NEW JOB

Thanks to everyone who has asked "how did your first day go". I appreciate the calls, emails & text messages!! For those that I haven't gotten the chance to reply to yet, it was WONDERFUL! I enjoyed it so much more than my old position. I didn't have to deal with behavior issues, which is a nice change. I am doing a lot of one on one work with a variety of K-3 kids struggling in all subjects. My hours are 9:45-3:15. I have a 30 minute lunch break when both of my kids are in the lunch room, so I can eat lunch with them every now & then...probably Allie, Jake isn't too interested in having lunch with mom. I also do recess duty when my kids are outside playing. I've avoided supervising Jake & his friends' football games...they often require intervention & it is best not to have Jake's mom as the ref! Anyway, I am looking forward to going back today, which is a great sign!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

RECAP

Another week has come & gone...way too quickly! It seems that the days just fly by & before I know it, another week is gone....

Monday: After school we rushed to Allie to dance class. I made Jake do a little Christmas shopping with me in the downtown area while Allie was at dance. He wasn't pleased, but dealt with his fate just fine. After dance we went over to UNI to the planetarium for Jake's Pack meeting. Jake really enjoyed learning all about the constellations & planets.

Tuesday: The kids had their last night of swimming until January. Jake capped off his night by jumping off of the board & swimming the length of the pool alone. Allie ended her night with a jump off of the board & swimming alone to the side. I also had a PTA meeting that night.

Wednesday: Jake had religion class. Allie & I wrapped a few Christmas gifts and baked a batch of Christmas cookies for the freezer.

Thursday: After work, I went to Jake's classroom and made tray favors for the local hospital. We made turkeys out of paper bags. They turned out really cute. After school, Allie had her Daisy meeting where she "officially" become a Daisy Scout. Jake & Allie before school on Thursday. They were to wear their favorite school shirts for American Education Week.
Jamie, Makenna & Jake with their turkeys.
Jake made Arthur glasses at school...here he is acting dorky & getting a laugh out of the class.

Allie saying the Girl Scout Promise.
Allie & her Daisy friends (Chloe, Allie, Madison, Krisha, Riley & Madison)

Friday: My last day of work at Cedar Heights. I didn't think I'd be sad, but I was. I'll miss the kids in my classroom. I was showered with cards & hugs as I left. After school, the Cub Scout popcorn was delivered to my house to be sorted...all $9000+ worth. A few parents helped & we had it sorted & to the den leaders by about 7:00.

Saturday: I took the kids to Santa's Workshop at UNI. They got to make crafts, have cookies & see Santa & Mrs. Claus. Allie was thrilled by the activities, Jake not so much! Allie had her friend Madison's birthday party that afternoon. The theme was High School Musical & all of Allie friends were there...she had so much fun.

Allie, Mrs. Claus, Jake & Paul
Jake, Paul, Allie & Santa
Allie working hard on a craft...note the snowflake crown that she is wearing. Jake REFUSED to wear his crown.
Jake by his favorite tree...it is a "martini" tree...he liked the bubble lights on the tree, not the martini glasses!
Allie by her favorite tree...a teddy bear tree.

Sunday: The boys got up bright & early & left to Minnesota to see the Raiders play the Vikings. Jake couldn't wait to see a professional football game. Allie & I spent the morning baking & cleaning. We went to the Teddy Bear Tea at UNI & had a wonderful time...in fact next year I may be co-chairing this annual event!

Me & Allie before the tea.
Katie, Jordyn & Allie on the "Polar Express" (a bus that took us across campus to the tea)
Rebecca, Jordyn, Allie, Madison, Kayla & Madison at the tea.
Allie, Abbie, Jordyn, Allison & Katie at the tea.
Allie gives Santa a BIG hug!

This week: I start my new job on Monday & I am really looking forward to it. Allie has dance & we have a fundraiser for PTA at Texas Roadhouse that night. Tuesday evening Jake makes his first Confession. We have no school on Wednesday & I'm planning to bake pumpkin pie & get our sour cream potato casserole ready to bake on Thursday. We are planning a quiet day at home on Thanksgiving with a big noon dinner. Allie & I are going to get some holiday decorating done while the boys watch football!! I am shopping with Mandy & Kim on Black Friday while Mom keeps the kids. We love doing that!!

WRAPPING UP THE WEEK

Wow, we had a busy, busy week last week. Here's our recap...

Monday

Allie had dance class & then we enjoyed a quiet evening at home.

Tuesday

I attended conference for each of the kids. Both kids are doing really well in school. I'm so proud of them. Jake excels in Math, Spelling & PE. He needs to slow down & work on his handwriting. Allie is doing really well with her sight words, Music & Art. She also needs to slow down & not be the first one done!! We also had the book fair last week. I was able to work a shift & enjoyed seeing all of the kids friends. The kids had swimming on Tuesday night.

Wednesday

Jake's class had "Read In Day" on Wednesday. The class got to bring pillows, blankets & stuffed animals into class, get comfy & read all day long. They LOVED it. Jake had religion on Wednesday night.

Jake is in the red...reading away during "Read In Day"...

Thursday

No school!! I had a sitter come over & watch the kids so that I could go have a root canal fixed. Not fun! The kids had swimming Thursday night. Both kids are doing great. Allie is jumping off of the diving board & swimming alone to the side of the pool. Jake is working on his back stroke & breathing properly while doing the front stroke.

Friday

No school again so we went with friends to see Bee Movie. It was pretty cute. Earlier in the week, we got news that one of Jake's friend's father passed away suddenly. I talked to Jake about Caleb's dad's death & asked if he wanted to go to the visitation to see Caleb. Jake really wanted to go, so we did. He did really well & got to spend some time with his friend. I feel so bad for this family...the mother is a stay at home mom that has 4 children, 1 in 4th grade, 1 in 2nd grade, 1 in Kindergarten & a 6 month old. They moved to Iowa last year from Idaho. They are planning to move back to Idaho soon.

Saturday

Allie had her Festival of Trees dance recital. She danced to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas & did a really nice job. Nana Terri came to see the big performance & spent the night with us.

Allie at dress rehearsal...ready to dance!
Allie is on the far right...this is at dress rehearsal.
Allie & her flowers for a GREAT performance!

Sunday

Allie & I went with a group of friends to see the play Annie. It was SO good.

Allie & Jordyn before Annie started!

This week....we have dance class, Cub Scouts, PTA, swimming, religion, Daisy Scouts, popcorn delivery (UGH), Santa's Workshop & the Teddy Bear Tea. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving week when I can relax...yeah right!

UNI BASKETBALL CAMP
Jake went to basketball camp in the Dome on Friday night. The camp was run by the UNI players & coaches. After learning lots of new things about basketball, he was able to get autographs of all of his favorite players.
Jake & Paul at camp
Jake has Coach Jacobsen sign his ball.
Player Eric Coleman signs Jake's shirt.

COURTNEY & NICK'S WEDDING
My cousin Courtney got married on Saturday. It was a pretty ceremony & a fun reception. Jake was on Cloud 9 because the reception was held in the Kinnick Stadium press box. It was nice spending time with my immediate & extended family.

Courtney & Nick lighting the unity candle.
Jake getting ready to go into the reception at Kinnick...he was SO excited
Allie & my cousin Allison at the reception
Miss Maddie...isn't she beautiful??

Ben, Jake, Maddie & Allie
Jake with the Iowa scoreboard in the background
Our family at the reception
My mom & her siblings (front Julie, Toni, Mom back Liz, Joe & Joni)
Michael & Allie dance at the reception

SCOUTS

Jake had a Cub Scout meeting on Sunday night at the bowling alley. The kids bowled & then we had a short meeting after. They really enjoyed themselves.

The Scouts after bowling (front Paul, Nicholas, Aidan, back Will, Jake & Sam)

THIS WEEK

It is a short week of school. Conferences are this week, so we have Thursday & Friday off. We have a busy week though...Allie has dance, both kids have swimming 2 times this week, I am working at the Book Fair at Hansen, I have conferences for both kids, Jake has religion, I have a root canal, Allie has her winter recital and Allie & I are going to see Annie on stage.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Whew, another Halloween has come & gone & we survived!

Jake went trick or treating at the local hospital this morning with his class. I lucked out & was able to join him when my one on one student didn't show up for school today. After his class was done trick or treating, we went back to school & I was able to have lunch with Allie. She was delighted that I surprised her!

The kids both had their school parties today. They enjoyed a parade, snacks & a few games. It was FUN!

We went trick or treating this afternoon downtown. The merchants always give out candy & it is fun bumping into the kid's friends there. We went trick or treating tonight in our neighborhood & we are all exhausted.



Allie at her class party (she is a bride).
Jake at his party (he is an Iowa football player)
Mr. Wagner (Waldo) & Miss Pins (a clown). Mr. Wagner HATES clowns so all of the staff dressed up as clowns & carried signs around saying "Wagner's Clown Show".
Jake & his best friend Paul (Harry Potter)
Allie & her best friend Jordyn (a spider fairy)
A group of the kid's friends (Allie, Jordyn, Sophie, Makenna, Jake & Paul)
Another group of the kid's friends (Allie, Jordyn, Sophie, Carter, Makenna, Jake & Paul)
The neighbor kids (Lauren, Paul, Claire, Ellie, Dane, Ben, Jake, Emma, Allie & Kayla)
The kids trick or treating
Jake & Allie with their candy & pumpkins.

Jake's class (not a great pic, I got this from a friend)

Allie's class.

FALL SOCCER ENDS
On Monday night Jake's soccer team ended the fall season with a win. I believe that the score was 20-1. That takes our record to 5-1 for the Fall. Soccer will pick up again in the Spring.

VOLUNTEERING
I've been volunteering in Allie's classroom helping the teacher get ready for conferences in a couple of weeks. Allie is delighted to have me there. Jake is a bit miffed that I haven't been able to help in his room yet.

PAUL'S BIRTHDAY
We celebrated Paul's birthday twice this week. Once on Monday night after soccer at Texas Roadhouse and again on Saturday at the movie theater. He had lot of boys join him to see Game Plan & then we had cake in the party room adjacent to the theater. The kids had a fantastic time.

Jake & his friend's at Paul's party. Front row: Will B, Caleb H, Nicholas N, Nicholas C, Mason B, Ben G, Nick B, Jake, Paul, Dylan E & Adam W

CHEERLEADING
Allie got to put her cheerleading skills to use at the Tiger's game on Friday night. She got to cheer at halftime of the Sophomore game at the Dome! She looked adorable!!
Allie is on the far left side of the picture doing her cheer on the Dome turf.
The kids after Allie's cheerleading debut!


NEW JOB
I applied for a transfer to the kid's school and I got the job! I am not sure when I'll make the move, probably once they fill my job. The kids can't wait & neither can I. I will be an associate in the K-3 resource room.

PUMPKIN FARM
We took the kids to the pumpkin farm today to pick out their pumpkins. They enjoyed the corn maze, haunted house, hay slides and many other fun things. The bought huge pumpkins and Scott was able to carve them tonight (pictures will come on Halloween).
Pumpkins anyone??
Allie hanging out by one of my favorite signs at the patch! Jake has grown SO much since we started going to the pumpkin patch!
The kids in the corn maze.
Allie picks out her pumpkin.
Paul, Allie, Jake & Will at the pumpkin patch.



NEXT WEEK
Next week we have Allie's dance class, school Halloween parties, trick or treating, Allie has a birthday party to attend, both kids start swimming, Jake has basketball camp, my cousin gets married, 3 days of volunteering in Allie's classroom and a Cub Scout meeting.