back in action

it's november 1st...thank god. october was not fun, hence my hiatus. could have posted last weekend, but i wanted to shake the bad kharma goin' on in october before i blogged again. yes, i know i'm being dramatic, but you see...that's my thing.

ok. so no BS, october was crazy. a major reason was that the bilingual teacher on my team past away. he was only 38 and had been in the hospital (icu) for pneumonia for 2 weeks. although it was serious, i guess we all thought he'd pull through. needless to say, we (the rest of the 3rd grade team and other staff members at school) had a lot to deal with emotionally ourselves and with the students. it was hard going back to school that monday (he died on a saturday), seeing his classroom and the sign outside his door with his name on it...knowing he was never coming back. i was overcome with the grief as soon as i entered our hall. it was a hard day. i was so thankful that my principal offered to come to our classrooms to explain what happened to jorge. he did an exceptional job explaining it on their level. the kids were so sympathetic and asked really thoughtful questions. we had several counselors from surrounding schools come to help with the students. one student was so upset that she was not fully operational until 1:30 that afternoon. jorge really touched their lives...and mine. i'll never forget how we joked and laughed about teacher-type things, how we'd have our sarcastic rants on really trying days and how he'd come by my classroom to get advice in his "i hope i'm not inconveniencing you" kind of way. i will miss seeing his smiling face and hearing his polite and gentle voice.

there were some other things going on that made october hectic, but i really don't want relive it. so, my plan is to look forward and put that momentum behind me. thankfully with the start of a new month, i think my pendulum is swinging in the other direction. but, before i leave october, thought i'd at least post some pics from some of the things we were up to:

taylor dressed up as princess aurora for halloween

my pretty princess tay

trick or treat!

tay @ the pumpkin patch

all the neighbors @ the flower mound pumpkin patch

festive halloween lights

bounce house fun at the fall fest

part of the gang at an 80's themed halloween party
(han solo, princess leia, al bundy, a rubix cube, egon from ghost busters)