While running in place, Laura asked Andy and I, “When we stop for lunch at the picnic place next week on our way to South Carolina, can we stop somewhere that John and I can exercise our bodies?”
Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters
I admit I’m insane. Roughly a year ago, we bought the kids Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters. Laura’s Zhu Zhu is pink and white and John’s Zhu Zhu is black and white. Now, initially these things are cute. However, it does not take long to be annoyed by the Zhu Zhu squeak. I’m not sorry to say that they got “lost” at the bottom of the kids’ toy box. I plead the Fifth on whether I had something to do with the “disappearance.” Unfortunately, the kids dumped out the toy box this weekend and rediscovered these things. Now, I’m forced to listen to them make their noises because the kids think they are awesome and carry them everywhere. Laura even made them a house from an old tissue box and covers them up every night with blankets made from burp cloths. Yes, I love her imagination, but I could do without the Zhu Zhu squeak!
Sorting
Want to distract some kids? Make them sort a grocery bag of plastic knives, forks, and spoons! It was 15 minutes of blissful silence.
St. Andrew’s Fun Day
To celebrate the end of another successful year of Sunday School, St. Andrew’s had Fun Day today. The kids got to play games, play with the parachute, do crafts, and play with bubbles. Laura’s favorite activity was playing with the parachute and John loved the Ring Toss and Ladder Golf. It was a beautiful morning and just a great time!
Saturday O’ Fun!
It was a Saturday O’ Fun with family and friends! It began with a tasty breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Grandpa Ken and Grandma Marilyn. We were home for maybe ten minutes when Laura and John asked if I would get the little pool out. I’m a pushover so I did! Before I even got the pool refilled, Chloe and Claire appeared on our doorstep to play with the kids. After the pool had warmed sufficiently, I sent Chloe and Claire back to their house for swimsuits. They came on a run about five minutes later ready to jump in the pool.
Crystal, Chloe and Claire’s Mom, showed up around 2 pm to pick up the girls as they had some family errands to run. Not long after the girls left, Jeremy came over to hang with me for a while. He brought Roux the dog with him so Roux could get some kid time. A bit later after Alia woke up from her nap, the Lowery family came over for more fun time. The kids had a great time and the Lowerys ended up staying for a spaghetti dinner!
The Lowerys left after bath time and then shortly after that, I turned on a movie for the kids. Chloe and Claire, along with Bobby and Crystal, wandered back down the street to hang out. The adults sat on the front porch and the kids “watched” the movie while mostly playing. Finally, about 9:15 pm, it was bed time for my kids. Laura and John were just done from a day of hard playing – and Momma was done from a day of picking up the kids’ room no less than *SIX* times. It really was a Saturday O’ Fun!
Big News
I HAVE A NEW JOB STARTING JULY 1! I received a phone call today from Roberta Mullen asking me if I would like a position at the Assessment Resource Center when my position at IML ends. Of course, I said yes. I have said all along, and for years really, that she runs a class organization and I would love to work there. I am very excited and all that stress I’ve been feeling since September is now gone. 🙂 So, yay me! I will meet with her next week to discuss the position and what I’ll be doing. Stay tuned…
On the flip side, I did tell her that I had applied for the Project Manager position at DoIT in Andy’s office. Should I be lucky enough for an interview and it is offered, I will take it. The Project Manager position is the one position that I’ve been continually applying for for something like four years. Plus, it would be a large raise, somewhere in the realm of $10K to $12K a year. However, I have NOT been asked to interview and that is very much up in the air.
It would be dream job vs. damn near dream job in that case. What a position to be in.
IGE In Action Night
Laura had “IGE In Action Night” at Ridgeway Elementary School today. IGE means individually guided education, which is the teaching method used by Laura’s school. They also turned the entire school into an art show, displaying one piece of work from every student. Grandpa Ken and Grandma Marilyn came down to attend with us. Laura was very excited and she was so proud to show off her writing portfolio, her book of “favorite things,” and her watercolor artwork. Her writing really has progressed quite a lot in the past nine months.
I finally got a chance to take a picture of Laura with her teacher, Mrs. Hanney. We love Mrs. Hanney and I’m very happy that John will also have her as his Unit A teacher when he starts at Ridgeway.
Laura loves Mrs. Hanney too and her watercolor artwork is a picture of “Ms Hanney out std in a grdin in my yrd” (Translation-for those who can’t read “Kindergarten”-Mrs. Hanney out standing in a garden in my yard). I told Mrs. Hanney that Laura used her as her artwork subject and she smiled. She said, “I’ll have to go find her picture!”
