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. :-)