Samuel Love Baseball!

Today was Samuel's last baseball game of the season. His team made it to the semi-finals (much better than any of the parents ever expected!). They ended up being a pretty good little team. We only lost by one, so we felt good about losing - - unlike some earlier games where we lost by 15 or 20 points! Samuel has learned so much more about the game and really seems to play with passion. We're already looking forward to next year!

Now . . . we just have to wait for football season to start. That's always been his favorite - we'll see if he still likes it as much as he has learned to like baseball. He also really wants to play soccer. We made him choose last year, and I've always said that I didn't want my kids to do more than one sport at a time. Several people have tried to talk me into letting him do both. We'll see.

Summer!

I'm finally writing another blog - I know it's hard to believe! I haven't posted since March, and now it's June! What happened? Well, I joined the world of FaceBook and haven't looked back. But, I'll try to do a little better this summer.

We have been out of school for two whole weeks now, but I haven't really had vacation yet as I'm teaching in the UofA Young Scholar's Program as part of my GT certification and master's degree. It's been a good experience overall, but I'm anxious to be done so that I can enjoy my summer. I'm not doing much else with school this summer, so I should have some good "playtime" with my family.

We have enjoyed swimming several times already as the weather is heating up. Both boys swim pretty well, but this is Hannah's first time to try swimming without her floaties. She is really doing well.

Jacob's 1st Basket

We were so glad to be running the video camera when Jacob scored his very first basket in a game. This was his first year to play Upwards basketball (or any other league). He was very timid at first, but we saw real improvement as the season progressed. Overall, it was a great experience for him. You have to watch the video for about 45 seconds to see the basket.

Spring Break

I can't believe that Spring Break is almost over. It has gone by so quickly, and for some reason, didn't even seem like that much of a break. I spent the first weekend of the break being stressed out with school type stuff. I took the GT Praxis early Saturday morning. It was hard. I so hope that I pass because I really don't want to endure another two hours like that. Then, I spent the rest of the weekend finishing the written reports for the Praxis III assessments that I did earlier in the week. I also graded unit tests because grades are due right after break.

On Monday, I drove to Dallas with my sister, Ann. We stayed with my nephew and his wife who are preparing to be missionaries with Wycliffe. It was fun to get to see them. I think the kids really enjoyed playing at their apartment complex. The trip was mainly so that we could go shopping - - boy, does Dallas have the shopping! I had hoped to find a bunch of spring/summer things for all three kids. I didn't find as many good deals as I as hoping for, but I did get several cute things.

The last part of break was spent doing lesson plans for my next unit at school and cleaning house. Sounds fun, huh?

Truly, I have enjoyed getting to sleep in a little later than normal and to stay in my pajamas as long as I want. One other plus was that John's parents had the kids spend the night for one night, so John and I had some peace and quiet. We rented Australia - hadn't seen it at the theater. I really liked it.

John has his spring break this next week. I'm hoping that will make the week less stressful than the normal week would be.

My mind isn't here right now. Please leave a message.

One of my students wore a t-shirt today with this clever little message. It pretty much describes my last few weeks. For the most part, I spend the school week running in circles, trying to get enough done to be able to make it to the end of the day and be able to get started on the next one. Lesson plans, grading (grading and more grading - - who gives the kids all these assignments anyway?), basketball practice, my grad class, Wednesday night church, scouts and on, and on, and on.

My sister reminded me the other day of some sage advice I gave her 10-15 years ago. Something about how I wasn't going to run all over the place because my kids had all these different things to do. My kids were going to choose one activity, and that'd be it. I'm sure she just shrugged at me and thought to herself "You're so stupid. Just wait." She would never say it, but she'd be right to think it. Even with limiting activities to just one thing, good grief - I've got three kids, so that's automatically three different things! Plus anything that John and I want to add to the mix. I know this is just for a season, so I'm mainly just trying to roll with the punches.

For the few that actually read my blog, you'll notice that I don't post with any regularity anymore. Part of that is because I've been bitten by the Facebook bug. It's just faster and easier. But, my other sister told me tonight that I should still do it - she likes to read it. So, I'll try to be a little more consistent.

I'm so very glad that tomorrow is Friday. It has been a really, really long week.

A Spoonful of Sugar

makes you get cavities! Hannah is getting this tooth fixed tomorrow at the dentist. The boys haven't ever had any cavities, but alas, I was bound to have one child with bad teeth. John and I both had bunches of cavities when we were kids, so it's a wonder we don't know the dentist on a first-name basis. I'm hoping that Hannah won't freak out at getting a shot, the filling, etc.

We go to her appointment first thing in the morning, then I'm staying home with her - just in case she feels badly or is exceptionally grouchy. I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished at home.

Life in the Dark Ages

Ok - so it was only "dark" for about 11 hours. We were very fortunate this week in that our power was only off for a brief time. There are lots of people who have been out of power for days now (including my parents). We came home from school early on Monday, though the weather wasn't yet that bad. Not long after dark, that changed. By Tuesday morning, we had so much ice accumulation that we lost power. The kids were amused at first, I think because it wasn't dark, so it didn't seem that strange. We turned on our gas fireplace which did a fairly good job of keeping us warm. Fortunately, we had turned up the heat warmer than normal in anticipation of losing power; that definitely helped to keep it from getting too cold. John cooked macaroni and cheese on the grill outside, so we enjoyed a warm lunch. The power came back on for a few hours in the afternoon - long enough to crank up the heat again - before going off for a longer stretch of time. We grilled again for dinner and ate by candlelight. We played board games with candles and flashlights; the kids were most amused. Baths were by candlelight (a well-known treat for me but something new for the kids). We all went to bed by 8:30 - also a treat - - extra sleep! We awoke in the middle of the night to every light in the house coming on - and, the power's been on since.

We've watched several movies, played games, and read books. The kids played outside several different times. Unfortunately, the whole family got sick with some sort of bug. Samuel threw up all day yesterday, and Hannah had a fever all day. Jacob was sick with the stomach bug today. I think all are feeling better now.

I left the house today (Friday) for the first time in four days. All I had seen of the storm was what I could see from our windows, the tv news, and facebook pictures people had posted. What I saw in person was absolutely unreal. It's like a tornado has ripped through town taking trees and power lines but, for the most part, leaving houses and buildings. The ice was beautiful, but the damage is astounding.

Pinewood Derby

And they're off . . . .

This weekend, the boys participated in the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. This was quite an event! John worked on their cars (you'll notice I said John, not the boys!) for days and days. The boys picked out a pattern and colors, that's about it. We had no idea what to expect. Next year, we'll be more prepared. Neither of our cars won any heats at all. They were pretty slow, in fact. Oh well. I think the boys had fun just going. We got free lunch too.

Jacob checks out the competition.

Samuel's troop votes on the coolest car.

Some of the cooler cars . . . .

Some Kind of Joke?

Ok - one product was kinda weird, but another has shown up at my door. Has someone filled out some new expectant mother card with my name on it? Earlier this week, I got a box of canned baby formula. Then, a second package showed up - sample diapers. I'm trying to get rid of baby stuff, and more shows up??

Stuff

Can you believe that I'm finally writing another post? Since joining Facebook, I find it harder to get around to writing something new for the blogging world (not that there are many out there who read this!). School has been back in session for just over a week. Things at school are going fairly well. We've implemented some new behavior plans for our entire group, and so far, they seem to be working - at least a little. That's a good thing because it's a long, long time until June.

I started this semester's grad class tonight. It's GT Curriculum. I am so glad to be back with my advisor; I love sitting under her instruction. I get something out of every class, and it's usually something that I can use in my classroom even though I'm not teaching GT. This semester I will have to write an entire unit based on an "ology" or "ography." I pretty much have free reign over my choice. Any cool suggestions? We spent part of class trying to match "ology" and "ography" vocabulary terms with what was being studied. It was really pretty challenging (although I'm certain that James would have been great at it because of his vast vocabulary!).

4th Grade continues to be a burden on me. Jacob is really doing fine, but his grades have slipped a little. I don't know why I feel such pressure about his performance. Actually, that's not true. I do know why. I still question (on a regular basis) our decision to skip kindergarten. Anytime he misses something, I worry that we made the wrong decision or at least that his teacher questions our decision. Then, if I get onto Jacob to get him to work harder (the problem is mostly not checking work, careless errors, bad handwriting) then he gets all upset. I have got to work on some kind of balance. AUGHHH!!