The snowball has finally flown off the mountain . . .

Here I am, back again! Usually the last two months before school gets out are truly a killer and this year was no exception. Some of the high points:

- Kid #1 is officially a 7th grader! Yes, my Pumpkin graduated from elementary school on the 4th and we are both so excited! I'm so proud of him and I know next year is going to be great for him!

- Kid #2 got through 4th grade and developed into a social butterfly. Sweet Pea has always been the kind of kid who holds people at arms length (especially new ones) but this year, rather than having just one or two girls coming over on a regular basis, she rapidly expanded her friend base and I her choice of friends have been great (I hope this continues through JH and HS).

- Kid #3 had a great first year in Kindergarden! His teacher (who was new to our school this year) was wonderful! He finished up his first year in Little League and still amazes me with the way he gets so much enjoyment being out on the field. We are so ready for 1st grade!

- My main reason for not blogging much the past two months is because I have been having two incredibly creative months with my writing, so rather than writing here, I've been pouring all my energy into that part of my life and I'm hoping by the end of the year I will be seeing some definite results. As much as I have missed doing this, I'm hoping this summer to do more of both. :)

- My other reason for not blogging has to do with my new job! In February I got hired by our school district as a full inclusion aide for one of our special needs children. Originally I had been paired up with a little girl with physical issues and have spent the past 2 months working with her. I was incredibly excited about this and have had the most wonderful time getting to know her and her family. Unfortunately I found out around Memorial Day that another aide with more seniority had decided to take on the little girl herself since her child was going into 5th grade (I'm presuming this is to help with her own job security since she will have more time with this little girl). So I was offered the opportunity to work with another child with cognitive challenges. After thinking about it long and hard I decided to accept. It's going to be a MAJOR challenge, but I think I'm up to it.

I had several people ask me if I was angry or bitter about being "removed" from my original child, and although I was suprised and a little hurt, it helped to hear from both the little girl's mom and teacher that they were disappointed to hear I wouldn't be working with her because of the relationship I had developed with her in those two short months.

But I've always tried to live by the motto, "Everything happens for a reason."

Hubby is still trudging along in the trenches of the mortgage world (like everyone else in his situation). But I know everything will work out for the best based on the above-mentioned motto.

I am still working at Starbucks . . . and loving it!

That's it for now . . . more to come later.