The End in Sight

It seems like the semester only started a month ago. It has really flown by! I'm happy to say that I only have a few projects left to complete before school is out. My last assignment is due May 7th, but I hope to have it done before that since I only have 3 projects/papers left to do. Within the semester, there have been many positives throughout this semester. I had a great lab experience in kindergarten, I was officially accepted into SMSUs Education Program, and I learned a lot about the social medias and how I probably won't use many others besides Facebook. The end of another semester also means another step closer to graduation. That seems to be coming up fast as well! The end of my school also means that I'm that much closer to completing my first year as a paraprofessional. By taking that job, it has shown me that working with kids is something that I want to do. I may be unsure of what age of children at the moment, but with experiences, my options seem to narrow down. I'm sure by the time I'm done with school, my decision will be more clear as I've got many more lab hours to look forward to!

Easter Weekend

Like I said in my last post, one of my favorite parts about the holidays is family time. Both my siblings were home for Easter Weekend. We enjoyed lots of games, a little picking on each other and lots of time with our dog, Jaxson. My favorite part of the weekend, besides spending time with each other, was definitely dying Easter eggs. Dying eggs will always be one of my favorite things to do during this holiday, not matter how old I am. It used to be just traditional dying of eggs that we do, but now we try new ways to dye them. This year one of our options was a tye dying eggs kit. These eggs turned out very cool and were a lot more fun to work on than sitting watching your eggs color. We also tried ones where you used a paint brush to put color on the egg. They turned out to be very vibrant with colors as well. I'm sad the holiday is over, but that means we are that much closer to summer and even better yet the end of another semester of college. At this point, I'm not sure which one I'm more excited for, but they can both definitely come fast, as time already seems to be flying anyways. 

"Snow? In April, You're Kidding?!?"-- a California Resident

Living in Minnesota, the weather is something that never ceases to amazing people, except when you are from another state. Last year, there were places that had snow days in May, so the snow that decided to show up today, on April 16th, was no shocker. One of my friends moved away to California and they couldn't believe we were getting snow this late in the year. Little do they know it is definitely not out of the question in Minnesota. Living in Minnesota all the time, you know to expect the unexpected with the weather. It is reassuring to know that this fresh snow will start melting this weekend as it is supposed to be in the 60s! One extreme to the other I tell ya. I wish we could say we are kidding about the snow since it is supposed to be spring, but I guess it is better now than in May! I'm hopeful in thinking that spring will stick after this last time of snow. I think Mother Nature needed to get one last snow day out of her system so we can move on with the season. Everyone is antsy and ready for it to the point they are ready to skip spring and just have summer. I could go for some flip flop weather and days on the lake :) 

Family Time

The best part about having so many holidays together is that I get to spend more time with my family with less time in-between. Yesterday, we had my mom's side family Easter. It is always nice seeing them. Some of my cousins have younger children so it is fun seeing how much they have grown or changed in the time since we last saw them. It already seems like they are growing up so fast. My other favorite part about spending time with my family aside the great food we always eat would be the games we play. We always play Farkle, which is a dice game, or Squeak, which is a card game. We can get very competitive with cards and we all try to beat one of my aunts who is very good at the game. Sometimes we give her a hard time about how she cheats all the time, but she really doesn't. She just focuses and sees moves faster than the rest of us. At one point yesterday, I was winning, but in the end she ended up winning. I'm excited for Mother's Day to come so I can spend some more time with my family and play some games!

Lovely Weather

This morning when I got to work, you could totally tell that today was going to be warm. When I walked into school, all I saw was kids in shorts, sweatshirts, and some had flip flops. You could tell they were as ready for this weather as most of us are. I too broke out my flip flops for the first time yesterday, but wore them today as well. They had such an excitement to go outside that hasn't been seen since the fall when it was still nice. Usually at recess, there are at least 2 kids that come up to me and ask how much time is left because it is too cold out. Today, I did not have one single kid come up to me and ask how much time was left outside. They were all off playing in the now dried out, for the most part, grass and running around having a ball. When the whistle blew, there was a lot of complaining and asking to stay outside. The class I am in for the most part of the day went back outside for gym and again during their reading work time. I too had some free time at the end of the day so I again went back outside to enjoy the sunshine. Needless to say, I soaked up a lot of sunshine today and it felt amazing outside! I can't wait until the warm weather is here to stay and I can go swimming and lay outside! I hope it is around the corner to stay, but with Mother Nature anything is possible.

Spring!

I am so happy that we missed out on the snowstorm that was supposed to happen on Friday! It made the warmer weather this weekend much more enjoyable! The sun is finally starting to melt more and more snow so more grass is showing. It may not be green yet, but I'll take the sad, brown look of the snow over the white snow we had. The ground will hopefully thaw out soon and we will get some rain and then the lush, green grass will come. It sounds like this week the temperatures are supposed to be just as warm! I even heard a close to 70 day on Thursday I believe it was! I'm glad this weather is sticking and I still can't believe there are people driving their big pickup trucks out on the ice just to go fishing. Every morning this last week, I saw the same truck out on the lake. They apparently don't want ice fishing to end, but really? Let's stay safe and not make anyone else have to risk their life trying to save you from your dumb decision. Fishing opener will be here soon enough, in a short month, and then you can enjoy fishing again. Enjoy the warm weather and other things you can do until then! Let's just hope Spring is here to stay and Summer weather is shortly behind it! 

Mother Nature's Joke

Well today, Mother Nature had the best April Fools joke there could be. The weather she gave us. I really wish we could say this was the last time for snow and cold, but the rest of the week doesn't sound much better. Thursday into Friday sounds like more snow! EWW!! Doesn't Mother Nature understand we've had enough of the snow and cold and we'd like some sun and green grass? Well hopefully this is her April Fools joke and this week marks the last of it because it is definitely getting old. The kids at school are tired of freezing when they go outside for recess. They want to be able to run around outside with no jackets and go on the grass with no boots or snowpants on. I too want to be able to go outside without a jacket and maybe wear some flip flops some time soon! Everyone is ready for spring so Mother Nature should realize it's spring and bring us the weather we've been waiting anxiously for! I think we have been more than patient this year and deserve to enjoy some nice weather! Everyone who has gone on trips to warmer places have hoped when they came back it would be nice here too, but they have been very disappointed. Mother Nature definitely had a good April Fools joke, but now she can let that joke go and bring us what we've all been waiting for: SPRING! 

Back to Reality

Well, today marks the last day of my spring break from work. It was a much needed break but it will be nice to be back to a normal routine. Over my break, I enjoyed shopping, catching up with friends and family, a massage, catching up on some homework, going out with friends, and numerous other things. I enjoyed my time to the fullest! It is sad to say that I'm hoping for a snow day with this supposed blizzard that is heading our way starting tonight through tomorrow. Even though it makes me cringe to hear that we are getting more snow, another day off would be kind of nice :) I'm hoping that the warmer weather comes and stays soon so that the snow goes away and the green grass come! In one of my two shopping days, I bought some new flip flops and capris. I'm hoping those too can also be worn very soon! Summer has to be right around the corner right? Well we can at least hope it is! In Minnesota it seems that the hope is something we really have to hold on to when we have such cold and long winters that don't seem to want to go away. Really I'd rather be getting snow in December and enjoy my spring starting the first week of March. I guess we will see what tomorrow brings and what the weather brings!

Job Field Solidification

As if I didn’t know I wasn’t in the right job field with all the wonderful experiences I’ve had so far Tuesday solidified it again. On Tuesday, it was one of my favorite activity days of the week. It was a DAPE day, which is the adapted gym that some students who qualify go to. In class, they were going to be dancing. Their teacher had found numerous YouTube videos that had Just Dance songs and people doing the movements on the screen. Their directions were to try and keep up with the people on the screen or just dance in any way they felt. It was so heart whelming to see them all do their own dance moves. They did a great job actually keeping up with the people in the video. The other adults and I in the gym were very impressed. It was so cute to watch the girl I para with and another little boy twirl each other in circles. It was fun for me to watch the girl I para with be so excited to sing and dance because it is something she really enjoys doing. It is usually what she ends up doing in gym when there is music on even when she’s not supposed to, but we don’t complain because at least she’s moving. It is always a great feeling to have my job choice solidified!

Remember the Excitement

Remember when you used to get excited over your birthday? To the point you had a happy energy to you all day? Well today was a day that I got to be reminded of that simple excitement a birthday can bring to a person. The girl I para one on one had her thirteenth birthday today. From the moment she walked in school, you could see her excitement. She said good morning to everyone she passed and had a huge smile on her face. When I went to talk to her while she was putting her stuff in her locker, she was beaming and had lots of energy in her voice. She was excited to have her thirteenth birthday and be the first one in her family to turn thirteen. She even went as far as saying that she was going to be the first to move out. It was fun to see that excitement throughout the whole day. Usually the excitement wears off by lunch time or is only in the afternoon. I think as you grow older a birthday is just another day that doesn’t seem to have much meaning besides the fact you’re one year older. Most people see growing up as a bad thing, so I think it’s important that no matter what age you are turning, you should still find the joy in your birthday!

Excited for next week

Next week is a week that I am excited for. At the school in which I work, they only have two days of school next week. As much as I love seeing the kids every day, all the adults are ready for a much needed break. We haven’t had a break since President’s day so it’s much needed. It is also crazy to think that the day they will go back to school will be the last day of March. Where is time going and the year for that matter? I’m excited to just sit back and relax since it’s been a while since I haven’t had work and homework to worry about. This week has been an off week as far as my normal schedule goes, so that makes next week sound even better! I know the kids are ready for their break as much as the adults because many of them are going on vacations. While many of them are doing that, I will be stuck here in Minnesota hoping for the warm weather or that someone brings it back from their vacation with them. I’m hopeful that during the time I have off there is a day like today was because it was so beautiful. I’m ready to run outside and enjoy the sunshine.