Photo Shoot, Dec 2008

Here is a link to our family photo shoot we did in late December.

http://www.hightowerphotography.com/Pech.html

Kim was great and she's done quite a few shoots for our friend Danielle. So we decided to go with her services - which we REALLY loved. Even though Jaina was not cooperative, as you'll see in some of the photos, we had a blast. It's the first professional photos we've had done as a family and the first photos Kevin and I have had together since we got married!

NYE 2008-09

Wow, I can't believe it's New Year's Eve already! What a year it's been. I started off 2008 working (teaching) part time at Red Rocks CC and at New America, but I'm finishing 2008 as a FULL TIME teacher at ACE/Community Challenge School. I LOVE my job - I know not many people can say that. Even though my kids are classified as "high risk," I know that I can help them overcome some of the educational obsticles that they've encountered. I know that I am making a difference, especially when I had at least 6 kids out of every one of my classes ask, "Are you coming back in January?" That makes me feel really good.

To top it off, I added an endorsement program onto my current MA program (which is Reading & Writing) - this program will allow me to add Special Ed (SPED) onto my MA and have a dual MA. It'd only take an extra couple of semesters while I'm currently in school. This works out great because our current SPED teacher, Joe, is leaving and I'll be taking his place. This way the kids already know me and don't have to worry about some "unknown off the street" teacher coming in.

Kevin picked up a project car (the Volvo) and then he decided to go back to school too. I'm SO proud of him, he pulled off a 4.0 his first semester! :) I do try to let him go out and play paintball or just have a "free day" when we can afford it. Plus, his contract at work was renewed for another 5 years as of August 1. YAY!

Then there is Jaina. She started off 2008 as a "just turned 2-year-old" and is finishing off 2008 as a "just turned 3-year-old." Whoever said there were the Terrible 2's was full of it! I think the 3's so far are harder....at least with Jaina. She's a VERY stubborn kid - I wonder where she gets it?! - and has such a mind of her own. I hear "I'll do it myself" at least a dozen times a day. But her imagination is running wild and I know she is learning so much more at daycare (which she loves) than I can even think about. I can't wait to see what 2009 brings for us.

I know what is in the works - so far - for 2009:
-more schooling for Kevin & I
-potty training *cringe*
-trip to Grand Junction at least twice...March weather permitting & one huge gathering in early June
-we want to try to go to Montana
-Ohio trip in late June
-Kevin and I's 10 year wedding anniversary...I think we may try to go to Las Vegas

How quickly time flies

Jaina is turning 3 on Thursday (the 18th) and I am still so amazed how quickly this has happened. Looking at pictures even from a few months ago, she still had some baby fat and pudgy cheeks. Now, she's starting to get taller (even more so!) and her face is now "leaning out" and starting to elongage. I think, "what has happened to my baby girl" but I am starting to see the adorable little girl she is becoming.

Her imagination is astounding and she makes up the funniest things on a daily basis. She loves Dora, Diego, the WonderPets, and anything else on Nick Jr. or Noggin. Her imagination runs wild, and I know she is very creative. She loves to "read" her favorite books to us and "play"t he piano - which she does pretty darn well! - and she surprised the heck out of me when she counted up to 5 in Spanish - something I haven't taught her! Plus, anytime she can be outside, she's happy. She got a great snow suit set from G-ma & G-pa Rohn that she just LOVES. We went outside on Sunday when it was cold & snowy and she was nice and warm. Probably would have stayed out there all day, but 15-degree weather was NOT the funnest for adults!

Life catch up

Well...it's been a while since I've written anything on here!

What's all happened in the past few months:
- I finished up my 1st semester of grad school in May with a 4.0 GPA!

- I finished my first year of part time teaching in June

- Two weeks before this, I got hired on at a new school full time, and I started 07/14/08. It's in a new district, is a small charter school, the same student population I'd been teaching (at-risk kids), a great salary, and I have awesome coworkers! It's a year round school, so I've got breaks in where "traditional" schools would not.

- July 4th weekend Jaina and I went up to Grand Junction to see family. We spent a long weekend (Thurs-Mon) in both GJ and Delta and had a blast!

- Kevin bought a car from Uncle John Barry...his 1965 Volvo 1800 coupe that's been sitting in the garage for so many years. Now we've got a project car!

- Kevin started school at Red Rocks CC in August for an Associate's in Video Game Design and he's VERY excited!

- Kev also got his locksmith contract renewed for another 5 years!!

- Jaina is back at the same daycare she's been at since January 08 and loves it. This time, she's 5 days a week instead of 2 days.

- We're working on potty training... a very slow process!

- Jaina's also a typical toddler..."I'll do it myself" is a familiar refrain. BUT, she does sleep in a toddler bed every night and has since March!

2 minutes of fame

I get a call yesterday afternoon from the Better Business Bureau yesterday. My immediate thought was, "What did I DO?". Well, here's the story:

I signed up for a weight loss study through a company in December 2006 as advertised through the "Backpage" - an online classifieds in Denver. This study was for "Metacor Labs - Progenics Inc". It is eerily familiar to a current Evaril II study (that's currently ON the Backpage) in wording, contact sheet, and asking for a deposit & such.

In a nutshell, I was to send a $144 deposit which would be returned, along with a $319 monthly stipend after the first month materials were consumed & paperwork sent in. I signed up and promptly received my first month supply of the weight loss "drugs". My deposit was not cashed until 1/10/07. I sent my first month's paperwork back on 1/26/07 and as of my last contact with a Mr. Jack Edwards on 2/8/07, I did not receive my 2nd month supply nor my deposit back as promised. The e-mail I received on 2/8/07 promised that, "Consideration is being given to the possibility of closing the study cohort in which you are enrolled. If this happens, you will receive a return of your deposit. If not, you will receive your package and all else. I will let you know when I find out myself." This is verbatim and in writing.

After sending tons e-mails and getting no response, I sent this to the BBB in April 07 and they could not get ahold of anyone at this place, which had a PO box in Denver for their address, so they disregarded my "case". If you search the BBB in Denver, you'll find info about Metacor/Progenics in there, and the information is not very flattering!

Well...the lady who called yesterday from the BBB said that BBB's across the US had a rash of weight loss scams (this being one of them), and they wanted to know if I had heard anything from the company. When I said "no", I was asked if I'd be interested in talking to the news media about my experience. I immediately said, "Of course, why not!". Within 20 minutes - NO B.S.! - I got a call from one of our Channel 9 news reporters, and they showed up at 4:30 yesterday afternoon! I was on the 9 and 10pm news shows! Jaina was running around through the shots & stuff the whole time...which they thought was cute since I am a SAHM and all.

So - here's a link to the article and video segment from 9news.com:

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=84068

Teaching Job

I got a teaching job last week and my first night was last night! I survived and I can't wait to go back tomorrow!

I found a local charter school within our district (Jeffco) who was looking for a part time, night, teacher for Language Arts. What did I have to lose, so I applied. I went through the inital interview and was offered the position two weeks ago. It's only part time - 7:30pm - 10pm Mon and Wed, but it's still teaching and I'm in the district I want to be! Plus, I can still be home with Jaina as well as go get to teach.

Last night was pretty easy, I think, and I've got free reign over what the class does since it's a newly incepted program within the school. I hope they'll keep me for next term (Jan-June) and it may work out that I'll be there next year too!

Halloween!

This year was the first year Jaina got to go trick-or-treating. She was an Ewok from Star Wars, and everyone loved her costume!

She was an Ewok from Star Wars, and everyone loved her costume!We only hit 5 houses - 3 of our neighbors, Kevin's parents, and their neighbors we know really well. At the first house, Jaina took one piece of candy and was ready to go. But, when we got to the second neighbors house, she had the drill figured out - candy gets put in the basket! :) By the time we got to Grandma & Grandpa's house, she started taking G'ma & G'pa's candy bowl and putting all the candy for THEIR trick-or-treaters and putting it into HER bucket!

Our new arrival

We got a kitten just about a month ago! Her name is Mai Tai (like the drink), but it originally was Mei Mei, which is Chinese for "baby sister." This also fits because she's the baby of all the kids!

She's still very tiny, but not afraid to hold her own with the kids and the other 2 cats in the house!

Gearing up for insanity...

I'm heading into my "sophomore" go-round for NaNoWriMo...this will be the 2nd year that I'll attempt to complete a NaNo novel. The overall goal is to write a 50,000 word story in 30 days.

So begins my planning stage...I'll start 11/1 with bells on (or maybe just loaded up w/ Halloween candy! :)

Here's more info from their website:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved. Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down. As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel.

Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and -- when the thing is done -- the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children. In 2005, we had over 59,000 participants. Nearly 10,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

So, to recap:
What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: Sign-ups begin October 1, 2006. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

The stuff we find in our yard

With the nice weather we've been having, our weekends have been trying to accomplish some much needed yard work. We trimmed the front bushes a bit and cleaned up the flower beds from overgrown weediness. Still, more is needed, but isn't that the way lawn/yard work is?

Last Saturday (the 18th), Kevin found a garden (garter) snake in the peony bushes. He (it?) was not kept either, but set free.


The "Snake Wranglers!" And yes, Josh is wearing a beanie in 90-degree weather! :)

And, we found a 10 to 11-inch long earthworm and it was not stretched out at all. It was the Nightcrawler to end all Nightcrawlers!

Vacation picts

Here are some picts from our trip to Grand Junction for my Grandpa's birthday. Kevin couldn't come due to work, so it was just Jaina and I. We had fun visiting with everyone and made a trip to Delta to see Aunt Lorraine and Grandma/Great-Grandma Violet. Jaina loved seeing everyone and playing with her cousins; her cousin Madeline just turned 2 in June, and our other cousin, Emily is 9. All the girls liked playing together. We even went to the Dinosaur Museum in Fruita, CO on Saturday morning with Ryan, Tanya, Caleb, Tristen, Jacob, and Emily!

Coloring at Aunt Lorraine's house

Playing in the garden

Sitting with the cousins - these are all great-grandkids (except the oldest girl, Emily)

L-R: Tristen, Madeline, Caleb, Emily, Jacob, Jaina (in front) Just being cute!
Madeline (L) and Jaina (R) blowing bubbles

A description of my job...

JOB DESCRIPTION: Long term team players needed for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES: For the rest of your life...
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION: Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: None required, unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION: You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS: While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

TEDDY Study

We had another TEDDY visit on Monday...which is how I know Jaina's height & weight already! What is this "TEDDY visit" you ask? Well...here's the low-down.

When Jaina was born, the hospital asked if we wanted to have her cord blood run through some genetic tests. The tests were for like 6 or 7 different things, one being Type 1 Diabetes. We said, "Sure," since diabetes & such runs on both sides of the family. Well, we got a telephone call and letter about 6 weeks or so after Jaina was born saying that she's got the higer risk genes to possibly develop T1D in the future and we were offered to participate in The TEDDY Study.

TEDDY Stands for The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young. We're doing our study through the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. It's all free and the child is monitored up to the age of 15. Plus, we get small monetary compensation and we got free coupons for packs of diapers! They do small blood draws every 3 months, monthly stool samples - which parents collect , water samples, 3-day food diaries, and even toenail clippings. Not sure what they do w/ the toenails...

Here's the basics: What Is TEDDY? The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) consortium is a network of centers with a mission to organize international efforts to identify infectious agents, dietary factors, or other environmental factors, which trigger type 1 diabetes in genetically susceptible people. TEDDY Objectives The primary aim of TEDDY is to identify infectious agents, dietary factors, or other environmental factors including psychosocial events, which may trigger type 1 diabetes in genetically susceptible people. Other aims include creating a central repository with data and biological samples for use by the scientific community, developing novel approaches to identifying infectious pathogens, dietary factors or other environmental influences that may contribute to the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes and developing a better understanding of disease pathogenesis and new strategies to prevent, delay and reverse type 1 diabetes.

The TEDDY Study is an international research study to discover genes and environmental exposures that may cause type 1 diabetes. There are 6 centers in the U.S. and Europe. The TEDDY study has two stages: TEDDY I The initial screening for the genetic risk to develop type 1 diabetes is either from a) a heel stick at the same time as the state mandated newborn screening or b) a heel stick performed by the pediatrician or the parent. ***for ours, they took a sample of her cord blood*** TEDDY II Babies who are found to be at a high genetic risk to develop type 1 diabetes in the future are eligible to enroll in TEDDY II. TEDDY II will closely examine the child’s environmental risk factors.

TEDDY Sites: - Medical College of Georgia is the lead site for seven hospitals, - Including MCG Medical Center, University Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital in Augusta - Northside Hospital in Atlanta - three hospitals in Gainesville, Fla (sorry, no names) - Barbara Davis Center at the University of Colorado (which is where we go) - Pacific Northwest Research Institute in Seattle - University of Turku in Finland - Lund University in Sweden - Diabetes Research Institute in Munich, Germany - Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida is analyzing the extensive data collected by study sites as they enroll participants over the next four years.

Jaina is now 18 months old and is turning into Miss Independent. Otherwise known as "I'll do it myself"! :)

She's got her 18 month doctor visit/checkup tomorrow but she's already been weighed & measured - 25.8 pounds, 32 and 1/2 inches tall! She's getting into everything and has figured out the joys of ketchup, ranch, or anything else to "dip". Plus, she can now climb up onto the kitchen chairs to reach the table. Look out world! She had her first ear infection a few weeks ago and we ended up going to the ENT for a consult because she had an allergic reaction to the Amoxicillin they gave her.

I'm still babysitting Bradyen, the little guy I started watching in March. He just turned 1 and he and Jaina get along great... or as great as 2 toddlers can! I've gotten some strange looks when I'm out and about with them. The doctor's office asked me "how old are your kids" and when I told them "just turned 1 and 18 months," they looked at me really funny...so I had to explain that Brayden is my "loaner-kid" and I get to give him back at the end of the day. Now if I could only teach them to share... :)

Some new picts

Jaina pictures from the last few weeks!
Swimming in the pool!
At the zoo

Colander hat!

An update.

Yes I know it's been a while since I've written. I've been hellaciously busy with watching Jaina and Brayden, plus doing house work. :)

Trying to decide what I want to be when I "grow up"- like that's gonna happen - the growing up part at least! :) Got accepted to DU for grad school this fall, but tuition is upwards of $30,000! Not sure I want to go into debt for that much a year for the next 3 or so years it'll take me to get my MA. Plunking around the idea of a 2nd BA in History - that way I can teach English and/or history. Make myself more marketable to future employers when I start looking for a teaching gig in the next year or 2. Decisions decisions.

Also - been cleaning our house, getting yard work done and such. Kev's best friend is moving in w/ us b/c he's getting divorced and is hurtin broke. So we're doing some major cleaning & painting, and some minor remodeling - bathroom & building a wall for a 2nd bedroom. I love Josh like a brother and he's girly's god-father. So I'm more than happy to help him out. He'll be moving in come July, if not before then.

Spring is here

Gotta love spring in Colorado. One weekend it's gorgeous and sunny, 2 days later it's raining, snowing, and all matters of gunky weather!

Here are a few pictures from Easter weekend. Kevin smoked off some pork chops (which were yummy!) while it snowed! :)

I got in!

I got my acceptance letter for DU last Friday!!!

Classes start Sept 10 and I was even offered a $5k scholarship for the school year (3 quarters - fall, winter, spring). Just waiting to now hear how much $$ I'll get from Financial Aid! Now I need to send in my deposit and wait for the rest of my registration materials to arrive!

Excited and hopeful!

I had my grad school interview yesterday with DU (University of Denver) for the MLIS program. This is the Master's of Library & Information Sciences. I'm thinking of going for my School Library Media or Archives & Records Management. Either one, plus my teaching degree, will be a great asset to when I get a teaching job. I THINK I did alright...there were about 50-60 of us who were there interviewing, but we were told that, "You're the top of the applicants and this is basically who's coming into the college next fall." Hmmmm...I think that's promising! I should hear back from the interview committee by the first of April. Until then, I'll be on pins & needles! :)

And...

I have 2 job interviews next week!

One is internally w/ the company I work for and it'd be doing curriculum development. Still working from home, but about 40 hrs/week, plus benefits, etc. That'd be good, still working from home and being in the educational aspect instead of solely on the customer service end. The only part I'm not sure about is that I don't know HTML that well and that's what the majority of the curriculum is developed in/with. It'd be interesting, working from home full time instead of just part time. But no commuting or worrying about crappy weather!

The other interview is in Commerce City (about 25 mins away) and is for the 1st charter school for the Adams-14 School District. I'd spoken w/ the principal in January but they were, at the time, looking for someone to start work - oh - yesterday! I saw they re-posted their ad for 2007-08 teachers so I re-submitted my info and talked to the principal for a good 30 minutes! It'd be teaching either 6th, 7th, or 8th grade (probably 7th), some "across the board" classes like reading & math (eek!) but they operate on the Core Knowledge Foundation teachings so I'd be helped w/ lesson plans & such.

The only down side to either job is the inevitable - daycare. I'm not going to put Jaina in a "baby farm" like Kinder Care or the like (as Kevin calls them) because I wouldn't feel she'd get the attention she needs. But I've got a few prospects for what to do with her...I'm just going to play everything by ear and see what happens.

Loss

Sadly a member of our family close to us - Jaina especially - was lost last night. It was "Wooly", Jaina's tag blanket. She's had it since she was about 5 months old and has been inseparable from "him". We were in Wal-Mart last night and just puttering around. Getting ready to check out and I said, "Where's the blanket?" So we backtracked the WHOLE store and no blanket, even at the customer service desk. Thankfully, they have the fabric section, so I grabbed new fabric, fluffy fleece & ribbon and whipped up a "Wooly - Version 2.0" last night! Got enough fabric to do about 5 more! :)

(Wooly - the original!)