and so the week comes to an end...

I just needed to add a few more memories to the spring break list:

~A play date with my good friend Julie and her kids.

~A trip to the Library

~We were able to have dinner with my mom yesterday night and then we tortured Mark with an old Musical: Show Boat. He built us a roaring fire anyway! What a guy!

~Today we celebrated the life of a great man, Jeremy Diller, who passed away last week from cancer.

~I squeezed a nap in this afternoon.

~I decided the bushes in the front had turned into a jungle and it was time for a trimming, although it probably looks more like a hacking. I had to take advantage of the motivation so I continued to hack away at the bushes in the back yard. I'm sure that if my neighbor was watching she would be cringing. At one point she said a couple of the bushes were pretty valuable. Too bad I can not tell the difference.

~Finally I took on a tree that had started to die. I wish I took a "before" picture because it is gone now. I hacked off the branches and then went after the stump. I took it down all by myself. I felt very accomplished.

I suppose it is time to start thinking about earlier bed times and lesson plans.

How many days until summer break?

Ode to Spring Break!

This week has been a nice break from teaching. Don't get me wrong, I love to see students learning and spark their interest with an amazing lessons! But just like the kids, a break is nice. I feel like I have been able to do so many things this week that I normally miss out on. Just being home with Kailyn has been amazing.

Here are some of the things Kailyn and I have been able to do this week:

~Took Kailyn to the Kroc center to swim. I had to peel her

away 4 hours because I could not take the chlorine any more.

~Washed about 10 loads of laundry, actually folded it, and actually put it all away.

I think every towel we own is clean and in the cupboard.

Kailyn counted her clean underwear and she has 28 pairs.

Where in the world did they all come from?

~Organized the Linen Closet

~Sorted clothes, passed on 2 garbage bags full for Hope Station,

1 bag for Emmy, and 1 bag for a friend

~Went to the beach with my Mom and Kailyn.

Did some shopping and built a Sand Castle.

~Made breakfast every morning, Dinner at least 4 times.

I actually did the dishes every day too.

~Brought lunch to Mark at work and

then sat with him through his lunch break

~Art projects with Kailyn

~Read a book and a half for myself and numerous books for Kailyn

~Played Dress up, grocery shopping, tap recital,

mommy and baby, baker, teacher and school, artist

~Went bike riding

~Tested out the free lunch at Mary Eyre,

got to do some projects from the Gilbert House while we were there

~Met a friend at the mall to walk (too cold outside :)

~to top it all off, Kailyn and I found 2 lost library books

that we have already paid for. Hard backs of course.

We'll actually get some money back! Yahoo!

To all the moms out there who actually do all of these things on a regular basis, I commend you. I am also envious of you. I have actually enjoyed being at home and getting these things accomplished. I wish I could do it more often!

Ode to Spring Break, O how I will miss you!

Green School Project

The last couple weeks have been very busy at school. I am in charge of a group of kids that are in the GenYes club. Basically this is a technology club where the students are learning to use technology as an educational tool. This is a video that they put together using Photo Story 3. We are taking 4 students, along with this video to make a presentation at the Green School Summit in Portland on Friday. I am proud of my students!

(The video is over 5 minutes.....a little long but how could I say no to the students :)

Just Dance!!

I am always looking for a new and exciting way to get some exercise, because let's be honest....I hate to exercise! We discovered that biking was a great activity for our family but I hate to ride in the rain.

I mentioned off hand one day that the new Just Dance game for the Wii looked fun. Mark bought it for us on Sunday. Kailyn and I have had some great times with the game. It is pretty sad when your 4 year old (almost 5 year old, but I don't want to admit it) can beat you on some of the songs. Tonight she was rocking out to "I Wanna" by the Spice girls and "Who let the dogs out". Not only is she getting the dance moves down, she is also singing along. "If you wanna be my lover..." brought daddy out of the computer room to see what was happening.

Enjoy some pictures.

Good fun....Good Exercise! Now we just need to get Mark involved so it can be a "family" game. :) What do you think the chance is of that happening.

A Day of CHEER!

I just made my first video using FlipShare. All my new tech tools are pretty cool.

The latest adventure!

I have a wonderful student teacher right now who is also a cheerleading coach at McNary. Her cheerleaders were having a cheer camp today and Kailyn got to participate. She was one of the youngest kids there. She was a little overwhelmed, but eventually got into the swing of things.

Tuck and roll.

Learning their special routine.

Part of the routine included a "sassy" pose. That is what they were calling it anyway. Kailyn would not do it. I asked her later why she just stood there on that part and she said it was because she was not "sassy"! So cute!

The final pyramid cheer and stunt!

Kailyn wanted to type her own message:
123456789010kailyn emmy78910987654321 rodli1234567890019875654321z

It has been too long....

6 months to be more accurate! I am a blogging failure! Life has been running away with our family. So much has happened over the last 6 months. Here is a brief run down of the main events thus far....

The majority for the fall brought about a new adventure for our family. I could say an adventure for me but really I could not have done it without the support of my family, and my teaching buddies at work. On November 7th I had gastric by pass surgery. That whole story of how and why and then the preparation could fill a bunch of blogs. Ask me sometime if you want to hear the story. Anyway I was out of work for 3 1/2 weeks and then life continued to move on. So far I am down around 80 pounds. Some of that weight was pre-surgery. I feel good and learn new things about my self and my journey all the time. And no...I am not ready to post before and after picture. Maybe with more time. :)

Kailyn is now about 1/2 way through her first year of Kindergarten. We have decided that she is going to repeat next year but will move to public school. She is academically and probably social ready to move on to 1st grade but she is so small and would still be 5 until April. Some kids start 1st grade at 6 almost 7. It does not make sense to have her always be 1 or 2 years younger than her classmates.

In December Kailyn was able to be a part of the large church Christmas production. She got to sing and dance along with a group of kids. Aunt Kelly, Uncle Ben, and Mimi (my mom) were also in the play. She looked like a cross between Shirley Temple and Laura Ingalls Wilder. She earned the "show stealer" award.

December continued to be an exiting month for our whole family. We were happy to celebrate the birth of Emmaline Elizabeth on December 28th. Kelly and Ben had their first child. I have enjoyed reliving the early days with an infant through my new niece. I think I can safely say that I have the most beautiful niece. One of the most wonderful experiences is watching Kailyn with Emmy. She is so proud and not jealous at all. She does not want to let Emmy out of her site. When it was time to return to school after Christmas break she begged me to let her stay with Kelly and Emmy. She promised not to bother anyone and said she would be really helpful to Kelly. She would hold Emmy so Kelly could get a shower. She cried when I said she had to go to school. Enjoy some photos of the new loving relationship between cousins.

The first time Kailyn and Emmy met.

Still in love!

Kailyn 4 3/4 with Emmy 3 weeks

Her latest passion is tap dancing. She started classes in January and can not be more thrilled. Her goal in life is to be the next "Annie". It is very fun to see eight 4-6 year olds try to tap all together without knocking each other over.

She takes her tap very seriously! Her teacher is amazing and has such patience!

There are many other things I could mention...Great Wolf Lodge at Thanksgiving, Christmas Tree hunting, my brother Ronnie's return from Afganistan and then visit to Oregon, numberous school programs for Kailyn, a very successful auction fundraiser for our Outdoor School Program, the stress of state testing for all teachers, the joys of having a great student teacher, new bikes and great biking adventures, surprise trip to the beach and finding a glass globe in the foam filled surf, and more.

Here's to the rest of 2010!

I will try to update before another six months pass. Really....I mean it. :)