One Week Later

It has been one week since the shootings in Newtown, CT. One week since the world lost 18 precious first graders, teachers, a principal and a school psychologist. I have seen many tragic events in my 36-years on this earth, but this for me has been particularly hard to understand. I think because what happened in Newtown could happen anywhere, but more particularly because several people effected in Newtown play roles that I play daily. For instance, Mary Sherlach was the school psychologist, a role that I play on a daily basis. She went to work doing what all school psychologists do on a daily basis, she protected those kids, which is what any one of us in the field would do given the situation. Just two days before the shootings, my school had its annual disaster drill and we like to complain that it takes away from the time we have to get so much other stuff done, but as I think back, I am glad to have given those forty-five minutes up to practice keeping the students and staff safe and I am happy to know that my school has a safety procedure in place. Secondly, I work with so many amazing teachers on a daily basis. Any one of them would have given their lives the way that Victoria Soto did protecting her students. For those anti-teachers, you really have no idea how teaching is more than just a job. People these days seem to blame all of the worlds problems on teachers, but we do little as a society to bolster education. Funny how now these same people are considered hero's. Well to me they always have been. They live and breathe their work and noone seems to get that unless you have the pleasure of working with them. I am saddened for the loss of a principal who so obviously loved her work. It is rare to find that quality, for it seems most principals have forgotten what it is to work directly with children. I am grateful that I get to work with a principal who really puts forth the effort to get to know her students and who does put children first. Thirdly, and what I think rings true for many is the loss of precious 6 and 7 year olds. Since Nathan is nearly six, I think this why it has been particularly hard to take. Especially because he loves school so much. I hate that elementary school has suddenly become such a scary place for parents. I think we need to try as hard as we can to maintain some semblance of normalcy for our youngest learners and not take that away from them. I am glad that I had this week off so that I could spend time on Nathan's school campus, getting to know staff and enjoying the kids because it made this all seem almost like a bad nightmare. Kids are still kids and are having a great time at school, not cowering in fear of what could happen. That has helped me be less nervous over the course of the week. It has made me realize that despite the horrific event that happened last Friday, there is still good in the world and we need to focus on that and maybe just squeeze our little ones a little tighter at the beginning and the end of the day because we can.

Super Student

Nathan was chosen as one of the five students at the first awards assembly this year who exhibits the character trait of responsibility! So proud of that little guy!

Thanksgiving Celebrations

Today both Nathan and Kira had Thanksgiving celebrations at their schools. I was unable to go to the luncheon at Kira's preschool but Brian's mom sent a couple pictures. Due to a presentation at work,I was done early today so I was able to get to Nathan's school. The kids sang songs and had a little spread of fruit, crackers and cornbread muffins. It was cute to hear them singing in Spanish and to listen to them tell what they are thankful for in Spanish. I am so glad both kids are liking where they are at in life right now.

Preschool

On November 1 Kira started preschool at St. David's Preschool, which is right across the street from Nathan's school. She seems to really like it. She has made friends and likes her teacher and the other teachers. Kira talks about the things they do there, which includes a lot of songs. Or maybe she just really likes music. I can't wait to see and hear all the things she learns this year.

Updates

This October 25 my mom turned 60. To celebrate, in September, three of her sister, my mom and I headed to NYC for a girls weekend. It was a lot of fun. We rented a condo outside of Manhattan and would take the Subway into the city each day. We visited the 911 Memorial, explored Battery Park, went to a Mets game, saw Wicked, took a pedicab tour of Central Park and ate and drank our way around the city.

We did our annual visit to Oma's Pumpkin Patch. The kids had fun sliding down cotton seed hill, playing on the playgrounds, jumping on mattresses, petting the animals and playing with friends.

Nathan continues to enjoy kindergarten and continues to learn and absorb the Spanish language daily. Our minds are blown on a daily basis on how much he knows and can do in a foreign language. Anyway, on Halloween, I was able to go to his school and participate in his parade and class celebration. I love how involved the families are at this school site.

This was our first Halloween at our new house. Although we have always enjoyed trick or treating with the Garcia's and missed them this year, the kids really wanted to experience trick or treating in our new neighborhood with the neighborhood kids.

We have also been taking full advantage of having a backyard. This past Friday we baby-sat the Bennett girls and now that the evenings are cooling off, we decided to have a fire out back and make s'mores. It's nice to be able to have the opportunity to do things like this.

The Kindergartener

Yesterday was a big milestone in our household! Nathan started Kindergarten. He is attending Longfellow Elementary, which is one of the Spanish Immersion schools in our school district. From the moment we met his teacher at orientation last Friday, there has been not a word of English from his teacher. After two days, he is doing well. I hope it continues!! He seems to have made some friends already. That helped I think to ease the fears. Here are some pics of the big event:

2012 Catch Up

I feel like with Facebook and Instagram, our poor little blog gets neglected, but since it is in a sense a babybook for Nathan and Kira, I thought I'd better update it a bit. Now that 2012 is almost over, I figure I should catch up on what's been going on with us. Kira recently graduated to level one swimming, which means she is no longer required to be in a parent/tot class but is in a class with a 3:1 student to teacher ratio. The first week she did great, the second week she screamed through the lesson and so this week is the third week and we are hoping she is able to make it 30 minutes with no screams. When she is in the pool with us, she is swimming like a fish. Here is a short video of her swimming a few weeks ago at a friends house: Kira is also very into her scooter and bike these days. She loves singing and walks around the house singing everything. She enjoys coloring, drawing and playing on the ipad. Kira also loves blowing bubbles, putting on lipgloss and having her nails painted. Always the girlie girl. Here are a few pictures: Nathan's preschool just held its graduation ceremony. Now I know people get all up in arms about preschoolers graduating, but I have to say is was pretty damn cute to see them up there singing and performing. It has been a great two years and I am pretty happy with the social growth Nathan has made. He was standing up there so confident and proud. It's off to kindergarten in the fall. Despite the fact that our school district is in one of the worst economic years on record, I am so excited. He will be attending Longfellow Elementary, which is a Spanish immersion program. I can't wait to watch him learning in a completely foreign language. These days Nathan is taking gymnastics twice a week and getting stronger each week. He enjoys riding his bike and scooter and swimming. He is still super into his legos and will spend hours building. Here are the videos of his class performing: