BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND TWITTER BACKGROUNDS

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

My subbing adventures

Today's Wednesday...that means it was a work day for me.  Booooo.  I've been substitute teaching now for about 5 months and I suppose I'll say it's okay.  At least when I sub in the Maize district.  I've come to the conclusion that I don't like Wichita schools.  Maybe it's just where I was raised and I'm too preppy or whatever, but I will say that when I walked down that high school hallway for the first time and I was all dressed in my khakis and sweater and not one boy in that hallway had pants pulled up above his knees, the girls were wearing clothes tight enough to be painted on and combs were sticking out of hair....I felt a little out of place....to say the LEAST!  I stood out like a sore thumb. 

It all came to a head when a couple weeks before Christmas for two Wednesdays in a row I subbed in the middle schools and both weeks there were fights in my room.  The second week it was an all out fist fight of two 7th grade boys, both twice my size mind you, pounding the living daylights out of each other in my first hour classroom.  Um yeah.  Not worth the $50 for my half day.  Take me home to my baby please.  I'd rather sell my plasma.  Anyways, that kinda did me in and I took a 6 week hiatus (an extended Christmas break if you will) from the Wichita schools and I still have yet to go back. Thankfully the Lord has been once again faithful and while I was home they called me to sub in the Maize schools (which are SOOOOOO much easier and better!) and while I couldn't do it that week, I told "Sandy - sub finder" (as known by my iphone) that I'd like to work on Wednesdays if possible.  She told me to call and remind her on Tuesdays and she'd look for jobs for me.  Well that's worked.  And I've gotten jobs the last 3 Wednesdays. Praise the Lord!  Today it was a music/vocal class...perfect!  My specialty!  HA!  Thankfully they just took a test and watched Shirley Temple.  Nothing like watching the first half of a movie three times in a row.  Makes me half tempted to go rent it from the library so I can watch the last half of the movie!

Anyways, Maize is a thousand and one trillion bazillion times better and I'm really glad that I keep getting jobs in that district.  As much as I love breaking up fights and pulling 200 lb 7th grade boys off the floor, I think I'll take the other option thank you very much.  I have much respect for teachers who do this every day.  By the end of the day I am exhausted from standing and being "on" all day.  Maybe it's cause I don't work every day anymore or maybe it's just that being a teacher is hard work (I'm willing to vouch for the second).  Props to you teachers out there.  Thanks for lovin' on those kiddos day in and day out because they wear me out after just one day.  I'll stick to my own babies and hanging out with the students at youth group when they call me Julie....not Mrs. Goodman!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Christmas 2010

This year our Christmas break is an extended visit....1 week at the Goodman's and 1 week at the Spader's.  Christmas started at our house in Wichita which we haven't gotten to experience yet since usually we're home already by then.  My parents got to travel to Israel over Christmas this year though so that's why we did it all after the actual holiday.  Christmas Eve was a good family day.  We were excited to have Keira's first Christmas at our house and watch her "open" (or just chew on the bows and the wrapping paper) her presents.  Pete did AWESOME this year and totally surprised me when he brings 5 wrapped presents home from the office (1 being HUGE mind you!!).  I was so surprised and excited to see what he had gotten me!!  :)  He told me he had been "stealing" money from his painting money all year and had gone on quite the shopping spree for me and Keira.  That meant so much to me that he had been thinking so far in advance about the presents he was going to get me.  It was so thoughtful!!  Anyways, Christmas Eve we opened our presents after Keira's morning nap and then went to our favorite restaurant for lunch.  Here are a couple highlights...



My BIG present...I was SOOOOO curious and it was the greatest present ever!  :)

This is what was inside....



Presents under the tree!  Yeah!

Keira's gift from Mommy.

Let the present opening begin!


Pete got me a Michael Buble CD, a fleece electric blanket (which I LOVVVVEEE!), a Famous Footwear giftcard (because I had been recently commenting on how I was in dire need of new black shoes), a pandora charm for my bracelet (a heart with Keira's birthstone in it) and then the big one....three really big framed pictures of Keira for our house.  He seriously did AWESOME!!!!!!!  It was so fun opening presents together and watching Keira look at her new toys.  :)  Pete was playing in the Christmas Eve service so I went by myself and got Keira all dressed up cute in her Christmas dress that I had been waiting to put her in!  :)  We got some cute family pictures.





Our trek home started after the Christmas Eve service and we drove through the night.  We were stuffed solid into our little CRV!! haha.  Literally there was no more room!!  It worked well to drive through the night so Keira and Wrigley could sleep.  We made it in 10 hours and 25 minutes.  Christmas day we just rested and hung out at the house and the whole family came over the day after Christmas.  It was so great to see everyone...I am so blessed with my in laws and 2nd family!  We had a lot of fun opening presents together and just spending good time together.  Keira enjoyed her new toys and her fisher price stand up toy was the highlight present of the year.  She just LOVES it!!  :)



A great game of spoons!




Cyndi of course made QUITE the spread of food and it was so, so good...however, I caught the flu bug Sunday night and it stuck the whole week which made things not so good.  :(  I couldn't keep anything down and was pretty much miserable.  We all went to Wisconsin Dells Monday-Wednesday and while it was a ton of fun and I loved being there, being sick while I was there was no good.  I did manage to get to the pools a couple times though and get some pictures of Keira swimming for the first time.  She wasn't a big fan...all the pictures I got she has a worried/concerned look on her face.  Here is what the most of the pictures look like...


New Years Eve we drove to my parents house and met up with Jamie & Brandon and Matt & Anne McClane.  We left the sleeping babies with Grandma and Grandpa and went to Houlihans for dinner.  It was great and us three girls talked babies the whole time!  Matt & Anne have a little girl Rilyn who is only 10 days younger than Keira.  It was so fun to see all the girls together!

The rest of the week was filled with more present opening, good family time, lots of good food and much relaxing.  I got to go up to Indiana and meet up with my Bethel girls.  We brought all the babies and it's so fun watching them interact with each other.  They are such great friends!!

On Thursday I met up with Jerusalem and her little sweet boy Eli.  Again, so fun comparing babies and talking baby things.  :)


By the end of the week we were definitely ready to get back to our own house.  It's tough living out of a suitcase for 2 full weeks.  I couldn't wait to get Keira back in her own crib and have everything back in it's place.  It's very stressful for me to be out of a routine so once we got back it has been nice to adjust back to the norm.

Overall, this years Christmas was great.  What a blessing to have 2 families that we just love being around and great friends to see and spend time with.  Here are just a couple more pictures that I enjoyed. :)



Twinzies!!  :)