Wilson Family

Well the time has come for me to do my student teaching. I guess some of you may not know that I decided after I got my bachelor’s to go back and get my teaching certificate. I have completed all of my classes, observation hours, most of my professional development, and have passed my state tests to teach pre-K-8th grade. I also have taken my ESL courses and just have to make time to take my certification test. It has been a lot of work but I am just getting started with the hard part. I have been observing a few classes lately and I fell in love with kindergarten and 1st grade. I decided to do a spilt student teaching assignment, 7 weeks with kindergarten and 5 weeks with 1st. I have observed with the teachers I will be student teaching with and they are fantastic. I couldn’t have picked better teachers. I also love my principal, she is kind and helpful and overall really easy to approach and work with. The school I am at is about 25 minutes away in a VERY small town outside of Lubbock. I had a placement closer but when it came down to it I loved where I was observing so I switched at the last minute. I am so thankful for how all of this has turned out because I was very anxious about it.

The hard part is not the student teaching but the balancing family and church with it (mostly family). I hate to drop the kids at daycare everyday but I found a wonderful place for them. Here is an excerpt from an email I sent to a friend of mine, explaining the daycare, ” About daycare, I think I did find a place. I was definitely led to this place for  a reason. I checked out a bunch of places (mostly the really expensive ones because you would think they would be the best) but none of them was even an option because of one thing or another. A few were pretty new (opened only 2-3 years) so they looked clean and new but they felt grubby because the air was moist and stale and the area was untidy and probably festering with germs. One of those places also told me about their menu and said they typically only serve fruits and veggies on special occasions because kids don’t really like them and they don’t want to waste them. What?! wow…another place’s menu was pizza, fish sticks, and chicken nuggets rotated over and again. really?! Whats more crazy is the madhouse that most of the other places were. In a room with babies 12-18 months you can have 9 babies per adult….NINE! so I walked into two different rooms with 18 babies (half of them screaming or running around) with only two young adult girls in there with them. INSANE! Also most of these places were around 250-300 dollars per week (total for both kids). I did find one or two that I liked but they weren’t certified for babies younger than 18 months so I couldn’t use them because Joseph will only be 15 months. So one of those places, right by our house, I really liked and was bummed because they couldn’t take Joseph, but they told me about a place they usually refer people to, called —-. It is older so it doesn’t seem as fresh and clean but when I walked in there I saw two of the teachers cleaning with lysol and a paper towels (definitely made me feel good…) and then they took me around to where Joseph would be. The teacher was great and came and took him out of my arms (after asking) and gushed over him. There were only 3 other kids his age (and legally there could be 9 with one teacher) so I was really relieved and impressed with the ratio. Then we went to Emma’s room where the teacher dropped what she was doing to come and meet Emma and introduce herself an the kids. There were about 7-8 kids which is just like her preschool. Then she talked about her curriculum and whatnot. So great! Also, I noticed that each classroom (there were 7) the kids were actively involved in a lesson or activity and it was calm and controlled. Then as I talked with the director she tells me about the place and how it came to be: The owner’s son died when he was 7 from cancer and so they decided to start a non-profit daycare in his name. So she told me how they had to have their other kids in daycare during his radiation treatment and how they couldn’t find anything that felt like home so they decided to build one. SO anyway, their philosophy is to have a place for kids where they feel at home. They provide and serve all meals and snacks (breakfast lunch dinner and 2 snacks) included in the price of care and it is really good food like chicken & rice and spaghetti, or pancakes  and eggs for breakfast. Great, huh? So it will be —- per week total for both kids, crazy huh?! I am really excited now, and I know they will be in good care.  I am so relieved and thankful because I know I found this place for a reason. Its so weird, the lady who told me about the place said it was great. Then I went straight home and looked it up. no dice…google had failed me so I thought I had the name wrong or something. SO I just looked at a bunch of other places (and waited a couple of weeks) and then I was feeling defeated and really anxious and got this impression to look it up in my phone. So i used my iPhone map app and it came right up with the map and address and phone. Amazing. The director told me she would have space for the kids and to come right down and check it out. I am just so thankful…it could’ve been a lot worse, I think.”

We’ve been going for a week now and the kids like their new “school” as Emma calls it. Joseph likes it too and is eating and sleeping great for them. The big downside was that they both got pretty sick this week. Emma had strep throat and a nasty cough and Joseph has RSV and a double ear infection that led to one of his eyes (so sick, I know). So I have already had to miss a day of school (today) which makes me feel like a tool but thats how it is (I was lucky though because they got out early because of snow and ice so I only have to make up a half day. Plus, they’ll probably cancel school tomorrow and I can take care of Joseph again if I need to!) Joe was great to take off a day from Tech too to be with Joseph (…and do the laundry and clean the house). I am so glad we are doing this together. I cannot imagine doing this alone!

I am really enjoying my kindergarten class. My school has been selected by the state of Texas to be one of 16 Demonstration Schools. Districts will observe and model teaching based on our success with students. Its pretty exciting for us. The district received a large grant and was able to provide each teacher with some really fun and high tech classroom equipment (ELMO/Mimeo Interactive Presentation Screens). Its been fun to learn how to use it, I hope I will have them in my classroom whenever I start to teach!

My parents came to visit in mid-January. We had a great time though it made us wish they lived closer! They hit the ground running when they got here. I took them to Abuelo’s (while Joe was at work) to try and get them some good mexican food (really though, anything in TX is better than what they call Mexican in PA).  Friday we woke up and dropped the kids at Pre-K and PDO so that my mom and I could do some of my last minute school shopping. Joe and my dad went shooting (all day long…) They had a great time. I think they shot everything from Joe’s rifle & shot gun, to the 9mm and the .380. They had a fun time and I think my dad has the itch to buy a hand gun now! Haha…We played a few games and enjoyed the new season opener of 24. We were able to celebrate my mom’s Birthday with her on the 17th. I made a chocolate ice cream cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream and homemade hot fudge. wow is all I have to say about that. We got a babysitter on Saturday so we could celebrate. We went to Triple J’s for dinner and then went to see Have You Heard About the Morgan’s? . It was really fun to go out with them. On Monday Joe smoked a brisket for us to enjoy and we ran a few errands too. The kids loved to spend time with their Grammy and Grandpa. Joseph was especially fond of my dad. If he saw him when we walked into a room he was there in 2 seconds flat. On Sunday at church my dad held him most of the day and though I am sure my dad was tired afterwards, Joseph did great with him and really enjoyed it. Both of my parents spent time reading to the kids and they could not get enough. My mom began reading a condensed version of Anne of Green Gables to Emma. She loved it and we are almost done reading it now.  So fun that Emma loves books as much as my mom and I do. Here are a few pics from the trip! (sorry I am so bad about taking pictures…)

During Joe’s winter break we were able to complete a few things from our to do lists. While we took care of businessthe kids had a great time with each other and I was quite suprised at how well they did! One day while I was organizing some closets and cabinets, it was a bit too quiet around the house and I walked into Joseph’s room to see them both reading books….really?! I was very impressed and so glad nothing crazy had happened instead.

Another day, I was cleaning the living room and Emma and Joseph were wrestling. He is VERY patient with her and will usually laugh with her as she rolls his around or picks him up. This time she was wrapping him in a big fuzzy blanket because she wanted to rock him. I helped her and then she rocked him in the big maroon chair as they both laughed hysterically. Crazies.

I just loved this one of Joseph. I can’t help but smile from ear to ear when I see this happy face…

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but Joseph and Joe are the best of friends. They are smitten with each other and I guess part of that is the name and part is because they are the only men in the house. When Joe was fixing my brakes, Joseph was crying at the inside door that leads to the garage. He wanted to be with his daddy so badly. When I took him out there he was all smiles and I had to get a picture of their first project :)

Emma and I thought we would surprise my parents with some TX cookies to get them stoked for their trip in mid January. They loved the cookies and their funny but really very serious messages. :) Seriously though, what other state has it’s own cookie cutter? Gotta love TX and Hobby Lobby!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We have been enjoying some past traditions and have been making what we hope will become new ones along the way. We began the Christmas season by decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. This actually took a couple of days on and off because we wanted us all to be a part of it. A few days later we made and decorated dozens of Gingerbread men and stars. I already blogged about those but they were so much fun and we really enjoyed making them together and then giving some of them away. On the first day of december we begin reading a wonderful version of the story of Christmas in place of our usual scriptures with the kids each night. This year my mom sent us an advent calendar with a scripture for each day of december leading up to Christmas. We would read all of the previous nights’ scriptures and then the one for that day. This one is definitely a tradition we’ll keep. Emma was excited each night to be able to quote the scriptures with me because we quickly memorized them from rereading them each night. We also made a paper chain to count down to Christmas as well and my sister-in-law, Emily, told me that she wrote the name of a Christmas song on the back of each ring and they’d sing it when her daughter would tear the chain each night. I thought that was a great idea and we’ll definitely be doing that this coming Christmas. We had a few parties along the way with friends and enjoyed our time together as a family. On Christmas eve Joe had a wonderful celebration for his birthday and then we settled in to playing santa and mrs. claus. We had a fun time while Joe put together Emma’s fancy wooden kitchen set and while I made her a few cds for her new alarm clock (so she can wake up happily, though early, during my student teaching). We watch Julie and Julia and had hot cocoa. We also had a wonderful little blizzard on Christmas eve which made for a really fun christmas eve and christmas day! Emma loved the snow and ended up going out to play about 10 different times over the course of a few days. I made a Christmas Apricot Ham, Funeral Potatoes and homemade rolls. It was divine. Then Emma and I decided to go see The Princess and the Frog (which I HATED but Emma loved). It was a bit too dark for my liking. Christmas was awesome this year for all of us. I love the picture of Emma up close to the window…She was so excited and couldn’t get enough of the snow! The last pic is the quilt I made for Joe for his birthday. He picked out the patterned fabric and then I designed (its random), sewed, and quilted it. Its the size of the top of our bed (king) and you can see his boots peeking out from the bottom so you can tell how large it is. :) It was fun to make something that we can keep at our house and that I can enjoy every day!

Each year for Joe’s birthday, I usually get him something lame. I stew and stew about what to get him but inevitably it’s nothing super exciting. Part of that is that his birthday is the day before Christmas but the main reason is that he is THE hardest person to shop for. He usually saves for and buys everything that he wants and the other things that I know he wants are too expensive to justify for a birthday or Christmas. This year was different. I was determined to get him something amazing that he would really enjoy. I had a few ideas of things but I couldn’t figure out what to get. Then I had a wonderful idea…if I could only get it to work right. After his hunting trip last month with his dad, brother and nephew I realized (and I think they did too) that this was going to start happening more frequently and as all of these baby boys get older, the trips are going to be bigger and better every time. SO…I needed to get Joe a deer rifle so he doesn’t have to borrow his dad’s. As I thought about it I decided we didn’t have $1000.00 lying around for a rifle so I needed to be crafty. Joe has a really nice .45 that his dad gave him before his mission. It is beautiful but we’ve only ever shot it a handful of times. So I called up his dad and asked him if he would mind if I sold it to purchase a rifle for Joe. He was excited about the idea and helped me to pick out the rifle. I called a gun dealer (Al) in our ward and he taught me a few things about rifles and then we all decided I would make out better if I could sell the pistol privately (which Al would handle for me) and then I could order the rifle through him at dealer cost. PERFECT! Al ordered the rifle (Browning X-Bolt 30.06) and the Leupold scope (an early graduation present from his parents) with rings to mount it. Al hooked us us with 2 day shipping and had it here on Tuesday the 22nd. I was so worried that Joe would notice that the pistol was missing and I was so excited to give him the presents that I had butterflies in my stomach for 2 days! Finally on his birthday, the 24th, we began by opening a few presents. You should know that I have been making him a quilt so he thought that was his only gift. Emma began by giving him a box of 30.06 ammo. I told him that we knew he had another trip planned and I called his dad to see what ammo his rifle would take. I am sure he thought this was the lamest gift ever. Then Joseph gave him the mounting rings for his scope. I quickly told him that we would get him all the less expensive accessories until we could buy him a rifle. 2nd worst gift ever. Then I gave him the quilt which he loved and then Emma took him to find his last gift from us. As she opened the closet door all he could say was, “This better not be what I think it is!” Oh it was, and it was so much better than I’m sure he thought it would be! After he opened the rifle and looked at it for a minute we gave him the scope from his parents (he had seen the box a few days earlier and thought for sure it was a Maglight…not quite, my love). He was again shocked and so thankful. It was such a great night,  he had this huge smile on his face and I was so happy to be able to do that for him, with my wonderful assistants: Joe’s parents & Al! I made him a fun cake too which I had been hiding until after presents! It was the great start to a wonderful night of playing Santa & Mrs. Claus. I love you, Joe! Happy Birthday!

On a side note, it was fun to glance over at him all night as I could tell he was ecstatic and it was as if he was wondering if that had really just happened. The next morning I could tell he was anxious to get it out again– when he did he put the scope on, then oiled and admired it for a while :) so fun…