very hot, hot dog

I really do have every intention, most weeks, to sit down and post at least once.... I do not know where the time goes!

Let's see, school is going well for me, I really enjoy it actually. Not necessarily all of the work, but I can't say that I mind that either. I am learning a lot and looking forward to going back into teaching. I am continuously inspired by something I read, or hear, or see. I love listening to my classmates talk about their lives and experiences, it is such a diverse group and I love learning about their cultures. One quick story, one night last semester, a storm was blowing through while we were in class. A sweet girl from China asked me if I could give her a ride home. Now let me just say, this girl has to be the sweetest, most positive person I have ever met in my whole life. Everything she says is with extreme enthusiasm and a big smile, we could all learn a little something from her I think. Anyway, she kept thanking me, and asking me if I wanted a "very hot, hot dog" from her apartment. It was just so moving to see how thankful she was, and that even though all she could offer was a hot dog, she was persistent in making sure I really did not want one. Very touching. :-) Anyway, I have 3 classes this semester, and then I will have only 4 left until I graduate. I hope to get 2 down this summer. I have also decided to send out my resume and apply for teaching positions for the fall. I told the boys' principal yesterday that I would be sending her my resume soon. It is still early, no one knows what they will need for next year yet, but I wanted to plant the seed. I love the boys' school and would love to teach there. Unfortunately, only Ryan will still be there next year, but that's ok.

Which leads me to the boys' and school. Jacob is doing so much better this year, we really seem to have managed to get things on track; medicine, teachers, no HW, etc. all squared away, and his anxiety level is back to normal levels. Well, normal for him. He does wash his hand a bit more than I would like, but his sleeping patterns have been better than they had in a long time. He has actually learned to get up and look at the time, and if it is before 6am (my rule) then he gets back in bed and lays there until he falls back to sleep. I actually told him a few months ago to just lay there and don't "try" to sleep, just don't get back up and eventually he would fall asleep. That somehow did the trick. Geez, I would have explained that a long time ago had I known it would freakin' work! Oh Jacob. So now, on many mornings, he is sleeping until 7:30-8:00am. Pretty good for him. For school days, I often have to actually wake him up after putting Luke and Ryan on the bus, that is a first! Every once in a while he tells me he wakes up around 3 or 4 am and gets back in bed. Those are usually the mornings where he really sleeps hard until waking up later. We are actually going to try camping with the trailer I think this Spring Break. I finally realized that I was so hesitant to camp because I had this feeling that Jacob would not be able to fall asleep or stay asleep, and that makes his days rough, which makes it rough on the whole family. Not fun. So crossing our fingers that all goes well!

Luke is thriving in 4th grade, he's on the 3rd Harry Potter book, doing well with piano, and likes his golf lessons. He did get the strictest teacher in the school and was feeling stressed about his work for her. She does do a few things that I find over the top, as a mom and a teacher, but I explained to him that every single one of us can name a teacher that we had that we did not like, did not get along with, or just didn't agree with they way they went about things. And we all survived. Sometimes your teachers aren't so great. I know this. We all know this. But we learn from them, and move on. It is a learning experience, maybe not a fun one, but still an important one in my opinion. So he and I work together to get his work done, and some mornings I take him early so he can work with her in small groups. He says she is nicer then (which I had guessed, and part of the reason I talked him into going in early). She does care, that is for sure. She is just really strict about everything, and Luke is pretty carefree. I am thrilled that he is enjoying piano. His teacher is super nice and he really likes her, which help with motivation. And he will continue with golf next month, have to wait for warmer weather. Although I think we are going to take Luke & Ryan to play this Sunday, supposed to be in the upper 60s, so that should be perfect!

Ryan is doing quite well in 1st grade. I met with his teacher briefly at the beginning of the year to give him a head's up about Ryan's personality and that seems to have helped. Ryan is very shy. Yes, Brett & Heidi made a shy kid. Because of his shyness, he gets extremely embarrassed if he is 'called out' or thinks he got 'in trouble'. I told his teacher this, and he was so upset that Ryan felt that way. Since then, all has been well. Of course mostly what I hear about is recess and PE, no surprise there. But he also informed us yesterday that he is "the only kid in his class on level 8 addition facts". There are "some on level 7" but he is the only one moved to 8. He was pretty proud of that, too cute. He tried basketball for the first time over the winter and although his team usually loses, BAD, he still enjoys it. It is fun to watch too. Not many of them out there do seem to know what they are doing, seems like basketball is a hard sport to learn and get good at, for most kids. He is asking to play flag football, but we are sticking with baseball in the Spring and waiting for Fall for football. His reading is coming right along as well. At first, I couldn't get him to read, he would find any reason not too, but it was just a confidence thing. He doesn't like for things not to come naturally to him, so he doesn't want to try. But, he's had that 'light bulb' come on and is happy to sit down and read. He loves listening to Luke or Dad read Harry Potter to him out loud. :-)

We took another ski trip this year right after Christmas. It was nice and quiet this time. Only us and Matt, and Chuck and his two girls went. His older daughter ended up trying it the first day, but not liking it so she stayed with Jacob and I. We played Wii, went to get groceries for dinner, and even drove to the next village, Eagle Nest, to check out the "museum" who "proudly served Starbucks". As it turned out, it was a tiny display of native artifacts and stuff from the area and the "Starbucks" were actually your choice of any of 7 K-Cups flavors made in a Kuerig. Oh well, it was only $7 for three drinks.... that's cheaper than Starbucks! So I didn't ski this time, and I was a-ok with that. Luke, Ryan, & Brett were bummed, but I do intend to try skiing again sometime. I am just not taking to it like I would like, it is hard and stressful for me, and that's not fun. I do enjoy the bunny hill though! Haha! We plan to go to Taos, NM this year over NYE and it sounds like a pretty large group of friends may join us! That should be a lot of fun! I doubt I will ever ski even as well as Luke and Ryan can, but I won't give up trying just yet!!

So there's an update, hopefully I will make time here soon and right something moving, or brilliant... who knows! Ha!