Clase de Español

I have had so much more fun teaching Spanish than I ever thought possible! I have wonderful students and have had a blast teaching something I love so much! BUT, ever since the begining of this semester my students have become lazy. They do not read the directions on homework or tests. I have told them over and over and over that they need to follow the directions. Often times questions on a test are two part; conjugate the verb AND translate. I even capitalized and on the tests and the kids still often times missed it. So desperate times call for desperate measures. Today I gave my students my favorite test ever! I had a blast giving it!! AND I think I got my point across finally!! Would you have gotten a 100 or a 0 on this test?

Nombre:

Fecha:

1. No es un examen. Dame (dar me) tu papel* (*paper) con tu nombre y la fecha y sientate* (tu sentar…*sit) en tu silla. No respondes a las otras* (other) preguntas.

2. Escribir tres preguntas de “la hora” y responder:

3. Escribir tu nombre en Ingles y Español:

4. Responder y traducir:

¿Que hora es?

¿A que hora comes en la mañana?

5. Para que ustedes aprenden que tienen que leer todas las direcciones, estoy hacienda este examen. La verdad es que no tienen que hacer nada. Quiero ver quien lee todo y ralamente esta dando atenccion a lo que escribo.

¡Si solo escribes tu nombre y la fecha y despues me das tu papel te voy a dar cien puntos, pero si respondes a las preguntas no pasas! ¡Buena suerte!

6. ¿Donde esta tu nariz?

Think about it chair

So we have finally taken the plunge and started a "think about it chair". 99.9% of the time time is spent in the chair because Santi has grabbed the ipod off the dock. He LOVES electronics. Honestly if thats the worst he does then we are in good shape. But, he is still disobeying. So we have little talks while he sits in the chair with his hands folded. There is only one problem. He is TOO cute when he sits in the chair and folds his hands. All Nolan and I want to do when he folds his hands so adorably is laugh and cuddle him.

The other day Santi was being entirely too quiet in the livingroom while I was in the kitchen. So I walked into the livingroom to find Santi playing with the ipod. I took it from him, but wasn't in the mood to go through the whole process of the chair. Much to my surprise he walked over to the chair and folded his hands without me saying anything. After only a very few days he knew exactly what to do. Bless him and his sweet little heart.

Here is a picture of the "think about it chair". He was in fact sitting in the chair because of the ipod, but the reason I really HAD to take the picture was because he had gotten into my mascara a few minutes before and I hadn't washed it off yet. Notice he put it all around his eye...meaning he knew exactly what to do with it he just didn't have good aim! Hahahaa! Mascara and folded hands...ahhhh....edible!

H&M

I am so excited that we are finally getting an H&M in Nashville! Its about time! But, since we don't have one just yet, this weekend while I was in Atlanta I made a little stop. I found the cutest pants ever for Santi. They are so beyond 80's its not even funny! They are not only skinny jeans, but they have elastic AND a zipper on the bottom. I could die they are so great! I bought them a little big since Santi grows so fast. Since they are a little big they aren't as skinny as they are supposed to be just yet, but man they are still FANTASTIC!

Rockin' out the 80's pants!

Oh yeah, and I totally bought him a tank top to go with it, (Is it still called a tank top if its for a boy?
 Its not sleeveless, its a full on tank top.) but that (and his guns) will make its debut in the spring or summer!

Thank you H&M for amazing hilarious clothes!

Levels of success

I have talked about success before. We now have new levels of success. When I took Santi to the doctor for his 12 month check up the doctor asked me how good Santi was getting with a spoon. I sheepishly admitted that I hadn't tackled that yet. And then he called me out. "Too messy?" How does a  stranger know me so well? For the last 8 months I have looked the other way, bitten my tongue, and forced myself to let him get food everywhere!!! He still isn't perfect, far from it in fact, but I have to say I have seen a HUGE improvement. When he eats cereal, not only does he get cereal in his mouth, but milk too! Tonight as he ate an after dinner snack I realized how much he (and I) has changed! 10 months ago I spoon fed him everything. These days I cut up his food, blow on it, and put it on his tray...the end. SO MUCH EASIER! And when he gets food everywhere I kinda don't notice.

SUCCESS!!!!!!

And JOY!

Child locks?! HA!

Grown adults come to my house and can't open my cabinets. But what is a simple child lock to a 20 month old?! Not only has he decided he can open them, but he even knows how to then kindly close them back for me! AWESOME! The cleaning supplies are being moved today!!!!!

I see a little thing right here. Maybe if I press this part.

OH MY GOSH! I got it!!! I hope Im not in trouble!

Don't worry Mama! I know how to put it back!

Above, below, and in between!

When I worked at a preschool I noticed that there are 3 types of moms. 1. The moms who think their kids are amazing and above average in everything they do. Normally their kids were not! 2. The moms who think their kids do everything inccorectly or think their kids are below average in everything. Again, normally they weren't. 3. Down to earth moms who are chill about everything and realize their kids are above average in some things and below in others. Normally those moms had about 4 kids and had chilled out over the years of child rearing!

With all of the "types of moms" I had gotten to know over the years I have tried my hardest to not be mom 1 or 2. Its hard man!! When your son first arriving in Peru is able to understand everything and everyone with different Spanish accents at only 18 months, its hard not to think he is a genius. And when you go to a restauant and your son screams for no reason and is unconsolable, its hard to not think he has issues. Hahaha! Its always something I tell you! Its hard not to think he is either the greatest ever or the worst ever! Its hard to see the in between times. So I try and make myself see all, the above, below, and in between.

Here are some examples from this very morning.

Above: Santi found Papi's headphones. After adorably putting them in his ears and doing a little jig he looked at me and a lightbulb turned on. I saw it! He ran into his room, unplugged the sound machine cord (not from the wall, but from the back of the machine) and attempted to plug in his head phones. I was floored. Im not surprised he knows you have to plug in the headphones, he has seen us do that a million times. Im surprised he thought of something just his height that had the same type of cord. Bless his heart he tried and tried to get the cord to fit. Sadly, it isn't the same cord so it didn't fit. But I was still impressed. Its wonderful to see his brain working, problem solving, and figuring things out.

Below: This morning at breakfast Santi was screaming for "more". He still had half a banana and half a bowl of cereal. I couldn't figure out what he wanted more of. I asked if he wanted fresas or uvas (strawberries or grapes). "NO!" What the heck does he want? He needs to learn to speak more words, not just understand them. He kept telling me he wanted "more!" Ahhh!!! Finally somehow I understood he wanted more cereal. Yeah, like I said his bowl was still half full. All that and he still had everything he wanted. Oh and another below from just this morning. He enjoyed trying to stick his tiny fingers in the outlet behind my chair. AWESOME!! My outlets have plastic covers but he knows how to take them out. So helpful!

In between: These are the times Santi sits quietly and plays with his cars or blocks or books. These are the moments that are easily overlooked because whenever he isn't doing something amazing or horrible I like to actually DO things like...go to the bathroom, load the dishwasher, fold laundry, check email, you know...fun stuff!

Oh the joys of motherhood! The most rewarding and yet hardest job on the planet!

Santi with Papi's headphones.

These days

Only a few short years ago my life was VERY different! Getting a pedicure with my best friend, going to get a mocha frapachino, going to the zoo, or a Titans game brought me such joy. Ok, well those things still bring me joy, but not as much as a little boy discovering a batman cape!

I told him you have to run really fast when you are a super hero!

He took me very seriously!

He loves Batman!!!

What would be a picture of Santi without his beloved futbol!?

I bought Santi his batman pj's (with detachable cape) on sale at Target when he was about 6 months old. I thought he would NEVER fit into the massively huge 2T's. Santi has been wearing 2T's for a while now and just this week I rediscovered the amazing pj's. And now I have new joy in my life!