What's New
Believe it or not, I finally have the urge to blog again. It seems it has taken me a year, and a career change, to get to this point. So here's what's new with us:
Zoe: She is a typical two year old: very independent, yet still wanting to be a baby sometimes. Her favorite thing to say is "My do it." She is still a mama's girl most of the time, and she loves for me to rock and sing to her (and my voice is pretty bad!) She will say "Rocky baby, Mama," grab my hand, and drag me to the rocking chair. Her favorite songs right now are Baby Beluga, by Raffi, and Down in the River, from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. (As I was sitting here typing, she climbed into my lap, and said "Down in the Riber." I pulled it up on itunes, and as it started playing, she yelled, "Louder!" She immediately began bouncing her head and slapping her hand on the desk to the beat, and when it ended, she yelled, "Again!" I think we've listened to it 8 times.)
Zoe used the potty for the first time at the end of August. Then, over the Labor Day Weekend became completely potty trained (except for nights and naps). Yay for us! She has only had a couple of accidents, and none at school. Once she found out they gave out gummy bears for going potty at school, she was all over that.
Speaking of "school" she started in the 2-year-old class at her preschool on Aug. 27, after having the summer off. She cried when Jerry left the first day, but since then, she's been doing great. She was happy to see a few of her friends from last year and she loves her teachers. They have full mornings of coloring, reading, and playing. Jerry picks her up by 1 p.m., and she comes home and crashes for a 2 - 3 hour nap.
Zoe is talking quite a bit, and she makes us laugh with some of the things she says. She still loves music, and will start bouncing the minute she hears a song with a good beat. She also loves to sing, and knows the words to several songs.
Katie: Katie started 1st grade this year. All summer she was excited about having Mr. B, the same teacher Doug had in first grade, but then the night before school started, she was a wreck. She became worried about everything: she wouldn't know anyone, she wouldn't like it, Mr. B wouldn't like her, etc. etc. I assured her that she would love it, and that Mr. B was going to be a lot of fun, because he plays with the kids at recess, and doesn't give a lot of homework. Wrong things to say. Here were Katie's responses: "I can't play football!" (the game of choice for Mr. B at recess) and "I like homework!" Anyway, she went to school, and had a great time--it helped that Mr. B told her she had a "good arm." She now loves to play football, and she begged me to buy her a Nerf one right after school started. She wants to play catch every day--and she's gotten pretty good. Mr. B has also recognized her love of learning, and gives her extra homework that's just for her! She has discovered the Bailey Kids chapter book series in his classroom, and brings one home everyday. A few times she has read an entire book in one day!
Katie has been losing teeth all over the place. She looks really cute with her gaps. She lost her two top front ones recently, and has a couple more that are loose.
Doug: Doug is in the third grade this year. His teachers decided to loop up with the class, so they are all together for the second year in a row. During the second week of school, Mrs. T and Mrs. W said they were going to have job interviews for different positions in the classroom. They put out a list with descriptions for all of the different jobs available: Animal Caretaker, Door Holder, Pencil Sharpener, etc. Doug decided he really wanted the position of Busy Bee. This involved being a sort of personal assistant to the teachers, helping in the classroom store, and doing other kids' jobs if they were absent. He did the best job application, where he explained that he was "awesome at math" and would be good at making change in the store, and that he would like doing all of the jobs when other kids were absent. He was absolutely thrilled when he got the job. I wish he would be as excited about jobs at home!
Doug is finding third grade more challenging. He has more homework, harder spelling words, and more reading to do. Math is still his favorite subject, and he's excited about learning all of his multiplication tables.
Doug and Katie have cut down on the after school activities for this year. Katie decided she didn't want to do dance or drama this semester. She has mentioned baseball a few times, but I missed the deadline for this season. Doug is going to do a 6 week cooking class at our church, but other than that hadn't expressed an interest in anything, until the other day, when he came home with a flier about Karate. I have to say I am enjoying not having anywhere we have to be in the afternoons, and the kids seem perfectly happy.
Lisa: I made a big change this year, I became a high school teacher. It is something I've thought about trying over the years, but for various reasons it was never the right time. Almost 2 years ago, I decided to go ahead and apply for my teaching certificate. Because I had minored in English, I had enough upper level credits to obtain a temporary teaching certificate. When I received my certificate, it was Dec. or Jan. and we were preparing to go to China, so I stuck it on the refrigerator and ignored it. Suddenly, this past May, I started thinking about it again, and went ahead and started applying to schools. I had a few interviews, but no job offers. Then suddenly, in the second week of July, I got a call from a high school, asking me to come in for an interview. I had an interview the next day, and they offered me the job. I started Aug. 13, the day after we got back from our summer vacation. I feel like I have been going non-stop since then. It is quite an experience. I am teaching reading to 9, 10, 11, and 12 graders who have not passed the FCAT (Florida's standardized test). The kids are challenging and frustrating, but they also crack me up. So far I am not missing being a lawyer at all. The best news is that my insomnia has disappeared, as well as the general feeling of anxiety I had most of the time while practicing law.
Jerry: Jerry has been very supportive of my career change. He considered going back to an office, but then decided to continue with his own web design business, but to try to step it up a little. Well, boy, has it stepped up! His web business is called Varonweb Interactive Design (www.varonweb.com for those interested in hiring him). He is also working with a company called CircleScapes to design 360° virtual tours online. He loves the flexibility of working from home, but is often busy from morning to night, and sometimes finds it hard to "get away" from the office.
Because school starts for me at 7:15, I am up and out by 6:30, before anyone else is awake. Jerry has to get the kids ready by himself--not an easy task. We try to get lunches and backpacks ready the night before, but getting 3 kids out the door to 2 schools every morning is still a challenge. I miss seeing the kids in the morning, but I can't say I miss the "morning rush." After 5 weeks, we seem to have adjusted fairly well to the new schedule.
We had a really nice family vacation in August. We spent a couple of days at a working farm in Amish country, Pennsylvania, and then headed to Washington D.C. for my cousin Greg's wedding. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was a ton of fun, and we all had a great time seeing our family. Between my cousins and siblings, we have 10 children ages 2 to 10, so they had a blast together. Our only complaint was that the time was too short! I will post some pictures later.
Zoe: She is a typical two year old: very independent, yet still wanting to be a baby sometimes. Her favorite thing to say is "My do it." She is still a mama's girl most of the time, and she loves for me to rock and sing to her (and my voice is pretty bad!) She will say "Rocky baby, Mama," grab my hand, and drag me to the rocking chair. Her favorite songs right now are Baby Beluga, by Raffi, and Down in the River, from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. (As I was sitting here typing, she climbed into my lap, and said "Down in the Riber." I pulled it up on itunes, and as it started playing, she yelled, "Louder!" She immediately began bouncing her head and slapping her hand on the desk to the beat, and when it ended, she yelled, "Again!" I think we've listened to it 8 times.)
Zoe used the potty for the first time at the end of August. Then, over the Labor Day Weekend became completely potty trained (except for nights and naps). Yay for us! She has only had a couple of accidents, and none at school. Once she found out they gave out gummy bears for going potty at school, she was all over that.
Speaking of "school" she started in the 2-year-old class at her preschool on Aug. 27, after having the summer off. She cried when Jerry left the first day, but since then, she's been doing great. She was happy to see a few of her friends from last year and she loves her teachers. They have full mornings of coloring, reading, and playing. Jerry picks her up by 1 p.m., and she comes home and crashes for a 2 - 3 hour nap.
Zoe is talking quite a bit, and she makes us laugh with some of the things she says. She still loves music, and will start bouncing the minute she hears a song with a good beat. She also loves to sing, and knows the words to several songs.
Katie: Katie started 1st grade this year. All summer she was excited about having Mr. B, the same teacher Doug had in first grade, but then the night before school started, she was a wreck. She became worried about everything: she wouldn't know anyone, she wouldn't like it, Mr. B wouldn't like her, etc. etc. I assured her that she would love it, and that Mr. B was going to be a lot of fun, because he plays with the kids at recess, and doesn't give a lot of homework. Wrong things to say. Here were Katie's responses: "I can't play football!" (the game of choice for Mr. B at recess) and "I like homework!" Anyway, she went to school, and had a great time--it helped that Mr. B told her she had a "good arm." She now loves to play football, and she begged me to buy her a Nerf one right after school started. She wants to play catch every day--and she's gotten pretty good. Mr. B has also recognized her love of learning, and gives her extra homework that's just for her! She has discovered the Bailey Kids chapter book series in his classroom, and brings one home everyday. A few times she has read an entire book in one day!
Katie has been losing teeth all over the place. She looks really cute with her gaps. She lost her two top front ones recently, and has a couple more that are loose.
Doug: Doug is in the third grade this year. His teachers decided to loop up with the class, so they are all together for the second year in a row. During the second week of school, Mrs. T and Mrs. W said they were going to have job interviews for different positions in the classroom. They put out a list with descriptions for all of the different jobs available: Animal Caretaker, Door Holder, Pencil Sharpener, etc. Doug decided he really wanted the position of Busy Bee. This involved being a sort of personal assistant to the teachers, helping in the classroom store, and doing other kids' jobs if they were absent. He did the best job application, where he explained that he was "awesome at math" and would be good at making change in the store, and that he would like doing all of the jobs when other kids were absent. He was absolutely thrilled when he got the job. I wish he would be as excited about jobs at home!
Doug is finding third grade more challenging. He has more homework, harder spelling words, and more reading to do. Math is still his favorite subject, and he's excited about learning all of his multiplication tables.
Doug and Katie have cut down on the after school activities for this year. Katie decided she didn't want to do dance or drama this semester. She has mentioned baseball a few times, but I missed the deadline for this season. Doug is going to do a 6 week cooking class at our church, but other than that hadn't expressed an interest in anything, until the other day, when he came home with a flier about Karate. I have to say I am enjoying not having anywhere we have to be in the afternoons, and the kids seem perfectly happy.
Lisa: I made a big change this year, I became a high school teacher. It is something I've thought about trying over the years, but for various reasons it was never the right time. Almost 2 years ago, I decided to go ahead and apply for my teaching certificate. Because I had minored in English, I had enough upper level credits to obtain a temporary teaching certificate. When I received my certificate, it was Dec. or Jan. and we were preparing to go to China, so I stuck it on the refrigerator and ignored it. Suddenly, this past May, I started thinking about it again, and went ahead and started applying to schools. I had a few interviews, but no job offers. Then suddenly, in the second week of July, I got a call from a high school, asking me to come in for an interview. I had an interview the next day, and they offered me the job. I started Aug. 13, the day after we got back from our summer vacation. I feel like I have been going non-stop since then. It is quite an experience. I am teaching reading to 9, 10, 11, and 12 graders who have not passed the FCAT (Florida's standardized test). The kids are challenging and frustrating, but they also crack me up. So far I am not missing being a lawyer at all. The best news is that my insomnia has disappeared, as well as the general feeling of anxiety I had most of the time while practicing law.
Jerry: Jerry has been very supportive of my career change. He considered going back to an office, but then decided to continue with his own web design business, but to try to step it up a little. Well, boy, has it stepped up! His web business is called Varonweb Interactive Design (www.varonweb.com for those interested in hiring him). He is also working with a company called CircleScapes to design 360° virtual tours online. He loves the flexibility of working from home, but is often busy from morning to night, and sometimes finds it hard to "get away" from the office.
Because school starts for me at 7:15, I am up and out by 6:30, before anyone else is awake. Jerry has to get the kids ready by himself--not an easy task. We try to get lunches and backpacks ready the night before, but getting 3 kids out the door to 2 schools every morning is still a challenge. I miss seeing the kids in the morning, but I can't say I miss the "morning rush." After 5 weeks, we seem to have adjusted fairly well to the new schedule.
We had a really nice family vacation in August. We spent a couple of days at a working farm in Amish country, Pennsylvania, and then headed to Washington D.C. for my cousin Greg's wedding. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was a ton of fun, and we all had a great time seeing our family. Between my cousins and siblings, we have 10 children ages 2 to 10, so they had a blast together. Our only complaint was that the time was too short! I will post some pictures later.
posted by Lisa at 6:39 AM
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