Catching Every Smile...

Facebook asked me: What's on your mind?

2017-06-03T11:06:00.002-04:00

After many years of not blogging, because I really just didn't have the time...here are the thoughts going on in my busy mind!!

My mom with Clay.

Home Life: The dreaded day came and the first day of spring break our twelve year old boxer, Sugar, looked at me and I knew she was unable to live comfortably. Eric took her to the vet that morning and I knew there was a huge chance she wasn't coming back. My kids were devastated. We all were. She meant a lot to me but even more than being an amazing dog I got her one of the best/worst years of my life. My mom had suddenly passed away when I was six months pregnant with Erianna. We inherited our family boxer, Clay, but being a new mom I couldn't handle him in our small townhouse so I gave him to a friend that could. I regretted that decision soon after, but knew he was being loved and my friend kept me in the loop with pictures all the time. A few months later we were in a house and a friend at work asked if anyone was able to adopt a dog as his sister was giving hers away. I jumped on it and we had many great times with Sugar. We actually had two other dogs, Ice, an American Bulldog that died almost three years ago and a crazy English bulldog, Captain, that we gave to our friends because he was a lot to handle!!!

My mom with Alex, Samantha and I with T-Bone, our first family boxer.

Losing Sugar reminded me of my mom, and the time of my life when I lost her. I lost her when I really needed her. I was having a baby, just out of college and although I was 24, I still felt like a kid myself! It's been almost thirteen years and so much has happened since she died. She worked with little kids at a little private school and the thought of me doing the same thing wasn't even thought yet. I was destined to be the Food and Beverage director of a fancy hotel! Oh how things changed after I had Erianna and Austin! I had a licensed home daycare, and then became a teacher! Crazy!!! I miss her so much, so losing Sugar definitely brought me back to that time.

Time to walk Sugar and Ice with Lucas, Aidan, Alyssa, Liam, Brooklyn and Ryan in tow!

Erianna and Austin had it made with the home daycare! They had every toy in the world!!!

Obviously losing Sugar really affected my kiddos, they cried all day long, and brought Erianna back to the time of when my nana died. When my mom died in 2004, I was so worried about my nana. She was already a widow, had lost a grandchild about a year prior, and lived MANY miles away in the Isle of Man, England. From 2004, to when she died in 2011, Erianna and I spent a lot of time with her. She would come here and we would go and see her over the summers. We had some great times. Erianna absolutely adored her. It's been six years and she still gets upset from time to time and reminiscing about those awesome times. They had an incredible bond, and Erianna was devastated thinking about her and Sugar.

Lots of fun times between those two!

So after a few hours of tears and cuddles after losing Sugar, my little brother and sister came over to spend Spring Break with us. We had a ton of fun!! My God, I who would have ever dreamed of my dad getting remarried and having kids YOUNGER than his grandkids and their first language being Spanish! Modern family indeed!! Losing my mom was tragic but I am grateful to have those sweet little ones in my life. They keep my dad young and admire him. He has always been an incredible photographer, and now they are toting their own cameras and enjoy their weekend photoshoots with Dad.

Chris and Andrea ready to go early on a Saturday morning!

The day after Sugar passed away, we decided no more dogs, let's travel...kind of. Then I joined a new social media platform, called Nextdoor and saw this post:

I teared up reading it. HIs owner passed away? He was adopted but it didn't work out?! Poor dog! He looked just like Sugar, and was obviously out of that cute, but so tiring puppy stage.... so not even 12 hours later I was at a dog park with him and the four kids, and ended up taking him home for a trial. Eric was definitely not happy about it, but I didn't care. I fell in love and soon enough he did, too. Joe is amazing. We absolutely love him. He is so clever and cute. I also met some incredible people through him. His owner's sister is one of those people you think you've known forever. She's such a kind and loving person. We still keep in touch with her and Joe's family from all over the world, literally!! I have become one of those people I used to think were crazy. I take him everywhere, I buy him new toys every time I go to the store. I bought a DNA test so I can learn more about him. I am that crazy dog lady. YIKES. He even has his own Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mojoe.egandomitrovits

Meeting Joe (and Matt and Dillon)

Waiting at Target to see Tia Edda and get an ottoman that he LOVED to sleep on at his owner's house.

~~Rule #1: Joe is absolutely not allowed on furniture.~~

Also going on in my busy mind at the moment.... It's almost been one year since a day that absolutely changed my life. June 10, 2016 was awesome. We had our end of the year luncheon and I was picked as Teacher of the Year, which was really was so great, because I worked with some top notch educators, and didn't consider myself to be so outstanding. I was also given a really cool opportunity for the following school year. I was offered a position out of the classroom to support students and teachers, I was so excited. What a great way to start my summer! I gave away and sold MOST of my classroom necessities and vowed to have a fabulous summer before the hustle of a new school year and a new position began.

Dr. Sandberg giving me the Teacher of the Year award at the End of Year luncheon.

The very next day I was on the way to Orlando ready to LIVE IT UP!!! First stop was Orlando so we could go on Zero-G and experience a zero gravity flight! Well, unfortunately God had to give me a wake up call on the way to the airport. Someone ran a red light and I really thought I was dead. It was the most surreal feeling when I opened my eyes after the impact and the car spinning across multiple lanes of traffic. It was the worst feeling ever. I was with my Dad and Erianna. On the way to the hospital I can't even tell you the thoughts that ran through my mind. Our guardian angels definitely did their jobs that day. By the grace of God we all survived and I was grateful for that, but still was so shocked and seeing Erianna so hurt was the worst.

My car was hit on the passenger side by a truck.

The truck hit the white van first. The white van was pushed into us, and then flipped over my car and landed on it's side.

The pick up truck.

My baby's first smile after receiving a sweet gift basket from her grandma and grandpa.

The accident was life changing. It made me think differently, it made me slow down in life and focus more on what matters most. My family, not my job. Erianna and I are still not back to normal and it's been almost a year. I also was so floored that the person who ran the red light never called or contacted us to see if we were ok. People were rushed to two different hospitals. There were multiple children involved. It baffles me. Well, the new position I was so excited for I didn't love. I wasn't able to do it after the accident. It was too much. It mentally and physically drained me, and I quit mid-year...

We did finally fly on a Zero-G flight during Spring Break this year.
This is a very symbolic family portrait. It's me and the kids most days, while Eric flies around the world!

Work life:
I'm super excited to be very close to securing a position next school year with Broward County Public Schools. When I first got into teaching, Broward County teachers were getting surplussed, so I didn't even try. I feared falling in love with a class then receiving a pink slip because I was the last one hired so I went the charter route. I decided in December I was going to try and work for the county next school year, and sent out my resume in hopes of an interview. Well, when I was called to interview for two interim substitute positions back to back this current school year at my local public school I was quick to dismiss it. How could I leave halfway through the year, they'll never be able to replace me and it will put extra work on people who are already overworked!

However my family said DO IT, we miss you, you work too much, you hate your job! The interview was nerve wrecking and I didn't think I did well. There were four people interviewing me and I felt so awkward! I had decided I was going to quit my job anyway because my family was right, I didn't love it. My family did need me, especially Erianna. The accident really affected her. She also wasn't being challenged in most classes and she had a witch of a teacher that was making her life absolute hell. Austin had fantastic teachers, but hated going to school because he was constantly in trouble for behavior. I decided I was going to put them in their home public schools as we were finally zoned for decent public schools!

I figured I would substitute until I found a job, or sell bottled water on the street corners in a hot-dog costume if I had to! About a week after giving my notice I got a call and was offered the job! I was able to start the day after I left! Awesome!! The second half of the school year has been brilliant. I missed being a teacher, and I fell in love with teaching fourth grade!! I wish I went to the public schools sooner, the grass really is greener on the other side! I work with experienced professional (ALL CERTIFIED) teachers and administrators. The principal has been at the school for almost 20 years and a lot of the staff have been there for a long time, too. It's a great school culture, a very well oiled machine. It extends further than the school, it's a community. Students play together after school, families look out for one another, local businesses support the school and its' students. It's truly a village mentality.

With some of my sweet kid from my first interim assignment on a field trip!

The butterfly garden is AMAZING at this school! It was so peaceful reading outside with them this winter.

The boys fishing!

Spring Break! I think I had ten kids at my house that day!

The building may not be flashy and new like the charter schools I worked for, but the talent in that school is priceless! I feel a lot more freedom to teach, and less pressure to test. We don't have to give the kids a ridiculous number of tests, quizzes, classwork and projects each marking period, we just need nine grades per subject. Obviously I gave more, but it was nice not having to give them a test every single week and lose that day of instruction. We're given adequate planning time, which means I don't have to work at home to keep up. More value is put on fewer meaningful assessments, and you're trusted to use that data to guide your instruction. There's not a ridiculous amount of paperwork that goes with it. My lesson plans aren't 10-15 pages long and broken down by the minute. Yes, there is a pace I'm expected to follow alongside my teammates but it's OK if I need to spend extra time on a standard with my students!
Technology is prevalent in all classrooms because the principal is hardworking and writes grants all the time, not the teachers! The PTA really works with the teachers and has one huge fundraiser a year, that's it. I don't have a different fundraiser and collection envelope every other week haunting me and again, taking away instructional time. It is just so different. It's really awesome.

Absolutely no regrets though, working at charter schools definitely helped me become a better teacher. I picked up things at different schools that helped me in some way or another. I had so many amazing students and got to know a lot of their families, too! Additionally I made so many friends working at charter schools. The six years I worked in charter schools I worked for six different principals, and eight different assistant principals. A few were amazing and gave me words of wisdom I'll hold on to forever! With a new principal every year you can only imagine how many teachers I worked with! It's nice to have met so many different people and collaborated with them. It made me the teacher I am today for sure. :)

It was nice to catch up on my blog. I am going to attempt to blog more often!

Christmas 2012

2012-12-10T23:06:00.001-05:00

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Check out our 2012 cards!

Fun With Auntie Sabrina

2012-01-20T11:35:00.000-05:00

Pictures by Auntie Sabrina

Sabrina watched the kids while I went to work! BLAH! They made a super cute sign, because I threw away Erianna's tooth...and I forgot to give her money under her pillow! DOUBLE FAIL! Well, Sabrina and Erianna made a sign, and luckily the next night the tooth fairy was able to find out who the lost tooth belonged to...and pay up!

Dentist Time!

2012-01-20T11:27:00.000-05:00

It was time.. time to find out if I would go to England this year or pay a huge dental bill. Well, no England this year! Austin had no cavities, but Erianna has a couple things she needs worked on. Wish us luck when she goes back at the end of the month. Crossing my fingers now..

New Years Eve with the Cousins

2011-12-31T11:30:00.000-05:00

Nothing can be better than cousins, the beach, and a delicious lunch at the Food Shack in Jupiter! Here are a couple pics of an awesome day!

Erianna's Date with Mom

2011-12-26T11:25:00.000-05:00

Austin and Daddy went fishing.. Erianna and Mommy had a lazy day... and Erianna said she would like to go and watch the sunset at the park.. unfortunately by the time we got up..the sun was long gone...but we managed for a five minute photo shoot just for giggles!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T11:21:00.000-05:00

I took mostly video this year... but here are a few pics!

Underwear!!!?????!?!?

Bed Head!

Busted!

Christmas Morning at Auntie Heather's House!

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T11:05:00.000-05:00

Traditions...traditions... The Christmas Eve tradition is party at the Valliere's house, bring home sleeping kids, put cookies out, and wake up! Well, we forgot to make cookies, so Erianna took some from the party! We also sprinkled our lawn and the lawn next door with reindeer food...and it was off to bed!

Ice Skating in Florida

2011-12-15T11:05:00.000-05:00

What do Floridians do on a typical Thursday night?!? Eat Chinese food, and go ice skating downtown! It was a lot of fun! Ice Skating on Los Olas

I can be creative if I want to! Handmade frog costume!He lo

2011-12-14T11:04:00.000-05:00

It was Character Literacy Day at school. The kids had to dress like their favorite book character, and come to school with the book in hand ready to share.. Austin wanted to be a frog from his animal encyclopedia...so I had to get creative... so to the internet I went...and made my little man a costume... :) I sprayed his hair, and unfortunately mid January it is still green!

He loved his costume! :)

Fancy Nancy and the kids!

Christmas Play

2011-12-13T11:03:00.000-05:00

The school had a Holiday Play..and Erianna's class sang two songs for it. It was so cute.. She really enjoyed it!

Snow in Florida

2011-12-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

It snows every weekend during the holiday months in West Palm Beach..unfortunately the snow tastes like soap and isn't cold.. My kids had a fun time, but they definitely enjoyed playing with the water fountain even more!

It's an Advent Calendar!!!

2011-12-09T10:48:00.000-05:00

Austin decided to eat his whole advent calendar on December 9th.... I could have killed him!!! He ate 15 pieces of chocolate in less than 5 minutes! I still can eat more than him though!!!

On the 9th Day of December....Austin brought to me....

Austin and Erianna Win Awards at School

2011-11-29T10:51:00.000-05:00

Erianna and Austin have award ceremonies at school to recognize their grades. Austin got an award for Reading, and Erianna got one for Reading, Math and Respect. Erianna's class performed, and Austin's class will perform at the next one! Congrats kiddos!

Training Wheels are for girls....

2011-11-26T10:38:00.000-05:00

Erianna was on week four of no training wheels, and I finally convinced her to buy herself a new bike...as her old one was too small. Austin had wanted to take his training wheels off, but after five minutes, asked Eric to put them back on... Then one day Austin was in the garage trying to take them back off...and we refused to take them off again... and then... Austin snagged her old bike and was off. He did so well without training wheels.. There is no way I was as young as them without training wheels! Crazy kids!

Rocking the new bike!

If you won't take mine off again.. I am going to take her old bike!

Sleepover at the museum

2011-11-18T10:42:00.000-05:00

Three awesome Moms, two little girls, three little boys, and lots of sugar... That sums it up. We slept at the museum...and it was great...except for the constant announcements between 11pm and 6 am!!!! ATTENTION OVERNIGHT GUESTS.......ATTENTION OVERNIGHT GUESTS......

SHUT UP!

Waiting to watch Happy Feet Two in 3d...way past their bed time!

Best buddies!

Double trouble

making roller coasters

Arts and Crafts

Making Lava lamps...

Erianna and Austin at School

2011-11-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

The fire department came to school for a field trip for Erianna's class. She had an awesome time exploring the truck and learning about fire safety. The skies were beautiful so I took a couple other pictures around school, and put them on the school website. The middle picture is Austin with his friends. One of his friends is Tyler! The first photo shoot I ever did on November 8, 2008, exactly three years ago to this day! Ironic isn't it?! Tyler had a fire station birthday party three years ago! Wow! Time flies!!!

My First blog post and photo shoot-Tyler's Birthday November 8, 2008

Eric's work picnic

2011-11-05T10:28:00.000-04:00

Eric's union had a picnic at Markham park. It was huge! The kids had an awesome time. They bounced, climbed rock walls, danced, ate snow cones and cotton candy... what else does a kid need?! Erianna also played a fun game called find the butt crack. The bottom picture was the best one... Come on lady... you can't feel the breeze on your booty?

Dress up pictures.. Future black mail...

2011-11-03T10:21:00.000-04:00

Austin, when will you learn not to let your sister dress you up? You are just adding to the pile of black mail pictures I have already put aside for you and your high school girl friends... :)

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T22:00:00.000-04:00

Halloween 2011 was a lot of fun! The kids made a jack-o-lantern for the first time with Casey and my sister, Sabrina while I was at work the Sunday before. They had a great time trick or treating. This was the first year I didn't buy them a costume. We are constantly buying dress up clothes, and I figured they can wear one of those outfits! I am glad I did that.. Austin was superman for the third year in a row...and Erianna was Ariel. A costume we bought new from the disney store years ago that she never wore! They looked so great. :) The real party was the after party.. after trick or treating and non stop candy eating, they went crazy at home! The home costumes were HILARIOUS!

We're out!! take one!!

Ariel!

Ariel and Super Man ready to get crazy!

Erianna with two super men!

Where's Austin?

Nice switch guys! Really?!?!?! So silly!

Saturday with Mommy!

2011-10-23T20:27:00.000-04:00

Mommy has one day off a week.... and it's Saturday. It's either a super lazy day, or a crazy day... this was a crazy day! Started off at a pumpkin patch, then it was so crazy, we went to a different one.. Then to Academy of Glam for mom to pick up her favorite perfume and the kid's got some cotton candy.. then to the park... then to dinner with Auntie Sabrina.. then zzzzzzzz.

Who is this child?

Mommy Erianna :) loving on Austin

So cute!

Armpit farts!!!

Cutie..

Taking a break....

Not quite sure what this face is all about?

If you can carry it... you can have it....

Fun at the Park

looking for fish!

Soccer Ready!

So cute....

Auntie Sabrina

Sanibel Day 3

2011-10-08T19:27:00.000-04:00

Sanibel Day 3 was a day for the Useppa Boat trip and lots of cuddles. It was Eric's birthday, and he got lots of cuddles from Erianna that day.

Hanging with Grampa!

Loving on Daddy on his birthday

Mommy and Baby!

Dolphin!

Could not get a good shot to save my life!

l was trying so hard to get a good shot, but it just wasn't happening like I wanted it to..

Love this tree!!

Birthday Gifts!!!

Sanibel Day 1 and 2

2011-10-07T20:41:00.000-04:00

The Birthday Trifecta has arrived for another year! Starting off with Mom on the 6th, Erianna on the 7th, and Daddy on the 8th. Lots of money is spent in October... and lots of yummy meals are eaten, too! This year I let the kids skip out of school early on the 6th, and not got on the 7th.. We went to Sanibel Island for a little stay cation. It was a fun time.. Erianna and Austin love it there.. they briefly went in the water.. but there were plenty of jelly fish... so no more October visits to Sanibel for us!!

Celebrating her birthday at school with her brother and friends... (the day before her birthday! )

Her awesome teacher!

Ready for a quick vacation in Sanibel...

Pretty Sunset... bad storm!

Hell from Sanibel.. yep.... :)

Fishing!

Erianna the mermaid on her birthday!

Ice Cream cake in Sanibel.. not a shabby 7th Birthday!

Every Kid Needs a Dog (and a parent taking photos!)

2011-09-24T21:02:00.000-04:00

Every kid needs a dog!! AND someone to capture pictures!! Lately my dogs are starting to calm down a bit more. They are constantly with the kiddos, and every time I catch them laying down with the kiddos, it reminds me of when I was younger and all the awesome dogs we had. The first ones were Max and Smokey. My Nana and Grandad's dogs. They were both Boxers, and were the best dogs ever! I remember them so much, despite how young I was!! Then we had a dog named T-Bone growing up, he was a great dog, too. I remember the day we had to put him down like it was yesterday.. it was so sad. :( Then we had Clay, another awesome dog. We got him because we missed T-Bone so much... and I love the picture of my mom the first time she saw Clay. Back then he was called Kendall, because we picked him up in Kendall, Fl. We voted to name him Clay when we brought him home.. he was such a great dog, too. After my mom died, it was hard for me to take care of Clay, and the baby, so my friend took him. I still get to see pictures.. He got spoiled rotten! What a great dog. When I got dog lonely, my friend Eddie was trying to find a home for a dog named Sugar, a 6 month old boxer.. and since all I knew was boxers, there was no question about it.. so now we have had Sugar for about 6 years and Ice (the only non-boxer) for 5. I love my dogs, and think every kid deserves one!!!!

This is me with Max and Smokey at my Nana's house in the Isle of Man as a baby. Those dogs were amazing.. I remember them laying down with me while I watched TV at Nana's house...and I remember when I was a little bit older walking down to the town with my Grandad and the dogs to get the paper every morning.

Baby T-Bone with my Dad. I have so many more pictures but they are before digital...so it's time to dig those up!

Baby Clay with my mom

Clay getting babied

Clay and my brother Alex

Clay guarding baby Erianna

Clay and Sabrina 2005

Ice and Austin watching TV

A trip for toilet paper and gatorade

2011-09-22T20:59:00.000-04:00

I went to the store for a few things...and the kids love to help me bring things in. I only got a few items, and for the most part they were all heavy, except for the toilet paper and paper towel. Well, the kids were cracking up and taking forever to bring things inside.. so I go out, and it was crazy time! They were stacking the towels and paper up and running into them or kicking them.. anything but bringing them in!!