The Big Picture

Hey! Well, there is not a whole lot of news to report but since my sisterchickies have commented on the picture on my blog I thought I'd give ya'll the BIG PICTURE. Hee hee....here it is...

This picture was taken in South Haven this past June. Poor Jake is standing in full sun so it's not the greatest of him but I really liked it of me so I'd have to say it's the best family picture...ever! LOL It is even funnier when you see the real picture before I cropped it off.

It's so funny to see Lowell standing in a hole. But when it's cropped it looks like something Sears Portrait studio might have done. (yes, I know I am really short! - so my sons keep telling me.)

Well, there you have it....The Big Picture! :-)

First Week!

Well, I survived my first week of work! Next week I start classes and I realized today that I never did buy my books or figure out my student loans! Yikes! I'm sure it will all work out but it is my nature to worry...a little. So far so good with the kids although Allie and Jake were sick this week with a tummy bug and I missed a half day of work. (Lowell stayed home for the morning) Being a working Mom after eleven years at home is really, really weird! I think I will be very happy to see that first paycheck. I just found out that I won't get it until September 8th...talk about delayed gratification! My co-workers are all very nice and the kids are just adorable. A little boy with cerebral palsy looked up at me as he sat in his wheelchair, a little drool dribbling down onto his red shirt, and he said "I like you!" With the biggest grin on his face. The student I assist the majority of the time is doing good. We have our moments but otherwise he is very good natured. Please pray for the week ahead and that my school goes well even if I don't have my books! Oh, and we finally paid off Kyle's trumpet and Jake came home today after a band "try it" day at school and told me he wants to play trombone! I guess I will have my very own brass band! :-)

First Day of School 2006

First Day of School! Wow! This summer went by extremely fast. Here is Allie and Kyle...Kyle is so overjoyed to have his picture taken. You can tell he thinks he is much too old for this picture stuff. Allie was very happy to have her picture taken. Jake kept moving during pictures. It kind of reminded me of his first day of preschool. :-) I finally got one of him after school while he was talking to some friends.
Here is Jakie-bakie. The first day of school is always so nuts because all the parents (and grandparents!) of kindergarteners (there are 130 of them this year) want to come and pick up their kids plus all us "old" moms who need the photo ops. The kids all had great first days. Allie reported that her Math/Literacy teacher has candy, that the girl she thought was mean is actually very nice, and that five boys chased her at recess. Jake's report was shorter...they get safety patrol points and if they have at least 1 left by the end of the year then they get to go to Adventureland. He also reconnected with a couple friends that he didn't see much this summer and immediately ran out after school to play. This neighborhood is great for that. Kyle went out for Dairy Queen with one of his friends after school and said that it would take too long to tell me everything he did on his first day. :-0 But I did find out that his Social Studies teacher is a 30- year- old man and waaaay cool. This should help since his S.S. teacher last year bored him to tears (almost literally) and we constantly struggled to keep his grade above a "C". My first day of work as Special Education Teacher Associate was good as well. Actually it was MUCH, MUCH, better than I had anticipated. I was getting fairly worked up about it and then after my short training day was even more discouraged. But God is so good and all my prayers were answered and then some. The lead teachers had everything organized and the young man that I am in charge of assisting was good natured and easy to manage. I am also helping out in one of the special ed classrooms as I am available and I have been surprisingly at ease with all of it. I wasn't sure how I'd handle the severity of disability due to my lack of experience but I am confident that I handled myself well. I think it is going to be very good experience. Another fun note was that my kids all were in total awe of the fact that I ate my lunch in the teacher's lounge. LOL....apparently they think it is a party zone. Wait til they see my key to the faculty bathroom!

Iowa State Fair!

Allie is so excited to be at the state fair! :-) This is our third year spending a day eating corn dogs, pork chops on a stick, funnel cakes, cotty candy, caramel apples, Rootbeer floats ugh...anyone else have a tummy ache?!? I actually tried a HUGE, GIGANTIC, turkey leg. I don't recomend it. It was straight out of King Henry the 8th. Well, anywho...we had a great time. The boys were actually brave enough to ride some midway rides and all three kids bungee jumped...sort of...it was a mini-bungee. We did all the important things like going to the Agriculture building and viewing all the contest winners. Did you know they even have prizes for bee hives? Somehow we missed that before. We did not get to see the Butter Cow. The line was very long.... Last year we cut in line because we honestly were unaware that there was a line to see the butter cow. Who knows these things? But you know what? Iowa people are so nice. They just smiled at us and said "That's O.k. hon." I love Iowa people. :-) We sampled all the new foods, entered contests, won prizes, got tattoed (washable, of course), rode the giant slide, and rode the length of the fair grounds on the sky glider. Phew...I'm beat. I put a picture of Allie from the fair 2004 and the fair 2006 in the garden area so you could see how much she's grown! (I hope these pictures turn out!)

School time...

Well, it is that time of year again! We have gotten all the school supplies set and ready for the first day of school on August 17th. The school gives us a list of items for each grade. Some things are required and others are optional...of course my kids want to have all the stuff. Kyle needed a bigger backpack this year...those seventh grade books are bigger, ya know. :-) We took a tour of the middle school a few days ago and found out what "team" Kyle will be on. He is very happy to be on the Platinum team again although they scramble all the kids each year so he does not have any of his friends on his team. The school divides the 675 seventh graders into teams of 60-70 kids so that they feel like they are in a smaller group. He will have three main teachers and he is also continuing with band this year. He still enjoys his trumpet! Jake is starting fifth grade this year. WOW! How time flies. He is looking forward to being on safety patrol and wearing the authoritative orange vest that allows him to tell other kids not to run, among other rules. He will have the same teacher he had last year and most of the same kids so the transition should be very easy for him. In September he gets to pick what instrument he wants to play for the school band. Allie is going into second grade and she got the teacher she wanted. I think it will be a good fit for her and we have seen her teacher several times at the community pool this summer. This year Allie will learn cursive writing and start multiplication. Our little girl is growing up! I am going back to school at the end of the month at Upper Iowa University. They have a Des Moines location so I will attending classes nearby. I am also going to be working at the middle school. Should be busy but doable. Kyle is excited to have me at his school and I look forward to getting to know the middle school arena a little better. I will be working with sixth grade special education students so I will not be in the same area as Kyle but I am sure we'll see each other in the halls. Well, that is all for today!

Hi! First post on my blog. More later!