Brianne and Kenzie on Dora Car

Brianne and Mackenzie are playing with Mackenzie's new Dora car. If I could just get Brianne to stop grabbing herself. You would think she is a boy. :)

What school should I do my student teaching at?? Is the question I face now. I have been invited to do it at Desert Meadows but am not sure that I will have the best examples to learn from. Any suggestions are appreciated.

I am also going to pull Brianne out of Tutor Time. I love the school she is at and the people but it is costing so much. She will not start Kindergarten until 2011 because of her December birthday. I feel guilty but at $400 a month and me not working I just can not justify it. She will start back up in January full time while I student teach so I think she will still be prepared for school when the time comes.

Our trip to Virgina was crazy!!!! traveling on an airplane with two small children is not recommend. They did do a great job and were as good as two children could possibly be while crammed on an airplane that is stuck on the runway for over an hour before your 5 1/2 hour flight :)

I am glad that we were there for Will and the family. It helped us all to say goodbye to Will's grandmother Bernadette Lof. You will be missed.

Great Friends

Thanks to you all for your support. Now that I am in my grove I feel like it is all manageable. I am really enjoying the children in my practicum (student teaching before you student teach) and can see how it all falls together. The work is actually fun. I love designing lesson plans and thinking of activities that really get the kids involved.

My first supervised lesson plan takes place on the 19th. My practicum supervisor will join us and give me feedback on how I am doing. I am going to do a story lesson plan on (Duck for President) by Doreen Cronin. Her books are fabulous and have a great way to introduce current events. I still have to design my activity but think it might be fun to have the children get in groups and make posters selling them for president.

I will post on how it went.

Overwhelmed

I am overwhelmed about this masters program. All of my insecurities are surfacing and I am not sure I can do it.

Our 10 To Do's

Here is a list of 10 things Will and I came up with that we want to do together or as a family. My plan is to list them and then write about what it was like after we have experienced it. So here is the list.

Going to the Beach
Taking a Boat Trip
Camping
Caving/Spelunking
Explore a new town
Compete in a 1/2 Marathon
Go to a movie with the Girls
Take a plane trip
Go to the Theater
Take a train ride

Expectations

What is with my crazy expectations. We took Brianne to her first soccer practice. It took us about 45 min to get out of the house (we made really good time). It seems that having two children has made it extremely difficult( getting dressed, shoes on, hair done, food for both of the girls, extra clothes for Brianne in case there is an accident, blankets because it is cold, water, diapers, wipes, toys, and more packed in the car for a 45min soccer practice. I did not mention the stroller, chairs to sit on, a soccer ball and I am sure I have forgotten something).I do sometimes double check that I have not forgotten the girls (sorry but there is a lot to remember).

So we then proceed on our 45 min drive to Gilbert because there aren't any community sports for Brianne's age group yet in Laveen. Traffic was light and we made good time. After unloading the car (another 10-15 min activity) we make it to the field. There is only one other child there. What the heck I think. I tell myself well you had no idea what to expect. Looking on the bright side I decide that this is good. Brianne will have one on one instruction (a private soccer lesson, cool). The coach was awesome. Very engaging with Brianne and made everything a game.

But then she started to run away. You see they decided to have the practice right next to the park where there were slides, swings, and lots of other children (boys mostly. Brianne has already figured out how to get the attention of any male figure within her radius much to her Daddy's dislike).

It took great effort to get her back to the practice spot. Why did I think she would stay there the whole time? Another crazy expectation. Once the coach started to link the drills he was trying to teach the two girls to Dora the explore he had her. She was soooooo cute. I really think she had a great time and actually learned quite a bit for a three year old. They did the get ready stance where you put one foot on the ball and hands on the hips, he pretended they had to find treasure with the ball (dribbling drills),the two practiced making goals, and they even had a little huddle at the end. He had them sit on there balls and gave them pictures to color that had to do with drills they would practice the following week.

Seeing Brianne play and learn was so much fun. She loves to run and is very fond of her soccer ball. I think if they are able to enroll more children and can keep the group going we will definitely be back. I will remember to get rid of my expectations and just enjoy watching her have fun.