Changes

Greg and I have probably been talking about building our dream house out on the family farm since before we were married (13+ years). Our friends patiently listened to us voice our dreams and would occasionally ask about our progress knowing there had been none. Two (or was it three) years ago, we actually started doing real things to make it happen: the land was surveyed, Greg met with the excavator, Ed designed the house and prepared the blueprints, Pete ordered the windows. Well friends, our house is now up for sale. We love our house (Greg plans to continue making improvements until it sells) and our neighbors, but Sammy's passing has made the move even more appealing.
Check out the link below:
7845 Stonehill Drive
You can also view the video tour:
Video Tour

Sad Goodbyes

My family has been sadly sharing our memories of Sammy, the best dog ever. Many lessons have been learned from his passing, but the most obvious is one that is only learned the hard way: appreciate what you have while you have it. Greg, Joey and I are realizing what an important member of our family Sam was. In December of 1997, Greg and I drove to a farm in Kentucky to "look" at some puppies that my aunt Christine told us were being given away. The beautiful mommy golden let us look at her puppies while yellow cat Jingle looked down on us from the hay bales. A little gold fuzz-ball was too scared to hide from us, but his sweet personality grabbed our hearts from that moment. We got lost on our way home from the KY farm, but snuggling in my arms was a barely six week old golden/lab mix. Our pictures from that day are in storage, but the emotions that we felt that day are fresh. I miss my sweet Sammy. So do Greg and Joey.

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:-)