Life Lately

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a life update with you all, and even now that I’m finally sitting down to write this, so much has happened, that I’m not even sure where to begin…but here we go!

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Big news first….we finally closed on our forever house at the end of April and have spent the last few weeks getting ready to move in! We ordered all new appliances, have been painting all the bedrooms and bathrooms, and hired someone to paint everything else, because we know our limits…. This house is MUCH bigger than our previous house back in Illinois so we had to order more furniture to be able to furnish all the rooms, so our garage is currently filled with boxes of furniture that Steve has to put together….and he’s super excited about it. We had both PODS delivered and had movers unload everything as best as they could…because everything is still covered inside from the painter. Needless to say, it’s been a cluster…but the painter is assuring us he will finally be done in the next couple of days, so our goal is to be fully moved in by this weekend…fingers crossed!

Liz

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I’m finishing up the school year next week and am so thankful that I ended up getting hired when I did. It gave me a chance to ease in to a new district, school, and state without being completely overwhelmed. I’m finishing out the year updating 40 IEPs and passing on all my files to the next case manager. Next year, I will be moving back into an instructional coaching position and I’m so excited to get started! Over the summer, I will presenting PDs for the staff around book clubs, Lucy Calkins writing, and co-teaching! I can’t tell you how good it feels to be getting back to what I know and love!

I’ve also finished up my GATE endorsement classes and will be continuing to complete my Educational Leadership degree. If I stay on track with my plan, I should be completely done with it by May 2022 and then will hopefully move into an admin position in my district.

I’m still working on my blog and have had some pretty cool opportunities come from it; the most recent, I got offered a position writing for We Need Diverse Books and will be interviewing some of my favorite authors!

Steve

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Steve has still be working from home everyday since no one is really back in the office yet. However, our county has a 65% vaccination rate so he just got an email that everyone will need to report back to the office in July. From there, they will be putting together some type of hybrid work schedule, so he will be able to still work from home part of the week.

He’s really been the champ of the family over the past few months as he’s been shuffling the kids back and forth from school each day, attending soccer practices, running to the new house to meet various deliveries, doing the grocery shopping, and still managing to get his work done. #superdad

Mason

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Mason is still his typical self: full of energy and ready to play all the time! He’s finishing up kindergarten and will be attending 15 extra school mornings into June with his same teacher as part of New Mexico’s program to try and gain some of the learning back due to the pandemic. In the afternoons, he’ll be attending Art Camp, and other fun clubs sponsored by various teachers in our district.

We registered him for a Ninja class back in January and he’s been going every week since then! He absolutely looks forward to Saturdays every week so he can go and work on his “ninja skills”. Best part…we can just drop him off and leave for an hour! He’s also wrapping up his first soccer season this week with the Los Alamos soccer league. He’s really enjoyed it and LOVES soccer games. He’s usually out there running around for a full hour and then collapses into the car with bright red cheeks. We’re already looking forward to the next season!

Zoey

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Zoey hasn’t changed at all. She’s still the same sassy self that she has been…just with a cute haircut now. She’s finishing up at her daycare next week and then will be home with me this summer. She actually got picked in the random lottery for the pre-kindergarten in our school district, so she won’t be returning to daycare next year; she’ll now get to go to Mason’s elementary school with him everyday (and we won’t be paying daycare tuition anymore!!!)

We enrolled her in dance a couple months ago and she LOVES it! She so looks forward to her dance class with Miss Tara each week and she’ll continue that throughout the summer. Seriously, she loves it. Sometimes we’re just casually just hanging out at home, and she’ll yell out “arabesque!” and then will demonstrate how to do it. So stinkin’ cute!

Zoey’s also developed a love for her scooter. There’s a skate park in town with some pretty big ramps, and she begs us to take her there so she can scoot around. This girl has no fear. She straps on her helmet and flies down those ramps. I love that one minute she’s in a tutu, and the very next, she’s got on elbow pads ready for anything!

So I think those are the highlights….come visit us anytime! We have lots of space in our new house and would love to show you around this little mountain town that’s stole our hearts!