Happy Birthday, Jason!

Today is Jason's 31st birthday! I've been trying to prepare Gracie all week, so it seems like we've actually been celebrating all week. Gracie helped bake Daddy's cake, picked out his gift, made him a card, wrapped it with her choice of wrapping, frosted the cake, sang Happy Birthday, helped blow out the candles, and of course helped to eat the cake! Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you!

It's official- I'm a (pregnant) HAWK!

It's been a pretty crazy few weeks for me (Jane). Let me catch you up. Central Unified (my school district) is opening up a new elementary school this August. With its new opening, boundaries have been shifted, resulting in my school losing enrollment. We're going from about 500 students to 275. Losing so many kids also means having to lose teachers. We were told before Spring Break that 12 of us were going to be moved elsewhere. Learning this information caused a lot of uncertainty among our staff. We were told that seniority would determine who would have to move elsewhere. Well, I have enough seniority that I was offered a position at my current school. Two other teachers with more seniority chose 5th grade, leaving me to choose between 4th and 6th. Before I left for Spring Break, I signed for 4th grade to secure a position for myself, but informed my principal that I was going to try and interview elsewhere for 5th grade. I really don't want to become a "first year teacher" again next year, having to learn entirely new curriculum for a new grade level. Besides, I have so many ideas I still want to try for 5th. My first choice was our new elementary school, Harvest.
I was interviewed during Spring Break and about an hour after the interview, the new principal called and offered me the 5th grade position. Of course I accepted! However, throughout this process, I have been very anxious because I have not divulged the fact that I'm expecting a baby in the fall. I have also kept this news mainly to myself at work because I didn't want word to get back to my new principal and have my pregnancy become a factor in whether or not to hire me (I know, it's against the law to use pregnancy as a reason not to hire someone, but still- I didn't want to take the chance). Many people advised me not to say anything, and even though I haven't, it has made me feel dishonest.
You'd think that I should feel confident that my new job is secure- already, so much has happened as a new Harvest staff member. We've already had a Community Forum, where we were introduced to the parents and I had to interview with and do a lesson for some of our district's leaders. Yet today was the day I have been waiting for- today, I finally feel like I can let out a sigh of relief. Tonight was Central's Board meeting, where the Board was informed of Harvest's new staff. Somehow, that makes me feel like it's "official." With that in mind, I decided I had to tell my new principal as soon as possible.
I was hoping to meet with him tomorrow and tried arranging a meeting for then. Instead, he came to meet with me today at lunch. His first thought was that I was going to tell him I had changed my mind about coming to Harvest! When I shared that I was expecting, he was extremely supportive. I am so grateful! I have been hiding my baby news from my staff for 14 weeks (that's how far along I am), and it's been getting more and more difficult. I'm starting to show and my regular clothes definitely don't fit me anymore. Tomorrow, I get to wear whatever I want because I don't have to hide anything! I also get to share our baby news with my staff tomorrow. You can't even imagine how ecstatic and content that makes me feel! Sorry for such a long post... I had lots to just let out! YAHOO!!!
By the way, if you're curious to see how things are developing at my new school, click on HARVEST. We've been told that construction is ahead of schedule and that we'll probably get to move into our new classrooms at the end of July. So much to look forward to...

MCC Sale

This was a big weekend if you're a Mennonite. It's the weekend of the "West Coast Relief Sale and Auction" (aka the MCC Sale). People look forward to it and make a point to go. Jason's family is Mennonite and we attend a Mennonite church so it was inevitable that we would be there. The sale takes place every April and is one of the ways that our church denomination raises awareness and funds for relief efforts around the world. Believe it or not, a lot of money is raised through a Quilt Auction. People sit inside a gym for hours and bid on quilts. Some are quite amazing! (The one pictured was created by Cindy Wiens, our friend's mom). Of course there is also a lot of good food and there are always other things to see and buy. I think it's such a big thing for Mennonites because it's like a huge family reunion. The Mennonite world is quite small! We go in hopes of running into people we haven't seen for a while (actually, I go to remind Jason of what those people's names are- ha, just kidding. Okay, half kidding).

Our friends, Aaron and Christa, drove into town from Portland with their baby, Charlotte (they're in town for several reasons, but one of them was for the sale). It was great to see them and do a little catching up. I wanted to see how Gracie would be around a little one. She has only started noticing babies in these last few weeks. She has 7 months to get ready to have a little one around all the time!

Pizza

Gracie is such a big helper nowadays (whether we want the help or not!) Here are some pictures from a few nights ago when we (or should we say "she") made pita pizzas for dinner.

Happy Easter!

Yesterday, we spent the morning at church before heading up to Coarsegold to spend the rest of the day with Jason's family. It was a nice, easy-going day. It was a good day to reflect about how much God loves us, and what exactly Easter celebrates.

"If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!" Romans 10:9 NIV

Easter is a significant day for us. Without the ultimate price that Christ paid through dying on the cross for us and without His resurrection, we would not have "life." We praise Him for the priceless gifts of forgiveness, hope, and salvation- for new beginnings. Hope everyone enjoyed a truly meaningful, blessed Easter!

I Big Girl!

On Thursday, Jason and I went and bought Gracie a "big girl" bed. We haven't felt rushed to move her out of her crib since she's not one of those kids who has been climbing out of it. We figured it was time- there are going to be many other things to get used to as October approaches. Switching to a new bed is something that can be done now, so why not. As soon as I picked her up from daycare, I told her we had a surprise for her. When we got home, she ran to her room. She climbed into bed and tested it out, pretending to go to sleep. She even went to her crib and brought her blankets over. Later that night, as we put her down, she said, "I big girl!" And that was that. She went straight to sleep until we woke her up the next morning. The same thing happened last night. Gosh, that transition wasn't too bad at all (though I know we're only two days in)- if only it were that easy with potty training!

At the Zoo

One of the advantages of both Jason and I being teachers is the vacation times that we share. It's our Spring Break this week! Today, we decided to take Gracie to Fresno's Chaffee Zoo. We've been to zoos before, but today was so much more enjoyable because Gracie was able to recognize most of the animals. For example, when we saw the kangaroos, she said, "Up down, up down," indicating she knew they hopped. At the petting zoo, we pet a "llama," the first time we've ever said that word to her. She actually identified another "lalama mama" later on at another exhibit. She was so fascinated by the animals, and enjoyed watching their every move. I would have to say that she was most intrigued by the seal, sea lions, monkeys, and elephants. Jason's favorite part was feeding the stingrays, and my most memorable moment was when we witnessed two tigers fighting each other. Every time I've seen tigers in the past, they are usually asleep. Today, two of them were chasing each other around and roaring at each other. It was actually scary, hearing their loud, ferocious roars!
After our zoo visit, we went to the nearby playground to have a picnic lunch. Gracie spent some time playing, though the playground was definitely not geared for her age group. She still had fun getting up to the slides.
Visiting the zoo and spending time at the playground all made for a great way to spend a beautiful day!

Beautiful Spring Day

It took some convincing, but we were able to get Gracie to agree to sit for some quick pictures on this beautiful spring day. Isn't she cute?! (You can't tell that she actually had a pretty rotten day today- really grumpy and irritable). Come to think of it, we're lucky to have gotten these pictures today!

October 2007

Play Doh

Just thought we'd share some pictures of Gracie playing this past weekend. She loves play-doh!

Steel City

Last weekend, Jason and I traveled to Pittsburgh. Jason went to a conference for the International Baccalaureate program (it's a program being offered at his middle school). Edmontonians know what I.B. is, but this is new to most Fresnans. The best way for me to describe the program in a nutshell is that it's global. If someone is a part of I.B. in Fresno, moves to Edmonton, and enrolls in an I.B. program there, it'll be the same methodology. It's designed to develop higher level thinking. Anyway, I went along because... well, why not? I'll probably never have an actual reason to visit Pittsburgh, so I decided to just go ahead and do it. Jason and I left on Friday morning. We got to the airport at 6am to discover that his school district (this is Fresno Unified for you) had booked the wrong date on his ticket. The agent would not let me transfer my ticket to Jason. He made Jason pay for another ticket (of course to be reimbursed), only to leave after me (since my flight was full), and make connections in 2 other cities. I left on the first flight, completely anxious because I didn't know if the hotel in Pittsburgh would let me check in since everything was reserved in Jason's name. I was fearful that I'd end up having to wait in Pittsburgh's airport for 7 hours until Jason's flight came in. Luckily, the person I sat next to on the Pittsburgh segment was also going to the same conference. She let me join her in the taxi (since her district was paying for it. If I had gone on my own, it would have been $40 to get to our hotel). The taxi driver was a maniac, and it was worse because it was rush hour. If you know me at all, you know that it doesn't take much for me to get nauseous. He wove in and out of traffic, and was constantly slamming on the brakes. When we got to the hotel, I was so glad they let me check in. I went right to bed and was miserably nauseous, waiting over 7 hours for Jason to arrive. I threw up minutes before he walked in the door at 1am. What a day!
The next morning, Jason went to his conference and I set off to explore Pittsburgh on my own. I spent a good portion of the day at the Heinz History Center, taking my time through all the exhibits. I particularly enjoyed learning about Pittsburgh's history, seeing Heinz ketchup bottles and their interesting labels (imagine what a Heinz ketchup label looks like in Korea!), a glass exhibit (I'm completely fascinated by glass), the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum (I was hoping to see a lot more about hockey- it was disappointing), and the Smithsonian Institute's "First Ladies" exhibit (this was packed with people). When Jason and I met up later in the day, we walked in the rain to get to Fort Pitt Museum. We got there with only an hour left- one of the workers guided us around and gave us an in-depth lesson. It was so fascinating. Just a few weeks ago, I had taught my 5th graders about the French and Indian War- now I was learning detailed information about it! There's so much history in Pittsburgh- we both loved that! Next, we walked to the Strip District for dinner, an area known for its eclectic mix of shops. On Sunday morning, Jason once again headed off to his conference and I set off to explore Pittburgh's downtown on foot. I did so much walking! The city has done a good job of preserving its buildings. When Jason was finished for the day, we took the subway to Station Square, across the river. We looked through some shops, and then walked along the river to get to Duquesne Incline. It went up Mount Washington and provided awesome views of downtown. I was so tired from all of my walking that we called for a cab when we got to the top. The cab took us to the South Side, an area known for its many restaurants (it reminded me of Edmonton's Whyte Ave.). We found this small Greek restaurant that served gyros (donairs). Yum! We haven't found any place that sells great gyros in Fresno... (Let us know if there's a good place you know of). To get back to our hotel, we took a bus. The next day, while Jason was at his conference, I took a taxi to the University of Pittsburgh to see the Cathedral of Learning. It's beautiful- built in the 1920's, is designed in a gothic style, looks like a European cathedral, is over 40 stories tall, but is actually full of classrooms. Some of the classrooms have been completely redesigned to reflect different cultures. They are called the Nationality Rooms and I must have seen over 20 cultures, including Sweden, Austrian, German, African, Indian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Greek, etc. It was so cool! Jason decided to leave his conference early to join me. From there, we walked to Heinz Chapel (lots of things are named for the Heinz family in Pittsburgh). Unfortunately, the chapel was created only as a memorial to some Heinz family members, not really as a church. Jason and I walked on Craig Street where we found Lulu's, a noodle restaurant (similar to Edmonton's Oodle Noodle). We're bummed that Fresno doesn't have this type of restaurant either. (I've often told Jason that if I wanted to open up a restaurant, this is the kind I'd want). After lunch, we took the bus back to the hotel to get our bags, and headed for the airport. Thankfully, the trip home was uneventful.
I hope you've enjoyed reading about our experiences in Pittsburgh! We had an awesome time- we both loved that city and are glad we had the chance to visit it. There were so many things about it that reminded me of Edmonton... Can't wait to visit "home" this summer!

Day Trip to San Francisco

We were able to do a quick getaway to San Francisco this past Saturday with Don and Lavonne. We are so grateful for our friends, the Lees, and the Sieberts, for allowing Grace to join them for the day!

The first stop we made was at Emeryville's IKEA. I love that store! We had so much planned for the day that we skipped the showrooms, and went straight for the goods. Afterwards, we went to Pier 39 for lunch. Jason and I have visited San Francisco so many times, in particular, Fisherman's Wharf, yet we had never actually been on the pier. We stopped by the candy store for some saltwater taffy, went to see the sea lions, and then had lunch on the pier.

From there, we walked to Ghiradelli Square for dessert. Yum!

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Exploratorium. Don and Lavonne had never been there. It was fun, being little kids again, exploring, and playing around. We only wanted to go there to have fun, but left actually feeling like we "learned."

After it closed, we went for a walk on the grounds.

The Palace of Fine Arts is amazing. We found a bench and just sat- it felt so peaceful. This was the perfect way to end our visit with Don and Lavonne. They're heading off to Pismo Beach for one more week of relaxation before heading back up to the "Great White North." We truly are grateful for such wonderful friends, and already miss them greatly!