I found out about...

my internship placement. The first half of the semester (thru the end of Feb)I will be in a 6th grade class. The second half I'll have 1st graders at a different school. Also, my ex ed (exceptional education) class meets at another local elementary school and the first hour of class we go into our assigned classroom and work with a student. For that one I got 2nd grade. So I'll be working with a variety of grade levels this semester, which is such a great opportunity for me.

My internship will be every Monday and Tuesday for regular "teacher hours," which are roughly 7:30 to 3:30. My first day will be next Tuesday, the 22nd, because there is no school on Monday. I'm nervous....but only because I don't quite know what to expect from 6th graders. I know once I get in there I'll be fine. 6th grade is the highest level I will be able to teach with my degree, so I'm interested to see how I like the older kids. I remember being in 6th grade like it was yesterday...it's so weird that I will be teaching that age!

I'll update next week after my first day. Wish me luck.

PS: We're all fine here. We miss Daddy.

Don't mess with Julia when ANTM is on!

I love this. Earlier today I was in the kitchen and I hear Aiden telling Julia "WWAAYY, Yaya! WAAYY!" which means "Play, Julia, play!" They were in the living room and Julia was lying on the couch watching TV. Aiden was pulling on her arm while he whined at her....he wanted her to go back to their bedrooms and play with toys. Julia kept putting him off...she'd say "Okay, Aiden." or "I'm coming!" then "Just a second, where's your Elmo?" trying to distract him. Finally she got frustrated and yelled, "Ai-den! I can't right now! I'm watching America's Next Top Model!"
For some reason this sounded very funny coming out of her five and a half year old mouth. :) But that's really what she was doing...she loves America's Next Top Model. We sing the theme song and dance around..."Wanna be on top? Na na na na na na...." I heard her telling Lexie "You're America's Next Top Baby Model! Yes you are!" We also made a video of us dancing Lexie around while we sang the theme song, with Aiden cracking up in the background. I'll have to upload it.

We get crazy sometimes when Daddy is out of town! ;)

another day, another TDY

wally left for savannah today. he will be back mid-february. wah. we're all fine here...just kinda bummed. in a day or so, we'll get into a new routine and back in the swing of things. we always do. and we talk to daddy on the speakerphone whenever we can, sometimes several times a day. that helps. aiden always kind of stares at the phone like "wow!" but then i feel sad when two hours later, he brings me my cell phone and says "da da?" the kids really miss him, i miss him, and i know wally hates to leave. we all hate it, but this is life right now, and we will get through it. so many military families deal with this everyday. we are one of many.

"Ballet Parking" & the Holidays

Julia is the funniest girl...she just cracks us up all the time with the stuff she says. The other day we were at the mall and she heard Wally telling me that during December they had valet parking at the mall for the holiday shoppers. Julia looked up at us and said, "Ballet parking?" And Wally said "Yes, they have dancers come out and dance all around your car before you can park." For one brief moment, she had this look on her face that said she thought this was the greatest idea she'd ever heard....but then I guess reality took over and she realized she was being tricked and she rolled her eyes like a 16 year old and said "Daddy!"

Sometimes when she sees me wearing something new or that she likes, she'll say "Ooh, you look so good, girl!" And she always calls Lexie "honey" ...."It's okay, honey, I'm right here" in this soothing voice. She loves to hold Lexie and help with her, but strongly maintains that she is never having her own children. I told her it's her choice to make when she's older.

The holidays went well. We got to meet new people at Gigi's mom's house up in Georgia. We also got to see my family and had fun opening our gifts Christmas Eve. The kids were really happy with their gifts. Aiden got a lot of Elmo things, since Elmo is his passion right now. He's constantly talking about "Momo" Julia is obsessed with High School Musical right now. She got the new movie and also HSM pajamas, poster, necklace, etc.

Here are some recent pics...hope you enjoy them! Happy New Year, Everyone!