Sassy Pants

Jack is a sassy pants :) He was being naughty the other day so the following conversation followed....

I said "Jack-O you need to stop sassin' momma right now"

he replied, "Momma you need to stop sassin' Jack-O"

I said, "What" (with a very stern look in my eye)

Jack responded, "Oh so sorry momma, I didn't mean to, it just came out" I had to bite my lip very hard not to chuckle at that one!

point a, b, c, d and e

i can get so crabby with one thing (call it point a) and it totally smashes its way into all other areas of my life (points b, c, d, e, etc)....and i struggle because all of the sudden i am crabby with point b and i can't figure out why...if only i could realize that i was upset with point a and transferred that feeling to point b (or c or d or e...). i need to figure out how to connect my dots, and then communicate that with myself. how is it that i can teach others how to connect their dots but not connect my own?

confused? that's okay, that's how i felt today :)

Fall Fun

Day at the Orchard
Left to Right:
Jack Goat, Aunt Sarah Sheet, Grandma Horse, Uncle Aaron Cow and Momma Pig
(Daddy taking the picture; Grandpa Tractor out of town)


We spent a day at this great orchard! They had a wagon ride to get out to the apples, wonderful apples, a HUGE petting zoo, bakery, ice cream parlor, etc. It was a lot of fun! We spent just an hour or so because it was around lunch time and the boys were hungry for "real food" not just apples! Next year we will have to plan a bit better so we can spend more time! We headed into the booming metropolis of Stanton for lunch :)

Wondering if I am too detailed....

so it is a Saturday night....just before 9:30 and i have been working on grad school homework for just over an hour. i worked for about an hour earlier today on the same assignment--a GROUP project where we are creating a manual on c0-teaching. basically we are the administrator in a psuedo district and we would use this manual to explain co-teaching, what it looks like in our district, a calendar of how it will be implemented, what the roles of educators/administrators will be etc. during my time today and a bit last night, i created over 12 documents and i am wondering if am too detailed....well not really wondering that :) i know how detailed i am :) I want it ready to go so when i am a special education director, i have a completed project and can implement co-teaching successfully....what i am really wondering is if my group knows how crazy and detailed i am...i hate relying on others and hope they are detailed as well..... group work makes me nervous! i like that control piece that group work forces me to let go of.....

The Season of Change

so it seems like school has been back in session forever....in a good way and in a sort of "i miss my boys" way. we are now into the middle of september and i have not posted since labor day so let me give you the lo-down....

--day 1 of Sparta MS and HS went well. i have great colleagues and students. it has been stressful, however, for me to find a rhythm...we all know how much i like my routine...and dislike the season of change:)

--our boys like daycare. jack found his rhythm pretty quickly and lukie is finally finding his way. he gave brenda quite a few "hairy" days where he cried a lot missing his momma.

--i have started my grad school class. i have a "three year" extension on my michigan provisional license...that means i have three years to get 18 credits...however, my goal is to get my master's before that time period is up, not just the 18 credits. i am signed up to earn a master's in special education administration. i am only taking 3 credits this fall because of stinkin' out of state tuition...starting in december i can take more with in state tuition

--softball ended for josh. his team played a great season but did not do playoffs so great. he had fun

--the boys play more together...and not just next to each other. lukie has sure learned how to push jack's buttons!

--unfortunately for josh, hockey is not the most popular sport in our area. for him to play, he will (would) have to drive at least 45 minutes each direction and play LATE at night. the league he found (so far) plays at 10 pm sundays...not ideal time considering he would play 90 minutes and then have to drive home. he really wants to play but the worrier in me may win out.


--we spend a lot of time with our awesome neighbors! kaden, sam and chloe love to play with our boys. their parents, scott and shannon, are loads of fun. we are so fortunate to have them around.

--we are looking forward to time with vickie and gordon this fall. they are heading up to see us and carve pumpkins! we have an awesome "pumpkin" lady near by that sells them for next to nothing. i have already gotten some cute decorations there!

--lukie is finally walking and thinks he is really cool. he toddles around everywhere...but mostly to bother his brother


--we have gotten some awesome quality time with our family. we see josh's mom, dad, sister and brother in law quite often as they only live 10 minutes or so away. we even had an impromptu family pizza night saturday and played scattegories. we also get to see my family, even though they are a bit farther away. my sister had a great bbq on sunday and we drove the 30 minutes to hang out for the entire day. my parents (a bit over an hour away) came down as well. we are planning a weekend soon that we will have them down to stay and play :) being that all of our family are the reason we moved back to michigan, this is the best part of our life. we love to see jack and luke comfortable with them and want to be with them. it is just awesome to see luke recognize his grandmas and grandpas and actually want them to play with him!




jack boyer says hgfnhhgbvfathjkl;liy7889=-jmhjuu89i

Fun but Long Weekend

Labor day weekend is always a nice way to end summer--time to play and pretend that school is not starting around the corner. Being that we are no longer in MN (where we always hung out with friends over the weekend), we had time to spare :) We spent the weekend relaxing and playing games with Josh's family. His aunt, uncle, cousin and "cousin in law" came from Missouri for the long weekend! It was great but I am now EXHAUSTED!

We also spent the greater part of the morning cleaning our garage....yeah I know you are thinking how could someone who just moved in already have the need to clean out their garage....but if you know me...you can figure it out :) Josh and I had not parked in the garage ALL summer and he decided it was high time to get the kids' toys under control (and my school junk...that will be stored until I get a full time job with ONE classroom). I am pleased to way, that even with the purchase of a new riding lawn mower that is stored in the garage, we are able to tightly fit both vehicles in the garage!

Off to do a bit of school work now and perhaps get a page or two scrapped.... :)

A few tears today

I could tell how tired and emotional I was (am) today (probably due to a long weekend and school starting up tomorrow) when I burst into tears. I check my email and found out that I was accepted as a Smart Exemplary Educator. For those of you that are not familiar with Smart, I had been using a Smart Board in Goodhue for the past two years. It is an interactive whiteboard that allows you to teach ALL kinds of learners in a very hands on/Kinesthetic way. I enjoyed using my Smart Board a lot but was disappointed when I could only find lessons geared towards general education. There were no lessons for special educators. Because of this, I created and submitted a lesson to Smart so I could be considered for the Smart exemplary educator program. I just heard today that I was accepted (after many many many months) and am so proud but....also burst into tears. Because I am no longer at Goodhue, I no longer have a smartboard to utilize. I am still proud but just dissappointed!