Back to School!

Well..this is it, the night before school starts. 10 weeks have flown by, and I am ready to take on another year of teaching Lanugage Arts to 6th and 7th graders. A lot of people just assume teachers are sad,miserable, whiny as can be the day before school starts, but not me. I am exicted. I am ready. I can't wait to meet the 150 or so kids I will have the chance to inspire, teach, counsel, and guide for the next 180 days (not counting weekends and holidays of course..lol) Of course I will miss the extra time with my own 2 children, but my head is swimming with ideas for my new students, ways to motivate them, ways to help them make real-world connections, ways to allow them to express themselves and be creative, ways to incorporate technology, and ways to help them learn the importance of teamwork and respect--respect for themselves, their classmates, and their community. For me, I do what I do because I love it, and for no other reason. There are many times as a teacher, you have to sit and listen to people blather on about how much they make, what accolades they've been given, and how special and important they think they are. I'm not saying those people aren't talented and intelligent, but they don't make what I make. What I make doesn't revolve around a dollar sign and for me, it never will. What I make will hopefully travel with my students for many years. I hope that if anything, I make them think, question, respect, care, overcome obstacles, and work hard. I hope I can do all of these things for this year's students. I hope they will see that sometimes you just have to stick with your passion, with believing in the greater good, with believing in people no matter where they are, where they've come from or what they can do. My students are our future, and I feel that what I make could never be measured in numbers, so I don't try to analyze what I am worth or how my salary stacks up to others with my education level. I am simply excited to get this party started once again. I can't wait to get to school tomorrow and get my room ready and start planning the day away. I hope my students are ready when they walk in the door on Monday, because they have no idea how much learning is in store for them! Cheers to a new year!

A Day at the Playground!

Let's race!

Last Friday, we were fortunate enough to get some nice, cooler weather. This meant we could venture to the playground without melting! Yay! Both kids absolutely love the playground and they don't really care which one we go too, but usually we go to Eastern Regional Park for the simple fact that it's only minutes from our house. The kids had a wonderful time running around, doing their favorite things (Alex loves the slides, Amaya loves the swings) and making new friends. Eastern Regional also has a huge sandbox, so both kids played in there for awhile with some new friends and some sand buckets and shovels. About halfway through our fun, Alex's former daycare provider, Ms.Joanna showed up with al of his old daycare buddies! They were all so excited to play together again, so we stayed a little while longer to let them play. It was a realy fun way to spend a nice, cooler Friday. Soon, I'll be returning to work, so I am defintely cherishing my last few days being with my babies 24/7. It'll be back to the school grind before I know it!I think she might actually be part-monkey :)

Our big boy getting ready to go down the slide!

Playing together in the sandbox

Being silly at the picnic table for lunch

Amaya chillin in the swing

Great-Grandma McCutcheon comes to town and our visit to Nana and Pappy's house!

This past week, we were honored and excited to have a very special house guest--my Grandma and the kids' Great-Grandma McCutcheon! She is just such a special lady to all of us, and we had an awesome time with her. We picked her up in Hagerstown saturday 7/23 and ate at Cracker Barrell with her, my Mom who brought her to H-town for us, Abe's mom, and of course the kids. Throughtout the week, we played games, watched TV, hung out on the deck, and just spent quality time with Grandma. Alex shared his bed with her and really enjoyed having Grandma keep him company at night. In fact, I got more seep, because he had less nightmares with someone laying right next to him. He does have a tendency to get some night terrors and there was only one during the whole week Grandma was here so that was a nice break for me! It was also nice to be upstairs putting away laundry and not have to worry about the kids being right next to me or messing up the living room while I'm not looking--Grandma was an extra pair of eyes for me. It really worked out well that she came down the week their daycare lady was on vacation, and no, I did not plan it that way :) Before Grandma left, Abe's mom and the Dove Family joined us for a nice dinner at Olive Garden, which also happens to be Grandma's fav restaurant. We took Grandma home Saturday afternoon and then spent a fun filled 2 days with my parents, a.ka. Nana and Pappy. The kids love playing in their yard, their sandbox and just chilling at their house in the country. In fact, now when we ask Alex where do Nana and Pappy live, he answers "In the woods, with the trees." LOL And he is actually pretty right! This time around we got an extra special treat and spent some time at my cousin Brian's pool. He just bought a new house and it happened to come with a in-ground pool--very, very nice perk for when we visit home in the hot summer months! Enjoy some pics of our lovely visit with my Grandma and my parents!Great Grandma Glenrose with Miss Amaya! Great Grandma Glenrose with her first born Great-Grandchild--Alex

Amaya in my cousin Brian's pool
Alex in Brian's pool

The kids really love the sandbox at Nana and Pappy's house Our beautiful little girl--looks so much like her Daddy :)And of course our handsome little man--who looks a lot like his mama :)haha..this is Amaya's new thing--she's giving us her "mean face"

Love this pic--black and white mode
Nana bought Amaya a special little chair to sit on while we're on the front porch, and I think she loves it!

Coaches Abe and Ashley

So Alex has enjoyed playing indoor soccer so much that he told us he wanted to play outdoor soccer this fall for a real team. Last Saturday, we signed him up to play for Stembridge Soccer, a league that's pretty close to where we live. Last week, the head of the rec dept. called me and ask if Abe or I would be interested in coaching Alex's team since they were short on coaches and the previous coach was moving up with his son to a higher age group. Of course I volunteered us right away! This program is so important for kids, but especially in communities like ours. We just couldn't let the kids and parents down. Soccer practice started tonight and, we had a great time working with our 8 little 3-5 year olds. The kids were cute, excited and listened really well! We got warmed up with some stretches, did some drills focusing on dribbling and shooting and played a game. At the end, we all huddled together and put our hands in shouting "soccer!" They all loved that part! We are so glad we decided to coach and have no regrets. We were also very impressed with our own two--Alex for stepping up and being a role model to the kids who had never played before and for following through with everything on his own, since we couldn't be right there the whole time with him while coaching, and Amaya for playing on the field and entertaining herself among the other kids while we practiced. We know this season will hold great things for our little team. Go Stembridge!
Alex is ready for his first night of outdoor soccer practice! We didn't get any pics of us coaching, because well--we were coaching! :)