How quickly time flies.....

Around this time every year, I get a little nostalgic thinking about the seniors leaving and another school year wrapping up. If you've worked in education, this is known as the "rejuvenation" phase---a.k.a. the time that makes us enjoy teaching enough to come back next fall. :-)

This year, I think it is hitting me even more than in the previous three years. Here are a few thoughts that have been spinning around in my head:

THEN: When we first moved to Adel, Brenna was was 3 weeks old. She was still sleeping in a bassinet. Lexi was almost 4 ready to start preschool in the fall. She had just moved into her twin sized bed and was excited to make some new friends in our new town.

NOW: Brenna is the age that Lexi was when we first moved here. She is starting preschool in the fall. Lexi is turning 8 this summer (I still can't believe she's almost 8 no matter how many times I say it).

REALIZATION: My baby is no longer my baby. I know I posted that a few months ago, but it still is hard to believe.

THEN: Chris was willing to move to where ever (as long as it was in a 30 mile or so radius of Ankeny.) He had a good job at John Deere even if it meant he would be a welder for the rest of his career.

NOW: Chris is now a Welding Engineer assistant (I don't know his 'official' title) at John Deere. While this job now entails traveling and being gone from us for long periods of time, I think he truly likes what he is doing. He feels important at his job, which I feel is essential in having a happy employee. Although the traveling part isn't my favorite, I am truly proud of him for all of his hard work.

REALIZATION: I have an amazing husband. :-) (I already knew that.)


THEN: I had just graduated from Simpson and had got my first job at ADM... all while having a baby and buying/moving into a new house. I don't remember much about that summer except being overwhelmed!

NOW: I'm still at ADM and have a hard time imagining working anywhere else. I'm a "hometown" type of girl--I like living where I work, and I like being involved with the place where my kids are going to grow up and go to school.

REALIZATION: I think Chris and I are Life-long ADELians. :-) I love everything about this town--the people, the size, the location to Des Moines, etc. I'm so lucky to have a job I love in the town I live in--I truly am blessed. While I haven't forgotten about my dream of getting my masters and teaching at local universities, it just isn't the right time yet.

THEN: When I starting coaching Speech, I had big dreams of all-state and a huge team. Our numbers weren't big that first year, but we had a lot of fun!

NOW: Our numbers still aren't huge, but they are definitely rising! (Up 8 people in Individuals this year!) This year, I am losing over 3/4 of my speech team to graduation. These are the kids who took the Reader's Theatre to all-state last year and won, the kids who got up early the morning of contest to be door greeters, and in the end, the kids I am going to miss the most next year.

REALIZATION: This kids are the reason my speech team has had such strong seasons the past 4 years. They are willing to go above and beyond what I ask of them. How do you say goodbye to that? I am not looking forward to graduation this year. The plus side: They are holding a 'camp' this summer to recruit more speech kids. Like I said..."above and beyond"

I could go on and on with all of the changes in the last four years. While change is difficult for me, I know that things have to change. And change isn't always a bad thing---Maybe in 4 years, I'll look back on this post and think, "Wow, look at how great everything turned out." :-)

Storms!

Last night was one of the first storms of Spring 2012. Of course, the lightning and thunder had to start at precisely 8:20.....right when the girls were trying to go to sleep. I tried to calm them down two-three times in their rooms. But when I walked into Lexi's room and saw her sitting on her bed rocking back and forth with her blanket over her ears, I knew it was a hopeless cause.

So I told the girls they could go sleep together in my bedroom until Chris and I were ready for bed. They jumped out of their beds and ran as quickly as possible to the bedroom.

But within a minute or so, I quickly realized this wasn't going to be enough. They both looked at me with these sad eyes telling me I had no choice but to crawl in bed with them.

After I settled in with them, they both draped their arms over me. One tidbit of information about me: I HATE to be touched when I'm trying to go to sleep. So I laid there a long time.........long time.... before I got even close to getting some sleep. Right before I drifted off, Bren whispers to me: "Thank you. You saved me." Then, she wraps her arms just a little tighter around me and falls asleep.

I know I don't know everything about parenting and I doubt I ever will, but here are a few things I got from last night:

1. My kids hate storms.
2. Regardless of how old they are, kids like to be close to their parents during storms.
3. Moms need to get over the "being touched while sleeping" thing and hold their kids close during those storms. :-)

Running

As it starts to get nicer outside, I always seem to post a blog about getting into shape. I start running and exercising more often, but it always seems short lived. I get sore and tired, and I stop. Someway...somehow....this is not going to happen this year. I have been surrounding myself with healthier foods, finding time to workout every day (in someway or another), and just feel altogether better about my efforts.

For lent, I gave up pop and haven't missed it too much (except during these long parent/teacher conference nights). Every pop I don't drink is 140 calories I don't intake a day- which is 140 calories I don't have to work off that night.

So I am announcing my running circuit today:

TBD- a 5k
May 19th- CF Run (6.2 Miles)
June 2- Dam to Dam (12.2 Miles)
July 14th- The Warrior Dash (3.4 Miles--I think)


I feel that if I post it on here I am more likely to follow through. I read online that it takes 4 weeks for you to notice a difference in your body, 8 weeks for your family and friends to notice, and 12 weeks for everyone else. So in 8-12 weeks, you are going to see a stronger, faster, healthier me!



"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" 
- Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner

The Little things in life.

Chris has been traveling a lot for work lately, and it makes it difficult to be the one left at home to keep things running. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining because I know he enjoys feeling more needed in his department and somewhat enjoys the travel aspect for it gets him out of the same boring routine.

I was worried about how the girls would deal with Chris being gone. Lexi, being the little grown-up she is, didn't seem to be bothered. Brenna, on the other hand, struggled the whole first week. She wouldn't go to sleep and would cry in my lap about how much she missed her daddy. She would ask questions like "Is Daddy ever coming back?" and I would try to console her with the number of days until he would be back.

Chris has taken 2 more trips since then, and we have slowly gotten used to it. We talk every night and I feel like I always tell him about the big things of the day, but easily forget all the cute little things the girls say. Those are the things I want to remember.

Brenna: "Mommy, I guarded my Squinkees from Dawson like you told me to. I didn't let you down."



Lexi: "Stephen is my new bff. He wrote me a note today asking me to play with him during 2 bell. (Pause as she looks at me) I know what you want to say."

Me: "What do I want to say?"

Lexi: "You want to ask if he's my boyfriend."

Me: "Well, is he?"

Lexi: (eye roll) "Mother, you're embarrassing me."




Brenna: "When I get older, can I marry Daddy?"

Me: "No, because I'm already married to Daddy."

Brenna: (Starting to Cry) "But that's not fair you get to marry him and I don't."

SLIDE by Jill Hathaway!

For most teachers, the time they spent student teaching was stressful and almost a deal-breaker on the whole teaching career. I was recently married, 6 months pregnant, and a little concerned about being in a classroom full-time.

Then...I meet Jill Hathaway. She was a great mentoring teacher who introduced me a lot of new ideas, concepts, but most importantly, writing. At the time I was student teaching, she was constantly telling me about her book ideas. I had never even considered writing or becoming a writer, but I loved listening to her talk about it.

And now, her dream of becoming a published writer is finally coming true! Here is her first novel being published! I cannot wait to read this and share this with my students who I know will love it, too! If you love YA mysteries, then look for this one!

Bren's Haircut (No Appointment Needed!)

There comes a time in every parent's life when their child does one of those things that ALL kids do. I remember a few weeks ago, a facebook friend documented her little girl cutting her own hair. I recall thinking how nice it is that my girls have never tried that.


Until now.



Bren was in her room cleaning (which is something she never does by herself). I walk in and the first thing I see is a pile of hair and scissors...



followed by more hair...


This is what Bren looks like. She said "I told you I needed a haircut, Mom!" Luckily, she had a ponytail on top that covers up most of the damage. And she cut the same look on both sides which I feel shows that she knows it has to be even! :-)



But, of course, we had to document this event when Bren did the "typical kid thing."

Winter Photo Shoot

Since I'm home with a sick Brenna today, I saw this as a great chance to do some cleaning and post on the family blog.

Black Friday, Jess and I found these cute coats at Gymboree for an AMAZING deal (I'm sure I've told most of you all about the $15 I paid for these coats). I wanted to take some pictures of the girls out in the snow with these coats. 3 months later, we finally got the snow we needed.

We had a fun morning driving around Adel finding some great spots. We saw 200 geese and a bald eagle flying around by the soccer fields. It was an amazing sight!

Love these girls more than life itself!


Brenna looks too innocent in these pictures; don't let her fool you!
Ms. Alexa with her sass!

And of course, some goofy ones!