Summer changes

It seems our lives are made up of changes, whether good or bad. Everyone finished school this last week - Mom, Dad, and kiddos.Next year we will have a 3 year old preschooler, a 4 year old preschooler, and a 1st grader! I hired a tutor for the summer to work with the oldest; he has come so far this year, we want to make sure he doesn't lose a lot of his knowledge over the summer. We also have a plan for how our days will be spent: reading, coloring, cooking, bike rides, swing set, parks, swimming, library programs, Vacation Bible School, and more! We tried not to do more than one "out of the house" thing a day so that we are going to learn how to spend time together with the six of us (we now include the puppy in our family number). We have a few field trips planned to zoos and things. It should be pretty great!

We received our finalization date. It is July 5th. I know lots of people have special parties on this day or celebrate it every year as another special date. We hadn't really been that type of people. We were most excited about the day we got them, and we figured that the finalization was just kind of a technicality. Well, after having the kiddos for almost 5 months now, knowing we were going to get them for 5 months before that, and seeing them on the waiting list 3 months before that, it is a much bigger deal that I thought it would be. As I put the date on our calendar, I teared up. Oh great! How am I supposed to go there and make it though the whole thing if I can't even write it down!?!?!

The last big change for the summer is that I got a new job last week! I had been commuting 30 minutes to work. I enjoyed teaching elementary, and I loved my coworkers, but I hated being on a different schedule than my family, leaving the house BY 6:45, and not being more available. The job I applied for was high school math; something I have never done but am "qualified" to do. It was a long shot, but I was encouraged to just be open to anything. After I interviewed, I was told about a middle school position. Middle school! That is my first love! I was offered the middle school position last week, and I have been so excited! It is a little different than anything I have done before. I will be a special education teacher (yes, I will have to go back to school), working solely in math. Four periods a day will be co-teaching, 2 period of planning/PLC time, and two periods of resource math. I will have a caseload of about 15 kids or less. I am so excited! I know there will be challenges, but I think this truly is the job I am meant to have! I went in yesterday to meet the math team, SPED team, and my "penthouse" floormates (we are on the top floor, so they refer to it as the penthouse). I felt so at home! Today I get to move into my classroom. Next week is a meeting with my SPED partner, and then some meetings with my co-teacher. This is a great opportunity, and I am THRILLED about the change.

What will I do with my extra "hour" a day? I am hoping to spend 30 minutes sleeping and 30 minutes exercising....how did I do today? I spent my exercising time blogging...I guess there is always tomorrow!

Honeymoon?

So the kids have been doing great! Besides my meltdown when I returned to work for a day, they have really been doing well with transitions, school, eating, sleeping, potty-training, and everything else. Yes, they test our boundaries like normal preschoolers. Yes, it is tough to suddenly have three kids vying for your attention. It's not like things are going perfectly here, but they are going really well. This leads lots of people to tell me that this is just the honeymoon and that things are bound to get worse. So here we are waiting for the bottom to fall out.

I thought yesterday was the day. Our kindergartener woke up with a fever, and the little two were testing boundaries all day. I thought this was the beginning of an unraveling. My daughter threw a fit at preschool for the teacher, and then threw a fit when I picked her up. She laid down on the sidewalk and screamed, refusing to leave unless I carried her. I am not very inclined to carry a four-year old, but I am even less inclined when I have two other kids to walk to the car. After all was said and done, we had a decent even, but she was quite cold towards me. I cried before I went to bed, certain that I had ruined her relationship with me over carrying her to the car. It was a hard day.

I woke up refreshed after a great night's sleep, and so did my daughter. We have had a stellar morning, and she is now happily at preschool. I hope she does great when I pick her up :) Maybe we are still in the honeymoon. Or maybe they really are going to adjust well and just have occasional bad days like all children.