I was reading one of my favorite blogs, C Jane Enjoy It, and she had written a post that included random Google pictures at the end.  For some reason, I thought it was genius, just like her writing.  By the way, is there anyone who doesn’t think CJane is a great writer?  I love her stories!!  Random at times, and relevant at other times. Anyway, at the end of her post, she mentioned that she had googled Viking Hair and posted some pictures.  I thought, what a fun way to create some laughs!

So, what are some random topics that are relevant to my life right now?

Never-ending laundry.  It’s something that goes on every weekend for us.  You too?  Here’s what I found!

I suppose if I laid it all out it would look like this.

I think I need this in my laundry room!!  Too cute!

I would put the above quote in my dream laundry room.  Wait- are fresh flowers too much to ask for in a laundry room?  Heck, I’d be happy with windows and a sink!

I have to say, I had more morbid pictures in my mind…like hoarding-type pictures of mountainous piles of laundry.  I like these pictures better!

What random pictures would you look up?

So school isn’t going as smoothly as I had hoped for Emma.  I was hoping for (and somewhat expecting) a smooth transition into first grade.  After all (and much to my surprise), Emma had such an easy time going into full-day Kindergarten after being in a preschool program that was 2 1/2 hours a day, 4 days a week.

I can’t say I blame her.  She has an extremely full schedule at school.  Her therapists include special ed teacher, OT, PT, and vision.  She is pulled out from her regular classroom into the special ed room for 1 hour in the morning and 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon.  She sees OT and PT for 45 minutes a week.  That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it all adds up.  And her vision teacher sees her most days of the week, I think.  On top of that, she has her regular classroom, her specials (art, music, PE, computers) and now Spanish 2 times a week.  And when I think what we could cut back on, really I don’t know what would be of least importance.  They’re all important to me.  Of course some more than others.  But as a whole they do make up her experience at school.  And they’re all necessary.

The last time she had a really rough time adjusting to her new routine was when she went from morning preschool to afternoon preschool.  That baffled me because the only thing that changed was the time of day that she was there.  Her classroom was the same, her teachers and therapists were the same, her friends were the same.  But for whatever reason, she had a really hard time with her new school day.  When that happened, it took her 3 weeks to get used to everything.

And what is happening now?  Massive temper tantrums at home.  Talking back, yelling, and using language we don’t approve of (nothing major, but things like ‘stupid’ and ‘dumb’ and the like).  She’s being defiant and rude.  At school she’s challenging the teachers and her aides.  She’s not always following directions, sometimes talking out of turn, and she’s being difficult.  This all might not sound like a big deal, but it’s just not her.  And when the temper tantrums are seemingly non-stop, it’s grating.  It’s hard to listen to.  For me, it’s like nails down the chalkboard.

So what are we doing?  We are trying to keep a very consistent routine at home for after school and night time.  And we are putting into place a rewards system.  If she behaves well in the morning (i.e. no temper tantrums, and obeying) then she’ll earn a reward.  For example, 3 days a week school will sell ice cream or jamba juice.  And she can earn those treats by obeying us and not throwing fits.  Beyond that, I’m not sure how else to handle it.  I’m hoping this is a phase and that she’ll quickly pass through this as well.  And as we enter the third week of her new routine (4th week of school), I’m hoping this week is the week that ends it.

The “good” news is that I have heard from friends that Emma’s not the only one who is having a hard time adjusting to first grade.  Other first graders are too.  It makes me feel less alone.  And at this point, I’ll take any suggestions or advice!!

I want my sweet girl back!

What would you do?

My dad is a website designer.  Did you know that?  You can check out his own website, Sonoran Sites, and see for yourself.  Perhaps you could keep him in mind for your web-designing needs?  Recently he finished the website for Horizon High School’s choir.  I mention this because I went to Horizon High School and choir was. my. life.  So, giving props where props are due.  Dad, great job on the website!! Horizon, great job on the choirs!  If you are wondering, I was a part of the Towne Criers.  Unfortunately I didn’t have enough coordination to be a part of Step On Stage (a semi-Glee collaboration).  Check them out here!

GO HUSKIES!

p.s. I graduated a loooong time ago, so you won’t find pictures of me on here!

I don’t know that she’ll ever join the Joffrey Ballet, but I love watching my girl dance!  She’s got a lot of soul that she puts into her moves and grooves.  It’s the cutest thing to watch!  And man, is she musical! When we were in California, my friend Marshelle suggested we hit Corvette Diner in San Diego.  What a hit with everyone!  The food was super-yummy and diner-ish.  My turkey burger was delish.  And I even tried fried pickles (one word: yum).  After dinner the kids got to go into the arcade and spend their coins.  Emma and Emily (who, by the way, look like they could be sisters) jammed on Dance Dance Revolution.  See for yourself!

Kind of like Oprah, but not quite.  As in I don’t have a giveaway.  Hopefully someday, though!  Lisa Leonard is author of a wonderful blog that you can check out here.  And she is having a very special birthday today!  What’s so special about her birthday?  She’s doing a giveaway on her blog!  You can check it out here.  Wanna know what you could win?  $100 towards an original Lisa Leonard Design, and a Target giftcard….woohoo!!  Wanna know what I just bought? This necklace.  So excited for it to come in the mail!

Go enter to win!!

Okay, I’m not sure if that’s completely accurate, but in my 3rd year highschool Spanish mind, it asks, “do you understand me?”  I’ve had to ask that several times in the first 7 days of school.  We have 3 Spanish speakers in our class.  One of them doesn’t speak a lick of English.  And yes, “lick of English” is, in fact, English.  You get the idea.

So anyway. Do you know how hard it is to communicate with a non-English-speaking 5-year-old?  Not easy, my friends.  With my 24 (exaggeration, might be around 63) known words in Spanish, I can sometimes piece together a sentence.  For example:

“donde estas tu tool kit?”

“necesitas tu snack”

“sietete” (courtesy of a bilingual student)

“(student’s name), venga aqui”

I think this is as sophisticated as my Spanglish will get.  And I think I learn approximately 1/2 Spanish word a day.  So perhaps I will become the bilingual one in the classroom.

I can only imagine how scary it is for a little 5 year old who doesn’t understand any English at all, to be thrown into a class where no Spanish is spoken (unless you count my 24-word Spanglish vocab). I do feel for this child.  But as the teacher (and aide) who is supposed to teach this little one, it’s very frustrating for us.  And, call me selfish, I feel like the parent has done a disservice to their child.  Shouldn’t a student born and raise in America know a little English?? Any? OR if the student knows no English, shouldn’t the parent find a school that benefits the student?  For example an English immersion class?  While we don’t have one on campus (obviously), there is one school in the district.  Perhaps I’m being unreasonable. Perhaps I’m not taking special circumstances into consideration (because I don’t know of said circumstances).  But as a parent of a student who has her own set of delays, it is my job to make sure she is getting the right education, services, and setting, that suits her best.  It’s just my job.

However, given the situation that we’re dealing with, we will survive.  And my hope is that this student will thrive.  And by the end of the year, I’m hoping this little kindergartner will have a whole big vocabulary of English words.

What would you do?

Wow.  I can’t believe I haven’t written about this.  Emma’s on a new medication!  It’s kind of big news around here.  Well, you know how she’s swallowing pills now (another milestone that deserved its own post, by the way).  Since she started swallowing pills, we decided to try a medication that we once tried about a year and a half ago.  This medication was wonderful.  It gave her the focus and clarity she lacked( by the way I’m talking about an ADHD med), and it didn’t cause her to act (or feel) drugged or lethargic.  I. Loved. It.  Problem was, she didn’t love it.  This pill came in a capsule form, so back in the day (you know, pre-swallowing-pills), we would empty the capsule and dissolve it with her other pills into Sunny D (which is, by far, the sweetest tasting juice I have found).  This pill was so bitter, she refused to take it.  She wouldn’t swallow the syringe with the dissolved medicine.  Brett and I tried it.  We didn’t blame her.  The stuff was horrid.  The most bitter and metalic tasting medicine you could imagine. Which begs the question, if you’re gonna make a kid’s medicine, please make it palatable.  Am I right?  Whatever.  That’s another story.

Okay, so back to the present.  The girl is swallowing pills!  We thought, “hey, let’s give this old medication another try!”  And we had precious few days before school started to get this medication in her system.  So we tried.  We waited for a few days.  We increased the dosage (yes, this is all under her psychiatrist’s supervision). It started working better.  In the first week of school, we had her taking it in the morning.  She took it in the morning last time, though the doc warned us that this could cause drowsiness.  Duly noted. After getting up every morning last week around 5:30, and falling asleep every chance she got in the car, we decided to switch to a night time dosage.  She slept in longer.  She wasn’t falling asleep in the car.  She didn’t want to watch TV all day.  She’s got more energy.  And….(drumroll please)…she’s got that focus that we’ve been waiting to see.  Hallelujah!!  Now, we’re not holding our breaths here.  She’s still getting acquainted with the school schedule.  Things could change.  But, so far so good!  I only hope this is the beginning of a successful year in 1st grade!!

…to all the working moms out there.  I only work 20 hours.  And yet I failed to get dinner on the table once this past week.  Or stay on top of the laundry. Fortunately the house remained somewhat tidy (ok, ok, my cleaning lady did come on Wednesday, but still).

I will recap.  We had a great week.  Emma loves first grade and she loves her teacher.  Her teacher is awesome, very accommodating and super with communication!  Yay!  By far her favorite part of first grade is getting to play at the big playground.  It’s a big deal, you know.

Mason had a great first week as well.  He has the same teachers as last year since he’s still in the pre-K program.  This is a good thing because they’re awesome!  He’s making new friends, and he’s kept some friends from last year.  I told him that he’s one of the “older” kids in the classroom so he has to be a good example to the younger children.  And that he is!

I had a great first week!  Okay, I won’t lie.  We have some challenging kids.  ”Diamonds in the rough” if you will.  A handful of my new friends are a big rough around the edges.  But it’s only the first week.  Think of how they’ll be in the spring!  I can’t wait!  In fact, I asked the teacher (we’ll call her C, who is my college roommate) how long it takes before we are not constantly reminding and redirecting.  She said 2 months.  Eek.  K (the other teacher in our room (they job share)) (can I use that many parentheses?) said 4-5 months.  Double eek.  However, I am enjoying this new position and having fun with it.  I think it’s the perfect job for me!

Finding time to balance my workouts (okay, okay, what workouts?) and feeding my family at dinner has been the hardest challenge.  I am going to be whipping out that dusty crock pot for my dinners.  And as for working out?  I do see my trainer once a week after work.  But for those other days, I need to force myself out of bed around 5:00 or so.  I can totally do it.  I just need to.  Even if it’s 2 miles in the morning, it’s something that’s important to me!  Oh, and that notorious food journal that is a blessing and a curse? Starting it back up today.  I’ll be honest…summer screwed up my whole routine.

Anyway, this is my plan for the next few weeks.  To get those routines back under my belt.  Oh yeah, and blogging on top of all this?  It may not be 5 days a week, but I’ll still be here!  I hope you stop by for a visit!

What are your goals once the kids get back to school?

Today is Emma’s first day of first grade!  It’s also my first day of kindergarten. Well, working in kindergarten anyway!  It’s going to be a busy week!  I’m going to be a little more lax this week as I navigate working and being a mom.  It’s been quite awhile since I’ve worked!  But I’m so excited to be back in the classroom.  And, truthfully, really excited to not have all the responsibilities I did when I was a teacher.  This aide position is perfect for me!

So, while I juggle the mom thing and the work thing, I will leave you with some first day pictures!!

new backpack, medical kit for nurse, and brownies for teacher

this big girl is most excited for the big kid playground!

first day for mommy and daughter!

Part of the reason we went back to California a second time was to get in some beach time that June Gloom took away from us when we were there last time (in July, mind you).  Was that a run on sentence? Anyhoo. Oh, the fact that it was like 109 here helped push us westerly too!

So on the last afternoon that we were there, the sun finally came out and we decided to ditch the zoo (which was fabulous and quickly became one of my favorite zoos) and head to Coronado Island for some beach time.  Here are some pictures from that afternoon!