Changes

     So yeah.  It's been a year and a half since my last post.  A lot has happened to say the least.  I never truly thought I would become one of those people who blog blog blog and then one allow real life to take over, but yet here I am...one of those people.  In a way, it's a good thing.  I haven't been completely MIA online, as a matter of fact, I am on Facebook quite frequently.  It's about all I have time for though.  I don't tweet on Twitter, I don't use Instagram, and rarely indulge in the many game apps available.  I did once upon a time, but as I said life has a way of taking over.

     I will try to provide the nutshell version of the last year and a half.  I'll start with work.  The primary thing I've been up to is trying to stay afloat at work.  I continue to teach at the same school and am starting my 7th year there.  I keep hoping each year will be smooth sailing, but something always seems to come down the pike to keep me on my toes.  I will admit though that last year was a pretty decent year.  Even though I taught a very challenging group of kids, I was very pleased overall.  After five years of teaching language arts to four different grade levels, we were given the chance to specialize in just two grades. I taught two sections of first and fourth apiece.  For the first time, I began to feel truly confident and not beating myself over the head with what I could've done better.  I always strive to improve upon what I do, but I began to distance myself from the rookie teacher I always felt like and moved closer to the seasoned teacher category.  Well, all good things must come to an end. For a variety of reasons, our admin took away this new schedule and replaced it with one similar to our old one.  As of now, I will be resuming teaching four grade levels. I'm still adjusting to the change, so I hoping for the best.

     On the family front, the kids are growing like weeds, blossoming like little flowers, and acting like monkeys.  Yes, I am comparing my two lovelies to floral and fauna.  N is turning 14 next month and will be entering 8th grade.  Entering middle school was a tough transition for him at first.  He struggled to get organized and realized that there was more work involved.  N always seem to luck out in elementary school and had pretty great teachers.  Middle school has been eye-opening for him as he was thrust into several classrooms with tons of new faces. Thankfully, school work has never intimidated him and he was up for the challenge. He also competed in track.  It took a lot of convincing, but he reluctantly got out there and did his best.  Athletics are not N's thing as he is much more content to be reading a book or sketching a picture, which he continues to excel at both.  However, I think in the end he was proud of himself for doing it.  Hopefully this next school year he will be a little more confident and open to joining in.

Our biggest challenge with N is getting him to try new things.  He usually has fun once he's doing whatever the new thing is, but drags his feet getting there.  At the end of 6th grade he went to Outdoor School and then during the summer went to an Outdoor Adventure Day Camp that included canoeing and kayaking skills. This summer, he will be taking archery.  While his art will always be his first love, I am glad that he is learning to balance that with other things.

The biggest change for N has been his growth spurt.  He is now a few inches taller than his dear old mom and his feet are quickly catching up to dad's size 14. It feels like I'm replacing clothes quite often simply because he just doesn't fit them.  When did I start shopping in the men's section for my baby boy?  Seriously, when did that happen?

     K has had us on quite a roller coaster the last year or two.  Fourth grade was not a fun year for any of us.  Although she had a sweet teacher, there were a number of kids that bullied her in class and on the bus. Her energy level and academic challenges didn't help either.  Her grades plummeted and so did her self-esteem. Her saving grace (and ours) was her resilient spirit.  She has always been a spunky kid with loads of battery power to keep on going.  Although she had her low moments, she was never down for long and would be onto the next thing.  However, we couldn't sit idly by and watch her spiral anymore, so we took her to the doctor.  Our old pediatrician changed specialties, and honestly we didn't mind.  Our new doctor proved to be a wonderful change for the better.  She diagnosed K with ADHD and put her on medication.  With N, we had opted out of meds due to the complications of his other afflictions.  However, with K we knew she needed medical intervention.  After several months of different dosages, we finally seemed to find the right one.

     We began to see some improvements at school, but it wasn't until the summertime that we saw the real changes take place.  I knew that meds alone would not be enough, so I convinced hubby to splurge on horseback riding lessons for her.  Like many little girls, she has always loved horses and had fond memories of riding our cousin's horse.  I had an instinct that this might be the thing she needed. When I was a kid, I went to horse camp for four years in a row and to this day am forever grateful for those experiences. With the help of her riding coach, her confidence began to emerge and many of her fears slowly faded away.  The relationship she has with the horse, Princess, is truly adorable to watch.  She has taking lessons for about a year now and continues to do well with that. We don't own our own horse and have no aspirations of her becoming a competing equestrian.  However, she loves to ride and that's all that matters.  Due to finances, we can't send her as often as we'd like, but we are committed to letting her continue for as long as we can.

     Fifth grade turned out to be a pretty decent year, with a few minor exceptions.  K began to make some friends and she really began to shine.  She was involved in a girls group and helped launch an anti-bullying program at the school.  She even won an award for her efforts.  She also go involved with volleyball.  She demonstrates a talent for it and seems to enjoy it.  She competed in a rec league and also took a volleyball camp this past summer.  While I was not totally pleased with her teacher, K seemed to learn well from her. Her grades were on the upswing for the first time in ages.  At the urging of our pediatrician and past teachers, we requested that K be tested for learning disabilities.  She had struggled in some of her subjects for too long and so we wanted to leave no stone unturned.  The special ed dept. dragged its heels forever and communication was pretty much nonexistent.  We had already been through this years ago when we first dealt with N's issues.  That was a 3 year odyssey.  Once everyone was on the same page, he began to thrive.  I was not about to endure another 3 years of jumping through every unnecessary hoops.

     I quietly let the wheels of education turn at a painfully slow rate and after months of waiting and excuses for the delays, I began to put on the pressure. I've learned from others that the squeaky wheel gets the oil, while the quiet one gets ignored.  They kept trying to put us off, but after months of keeping us at bay, they must've finally realized that we weren't going to let this go.  Finally, I got a meeting and expressed our interest in getting K tested...a year after her 4th grade teacher gave the initial referral for testing.  Seriously?  All we wanted was to have our daughter tested.  To make a tediously long story short, they agreed to give her partial testing and go from there.  Overall, she tested well, except for math. To this day, I will never understand why they were so difficult to deal with.  As a teacher myself, I completely get the other side, but not in this case.  While it was a frustrating battle, I was grateful it was finally over and that we could cross it off the list of concerns.  K still has her ups and downs in math and in writing, but her reading is off the charts.  Sixth grade will be an interesting challenge for her and I'm excited (and nervous) to see where the year my budding beauty. While there are many more layers to her story, I believe this onion need not be completely peeled.

     Well, there is so much more to tell, but I think that's good for now.  Crossing my fingers that I find more time to devote to this blog.  I honestly miss it.  I can trace this all back to entering the profession of teaching.  It is a time-sucker for sure.  Maybe this will be the year I find that balance.  Here's hoping!