Autumn Has Settled In

Fall is my favorite season!

Pumpkins and all their goodness. Pumpkin-carving, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pie. Hay rides. Changing leaves. Crisp, cool air. Turning the clocks back. Camping. The mountains. Thanksgiving. Apple-picking. Mom and Matthew's birthdays. Stores starting to set up for Christmas.

Fall. A deep breath of refreshment.

So far this fall, my big brother got hitched in Louisville where he and his wife live. Also, one of my dear friends from college got married. Spending the weekend on the Eastern Shore was a nice getaway and especially getting to be a part of her big day. (Plus, I had the best pedicure of my life that weekend.) In addition, some friends had their baby and we've been getting to experience a little of that with them. We get to be Auntie Christi and Uncle Scottie. We also had the opportunity to help move some other friends into their newly constructed house. Another set of friends are having a baby and another set are getting married in a few weekends! Scott's parents are also going to be coming to spend Thanksgiving with us. Lots of joy this fall!

Busy.

Life has been B-U-S-Y. The last post was about getting a teaching job, which is the very reason I haven't been keeping up with the blog. I have a feeling these posts will be few and far between. I hardly even have time to check Facebook. (GASP!)
So I got hired the week before school started. I spent all week organizing my classroom. Thank goodness for a long Labor Day weekend and then on Tuesday I had 22 faces staring back at me on the first day of school.
The situation with my students is that most of them looped up from First Grade together. Apparently, the kids ran the show last year and don't have a clue about how they should act in school. (I'm not speaking for all of my students, but quite a few). Their first grade teacher (who was supposed to be with them again this year) resigned right before the start of the school year which is how I inherited the position.
Don't get me wrong- I am SO thankful for this job and wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I also know that I'm here for a reason. God is always up to something. But lucky me, I get to be this class' intervention. It has been quite the challenge to say the least. I keep telling myself that we'll get there eventually. I love each student individually, but collectively, they are a handful! On top of a class with several behavior issues and many academically low students, being a first-year-teacher is challenging enough as I'm learning the ropes. Thankfully, I have a great Second Grade team to work with and lots of support from administration and other teachers. I've put in a lot of long days and the to-do list never ends, but my heart is in it 100%. I chose to be a teacher to make a difference in the lives of children and that's exactly what I get to wake up and do every day.

Needless to say, I so very much enjoy my down time. I love coming home to just relax and curl up on the couch with the hubs. With his crazy hours and my busy schedule, we sure do cherish our time together!