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Mike, Anna
and
Family News
Mike and Anna's Christmas 06
Pics (Click to enlarge)
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Anna's Report - Nov 2008
Michael is going strong in his 3rd out of 3 year-long practica. He
is working on the coaching staff as the sports psychologist guru of
the women's basketball team at Phoenix College now and enjoying it.
He also just submitted all of his applications for his doctoral
internship, so now we have to wait to see where he will interview
and see what comes next. He has been very busy this fall with all of
that and he is continuing his work at his last practicum site but
now as a paid employee, so that is great for us economically, but
also great for him because it is a nice compliment for the site to
hire him on.
I have had a busy fall. I finished coaching my 8th grade boys
volleyball team at the end of October. I am now going to be an
assistant coach for a club team until June. The pay is paltry, but
the experience should be invaluable as I look forward to coaching
more in the future.
I have also changed my future career plans to head toward teaching
at the university level. When I consider my longevity in my career
as a middle school teacher it looks bleak. (It's just tiresome and
the kids are difficult more often than not), So I am taking the GRE
in December and I will start on my doctorate ASAP...or at least my
masters so I can teach community college.
Anders is in kindergarten and loving it. He is doing especially well
with reading and counting. He has proven to be quite a smart boy but
still struggles with making friends and socializing. He has been on
a gluten and dairy free diet for about a year and ever since he has
been talking more and his tantrums have decreased. He talks a lot
now; his speech is no longer a main concern of us or of his
teachers. It's awesome to see how much he has improved and increased
in the last year.
Luke is doing great. He is very active, funny, and imaginitive. His
current obsessions include football, balloons, and his dad...he is
totally a daddy's boy these days. He is a big boy, as he always has
been, and is almost the same size as Anders. He and Anders get along
well most of the time, making our job easier.
See http://www.mccoyuniverse.wordpress.com
for regular updates and pics.
Anna's Report - Nov 13, 2007
Michael is in a new practicum site, back to substance abuse
counseling...this time with teenagers. It's not his first
choice but the schedule works for us because it is evenings
only. He will soon be starting his dissertation on the impact
of whether or not high trait confidence impacts how anxiety is
interpreted in sports. It will a lot of work. He will also be
done with all of his course work by late spring. Next year he
will do his last year-long practicum. He has also been doing a
good job of staying home with the kids (3 days a week).
Anders has started his second year of pre-school and appears to
love it more than ever. He talks about the kids from school a
lot...usually listing their names and some rehearsed thing they do
every day, like who is on the bus. He is saying a lot more
phrases now too and his speech is a bit more understandable. Luke
also is doing well...progressing well and growing fast. Both boys
are wearing clothes a lot more often too :)
Going back to teaching has been fun but I do miss being home with
Anders and Luke at times. The good thing is that teaching is so
busy that I barely have time to think about anything else while I
am there. I have also been volunteering my time after school
coaching the boys volleyball team. It has been a lot of fun but I
won't do it again next year unless I get paid. I did it this year
to gain some experience that might help me in the future should I
want a team of my own.
We have plans to go to Vegas for Thanksgiving and will meet my
brother and his family there, as well as my sister and her family,
and my mom. I'm sure we will have a wild and crazy time.
Christmas will be spent here again as we did last year; we're
looking forward to the holidays and the breaks.
Anna's Report - Jan 26, 2007
We had an enjoyable and quiet Christmas here. It was our first
Christmas completely alone and we really enjoyed it. The boys were
pretty excited and Anders learned how to say "baby Jesus"...it
sounds like "baby PJs" coming from him.
I am continuing to work toward teacher recertification. I just
finished a class on Arizona history and the state constitution, and
I am taking 2 of my 3 required proficiency exams on Saturday. Then
I will start another class needed for my certificate next Tuesday,
and then the last of my three tests will be in April.
Luke and I had the chance to visit my family a couple of weeks ago,
when we went up to Bellingham for my Grandpa's funeral. It was nice
to have some alone time with Luke for a few days and Anders and
Michael had some one-one-one time at home.
Michael has been busy as always, but we still see a lot of him at
home. He has a number of clients that he is working with
at his practicum. 3 are adolescents or children and he has some
that are there for relationship issues. He says it is nice to work
with people from the general population versus the substance abuse
folks.
Also, I have updated
mccoyuniverse.com. You can still
go there to see our latest pictures and a few videos, but just to
let you know, it is mostly all about my siblings now...I guess the
name maccoyuniverse isn't really
appropriate anymore. sorry.
We hope you are all doing well in the new year, and that you had a
very merry Christmas!
Anna's Report - Nov 30, 2006
Anders started pre school in the middle of November, he
qualified for a special needs pre school to help him with his
speech. There are 8 kids in the class and 4 teachers/aids/speech
therapist there. He seems to be loving it, of course the irony is
that he doesn't answer our questions about school. But he goes
willingly and we get good reports from his teacher. He takes the
bus to and from school, which is the cutest thing. They drop him
off in front of the house. On his first day he looked a little
dazed coming off the bus, not realizing where the bus was taking
him. While Anders doesn't use speech much for getting what he
wants and needs, or asking or answering questions, he has a
brilliant memory, he knows the names of every US President by
heart. He looks at their pictures and says their full names...It
is really impressive!
Luke is getting really big. Nearly every time we go out
somebody asks if Anders and Luke are twins. Even the pediatrician
did! They have about a 7 pound and 4 inch height difference, and
Anders is a bit small for his age too. Luke is catching up with
Anders in size and speech, although he isn't even close when it
comes to shooting a basketball or jumping, but he loves to dance,
and lately, he LOVES the Wiggles!
Michael is almost finished with another term at school, and he
sees a few clients per week at his practicum site.
We had my brother and his family here for Thanksgiving and had
a nice time. Anders and Luke love playing with their cousins.
Maren and Brian were also able to come visit us before
thanksgiving, we all had a good time (especially at IKEA).
We are going to be spending our first Christmas alone this
year; while we will be missing out on being with family, we are
looking forward to starting our own traditions too. We put up our
first Christmas tree this year already, it is really great!
Anna's Report - Sept 17, 2006
We have had a fun and exciting summer. Michael has quit his
job, which he is thrilled about, to go to school and do his
practicum full time. I have been working a little more with my
cards, mostly sales on ebay. I'm hoping it will pick up a bit,
it's a lot of fun to do. I am also planning on teaching again
next fall so I am trying to study my history again to pass the
state teacher exams...I'll have to take four, probably in November
or January.
We went to Bellingham for a week recently for my high school
reunion and had a good time in the frigid 70 degree weather. We
saw a lot of folks from church and spent a lot of time with my
family, in addition to seeing my high school friends again. It
was a lot of fun.
Luke and Anders are doing well. They each had birthdays this
summer, so now they are 3 and 1. They seem to get along fairly
well most of the time and both seem to be learning a lot lately.
Luke is picking up new words really quickly and Anders is starting
to get a better handle on speech in general. Anders likes to help
take care of Luke a lot. He feeds Luke with a spoon, tries to
help with diapers, helps tuck him in for naps and bedtime, and
chastises him when he's doing something wrong. It is really funny
to watch.
Anna's Report - May 17, 2006
Everything is going as usual around here. Michael's working
and going to school. In July he is going to be going to school
full time so that will make life a lot less hectic and easier on
him. I am still tutoring and enjoying it, and staying really busy
with the boys and taking care of and working on stuff in the
house.
Luke is getting bigger of course, we are pretty sure that he is
trying to repeat some of the words/sounds we make. He climbs up
the stairs and pulls himself to standing pretty easily. He is a
very smiley, happy, active baby.
Anders went on his first amusement park ride a couple of weeks
ago at Michael's company picnic. It was really cute. We weren't
sure if when he got on, and we didn't, he would cry or have a good
time. He had a great time. He took his football with him too,
it's almost like a security blanket for him, it goes a lot of
places he does. He still loves to play basketball and watch
basketball and football.
Anna's Report - Feb 26, 2006
We are doing well, staying busy. I found a little cushy job
tutoring a private school girl who gets As and Bs, her mother is
rich and senseless with her money so I'm happy to be working for
her. The boys get to come with me and they play with the family's
dog, run around outside, and watch Finding Nemo every day while I
help this girl do her homework.
Michael is busy as always with another semester and working
hard too. Most of his saturdays are taken up by school and many of
his evenings are late at work. He will be starting a practicum in
the fall and that is the beginning of a very long end of his
schooling. He can now see a very dim light at the end of this very
long tunnel...he has to do 3 practicums, finish 11 more classes,
then do a clinical research project, and a one year internship to
finish. In the big scheme of things, it is a very exciting time for
us.
Luke is 8 months old now, he crawls around a lot and makes
some cute sounds. He is fitting into the clothes that Anders wore
when he was about a year and a half old.
Anders' favorite thing lately is Rocky the dog where I work.
It is really cute to watch them chase each other around in the
yard. He no longer drinks out of sippy cups, pretty much only real
cups. He is pretty careful. He also has a strange aversion to
feathers. We have pigeons on our roof so there are a lot of
feathers around on the ground. He won't go near them, and makes me
pick them up and throw them away if there is one in his path.
Michael reports on his ailing knees Dec
18, 2005 Apparently the damage in my knee is far
worse than expected. in a particular part of the knee, somewhere in
the front, my cartilage has been worn down to the bone. This is the
worst kind of wear and what they did was create some "micro
fractures". These are small holes they drill into it in hopes that
scar tissue will grow over the void. I'm told that time will tell
whether or not it worked. However, it is just a way to buy some
time as I will undoubtedly have problems sometime in the future,
anytime in the future between 6 months and 6 years I may experience
more problems. The good news is the place that is hurt is
responsible for movements that include a bent knee with weight
bearing, such as biking, stairs, and of course jumping. that means
that walking should be unaffected. also, there is a possibility
that I will be able to run again, but no guarntees. I have another
appointment in a month to evaluate how things are coming along.
when i had the surgery i went to a joint specialty hospital and
things went relatively quickly. they didn't use too much knock out
juice so i wasn't too groggy when i woke up. I had my leg all
wrapped up with a little ball hanging out that was apparently slowly
putting nova cain into my knee. after a couple of days the ball
turned into a rod letting me know it was empty and i pulled the tube
out of my knee. the knee seemed to make rapid recovery with
significant and noticeable advanced in function from day to day.
this lasted about 4-5 days and since then it has leveled off. it
now is still swollen and sore. i have been able to walk, sometimes
with a hitch sometimes not.
Michael and Anna's new house .... and their
pool! ... woo hoo
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Mike, Anna, Luke and Anders.
Mike and Anna live in Phoenix where Mike is working toward his
Doctorate degree in Psychology while working as a counselor.
Latest Family
Photos:
The Superhero Brothers!
Anna's Report 10/28/05 Michael finally got his beloved,
gorgeous car back this week. It took about 6 weeks to get it all
fixed up, but we're happy to have it home.
We have been looking to buy another house up in Phoenix for a
little while because we live so far from Michael's school and work.
On Wednesday we looked at a house in North Phoenix that we liked and
put an offer on it. We found out on Friday night that we got the
house, so we are really excited that Michael won't have to commute
anymore. It is a bit older, built in 86, but has a bit of a new
feel, but needs a few cosmetic upgrades but we're fine with that.
The house is in a nice quiet neighborhood, about 15-25 minutes from
school and work-much better than an hour. And the very best part is
it has a private pool in the backyard! So who's going to be our
first visitor? :)
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