It's Been a While

There isn't much really to report and yet as I type that I know it's not true.
Since I posted last I started back to school full time; making me a full time student/teacher/mom. It was kind of a non-event that happend pretty quickly and I am still adjusting to the new rhythm that includes textbook reading, paper writing and classroom observations sprinkled between lesson planning and laundry. J has been a champ picking up bedtime one night a week to help out and C has offered on several occasions to help me write my papers.
Other than that, there really isn't much to update you on. It snowed. I still went to work. The kids had off and enjoyed sledding - J and I enjoyed it also so there is no photographic evidence to back that up. But a wise mother once taught me that it's not what is on your camera that matters- you'll always have the memory. :)
So for now, I'll get back to moving forward and making memories.

Tis the Season

To be baking...

When I am stressed and feeling a little out of my comfort zone I tend to bake... in excess. So with the onset of grad school looming over me (I start in 3 days) - and final grade reports due (in 4 days) - and kids getting cabin fever - and husband with actual fever - I decided to clean my kitchen.
Where I discovered a lovely pumpkin left over from halloween.
Because gourds generally last forever and are also a good source of vitamins, I decided I should bake something with it - I abandoned the kitchen cleaning and called everyone I could think of who might have made things from raw pumpkin. They hadn't.
Thank goodness for the internet!
It is actually very easy- First you but off the top of your pumpkin and quarter it onto a baking sheet.

Make sure to reserve the pumpkin seeds for roasting. Your littlest princess who is obsessed will thank you in the morning.

Roast for about 45 min at 350 till soft when poked with a fork.

Peel the meat off of the skin till you have a bowl of goop. Then blend in your food processor or blender till smooth. (If you are doing it in a blender the internets suggest adding a tablespoon or so of water to smooth it out.)  When this is complete you are able to use it in any recipe, as you would pumpkin puree.
I suggest pumpkin bread.

The only thing I would change about this recipe is I would add flax seeds- which I had on hand but blanked on when I was mixing up this recipe late at night. I think you could also add chocolate chips with wild success, but then you can't eat most of the loaf for breakfast the next morning. ;)

And because one baking project is not enough I got up the next morning and made some granola bars. I  will not share the recipe here because they came out pretty dry and cake-y- I'll keep searching for a better recipe. (All suggestions are welcome - if you have a great recipe- please share)

Character Building

It is still January and I am ready to make my resolutions for the coming year.

 But before I do I would like to recap our 2013 major events.

J- did more production and much more traveling for work (look for his upcoming work on Superbowl Sunday) - he started 'gaming' again and went to many Jets games in spite of their atrocious record- he made a short appearance in a comercial for a feline award show.
A- began working in the Bronx, started sewing and reading again and even braved the cold at 2 Jet's games.
C - started 1st grade, gymnastics and reading independently. She also mastered tying her own shoes and held her 6th birthday at a pottery painting studio.
N - started full time preschool, learned to swim under the water, grew like a weed from a baby to a full grown boy.

In 2014 we are planning to do more:
dating - playing - laughing - learning - sewing - reading - saving - exercise - organized sports - dinner partying - play dating - tea partying - mailing - planing - crafting - decorating -facetiming-  traveling - visiting - celebrating

We plan to do less:
whining - wasting - gaining - excusing

Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.

Cavett Robert 

Maybe Something More Christmas-y

This year we sent a card. It had a cute picture of my two kids. It took a total of 178 pictures and a costume change to get 'the one'. Some of the outtakes say more about our year than the one we sent. So I figured I should commemorate them somewhere- why not here?
I hope you are yours have a very

Merry Christmas 

and a 

Happy Holiday

Thankful Pt. 2

12. little kid bed head
13. hugs before 7am- followed by snuggles and tiny turtle snuggle noises.
14. donuts and coffee on a park bench
15. scribbles with fantastic stories
16. kids who love math
17. no school!
18. Milkshakes
19. Marriage (for 6 years!)
20. Literature to share
21. A family who loves and supports me


Claire and Nick's Saturday Thankful List
1. markers
2. notebooks
3. mom
4. subtraction
5. school
6. Grandma
7. Grandpa
8. GB
9. Papi
10. dad
11. writing his own name

Give Thanks

I was reading the blog yesterday and thinking about how much of a Debbie Downer I have been this season. When in fact my life has been going pretty swimmingly. There have been bumps, obviously but I was surprised that those bumps are the only thing I have blogged about and then... today... I read my sisters' blogs and remembered that this is the season of thankfulness. So I think I'll turn a full 180 and be thankful:

1. halloween candy
2. students to eat halloween candy and save me from myself
3. kids who are still young enough to think their parents are the best
4. the best parent partner (Jimmy)
5. Seeing my kids contentment with what they have
6. Hugs
7. Family near and far
8. surprise bachata music on my pandora
9. tires with air in them
10. happy Friday texts from complete strangers
11. Fridays

Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad

Today was a particularly long and grueling day. I work up late (6:30am)- tossed on some clothes and ran out the door to beat traffic and hopefully find a parking spot at work. About 5 miles down the road I realized that the shirt I thought was black was in fact a dark red... dressing in the dark fail. I got to work and couldn't find a parking spot, ended up in the lot...(boo for $8 less dollars in my pocket). Got called into a meeting before 8am and before I could snag some coffee :(
Taught some kids about the Great Wall - surprisingly not in Canada.
Late to my 3rd period class, kids were atrocious- bonus: got to teach them what the word obnoxious means. Pity glances from the 2nd period teacher who was fleeing the room.
Feeling nauseous, headache coming on - still no coffee.
Sleep walked through an Algebra class- finally lunch- forgot to pack it.
Thinking about just going home. Drop the shades in my office and turn out the lights for a 15 min power nap. Can't sleep.
Email, email, grading, grading, phone calls to parents who don't speak English.
4 more classes to go- I can do this - eat a chocolate and hit the hallways.
Geometry, Living Environments
8th period- kids in rare form- it must be the moon cycle.
Office hours -will this day never end? Extended office hours... happy to help out.
Home...
I'll admit that on the way out of school I got to the top of the stairs and contemplated for a moment just falling down them because I was too tired to walk down them.
Tomorrow can only be better- right? 

Girly Weekend + Nick

 Last weekend I ran away to MD to meet up with my mom and sisters. We went to the topiary gardens and got (almost) eaten by a fox, disappeared into a secret garden, laughed at the burping fish and stopped to smell the roses.

Then we headed to pick apples, they were a little higher than anticipated from 'dwarf' trees. Thankfully Nick was prepared with some great apple picking advice "Lift - Twist - Pull". With those tidbits we filled the basket effortlessly. Notice Ami smiling about all the apples then struggling to carry them all, then my favorite picture of apple picking, Nick making fun of Ami pretending to have trouble carrying the basket.

More things happened, for example my older sis showed up- I have no pictures of her... not a one. My other sister wrote about not taking enough pictures to successfully and satisfactorily capture her weekend. I think the weekend was a compilation of moments created and enjoyed by each of us. We each hold a piece of the weekend both in our hearts and minds and on our memory cards.

First Week

 First day of first grade. Excited to go. Couldn't remember her teacher's name (Ms. Geano) or the name of her 'best friend' she sat next to at lunch. Went to the nurse because her 'belly hurt'. Admited later that she was just feeling uncomfortable and uncertain in her new surroundings. No homework yet, just a whole lot of nothing from her accounts. We'll see what next week brings.

First day of Pre-K. got to school early, met his teachers (he has 5).
Played legos and moved to the 'yellow face' because he was sharing with a little girl but she didn't want to share. He still doesn't know anyone in his class except Gabriella because it was her birthday the second day of school and she brought goodie bags for all the kids. Her, he remembers.

First Day as ESL Coordinator. Got a new office (larger but still no window) Same classroom but doubled in size. Smaller classes (read 3-6 students per class). Schedule mix up meant ELLs were untraceable and lost in the shuffle. Only one melt down in my office and it wasn't me. Burned my arm with a pot of boiling water (2nd degree burns) while trying to do it all as a working mom. Settled for Chinese instead.

(Jimmy not pictured) First day morning duty. Kids were on time, him not so much. Has prepared lunches twice. Traveled on Wed. across the country and arranged for morning childcare superbly.

Overall our year has started off as a success. Only one trip to the Dr. and no tears from anyone unless you count mommy crying when she got hurt.

Summer is Over

School is in on Monday- I got a new office this year- it's larger. I got a new classroom this year it's double the size from last year. I got new students and classes- the count is smaller. (imagine 10 students in a double classroom...)
Nick's school was renovating over the summer and is not quite done from the looks of it- but since no one is answering the phones and there has been no communication home about a delayed start- we still plan to drop him off on Monday morning.
Claire is excited to know who her teacher is- we get the classroom but not the teacher. I was feeling good about it- until I heard that they moved everyone around in the K-1 departments at her school. So that remains to be seen.
Jim is going out of town on business during part of the week- just to keep things interesting. LOVE him...
One last weekend to squeeze in all the fun! gotta run.

Our Summer- Part 2: Nick

Some people make lists of things they want to do over the summer- since we were not that organized this past spring we are making our list of things we did this summer. It is surprisingly rewarding to make a list that you are essentially crossing off immediately in it's entirety. So without further rambling: 

Nick's Super Summer List of Achievement

1. Graduate from Nursery School
2. Play Dress Up
3. Make Popsicle
4. Go to the Beach
5. See GB and Pappi
6. Turn 4 yrs old
7. Hug every aunt he has (even the great ones)
8. Sleep outside (thanks Aunt Minnie and Aunt Sarah for making this happen)
9. Make Smores
10. Ride Bikes
11. Fly a kite (or try- trying counts right?)
12. Visit a new playground
13. Make a new friend
14.Go to a Play (A Squirrel Stole my Underpants)
15. Go to a Mets Game
16. Go for a Hike
17. Make a Maze
18. Go to the Movies (Despicable Me 2 and Turbo)
19. Eat Ice Cream
20. See a Dinosaur (for his birthday)
21. Ride a Train
22. Surprise Daddy at work for Lunch
23. Go to a Jet's game
24. Tailgate (like a pro)

And he's still got 2 more weeks before school officially starts and summer is over. Imagine what we can still add!

Our Summer- Part 1: Glacier

 Our BIG vacation this year was to head west and take in the sights and multiple hugs from the best grandparents in the world. We met up at the lake and kyacked and painted nails and used our binoculars and hugged and hugged and hugged.

 A Good GB will take a few silly shots with you and paint your toenails- she may not however offer you a chair to sit in to do it so you'll need to be flexible.

 Oh and did I mention we saw a few glaciers? cause we did- even had a snowball fight in the summertime. :)

But the best part of all was just being together.

A Little Behind

So today I got a staff memo from the school. This is a signal to panic and try to fit in all that stuff I imagined I would do over the summer into the next three and a half weeks.
I started today by unpacking my office from our dining room. I put away and organized files from January and repacked my school bag so I'm ready to look at it in August 'when I begin planing' for 2013-2014. 
Tomorrow I will probably shave my legs in anticipation of swimsuit season and tackle the linen closet. (sarcastic on all fronts since the linen closet is the least of my cleaning worries)
Is it too late to plant my string beans for the summer?
And as soon as I figure out how to get my lovely husband to make my phone and our 'new' computer talk I will upload pictures and inundate you with a whole summer's worth.
My summer to-do list is not still long because I have not done anything all summer, it is still long because I have had so many unplanned adventures.

I Made It

Schools out! Schools out!
I feel like I crawled across the finish line after a double marathon but I finished.
Ok, that's an exaggeration. I really feel pretty good about how the last 6 months went. I feel that I have learned a lot and grown both personally and professionally.
It was an absolute high to hug and congratulate my Seniors that were graduating on Weds. I'll admit, I cried when I saw them all decked out in their caps and gowns and again when they were handed  their diplomas and I got misty eyed again when one of them translated a thank you from their parents followed but a group hug.
 I am looking forward to what the next years will bring.

PSA

Ok kids just a friendly reminder to think before you put things on the internet. You can't take it back and you never know who will find it and revive it.

Case in Point:


See the ramblings of this woman here.

Jaded

This whole working this is overrated. In the beginning it was fun and exciting, the kids were quirky and I felt like I was kind of on top of things in my life. Fast forward about 5 months and working is no fun, too full of excitement (and not the good kind). The kids aren't quirky anymore they are just strange delinquents and I feel like a failure in every aspect of my life. I fight with my husband, my house is one day away from a feature on hoarders and I may have ordered new underwear and socks for my kids and shipped them two day express instead of doing the laundry I am so far behind on. The end of June can't come fast enough.
And while all of that is true it does still feel good to get notes from my students saying "Think you for all the hrd work you do" and encouraging words from administrators about how smoothly thing are going even when I feel like I'm trying to build a house of cards in a tornado.
Is it Memorial Day yet?

Face palm

Thank you C for waking me at 3am to tell me that the scrape you got yesterday was healed. 

Say What?

An odd moment today during my office hours. Several students in my office gathered around a computer watching cartoons- in Japanese- none of them speak Japanese. They speak French, Spanish and some Native English speakers. I am counting their subtitle reading as an activity. no?

Head Over Heels

 Claire started gymnastics about two weeks ago. She really likes doing something 'just the girls'. (I sit and watch, and read) (it's nothing like dance moms in our viewing area)

She likes the balance beam, adores the trampoline and was so excited to learn to 'carton wheel' last week. :)

She's also getting to be a pro at forward rolls.











Next week we tackle the uneven bars. Wish us luck.

House Guest

This weekend daddy went to camp with the big boys. None of us were invited. So we invited our own guest.

She's pretty awesome. We like her a lot.