I go to work!

Since MrC works from home most days, Judah sees him in his office and has had to learn to be quiet when daddy is working. He loves to set up his office and work like daddy. On Sunday before church he told us he had to go to work and that he was going to work hard. After a few minutes he said he needed to work outside and packed up his things to go. He worked all the way to church and kept telling us we needed to cut the music off. I think he's ready to go make some money at a real job! Anybody looking to hire an adorable toddler ?

Look at the babies

This week I haven't had time to sit and write anything. I have a post in my drafts about toddler discipline and another about disciplining special needs kids but I need time to write them. Look at my cute kids in place of a real post!

Over a hat?

> I was telling my mom and her friend about my day when they picked me up from work yesterday. Their perception of my story and mine were totally different.
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> I have 4 students in my class, 2 girls and 2 boys. The girls are generally compliant and they do their work. The boys don't do work and think they can do whatever they want at any time. They skip class often and go upstairs and run the halls and disturb the other classes. Both boys walked out of class yesterday. We locked the door behind them and told them to bring a pass from an administrator if they want to come back. After almost an hour, neither had returned so I went to look for them and alert security. One of them had been placed in In School Suspension andhe other was being brought back to class by a Corporal. When he saw me, he left my student with me and went to return another student to his class. My student told me he needed to go get his hat before coming back to class. I told him no at least 3 times, but he went anyway. I followed behind him as he went into the Corporal's office to get his hat. On our way out the Corporal saw him and told him at least 5 times, that he couldn't have his hat back, but the student wouldn't put it back. The Corporal told him if he couldn't listen to him here, then he needed to go home. My student decided to walk out. Security was called and they took my student back to the office. He was suspended and his parents had to come get him. My ma and her friend both said "over a hat?" I don't think he was suspended over his hat. He was suspended for not listening and being disobedient. If you can't listen to the authority at school, then maybe you'll listen to your parents at home. If every student here was allowed to do whatever they wanted, then this school would be even more crazy. It doesn't matter if it's as simple as handing an adult your hat or running out of class 3 times a day. A rule is a rule is a rule, and if you don't follow them then you can't stay.

Holiday Randoms

> I spent my entire break at my parent's house. It was absolutely wonderful. When I stay there I actually get rest because they'll entertain Judah from me while I sleep in. One day I slept until 11! It was pure bliss.
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> Thanksgiving was great, but I have a problem with my aunts. My ma has 2 sisters here that came, and my dad has one that came over. That makes for 6 additional people that came to celebrate Thanksgiving at my parents house. Not one of them brought anything or even offered to bring anything. That doesn't sit well with me especially since they took plates home. If you come empty handed then you need to leave empty handed. My parent's host almost every family function, because their siblings are being way too lazy and selfish to plan it and they rarely even get a thank you.  I'm supposed to host Christmas, but 20 people aren't coming to my house empty handed. I like being with family, but everybody needs to contribute!
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> This week at school we have a placement meeting for our difficult student. They're trying to put him out of our school into a much smaller special needs school. He actually has tons of potential, but his behavior is keeping him from succeeding. If you won't wear the uniform, or come on time, or stay in class, or stay awake in class, or listen to anything, then there's no need for you to be here.
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> There was a murder two streets over from my school this morning. I can hear the helicopter right now. I hope nobody from here was involved. Many of the students here are heavy in the streets.
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> Alaia laughed for the first time over the weekend. Of course, my sister was the recipient of the first laugh again. It was hilarious because she doesn't know how to laugh. It sounded like she was choking. Now I'm on a quest to get a laugh from her.
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> Judah's going to school part time in 2014. I don't know how we're paying for it or where he's going, but I'm going to make it happen. He absolutely loves going to class on Sunday and I want him to be in a more disciplined setting more often. When he wakes up on Sunday he comes in our room and immediately says "Good morning Mommy. I ready to go to class and play nice with my friends." I love it! I'm going to research schools this week and start praying on it.
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> MrC and I are going to do a family vision board this year. We have been really off track the past year, but we're ready to get back on it now. I'm excited to greet 2014.
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> Since one of my students is trying to read this, I'm just going to post now. I hope I don't have too many typos.

Get it in gear

I've been running late to work for the past week. I haven't been able to get myself together lately. Hopefully the Thanksgiving break will be enough to get back on track. MrC's birthday was Friday and my family celebrated yesterday with a nice lasagna dinner that I made. I tried a new recipe and I love it. It needs a few minor tweaks and then it'll be perfect. For dessert we had gingerbread Twix. I think I want to try all the holiday candy now.I'm loc'ing my hair and my sister hooked me up for Thanksgiving. I still haven't heard from the hairdresser that was supposed to do my hair last week. I was looking forward to a free hairstyle, but I guess it won't be happening.

Stay at home dad

MrC is at home with both kids today because my mom can't watch them. He's going to try and work from home and watch both kids. It seems like a set up for frustration and irritation to me, but if he wants to try and be super dad then I'll let him. I was supposed to get my hair done this evening (for free) but she never gave me a time and I'm sure my husband will be beyond ready to be rescued from the children so I'll probably just stay home. It'd be lovely to give him a taste of stay at home mom life and stay gone all day. He has no idea what dealing with 2 kids from sun up to sun down is like.

Birthdays all weekend!

> Judah is an extreme party animal. MrC took him to a 7th birthday party at one of those kids' gyms on Friday night and he had a ball! He was the smallest kid there, but that didn't stop him from running around trying everything. I forgot to get the videos and pictures from MrC's phone, so I'll try and post them tomorrow. At one point he fell face first off a trampoline and hit his head. Everybody jumped up expecting to have a screaming toddler except MrC. Judah yelled "I ok" and kept it moving. MrC checked for a bruise a few minutes later, and there was a mark, but clearly Judah was fine. We learned long ago not to ever react when Judah falls or else he'll milk it for all it's worth. MrC had a video of Judah riding the zip line (he had to be seated because he's so small) and my jaw fell open when I saw it. When my ma and sister watched it they had the exact same reaction. I thought he'd be to scared to do something like that. The only complaint I have is that MrC broke one of my top 10 parenting rules. NO MCDONALDS! The served nuggets and fries at the party and MrC let him eat some fries. He said he didn't seem that impressed and didn't even finish a small fry so I guess I can't be too mad.
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> Alaia and I went to see my sister play a prostitute in a play of the modern version of the prodigal son. She did well, and the play was really good but the prodigal son was a terrrrrrrible actor. I don't know how he got the role, but my goodness he should not act anymore. The best person was a dude I grew up with that played the older brother and a bum. He was absolutely hilarious and I never knew he was that funny. He really carried the play and I'm so proud of him. His dad is the pastor of the church and it was his first time seeing his son act. I was sitting in the back next to him putting Alaia to sleep and I looked over and I could tell he was so proud of his son. It's always amazing to see your kids do things you never expected them to.
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> On Sunday we went to lunch to celebrate our niece's 16th birthday. She's MrC's late brothers eldest child and we wanted her to feel special because her trifling mother didn't plan anything for her. Judah sang happy birthday to her and my sister is going to do her hair as our gift to her because she's had the same braids in since school started and they look awful.
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> I hope y'all had a good weekend and have an even better week. My students are here now so I guess I need to get ready to do some teaching!
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> Oh, MrC's birthday is this Friday. If y'all have any inexpensive gift ideas, let me know.

Here are the children!

For some reason these pictures didn't show up on my last post.

What about the children?

There is so much laughter in our house everyday. Judah thinks he's a comedian which is hilarious but also means lots of scolding because he doesn't know when to stop. He is very independent and bossy which also gets him in trouble! Yesterday morning he woke up at 4:30 and got in our bed and had the nerve to tell me to scoot over. He also likes to debate things he thinks he knows. He has a ninja turtle toy that he insists in a man with a backpack no matter how many times we point out it's a shell. When you ask him to do something he doesn't want to do he'll close his eyes and say "I sleep." I don't know where he gets this smart mouth from, certainly not me. At 2.5 he is working on his conversation skills and is beginning to speak in intelligible paragraphs and not just random sentences. There are times when he tells me an entire story and not one word is in a language known on Earth. He loves his baby sister and always reminds us that he's the big brother. I want to put him in school part time, but it's not in the budget right now. He knows his alphabet and how to count, but will not do it correctly if you ask him to. When I ask him to count to 5 I normally get "1, 2, 8, 13, 92" or something equally ridiculous. I
 

My sweet baby girl likes to smile and coo at us. She's much more vocal and expressive than Judah was at that age. MrC is in awe every single day. She is a great sleeper at night thank the Lord!  She was born on MrC's deceased brothers birthday and I think he hand picked her in heaven to send to us. I feel like a very blessed momma!

I'm back!

> I am ready to start this blogging thing again. Now that I'm working full time again, I actually have time during my day to sit at a computer and type. So heyyyy y'all, I'm back!
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> So much has happened since I last blogged. Last October when I was almost 6 months pregnant, I lost the baby. I turned around and got pregnant again the very next month. I'm pretty sure I get pregnant just from kissing, so I need to lay off on that. I had a sweet baby girl on August 27 of this year. I'll post pictures tomorrow. Just know that Alaia is the sweetest most beautiful baby in all the world! I may be a little biased though.
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> I'm working as a special education assistant teacher at a high school. I work in CRI which is the extremely low level students that cannot graduate with a diploma. They are in a 6 year program that grants them a certificate. My class has 4 students. The 2 girls are sweet, and the 2 boys are determined to end up in jail. This is my fourth week on the job, expect many blogs on them!
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> Judah is the most hilarious 2 year old around. Even though I want to drop kick him most days for acting like a crazy toddler, I love my happy boy!
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> The good thing about working in a class with kids that can barely read is they can sit right next to me as I type about them and they can't follow along.
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> My class is going swimming today and I need to go get the girls dressed.