Feliz Año Nuevo

I am hoping for a really good 2009!!!! I am really grateful that Dawson and River are healthy and progressing well. In September at Dawson's first teacher conference, Mrs. Scarbrough gave me a list of things he needs to know by the time he leaves Kindergarten. I am confident he will know all of his TEKS by the school year's end. It is truly amazing how much he has progressed in just the past few months. His next conference will be in February. River's ECI coordinator went to visit him at his school and she told me that River is looking really engaged and follows one step directions and routines at school really well. She gave me some good hints on how to help him learn to follow two-step directions. She said that because he loves numbers so much I need to say things like. Give me two crayons and three blocks. He really is doing really well. I still freak out a little when I see him walk on his tip-toes (usually only when he is barefoot) or looking at his fingers in the car. I just want him to keep progressing and learning as he should. I feel good that the ECI person is looking after him. She seems to know what she is doing more so than the one Dawson had in Austin. The one in Austin was a recent graduate of UT. Shelly, up here in Plano has been working here in Plano for about 15 years. She is great and is the same person who came out when River was about 6 months old to help him with crawling.

I also start back to school in a few weeks and my mom got a really flexible job close by. That is a huge blessing to me because she will be able to pick up the kids easily and care for them for a couple of hours on Monday and Tuesday nights. I also was awarded a $1,000 scholarship for this semester which will pay for 2/3 of the tuition. I have been asked to be Spanish department chair for next year. I work with really great people and am developing close friendships with them, which is something that I really need right now. While many things are not perfect in my life right now, I still have a lot to be thankful for.

Now on to getting the kids back on their sleeping schedule. They really liked the El Paso time zone! They have been going to bed late and waking around 9:00! Monday is going to be painful, Dawson has to be at school between 7:30 and 7:40. Hopefully I can get everyone, myself included back on schedule. I have really liked sleeping in too!