Friday, October 30, 2009

12 years already

Allynn turned 12 today. I can't believe how time just flies by. She is growing into quite the young lady. She is super helpful all the time. She doesn't complain about much - unless she is really tired. I couldn't have picked a better first child - oh wait I did pick her. She is the best.

Last week could have been her last week in Primary sharing time, but her teacher asked her to stick around for this week to help with the class presentation. She is such a good kid, that she is going to stay and help. She is really looking forward to the Tuesday activities.

I am excited for her and feeling a little old.

4th grade

Yesterday I took a last minute sub job at the same school as last week. This was a different class. I was so excited that I was called, I forgot to ask about the class. Their school starts at 8 am and I got the call at 745 am. While I can be spontaneous, I like to have things planned so I can mentally prepare. And it was a Thursday - I don't usually have a babysitter for Kelsey on Thursdays.

I missed the call by not getting to the phone fast enough. I listened to the message and called the school right back. It was for half day - just the morning. That worked out perfect for me since The dad was going to a doctor appointment that morning. He would be able to take Ms. K with him - not always the best situation - but it worked.

I got to the class and the teacher was there. She needed to go home to be with her own daughter who has swine flu. YUCK!! Now I was worried about touching anything in the classroom. I don't want to be sick. Everything falls apart with the mom is sick. I don't want to be sick!!!! Anyway - as the teacher is leaving I ask the class what grade this is. They all tell me 4Th grade. I then replied, "Oh good, then you all know the rules and I don't have to worry about anyone breaking them." The teacher then said, "Oh yes - we have already talked about proper sub statute etiquette." She had a plan for the day all ready for me.

When she came back at lunch, I shared with her some of the fun experiences we had encountered while she was gone.
- When I went to collect the PM kids, I came back to three students getting out the frog.
- One student decided that he was going to be English for the day and spoke with an accent. When I asked him about his British accent, he corrected me by explaining he was English because he was from London. I shared with him that London was in Great Brittan, therefore he would also be British. He said, "I guess I should have known that."
- The class had a "specialty" that morning which was P.E. When I went back to collect the class, they were getting lined up and one kid called another a name so that kid scratched in retaliation. The P.E. teacher saw it, not me. Those two lost a recess.

It was a pretty good class and I would do it again. But even for a half day, I was very tired. And I did get sick. I took a long nap, but ended up with a fever. Today I rested and slept a lot of the day. But now I feel better and am ready for Halloween tomorrow.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Today starts Week 5! Only 5 weeks left!

And last payment on the van was made. Now just waiting for the title. Pray for the van. Now that it is paid off - - it cannot die!!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

I survived!!

I managed to make it through the first day of subbing. I am pretty pleased with myself. I did not sleep very well last night, for fear that I would miss the alarm go off at 6:00 AM. When 6 finally came, I was worried about getting the door and too the school on time and with a lunch. I just kept moving. I am sure by this time my adrenaline kicked in.

Kelsey got up with no problem and was excited to go to Julie's. Grandma was kind enough to lend Kelsey her High School Musical lunch bag. Kelsey took carrots, cantaloupe, a banana, and fruit snacks with her. I took a sandwich, some carrots, and celery with peanut butter.

After dropping off Ms. K. I headed over to the school. I got there with plenty of time to read over the lesson plan left by the teacher. This was the perfect class to be my first time! Not because the kids were good, but because the teacher was great!! She left the best lesson plan. She knew exactly how long everything would last. She knew the attention span of her class really well! The day just kept moving from one thing to the next.

Now for the students - there was one that I could have done without, but he was not kick out of the room horrible. In the first part of the day he was wiggly. After lunch, he came to class with something to say about everything. He was quite noisy. I was glad the tasks they were working on did not require complete silence.

I think I did an OK job. There was one moment of chaos (I felt) when it was time to transition into math and I didn't understand the game I was teaching them. It took me and extra minute to get the hang of it and then everything went very smoothly.

By the time the day was over, I feel I had a good stride going and felt I could do it again. Especially for that class. Well, for that teacher.

My adrenaline petered out while I was in the middle of making dinner. Once I sat to eat, I was not sure I would be able to get up from the table. I have managed to make it downstairs and am ready for bed. It was a good day.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Overwhelmed

I am so behind - well I was behind. I felt like I was behind in everything and only more was coming. I was behind on homework. I was behind on laundry. I was behind on cleaning the bathroom. I was behind on blogging. I was behind on my shows.

Well - I am now caught up on the homework. It is Tuesday of Week 4 of 9. I am current in both classes and have read some of what is due for Thursday. I could be better prepared for the education class assignment due Friday, but I am not. It is a PowerPoint about gender bias in schools. Sometimes I feel like the more we talk about differences and prejudices, the more prejudice I get. I will be glad to have classes over. I am moving along!!

Yesterday and today I worked on getting caught up on laundry which provided me with time to get caught up on my shows. Mostly reruns of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I like Goren. Anyway. Laundry is washed, amazingly folded, and I can't believe - put away. I am starting to feel better.

Tomorrow is also another source of anxiety. I will be substituting for the first time. I am very nervous. I have been told several times it is just like primary - but primary only lasts for 80 minutes at the most. This will be a class of first graders from 8 am to 330 pm. I hope I am ready.

Then tomorrow afternoon, The dad's parents will roll into town for a short visit. It is fun to see and visit with them. They will be coming for dinner. I think I will make potato soup since that is really easy and will be ready fairly quickly. Had I planned better, I would have purchased something to go in the crock pot - but I didn't. It is all good. Family is good at helping!

As for the bathrooms and the vacuuming - I guess that will have to wait another day since I decided to blog instead of clean.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Week 7 is coming to a close. Only 6 weeks left.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Rocking my baked baby

Today Kelsey and I had the job of waiting for the handyman/plumber to come look at the water heater. We knew that he was scheduled to arrive at 1 PM, so to make sure we would not miss him, we came upstairs to the kitchen to wait. The timing was perfect for lunch, fix the water heater, take a nap.

At 2:30 he still had not arrived.

To pass the time, we watched TV, peeled apples on the Apple-core-peeler, made apple crisp, and sat in the rocking chair and sang songs.

At one point she was disgusted by a fly on the wall. Which made me sing a great camp favorite - "Here we sit like flies on the potty seat, flies on the potty-seat, flies on the potty seat..." That is as far as I got since she didn't like that I was singing about a potty seat.

Then we sang "If you're happy and you know it." "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeep" and "We are a happy family". Then she got quite and snuggled into my lap. This made me think of "Rock-a-bye Baby". She moved her self to be cradled in my arms. She laid there looking at me, batting her eyes, with a soft smile on her face. As though all in the world had stopped.

When the song was over she said, "Sing the other baby song."

Mom: What baby song?

Kelsey: The one where you bake the baby.

I guess we need to work on "Pat-a-Cake" a little bit more since it is the cake we bake - - not the baby.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

I don't want to do my homework!!!

However - only 8 1/2 weeks left!!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Eye Doctor

Today, Austin, Sydney and I went to the eye doctor. These two kidlets have had a hard time catching on to reading. They do OK, but are not quite up to snuff. So in an effort to help them, I took them to the eye doctor to make sure they could see the board and the books they are asked to read. Sure enough - they can see. The doctor said they can see, they can focus, the problem may be in their interpretation, and I can't help with that. So - we will continue with the efforts we are already taking. More and more and more reading. The need to practice. Sydney's teacher sent home some short lessons to help her with her decoding. For Austin - we have a great lady in our ward that works in the school district's reading recovery program. She is meeting with him to help him out.

The annoying thing is they are both so stinking smart that they are bored with practicing. I hope they will find a love of reading!

I also had my eyes checked. I already wear glasses and am in need of a new pair. I thought I just couldn't get the pair I have clean any more. Turns out, my eyes are getting worse and the prescription has changed. I was amazed at the difference during the test. The doctor also dilated all of our eyes.

I learned something about getting your eyes dilated. Not only does it make your pupils huge, but it makes your kids REALLY LOUD and OBNOXIOUS. (Maybe I was just annoyed with the stinging eyes - who knows.)