Sympathy and Pride

The title is not nearly as catchy as Jane Austen's would be! However, as I was working last night I began to ponder these two emotions. You see I am working in the default department of a title company. To give you some idea of the environment, there are 100+ employees working feverishly during the hours of 6AM and 2AM. All are working on foreclosures of all types. As I go through the files, I am working on I say prayers for the people as I work on the documents they will soon receive. I wonder if the 60 year-old many has another place to go after the foreclosure process is over. I wonder if the young couple has kids or if this was their first home. I wonder if the 7 people on one title report will still friends after the loss they suffer. And, of course, I wonder how many of the people were dooped by lenders with names that seem like they should be used car dealerships!

And, then I think of these two emotions - sympathy and pride. Some are so proud that they think they'd NEVER have to travel that road. They think that somehow they are better than these people because they're circumstances over the past 3 years have been different. I don't think many of them realize that but by the grace of God, they could be in the same boat!

Then there are the more sympathetic who realize that even good people fell into the crappy mortgage loans and adjustables. I guess since I'm seeing these names, touching these files, it is more real to me. And, let me tell you, it's life changing.

Most of the people around me including Mr. HH and Mr. Parachute pants (worn three days in a row) have no idea the impact of what is happening around them. Why? Well, simply because they are young and for them, this job is big time money...sad to say, I fight my pride wondering why I am there in the first place.

And, that is why I type to admit I am fighting my pride on many levels and realizing that life is not about what you have but about who you touch while you're here.

pics tomorrow

Steady Wins the Race

So, Mr. Parachute pants didn't sit next to me last night - thank heavens! The guy who did sit next to me was new and was in training. Ummmm, am I not in training anymore??? Anyhow, Mr. HH (if you read yesterday, you'll know what this stands for) answered any questions I had last night. Don't flame me for appreciating the good that does exist in the flaming. He's really a great guy!

The dude next to me literally sat there with a blank stare on his face for most of the night. The official trainer helped him a bit here and there, but for some reason, didn't notice that the dude was lost and had no experience with title. He kept saying, what is a parcell (parcel). So, three cheers for Mr. HH!!!! I'm glad I didn't get stuck with the trainer! And, I'm a trainer by trade so I can say that!

There are several ideas about training. One is that the trainer should actually do all of the training. The other is that the trainer should facilitate learning utilizing various people and learning tools. Last night was yet another reminder that we all learn differently, and if someone or some style doesn't speak your language, you ain't gonna learn a thing! We'll see if new dude comes back tonight.

Sophia is doing well with her letters and colors. She is working on numbers and shapes now too! Other than having the occasional brain freeze, she is picking up on things in a steady fashion. I can't say enough how wonderful the Leap Frog videos are!!! Part of Sophia's freezes are from the language acquisition. I can see her going through her rolodex of words trying to find the right one. She knows when she can't find the word which is a good thing. She doesn't call blue, orange or the letter A, B which is a good sign. We'll keep trudging along and preschool is sure to help!

Zack is drilling his popcorn words daily and being read to more often. He is doing much better paying attention at school now that he knows it is important so that he can learn what he needs to know. He has always been driven in this way. Behaviorly, once you set the bar, he reaches it. I am missing his little sun tan. He gets to brown in the summer months, and then it takes him about 3 months to turn quite white. I look at his little face and just feel like he needs a good dose of sunscreen followed by a dip in the pool. Summer can't come soon enough!

Did anyone win the lottery last night because I forgot to buy a ticket?!!!

A New Adventure

So, last night I was trained by a happy homosexual guy and sat next to a peculiar dude who used the word esoteric randomly as he sat there straight faced in his parachute pants.

Life is good out there in the great big world!

I have begun working at a title company from 6 to midnight Monday through Friday. It's actually not too bad and it gives me a way to replenish the savings account without being away from the kiddos too much. They go nighty night at 8:00PM so they won't miss me too much once they get settled into the new bedtime routine, and I won't do this long term. I am going to be teaching afterall! YAY!

Skills, Thrills, Frills, and Chills

Zack continues to hone his reading skills with grandma by his side! Gotta love the blue hair!

Josh lost his first tooth! He has been waiting for this to happen for a couple of months now so he was THRILLED!

Sophia is not the girliest of girls, but when it comes to pampering herself, she is into the FRILLS! I love her "little" feet!

And, since Kenny gets the CHILLS at the thought of another photo, I leave with you and a picture of the younger less adolescent Kenneth...

Be Informed

I found this link on another blog, but I thought it was worthy of posting for whoever reads my blog. It is not about what you believe necessarily. It is about freedom of speech being a two way street.

http://www.expelledthemovie.com/playground.php

Peace

Progress

Anyone else out there ready for summer?

Zack is making great progress at school. He has successfully learned most of his popcorn words. My mom confirmed for me that he was stumped because he thought they needed to be sounded out phonetically, and he was confused as to how the other kids got THU out of the word THE (thee) or U out of A (A) and that doesn't even cover words like sight. It was easy to see how he was confused after my mom spent a couple of hours with him.

She has been working with him for two weeks now and last night he exclaimed, "I can read"! He can actually read sentences now. Mom says this is all about conversational language being different than academic language. In Zack's case, his understanding of English is still pretty literal. When the end of the school year comes, mom will help me decide whether or not to hold him back. I figure that after 20+ years of teaching kindergarten, mom will know best. And, we must factor in that Sophia may be in kindergarten next year too.

I am itching to get into the classroom! March 17th can't come soon enough for me! Sophia is pretty darn excited too! Each day she says, "Is today school day"? I say, "No, we have a few more weeks." Then later on throughout the day she'll say, "I only asked once about school."

I've been teaching her to ask things one time which has translated to her asking once and then reminding me throughout the day that she only asked once! :) I'm not the kind of mom that is going to give in to a kid who asks for candy 52 times in an hour. That would just irritate me and cause me to toss the candy out! So to prevent the drama, I figure teaching the kiddos to ask once will help us all to live a more peaceful life! ;) In the future, I think I'll have to let them ask once and remind me twice. I am forgetful after all! :)

Life for me right now seems to be moving at warp speed...sigh! I do not recall praying for patience or perseverence, but alas, I am working on both and trying to have a sweet spirit at the same time!

Sophia got a Haircut (again)!

I finally just had to get it cut! As Heather and Allie know all too well, her hair was a nightmare to fix each day! So, now it is cut in a way that she can wear it up or down which is cool! I was afraid I was going to end up with a "Dorothy Hammil (Sp?)" cut or something. I was as explicit as I could be, and it turned out pretty good.

Stepha, remember this shirt? Auntie Stepha bought this shirt for Sophia when she came home, and it was way too big! Now 10 months later, it fits perfectly!

Here is a conversation had with Sophia and her Auntie Wanda:

W: What is your mother's name?

S: I don't have a mother!

W: Your mother's name is Deana, silly.

S: NO, that is my mama's name! I don't have a mother!

Add another new word learned to our list of thousands!

Dinner with the Two Tories

I was able to capture one smile from Torie last night, and this was it! She was way to busy people watching to stop and smile for her crazy aunt with the camera attached to her!

If only she would have smiled for this picture! I think it is hilarious though. Her dad makes this same face as in the "don't be so dumb" look!

And, here is her "Another kiss..."? look!

Check out her face here! These two cousins have got the 'tudes down pat!

I love this next picture. It is just so sweet! For those wondering, yes, it is a nice warm and cozy Mexican blanket! Is there a warmer blanket made???? I think not!

Auntie Toria. as we call her, brought Sophia an early "Easter Bucket"! Here she is blowing bubbles for Sophia who was having a great time as we waited for out table.

Sophia's checking out the goods: Easter socks, two bottles of nail polish, three little Easter eggs filled with bubbles, and two pieces of candy! (Auntie Toria is much like me when it comes to giving kids candy!) Sophia savored those two pieces of chocolate!

We had a great visit! It was girls' night out and once again, baby Torie was so good! She can crane her head back so far that it looks like she can spin it all the way around. If there is something going on or being said, she will turn that little head as far as she can so she can figure out what is going on around her. Not a tear last night! She was too busy people watching!

Check It Out!

Way to go Zack! You can count to 100 for an audience of more than one! :) Well, an invisible audience that is!





http://www.youtube.com/v/wXPFekZav7I&rel=1

Popcorn and Other Such Things

Here is a list of the "popcorn words" that Zack is required to know by mid May. Strangely enough this first time mom of a kindergartener never saw this list until 2 weeks ago! We have started working from the bottom up so that he can be learning the words his class is working on right now first giving him some sense of success.

Sight Word List
1st 9 Weeks
red yellow blue green purple orange brown white black pink like see are me the

2nd 9 Weeks
you and look at go in is it no of we will yes not am he she have they come

3rd 9 Weeks
may as be can did for has if my do said on to us an went from all some were

4th 9 Weeks
but get or so that was this with here under behind up over top too had make them out many

He is doing extremely well. What I have noticed, however, is that he can know five words like the back of his hand for days on end and then when someone other than a family member asks him to read the words, he completely freezes. He'll read maybe one or two, but he seriously freezes, and behaves as though he has never seen the words. Once home, he rattles them off at sight. What is a mom to do??? :)

I can't say I see it as a huge issue but more having to do with his being so incredibly SHY! The strange thing about Zack is that he is not your typical shy kid. He seems super outgoing - talks none stop, asks a million questions, always is in the middle of the action... He just doesn't do well with the one on one situations where he needs to "perform". This falls right in line with him counting to 100 without a hitch at home but only to 39 for his teacher.

For Sophia, we have been reading, reading, reading. She especially loves going to the library to pick out books. Last night we read "How do Dinosaurs say Good Night?" It was a cute story basically about going to bed nicely. Sophia was a tiny confused by it. She kept saying, "That is not good" when the dinosaur would not go to bed happily. When she first came home, she had trouble falling asleep because of all of the excitement, but she has never been one to fight going to bed. But she did find the book to be quite funny.

After that, we worked on her colors focusing on GREEN crocodiles. It took a while to get her to remember green, but within about 30 minues or so she seemed to retain it. This morning she woke up and said, "Mom can we read that book about the GREEN crocodile"? It seems that now she knows green, blue, pink, red, blue, and yellow. I'm not sure why learning her colors has been so tough for Sophia, but I'm willing to help her work on remembering these things in lots of creative ways.

I checked out a pretty elementary drawing book, and I'll be drawing animals today and instructing her to color them specific colors to see if this will cover another mode of learning. We'll see what works best for her, and we'll work it.

Hopefully, she'll learn her colors and be able to point them out in "popping popcorn" fashion! For her, letters seem to be much easier than colors! The funny thing is that she knows her alphabet very well, but when she sees a letter, she'll say look mom mmmmmmmm for mama instead of the name of the letter - M. So it's, look mom JJJJJJ for Josh or KKKKK for Ken or ZZZZ for Zack or PPPPPPP for popping popcorn. The sounds resonate with her much more than the letter names.

Josh is learning cursive writing, and he's darn excited! He's a natural in the classroom and with little effort, he gets at least Bs in most cases. This is a nice break for the "udder" (as he says other) three kiddos.

Ken continues to have a successful year, but there are signs that he's tiring of all of the hard work. For him, he must work for the Bs that Josh just earns with little effort, so it wears on Ken a bit. It'll be nice for him to have a nice summer break. This year, he'll certainly deserve it!!!

So you see, life around here is about learning, learning, learning! And, this mom/aunt is trying to make it fun, fun, fun all the while not gettting too worried about the little brains in my care!

I begin teaching on March 17th so at that point, I'll expand my teaching to preschool, Kindergarten, second, third (the grade I'll teach), and sixth grades! This should keep me busy! In some ways, it certainly feels like I'm homeschooling.

I've heard the pay is not great for that position though! :)

I'm just wondering. Who are my readers and where are you from????? How did you find me? How long have you been reading? Post a comment if you're so inclined.

Living La Vida Loca

Barking Shadows

Elevation

What are you waiting for? Let's play TWISTER!!!!

Has anyone seen my lipstick? And, no there will not be an Imax showing on my forhead anytime soon! Shut yer pie hole!

Diving Bells, Butterflies, and the Line

This was a message I heard shared about 3 or 4 years ago at a chapel service at work. Some of you may remember it. One of the Vice Presidents shared it with great passion. He wasn't the greatest of speakers and quite frankly lacked a little bit of excitement at times, but this message was incredible perhaps because it was spoken from his heart.

Basically, he used the line as a metaphor for living for eternity. He shared that if we do live for this line, strangely enough some things that seem unimportant become super important and some other things that consume our time and energy become inconsequential in the whole scheme of things. At the time, I found what he shared to be quite enlightening and inspiring. I hung the above diagram on my desk for a few weeks and tried to think through each decision by this line.

When I did that, things seemed to work out well although I can't say I always felt excited about the choices. There were many times that what I wanted to do and what I needed to do did not match up at all!

Sadly, enough, eventually the diagram came down, and life went on as "usual". However, about 2 years ago, this same Vice President was riding his bike home from work (about 6 or 7 miles) and somehow took a flying leap across his handle bars into a light pole. His back hit the light pole and his body wrapped around it causing extensive damage. He is now paralyzed from the waist down.

To make this brief, he has prevailed over this incident, still works part time in a similar capacity as before, smiles, and even takes time to chat with people as he wheels himself through the halls. He continues to live for the line.

Yesterday, I saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which is about a man who has a massive stroke and ends up with locked-in syndrome which leaves him only able to blink one eye. Amazingly through that blinking of one eye, he writes a book about his experience. For him, it was only in the time after his unfortunate event that he actually tuned in to what mattered in life - his kids, his relationships, his memories... It is a sad but triumphant story.

So hear I sit this morning thinking once again about that line - the one with no beginning and no end (eternity), and I think what difference am I making? What am I doing with my life that will stand the test of time? What can I do today that will matter? What can I instill into my kids that will help them to be healthily others focused?

First off, I'll choose joy. I'm not really feeling it, but I'll choose it. Second off, I'll enjoy every moment I can with Sophia as 4 is passing entirely too quickly. Third, I'll seek to bring a smile to any face I come across along the way imagining my humanity will get in the way here and there!

Do any of you resonate with this?

Editors Note: I have tried everything to get the spaces between paragraphs for this post to no avail! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Baking Day

Today, Sophia and I decided to try out Christine's chocolate chip cookie recipe! And all we can say is YUM! Sophia had a list of people she wanted to give some to, and she kept saying, "These are gonna be delicious," and that they were! Thanks Christine!

These days are what makes life so awesome!!! The little moments of bonding are so valuable to me! She wanted to have a sleepover at Auntie Wanda and Uncle Don's house last night so she's off playing and getting spoiled right now. I miss her! I miss her hugs and kisses, smiles and tugs!!!!

The Key to her Heart

Need I say more?

Parent Teacher Conference

I spoke with Zack's teacher yesterday and thought I'd update my blog for those of you who are passionate about this whole stressful kindergarten thing! And for that matter, for those of you who have not yet sent your child to preschool or kindergarten.

Teacher: Z has shown great progress in his letters.
Me: Wow, that is great. For some reason, I had imagined he was behind.
Teacher: Well, he could be doing better, but he tested out average and knows all of his letters and sounds.
Me: I am fine with him being average, but please tell me what would make you feel that he was doing well with his letters?
Teacher: He should be reading by now, and he struggles reading the words. He also should be writing sentences.
Me: Okay, that helps me to see that he is clearly average according to the kindergarten standards. At home, he does read one syllable words very well. Sentences are tough for him though.
Teacher: Yes, you said he seems to learn by phonics much better than by phonemics. I try using phonics with him as able, and you are right, he responds better.
Me: Yes, this is likely due to his newly acquired language skills. His mind is more mechanical so he needs to see and understand the parts that create the whole word.
Teacher: I totally agree. He'd likely be reading well if the curriculum were phonics based.
Me: (not spoken aloud) So, he is falling into the average category because the teaching style does not cover his best learning modality????
Me: What about his numbers? Last time we spoke he was not able to count past 13 when you asked him to do so aloud.
Teacher: He can count aloud to 39 now. He needs to count to 100 and be able to write his numbers at least up to 20 without error.
Me: This is strange because he can count to 100 at home very easily and quickly. I wonder if part of this issue is that he freezes up when he is nervous.
Teacher: This could be the problem. I'll ask him tomorrow to count for me when the other students aren't in the class.
Me: (not spoken aloud) Great idea... You have Z how many hours a day, and you don't know that he wants so badly to get things correct that he freezes when put on the spot in front of others? Yes, please try the mode of asking him alone and setting him at ease.
Teacher: Perhaps he can count to 100 after all.
Me: Yes, he can. I realize he needs to get over his freezing when he is afraid to get something wrong, but this will take a little more time as part of this problem is tied to language acquisition.
Teacher: I can see that.
Me: In email, you suggested that he be retained in kindergarten. I am wondering why we would make such a decision at the half way point of the school year. It sounds like his letters and numbers are average. How is he doing socially and emotionally?
Teacher: He fits right in with the class and makes and keeps friends very easily.
Me: That matches up with how he is at home. He is very social and gregarious.
Teacher: The reason I suggest he be retained is his attention span. When I read stories, he loses interest midway, and I have to redirect him. He responds well to the redirection so it is easy to keep him with the story.
Me: That is concerning as he needs to pay attention to understand the story. He does come home and relay to me many stories you read, but perhaps he is missing parts.
Teacher: I think he'd so well with another year in kinder based on his stature as well. He is a bit shorter than the other kids.
Me: (not out loud) That really has NOTHING to do with this conference. I know many men who have had growth spurts in jr. high or high school and in one case, college!
Teacher: It may help him to fit in better.
Me: Socially though, you said he fits in well. Does his height seem to bother him?
Teacher: No, there are three other boys his same size in our class of 20.
Me: For me, his height will not be a deciding factor in the decision whether or not to retain him. If he does stay on the shorter side, he can still succeed. (And, trust you me, this mom will do what she can to ward off any Napoleon complex that may rear its ugly head!)
Teacher: Yes, his height would not be enough to hold him back besides he is only about 2 inches shorter and not the shortest in the class.
Me: What about the list of sight words? How is he doing on those at school?
Teacher: He is doing fine. Do you have the list?
Me: Only one I found online.
Teacher: I'll send you my list so you can see the exact words we are learning.
Me: Sounds great. So, let me make sure I understand this right. Zack is average in his letters and numbers. He is socially and emotionally on target. He is a little shorter than the other kids his age. He needs to work on writing his numbers, reading with more ease, writing sentences, and paying attention during story time.
Teacher: Yes, and add to that being able to answer questions about the stories. He is hit or miss on this.
Me: Okay, I've added that to the list, and we will work on it.
Teacher: So, would you like me to file the paperwork to have him retained?
Me: No, I am not sure this is the best route just yet. I would like to give him some more time to progress due to the language acquisition. I am not convinced that holding him back is necessary.
Teacher: Okay, just let me know.

This was the conversation as I remember it. I should tell you as well that I don't see his teacher as a problem at all. However, I have learned to see benefit in a new rule regarding teacher preparation. It is now required that all teachers in Z's school district be ESL trained. I truly believe that if Z's teacher were trained or had experience with ESL, she would better understand not only his learning style, but also his weaknesses. This training, no doubt, would make her job easier in this case because while Zack speaks great English, he does not always understand what is being asked of him or all English words. There are MANY words that come up day to day that are new to him. Suitcase was a new one last week. Brain freeze was another. The list goes on and on. I can see how he is still trying to fully connect with English.

From this conference, I created a list of action items:

More story time at home with all four kids together. This will give Z a chance to build his attention span in a similar environment to school. Simply reading to him alone gives him little else to pay attention to so I must give him some potential distractions so I can work with him better.

Grandma will teach him to write his numbers 1-20 correctly. She has a super fun way of teaching this which involves a ton of fun and singing. She taught Kindergarten for 20+ years so Z will benefit greatly. BTW- 50% of her kids were ESL so she has a handle on the language barrier even after a kid seems completely fluent.

While it would be easy to say I will teach him to read via phonics, this wouldn't be true. WE (me and the fam who loves Z so much) will all begin teaching him how to read using phonics. This will be done inadvertently mostly, but I'm thinking of pulling a "The Color Purple" on him. Remember the scene where she writes the names of things on cards and tapes them to every item in the house? I think Zack will resonate with this. The only change I'll make is highlighting the blends in the words.

As far as his height, I don't see that as an issue. This kid is confident and driven to succeed. I am more concerned about his feeling little successes daily as we get him to the academic level where he should be.

I will dictate short sentences for him to write at first and gradually get him to the point of creating and writing his own sentences. This will help with his attention span as well.

The last action item that has come from this conference is that I will be meeting with the kindergarten teacher at the school where I will be teaching. I will be getting a very clear understanding of what he would need to know in order to finish kindergarten well. Then in June, I'll ask if she'll "test" him and give me her opinion. This will help since it is very likely that he'll attend the school where I am teaching next year.

It is not important to me that Z stay in kindergarten just to stay in kindergarten. What is important to me is that he not have to stay behind unless it is truly necessary. Zack says at least 10 times a week that he'll be in first grade next year. I know that kids are resilient as is Zack, but I also know my son well enough to know that he'll intrinsically know that if he did better, he'd be in first. Of course, if I do hold him back, I will be armed with a plethora of great reasons all of which will be used to convince Zack that he did well.

Lastly, the teacher never suggested any kind of tutoring or additional help at school such as an ESL program. I believe that this is because he is doing average work.

As a side note, remember this is the kid who can put together a 300 piece puzzle in three sittings - of his own volition. This combined with his social skills leads me to believe that, in life, he's gonna be just fine.

Is it summer yet???????

These Kids are Growing up WAY TOO FAST!

Zack: MOM, MOM, MOM

M: What???? What??? What???

Zack: I'm engaged!

M: WHAT???? (thinking I heard him wrong)

Zack: I'm ENGAGED, mom!!!

M: What is engaged?

Zack: I am getting MARRIED!

M: You are too little for that Zack!

Zack: I know I'm too little, but I asked her!

M: WHAT???

Zack: I asked Kennedy to marry me today, and she said YES!

M: When are you getting married?

Zack: You know mom.

M: No, I don't because you are little.

Zack: I know I'm little, but I HAVE to get married because she said yes.

M: Well, when you grow a mustache, we will talk about it! Until then, no asking anyone to marry you!!!

Can you believe this? This was with zero prodding at all. It is just in him! The funny thing is that Kennedy and Zack have had this "bond" since the beginning of the year. I never thought they'd be quite so committed!

I have been looking back at lots of pictures from the last 6 months, and I sadly realized that these two are growing up incredibly fast! I don't like that part much at all. How in the world did THIS happen???

Bring the Fun Back to Learning!!!

I have been so upset over the situation with Zack and the kindergarten expectations that I decided that not only does Sophia have much to learn, but I demand that she have fun while doing it!!!!

I highly recommend a game call Frogger for the Playstation 2. It is not the Frogger we played in the 80s! As seen in the picture above it has a mat similar to Dance Dance Revolution. The game teaches kids ages 2-5 their colors, shapes, numbers, and helps them build eye foot coordination as well as large motor skills! This is not even touching the exercise aspects of the game.

I let Sophia play for an hour, and by the time she was finished she had learned triangle, yellow and blue all of which she had been having trouble retaining. I had fun playing along with her too so it was great quality time, and she wasn't stressed out by being "schooled". The cost was $34.95 with tax.

Look at her face - she was intent on getting the right answers!

She started out jumping all over the mat, but it did not take her long to figure out how to plant one foot and then use the other foot to step on the different shapes and colors.

She also got serenaded tonight! Auntie Gina got a new guitar, and she had great fun singing homemade songs to Sophia! Sophia could hardly contain herself. She wanted to play so badly!
So now I have Sophia playing Frogger and the boys having great fun with Rock Band! Of course, Zack will also benefit from Frogger when I can pull the drumsticks out of his hand!

Anyone else have ideas for making learning fun for preschoolers????

"Those are gonna be my kids"!

I signed a contract yesterday for a long term sub position at a great Christian School. It was a strange feeling standing in what will be my third grade classroom for the last 3+ months of the school year. I have been out of the field for eight years, but somehow felt right at home in the classroom.

Perhaps the greatest part of this news is that Sophia will get to go to preschool free of charge, and the preschool seems to be run very well. I could tell right off that she is going to thrive. She was so excited as she looked around.

Surprisingly after my blog about being worried about her learning, a light clicked on in her. She all of a sudden has a huge desire to learn. She points out letters that she knows all of the time now. In her soon to be classroom, she saw much of what she has been learning, and that excited her! Right when we got to the campus, she saw kids playing and she said, "MOM, those are gonna be my kids"!!!

The Lord has really blessed our little family. It is important to me to be close to the kids as they grow up, and second to being a stay at home mom, I think being a teacher will benefit them most. I find great value in being able to be with my kids after school and to be able to get them to practice and things of the sort.

I'm hoping this position stretches out through next year, and it looks like it will. This will give me plenty of time to complete my credential should I ever need to begin teaching at a public school. As far as long term goals, I'd like to work towards becoming a principal within the next 5 - 8 years. That will begin with my getting my Masters in Educational Leadership. Fortunately, this schooling can be done almost entirely online so it won't take me from the kids too much.

Sometimes life is so unpredictable isn't it? My number one goal in life was to have a great big house so I could give as many "unwanted" kids a home as I could. This goal may be a little out there for me at this point. My next goal was to be a teacher who would infuse kids with excitement for life and learning. The third clear goal I always held close to my heart was to adopt kids who needed a home.

At 37, sometimes I feel like my life is what it is and will be. Then I look at my mom and many other friends who are in the next stages of life and realize that their lives are completely different than when they were 37!

One more thing - I have decided that for two reasons, I am making a serious goal of dropping the weight!!!! First, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure run in my family. My aunt died at 42 from a heart attack (how scary is that?)! Secondly, I want my kids to have pictures of me having fun with them. I hate having my pic taken because of my weight so this needs to change!

Keep me in your prayers as I seek to tackle this. I have succeeded at losing the weight before so I know I can do it. I just need to put my mind to it and get out there and exercise! I figure I can run/jog while Sophia rides her bike!

Anyone need an outdoor exercise partner?

Crazy Expectations for Midyear!

Social-emotional
• Functions as a member of a group
• Copes with mild frustration
• Takes care of personal needs (going to the bathroom, zipping jacket)
Language
• Takes turns listening and speaking
• Asks and responds to questions
• Follows two-step instructions
• Understands common directional words (below, between, above)
Academic
• Knows alphabet and capital and lowercase letters
• Knows most letter sounds• Decodes simple three-letter words
• Writes name
• Listens to stories
• Understands story concepts of beginning, middle, and end
• Can count to at least ten• Recognizes similarities and differences
• Can write a simple sentence with invented spelling

Anyone out there know if this list has changed since 2004??? Now it seems that Zack is expected to write his numbers 1-100 and be able to write a letter without spelling errors and he is midyear in kindergarten. Does anyone else find this ridiculous??? He's a smart kid who just mastered English for heaven's sake!

If you can't tell, I am slightly frustrated with the (effing) kindergarten expectations. What ever happened to the fun that kindergarten once was????

Michael Clayton

I am by no means a professional movie critic so take with a grain of salt my humble opinion of any movie I happen to write about.

I went to see Michael Clayton with three of its nominations in mind: Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Picture. While I haven't seen all of the movies up for these awards, I have seen a couple with which I was comparing Clayton.

For Best Supporting Actor, I was comparing Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James to Tom Wilkinson. While I found Wilkinson's role in Clayton to be incredibly good, I did not think it was as difficult a role to play as Afflek's role as Robert Ford. I still have a few movies to see so we shall see what my pick ends up being. Of course, I could be completely off the mark with the actual professionals!

As far as best picture, I liked Juno much better. Michael Clayton, however, will likely win as it was a brilliantly written movie.

Leading actor? I'm not sure about this one. George Clooney's role as Michael Clayton did not seem like that big of a stretch for him. To me, in my most humble opinion, he was typical George Clooney as you've seen him in many other roles. Daniel Day-Lewis was pretty convincing in There Will Be Blood as was Vigo Mortenson in Eastern Promises (great movie). I have yet to see Sweeney Todd, but I assume that Johnny Depp is all the rage. I also still need to see Tommy Lee Jones in In The Valley of Elah. So, the verdict on this one is still out there for me.

The next movies on my list of must sees are Sweeney Todd and Persepolis (up for best animation).

And, of course stay tuned for more updates on the kiddos and our crazy life!

Juno

So this year, I have this goal to see as many of the Oscar nominated movies as possible. Yesterday I went to see Juno and loved it! Ellen Page really is a gifted young actress! I enjoyed the story line on many levels such as the following:

The step mom was portrayed as part good and part annoying rather than the typical wicked that you usually see in this role.

Sex just happened once and was not an act that made Juno completely unacceptable to her parents or friends. It made her feel crappy on many levels yes, but it did not completely offset any good in her.

She was jonesing for a nerd! I love that! Nerds can be quite cool once you get to know them, right Gina?

I also loved what she decided to do with the baby!!!! I won't give this away for those of you who still want to watch.

Overall, I loved Juno and aside from the fact that I believe premarital sex is a no no, crap happens. This movie shows the pain found in making tough decisions.

Today I'm going to see Michael Clayton. I'll give you my humble opinion later.

Boys will be Boys

Not many words needed for this post!

Could Zack be the next Gene Simmons????

Cousins

Last night we got to spend some time with Torie, my nearly six month old niece! She is such a good baby! She has a stay at home daddy, and he really does a fabulous job with her. It is amazing to see how content and peaceful this little girl is. She does cry and get a little 'tude, but that is typically when she needs something like a bottle or diaper change. It is rare to see her randomly cry as she is too busy being what her mom calls "nosey"! She is wide eyed wanting to see what is going on around her.

Last night at the restaurant she was playing with a very quiet rattle, and she accidentally chucked it across the table. Fortunately, her mom (my sis, Victoria) reached up and caught it at the right moment. If she did not have great reflexes, the rattle would have beaned a complete stranger in the head!!! We had some good laughs! Torie's doc says she won't have any problems with bullies on the playground.


I absolutely could be biased, but I think she is one of the most beautiful babies I've seen in a long time. Typically she smiles really big for the camera, but these pics were taken in a pitch black car so she couldn't really see very well. She is a blend of Puerto Rican, caucasian, Spanish, and Mexican. Great blend! I have already put my order in for many more...

And, now I show you the many faces of Sophia. How many have you experienced?

First we have, "speechless":

Next we have, "Yes, I'm silly":

Then we have, "Oh, no you didn't":

And lastly her "Be nice to my mama" face:

She continues to be my little guard puppy! If someone even looks at me cross eyed, she gives them the look and tells me that they're not nice!

Today Zack is stoked as he's playing his new XMen game for an entire hour! "Mom that is 10 fingers up six times"!!!! "That is a loooooooooooong time"! So funny!

Josh accepted Christ as his savior yesterday which was SO AWESOME! Let me tell you, he is a changed little boy! I wish you could have heard his seven year old voice when he said, "Jesus saved me today"!!!! My little bro (18) Mike was talking to him about Jesus and this led to a conversation about why Jesus died on the cross. By the end of the conversation, Josh was asking to pray! The funny thing is that at that point Mike called my mom to pray with Josh! My mom told him that he had done the groundwork so God must have wanted him to lead Josh through this exciting moment.

Mom, being the awesome mom she is, then had Josh call her so she could ask him a few questions to make sure he understood. He understood for certain! I so wish we had on tape him sharing his experience. He kept saying throughout the afternoon, "I can't believe Jesus saved me today"! "I am so excited"!

The groundwork was there. Josh has learned about Jesus his whole life. He has sat through devotions nearly every night of his life! He always would ask lots of questions, but he was never quite ready to accept Christ. It has been so cool to watch this miracle unfold for him. None of the people in his life are ones to push "religion". In other words, we just live what we believe in a real way and trust that the kids will jump on board as the Lord leads.

For those who don't believe, this may be hard to swallow. All I can say to that is Jesus transforms lives, and there's nothing like accepting His free gift of salvation. I hope my kidlets will follow in Josh and Kenny's footsteps. As Zack watched this unfold, he said, "I don't think I understand yet." "Maybe when I'm 6 or 7"! To that, I responded, "We'll see". We shall see for certain.