Teacher Negotiations...Resolved

We got a recorded phone call this evening from the President of the school board informing the families of our school district that the school board and teachers association have come to a 'tenative' agreement. Whatever that means. But for now it sounds as though both sides are happy, and not going to strike. Details of the agreement haven't been made public yet, but at any rate, I hope our teachers got what they deserve...a fair contract.

Working on Valentines

Since Hannah will be off track for the month of February, the class will be having their Valentine Party on Friday. Tonight after dinner, we worked on her Valentines. She's come a long way in the past year. Tonight she actually read the message on the Valentine and decided who to give it to based on what it said. LOL.

Parent Strike

I decided to send Hannah to school today and not participate in the Parent Strike.

The Lord opened the door for Hannah to be accepted at this school and I don't want any strikes against us, because not only do we want Hannah to remain at this school, but in two years, we'll need the principal to approve Rachel's acceptance at this school. I've been trying hard the last two school years to be seen in the positive...attending PTA meetings, being the Room Parent, volunteering at the school.

The media coverage of the Parent Strike has been great. On the way to school this morning, it made the radio news. And several other people have seen it on the television news. It was also all over the websites of the local newspapers, some including video and pictures, such as the one above. The mother in this picture is actually a mom of a student in Hannah's class.

When picking Hannah up from school, there was a noticeable difference in how many students had been kept home. It was kinda nice not having all those cars to deal with. LOL. I talked to Hannah's teacher, she was only missing seven out of twenty students. And while a couple of the teachers had as few as three and five students, all the teachers in the school did have students show for school. I'm sure we'll know tomorrow whether or not the Parent Strike was successful.

To the Dentist

Last year when I took Rachel to the Pediatric School of Denistry, Hannah made it known that she wanted to come back to this place herself. So when I made an appointment for Rachel, I made Hannah an appointment as well. Hannah did a great job. They took X-Rays of her teeth, which was a first for Hannah. She did well through the exam and cleaning too. Said we need to really be flossing her teeth at night as there are spots of decay in the midst of several of her teeth. The dentist said we can be diligent to floss we van avoid cavities and fillings.

A Room with a View

With Hannah in school, she's missed out on all the activity around here the last two days. She was able to catch some of the workers working smoothing out cement outside her window this afternoon. She thought that was fun.

Possible Teacher Strike

After months and months of trying to work out a fair contract, there is a very strong possibility that the teachers at Hannah's school, as well as the other twenty six schools in our district, will strike at the end of January.

Apparently the State of California has been giving the school district money over the last couple of years and the school district has failed to pass on the raises. The teachers aren't negotiating for the current school year, but are negotiating for the 2004-2005 school year contract. Studies say our teachers are the lowest paid in all of the surrounding school districts. I've volunteered in the classroom and whole heartedly agree that the teachers deserve every penny they are asking for. The amount of patience and stamina the teachers have is amazing. I'm exhausted at the end of my 4 hours of volunteering. LOL.

Parents are currently planning a strike of their own. A strike to hit the school district in the pocket book by asking parents to keep their children home from school on Monday. The district looses money for every child not in school. Afterschool the past couple of days, and even before school, parents have been passing out information and seeking support for the "Parent Strike". It's hoped that if enough people keep their students home from school, and the district looses out on all that money, then perhaps the district will come to their senses and grant the teachers what they are asking for.

If the Parent Strike does not help, and the teachers do strike, there aren't enough substitute teachers to fill the twenty seven schools in our district. In that case, students will be gathered in the cafeteria to simply be supervised. Many parents have already expressed they won't send thier children in such conditions.

It's really tough to drive to school in the mornings and see teachers picketing back and forth around the parking lot. This morning not only were our teachers out, but teachers were picketing at one of the schools we pass on the way to school.

I think we may keep Hannah home on Monday, to show our support. But if the teachers do strike, we'll probably still send Hannah to school, and I'll go with her to help in any way that I can. While we've been told the district can't retaliate at those who keep their students home, the Lord opened the door for Hannah to get into this school and we sure don't want to jeopardize her continued enrollment there. And depending on when the teachers do strike, it might not affect Hannah and her classmates as their last day of school before going off track is Friday, February 2nd.

To Gramie's House We Go...

The girls left this afternoon to go to Gramie's house for the weekend.
Hannahs excited, can you tell???

The Painter and The Baker

Brrrr....It's Freezing!

Literally, it's freezing here in Southern California. When I got up this morning at 7:00, the temperature was 23 degrees. Not really having the proper winter apparel that you would have if you routinely had this kind of weather, I had to layer the girls this morning for church. Using some hand me down jackets that are a little bit too big for each of them, but it helped with a layer. LOL.

Luckily I had bought these stocking caps, and Hannah's scarf, on after Christmas markdown at the Disney Store. I only picked them up because I thought I'd use them in cool evenings at Disneyland. Little did I know they'd come in handy during the day!!This is the gutter up the street, it was so cold that the water had frozen over night and was becoming broken up by cars passing through.

Snow!!!

And not just the man made snow from Kleenex! LOL.

As we opened the garage door this morning to leave for school, we noticed the hills at the end of the street had a dusting of snow. And then we realized it was actually snowing here!! Just little tiny flakes, but enough for us to get excited about, since it doesn't snow where we live.

Driving Hannah to school we saw all kinds of cars filled with a light layer of snow. Once at Hannah's school, the snow flurries were much more than they were at home (about 5 miles away). I dropped Hannah off and went around back took some pictures of the kids on the playground. They were all screaming and yelling in delight of the snow. The white patches in the grass is snow. Not much, but enough to get excited about. LOL.

This picture is of the mountain at the end of my parents street.

Hannah Gets Her Orange Belt

It seems like such a while ago that Hannah tested for her Orange Belt and passed. We've not had Karate for the past three weeks due to Christmas and New Years. Tonight was the Belt Ceremony, and Hannah was presented with her Orange Belt. When she got her Yellow Belt, she got a medal, this time around she got a trophy, and boy was she ever excited about that! The next belt you can earn in Karate is the Purple Belt, Hannah has already told us she'll be quitting Karate once she gets her Purple Belt, her favorite color. LOL.

Back to School!

After having the last two weeks off for Christmas vacation, it's time for Hannah to head back to school, but not for long, she'll be off track starting February 2nd!

Disneyland with Friends

We went to Disneyland today with some friends who got annual passes for Christmas. We weren't anticipating staying all day, but we did, and we had a great time! It's still Christmastime at Disneyland through the weekend, so we enjoyed the Christmas decorations one more time for this season.

Concentraing on her driving, while Mommy snaps pictures. Reindeer Pluto back at Reindeer Roundup Disneyland was busy. Hannah, Zach, and Alex don't go back to school until next week, while many others went back today. We weren't anticipating it to be so crowded, but still were able to have a good time. We headed over to California Adventure in search of lighter crowds, and while it was also crowded, it wasn't nearly as crowded as Disneyland.

The kids saw a Cast Member pin trading and when we asked him what he was doing, he taught the kids how to trade by giving them each a pin out of his pocket, and then showed them the ropes of trading, and then they each got to pick the pin that they traded!!!! They were really excited about that. Hannah picked a Tinkerbell pin and the Cast Member showed her to tell how special the pin was...it had a little gold Mickey Head on the pin which means it was a Cast Member issued pin! These pins cannot be bought, only obtained by trading with a Cast Member! The kids had a blast exploring the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, and going on the bumper cars in Flick's Fun Fair. We finished out our time in California Adventure by walking on Grizzley River Run, and thanks to Debi, we stayed dry for the most part because she purchased rain ponchos, which made it all the more fun when we rode the ride two times in a row without having to get off. We rode it one more time, and then disembarked before we were really sorry and really wet. Jessica rode the ride three additional times for a total of six!! She called it quits when her shoes got so wet, they were spongey. LOL. After going back and forth several times, we decided to head back into Disneyland to catch one final viewing (for us) and the first viewing for them of the Christmas fireworks and snow. A perfect way to end your day at Disneyland!