November with the Figgins

We went to the Renaissance Festival a few weekends before Thanksgiving and it was nice to have an outing with just the two of us (well the 3 of us as is evident by my expanding waist-line).


For Thanksgiving we went to San Antonio and had a fun time seeing our nephews.
Here they are at a fountain inside a restaurant we went to.


Dave and I realized that we missed our true callings when we had a contest to build towers out of spaghetti and marshmallows. We didn't finish in the 20 minute time frame time but ours stayed up for nearly 5 hours which was about 4 hours and 50 minutes longer than anyone else's. I think this is a fabulous idea for a Rogers family get together.


It was nice to have the Figgins family almost all together for one last time this year.


Doug shipped out the day after Thanksgiving and will be heading to Iraq soon so I'm glad we were able to be with him before he left. We love him and appreciate all he does for our country. It's crazy to think the next time we see him he'll be a daddy.


And I wouldn't be me if I didn't have some great pictures of "owies". "Rando, want to see my husband's owies!" The first is one Dave got from falling on his cell phone.

The next is one he got at the turkey bowl but he can't figure out when it happened.

Planning for the future

So for those who want details we found out we were pregnant at the very end of September. We were waiting until we saw a heartbeat to make things public and that happened the day before my last blog (Oct 22nd I think). It was a very neat experience. We were looking at our monitor seeing nothing . . . then they fixed it and we saw our little bean looking baby and a little section that was moving. It was really cool to say the least. David was picture perfect leaning over me holding my hand. I always thought it was cheesy what people said about seeing their baby for the first time but it was a special experience. I am anticipating feeling more like myself again in a little over a month when I finish the 1st trimester. I really hope the food sensitivity and overall sensitivity to everything will pass because it is not fun, although if it's what has to happen for us to have a happy healthy baby then I will survive because I couldn't be more thrilled.

I started back at work in mid August and I'm currently staring down my last year teaching here. I love where I'm at much of the time but I am glad to know that I will be moving on at the end of the year. I'm suddenly having mandates put on me and I just don't have the energy to do everything that's being required of me. It is straining my emotions and I don't have any time to myself which I hate. I really wish I could do what is asked and not worry about it but I just can't. It's too much. I hope I can figure out what to do soon.

Dave started his student teaching this fall. He has started the assignment working in an area high school and he loved it and they loved him there and want to hire him. He's finishing at an area elementary school and he's loving it there too and they want to hire him there as well. He's also taking an online Spanish class which he seems to be doing very well at. Next semester he'll take his final Spanish class and he'll sub or find some other job while he's finishing.

It's exciting to be coming up on a time of change in our lives. He'll graduate right before our baby is born. We're hoping to be able to move out of state to a climate that better agrees with me (I'm stuck indoors here for half of the year because it's too hot outside) but we've decided that we'll look at one other location and then just look inside Texas for now. I'm just excited to know what I'll be doing next year! Thank you all for your well wishes and encouragement. We are thrilled as can be.

The reason I've not posted for a while

Due date 6/6/10. Yay!

Our first "just us" vacation

We went to San Antonio on July 3rd to spend the 4th with Dave's sister (Lindsay) and her family as well as his brother (Doug) and his new wife. We got to meet the newest addition to Doug's family, Rugar. He was a sweet puppy and we are tempted to get a dog now. . . well maybe not that tempted.



Benjamin (Lindsay's) thought the dog kennel was a pretty cool place to hang.



We also had an impromptu limbo contest which Dave, Lindsay, and I tied on. I do think I may have been able to make it but after seeing Dave and Lindsay go down my confidence was shot.



On the 5th Dave and I got up and drove to Albuquerque (it's taken planning the trip to learn to spell that right), actually my sister, Theresa(who we were visiting), lives outside of the city in Rio Rancho. We were in love with the weather there. If it weren't for the fact that the desert scares me and the cost of living is too high for what they pay teachers, I could live there!

We overlapped with Brent (my brother) and his wife for an evening and enjoyed seeing them (they had to leave the next morning). Another highlight for us was seeing our newest neice Rebekah. We took lots of pictures of her but I'll just post 3.




While we visited with my sister we went down to Old Town Albuquerque (see that I spelled it right again without having to look it up!) and perused the shops. I love the geeky souvenier shop stuff and here's a picture of Theresa in the geeky shop (the only picture I got of her).


We also saw a 200+ year old church (they claimed 300 but it burned down and had to be rebuilt so that doesn't count).


We also had a fabulous hike near battleship rock and the following pictures were taken there.

Dave in front of the falls.

Me and Brendan (Theresa's) with him under the falls.

Dave's fabulous pic of Matthew (Theresa's).

Dave and I in front of the falls.

Another great pic by Dave of Brendan and Emily (Theresa's).


All in all we had a wonderful time there and although we spent more than we intended it was so inexpensive and fun! I can't wait to find another trip for us to take when we've recovered from the drive.

You gotta have faith

I have realized something recently. I have a big lack of faith in much of my life. I have a really hard time not being in control. I was talking to my sister-in-law the other day about having a hard time feeling the way I feel about the whole TTC thing. She reminded me that sometimes you have to remember the impressions the Lord gives you and focus on those because he gives them to us to comfort us. I know I will have kids when the time is right. Not for me but for the Lord. I know it will happen and that is enough. I am still concerned about getting my body on track to get there but I know that I will have kids. Maybe it will be good for us not to right away. We can get a house next summer when Dave knows where he'll be the next fall. If we both work then we will have money and can be generous, pay off our little bit of debt, and maybe travel a little. Some days I feel my faith growing and I am seeing the options in life that are there that will make me happy even if we don't have kids right away. Every so often I am still concerned and sad but I am not at all the basketcase I was 2 months ago. Thank you Heavenly Father for helping me grow and thank you Kelsey for being an answer to an unuttered prayer.

Dave and I are getting a little extra money this summer watching the kids of some friends of ours. We're watching Sasha (7) and Chandler (13). It's so nice. We can relax and I am having time for things I have been wanting to do. I have been reading some General Conference talks in the mornings before the kids get up and it is nice. I am realizing that I need that more in my life. It is so easy with the stress of school to get unfocused but I am so grateful for apostles and prophets that the Lord has called to teach us. I have felt such an amazing spirit as I read the talks. I am hoping that next week and can finish my quilt top and the back so that I can try to go see Bonnie's mother-in-law to have it quilted for me soon. Most of all I am just enjoying time to be and time to remember who I am and ponder the Lord's plan for me and my family.

TTC

So my stressors are mostly done for the school year. TAKS is over, Doug and Hallie had a lovely wedding (and I survived taking the day off) and we had a fairly successful field trip. Life is good. I was also released from my calling teaching the same age group as I teach at school. I couldn't take basically adding a 6th day to my work week. I got a new calling doing more administrative and planning type stuff for cub scouts which will be better for me. I need to learn the program better and I need to get better in leadership/facilitation roles.

Even though Doug and Hallie's wedding was a little stressful for me I definitely enjoyed it and enjoyed meeting some of Dave's family that came into town for the wedding. I got to meet some family that I hadn't previously met and got to hang out with his grandparents again which I enjoyed. We even took Grandpa Figgins to an Astros game.


I rearranged my end of the school lesson plans after realizing that the project I wanted my students to get done wasn't practical. It is too close to the end of the school year and I don't need to try and test the last week of school. I'm now feeling better about my ability to keep the kids busy until the end and I still have time to show Fern Gully while I clean up my classroom.

The good news is I'm also stressing less about trying to concieve (TTC). I want it to happen but I'm realizing that I can still make other decisions and I'm feeling less tied to the outcome. I was basing too much on whether we got pregnant now and I should enjoy the fact that we have some room in our decision making that we wouldn't have with pregnancy right now. It took me 7 weeks to cycle after going off of the pill and I think the Lord needed to remind me that He was still in control. Point taken. It's also inspired Dave and I to spend more time at the temple which we've needed for a while so that's good.

Dave is really enjoying the chance to have some time off before summer term starts. He is loving the painting skills he acquired this last term and most of the time when I call home from school he is either working on his current painting or getting ready to start. He'll be really happy to finish up school soon and be able to put that part of his life behind him.

Most of all we're looking forward to a relaxing summer. I'm applying for jobs and trying to find something low key to bring in a little extra money but might also allow me the flexibilty to travel this summer after Dave finishes his only summer class 1st term. If I don't find something I'll keep looking but it will be nice to have time to do some deep cleaning and sorting. Our apartment definitely needs it because I have been too busy the past month to think much about it.

Wow this is a pretty boring post but I need to remember I started a blog for journaling not just to entertain folks. Oh and we also got to go bowling for a good friend of our's birthday. Here are some pics.

haven't updated in a while

So I thought I should write even though I'm not sure what I'm going to write yet. I am back to teaching science and the kids are glad. I hope that the sacrifice we made by teaching math for 4 weeks was worth it for the kids and that they hopefully perform better for it. As much as I don't think that the testing should be like it is you have to deal with what is in place now and it would be bad if our kids don't do well. All I can do know is hope they paid attention enough to do well. I'm just glad to be back to my subject.

We're now officially trying to conceive. I'm surprised at my nervousness but I shouldn't be, I'm a worry wart. Both of my sisters have had some problems with infertility so even though I'm trying not to think about that, it is in the back of my mind. I guess it's in the Lord's hands now and I know he has the best plan in mind for me. I just hope that plan involves conception before too long. I also really don't want to teach a full year next year but if we don't conceive it would make more sense for me to finish out the year because I would make more money as a 5th year science teacher (I have a 3k stipend) than Dave would as a first year art teacher, if he could find a job mid year. Being grown up certainly is complicated! It's definitely a growing experience for me. I may love next year and be glad I get to stay the whole year or be sad to leave (depending on if Dave gets a job or not or if we have a baby). I just hope that I have the power to let go of this now that I have it written down. I don't want to worry. I just want to be happy for this new phase in our lives. I pray that I can just be happy and grow from whatever happens because I know that any growth I have will make me a better mom whenever the Lord blesses us in that capacity. I just have to remember it will happen. I think I'll go read my patriarchal blessing now . . . .

Dave's Paintings

He's so talented! The pics aren't great but you get the idea . . . really awesome work!

The Latest

I finished sewing the quilt top! I had some issues with making my seams smaller than I intended so it looks like I'm going to have to add an edge to the backing before I put the thing together. Oh well . . . I was already starting to change my plans for that so I'm not too concerned. Yeah me!



This week has been my spring break and it feels wonderful to spend some time at home. Dave's parents came up last night with his sister and her 2 kids and we had a nice time. It was a good excuse to get things cleaned so that I didn't spend the rest of the week thinking about how I needed to take care of it. The following picture is Dave playing a game while on the phone with his parents trying to coordinate last night. I just thought he looked cute in my dad's old national guard hat so I had to take a picture. You can tell he was pleased ;)



Anyway . . . I started teaching Math just before spring break. The book we were given to use is pretty good and I'm enjoying it. I've got some ideas that I will probably start using later on but right now I'm hoping to reduce my stress and worry less so I'm putting off working on school stuff until Friday and I figure whatever I get done, I get done and it will be good enough. I'm also enjoying the time I have this week to spend with friends that I feel like I don't get a chance to talk to except rushed conversations on Sundays. I used to be a good friend and I feel like I don't get to be anymore because I get spread so thin that I end up being self centered when I do get to see my friends. Sorry friends!

Our lives are pretty boring right now so I'll leave it at that. Tanya . . . I will post more of Dave's work later this week. He's working on a really cool painting right now and started another one at school so I'll post them when he is done with them.

Our Bedspread and Dave's Art

I've laid it out and now I just need to do a bit more cutting and I'll be ready to sew.



These are some of Dave's latest art projects for his classes.

Doing Everyone Else's Job

That was the story of the week and it was a hellish one. I am about to halt my science curriculum for a while to work on math with my students. We have a high percent of kids who are looking like they will fail the Math TAKS test. When we got this news I felt that the best thing for the kids would be more time with math and offered to rearrange my curriculum to give time for math instruction. It's too bad that it has come to this but as Spence Rogers says "Our kids are worth whatever it takes." So here goes nothing. I hope it helps because the math teacher of most of my students is refusing to tutor due to "health issues" so this will be very important extra help for them.

I also received word that I am going to be attending Family Leader Meetings starting next week (our grade level faculty is broken up into families who have most of the same students and we meet each week to disperse info and talk about students). I'll probably start doing her duties as well. I'm not sure I'll be getting the pay for this but it needs to happen because our current family leader is having health issues that are affecting her ability to do the job.

My neighboring science teacher recently had liver surgery to remove some benign tumors. It was successful and she is doing well. Her long term sub however got "sick" for 2 days this week and didn't leave anything for the subs and here comes Jill to the rescue AGAIN. I also covered an ARD meeting for another teacher who just didn't attend on Wednesday. I was called to do it again the following day but my wonderful Assistant Principal told me I wasn't to cover for her again and that my conference period was mine. She really was the joy in all of this. She knows I will do what has to be done to get the job done but doesn't abuse that about me. She asks what she needs to of me and then lets me do my job and have the time I need. Thanks Karen! She makes my job good on those bad days. She has also had a really rough week but took it all in stride. When my rough week started to show up on my countenance, she made sure I was taken care of at work. She was meant to be a boss and is great at it.

Update

Things around here are pretty boring though I am happy to report that I have had my class of 15 Special Ed students reduced to 9. It makes life a bit easier. We also went down to Dave's parents' house today to meet Doug's fiance. It was nice. She seems nice but it's hard to really get to know someone in a few hours. It'll be fun to get to know her more at other family functions. It reminded me of how awkward I felt when I first came into the family. I always felt REALLY nervous every time Dave left the room.

In other news we had a nice Valentine's evening. We had an early dinner at the Olive Garden (courtesy of Doug's Christmas gift card) and went out for ice cream later in the day. I am so lucky to be married to a sweet and laid back kind of guy. We have our differences but my life is better with him in it.

Um . . . I think I've run out of things to say. I love you all. I'm not sure if I have any blog followers these days but it is nice for me to have a reason to keep up with my journaling

Life as usual

It's been a while since I updated but there's just not a lot going on. I am so jealous of all you who have kids to write about because kids stories are much better than teacher stories. Oh well . . . .

Dave started his first on-line Spanish class this semester. He has to take 4 all together and the ones taught on campus are ridiculously hard so he decided to do them on-line. It's pretty frustrating for him because it isn't something he's interested in at all but it's required for a BA. I hope he finds his groove in the on-line class so it won't be such a headache for him.

This weekend Dave's dad was finally able to bring us the entertainment center Dave built so we moved that in and got the old beast out (with some much needed help from Ben). I really like it. It's much smaller and fits our living room nicely. We now need to get another small storage something to get some now displaced knick-knacks hidden away.



As for me it's life as usual. We are doing some math testing for the first half of today. Our math teachers will take the data from this test to see how we think our kids will do on the year end state tests and then figure out who they need to target for tutorials in order for them to pass.

While nothing can be as bad as my first year teaching, I'm finding this to be one of my most stressful years. 25 of my 131 students are Special Education students with varying ranges of disabilities. In one class alone 15 of the 23 have accommodations and both of these numbers do not include ELL (English Language Learners) or dyslexic students. The paperwork and ARD meetings are endless and anyone who has taught Special Education students knows that many of them have also developed behavior issues which take up more of my time and energy. I feel unqualified to serve their needs (or even to keep all of the needs straight) in a class that still has others without disability who deserve my time too. Even with a co-teacher there's just not enough teacher to go around and it makes me sad for them.

In all of this stress I am grateful for caring family, friends and especially my husband. Dave has been so sweet in picking up the slack I'm leaving at home. He has taken to making dinner most nights which helps me out a lot. At work I hear a lot of people discussing the relationships with their spouses and I realize how lucky I am to have a husband who treats me with love and respect. He is truly my partner in life and makes my life better for being a part of it. I love him so very much and could not do it without him. Love ya babe!

Bubble Time Warp

So I found this show on the Discovery channel this morning. They use high speed cameras to show things at an ultra slowed down pace and you can see the detail of what happens to things that happen at a fast rate. I.E. Bubble popping. The first is a quick clip and the second is the actual segment.






This one is mostly for my sibs. It's the dry ice bomb segment. Check out the end where they totally destroy a water tank with dry ice bombs under water.

Christmas

Dave working on the entertainment center he's building for us.
Teasing the cat on Christmas morning.

Dave's dad, Gary, is pretty goofy.

We played some Guitar Hero demos on Dave's X-box before watching a movie on Christmas night.

Benjamin enjoyed sitting on grandma's lap and putting her Settlers of Catan peices in the play band-aid box.

Here's Dave showing Benjamin how to hold a baby nicely.

Benjamin holding the baby. He was really into getting his picture taken. I feel bad that we don't have pictures of Gabe but BenBen kept posing.

Me playing the piano with Ben.

Dave and I were very blessed this Christmas. I think I have everything I need now to start making our bedspread . . . when the sewing machine arrives at the end of the month. Sigh . . . I'm just glad to be getting one. Thanks mom! Dave's mom and I started working on getting his professional wardrobe established and he also got a sander from his dad too bad he was done with all of his sanding on his furniture project.

I am so grateful for a new year and the opportunity to look at my life and see where I need to improve myself. I am also grateful for my many wonderful friends and family. Happy New Year all!