getting my feet wet

About a month ago I started looking on Craigslist pretty regularly for a job...some sort of teaching or tutoring.  I didn't want to teach full time, though, since Rebecca is still at home, so I knew I probably wouldn't find what I was looking for.  Part time teaching jobs are not very prevalent.  But a few weeks ago I found something that looked pretty ideal, and I applied.  They called me for an interview.  Then I got a second interview.  And Friday I found out that I got the job.

So starting September 3rd I'll be teaching one day a week.  Sounds perfect for this season of life....not a lot at all, but enough to get my feet wet and get my foot back in the teaching world.  It's homeschooled students, grades 2-5 (the plan is to have grades 1-6, but right now there aren't any first or sixth graders).  They come to "school" for a few subjects and are homeschooled in everything else. Second semester it will likely be two days a week.  They just don't have the location available for two days right now, so we'll see.  

Rebecca will be going to preschool the same day that I'm teaching.  It sounded perfect at first....she wouldn't miss out on much time with me because she'd be at preschool.  And it probably still is perfect, but it's just hitting me that I won't get to take her to her first day of preschool.  I won't get to meet her teacher, or talk to her at pick up to find out how she's doing.  I won't get to ever be involved in the classroom or other activities.  I guess working moms have had to deal with these things for years, but it's hard for me to swallow, since I've never been a working mom, have been home for so long and have been able to do all these things with her sister.  I also had been hoping to volunteer at Rachel's school while Rebecca was at preschool, since I can't right now, with Rebecca at home full time.  But I won't be able to do that either, since I'll be working that day.  It all makes me really sad.

But, in the long run, it all really is ideal.  Nothing will change much except for being gone on Tuesdays and having school work to do at home.  I'll still be a mostly stay at home mom.  Still there when Rachel gets on and off the bus.  It should work out great.  

And hopefully I'll enjoy it.  I AM excited about it, even though I'm sad about parts of it.  (And if I don't like it, well, then, in May I'll be done.  But hopefully I'll like it.)

clowns

Oh, these crazy clowns of mine....

bike rider

Rebecca loves to ride her bike!

first day jitters

We met her teacher yesterday, but she's nervous about having a new teacher and new kids in her class.  She's a little more excited than she was last night, though (at 8:00 AM she wanted to go to the bus stop, even though her bus doesn't come until 8:39!).  Hoping it'll be a great day and a great year!  Second grade, here she comes!

We modified what she was going to wear the first day because it's COLD this morning.  She was going to wear a cute little skirt outfit, but her legs would've been freezing.  She chose this new outfit from Grandma instead.

She wanted to show off her new backpack.  She's SO excited about it!

Rebecca wanted her picture taken, too.  Right before I took the picture she scooted over to be close to Rachel, put her arm around her, and posed with her arm up like this....

When we went back inside, she wanted me to take it again, so she did this pose.  Little stinker...

summer's last hurrah

Tomorrow is the first day of school.  I promised Rachel we'd go to the science museum this summer, so today was my last chance to keep my promise (I know, we should've gone weeks ago, but I kept putting it off).  So we spent the morning there.  The beauty of a membership is that we  can go for just a couple of hrs and not see everything because we can go back another time.  

The girls had fun, and it was a great morning.

Hard to believe that tomorrow morning I'll have a second grader!

Enjoy the pictures!

dear friends

Last week we made our now annual trip to visit my dearest friend, Allecia, and her two kiddos.  We meet at a park each summer that is about half way between us (when Rachel and her son Kaden were two, they moved to Indiana, so we've been meeting every summer since then at this park).  It was a great morning, though much, much too short with my dear friend.  The kids got along great and had lots of fun.

Playing on the splash pad

Hanging out

Deep conversation between Kaden and Rebecca....

Ice cream!

growing up

I found out the hard way this weekend that it was time that Rebecca graduated from her crib.  She went in bed for her nap on Friday during the garage sale, and we were outside manning the sale for an hour or so.  My mom went in to check the monitor and saw the lights going up, which meant she was making noise (our monitor is on it's last leg and doesn't make sound any more, so we rely on the lights to tell us when she's awake!).  She came out to tell me, so I went in to see what was wrong (it really was too early for her to be awake).  She was crying and crying, saying she had to go potty.  But she had already gone in her pants....  Who knows how long the poor girl had been standing there, first calling for me, then crying because she was all wet.  I felt awful that we hadn't heard her.  

So I got her out, washed her up, changed her clothes and the sheets, took her "Pinky" down to get washed (this is what she started calling her special pink blanket a couple of weeks ago....her Pinky), and calmed her down.  Poor little thing.  

So, needless to say, it was time to let her get out of bed to go potty when necessary.  We hadn't done it earlier because she slept so well in the crib and I didn't want to mess with a good thing.  And she doesn't normally wake up and have to go.  But it was time.

So here's my girl in her "new" bed (really just the same bed with the front taken off to make it a toddler bed).  Sniff, sniff!  She's not a baby anymore.

Don't you love all of her finery?  She put that on this morning.  Rachel is rubbing off on her and she's playing dress up a little more these days.  She said she put it on "so I could be PWETTY!"

So there's my PWETTY girl.  Growing up way too fast.

recovery

I'm recovering from the garage sale.  I don't know how many hours I spent getting ready for this.  I made over $300, which is more than I thought I'd make, but if I divided that by how many hours I spent, it would be depressing!  So I'm glad I don't know how many hours I spent!   

Rachel had her lemonade and cookie stand, which she was excited about, but her excitement fizzled quickly, and she spent the majority of the last two days playing with the neighbors, instead of manning her stand.  We had to keep calling her back for her customers!  But she made $34, so she was excited.

It was pretty slow yesterday morning, which was frustrating, because Friday morning is usually the busiest times.   And this morning it rained for the first couple of hours, which really cut down on our customers, and I had a pretty dismal outlook about the rest of the day, but then I had one woman come looking for the exact size clothes I was selling and she bought a ton of stuff, so that brightened my day.  Then the rain stopped and we were able to move everything back outside, and the rest of the day was pretty steady business, so it all worked out.  Rebecca loved being outside all day, interacting with everyone, and helping Rachel now and then with her lemonade stand.

My mom came down to help me out during the sale, and she also took the girls and me to the state fair one evening.  We took Rachel when she was about two, but that was the last time I had gone.  The girls had a great time.