Riley and Avery

So, I've been going through my boxes of clothes (okay, I've gone through ONE box, don't judge me!) from last summer and times before. I am fairly certain that I can find a home for everything that we can't use. Riley was at school and Avery and I were putting clothes in piles for people. She's say, this is for Veronica...this is for the girl baby...this is for the boy baby (Sarah's babies). The funny thing was, some of the most flowery stuff she designated as for the boy baby.

Anyway, there was a lot of stuff in there that Avery could still fit, or stuff that Riley could no longer fit that was ripe for Avery. All I heard was this:
"I don't like stripes."
"I'm not a fan of dots."
"I like this light blue, but it has stripes."
"I don't like sea turtles."
"This shirt is a pretty color but it doesn't have a picture on it."
"I don't like the waist of that skirt."
"These are bothering me."
"These are too stiff and I don't like it."
"These feel funny"
"This is too big."
I dont' like this, I don't like that, etc.

At this rate, she'll be naked all summer. My solution? Let her go through my fabric stash and I'll make her some skirts. I also am going to get some white t-shirts and camisoles and we'll dye them (or tie-dye some) and paint some stencils on. Right now, she has been wearing the same tie-dye shirt and skirt for days now. Luckily, she is such a clothes horse that she keeps them clean. As it stands, I have two acceptable skirts for her and nothing else will do.

So, swim lessons are over. Riley has been passed on to level 2. Avery was passed to pro 2, but I had a conversation with her teacher and we agreed that another session in pro 1 might be beneficial to her. Which is good, because I had already registered her for pro 1 again. She meets all the qualifications for moving on to pro 2, but she runs hot and cold. What she is willing to do one week, she will not do the next. She will go underwater. Sometimes. I think she just needs to get used to it a bit more. She just isn't consistent enough, I think, to enjoy pro 2. I think it would terrify her. She is only 3 afterall. I want swimming lessons to be fun. It's not like we're training her for the Olympics or anything :)

Hmmm...what else? My school is over, which is great. The summer session starts June 1st. I'm taking Environmental Science and Integrated Math for Teachers, whatever that is. I saved a few hundred dollars by buying my books on Amazon. They are in really good condition too, so I hope to make some money when I sell them back!

I went to the seminar thingy in Denver for the Teacher Education Program at University of Denver. It appears to be a really good program. Essentially, I would be licensed withing 18 months of entering the program. I would then only have a few more classes to take to finish up my masters. However, the program is very rigid and no online classes are offered. I could not start from here, but would have to wait until we move to Denver. I also would have to take summer classes, and again there are no online classes, so I would be unable to leave Colorado for 18 months. Classes have to be taken in a specific order and in conjunction with specific classes. Now I don't know what to do.

There is an alternate teacher certification here, too. Essentially, you just go in and start teaching. You are assigned a mentor, etc. and after a year, you get your teacher certification. This option is not free, costing from a few to several thousands of dollars. However, when I start with the mentor, I would be paid right off the bat, as a first year teacher. So, if I had to pay $5000 to get the license and employ the mentor, at least I'll be making $34,000/year at the same time. So in the end, it doesn't *really* cost anything. Sure, the master's licensure program would cost about $12,000, but I wouldn't be making any money in the process of getting the teaching license. I'm starting to think that this is the better option. I think I could do some substitute teaching next school year, so that it's not all new to me and I can get used to elementary classroom dynamics, and then pursue the alternate licensure when we move to Denver. I could also, of course, take evening courses to earn my masters while teaching. They have online master's degree options for those who are not seeking a teaching license at the same time, so I could take courses online and it wouldn't interfere with my summer travels. Thoughts?

Oh, yeah, and any money raked in while substitute teaching would go directly to getting my teeth fixed. Score, right? And I'll also be receiving a salary (and dental benefits?) much sooner than if I went through the University for my license. Sure, it would take me just a bit longer to complete my master's, but not all that much longer. There's also a very good chance that if I'm already teaching, I would get a stipend from the school system to complete my master's. Again, thoughts?

So, we replanted our garden, which was fun (not). It looks a lot better and the soil is much better. Hopefully we'll get something. The darn squirrels have been digging through our flower pots, so hopefully there are some seeds left to sprout. The marigolds have sprouted. The squirrels have attacked our strawberry plant, plucking a few small green fruits off and deciding that they didn't taste good at all. We'll have to think of something to keep the squirrels off. I have heard of boiling a ton of garlic cloves with several jalapeno peppers, straining it, and spraying it on the plants. Squirrels hate the smell and it doesn't damage the plants. We'll see, because apparently the smell even offends skunks and the box is just outside of our window. We may be quite offended by the smell too!

Oh, I'm done...this got really long.