Firsts...

First, let me start off this post of "firsts" by saying that I am SO sorry to have abandoned you all for a while. I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth...in my own defense, if you know any other teachers, you know that we're all MIA right around this time of year. Not the best of excuses, I know, but thanks for bearing with me.

I have been absolutely swamped and overwhelmed by work. My new work schedule has me up at 5:15 every morning and if you know me, you know I'm NOT a morning person, so that aspect has been painful, to say the least. I work before-school daycare from 6:30-8:30, then I teach from 9-11:30, then I have prep until 12:30, which also includes a few daycare responsibilities, such as setting up the nap room.

I successfully managed to get a week of "firsts" under my belt. I had my first, first day with the 3 year olds (since I didn't start off teaching 3s last year, I never had them on the first day) and it was interesting to say the least. Do you happen to recall the blog post about the boy whose mom wanted me to give him M&Ms for successful trips to the potty because he's "just starting to get the hang of it"? Well, guess what? 10 minutes after we got back from our group bathroom break on Tuesday, the kid pooped his pants! Oh yes he did. Not only that, but earlier in the day, I discovered that he didn't know how to drink out of a real cup, when he repeatedly spilled apple juice all down his front. So when we took the group trip to the bathroom, I used his spare change of clothes to change him...which meant that of course I didn't have any other clothes to put him in when he had his second accident. Luckily for me, his twin brother (who is potty trained and who does know how to drink out of a cup, mind you) had his change of clothes in his backpack as well, so we used those. THEN, on Thursday, we went accident free, but he now decides that he's going to be a demon-child and make me chase him around the classroom just for kicks and giggles. After the second time, I marched him (along with my whole class) down to talk to my director...and that talk sunk in and worked for about 2 minutes and then he was up to his old tricks. I have to keep telling myself that tomorrow will be a better day (and that I only have the 3s, two days a week).

I also had my first two days with the 4 year olds and they are amazing! I have two or three of them who are already reading & I just love them to pieces. Today was a bit of a crazy day because we didn't have time to do all of the things that I wanted to get to (due to having gym class), but the kids were flexible and did a good job! There is just SUCH a difference between the threes and the fours & I really can't get over it! I think I would teach fours full-time if I could!

And as my final "first" of the week - we had our first glimpse of the inside of our new home! They took us on a walk-through last Friday. It's the point after the electricians are in, before they drywall, when we meet with the builders and start getting a feel for the layout of everything. It was awesome to see and we really can't wait to be in! I'll leave you with a few pics & I'll upload more later!

This pic gives you an idea of the siding color (tan) - where you see insulation is where the stone will be :)