Preschool "Graduate"

105 days of preschool later...

James, Miley, Evie, Cam, Lydia

Today was the last day of preschool for Lydia and I.  The past 3 months of preschool just flew by!  Amidst all the stress and frustrations of trying to get next year figured out I was really enjoying teaching this preschool class.  These kids were great to teach.  They were kind and helpful, sweet and funny.  Their families were so supportive and kind. It was a pleasure to teach them. To celebrate the last day of preschool we headed over to Chris Greene Lake for a picnic and popsicles.  I had each of the preschool kids pick their favorite song to sing for the Mom's and then presented them with their end of the year stuff.  I made a photo collage for each of them and printed out copies of the stories we wrote together as a class and made them into a book for them to read with their families and then illustrate. It has been really rainy this week and I was worried that we would get rained out but we had the most beautiful weather.  It was nice to get to visit with the other Mom's who are such great people.  We left around 1:10 and at 1:40 it started pouring rain.  I was so grateful we could have our picnic and play.  It was fun to see us all posting pictures of "graduation" today, perfect ending to a great year.   It was so nice to hear how happy the Mom's were that they picked my preschool and how they were so glad their child came here. It was just rewarding and filled my bucket right up. I am sure most people feel that way about the preschool teachers/programs they picked for their kids but as the teacher it is really nice to hear.  Even if I don't have people knocking on my door to come to preschool I really am good at what I do and am appreciated by the families I do get to work with.  Two of them are moving away this summer and we will miss them.

My mornings 3 days a week.

There were of course times when they would get annoyed with each other but they really became good friends and were great to teach. They never held grudges and were happy to play with each other. Centers and snack were the favorite events.  Every day around 10:20 they would all start saying how they were starving.  (We ate at 10:40) We either did a cooking or science activity on Thursdays and those were favorites too. Lydia was the trickiest to have in class which really made for a great group of kids because she is not that hard at all.

Teacher and student picture. 

Lydia is ready for kindergarten and I think she will do really well.  I'm proud of her. She is admittedly not really that excited about it but not dreading it either. I think she has been to school with Jared enough to know that it is really long and not like very much like preschool.  If you were to ask her if she was excited she is not the kid who can't wait to go.  She is sad I won't be her teacher next year and wanted to take a sad picture today.  I hope when it gets closer to school starting she will be more excited.  We know quite a few kids who will be at Baker Butler next year and I think it would be nice for her to get to be in class with some of them. We will see. She is a sweet girl and makes me happy.  I will miss having her around when school starts. I really wish Kindergarten was half day.  I know I will enjoy the time to work on things and get stuff done and I am looking forward to it, it will just be different.  With her I never had the "free time" most mom's get when they send their child to preschool since she was coming to me but in the end I really appreciated being her teacher.  I am not the best at playing with my own kids and preschool was a dedicated time to be with her and spend quality time with her.  I was disappointed to not send her elsewhere in the Fall but am actually happy with how it turned out.  

Preparing my curriculum this year was so time consuming. I feel like every night (when I wasn't at Kohls) I was home working on lesson plans.  I can't even imagine how it feels for a first year teacher teaching full time. I put so many hours into planning and preparing these themes and lessons and am happy to say that they were great. While I was waiting and stressing and getting really angry about next year I kept thinking about how mad I would be if I took all this time to develop and prepare a solid curriculum and only get to use it once.  Thankfully, prayers are answered and I have 4 students signed up for next year!  I would love to add at least 2 more but am so incredibly grateful to have those 4.  3 girls and 1 boy.  Fingers crossed for a few more but its so great to know I will be teaching in the Fall. I am glad I did a 3 day a week class and look forward to taking a break from preschool planning this summer and starting again with new kids.

May happenings

I can't believe May is almost over.  It's been quite rainy, which I really don't mind.  We have been lucky that most of our bigger outings have ended up with nice weather. One being the father son camp out.  Jared was excited to go with Mark and had a fun time running around with the other kids and being with Mark.  They drove up with another family in our ward and shared our tent with them. While they were gone Lydia and I had a girl party here with some friends.  We ordered Dominos pizza which I love and Mark thinks is gross and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  As Lydia and I left to pick it up she said to me, "I don't really like this pizza. I just like yours."  As flattering as that is we are pretty much going to eat it whenever we get the chance!  She ended up eating it just fine.  She had fun playing with the girls and watching a movie and the Mom 's had a lovely time visiting.

Mark and I had a chance to go out on a date last Saturday and try out my new kayak.   We went down to the Earlysville Reservoir and enjoy paddling and a yummy lemon treat. The weather was perfect and I love my kayak.  It's really similar to the one we got last year but it feels sleeker and I think it moves a little easier in the water.  We ordered a set of kayak racks for the highlander and they make me feel pretty cool.  Mostly I just like that we can transport both kayaks on one car and that Jared's fits inside the highlander.   They are admittedly not much easier to use to load up kayaks, I am just not tall enough but we can it make it work. It was really nice to be out on the water and enjoy the beautiful scenery. I am hoping Mark and I can go quite a bit and that I can go with some girl friends too as it is a fun way to visit. Jared and Lydia have been begging to go kayaking and it just hasn't worked out mostly because of the rain. I hope they still feel that way all summer when we can go much more. I wonder if it is mostly because the lake isn't officially open and its a way for them to get to swim. Either way soon enough we will be out kayaking! Speaking of water, I am pretty sure we are going to have Jared try out swim team this summer.  We have talked about it for the past 2 years and think now would be a good summer to try it out.  If we do it we are going with Hollymead swim team. I feel it is probably one of the most useful teams he could be on as far as life skills/sports go.  It will be hard for him but should be a good experience. It seems like a lot of money though but hopefully worth it. I really hope he loves it and it can be something he looks forward too.  I have met very few people who haven't been happy they did it so fingers crossed.

We headed over to Baker Butler Tuesday night for Jared's first grade performance. It was actually pretty cute and he did a nice job.  It has been a good school year for Jared.  Some weird social things as far as him being exposed things earlier than I would like but he has really loved his teacher and done well. He has had at least 2 major crushes on girls from his class (Ava first and currently Jayleen) and had some girls have crushes on him. It's so weird to me because they are so young.  He really has a nice class. I have been volunteering on Fridays for the past 2 months or so and I have really enjoyed being in his class and seeing what he is like and getting to know some of the kids in the class.  He is a good kid.

Also in May, the bear is back!

A few weeks ago we woke up to our trash cans knocked over and a big mess to clean up. We knew it was time to start using the bungee cords again. Tonight I was at the computer and heard a crash in the driveway. I immediately knew the bear was back. It was 8:58, a whole hour earlier than usual. I ran to look out the window and saw it there.  I opened the door and peeked out.  It was still pretty light out and it was in our trash not 20 feet away.  He picked the wrong night though as today was garbage day and ours was pretty empty.  There was maybe one bag.  We hadn't had time to put the cords back on yet.  Mark came up with a new one to attach them and it seemed to be working pretty well. I ran to turn on our motion detector light and to get my phone. This was my chance to get a picture.  We have a storm door and I cracked it open and watched the bear stop digging around the trash and look at me for a second then go right back to the trash! It was so close and not a bit fazed at seeing me.  I was tempted to go wake up Jared and Lydia so they could see but restrained myself. I will admit my heart rate sped up a bit seeing it just chilling there. Really not concerned with seeing me. Even when I yelled "Hey!" at it it barely looked up. We will put our bungee cords on and hope it stays away!

 

Mothers Day weekend

Saturday morning we went downtown to the International Cultural Festival.  It was held at Lee Park and was a lovely event.  We all enjoyed walking around the various booths and learning little facts about different countries, seeing their clothes and hearing their languages.  There were dance performances that were fun to see and there was a great atmosphere, just people who want their children to realize there is a big world out there and we don't have to all be the same. At least that is what we were feeling.  Jared has been interested in Geography and other countries for quite awhile.  It started with his desire to have money from other countries (to the extent that when a friend of ours recently traveled to Jordan Jared sent some money with him and requested some Jordanian money) but now he is interested in even more than just that aspect of other countries.  Mark and I have always had the idea of living over seas again on our radar and have talked about it with Jared and Lydia regularly but are just waiting our time.  That time is getting closer (well, still a good 5 years away probably but that is closer) and being at this festival Saturday reminded us again how we want to have that experience with Jared and Lydia. It was a great event.

Mixing up a Moroccan blend of spices. 

Sampling some Venezuelan food

While we were there we (mostly me I think) noticed a demonstration across the street.  There is a statue of General Robert E Lee at Lee Park.  Over the past year or so there have been talks about renaming the park and removing the statue.  The people demonstrating Saturday were those in favor of the statue staying there and the park not being renamed.  It was really the first demonstration Jared and Lydia have seen (it was not very big at all) and I wanted to get to talk about it more but they were distracted by the free stuff they were receiving. Later that night I saw a news clip of individuals (most of whom came from out of town) holding a torch rally there. It was bizarre to see these people in that way when I had been there just hours before.  A counter rally was quickly pulled together it seemed, which was mostly peaceful from what I gather and I was glad to see people of the opposite opinion expressing their feelings too, letting it be known that they did not agree with what they were showing and saying. It was just so odd to be at this great cultural event and then see that. One article talked about how the police were really surprised at the torch rally, it was not at all expected. I was very surprised too.

That afternoon we tried out our fancy bike rack for the first time.  It is super easy to attach to the Highlander and get the bikes on. I am really glad we got it.  We went over to the church and then decided to try something new and rode over to the fire station just down the street. It was nice to go somewhere new and gave me glimpses of even longer family rides.  Lydia is doing awesome on Jared's old bike.  She loves riding bikes now.  Jared and Lydia also had a "beach day" in out sandbox. Jared has been so focused on basketball and the trampoline I think he forgot we had a sandbox and has had a lot of fun rediscovering it this past week or so.  They played for well over an hour and loved it. I did too!

Mothers day was lovely.  I slept in till 8:00 and then after I woke up I stayed in bed and read the Sunday School lesson.  We went to a delicious brunch with some great people and then Mark made my favorite dinner, orange chicken. I haven't gotten to try out my kayak yet but that is the plan for Saturday.  I had Lydia go ahead and fill out the mothers day questionnaire like the other preschool kids.  Here were her answers.

My Mom is 50 years old
My Mom weighs 50 pounds
My Mom's favorite color is aqua
My Moms favorite food is orange chicken
My Mom always says "I love you to the moon and back."
My Mom cooks the best fettuccini
My Mom's job is teaching preschool, Kohls, making dinner and cleaning the house.
My Mom laughs when I tickle her
If my mom had time she would love to read to me and Jared.
My Mom and I like to play with each other in forts.
My Mom really likes hanging out with her husband and kids
I Love my mom because she makes stuff for me and helps me do stuff.

 I have many days where I do just want time to myself, or to not feel guilty for doing preschool work or not playing with Lydia and Jared but they make being a mom really great and I am grateful for them.

Temple, Bike riding and Photo gallery

I had the chance to go to the temple Saturday with the Relief Society.  It was really nice to go up.  I was happy to ride up with sisters and visit with them and I hadn't done a session in awhile and it turned out to be a very nice outing.  A friend and I were able to do some family names for a friend in the ward and it was nice to be able to help him out. It's strange to think that in 10 short months the DC temple will no longer be an option for a bit. Things are going okay for Mark in his calling.  He commented to his brother that he had felt that the Lord was really taking it easy on him, slowly easing him into it and now 2.5 months later its getting tougher.  It will be a lot of learning for him and the rest of us too.  We saw a friend at church today whose husband has been serving as the bishop for the past 5 years and we chatted a bit about the different types of bishop's spouses that she had observed. She talked about how she "interviewed" lots of Bishops wives that she knew to get their perspective and she mentioned that it seemed like wives were either more of another counselor to their husband (as much as appropriate) or just not really that involved. Supportive, but didn't want to know what was going on. Myself and this friend are both more of the latter type.  She said that sometimes people will come up to her and say, "I don't know what you heard but I am sorry about what happened at ward council or fill in the blank with any gathering." She just looks at them and says (nicely) "I have no idea what you are talking about but I think you're awesome" and gives them a big hug.  I will never really know what people think but honestly I sort of just hope they don't really pay that much attention to me. I am pretty boring, not much going on, just trying to do my part and more when I can.  Anyway.  Mark is working hard and I hope he continues to feel supported and guided by the Spirit.

After I got back from the temple we went on a short family bike ride.  Lydia has moved up to Jared's old bike and loves biking so much now.  She is so happy she can ride faster and be on a bigger bike. On Saturday she figured out how to start herself on this bike. She was fine on the other one because it was lower to the ground but was having a hard time getting it on this one and now she's got it.  We rode around the church parking lot for awhile and then rode down the street to the fire station.  It was not very nice bike riding weather but I will always take 60 and cloudy over 90 and sunny so it worked out well for me. We got to try out our awesome new bike rack and it worked great. We are excited for family bike rides this summer.

We also ordered some prints of our new family pictures.  I really like our old pictures from 2014 and have been hesitant to take them down so we decided to go with the ever popular idea of a gallery wall.  I found some matching frames at Kohls and got a really good deal on them and we hung them all up Saturday night.  I think it turned out well. The biggest dilemma is that the wall we hung them on is right next to our door so when the door gets shut hard, which it frequently does, they are no longer straight. Oh well. Its easy enough to fix and fun to have both sets of pictures up.  When I looked around our front room I think, man this is a lot of pictures of us!  But it worked out fine.

 

Kayaking and preschool rant

We have already had some hot days this Spring and it makes me so sad. I grabbed some coloring books to take to church today and saw a Christmas one and threw it in the bag because it made me feel like it wasn't that far away.  I know we will have a good summer, I just wish it didn't have to feel like summer.

Last Saturday we went kayaking with the Shaw's.  I used Jared's kayak and Mark towed Jared and Lydia in the big inter tube.  It was great to be out on the water and especially fun to go with the Shaw's.  We may have let the children illegally jump off the dock and play on the beach but it was worth it. It was great to watch them play together and get to visit with the Shaw's as a couple. Julie and I get together at least once a week but we strangely don't hang out together as couples and we should do it more.  They are great people. We did have a slight delay in getting the kayak ready.  We went to take it off the boat rack and as we did we saw eggs roll down.  Over the winter a bird built a nest in the bow of the kayak and there were 3 eggs in it.  We were so surprised! Mark pulled the nest out and placed it in a planter. I'm not sure what will happen but it was not what we expected.

That night we went out to dinner with the Grover's (also great people) and then to AHS to see Mary Poppins which was fun.  This is related because we went to Lime Leaf for Thai food and it happens to be next to Dicks.  As we drove up we noticed some kayaks out front.  There was a beautiful aqua kayak and I commented to Mark that it would be a perfect kayak for me.  He wanted to go look at the price, I was against it because I just figured it would be too much but they happened to be having a decent sale and so we looked at each other and decided to buy it!  It is my early Mothers day gift. I am really excited to have my own kayak.  It was hard work for Mark to tow both of them, not nearly as enjoyable as just kayaking himself and we would like Jared to paddle himself.  Next year we will look into getting Lydia one but for now she is a little too young to make it work.  So we had our first afternoon on the lake and will enjoy many more.

*For those reading this feel free to stop now.

Lastly preschool. I have 3 people signed up for the upcoming year and it makes me so sad (just because it's only 3 families, the people will be just fine). I don't understand why it's so hard and what else I can do to get the word out. I thought the yard signs I had professionally done would work so great and they really haven't. I feel like they are in good spots, high traffic, right demographics but it is not helping. I also truly hate how emotional I get about it, truly hate it.  Sad, frustrated, disappointed and really just angry.  I do not often have those emotions in my everyday life and they have been coming up a lot and pretty much always about preschool.  In my patriartical blessing it talks about how I will have many opportunities to provide for my family in and out of the home. I hated this line when I got it. I was so disappointed. So I have had these "opportunities" and it's been fine.  I have been given "opportunities" that worked perfectly with my situation and were what we needed.  Yet, here I am with this plan (doing what I have been taught to do) that lets me use my teaching degree, do something I enjoy, works perfectly with my family schedule and not to be prideful but I am good at it and it's not happening. And it makes me so angry and emotional. I can't even talk about it with friends without being emotional. I hate it and I hate that it is happening this way. I had my (unscheduled) state inspection this past week and it went perfectly, no citations and she was very complimentary about my class and also confused as to why I don't have more people signed up. I'm just starting to think I am not supposed to teach this class and I hate that too. I have put so much time and energy and money into developing my curriculum and my program that the idea of possibly only using it for one year is so infuriating.  I feel like I have done my part and then some so why isn't it happening?  Also, the plan for this income was to use it for food storage/emergency preparedness and college and retirement planning. Good, responsible things. Things we have been told to do. It's not like we want a fancy house or to redecorate our house, or a fancy new car or fun trips, we want to plan ahead and be smart and nothing!!!  It's not happening! About 10 days ago I got an email from my care.com account.  A chiropractic office is opening up this summer right near where we live.  They contacted me about being an assistant there with training provided and from what I have read it sounds like the type of job I always thought I would have when my children were older.  It sounds right up my alley. I really didn't know if I should reply and go ahead and apply or not. I feel like I am getting nowhere with preschool and would regret not having the opportunity to work there if I didn't get to do preschool in the Fall but still want to teach my preschool.  I really thought about it and went ahead and applied.  I have no idea if they will contact me but I loved being sought after. I feel like it hasn't really happened with preschool and it was a nice boost, sort of like "hey we see you have skills and we want to work with you." Waiting on preschool families exhausts and stresses me out.  Maybe its a pride thing like, it's not happening because I think I am so great at preschool?  Maybe I need to be humbled but I have been feeling this way for the past 2 years and would love for it to stop.  If I was contacted about this assistant job I would have to find child care for Jared and Lydia as 3 of the days are from 3:00 - 6:00  and how can that be more what I am "supposed to do" than having a job that allows me to spend time with my own children? I just don't understand. And then I feel horrible and ungrateful for having these feelings. End rant. On here, I will just keep on feeling this way. And no, I do Not want to talk about it. Ever. I just want it to be fixed. I want 5 people to call me tomorrow and say they looked at my website, think my school look perfect and want to sign up.  Or even just 3, I'm really not that demanding to need a full class of 8.