Some Pictures for GG (and others)

Before Thanksgiving we had some pictures done (thank you Molly Snelson!). These are a few of the highlights. Just enjoy!

Back to Work

This is the start of my 11th year of teaching. How on Earth has the time gone by so quickly? What has changed in these past 10 years?

My address (a few times)

My last name (only once)

My favorite nickname (is now momma)

The number of pets I've had (good-bye Jackie, Hello Gipper and Nancy)

Where I go to church

What I do when I come home from teaching (remember the days of coming home and taking a nap? Or watching TV? Or...just lounging around? I barely remember that, and that was only a few years ago!)

I enjoy teaching more than I thought I would, but this year I am on an 80% contract, and I love it. So hoping that will help keep me teaching longer.

That it. Just checking in with the two of you who follow this blog. What is the end of summer like for you?

What we have been up to...

We did two weeks of 'parent and me' swim lessons. This equated to 30 minutes a day of holding Macie trying to get her to blow bubbles. It was terrific. I loved every moment of it. She enjoyed the water more and more each day, and by the end, we even 'dropped' her off the diving board (into the hands of her instructor). She signed that she wanted 'more'. It was super cute.

Isn't this girl just adorable! Below is us today. The swim lessons have made me look super tan, but now I don't have foundation that matches my skin tone (I know, poor me!). I'm just justifying the lack of makeup I have on.

And lastly, my cousin got married on Friday and posed for a picture. It was beautiful, and we had a nice time. Macie missed her afternoon nap however, so by 7 o'clock she had had it.

Jose only has 2 more weeks of summer school and then we'll get two weeks off together as a family before teacher meetings start. Where does the time go? I'm not worrying about it, but every once in a while I have to remind myself that summer won't last forever.

What have you been up to?

Summer Vacation

Well, here we are and I love it! This is the second week I've been out of school and I'm just lapping it up. Last week was fun because Jose had 3 days off before summer school started, so we really enjoyed ourselves. We had debated about renewing our dis.neyland passes because we knew she was just too little to appriciate all things di.sney. HOWEVER, we realized that most of our friends have them and WE miss them, so we took Jose's coaching stipend and purchased them.
Family picture outside the petting zoo.
Waiting for the Mark T.wain boat to go!
We went on a few rides - I think Dum.bo was the current favorite, and have since been there 3 times (only for a few hours at a time...girl's got to nap).

Here's Macie girl with her dad on the teacups.

Then we were able to take a short family vacation to Huntin.gton Beach and stay at the Hy.att (which I HIGHLY reccommend, especially for families).

Okay, and this picture is just one of my favorites. my mom bought this outfit for Macie and I realized I needed to put her in it before she outgrew it. Shirley Temple Black lookout!

And this last picture just goes to show the bigger you are, the harder you cry. (this is baby Logan with Macie by the way)
Happy summer everyone!

Macie's First Birthday!

So it's been a while since I've updated (and I know the 3 of you are on the edge of your seats) but I got my brother's pictures from Macie's party, so I thought I'd share a little of our fun day.

We were at a local park and we had a cowgirl theme for the day. It was super fun to surprise my mom (the next day was mothers day) by flying her sister and mother down from Northern California for the pary.

Mostly the day revolved around the cake.

And Presents (thank you everyone!)
It was a day long coming, and for those of you who prayed for Macie even before she was here, we thank you. Hopefully there will be lots more fun to be had. And next year, we're going very low-key. Ha.

A trip to the beach

A few weeks ago Jose and I got to be tourists at the beach. We meant to just walk around but it was such a nice day we ended up actually getting our 'feet' wet. The good news is that Macie loved the water! She didn't complain at all, until it was time to go. And it wasn't exactly warm water.

I think one of the funnier parts is that none of us were dressed for the beach, but I had an extra outfit for Macie in her diaper bag, so we just let her get wet in her onsie. I was in jeans and Jose had regular clothes on too. I was laughing while taking these pictures because we must've looked like we were from the great plains where people don't exactly know how to dress for the beach. It was worth it though for the memories.

Do you think Macie feels this way every time I kiss her cheeks?

What are some of your favorite day trip locations?

Things that keep me humble

This year my husband (who teaches high school chemistry) has a blind student. He's told me a lot about her and I met her once while in DH's classroom (remember, we teach at the same high school).
She told me she has heard my voice before and I told her I'd say hi next time she walked by my classroom.
Yesterday I saw her while I was holding the door open for some of my students. I said "hi!" and she said hi and then asked me how my day was. I said great, and she said her day was going well. I said "That's great! See you later!".

Then I put my palm to my forehead and realized how inappropriate my comment was.

What We've Been Up Too

I started this post to put up a video, but it just takes forever. Even when the clip is short, is it supposed to take a long time? Pictures are super fast.... Weigh in if you can!

Anywho:
Macie has 7 teeth, has been starting to take steps (her current record is nine, but they're more frankenstein steps than walking).

And she's just overall being cute.

Here is further proof of her cuteness!

9 months

Our little one here is getting so mobile! It's so much fun, but it is difficult to get her to sit still for pictures. It makes it quite an adventure.

Most of the pictures look something like this one above!

It's hard to believe how quickly these months have gone by. We're getting ready for Macie to have a cousin! If you didn't know, Jim and Stacy are due in early April. Logan James is on his way. Only 7 1/2 more weeks (or something like that!). We're getting excited and Macie is planning on showing him the ropes.

This morning

I couldn't stand how cute she was. Jose calls this her little menonite head band. She's just so much fun right now!

And this is what I get to wake up to most mornings. What a cutie!

What has Macie been up to?

So here are a few pictures. I tried to send some to GG and Papa last night but I got a mailer demon this morning saying that I put too much content in. I'm not having any luck with posting video though. Does anyone know why it takes so long to upload? Is a 2 minute clip too much for blogspot? It took over 3 hours last night and my camera battery died before it finished.

She's currently crawling and standing on her own, but no steps on her own.

Macie loves the blinds. Just to play with. She's got some next to her changing station.

I think this is it for now. Just thought I'd share some Macie time for the Family. More to come!

Inspired

I just saw that another friend of mine had started a blog, and I thought about dustin' this old blog off again and giving it a shot.
The good news is that blogger is currently not blocked at work. If this was from home there would be no chance I'd update it. But if I have a minute during lunch or after work then I'm happy to update as possible. At home these days I'm rarely even on fac.ebook so I'm happy to see updates here!
So here are the stats:
Jill - 31
Jose - 34 (birthday is on Wednesday! The big 35!)
Macie - 6 months (as of yesterday!)
It's just been amazing to see her grow and I can't say enough how much I'm enjoying being a mom.
I'll post more later, I'm just dipping my feet back in this blog world.

38 weeks and one week left

So the title is referring to this baby girl who is on her way (so I hope!).
Today is 38 weeks along and this will be my last week at work (if I can make it through the whole thing). It should be okay, it's state testing week so I'm hoping for an 'easy' week. But what I've learned is that teaching at Ron Hock.walt, when you think you're in for an easy day, it rarely turns out that way. But at any rate, we're getting ready.

Stay tuned!

Seniors in High School

One of the homework questions for my civics clas whas which branch of gov't awards federal grants and contracts.
About half of them wrote either the 'national' branch or the 'federal' branch.
These are seniors in high school. And no, not at the continuation school, but at Wal.nut High School. Yikes!
And I know this isn't my fault. I'm very clear about our 3 branches of gov't. I'm really good at remembering which ones they are. I say it a lot.

Oh yeah, they were allowed to use the book, too.

Rainy days in So. Cal.

So this is the start of the new semester and teaching at a continuation school is interesting about now. I had about half of my students leave to go to their 'home' schools, of either Dbar or Whs, but I also have a whole group of new kids who have been recently kicked out of dbar or Whs...you get the picture.
So it's so frustrating that if I start teaching yesterday, than the students that are trickling in all week are behind, but if I don't teach then I'm wasting the tax payers money and demonstrating to these kids that academics really aren't that important. Heck the class periods are already only 44 minutes long, the kids don't get assigned homework, and I'm about 3 months behind the other US history classes at the 'regular' high schools.
So in my naivity I started teaching yesterday and I'm continuing, but I am re-explaining myself over and over again. Boo.
Plus, I think the rain just makes the kids bounce off the walls, so they're more hyped up than usual. And remember, these are 17-18 year old kids I'm dealing with. They're going to be full-fledged adults (according to the state) when they graduate.
I am sorry to say, that I just don't know if this is the best way to help the struggling students. I don't know what I think the best way is, but it seems that here at RHA, we let them behave worse with lower expectations and tell ourselves that we're doing them a favor.
Yikes!

Almost a year

See the thing is, I had almost forgotten this blog exisited. Mostly because I felt like until I had children I didn't have anything else to say. And while I know that's not true, I think that's why I let this blog die a slow death. I see it's been almost an entire year since the last time I posted, so obviously a lot has changed and gone on.
Then I got an email from my Sister in Law (SIL) who asked why I don't update the blog. And I couldn't respond, because I didn't know.
But here I am. Updating the blog.
Hi.
So if you know me at all, these are things you probably know. But in case you don't, let me catch you up to speed.
My husband and I are both teachers. My husband is a Chemistry/Physics teacher at Di.amond Bar High School (and the dots that you'll find between words sometimes are just there so that if someone does a good search for Dia.mond Bar High School - without the dots - that my blog won't show up as a match. A good internet tip for ya!) and I teach at two different high schools. I am at Ron Hoc.kwalt Acadmies for peirods 0-4 and then at W.alnut High for periods 5 and 6. I teach history, and this year I am teaching US History, Economics, and Civics. It's a busy schedule, and teaching delinquent children can often be a pain, but I am very grateful to have a job in any place and the district has been very good to both Jose and I.
Also, we are expecting our first child on May 2nd this year. We tried for a long time to have kids and were finally blessed. It's not the timing we wanted, but it is God's perfect timing. So again we're thrilled.
And did I mention, it's a girl? It is. Again, we're very excited.

I think that's enough for one post, I've got to slowly stretch my blogging muscles and get myself back on the waggon. So if you're reading this, post a comment so I know if there's even an audience for this! Ha.

What to say?

Well hello out there! Perhaps I've been a little too busy to update lately, but it just feels like life is moving and I rarely have time to sit and catch up on all these fabulous blogs you guys have.
Things here for Jose and I are going well. I think we're both a little curious about how this whole budget thing in California is going to affect our jobs (we're both new to our district this year, so last one in, first one off, you know?). But worrying doesn't do one ounce of good, so until then we're just trying to enjoy our blessings.
I hope 2009 is treating all of you well, and for now, I'll keep this short and sweet.
Happy Tuesday!

Fuego! Fuego! Fuego es que Quiero!

So Diamond Bar is on fire! Jose and I are safe, our house seems to be safe, and the dogs are safe. God is good. But there are a number of people much closer to the fires than we are that we should be praying for.
Diamond Bar High and Walnut High are both evacuation centers, so work tomorrow should be interesting.
But all is well. Just checking in...
Jill

Bad Blogger, bad, bad blogger!

Hey all,

It's been a busy fall. I can't believe tomorrow is Jose's last football game of the season. While his boys have improved a ton, they don't exactly have a winning record, and it's been a real trying year for my husband. I know we'll be excited for a good game tomorrow and then to be finished with football for a few months!

We decided not to go to Europe after all (Sorry Mel!). I think the economic troubles kept a few parents wary about spending the extra cash and the prices were going to go up, so we decided to stick with the original plan and just take this year off. Anyone want to open their home for a free vacation for the Marquez's?

I am soooo excited about fall. Today is Veterans day (thank you Veterans) and I can taste Christmas break (any excuse to get up and immediately take a nap is fine with me). I'm thinking about Thanksgiving and shopping and all other kinds of good things. But the weather this week is supposed to get into the 90's. How fall like can that be if we're barbequeing Turkey! No thank you! Bring on the sweaters.

Not much else is new with us, Just trying to get some Christmas cards ordered and grade some essays...
Take care and keep us updated on how all of you guys are doing! I think my readership is down to one or two now (I've been a bad, bad blogger).

Three Friday Favorites

1. My new job. I'm really enjoying being at Walnut High. If I had anything to complain about it's that the teachers aren't super friendly, but compared to where I came from, this place is heaven!
2. Our Saturn Outlook. last Summer we decided to buy a bigger car (so we didn't have to keep calling my mom to help us take big things home from the store!). Now that gas prices are a little lower we're driving it more. On Star is awesome!
3. My dogs. Seriously. I don't think Gipper and Nancy could be much cuter. They are adorable.

Have a great weekend!