nap time

The weather has been absolutely stunning the past few days in Morgantown. I'm on Day 4 of porch dwelling during naptime. It's cool out, but the sun is so warm and feels so good. This is my kind of weather. This is the first time in over a week that Sophie has gone to bed (nap or bedtime) without a fight. That little stinker is learning to push every button that I have. Thankfully, I remember having similar thoughts and conversations with Ben about Ted. Fearing that he was turning into some hellion child. At least I can look back on that and say that it's just a phase and I need to hold strong. Poor kid, I had to carry the spank spoon with me to put her to bed the other night. Hey, don't judge me!

Things on my list of things to do today during naptime: call my mom, call Stacy, work on my online class, balance the checkbook, clean the bathrooms, and wash the first half of the day dishes. Obviously we're not getting very far on this.

Things of note recently:
- Ted has taken an interest in writing, art, and things like that. He likes doing "school work" and is spending time at the dinner table and in the car teaching her letter sounds, counting and songs.

- Sophie is giving me fits. Man. Makes me not look forward to when she turns 3. (Three seems to be way worse than 2, in my opinion.) She has this switch that flips between this sweet, endearing little girl, to totally defiant.

- There's a ladybug pillow pet waiting in my closet for when Sophie starts peeing in the potty. Everyday she comes in, points to it, and says in a very sing-song voice, "There's my pillow pet!" Doesn't seem to bother her that she can't play with it. Ted's is still very much a novelty (and a source of punishment if necessary). So far, no peeing in the potty.

- I am working on getting on the sub list for Mon County. It's such an ordeal. I'm just waiting for 2 more things. I am currently taking 1 of 2 classes that I have to take to get my cetificate (that expired 6 years ago) renewed. I DO NOT want to sub. I think I may have found something that will supplement our income minimally (grocery money) for the time being that allows me to work from home. I'm still pursueing subbing in case things get too hairy financially.

- Ben is doing well. A couple of weeks ago, life was just overwhelming for him. He seems to have settled down a bit. It's hard b/c I feel like he's doing everything. I'm not used to that at all. I'm used to contributing and helping and all that. But he continues to affirm my being home. And I do love it - most days. It has taken so much craziness out of our lives. There are 5 clubs (for 6 schools) up and running - Univsersity and Morgantown High Schools, Fairmont, Grafton and Bridgeport. They're all running at full steam with lots of energy, great kids and amazing leaders. I think now that a couple of weeks are underway, Ben is feeling much less stress. Except that now he's started to look at the financial side of things. . .

- I was driving home the other night, just thinking about Morgantown being our home. And it is now. I know my way around. I have a library card. We've been to Urgent Care twice and now have a pediatrician. We found a place to have our cars worked on (3x since we've moved here). Ted is in school. It feels like home in that, this is where we live and we have a home here. It doesn't in just the familiarity of people.

I miss people loving on my kids. I really do. And I know that part of that is not being settled in a church yet. I guess I felt that sometimes, when I didn't feel like a good parent, or it was just a hard week, that other people were around to love on them in ways that I couldn't. And that's really important to me. Whether it was walking through the office on the way to bible study, or people loving on them at church, or the nursery volunteers or preschool small group leaders, or just visiting friends or whatever. I miss feeling that they matter to other people.

So, I'm off to read things about reading comprehension and tell them how I would implement it in my classroom! Good onc - since I taught a whole 62 days back in 2003 and not a day since!