Lemonade for Sale

Yesterday Joey and Cassidy set up a mobile lemonade stand and sold their product door-to-door. The division of labor was easily decided-Cassidy was in charge of product and Joey did the actual selling. They were so cute and determined to do well. I am proud of their initiative.

Hopefully I'll get to enjoy some down time over the next few weeks. This summer is speeding by, only four more weeks until school begins! I finished my second class on Friday {two weeks driving to Oxford every day} and don't have another until August, so some playtime is definitely in order. I would like to see the newest Harry Potter movie, take Joey to Kings Island and the Beach, sleep in a bit, and swim at the pool.

Good Golly

I haven't written much here...too much going on, I guess. Time to catch up!
This week I began my own writer's notebook hoping to have something to show my students this fall. Usually I put all of my thoughts here, so it's a bit different actually writing something on paper. I type much faster than I write, but maybe I'll catch the things that need to be revised by doing it the old-fashioned way. I was inspired by a book I found on Amazon-The Daily Five. Hopefully my language arts class will have a new and improved focus next school year!
Father's Day was spent my family's favorite way-poolside. Lots of sun and fun for us. Even the dads enjoyed themselves.
Baseball season should have ended by now, but due to the many rained out games, Joey will be making a game up tomorrow night. I'm not sure how rested he'll be since he is spending tonight with his cousins at his grandparents' house but I do know that my parents will be resting the following night!
I finished my last SOSI course during the first week of summer. I've really enjoyed my time facilitating the science classes for teachers, but unfortunately the funding has come to an end. All's well that ends well...maybe next summer will be one in which I participate in NO professional development! Hmmmmmm...
I am looking forward to spending more time at the pool this summer and relaxing. I think I'll go try some relaxing right now...

Woohoo!

We did it! Interims are printed, the school newspaper delivered, grades submitted and first communion made! We are now back into our regular groove of soccer, baseball and tumbling accompanied by laundry, bills and yard work. In case you were wondering, I did manage to fit in a mani/pedi:-) Well worth it!
Happy Mother's Day all!

Sun Devils

In the midst of the first communion preparations, Joey had a baseball game yesterday-the Sun Devils vs. the Storm. It turned out to be a "storm"y kind of day even though the Sun was shining and I got burned. Joey was happy to get two hits since I have "motivated" him by promising Pokemon cards for each hit. Hey, nothing's too good for my boy!

What it's really all about...

Overwhelmed, that's how I feel right now. Joey will make his first communion this weekend which is a joyous thing, but the preparations for that accompanied by our daily chores have me feeling like I'm running a marathon-but without the health benefits! Of course sitting at the computer blogging will help me get a lot accomplished:-) Oh well, maybe I'll be motivated once I list my chores here.
Regular weekend chores for me: do laundry, pay bills/balance checkbook, cut grass/do yardwork, grade papers
Regular weekend activities for Joey (that require a chauffeur-me): baseball practice, soccer practice, baseball game, soccer game, tumbling
This week's extra chores: clean bathrooms for guests (Greg cleaned the rest of the house when he was home-what a guy!), grocery shopping for Joey's reception, fixing food for Joey's reception
This week's extra activities for Joey (again with the chauffeuring): first communion rehearsal, first communion, first communion reception
Oh yeah, in addition to all of the above, it's also deadline time at work. Sometime this weekend, I need to write lesson plans for next week, complete interims for my students, put together the school newspaper (as in write and edit it), finish my online course and submit the final grades for the online course to Miami. Great timing, huh?
Wish me luck! You think I could fit in a haircut, pedicure or massage?
In the end though, it's really all about Joey, his growing faith and spending time with our family. On further thought, I don't need any extra luck. I already have all I need:-)

Making a list, checking it twice...

Easter has come and gone, spring break is here to stay. Another chore is off the list, so now we get to play.
Greg has been painting the house, mostly because it needs it, but also because we do plan to sell it at some point. Say goodbye to the golden yellow and hello to almond, okay beige/taupe/off white. Whatever you call it, it is definitely neutral. So much for my blues and yellows-all gone.
Since spring break is here, we are making an effort to do some fun things for Joey's sake. Easter Sunday found us traipsing around southwestern Ohio as we did the 8:00 a.m. mass at St. Philomena followed by breakfast with my parents, grandma, Cindy, Jimmy and Jay. We then traveled to Dayton for lunch with the Rachford Clan. Poor Joey, nobody to play with...Off then, to Gram's house for the Easter dinner and lots of cousins. Playtime at last.
Monday meant fun with Cassidy...I hear the doorbell, Cass is here now!
More later!

The Big Easy was easy

This may sound shocking coming from me, but I might actually repeat this experience. Dee and I flew to New Orleans last week to present at the National Science Teachers' Association national conference. Yep, it sounds like a big deal 'cuz it IS a big deal, especially for those presenters who would rather chew off their own leg than speak to a bunch of adults and pretend to be an expert. Since chewing off my own leg was not an option, and I really did want to see New Orleans, I put on my big girl panties (as my dear friend is wont to say), xeroxed my handouts, kissed my family goodbye and was off to N'Awlins.
Result? I survived and pulled my own considerable weight. According to an audience member, I even spoke for 15 minutes straight. That might not seem unusual given normal circumstances, might even seem low at that, but these were not normal circumstances. The audience was 100 members strong-a full house, not an empty seat to be found (okay, one or two maybe). I am proud of our presentation and might even consider doing this again.

On the other hand, we saw lots of New Orleans (French Quarter, River Walk, Garden District, Warehouse District, French Market) and I continued to collect people. Some collect salt shakers, Meri collects shot glasses...Me? I collect people. On this trip, I caught a techie, a young mother and her even younger child (hello, migraine), a Boys' Town drunk, two Mad Hatters, and I almost reeled in a distinguished pilot-trust me, there are not as many of those as one might think. My husband is clearly the exception to that rule. Dee told me to quit making eye contact, but that is soooo hard...