Temple Grandin

I did not realize it had been a week since I had posted. I started my college classes and I think they will be fun. It will be a lot of work, but I think I will like it.
My week was fast. My co-worker and I left for St. Louis Wednesday after school and we got to our hotel around 7PM or so. We had our first conference on Saturday. We heard Paula Kluth, PhD. She spoke on autism and the inclusive classroom. She was great and I learned a lot.
Then Friday we heard Temple Grandin. She was amazing.If you have not seen the movie Temple Grandin on HBO, it is very good. It is up for some Emmy's and I am actually going to watch tomorrow night and hope they win some. Claire Danes played her in the movie. She spoke aboutmany different issues regarding autism including medication, careers, and she took questions.
Then after the conference we went to the St. Louis arch and looked around and took some pictures. There is a museum in the bottom of the arch that has a lot of Lewis and Clark stuff in it, so we went through that. It was fun. Then we headed back home this morning (Saturday)> It was a lot of fun.
When I got home I checked my e-mail for college and I have some homework, so I worked on that a little today and I will try to get it finished tomorrow. It is due Tuesday. I have some presentations and I think my teacher wants me to talk about seeing Temple Grandin to the class.
I am going to go for now. I am really tired. Have a nice week next week. I will not be as busy, so I will try to post again during the week.

upcoming events

I slept in a little this morning. My head is bothering me because of allergies. I took my medicine, so hopefully I will feel better later.
I decided to get the pool drained, so Karl went out and got that started this morning. I know, it seems a bit early, but I am going to St. Louis for a teacher conference this week and I will be tired next weekend most likely and I also start classes this week. I am not going to feel like swimming. I would just rather get it out of the yard so we can get the yard cleaned up for Fall.
So, like I was saying. I am leaving for a teacher conference on Wednesday in St. Louis. It is a 2 day conference, so I will not be home until Friday night. I am going to see Temple Grandin speak on autism. I am going with a co-worker, so we will have fun. I have been looking forward to this all summer since I found out I was going to get to go. I am planning on taking my laptop with me and a camera, so if you are on facebook, I will probably be checking in there.
I start my college Methods courses on Tuesday. I am excited and nervous. I always get nervous when I start a new class...the fear of the unknown. I will be fine once I know what is expected of me. I have class Tuesday and Thursday 8AM-noon. I will obviously miss the Thursday class this week. I e-mailed the teacher this summer, and she was fine with that.
Josh is doing great in school. He seems to love it so far. I am still adjusting to having such a young class at the preschool.
Have a nice weekend.

school update...

Josh started school on Tuesday and he has done great. Here is a picture of him.
I took some pictures of him before I took him to school that morning thinking I better not take pictures of him in the middle school. It might be embarrassing for him. When we got there though, it was just his cousin and his friend Chandler, so I had to take a picture of him putting his books in his locker. The boys are trying to pretend I am not there, but even though they are in middle school, they were just little boys. They were asking me what they were supposed to do, what to take to class, all while trying to act big and cool. Josh doesn't act like that yet, but the day is probably coming. Josh is kind of laid back about stuff like that. Anyway, here is Josh's picture at his locker. He has had a good week so far. We got his MAP scores and they had gone up from last year...and if you didn't know, we pulled him from public school last year. Kind of sad that his scores went up when pulled out of school. He went to online school.
I started school with kids on Wednesday. On Monday our director gave us a new schedule to use and my kids are too young to do it...they had us doing center time for 1 1/2 hours. Most of my kids are 3 this year, so I asked if I could use my old schedule which is more chunked up into time intervals of 15-30 minutes and then the kids move to something else. The director said that was fine and today went much better. We do not have many kids right now, but like I said, they are all young. We will also get a lot more kids as the year goes on. We will enjoy it while it lasts.
I need to get fingerprinted again for work. I may try to do that Monday. Next week will be very busy. I will write about that this weekend. I need to get off here for now. I hope your week has been great!! Have a nice day!!

getting ready to go back to work...

The house is clean and the laundry is done. I have my side dish for tomorrow's meeting ready, so now we are just waiting for my parents to pick up Josh. They will be here about 5PM and he will stay the night with them. I will start work tomorrow. We have a meeting at one of our preschool's and then on my way home I will pick up Josh. I will try to make a post tomorrow if I can. Then Tuesday we work in our classroom's and Josh starts middle school. I have done a lot already at the preschool, so basically I need to get the names on the tables and cubbies and work on the playground a little. One of the sandboxes needs sand and the toys that are usually in the grass are on the rocks. I basically need to get things put back. Then Wednesday the kids start. I am sure I will be back to make a blog post before then, but that is how the week is shaping up. I am going to be so tired from sleeping in and staying up late all summer. I am excited to get another school year started though. Have a nice week!!

swimming and errands

Josh and I spent a few hours swimming yesterday, but other than that, we just hung out at the house trying to enjoy the last couple of days of vacation.
Today we are going to try to swim a little again. There is a chance of pop up rain showers, so we shall see. I kept hearing thunder yetserday, so we came in. I also need to do laundry and take some things down to the preschool. If you are new to my blog, the preschool is less than a mile from my house, so it is easy for me to run down there for short periods of time. I need to feed our fish down there too. Well, I better get going. Have a nice weekend.

resting...

Josh's orthodontist appointment went well. The doctor said his palate has moved the amount he had hoped it would at this point and they told me to keep turning the key on his expander to expand it and they will check him in 2 weeks.
I also got the curtains washed at the preschool and my bus driver called, so I think we are all set for school to start. I am really excited to get started this year. Our director has made some changes and if she doesn't change her mind, they will be good changes and it will make my day much better, less exhausting. The classes will start earlier and end earlier, so that will give me more time at the end of the day to do lesson plans. I will learn more at the staff meeting, but I am excited.
Today I am planning on doing nothing. I do not have any plans to be anywhere. I will visit blogs and do what I want. I want this to be a day off and just enjoy before I go back to work.
Ok, so I started using this hair product, it is moroccan oil. Well, it is not the actual moroccan oil, but Argan oil. Have you used it? It takes the frizz out of my hair and makes it looks shiny. I love it. I work with a lady that got some for me at State Beauty Supply, but they have some at Sally Beauty a lot cheaper. I love it, let me know if you have heard of it, or use it. I have this crazy naturally curly hair though, so I have to put stuff in it so it isn't frizzy. Anyway, I just wanted to share that with you.
Have a great day!!

orthodontist visit...

Josh and I stayed in yesterday because I had a little sunburn. I got the bedding washed....sheets and blankets and I also washed the curtains. I needed to get that done because once school starts, I will be tired and busy. I also ran the new vacuum again. It is fun just to see what it picks up from the floor. We also got Josh's schedule for this year for school. It will be a busy day for him. I also had some online training....(videos) to watch for work, so I watched those while the laundry was going. It was about 2 hours of training on bullying, substance abuse, child abuse and technology dangers.
Today Josh goes back to the orthodontist to see if his expanders are doing what they are supposed to be doing. They told me last time they would do an x-ray and then probably tell me to continue turning the key to tighten his expander. We can handle that.
When we get done at the orthodontist, I need to get the curtains from the preschool and get those washed up.
Have a wonderful day!!

swimming, silly dogs, new vacuum

I got Josh's closet cleaned out Friday and if you are on facebook, you heard the story, but we were cleaning the drawers, so we had underwear and socks out that were too small and they were laying on the floor. The next thing I know Mandy is in there and grabs a pair of socks and then comes back and grabs some underwear. Well, Josh and I kept going with trying on clothes. Josh goes to check on the dogs and he is like "oh my gosh"..."you have to come see this". I come out of the bedroom and here is Molly with the pair of underwear around her neck. It was funny. Here is the picture. I couldn't believe it.
Saturday I went swimming and Josh and Karl played golf. Sunday we went to church and the to Lowe's and got a new vacuum and area rug. We got a Dyson Ball animal vacuum. Have you seen those? I didn't get a picture from online, but it is wonderful, and the junk it picked up from the carpet was gross. We also got an area rug for our living room. I do not have a full picture of it, just one of Mandy sitting on it, but you will get the idea. We have a chocolate brown couch and chair, so it looks nice. Well, we like it anyway.
Monday Josh and I went swimming and I did some laundry. I also called the parents for my preschool kiddos to let them know when school starts.
Today, I was planning to swim again, but I got a little pink yesterday, so we will probably stay in and swim later in the week. It is another hot week near 100º. I will visit blogs today. Josh goes back to the Ortodontist on Wednesday.
I got some more cute siggies from Judy!!

ready for school...

We finally got some rain and relief from the 100º temperatures yesterday, it was so nice!! Karl was home, so we got Josh enrolled in 6th grade. He is going to middle school. It is hard to believe he is that age. Then we went to get the rest of Josh's school supplies and we ended up getting him some more clothes. I did some laundry and because it kept raining, I headed down to the preschool and worked in my classroom a little. It felt good to get all of that done.
Today I think I will clean Josh's closet and get his new clothes put in. I also need to do some more laundry.
I got my textbooks for my fall classes this week too. I am all set for college classes. I cannot believe it is Friday. I only have one more week, and then I go back to work. I start school the 16th and Josh the 17th. Have a nice weekend!!

Happy 12th Birthday Josh!!

This week is kind of getting away from me. Monday and Tuesday Josh and I went swimming. It has been 100º or near 100º all week.
Today is Josh's 12th birthday. We met my parents this morning and headed to Branson for some birthday shopping for Josh. We went to an outlet mall and I found some shirts for him and some tennis shoes. Then we went to The Branson Landing. I found some more shirts and we ate at Garfield's. The Branson Landing is on a lake, it is gorgeous there. It was a lot of fun. I just wish it wasn't so hot. The picture on the left is Josh in front of the water show fountains at the Branson Landing and the picture below is Josh at Garfield's also at the Branson Landing.

Tomorrow I need to call the school, I had a message from them while we were gone. Have a great day!!

swimming and a baseball game

Josh is doing much better with his expanders. I can understand him now, he is getting used to them and they do not seem to bother him much as far as pain, so that is good news. His speech was messed up when he first got them.
Josh and I went swimming Saturday. I am trying to get my tan back before school starts. Then Sunday we went to church and all of us went to a baseball game (minor league). It was a AA game Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals affiliate). Anyway, it was a double header and we got to be in a box that was air conditioned. It was so nice. It was hot out, so I was happy we had the A/C. Karl's Aunt was able to get the tickets for the box, so that is the only way we were able to be up there. She works for a sponser of one. Springfield won one game and lost one game.
Today Josh and I are going to swim some more. The tree trimmers have been here and gone this morning, so hopefully we will be left alone. Have a great day!!