Friday, February 17, 2012

2012: New Year, New Blog Posts






Hello everyone!
Surprise, Surprise. It's me again. It has been so long since I posted anything. I wonder if anyone is even going to read this, in fact. I think I put too much pressure on myself to make each post interesting. So, my goal is just to write something, anything, and slowly get back into it.
I cannot believe my kids are both in school now! How did that happen? Where does the time go? I miss having them both at home with me!!! I think I am getting old. Really old. But anyway...enough about me....
Here is a little about each of the kids...
Gracie is my big girl, the sweetest, most loveable little person I know. God, I love Gracie!!! She is the best big sister on the planet, and is so protective and loving towards Garrett. Gracie is in first grade. She LOVES school. She absorbs everything. She is reading above grade level chapter books, enjoys researching animals, and wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. She tested into the START program at school for math/science and has thrived with the challenges that class has given her. She talks constantly. CONSTANTLY. She laughs more than any child I have ever met. She has a very quick wit and keeps us laughing. This is my seven year old that acts sometimes like a teenager. She is a night owl, and hates getting out of bed in the morning. She says things to me that sound like something my mother would have said. No joke! I have to laugh when she does this. (Of course, we discuss that she needs to be very careful about what she says to other people and that she needs to be less than brutally honest sometimes.) We tend to believe she is a very old soul with lots of old wisdom that she likes to spread around. Her life has such great purpose. We don't know what lies ahead, but we know Gracie is going to do spectacular things in her lifetime.
Examples of her old soul wisdom:
Me: "Look, Gracie. These are my three dollar sweatpants that I bought on sale today."
Gracie: "Well, they look like they cost you one dollar because they are two sizes too big for you and they do NOT fit you."
Another:
Me (I am walking down the hallway of her school to her classroom for the Valentine's Day party and I see Gracie in the hallway.) "Hello, Baby!" and I bend down to kiss her...
Gracie: "What did you DO to your HAIR?" (I had curled it which I do not do very often and had put it up in barrettes.)
Me: "I curled it and put it up. Don't you like it?"
Gracie: "No, it looks like you just woke up from a nap!"
Me: "Well, ok, then." (laughing at her)
Garrett: He is my sweetheart, my baby, my best boy, so innocent, so easy going, such a little helper, and he LOVES following ME around because he says I am "the most fun to hang with". I think I am. He thinks I am, and I love that. He is still such a little boy. He acts younger than he is. He has some delays, but he tries so hard to overcome them. He wants to do everything himself. He is in ESOL classes at school to help him with his english language skills. It is hard to believe that he spent almost three years in China. He was two and a half when he came home, and he has been home with us for three years. But his english is like that of a toddler because of his first years. Chinese really was his first language. Even though he wasn't speaking Chinese, he understood it completely. He has had a difficult time with word retrieval and just trying to communicate with everyone. I know it frustrates him. He is in kindergarten and misses his mama too so that has been a hard thing for him. It has been quite a transition. He comes home from school just exhausted. My love for this child just grows and grows. He is so special. I feel so lucky to be his mama, and I thank God every day for leading me to him. He is precious. Garrett loves puzzles, reading books, playing games, the Wii, likes cars and superheroes, loves to eat, loves to be with his mama, and he adores his sister. Garrett would be absolutely lost without her, and she would be without him. They are best friends. They play together beautifully, and are now at the age where they will just go off by themselves and play in their rooms together. They wrestle. They laugh. They play hard. Both of the kids love the Power Rangers. Everybody loves Garrett. If I could bottle him up, I'd make a fortune. How I love my Garrett!!!
I have started doing some substitute teaching now at the kids' school and at some other schools that are close by. It has been awesome for me. I never thought I would enjoy teaching again, but subbing is so much fun. I have to start taking some classes to get my teaching license reinstated. EXPENSIVE!!!! And I really do not want to go back to school (I have my Masters already and 15 years of teaching experience!), but I have to if I want to teach full time again in this state. Until then, I will be subbing and enjoying every minute of it.
I am attaching some recent pics of the kids for you to enjoy.
Like I said, I hope someone reads this. :) Let me know if you do catch up with me in the comments section.
And another thing, I cannot access some of my friends adoption websites. What's up with that? Please, PLEASE...If you are not listed in my favorite blogs section....Please email me! I need an invitation from some of you to get access to them. :)
Much love,
Madeline