at work with mama

What a special day. Today was a low pressure day at work for me (I'm caught up with paper work & didn't have any meetings), so I took the rare opportunity to bring Finn to work with me. My co-workers/friends Becca & Jacque are often requesting his presence. Not a week goes by without me hearing, "When are you going to bring Finn to work again?" It's not real easy to have him with me, but I do love that they want him there. He's definitely my favorite kid, so it's great that they enjoy him too. :) Plus, they keep him entertained so that I'm actually able to get work done. He was super excited about all of the fun toys & activities at my school! He especially liked the tunnel, slide & trampoline - all great things for my busy boy. (Finn stayed in his jammies all day today. Not a typical day, but it worked.) :)

With Teacher Becca, who is battling with Jacque to be his favorite. :)

My amazing team: Matthew, Becca, (Finn), Jacque, Tamy & Angie

Angie is our wonderful supervisor for the morning class & Head Teacher in the afternoon class. Until this year, I worked as her assistant. This year, I am the Head Teacher in the morning class. Matthew, Becca, Jacque & Tamy do an amazing job assisting for both classes. Which basically means they run the show while I frantically try to collect data on the kids & keep ahead of my paperwork & meetings.

They rock & are so good at their jobs. It's great to work with talented people who continue to inspire me to be a better teacher. They teach me new things all the time & I am always impressed with their individual talents & gifts. Plus, the kids love them! What more could I ask for? We are a great team, which is a large part of the reason why I love my job. I don't think I could work somewhere else, after my experience at Howard EEP. (Kenton designed the EEP website, by the way. He says it's a work in progress. I say it's beautiful!)

I have been learning so much this year & attempting to retain so much information. It's definitely a different job than being an assistant. But I really do enjoy the challenge. I couldn't do it without Angie's guidance & my amazing team (or my wonderful childcare - Memaw + Mummi & Pappa - so great for us & fun for Finn). I feel really blessed that I enjoy my job so much. The balance between being a mama & working outside the home feels right. I don't want to give the impression that things aren't hard sometimes or that I never come home frustrated or exhausted. It's not perfect, but it's right.

Random side note: I added pictures of Finley's room to the "my creations" photo album to the left (for people who haven't seen his room). I didn't do anything new to his room, these are just the photos of how we (I) decorated before Finn was born. We are hoping & praying that we'll be able to sell our house in the fall. So some distant family & friends may not get a chance to see his cute, baby room before we move. We're going to stay in Eugene, just looking for a house with a little more room.

My random side note is getting long, but I feel the need to explain myself. :) It has always been our plan (since we purchased our house) to sell in 3 years (if possible) in hopes of moving closer to the neighborhood where I grew up & the schools where I attended. Three years will be up in October of this year. This is our starter home & we are praying that the market will hold steady in Eugene so that things work out. Apparently, Eugene's real estate market hasn't been hit quite as hard as the rest of the country. We're praying... :)