The Shecklers

Weight Loss and Student teaching

2009-06-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a long journey helped out by a stressful situation called student teaching. I took advantage of the fact that I could not leave the school to make sure I had a healthy lunch and took note of my calorie intake. I also hit the gym every other day or so and started lifting weights again. I'm so excited to be 3.7 pounds from my first goal!!!!! I started at 200+ lbs and I am reaching my initial goal of 170 it's taken roughly 90 days, whew. I still have weigh to lose but I have not been this light for almost 6 years. I plan to make it to 132 and celebrate this Halloween in a costume that makes me feel and look great!

Looking back I remember how tough it was in the beginning and how I thought it would take me forever. Now that I'm so close it was not that hard and I know the rest of the weight will be harder to lose but I feel like I am up to the challenge and I can do it. I can do it. Funny that is something I tell my Kindergarten students. You can do it.

I am looking forward to a healthier me! I gave up quite a bit of my red meats and started eating more veggies and fruits. I think it helped that Tim decided it was time to jump on the weight loss bandwagon as well. It certainly makes it easier!

My student teaching is coming to a close. I cried in the car on the way home today thinking about saying goodbye to my students. I have really come to think of them in that way. I know I'm going to be one of those teachers who will get emotional at the end of the school year. I officially graduate on the 13th of June. What a wonderful feeling.

So with the scarcity of work I will be going back to my old job (Ross Dress for Less) at least for the summer and working a 3am paper route. When school starts up again my plan is to guest teach at the 3 local school districts. This will allow me to work only when Tim is home and still manage to make more money than I did at Ross. A full time job would be ideal but at this point I am competing with at least 200 other people looking for a teaching job around here.

The boys are doing well, with all this wonderful sunshine I need to get some summer pictures of them and post.

Almost done!

2009-03-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

No new pictures at the moment, some should be coming soon...maybe...

I just finished up my last quarter of night classes! (YAY). On March 23rd I start student teaching. I'm nervous and excited all at once. June 13th I will graduate from Western Washington University with a major in special education and my certificate for teaching. However, because I don't want to fork over anymore money to WWU and I did not take a test all that money spent on dual endorsement was a waste (sort of...it will be helpful as a general education teacher to know what I know!) but it feels like they wasted my time and money because they were greedy and could do it. Wow look at me go on a tangent.

Enough of my whining. I'm happy to be almost done, what a feat to finally graduate from college 10+ years after I started the first time, and to do it with two small children one born a week before finals last year!

More to come as I have more to tell.

Leavenworth Weekend

2009-02-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

Last year Tim and I were able to make a trip out to Leavenworth. Friends of ours have a timeshare out there so we stayed there with two other "couple" friends of ours. We had a ton of fun, we went shopping at the little shops, inner tubing, and played in the snow down by a river. We left the boys with mom and dad. This year we had the chance to do it again. What fun! It was so nice to get a weekend without the boys and able to do things like take pictures, take a scenic drive, go inner tubing again, shop at the little stores and play Wii.
See pictures below! To the left: My friend Kevin To the right: Tim coming down the tubing hill
Fake ice sculpture.

Snow and Sprained Ankle

2008-12-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

So long story short, I sprained my ankle while taking pictures of the snow. But I got some good pictures of the boys playing in it, or rather Jaxon just sitting in it and Tim dumping snow on Garrett...

Here are a couple more notables some of the boys and some of just things around outside.

Fall: Fun, Crisp and Colorful!

2008-11-15T06:34:00.001-08:00

I decided to take a few hours out of a busy day to play with Garrett outside. We raked some leaves and played in the pile. Once Jaxon was done napping I brought him out to play also.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

Garrett had a blast this year. I decided to take him to the mall with my friend Tanna and her son and daughter and that worked out really well. We got there early enough it wasn't too busy and we got to do the whole circuit. He ended up handing over his shield and helmet so I got to wear those along with carrying Jaxon around the mall. We got to see some great costumes, there was a 2 year old dressed as Chewbacca, an adult stormtrooper and an adult Darth Vader who had those great deluxe type costumes.

Once we were done at the mall we stayed at Tanna's place for just a little bit then I took the boys home and had Garrett trick-or-treat down our street. Towards the end he was telling the neighbors about getting candy from the other houses. I think it was nice for the neighbors to see the boys in costume since I've never taken them out before thivn s year.

I'm glad Garrett made out like a bandit gives me incentive candy for potty training!

School days

2008-10-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

I went in for my first day of practicum in the class I will be student teaching in. Wow. Kindergarten is just like 7th grade only they are not learning the same things. It is an interesting mix of students. The age range is comical, there is a 4 year old almost 5 and a 6 year old almost 7. According to the teacher none of these students have had preschool. So they are learning that you do not hit people, spit on them, say bad words, call each other names, kiss the hallway, touch others, line up etc...

I have a couple ideas I hope I can get my host teacher hooked on for some classroom management. But so far I have to say I love it! The children are interesting and lively and I am definitely looking forward to working with them. I also like my host teacher she's very energetic and patient with her students. We also have some runners. I think it will be nice for her to have me around for two quarters helping her and it will be a nice break for her when I student teach.

The students were certainly very interested in me and what my role is and I think they know that I am like a second teacher. My only concern is that I do not want to over step my boundaries in terms of "her" classroom. I know there are some possessive teachers out there and I do not want her to resent having me there. But so far so good we are pretty good at communicating with each other.

Well off to do some housework (which is never ending with a child like Garrett...)

Family Photos

2008-09-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

With my paternal grandmother passing away I have been thinking a lot about family and I wanted to share some little tidbits about us.

First we'll start with me since I am the author of the blog. My picture is to the left. Yes I know it's not a real picture of me but I hate (and actually have always hated) the way I look in pictures. I think I am the MOST un-photogenic person I know. What you may not know is that I took this picture. I love photography and art. I just wish I could do more with it. I also scrapbook, sew and love to cook despite the fact I did not inherit my mother's cooking gene. I only wish I could cook like her! I recall that I used to love to write when I was in high school but now I just find my brain not working like it used to. It is strange but I find myself being lazy and uncreative, like my brain turned into mush. But on a more positive note my sewing skills have gotten so much better just by sewing 6 or so medieval dresses. My favorite being the most recent one below:
Believe or not it was made with cream colored sheets and burgundy broadcloth. The best part is that I absolutely love to sew and if I could have made an actual career (you know the kind with money) out of it I think I would have. So I think this is where I will end my section on to Tim!

Tim, how do I describe this man? I love him and there are days where yes I'd love to kick him to the curb for being who he is, yet I do find myself loving him unconditionally. We met while we were both attending the University of Idaho. This is a man who moved to Washington to be with me! His hometown is quite beautiful (Sandpoint, ID). I am grateful that he loves me as much as he does. Some things you may not know about him is that he's quite crafty. He'll be humble about it but I am constantly impressed with the amount of crafty things he does without patterns!! I've uploaded a couple pictures of his creations. This is a great picture of him because I think it shows how much he enjoys his role as a father. There is nothing fake in his smile. Tim also enjoys photography and in fact takes many of the pictures we have of our family. The one here to the right was taken by a co-worker/friend of his who does this as a hobby. On to Tim's projects:

Above is a picture of a box his made for us to keep our medieval cooking/camp supplies and a "viking" stargazer chair that became firewood but was actually comfortable to sit on and very pretty. Below are pictures of Tim's fighting helm. It's made of leather and he created it with a picture of a Halloween mask in mind but with no real pattern. It's much more impressive in person.

Leather working has become a new passion for Tim. And I'm sure some of you may not approve but he also brews his own beer and wine, which I am sure is healthier and much cheaper than store bought junk. He's been highly complimented on his brewing by his co-workers who enjoyed the wine for the holidays. Tim is also very much into swordfighting, something I am trying to get into but we don't seem to find the time to practice together and with practicum starting I won't have the time I used to. I like to encourage him to do things that make him happy.

Next up the first born! Garrett is my little ham. Known in the house as Garebear, he brings moments of hilarity and frustration. Garrett was a happy baby and started sleeping through the night early. As a toddler he would shock and amaze me with the things he knew. He could say juice and cheese and could point to several different body parts, he communicated very well non verbally. Then things went downhill, I started noticing that Garrett was not developing like other children. Now I know we aren't supposed to compare because each child is different and so on, but let's be realistic here who doesn't? And if you didn't how would you know something is wrong? Anyways after many urgings from both a cohort member (schoolmate) and his daycare teacher I took him to Holly Ridge which is an early intervention center. They determined that Garrett was delayed cognitively and in his speech (more isgnificantly in his speech). They did tell me that they felt his cognitive delays could be a result of his speech and not actual delays. So he started pre-school at the tender age of 3 and I have been ever so grateful! The first year was rough many crying sessions and uncooperative behavior. This year we discussed at his IEP (indivdualized education program) that maybe he should take the bus. My only concern was that he wouldn't want to or wouldn't get on at school (or get off the bus) but my fears were unrealized when the bus pulled up on that first day and he ran to get on. All he talks about now is riding the bus to school. There were some concerns that Garrett had Autism. After doing a lot of reading and talking to the parent of a son with autism I decided that he doesn't exhibit the strongest indicators, but that there is something there. Unfortunately I can not afford to pay out of pocket expenses and due to my oversight he will not have medical coverage until Oct. So we wait. In the meantime his language has grown in leaps and bounds, he recognizes that people have names and is starting to use them appropriately.
Garrett's favorite activity is playing in his dirt hole he created in the backyard. He plays there for hours, he would probably live out there f I let him. Silly boy! But he is one through and through. This is what he usually looks like when he comes inside, at least now he's more willing to wash his hands before eating...

On to Jaxon! I've been calling him Mo-mo and Jak-jak lately and Tim has been giving me funny looks but try saying Action Jaxon and you'll see it's not a very easy nickname. He is my little cutie pie. He's also so attached to my hip it's a little insane. He's the most social baby I've known. But he seems to only really care for women. You would never have known that he's such a mommy guy when we were at Great-grandpa Wright's house because he was just as happy with great-aunt Debbie, Denise, or Susie or even with Grandma. I think his need is to be social, he's fine without me but not alone. He'll get upset if Garrett leaves the room. I have to share a story though that I think is going to shape the nature of their relationship. Garrett loves Jaxon to death (almost literally) he keeps picking him up, unfortunately Garrett tries to carry Jaxon like most pre-schoolers carry cats around, by holding them around the neck. So I hear Jaxon sputtering and tell Garrett to put him down which fails so I scold Garrett loudly and he finally puts him down. I pick up Jaxon to make sure he's okay and tell Garrett in a loud voice that he is to NEVER ever pick up Jaxon. In the meantime Jaxon has this look on his face that I can only describe as satisfaction. Which has me concerned...of course I could be wrong Jaxon is only a baby and doesn't know how sibling relationships work yet right? I know you're looking at these pictures and wondering where the blond hair comes from, I ask myself that question everyday. I thought for sure I wouldn't have any blond children since the primary genes I carry are dominate ones, brown hair brown eyes. But I guess the blondie genes from Tim's side and my side won. Both Tim and I have blond brothers, although Dan's hair (Tim's brother) is darker than Jonathans. Jaxon's blond hair did take me by surprise though. I was taking his picture and I looked at it afterwards and thought "my goodness when did he get blond hair?!" I also love the light feathery hair both him and Garrett had as babies. Got to love the "wings" near his ears.

I've had people ask me if we would try for a girl. My response prior to having children would have been yes. After having Garrett I realized that I love little boys. I love MY boys. They are my little men I would never trade the dirt and frogs for frilly dresses even if she was the most well-behaved little girl in the world. If we do decide to have more children it will be for that reason, because we want more kids, not because we are hoping for one sex or the other.

So guess now that I've written a mini chapter of a blog I should end it here, with the promise of more updates.

I feel like a newbie

2008-09-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

After talking with my cousins about blogging I decided to go ahead and finish creating mine. Of course as I am doing this I realize that while I can be somewhat tech savvy I have no idea what I am doing here. Nothing seems to work like I think it should. I have decided that I am not going to let that deter me and that I plan to sally forth and complete this darned thing if it kills me or takes forever, whichever comes first. I hope that this actually creates a blog for me and does not end up doing something like blowing up someone's computer.