Tuesday, April 12, 2011
2011 Garden
As I said in my earlier update, we decided to do a garden again this year but this time in our backyard. I hope this is a family tradition we keep up because I love doing it for multiple reasons. Instead of doing a garden directly in the ground like last year we are doing raised beds because our soil is not very good. Right now we have two done, but we plan on adding a third. They are 12 inches tall and 3 feet by 6 feet in size. In the pictures you will see that only one is filled and planted in, and that is because I wanted to get out some spring plants this year. I will finish the second one and add the third in a couple of weeks when we transplant my indoor plants and direct sow some others. The seeds I started outside so far are two kinds of lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, broccoli, and carrots. Inside I have started peppers, tomatoes, multiple herbs, and some different varieties of flowers. The pictures show a progression of how things are growing so far. Kenan even started a few peppers and herbs to put in the windowsill, and they are coming up good as well. He is excited to see something he started from seed grow and flourish.
The Farm
At the end of spring break we went to visit my great aunt and uncle with my brother and his wife and daughter. My aunt and uncle live on a farm in Charleston, which is on the Indiana side close to Louisville. We hadn't seen them in awhile since my aunt has had some health issues. It was a nice visit and it was the first time they had seen Navy, my brother's daughter.
Spring Break St. Louis Trip
Since we didn't have a lot of time to go anywhere big over spring break, we decided to go over to St. Louis for a couple of nights. We got a good rate on a Days Inn, that although older, had a big indoor pool, indoor playground, and video arcade. It also had the continental breakfast which is always good for families. When we got there we just let the boys swim and then we went to dinner at the connecting restaurant. It was okay food, but we should have driven somewhere we knew of. The next day we went to the zoo. It was great weather for this. Again, when we came back to the hotel Kenan wanted to swim. Nick decided to take him while I stayed with Easton to nap. For dinner we went downtown to the Old Spaghetti Factory. This is a great place for families because you get a lot for your money. Afterward we took a carriage ride around Laclede's Landing. The next morning before we left, Kenan again wanted to go swimming. Can you tell which kid loves the water? I took him this time. After breakfast we headed home. We all wish we could have stayed a bit longer, but it was nice to get away as a family after a hectic winter season of basketball and drama. 
Bugsy Malone Jr.
A few pictures of my drama students from this year. Most of these were taken before the show of the different groups. I didn't want to bore you with the abundance of ones during the show, although I am very proud of these students. 
Girl's Regionals
Here are some pictures from the Girl's Basketball Regionals. The boys love to go on trips with the teams Nick helps coach. 
Nick made a bet with the girls that if they won sectionals he would paint his nails black for the Regionals games. They painted them in front of the school during the pep assembly that day.
Nick made a bet with the girls that if they won sectionals he would paint his nails black for the Regionals games. They painted them in front of the school during the pep assembly that day.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Time to update
So, one of the reasons I don't blog as much as I do is because I like to include pictures with my posts and that is what seems to take the most time. Because of that, it has been almost a year since my last post and I apologize. I really would like to be better at updating this thing. I won't go back over the whole year because that would take forever. Instead I will give some 2011 highlights without pictures just to make sure it gets published.
Again the majority of our January and February was spent at basketball games. This year Nick transferred to North High School and was a part of the girl's program. He has worked with the girls before, but after being with the boys for 5 years you have to get used to the pace again. We had fun though and the best part was a sectional win. Second win in school's history for the girls.
I once again directed the school musical out at St. Wendel. This year we did Bugsy Malone Jr. It is a gangster musical written to be played by kids so it worked out well. In the past I have had practice 3 days a week, but this year I went to two day a week practices and just made them longer. Babysitting two kiddos and having older kids just makes it harder to get out to school three days a week. The kids did a great job(and my kiddos did well with everything also). We even had an article in the paper this year about our drama club. I am so proud of all the students I work with accomplish. Some people wonder why i continue to do something that takes so much of my time and I don't get paid for it, well here is one reason. This is a letter from a parent of one of my quieter students: "Thank you so much for all of your work and dedication to the St. Wendel School play! (Student's name) really enjoyed the experience and it was a great confidence builder for him!! Thanks for making a difference in his life!" Now I don't share this to make myself look better, but to show why I do what I do. Whether it is my kids or someone elses kids, I work with them to make a difference. Help them achieve their best potential and see the person they can become. That is what I have always loved about my career path. Whether it was when I was a full-time teacher, or a stay at home mom/part-time teacher.
The second aspect of teaching I have dome this year was to work with the Evansville Christian Life Center in a program called Truth Talk. It is an abstinence based sex ed. class that is taught to 5th-9th graders. It starts with a one day class for 5th a builds from there. I observed a bit last year and then got trained at the end of the school year. This year I have taught at Harrison, Plaza, ECS, and Lincoln. I will finish up with North in May. I have really enjoyed getting to share what I feel are vital truths to students at such a pivotal time in their lives.
The boys are getting so big. Easton just got potty trained last week. Although he does not have it down pat, he is doing great and will just get better. He really has been so much easier that I thought because he loved his diaper. I couldn't have asked for a better transition. This is good to because our third child, Langston, is due at the beginning of July.
Kenan is finishing up his second year at Friends Forever preschool. He has flourished this year and is starting to get excited about kindergarten next year. We had looked at sending him to ECS for the half day program, but felt it wiser with our finances to not spend the extra money. He is enrolled in Scott for next year and we are attending kindergarten roundup tomorrow. So far I am happy with what I have seen there, his favorite part is that daddy's new school is right down the road.
Finally, we are doing a garden again this year. Instead of at a friends house though, we put raised beds in our backyard. So far two are in and we will be putting in one more. They are 3 feet by 6 feet and 1 foot tall. The only thing planted outside so far are the cool crops such as spinach, lettuce, swiss chard, and broccoli. Inside we have started numerous herbs, flowers, tomatoes, and peppers. Kenan helped plant so he is very excited to see them growing so well. Hopefully I will get some pictures up soon, but that is all for now.
Again the majority of our January and February was spent at basketball games. This year Nick transferred to North High School and was a part of the girl's program. He has worked with the girls before, but after being with the boys for 5 years you have to get used to the pace again. We had fun though and the best part was a sectional win. Second win in school's history for the girls.
I once again directed the school musical out at St. Wendel. This year we did Bugsy Malone Jr. It is a gangster musical written to be played by kids so it worked out well. In the past I have had practice 3 days a week, but this year I went to two day a week practices and just made them longer. Babysitting two kiddos and having older kids just makes it harder to get out to school three days a week. The kids did a great job(and my kiddos did well with everything also). We even had an article in the paper this year about our drama club. I am so proud of all the students I work with accomplish. Some people wonder why i continue to do something that takes so much of my time and I don't get paid for it, well here is one reason. This is a letter from a parent of one of my quieter students: "Thank you so much for all of your work and dedication to the St. Wendel School play! (Student's name) really enjoyed the experience and it was a great confidence builder for him!! Thanks for making a difference in his life!" Now I don't share this to make myself look better, but to show why I do what I do. Whether it is my kids or someone elses kids, I work with them to make a difference. Help them achieve their best potential and see the person they can become. That is what I have always loved about my career path. Whether it was when I was a full-time teacher, or a stay at home mom/part-time teacher.
The second aspect of teaching I have dome this year was to work with the Evansville Christian Life Center in a program called Truth Talk. It is an abstinence based sex ed. class that is taught to 5th-9th graders. It starts with a one day class for 5th a builds from there. I observed a bit last year and then got trained at the end of the school year. This year I have taught at Harrison, Plaza, ECS, and Lincoln. I will finish up with North in May. I have really enjoyed getting to share what I feel are vital truths to students at such a pivotal time in their lives.
The boys are getting so big. Easton just got potty trained last week. Although he does not have it down pat, he is doing great and will just get better. He really has been so much easier that I thought because he loved his diaper. I couldn't have asked for a better transition. This is good to because our third child, Langston, is due at the beginning of July.
Kenan is finishing up his second year at Friends Forever preschool. He has flourished this year and is starting to get excited about kindergarten next year. We had looked at sending him to ECS for the half day program, but felt it wiser with our finances to not spend the extra money. He is enrolled in Scott for next year and we are attending kindergarten roundup tomorrow. So far I am happy with what I have seen there, his favorite part is that daddy's new school is right down the road.
Finally, we are doing a garden again this year. Instead of at a friends house though, we put raised beds in our backyard. So far two are in and we will be putting in one more. They are 3 feet by 6 feet and 1 foot tall. The only thing planted outside so far are the cool crops such as spinach, lettuce, swiss chard, and broccoli. Inside we have started numerous herbs, flowers, tomatoes, and peppers. Kenan helped plant so he is very excited to see them growing so well. Hopefully I will get some pictures up soon, but that is all for now.
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