Derek and Holly Are Sick

27 Aug 2010

My babysitter, Sara, is such an angel. Derek threw up 4 times at her house today and she wasn't upset at all (even though she's almost 5 months pregnant!). Derek is still sick. Holly threw up in her bed last night and then just went back to sleep. There was a little pile of not-chewed-up spaghetti noodles in the corner of her bed this morning. Eww.

Well, it's 9:00, I think I'm going to bed. I've got a training meeting tomorrow (Sat) and I've got to be in Dilly by 8:30. My one day off - man! At least Jared can go to the training on a different day so we don't need a babysitter.

Big Mistake

26 Aug 2010

After the first day of school I thought that maybe becoming a middle school teacher was a big mistake. But now that I've remembered how to use my "teacher" voice, everything is all better.

Don't Give Up On Me

25 Aug 2010

Don't give up on me. I know I haven't done a new post in a long time but it's because I'm really super busy. Jared and I have been gone for 12 hours each day. School is going fine. We have lots of great kids and a few that need "extra love". I'm glad that we decided to be teachers. I will make a new post soon. Love you all, Suzie.

A Little Holly On The Beach

Here is a video I took of Holly on the beach. I couldn't get one of her in the waves because I need both hands to catch her and my camera isn't waterproof :P Enjoy!

Arrrr! Avast Ye Salty Sea Baby

14 Aug 2010

Today we went to the beach!!! We never really got a summer vacation what with all the Air Force and teaching jobs stress so we hurried down to the Malaquite Beach on the South Padre Island National Seashore this morning. It was a perfect day to go to the beach. The weather was beautiful, the water was really really warm, the rangers weren't charging any admission to the park for some reason, I only got attacked by two tar balls and the visitor's center has free showers.

As it turns out, Holly LUVA-LUV-LOVES the beach. As soon as we got there she ran out into the waves and wouldn't come back. She would just keep going deeper and deeper and laughing her head off when a wave knocked her down. When the waves got to be too much for her to stand up she would crawl. It was all we could do to keep her from just washing out to sea. I dubbed her "The Salty Sea Baby".
Tyler had a really fun time playing in the waves too. Out in the surf, there are series of sandbars that run parallel to the beach. They are under the water but make it possible for people to go way out into the water to play in really big waves (you can see the tiny people in the first picture.) Tyler really wanted to go out there so Jared went with him and he had a really fun time. Derek not so much. He liked staying on the shore and building sand castles.
This is my photo tribute to Josh and Sydney Christiansen.

What a super day!

First Baptist Church

13 Aug 2010

This Friday the 13th turned out to be a really good day. I went to Dilley for my first day of work. I had to get up really early (5:45) but I got there on time and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was there for the district's new teacher orientation. I met all the other new teachers and the district staff. They are all so nice and friendly and I felt so welcome. The superintendent (who shall hereafter be referred to as the supernintendo) conducted the meetings. I thought it was pretty neat that the district was so small that the supernintendo could be there to meet and talk with us personally. He is super nice, has a PhD in education is a born-and-bread Texan.

I wish I could say more...

The local First Baptist Church invited us to their building for lunch. It was so cool. It was just like a Mormon funeral luncheon except subtract the funeral and add in a drawing for gifts and prizes donated by local businesses. We had a really long blessing on the food and everything (I was the only one folding my arms and bowing my head - I know 'cause I peeked.) I got TONS of loot because Jared wasn't there and they gave me all his stuff to take home. Here is the picture of my stuff. Jared had just as much plus about $100 in gift cards to local fast food places and HEB. Notice the logo on the shopping bag. I wish I could say more...

After lunch we met some more staff and then went out behind the district building to learn how to put out fires with fire extinguishers. The janitor built a BIG fire using two-by-fours and gasoline. Most of the extinguishers he had for us to use worked pretty good. The one I got wouldn't shut off so I put my fire out really really good. I wish I could say more...

Afterward I went to my classroom. It's baby blue, has boards on some of the windows and I couldn't figure out how to turn on the AC (the controller must be in another room). It's a really old building but it'll be just fine. I should have taken a picture but I didn't think to. I'll have to get lots more pictures later.

I'm so excited to come back to work on Mon with Jared and start working on our curriculum. We've only got next week to get ready and then school starts on the 23rd :)

Another New Car

10 Aug 2010

And once again, we found ourselves sitting in a hot car dealership waiting to sign a thousand papers so that we could borrow several thousand dollars so that we could drive to our jobs that we need so that we can pay for our car.

Heh heh. I'm just kidding.

It wasn't that hot.

Anyway, we got a new car yesterday! I did the math (after all, I have passed the content exams for Math 4-8 and Math 8-12 for teachers in the state of Texas) and the payment and the gas for this 2008 Prius hybrid would be about the same as just the gas for our big Ford wagon. So, since our wagon is getting older, we broke down and bought this little beauty. It says it seats 5 - I think it's really more like 4 1/2. But that's okay 'cause Derek is small. We won't have all the extra room for the large objects that we like to haul with us around the city, but that's okay. We'll figure out a way to make it work.

Lovely metallic mint GREEN (Green, get it? Going green. No? Okay) paint. Well whether it's painted green or not, it still gets 50 mpg so don't laugh.

Dash board resembling the bridge of the starship Enterprise. No key here. Just make sure you have the remote with you in your pocket or your purse and push the button that says 'Start.' Don't worry if you don't hear anything actually start. The engine doesn't come on until you push the gas pedal.

Squishy kid land. Poor Derek - I think he might end up relegated to the hump in the middle. Perhaps I can find a way to install Holly's car seat there so that she can keep the boys separated and

minimize in-fighting.

Crickets, Grasshoppers and Frogs

8 Aug 2010

Derek and I were taking a walk and our conversation went like this:

Derek: Mom, are crickets, grasshoppers and frogs all friends?

Me: No. Crickets and grasshoppers are friends but they don't like frogs because frogs eat crickets and grasshoppers.

Derek: Oh well. Who cares.

Family Mottos

7 Aug 2010

We are so excited for our new jobs. Jared says that he thinks it's cool that he gets to be a professional nerd. Tyler recently learned about mottos and has been asking us about our personal mottos all week. I posted them to the right (on the side bar). Now I want to know what your mottos are. Think of your motto and leave it in the comments.

Here is a picture of Derek watching a Nova special on dinosaurs with feathers. He really sat there and watched it for the whole hour. It was so cute.

Jobs Jobs Jobs, For All The Unemployed Slobs!

6 Aug 2010

We got jobs! Yay! Today Jared and I were both offered jobs at Mary Harper Middle School in Dilley, TX. I'm going to be teaching 7th grade math and Jared will be teaching 6th grade science. We are so glad that things are working out! And actually, after we accepted those jobs, we got two more job offers at Floresville High School! Can you believe it? We're so flattered. We took the middle school job even though it was a little further away because the high school job had required summer teaching and we really want to have next summer off. Jared got his orders last week and they indicate that he will be granted an honorable separation from the Air Force and relieved of the remained of his 3-year commitment on the 13th (Friday the 13th..ooooooh). That's supposed to be our first day of teaching so it looks like everything is working out perfectly.

Question: Where is Dilley? Answer: Half way to Mexico. I'm not kidding. It's about 70 miles southwest of where we live in San Antonio. It's a pretty long drive (just over an hour) but we're going to make the best of it. We're looking into trading our big Ford for a little Prius. It has 5 seatbelts so it will be fine for us and the three kids right? Truth is, that it would get 3x the gas mileage of our current car and the gas savings alone would be enough to make a car payment.

I searched high and low for pictures of the school and the city to put up for you, but Dilley is really small and there aren't many pictures on the internet. Maybe it's best - the school looks like a post-war era government building that you might see in Salina or Fayette, UT. I think they said that the town's population is 2,500 not including the inmates at the State Pen. The whole middle school only has 160 students and shares a cafeteria with the elementary school and the high school. We will each have 7 classes with 6-20 students in each class. We met with the principal, the assist. principal, a couple teachers, the superintendent and lots of district staff and they all seemed so nice and supportive. Some of the other schools I've interviewed at were up-tight and a little intimidating. These guys are all friendly and relaxed and we really like it.

This picture of a gas station was on the Wikipedia website. I know. It's a really nice gas station. I'd be lying if I didn't say that it was the "Best" gas station in "Tex"as.

Okay. This watermelon statue is a big deal I guess. It's all over the city website and from the looks of it, they decorate it all up for Christmas. Town motto (that I just made up):

"Dilley. We love us some watermelon."

Thank you so much everyone for your prayers and support. This is a really big deal for us and we're excited to start this new adventure. We love you all and hope that we can see you soon.