In Which Our Family Was Falling Apart

A little background:  last year Bill taught preschool at Hope to fill a need, and since I was already teaching Jr. High full time, Owen (2years old) ended up just going to the 2/3year old class with Bill for preschool every day.  It was a rough transition, and never would I even consider putting my two year old in preschool in the States - but after about a week he was thriving and loving school.  Everyday he & Bill went home at noon for lunch and Owen would get his nap.  School only lasted a half-day anyway for preschool so it worked out great.  We were happy to serve, it's what we were here for.  Bill ended up falling in love with teaching the littles and it was going great.  Owen was thriving and learning loads of new things, making lots of friends and loving every minute of school.  He even refused to go to kids church back in the States over furlough because "Ms. Dorothy (Bill's co-teacher) was his favorite teacher."

Just One More... Minute

The final 'week in the life' post through photos  - Sunday

Sunday morning started very much like Saturday: a smattering of sleep-in cuddles, then a request by the bear for more waffles.

He mixed, I poured, he flipped the griddle.  The kid loves waffles.

After a tasty breakfast we headed to church.

I promise I didn't stage this.  I was literally just trying my darndest to take a photo without anyone noticing :)

Spend a Minute with Me on Saturday

Day 6 in the 'week in the life' through photos: Saturday

Saturdays are usually my favorite.  Sleeping in.  Lots of time with the bear, which is what I'm longing for by the end of a busy week of school.  Started the morning with lots of cuddles from my bear in bed while hubby prepped the waffle batter.... then it was off to the kitchen with my little sioux chef.

The kid loves waffles, and he loves making them.  I let him open and close the thing and flip it over too.  He thinks it's the coolest thing ever.  I decided to whip up some fresh raspberry compote for it and hubby had a pot of coffee ready.  Best. Breakfast.  And sharing it with this cutie was the best part.

Walk a Minute with Me // Friday

Day 5 in my 'week-in-the-life' through photos series.

Started out my morning at school gettin' friendly with this guy.

I'm so thankful we have it.  It's the only one we have, and it (of course) only works when the power on, but I'm so thankful for it.  Last year a couple times, but one time in particular, it was out for repairs on a friday.  I had to hand-write all my tests on the chalkboards for my class.  In elementary, that wouldn't be bad.  But it was Jr. High science.  Took me for.ev.er.

Walked back into my room to see this:

This kid.  Such a smartie.  And pretty darn adorable too.

Got to work on some planning while Air Jordan there worked on his dunking skills.

I love my planner.  Searched high and low for it while in the states - who knew teacher planners (like actual teaching ones) were so flippin expensive?!  Like $30 and more for one!  So I opted for a typical planner, but I have a very specific way I like to write out my plans so I had to find one that had Monday - Sunday going across the pages, rather than down or in a boxy calendar format.  Found this at Target like two days before our departure.

Fridays are Homework Due Days.  I try to not micromanage my kids.  I give them their assignments all at once and say, turn them in on Friday.  They know each week they have 3 spelling activities, 3 vocab activities and a reading log due on Friday for me.  But man was a spoiled last year with only 3 sets of homework to grade.  Now I have nearly 30.  o.O

And those are just the homework books.  Fridays are also test days.  Spelling tests for sure every week, and sometimes vocab and/or grammar tests too.  Whew.  Makes me think back to my days teaching public school in the states with 26 kids.

Took O home for nap after lunch...

Annnnnddd... this is me also choosing a nap. It's been a long week.

After we got up from our naps we ran back to school to pick up the teachers, then it was home and time to start dinner.

Burgers, chips and green beans with balsamic and parmesean (and pizza leftovers for O since he doesn't like burgers).
It was delish, and easy.  Which made it even better.

We spent the evening taking care of laundry, cleaning the kitchen, sweeping the house and playing with O.  And now I sit here, in pants and a blanket still cold and contemplating hot chocolate before I start a movie with my love...

...Until tomorrow! :)

Trudge Through Thursday a Minute with Me

Day 4 of my week-in-the-life challenge: Thursday

Thursdays are rough.  They follow worship night which means we all wake up having not had enough sleep.  Then, with not enough sleep, Owen has to go to school for the full day, and Bill & I teach the full day.  Owen rarely naps at school, though they are made to lay down for an hour or so, which makes for an even longer afternoon/evening for us at home.  But let me stop complaining and get on with the post.

Oh and also - WHY is September almost over already?!  Sheesh.

Worship a Minute with Me

Day three of my 'week in the life' photo posts: Wednesday.
 
Wore this maxi again today.  Ordered it off Target.com b/c of the color, without realizing how incredibly thick the cotton is.  Love it, but it typically is just. too. hot. to wear it here.  I think I only wore it once all of last year.  But this year it's been uncanny amounts of cold, I think it's the 3rd or 4th time I've worn it - today with a jacket!








I take an odd sense of joy watching my homeroom kids complete the team building challenges I give them. Muahahaha...

Walk A Minute with Me // Tuesday

Started off the morning tying my homeroom in knots.  We played the human knot game, good team building time. 

Hit the Snooze with Me a Minute

Day 2 of my week in photos: Monday

I kind of hate mornings.  I am a snooze-button-hitter.  And most days of the week the bed just doesn't get made. It's about to get real up in here.  FYI.

Yes our walls are lime green.  Nope.  Don't know why, Don't like it.  Hope to get it painted in the next month or so.

Confession #1: We aren't morning people.  In case you didn't get that already.  We get up approximately 45-30 minutes before we have to be in the car leaving.  Sometimes we just take our egg and toast breakfast with us.  The bear is usually stellar about taking care of his plate and things, but this morning, we were all still tired and so there it sat until our return home from school. 

Walk a Minute With Me

My Week in (iPhone) Photos: Day 1 - Sunday

Owen got a play date with this sweet girl while her mom & Bill made an airport run early this morning.  She appeared at our gate, getting dropped by her momma as I was cleaning the kitchen in the quiet of toddler-still-sleeping house.  He RAN out of his bedroom giddy with excitement when he found out she was here.  They shared some oatmeal then traipsed off to the playroom to get into the toys.

I, on the other hand... did this:

{Random} Conversations with our 3 year old Missionary Kid

O: Today in cyass (class) I told Miss. Me-yinda 'acha' {putting his hand forward like a stop sign}  I tode her 'acha' means stop.
Me: You did?  Why'd you tell her that?
O: Because the other boy wasn't making good choices. And he didn't know English.

O: Foos (who's) gonna yive (live) in Miss Vickie's house when she's gone?
Me: No one, she's gonna lock it all up.  She'll be back in a few months.
O: Momma!  How's she EVER gonna get back IN?!

First Day of School

I can't help but think of that scene in Finding Nemo:

That's not {quite} how it went in our house this morning... but I thought I'd share how the first day went... at least for me: a Jr. High-Homeroom-slash-Language-Arts-2nd-through-8th-grade-teaching-volunteer-as-a-missionary-in-Tanzania-and-momma-to-a-preschooler.

We arrived on campus at Hope International at 8:00am on the dot.  I walked to my classroom,  saying hi to students along the way.  Stopping to give my former (and also current, actually) student a hug.  She told me she couldn't stay, that she was sick and going to the hospital.  Sure enough, she had a rash all over and was shaking.  Poor thing.  I wished her well and gave her a hug goodbye - she'd come to school and waited for me to arrive to tell me she couldn't be there today.