Family Pictures

Today we go for our annual family pictures, which is something that Penelope and I enjoy but Bryan and Griffin participate in solely to make me happy.

I thought I'd go back and look at the last few years of pictures before today, and they made me cry, so I decided to make a post out of it.

But before that, quick updates. I'm 23 weeks pregnant, 118 days to go. Everything still looks good. Penny had her 1st Kinder parent/teacher conference and she's doing really well (on track in some areas, above grade level in others - everything assessed in Spanish). She's bossy and popular (she only gets one of those from me and apparently none of those from Bryan - or so he says). She's writing sentences in Spanish (unprompted) and is reading at a 1 grade level in Spanish (4th grade in English). She loves math and is quite good at it. She's still taking piano and still loves it.

She wants to be an astronaut or a jungle scientist, depending on the day - but she's very much into science and art and loves Harry Potter (we're in the middle of Goblet of Fire).

Griffin doesn't get p/t conferences in preschool, but we did get to chat with his teacher and he is doing well in school. He talks in both Spanish and English in class, often responding in English to a teacher's questions in Spanish. He's always singing Spanish songs at home and exclusively names his colors in Spanish. He, more so than Penny, is excited for the baby and he often talks to or "hugs" the baby. He wants to help me do *everything* - he insists on helping me put on my shoes so I don't have to bend over. He helps me cook, he helps Bryan with dishes, he helps sort socks for laundry.

The kids are only about a pound apart in weight. Sis is tall and slender (like her daddy) and Bubs is tall and solid. He's strong and can quite easily overpower his sister.

Work is fine - just got back from taking 7 girls to Washington DC for a student journalism conference. That was a trip (in all the ways that phrase implies). It's been almost a week since we got back and I'm still recovering. But it was fun - for all of us - and I'm glad we went.

Ok, so pictures. I don't have all the years scanned in, so maybe I'll revisit this in a few days and add in the ones I scan.

2009: Penelope's 1st birthday and I'm 20-something weeks pregnant with Griffin

Also, one of just Sissy because it's adorable

2010: In my parent's backyard, not professional. We did end up going to JC Penny later, but I can't find those (probably because I hid them because I hate the way I look in these, but whatever. I had birthed two children in as many years)

2011: At a park in Sacramento, Griffin's 1st birthday pics.

Also, one of the kids together and one of Bubba separately, because they're fricking adorable.

And then one of my brother teaching Penelope how to blow a dandelion because it's also totes adorbs.

2012: I don't have digitally, will have to try and scan.
2013: Griffin's 3rd birthday, on the beach in the Aptos area

2014: That's today! 2015 pics will be after baby is born.

I love seeing how much bigger they get each year. Also, my husband is HOT (and apparently doesn't age).  ;)

Summer and reading

This post is mainly to write down some updates so that I don't forget these things later. No pics this time around, just an informational post.

This summer we enrolled both kids in a summer reading course. Griffin is in the 4-5 year old pre-K class and Penelope is in the pre-2nd grade class. For the last few months she's been reading independently and her reading level quickly progressed - the child always has a book in her hand (or a marker, she's also slightly obsessed with drawing).

It reminds me a lot of me and I've had to tell her the same things my parents used to say to me.

"Please put down the book and eat."
"Please put on your seatbelt before you start reading."
"Please close the book while you walk across the street/parking lot."
"Please close the book and go to bed."

I love that she's a bookworm, but it can be a little exasperating as a parent. She's reading everything - the baby books, the level 1, 2, & 3 books, chapter books (like this series of Nancy Clancy books), and together we've read Charlotte's Web, started the Harry Potter series, and are going to read Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Best.Stage.Ever.

She also started piano lessons today with a hilariously crazy and wonderful Russian pianist. It's going to be a great fit.

Griffin will wait another year for piano - he wants to play the drums, but we're going to have him learn piano and how to read music before we get him drum lessons.

Other than that and the disastrous swimming lessons (which we quit midway through, FTR), we've been hanging out a home. Between the trampoline and everyday errands, we keep pretty busy.

Bubby's new 2 wheel bike came in the mail the other day and we're just waiting on Sissy's. Then we'll add bike riding lessons into our daily routine. Ideally they'll be able to ride to school once the school year begins (with my Dad, of course).

We went to Wyoming again this year for B's grandma's 80th birthday and that was a mostly good trip. I have some pictures I'll try and post later in a longer post. The kids had a blast and it was nice to see some of his family that we rarely see, even when we're in WY.

That's all I can remember for now. Goodnight!

An overdue update

I haven't blogged since September 25th, which blogger promintely dispalyed on my login page, as if to shame me from being away for so long.

In my defense, work has been insane. Which is my fault - 100% - because I agreed to take on an additional class, which means I have no prep period, which means I have 5 academic classes plus Journalism (yearbook and the magazine) AND I was crazy and signed up to advise a few clubs (um, 5).

So I brought this craziness all on myself, and it's kept me busy. Really busy. In fact this weekend I finally finished grading essays that I had the kids turn in October 15th. Eep! I still have a giant stack of grading, but I feel good that at least those essays are done.

Finals are in two weeks. Le Sigh. I will enjoy Winter Break.

The good thing is that all of my students this year are wonderful. I really do mean this. Yeah, some of them are obnoxious at times, but they're teenagers. I do love being a teacher, even if the job is the most stressful job I have ever had.

The real reason of this post wasn't to talk about work, although that happens a lot with me lately. I can't seem to shut up about work... the point of this post was to chronicle what has happened in the lives of the kids since I took my unintentional blog hiatus.

Let's start with the youngest.

Griffin goes to school 3x a week and started to like it mid-September. His behavioral reports are always good and his report card for the 1st trimester (which I think is hilarous and adorable) was exemplary. He does well, he behaves well, he's energetic. Pretty much sums up the moster.

He's lost most of his lisp/stutter and talks up a STORM. Between the two of them it's a miracle B or I ever get to talk. Our dog, Harley-Quinn, is his very best friend, but I'm not 100% sure if she feels the same way.

The tantrums one normally expects of a 3 1/2 year old are becoming less frequent - which is awesome. Looking back, the Terrible Twos and Terrorist Threes were pretty tame compared to the stories I've heard of these ages. Insisting that he use his words to express his frusrtrations has started to bear fruit and he's much better and talking about why he's upset instead of just disolving into tears.

He's grown a lot. In 5T and some of his 5T clothes are starting to get a little short. Which is insane because we just bought him clothes. He's not quite as tall as Sissy, but on occasion people will ask if they're twins.

He's still a big snuggler and asks for snuggles all the time. And while he does spend a few nights a week in his own bed, most nights he crawls in with us anywhere from 3-6am.

Penelope

She is growing up too fast. She'll be 5 on Thursday. She lost one tooth in October and another two are loose. She's in size 7. She reads. READS.

We had her parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago and she knows 34 of the 100 1st grade sight words - the words 1st graders are supposed to know at the end of 1st grade. Thirty four.

She'll sound out words and read signs, books, and my text messages. She would still prefer to sit upstairs and read (or color) rather than go outside and run around. She is defintely my daughter.

Her teacher also said that Penelope is a very enthusiastic learner: "Sometimes very bright children will get bored, but Penelope is always so excited for whatever it is we are doing in class, she loves to learn."

And she's really social - she knows the names of her friend's parents and will greet them when she gets to school or on the way out. She loves everyone, they're all friends she hasn't met yet. And her memory is crazy - she remembers what she wore to Griffin's brithday party in April. She remembers playing with friends she hasn't seen in over a year. She remembers things I promised and forgot (which, boo).

I am planning on having her do the 20 birthday questions - last years are here.

In other news, I ran my first 5K and didn't die. I didn't walk or throw up either. Woot! My time was something like 39 minutes, so I ran the slowest 5K in the history of 5Ks. My next scheduled 5K is in March, running it with my Journalism kids.

The back tattoo is in progress. I have the outline and a little over 1/4 of color done. It hurts, a lot, but I love it.

And I think that's it. I'm sure I'm missing a ton of things, but I should probably get to all of that grading I have. The pile is staring at me accusingly right now.

In which some things are resolved...

Today I took Penelope in for her assessment. I met her teacher, she took her away, and I filled out paperwork while I waited only semi-patiently for my daughter to be returned to me.

She came back happy and excited. Said she had fun, and her teacher was very positive (although not very forthcoming). I was told that the principal would be in a 1pm and I should hear something after that.

1pm came... and went. At 4 I called the school. The principal was out for the day and the woman answering the phone said she would call the principal on her cell and someone would get back to me.

That didn't happen. No call. No e-mail. Nadda.

I cannot adequately express how frustrated I am with the whole process. I hope I get a phone call early in the morning - because I have students all day and if she's not in then I have a LOT of work to do to figure out a different placement.

Then we had Griffin's preschool meeting, which means that he's in (hooray!).

Also? I am soooooo not ready for tomorrow.

Some Drama for this Mama

Today was my first day back to school - all meetings and professional development. However the universe, realizing how much I loathe a day full of meetings, decided to throw me a curve-ball.

During my second meeting of the day, I got a text from Bryan that Penelope's school had called and informed him that they just noticed she didn't make the cut off for transitional kinder and she wouldn't be able to attend next week.

Say wha????

I've blogged about the pre-K saga here, here, and here.

The gist? I know she doesn't make the cutoff by 3 days, Salinas Elementary wouldn't take her but after a conversation with the Spreckles principal, they said they would. The registration packet was turned in, enrollment completed, we received our letter home. The principal, during our initial conversation, mentioned the possibility of needing to get her assessed, but we never received any further information about testing (and believe me, I asked multiple people during multiple occasions).

So it was a bit of a shock to learn that they weren't going to take her after all.

I was, to put it lightly, upset. I made some phone calls, left messages, and sent this:

Dear Ms.XXXX,

I left a message at the school today, but also wanted to follow up with an e-mail. During the Spring semester of the 2012-2013 school year, I contacted you regarding my daughter, Penelope Rodgers. Her birthday misses the Transitional Kinder cut off date by 3 days. I told you that Salinas Elementary was unwilling to make an exception and I listed some of Penelope's academic milestones (sight words, writing, math). You agreed with me that she sounds like she's ready for school and told me that as long as there was room in the program, Penelope would have a spot.

You mentioned the possibility of needing to get her assessed since she does miss the cutoff and I agreed that we would be happy to bring her in for that anytime.

The summer came and went - we filled out district transfer paperwork and were approved, registered her for school without incident, and have received letters home confirming her enrollment. I asked the woman at the front desk this summer (when I turned in her registration packet) if Penelope needed to be assessed, and she said that letters would be sent home if we needed to bring her in for assessment. No such letter made it to our house.

I am more than happy to arrange to bring her in this week - today or tomorrow if necessary. Please let me know what I need to do in order to get her to start school next week. She's really excited about starting school and I know she will do well.

I attempted to relay a polite, but urgent tone. 

Short story? She goes in tomorrow at 9 to be assessed.

With that fire extinguished, I turned my attention toward a second problem - Griffin's enrollment. Turns out that even though I had turned in the paperwork months ago and had been told that he had a spot, he was not enrolled. Here's the e-mail we got:

Hello Mr. Rodgers,

Griffin is on the waiting list for M-F am session. He is not currently enrolled for any sessions. I can place him on the waiting list for the first opening, be it 2,3 or 5 days if that is what you prefer. We have limited openings in our pm classes ( 12:15- 3:15). If we are unable to place him in the program by Sept.1, we will refund your $60.00 family fee.
We appreciate your interest in the XXXXX program at XXXX.

I do not think I can adequately convey how upset I was.

After a frantic search online for alternate schools, I sent this e-mail to the district office:

Dear XXX,

My husband, Bryan, forwarded me your message and I have some concerns.

The first concern is that we filled out enrollment paperworkmonths ago. When I turned in the paperwork, I was assured that - at the very least - Griffin would be placed in the AM Tues/Thurs English only program and would be on a wait-list for the dual immersion program.

I have, since the date of initial enrollment, called the District Office on multiple occasions over the summer, called the school site, and e-mailed regarding Griffin's enrollment. It is only now, after my husband sends an e-mail this morning, that we get a response about our son's placement.

As you can imagine, this is incredibly upsetting and leaves us in the very difficult position of having to find alternate placement in a very short time frame. 

I would appreciate some insight as to why we weren't informed earlier that Griffin was not enrolled. 

Please also place him on a wait-list for ANY morning classes and let us know what spot he is on said wait-list and an estimate as to when he might be able to start at Lincoln.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions or to discuss this further.

I was not very optimistic. However, Fortune smiled upon us and I got a phone call about an hour later that someone dropped a M, W, F spot and she could put Griffin in. Praise Zeus!

Also? Polite e-mails work.

G's also on the waiting list for the Spanish program, so hopefully he makes that - but as long as he's in MWF, I'm fine.

While I am incredibly relieved that things resolved, my day was completely derailed.

Tomorrow I need to leave early from a meeting to take Sis to her evaluation/assessment (which she is SUPER excited about, when I told her she was going to take a test, she smiled, hugged me, and said "oh thank you!"). I also need to attend a parent meeting a Griffin's school... and, you know, prep for school.

Best.Week.Ever.

An Audition, a Play, and Kinder

This has been an eventful week for Miss Sissy.

On Monday she auditioned for the Missoula Children's Theater's production of "The Secret Garden" and got a part as a plant in the garden. She has no lines, but the garden has a special song and is on stage during parts of the play. She was really, really, really excited about auditioning and it was pretty hilarious to watch.

It was a group audition, so all kids were onstage at one time. The directors had the kids act out lines in chorus, and then individually. Pen was really animated for the group portions, but less animated when it came to saying her line on her own. I was not surprised by this at all, especially since this is her first foray into theater. She was plenty dramatic when socializing with her new friends though, and as I told my mother, when she's a teen and is super dramatic, I will only have myself to blame.

Since she is my daughter, she's caught on to the songs rather quickly. This means that evenings post-rehearsal are filled with her sweet and yet slightly off key voice. She's off key in the way all pre-schoolers are off key (i.e. they're almost always flat), and I actually think that she'll have a really lovely voice when she's older.

The kids rehearse for one week and then they perform, so the shows will be this Saturday at 1 & 3:30. I'm not allowed to take pictures of the performance, but they will have pics taken, so those will be posted as soon as possible. If I can, I'll take video of her performance (not the whole thing, because - um, I don't care about the performances of the kids who aren't mine).

I think this will be great practice for her drama camp, which starts the 2nd week of June. There will be a performance for that as well, and then after her birthday she can start to audition for the full length productions our local children's theater puts on. She also wants to sign up for basketball next season, so we're going to have a full plate of extra curriculuar activties (also, she has a summer dance recital and probably a winter recital as well).

Speaking of curricular, we found out yesterday that our district transfer agreement has been approved and we can enroll her in KinderBloom (i.e. transitional kindergarten) for the 2013/2014 school year. She is, of course, SUPER excited about going to school and is already talking about all the new friends she's going to make.

We'll see after this year where we put her for Kinder, but the new district (Spreckles) has full day Kinder, while our local district does not. So odds are we'll keep her at that school as long as she's in Elementary or as long as we're still living in this area.

The 4-5 age is pretty exciting, yes?

Poor G-Man is still a little too young for all of these activities. We will try to sign him up for soccer and T-Ball, but he's 2 years away from Kinder (and he will not be eligible for transitional kinder due to his birthday, unless we hold him back a year -  but we'll probably just enroll him in full time kinder the school year after his 5th birthday). Oh yes, and probably swim lessons this summer if I ever get my act together.

Thinking about my kids in elementary school is bittersweet. I really do love this age - even though some people think 3 is the worst, I haven't found it to be anymore challenging than the ages before it. It has different challenges than 2 or 1 or the baby stage, but then a lot of the previous challenges resolve themselves. So I can be thankful that we don't have to deal with teething, and that potty training is over (although G does still wear a night diaper) - even while we deal with occasional tantrums (which are 90% predictable and thus can be anticipated/avoided/quickly dealt with).

And so I'll end this with some of the things the kids have said lately that I don't want to forget.

Penelope (as she's watching me clean the bathroom): Mommy, you are so good at cleaning the toilet. And you are so beautiful. I am SO proud of you.

Griffin (as he's falling asleep): *sigh* I love you bunches mama.

Penelope (watching me make dinner): Oh mommy, you are so good at cooking. I love the food you make.

Griffin (while we're all play wrestling): No mama, no tickles. Only snuggles.
(because apparently mama is made for snuggling and daddy is made for wrestling)

Penelope (to Bryan): You are my best daddy.

Griffin (at bedtime): You give me 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 more kisses and then nigh-night, ok?

Things English Teachers Notice

Or ECE teachers... or speech therapists...

Before I became a teacher - especially a teacher who works with long-term English Language Learners - there are few things I may have never noticed about my children's language development that I now find both fascinating and wonderful.

Penelope has become ever increasingly articulate. She discusses past events with (mostly) proper past tense (i.e. adding the 'ed' ending, she has some irregular verbs down, but not all), present events with present tense (sometimes confusing verb forms - like "I has" instead of "I have"), and future events with future tense (i.e. 'ing' endings).

She also has a significant number of her books memorized, so she "reads" them to us at night, which is both fun and absolutely adorable. I'll have to try and videotape it tomorrow.

She's also become more logical. She can see cause & effect (well, not all the time), and is getting better at solving problems - both simple and complex. She can spell some simple words, so Bryan and I have to be quick when we spell-talk. She's got her name down pat, can write it and spell it verbally. She can also spell "happy" and most of "birthday" (can you tell we have a lot of family with fall birthdays?). She's amazingly creative, draws free-hand recognizable objects and is almost as good coloring within the lines as I am.

I'm really looking forward to when she starts Kinder... I wish they would let her start next year, since I think she's ready. I've even gone over the new Kinder Common Core standards and she's got many of them down already. I know she's going to love school!!

Surprisingly enough, or perhaps, unsurprisingly (if you work in Education),  there are some striking similarities in what my daughter can do with language and what my students can do with language...

And the more I notice the similarities between my preschooler and my students, the more I am filled with both sadness and resolve. Resolve because I want to do everything I can to prepare my students for life outside of high school - not just college or the workforce, but also to buy homes, cars, or start businesses. And sadness because my almost 4 year old has a better command of proper tenses than some of my 16 year old students.

There are a lot of reasons why my long term ELL students struggle so much with grammar. The English language has some pretty weird grammar rules; it is one of the hardest languages to learn (no, really - check out this link!). Many of my ELL students only speak English at school, which limits the amount of practice they get (and, if you're one of those who say their parents should just "learn English already", please refer to the above link - then go live in Poland and learn how to speak Polish without access to language classes... if you're not willing to do that, then stop the nonsensical demands on people who don't have the resources to gain a full command of the language YOU can barely speak.)

ANYWAY, another reason many of my students do not have mastery of English is because we do not have the resources in place to really address language gaps. Teachers work as hard as they can, with the resources they have, to be as effective as possible. It isn't easy. It IS getting better though - a lot of the training I've received in the last year & change has made me a much more effective teacher, especially when it comes to addressing gaps in language acquisition.

I could go on - because there are many more factors that contribute to the language gaps between my ELL students and my English only students (although, to be honest, I see significant language deficiencies in many of my EO students. This is also due to a number of complex factors).

Regardless of how you slice it, there is a large number of children in California (and in the US) who will graduate from high schools with significant language gaps that will likely be detrimental to their economic prospects. And these gaps will likely be repeated in their own children.

Let's talk about Pre-K

My own back to school preparations have gotten me thinking about how, sooner rather than later, Sissy & Bubby will be joining me in B2S shopping and planning.

So the other day I went down to the Elementary school district to get some information. You might think a teacher would know about all of this stuff. Enrollment, age requirements, etc. You might think this, but you would be wrong - oh-so-wrong. I know next to nothing about when and where to sign my kids up for school. Well, I do now.

Sorta.

I know that the age cutoff for Kindergarten in this district is Nov 5th, so Penelope will start a year later than I had hoped - she'll be in Kinder in 2 years.

The question that remains is if/when she'll start Pre-K... last year B & I thought we might not want to put her in Pre-K, but since we're planning on putting both kids into a Spanish Immersion school, we figured it would be a good idea to put her in a Spanish Pre-K. The same school that offers a K-6 dual immersion program also offers Spanish language pre-school. So next year we'll be enrolling her in a part-time Pre-K Spanish language program.

Enrollment opens February, and then we decide if we want to put her in M-F or T/Th or MWF. Lots of options... Our decision will partly hinge on finances - daily pre-school is more expensive than the part-time and we'll still need her in part-time daycare, so we'll see. But I am excited that she'll be in a Spanish language program.

Then the year she start Kinder, Bubby will start at the Spanish pre-K. They'll both attend dual immersion K-6, you actually have to make a 7 year commitment to the program in order to be accepted. Provided I get tenure after this year, we feel like we can make that commitment - I think dual language education is so essential. The kids can take additional languages in high school but we're going to do everything we can to make sure they're fluent in Spanish.

Graduation and stats

Today I measured the babies (and I use that term very, very loosely).

Griffin is 32inches & 26.5lbs (with diaper) and Penelope is 39inches and 33.1lbs (with diaper).

So not too much growth since the last time I measured them a few months ago. G's gained some weight and is really close to P's 1 year stats. They're the same height but she outweighed him by just a smidge.

Also? I graduated Sunday. It was nice to walk, although the ceremony was... ok I guess. The guest speaker was 2007's CA Teacher of the Year and his speech was... ok I guess. Meh, whatever.

The VERY BEST part of the day was when I was shaking the hand of the University President after they announced my name. It went like this:

University President: "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Tina Fey?"
Me: "I get that sometimes."
UP: "Well, you really do. Congratulations on your Masters."

Kick ass.

Hello, I (sorta) have an M.Ed.

Hello, my name is Jessica and I have a Masters. Sorta. I have completed all my coursework, got an A on my Thesis, and have petitioned for Graduation. So all that's left is paperwork (not on my end) but I don't technically have the Masters until the paperwork is completed.

This should all happen rather quickly. As will getting my Credential - I have all the paperwork in for that and am just waiting on the CTC to process and send me my credential #.

And then it's continuing to look for a full time classroom position.

In kidlet news, Griffin took a step today! He's getting braver and stronger each day. We are definitely close to walking and no one is more excited about it than Griffin.

Here are some pictures of the beast-man:







I don't have any recent Penny pics. I'll try and take some tomorrow. She's had an on-again-off-again fever with no other symptoms. Weird. She's fine during the day and feverish at night. Weirder.

Ugh

I have allergies. Or I'm dying. I cannot decide which - and I can't decide which I'd rather have/be.

I think the crappy weather, stress from my Thesis/Capstone, G's sleep, teething, and today's all-day headache have combined to make me spectacularly p*ssed-off. I want to run away to Hampton Inn & Suites for the night. Or two.

Parenting is hard work. Like really hard. You never get a break, ever. Especially if you're a nursing mom. Thankfully tomorrow is Friday and my parents have the kids for the night (so I guess I get a sorta-break). Only I wish I could actually sleep for 10 hours straight when they're at the weekly sleepover. If my parents hadn't been taking the kids every Friday then I shudder to think about what my emotional state would be.

Put another way: I DO NOT recommend going to grad school while having two young children. DO NOT.

The good news is that I'm almost done with my project. Chapter 2 is done (I got an A- on the rough draft) and I need to do some edits, but nothing major. Chapter 1 is also finished. This is what my professor had to say about it:

Jessica,

I rarely award 5 points for a writing assignment since no one is perfect. However, your paper was excellent.

The paper was clear, concisely written, and the style of writing was interesting! I did make a few changes and added a heading. Please refer to the color code in the attached file.

John

That's right. I got 100%.

I do still have to make a few changes, but nothing major. I'm quite happy about it.

Chapter 3 is due Tuesday, so I'll work on that Tuesday (I know, I know, but I probably won't have much time this weekend) and then I just have to turn in the entire paper after I've edited it. Then I am done. D. O. N. E.

I will have my M.Ed. and my credential. Done.

I don't think I can say that enough, I really love that word.

You know what other word I love? Sleep. Both kids are in bed (G fought the good fight, but I won this round) so I'm going to take my headachy, sore-throat self to bed and hope that tomorrow finds me in a much, much better mood.

I have to do WHAT?

Monday my very last class of Grad school begins.

MAT640: Applications in Research

Ugh. My Thesis.

So for the next four weeks I will be beyond busy, stressed, and focused on the following purpose statement:

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a multicultural English/Language Arts curriculum for ninth grade students increasing student engagement and performance.

That's actually my 2nd draft of a purpose statement and it's not final yet. My first draft was too long so my professor had me shorten it. I'm going to sleep on it tonight to see if I want to keep it. I feel like it needs something.

I have 11 peer reviewed journal articles waiting to be read and highlighted so I can begin the literature review portion of the project. I have reading lists critiqued. I have books downloaded to my Kindle that I need to read.

I have very little time.

This class ends at the end of March. I graduate on April 17th (with honors thankyouverymuch, I have a 3.85 GPA).

Overwhelmed doesn't even begin to describe my current state of mind... especially considering I have a baby-monkey of a 10 month old who clings to me when I try to hand him off and nurses for HOURS during the day and a very active 26 month old who needs to be regularly exercised at parks or museums or the zoo in order to give me 3 hours in the afternoon in which to continually nurse said monkey-child.

Whew. I'm exhausted already.

Prep Period

Third period is my prep and I have a few minutes to blog before I need to do some planning/grading.

So lets talk about sleep, shall we? On the adivce of my midwives I gave Griffin a half of a homeopathic sleep aid two nights ago. It worked, he slept past his normal 12am wake-up time. However not being woken up actually woke up Bryan. When he went to check on G, G was cold and B couldn't tell if he was breathing, so B got a bit panicky. Griffin was fine, he had just kicked off his blankets. B woke him up and fed him and then brought him into bed.

I didn't know any of this until the next day - that night I was sound asleep. And I felt wonderful the next day... B not so much.

So last night we didn't give G the homeopathic tablet. He woke up a few times before 11pm and I was able to pat him back to sleep. Then *I* woke up at 1:30am paranoid that he wasn't awake and went in to check on him. He was fine. I recovered him and went back to bed. Griffin finally woke up at 3 and Bryan fed him and then brought him into bed at 4. G nursed until 6 when I got up for the day and he woke up for the day at 6:45 or so.

Still undecided if we're going to use the tablets again tonight. Although now we know Griffin is capable of sleeping from 8-ish until 3-ish. This is wonderful news and it hopefully means that soon he'll be down to one waking a night and I can just nurse him, cut out the bottle, and Bryan won't have to get up anymore. I can handle one waking - heck, I can handle a nurse-a-thon from 3am-6am if I get uninterrupted sleep from 9:30 (when I go to bed) and 3am.

More sleep will certainly help with the PPD, my attitude and coping skills are 1,000x better when I have adequate sleep.

But I still have a metric ton of stuff I need to accomplish in the next month and it's becoming very, very overwhelming.

There are a TON of hoops the State of CA makes potential teachers jump through before you're credentialed. I don't necessarily have a problem with the process (although some of it is redundant and unnecessary), I have a problem with the time commitment since I HAVE NO TIME. I have Touchpoint papers to grade, lessons to plan, grade checks for failing students, tutoring hours for AVID students, a paper for my seminar class, TPA 3 & 4, a computers class (I can test out of it, but I need to take the test), a credentialing appointment to make, PLUS a Dr's appt for Griffin, arranging family pictures, planning P's birthday, and so. much. more.

I barely have my head above water. I am so stressed out right now it isn't funny. It's effecting my work, school, my relationship with my kids, husband, and family.

But at least I got enough sleep last night. So there are things to celebrate.

It's quiet

Penelope and Bryan are asleep, Griffin is nursing himself to sleep, and I have a giant cup of coffee.

These are my favorite mornings - I love having some "alone" time (as alone as one can be with a breastfed baby). And I enjoy mornings... I'm like my mom that way.

Anyway, it's a very pleasant way to start Griffin's 2-month birthday. Later today I'll measure him (my prediction, 25.25 inches) and see if I can find a scale somewhere. We're having problems getting him on Healthy Families, so no Pediatrician appt yet - hopefully soon. So Bubba will get to skip shots for now.

My camera is broken, but if I get my act together this morning I'll stop by WalMart on the way to P's gymnastics class and pick up a new memory card so I can take and post pictures of both kids.

Things have been busy in the Rodgers household... and will only get busier. Early next month B's brother & his family will spend almost a week with us. We're all really looking forward to the visit, we haven't seen them since last summer, the twins are 3 now and Gadge is 6! I know they'll all have fun out here, we're planning on trips to the zoo, water park, FairyTale Town, a baseball game, and maybe even Marine World! It'll be a busy but super fun visit.

School is going well for both Bryan and I - he got an A in his first class and an A- in his second class. I'm super proud of him, it's not easy to go back to school, and it's even harder to do it when you have little kids.

My class has been going ok so far - we're in week 3 so I have 1.5 weeks left (and then it's on to another class). I have 7 months left of school and then I'll have my credential and Masters. I'll be SO glad to be done. I'm tired of papers and would really love to read something that wasn't a text book. But I know that I'll eventually miss being in school, I love learning - and I even love writing paper (when the subject is interesting). So I know that at some point I'll be back in the classroom as a student, either working on a PhD or getting a second Masters. We'll see... I'm going to wait until the kids are in school (I think) :D

So I should really document a few things so I can look back when the kids are teenagers and remember how sweet they *used* to be :)

Griffin LOVES to smile at people.He also loves to "talk" and has such a manly little baby voice.

Penelope is wonderful at following directions. If I tell her to go to the nursery, she does. She puts her night-time bottle on the counter when she's finished, can grab her shoes and bring them to you, goes up to her crib and puts in her stuffed animals when it's nap-time, no longer cries for bed or nap-time, stays put when you tell her to (which is wonderful when I;m trying to load or unload both kids from the car), picks up her toys, helps feed the dog, and does 1,000 other things I can't remember right now. She's such a good listener and a sweet baby...she loves to swing, dance, and will hand you the remote control and ask for Sesame Street (yeah, I know, but we never claimed to be perfect parents).

Just a few seconds

Class started yesterday (for me) and it's quickly becoming the straw that broke the camel's back. So I think I'm going to have to give up housework in order to keep my sanity (haha, like I've done housework since G was born - not).

But while I have a few seconds I thought I would give a quick update.

Penelope started gymnastics today. She had fun leading my Dad around (he comes with us so I can nurse G while P plays) and ended up taking a 3 hour nap that afternoon so I've decided that gymnastics is the best thing EVER. She refused to do half of the activities, but it takes her awhile to warm up to new places so in a couple of classes I'm sure she'll be all over the place.

We're going to get her into swim lessons this summer so that will be fun.

We're thinking about switching G to a goats milk based formula (I'd make it myself) but will try chiropractic work to see if that helps resolve his bowl issues before we switch again. Luckily we have some wonderful mamas who are donating more breastmilk which helps reduce the amount of formula he gets. We're so luck to have such generous friends!!!

Darn, it already almost 10. Sleep trumps the desire to update so I'm going to go to bed. I have 3.3 of my 4 assignments done for the week, but that last .7 of that 4th assignment will be writing intensive... and the rest of this class will be writing heavy as well, so it may be awhile before I have the time or energy to update. This makes me a little sad since I use this blog as a baby-book of sorts.

I'll try to squeeze in a post here or there to keep everyone updated on how the munchkins are doing...

Hoping to get in a post before the babies wake up

I have no idea what to talk about. I had an entire post composed in my head early this morning when Griffin was awake and refusing to go back to sleep (he was up for about 3 hours between 2-5am). It was an awesome post, wonderfully written, hilarious, witty... and a dozen other super flattering adjectives. Of course, I was half asleep and exhausted, so it's quite possible that my perception of the post would not have matched its reality. Nah, it would have been legendary.

Penny's new trick is to hand you the remote and demand that you turn on Sesame Street... she can get to the OnDemand menu on her own, but can't get it to the Sprout/Sesame Street channel without assistance. She'll even ask you "please" before she throws a colossal tantrum when you either 1) refuse to oblige or 2) don't turn it on fast enough. It's super awesome (/s).

And can I say that teething sucks donkey tail? Because it does. Her 2 year molars are coming in, but they're taking their sweet-ass time. I hope Griffin holds out on teething for awhile.

Speaking of the G-man, he's doing well. Breastfeeding is what it is - and I don't really want to go into it anymore (talking about it that is, we're still nursing as much as we can). The whole thing is alternately disappointing, frustrating, and pleasant. So there's a wide range there. I will note that we had three nights in a row of all-nursing, so that was nice. We still have to give him 16-20oz a day in supplement, so we're nowhere near where I wanted to be, but you really can't always get what you want.

G is getting stronger, I can't wait until we can put him in the Bumpo. He's also getting onto a pseudo-schedule which makes it slightly easier to take him and the P-monster out and about. Which is good since Pen starts gymnastics in a week, we have moms group, music class, and park play dates to attend. Getting out helps ensure a good afternoon nap for Pen, keeps mommy sane, gives daddy a chance to have uninterrupted work time, and makes the day pass by much more quickly.

Classes start up again in June (for me, B's been taking classes since April) and I have 4 more before I'm finished with coursework. I have student teaching this Fall and that's going to be a challenge for all of us. I'll be on a high school campus all day and we'll need to figure out childcare. Bryan will be working from home, but if he has to watch the kids he'll never be able to get anything done. We have awhile to figure it out - school doesn't start until August... so we'll see what happens.

I'll be so glad when this is all over and I have my credential and degree... then I can take a break and teach for a few years before I go back to school again for my doctorate. I'm determined to get my PhD.

What else?

Ummmm....

Yeah, can't think of anything. I'll try and post again Monday afternoon - Pen has her Ped appt then.

I really should be doing homework

Today was spent sewing diapers - and Sarah and I made a lot of progress. Although we still have a lot more to do. It's a little overwhelming, but we'll get there. Once we're done we'll probably do something silly like decide to make a bunch more to sell :)

I received some rather annoying news today regarding my wrongful termination claim, but since it was based on blatant lies I'm not going to stress myself out. Whatever happens, happens. I have facts & truth on my side so regardless of the final outcome I can sleep knowing that I did everything I could to stand up for myself.

I really should be finishing this paper... it's due Sunday. I only have a few more paragraphs to write, but I'm finding it hard to motivate myself. If I finish it then I'm done with homework until next week - which would be nice. It would free up tomorrow for focusing on nothing but sewing and it would mean that Sunday the three of us could have a family day without me worrying about writing. So I guess there is plenty of motivation for me to finish...

Should really get to that paper.

Like now.

Really should.

This is an actual assignment

This is one of my assignments for the week. Try not to laugh.

*Describe your philosophy and values for creating and maintaining a positive learning environment; consider the role of the teacher, students, school administrators, district policies, ethical, and professional behaviors.
*Create rules, procedures, routines, and consequences for establishing and maintaining a positive learning enviornemnt

I also have to get this evaluated by 2 professional educators and the reflect about the whole thing.

I'm going to need a bucket to throw up in by the time I'm done. This is the most ridiculous assignment I have EVER done in college. Seriously, and one class at Sac State required me to draw my interpretation of Chinese mythology. This is even sillier than that assignment.

Why? For many reasons, one of which is that schools set the vast majority of classroom rules - a teacher gets a certain amount of flexibility - but if a school has a certain classroom policy then I'm bound to abide by it. So why in the name of all that is holy am I wasting my time creating this crap on my own???

And my philosophy on classroom management? Sweet Jebus I just threw up in my mouth a little. Ridiculous I say. Utterly.

I feel like complaining about the idiocy of this assignment, but I have no idea to whom. Oh well. I will invent a bunch of BS and pass it off as a thoughtful assignment. I'm ready to be DONE with my classes. DONE.

I have Penelope-related posts, those will come soon I promise.

I should be doing homework

So I have to write a unit lesson plan and I have a paper due by Saturday. I should be doing those things... obviously I'm not. Although I think I'm going to take a lesson plan for my last class (revolving around the novel The Death of Ivan Ilyich) and expand that into an entire unit. It shouldn't be too hard to do. So I have the groundwork done, but have to get into the specifics for this assignment.

I am SO DONE with school. Unfortunately school isn't quite so done with me. I will preserver however, especially after my Uncle Wes' memorial service. We were all reminded that day how much my Uncle prized education (he was a high school Principal) and so my Master's Degree will be dedicated to the memory of Uncle Wes. I'll probably even make the trek down to San Diego for my graduation ceremony (I didn't walk when I got my BA, which disappointed my mother). My ultimate goal is to get my PhD, but I have to wait until the kids are in school before I do that. I can work as a teacher for 6 years and then go back... and then I can be one of those tweed wearing super liberal college professors - only I don't really love tweed.

Speaking of Uncle Wes, the memorial was Sunday and like I noted on Facebook - I really enjoyed spending time with my family, even though the occasion was a sad one. The memorial and the reception afterward were very cathartic, at least for me. I hope that others felt the same. In a lot of ways it reminded me of my Grandpa Vern's memorial, Uncle Wes and Grandpa Vern went to the same high school (Uncle Wes' brother, my Grandpa Larry, was my Grandpa Vern's best friend in high school... in fact, my Grandpa Vern ended up marrying Grandpa's Larry's cousin, my Grandma Ruth. The story is long and involved, but very, very interesting).

Anyway, Wes has grandchildren who were the same age as I was when Grandpa Vern passed - and it brought back a lot of memories about how I felt when Grandpa died. It sucks having someone you love pass away, but quite frankly it sucks even more when you're a preteen/teenager. In my opinion, the most difficult time to loose a loved one is between the ages of 12 & 17. I think it's because at that age you're old enough to understand what's going on, but not yet old enough to be able to process things like an adult... maybe it's puberty that does it. Maybe it's emotional maturity - heck, it could even be brain development. Whatever it is, my Grandfather's death when I was 12 hit me much, much harder than the death of any subsequent loved one. Of course, I'm basing my opinions off of my own personal experience - so I could be totally and completely wrong about the whole 12-17 thing.

Ok, that was quite the tangent... to get back on track: the memorial. I cried, but I also laughed - it's hard not to when hearing stories of Uncle Wes' shenanigans, the man had fun and got into trouble (and had fun getting into trouble). He was very smart, very loud, very opinionated, and very well loved. The high school gym was overflowing with people - and there were still more who couldn't make it that day.

Penelope did pretty well for being 10 1/2 months. Bryan took her out near the end to walk around, but I was proud of her. She thought that the loudspeaker was hilarious and would laugh almost every time a voice would be projected out of it, she would also laugh when we would laugh at one of Uncle Wes' "Wes-isms" (my favorite being: Are you working at being a smart ass, or is it a natural talent?). She didn't get the joke, but she just wanted to laugh along with the crowd, Uncle Wes probably would have found it incredibly amusing.

I am sad that Penny never got to meet him - she would have LOVED him. She'll never get to meet a lot of really wonderful people... but such is life.

Bye Bye!

Penelope waved goodbye for the first time today! And then refused to repeat it for the rest of the day.

She's also been Super-Fuss lately - I'm pretty sure I jinxed us with my last blog post.

I got 100% in July's class - so I have a 4.0 so far (5 classes). I wasn't planning on making that my goal (my goal was a 3.5) but now that I have a 4.0 I really, really want to keep it. Only the classes are actually starting to get challenging, and I don't know if changing GPA goals will be beneficial to my sanity in the long run. After all, I have an 8 month old, will be back to nannying soon, and enjoy spending time with my husband.

Speaking of this class, I have to teach an actual lesson... only schools aren't currently in session. So I have to wrangle up 3-5 high schoolers and force them to come to my makeshift "school" so I can videotape it for my assignment.