Late Updates!

I haven't blogged in a little more than a month - so we'll just go for a photo dump!  It's been a pretty plain month though.  The weather has been fairly warm, though we did get a little bit of ice once.  I immediately hopped online and bought a set of YakTrax for Eric and me, so he doesn't fall while working and I don't fall on Squish.  Currently, Mom and Alan are in Mexico and Ashley is on her way home.  Eric is house sitting for them, and I can't wait to have him back at home next week!

A shot of our 2011 Christmas tree.  We never decorated it, but I used it to hold all of our Christmas cards and the Rainbow fish that Kelli and Tracy made for me!

 I had Cameron, Caleb, and Colin over for a fun night while Paul, Deb, Brian, Jen, and Eric wrapped up the winter mini-tour at Old Chicago.  We had a great time!

We house sat for Papa while he was in Michigan visiting the Murray's.  Addy came along so we didn't have to leave her home alone.  By the end of our time there, Addy and Frisco were coexisting fairly nicely! 

New Year's Eve at the Green's, in Smithville.  We played "Truth Be Told", which isn't nearly as fun with people who aren't as close with one another. 

Ready for 2012! 

Eric's champagne and my sparkling juice! 

Cheers!  It's Squish's year!!! 

Addy on the drive home from Papa's house. 

After holiday break, Kelli and I discovered that we had another person moved into our office!  It was a bit stressful to happen with no notice.  But we have since rearranged our office and it's all worked out! I actually think I like the new configuration a lot better.

Eric and I spent a nice chunk of savings and Christmas money on a new computer.  Brian helped Eric choose all of the parts and build it, I set up our wireless headphones on the TV and the computer, and now all we need is a wireless keyboard and mouse so we can use it on the TV. 

Mom got Alan a helium shark for Christmas - here it is peeking out of Alan's car. 

Alan was an instant pro at using the remote control to maneuver it around the house. 

 

He used it to intimidate the dogs.

 Such a cool toy!

Ashley bought me a dress preservation service before the wedding.  Since then, my dress and the kit have been tucked away in our closet...oops.  So two weeks ago I tried the dress on (and it still fit!) and packed it away! 

So sad to see my dress go, but it will be clean and in a preservation box when it comes home.

My Birthday!

I'm 26!  I wasn't really awaiting this birthday with any excitement, but it was a really good day!  I started by getting myself a treat breakfast at the gas station, then I had a mostly relaxed day at work (even though Lawrence was one of 3 districts in eastern Kansas that still had a full day of school on December 22nd).  Kelli and Tracy made me a very thoughtful and meaningful Rainbow Fish ornament, and both Kindergarten classes surprised me!  

For one of the Kindergartens - I wear a walkie talkie so that I can be alerted quickly when a particular student needs help calming down or runs from the classroom and needs to be tracked down.  I got a page early in the morning that they needed help, so I made my way down to their room.  When I rushed in the door, I found all of the 5 and 6 years olds staring at me as they yelled "Happy Birthday!!!"  I almost cried because I was so shocked!

The rest of the work day went well, was somewhat productive, and I even got birthday snow!  Then when I got home, I packed up the car with clothes, presents, and Addy.  We are house sitting for Papa while he is in Michigan for the holidays, and figured that it is the most cost effective to just stay at his house.

After dropped the gear and cat off at Papa's house, I headed to Mom and Alan's house.  We waited until Eric got off of work, and then we all brought Ashley to her first Cinema Suites movie for my birthday!  Ashley left her ID at home, so Mom and I both ordered a strawberry daqueri for her to drink out of.  We saw the new Sherlock Holmes, and it was pretty awesome - very cool special effects.

I was really excited to get a pair of KU shoes for Squish from Ashley, a Miche purse with two covers and an organizer from Mom and Alan, and Just Dance 3 from Eric.  Funny story behind Eric's present... we saw it on sale 2 weeks ago and I went "oooo, Just Dance 3!", Eric noted that it was on sale and asked if I wanted it for my birthday, I said sure and he paused and then asked if he could just buy it then - and he did!  But I waited until my birthday to open it :)

Then on Friday, Eric and I had a fun date night.  We started with dinner at Cheddar's by Oak Park Mall, followed by shopping at Town Center Plaza, and wrapped up with a walk around Oak Park Mall.  I used birthday and Christmas money to buy a pair of leggings, a sweater, two long sleeved shirts, and a pair of boots, and a bag of jelly beans (Dr. Pepper, buttered popcorn, and toasted marshmallow flavors - all for $125.

That was it, Happy Birthday to me!

Mmmm, special breakfast!  I usually do hot chocolate with 1/3 french vanilla cappucino - this time I did 1/3 white chocolate caramel cappucino and it wasn't as good.

Rainbow fish ornament!  Complete with glitter, sequins, and laminated! 

Very very cool! 

The kindergarten also had birthday donuts for me and another student. 

The kindergarten classes watched The Grinch, and loved it! 

Addy...not thrilled to be leaving home...

Work Woes

Work has been pretty tough over the past few weeks.

Things are going pretty well for Eric - he recently got his first raise along with a holiday bonus.  He still likes his work, and only ever complains when he gets hurt.  Though it is a weekly occurence for him to get bumps, cuts, bruises, and strains.  Most recently, he slid on some ice on a cold morning, and fell out of his truck and bruised his bum - ow!

For me, I've just concluded that winter has hit the kids hard!  We lost 2 of our 3 paras within a week of each other at the end of November.  My students with behavior problems seem to be "flaring up" a little bit, and my students with academic struggles have had some slooooow progress lately.  The stress bar is raised a little higher when we've had 2 students with IEP's move into our school, 4 students referred to be evaluated for special education, and 2 IEP's allllll in the past month.  I love working with kids, but the paperwork side of the job is harder for me.

Then I've got my aggressive kiddos!  This is a glamour shot of a few minutes after a kindergartener head butted me in the jaw.  It was hard enough to get him crying, and to make me dizzy - yeowch!

November Photo Dump!

Squish has been making it incredibly difficult for me to sleep lately.  I started looking on Craigslist for a "Snoogle" pillow, which retails for about $60 - yikes!  I found one for $40, and offered the person $20 for it.  I was pretty surprised when the reply email came from someone I worked with last year, who had a baby over the summer!  Now Addy and I get sleep all wrapped up with pillow! 

Eric took me car shopping a few weekends ago, and I was pretty amused by this mirror. 

On Veteran's Day, Old Chicago gave everyone $5 of Foamer bucks on our World Beer Tour cards, so we asked Paul and Deb to come to dinner with us.  Along with that, they had a cardboard standup that you scan with your phone and it gives you a chance to win free food or drink.  Deb, Eric, and I all won something - I got cheesy garlic breadsticks, Deb got a big cookie, and Eric won a large pizza!  We could only use one, so we treated everyone to a Thai Pie pizza.  Nine beers, a pizza, and a fries basket ended up only costing us $14 - and (quite possibly for the first time ever) they let us pay for dinner! 

Brian and Jen hosted a Crock Pot Pot Luck party last weekend.  There were many interesting conversations, lots of great music, occasional dancing, and drunk people everywhere!  These parties are a lot more fun when I'm sober watching everyone else get silly! 

While we were at Mom and Alan's house last weekend, Chaos decided that the snickerdoodle cookies belong to him! 

Addy has been an extra large bum lately, cue "awwwwww" sound bit. 

I just about died laughing in the grocery store when I picked out the avocado for this weeks "Baby Green" picture, and then put it in the baby seat of the cart.  Seriously, I was beside myself. 

This is the countdown that I keep posted at work!  I accidentally mixed up weeks 16 and 17 (avocado and onion), but seeing as the foods relate to the length of baby, I think it makes sense that an avocado would come after the onion instead of before.  Oh well, I'm probably the only one who noticed my error :) 

 Last night, I decided that I wanted to have cinnamon rolls for dinner.  As the oven heats up, Eric decides he is craving pizza...so we made both!  This is what dinner looks like in the Green household!

Finally, a funny school story!  A few weeks ago, one of our paras was working in a third grade classroom.  The kids were told to cut out pictures of facial expressions and then to write about it in their journal.  The para noticed a kid cutting frantically, stuffing something in his desk, and then looking around the room suspiciously.  She asked him to give it to her and he tried to play dumb and give her the scissors, as she gave him "the look" he pulled the picture out of his desk and handed this gem to her.  Hilarious!

A Rough Week

I've had a rough week at work - two IEP meetings, two students being referred to special education, and a few major behavior episodes.  With all of that, I kept my cool and was able to handle all of that stress.  Thursday afternoon was the straw that broke the camel's back... Read on.

This is one of the behavior episodes mentioned above... This is what a frustrated kindergartner can do in 5 minutes!   

Thursday afternoon, I received my teaching license in the mail.  Do you see what's wrong with this picture?!  I just about lost it - that poor mail carrier is so lucky I didn't get home until after 5pm.

Back to School - Year 3!

Here's to another successful school year!  It's my third year teaching, and I'm in my third school now.  I left the first school to work with younger kids, and the second school lost a position due to funding so now the third school has scooped me up!  I'm really excited to meet my students today, and I can't wait for all of the exciting stories that this year will bring.  Today is SUCH a special day!

Our classroom has a construction theme - the yellow line leads the kids from the "in door" to the "out door".  There is a yield sign on the door between our offices, and a caution sign on the bathroom door, ha!

The door that leads to the office has a danger sign!

The one way sign is because everyone can only go IN the resource room, and OUT through our office.

And there's our exit!

Eric Does Not Do Antibiotics!

At the beginning of this month, Eric started battling an infection in his foot.  It was spreading, so he was put on three antibiotics (two pills and a topical cream).  A week into the course of antibiotics, he got a fever and wasn't feeling well.  Before bed, he started developing a rash that was even worse when he woke up.  He called into work and started working out treatment - the doctors office was too busy, so he went to Urgent Care.  They were going to give him IV steroids, but his blood pressure was too low, so they sent him to the ER.  So on to the ER around 11am, where they admitted him and gave him IV prednisone and benadryl.  

Three years ago, he had a similar allergic reaction when the free clinic gave him an antibiotic when he had mono.  It caused the exact same reaction, trip to the ER, and IV steroids.  

So Deb and I hung out in the ER with him - while they did blood tests, pee tests, and chest X rays to try and figure out why his fever was staying above 103 degrees.  He was released around 4pm and we all headed home.  Deb bought Chinese food and we watched some TV.   

On a side note - today was my first day back to work!  The new job is going great!  I took a half day on the first day of work...but it was no problem.

Rash from last night. 

Freezing in the ER. 

The rash in the ER - practically solid in most places, it looked like a sunburn.

Day 355: Carpooling

This summer, Eric and I are hoping to save a lot of money by carpooling.  Awesome!  On the down side, this means a fair amount of time sacrifice for both of us.  Last week, I had to be at work by 7:40 every day and Eric started at 8 or 8:30.  Because I have to have the car at work with me, this meant that he was 20-40 minutes early on those days.  This week, he still has to arrive at the same time, but I don't start until 11:20 because Jack is in summer school - so I have a huge gap to fill.

Eric just brings a book to work, that way he is covered for before and after work gaps in transportation, and lunchtime.  But for me, being in town over 3 hours early, I decided to go to a few places.  Today I started at Panera for some breakfast (with my blow money), walked around Oak Park Mall, browsed at Barnes and Noble, went to the Blue Valley Library, and read a book outside Jack's school. For future days, I think I may just stay equipped with books and read the whole time - it will save some money!

Reading, a french toast bagel, and some iced tea - a nice way to start the day!

Day 352: Summer Nanny Job

This is my third summer working as a nanny for a great little boy named Jack.  He is seven now, and has just finished first grade.  I originally found this family by posting an ad on craigslist, saying that I could work as a summer care provider for kids of all ages, that I had just received my degree in Early Childhood Special Education, and that I had experience working with children with special needs.  Jack's family and I were a great match - he has autism, and they were interested in someone who could provide therapies and educational opportunities at home.

Throughout the week Jack and I go to speech therapy, behavior therapy, and social groups, but we also have swim lessons, trips to the library and zoo, and are working on learning to ride a bike.  Jack talks, gestures, and signs, and I often act as a gateway between him and the world - because most people wouldn't understand his meaning (and he wouldn't initiate conversation without a prompt).

Over the years I have grown to love this special guy and his family!  We have had a great start to this summer, and still have lots to look forward to!

Today we were playing with a balloon kit, and I made him a star!

After work, Eric and I helped Mom and Alan with some cleaning and moving in their house, and we all went out to Dairy  Queen afterward!

Day 349: Trains & Fire

The highlight of this work day was taking my nanny kids and Andrew to see Thomas the Train with Mom and Papa.  Unfortunately Eric was at work for this, and had to miss chasing kids in 95 degree weather, haha!  Bryson didn't have much fun, until we got to a table where he could color.  Jack and Andrew seemed to love it all.  And the grown ups, well, we enjoyed seeing the kids have fun.

Then after Eric got off work, we picked the motorcycle up from Mom & Alan's house and rushed home to pack for camping.  I added Eric to the insurance today, and he raised it from $148 to $300/year (almost $100 of that because of his speeding ticket in August).  We packed my car with the camping gear, and then we drove out to Clinton Lake separately so he could ride the bike.

It was an interesting night - cooking and conversations around the fire, partially clothed swim in the lake (others were in various stages of dress, Eric and I remained clothed!), and the annual burning of confidential school documents!  This was a really fun event with Steven and Leslie last year, and this year our crowd was kind of a buzz kill about it.  The burn didn't exactly go smoothly, and instead of having fun with it, they just called us various names and moved to the other fire pit.  Lame x a really big number.  We headed to bed, and spent some time looking at the starts and using a sky map app to help us find constellations - very cool.

Andrew with my stuffed hippo - Mippo.

Andrew, Me, Bryson, Sit Toppemhat, and Andrew.

Bryson, Me, and Andrew on the train!

Jack, Mom, and Andrew on the train!

Bryson, Me, and Papa on the Thomas train!

Finally, something Bryson enjoyed!

Andrew's first (?) time in a bounce house, he loved it!

Mom and Andrew going down the slide.

A year of work up in flames!

Oops...it fell over...

Burn, baby, burn!

The papers were so scrunched together, it took forever to burn through.

Very cool to watch it burn!