A Productive Day... and some pics

I had quite the productive day off today. I went over to my friend Marcia's house this morning for a couple of hours to play with her kids so she could get some stuff done. On my way home I stopped by the library and got some books for the upcoming weeks for work. I dropped off some clothes for the Salvation Army, then checked out a discount books store nearby that I've been meaning to visit. I came home and went jogging... and the river/creek next to the trail that I run on was so high! It was pretty much at the same level as the path for a lot of it (and over the path in a couple spots). All of the rivers around here are super high and most above flood stage due to the 3 straight days of rain that Ike dumped on us. Anyways, then I came home and made myself a yummy dinner! Cooked broccoli, a panera baguette, and chicken strips cut up in a spinach salad :). I also folded some laundry and did some planning and research for lessons for work. Now I have a couple of hours to relax and crochet in front of the tv :).

So... I just saw more pictures and videos of both of my nieces and I can't handle it! I want to see them now! They are both getting so big so fast. Evangeline has more hair and bigger smiles and Lucca is growing like crazy (and I haven't seen her at all yet). Just a little under 2 weeks... I hope I can make it. Here a few pictures since they're on my mind so much right now.

Little Lucca

Too cute

yawn

Wide awake

Happy Evangeline

Kisses from Mommy

Silly Daddy

Silly baby in her play gym

This is Daddy's fault

Update

Week one in the preschool went well. We still haven't been doing very much at all on the planning or learning end of things, but that will start more this coming week. I am excited to do more of that and to see where my kids are at and help them to grow and learn. I absolutely love the girl that I work with. It's so nice to work with someone younger, more easy going, and someone whom I can laugh and joke with. She is excited that I have more experience, resources, a good attitude, and a good work ethic. This job is unfolding into many more blessings than I even thought. Word is starting to spread that I am going to be permanently working in this room, and I have gotten such an uplifting response from the parents of the kids that I had previously in the toddler room (and even some comments from kids still in the toddler room about being sad that I am leaving). The only downside at the moment is that it looks like my day off might be Mondays now, which is about the worst possible day to have as your day off - there's no day off to look forward to, or as a break in the week. But oh well.

We're in the middle of a rainy streak right now. It rained off and on all of Friday, all of today so far, and is pretty much supposed to continue through Monday. So that made Friday a long day at work, considering there were a few little boys in very bad tempers as well. But considering most of it is on the weekend and I am feeling lazy anyways, that's OK with me.

I've been doing pretty well with motivating myself to exercise lately. For the last month, I've been going jogging (or sometimes biking) every Saturday, day off or late start, and then occasionally an extra night after work. This week I may have overdone it slightly though :-P. Wednesday night I went jogging, then Thursday I biked to work and back. The way there wasn't bad at all, but the way home was hard and my legs hurt pretty badly for the rest of the night.

Matt and I started with Discovery Village (Sunday school) at church again last week. That means more early mornings, but oh well, I know that this is an awesome way that I can serve and give back to my church, and it's so rewarding and teaches me a lot about my own faith as well. We are also going to try out a small group. Next Sunday they have an event that has a series of steps to get you setup with a small group of other people there by the end of it. It's probably going to be a mixed age kind of group, but hopefully there will be a few younger people in it too.

Um... not sure what else is new... 2 more weeks until I get to see baby Lucca. My friend Kate Maxwell is going to come for a short visit just before that. Other than that, just work, extra work from home, crocheting, reading, the usual.

Preschool!

I didn't want to say anything until it was official, but now it is... starting next week, and 100% the week after, I will be teaching in the preschool instead of the toddler room! Due to one of the preschool teachers quitting, lower numbers of kids in the toddler room at the moment, my desire to move, and a few days this week where the other preschool teacher and I proved that we work well together... our director agreed that this was the best fit :). She still has to hire someone part-time to fill in and give people days off, but that shouldn't be too hard.

So... now I can call myself a preschool teacher, which will look MUCH better on my resume! We have a multi-age preschool, which means 2.5 years, up until whenever they leave for kindergarten or young fives. Right now that's 2.5-4.5 years. I will more specifically be working with the younger group, which are incidentally mostly kids I had in the toddler room who recently moved into the preschool. Those are the kids I will be in charge of to plan small group activities and keep anecdotal records for. I have a lot to learn with our records/portfolios on them though, because the toddler curriculum has 21 objectives to keep track of (which I know very well by now), and the preschool has 50 (all of which are new to me). That's all for now :)

PS: Evangeline is 4 months old today... she's getting so big!

Good Old Rain

Oh glorious rain, how I miss thee. It's been raining all day long, and I really do mean ALL day. Monday and Tuesday were both at least 90, and today is rainy and only got to the mid 60s. Now, I am in no way saying that I am ready for all cool rain and no more warm sun. But there's something about the cool, refreshing rain that just calms and comforts me. The sound. The fact that I can cozy up in a blanket on the couch. The wonderful wonderful difference from the sticky humidity. The nostalgia and connection I feel to my hometown.

Now, after a couple of days of this, I will be more than ready for some hot sun to sit out on the deck and read under... although I don't know if that will be returning at all. I also do not want to spend more than one entire day inside at work with small children who have lots of energy to burn inside rather than outside. :-P