Re-entering the blog

Wow, I just realized that I kind of gave up on blogging the last half of last year, and then sort of forgot about it over the summer.

I find that sometimes in the craziness of life, I feel the overwhelming need to word-vomit on the computer screen just to get my feelings out.  When I feel a little isolated, or down in the dumps.  I think that was where I was when I started this thing.

Life has taken some crazy turns since the beginning of school.  My little baby is not a little baby.  She has officially moved into the PreK side of daycare in the 3-year-old room.  She has a great new teacher who has high expectations for behavior.  She needs that.  We have been dealing with waves of rebellion.  All of my great ideas for behavior, she just wasn't ready to work with last year.  However, I think pretty soon we are going to try some of it again.  I would love to say that I will be truly consistent, but I know there will be busy times when that will slip.  Main thing, KISS, keep it simple stupid.  I have a tendency to over-do and then have to back-pedal.

Also, her language abilities and comprehension of what we say has exploded.  I knew she would have her father’s gift of gab… and gift of spinning yarns.  She has already spread a crazy story at daycare that she has another house and a sister.  Don’t worry, we’ve worked on that one, but she had to learn the word IMAGINARY in order to explain herself.

My amazing colleagues, Julie and DeeAnn, have started up the Trojan Children’s Choir.  We kept the KISS model in mind, and were very specific with the title so that all would understand that in these infant stages, we want to nominate kids that we know already from our North Andover feeder schools, but eventually, we would love to expand it into an Andover Community Children’s Choir.  Remember, Mrs. Berry, baby steps.

I hate that it’s happened, but I have had to scale back my involvement in Church choir and Singing Quaker Alumni Choir.  Not completely, but for the first time, I am giving myself permission to take it easy.  After the first week of managing TCC, church choir, SQAC, and teaching all day, I completely lost my voice and my zeal.  It’s been a downhill slide since then, culminating in a total body shutdown with a nasty sinus infection.  I will still be there, once I am feeling well again, but I’ve got to learn to chill out at school… The kids need the calm side of me.  I NEED THE CALM SIDE OF ME.  I need to rejoice in our time together, and learn how to manage our time better.  And QUIT WORRYING ABOUT STUFF I DON’T CONTROL.

However, taking it easy has in turn made me feel really isolated the last few weeks.  I miss my music friends.  And I hate to say it, but I don’t really feel like they miss me.  And THAT IS TERRIBLE.  My head says, “Of course they miss you.  They’re busy too, ya know.”  My heart says, “It’s your own fault for not being around.  If you were around, you would be relevant.”  Stupid heart, quit second guessing everything.

Happy New Year!  We celebrated last night by studying the insides of our eyelids and trying to ignore all of the fireworks going off in our neighborhood.  Seriously, people?

I won't lie, though, we felt a little lame for staying in, especially when we were invited out for roller skating... Daddy and I both agreed that we were just too tired to be much fun.  Christmas festivities here and in Iowa are enough to take the energy out of nearly anyone.  Miss Aislinn is still a ping-pong ball though... I don't know how she does it.

Miss Aislinn has been a cheeky little devil the last few days.  Her vocabulary has kind of exploded the last few weeks.  She is constructing sentences at least 3-4 words long.  She knows her ABCs and can sing it all the way through unaccompanied.  She's got several other songs pretty much under her belt, but the words are a bit fuzzy here and there.  Pretty sure I've got a budding Soprano on my hands... heaven help me!

She's also been fighting this nasty bum-bum infection again.  She had it worse over Thanksgiving.  We went to the doctor, got antibiotics and antiseptic cream.  That cleared it completely in just a few days.  But she's got it again.  Urgh.  We went to the doctor yesterday and he said that since she got it once, she is prone to it now.  He was very reassuring, though that it's not because she's excessively dirty, but tiny things could set it off again.  Yay.

Potty training... nada.  We had hoped to do some more consistent work this week, but now that we're treating her bum, I think we'll wait.  I'm still not sure she's ready.  She's not consistently waking up from naps with dry diapers yet.  Mommy just needs to chill out and let her learn at her own pace.  I guess since she did so many other things early, I figured that would come quickly as well.  One glimmer of hope is that she has become obsessed with "chang-a-diaper"ing all of her stuffed animals and dolls.  I just keep telling her that babies need their diapers changed, but big girls learn to go on the potty.

It's back to work and school later this week, so we must soak up as much family time and fun time as we can!  Daddy bought tickets to go see Cirque-du-Soleil on Friday :)  Love him.

Working with my Almost-Big-Girl

Well... to follow up MY chore chart I started investigating Pinterest for kids'/toddlers' chart ideas.

I stumbled across this idea to create jars to keep track of what she gets done

http://lullabylubbock.blogspot.com/2011/07/ellas-good-girl-jars.html

I like the idea for when she's a bit older and ready for goal-setting.  At this point, she probably won't like the idea of having to put something cute and fun to play with inside a jar where she can't just get it back out and play with it.

I needed something to bridge the gap, to give her immediate gratification AND something visual.  My answer:  Aislinn's Almost-Big-Girl Chore chart.  They're not really chores, but stuff that I expect her to be able to do with little or no help from me.  I'll put it right under Mommy's chart on the lower part of the fridge, so that she can reach it.

The key to this... STICKERS!  She is all about sticking stickers on things right now.  I've got some sparkly and smiley stickers that she can put on it once she finishes each thing.  At the end of the week, I'll just clear it off.  I think and hope that will be enough motivation for her.  It doesn't take much convincing to get her to do the morning stuff and to take a bath, but maybe getting a sticker to place will help her understand that picking up her toys and books is just as important as the other stuff!  Wish us luck!

Household chores... Divide and conquer!

I have been working on this since July - trying to figure out what I can handle once school got started again.  A lot of the checklists I had found before were created by mommies who are a bit more germophobic than myself (and who wouldn't be if they had the pleasure of staying at home) and I just don't have the time or sanity to be THAT thorough...  I stumbled upon blog (via Pinterest) of a Mommy who thinks like me and needs a plan for tackling everything.  I think the same way and I kind of had a plan for what got done on what days last year.  But then the other things that didn't necessarily need done weekly would fall through the cracks as I forgot how long ago it had been done.  I needed what I do all the time for homework... A CHECKLIST!

http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/03/you-asked-squeeky-clean.html

So...I pondered her idea and simplified it for our busy, yet teeny house.  Add a neat font, and some appropriate clipart and BOOM!

 

What can I say?  I'm just a bit addicted to clipart.  I can't say that I've been 100% faithful to this schedule but 1 month into this school year, our house has become cleaner and stayed cleaner than the previous years!  Though, I will also say that I prepped soooooo much more school stuff this summer than I have before...

 

We are determined to have a cleaner, healthier, and more organized school year which equals MORE SANITY FOR ME!

Major Summer Project - Reorganize Our Home!! Part 1

I ended school in May very very frustrated with the lack of organization in our home.  Now, I'm not a naturally organized person.  I learned to organize my school-work very early, but even through high school, my parents' home was what I like to call "organized chaos."  BUT I have learned in every living situation I have been in that the best way to feel relaxed is when everything has a place to go and stay when not in use and when you have a set routine and a plan for getting it all done.  Truthfully, my hubby and I have not always lived this way, and I still struggle keeping up with all of it all the time.  Mr. Berry is slowly coming to recognize the importance of this in our home.  He has always been the "Well, when it needs to get done, it'll get done" kind of guy.  And I didn't know how to get it all going...I was guilty of trying to do too much too soon.  It took us a few years of living together to even develop a clear routine for the basic household tasks.

Starting the first week of June, I was determined to completely overhaul our guestroom/office/storage room.  Our desk (not really a desk, just a leftover long, side table that accompanied a big desk we used to have) was a mess, just piles of junk.  So I decided to figure out a way to keep things from getting that crazy again.

ENTER... Dollar store and Target!  I got some little organizer drawers for the office supplies we keep (since our table doesn't have drawers like a regular desk) for (no joke) $2.50 at Dollar General.  And the best purchase -- a hanging file box with a compartment on top.  We can keep all of our important papers, and I do mean ALL, easily organized and protected.  There's a couple of files for owner's manuals for just about everything we've bought in the last few years, a file for all of Mikey's insurance stuff, a file for my insurance stuff, a file for Aislinn's daycare information, a file for current tax year documents/receipts...etc.  The compartment on top has some envelopes and stamps, a calculator, and the checkbook (Yay!  I was so sick of never being able to find the checkbook on daycare check day)  The extra expanding file is for our previous tax documents (you know, the last 5 years thing).

I'm pretty sure this bin was under $15 at Target.  13-something?  Anyway, it is awesome.

I would make labels, but then I'd have to change them every year, bleh.

I made these with Mailing labels.  You kind of can't tell with the flash of the camera but there's a cool background on them that I just put right on the Avery template.

I. love. circles.

This is a shelf that I re-purposed from the closet in that room.  It was part of an organizer system that we decided to dismantle so that we could make shelves all the way across.  It is PERFECT for the big binders and folders we keep around... and the puppy stuff, and Aislinn's daycare artwork... you get the idea.  Since we don't have a real desk with drawers, this works!  Plus, I got my brooms and mops hung up right inside the door with the 3M hooks!

It's a work in progress.  I want to put some shelves or bins under the table for books and such that we need hidden away.  And some day down the road, that ugly wood panelling will go away.

Let's Begin...

Welcome to my whirlwind world.  I am sometimes painfully self-critical and overwhelm myself unnecessarily.  I know some mommies with a lot more kids and busier schedules probably look at my life and think "Sheesh, walk in the park..." and my reponse is to pose a question.  "Do you remember that adjustment period after your first year of teaching and first child?"  Well, I went through the ringer, getting pregnant during my first year of teaching (sick, sick, sick) and having to travel between buildings every day that year.  Three years into teaching and 2 years of mommyhood later, I still feel like I'm adjusting!  Our home and family life has become an ever-evolving organism that overwhelms me from time to time.
I hope on this blog to share a lot of different things:

First, I hope to think through and write out some mommy and wifey struggles and triumphs.  I want to share what is working and what isn't working because I do my best thinking when I verbalize it to someone else.  At this point in time, we are struggling with the transition from toddler-hood to early childhood and all of the communication changes that ensue.  My hubby and I are also making big changes in the way we run this place financially and operationally.

Also, I want to share my teaching struggles and triumphs.  Even though I am a mommy and a wifey first, my school kids are my musical works-in-progress, and I love the opportunity to reflect on what we are accomplishing (or not accomplishing).  I should probably preface this with the fact that I LOVE MY SCHOOL.  Don't get me wrong, just like any other public school, I face a lot of bumps in the road and your occasional road-block.  But, I have the great basis of kids that I love and that love me, and fellow teachers that I can turn to for help and advice.

For sanity time, I am also involved in musical groups at church and Singing Quaker Alumni Choir (the alumni group of my college choir).  I don't know if I will have much to say about them, as these are my creative outlets and I commit to them with a very relaxed and happy spirit :)  And my involvement in them is one of the few things I do for just God and me.
I hope that this blog helps me to think through more difficult situations and share some successes in my lfie!  Thanks for reading and sharing with me.