Autumn Update

It's been awhile again. I have been avoiding posting because I didn't want it to turn into a giant whining session. I'm going to try to stick to the basics...

School:

--This week marks the middle of 2nd quarter. And we still do NOT have all of the textbooks needed for the reading classes in my department. Ridiculous.

--The person responsible for overseeing the reading program for the entire county resigned at the end of Sept. (Perhaps this is why we don't have textbooks?)

--The 8th grade administrator is in hospital due to an intestinal rupture.

--There have been 10 fights thus far this school year, including one when a teacher was punched in the face and one where a girl had a huge gash on her forehead.

--Many teachers are feeling the administration doesn't seem to have a handle on discipline this year. (To put things in perspective we had less than 10 fights the entire school year last year.)

--The reading teachers do not have inclusion teachers assigned to our classes this year. In the past we had inclusion teachers to co-teach with us in classes with a large special ed population. This year we're on our own.
--It's making for a super difficult year!

Home:
--No TTC updates to report at this time...will update when I have new news. (Crossing fingers for re appointment during winter break, but I will probably have to wait until March.)
--We were able to drive to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. It was wonderful to see them! I am grateful for a wonderful family and for an amazing husband who did WAY more driving than I did to/from Ohio.
--Emma continues to be my shining light. I appreciate her antics and learning discoveries.

Books/Movies:
--I read all of Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games" books over the long weekend. LOVED them! Great read with interesting premise.
--I saw "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I" and "Tangled" and completely enjoyed both films.

I'll let my fall photos sum up the rest...

Emma's 6th Birthday












We went to the Magic Kingdom to celebrate Halloween at their "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween" party.


















Jacksonville had a "Boat Day"
Em enjoyed touring and photographing some boats on the downtown Riverfront.







Emma at the "Spooktacular" event at the Jacksonville Zoo


For Halloween night trick-or-treating, Emma dressed as a witch.




DH, Em and I spent the day at the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum in St. Augustine 2 weeks ago...we had a great time!

House made of match sticks.


Em and I pose next to a statue/replica of the World's Tallest Man


DH looking disgruntled in a pirate torture device.


Em and her elephant pose outside.

Updates:
--As I mentioned, I just haven't felt like writing much as of late, due to not having a lot of "positive" things to blog about.
--I seem to be on Face.boo.k more often now that I have a Black.berry...if there are any readers who'd like to be FB friends, drop me a line at velmadinkley@aol.com and I'll search for you to friend you on FB.

Disney Fun

Though just a short weekend trip, we had a blast...

Friday morning DH and I dropped Em off at school. We then went to Panara where DH worked on his novel and I did some school work. (Both of us were determined to have NO MORE work this weekend!)

Then I dropped DH off at work. I did some errands, checked some blogs, and loaded the car. I then picked Em up just after naptime at her school. We headed to pick DH up at work. Then we were Orlando bound.

We checked into our hotel and then walked around the grounds a little.

Em chillin' in a hammock near one of the hotel's lakes.




One of the best features of staying at Disney hotels is that they offer free transportation to all of the Disney parks.



DH and Em on the bus. Friday night we went to Downtown Disney to eat dinner and check out the shops. (Em spent her birthday money from Nana and Papa on a cute "Baby Minnie Mouse" plush toy.)

Saturday morning we were at the Magic Kingdom when it opened. At 8:50, there is always a short song/dance show as Mickey and other characters ride in on a train and "welcome" visitors to the park. The show ends with a countdown to the park opening. Em loved this!

We were able to ride Peter Pan, Snow White, and The Haunted Mansion without waiting! Then we headed to Splash Mountain. DH and I have ridden the ride many times and have never gotten too wet. Unfortunately, Emma and I were DRENCHED! She was crying and upset at first, because she was soaked and uncomfortable. Luckily it was a 90-degree day and sunny, so we dried out in time. But you'll see we both have flat hair in all our pics. Bummer!

For me, one of the highlights of the trip was our Saturday afternoon lunch in Cinderella's Castle. Em and I had never eaten inside the castle before. DH hadn't dined there since high school. I made the reservation back on Father's Day, because reservations fill up quickly, as you can book the date up to 3 months in advance. The lunch is called "Cinderella's Royal Table." It's wonderful because there are a variety of princesses that visit each table during the meal. Each of them took time to autograph Emma's book and pose for a photo with her. Every diner is also entitled to a photo package of photos of the diner with Cinderella. Em LOVED the excitement of eating inside the castle, and was tickled pink to see many princesses there.


Em with Belle
(Emma thought it was funny when Belle saw her shirt and said, "Oh! I should have a picture of YOU on my shirt!")


Em and Sleeping Beauty (A.K.A. Aurora)


Em and Princess Jasmine (1st time she "met" this princess)


Em and Snow White


Ceiling view from our table


Em at lunch. Note the Mickey shaped kid's plate.


DH at lunch


Em and Cinderella.
(Emmaism of the weekend: Em to Cinnderlla "Your castle is lovely." Awww!)

After our awesome lunch, we headed to some more rides...


DH and Em check out the loot after riding Pirates of the Caribbean


I don't know what we'll do when she gets too big for the stroller. We haven't had a Disney visit yet, where we haven't convinced Em to take a mid-day nap so that she can stay up late for the evening parade and fireworks. It's worked every time!



Close-up of Em's hand. She fell asleep holding the "Wishing Star" that was given to all diners in the castle.


See the gold ribbon on the carousel horse? On our way to the Magic Kingdom, the bus driver was giving park trivia. He informed us that there is only one horse on Cinderella's Carousel that has a gold ribbon on her tail. This horse is named "Cindy" and is Cinderella's personal horse.

Of course, Em immediately wanted to ride on Cindy. We explained that with 50 horses on the carousel and numerous people waiting in line, there was no guarantee that Em would be able to ride Cindy. Fortunately, Emma seemed content to at least "find" her.

However, as luck would have it when we were waiting in line to ride the carousel, we ended up being FIRST in line to enter for our group of riders. Thus, Em WAS able to ride Cindy. She was thrilled!


Em on Cindy and Daddy on an anonymous horse


Em was fond of the purple roses that adorned Cindy


We were able to ride many rides. Though the forecast predicted rain, we had a lovely sunny day. We watched the evening Spectralight parade and saw some fireworks before riding a few last rides. Em thought it was hilarious when we sat behind DH and rode Thunder Mountain during the ending of the fireworks show. DH would point at the sky as though he were creating the fireworks. Quite humorous.

We left the park 15 minutes before it closed, caught the bus back to our hotel...and fell asleep easily!

This morning we were able to have some time at the lovely Coronado Springs Resort where we stayed. The hotel had many lovely features.

The decor of the hotel is Spanish themed. Below you can see the view of the restaurant, conference center, and gift shop buildings. They were located across/around the lake from the room we stayed in. (It looks far, but was easily walkable.)




Em and the Minnie Mouse doll she bought pose by the lake.


Awesome waterfall at the hotel swimming pool.


Em and Minnie at the hotel playground. (It was super hot, so we didn't play much. Though we did enjoy the lovely heated pool this morning. Awesome!)


Em took this photo of DH and I just before we left the hotel.

Lovely, lovely weekend! And I'm feeling much less stressed...let's hope it lasts! :)

Random Ruminitions

School: I'm having a rough back-to-school start this year. I have two classes that are outstanding. But I still have one large class that is over the capacity of 21 students, where Intensive Reading classes are supposed to "cap." The large class is a daily frustration, as it is impossible for me to have every student on the software for 20 minutes, as my curriculum program requires. Due to only having 7 student computers in my room, there are not enough minutes in the class block, nor computers for 30 students to rotate to. (Read180 is supposed to cap at 21 so we can "rotate" with 3 blocks of 7 or less students.) I have 30. It is SO frustrating! The needs of my students are not being met. I have sent multiple messages to my principal and vice principal, who both assure me they're "working on it." Next week is the FIFTH week of school. What the heck is taking so long? I don't understand why my class size has not been lessened. (Both of my morning classes have less than 21 students, so all that needs to be done is to create schedule changes for some afternoon students in order to move them into one of my smaller classes.) UGH!

--I've been thinking about calling the Teacher's Union. But I don't want to "stir the pot" and cause negativity between my administrators and I.

--In addition, our new reading teacher only lasted four days. She turned in her resignation. I've spent MANY planning periods helping the substitute in that classroom complete district required testing with the students. I am frustrated...I have had minimal "ME" time this year, because as department head I've been repeatedly asked to help others. UGH again.

Emma: My sweet girl turned 5 this week! Wow! The time goes so quickly. Things I love about my sweetie...
--She LOVES tracing letters. She's been working on lowercase letters, as she has been able to free hand all of her uppercase letters for a while now.
--She LOVES drawing. Recently she has been drawing small "U" shapes on the clothing of people she draws. She informed us that these are "pockets." I had to giggle...the first day of school, her teacher asked the students to draw a picture of themselves. Emma drew herself in a dress---with 2 pockets. The teacher asked me, "Are these boobs?" ROFL! No. My 5 year old doesn't think she has large breasts, she just thinks it would be cool to have pockets on everything she wears.
--Swinging. My girl loves it. She mastered the art of pumping her legs in and out in and out last summer. This year I can't believe how high she can swing. SO fun!
--She scored a 20/20 on screening given to all 4/5 year olds at her school. The screening indicates Emma has "mastered pre-reading skills...such as print knowledge and phonological awareness." YEA! Her teacher has already told us that when she divides the class into "reading" groups in November, Emma will be in the group with students who are learning to read.
--Manners: I love that she (usually) has manners when it matters most. When we went to C.racker B.arrell for dinner last night, a man held the door open for us. She looked right at him and said, "Thank you, Sir" with no prompting. Smiles. Then she said "Excuse me ma'am, can I have some cake please?" to the waitress...again without prompting. LOVE it.
--By the way, last night was Em's first experience with restaurant workers clapping/singing for her birthday. She was a little bashful and dumbfounded at first, but was grinning by the end of their song.


Gifts:
--THANK YOU FAMILY!
--My parents sent a package including many goodies. Em LOVED the SuperGirl outfit my Mom bought. (See pics below.) (This may be her Halloween costume, we're not sure yet.)
--My sister Laurel sent a package as well. Em has been playing with the Kelley and Stacey dolls (a "teen size" and "kid size" B.arbie) every spare second she can.
--We arrived home yesterday to a card on our door from Nana and Papa (DH's parents.) Em was thrilled to see money in the card, and was even more excited to have spending money for our weekend...

Weekend Getaway: As we use nearly all of DH's vacation time during the summer in Ohio with my family (and some of DH's extended family,) we don't really "vacation" with just Emma, DH, and I. Thus we try to venture to Orlando once or twice a year, especially when we're able to get post-summer Florida resident discounts. This weekend we'll be going to visit the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. Em was super excited when she found out her "big" birthday present from us will be eating lunch with the princesses in Cinderella's Castle tomorrow. She can't wait!

--I ordered a (free) Disney World vacation planning DVD, which Em enjoys watching. In the DVD, the narrator states, "At Disney World, the princesses are real..." Em was thrilled by this. She knows that Mickey and the other costumed characters are "just somebody dressed up." But the DVD confirmed her belief that the princesses are REAL. She was amazed by this. Unless she asks me directly, I'm not going to correct her. And since she runs to and hugs the princesses, but continues to be petrified of large costumed characters, why adjust her thinking just yet?

--I took the day off today. DH is off at 3. So, I'll head to pick Em up from pre-school at 2:30, then we'll pick up DH and head to Orlando. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics on Sunday.
:)

Pics of my Super Girl:

Birthday Pics

I forgot to post my 2 fav pics from Em's birthday.