A Balancing Act

Happy Labor Day Weekend, I know I need it. It has been a big month and I've reached the halfway marker (I hope) of my traveling. On the whole I'm feeling good and confident about my travels and work life. However, it has thrown my life balance off. I knew going into this that it wold be a challenging start to the school year, and so far it's holding true. It's just a lot of work for one person to do. So, it's my Fall goal to put those two worlds in harmony once more. 

How will I do that?! Well, I've top-loaded my year with traveling specifically to get it out of the way in one go. I'm killing several birds by hosting conferences rather than visiting each individual school and doing my best to set up a network of collaboration, thereby spreading a little of the responsibility to others. It's a start.

So what's on the Fall Fun Family agenda? Lots! The Annual Art Prize brunch, hooray! A trip with Jon to NYC for a long weeding weekend, awesome! Picking apples at Klackle, yum. Plenty of Michigan football games, go blue! Coffee dates with friends, love me some coffee. Watching HP play in a YMCA sport-sampler league of 3-5 year-olds, hehe. Putting on my favorite boots. Pumpkin spice lattes and crispy evening walks. Delicious.

HP saw his first movie in the theater :)

A Roadtrip, solo

Hello from Indianapolis, IN! I'm parked right in the heart of the city about to go into a New Directors meeting. This is State number 3 that I've visited this week. I look forward to rounding the corner to my own little house tonight.

Last year, my first in my current role, I hopped sporadically from school to school and state to state. This year I'm holding Regional Conferences for my schools, and so far its been successful! Now with NC and OH down I'm heading into 3 regional meetings across Michigan. It should be both awesome and rough. But yes, a whole lot better than travelling here and there like last year.

Some takeaways- I really do like Dayton, OH. If you haven't been it really is worth a drive through :) Indy's downtown mall has to be one of my favorites. And NC provided some actual Summer heat (much needed). But nobody likes the drive from Indy to Grand Rapids. Long, flat and boring. Blerg.

On the home front Jon was awarded an employee of the month-type award! Yay! I know he deserves it. And especially with me being gone so often these next 2 months I'm sure he'll win the best parent award too :)

HP actually sat through his first big boy haircut with Jon! I would have loved to see that :) Over these past years he has always gotten haircuts from his babysitter, Cindy, and myself. Cindy does it way better than me. Of course there was the time Jon tried his hand at it to.....best not to mention.

Also on the HP-front, he is participating in his very first field trip with his class today! I kick myself for not being able to chaperon :( I wish I could see him play with his buddies and enjoy a picnic lunch at the park. Sweet boy :)

A Room with a View

Today I am very content with just sitting in front of the tv and listening to The Voice, no need to get out of this hotel. I am tired. And sad. There is just nothing worse than hearing about such tragedies like today's Boston marathon. Its hard to get out of my head :(.

I wish Jon and HP could've accompanied me on this trip to Cincinati. I was really surprised what I found here. It's pretty! Even if it is in Ohio...

See, sweet HP would have done backflips for this awesome train in a giant outlet mall!

Trees in bloom :)



So, I'll be here until I have to get up tomorrow for round 2. Three more schools!

A New York State of Mind

This week I was able to re-live the good old days in NYC. I flew into the city bright and early on Monday after saying goodbye to little sister who was flying out of GR too, but in the opposite direction. Up until the moment I touched down in LaGuardia I hadn't made up my mind how I would travel around to all 4 of my schools. I decided quickly enough as I surveyed the tangle of traffic and made my way directly to the taxi line (briefly thinking about standing in line for the M60 bus- but in the end decided to leave Ms. Cheap behind).

I hopped off the taxi 40$ later at 81st and Columbus, right by Central Park and the Museum of Natural History. The hotel let me check in really early and I decided to leisurely make my way toward Brooklyn for my first and only school visit of the day. 3 hours later not only was I decidedly late, my feet were about ready to fall off. Yes I know my way around Manhattan on the subway but Brooklyn? The answer I found out was no. A big no.

Because I could not justify cabbing to every spot I bought a Metro pass. Jon loaded my phone with a great subway app and I navigated (very poorly) to my destinations. Despite my lack of navigational skills I was stopped twice by tourists asking for help finding their way. On top of that I was chatted up by a man on the train about charging my phone (which I had to plug into my laptop- I know, it felt ridiculous). Who says NY is not friendly?

As luck would have it, most of my coordinators forgot I was coming so they didn't even know I was late. Small miracles.

The best part of the trip was seeing my friends from Teaching Fellows :) We all started out (6 years ago?) as newby teachers, all without a placement! Good times. Yummy dinner and catch up conversation capped off my nights.

The best example of an ELL classroom I've seen in NY

A favorite thai food stop on the UWS

This guy always reminds me of Jon- we loved finding them all over 14th street subway

 

 

Hehe

Well, in true Laura fashion, I took only 8 pictures over 3 almost 80 degree beautiful days. I am just really bad with documenting things! I guess you'll have to take my word for it, I had a great time :)

Jet setter (sort of)

I am on my first buisness trip that involved real travel (I guess I don't really count the driving trips?). But anyway, here I am in the huge city of Dallas. It's a blustery day but still really humid, maybe 60 degrees, a welcomed change from the snowy Grand Rapids tundra I left on Wednesday. I came here for a TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) Conference. It's an international organization so the draw is enormous. I couldn't tell you how many people are here by the number but it feels like I see them everywhere I've gone in this city.

I have this giant handbook they gave in our goody bag, outlining the 4 day conference in detail. In true teacher fashion I have circled and tabbed all the events and sessions I find interesting. As I was circling 'A Whole School Approach to Integrating K-12 English Language Learners' I kind of had a realization that this is quite a specialized field. And also, I am surrounded by a world of people all similarily interested in this particular corner of the educational world.

So, that being said, it's not likely that detailing these sessions here would be very interesting for many, so let's just say that on the whole the sessions have been really intetresting and engaging, along with one complete snooze fest.

I have 2 days left here to soak up some Dallas eats and sights. So far my eats are doing well, my sights not so much.

My view as I write this

I can tell you that I have enjoyed some delicious food yesterday, but you will not see any pictured evidence of it. Mainly due to the fact I have a secret annoyance of food pictures. Not truly the pictures themselves, but rather the act of taking the food pictures. While sitting at a lovely restaurant I do not want to pull out the phone regardless of how incognito I can be to snap a picture. I just can't do it. So use your imagination and know I ate like a queen.

Let me leave you with a list of things I've seen/learned/enjoyed/hated-
- I brought my reusable coffee mug (on my list of things to do this year was to use less disposable cups) and brought it to a Starbucks for a Skinny Cinnamon Dulce lattee, yum. The girl proceeded to write up my order on a paper cup saying she didn't have stickers to write the order. I got my drink in a paper cup sitting in my cup. Ridic!
-Upon arriving in Dallas, my hotel told me the only hot food around was McDonalds. What!? I spent a hungry night with chips and a cliff bar from 7-11.
-I discovered Yelp with the help of Jon, they led me to 3 wonderful food destinations
-I am so thankful for my gps on the Iphone. Period.
-Dallas has a parking structure on every block, it's like a giant parking lot.
-I got to wear a sleeveless shirt for 20 minutes at lunch basking in the sun before the clouds came back
-If I had to move to Dallas it would be to Highland Park. Lovely!
-I should have brought some flats, my feet are blistered like no ones buisness 

Hello...it's me Laura

I spoke about my little long lost blog yesterday and thought...why have I neglected it! Well, short answer is I've drained my creative and blogging reserves on a different project; my work blog. It's hard to love both of them equally, and although I can and am more candid and less like a suit here on this one, I find myself updating work once a week.

Bad and sad excuse. However, maybe the mood will strike like it did today and I'll pick up this worn out mac book to sit and reflect about me and my life, as opposed to my ever increasing work life. Which I love, don't get me wrong.

I am anticipating more me time as March moves along. Next week is the first week of travel-Laura. I'm headed over to the Detroit area for "work". Even though I'm eager to explain what it is I actually do, I think I'll just leave it ambiguous as I don't want to talk about it here, at least not a whole bunch. So, "work" brings me over near my Alma mater once again for 3 whole days. Me, a rental car and a 2 night stay at a hotel. That'll either be a relaxing me-cation or....well, not.

The week after that finds me in the great state of Texas for 3 days for more "work". I haven't been to Texas since....forever. I have memories of passing through it in my family's big brown van on our epic trip to Mexico. It was hot, and we were bored.

In April I get to re-live my glory days in NYC. I am so very excited about that, even though most (all) my actual work is located in Brooklyn and Queens you can bet I'll be staying in Manhattan. I'm already planning on visiting my favorite eats (if they haven't closed shop in the last 4 years!) and meeting up with my girls from the days of Teaching Fellows :)

And also I'm going to Ohio. Eh...

So. There it is. 2 months of tripping and surely I'll have to work on finding things to do in new cities by myself. Any suggestions welcomed :)

Good Tidings

So much has happened around here this last month. All of it good! HP got to spend a lot of quality time with his cousins and aunties from the west coast. He greeted Katie who returned from Yellowstone by giving her the name Keke. I was offered a new job! Which I happily accepted and will begin this coming week. We're all feeling pretty happy around here :)

Harrison and I posing for a pre-Trick or Treating picture. He (or rather his daddy) chose to be Buzz Lightyear.

I said goodbye to my little friends at my charter school a week ago. I am starting a new job at the corporate headquarters this coming Monday. Eeek.

One thing I have to figure out, and fast, is what to wear! For the first time in 6 years I don't have to do calisthenics in front of a mirror to make sure my outfit is school appropriate while sitting, standing, bending and sitting on the floor.

I am already sad to think I wont see my normal groups on Monday morning.

My pride and joy, my bulletin board!

My sweet boy. 

Hello, Goodbye

Opposite events occurred these past two days that have left my mind in a twist. A very happy thing; a birth A very sad thing; a death. Both such pivotal moments for the friends and family for each. One with only happy thoughts, as well they should be. The other with a wealth of thoughts ranging from the happiest to the saddest.

Whenever a friend has a baby I seem to remember the very best parts of having a newborn. I mean, exclusively. You just don't think about all the hard adjusting that comes along with that cute bundle. And I guess that's probably how people end up having more than one. Of course, now that I'm in the full-swing of having a 2.3 year-old I'm wondering if we'll ever sign up for another...:)

That is the good side of the spectrum. Then comes the very opposite of birth. Saying goodbye. I don't have the right word to describe her connection to me. Co-worker is too removed, aquaintance too cold, close friends we never were, but I think she'd be comfortable with me naming her as friend and ally in the classroom.

I've only ever called her by her last name. She witnessed my inaugural year of teaching in NYC. She tried to help me as best she could. She threated her class with dire warnings whenever they came to me for Social Studies lessons, and she helped me feel like I wasn't the only one who had gotten emotionally trampled their first year. Although she had plenty of first-hand stories to share about her many unbelievable incidents, I still couldn't believe them. Because who would, or could ever disrespect a teacher personality such as hers? Whover did was a braver or crazier student than I have met.

I sat in on a couple of her ELA lessons in hopes of having some of her power rub off on me. I don't think it ever did, or could. It would be a hilarious sight to see me try to summon her ability to yell, or give off a world-class teacher stare down like she could. But what I did learn from watching her is that she knew the students were going to listen to her. You could hear it in her voice and see it in her body-language. While my stomach knotted when her kids rounded the corner, and lined up lazily in front of my door (for a double-period of hell on earth each Friday afternoon), my face would blanch an even whiter shade of pale and I would not know if I could hook them into listening, let alone sitting down in their assigned seats. I didn't have that power that teachers like her could summon. And the kids smelled it like a dog catching a fresh scent.

But time passed, and I fell into my way of teaching. And we came to share a wall my last year at IS 52, both teaching on the same floor. And because I am who I am I used some sick days occassionally for not-so-sick time off. And every time I would return she would come into my room the next morning and look at me and say "I could tell you were gone yesterday by the amount of times I heard yelling coming through that wall!" I loved hearing that :) I guess that means my kids where total monsters, but the point is they weren't for me :) I  give credit her for helping me get to be better, and survive my first year.

 

Death makes me remember the last time we spoke, or saw eachother or reminisced about those crazy moments. And happily my last time doing all of those things with Ms. Waldman was over a delicious brunch at Essex among friends, where I got to show off my little HP baby-bump and see her in a good health.

 

Whenever encountering what I feel is the craziest, or most disrespectful or simply uncontrolable child I think to myself, "no way will it ever be harder than Waldman's 7A5 in 2006". What doesn't kill us makes us stronger though, and Waldman definatly made me a stronger teacher. And I will miss her.

School's in Session

Since summer break has offivially ended for me 2 weeks ago now, I have been doing less and less of the fun and more and more of the necessary. Such is life.

School welcomed me back with an even bigger caseload of ESL students this year. I service the wee ones, from Young 5's to 2nd grade. Last year most of my time was spent in kindergarten, but with the population of the school being a very transient one, many of those kids have moved elsewhere, maybe to return? But in the meantime I have plenty to do. The very best thing about being a paraprofessional is that you can work hard during the day, do what needs doing and then leave it promptly at the door when (in my case) 3pm rolls around.

Although, not for much longer...

Soccer season starts again tomorrow. Didn't I just get done coaching??? Time flies, blar de blar.

Because in my heart of hearts I am still a teacher, I need an action plan for the fall. So here it is, in no particular order:

order and drink a pumpkin spice latte immediatly upon hearing they are back

do a nice long bike ride (dare I hope a century?)

win a soccer game...

pick apples at Robinette's

volunteer at adult ESL

learn to crochet

get a family portrait done

harvest my garden!

host my annual Art Prize brunch

run my 5ks with sister Katie

trip to Ann Arbor to soak up the football atmosphere, shop at Trader Joes and revel in the back to school spirit :)

Oh Fall....I'm running toward you with open arms!



Pink Heels on a 2 Year Old

Only 4 and a half more days until summer vacation begins! Quick fact about me: I have had summer breaks since entering kindergarten circa 1990. And I do not plan on giving that up. Because this is what I would be missing:

Real juxtaposition going on here

 Watching fennel and spinach grow

Watching what will likely be one small plate of salad grow

Hoping to eventually make salsa

Creating chalk masterpieces

Wondering what kind of fruit tree I have in my backyard

Honestly, you tell me what this is and I'll do ten back flips in your honor.



Spring Break 2012

My spring break came to a close this morning at 6:10a when I finally rolled out of bed, brushed out my tangle of hair, brushed my teeth, got dressed and collected little HP who had been singing in his crib for at least 10 minutes by that point. We hustled downstairs to find coffee made and Jon ready to go. Because I had not prepared my lunch I was forced to grab a yogurt, a container of grape tomatoes and the last grapefruit. Quite literally all that lived in our fridge that would be edible.

After dropping Jon at work we ventured on to Cindy's. H was happy to see Cindy again and waved, hugged and kissed me goodbye. I turned the car back toward work and got there with 5 minutes to spare. Ample time to wolf down my McD's oatmeal and grab a second cup of lounge coffee and head down to my office.

Eight hours later I was at soccer practice. I had changed into my running pants, t-shirt and...had forgotten my cleats. So with no alternative I stood on the pitch for an hour and half in my heels. Once the clock hit 4:45 I jumped into the car, picked up little H, then Jon, made dinner, bathed the baby (while getting soaked from his tide pool antics), sang to him and put him down. Now here I sit with tea and laptop.

And this will be life for the next 11 weeks until school lets out for a blessed 6-week vacation. Busy busy. But at the same time, fun fun. A whole lot to look forward to. And believe it or not but we are actually accomplishing a whole bunch of our to-dos and my List of 28, this is a really big deal for me!

Also, I got the camera to work!

Our new light fixture in the little bathroom, and the painting has been finished! 

Tiny baby bathroom that it is, it took a long time to complete!

Easter Sunday at Mom and Dad's 

 

Family Easter 2012                                Family Easter 2011

At Westminster Church, almost 4 years after Jon

and I got married here we finally made it back. 

That boy is very very loved. 

Ships Passing...

Do you feel like a ship? Well, that is the way of the Randall household from Thanksgiving til New Years. I will now throw myself (and my family) a one sentence pity party.

It is 8:30p, baby H has been tucked in by me, we stopped by Jon's work for a 2 minute visit because they haven't seen each other properly in 3 days, the meatloaf and potatoes that I made are cold and Jon has yet to start cycling home after leaving here at 5am.

Whew. Done. All that being said I might have reason to be sad. However, I will try to stay positive and just keep swimming. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. And this is just one of those times. Now I will fill my head with cheesy metaphors, go reheat the potatoes and get myself into pajamas.

Keep your head up!
Keep on Truckin'
Make hay while the sun shines (I got that one from Laura Ingalls :))
Don't sweat the small things (could this be counted as a small thing?)
Don't cry over spilt milk (or cold dinners)
Pull yourself up by the botstraps
etc.
etc.
etc.

A Rant (consider yourself warned)

School is almost out for the summer. We have an annoying 2 and a half day schedule next week packed full of field day, talent show and awards ceremonies. Quite scholastic. So from one job to another. Wednesday I will be a teacher, Thursday I will be a full-time Mom.

Me co-worker and I had our hopes high on doing a teacher share next year. It sounded too good to be true, and like all things teacher related in the state of Michigan it ended up being just that. My half-time job share was shot done by the higher-ups and so I am left with the same job title, the same pay (with a potential increase) and the same hours. Sigh. Oh Michigan, why must you torment me on the job front? I guess this is what I get for thinking I got a sweet deal by earning my Masters in Ed in NY so I could easily transfer to a MI school when I relocated. Ugh.

The worst part of it all is just how beaten down I feel about it. I've been fighting this battle for almost two school years now. The MDE has almost go me convinced that I really am not qualified. That's the true injury. Not so much the money and the title but rather the feeling of unworthiness. And that's a shame. I don't mean to make myself out as a world-class teacher but I did earn something working with NYC public school kids in middle school no less.

There is a 2nd grade classroom teacher position opening up at my school and there are 10 people up for the job. I was speaking to one last week while we both took part chaperoning the K field trip to a farm. She's pretty convinced she wont be selected for the position. She's a new parapro, just graduated from college and is still really green. I told her about an instance in my first year. In a desperate search for something, anything that would save me from my class from Hell  I sat in on a co-teacher's English lesson. She taught those same kids (class 7A5 you haunt my dreams to this day!) and I could see it from the minute they walked in. She had it. She knew they were going to listen. She knew they would open their books to page 32 when asked. She knew thay'd at least pretend to listen, if not be slightly engaged. That was the real difference. I asked them to do things and I knew they would not respond. And they knew I knew. And they fed on me that whole year long.

But 5 years later, I am a better teacher because of those hellians. And now, I walk into a class and I know with certainty that I can control it. Not by yelling or intimidating them with my awesomeness. But I know I will win the final struggle.

And yes, that is why I deserve to be a teacher. So thanks a bundle Michigan for denying me.

Yeah, I need a vacation...

A Lisping Laura

We are nearing the end of our big English Language Learner's test at school. It's pretty much the same thing I've done in New York. The test is broken into 4 parts; listening, reading, writing and speaking. The first three I can test the kids in groups of up to 6, which is a great time saver as I have like 45 kids to test. The speaking however is done individually. And it is what causes me the most stress.

So I have this little lisp. It's been nagging me since, well, as long as I remember. I even have memories of being pulled out of class during my third grade year to do speaking exercises. My family likes to tease me about me saying "snake". To this day my tongue sticks out between my upper and lower teeth when I say 's' words.

Over the years I've learned to hide it more, but even today it still happens in the following three scenarios; tired, over-served and over-excited. Clearly I wasn't over-served or over-excited while administering the speaking part of the test, just really tired. Thank you HP. I read and re-read 'Maria's Field Trip' to my students and by the end I sounded like a non-native English speaker. More like a native of Spain where a lisp is appreciated.

So I will save my breathe and count down to Spring Break (2 days!).

A New Appreciaition

This week I have developed a new appreciation for elementary classroom teachers.

I (somewhat unwittingly) signed up to teach "Supplemental Week" for my ESL students, K-2. The "supplemental" part about this is that while we are at school Mon-Thur the rest of the staff and students are enjoying a mid-Winter break. There is only one real reason I agreed to this craziness and I'll narrow it down for you by saying it is not  for the children. Sorry kids.


This kind of reminds me of when I would give up my Saturday morning (8-noon) to teach a bunch of middle schoolers English at IS 52. Somehow I would find myself roped into that as well....I'm sensing a pattern of self-inflicted abuse now that I think of it...

Anyway, back to the real issue. And that is this; elementary teachers have it rough. I have spent every minute doing something for those kiddos, whether it be piercing their juice boxes, tying their shoes or playing human bowling ( a game I made up at the YMCA involving knocking down children with a big ball....). Now it hasn't been all bad. I have given them comforting hugs when they cry about missing Mom and reading books to them, which I must say is one of my favorite things to do. So the good and the bad even out in hindsight.

But now I find myself even tireder. I did not think that was possible, but apparently it is.

Details

This week has been a busy one. Here is a brief time table, because you're interested in the minutia of my day...right?

5:30a Wake Up Call! (things to be done before 6:20 departure time is: bottle yesterday's milk into 3 bottles, transfer sleeping? Bear into car seat, put bagel into toaster, pour the dregs of coffee into a clean? travel mug, brush teeth/hair, wash face, butter toasted bagel, bag whatever I can grab for 2 lunches and get into the car

6:20-6:40 drive to Jon's work
6:40-7 drive to Baby's work (things to do before 7:15; transfer Bear to changing table, clean diaper and change clothes, label 3 bottles, put into fridge, cuddle the Bear and play with him to ensure a clean transfer to Ms. Jessica)
7:15-7:25 drive the short but busy distance to my school (things to be done in the 5 minutes remining before I should be inside- apply makeup, repack my bag, change my footwear)
7:30-3/4p Work
3:20/4:20 pick up Bear, play with him and his friends for 15 minutes
4-6 Options, options; Harrison sleeps for 40 minutes of this time, I like to get a coffee. We either hit the mall with the stroller, go for a walk outsidew if not so much snow, hang out in Schuler's Bookstore, or lounge in the parking lot of Jon's work
6:15/7 Jon gets out! We all drive home
7:30 Good night Bear :)
Collapse
Repeat

In Limbo

Sometimes life is a country music song. You try and try. It fails. You pick yourself back up. And repeat.

Well here I am again on the repeat cycle. Monday I came home to a lovely letter from the state of Michigan...yeah you know where this is going already don't you? Yup. Denied once again for my much sought after teaching license. I spent the last two days marinating on the letter. Also that $210 that went down the drain. Also the much anticipated launch date to our apartment. Also the fact that daycare is expensive. Also the fact that I might be stuck at full time when I really wanted that halftime position. Lots of thoughts.

I called my favorite education representative this morning to discuss options. He does. Not. Want. To. Budge.

The strange thing is that he said he agreed with me on all my points I brought up. Yes I have my Masters. Yes it would be weird to enroll into a MI Masters program. Yes he can see that going back to NYC to teach an additional 3 years is a tall order.

So I am stuck in limbo. He has no advice for me. And he wont grant me any bit of grace. So here I sit, stuck.

Suggestions welcomed because I am out of them...

and wondering, is working at the level that I am now worth it?

Call me Certifiable

I see that the state of Michigan has cashed my check for my teacher certification....now the waiting game. Duh duh duh

Work It!

I do not have any new pictures to share when using this laptop. Sigh. Truthfully I haven't done much picture taking lately. WHat I have done is been working double duty. My new job as an ESL paraprofessional at a charter school here in Grand Rapids has kept me moving these past 3 weeks. My charter school comes with some sweet perks, such as;
- a "year-round" calendar which allows for several full week vacations throughout the year (including the entire week of Thanksgiving
- belonging to a Soup club which provides me with delicious soups every Thursday
- finding fun little treats in my mailbox like $15 gift cards (2 in 1 week!)
- having a firm time schedule (7:30-3pm on. the. dot.- and leaving at 3 is strongly encouraged)
- a fair hourly rate
- opportunity for before school tutoring at twice the hourly rate
- being able to add something relevant to my resume

Okay, a few things to get used to;
- NOT being a teacher technically
- NOT having my own classroom (all push-in or pull-out services)
- NOT being paid for days I don't work (this is a big duh for most jobs but as a teacher you come to expect those summer direct deposits!)

But overall it's going well, I'm enjoying using a lot of my old tricks and activities with the kids. It is actually a whole lot more diverse than IS 52. We have a bunch of languages and cultures that I'm learning more about.
I sent in my teacher certification application 2 weeks ago, last week I sent in the $210 to have it evaluated and now I wait for 30 days until I can check the status. Hold your breath and cross your fingers. IF this goes through I will be dropping down to half time as a REAL teacher and being paid double what I make now (thus not affecting the take home I'm getting currently). Plus the Bear and I will get to spend more time together during daylight hours of the week. :)

Oh, on the sleeping front, I'm happy to say we are going through a nice overnight stage where his wake ups are much less frequent thus giving us more sleep :) Notwithstanding, I still need to buy some cucumbers to help with these dark circles...

A Magic Bear Suit

Aunt Katie sent me a picture of Baby H last Thursday. It looked like he had been swallowed up by a brown bear, she bought him the cutest bear suit ever. And he LOVES it. Jon calls it his magic suit because once in said suit he almost instantly falls into a deep slumber, wherever he may be lying at that moment. Jon was getting ready for their morning walk and but Harrison down on his playmat. He came back 5 minutes later to a slumbering bear, hands up and at peace :) I'll have to upload those pictures soon.

Also he is now a 6 month old baby! He has tried the following foods: rice and oatmeal cereal, sweet peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. He LOVES the carrots and thinks very little of the squash. Sadly that is the only one I actually prepared myself...oh dear.

So the bear starts a new adventure tomorrow. He begins day care at a center about 10 minutes from my work. It seems very nice, and I'm glad it's so so close. But I am still avoiding thinking of how it will feel to drop him off tomorrow :(

Yesterday I compiled ALL my paperwork, transcripts and such for the SECOND application for my teaching certificate in Michigan. I also added the rejection letter I got last year (complete with misspellings and my name as MR. Randall) highlighted and footnoted. Just so my friends in Lansing can understand more clearly that I should be given my certificate. I don't want to think of what happens if it is once again rejected. I am not destined to be a parapro for that much longer...

Also my friend Kathryn ran the ING NYC Marathon yesterday! She finished in style and I am so so motivated to make next year be my marathon year (for real this time). :) We'll see!