My Very First Blog

So, I guess I'm officially entering the world of bloggers. I'm actually excited, and a wee bit nervous. Will my blog be interesting enough to read? Will other bloggers be interested in my rantings? Will I have anything to say? Alas...with such trepidatious thoughts, I begin! I don't normlly have time to do this blogging stuff because my life is so hectic crazy with teaching full time and raising three VERY ACTIVE youngsters, but I thought summer would be the perfect time to begin. So, you may get a lot from me in June and July and then almost nothing during the rest of the year. But who knows? Maybe I'll be all blog-crazy and write every week. I'm loving reading other blogs these days and realizing that it is such a great "time capsule" of sorts. All those cute (or obnoxious) things our kids do that we wish we had written down we now have a place for! I wish I would've started this sooner because my kids have done some very journal-worthy stuff in the past, and I'm sure I've forgotten most of it. Oh well. No time like the present, right?

So I guess I'll just start by telling a little bit about the Crandell family. Troy and I have been married for 13 years (can you believe it??) and we have 3 very cute kids (if I do say so myself...I can't help it, we create well together)! Cooper Jay Crandell was born May 16, 1998 and is just about to enter 5th grade. He is extremely bright and talented, and extremely difficult to manage, but we've learned a lot about parenting through him. :) He is musically talented (singing and piano), and an amazing reader and writer. He has ADHD and ODD, and that makes life challenging (for him and for us), but we're learning to deal with it more and more each day. Carter Davis Crandell was born Nov. 20, 1999 and is just going into 4th grade. He is also very bright and talented and super cute to boot! He lives in his own world most of the time, but is hilarious and very loving. He has discovered a love for baseball and a talent there that makes him happy. He also has a beautiful voice and is doing well in piano. He thinks being the class clown is the best, and we're trying to teach him otherwise... Brooklyn Dian Crandell was born Mar. 12, 2006 and she is absolutely a joy to have! She came into this world strong and independent and already knowing what she wanted. She is also very very smart, and keeps us laughing all the time! She LOVES Baby Signing Time and will watch it many times a day. She also wants to be right in the middle of things and is sure that whatever the boys are doing, she should be able to do, too. Luckily for me, though, she is a total girl and she and I enjoy doing our hair and nails and shopping. She really loves to look "pretty" and can't stand getting her hands dirty. She loves helping and cleaning up and I hope that lasts!

Troy graduated from ASU in architecture in 2005 and is currently working for a firm called SmithGroup as their Revit master (basically). He teaches the other architects how to use the software and trains them. He helps them with their projects, and is basically their go-to guy for problem solving. Apparently he had many hidden talents that came out when he started working--computer guru, teacher extraordinaire, and all-around favorite person to work with. He has been quite sought after in his field, and it's been great to see him develop so much over the last 3 years. He's very happy, and obviously doing a great job!

I am still teaching--it will be 12 years this August. I am currently teaching 5th grade at Zaharis Elementary School, and I absoluely love it! It is seriously the greatest school ever. It is different from all other schools because we don't focus on test scores, memorization, worksheets, and basal readers. We focus on helping kids be LEARNERS (not test-takers), who have a lot to contribute to their classrooms and society. We have reader's and writer's workshop using real literature, and we publish their pieces regularly. We have so much fun with our social studies and science, and I have never enjoyed teaching (or worked harder and been more exhausted) in my whole career. I love it! However, I am hoping this will be my last year, because I really am ready to stay home and make being a mom my full-time career. We want more kids, and in order for it to happen, I have to be able to focus all my energies on that. (If the economy could help us out that would be awesome).

So there you have it! A little bit about the Crandell Fam...hopefully my blogs will be more entertaining from here on out! :)