We Did It!

Let the relaxing begin!

Skirt is Almost Done!

Last week it became clear to me that the "Very Easy" skirt pattern that Maria and I had picked out for her 4-H project was still over my head. After a phone call to my Mom to clear up some pattern directions, I had my question answered but still did not feel confident. Rita offered to help too, so this afternoon we headed to Dayton with pattern and sewing machine to get some help.

And after 4 hours of hard work, we almost finished it. The pattern was too difficult for a 9-year-old to do by herself, that's for certain. But between the three of us, we got it done, complete with ruffle at the bottom. Maria did most of the machine sewing, and thank goodness Rita had so much experience, even if it was many years ago. It will be interesting to see what the judges think. Tomorrow Maria and I have to do the bow on the front (I was pretty sure we could do that on our own), and then Maria has some work to do in her workbook. But the most stressful parts are done!

Manly Man

Ben and Sam ran a quick errand to Home Depot Saturday morning and discovered they were having a Kids Building Workshop that they apparently have each first Saturday of the month. So Sam built a Catamaran, and even hammered all of the nails in by himself. He was so proud. He told me "Now that I know how to hammer, I can fix our house if it gets hit by lightning."

Golf for Everyone

Yesterday was the Music Booster Golf Scramble, and event Ben is happy to fulfill his obligation to attend. This year his teammates were Miami friends David and Suzy, and local friend Brent. I agreed to watch Ryan and Erin so that both David and Suzy could play. I figured it would be a pretty easy day because I knew that Ryan and Erin were well-behaved kids.

And it was an easy day. It was very hot, so we didn't spend much time outside. That meant it was hard to keep them from playing Wii all day, so we took a mid-afternoon trip to play mini-golf and get some ice cream. Except for the constant arguing about whose turn it was to go first at each hole, the kids all got along very well. And I eventually set up a rotation that was hard for me to keep track of but at least seemed fair to everyone.

What's 2+4?

Sometimes its really annoying when your children don't trust you. For example, the other day at lunch, Sam was asking about simple math facts and I would give him the answer. Here's how the conversation went.

Sam: What's 1+2?
Me: 3
Sam: What's 2+2?
Me: 4
Sam: What's 2+4?
Me: 6

Sam just stares at me and then says to Ben (who was still in the kitchen fixing his lunch), "Daddy, what's 2+4?"

Pretty annoying that apparently he believed on the first two but not on the last one. The entertaining part is that Ben never even helps Maria with her math homework - 3rd grade math falls into my "help" categories. Now if he wanted to know who was singing that song on the ipod, Ben would have clearly been the authority. But I think I can handle 2+4.

4th Annual Coontucky Fest

Since yesterday was our teacher workday, that meant last night was the annual Coontucky Fest thrown by a couple of our fellow teachers. They own two adjoining lots of land with a huge pond. Larry's family built a house there, but Scott still lives in Marysville, and has a camper set up on the property. For the last several years they have thrown a last day of school get-together, including a cookout, fishing, canoeing, trampoline jumping (for the kids), and bonfire. It's always fun and Maria and Sam love it. We were worried that it would get rained out yesterday, but the skies cleared by mid afternoon and it was beautiful - not even very muddy even though we had over two inches of rain early that day.

Both Maria and Sam caught fish - Sam one and Maria several. Luckily a couple of our fishermen friends helped them out - neither Ben nor I have any interest in fishing. They also spent a long time on the trampoline. It was nice because there were older kids to help take care of ours, so Ben and I were able to sit around the campfire with the other adults for a long time. Ben did take each kid on a canoe trip, though.

By the time we got home at almost 10:00, the kids were so beat I washed them off quickly in the tub and they went straight to bed.

And now it finally feels like summer vacation - especially since it will be over 90 degrees later today!

Maria's Butterfly Poem

Maria brought home a poem she wrote this school year and I thought it was so wonderful that I would type it up and share with you. Comments?

Two
by Maria Keller

Two is a group, a long lasting pair.
Two are friends an everlasting bond.
But sometimes two depart, and slowly float away.
But when two butterflies meet, it's a beautiful thing.

Two is a thing, a pair, a group.
It can be anything.
But sometimes two depart and slowly float away.
But when two butterflies meet, it's a beautiful thing.

Sam's Hit

Here's one of Sam's two hits from Monday night's game. He hit both times without the tee, and on this at -bat he hit the first pitch. He's really getting the hang of things. Hope you enjoy.

Last Day of School

Another school year gone. And not that we're counting, but the end of year 15 for Ben and I. Why is this important? Because we'll be eligible to retire after 30 years teaching, so we're halfway there. Whether or not we actually will retire then, we don't know. But it feels good to know we COULD.

The kids have each had a very good year. Maria loved her teacher, had a great class, and learned a lot too. Her final report card shows straight A+ averages in all subjects. She is so excited to move on to 4th grade, where students get to change rooms/teachers for some classes for the first time. But she is really going to miss her 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Pearson, and knows that although she'll still see her some, it won't be the same as being in her class each day. I think this is one of those teachers she'll remember her entire life.

Sam had a great year too. He liked preschool, and loved Kinderpaws, the afternoon Latch Key program. He has matured so much this year, and has also charmed his teachers with his smile and sense of humor. Sam was extremely healthy - didn't miss any days of preschool, and only one of Kinderpaws - after spending the night in the hospital recovering from his concussion. Today he brought home his apron from Kinder Kitchen and a scrapbook from the entire year at Kinderpaws, and its so cute. And he still sees his Kinderpaws friends as many are on the same T-ball team. (Look for a movie of his hit from tonight's game soon.)

Tonight we are celebrating the beginning of summer with a popcorn/movie night and High School Musical 2. Its about summer vacation and just seemed wrong when it came out right before school started in August.

What Time Is It? Summertime!

Sam... eating an apple?!

This is a picture of Sam eating an apple.  It may not seem like a big deal, but I believe it may be the first fresh fruit to pass his lips (at least at home) since he was a toddler and ate anything I put in front of him.  We're hoping this may be a baby step in the right direction.