History

Wow...did anyone else get teary-eyed during the inauguration yesterday? Because I was at work, I only got to see bits and pieces. But, as I listened to portions of his speech, all I could say was "wow." We have a minority president...how monumental is that? There are some people that never thought this day would come...my grandparents being among them. Because I was filled with so much emotion yesterday, I had to find some way to explain the signficance of this day to my daughter without going into an explanation of racism and segregation. So, I made "inauguration day" cupcakes last night and we watched clips of the ceremony via the internet. We had KB watch the swearing in portion of the ceremony and we explained its signficance to her (i.e. placing hand on the Bible, what the "oath" meant, etc). Who knows if she will ever understand yesterday's significance, but at least she can say inauguration and know what the word means.

It's all about me!

After reviewing my past blogs, I noticed that I have not written much about myself the past few months. Well, I figured I would now take the time to write about what my life is like now that I am an assistant principal. In July, I began my new job as a high school assistant principal. Getting out of bed and actually motivating myself to go to work is difficult just because of the fact that I wish I could stay at home with my girls. However, with God's help, I manage to drag myself out of bed. While at work, I would have to say that I run on "auto pilot." I am very productive and I work very hard (it keeps me from thinking about what I wish I could be doing - staying at home). The people at my school are wonderful people and I thank God for them. The teachers here are phenomenal and really want to "reach" students. At my school, there are 2800 students which makes us the largest high school in our district. We have six assistant principals and one head principal. I was not too crazy about being at a high school but I have made the best of the situation. While at work, I spend the majority of my day disciplining students and dealing with difficult parents. Doing this type of work is tough emotionally/mentally and is definitely not worth the pay I receive at the end of the month. However, it is a job in the field I love and I am pretty good at it. And, it is obvious that I am making a difference. There are some teenagers in this world that need an awful lot of help (or God). There are also many parents that have completely lost all control of their children. One of our biggest struggles is truancy. The sad part about truancy is the fact that the juvenile court system is failing us. The jails are crowded with rapists, murderers, thieves. etc. So, do they choose to incarcerate one of the aforementioned or a truant student?
After work, I leave school and am usually home by 5:00. Then, it is a mad rush to cook, eat, clean, play with the kids, bathe, and get the girls in bed by 8:30. My house is not as clean as I'd like for it to be. Because it would cost me $150 a month to hire a maid, we are having to postpone that luxury another year until KB starts public school. Because the responsibilities of being a wife/mother/professional are so demanding, I rarely have "me" time. I don't have much "me" time and it sometimes takes a toll on my psyche. I don't read much, hanging out with girlfriends is rare, scrapbooking is now non-existent, and my nails aren't as pretty/manicured as they once were. My hubby and I do make a point to play RockBand at least 3 times a week. One good thing: Because I walk so much at work, I am in pretty good shape. I eat what I want, drink what I want, don't exercise outside of work, am 5'6" and weigh 118 pounds!! So, I guess I am getting some exercise because when I finally crawl into bed at 10:30, I am exhausted. However, as I lay in bed and pray, I thank God that I have: a job, a wonderful husband, and two beautiful daughters that despite the "crap" I have to endure at work, always put a smile on my face at the end of the day and make my dreams pleasant!

Tooth Fairy expected to visit...

KB lost her 2nd tooth last night (1-15-09). She lost her 1st tooth on 12-21-08. She looks so cute with two missing teeth. I can't believe this is already happening. She is only 5 years old. So, grandma is making a tooth fairy sachet and tonight we will place it in the sachet and see what the tooth fairy brings. Last time, the tooth fairy brought her $5. Hmmm....I wonder....what is the going rate these days? I remember getting a dollar when I was little. Apparently, one of KB's friends at school got $10. Is our tooth fairy cheap?

She's a natural!

Baby Ash has mastered the difficult task of "rolling the r." Having taught Spanish for 8 years, teaching students to roll the "r" was not an easy feat. She does it all of the time...one of her favorite noises. So, she is definitely a natural -- born to speak Spanish. I must do a better job of teaching my children to speak Spanish. She also says ga-ga quite a bit and even said "ba-ba" to me as I was walking out of the room. I have also learned a very disturbing fact about Baby Ash: she is a daredevil. Hubby "tested" her last night to see if she would attempt to go down the stairs. NOTE: I was not too happy with his "testing techniques." Well, she tried to go down the stairs and in the process, ended up bumping her forehead on the wall when her hand slipped out from underneath. Hitting her forehead was not a part of the "test." Now...she has a small bump. We are also having to re-baby proof our house. Or should I say, "extra baby proof?" Our older daughter was very careful and was not near as curious as Baby Ash. She has tried to un-plug appliances, remove Glade plug-ins (very successful at this), has removed KB's nightlight, and even tried to remove the plastic covers. Are you kidding me? Will she be my "wild child?"

10 months

Gosh, I have not blogged in a really long time. Well, Baby Ash is 10 months old today. I can't believe it! She has grown so much and has reached so many milestones. She now has 6 teeth. They all came at once it seemed - about 2 months. She has more coming, too! Baby Ash now weighs 20 pounds. She pulls up on everything and gets into everything. She really likes to pull up on the sofa and the baby gate. She also likes to crawl all over us and the dogs. Playing peek-a-boo is one of her favorite things to do. She takes a blanket and covers her face and then pulls it down really fast and we say "peek-a-boo." The smile/giggle while doing this is so adorable. Speaking of giggle, I absolutely love it. Whenever she sees us, her face lights up and makes us all feel so loved. She is a very vocal girl - just like Big Sis. She loves to talk - of course, all she can say is ma-ma, da-da, ba-ba, la-la, ga-ga, and va-va. She has beautiful blue eyes and a head full of fun, crazy hair. We have tons of hairbows and I make every attempt to have one in her hair at all times. However, she likes to pull them off, put them in her mouth and saturate them with her saliva. She has learned to move her fingers and says "ba-ba" which I believe translates to bye-bye. Her sweet hugs and slobbery kisses just make my day and warm my heart. She loves to eat!!! She eats whatever we put in front of her - I am still pretty conservative in this area. She eats Gerber 3rd foods and soft, squishy foods that I give her. She even ate some canned asparagus. Chicken is the only "meat" we have tried feeding her. We could hardly tear it fast enough for her. I fed her some small banana pieces last night and she devoured them - she must be part monkey. She has mastered the concept of "finger foods" and puts everything we give her to eat in her mouth with her little fingers. With this skill comes the desire to put "everything" into the mouth. She is still nursing and absolutely loves her nightly feeding. I am sad to think that the nursing experience will be ending in a matter of 3-4 months. KB tells Baby Ash (at least once a day), "I'm so glad God gave you to us!" How sweet is she? Speaking of KB, she is growing so much, too. She lost her 1st tooth on December 21st. She has another one loose that I believe will fall out this month. Well, she put the tooth in a sachet and placed it under her pillow and the tooth fairy gave her $5. She looks so cute with a missing tooth. She is so adorable about it all. Kindergarten is so much fun for her and I love seeing her learn new things. She is a very strong-willed, girly-girl who can be quite the drama queen at times. Every now and then, she turns sassy, talks back, and ends up in "time-out" or ends up with a spanking. However, that is part of raising a child and we will deal with those situations as they arise. Who said parenting was easy?

2008 was a great year and I look forward to all of 2009...I just can't thank God enough for the many wonderful blessings He has given me. I am truly fortunate!!!