Now that I have been married for almost 10 years (technically it is 9.5 years), and I have two children, my New Year's Eve isn't so exciting. I don't watch the ball drop (I doubt I will be awake that long) and I don't go party. Tonight, to celebrate the new year, my husband and I are sitting side by side on the couch watching a movie. Little L (who doesn't think it is bedtime) is sitting in the exersaucer eating Cheerios. D is in bed playing with her stuffed animals and reading books.
I am thinking back on the year 2010. It was a great year for our family. Husband finished his Diagnostician certification in 2010. He is now in a new position as an educational diagnostician. He is at a new school, but in the same district. Husband loves his new position and his new school.
I started a new job back at teaching. I am blessed to be working in a great Jewish Day School where I enjoy going to work each and every day. Teaching computers to these students is very rewarding.
Little L was born in 2010, so she in and of herself is a blessing. D was a blessing from God and a good doctor. Little L was a natural pregnancy. Watching her grown and develop has been amazing. She speaks one word ("hi"), gives open mouthed kisses (which are sloppy but sweet), blows kisses, army crawls and crawls on hands and knees, and is pulling up. I am thankful everyday for God blessing our life with this little bundle of joy.
D is a wonderful blessing. Over this past year, she has really developed. She talks up a storm and is always asking questions. She is going to a dual language school and is learning Spanish. She is making new friends and learning so much. She loves her teacher and classmates and her new school.
Tonight and tomorrow, I will be working on my New Year's resolutions. I got a great idea from a blog I read. Money Saving Mom created a blog entry on the 12 Do-It-Yourself projects she wants to accomplish this year. I will be flattering her (isn't copying the highest form of flattery?) by emulating this idea. In addition to some year long goals, I will be trying to come up with a goal for every month in the new year. Wish me luck and I would LOVE to know what goals you are setting for the new year.
Happy and Healthy New Year to all.
My Kids
Growing Family
Friday, December 31, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Homeless...
I have been homeless for a while now. I would say that it has probably been about 4 years since I have had a home. Now, please do not misunderstand. I have a nice 3 bedroom house that we have lived in for over 5 years, but I do not have a home in the sense of a House of Worship. When I was in college I found a nice, small congregation. Actually, they found me. They heard that I would be attending the University of North Texas and tracked me down at Greene Family Camp (where I was a staff member) to see if I would be interested in teaching a Religious School class.
From the fall of 1994, I called this my House of Worship. I grew with the congregation from renting space at a private school in Denton to them owning their own building in Flower Mound to them building on an addition. I started by teaching Kindergarten on Sunday mornings (a class of 4 students in the library) and moved to third grade Hebrew and Judaic and then moved to 6th grade Hebrew and 8th grade Judaic. I helped create a preschool program that met once a month for parents and their toddlers. I attended almost every Bar or Bat Mitzvah. My husband served as the Worship Vice President. D went to her first Bat Mitzvah when she was one week old. I even ran the high school youth group (NoTTY).
Then, I started to feel like I didn't know anyone anymore. The students I had taught had graduated and moved on and the students I was teaching didn't have the same relationship with my family. I still enjoyed it, but I was feeling disconnected. When I was pregnant with D, I knew that something was going to have to come off of my plate and running the youth group was it. I also decided to leave teaching my kindergarten job and go into youth work full time.
I became a youth director at a large congregation. This was a passion of mine and I truly looked forward to going to work everyday and I built some amazing relationships (I will be meeting some former youth groupers over break for coffee). While I felt a connection to the students, the congregation was my job, not my spiritual home. It is hard for me to NOT feel a connection to a congregation since belonging to a congregation has always been important to me and an impactful part of my life.
Now, I realize more and more that I need to find a spiritual home, a place where I can worship and socialize, where my children will be engaged in learning and socializing, and my husband feels connected. This is no small feat and I know that I will have to research and research and research. This is the time for me to reconnect to my religion and to find a home.
From the fall of 1994, I called this my House of Worship. I grew with the congregation from renting space at a private school in Denton to them owning their own building in Flower Mound to them building on an addition. I started by teaching Kindergarten on Sunday mornings (a class of 4 students in the library) and moved to third grade Hebrew and Judaic and then moved to 6th grade Hebrew and 8th grade Judaic. I helped create a preschool program that met once a month for parents and their toddlers. I attended almost every Bar or Bat Mitzvah. My husband served as the Worship Vice President. D went to her first Bat Mitzvah when she was one week old. I even ran the high school youth group (NoTTY).
Then, I started to feel like I didn't know anyone anymore. The students I had taught had graduated and moved on and the students I was teaching didn't have the same relationship with my family. I still enjoyed it, but I was feeling disconnected. When I was pregnant with D, I knew that something was going to have to come off of my plate and running the youth group was it. I also decided to leave teaching my kindergarten job and go into youth work full time.
I became a youth director at a large congregation. This was a passion of mine and I truly looked forward to going to work everyday and I built some amazing relationships (I will be meeting some former youth groupers over break for coffee). While I felt a connection to the students, the congregation was my job, not my spiritual home. It is hard for me to NOT feel a connection to a congregation since belonging to a congregation has always been important to me and an impactful part of my life.
Now, I realize more and more that I need to find a spiritual home, a place where I can worship and socialize, where my children will be engaged in learning and socializing, and my husband feels connected. This is no small feat and I know that I will have to research and research and research. This is the time for me to reconnect to my religion and to find a home.
Winter Fun!
I realized today that I had been remiss in updating my blog. So, this one will be pretty long (sorry!). We have had some great fun since school let out. First, my big brother got married. D was the flower girl and Little L made a fuss (she decided nap times were for wimps that day!). They were cute and for the most part well behaved over the weekend.
The wedding was beautiful and a ton of fun. We got to see old friends and dance the night away. Then Grandma and PePaw (my parents) stayed over for a few days. They took us to see the trains at North Park. It was great fun!
D got a workbook for Chanukah, so she has really been working hard on it. Every morning, she has woken up and asked if she could work on her workbook. I think she likes the Mommy time almost as much as the book itself.
The girls have been playing so nicely together too. They have played dress up, little people, blocks, etc. Little L is mobile now and crawls all over the place. D has learned (the hard way) to put away things she doesn't want her little sister to play with.
All in all, we have been enjoying our family time. We look forward to story time at the library tomorrow and Preschool Play date at the Grapevine Community Activities Center on Thursday. I hope everyone is having as much fun as we are!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
What a Night!
Tonight is a productive night, which is unusual when husband is out and I have both girls. It all started with a load of laundry and a LONG to do list. I stared laundry this morning, and have been doing it all day. I started this morning by folding the laundry that I had washed earlier in the week. Then, I spent the day playing with my girls and enjoying a lazy Saturday.
Around 6, my husband left to go out with the guys. It was dinner time, so I ordered pizza for D and I. This left husband, D, and I leftovers for lunch tomorrow. After dinner, we ready books and said prayers. Then it was bedtime for D. I took Little L into the kitchen with me where she sat in the highchair gnawing on a baby biscuit while I made her mixed vegetables. These were to be frozen to use throughout the week. Then I started baking cookies for my brother's wedding. While they were in the oven, I fed Little L some baby yogurt. and then put her to bed.
I finished baking over 80 cookies, and washing 4 loads of laundry. After I fold these two loads that are sitting on my bed, I will continue working on my lesson plans for Religious School tomorrow. It isn't often that I feel this productive in such a short period of time, so I am definitely going to capitalize on it. Hopefully it will continue a little longer! But the couch does look inviting.....
Around 6, my husband left to go out with the guys. It was dinner time, so I ordered pizza for D and I. This left husband, D, and I leftovers for lunch tomorrow. After dinner, we ready books and said prayers. Then it was bedtime for D. I took Little L into the kitchen with me where she sat in the highchair gnawing on a baby biscuit while I made her mixed vegetables. These were to be frozen to use throughout the week. Then I started baking cookies for my brother's wedding. While they were in the oven, I fed Little L some baby yogurt. and then put her to bed.
I finished baking over 80 cookies, and washing 4 loads of laundry. After I fold these two loads that are sitting on my bed, I will continue working on my lesson plans for Religious School tomorrow. It isn't often that I feel this productive in such a short period of time, so I am definitely going to capitalize on it. Hopefully it will continue a little longer! But the couch does look inviting.....
Friday, December 10, 2010
Feeding Time
Now that Little L is eating baby food, feeding time has gotten more entertaining. She is so excited to eat, that she moves her little arms like crazy. Usually, she is a great eater and doesn't waste a bite. However, with her "crazy arms" some goes flying.
This morning, she woke up at 4:15 hungry. I wiped her nose, changed her diaper (to her giggling and smiling), and sat on the couch to feed her. For her bottles, I lean her back against my body for her to eat. This cuts down on her gassiness and reduced her spit up (most of the time). She was holding her pacifier in her right hand as I held the bottle. At one point, she pushed the bottle out of the way so that she could put the pacifier into her mouth. A minute or so later, she took it out and let the bottle go back in.
Five minutes later, she pushed the bottle out again and put the pacifier back in. I waited and waited and waited. She had fallen asleep!!! Now as a mom feeding in the middle of the night, you are faced with a question. Do you move her to her bed and risk waking her? Do you let her sleep and try to sleep sitting up yourself? After a few more minutes to ensure that she was asleep, I moved her back to her bed. I crawled into bed thinking, "I can sleep for one more hour!" I was wrong. I was wide awake and already thinking about school today (The 8th graders should be worried!).
So, I came into the living room and wrote a blog. At least I was productive with my time. :)
This morning, she woke up at 4:15 hungry. I wiped her nose, changed her diaper (to her giggling and smiling), and sat on the couch to feed her. For her bottles, I lean her back against my body for her to eat. This cuts down on her gassiness and reduced her spit up (most of the time). She was holding her pacifier in her right hand as I held the bottle. At one point, she pushed the bottle out of the way so that she could put the pacifier into her mouth. A minute or so later, she took it out and let the bottle go back in.
Five minutes later, she pushed the bottle out again and put the pacifier back in. I waited and waited and waited. She had fallen asleep!!! Now as a mom feeding in the middle of the night, you are faced with a question. Do you move her to her bed and risk waking her? Do you let her sleep and try to sleep sitting up yourself? After a few more minutes to ensure that she was asleep, I moved her back to her bed. I crawled into bed thinking, "I can sleep for one more hour!" I was wrong. I was wide awake and already thinking about school today (The 8th graders should be worried!).
So, I came into the living room and wrote a blog. At least I was productive with my time. :)
Monday, December 6, 2010
Day of Chesed
I have been writing this post in my head since last Wednesday. With Hanukkah, my parents in town for the weekend, etc. I just haven't gotten to it. Chesed is basically kindness. It is helping others, raising awareness, and the like.
My morning started like every other, with our family rushing out the door at 6:54 (give or take a minute) to load up our cars and head to work. As I was kissing D goodbye on the passenger side of the car, Husband told me that there was a "fairly large dog" next to his driver's side door. He said that the dog was "friendly enough". We decided that we had to track down the owners because we know how we felt when our dog got out. So, husband called the number on the tags and we waited for the dog's owner to come. The owner lived about 8 houses down.
We were a little late leaving for work (about 15 minutes), but I started my day off feeling good. When I arrived at work, the middle school was having a Chesed prep day for their Chesed fair this past Sunday. They had a parade of events going on throughout the day and the students got to sign up for what breakout sessions they wanted. Since I only had a handful of classes, I offered to take pictures. I was able to capture these touching moments where the middle-schoolers put their needs aside for others. They created mobiles for the Hanukkah party, cooked food for a local shelter, recorded themselves reading books for children in the hospital, helped decorate the schools' Chanukiah, worked with Kindergartners on their menorahs, read with first graders, and helped make the campus shine. I was blessed to spend even part of my day with the amazing students doing for others.
After I got home, we made a quick trip to the grocery store. As I was getting out, I noticed that a woman was sitting in her car with the hood up. The car wasn't starting! Husband offered to jump the car, and the woman was ever so appreciative. I felt like my entire day was surrounded by doing for others. What a great way to spend a Wednesday!
My morning started like every other, with our family rushing out the door at 6:54 (give or take a minute) to load up our cars and head to work. As I was kissing D goodbye on the passenger side of the car, Husband told me that there was a "fairly large dog" next to his driver's side door. He said that the dog was "friendly enough". We decided that we had to track down the owners because we know how we felt when our dog got out. So, husband called the number on the tags and we waited for the dog's owner to come. The owner lived about 8 houses down.
We were a little late leaving for work (about 15 minutes), but I started my day off feeling good. When I arrived at work, the middle school was having a Chesed prep day for their Chesed fair this past Sunday. They had a parade of events going on throughout the day and the students got to sign up for what breakout sessions they wanted. Since I only had a handful of classes, I offered to take pictures. I was able to capture these touching moments where the middle-schoolers put their needs aside for others. They created mobiles for the Hanukkah party, cooked food for a local shelter, recorded themselves reading books for children in the hospital, helped decorate the schools' Chanukiah, worked with Kindergartners on their menorahs, read with first graders, and helped make the campus shine. I was blessed to spend even part of my day with the amazing students doing for others.
After I got home, we made a quick trip to the grocery store. As I was getting out, I noticed that a woman was sitting in her car with the hood up. The car wasn't starting! Husband offered to jump the car, and the woman was ever so appreciative. I felt like my entire day was surrounded by doing for others. What a great way to spend a Wednesday!
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