Pictures :)

This is the Library Area. Exciting, I know :)

My theme is year is nature/outside. Here are 5 green and speckled frogs on their log :)

A little bit of creativity from one of the new staff members. Cute huh?

Part of my mural, I'll post more about it in a few.

Another part of the mural. The mother duck and ducklings I drew and colored out of posterboard using the book "Little Quack" has a subject. I think it looks nice inside the pond mural.

The entire Mural. Love it!

Circle Time!

My little room.

So excited to be done. Only took 34 hours and 3 days to get it done. I'm so sore but it looks very good ( I think anyway :) )

The mural was done by a friend and coworker and we added all the animals and ducks separately.

Ms. C and Ms. T both started today. I didn't like that Ms. L (my intended assistant) found out on her own what was going one. She kind of go upset.

Both new staff are very nice and I think they will do good. I don't know exactly if they understand what a room full of Toddlers is like but we will try our best I'm sure.

This blows big poo..

Can't vent about this anywhere so I'll do it here. Someone I work with, who has been out on maternity refuses to call and let us know if she's coming back or not soooo we have to make some changes. They hired someone to replace said person but she can't work where said person was supposed to work so the new person is working with me and the person that I'm supposed to work with and have for the last two days is going to work where said person was supposed to work.

I'm so annoyed. and frustrated. and upset. and just played ticked off. I have to start the year with TWO new teachers who have NO EXPERIENCE in the field other than babysitting. This job is nothing like babysitting and come September, when I have 14 crying children, I need a good assistant. Someone whos weathered a storm or two. UGH! Boss says I can shape her and teach her..blech!

On a positive note, working 23 hours the last two days has made for one cute cute room. Pics to come soon :)

Pictures

Girls getting their beanbag chairs and balloons on their 3rd birthday

Playing at the splash pad

Girls at the beach

Beach time

At school on their Birthday

Playing in tubs

Girls and their birthday gifts

The Nemo cake .. the only thing I could find that was actually Nemo

Birthday Party

At the river with my mom and sister on vacation

Ramblings..

So I'm sitting in my bed, Katie is laying next me, Karly is on the other side and we're watching cars. My brother and his girlfriend are sleeping in the living room and I don't feel like making breakfast just yet.

Some thoughts. I can't believe my girls have finished their first year of "school". They learned so much. We taught them their colors, shapes, numbers and letters but they just learned so much more. Their social skills are very good, Katie's more than Karly's, but it's 100 times better than it was last August. They are just more aware of everything and they understand what goes on.

Next Tuesday, Sept 6th, they begin a new school year in a new bigger class. I got the teachers I asked for and I LOVE the assistant teacher. The new lead teacher is very good. Her lesson plans are out of the box and she pushes the kids to do more and learn more. My girls need that. They will also start a spanish class and I was thinking about adding Yoga but it would cost 150-300 to send the girls and that's a bit steep, so they probably won't. I've also thought about just sending Katie. I don't think that Karly would actually enjoy it at all. Karly is more of a quiet person and wouldn't enjoy that kind of activity but it's good for her so I would eventually her to join as well.

We had our first (and hopefully last) Earthquake. The news said it was a 5. 8 and they have no idea where the fault line was. All I know is that I was standing at the sink and I started to feel like I was going to faint. I looked at my assistant who was sitting down and she starts laughing at me. I say "I think I'm gonna faint" and she laughs and says "Nope, Look the room is moving". I look around and the blinds are swinging the walls are moving. When it was over, I felt like throwing up and my head hurt a lot. The phone lit up and I tried to walk but it was like I was drunk lol.

I can honestly say I was a little worried. We had no idea. Some people were talking about terroists attacks, some thought there was demolition. I text my husband and said "WTF is going on?" He didn't respond. I said "Hello?" and then "Babe!" He responded with "Earthquake, Virginina, 5.8" We spent the day laughing at ourselves. There was no damage and other than a book that fell off our shelf.

My work hours officially changed. I work 8-5 with the possibility of working until 5:30 because I have a new assistant and she needs to be trained. If she isn't any good, I'll have to stay to train her but I'm not looking forward to that, the overtime pay-yes, the extra half hour? No.

My new class is a tough one. I have a few with stranger anxiety, a few with parents who teach no discipline and a few with an attitude far beyond their years but you know what? It doesn't matter. I'm sure we'll be fine :) Right?

My brother is coming to see us :)

My oldest younger brother Eric is coming to see us tomorrow and staying until Wednesday. This was hard to pull off because my in laws don't like visitors.

I'm kind of annoyed because of Hurricane Irene and the fact that she thinks she should come during his visit and ruin everything. I'm a little worried because it's supposed to be really bad on Sunday.

Of course I have to work Friday and then Monday-Wednesday, so I won't have that much time with him. We'll make the most of it though. The important thing is, he'll have enough time to spend with the girls.

I had an accidental sneak peak at the schedule for September. My hours are being changed from 8:30-5:30 to 8:00 to 5:00. I'm so happy. To be home before 6 will be great. I am at work before 8 anyhow so now I'll just continue. I am also not going to have to work with the problem staff member. Also very happy.

Katie has been starting to throw tantrums. Horrible tantrums. The jumping up and down and screaming at the top of her lungs tantrums. She throws these tantrums when it's time to go home. They only thing we can think of is is that we have been telling her she is going to a new room in September and that next week there isn't any school and she'll be staying home ...

Katie loves going to school. She can't wait to go in the morning and I think she hates weekends because she can't go. She is a very bright child and needs to be doing something at all times and at home she has a lot of free time. We take her to park, for walks, on errands but it's not school. We have decided to stop telling her because it may be making her anxious.

Work is crazy

At the end of this week, we close our doors until the Tuesday after Labor Day. Everything is crazy. Some staff are leaving and everyone is waiting for room assignments.

A few months ago, I posted about a teacher having issues in the classroom. Well, she's going to be my new assistant this year. My afternoon helper. This should be fun being that she doesn't like me. She wants to work full time, but my boss isn't going to let her work full being that she isn't up to standards. I'm excited about my morning assistant. I worked with her the year I found out I was pregnant, she was actually the first person I told. I had only worked with her about a month when I got the phone call and nearly passed out. She said "Are you okay, Ms. Tina?" I said "I'm pregnant". She kept a really good secret though. Anyway she's a sweetheart and I'm excited.

However, due to some staff leaving, others aren't as lucky to have a home. We are 4 staff members short for September. The center I work for has a 2 year waiting list approximately and this year we are packed. So needless to say, it's a bit crazy.

In other news, my yearbook is complete, certificates have been filled out, progress reports are done and lesson plans are almost done for the month of September. I'm happy :) .

Where did the summer go?

This summer was so busy and full of fun things and it flew by. We took numerous trips to the beach, took the girls to their first 2 movies and of course our vacation.

In July we took the girls to see Cars 2 and Winnie the Pooh. They didn't care for Cars (neither did mommy or daddy). They did good during it though. I took them by myself to Winnie the Pooh and they did so well. They sat through the entire movie and we only had to do one potty break.

We also made a lot of trips to the water park and also just enjoyed our backyard.

Then there was the girls birthday party. I can't believe they turned 3. We had a nice backyard party with plenty of food and lots of water (and a little malibu). They wanted a Nemo party and I agreed to it before I realized that Nemo has been discontinued. I tried to change the girls' mind but they wanted no part of it. So I did what any mom would do, I scoured the internet and the dollar stores, the party stores, asked around and finally I went to Oriental Trading. If you've never been to their website or seen their magazines, you should.

We settled on a tropical fish theme and found a bunch of Clown Fish stuff. We filled the backyard with fish, fish decals, stuck fish stickers all over the blue tablecloths, it totally worked out and the girls had no idea it wasn't "Nemo".

They had over 500 water balloons, 3 tubs of water, a pool, water table and the hose. It was a great time.

We had a lot of fun as a family this year and I know next year we will have even more as the girls get older.

I know why I love my job :)

9 years ago, I was an assistant teacher. There was a new child starting. The sweetest little girl. She was Turkish and spoke no English. You could tell this little 3 year old was afraid and felt alone. She would sit there with this sad face and she always looked miserable. I made it a mission to put a smile on her face.

After a few months, she started to open up and at quiet times, I helped her speak English. She had this incredible head of hair she always wanted me to fix for her. She held my hand, always looked for me and I just felt bonded with her.

She eventually had to move up. I checked on her when I could and she was growing into such a wonderful little lady. I moved up to head teacher and had her brother, so I'd see her a little more then it was time for her to graduate and move on. It happens. Every August we say a heartfelt/heartbreaking good bye to the kids we've cared for for the last 4 years and get ready for a new batch.

Fast forward to today. I'm sitting in my room working on lesson plans for September and my boss opens the door and calls me. I stand up to come towards her but standing next to her was my little friend. I got all teary eyed and even though she's as tall as I am now, I recognized her in an instant and grabbed her in a hug.

I had to hug her 3 times, I couldn't believe how grown up she was. I asked her mom where her son, K was and she looked at my boss and said "I can't believe she remembers my sons name".

Every child that I've ever cared for has a special spot in my heart. Some I still keep in touch with, some I don't but I'll never forget one.

I love my job.

A little update..

Girls are potty trained!!!! Those of you who know me, know that we've been potty training since forever and really boot camp training since June, so you can say I'm over the moon to be saying this.

Katie refused to use the potty, was always wet so we did what you do, we took her diaper away and gave her undies and told her not to peepee on the floor. It worked. She hasn't had one accident yet and it's been 9 days.

Karly was doing very good on the potty but she got embarrassed about doing #2 in her undies so she started doing it more and more so we put her back into a pullup. She's back to doing excellent.

We have gotten rid of diapers, except for bedtime (which I will stop once I go to babies r u to get waterproof sheets). I have a bunch of clothing at school and a bunch in the car. We are good to go.

Work is work. Getting very busy now that the year is ending. I am set to take over a room that will be mine for my next two years. In 2013, we are set to move. It's almost in stone.

Girls are doing very well. They are happy and learning and growing. They just went to the dentist for the first time and yes there was a lot of screaming. No cavities and she didn't even know that Karly sucked her thumb.

Oh and more good news about a month ago, Katie told me she didn't need her pacifier anymore. I left it on her bed (it's still on her bed) but she won't use it. I just keep it there, not sure why.