Overcomers

Here is another start to a blog bragging about how much I love my job.  Sorry, but I'm not sorry about it and I never will be.

My kids are simply amazing.  That's all there is to it.  They have learned to do some of the same things gen. ed. kids do, but the process looks different, and it's taken longer to master.  Many of them have outlived life expectencies and keep right on growing and thriving.  Every day is truly a gift for many of my kids.  It is my job to push them to make sure that tomorrow is even a bigger gift and they can do more with it.

Our program has gone through many changes in the last few year.  Many happened before I came.  I was the 4th teacher to come in 3 years.  For you Potter fans, I like to compare it to the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts that was open every year.  BUT  I've made it to year two and I'm staying!  Stacy is the 5th to come into our program.  When Cindy and Ann came, there was a lot of learning for them and a growth in the program that occurred.  There was more growth last year for both staff and students.  Many teachers commented how different the program was looking and how glad they were to see our kids more.  This year has been HUGE!  Stacy and have split up our teaching time so that we are able to get out to gen. ed. when are kids are there to help their paras.  I am blown away everyday by how much they are learning, growing, and interacting with their classmates.

My kids are overcoming many odds and it is unbelievable some days what is happening in our room.  Some of my kids are independently subtracting, three are reading Dolch words and getting them mastered, and all but two are reading either words or whole books.  This is just academics!  That's not even mentioning one of my student's attention span more that doubling, or my student who is blind being able to zip his coat, or one of my girls being able to stay awake for almost the entire day when she used to take multiple naps, or one starting to talk when he only whimpered last year.  These kids are hilarious and their grins get me every time.  Sometimes they even know when you need a snuggle and plop themselves in your lap or lead you to the rocking chair.

Truly, I will never get tired of talking about my kiddos, my little overcomers.

The Newlywed Pressure

6 months before we got married...we weren't even engaged, but I had babies on my brain!  I was convinced I wanted to wait a couple of months and then we would start trying.  The closer we got to the big day, the hotter my baby fever raged.  We had talked and decided we would wait about 6 months before we started trying.  Then some other big exciting things started happening, I got a new co-teacher, and started my second year of teaching.  Pretty early in the school year, I discussed with Dustin that I didn't want to start trying this school year.  My ladies are vocal about us waiting a while so we get to know each other, and this definitely appeased them to know we weren't going to purposely get pregnant this school year.

I just wanted to have a 'normal school year' where I wouldn't be planning a wedding, doing interviews for new co-teachers, or moving.  I just wanted to have a 'normal school year' where I'm teaching and continuing to understand and grow in my role as a wife.

Stacy and I have joked and seriously talked about when we are both 'planning' on getting pregnant.  We both realize God is in total control, but as teachers, and as co-teachers, we do have to think about these things!  :)  Neither one of us want to be pregnant at the same time with due dates being the same!

I've talked to Whit a lot lately about the pressure that is on.  She is feeling it where she works.  I'm glad my work is not bad at all!

But these past few months, I've grown in contentment.  I love our little family of me, him, and Bonnie.  I didn't expect to feel this contentment for this long, I thought my baby fever would continue to rage until I had a baby to hold in my arms.  Now, don't get me wrong, it flares up every now and again.

Having Bonnie in the house has been a new experience.  I have not had any bathroom time interrupted before.  Bonnie walks in and seems to question why I am there instead of the other way around.  She even thinks she needs to hang out in the bathroom during my showers.  When I get ready in the morning, she's on the counter meowing at me.  She begs for food all the time while I'm cooking, and always has to drink out of my water.  Many times, she thinks I'm not giving her enough attention, so she has to try to interrupt whatever I'm working on.

I think that having Bonnie around will suffice my baby fever for a little while yet!  :)

That Overused Word...BUSY

I feel like the term, 'I'm busy,' is the motto for adulthood.  I have been saying  it so much lately, and I have been putting off writing a blog for weeks!  I didn't post at all in October!  It is so crazy just how fast it went, but October was full and fun!

My kiddos at work keep me on my toes and I couldn't love my job any more than I do.  I am a practical zombie when I leave work so tired that I maybe only sing to one song the whole way home.  Stacy and I have been trying a new tactic to teach an equal amount and see all of our kids in their gen. ed. classrooms.  One week, I do all the teaching and she does all the observing and modifying as needed in gen. ed.  Then we switch.  It's been a strange, but good change with many benefits for all.  It's such a change in gears to go from teaching all day, to being on the other side and seeing what can be done for our students to get the most out of their gen. ed. time.

Some days are more draining and frustrating than others with a certain students' behaviors.  The baffling thing to us is how fast he can switch his emotions sometimes.  One day was rough for quite a long time and then at recess he finally came around.  At first he was grumping, we had ran some laps much to his dismay, and then a football came out, and slowly him and another student started running around, tackling one of my ladies and doing touchdown dances.  The laughter ringing around the playground that afternoon is something I will never forget.  My room is famous for bad dance moves, and I'm proud of it!

I've said it to the parents during conferences, to my principal, to my husband, to my friends, and practically everyone I talk to about my job; I can't believe I'm teaching the same kids!  They have truly come so far since May!  I have kids talking that didn't last year, adding when they hardly knew their numbers last year, writing when they didn't even hold a pencil correctly, and staying awake when I only saw them asleep in preschool.  I am the luckiest teacher to be able to have my kids for so many years and to be able to see the progress that I see.

Dustin and I have been busy ourselves with plowing under the garden with prayers for a better year next year, cutting wood for the coming winter, and doing little fixings to the house little bit at a time.  We are looking forward to redoing the bathroom floor and counter top in the coming weeks.  He helped me hang everything in my sewing room after Whitney helped me paint it a beautiful blue.

 I ADORE my new space, and so does Bonnie Blue.  Dustin and I are pretty sure it's her favorite room in the house, and if we can't find her, that's the place we've been looking lately.  I'm still slowly adding my things to the house.  My snowglobes finally revealed themselves when I decorated my sewing room.  Things got a little hairy when I tried to put them in a hutch with some of his decorative plates, but we worked through it!  :)

Between work and home, I have been terrible about correspondence with even my closest friends and family members.  I swore that wouldn't happen to me, but that was before working late, and figuring out our work schedule, and being a wife and a responsible adult.  I haven't even talked to our neighbors in weeks!  I am ready for Christmas break so I can get some correspondence done and catch up on things around the house.  But for now, I'll keep sewing little by little at night and talk when I feel up to it on my way home from work.  I think the pattern of my snoring says, 'busy, busy, busy...'