Comp. Group

G's competition dance group just finished their choreography. It still needs polish of course but we taped it so the girls can practice over Christmas break. G has on the black pants and white tank top (it is taped from the back so the girls don't confuse which direction they are going when the watch it).

Merry (Almost) Christmas

This is such a busy time of the year, the time between Halloween and Christmas just seems to fly right by.

We spent Thanksgiving in Biloxi enjoying some Springer family time, the girls had fun in their playhouse and E enjoyed his fort and shooting his BB gun.

This weekend was the city Christmas parade. G walked with her dance school and E and T watched with their daddy. I was in STL for a baby shower, sometime in the next couple weeks I will be an aunt again.

E finally started the gifted program at school- he has only been one day so far be really enjoyed it. If nothing else it will keep him busier at school since he will have his APEX work as well as having to makeup the regular classroom work. We reviewed his class goals with him just so he is not surprised when they show up on his report card but we are NOT sharing his IQ score with him- his head is big enough.

Friday night is T's preschool Christmas program and we are hoping to visit with Santa before hand. Sunday is the MOPS Christmas party- I am really looking forward to meeting everyones' husbands since we all know each other so well.

The next week is filled with "holiday" parties and then the Boy Scout Christmas party on Saturday. Then Monday we will head to STL to spend Christmas week there celebrating with family and friends. I am looking forward to it- but also looking forward to a quiet January at home!

Back from Disney

Ok so we have been back for a week but it has been busy catching up on everything (except school work- that was done before we left).

We were there for 5 days- We arrived about 1pm on Thursday and had lunch at our hotel (Shade of Green) and then took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. The two big kids got to sit up front with the pilot! We got there just as the parade was passing by so we stopped to watch it. We rode the train and then watched the show, rode some rides in Fantasy Land, met Ariel and watched the fireworks.

Day 2 was Epcot. The girls met characters (the 2 little ones were collecting autographs) and went to Lunch with the Princesses while the boys went on Mission Space and got sick. We all visited the Land, the Sea, and some of the other attractions. We had dinner in Morocco and then watched Illuminations. W asked one of the cast members where a good place to sit was and he let us into one of the private party areas so we had an up front spot on the railing next to the lake.

Day 3 we took a boat from the Polynesian (across the street from Shades of Green and an easy walk- much faster then waiting for the bus to the ticket center) to the Magic Kingdom. The girls met Chip and Dale, and Rafiki from Lion King, even E got in on the act when we met Captain Hook and Smee. (E was collecting smashed pennies with grandam and Aunt Kathy.) We all went on the jungle cruise, The Pirates of the Caribbean, and Aladdin's Magic Carpets. Everyone but Kath and W went on Splash Mountain and then we split up and W and grandma took E to Tom Sawyers Island and the rest of us we on Thunder Mountain- T's first roller coaster- she LOVED it. We spent the rest of the day visiting rides we missed the first day and headed back to the hotel after the night parade.

Day 4 was at Animal Kingdom. We missed some of the shows but managed to make it on all the rides using fast passes for Expedition Everest and the Safari. Finding Nemo the musical was really neat and the Safari was awesome. The only thing we hoped to do but missed was meeting Pocahontas (or Hocapontas as T says). It was an enjoyable but short day since the park closes shortly after dark and there are no fireworks. The lines were really not bad anywhere we went (one of the longest was space mountain and that was only about 45min) but I was really surprised how crowded the walkways and eating areas at AK were, much more then any of the other parks.

Day 5 we went to Hollywood studios. Following some advice from a cast member at AK we got fast passes for the new Toy Story ride as soon as we got there. The wait for Toy Story was over an hour and our fast passes had us coming back late in the afternoon. 1/2 an hour after we got ours the fast passes for the day were gone!
This was E's favorite park- Narnia, Indian Jones, and Star Wars add in Harry Potter and the boy might have mistaken the place for heaven LOL. The Fantasmic night time show was awesome I didn't know you could project movies onto water fountains. T spent a good portion of the show with her head in W's lap. After the show Grandma, W, T, and E went to the bus stop so they could catch the 11 pm bus rather then waiting till midnight- Kath, G and I had fast passes for Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. The Rockin Roller Coaster was awesome- really what could be better then riding a roller coaster while listening to Areosmith? I turned out we didn't need the fast passes for the Tower of Terror- there was no line. The 3 of us rode the elevator to the top with one other couple and were dropped. Overall it was not nearly as scary as the anticipation lead me to believe. After a run to the bus stop we managed to join the rest of the group on the 11pm bus back to the hotel.

We made a stop in Downtown Disney before heading home. We finished up some shopping (Lego Land, Pooh Corner, and the Disney Emoprium) and had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. T likes roller coasters but is not so found of indoor thunderstorms.

My favorite parts were seeing the kids have so much fun. G just entranced by the show at Cinderella Castle, the girls waving to the characters int he parades and dancing to the music. Even E got shy and hid behind me meeting Prince Caspian and was so excited to make his own light saber.

E is his daddy boy- not all to thrilled with amusement parks I am afraid. He doesn't do roller coaster and most of the other rides were "boring."

G's favorites were the roller coasters- Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, ect. And she liked the Nemo show.

T liked meeting Jasmine, Alladin and the Genie but was disappointed that she didn't get to see the real Magic Carpet. She enjoyed the Nemo show, the Little Mermaid show, and loved Thunder Mountain. Her quote- "I was begging and begging to go on the Tower of Terror but I was too short!"

T's Show and Tell

T's show and tell at preschool today was reciting a nursery rhyme. I have a really had time with "homework" that is due on Monday since the big kids don't have homework on Fridays, anyway... T was practicing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as she was getting dress this morning. She asked me to write down the words for her so she could read them in case she forgot how it went!

Halloween

W's grandfather passed away yesterday and he left this morning for the funeral (he will be back Tuesday night and we leave Wednesday morning for Disney!) so all the traditional Halloween doings were left up to me. T had her party from 10:30 till noon, we came home so I could eat lunch and wash the serving bowls. We reloaded and left for G's party at 1:15. Came home, unloaded the van and started spaghetti sauce. W usually does really cool pumpkins, but left up to mom we got stickers, markers, and only E carved. He said it was the boringest pumpkin ever (I think 3 eyes at least makes it interesting).

We left candy on the front porch with a note to take a couple and set off to Trick-or-Treat. We did our cove and then headed to Church for their first Trunk-or-Treat. It was small but fun, hopefully a good start to a new tradition for the Church. The kids weren't worn out yet so we headed around the block and came home with FULL bags. But while we were out someone stole all the candy and smashed E's pumpkin : ( Well off to go check candy!

Talking on the Phone

This is T talking to her friend Claire. Don't try too hard to understand what she is saying- most of it is nonsense.

Really I do not talk on the phone THAT much!

Camping (Last Weekend)

W and the kids went camping last weekend with the scouts. On Saturday they had some competitions for the older kids. G got to be on the sibling team and E was on one of the scout teams (neither one won). T was to little to compete so she got her face painted, played soccer and hula hoop, and picked up rocks. She had so much fun she even took a nap!

This weekend is fall break for the kids. I am getting school work done for most of the weekend, but we plan to go to the pumpkin patch on Monday. Next weekend we are all headed to Tunic for Scout Base.

Update on Student Teaching

I heard back from 2 different people from FL. The coordinator for the alternative certification program and some one from the state DOE both agree that I can be certified without student teaching. My mentor at school also told me that there is a MAES program. I will be switching to that program and should graduate with my Masters of Art in Education Studies in about March of 2010!

Super Saturday

Well we have so far survived the day. (G is still at the Dance party for another hours so the results of that remain to be seen). E's rocket didn't do so hot in the races- he won 1 out of 3, but his rocket was voted best design in his den by the whole pack! It is an X-Wing fighter for all you non-Star Wars fans.

T had fun at the birthday party as you can see by her jump for joy. She was thrilled anytime she knocked over any pins- the more the merrier! E, G and I did some bowling too. E was king of the bumpers- his theory was they are there- use them. Maybe I need to teach him to play pool. G was very interested in holding and throwing the ball the right way. E beat her the second game- but without bumpers...

Busy week

W is out of town (left Sunday) for 2 weeks so we are all just pluggin' along. T has been praying every night that he has fun at his out of town and a safe trip home :) She is star of the week at school next week so she brought Curious George home with her from school yesterday. George is going to spend the weekend with us and go back to school on Monday with a story about all he did with us.

He should have a good story to tell. Tonight is karate and dance (yesterday he went to gymnastics), Friday night we have karate again and then we are having breakfast for dinner and game night. Saturday E has a Space Derby race with Boy Scouts, T has a birthday party at the bowling alley, and then G has her welcome back to dance party for the kids in competition groups.

On another topic- I heard back from the Florida DOE and I can get certified without student teaching! So on Monday I will be changing my program at school and I should finish up before we move this summer.

About Student Teaching

I am/was supposed to student teach in January. There have been some interesting developments that may mean I will change programs and not student teach. I have been working on a Masters of Art in Teaching (MAT) if I change that my degree will be a Bachelors of Art in Educational Sciences (BAES) which technically does not allow for certification- got all that? : )

So hear is the deal

1. I got my student teaching placement- at a school 30 mins away that doesn't get out till 4pm. That means the absolute earliest I would get home is 5. The big kids would have to go to aftercare, Wayne would either have to leave work early to take the kids to their activities (and then go back to work) or they would have to miss them is he can't get out of the office.
2. I maybe able to get a certification in FL with what I have- Bachelors (in Nursing) plus at least 30 hours of education credits. The problem is I have to have a transcript for FL to evaluate to give me an answer as to whether or not I qualify for that.
3. I plan to sub or maybe work part time at a preschool till the kids are older and I don't need a certification to do that anyway.
4. Finally, after applying to student teach months ago and sending in all my requirements I got an email from the school Thursday saying they don't have all my test results. The deadline to have them in is Monday. I emailed two different people at the school trying to find out what they need but got no replies.

Anyway- I am thinking it is all a sign from God!

Genie was accepted in to competition group

Genie will be in the competition group at dance class this year. It means one extra practice each week- on top of karate, boy scouts, and gymnastics. Plus 3 weekend competitions- while I am student teaching. It should make life more interesting, but it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.
Now if she can just start getting out of bed in the morning and getting ready for school with out screaming at me about her chores, her clothes, and her breakfast choices- I will let her accept the slot!

Good-bye to Summer

Grandpa and Grandma E drove down for Labor Day weekend to celebrate the end of summer with us (W was in Washington DC). They arrived late on Friday night. Saturday we went to Mud Island. The kids were not very impressed with the museum but loved the "map' of the Mississippi river. I bought them each a little Ducky at the museum shop and they chased their ducks from Cairo IL all the way to New Orleans! (Speaking of New Orleans- Grandma S. considered coming a staying with us for Gustov but in the end decided to stay in Biloxi. They have no power but no other damage. We may still get a visit depending on how long the power stays out and how hot/humid is gets.) After we dried off we all went to the Flying Fish for dinner- catfish, hush puppies, and fried okra- YUM!

After church on Sunday we packed up a picnic dinner and headed to the base pool for the last time this year. The kids enjoyed showing off their swimming skills and Grandma and Grandpa got to try something new- Jamaican Rice Salad for dinner.

There is video on Youtube of the 2 big kids going off the diving board. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFsofiERXGw

W got back to town just as Grandma and Grandpa were leaving and after a nice family dinner it was off to bed and back to school in the morning.

TS Fay hits Memphis!

We are getting some pretty good rain from the remnants of tropical storm Fay. I wish the picture had come out- we had a pretty fountain in the middle of the yard where the drain pipe from the downspout ends.

In other news-

W is in DC

E is sick- ear infections in both ears

T had her first full day of school today- with the whole class. She has 2 new friends but she can't remember their names : ) She pulled her covers off tonight and asked me to tuck her in again- she said "please, I am beggin' ya."

G is going to get a pet bunny (according to her) as soon as she saves up enough money. She says she is old enough to handle the responsibility.

I have one last paper to write for my second class of the term (thanks to a little help from my friends!) then just 2 classes to go and maybe I will add in an exam.

School's In!

Here they all are on their first days of school. G was up a ready to go, if only that would have continued for the rest of the school year! G started back at dance on Wednesday and has been asked to apply for the competition group this year. If we can it will mean an extra dance class each week and 3 competitions between Oct and May!

E (and his WebKinz) got his picture taken after school got out the first day because he "forgot" he needed shoes?

T had her first day on Wednesday and was so excited- she has been asking to wear that dress everyday since we bought it- I am not sure if it was because it was a purple dress or because I told her she couldn't wear it till school started.

I have finished one of my four classes for this term and I am a bit more then 1/2 way through the second. I am starting to get nervous about student teaching in Jan and wondering how I am going to teach full time, go to school full time, and be a full time mom/housewife on top of that.

School Starts Tomorrow! (and other goings on).

G is very excited about school starting, she didn't get the teacher she was hoping for but her teacher seems very nice. E got the teacher he wanted (Praise the Lord) which should make the school year much easier. I tutored for her class last year and she is really good about helping the more advanced students work ahead. T doesn't start school till next wenesday but she will have the same teachers G had when she was in 4 you preschool.

Now the other goings on-

E had a belt test yesterday and is now a purple belt which T is thrilled about since that is her favorite color. :) I will get a video of his kata on you tube in a bit.

At the end of July W finally achieved a life long goal- we saw Jimmy Buffett in concert in Indianapolis. (Thanks mom and dad S. for watching the kids). No cameras were allowed in the concert venue :( but here we are after the concert.

And some of the craziness in the parking lot before hand

Swimming Lessons

The kids have been taking swimming lessons for the last week. G swims like a little fish, E does ok, and T has made such a big improvement over the last year. At the end of swimming lessons last summer she would barely put her face in the water- she surely would not go under! Check her out www.youtube.com/watch?v=waxo2jf4vh0

It's July!

We went to the Fireworks show in Millington last night. We packed a picnic dinner (sesame chicken on a stick and asain noodle salad LOL) and there were few activities for the kids-some rides, an inflatable rock climbing wall, and an apple eating challenge. The apples were hanging from string, and no using your hands. This was especially hard for G since she also has no front teeth! Matthew and Gunnar Nelson performed (Ricky Nelson's sons) and the Navy band played some patriotic music.

The fireworks display was pretty good. For those of you who remember how scared T was of the fireworks at Judy's 2 years ago- not much has changed. Before they started she was laying on the blanket talking about how much she loved fireworks, as soon as that first one went off she was in my lap like a flash. She did eventually stop shaking : ) and even said some of the fireworks (mostly the purple ones) were pretty, but she stayed in my lap the whole time.

I started a new term at school on the first so I am mostly spending the day studying since W is home. We are having BBQ ribs and Key Lime pie tonight and then taking the kids to the drive in to see Wall-E.

St. Louis

Sorry I have no control over exactly where on the page the pictures end up but here is our STL trip in 30 secs or less :) We got in late Saturday night (after the recital) and most of the family was at mom's on Sunday afternoon. The kids got to play with their second cousins (my cousin Scott's kids Derek and Colin) while the adults visited. T found a new pet worm that we eventually convinced her would like to live in Grandpa's garden. It was my cousin Maggie's birthday so we sang to her and had cake! Monday we went to the zoo and Scott, Jamie and the boys met us there. We saw the new dinosaur exhibit and Scott got quite the workout pushing 3 of the kids up Historic hill in the stroller. Wednesday mom and I took the kids to the local water park- G had her first big water slide experience and she and E spent quite a bit of the day on the slides.

Thursday night Uncle Ted had babysitting duty while Mom and Kath and I went out with the girls- Fritz's for dessert YUM! Friday we (me and the kids, Josh and Kath, and Ted) headed out to Six Flags- it was a bit rainy but cleared up later. I have a couple pictures from the beginning of the day and a couple from the end. My camera spent most of the day at under the Ninja (note to self don't go on roller coasters that go upside down with your camera in your pocket) but on a positive note I highly recommend the Olympus Stylus because it survived falling form the roller coaster and siting in the rain all day! G was quite adventurous this trip- she went on the Ninja, the Screaming Eagle, the Highland Fling, and the Mine Train- she was very disappointed that she could go on Batman!

So that was much longer then 30 secs but...

G's Dance Recital

Boy June has gone by fast. G had her dance recital early in the month and then we went to St. Louis for a week. We were back just in time for Fathers Day and then I worked at VBS while the girls were at VBS and E was at Scout day camp. This week E is going to Karate Camp and I am tutoring in the afternoon, I have also been volunteering on Tuesdays to read with kindergartners at a community center in the city- summer is just as busy as the rest of the year!

Anyway, G enjoyed her recital and didn't have any stage fright :) I think she was a bit nervous her first dance because she did much better on the second one. You can see the videos on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/debrahas, the first one was What Would Paris Be, their second dance was Funky Ballerina. There is also a short video of the Finale with all the kids in the recital. T also had her own private performance :) it is a bit hard to see since she wasn't on stage- but it is cute- its called Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

WOW it's June!!

I can't believe it is June already- things have been busy around here, nothing exciting though (praise the Lord).

Genie graduated from Kindergarten, apparently I haven't even downloaded the pictures yet, I'll try to add some later.

W's mom and dad where here last week. J and W worked on the house, the kids played with Grandma and I got as much studying done as I could. I passed both my subject area and professional exams so I am officially ready to student teach in Jan.

I am working on the first part of my thesis- conducting research on using untrained parent tutors to improve reading.

Next week we head to St. Louis to see a bunch of family- my Aunt, Uncle and cousins will be in town as well. When we get back the girls and I have VBS and E has boy scout camp. Busy, busy.

The School Year is Coming to an End.

Today was T's last Chapel as a 3 year old preschooler and E's 2nd grade awards ceremony. There is video of T and her class singing that you can view on my youtube page http://www.youtube.com/user/debrahas . E received a Citizenship award (good conduct for at least 3 quarter) and Principles honor roll (All As and Es). He was the only one in his class to be on the honor roll this year.

Another busy day.

Yesterday we had T's birthday party at Build-a-Bear Workshop. The girls all had a great time and made such cute bears.

Then we picked up G from school and Aunt Kathy, G, and T all cut off their ponytails. G donated 8 in, T gave 9
and Aunt Kathy was the winner
with 13in of hair!