Back to School!

Most pictures have this cheesy smile with his eyes closed!

Davey playing with Bubbles. I wish you could hear him giggle!

Davey whining for me to give him the camera.

The end of summer was unavoidable...but the new year is over a week finished and it is not too bad! I miss Davey like crazy but I am emotionally much more prepared to work this fall compared to last. Last year I think I pouted about working until Christmas at least.


One funny school story...yesterday I was setting up a microscope lab and needed scummy water to see microorganisms in there. We keep an aquarium of algae for such an occasion in the greenhouse which is between two of the other Biology teachers' classrooms. Well, I went in with my beakers and let the door close behind me...this was weird because it is usually propped open. And you guessed it...it locked me out of the school, but in the greenhouse! And class was to start in 15 minutes! I had keys, but they were in the supply room...2 feet away through the door! Brick walls we between me and the classrooms so no one heard me yell! Luckily the greenhouse faces a small parking lot for teachers...but 3 cars went by without noticing me waving for help. Finally a new teacher saw my distress and came to the rescue! What a great way to start the day! LOL

Josh and I are convinced that Davey is the smartest kid alive! He amazes us every day with the things that he has figured out! His bubble gun was out of soap one day. So he unscrewed the container, went to the dog's water bowl, filled it up with water, and screwed it back together. When the TV has something on it that he doesn't want to watch, he brings the remote to us and points to the TV demanding something in his unique language. He uses the drill to "work" on his cars....the list goes on... I am just glad that he can say "YEAH!" and shake his head for no. That solves a lot of communication barriers!

4 Days of Summer Left!

How can this be? Sorry for the lack of pictures. I think I know where the camera is....Get ready to read!

Last week I survived 5 nights without Davey and Josh! I know, I am proud of myself, too! I had a great time at the conference in Indy with the Watterson women. (Though next time I suggested hanging out at the beach together!) Then I took off to Chicago for the AVID conference. It was te best teaching conference that I have been to. The 5 other people from Madison were hilarious to be with and we had a great time. I had 2 accomplishments outside of learning cool school stuff. 1) I saw The Dark Knight on IMAX! It was awesome...intense...sad about Heath Ledger and 2) I finished a book! This is a huge deal because I hardly ever read for pleasure. Reading for information is about as far as I go. So I grabbed "Into the Wild" while in Indy and finished it in just a week. I read it because I was hoping my AVID kids could read it during the year. And I think they will love it! Sean Penn wrote and produced a movie last year about the book. I rented it today...I am scared that it is rated R...after reading the book R is not necessary. I am afraid that they added elements to the book to make it more "Hollywood". I will keep you posted.

This year I am completely different from the start of last school year. I am actually looking forward to teaching just a little bit! Last year I pouted about teaching for at least the first sememster, if not the whole year (just ask Josh). While I still hate leaving Davey each morning, he loves the sitter's. He loves playing with those kids and does great there. I am happy that he loves Judith, too. To celebrate a new year, I went to Kohl's and spent a bunch of money on clothes! It had been awhile since I bought professional clothes. Just wait for Wednesday's First Day of School picture. I will make sure to post it!

So I guess some of you want an update on Davey instead of exclusive details about me....Well, he is a HOOT! He loves to "dance" to music. (This consists of him stomping his feet quickly with a cheesy grin on his face.) We have very serious conversations in the morning in a language that I don't understand, but if you could see the intensity in his eyes, you would know it was important. At least 2 cumulative hours a day are spent in the swing under the maple tree. He says words like outside, blankie, Bubbles, brush...they may not be completely understandable, but I am a good translator. When I am away from him for even 1 hour he greets me with a tight hug around my neck. I love being a mom!

And of course, he loves to laugh! And especually at me! Take this evening for example. I was fixing a new dish to try out that called for roasted garlic. Now usually I buy the stuff in the jar, but I thought I would get fancy this time and do it myself. Well, I have watched the Food Network enough to know that you can separate the huge thingy of garlic into individual cloves if you put the flat side of a large knife on it and then hit your fist on the knive. (Can you see where this is going??) Well, I thought, "Surely, I will need a lot of force to break this open!" So I came down with all my might only to have all 200 of the cloves shoot out in every direction. Rachael Ray never warned me about this! Davey just stood by and we looked at each other with a shocked expression and then both cracked up! He even found a clove behind the pie safe after dinner.