Home and Ready to Leave Again!

I made it back from my conference. As expected, I enjoyed the conference and learned a lot. The evening spent at IKEA and then dinner at Maggiano's was nice too! But, I digress. I about flipped out when I called home on Tuesday morning to see if everything was going ok. At 7:15 Brian answers and says that not only are things ok, but that everyone is up, dressed, feed, teeth brushed and ready to leave! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? How did he pull that off? Wonder what he bribed them with. Nobody is talking about it. Hmmm. . .ice cream, pizza, playstation time? One has to wonder!

We leave tomorrow after school to head to Brian's parent's house for a quick visit. We will visit his uncle and grandfather, both of which we haven't seen in six years as one lives in Alaska and the other upstate New York. Then we will hit Brian's 20th class reunion on Saturday night.

Hope to have some fun stories and pictures to post when we return!!

Working at School

While they were showing our house this afternoon, the kids and I went to school to leave my sub plans and get everything ready for the week. Jacob and Zach loved the die cut machine. It was all good until they started fighting over who got to do it - why does everything have to end in a fight?

Jacob and Lizzie got my "big paper" out and were drawing and writing on it. That kept them busy for quite a while! And guess what. . .no fights!!!

The finished product? Well, I am not sure what it is, but they were pretty proud of it!

Zach spent some time playing a game on my student computer.

The kids love going into school after hours. They think it is so cool that they are the only ones there! They also like "playing school" in a real school. It is fun to watch them.

I may not post much this week as it is going to be crazy. I leave tomorrow and get back Wednesday evening. Then Zach has basketball on Thursday night and we leave for Fort Wayne on Friday after school. We are visiting Brian's family and attending his class reunion. So, when we return to Illinois on Sunday, I should have some fun pictures and stories to post.

Odds 'n Ends

Friday was "Pajama Day" for Lizzie at daycare. She was so excited to wear her "pj's!" She even wore her house shoes!
On Saturday, we did a lot of work outside. We got the pool all done for the season, cut down flowers, did some painting of trim, etc. Jacob loves to help with that kind of stuff, and Brian let him use the "choppers" to cut down some flowers! I was very nervous, but he did a great job!

Zach's newest Lego project is to rebuild some monsterly huge Star Wars ship - Imperial Star Destroyer. There were Legos all over that room! But, he and his daddy got it done.

Gotta run. . . they are coming to show the house! Pray that this is the person to buy it!!

Sub Plans!

I am attending a conference in Chicago this week. I leave early Tuesday morning and will be back late Wednesday evening. The conference itself, Implementing RtI, should be very good. However, the sub plans I have to leave are driving me crazy! I see ten groups of kids each day. So, I have to leave plans for twenty different groups in a two day period. Ughhh. . .

Then it dawned on me that Brian might need some "sub plans" of his own - you know, what each child likes in his lunch, where they will be after school, when they can get to school, etc . Brian is a very hands on dad and does a lot with the kids, but I take care of the school routine because I go there everyday too!

We would appreciate prayers of safe travel for me and sanity for Brian!

Back to writing my sub plans!

Fire Station Open House

Tonight, Zach had basketball pratice. So, we dropped him off and the rest of the family headed over to the fire station for their open house. Free hot dogs and drinks, fire engines, balloons, fire truck rides. . .who could ask for more?

Notice that Lizzie is wearing her boots! She wears them with everything right now!

Jacob enjoyed the old fire engine ride. Somehow, we convinced Brian to ride with Jake and three of his friends!

One of the best parts of the Fire Station Open House in a small town? Everyone was there! Jacob saw lots of friends from school. He was happy to see his buddy, Reid!

Principal's Office

Jacob made a trip to the principal's office today. Luckily, it was for "Good News!" When teachers catch students doing something that exhibits good character, they sometimes send them to the office to get congratulated by the principal. Jacob was pretty proud of himself. This is the second time this year he has been to the office for good news. Let's hope this is the only reason he ends up in the office this year!

Annual Pumpkin Painting

The kids had a good time last weekend painting their pumpkins. This is one tradition that we look forward to year after year. Jacob and Lizzie worked well together.

What is Zach working so hard on?



His masterpiece. He divided his pumpkin into four areas and painted each area to represent a favorite sports team. IU of course!

Followed by the Yankees and the Colts.



And last but not least, the Mahomet-Seymour Bulldogs!


The finished products certainly yielded some "interesting" looking pumpkins! But the kids all had a good time and that is all that matters, right?