Friday, August 21, 2009

Ch..Ch..Ch..Ch..Changes

Well, we've finished our first week! Owen did so well at daycare; he's eating his cereal like a big boy, he's jumping around in the Jumparoo (just like Emily did), and he's all smiles! His naps are still very short, but he's adjusting, so hopefully they'll lengthen as he gets used to napping with other kids around. Emily fell right back into her old routine and is having an amazing time. She's playing with her friends, and we have many art projects that get brought home. The best part of the week, though, is that I absolutely love my new job! I have to get up at 4:00 in the morning to get there on time, and I still don't mind :) And anyone who knows me knows that's a huge deal. I get there 15 - 20 minutes early, and I'm excited to start my day. I'm exhausted at night since I haven't had to work all day then come home to play with kids for awhile, but I'm happy.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Cousins!

At the end of July, my sister-in-law unexpectedly came back to the area with my niece and nephew. Although the reason for her visit wasn't a pleasant one, it was so nice to see the kids get to play together. I also got to meet my new nephew for the first time.

Emily loves Isabelle. Isabelle is almost exactly a year older than Emily, so everything she does, Em tries to imitate. They were so funny together...they'd chase each other and laugh and shriek and giggle.


Mom and I took the girls into the pool, and again, when Emily saw Isabelle jumping in, she wanted to do it too. We got a workout though; both girls made us jump repeatedly up and down in the water while holding them. Our legs were a bit sore the next day :)
The boys don't play together yet, obviously, but they did have fun looking at each other! Schuyler is so tiny next to Owen...it's tough to believe that just a couple of months ago, my little guy was that small!
And here's one of all 4 of them. I hope that my brother and sister-in-law will find time to come visit more...I love when the kids can play together. And now that I know Jen is superwoman (driving the entire way from Indiana by herself with two kids), I expect to see them more :)

Friday, August 7, 2009

Movin' On Up...

...at least for a year! This week has been crazy, but it's ended with me having a position as a guidance counselor for the 2009/2010 school year! I'm still going to be at South Western; one of our counselors is taking a maternity leave next year. I had applied for the position but had little hope. I figured they wouldn't consider me since it would mean finding an English teacher to take my spot. So, I applied to other schools. Lots of them. Unfortunately, my experience means I'm expensive, so I wasn't hearing from any of them. Then, I suddenly had two interviews scheduled for the same day last week...one at South Western, and one at Red Lion Jr. High School. The Red Lion position was a permanent position, but I wasn't sure about doing 7th and 8th grade. Still, I went into both interviews hoping for the best.

South Western scheduled a 2nd interview for this past Wednesday. Meanwhile, I learned from my assistant superintendent that Red Lion had called checking references, and she thought they sounded very interested. Now I had a new dilemma...if both offered the job, which would I take? I thought at first I'd take the Red Lion position - it was permanent. But, I liked the idea of being at the school where I knew everyone, plus it was high school. In the end, I called Red Lion before my second interview at SWHS, and I was told that it was basically my salary that was holding up the offer. I did my interview, and within 45 minutes I had a call from my principal. I talked to Dan, dad, and mom, trying to sort out what to do. The next morning I accepted the position at South Western. I feel good about it, although of course the next day (today) Red Lion called with their offer. Still, I'm excited to get the experience, and a little part of me hopes the girl I'm going in for likes staying home so much, she chooses to stay home permanently :)

The only thing that doesn't have me excited is that I have to leave Owen after next week. I'm finding it harder than I thought to think of him in daycare. I like the teachers in the infant room, I know he'll be well taken care of. But he's my baby, and according to Dan (and I mostly agree), he's our last, so it's tough to know that he's not my newborn little baby anymore.