Saturday, April 25, 2009

Wild Night

Just a few days ago, David got his OWN camera that has video-- just like my OWN digital camera. Of course, we like to take pictures in our separate ways. I guess we are into competition on whoever takes better pictures-- but my stories are better, right?

I didn't want to destruct David's ego. So, I gave him the privilege to do the experiment with his own new digital camera. Once the boys saw the video of themselves on T.V. from David's new camera, they WENT WILD!!!!


By the end of a half hour of playing WILD, they were already knocked out on our coach. They slept through the night on the couch.

Eight Things

Oh man, I've been caught by a tagging game-- by one of my friends' Nikki. Instead of procrastinating, I'd rather it out of my mind peacefully.

Here's the rules--mention the person that tagged you.
Complete the lists of 8's.
Tag 8 of your wonderful blogger friends.
Go tell them you tagged them!

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:

1. Going on a Disney Cruise on July 4th
2. Getting more tan while on a cruise
3. A new necklace from Lisa Leonard's store that I won from my sister in law, Mandee's blog.
5. Working and Teaching for the County- starting this fall
6. Warmer weather- so I can start swimming the laps ALONE while my poor husband stays with the boys.
7. Riding on Amtrak train to South Carolina to see my mom and Bruce
8. Visiting some Disney World Amusement Parks after the Cruise

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Setting up the "Volunteer Brunch" for two hours at work (7 - 9 AM)
2. Picking on my friends and co-workers
3. Drooling the things I'd like to get from Costco
4. Observing my husband talking to himself toward to the computer (don't tell him.)
5. Taking pictures of my classrooms and my silly sons
6. Celebrating the news that I have a job in the Fall at El Torito's
7. Washing tons of loads
8. Ordering clothes for myself

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Speak and Read in Spanish fluent- it is high demand in my home area
2. Be a Green Thumb like my mom-without a magic wand, I couldn't.
3. Though I 'm in 40's, I'd like to have a 20 year old body.
4. the magic and get the whole house done with the remodeling....
5. Be Teacher of the Year! (Oh that would be nice)
6. Write "Special Education" books
7. Expert in doing the make-up on me.
8. Give presentation all over the U.S. in regards Deaf and/or Autism Education

8 Shows I Watch:

1. House Hunter
2. My Sons wrestling each other -Almost Daily! (no kidding)
3. Stupid commercials
4. Bedtime Stories with my kids (FUNNY)
5. Stupid show with my sons- Sponge bob
6. Curb Appeal
7. News (Seldom)- too many negative news
8. ( B L A N K)

Now who shall I pick.....Look below....

Mandee
Deby
Aimee
Mom
Cheryl

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Wind Shifts

As soon as I walked on school campus, I was stopped by one of the district people and asked me to go in an unannounced meeting. This included all of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Staff. Of course, we were puzzled why we had to attend unexpected meeting.

This turned out to be that three out of four teachers were accepted to have a job for San Diego County Department of Education. That also included me. I felt relieved. As for the classified staff (interpreters and aides) are either remain in the district or apply for San Diego County Department of Education. To be honest, I felt so relieved about having a job despite all of the pains I have had for the last two months: many chest pains, stomach upsets, and sleepless nights. Hopefully this will change after I post this evening.

As for my aide, she has a choice because she also works longer for the district. She can either work for another Special Education in the district, or to work for San Diego County Department of Education. I would LOVED to have her again, because we hit it off so well. But I do understand that she lives closer to the district and another among reasons. She will have lots to consider over a few weeks. Shall I bribe her?

However, two teachers and I have lots of questions that we will have another meeting on Tuesday A.M. about next year. Once we have all of our answers, we will know whether we like to keep the job for San Diego County Department of Education, or to apply for another job. Both certified and classified staff are NOT the only ones who have questions for the upcoming meeting. It especially will be interesting to know what grade level I will be teaching next year especially having six or seven students at once.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Begging for More Pez

Dylan would not have started collecting Pez if it was not for the prize from his 1st grade class (last year.) As soon as he got his first "Witch" pez, he asked for more Pez especially for his Christmas gifts. With the gifts from family and friends, he now 64 out of 300 pezs. Not bad for a year of collecting Pez!



At the end of the video tape, he is asking for "Garfield" pez. He thinks Garfield is a funny cartoon. I could not disagree. His brother also loves Garfield. They enjoy reading comic newspapers and watch Garfield shows. Anyway, it is nice feeling to see my older son likes to collect Pez while my younger son likes to collect Berstain Bears books.

It's Pool Time!

What would you be doing when you have a high 90's degrees in your home area? We hit for a pool for an hour and a half on our LAST DAY OF A SPRING BREAK! (Sobs!) Both Dylan and Ryan felt so good to jump into cool water.

Ryan chilled himself out when entering in a pool.

Dylan felt good that he achieved for getting a toy stick from the bottom of the pool.

Siblings gave each other piggy back rides.

Apparently, they felt so good especially on their last day of a two- week Spring Break. I did, too!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Girly, Girly!

While the boys and I were at Target, here's what I found them:
(No need an explanation!)

Volcano !

Calm down, we did not have a volcano in our home area! Instead of having a volcano, I had Dylan and Ryan learning on how volcano works through by using simple ingredients.
Get everything you need from the picture before making a "Volcano!"

Warning! Put one Tablespoon of Baking Soda last in a bowl before pouring in a "cup"hole.
It bubbles FAST!

"Uh Oh, Volcano Erupts!" excited by Ryan.

**Facts: Did you know there are four different lava colors? I didn't know until my 8 years old son taught me. Dylan stated he learned from his Science class. But at least, he learned the awesome activity from me. We all learned together.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Light Posts

Shortly after my husband and I got a letter from Home Owner Association (H.O.A.) to get our light posts fixed, we quickly acted it up after putting it off so long. The reason why we put it off so long was saving the money for Disney Cruise. But the H.O.A. left us no choice. Otherwise, we will be paying fine, ten dollars per day. Eeeck! This will drain our money down for our upcoming paradise vacation.

Frankly, the last contractor did a REAL DEFICIENT JOB on installing the wires and pipes for the light posts. One of the workers left it either on the far left or far right side of light posts. We also learned that the other contractors did not complete the connection for the lights. Thus, it forced us to have the new contractor to complete the task. The new contractor first took the top off from the old with the saw. (*You will be able to see better if you click the picture for larger view. Just look on the left side of the picture when you enlarge the picture.) After they were able to remove the top off, they moved the metal and wires to the center and put the beautiful caps on the top of the light posts.

The next thing they did was removing small parts of the cement from the sidewalk where they could put the pipes from the light posts to the garage's light. Then, they put wires through the new pipes. It took three men to finish the task all day. Last, we tested if the garage and light posts lights were working properly. Yeah, it did!

Tomorrow, they will pour new sidewalk and paint the entry wall to match the house. Not only to this, they will fix the water foundation properly. We think the plastic pipe was depleted over the years. I also think that the black box for the water foundation squirt to go up wears out too. I would not be surprised if we need both of them. But at least, we don't have to worry getting a future letter from Home Owner Association again. (* The next day, they came to fix the water foundation. It worked perfectly.)

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Lil' Helpers

Have you had anyone who volunteered helping you out around the house? It applied to one of my sons, Dylan. He first saw his dad hammering the black metal out of our front gate before we have our contractor installed the front yard's electricity light. I thought it was a positive attitude that he volunteered to help us around the house.

David let him to learn to become the next handyman. Wouldn't his future girl lucky to have him as a handyman? He started out watching his dad for a few minutes. Then, David let Dylan learned to use a chisel cement hammer. Dylan felt so "grown-up" that he was able to do it!

The next day, the boys and I were heading for Home Depot to get the bases for the light posts. They pleaded me to get boxes of flowers. Knowing that it would not make David happy if I got three boxes of flowers. Instead of obeying my husband' s wishes this time, I know it is a progress of learning on how to plants the flowers or seeds.

While teaching them on how to plants the flowers, it was not easy. Everything was a MESS! The dirt and water were all over the sidewalk. Ryan also got his clothes wet while he was trying to watering the flowers out of the water hoses.


But knowing if I started letting them to help me around inside and outside of the house at an early age, it will be a lot easier for me and my husband. In a couple of years from now, my patience will be paid off with my wonderful little helpers.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter's Day

One afternoon, I pondered myself on how to get Easter's Gifts without spending so much money for my boys. It worried me because of my "up in the air" job situation, and wanted my sons believe Easter Bunny at the same time.

As I was driving by to my work to show off my mom's, 99 cents store clicked my idea. I thought it would not hurt to swing by along with my mom. Amazing what I discovered! Pez Collections and Bubbles Pipes!! This was perfect gifts for my older son, Dylan because he collects Pez. What a luck! I winded-up up buying 7 Pezs (equal one week), bubble pipes for both of my sons, cute gift bags. All only cost me eleven bucks. Pretty good deal? As for Ryan, he was the ones I used my Teacher Coupons to buy one of his favorite books: Bernstain Bears. Frankly, I like this books because it teaches the properly way to use social skills.

While my brain ran wildly, I came up clever ideas without spending so much for my sons without paying more than 20 dollars that included getting candies (Oh dear, sweet tooth!) I decorated many cute stuffs in a front of a fireplace before we all woke up on a beautiful Easter's morning. Both Dylan and Ryan were enthusiastic that their gifts were waiting for them open. While opening the gifts, the Easter Bunny left them a note that there were 12 plastic eggs hidden, but each of them only could get six.

After they were done with their Easter Egg Hunting, we ended up going out to an Easter Breakfast at Broken Yolk. It was not my $$$. We spend thrifty from our tax refund from the government. Eating breakfast had caused our stomachs bigger than our eyes. Sure, we were stuffed. Being stuffed was a positive impact because we didn't spend any more money out of our pocket.

We later ended up treating our sons to a movie, "Monsters vs. Aliens." They were thrilled to get more Easter gifts. The sound affects and tons of visible actions excited them. I could see them and another kids were jumped when the Monsters and Aliens were making LOUD thumpings. As for me, I admitted I was a little bit sleepy because I woke up VERY early this morning, and frankly tend to fall asleep in the movie when it felt like it was my bedtime.

Without a doubt, our overall Easter's Day was one of the nicest family events. I truly enjoyed spending my dear husband and my two wonderful sons on this special day. This showed our love for each other.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Shifting the Mood

Have you ever experience feeling so LOW for weeks? I have not had feeling so down for a very long time until last February. I have tried so hard to keep myself above the water. I did not realize my inner mood was so obvious.

Well something exceeding pleasing last night. I started making a spiteful messages on my friend's blog. It turned out on-going long listing messages on my friends' message. This caused me being in a particular state by laughing myself long and hard-- I nearly peed myself while my dear husband and my wonderful sons were sound asleep. Without a doubt, it really turned my mood upside down and had forgotten the whole downbeat news I had a few months ago.

Just this morning, I had a" get-up- and-go" energy. I started out cleaning deeply in the kitchen because I really wanted to surprise my husband that laughing for an entire night made a WHOLE lots difference. It was also a perfect "Good Friday" to have everything polish it up before Easter's Day.

Barrel of Monkeys

Don't you remember playing a game of a "Barrel of Monkey?" That was one of the challenging yet hilarious games. In this post, I am literally speaking about my crazy boys who were in the mood to be a part of "Barrel of Monkeys" on one afternoon.

Instead of being in a coop place during our Spring Break, I took both Dylan and Ryan out to Bookstores and getting their all time favorite drinks: Jamba Juice and Chai Tea from Starbucks.
While we were outside of Barnes and Nobles, Ryan created the troubles. He decided to walk straight toward to the water foundation. Little by little, he got himself wet.


Dylan decided to make funny faces in a front of the camera as usual. It was so good to see them feeling relax when they go outside despite of having cool temperature especially during Spring Break. I will do it more often while we have one more week of a Spring Break.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A New Chapter

For the past few months, I have had rocky experiences regarding my teaching job. The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program where I work will be closed at the end of the school year. It is due to downsizing deaf and hard of hearing students in our district. Isn't it pensive sadness ?

Well as of right now, the two programs are up in the air: two schools will combine into one program, and probably will become a magnet school under San Diego County Department of Education. This means there will be more deaf and hard of hearing students in one same school. Students will benefit by interacting and supporting each other inside and outside of classrooms, especially in education. However on the negative side will be the bus transportation for students. I honestly can remember riding on a school bus for an hour. Riding on a bus can be awful but chatting with the peers were AWESOME!

While there are lots of anticipating decisions for next year program for the deaf and hard of hearing program, there are thousands General and Special Education teachers all over California are fighting against another teachers in order to save their job position. Fighting against one of your co-workers can be bitter and miserable.

Frankly too often many teachers would go out and fight against their own co-workers or against the district without thinking unambiguously. I nearly did. But during my Spring Break, I had a chance to sit down and make more rational choices. It was a tough call. As a result, I made a clear message to call and request to drop my case against where I currently work for the district. This would save my bad reputation if I look like I was arrogant or intolerant. More importantly, I don't want to have this kind of pessimistic feelings for the rest of my life.

In order to halt my fighting, I have concluded to my final decision: drop the file cases. I will have to wait for the news about the new Deaf and Hard of Hearing program on May 1st. It all will depend on the seniority by hiring six out of ten teachers. I may be on the nose on getting a job, or out of a teaching job. Either way will be fine with me. Only God will guide me to where I am supposed to be for the next couple of months from now. The best thing I have made the decent decision was letting go against the district and let it guide me to where ever I go.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

It's Spring !!!

Spring is my favorite season of the year because we have spring vacation and right after spring vacation we have summer vacation.

When spring comes the weather is much more pleasant, it is too beautiful to see so many beautiful blooming flowers all over California. Not only seeing beautiful flowers out there, I could see many newcomers entering the world: butterflies, ladybugs, birds, bees and many more nature animals.

Spring does give me lots of things to look forward: going out more often, and doing around the house instead of tucking in bed all day. Both Dylan and Ryan did show their wonderful attitudes for the picture.

Spring is my best season of the year.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Mini-Play

Watching your kid in a play is always fun to watch. Ryan's Reading Specialist teacher invited me to watch him participating a mini play. He and his group have been working hard on reading especially on reading comprehension. This is the most important of reading comprehension in order to be able to understand the questions for the test.

Just a day before Ryan's mini play, Ryan came up to me that he loved the book, "If a Mouse Eats a Cookie." I sure was glad he understands that it is a funny book. He also learned that it is a fiction. That is one of the important aspects for the first graders.

He also learned to read the cues when it is time to pick up the "cookies" from the floor. I personally thought it was cute to watch him in a mini- play.

When it was his turn to read, he looked out for the highlight words. The teachers changed the words for his reading level. I thought it was one of the brilliant ideas to promote him to read at a higher level among the reading comprehension.

Wellness Day

Have you ever had an entire school involve a Wellness Day? This includes lots of exercises, eating healthy food, and educating about the healthy food. The students had been taught the food group a week before the big activity day: The Second Annual Wellness Day.

The first thing in the morning, there were two different groups: K-2 and 3-5. My students were involved in a first group, so did Ryan. Even though Dylan is in second group, his combo class (2-3) grade join the second group. Both groups have same activities, but different routines. I saw very little of Dylan through out the day.

Ryan and my students started out Jog-A-Thon for an hour! He indeed ran for an hour. Lots of kids were sweating. While the kids were running around laps, the San Diego News - Channel 6 showed up. I did not expect to be on the news. I was promoting the kids, " Hurry Up, Go!' I wished I said it more positively to other deaf and hard of hearing students. Oh well, at least, the new reporters did not know what I was saying. Then, the principal of the school was explaining the news about the reason of using a Wellness Day.

After the first group finished running for an hour, all of them get a free Fruit popsicle. It certainly helped to cool themselves off. At the same time, it is a rewarding treat. I eventually caught some of my other son, Dylan throughout the day. I did see him getting a healthy lunch pack. In the pack, it includes: peanut butter jelly, rasins, honey crackers, and a pint of milk.

Once we all had our same-time picnic lunch, we started 12 minutes routines. During the routines, there were awesome activities, even Yoga! I wished I joined the Yoga activities, but it was for the older kids. Dylan was one of them. I bet he will have to teach me how. There were fruit smoothies. The superdiedent, who was my former boss, was there to demonstrate the smoothies. He did a good job making us a cup of delicous fruit smoothies.

As I have mentioned there were health education: UV Ray (they used clear bead bracklets to demonstrate what is our current UV Ray), Therapy Dog (Ryan announced that the dog looked like from "Hotel for the Dogs--Groan!" and educating about sugar. I loved that idea. One of the finest student teachers demonstrated students on how much each drink has sugar. It shocked many of us. Wtihout a doubt, I sure will use them in the near future.

A day after the Wellness Day, I asked my four and seven years old students to demonstrate the food group with the plastic food on the floor. They mostly did get the right food group. I sure felt so good that I had taught my students about the Food Group a week before the Wellness Day.