*Sigh...*

I had kind of a bum day today.  Nothing major, but I decided to drop my Spanish class.  This semester is so busy with my program classes and starting clinicals, and it made me really sad but I think it's the right choice.  When I say sad I mean I really almost cried when I went to student services to drop it.  It's the last class of the cycle, and I'm afraid I'll never actually get around to finishing it up.  I've had the same teacher the whole way through and really like her, and she likes me a lot too.  That's one of my biggest reasons for feeling sad is I feel like I'm letting her down.  She didn't want me to drop it but understood why I needed to.  I know I could have done it, but I would not have been able to do it well.  And that was important to me.  Also, by taking the time needed to do it well, I take away much needed time for my classes, and right now I know I need to focus on those. 

I feel a little dumb about how bummed out I am about it.  I keep thinking it's just a class!  But I'm actually mourning a little:)  Granted, the mourning will not last long and it's nothing that keeps me so distracted that I can't focus on anything else, but it's there.

So anyway- really boring day here in blog land but this allows me to process a little:)

Boys vs. Girls

For Sunday School this year I decided to not really give much to my kids for Christmas, but instead chose to take them to McDonald's.  I took the boys a couple weeks ago and the girls got their turn today.  It was pretty fun for all of us.  The only down side of the girls trip was that it was so crowded.  When the boys went we had the whole play area to ourselves.  And of course, there are many differences between the two:)

 

Girls: Must go potty.  Together of course.

Boys: Never mentioned the bathroom once.

 

Girls: Talk the entire way there and back.  Much giggling and squealing from the back seat.

Boys: Just chillin' together, looking out the windows, enjoying the ride.

 

Girls: Neatly put their shoes in a cubby hole before going to play.

Boys: Wherever the shoes land once they kick them off is a fine place for them.

 

Girls: Eat like birds for 10 minutes before going to play, leaving half of their food on the table.

Boys: Chow down twice the amount of food in less time than the girls before running off.

 

Girls: Great at taking pictures, all smiling nicely the very first attempt.

Boys: Not so much.

 

 

 

I love my kiddos!

1 Down, 15 To Go

Is it May yet? 

Okay, so it's not that bad:)  But one week in and I'm already pretty swamped.  I guess since we all know each other already, we know the teachers already, we know how things work in the program, there's no need to ease into things this time!

One exciting thing about this semester- we start clinicals!  It's only level 1 fieldwork so it's just four hours one time a week.  But still, it's something.  The first eight weeks of the semester I'm in a school district, which, unless things change, is where I would like to work one day.  I do still love kiddos:)  I was a little apprehensive going into it but the therapist I'm with is real easy going and encouraging.  I'm nervous about when I'll have to actually plan a session though in a few weeks.  Yikes!  Lots of feelings of inadequacy creeping up on me:(  But the kids at the school I'm at- SO CUTE!!! 

Most of the things we did were for kiddos with fine motor needs.  But one had sensory needs- which I'm not going to bother to explain.  If you really want to know that bad, google sensory integration.  Anyway.  When we went to get him from his classroom, the teacher was sitting behind him with her around him, her hand on his hand, helping him cut a mitten out of construction paper.  He was a little clueless- completely unfocused and looking anywhere but the paper and scissors in front of him.  At the very beginning of his session, the therapist brushed him.  She used something that looked kind of like a nail brush and brushed his arms, legs, and back.  She then did joint compressions on his arms and legs.  This was all to "wake up" his senses so to speak.  Then she did the exact same thing the teacher had been doing, only this time he was completely focused on the paper and worked to finish cutting out the mitten before moving on to the next activity! 

I know- it's kind of hard to explain that without seeing it, and chances are most people reading this really couldn't care less.  Don't worry- I probably won't talk about everything I see in my clinical:)  But that was something I had learned about it class and it was really cool to see it in action.  I was impressed!

I'll be spending most of my time at that school, which is all early childhood and pre-K classes.  Right up my alley!  And now I just got really tired and can't think of any smooth way to end this.  So?  The end.

Winter Break Wrap Up

Well much to my dismay, break is over.  It's okay though- it's been great but I'm finally ready for a routine again.  And I'm excited to see my classmates.  My last few days were filled with some pretty cool things.  First, my family spent a couple days at Grand Bear Lodge, which is an indoor water park about 45 minutes north of our house.  We had a great time going down the slides, floating in the lazy river, crashing waves in the wave pool, and quite frankly, enjoying some warm humid air again.  Anyway, I enjoyed that part- don't know about the rest of them.

 

 

We each had wristbands to wear the whole time we were there.  Laney didn't need one since she's only 2, but made it clear that she wanted one.  We asked the front desk and they obliged.  She was so proud of that wristband!

 

In the evenings we hit up the arcade.  It was great fun playing some good ole fashioned skee ball and whak-a-mole games.  I haven't done that in years!

 

They also had an indoor amusement park that was all part of the package.  Most of the stuff there was for younger kids, but there were a few things us older ones enjoyed, like the ropes course!  I talked a pretty big talk but once I actually got up there I was pretty nervous until I realized that my harness really would hold me.  And my brother showed me how to use it for some extra stability.  Once I got the hang of that it was great fun!

 

I had a death grip on those ropes.  Death. Grip.

 

One of the days we were up there it was about 50 degrees out, and we were just a couple miles from Starved Rock State Park.  Dad, Steve and I left for awhile to go do some hiking.  I don't have any pictures but it felt great to get outside and do that.

 

After we got home Saturday, I had just a little time to clean up, eat lunch and go meet some friends for an evening at Medieval Times up by Chicago.  It's one of those places that I've always wanted to go.  It was really fun, too!  We took our group shot in front of a full suit of armor, which we could have bought for a mere $6000 if we had wanted.

 

The knights- all receiving instruction for their knightly games.  We sat in the red section and cheered for the red knight (on the far right).  He didn't win.

 

And with that, I now look forward to 5 classes and 18 credit hours.  The blog will probably be lacking until May:)

 

Break Just Got Busy

The first couple weeks of my winter break were pretty relaxing.  Then I realized I had nothing planned for the last two weeks and decided to do something about it.  I tried to find someone that would go to Florida with me but turns out everyone else has a job.  So that was a no go.  Instead I headed in the opposite direction of Florida where it was much colder and not nearly as sunny outside, but still really fun. 

 

First stop: Going to see Cassie since there's a good chance I won't see her before her wedding.  She had worked the night before and was sound asleep when I got there, leaving me to stand out in the cold for longer than I would have chosen.  Doorbell, knocking, phone call- that girl was tired!  But she finally woke up and we spent a couple hours talking, eating ice cream, playing the piano (together-at the same time) watching dumb funny youtube videos, and playing a mean game of Jenga.  Which I won.  I don't know for sure, but she might have let me win, just cause she's cool like that:)

 

 

Second in line was visiting my cousins and my friend that live close by my first stop.  I had never eaten at Red Robin but was told it's quite tasty so we went there.  They had these bottles of seasoning on each table and my cousin told Nicole and me that if we mentioned to the waiter it was our first time there, we could get a bottle for free.  So we did just that and in return he gave us some smart comment about how that sounds like a great deal.  A few minutes later he came back with a bottle for each of us and said most people usually pay for it but we could have it anyway.  We were a little embarrassed, but hey- we got it for free!

 

I love this shot of Libby.

 

Next up, after spending the night at my cousins' house, I headed up to Michigan to visit some more friends.  They are my sister-in-law's sisters and ever since her and my brother were engaged, they have always welcomed me right into their family.  They are the type of friends who don't worry about the fact that they didn't get around to cleaning before I got there, or for that matter, make sure there are clean towels:)  But I like it that way!  Those are the best kinds of friends.  We spent Saturday afternoon at a toboggan run and a sledding hill before meeting up with another friend for supper.  I stayed over Sunday night too, and made my way home today.

 

Now I only have a week of break left and only one of those days is free.  So I'm sure all too soon I will be back at the grindstone, counting down the days until spring break.  Maybe I'll go to Florida then????