chuckie cheese

so here is a little story to tell you what my day looked like today.
it was just before ten and i had about 11 kids in class. though both toddler classes were combined so my kids ranged in ages 18 months to nearly three. I had just put all my potty trainers in their underwear who were supposed to be and not five minutes later one had peed on themselves. ugh. so while changing him out of wet clothes into a pullup a little girl yells yellow water yellow water. well at least she knows her colors because sure enough there on the white tile a yellow puddle. i asked the whole class who wet their pants thinking that the little boy on the table did not pee that much. nobody responded and they all agreed it was the boy i was changing. not a second later i realized it wasnt him but another kid with his back to me near the puddle. so i scolded him for not speaking up when he peed his pants because sitting in wet pants is not good. i threw some towels over the puddle and was finishing changing the first boy as the door open. I looked up to see a dad bringing his son in. only this dad is insistent upon not putting his kid on the ground but handing him to me. so there i was two kids deep in pee pants and a puddle of pee on the floor blocking the doorway so dad couldnt come in. I scanned the room then to see one of my girls opened the play kitchen cupboard and crawled inside with the top half of her body sticking out the sink. I told her to get out and next time she would get a time out. So i put the first kid on the ground and cleanup the pee puddle all while the dad watches me. i wash my hands and take the little boy. dad leaves, i put his kid down and i start changing the second boys pants when i hear miss sami help from a tiny little voice infront on me and i think not another interruption cant i just change pee pants in this room. thats when i not only see the same little girl in a sink but another one also. two kids put themselves in there and are now actually stuck. so i stand the boy half clothed in pee clothes on the ground and grab sanitizer so i can help this new mess in front of me. Just when i think i will have to call up front to my bosses i manage to squeeze the smaller of the two girls free of the sink and promptly put her in time out as afterall i had already warned her. I finally finished changing the pee clothes and was over dealing with underwear for the day. I also need to nail those dumb cupboard doors shut.

the other story of the day was far less stressfull but was totally cute and i couldnt help but laugh and think this is why i like kids. we were playing outside and i was sitting on the steps goofing around with this one little boy who was whining for his mom. this other little boy who just turned two but is a little behind and happens to be in his own world alot came and sat next to me. now for this to even make a little sense i need to explain this kid to you. he is never in the right spot and when you yell his name to get his attention he does this bobble head thing side to side with this ridiculous grin on his face at first its cute but after a day a week or a few months its frustrating. you do a head count and every time you come up one short because he has always wandered somewhere else. he is always smiling but never doing what he should be though i am not sure he is aware of it. and recently he has learned to copy EVERYTHING you say. so there he was next to me and over and over he was saying miss sami miss sami in his high little voice. i kept saying what but looking at the boy in front of me still sad about his mom. finally he reached over grabbed my face so i looked at him. he said "miss sami" very calmly then as fast as he could he said "chuckie cheese". this is when i lost it i couldnt help but laugh at the day i just had. and it all came down to chuckie cheese

Punks

Hey babies... i miss you both so much so i made a video. I figured since I got a camera for christmas i would hobble around on my busted knee and send you a little message! love you!

Christmas already

The holiday season has swept through, here I am just days before Christmas. The weather outside has allowed this season to creep up on me. Some days are amazingly warm and jeans and t-shirt weather. Some days are bitterly cold and cloudy. However the lack soggy clothes strewn about my room to dry or wondering if my shoes will be dry enough to put on in the morning has left Christmas to creep up without me being prepared at all! Though my christmas letter is written and ready to go out it still sits in my room as somehow i never go get the pics printed to mail out with them. SO in true allen tradition you will be getting my christmas cards in january... so maybe they will be a new years update instead!

The story on my concussion is finally good. I need to call the doc one more time but should be cleared to play when my season starts up. So thats exciting. Though i have noticed that my memory may not be as sharp as it use to be. In general i remember everything but I have to think about it all a little more. It doesnt all just stick so easily. But hey if thats the worst that comes out of this then I will take it!

Other then that just hanging out and chillin with friends! yay austin!

Well family and friends here I am in month three of my life in Austin. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and for me the first one I spent apart from family. However rugby never leaves me alone and I spent Thanksgiving 08 at a Wayward Ruggers Thanksgiving. This year it was hosted by my coach Meg and it was a very nice afternoon/evening. I made a spinach salad and to my hearts content I loved it! Made home made killer eggnong and overall just good company! Yay for ruggers!
Work is still work but I am in love with my kids! They make going to work so fun. Yes at times they frustrate me but they always redeem themselves within a minute. My little man Henry who is as cute as ever had such a great story behind his last week. It was only going to be a half week for me because I was headed home after lunch on Wednesday. I had made it animal week and everyday for art we made animal ear hats to wear. Well Tuesday was cat day and for some reason Hen loved his cat hat. He left wearing it Tuesday and came back the next morning with it on. A bit tattered but none the less on his head. As I laid him down for nap he still had it on. I got a text Thursday as I was chillin in seattle with my friends and was told Hen came back with the cat hat on. When I got to school Monday I saw the cat hat in his cubby, taped back together and much of the ears ripped off. Apparently they had to take it from him because he just wouldn’t remove it. Oh my man! So cute!

speaking of my cute man here is hen...isnt he RAD?!! ok yeah I did his hair!

Rugby is still rugby

Yes the sport of rugby is always one where we risk alot. Well I guess I risked my head in my last match. It was maybe two weeks ago and I played one match and shortly into the next I found one scrum to be particularly uncomfortable. What I remember is feeling my neck being bent up and saying ow ow. Then in my memory I walked towards the side lines. However it has been brought to my attention this is not the case I infact still played. At some point I did walk off the field passing one player saying I needed a sub but other then that just held one finger meaning wait a minute to the question of if something was wrong. I apparently went and barfed in the restroom only to come back and cozy up against the fence behind one of our spectators. Dozing in and out of sleep my coach came to asses me and apparently I could only attest to the fact my neck hurt but she thought concussion. She instructed me to go to the hospital but I refused... imagine that. Then she got another teammate to asses me who also said I needed to go and yet again I refused. I guess that was not an option because I went. All in all the hospital didnt worry at all about a concussion but rather just sent me home with antibiotics and pain meds for a strained neck. I was up and down sleeping alot the rest of the weekend but when i woke on tuesday I didnt really know what had gone on that weekend. Very very short memories of anything but mostly just nothing at all. I went to work only to find spots in my vision and a pulsing headache. Went to the doc the next day to find out he was worried about brain bleeding. With a CT scan of my brain I found out it was ok and just took a good knock.
How the hospital passed me with out a concussion was amazing considering I have been informed i wrote the date was 1986. hmmm. And also wrote my address wrong. As well as many other scratches that smeared my admission form.
in any sense my team and my text message in and outbox filled me in on most blank parts though there are still a few that exist... like monday as a whole. I may have slept through it minus the fact I know I texted twice.
Just got back from the doctor and he said I may be escaping with no lingering damage which is great. All things are coming back at a slow and steady pass. spots in my vision are gone, headaches only between meds and the intensity level is much lower my energy level is rising and my current short term memory is regaining so thats good. I can almost remember how many times each of my ten kids went potty in the potty for their parents at the end of the day!

But no family and friends this has not detracted me from the sport. It did cause me to buy a scrum cap. Not fool proof but hoping it will help with the little knocks and jostles of the head. And yes gram I know you think I am crazy but rugby is rugby and I love it!

The sun still shines

It seems in austin the sun will shine year round. Its actually kinda nice. The worst part is that the air feels about ten inches thick. Its pretty dang gross. oh i am excited to feel the nice crisp air of washington state! seattle here i come... well just before thanksgiving anyhow!
Still loving it here. I am in a pretty big need of a washer and dryer IN my apartment, dand waiting list is to long! But if thats the worst part of being here i would say all is pretty dang good!
Work is work. I am getting great feedback from the parents about how the kids are doing and advancing. Not only that I am seeing it myself! From the ability to recognize numbers to repeating numbers and letters as well as following directions these kids are showing me new skills daily! Having a harder time with the boss but all should work out in time.
Rugby is still super amazing! The Bside is still undefeated and we have had a good number of games. We still have one game and two tourni's left so we will see how it goes!
With all the fun i am having here i do still miss seattle and seattle folk! esp my little punkers.. aubrie and liah i miss you babies! love you lots!

here is another pic from one of my games for folks back home...


and for anyone here in austin here is a pic of my favorite little punkers! its a little old but i love this pic!

Chillin in austin

Well things seem to be setting into routine here! The love for Austin has yet to wear off. Every week i think to myself how there is a whole city at my finger tips that I have yet to explore, come on self get out there! I have no idea where to start or what to see. Slowly but surely it will all come to me I am sure. This will be my first weekend without a rugby match, but in true rugby form it will not be a weekend without ruggers! Working at Marathon kids tomorrow for a REALLY long time. Then chillin with some ruggers in the PM. Followed by a day where i can sleep in... thank the good Lord for that. and then church and chill with more ruggers in the PM. Yay!

Last weekend was spent in Colorado playing rugby. A side had a pretty big match against glendale which we dont really need to talk about. The next day a side had another match against Boulder. I actually got to sub in on this game which was exciting. The end result is one that has left some folks pretty upset. After a rough game with non stop whistles the last try was not awarded to us... we lost by ONE. Not cool and really not fair. We followed that up with a Bside game which the Valks dominated. I started in this game sub'd out and the came back in. Standing on the side lines was rough. I hate watching my team play when I cant be in. I did enough of that with a busted knee. Plus they seemed to be having so much fun. all the subs stood on the side hoping to get back in.
the best part of the weekend was that we went with 29 girls. Seriously nearly two sides. thats amazing!

Here are some pics from my recent adventures
Here is my team in boulder... note the flatiron mtns in the background


and here i am with some ruggers at the airport

The things that happen at school

So I have had an interesting few days at work where some of the craziest things have occurred. Now remind yourself I spend my days with really little kids so it makes sense it gets so crazy!
I got to school just before 9am, fifteen minutes after starting my shift I took my kids from the breakfast table towards my classroom. One child has decided another teacher looks like his mom and when he sees her disaster strikes. Well he started crying because we were leaving her, he put himself into such a fit that he barfed all over me and the floor. seriously i had been on shift for fifteen minutes. Not a fun way to start the day. Oh but it didnt end there.
Just over an hour later we were outside playing. When one child wouldnt share a toy with a boy who wanted it the boy decided the best way to get it was to bite and that he did. Seriously dont bite. this is the same kid who bit me when i tried to put him in timeout. UGH there is now a perfect bruised ring on the poor kids arm from where teeth set in.
Lunch happend and then its nap time, at this point a coworker normally takes over and i go on lunch, but there was a mishap and the bosses needed to see a few of the workers so i put kids down for nap. Since it was me and not the normal person EVERY child decided to act up. One girl is screaming bloody murder for her mom, who works at school but was in the meeting. most of the kids are talking to eachother, one boy is standing on his mat and the biter is yelling in the face of a little girl. I finally pull the cryer over next to me to make her stop and things begin to calm down. right then a four year old stands up doing the universal choking sign. I am yelling his name and jumping off the ground going towards him. in my head i think... shoot i have not taken first aid... eeek. finally he answers and says i was choking on a penny. WHAT you are nearly five why would you put a penny in your mouth. OMG.
The day rounds out with a boy getting a rock stuck in his ear. Seriously kids these holes are not to be putting stuff in like that... seriously.

luckily the next day was a bit more calm!

Home?....

I am now in austin texas. A place I shall call home... atleast for the time being! Living in a cute little apartment... well it will be cute once my roomie and I put stuff on the walls and get all the furniture in! Working at a job where I teach early preschool. I teach a lot of socializing skills as well as the foundational things like colors and shapes. I pretty much love it! The place is rather new so the owners have a lot to learn but things are coming along.
I am playing rugby for the austin valkyries. I had to step up my skill level in order to play with them. They have enough ladies for two sides A and B. I have so far been the starting hooker for the bside. I have worked really hard to see the field and apply all that I have learned these past four years about the game! it seems to be working out.
I have been church hunting to see what church I shall call home. Seen a few really good churches still not sure which place I will settle in to!
Between work and rugby and church my life is full here. Full of stuff I really love so it really cant get much better! Things I am looking forward to is my next pay check as i can actually put money in the bank and possibly even buy a mattress so I dont have to sleep on the floor anymore!

Here are some photos so far

Gawfy and Me in Colorado!


Me in Co

Here are two photos from playing with the valks!

Gramma

A hard fight for sure! an amazing women.. thats a fact. With her last eight days of life spent in hospice my days and nights were spent there to. Time spent watching her fight.... struggle with her breaths and still an inspiration. I got to spend that time in hospice with my aunts. Getting to know them on a different level... still giving to us in her last days!

Toby I love you

Here is the video I had created in memory of Toby. Most of the family has it but just in case here it is.

His death still a huge mystery to me. I am sure it is to many. Left with so many unanswered questions I know my inquisitive nature will never be calmed when it comes to toby. An amazing man he was, smart, to smart for his own good thats for sure. A family man.. he was intentinal to every one of us. The last christmas toby was here he gave me a squeaky nun. It was a super funny gift to get, but you can bet i still have it. Why some may ask, did he give that to me. He knew i loved church and god and was super devoted, it made sense to him... it was so thoughtful. Going on that same theme one year for my birthday he gave me the movie saved. It was about catholic girls... i am a catholic, he thought i could take pleasure in the comedy that was produced surrounding the catholic religion. Always thoughtful. he didnt have to try to be he just was. Gotta love him for that! just wish he was still here or atleast the giant question of why and how could be answered...