My son, the shy one...

So, I picked up Logan from school yesterday and asked him to say Bye-Bye to his teacher Miss Kaycee.  He politely waved and he teacher made a comment like, "We'll get you to talk soon."  I was SHOCKED!  My son has been talking for over a year!  He speaks very well for his age.  Just this morning he reached for my hand and guided me into the kitchen saying, "eat buh-fast" (toddler translation = eat breakfast).

Well, apparently not at school!

I had to inform both of his teachers that he can say several words, including Grampa, Nana, Ball, Duck, and Casey!  With this new found knowledge, both have said they are going to work on getting him to talk at school.  Who knew my son was so shy?!?!

Random thoughts that have filled my head over the past few weeks...

• I miss my brother and sister-in-law.  It's not like I saw them that often, but it was nice to know I could drive a couple of hours and be at their front door.
• Logan is growing up way to fast.  He's already 18 months old.  Yesterday, the nurse soothed us with the fact that he was receiving his last immunization before kindergarten.  KINDERGARTEN!  He will start kindergarten in 2015....it seems all too soon.
• I want another baby.  I would love a baby girl.  My own little Ryleigh Jane to join her big brother.  Soon enough, I guess.  We'll start trying again this fall for our 2nd and final child.  Boy or girl, they will be greatly loved.
• I miss Europe.  I just went with some of my 'kids' and had a blast!  I miss the trains and the scenery.  Learning a new place.  It was horrible leaving Mike and Logan behind, though.  Sadly, with the economy as it is, I can't see us going over anytime soon.  Though I'd love to try Germany and visit Dave and Case.  They'll be there through at least 2014, so maybe if people start chipping in now, we can see them before they leave!

Breakthroughs...

Logan ate a green vegetable on Saturday.  He devoured an entire package of the peas from sugar snap peas, leaving Mike and I the hulls to eat.  This is only one of many changes we've been going through in the last month. 

Logan is loving daycare, especially Art and Water Play.  He still cries sometimes when I drop him off, but Ms. April and Miss Kaycee assure me that he never cries for more than a minute.  Mike definitely gets the better end of the deal, though.  Until recently, he has always been the one to pick Logan up...I was missing out.  You get to see him play and have fun and when he sees you there he just RUNS as fast as he can.  HE lunges himself into your legs to be enveloped by Daddy's or Mommy's loving arms.  It's great!  More updates to come...

Logan's 1st Day at Preschool (5/2/11)

When I feel that I'm a success...

As many of you would probably agree, we criticize ourselves more than anyone else ever does.  I often find myself questioning myself...as a mother...as a wife...as an educator.  Am I doing all that I can?  I know that it will all be 'OK,' but who wants to settle for just 'OK'?

There are sometimes when I feel successful.

When I bake, I feel like SuperMom!!!

Zucchini Bread for the men at home.

There are, of course, other times when I feel the sweet taste of success...When Logan smiles at me.  When a student says thank you (yes, it has happened more than once!).  When Mike holds my hand in the car.  I'd just thought I'd share my simple joy.

Aimee :p

The Dryer is Innocent and Other Random Facts of My Day!

• The  refrigerator is a thief...especially when you have a young child!  Logan pushed his phone under the fridge on accident this afternoon.  I did what any mom would do and got on the floor with a flashlight.  I saw it...gleaming red...over half of the way under the massive appliance.  Of course it's not on the floor, though.  It's on some kind of plate that can never be reached!  I am now convinced that all those socks that go missing are really under the fridge.  THE DRYER IS INNOCENT!!!
• Adults are worse than children when it comes to following directions.
• It's truly depressing when strangers speak to you with pity in their voices after you tell them what you do.
• The most adorable thing ever is to watch your child dance.  Logan has started shaking his little tooshie! :)

Short but sweet...gotta go bathe the booger.

Frustration!

So, I know you were all on the edge of your seats to see if I could get through the massive amounts of papers I had to grade. Well, I have! All but a single project for my smallest class, I was planning on grading it tomorrow morning. (It's computer based and I don't have the program on my laptop.) Why am I frustrated, you ask? Because the geniuses that work for our online grading system put an unannounced maintenance weekend in place. That means, no grades for me until 6 am Monday! Now this is normally not a problem, but Logan is up by 6 am and I have a meeting which I will miss most of my planning period for. Oh, and grades are due at noon! FUN! Why would they have an unannounced weekend? Click the link on their 'We are down' page and it says maintenance for April 2011 is from the 22-25. Apparently, they just figured out that it was EASTER and they don't want to work on that weekend...you know, when they could actually have it from Thursday to Saturday and possibly bypass screwing over the teachers and students and still have a holiday. So, I head to my email and try to find out if there is anything that can be done. To my dismay, there is an email from NCAE (NC Assoc. of Educators) stating that, though it has not been approved, the motions are on the table in the General Assembly to cut the extra pay that teachers with Masters' Degrees and National Board Certification receive. Ummm, those both pertain to me, and that would be at least a 20% pay cut! I know I shouldn't worry until it's passed and that I should be thankful to have a job, but OMG!

At that point, I might as well leave the profession. I hope it doesn't come to that.

The life of a mother/teacher....

Who knew how difficult it would be to keep up with my grading with a little one? Ok, so, I'm not stupid. I totally realized that it would be a struggle, I guess I just never thought I would get so far behind. It probably doesn't help that I have 3 different courses that I teach daily, including one with no book and no true curriculum. At the moment, I am buried under the last paper of 3rd quarter...the Honors Anatomy Research Paper. As I read, in an attempt to dig myself out, I am amazed at the lack of writing skills in our youth today. Those of you who know me may wonder why I assign papers to begin with. "You're a science teacher. What does that have to do with writing?" I've heard this so many times...from parents, students, administrators, and fellow teachers. It doesn't even suprise me anymore. My simple response is, why wouldn't I write with my kids? So, as I spend the wee hours of the night and Logan's 2 hour afternoon naps grading papers this weekend, think of me and my fellow mother/teachers. Being a mother is hard enough without having to bring home work as well.