Happy Veterans Day

First of all I'd like to send out a huge thank you to the veterans (and their families) for all the sacrifices they've made so that I and my family can enjoy the freedoms we have today!

Yesterday, well this whole week actually, I've been subbing at Central Elementary School in 5th grade. Yesterday they had their Veterans Day celebrations.  They had the general assembly, where the Veteran family members of the students came and we honored them and all the other Veterans. We sang patriotic songs, had a patriotic book and poems read to us and talked about what today meant.  What was really cool, and such a wonderful experience for me, was they also put on a parade around downtown Sedro-Woolley.  There was a fire truck at the start, the high school marching band came all in uniform, and then the students all lines up by grade level; each with an American Flag in their hand. Here I should also mention that Mary Purcell Elementary School, the school just next door, was also there.  The Veterans that were there all joined their student and we all marched a good two miles around down town Sedro-Woolley,  There were Veterans who were on the side lines watching, the business owners and their patrons came out to honor the Veterans.  It was so cool to see the students, mostly the older ones who understood what today means, approach the Veterans on the side lines and thank them for their service.  It was an AWESOME experience and one that I was proud to have been able to be a part of this year!

I Have Two Smart, Caring Children!

I love that my children are loving, caring and SMART!

This week we had Alexis's four year check-up. (Yes, I realize we're only 5 months late in doing this, but I totally forgot about it when her birthday rolled around and we were so busy the months after that, I never did remember.... oops....) Anyway, the doctor was asking her questions like what color was Winnie-the-Pooh's shirt, or to sing the ABCs, etc. When she pointed to the stickers of honey pots on the right side of the room and asked Alexis how many there were over there, Alexis looked at them, then looked at the stickers of the honey pots on the left side of the room and then replied, "There are four pots on that wall, but if you count those and the ones on that wall, there are seven pots!" The doctor was just amazed. She was even more amazed when later, during the physical part of the appointment (where the doctor checks her motor skills) and Alexis is facing the back wall, Alexis says, "Oh I didn't see those pots earlier..." (thinks for a few seconds) "...now there's nine pots!" Totally blew her (and me for that matter) away!

So that was the SMART part of this blog. Now to move on the the loving and caring part.

This year, Natalie has become much more aware of the people and their behavior around her, especially at school. Earlier in the year, she was concerned because there was a fourth grader teaching a first grader how to "bully" his friends. Natalie asked us what she should do because she knew it wasn't right. So we told her the steps of what she should do; that she should try to friend that first grader and show him that the fourth grader wasn't right, and talk to a grown-up at her school that she trusted and felt comfortable talking to about her concerns. She decided to go talk to the teacher that she had last year and when I asked about it a week or so later, Natalie said that the school counselor had come around to all the classes and talked about bullying and how we should treat our friends and fellow classmates, and how hurtful bullying could be. And when I asked if that situation had gotten better, Natalie said it had. I was very proud to know that my daughter was an instrumental part in getting that problem resolved quickly and easily. I know that not every situation will be that easy, but she's learning how to stick up for herself and others which is one of the things I hope for her the most! Anyway, more recently, she said in the car that she felt sad for the kids that get teased at school. She was telling me how there was one of the girls in a different class that gets teased because of the clothes she wears, and how one day Natalie had told her that she liked the shirt she was wearing and that the girl was really happy that day. "Mom, the world would be a happier place if people would just be nice to everyone!"

Out of the mouths of babes! I love my girls! Moments like those make me proud of the people they're starting to grow up to be! LOVE MY GIRLS!!!!

Halloween 2011 Pictures

Chasing Rainbows

Tonight after skating lessons, we left the rink and there were two beautiful rainbows! We stood there for a while and admired them before loading up in the car to head home. On the way home, Natalie suggested that we try to find an end to see if we can capture one of the pots of gold: as she put it, "There are four rainbow ends, Mom! We should be able to find ONE of them and get a pot of gold!" Love that logic! =) So we took a bit of a detour and tried to find one end of the two rainbows to see if we could get our hands on one of those elusive pots of gold. The leprechauns were too sneaky though and the rainbows disappeared before we could find any ends. It was a good, imaginative 10-15 minutes of pure silliness!

Some more documentation.....

Three quick stories/documentations to remember!

1.
Alexis's first day of preschool was very successful! They had the first day as a Mommy and Me day and only an hour for the kids to get used to the room and teachers. Alexis did wonderfully!!! I did learn that she's beyond her age in logic though. While playing in the kitchen area with one of her teachers, she was washing the dishes. When her teacher asked if she helps wash the dishes at home, Alexis responded, "Why would I do that? That's what Mommy does!" Sigh, glad I'm good at my job!

2.
Alexis is loving school so far, but I have to admit that when she got back on the first day I was very worried that she would be bored and not stimulated enough to keep her engaged. When I asked how her day went, she replied, very disappointedly, "We had a good day, Mom. But all we did today was sing the ABCs and count to 10. I already know that, Mom. When will we learn things?" The next day she got off the bus, and excitedly said before I even asked, "We learned things today, Mom! We learned new songs and got to do art!" I was just a bit relieved!

3.
Natalie is still doing her roller skating lessons, and is still loving them. There are days, though, that she struggles with things more than others (which everyone experiences). On one of these types of days she was really struggling with a new spin and was getting so discouraged with it that I could tell that she was about to shut down. Her teacher gave her a quick break, and Natalie came over to me and said that she was feeling frustrated, but she felt like she was in a funk and couldn't get out of it and that that was what was holding her back. Then she closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths and then opened them again. I was shocked at the difference in her eyes. They were sparkling again, and then she said, "There, the funk is gone!" She got up, went back out to her teacher and after a few more tries, she got the spin down! I was so proud!!!!

Moments Like These

There are some special moments in life, especially a mother's, that are worth documenting and sharing. All too often, I share the stories with a few people, but don't actually document them. I'm going to try to do a better job with that here. Documenting the moments in my life that I want to remember years down the road, when I'm old and senial, or when the girls want to hear stories of their childhood, I'll actually have something to share. So, here is the first one, a pretty special moment that happened this morning and about had me in tears.

Lately, as the girls are getting older, they have been arguing a lot more. That's normal for siblings... right? But sometimes, I have to wonder how they actually love each other. From now on, during these moments, I'll have to keep this morning in mind. We're at the bottom of the hill waiting for the bus. It is raining, HARD. The bus comes and the girls get out of the car. Natalie takes her sister's hand with one hand, and with the other, she holds her bag over Alexis's head so she won't get wet with the rain. Then as they (awkwardly) walk to the bus, Natalie helps Alexis up that very high, first step of the bus. I watch in awe as I see Natalie make sure her sister is seated on the bus before she goes and sits down in her own seat. Talk about a GREAT big sister! I love how Natalie takes such care of her little sister when it counts the most. Today made me realize just how much she does care for Alexis, and it's nice to know, I know Natalie will be there for Alexis whenever she needs her... and vice versa!

I have a backload of stories to document, but they'll have to wait until another day. But keep checking back for stories like these.... short, quick, one shot special moments!

Hello, Cyber World!!

Yes, we're still here and kicking. We've just been EXTREMELY busy these past few weeks! I've been trying to get this post out for days actually; it was going to have some photos of our trip to California and a few other misc. pictures, but for some reason, every time I go to upload them, I get an error message after 5 minutes of downloads. So I guess this will just be an update, which is OK too.

During the beginning of August, Peter got a promotion at work! He is now managing two stores; the one here in Mount Vernon, and then one in Wenatchee. So once a month he goes over to Wenatchee for a week. He has also stepped into a training position, to train the new hires. So his work is going very well! He just recently returned from a business trip to Michigan where they were having a solar power conference. He and the owner of the company both went. The owner specifically asked Peter to go with him. I think that he sees Peter as an asset to his company, and that is really cool!

We went to California in the middle of August. We drove down and on the way, we stopped and spent a couple days with my mom and sister and then spent a day with Betsy and then continued on to the hotel where we were staying. We stayed in a town called Solvang. It is a town that is Denmark themed. It was really cool! We had a lot of fun walking around the town the first day we were there, visiting all the little shops. While we were there, we visited an ostrich farm and the girls got to feed the ostriches. They really enjoyed that! They also got to hold an ostrich egg.... let me tell you, those things are HUGE!!! We also went to the beach one of the days and got to play in the ocean for an afternoon. Then it was time to drive back. I tell you driving almost 1500 miles in three days is just exhausting! But we all had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get away and not have to worry about anything in our everyday lives!

When we got back from California, it was get ready for back to school time. Natalie is in the second grade this year. At the end of last year, the second grade teacher that had been at her school for years and years, retired. So we weren't sure who her teacher would be. Being a substitute in the district and friends with many of the teachers at her school, I knew they weren't going to post the position to outside applicants and I knew the possible candidates that they were going to be bringing in for the position. One being the Special Ed teacher whose position got cut out due to budget cuts (they are now sharing a Special Ed teacher with another school....) and who was rumored to have a very short temper and tended to be harsh on the students and whom I knew wouldn't be a popular choice. Another candidate was the teacher that this group of kids had in Kindergarten and had been teaching 5th grade the past year, but wasn't thrilled with that placement. And another teacher who was laid off from another school in the district. So we were a bit nervous who would be Natalie's teacher. Her former Kindergarten teacher ended up getting the position and we were all very happy!

Alexis has started preschool this year! I was, finally, able to find her a preschool that didn't charge an arm and a leg! I looked and looked this summer for a preschool for her, but all I could find were preschools that were also day cares and therefore charged the day care rate per month. I didn't want a day care, I already have that taken care of and love the lady we have been using for the past couple of years. I just needed a simple preschool for Alexis to go to for a couple hours a day during the week for her to become accustomed to going to school everyday! The program that Natalie went through (which I LOVED) that was through the district, is no longer running. I tracked down one of the teachers that worked there and asked if she knew of any programs that were just preschool and not day care. She was able to give me a few options and I was able to sign Alexis up for one of those programs. This was Alexis's first week and she is LOVING it so far!

As for me, I'm going to be subbing again this year. All these budget cuts to the schools are really taking their roll, and it makes it very difficult for the schools to hire out when they're having to lay off a lot of experienced teachers. I'm also still working at the health club a couple nights a week. I keep telling myself that this is worth it and will eventually pay off in the end.... sometimes it's harder to believe that than others. But I WILL prevail!

I was able to get one picture to upload before it wigged out on me. Here is what I got to come home to one night after a long night at work and I was exhausted! Totally made my heart swell with love for my two little, wonderful girlies!