An hour of Awe

Well, today Anna had an appointment with her allergist, so when I took her back to school I sat in on the class for an hour. My child is very lost. She can't follow more than one step directions and they were giving her a page with 10. I also talked with the secretary AND the teacher has NEVER seen all her file, so she has absolutely no idea about Anna's testing we had done at the middle of the last school year. SO, needless to say I will be scheduling a conference with Anna's teacher after I know she's had time to read over the file. I will also be making more class visits to observe again and see how things are going. Still have no further information on the tally slip, but hope to have more today after school. But I do get the sense that this class is run on a LOT of independent work and Anna is not used to working like that. It explains a lot of the incomplete papers that we have coming home to finish. It also explains the grades she's been getting. I should have observed sooner, but I really wanted to make sure Anna knew what she was doing and that she had time to learn the whole routine of the classroom. I'm very glad that I stepped in for a few minutes...okay an hour (that I'm sure Anna just wanted me to go away.) I'm hoping that after her teacher reads the file it will all be a bit better. I'm praying for that. It was very insightful. Should have done this two weeks ago!

At Odds with the Teacher

Yes, already! My daughter came home with her homework folder and it says to pick a fiction book for book project. What book project? I look online where it lists this info and its no where to be found. Of course it is now after 7pm and she doesn't know, maybe make a diorama she says about the book. Sheesh. That's a lot of help there! Good grief.

Next thing in her folder is a sticky note with three pages listed on it. I have no idea what it is for, so I ask Anna if she was missing these pages. She said yes. SOOOO, off I go to dig through the stacks of papers she has already brought home and low and behold, at least 2/3 were in the stack. UGH! They are only in that stack if they are in the keep at home section of her folder, so I put a note with them and place about 5 other pages that "might" be the third paper and place those back in her folder for the teacher. Its a very good thing I had kept all her papers to now, otherwise we might be in trouble. I also took the rest of her school papers and placed them into a large three ring notebook with dividers. I have a feeling this won't be the first time I have to dig through work that had already been sent home.

Then, as I'm digging through my daughter's backpack the rest of the way, I find a tally slip. A tally slip is only given if they've been in trouble, BUT the dang thing is not dated or filled out. It has to be from today as she got a new backpack this weekend. UGH again. SOOOO, she's been in trouble at school for something, but since the teacher can't be bothered to fill out her section, I ain't signing the darn thing. All I have is Anna's word that she wasn't paying attention. I don't know in what subject or anything.

I'm already having a HUGE issue with this teacher. She does not do her job. I don't care if she's been teaching 4 years or 40(ding ding ding), she needs to do her job. I try to keep Anna current on things, but if you send home papers in the keep at home side, I should not have to file them to be able to find them again for you when you decide to record the information. Most parents trash most of those papers anyhow. She should be very glad I had not done so...at least not yet. I also should not have to take a tally slip and figure out what my lovely child did during your class. It is your job to fill out the date, time and infraction. IT is NOT mine!! I have her correct work and send it back. I will discipline my daughter IF you can be bothered to do your job and fill out the proper spots.

I WILL NOT try and figure out this school thing on my own. So FAR, the only warm welcome we have gotten is from the office staff. The rest has been trial and error. No one tells you anything. The handbook is not clear. Everyone treats you like you've been there the whole time your child has been in school. It has not been very fun for me to figure this mess out. I am NOT a happy momma right now!!!

P.S. I taught for 5 years in a public school, so YES, I do know what the teacher's should do! DO NOT try to tell me otherwise!! UGH!

Bio-Letters

UGH!!! I absolutely wish we had only agreed to once or twice a year on letters to bio-mother. UGH!! We are having to write 4 times a year, but I just don't want to. She shows little interest in my daughter most of the year and she doesn't understand the fact that we will not let her see Anna again for a very long time. The whole content of her letters is asking for a visit. Not just once, but the last letter she wrote asked us to meet her once a week. YEAH right! First of all, we live 6 hours away. Second of all, the last visit we had was detrimental to Anna's well-being. Third of all....N_O_ NO!!!! Its not happening.

Its not that I'm not happy to have some contact with bio-family, its just that I don't want to write 4 times a year. I have nothing to say to the woman. Honestly. NOTHING! I tell her the same things every letter. (Anna is tall. What size she is currently in, even though she will never get anything from her. How school is going. What she likes in school and what she doesn't like. BLAH! BLAH! Blah!) I stopped sending a whole bunch of pictures each time as well and now only send 1-2 per letter. I bet that wasn't well received, but oh well.

The point is, I just don't want to write these letters anymore. Unfortunately, we are bound by the stupid agreement, until Anna turns 18. Not that bio-mom would know the difference, but if she did figure it out one day and realized we weren't holding up to our end of the agreement, she could sue us. Anyhow. I guess that's all. Its just one of the parts of our adoption I don't like. I regret signing that agreement, completely. I can't wait till we're done with it. Praying I can make it another 9 years and a few months.

This and That

Well, school has been in session now for two weeks and today when I asked Anna if she wanted to go back to homeschooling or stay in school, she said school, so I guess that would mean its going well. She is doing great on some things and not so good on others, but she likes it overall. I am very happy with our decision to put her in school. So far it is working out great. We have my mom's help as she picks Anna up nearly every day. It is good for both of them.

Last weekend we had some surprise visitors...my sister and her family came for a visit. I almost cried when they walked into my work. I so was not expecting them to come, but I am so glad they did come. I finally got to meet my new nephew who was 6 weeks old and my mom got to meet her new grandbaby. It was a good visit, even if it was a flying trip. I am so happy for them and I can't wait to visit with them again! Here are some pictures from that visit:

Norman and Micah:

Nanny and Micah:
Graciela hugs Anna:

Anna, Graciela & Micah:

Again, it was a lot of fun and I am so glad they came. We had a great visit.

Today, Anna and I have been a couple of busy bees. We started the morning at Tar*get to get her a new backpack. I found one I liked for her, but she wanted the "pink" one, only because it was pink. Ugh! I didn't like it as well, so I slowly convinced her that the one I found was cute and it has a stuffed animal hanging off it. We ended up with the one I like, because I AM Mom after all. Then headed off the Kohl*s. I love that store. They have such nice clothes and we got some excellent deals. Anna got 3 pairs of capris, 3 pairs of capri leggings, and 2 shirts. I got me 4 shirts. We spent about $50 and saved about $120. LOL!! That tells you how much they were on clearance. All were 70-80% off, except one of my favorite shirts, it was only 50% off. I think we did good and I'm happy with our purchases.

Anna and I then headed home and painted her finger nails and toe nails. ELECTRIC BLUE!!! LOL!! I found it at the local discount store that I dislike shopping at and bought it. It was a fun color. Here are some pictures from that:

We followed that up this afternoon by making a batch of no-bake chocolate cookies. YUMMY!! Now, if they would ever harden, we can eat them all up. LOL! That was all today. I'm off for two more days, whatever will I do with my time. I'm not used to being off, let alone a 3-day weekend. We have had so much fun today. Hope we can keep it up.

1st Day of School

Today was literally Anna's first day of school. We are not homeschooling this year. Instead we found her a nice Christian school to go to and we went full force with it. Anna was excited and scared. She should be, its all new and she hasn't been away from us hardly at all in the last 3 years. (The year before that she was in daycare, but that was all play.) Anyhow, after much prayer and deliberation, we decided that it was in our best interest to put her in school. Public school is just NOT an option for us, so we are paying a good deal of money to have her in a good school. Anyhow, she tested into third grade, which is right where she should be and so here we are....Anna's first day of school!

Love this picture and the way she posed her legs:

At the school waiting:

This is how I left her, a little nervous, but okay:

Anyhow, she did great and had a good time. She will adjust and said that her favorite thing was recess. Her favorite subject is of course reading. No surprise there as that was her favorite when I was teaching her. She's good at it. Anyhow, here's to a new year full of new adventures, including school! Praying that we made the right decision for her and for our family. Thank you all for your continued support and prayer.

Dear Lord

Dear Lord....Help me to be strong and brave and not have fear. I don't like fear. Thank you. Amen.

Changes!!!

Well, lots has changed in the last few weeks. Not only did I get the key holder position, but I also went full time AND in 23 days, Anna will be starting school. She will NOT go to public school, as I don't think that is a good fit for our family. She will go to a private school. I am praying that this is the right decision for our family. Truthfully, I love being at home with Anna, but I did not like being fully responsible for her learning and frankly, I didn't want to be home anymore. I wanted to be out and about. I'm just not a home body. I love being out. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change being home with Anna for 3 years for anything, but I was starting to not enjoy it. We were homeschooling for all the wrong reasons. Most people have no idea why, and I prefer that they never do, but we were mostly homeschooling out of fear. I am letting go of that fear and letting God take care. He is taking care of everything.

Anna tested into the third grade, which is exactly where she should be. We will work extra hard in math so she can be somewhat on level. I really am trying to make sure she gets down the addition and subtraction facts in the next three weeks. We are drilling flash cards, which is my least favorite way to do it, but time is short for her to learn it and learn it well. I am very happy with the school we have chosen. It was a short test, but I really think the placement will be wonderful. She will wear a uniform one day a week and the rest of the time she will wear regular clothes.

The next few weeks will be trying and hard. We have registration to pay and then tuition all in one month. We even have to buy school supplies and some new school clothes. We also have no child care this summer, so it means finding someone to watch Anna every time I work right now. I also am trying to learn all the things that go into my promotion at work. It is a lot to take in, but we will make it. God has provided the means and we are taking it. It is a life-style change for us. We have gotten used to either Jeremy or I being at home with Anna almost exclusively for the last 6 years. He stayed home with her while she was younger and then I stayed home with her the last 3 years. (She spent only 1 year in day care when we first moved here.)

Anyhow...there are a lot of changes in store. They are scary and exciting all at the same time. I pray that these changes will be good for our family, for our marriage and for Anna. I pray that God will take care of all that needs to be taken care of. I also pray that Anna does good in the next school year. I am trusting God with all the details. It will be good.