Below is my current class list of students. I have 74 students (43% females and 57% males) this year. My Olivias and Andrews are all in the same class. Two Catherines are in the same class, and the two Stephanies chose to sit next to each other. Both Shanes and Walters are in the same class. One Walter volunteered to go by his middle name, but that ( Read more... )

I flew to Malaysia about 10 days ago with my two girls. The 26-hour flight with one transit in Hong Kong was thankfully uneventful; Erika refused to sleep and watched lots of movies until she got on the second flight and just passed out while sitting up with the lights on and a movie playing; Amelia napped a bunch and was restless and attempted to ( Read more... )

One of the best-- absolute BEST-- things that Amelia has started saying this week has been a very simple word: 'kayBut it has been the BEST word so far. Because previously she had "yes" and "no", which was good for when she had to make a decision; but it's hard to over-emphasize the importance of acknowledgments when holding a conversation with ( Read more... )

On Sunday, I ran the senior awards brunch, a two-hour event where scholarships and awards from various organizations but particularly the PTSA, gives out awards to recognize seniors. I had to emcee the event and keep the pace going; we also do Senior Reminiscences and the first showing of the Senior VIdeo. It all went smoothly. Then as the senior ( Read more... )

I started the Bikini Body Guide (BBG) workout plan on May 20, so it's been a full two weeks. Up to that point, I had lost approximately 10 lbs from just changing my eating habits to a healthier diet, by cutting my daily chocolate consumption, my late night snackings while watching TV, and impromptu fast food drive-thrus. The combination of changing ( Read more... )

I didn't write this post for a few weeks, because I wasn't sure if it would come off in a similar vein as #firstworldproblems, a sort of condescending #blessed post, one that is a thinly disguised braggart post, which is really not my intention. I am genuinely concerned about how to emotionally nurture and raise a child like Erika ( Read more... )

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I need your vote on YouTube! All it takes is to hit LIKE on YouTube ( Read more... )

spacefem posted recently about the charities that she supports, which got me thinking about the charities we are involved in, and thought we really should do a better job at giving back.

These are in the order that we currently donate. My question is, is there a charity that you support or believe needs my support? Please throw a name out there for me to ( Read more... )

Erika came home from school yesterday and casually mentioned that she made a new friend. Now this is rare, because (1) she's somewhat of a social introvert, even though she is very confident and friendly with adults, and (2) she attends a fairly small elementary school, so at this point, she knows all 60 Kindergarteners that she hangs out with ( Read more... )