Achieved!

Back in June of 2009, I began what became a year-long journey of reflection on my teaching and teaching practices.  The National Board process is one of the most difficult things I have taken on in my teaching career, and probably in my life, quite honestly!  I've never really been a reflective person; I can quickly tell you what I'm not doing well, but have trouble identifying those areas where I am successful.  I think that's the nature of many of people.  So, this process, which requires you to do a lot of reflection, was definitely out of my comfort zone.


I worked on my portfolio from mid-June until three days before my 30th birthday at the end of March, when I sent it away to Texas with a feeling of relief.  Kurt and I then headed to Mexico for my birthday celebration, and to celebrate that I finished that sucker!  When we came home, I knew I had to begin studying for the assessment portion, but I waited.  And waited.  And waited. Finally in mid-May, I decided I needed to start studying, as the assessment date in early June was sneaking up on me.  That date came and went, and I decided that since I wouldn't know any more about it until November, I wasn't going to worry about it.  I had done my best, and that was the best I could do.


So fast forward to Tuesday of this past week.  I got an e-mail from NBPTS that scores would be released on Friday.  I honestly hadn't done much thinking about that day until I got that e-mail, and then it was all I could think of!  Friday mid-morning was when the scores would be released!  


Friday morning came.  I kept trying to log-on to see if scores were available, because let's be real, what really is mid-morning?  My students came into the classroom at 8:45 and at about 9:00, I saw that scores had been posted.  I logged on and it didn't go through a couple of times.  Then I saw it...


"CONGRATULATIONS!  YOU ARE A NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHER!"


And then I jumped up and down and ran into my teammate's room yelling, "I passed, I passed!"  Negative me had seriously convinced myself that I was not going to "achieve" as they say.  


I cannot tell you how relieved and excited I am!  I kept saying to myself that I wasn't going to cry when I saw that I hadn't achieved, but I almost cried when I saw that I had achieved.   I didn't believe it!  I'm so happy that all of the my hard work, long hours, revisions after revisions, paid off! Woo!

Week 14

Well, here I am...14 weeks with (as my nephew Jack likes to say) my "Bun in the Oven."  Well, I was officially 14 weeks this past Saturday, but we were consumed with the nephews.  I caught a glance of myself in the mirror on Saturday and was like, "Woah...where'd that tummy come from?!"  I can no longer suck it in.  It's there, and I'm okay with it!  It means that Baby B-shaw is growing!  Please excuse the outfit...I had yoga earlier!

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Loss of 2 pounds, but that was at my last appointment on October 29th.  I have a feeling that there will be a gain when I go back to the doctor at the end of November.  How fair is it that I have to go to the doctor right after Thanksgiving and Christmas?!

Maternity Clothes: I've worn maternity pants a few times, just because they are more comfy than a lot of my regular pants.  I have a Bella Band and wear that, too!

Gender: Wish we knew!  I think our appointment will be the week after Christmas.

Movement: Not yet, but I have a feeling it will start in the next few weeks.

Sleep: I've been having some back/sciatic nerve pain, so that has been annoying my during the night.  I'm trying to sleep on my side with a pillow between my legs, by apparently I toss and turn all night, so I tend to lose the pillow.

What I miss: I had a good salad that had blue cheese on it, but I took it mostly off.  Also, we had our annual End of Parent-Teacher Conferences Wine and Cheese Party on Friday night at my co-worker's house.  It would have been fun to partake in the vino, but oh well!

Cravings: Nothing in particular!  I love sweets and cold dairy products (frozen yogurt, yogurt, ice cream, etc).

Symptoms: Sciatic nerve and lower back pain

Best Moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat with the doppler I bought (heard it a few times this week) and having Jack, our nephew, ask me, "Aunt Kate...how is your bun in the oven?"  Hilarious!

"Uncle Kurty....it's 8, 1, 4. Time to wake up!"

Yes, that's how we were awoken yesterday morning!  A cute little voice whispering into our sleeping ears, "Uncle Kurty, it's 8, 1, 4.  Time to wake up!"


Kurt and I had a little nephew time this weekend.  Our nephews, Jack (3 1/2) and Will (1 1/2) came to stay with us while their parents attended a wedding.  We always have a great time when they come to stay with us, but I must say, I'm exhausted!  We were so busy yesterday, that I don't think Jack and Will had even a moment to realize that their parents weren't there.  


They came to our house on Friday night.  Keith and Molly stayed at our house Friday night, too, but Jack must have thought they left while he was sleeping because when he woke up on Saturday morning, he came right into our room.  He's in pre-school and he's been learning his numbers, so that's why he looked at the clock to tell us the time.  Except, that we never set that clock back an hour last week and we have that clock set 15 minutes fast (don't ask...Kurt's always had his alarm clock set 15 minutes fast!), so it was really only 7:00 AM.  So, Jack climbed into our bed and we put on Blue's Clues for him for a little while.  Then Keith got up and brought Will in.  Macey was so jealous that these two little guys were in our bed that she jumped right up along with them.  Let me just say that Macey has NEVER been in our bed before!  We've tried and she would fight us to stay on the floor!   I guess jealousy got the best of her!  She has another thing coming in May!


I made cinnamon muffins for breakfast and Molly headed out to get her hair cut and highlighted by Kurt and Keith's cousin.  In the mean time, we got a call that my MIL was on her way over (not with an invitation, mind you!).  Once she arrived, Kurt, his mom, Jack, Will, and I headed out to start our day.  We first went to a construction site nearby to watch the dump trucks, rock crushers, and other big trucks (Jack could name them all!) do their work.  That kept their attention for a good 30 minutes!  Pretty good for these boys!  


Next, we headed to a nearby church for their Christmas bazaar.  We walked around, bought some baked goods, did some kids crafts, Jack talked to Santa (which was a shock as last year he screamed when he went to see Santa!), and Kurt bought the boys some toys (which are staying at our house!) from a little flea market.  At that point, my MIL headed home (yeah, she drove 45 minutes to our house, spent an hour, and drive 45 minutes home) and we headed to good old Mickey D's for lunch.  Kurt was so proud that we fed all four of us for $10!


After lunch, we went to our mall for an event for the new Disney movie, Tangled.  They had all kinds of things for the kids to do and free train rides around the mall.  By the time we finished all of that, it was time to head home for nap time.  For all of us!  I was beat by that time!


The boys woke up around 3:30, and we let them play with their new toys that Uncle Kurty bought them for a little while.  Then, we headed to a local playground to wear them out a little.  We then headed home and got cleaned up.  We then went to Fuddrucker's for dinner.  Again, Kurt was proud that we all ate dinner for $20!  We made the boys a deal that if they took a bath when we got home (6:30) they could stay up and watch a movie.  So, that's what we did!   We ended up watching Alvin and the Chipmunks:  The Squeakel, which was cute! Jack and Will both had some popcorn for a snack (and let me just state...Will only has 3 teeth, but he eats like a champ!  They boy can chow down!).  We put Will down to sleep at about 7:45 and then Jack stayed up for about 30 minutes longer.  I think I fell asleep on the couch about 5 minutes after Jack went to bed!  


This morning, Will woke up at about 6:00 AM, so I went and got him and brought him to our bed, where he fell back to sleep.  Jack then came in at about 7:30 and hopped into our bed to watch some more Blues Clues.  We ended up going to a diner for breakfast (and Kurt was made that breakfast was our most expensive meal!) and then headed home to play.  Keith and Molly arrived back at about 11:00 and they headed out about an hour later.  Apparently both boys were asleep within 15 minutes of being on the road!


It was a very busy, very tiring, but very memorable weekend for us!  We love those little boys like they are our own!  It made me realize that we really are ready for this parenting thing.  Kurt and I made a really good team this weekend!  I can't wait to see Kurt as a dad; he's going to be great! The best part was Jack saying, "Kurty and Kate....I love you guys!"  So cute!

Yup, I'm...

It's true!  Due in May and we couldn't be happier!

Day 22: Favorite city

Day 22:  Favorite city


This one is a toughie for me.  I have a few cities that I really love.  Some of my top cities are:

New York City

I took my first trip to New York City on my 13th birthday.  My mom, sister, and I went on a bus trip sponsored by the school where my mom taught to see The Secret Garden.  It's only a 3 1/2 hour bus ride, 2 hour train ride, or 45 minute flight away!  I've been back to NYC many times since then, but Christmas is my favorite time to visit the city.

Chicago

I've been to Chicago several times, as well.  It's such a fun city, with great shopping and food!  My family has taken a vacation there, Kurt and I have visited there, and I went with some of my college friends for our friend Laura's wedding shower at her aunt's house in the suburbs of Chicago.  I have a couple cousins who live in Chicago, too.

Key West

I've visited Key West three times.  The first time was a Spring Break trip in college.  It was literally two weeks before my 21st birthday, so that kinda stunk!  The second time was a trip with my high school friends.  The third time was a trip with some college friends.  We always have a great (usually drunken) time!

Las Vegas

I've only been to Vegas once, but Kurt has been several times for work and pleasure.  My high school friends and I went to Vegas about a year and a half ago for the Britney Spears concert.  We had a blast!  My parents actually just booked a trip there for January.  It was my dad's retirement present from us all!

San Diego

I've only been to San Diego once, but fell in love!  Kurt's dad's naval ship was commissioned in Coronado one year ago last weekend.  I took two days off of school, and we hit the west cost.  We had such a great time!