Meet The Kochersperger's: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here we are at that time of year again! Goodness! It seems to go faster every year!! But all I can really say is "I am Blessed," or rather "We are Blessed!"  We couldn't ask for more than we already have as my God, Family, and Health are all intact, and that's what is most important. With that being said I suppose I have nothing to complain about! Ha! I'll just have to remind myself of this is the future!

I pray that all is well with your families and health! Remember, leave God at the wheel and allow him to make the calls. He does a much better job at running your life then you will! Lol! At least I find this to be true!

So here it goes, I have already posted on some of this previously, but I'll do a recap for any new readers. Currently, James is working at his new job as of 6 months ago at Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center in Davenport, IA. Yes, it is quite a drive (roughly 50 miles), but the benefits and pay are great, plus there's room for promotion and most importantly he loves it! He is a Component Lap Specialist and works with Plasma. He finds it entertaining and looking to further is BS in Biology.

Melanie is teaching in her 11 year and is still in Kindergarten. I love my school, staff and students. So again, no complaints here! I have tried many new things in my classroom this year and perhaps the neatest concepts would be the implementation of MeMoves and Conscious Discipline. We'll see how my year ends, but thus far I'm pleased! I have also been working with my new Children's Pastor at my church on her Creative Team, on revising and remodeling our Pre-K and Children's ministry! We are instilling KidStuf Live (worship service for kids with a theatrical twist) which we have done before and stopped and also Worship Stations. I'm super excited about both, but WOW it's a lot of work!! I'm still very involved with our local Knox Country Right To Life organization. I plan to attend the March For Life rally in Washington, DC this year and am REALLY EXCITED about it. God has been speaking to me about getting active in what's important and THIS is IMPORTANT. I have my beautiful son because against all odds, his birth mother took a stand and decided to give him LIFE. How can I keep quiet about such a Holocaust in our country and world?

BJ has been and is the joy of our lives. No, I am not saying he's perfect, in fact he has tested nerves in my body that I never knew existed!!! But I am saying he is an amazing little boy who doesn't take NO for an answer. He has to know why and then will try to finagle his way around it. He will eventually figure it out that this doesn't work, at least not with mom and dad. Grandma and Papa, are a different story! Lol! Anyway, BJ is developing beautifully in all areas. He is growing, slowly (still only 38.5 in.) and is still sooooooo skinny! NOTHING fits him!! But he is SUPER healthy and spends his days running, playing, jumping and talking all the time!!! Lol! His speech has come along quite well, but still shows dev. errors. He loves to figure things out like puzzles and games and will take things apart and put them back together a thousand times! He is reading pattern books, knows his letters and sounds, and can name "most" number 1-20.  He has down some great rote skills and shows processing/high level thinking skills daily. He is still infatuated with trains and is into Thomas and Chugginton! He also is interested in anything that has a motor and flies, glides, or drives! He has also taken a fascination in bugs and birds with an emphasis on owls! Yes I know, HE's ALL BOY!  What he HATES to do is write/color and still has not picked a dominant hand!!!! As a Kindergarten teacher, this is KILLING ME!!! He refuses to be corrected when writing or coloring (it has to be that Polish temper! Lol!) and I have decided to back off as clearly he is not ready and will shut down!  His maturity is still at an exploratory level and though loves stories and such, could never sit at a table and listen to a teacher for more than 2 minutes!

So,  with all this being said, after tears and much deliberation, we have decided that BJ will simply not be ready to start Kindergarten this fall. I know I have several months till then, but enrollments start in 3 months and my son is simply not ready! To send him, would be to set him up for many frustrations all which would be unnecessary. He is smart, but like I have said since we brought him home, "If only he could have more time to catch up!" Well this extra year will do the trick and from reading other blogs, I was relieved to see that many of you took the same stance. As a kindergarten teacher, I know what is expected of my little ones and though I don't agree with all the pressure we have to put on them, my son is a child that "I" can make an educated decision for. Why set him up for more frustration and stress (and possible failure) when I can give him a year to make him "MORE" then ready to start his educational road!! :) I am so relieved with our decision and we even found a great full day Pre-K program that will have many readiness skills in place for kindergartners, but without all the pressure! Plus, my son is so tiny, that he will fit in beautifully with the 4 year olds!! :) His size doesn't seem to bother him yet, but nobody has made a big deal about it. I hope it stays that way for awhile!

Below are some pics of our last few months. On the previous post I had posted my little swimmer and some other photos!