finally got grass after a long winter of mud! Fortunately?!!? It was so cold this winter that it never was too big of an issue.
There truly is no place like home. Although I could get used to views like this one that we had last week in Florida....I love my new home. We had a good time in Florida with the Roode clan. The kids had a great time on the beach and we all enjoyed relaxing around the pool.
Here is a picture of the kids at Marineland. Marineland is a dolphin conservation organization near St. Augustine, Florida. We arranged for Allie to have a dolphin experience. I'll post more pics of that eventually. :-)

Easter

I love Easter. It is my favorite Holy day. It can be very overwhelming to think about the magnitude of love Jesus felt for each of us when he died on cross for us. Our church service was perfect this Sunday. We don't normally have a choir but all the worship teams got together and sang some amazing songs. They were done just right. Not too showy, soothing, but expressive at the same time. I enjoyed it so much! I only wish I had worn waterproof mascara.



I've included some more pictures of our activities lately.
Jake's Birthday! 12 years old!!
Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America
Lowell nad I on Easter Sunday

My goofball kids who would not cooperate for a picture of the three of them. So I cornered them on the stairs before they went up to change after church.

Finally!

Kyle is 14!!!
Allie and a friend at the Rockettes' Christmas Show
Camels crossing the street after the show. I wonder what the people in those cars were thinking?!!
Something we've done a lot of with all that snow we've gotten this year. I think we got about 45 inches, which is a lot for Iowa.
Christmas!!

Hello! Well, I am sure both of you (hee hee) were wondering where I went! I have been very busy with finishing up my classes, trying to get my house in order, and also keeping up with the kids' schedules. Since I last posted Kyle has turned 14 and Jake has turned 12!

We are all settled into our new home. It is so nice to have space to spread out. I have been cooking more in my very well organized, larger kitchen and Lowell and I are both enjoying having an office space. We just need our lawn put in and we'll really start feeling the benefits of our move. We just had a meeting with the landscaper on Wednesday and he has lots of ideas for us.....lots of expensive ideas for us!! With a 3/4 of an acre lot, we will probably just go with the basics for this year and then get creative next summer.

I only have this one last term to go for school. I will still have to take two more general education claasses this summer but otherwise, I am ready to start student teaching in the fall. At Upper Iowa, student teaching is split into two seven week terms. It is set up so that one is to be in a lower elementary classroom and the other is in an upper elementary classroom. I will be be in second grade and fifth grade classrooms if I get the placement in our school district that I am waiting for. It's hard to believe that the time is almost here!

We are on Spring Break right now. We made a quick trip to the Mall of America for a couple of days. That was fun and we'll definitely go back sometime. I dont' think I'll count on getting any shopping done though! There is so much to do at the mall that the kids were much more interested in doing stuff than shopping for clothes. Who can blame them, right? We did thoroughly enjoy the IKEA store. Wow! I had never been to an IKEA but I had admired their things on their website. I am totally hooked now. I am trying to figure out how I can get back up there in the near future.

Jake just finished up basketball and his team had a great season. I am not sure on the exact stats but they played well and were very good sports. I think they only lost a couple games. The boys' coach quit half way through the season so Lowell and another dad pitched in and the kids seemed to do even better. Ever since the weather has gotten nice, Jake has been out playing either football or basketball with his friends. He has made some really great friends this year. I am so happy for him. They are all into their cell phones and getting phone calls from girls. Jake tells me it is dumb because they don't even talk to them face to face, just on the phone. LOL I remember those days!! Praise God my middle school years are well behind me.

Kyle has started track and so far, really enjoys it. We have been so pleased with the athletic program through the schools. They do such a good job with the kids and although this town has some fiercly competive people, Kyle doesn't seem to pick up on the vibe. So far it's all just fun for him.

Allie is enjoying decorating her new bedroom with a beach/ocean theme. We keep picking up things here and there. She definitely has her own ideas about how she wants it to look. We are having a lot of fun with it. I'll try to take some better pictures of the house and post them soon.

Well, I think that is it for now. I'll try to pick some pictures from the last few months for your viewing pleasure. :-) I don't know why it always does the pictures first but there you go!

Well....Lowell is 40! I am waaaaay late. :-) His Birthday was November 16th.

This is why I did not do a photo card this year! Grrrrr....Jake was not in a smiling mood. He really is a happy child...just a pain in the...sometimes.

My brother's kids with mine on Thanksgiving day. :-)

Sorry, this is short and sweet. We are moving this week!

Toooooo busy!

Just a funny picture of our dog!
Kyle #57
Kids at the Pumpkin patch
Allie in her Halloween costume
Hey! It's been a while. I am not sure who reads my blog these days. I only have a handful of people on my read list. Sometimes I think about opening it back up to the public so I can get more comments. LOL But when ya google yourself and you blog comes up on the first page, it's a little weird! Did you know that there is another Janine Roode? She runs in marathons and is about my age. I wonder if any people ever google me and think I am a runner. That's hilarious! Well, I am way off topic. My topic is how busy we have been. We have been REALLY busy. I have been taking four classes instead of the usual two because of how they were offered. Now that I am a senior I have to take classes as they are available. I am also doing a 60 hour practicum in a second grade class at Allie's school. It is very fun! I am learning so much about how the brain works and what strategies work best to teach children. It is amazing all that I know now. :-) I don't think anyone that has not been through a teacher education program can fully understand how much goes into educating children. It is really neat to use the same techniques with my own children and see how they respond. Allie loves that I know all the same reading and math lingo that she is learning at school. I have also been using my children as guinea pigs. I have to do reading inventories for one of my classes. Allie is reading at a 6th grade level. I am so proud. I am in the middle of testing Kyle and he is doing very well. He was able to pass through the twelfth grade site words. Amazing! While learning all this fabulous stuff is awesome and I can't wait to be a classroom teacher, I am getting very tired! I think the fact that we are also building a house and that the holidays are coming up, may have something to do with that. Our house is coming along very nicely and we expect to move in Dec. 17th or perhaps sooner. Our builder is freaking out a little bit because we told him that we actually expect to be in on time. It's important because of my classes. If we can keep on schedule then I will not have to worry about classes for a few weeks and we can just get our house in order over Christmas break. I am adjusting to the fact that we may not have any company over Christmas. I think we will volunteer our time at a homeless shelter or the Ronald McDonald house. They need people to serve meals and pass out gifts. I think it would be a good reality check for the kids and a great way to give back. We are so blessed! I will post some pics of what we have been up to lately. :-)

Another school year begins...

Well, we've been back to school for a couple of weeks now. We started on August 16th. My new job is GREAT! I could scarsely believe my ears when my lead teacher asked me why I didn't have my coffee yet. Working in the media center is very different from the level three special education arena. Being a special ed. 1-1 associate last year, I never could take a moment to sip some coffee. I have also been very proud of myself with handling computer issues that have come up. Nothing major, but I have never done much besides fiddle with my own computer and do the basic office functions. I even set up two computers from scratch and connected one to the internet! woo hoo! I'm also getting a sneak peak into the curriculum for elementary, and the resources that teachers use in addition to the text books. Part of my job is to collect media materials for teachers that go with the units they are doing in the classroom. I even enjoy cafeteria duty in the morning. This job is really just what I needed so that I could remain in an education setting but not have all the bone tiring work of special ed. My hat goes off to the people that do that for years. I know that as a teacher I will always have a special spot in my heart for the special ed. students and the staff.

Kyle has enjoyed 8th grade at his new middle school. Our town has two middle schools; one is a 8-9 and the other is a 6-7. Kyle went out for football and there is a no cut policy. There are always so many boys interested that they have to create two teams, one is lite weights and the other is heavy weights. Thank goodness the cut off for lite weights was 125lbs. so Kyle fell into the lite weight catagory at 120 lbs. Some of those kids are bigger than Lowell! We are talking kids over 6'3" and 230 lbs in the 8th grade!! It's amazing, but they do tend to grow them nice and big in Iowa. :-)

Jake is also having a great time at his new school. He is now at the 6-7 middle school and ended up on a team (small learning community - buzz word for how they separate the kids) with quite a few of his classmates from last year. He also went to a leadership training a week before school started. Those kids that attended the leadership camp all got a leg up on how to unlock lockers, etc. This was great confidence booster for him and he has just done amazingly well. I really admire how the school handles the transition, and was able to observe first hand how wonderful the staff is last year when I worked there. I wasn't really worried, but I knew he was. I don't have Momma's Boys but they do have a Boys' Momma! :-)

Allie got the teacher that she wanted, but the majority of her friends are not in her class. But, that's O.K. she gets along with most anyone. She's fiesty though, she doesn't take anyone's guff. Girls really start getting catty at this age and Allie has handled it all pretty well. If someone is mean she forgives them, but she sure doesn't go back for more. We switched Allie to a different dance studio this year because we wanted to try a studio with smaller class sizes. She has only had one class and it was fabulous. She is the youngest in her class and all the girls were gushing over her and helping her out if she needed help.

Well, that is it for us tonight. I hope everyone is well!

My favorite time of year

August 1, 1992

Yikes! 34 years old

Well, this is my favorite time of year. My birthday was July 24th. Didn't do a whole lot, and come to think of of it....birthdays aren't quite as fun anymore! LOL I had class that night so for the very first time in my entire life, I was able to bring cupcakes to school. That was fun at least! We went out the next day to my favorite place...Red Lobster. Yummy!

The next big event is the anniversary of Lowell and I meeting at McDonald's on July 27, 1990. The magical night! :-) I realized I've now known Lowell for as many years as I didn't know him. If that makes any sense!

August 1, 1992 we were married! It has been fifteen years. The years have just flown by! I am a very lucky girl to have a husband that treats me like a princess.