Chico ????-2011

Our beloved family dog Chico was laid to rest this week. We have had him before having children and before we got married. He's been in the family since 2002. That's almost 10 years! I remember adopting him as soon as I graduated college as a sign of my independence. I wanted to take care of someone as I felt like I was an official adult in the real world.When I adopted him, the SPCA didn't have an exact age on Chico but they estimated he was about 4 years old. That means he must have been real close to 14yrs old. Just the thought of seeing him go was really hard for our family. We had to have lots of conversations with Ati to prepare her for what was to come. Thankfully when the day came she handled it very well and surprisingly I did to. No tears were shed. It was a different story for my dear hubby though : ( He had to walk away several times to compose himself emotionally. I held it together pretty well until that night when everyone was asleep and laid in bed. I couldn't help but think how scary it must have been for him to be in a strange cold room and go out all alone like that with someone he didn't even know. Just typing this out is hard. We miss him dearly.

Chico, we miss you! I've had to sweep the kitchen floor after dinner every night since you've been gone...I am gonna miss you picking up the kids food scraps and crumbs. I never thought I'd say this but we miss you under the kitchen table waiting with anticipation for the kids to drop something on accident. We took that for granted! I miss hanging out with you after the kids are in bed and you lounge with mom and dad on the couch at night. I miss your bark when you hear something outside. And sadly I even miss the scratching on the patio door letting us know you need to go outside or need to come back in. We worried you would be jealous when we had our first child but you were so sweet to protect her and play with her as if you were an uncle. The same with our second. You were a part of our family and will always be in our memories!

Family Christmas Picture (before kids)

Chico keeping watch on driveway while Ati played

Chico checking out the snow here at home several years ago

Lounging on the couch

Keeping the kids company

Hanging out under the tree this Christmas!

Chico often traveled with us especially when we went camping!

Wheels are Turning

As a first grade teacher I sometimes catch myself thinking out loud in front of my students. Sometimes it goes right over their heads and they don't catch on but other times they understand every bit of it. Especially my really bright students read into my comments and catch me off guard when they respond to my think out loud humor. Take today for example....

We were having a whole class math conversation and I wanted an answer to a question that I had posed. I picked on a quiet little girl who usually doesn't raise her hand but wanted her participation so I asked her what she thought the answer might be. Others around her were anxious to blurt out the answer and looked like they were about to pee their pants with their little fingers reaching for the ceiling. I could tell they were disapointed that I hadn't called on them for surely they knew the right answer.

Usually I can tell right away when a student has no idea what I am talking about or even the slightest idea to what the answer might be. But she had been paying attention the whole time and when I called on her name I could tell she was really thinking about the math in her head. As she was looking off into the distance deep in thought, others around her literally were about to burst their little mouths open with anticipation.

I put my hand up to the others to calm them down as I looked intently at my little friend. As I put my hand up I said...."Hold on, the wheels are turning I can see it. She's almost got it." Usually a 6yr. old doesn't understand phrases that are meant as an analogy and so often those comments go unnoticed or they look at me totally confused as If I just didn't make any sense whatsoever.

As soon as I said "The wheels are turning..." she lost her focus and instead gave me a blank stare. At this, one of my other students replied...."The wheels aren't turning anymore!" Sometimes it's hard to keep a straight face when the little ones catch on to me. I was sure to encourage my little friend though as I was proud of her for really thinking hard there for a while. That's the best part of my job if you ask me. When you get to see with your own eyes the learning going on in a child's mind. They may stumble and fall and not have all the right answers all the time but how else do you learn to ride a bike if it not for all the practice! When you get to see the light bulb go off in their sweet face I swear there is a facial expression for that! Every time I see it go off in their faces it just makes me want to give them a big ole' hug. And I give thanks that I am given the opportunity to make an imprint like that on their journey of learning.

One Year Later...

So it's been about a year since I last posted. I took an unannounced, unplanned year off. And it's been great! I needed some time to disconnect from all things social media. Glad to be back! So much has happened since a year ago and I feel so bad that I have not documented it all! Oh well...no looking back just looking forward!

Maciah has gotten so big since the last time I posted a picture of him on this blog! This is the most current pic I have of him from this past weekend. He's such a stud...
And my sweet Ati...She's such a loving big sister but diva nonetheless...

I've been on Thanksgiving break from work and have had a great time resting and spending time with the family! I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish this week and so far so good...Take a look at my To Do List...

1. SLEEP IN!---- check
2.Start Working out again daily------check
3. Decide on a summer trip----check
4. Make a craft----check
5. Read my book more than just before bed----check
6. Take an afternoon nap-----check
7. Figure out fancy new camera----hmm.. not yet...feeling intimidated by all the features.
8.Start blogging again----doing it now!

Glad to be back!! Excited to start documenting all of the craziness that goes on in our beautiful family life!