The Reinforcements Have Arrived!

This new life of ours sure is busy. I realized this morning that it's been a good long time since we've posted anything here and people may be wondering what has happened to us over the last several weeks....

I am now back to work full-time and loving it. It really has helped my sanity to go back to work and be around kids who I can talk to in full sentences and reason with. Yes that's right, I said "reason with", and yes I teach middle school. :) Oddly enough, a 2.5 year old and a 14 year old are quite similarin their behavior, but the fact that 8th graders have language makes communication a whole lot easier. Comparing the two has certainly reinforced that I have found my calling by teaching middle school, and that going down to a lower grade level is not in my future.

This last week my parents arrived to meet their first grandchild and to offer support. They plan to stay through the end of the school year to help with childcare during the day and it is a huge blessing. Noah has come to school with me several times already and needless to say, it's a bit difficult to get work done with a little one running around your classroom, so I am grateful they are here. It was love at first sight for Noah and my dad for sure! They spend everyday, all day running around playing. Peter and I come home to a very tired and happy kid and that is great! :) I'm not sure what we will do when they go back home in June.

This last Saturday, Noah and I spent the day planting our annual vegetable garden. We had a great time pulling weeds and turning over the soil to prepare it for planting. We saw earthworms and all sorts of bugs. I even got Noah to pet the worms, although he wouldn't hold them no matter how much I tried to convince him that it was okay. He was very concerned about getting dirty and every time he got dirt in his shoe, he would say "uh-oh", take off his shoe and stand on my foot until I cleaned out his shoe for him. He also wanted to wear gloves just like mommy and daddy. I didn't have any kid sized gloves so I just gave him a pair of mine which were obviously too big. He spent half the day wearing them, until finally, he gave up and just put his hands in the dirt. I was ecstatic to see him finally getting dirty! Once he got his hands in the dirt, we had a great time planting and laying out the drip hose. We also picked and ate strawberries and lemons from the garden and that was a fabulously exciting treat :) I'm excited to watch the garden grow this summer and to go out every morning with Noah to pick our vegetables and then cook them up and eat them. There is nothing like freshly picked fruits and vegetables!