Yes, we're here!!!

With starting back to school for both myself and the kids, trying to get into the school routine again, finishing up soccer with one-three practices a week and games on Saturdays, starting Olivia's new year in dance (3 classes on Thursdays from 4-6:10), trying to purge and reorganize and finish odd jobs around the house in order to put the house on the market in January, working on a resume, cover letter, applications, etc in search of a new job 3 hours from here, it's been a whirlwind! Blogging has just been the thing to put on the back burner.

Thanks to Google Reader I'm able to follow along with most of your blogs, but since blogs are blocked at work, even on my free/plan/lunch time, I can't work on mine or leave messages on yours! :(

Olivia has had quite a rough start this year. Her body gets SO EXHAUSTED easily and that exhaustion comes out in being overly emotional, frustrated, and behavioral at times. We combatted that over the summer with naps, so even though we were extremely busy in FL and traveling, the rest during the day evened her out. With no more naps, getting up early again, soccer, and now dance, we've had some rough days. In addition, the jump from second to third grade has been quite the challenge for her. She moved buildings, and left the teacher she had for two years (some teachers at the lower level "loop" first and second grade classes.) Third is quite a jump anyway, but this made it harder. She is learning lessons in responsibility, and so far still has a lot to learn! :( We are having lots of "talks." :) It seems to be getting better, so I hope we're on the right track.

Braeden is doing great! He says he wants to "quit school" from time to time, but that hasn't transferred into the classroom and his teacher says she loves him! :) I hoped more than anything for him that he could get a teacher who could see past the activity and behavior to the kid inside. She does! :) The other day he said to me, "Mom, Mrs. L... told me what her husband's name is!!!" giggle, giggle, giggle, "Mr. L...!!!!" LAUGHING! He thought it was HILARIOUS that they had the same name, but for the Mr. and Mrs.! It was too cute!!! :)

Liam is doing great too! He is at a good friend's for day care, is pretty much totally potty trained with occasional accidents, goes to "speech school" which he thinks is so cool, and is growing like a weed! We watched The Wizard of Oz today which was his first time... he was mesmerized! He loved it but said it was scary! :) He is so funny! :)

We're doing good! Hope you are too!!!

Dear teachers...

Have you ever heard of the website Donors Choose???

Well, I hadn't prior to the end of last school year either. Apparently it's been around a while, I am really surprised I had never heard of it before, so I'm hoping this will find it's way to many teachers who could use it! :)

What Donors Choose is, is a place where teachers of public schools can post proposals for things they'd like for their classrooms. We all know how hard it is to get funding for things in our rooms, especially us special educators in many cases. This site allows you to dream big and put those ideas out there.

You are "given" "points" for signing up and then "spend" points on proposals. They "cost" different points based on the actual cost of the proposal. You only get three to start and then earn points once you complete proposals and send thank yous, etc. So you would start with some lower priced ones, and work your way up to more expensive ones. (If that makes sense?) I had to figure this out as I went and it was very easy. Once you sign up everything is laid out for you. Then, anyone or any business around the world, can donate money toward your project, or fully fund your project. You send pics, thank yous, etc to them after that.

I proposed two projects last spring. One was to get exercise balls for my kids to use as desk chairs! I had read about this while I was working on myself and had gotten one for my own desk. It's called "active sitting" and works your core, helps you focus, especially for some ADD kiddos, and gives some "feedback" of sorts that more active kids need. I asked for eight of them and the project was quite costly. You order from their online catalog and put them into your project, then they add costs for donations to their site, handling, etc. The second project I proposed was to get 36 rechargable double A batteries and a charger. We had been given a number of Leap Pads, and I had found some at thrift stores, and we had been using them quite a bit. It's a great way for my kids to "read' on their own, look at books they are interested in, and learn. I have phonics books, nonfiction, Magic Tree House, Spiderman, you name it. BUT, we were constantly running out of batteries and that just didn't fly, so we had to stop after a while.

Well, not two days after putting these projects on their website, they were FULLY funded!!! By US Cellular! Go US Cellular!!! But really, what a great way for businesses to know EXACTLY what their money is funding! We LOVE our new exercise ball chairs! They bounced a bit the first day, but it's been GREAT ever since! And the batteries are awesome! We use the Leap Pads a few times a week! :) Such an AMAZING! experience!

I love my blog design!!! Nikki from http://madebynikki.blogspot.com/ designed it using a digital kit I purchased inexpensively online. She does amazing designs for a small fee in order to help give money to charity as well as utilizing money to do missionary work in different parts of the world. Right now she is holding a September discount for a great cause! Check out the details here...

http://madebynikki.blogspot.com/2009/08/september-discount.html

You may just see a new design on this blog soon! :)