so tired....

ok. so i made it. the first day of school is done. i had eleven (yes, thats right...only eleven) students show up for my homeroom this morning. second class....twelve students. third class...sixteen. folks, these are some seriously low numbers for a public school. you really can't get teacher-to-students ratios like this even in some of the BEST private schools in dallas.


of course, there is always a downside. as with every year....you have a couple of darlings who have been advanced to the next grade under questionable circumstances. which leads your coworkers to accost you at your break with statements like "how did this child get to my class? they can't read anything?" to which you reply...i did try to hold this kid back. or...well, you should see the one i failed. or...now that they are on meds...give them a chance... anyways, you get my drift. it was a long day...lots and lots of talking. lots and lots of practicing things like going to your locker quitely, or raising your hand and then waiting to be called on before telling me about how the sprinkles on your poptart melted this morning in the microwave. (i wish i was joking)


but, thats enough. but for sure i am stressed about those numbers. texas state law says we must stay at a 22-1 raito in the Pk-3 classrooms. so if someone decided to split my class up in to the other two sections (those teachers have more seniority than i) then you would have two homerooms of 20 students each. that is not good news for me. also not good, all the english gen. ed classes are low. only our bilingual classes are on the full side. that doesn't look good for me to stay at my school this year. i won't know anymore until levelling..sometime after sept. 3rd.


arg. cause, you know lots of pricipals are happy to inherit cast-off pregnant teachers!!!


oh, and here are some pics of my room before and after the two days of work in there!

before








and after....

watch for a milestone post tomorrow afternoon. little mama moves from her sitter (where she has been since 2mos old) to a pre-school for three days a week. did i mention i am stressed out????!!!??

not winnin' any awards tonight...

man. i. am. grumpy.

seriously.

just a grouch. could be because both my 3 and 1 year old have decided to say "no" to everything (with varying degrees of defiance) for the last three days. could be because i am a raging ball of hormones. could be because i have to go back to work (school) on monday. could be because i am extra-tired today. could be because...well, i think you get the picture.

i almost feel sorry for my kids. almost. had i not started to apologize and then heard "no" (just teasing!)

so i gave up the regimen tonight. not supermom right now. the kids are eating dinner, and the backyardigans are on. yup. that's right. tv on during mealtime. a habit we are not cultivating, and yet, it is working so well to keep them occupied...and the manners are good right now...i wonder why not? (i know....it's terrible)

and the boy has learned a new word. (he is actually learning a ton of words right now, but this one is extra-amusing!) he was getting his diaper changed..and i was talking with him about his socks, and his stinky pants...and then he grabbed his shirt and said....clear as day..."sh!t"

seriously. so i laughed. (oops) guess who has a new favorite word?

if you like pina colodas....

...and getting caught in the rain....

or as daddy so kindly put it (as the rain poured down and we were as far away from our house as we were going to get on this little walk) "gee, everyone say, great idea mama!"

to which i kindly replied "you are the one who noticed how dark it was getting, and did not stop us from going"

so we wound up walking most of the way home in the drenching rain. oh well. we'll dry. and it was nice and cool. and kinda funny...now that we are home and dry.

then again, its august, in texas...so we will take any rain, any time!

the end of summer....

...is sooo depressing.

husband says that he can't believe i chose to be a teacher. he remembers the week before he went back to school as the most depressing weeks of his life. as he says "it was over, and you knew it was over, and all you could do was wait for school to start" and now, he tells me i am crazy to have a job that brings on those feelings every year. and it does. until i am actually back at school...and then the craziness and the anticipation set in. so in a way, this week is depressing to me. it is the end of summer. end of playing in jammies all day. the end of sleeping in (even the boy sleeps till eight!). the end of big breakfasts and going for walks. the end of swimming all afternoon. and, the end of just doing nothing all afternoon. all of this is compounded by the need to wrap up loose ends before monday, so i can go back to work "ready" (whatever that means..but it is a really strong feeling!) things like school supply shopping for little mama's preschool. things like buying ballet shoes. and getting soccer cleats. stocking up on supplies...and easy to make foods...so i don't have to go anywhere afterschool...getting those last few things so i am ready to "put together" my classroom for the year. (which i am planning to post b4 and after pics)

so its a busy, expensive depressing week...but by monday morning, i will be over it. i will turn into a lesson-planning, bulletin-board making, poster-laminating, whirling dervish that will drive my family crazy until the second or third day of school. and then it's back to the grind...for nine more months.

been really busy!

sorry i have been negligent....again. its really easy to remember to blog during the school year, since i have some time to myself in between school and picking up the kids. but during the summer, there aren't as many breaks! actually....no breaks, really. ok, i do get tuesday off from the kids, but little mama has managed to be sick the last two tuesdays... (i know, whine, whine, whine!)

anyways, here is what has been happening

first off, i wasn't kidding about the pool we've been hanging out in....was i?

and then, our much-loved uncle r came in to visit us, and we had a great time. had all the family over one night...and an uncle over the next, but it was a lot of fun. the kids had a great time getting to know uncle r. and little mama was quite confused by giving up her room. she kept asking me "r dosen't have a house?" and "what happened to r's house?" i tried showing her on a map that the house was far, far away, but that didn't help much. i guess that's a little above her level now, huh?

and, in the midst of all those things, we also decided to learn to roller skate in the driveway (had to wait until almost 9 pm for the weather to cool off...you know, a moderate 95 degrees) and, for whatever reason, the kids decided that it was a great time to get out the hot, full body, dinosaur costumes from halloween. so they wore those for the better part of a day.

who knows? and, little mama has been sick....first with strep throat, and then yesterday, a stomach virus. thankfully, it was a 24hr bug. but you know me....my first thought goes to...OMG she has CRYPTO. which, of course, she doesn't. cause she is fine today. but that is some crazy, scary junk. and icky...the more you think about transmission and stuff...which i am done thinking about .

oh, and also, now that everyone i can think of knows...we are expecting our third child this winter! woo-hoo (?) no, really, i am excited. and i did always want three. but after finding out that we were going to have the third, i experienced several days of "what was i thinking?" as my children behaved in such a way that i didn't know if i wanted to keep them, much less add to the chaos. but things are leveling out again, and i (and the family) are adjusting to the idea. i am not sure where we will physically put this baby when it comes (in our room at first, but eventually, it will have to share a room), and the idea of trying to get three people and myself ready to leave the house...and, for anyone that knows the boy...trying to nurse a baby with that child around...well, i guess things will just have to work themselves out. and the boy will have to be a better listener.

and we aren't finding out what the sex of the baby is this time. we have plenty of junk for either gender. but if you have name suggestions, i would love to hear them...since i had the worst time naming both little mama and the boy...and i knew what gender they would both be! now i have to choose a name for each! ack! so please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.

and no, i am still not considering either ronald or veronica! (hahahaha)