Friday, April 20, 2007

I know...I know...

I know I'm actually terrible about updating this blog...I try to remember to do it, I think I just don't realize how much time actually goes by between my updates....
My sister says "EVERYONE" is asking about the Guinea Pigs so I guess I'll start there...We have gotten rid of two of the babies. Now both Mommy's and baby 3 (the last born..the one that "dad" gave birth to in the "isolation" cage) are living in our classroom. I have one student who calls the baby her own but when it comes down to it, she really doesn't have the money to buy a cage for it or even feed it when it goes home...so I just keep holding on to it for now. We are 90% sure it's a girl...and you know how good I am at sexing Guinea Pigs, Soooooo I'm sure we'll have another "litter" in about 3 months!!! :) Actually one of the mom's is getting quite fat again...I think It's a little soon for that but I'm a little concerned. I'm more concerned due to the fact that if she is preggo, it'd put her due date in the middle of summer break!!! Which would leave me stuck with who knows how many guinea pigs, at my house! It's one thing to have them at school...but at home, I'm just not ok with that!!! Enough about them...moving on...
Work is going really well for me. I'm so excited that we have exactly 4 weeks left of school. I actually have to work a few days after the kids get out but I have 20 days left with kids. Speaking of kids, I have a new kid coming in to my class next week. I was supposed to have him today but he never came, so I guess he'll be there Monday. I'm a little nervous, we have a really good dynamic now in our group and it always turns their whole worlds around when someone comes or goes! My kids and I had the privilege of going on a field trip this past Monday. We went to Disney's Animal Kingdom! It was a wonderful little trip! We were only there for about 2 hours which was good for my kids, they were ready to leave by then. They really don't have much of an attention span or much energy so 2 hours is pretty much their breaking point for any activity! :) We were fortunate enough to get the tickets for free so we didn't feel bad only having them there for 2 hours. Pretty much all we got to do was go on the "Kilimanjaro Safaris" which was absolutely awesome!!!
One of the several elephants we got to see! The whole ride carries a message about conservation and poaching.

These are some pictures I took with my phone, because, of course with all the excitement, I forgot my camera!! :(Here's a BABY giraffe who was just standing there watching us go by!


That's about all for my work at the minute. Chris is very...well, I guess "unsure" is the word, right now about his job. He's still doing well there but is getting bored, more or less. He's just not being challenged at all creatively and he's starting to look for places to move on to. However, with only 3 months experience, his options are limited. So, this is probably not a move that's going to be happening anytime soon. He realizes he needs to put in no less than a good solid 6 months before he moves on.

I'm looking into working at summer camps as an option for summer employment. I did attend an information session about teaching summer school but there seems to be a lot of interest in it from ESE teachers and seeing as how jobs are awarded based on seniority and I'm the newest teacher in the world, I think I'll back away from this idea. My other thought is that doing something different over the summer is really going to help me not burn out as quickly. So...I'm looking at camps in the area, I'm sending in applications...if all else fails, I'm fully prepared to go work at Disney for a few months!!!

I'm thrilled that today is friday! I'm off to bed as we speak! I can't wait to sleep-in tomorrow morning! I know it's a sad day in my life when the highlight of my week is waiting for the one day when I get to sleep in...and no doubt, I will awaken at 6:30 and not be able to force myself back to sleep!!! :( Ahh well...have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for reading!!!

Sunday, April 1, 2007

House Pictures....FINALLY...

I know, I know, we've been in Florida for an awful long time to have not yet posted pictures of our house. These are some shots that Chris took, I think the first week we were here...
Hey, you know what they say, "better late than never" Right? Well, here they are...


OUR HOUSE!!!



Our Pretty Little House Again!



our front porch



Our living room with the little Christmas Tree our friends set up for us before we arrived! It really made it feel more like home...since we did move the week before Christmas!



Our living room again, looking a little more "lived in"



Ozzy, enjoying the Florida sun



Tank, LOVING the new fenced back yard!!!






Chris and our "Tankers" happy to be in Florida!!!