Still Alive

Okay, so my last post was in November and I had great plans of being a great blogger. This did not happen, but we have been VERY busy.

Track break was great! I usually need a break physically. I feel like I need naps and some relaxation. This was not the case. I was just anxious for some time with my boy. Not only did I have lots of time with my boys, but we moved. That meant that Tanner's nap time was Mommy's packing time. I did fit in some time for fun play days including Bounce U and Lied Discovery Museum. Tanner loved Bounce U, but didn't have as much fun at Lied. Bounce U has a preschool playtime which was great because there weren't any big kids to pounce on Tanner. We recently went to a birthday at Pump it Up and that is a great place, too. Tanner was the bratty kid at the end who didn't want to leave and ended up being carried out screaming. Life is great!

There is little in this world that I hate (yes, I know that is a strong word) more than moving. But we did it and I don't plan on moving for a while. Our new house has more room, a real yard, and no stairs (Tanner can run all he wants-and does). The backyard was in desperate need of help so that has been Ben's project for the past few months. Tanner has also LOVED this. Before moving Tanner has mostly normal/typical baby toys. He now has his own shovel and complete set of gardening tools. A few weeks ago, we bought a shed that had to be put together. Tanner LOVED this. We were using a small drill to put the parts together and Tanner had to help (we just took out the drill bit). Since then, all Tanner wanted to play with was the drill. So over the weekend we were at Walmart and they had a complete set of drills/boy toys. Luckily they were on crazy clearance so Tanner has the complete set. Now, he walks around the house all day drilling things that are just fine.

Last week, Tanner turned 18 months. He is growing by the mile. Every day he says a new word or shows more personality. I am convinced that I love him more and more every day. I am also working with him to learn sign language. I got off to a great start, but need to add more signs instead of being consistent with the few he knows. Tanner signs more, eat, all done. He says please, but the sign is more of eat. Tanner is talking up a storm. He says Mom, Dad, Murphy, all done, more, please, thank you, I did it, go, out, Elmo (he is crazy about Elmo), teeth, up, no, and "1,2,3, go" among many others. He definitely keeps me smiling. He runs all over the place and is ROTTEN! If Tanner could watch Elmo all day, every day he would. He LOVES Elmo! He also does things to be naughty and smiles because he knows he shouldn't. I think that is so cute. He loves the new house. We have a huge yard for him to run and ride his 4-wheeler, bike, or cozy coupe. And no more stairs means Tanner can run all he wants in the house. He always thinks he needs to do what Mommy and Daddy are doing, this includes house chores! We will see how long that lasts. I still haven't cut Tanner's hair. He has beautiful curls in the back that I'm not ready to part with. Ben, however, wants Tanner's hair cut so this is often a topic of discussion in our house.

Before going on track break school was crazy!!! I had an intern (like a student teacher) who created a lot of stress for me and my classroom. I cannot turn off the teacher within me so I took her on as a special project and really tried to help her become a good teacher. But she was convinced to do things her way and those ways were not beneficial to anyone (especially my kids). I spent every available minute to help her, but she never made any progress. After some really serious mistakes and unethical decisions on her part, I had to ask for her to be removed from my classroom which led to her being removed as an intern. I felt bad that this happened because of what I had initiated, but I know that I would NEVER want her teaching Tanner so she shouldn't be teaching other kids either. This process did give me a glimpse at administration and I am interested more than ever, but don't want to go back to school right now.

I am on track break again, so I hope to be a better blogger, but we will see how that goes!

Life has changed a lot of the past few months, but I think it is for the better!