The new blog...

I've started a new blog to better document my life....

You can find me at

klingonkrew.blogspot.com

Come on over and visit me....

Summer Vacation 2011...Picture Style

We went with my dad and stepmom to Table Rock Lake for a week. They rented a cabin for everyone in the family to come up. This would include my brother and his wife and their four (beautiful) children, me, little sister Ilze and little brother Taylor. Part of the week some of our other family would come in because they are around Missouri as well. 

We spent all week on the lake. It was very nice and relaxing. Lots of sun. Lots of swimming. Good times. I slept with Andrew each night and it was great. One day Karen and I took Matthew and we went to Eureka Springs for a girls trip. We ate at the best little Mexican hole in the wall. It was awesome. Matthew LOVED the salsa. It was adorable. We had a good time. Walking and shopping and talking. I'm so lucky I have her in my life. Seriously, best thing ever was my brother marrying her. 

All in all, vacation was good. Speaking of vacations...I'm ready for another one! 

Kate sitting on the porch of the cabin. She didn't want her picture taken. She knows I'm a picture taker. She's dealt with it for almost 8 years. :) 

Andrew on the boat. He loved it. 

Soaking in the sun and the wind. Doesn't get much better than this. 

They had a golf cart we drove around for fun. The kids loved it.

The usual Chaco picture I take in all my places I visit. Picturesque, I know. 

Riding with Uncle Taylor on the Jet Ski. Get this...Andrew fell asleep once when I was driving. No kidding. He was that tired. 

Take off time!

Still not a fan of pictures, but she's so darn cute. 

The older kids. Will (5) driving. Kate (7) smiling and Andrew (3) watching someone else!

Ahh... that sweet Matthew... the baby (1) is the best thing ever. Seriously. He  has the cutest way of saying no. He shakes his head and says "Nuh uh". I had to leave the other day and asked if he wanted to go with mommy. Nuh-uh. How about daddy? Nuh-uh. Broke my heart. He cried and waved out the door as I pulled away. He has my heart. They ALL have my  heart. 

Another cute smile. Two bottom teeth. He was 15 months in this picture. He learned to say uh-oh on this trip.

Fun times. 

Golf cart with the older boys.

Will peeking out the door. 

Miniature Update

I've been a horrible blogger. It seems that I say that about every six months. I really want to get better at it, and I've just not taken the time. Needless to say, this place has kept this girl pretty darn busy. Seems to be I'm there about all the time. Morning, noon, and night. I'm finally to the point where I don't stay as late as I was, and I've figured out some sane schedule and I have limited how much I work on school work. For my sanity, indeed.

I took this picture two days ago. The lights were off, but the windows were open with 68 degree weather in January. Wild. The room is clean and organized. I'll be cleaning and organizing it some more when I come back in August, and maybe before I leave for the summer, but it's come a long way from where I came and had the pictures from the last post.

So... I thought I at least owed you an update.

So, I'm alive. I'm surviving. I have a million stories.

Some will make you laugh. Some will make you cry.

I've found out that I'm hypoglycemic. I've gone on a strict diet and I'm working on shedding some pounds. So far I've done really well. I'm proud of myself.

It's the hardest thing I've ever done. Each day is new. But I do love it.

Today was the 100th day. 75 more left. Can you believe it?

I promise I'm working on it... I hope to be back soon.

Peace,

new beginnings...

It's clear I haven't been a very good blogger. I started this blog back when my niece, Kate, was either a baby or right before she was born. They were going to have one for their family so I decided to make one for me. It only made sense that it would be called Aunt Emily's Adventures. That was almost 7 years ago.

A lot has happened since then, and this is my latest adventure.

I'm going to be brief on here, but my plan is to write more down about my the next year of my new adventure. I'm not sure if I'll do it here or start a new blog. For now, I'll document here and I'll deal with that later.

About two years ago I was in a decent, challenging, and pretty well paid job. It seemed to be a good fit when I started it, and I really enjoyed what I did. But there came a time when I realized I wasn't happy. After some conversation with my mom, I decided to go back to school to get my Masters Degree in Special Education. I quickly got hired on as a paraprofessional at a local school to work there as I was going through the program (read: good experience). P.S. I'm not sure if I have talked about this or not.... which I suppose I could throw in a few graduation pictures here too... I might just do that. We'll see. It could be it's own post too.

Soooo, back to the story. I quit my salaried job and went to work hourly as a para at a great school. I worked there for two years while earning my MS in Special Education, tested a million times, and completed my teacher certification process. All of this brings me to the next photographs.

I'm about to start my first year teaching. I can go on and on about this, but I am exhausted and I think I'll wait to write when my head is a tad more clear. For now, I'll show you the room I started with and I'll tell you about my cleaning out process.

This is what I started with..... and I have to admit that walking into that room the first time caused me great stress. I sent a text to a friend of mine who is going through the same adventure. I'm pretty sure I said something like "I think I want to cry and run away." I'm also confident that she responded with something like "I know. I think that would be easier for both of us." :) Ha... so, I took a deep breath. Because, running away and crying isn't an option. Well, I suppose there will be tears. And, I have to admit there have already been some tears too. Good tears, I promise. This is a pretty good view of my room. You can't see the wall of cabinets to your left, but it's an overall picture. (I do need to clean my phone camera lens...)

Same room, same day... and this is the SmartBoard (COOL) and my desk area. P.S. I have a Wii to use with my kids as well. I can't wait.

In order for me to fully know what I had in my classroom as far as materials, curriculum, assessments, assistive technology, etc.... I had to clean and organize. For those of you who know me...you know I like to organize. I just moved into a new apartment as well and it's a good example of how I like things to have their own places. The cabinets are opened and ready to be sorted into organized (somewhat) piles on the floor in the center of the room. (These pictures are courtesy of my little sister Ilze, who just so happened to be free to help me in my room. For the record, I couldn't be where I was today without her.)


Another view of the room with the beginnings of the piles. Oh, and the curtains have already been changed to a khaki. I want the room to be peaceful and full of natural items, or natural color scheme. I'm trying to decide if we should have a class pet...and if so, what kind. Any ideas? I'm sure there have to be some...


And this, my dear 3 readers, is a view from my room once all cabinets and drawers have been completely cleaned out. Now... don't panic. I've thrown away lots already, but I have more to do too. This was an initial sort...and I'll go through as much as I can, but I can always put some in a cabinet (to be sorted later) before Meet the Teacher in two days. YIKES! There go my nerves again. I'm so fortunate that I have materials. I've heard so many stories of teachers who walk into a blank room with nothing. I'm thankful I've got what I've got. Now, I could do without the materials from the 70's, including those sheets that went through the lithograph (ditto machine). You know, the one where you wound it up to make copies with that awful blue ink? I remember it as a kid...I think. :) So, I'm purging and organizing. I should have taken another picture before I left tonight. I had moved the shelves into the reading corner, organized all the art supplies, paper supplies, office supplies, and changing supplies. I have a lot to do tomorrow with my literacy manipulatives and match maniplulatives too. I have a million books to sort into their groupings for the reading area and I have to decorate it to look cute too.




So, I'm about the start a new year as a new person in a new role. I'm super excited, ridiculously nervous, but confident and optimistic about my future. I can't wait to be Miss Fritts and help those kids. For the record...I'll be an Autism Resource Teacher. That means I'll have the kiddo's who are somewhere on the spectrum and need a variety of assistance ranging from minimal to a bunch. I can't wait. I'll have all boys on my caseload (for now) and I'm ready. I've got two great paraprofessionals that will be with me and I think it will be just a wonderful first year.

When I get worried about it...I like to remind myself that every teacher has been a first year teacher. I can't wait to get the first one under my belt and see where this road leads me.

That's it for now, but I'll be sure to post more often and I'll let you know if I start a new blog. I have lots to talk about...it's just taking the time to write about it. For now, here's a bullet list for me to remember.

*Floppy Disks
*Laminating Rules
*Multitasking Demands

So I went ahead and added a few more pictures. I added one at the beginning that was just me. And here is one with my siblings. My older brother, younger brother, me, and younger sister. Hooray for finishing my MS degree. Next step, PhD...perhaps? We'll see where this road takes me.

3 years...

Time flies... so fast.

I was just thinking that it's been three years since Violet has been with me, and it was right around this time. So, I looked up my old blogs and realized it's three years in three days that she left from my foster home to her adoptive home. She's happy and loving it... I'm happy for her.

I missed seeing her around Christmas this year, and need to see her soon.

For now, a superimposed image from 2007 summer and 2010 summer... she's changed, but she's still the same. I love her.

I don't think I've mentioned it on here yet, but I've started cycling. I wanted to do something to help increase health and get in shape. I love it. I love the friends I've met. I love how I feel. The cold weather now...not so much.

Anyhow, when I started I set a goal to ride in the Breast Cancer Awareness Ride, which was 25 miles. Turns out it was about 32 and a tough ride. Pretty steep hill at the beginning, on the roads and ended up on the trail along the river. Had a great time. Did it. LOVED the feeling of success!

Christmas Photographs in a Snap

Snapped some quick shots out in the backyard for their Christmas cards....
Not the best, but I think they are pretty darn adorable.

32 Candles

Happy Birthday to ME!

My goodness, I'm getting old. 32.
Twice the age of the gal on Sixteen Candles.
That's a great movie.

Where's my Jake?

Here's the littlest nephew, Matthew. He makes my heart smile.
Seriously. I've actually been able to really watch him grow up.
Since they now live in Tulsa I get to see them almost weekly.
Beats the few times a year visits to Texas.

I'm loving it. I'm so blessed that they are here!


He loves me.. and he loves kisses.
Don't let him fool you.

Appropriate picture for Aunt Emily's blog...
Aunt Emily and here munchkins.
Kate-6, Will-4, Andrew-2, Matthew-6 months

October Zoo Tales

I've been so bad at this thing. I think I say that multiple times.
I've thought about starting over with a fresh blog, fresh thoughts.... but I am not quite the blogger I had hoped to be.
I'm thinking I might start one when I begin my own teaching adventures in the classroom.
For now, this is mostly the adventures of Aunt Emily.
That seems to be my most prominent role these days.

And, of course.... the subjects of Aunt Emily.

These were taken in October at the Tulsa Zoo.
Kate and Will were trying to convince Andrew to be a lion!






Of course, we had to throw Matthew in there too! He looks thrilled!

There's the smiling boy... he was 5 months here.


Kate... goofy picture, but fun...

NDSC Convention at Disney!

As a new Special Education teacher, there is a lot to learn. A lot to know. A lot to do.
It can be overwhelming.
I took the chance and applied for a chance to attend the conference this summer.
The local parent group, DSAT, chose me.
I was honored.
I took my mom with me and we explored Disney for four days.
We didn't actually do the parks, because I was in training all day each day.

However, we had breakfast with Mickey Mouse and went to Downtown Disney each day.
I had a great time and learned a lot.

I am forever changed by what I learned.
I can't even begin to describe it. I will try to write more later.

I can't wait to use my knowledge in the classroom.

And she came to visit..

It's been two and a half years since Violet came and lived with me while in Foster Care.
She's doing great and is entering the 3rd grade this fall.
She is living with her family and is so loved by all of them.

She had a good time, and so did I. We did a lot of things, but I just picked a few favorite shots.