How did this happen?

Happy 12th Birthday Austin!

Truly, I'm having a hard time swallowing the fact that this adorable guy is 12 today. I can still vividly remember finding out we were pregnant with him.  I knew from the minute I found out that he was a boy.  I had no idea what he would look like or what type of personality he would have, but I knew I loved him more than anything! These last 12 years have been quite an adventure, but somehow they have truly flown by.

In a couple more days, Austin will experience his last day of elementary school.  It honestly seems like just yesterday that we were sending this guy off to kindergarten. As Aaron and I sat at 6th grade orientation Tuesday night, I felt quite strange.  I know what middle school is all about.  It's my daily life.  It's where I'm knowledge and comfortable. However I was quite uncomfortable sitting in orientation as a parent.  It's now my child we are talking about that is growing and changing, moving into a more turbulent and independent stage of life.  YIKES!  

However, I know that this newly minted 12 year old is ready.  (His mom and dad might not be, but he is!)  He's got a pretty good head on his shoulders.  He's got a wicked sense of humor and a quick wit.  He understands that life isn't always easy or fair, and that the results of hard work are worth it.  There are times when I wish we could go back in time and really soak up those times of innocence, but I realize that these new stages of life we are moving into are pretty cool too!  Some would say that he might not need his parents quite as much these days, but I would disagree.  He needs us now more than ever.  It might not be to literally hold his hand as he takes his first steps or learns to cross the street safely, but it will be to hold his hand and help him navigate the challenges and celebrate the successes of his adolescent years.

It's time to celebrate turning 12!  We love you Austin :)

What's it like?

Heidi's Talk to me Tuesday is resuming.  The inspiration for this topic "What's it like to live with your spouse" was provided by Kari's sister.  I could hardly resist letting you all in on what it's truly like to live with my hubby!


Ace's favorite phrases
"We just can't have nice things!"  We hear this time and time again when something breaks or gets dirty.  We have two boys, these things are bound to happen!

"Who's NOT downstairs?"  He detests when lights are left on in a location where no one happens to be.  It's usually the boys who have been hanging out downstairs and don't bother to turn the lights off.

"Who's been eating in my bed?"  He's a little like goldilocks, despite being follicly challenged.  The boys seem to like to hunker down in our bed and watch tv while munching on snacks.  It drives us both nuts, but he asks the question EVERYTIME like he has no clue who it might be.

"Socks!  I hate socks!"  One child of ours in particular has a bad habit of leaving his socks lay around the house.  You definitely know when Ace's has stumbled upon them!

"The library police will come and get us!"  Apparently my husband has a fear of unreturned library books.  I'm not sure if he suffered a terrible incident with a librarian when he was growing up, but the minute the boys and I come home with library books, he must know when they are due and continues to pester us daily until they are returned.

"No!"  Austin and Carter insisted that I write that one :)

Ace's personality

Ace is definitely FULL of personality.  He has a terrific sense of humor which is one of the reasons I fell in love with him.  His quick wit leaves me either laughing or shaking my head depending on what has just fallen out of his mouth.  You definitely have to be on your toes when he's around.

Trivial bits of information is his claim to fame. Ask him the most random thing, and he can probably tell you the answer.  I swear he can listen to a song once and know all the words.  When a song comes on the radio, he automatically shouts out the first word.  It drives me nuts because I can listen to a song a bazillion times and still not know the words.  

A story coming from Ace can take a L.O.N.G. time.  He definitely does not leave out any details.  Sometimes you lose the point of the story because it takes awhile to get there, but he's never at a loss for words!

Ace's hobbies

"Dinking" or "tinkering" is how I refer to his hobbies.  If it can be taken apart and examined and put back together somehow, that's right up his alley.  He used to take apart all sorts of things like radios and VCRs when he was younger.  It's my understanding that sometimes there were extra parts still laying around once things got put back together :)  However, it has paid off for me as he can fix and/or install almost anything around the house, saving us tons of money!  

As a dad

He's one of a kind and completely amazing!  The boys adore their dad and are blessed that he is so active in their lives.  He wouldn't dream of missing things they are involved in to pursue his own interests and always lets them know they are a priority.  He adds a little bit of spice to all of our lives!

We love our Ace! 

  

The change up

Do you remember me telling you about the fact that I am apparently playing baseball this spring?  If not, read this.  I had told you that I had been thrown a curve ball.  It seems as though God thought I should take a look at a few different types of pitches besides the curveball before deciding which one to swing away at.

Last spring, with steep budget cuts in education, I simply faced a change up pitch which I had no choice but to hit.  I guess I am thankful there was a pitch to swing at!  After 15 years of teaching, I didn't think that a change up was something I would face, unless I was requesting it :)  However, I honestly believe that God's plan is perfect, even if I don't agree with Him! (...and the Big Guy's been laying some things in my path in the last few years that I don't agree with and have NOT been happy with - you could say I've been devastated by some of these things -, but I am now thankful, no grateful, no appreciative having a better understanding of why these situations were given to me.)  Thank goodness I was able to hit the change up last year and am now rounding third and heading straight for home plate!

Last year's change up pitch took me from teaching 8th grade language arts all day long with a team of teachers that I adored because we were able to laugh, disagree professionally and be okay with it, laugh, collaborate, laugh, and work so well together for the good of kids, to teaching 2 sections of 8th grade language arts (45 minutes each), 1 90-minute block of 7th grade language arts, and kindergarten ELP (talented and gifted) for all 14 of the kindergarten classes in our district, plus working with a few dual exceptionality students one-on-one this year.   Oh, I forgot to throw in there having a student teacher - who was amazing by the way and definitely a reason for my sanity, whatever little I had, remaining in tact! (You were amazing Jera and there are going to be many blessed students in the coming years coming out of your classroom!) Yes, I hope that exhausted you just reading it because I am just plain worn out!  I was in every building in our district this year except the high school.  However, it was an unforgettable year and one that I have learned so much from and would do it again.  I don't regret a minute of it, and truly am grateful for the experience, as crazy as that sounds, even though I'm dead tired both physically and mentally. I can see home plate though and will come in sliding and throwing up some dirt!

Remember last year I was only offered a change up pitch?  This year I've been offered three different pitches, and I've looked each of them over hard.  The first pitch was a fastball straight down the middle.  This fastball would be returning to full-time 8th grade language arts, hunkered safely away from budget cuts due to retirements and finally hitting a safe spot on the seniority ladder.  An easy homeroom in my mind! Who doesn't want a homeroom?

The second pitch was a curve ball.  This curve ball would be moving full-time into the ELP (talented and gifted arena) starting with an elementary position and differing opportunities (exciting ones) arising within the same realm in the subsequent years.  This one threw me for a loop and was an option that I didn't necessarily see coming and spent some serious time processing.  In my previous district I taught talented and gifted at the middle school level for 5 years so it is a realm I am familiar with and had the background knowledge to clearly weigh the pros and cons as well as where my passions are.  I was very flattered by the pitch!

The third pitch was another change up.  This change up would be moving out of the classroom into a leadership position as an instructional coach at the middle school level in the district.  This one required oodles of processing on my part and some nudging on the part of others as this is a completely new position within the district.  Not everyone is thrilled with the idea of instructional coaches, but there are some significant changes happening in the language arts department, and ultimately I felt I could have a positive impact on change with this position.  Again, another flattering pitch.

So, I chose to swing at the change up pitch for the second year in a row.  Last year, I didn't really have a choice in the matter, but this year I did.  I made contact with the pitch and the ball is in play!  An offer was extended, and I accepted. I will be in a completely new position next year.  I'm looking forward to the challenge, digging deeper into best practices for kids, and working closely and collaboratively with some amazing language arts teachers at Ames Middle School!  Now...I'm just afraid I'm going to really miss working with kids :(

You also can't beat getting a beautiful bouquet of flowers at work for playing baseball :)  Thanks mom and dad!

?

The English teacher in me simply could not resist taking a quiz today entitled What type of punctuation mark are you? The results are in... I am a Question Mark. (I'm sure my husband gets a kick out of this!) A "question mark" person is described as follows:

You seek knowledge and insight in every form possible. You love learning. And while you know a lot, you don't act like a know it all. You're open to learning you're wrong. You ask a lot of questions, collect a lot of data, and always dig deep to find out more. You're naturally curious and inquisitive. You jump to ask a question when the opportunity arises. Your friends see you as interesting, insightful, and thought provoking. (But they're not always up for the intense inquisitions that you love!) You excel in: Higher education You get along best with: The Comma Hmmm...do you think it fits me?  If you are just dying to know what type of punctuation mark you are click here.  You should really go and see if you are a comma so we know if we will play nice together :)

Unexpected Blessing

The past 6 weekends have consisted of 6 baseball games each weekend...which makes for keeping up with grading and housework nearly impossible.  My house IS A MAJOR PIT, and I'm way behind on grading!

We were up and at 'em this morning getting ready to head for the last hurrah in Urbandale when we got word that we did not have to play in 43 degree temperatures, wind, and rain!  YEAH!  YEAH!  and more YEAH!  This unexpected blessing turned into quite a productive day in the Clayberg household.

OUR HOUSE IS BEAUTIFULLY DEEP CLEANED AND ORGANIZED AND ALL OF THE LAUNDRY IS DONE AND PUT AWAY!  Ahhh...miracles do still occur :)

Under the Big Top

Friday night was the annual elementary school carnival.  It's something I dread  the boys look forward to all year long!  This year's theme was "Under the Big Top," and I must admit it was the least painful school carnival experience I've ever had :)  A big kudos to those who organized the event as it was very well run.  My sanity didn't suffer too greatly, and I didn't go broke at the silent auction!  I might have a tendency to sign my name to quite a few fun looking baskets, and Aaron usually encourages OTHER people to follow behind me to out-bid me, thus saving him some money!

It didn't take Carter long to win at the cake walk!  Notice those lovely stripes in his hair?  There was a hair painting station that the boys of course had to indulge in. (The shower floor was quite interesting after trying to scrub that out!)

I wish I had more pictures to show you, but there was no stopping the kids from bopping quickly from game to game.  It was all I could do to try and keep up. They had no time for the camera as there were prizes to be won! We came home with quite a bit of loot and four VERY tired boys!