Girls!!!

Hey all,

We went to the doctor today, and...we're having girls. Elisabeth Marie (Elli) and Katherine Faye (Kati). We are very excited. When I scan the pictures in, I'll add them to the blog.

They are both healthy and only one ounce apart. Daddy's girls are doing well. The due date is June 4th, but I wouldn't be surprised if they came early to mid-May.

Bye for now.

No go...

So...we heard back from the licensing advisor at the Indiana Dept. of Education...and he says that since we went through an untraditional teacher preparation program, we are required to have three years teaching experience before applying for an Indiana reciprocal license. So it looks like we will be out here for one more year...seeing our students grow up in front of our eyes. Prolonging the departure...

I will be putting up a video of our flooded house soon. I just have to have 5 minutes to relax first. We had parent-teacher conferences last night and this morning.

One great thing...my kids took their Unit 6 math test and got a 91%...that is the highest they've gotten all year, and the highest score I've seen at Little Wound in the 5th grade...they were so pumped...and I can't lie...so was I.

Well now my random ranting is over so bye for now.

-Matt and Jenn

oh, and we get to see the babies next Friday!!! I could distinctly feel each baby yesterday...it's more real when you can feel them.

Holy Flood, Batman!

Well...we returned from a great vacation to a flooded basement. The main level of our house HAD been under water and therefore the tile flooring looked liked the badlands. The four layers of flooring had buckled and puckered. We also have black mold, white mold, and other varieties of mold inhabiting our house. We are moving. I will be adding pictures soon.

The kicker...oh the kicker...we had a blizzard and have not had school for the past three days. So not only is our house destroyed, but our students' as well. They pretty much had a third week of vacation. They will be something when they return.

The upside...the flood helped us clear out our basement and begin packing. We lost about 1/4 of our belongings. So it has been a cleansing of sorts. Water has always been a symbol of cleansing and maybe this was a gift from God. Three days off from school have allowed us to rest, get school work planned, and pack our house. Pardon my cliche, but...every grey cloud has a silver lining.

We are currently living with our friend Brittany and her dog Talmo. So add it up...three people and three dogs in an apartment...it's a good time.

Hope all is well with you and yours!

A Kicker!

So, as you know we're having twins! Jenn went to the doctor this past week for a check up. As her doctor was listening to the amazingly loud heart beats, she had to start her count over several times due to a kicker. One of the babies is apparently a feisty little guy (or gal). If this is a foreshadowing of our near future, then watch out world!

In love,

the Rileys

Donations needed!

My classroom is still, after a year of gathering books, in desperate need of quality literature. I have created a project on donorschoose.com to aid in the growth of my classroom library. Your donations will help my students experience literature at different levels and of different genres and topics.

Here's the link...

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=351708&sharebar=true

Thanks!

Pregnancy Pictures

We have a friend in Kyle, that is a talented photographer. She wanted to take pregnancy pictures of Jenn to build her portfolio. So here are three of them.

Family

Being out here can be rough. Luckily we have extended our family while out here. We have three God children: Ashleigh, Angelina, and Antonio. Those three are also our "nieces and nephews". These three are the children of Tonie, our "sister". She also has Kayla who is another "niece". We love having "family" out here.

Since we are so far from biological family, it is nice to hear "Uncle Matt" or "Auntie Jenn".

Antonio is in Kindergarten this year, Angelina is in 1st (in Jenn's class), Ashleigh in 8th, and Kayla is a senior. I have posted pictures of Antonio (cute boy in the red stocking hat) and Angelina (cute girl in the purple coat).

We also have a church family. I have also posted pictures of some of those people.