June

The month of June is a very busy one around our house! It's par for the course that we jam 150 things into a small amount of time, but that's what we're use to and that's that! There's nothing we would change, even if we could.

Maddy had her skating party a couple weekends ago and Micah's party is tomorrow. I need to come up with a good idea for something people can do instead of gifts. Maybe a donation to the local humane society. The kids sure don't need more "stuff"!

Micah is enjoying baseball this summer. He's got a great arm and his batting is coming along.

Summer school starts on Monday. My classes are full. I have rethought the way that I'm doing the scrapbooking classes. I'll be curious to see how it works.

Two weeks from tomorrow we leave for Rhinelander. We are all very excited about getting away for a week! I'll think about packing another time :)

The end of the school year...

I've been subbing in 2nd grade for the past few weeks. It's been a real adjustment for our family. Around the house laundry piles up and so does the clutter. By the time I get home each day, I'm tired and don't feel like doing much of anything. Mike has been as helpful as he can, but his schedule has been super hectic, too.

2nd graders are A LOT different than middle schoolers. The #1 difference is THE TATTLING...
Envision a whining voice when reading from the list below (all names are fictitious, except mine and one other)...

Mrs. Garvey, Joey pushed me out of the line.
Mrs. Garvey, Micah keeps humming.
Mrs. Garvey, someone wrote on the bathroom door.
Mrs. Garvey, Suzy has stinky feet.
Mrs. Garvey, Micah is distracting me.
Mrs. Garvey, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...........

I've been barked at, sneezed on, and I've taken care of stinky feet.

And believe it or not, it's all been good. We've accomplished a whole bunch in a short period of time...

We've learned to add and subtract three digit numbers when regrouping is needed. We've read a variety of short stories, fables, and folktales.
We've completed end of the year assessments.
We've made fossils and learned about paleontologists and dinosaurs.
We've written letters to Mr. and Mrs. DiPietro and baby Samuel.
We've finished reading Charlotte's Web and will watch the movie.

Ramblings...

Life has been crazy. Between my two classes, running the kids, coaching soccer, volunteering, Friends of Our School, Newcomers and Neighbors, and the "stuff" that needs to get done around the house once in awhile...Calgon take me away!

The classes will be done in three weeks! Yeah!! I am ready for that. I taught my "big" lesson last night. I think it went pretty well. I need to watch myself on the dvd and do a critique - that won't be much fun. It's always so hard to be video taped and to then have to watch yourself! I know I will be my toughest critic.

I resigned from my board position with JCNNC. It was a tough decision; I'm glad that someone jumped right in and offered to take over. Not being able to go to many of the monthly meetings made it tough for me.

The kid's new play set gets delivered and installed today. They don't know about it and are going to flip out when they get home from school. I've been letting them walk home from school for the past couple of weeks. This is a big deal for all. I meet them at the railroad bridge so they don't have the long haul on Cty. B by themselves. It's been working out well. Tanner usually walk with us, too.

My May scrapbooking weekend is just around the corner. There have been a few cancellations, which is unusual. Guess it's a busy time of the year for everyone. I'm sure it will fill up and if not, no biggy.

I've applied for several jobs. I at least hope to get an interview or two. There's lots of competition.

Later...

In the Blink of an Eye

Spring break has come and gone....

The kids have had lots of fun with friends and family.

• Elizabeth here for the week
• Open gym at Gymtastics
• Milwaukee Zoo
• Candy shop
  
• Mike's b-day
• K and G Art Show
• Hide and seek w/ the neighbors
• Bonfire and smores
  
• Brewer game
• Wii
• Playing at park
  
• American Idol
• Playdates w/ friends
  

I need a long massage and then a nap!!

Maddy and the Gold Fish

I finally had a chance to talk with Maddy's teachers about the April Fool's trick I did with the kid's snacks. Both of her teachers were in stitches retelling the story to me.

I guess Maddy opened up her little carton of gold fish, dumped a few out, realized that they were noodles, and then made eye contact with one of her teachers with a confused look on her face. Her teacher played right along and asked what she had for snack. In the mean time, the teacher turned her back for a split second and before she had a chance to say anything, Maddy was crunching away on the noodles. At this point her teacher gave her the gold fish we had secretly taken to school. Maddy then munched on both the crackers and the noodles.

Life as a 5 year old couldn't get much better!

Gold Fish Crackers

We decided to send the small gold fish cracker boxes filled with macaroni noodles to school with both kids. We were a bit hesitant with Micah, but they had so much fun with their dad and his shoes, we figured it would be ok.

Here is the email Micah's teacher sent after snack time...

Micah just realized he had noodles instead of goldfish. The look on his face was hilarious (completely puzzled, then he read the carton again to make sure it was really supposed to be goldfish) and he started to laugh. He told the whole class what was in there and that it must be an April Fools joke. He wasn't upset at all! I think he's happy to have the real goldfish though!

Annie

The Kids Trick their Dad

3/31/09

The kids know what April 1st is. At dinner we talked about different types of jokes that people play on each other on April Fool's Day. They both gave examples...Micah tried to tell me that they had seen a wolf running down Hwy. 26 at recess. Maddy pointed to the wall and said, "Look mom, a big bug!" We laughed and talked about how tricking someone can be more than just telling something that's not true. When we were done eating I secretly called the kids into the living room to share the shoe trick with them. They thought it was the best idea in the universe. And boy were they excited! They quietly found their dad's shoes and took them upstairs to stuff the toes with toilet paper. In the mean time I told Mike to just ignore the ruckus upstairs.


They quietly (not really) made it back downstairs and put the shoes back exactly where they found them.


Mission accomplished!





4/1/09
I convinced Mike to hang around this morning until the kids were out out bed. They were so excited!

Here Mike is just getting ready to put his shoes on.









The kids ran to him to show what they had done. And they screamed April Fools!!!