Party Time

Judah went to his best friend's birthday party on Saturday. Because of the holidays and him being sick they haven't seen each other in a few weeks. They both screamed with delight when they saw each other. The party was at My Gym and those kids had a ball. If it wasn't $70 a month I'd totally sign Judah up for classes. My sister is supposed to be taking him to swim classes next month and hopefully after that I can get him in a gym class. I need to work on his ability to follow directions before sending him to school in the fall. The facilitator at My Gym was giving instructions and Judah was running all over the place. He still looks at things as general suggestions and not commands. Many times when I tell him to do something he'll reply "ummmmm nope" and run away and then  I have to get strict. Today he's supposed to go to story time at the library with his best friend and a friend from church so I know he'll have many stories for me when I pick him up today.

Starting the year off right!

> At the beginning of the year, it's time to set goals and a vision for how you want the year to go. Last year our family had no goals, no plans, or vision and it was a truly terrible year for us. Alaia was the bright spot in a dismal year. I refuse to ever have another year like last year, so we are really sitting down as a family to talk about what we hope to accomplish. We need to make a 5 year plan as well. Right now I have the broad goals that I want to accomplish, but I need to sit down and really write out how I will accomplish them. For 2014 my goals are:
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> 1. Make the house more cozy. I like my house but I don't love my house. I'm going to figure out what I need to do to make the transformation into a house that I love because I just don't feel very comfortable there. MrC wants much more wall art and I want to introduce more fabrics and make some updates. I'll definitely blog my way through this because I will be scouring thrift stores and trying to spend as little money as possible.
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> 2.Pay off all the medical bills and credit card bills. We had 2 babies back to back and even though Aniya passed away, we still had to pay for her and she was expensive. Alaia was even more expensive and we also had to buy a new engine and catalytic converter for our car last year. We never used to carry over a credit card balance on our card, but we just didn't have enough money last year to pay for what we needed so we had to put it on the credit card. Before 2014 is over, all of those debts will be eliminated and in 2015 we will pay off our student loans.
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> 3. Pinterest Project Monthly. On twitter, NonSuperwoman said she was committed to completing one Pinterest project a month and I decided to join her and we'll blog about it. I  have a special board to keep track of what I want to complete. This month I'm starting off with a very inexpensive but necessary project, a family notebook. It will house our social security cards, birth certificates, and copies of our credit card information and stuff. I'll keep it in a safe so that if anything happens, I can grab our notebook and know all is not lost. I'll probably put some cash in there too.
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> If I stay disciplined this year then I will be able to accomplish what I really want in 2015 which is a family vacation and a mini-van. In 2016 I want to have another baby and build an addition onto our home. MrC wants a new job this year and I want a promotion at my job. I want to stay with the class I'm currently in, but have my title changed which will bring an 80% pay increase.
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> What goals do you have for 2014?

Back to Work!

I had a lovely Christmas break! We were all sick and both kids ended up with eye infections but the time off was still enjoyed. I'm back at work today so I'll be back blogging now that I'm on schedule again.
Let me get back to listening to these crazy students lie about their Christmas break activities.

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.