A Sad Good-Bye

I originally meant to type this post back in May... just now getting around to it, but it seems more fitting to write it now. Today was the first day that the kids came back to school. This was one of my favorite days as a teacher--seeing their little faces. After labeling a bajillion things, I finally got to put a face with a name. It's also exciting to go back and to see all of my friends who I hadn't seen over the summer...

I'm beyond excited to be starting a new chapter in my life--but I'm also sad to be closing the door on this chapter. Although I plan to teach again--I don't know what grade I will get and I'm pretty sure it won't be at Oakland Park. Oakland Park has been a 2nd home to me for the last 5 years. I've made amazing friends who have made a huge difference in my life both professionally and personally. These friends helped me learn the ropes at my first teaching job. They were there through the births of my 3 children. We've laughed, been frustrated (and sometimes angry), laughed, cried a little, and laughed. I couldn't have asked for a better experience to begin my teaching career.

I will miss the school, I will miss the parents, I will dearly miss my co-workers, but most of all--I will miss the kids. Those Kindergarten children were my reason to go to work every day. My job wasn't always easy, but it was guaranteed that I would be giving and receiving LOTS of love each day.

I loved knowing that God was using my talents to make a difference. I feel like I am giving up a piece of who I am, but I know that being a teacher didn't give me value in God's eyes, nor does being a stay-at-home-mom. I am valuable to him because HE created me. HE blessed me with my job at OP and HE has now blessed me with the opportunity to stay home with my children during this season of our life. I am so excited to see what else HE has in store for me!

I'm sure that I will continue to experience sad reminders... like seeing the school supplies in Wal-Mart, or meeting an OP kindergartner at Marc's softball game, or seeing past students in the grocery store, or seeing the crossing guard out my window... but for now I find peace knowing that I am exactly where God wants me to be--and there's no place better!

Loving the Long Weekend...

I have to start with apologies... NO PICTURES for this post. I left my camera at school over the weekend--and just to let you know how crazy my classroom was, I went back to get my camera when I was getting ready to put Macey in her swimsuit for the first time and I didn't see it anywhere so I assumed that it really was in my school bag where I had already checked once! Anyway, feel free to skip this post if you really only like the pictures. I just needed to record for myself.

I was really looking forward to this weekend because I've been very drained both physically and emotionally. Marc hasn't had a day off for awhile so we were ready to relax and enjoy each other.

FRIDAY: I woke up in a bad mood (subconsciously) on Friday morning. It was my last day in my classroom with kids and even with the rotten behavior I've been dealing with for a solid month, I was dreading telling them good-bye. It's always hard, but this year was especially hard knowing it will be my last for awhile (and maybe my last ever in Kindergarten!) My kids have been swimming every day this past week at their baby sitter's (she has a big pool and a little splash pool) and I had yet to go with them so when she brought me Sadie at the end of the school day and suggested I come swimming I thought it was a perfect idea. Sadie is getting very brave in the water and trying to swim without her floaties, Kinnick loves the water, and Macey looks so cute in her swimsuit and hat--there will be pics soon (she just floated on a big inner tube). Friday night I was so tired (and dealing with a cold/sore throat) that I feel asleep on the couch at 8:30.

SATURDAY: Marc had to work Saturday morning and we were getting ready to show our house at 2, so I spent most of the morning cleaning. When you're used to dragging your kids out of bed most every morning, any morning that includes letting them sleep in and plenty of snuggle time is a great one. We managed to squeeze in a walk to the park during our morning of cleaning and laundry. Although it was hectic to get our house ready to show (especially after a crazy long week at school) it was worth it to have a clean house to enjoy for the rest of the weekend. I played outside with Sadie & Kinnick while Marc showed the house and Macey napped.

Next, we were off to the carnival... Sadie was really looking forward to this, we had been talking about for a couple days. I had to reminisce when we put Kinnick and Macey in the double stroller--just last year at this time, Kinnick was the baby and Sadie was the big girl... my little boy is growing up so fast! We had a great time taking the kids on some rides. Sadie's favorite was the "dragon" roller coaster--I got to ride with her. She loved waving at Daddy and Kinnick every time we went past them. Kinnick loved the super slide. Marc and I each took him once. I thought he might be scared, but he just giggled. I think we have a couple of thrill seekers! We also enjoyed watching both of them jump in the bouncy house together! Of course our trip wasn't complete without a lemonade shake-up, kettle corn, and cotton candy (Sadie's favorite!)

It was so hot that we decided we all needed a swim. One of Kinnick's favorite tricks is to grab our sunglasses and throw them into the water--he got a big kick out of this. After swimming for about an hour, we ordered pizza and watched some "Life" before bed. Sadie enjoys it but it's hard to watch with her because she will NOT stop talking!

SUNDAY: Sunday was a relaxing day... We went to early church so we could get the kids down for an early nap. We had a surprise party to go to in the afternoon. The kids got to play with their friends while we got some time to visit with our friends. Sunday night we walked to time-out to get ice cream. Sadie had a big debate while we were walking about whether she would get a slushie or bubblegum ice cream... oh the decisions of a 3 year old!

MONDAY: Our big plan Monday was to buy and plant flowers and then cook out with our friends. Our flower planting was postponed due to the rain, luckily it cleared up for our cookout! Sadie was very disappointed about not getting flowers. Every time it stopped raining she would say "Can we go now?" We started our day with a big breakfast--I love being in the kitchen with Marc--he's a very good cook! After we had breakfast cleaned up, we pretty much started on our cookout food. I love being in the kitchen and entertaining, so it was fun to spend most of the day doing such (and have Marc home to help oversee the "helpers"). Marc grilled bbq ribs and made homemade ice cream--it was very yummy. Our friends Liz & Ryan came over to spend the evening with us. We played a game of bags that seemed to last hours (kids will do that!) It was such a fun night.

Before writing this post, I just got done reading my friend Mailee's post about their 3-day weekend. I totally agree with her thoughts of how a weekend like this makes you feel like you're missing so much with your kids on a daily basis. I'm so thankful for my family and thankful that we were able to spend this memorial day weekend together!

Happy Valentine's Day

When I woke up today, I was initially bummed that I was having no signs of a baby coming (I really didn't want to go back to work tomorrow and had pretty much convinced myself that it would be today!) However, I'm very glad that I got to spend today with my family! God is showing me contentment and reminding me to cherish all the memories we are making before this little guy or girl arrives. I'm trying to take advantage of all the extra energy I have right now (which includes not being able to sleep in in the mornings!) I cleaned all day yesterday and today I got up early to make a special Valentine breakfast. When we were getting ready for church, Sadie requested swimming at the Y; so after naps she and I went for a swim and had a great time. I'm glad I got to really enjoy my family this weekend... and for now I am patiently waiting to meet this little baby!

My two little valentines...

Our breakfast--red heart shaped pancakes (w/ valentine m&m's and sprinkles!) and a special raspberry drink. Sadie was very excited to use fancy glasses. (Marc sent me these tulips at school a week and a half ago--he wanted to make sure I got to enjoy them just in case!)

Sadie loves to take pictures with my camera--she's becoming quite the little photographer!

Kinnick has recently discovered suckers and is a HUGE fan!

Sadie was very excited about her Fancy "Dancy" book (as she calls them).

Sadie enjoying a cupcake at my school party... It was a little sad and exciting to know that this was my last Kindergarten party until I get to do it as a room mom!

We had fun making valentines together. We made cards for Sadie's friends at church and her friends at Miss. Jennifer's. We also had to make cards for her "friends" Madison & Carson. After that she thought we needed to use up the rest of the cards and wanted to make them for Elyma and Eba (sp?) Thankfully, I convinced her that we didn't have to use all of the cards!

We invited Mikenna to my classroom one day and made cards to mail... The girls had a blast and Kinnick made a huge mess!

8 Month Belly

I'm posting a week late but this picture was taken last Sunday when I was exactly one month from my due date! In the last few weeks, I will have to admit that I've become more uncomfortable. I'm having lots of cramps and starting to feel lots of pressure. People keep asking me if I think the baby is coming early--my gut instict is that it will be the week of my due date (before or after!) At my apointment on Tuesday I was 2 cm, but that really doesn't tell me much because I was the same with Kinnick.

I don't know when the baby is coming, but I do know:

• This baby feels like it is going to pop out of my stomach! I can feel his/her little feet and little bottom pushing in and out all the time.
• I've been SUPER emotional (Marc would probably say this is an understatement!) I've cried tears of pain, tears of joy, tears of frustration, tears of anger, tears of excitement, tears of exhaustion... basically I cry A LOT. (Just an example, yesterday I was changing the toilet paper and dropped a brand new roll in the toliet--I cried.)
• I've been completely overwhelemed when I think about our growing family and I've experienced times of amazing peace.
• I feel that after making it through the craziness of the Holidays, I've been able to achieve a lot more balance in my life. Granted, this will all change again, but I'll work through it!
• I am feeling very prepared at school... I have my next three weeks planned out with all of my materials prepared and organized. I have 7 weeks of maternity plans outlined with a lot of the materials already prepped. I've met with my sub a few times and she plans to join us for two 1/2 days next week.
• Home on the other hand, feels a bit more unprepared. Today included major cleaning of the upstairs. I still need to work downstairs, freeze a few meals, wash up some boy and girl baby stuff, clean the carseat, pack my suitcase... Marc keeps assuring me if we don't get it all done, the baby will be fine. We already have a gigantic box of diapers and a place for the baby to sleep, so I guess that covers the basics.
  

Boy or Girl? Marc and I both had the day off last Monday so we had a date day and picked out a "coming home" outfit and a baby book. Sadie keeps assuring me that the baby is a boy and I can have the boy outfit. However, the baby in her tummy is a girl, so she will take the girl outfit... I'm super excited to find out! Marc and I are both thinking boy, but maybe that's because we still don't have a girl's name.

My sister-in-law got me this new sling for my birthday. I'm very excited to use it with the new baby. Kinnick has been enjoying it so far. Sometimes when I'm working in the kitchen, he just wants to be right with me, so it works well.

Sadie loves to feel the baby kicking and to give her/him hugs and kisses!

7 Month Belly

I feel like lately I've been too busy living my life to blog about it! This picture was taken a week before Christmas when I was exactly 7 months pregnant... hard to believe that in less than two weeks I'll be posting an 8 month picture! I felt like having two weeks off from work would give me some time to blog, but here I am the night before going back trying to get caught up.

I'm still feeling pretty good--it's been great to have time off work and I'm looking forward (immensely) to my maternity leave. I'm looking forward even more to the end of the school year. It seems now that the end is in sight--6.5 weeks (give or take a little) until baby comes then 8 weeks to finish out the year after spring break. I know that these next 6 weeks will be very hard and that the final 8 weeks will be even harder, but I think I can do it.

I just saw some pics on my camera of my school kids and it made me look forward (a little) to seeing them tomorrow. I'm certainly past the "fun, cute" stage of pregnancy and into the "feeling ginormous" stage! Sleeping is getting a bit more uncomfortable and I feel like I'm going to the bathroom every 5 minutes. It's also getting harder on me to pick up Kinnick and especially Sadie. One thing is for certain--I'm really trying to treasure this pregnancy knowing that it might be our last (although not for sure!) I love feeling my little guy or girl kicking around and can't wait to meet him or her!

PS--Still no name picked out for a girl... we're open to suggestions!

Kindergarten Sayings...

It's pretty much a guarantee that I'm laughing at something everyday in Kindergarten... I guess that helps relieve some of the stress that comes with the job. These are some of my favorite sayings from this year... I've tried to jot things down that I find especially funny!

• We did a study on Antarctica and students were listing winter clothing... "Don't forget your ear muffins!"
• As we were listing the seven continents a very excited hand popped up "Europe rhymes with syrup!" "Yes, yes it does..."
• When we studied Abraham Lincoln, we talked about how he worked in a general store. I compared it to a grocery store. Later as we listed facts about Lincoln, one student said "He worked at Kroger."
• Overheard one student saying to another--"My mom makes us drink soda, buy my dad really likes to drink beard."
• Each day we do "Daily Fix-its" to practice sentence conventions. The students really like doing these--one day a student was begging me to do "Daisy fix-its."
• Overheard a conversation between two students--"Hey, you know that big boat the Titanic? The one in the movie? My Mom told me that it's really for real and it really crashed!"
• My favorite responses to the question-What would you do if the cat in the hat came to visit your house? "I would punch him." "I would take him to watch Monster Jams." (I loved these responses b/c they matched their little personalities perfectly!)
• A recent conversation with a student in regards to the swine flue... "Mrs. Gorsch my Mom told me something VERY important last night." "What's that?" "If someone coughs on me I could die!"

I could go on, but I will spare you the alternate meanings of corn dogs, chicken nuggets, and donkey kong... Never a dull moment!

Back to School

Today was my first day back to school after spring break. (I was off for 10 days!) I was dreading going back for many reasons... 1-I've enjoyed being home with my kids. 2-Sadie's not much of a morning person and she's been pretty clingy the last several days. Getting her up in the morning is not fun. 3-Kinnick has pushed back his early morning feeding from 4:30/5:30 to 7:00 or later. Although this is great when I'm home (and on weekends), it does not work out as well for my morning routine on work days. 4-I was pretty nervous about how our morning would work with potty training--I usually have to fight Sadie to get dressed, sitting on the potty would just be another task and I didn't want her to pee in the car on the way to the sitter's.

I'm pleased to say that even though I was a few minutes late to school, this morning was GREAT... I was able to fit in some reading time as I nursed Kinnick later than normal, I got to enjoy the kids snuggling in Sadie's bed together--I absolutely love watching the interact!, and Sadie went potty! I am now counting the days until summer (34 to be exact!)

Why I Teach

I've really struggled lately with working and having my own two sweeties to take care of at home. My heart longs to be with them every day, all day; yet another part of me knows that God has blessed me with the ability to teach. I'm still planning to take some time off and be a "full-time mommy", but until that time gets here, I need to record these thoughts to get me through the hard times:


This is Anthony... You would never guess it by looking, but this sweet little face has caused me much heartache and grief. However, this same face has giving me much cause to rejoice--today was a rejoicing kind of day! Anthony did several things today that AMAZED me:

• Anthony wrote to 13 completely by himself!
• Anthony stoped at the door to the gym (on his way into P.E.) and checked to make sure both his shoes were tied. (Granted he wouldn't have been able to tie them...)
• Anthony brought me a domino from the math center that was broken and said "What's wrong with this?" I told him it was broken and then said "It looks silly." Anthony repeated, "This one is silly Mrs. Gorsch!" (He then brought me a double zero domino and said it too looked silly!)
• When my students were leaving art today, Anthony stopped to pick up a pencil off the floor--he then replaced it to its rightful spot in the pencil cup and smiled at the art teacher.

Now these tasks might not seem like much when you think about a typical K student at this point in the year. This tasks REALLY don't seem like much when you know that this is Anthony's 2nd year in Kindergarten, however, I need to share his story from the beginning...
Anthony walked into my classroom last school year. Along with my other students he entered, somewhat timidly. When I asked Anthony his name, he just looked at me and grunted with a scowl on his face. When I gathered my class on the rug for a story, Anthony didn't think this was a good idea. He refused to come and yelled (very loudly) "I hate you! You can't make me!" In fact these two phrases were the only phrases I heard from Anthony for the first several weeks of school. Not only could Anthony not write a single letter, count, or name shapes and colors; he couldn't name farm animals or simple everyday items--he couldn't even say his name! He was lower intellectually then most 2 year olds and he couldn't perform most simple self-care tasks!
It didn't take a genius to realize that Anthony probably needed some extra help, so I referred him to our RTI team and b/c of the extreme nature of his case, they bumped him to top priority. After months of struggling to meet his needs our psychologist finally came to collect additional information. Anthony mostly communicated in grunts and mean facial gestures, so it was obvious he needed speech therapy. Our psychologist attempted to test him, but his lack of communication proved to make this near impossible--he scores came out in the extreme low range of "mentally impaired."
When we sat down to discuss Anthony's progress we were hesitant to send him to a self-contained MI classroom b/c it seemed that there was more to him. The team decided to try leaving him in my classroom and providing him with additional help in the form of special ed pull-out. (He began receiving speech services in the fall, but his pull-out help did not start until spring.) Typically special ed students are not contained, but my opinion was that there was no way he could go to 1st grade this year (even with his special ed services.) The team agreed and suggested that my classroom would be the best environment for him to repeat Kindergarten. I hesitantly agreed, but in my mind I was thinking "I did my time! It's someone else's turn."
Through all of my struggles to give Anthony as much love as possible I continued to pray for him. I had glimpses into his home life and it wasn't good. The only thing I knew for sure was that God made this little boy and God loves him, so I tried to see him through God's eyes--some days this was easier than others!
It's so rewarding to see that he truly is a different kid this year! He is by no means excelling academically, but everyone who works with Anthony can't believe the difference they see him. What an amazing privledge I have to lift this little child up to God in prayer... (Him along with MANY others!) God has used Anthony to remind me the importance of loving ALL of his children and to remind me what a difference he can make in the lives of children through me... This is why I teach.

Adventures in Kindergarten

I love having a job that I can sometimes share with Sadie (and eventually Kinnick!) I also love having a babysitter who is so willing to provide my children with extra opportunities! (I always let her know about Pre-K activities our district has and she usually packs up all the kids to go!) Last week, my K class went to the farm fair at Streator High School. This event is open to the public so I told Jennifer when we would be there. She borrowed our baby carrier to wear Kinnick and brought Sadie and the other 1 1/2 year old she had at the time. Sadie LOVED it! She wanted to pet all of the animals and also enjoyed holding a baby chick and a baby kitty.

Checking out the pig! (The little boy next to her also goes to her sitter's and he happened to be there at the same time with his pre-school class!)

Holding a little chick...

This picture is from our Valentine's party two weeks ago. Jennifer is a room mom so she brings Sadie with her and Sadie gets to come to my party. She loved eating pizza with my class and also enjoyed some valentine candy. My students also love when she comes--they all want her to sit at their table!

Sadie at Mom's Valentine party!

School's Out for Summer!

This week has been EXHAUSTING! I'm so grateful that school is out. Although I have some training during the next three weeks, I'm now enjoying a long awaited break! The last week of school is such a joyous and sad time... I'm glad to send my little kiddos to 1st grade, but I will miss them terribly! I really struggled the last few weeks with a few of my little guys... My prayer was that I could show them the love of Jesus even during their most "unlovable" times. I'm so glad I have the power of prayer to help me through my job, because sometimes it's ALL that gets me through! Now that I've made it to summer break, I will try to post more pictures of Sadie!

BIG girl!

On Mondays I usually stay late to work at school. Sadie's sitter brings her to me at school and then Marc leaves work a little early to get her from me. Sadie and daddy have some quality time and make dinner. Last Monday Sadie was in a CRABBY mood (she was just coming down with hand-foot-and-mouth disease) and Marc picked her up from her babysitter's early. By 4:00 they "had to get out of the house" so they showed up at school to visit me. It was fun to watch Marc play with Sadie... I just couldn't get over how grown-up she looked sitting at my little Kindergarten tables. I know we still have 4 years before we need to think about Kindergarten, but I also know it will be here all too soon...




Sadie's worst rash was on her face. This was day #4 and it was getting better by this point. It's now completely gone.

Even and Odd

I just have to share this conversation I had with one of my Kindergarten students today:

A: "Mrs. Gorsch can I tell you a story about Even and Odd?"
Me: "Sure!"
A:"Even and Odd lived in a garden with lots of fruit trees. They weren't supposed to eat the apples, but a mean snake made Even eat one of the apples. Odd got really mad and Even started having babies!"

Little bit different then the version in my bible... :)

Back to School...

So this week hasn't been the most fun. After my 10 days off with Sadie it was extremely hard to go back to school. Thankfully, Sadie got right back into the swing of things. I love my little kiddies at school, but it seems like the end is not in sight! I do love this time of year in Kindergarten because so many of my students are really "getting" reading and writing. This year especially, I have a really fun class!

Another aspect that has made this week hard is that I started Sadie on milk. Up until this point, I've gone every school day during my lunch break to feed her. I'm still nursing now, but cutting out her lunch time feeding. I plan to have lunch with her 2 or 3 days a week for the rest of the year, but I'm really missing seeing her daily (although it's made my day at school more productive and less hectic!)

On top of everything, Sadie hasn't been sleeping the best. First--let me say I can't really complain because because Sadie has been an excellent sleeper for the majority of her life. Traveling always throws her off, and starting Easter weekend she began waking up in the night. When we got back home, it was about every other night. I think she is working on some new teeth and she wakes up SCREAMING! During break, I didn't mind it so much b/c I could sleep in and rest during the day, but now that I'm working, it's hard. Don't get me wrong, Marc is a HUGE help during these times, but it's hard on both of us! We're hoping that we're getting past this, because we've now had 2 good nights in a row!