Allie's Dance Recital

Phew! The recital was a great success and Allie had a wonderful time. This was her second year of dance at Nicole's School of Dance. It is the most popular dance studio in our town. Nicole and her crew have about 500 girls in classes throughout the week. She split the groups up into three recitals but Allie's recital was still over three hours long! Only about 10 minutes of that was our little Allie girl! She was in tap, ballet, and jazz. Pampa and Grandma came from Michigan to see her recital along with the rest of us. This was especially important to me since my brothers and my dad never came to any of my recitals. The boys did a fabulous job being the supportive brothers and each gave Allie a carnation. Unfortunately Jake's allergies were acting up and he didn't feel the greatest but he still sat through the whole thing. He especially liked the boys that danced. He thought it was pretty cool, although he said he'd never do it....and that's O.k.! There was a lot of talent there last night. Allie continues to amaze me that she is never nervous to be on stage! She had missed six weeks of class due to her collar bone injury so I was nervous that she might feel a little bit lost compared to the other girls.

Summer is almost here!!

I am so excited! This was the last full week of school. I have never been so excited for school to be out. Usually I am dreading loosing my alone time. This year alone time has been non-existant, so time off of work will be wonderful. It will be nice to not be running around every day, although I do have lots of fun things planned for the kids. The boys are both doing day football camp and band camp. Allie will have gymnastics camp and other fun half day camps. We also have some vacations planned. I got the job I applied for as a Media Center associate at the elementary school. I will have much better hours next year! I am so happy about that. I will have some time to get things done during the day and be able to do my practicum work without interfering with my job. I have one year of school left and then I student teach. I can't believe the end is almost here. I have been pursuing this for a looooong time. Here is a picture of the kids and me on Mother's Day. No, it is not a figment of your imagination that Kyle is taller than me by a few inches. He is now 5'6". Kids really do grow up VERY fast. Which is both good and bad depending on the day! :-)

This and That

Hello! I know it has been a loooong time since I have posted anything except adorable pictures of my kids. So I thought I'd try to type something up that would be of interest.....

This has been a very interesting year for me. I have learned tons of stuff working at the middle school and going to school at night for my elementary education degree. My job is going well but I am so ready for summer break. The student I work with has Aspberger's syndrome. He is quite capable of grade level work (6Th grade) but he daydreams most of the days. He actually has movies playing in his head. It is very real to him sometimes. He'll be taking a math test and just start cracking up laughing. I have to fight the urge to just crack up with him! I had my review today and it was glowing! I actually started to sweat. I do not care for sweating...if you know me well....you are laughing right now. I don't know what I was worried about. I always try to do my very best and treat my student as I would want one of my own children to be treated. I definitely have learned so much about special needs children and I will feel more confident in my general education classroom dealing with the inclusion children. Many of the teachers at the school have allowed me to teach in their classrooms so that has really helped me professionally.

Although I like my job and could see myself doing it for another year I have decided to apply for Associate Teacher positions that are less hours. I currently work 5.75 hours a day, that includes a half hour lunch. I am actually gone from the house from 7:45-2:45 with drive time and getting the kids to school before work. I have applied for one job as a Media Center associate at a small elementary in town, and on Monday I will apply for one at the school Allie and Jake go to. They are both about three hours a day and would free up a lot of my time for fun stuff like homework and cleaning house. Jake is bummed that I won't be at his school next year. He moves up to middle school next year and was looking forward to having me there to help him with his locker.

Kyle is rounding out his last year at the 6-7 middle school. He will attend the 8-9 middle school next year. He is doing better at being responsible at home so hopefully that will start carrying over to school. All his teachers say he is "A" student material but he is constantly turning things in late. Mostly because he puts something in the wrong folder or leaves it on his desk at home. Pray for this child! He is such a good kid, I really think he can go far....if he can just remember how to get there. :-)

Allie is just growing up before our very eyes. It is true that girls mature faster than boys. Allie notices things that a boy would never notice. I have been teaching her this year about friendships and what is acceptable and what is not. Apparently the other moms in her circle of friends are not doing the same. Allie feels it is her job to explain the world according to Allie and her mommy to all. This sometimes causes problems but I hope I am raising a confident child that will stand up for injustice but be kind at the same time. Sometimes we mommies have lofty goals, huh?

Lowell and I are doing good. We've had so much turbulence around us. We have my brother and some good friends our ours going through divorces. Darrick and Paulette's break up was our first foray into the divorce drama but now we feel like old hands at it. It is really sad and we know that this is not what God wants. So that make it even harder to watch. Particularly for our friends who really have no grounds for divorce other than being entirely sick of each other. Please take the time, energy, effort, and money it takes to get your marriage on track if you feel there are issues. Satan loves to break up families.

O.k. On a lighter issue to close out here. I hired a maid. I just had to share. It was the best decision ever! I had been struggling all year to keep my house clean with working almost 30 hours a week and going to school 2-3 nights a week. Our Saturday chore list was ridiculous! So I hired service to come in. After a couple rough weeks I think they have it down and they now come in every other week to clean. I'm hoping if I "forget" to cancel I might get away with it over the summer. Do ya think?