Summer Internship

Last week was my first week of my summer internship. I am working at Southwest Center, with Youth Services, preparing to apply for the Bachelors in Social Work program. I am working with 2nd graders who have behavioral problems, or have been recommended by the state due to home conditions. With some of the children, its easy to see why they have been placed in the program, inability to follow directions, sit still, or act appropriately in social settings, while others make me wonder whats going on at home to justify their placement in the program. There are a few of the kids who are so well behaved that I can't imagine what could have led them to us.

I wont name any real names, or give any specific details, but I wanted to talk a little bit about the program and why it shows me that social work is the field I want to work in.

Every day, the kids participate in one hour of group therapy. Led by a licensed therapists, the kids discuss topics such as "appropriate touch" and "how to ask for help". This lesson led to one girl, "Jamie*" telling us about "Joe*", and how he hurt her, so she had to be taken away. The therapist told us that this girl had been abused by her step-father, and hurt her so bad the courts removed her from her home and she was adopted into a new family. She is now in our program to cope with the issues she has developed from this. I see this girl struggle daily with how to act, going back and forth from angry to well behaved, to silly little girl. She has told me a few times that she wants to learn karate so she can go "kick "Joe's butt", but she is still the sweetest girl, and hopefully coming to group will help her deal with this difficult time in her life.

Las Vegas

This week was a busy one. On Tuesday I started training for my summer internship and right after I got done we headed down to Vegas to celebrate Courtney's 17th birthday and Bentleys (late) 6th birthday.

It was an absolute blast. While Courtney and her friends went shopping, mom and I took the kids to the Dolphin Experience at the Mirage. The kids thought it was so great and loved seeing the dolphins play. They also have the white tigers in this exhibit so we also visited them.

The next day we did joined Courtney for a little more shopping. Forever 21 was a must, and I found a new favorite: H&M. Their womens line is amazing to begin with, but their kids line blew me away. Such cute clothes for amazing prices. I was in heaven!

After getting our shopping fix, we took the kids to the Lied Childrens Museum. This museum is an absolute blast. It's located in a semi-sketchy area of town, but so worth it. We had to drag the kids out when it was time to leave.

After a sad, stressful weekend, Vegas was a great getaway for me and the kids. I am so happy to have been blessed with them, and weekends like this help me refocus and put things back into perspective.

(Trying to upload pics, but getting an error message. I'll try later)

Graduation

Not mine, though I do wish it were!My little man is not so little anymore. Last week he graduated from Kindergarten. Yikes!

That means in just a few short months he will be a first grader, he will stay at school all day, he will have lunch in the cafeteria.

I will admit that I got choked up at his graduation when his teacher was talking about preparing the kids for first grade. It's just hard to believe he's that old.

Bentley has done great this year. He is learning to read, and has done great with writing. His math skills are great, which was definitely not something he inherited from his momma! He had an amazing teacher who really focused on each child's individual needs. I am so thankful for teachers like her.

I'm so proud of my dude, and look forward to the adventures that we will have this summer!

T-ball

Last summer Bentley did a program called "Smart Start" baseball, which was basically just teaching the essentials of the game for an hour on Saturdays. He enjoyed it, but it didn't have that baseball feel. No games, no sitting in the bleachers cheering for him, none of that. So this year, when I found out he was old enough for T-ball, I was pretty excited.

I think I may have been more excited than he was....

*Sigh*

Dance like no one is watching.

Chloe started dance this year. There was no question in my mind of whether she would enjoy it or not. This girl was born to perform. She loves the ballet skirts, the tutu's, the ballet shoes, and spinning like a ballerina. Well, this month was her end of the year showcase, and we were all looking forward to it. Chloe was excited to wear her Tinkerbell green dress, complete with giant tutu, I was looking forward to seeing her preform, and Kaleb was hoping for a "Little Rascals"-type performance. If you don't know what I mean, watch this. While it was not quite as exciting as Kaleb was hoping for, we were all so proud of my little dancer. She had a great cheering section including me, Kaleb, Bentley, Mattix, her dad and his girlfriend, Grandma Marcie, and Grandma-Grandma and Grandpa-Grandpa.

Blogger wont upload the video, but I did post it on facebook, so check it out!

Whats going on?

I assume most, if not all, of you are my facebook friends, and pretty much know the jist of my life currently, but just in case, here's an update on our lives.

Lets go youngest to oldest....

Mattix. Turns 3 in September. 3! That is far too much for me to wrap my head around. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was miserable and pregnant begging my doctor to "get this thing out of me"? Either way, this kid lights up my life. Comments like, "I love you chicken" and "I like your hair mom" and climbing in my bed asking "sleep wif you mom?", make my heart melt on a daily basis. He's also crazy. By far, the most strong willed, stubborn boy I have met.

Chloe. Chloe will be 5 in November. Seriously? How did that happen? She started preschool this year and loves it. She has another year of preschool before Kindergarten, thank goodness. I don't think I am ready for another child to start school yet.

Another super fun thing Chloe had happen this year was to start dance. She goes to Diamond Talent and loves it! She loves being a ballerina and has made some good friends. Next week is her big dance showcase and she's pretty excited.

Bentley. Oh my sweet Bentley. Turns 6 in two weeks. This post is making me feel older and older the more I type. Well, either way, Bentley started kindergarten this year and is rocking it! I'm so proud of him and all he has accomplished this year. He is picking up reading very quickly, and loving math as well.

As for me, well, its a lot of the same old...school, work, school, work. Hoping to get my associates next fall, and then apply for the Sociology program. Still at Green Valley Spa, its kind of a love-hate relationship.

Oh yeah, there's this guy too... Kaleb. He's the best. Came into my life when I pretty much least expected it. We've been dating since January and I don't even remember the last time I was this happy. I told myself I didn't want to date anyone seriously until I was out of school and my divorce was final, but sometimes you gotta roll with it.

So we're rollin, and loving every minute of it.

So yeah, thats the latest. Hoping to have everything from my old blog transfered over the next little bit, but it would be awesome if you would comment and let me know that you read. :) I wanna keep my bloglist updated!

NEW!

This will work for now.

New post will be up very soon. I promise.