Miracles

Last week the girls and I had bible camp at St. Charles. I decided to volunteer because I felt a strong need to become more connected with our church and get to know the other families. We go to church every weekend, Madison and Molly both have attended weekly religious education programs, we pray with the girls every day and try to teach them the importance of God, being loving and making good choices. But as a busy wife and mother I have been feeling a lack of spiritual connection and growth lately on a personal level. I'm so consumed with everyday life that I tend to loose perspective of the importance of God's presence in my life. One of the most challenging things for me is joining an established group. I ended up being recruited to teach the lessons which is the biggest level of responsibility and the most time consuming. But like always, I did it for the kids. I taught Madison's group, Molly was in a group with 4 year olds and Mallory was in the nursery. My favorite part was at the end of camp each day. All the kids had a sing along. Mallory even got to participate. She really got into it! Although it was a lot of work and uncharted territory for me, I enjoyed the whole experience. I have always been one to keep prayer and my religious thoughts to myself. During the time that I was not teaching, I had the opportunity to attend adult religious enrichment. My first thought was, I really would love to have the extra time to get ready for the next days lessons. Again, lack of perspective. Later, I was so grateful for the opportunity to discuss and gain a better understanding of the scripture as well I seeing how it really connects with my own life. In the past when I read the Bible, it was difficult to follow and challenging to understand. But when you sit with a group of people and discuss it, you gain so much insight and really see how there is a connection to everything we do each day. One day a Catholic Brother spoke about how the love of God is related to miracles. During biblical times, Jesus turned water into wine and healed the blind and the sick. Now a days, we don't see those types of grand miracles. But in actuality, our days are jam packed full of small miracles that we don't even realize are happening. One of my miracle that week was sitting in my back yard next to a blow up swimming pool watching my two older daughters play and be friends. I waited a long time for that to happen and now they are getting to that wonderful point. Don't get me wrong, they are sisters and they still fight like cats a dogs a lot. But they are becoming friends. And we have grand ones too that we forget about as time passes. The birth of our children, our wedding day. A month before school ended, one of students, who was one of the most fragile and needy children, fell out of a three story window and survived with minimal injury. How's that for a grand miracle! She said she felt like angels were carrying her to the ground. Every day when I am stressed out, I think of the prayer during mass when we ask God to protect us from all anxieties. When I remember those words it gives me a sense of calm. There really is such power in prayer. I'm on a spiritual journey to continue to gain more perspective and not loose sight of these small miracles and remember how God's light, love and word are in my life every moment.

Happy Birthday To Me!

We got a post card from the UD alumni association on Valentine's Day inviting us to renew our vows at a special mass during alumni weekend. Coincidentally it was on my birthday. Since it was also our 10th anniversary this month we thought it would be a wonderful thing to do. We renewed our vows in a serviced performed by a priest that Duane had as a professor for his christian marriage class. It was a casual but intimate service. There were couples that had been married for 50 years or more and some that were still newly weds. It was a great time in our lives to reaffirm our commitment and love for each other. We are always focused on the girls and on the go. It's important to take time for each other when we can. The night before Duane and I went out to dinner with out the kids so later that evening we all went out for a family dinner. We ran into our friends Jeff and Nicole and their two boys. They were celebrating Nicole's birthday. So we all had dinner together. When we got home, Duane and the girls surprised me with a homemade ice cream cake. That's my favorite! Even though I am not enjoying getting older these days, it was a wonderful birthday!

Summer's Here!

I think I learned just as much about having a school age child as Madison learned about being a first grader this year. Around the end of the third quarter, we had a parents teacher conference. I was so stressed out because in the course of about two weeks before that, Madison was recommended to meet with with the reading specialist, recommended to attend summer school for math and recommended to join a social skills group with the school counselor. I felt like a complete failure as a mother and was concerned that my child was in a rapid down ward spiral. My first mistake was comparing her with students in my own class that I recommended the same things for. That would be the lowest of the low students that are extremely needy who often times aren't always getting the support at home. Being the cooperative parent, even though as a teacher I did my own assessments with her at home and felt she was holding her own, I still agreed to the extra help. I said no to summer school, because part of the problem was that she needed a much needed break and I am after all a certified first grade teacher. Not to mention I just don't think summer school is really that beneficial. I had her right on track for reading, a little behind in math, partially because the program was so challenging and I was really puzzled by the whole social skills thing. We have always thought this was a strong suit for her. Her teacher explained to us that she was extremely popular with the other kids and needed support with learning how to share her time. Again, I go back to students in my own class. The kids that can't keep their hands off of other kids who who hide under tables yelling and refusing to come out. That is what I consider a kid that is in desperate need of a socials skills group. Not one needed help with popularity. But again, I was trying not to be difficult. I really saw Madison maturing over the next two months. She was really changing. But I was still dreading the report cards. In the end she had a fantastic report card. She ended on grade level for reading and actually did okay in math too. Not to mention, she was marked as exceeding expectations for interacting with peers. After all of that worrying and tormenting myself, she made it! So the lesson I learned was that although I teach in a great school district, it is very different from the district we live in. We are privileged enough to send our kids to schools in a place where those middle of the road kids get some extra help too, not just the kids in desperate need. I need to be grateful for the opportunity for her. Every year Joey and I look at a few of these kids that we really gave the extra blood, sweat and tears for, at the end of the year and say, they just need a little more time. Then they seem to be miraculously saved in second grade:) But the real truth is exactly what we thought. When they are given just a little more time, they get where they need to be. My own kid helped me really see that. I need to put a little less pressure on myself both as a mother and a teacher and realize that the most important thing is I'm doing my best. And with a little time and patience, we'll get there. Kindergarten and first grade have been huge transition years for us. I think we've really started to settle in and second grade is going to be a great year. But, boy are we sure glad for the summer break! Here are some before and after shots of Madison on the last day of school. Even though she complained so much about home work, she really did love First grade.

Happy Father's Day!

My big plan for our 10th anniversary was a hot air balloon ride. This was something that Duane and I had talked about doing for a long time. But, although it was a beautiful day, it was too windy. I was so disappointed. So I bought a children's book about a hot air balloon ride and wrote Duane a letter explaining how the surprise was suppose to go. It is so true that everything happens for a reason. I got a call from Mike, the balloon guy, asking if we could go on Father's Day morning at 6:15. Duane was just getting home from a business trip in China that Friday. But I decided that we should go while we had the chance. Well, I am definitely not a morning person! But it felt like Christmas morning. We were so giddy. A high school girl that lives across the street was kind enough to get up at 5:45 am and come over and crash on our couch. We meet the crew at Yankee Park which is less than 10 minutes from our house. The crew was made up of some really interesting and fun loving people. Every one of them was a kid at heart. They would be a great group to sit around a table at a bar with for a few hours. It was a perfect morning. There were a few clouds and lots of blue sky and sun shine. A light fog was just lifting. They layed everything out and started filling the balloon with cool air from a large fan. Duane had always commented on a vibrant balloon that was his favorite. We'll its just so happened that it was the same beautiful balloon that we were taking a ride in that morning. In no time the balloon stood up and we climbed in. Mike hit the burner a few times and we slowly lifted off of the ground. It was the craziest feeling! For the next 45 minutes I saw the world and the place we call home in a completely different light. Words can not describe how calm, peaceful and beautiful the experience was. Aside from the powerful noise from the burner, it was so quiet. There is something truly special about watching the world below wake up and come to life. We flew over Centerville and into Bellbrook. We could see the building in down town Dayton and so many significant land marks. We wished that the girls could have seen us float past, but we were content enough looking down at our house knowing that our babies were sleeping peacefully there. I hate to fly on an airplane, but this was a totally different experience. One that I will definitely have to do again. As we were descending, I got a little nervous when I could almost tough the tops of the trees. But it was clear that we were in very safe hands. We landed in a field next to a church about 20 feet from where the crew had parked. After the crew got everything put back in its proper place, we all shared a bottle of champagne and Mike gave a special toast to us. After that Duane and I went to breakfast and smuggled our own bottle of champagne into the restaurant so that we could have mimosas. This was one of the best experiences of my life. I don't think I'll ever be able to top this Father's Day. It's one we'll never forget. We got some great pictures. We are waiting on one of the members of the crew to email us pictures of us in the balloon in the air. Some of the arial shots were of downtown Dayton and one with our current house and our old house. Pretty cool!

10th Anniversary

I can't believe that Duane and I have been married for 10 years! What's even more amazing is that we've been together for going on 18 years. I have done a lot of reminiscing over the past few weeks and I wanted to share our story. Even though most of you know it well. I always tell my students that you can read the same book over and over and still make a new discovery every time you read it. So here its goes! Our family relocated to Massillon when I was 10 because of my dad's job. At the time I was devastated to leave Steubenville, where most of my family was from. Later I realized it was the best thing that could have happened. My brother and I started at a Catholic school, St. Barbara's. I was in the 5th grade and Duane was in the 7th grade at the same school. Over the next two years, I knew his name but that was the extent of it. Eventually we went to different schools. My mom still has a video of a Christmas program from elementary school with both of us in it. I can't wait to show it to our girls. The summer before my sophomore year, I spent a lot of time at the local pool with my friends. At that time our high school started with the sophomore class. It was an important time for me. That summer I fell madly in love with a gorgeous life guard who looked vaguely familiar to me. His name was Duane Scott. I also found out he played football, first string of course and was a senior. I payed very close attention to his practice schedule so that I made sure to come to the pool when he worked. The funny thing is, I spent the entire summer drooling over him and never found the courage to even mutter a hello! He of course thought I was snobby. When in reality, I was totally lacking self-confidence. After school started, I went to ever game, including away games and followed him at a safe distance on my way to my English class every day. I can remember it like it was yesterday. He never noticed and I still couldn't open my mouth when he was close by. Finally one of my friends mentioned to him that I had a huge crush on him. His response was, "I think she hates me. She won't even look at me when I walk past her." I was devastated when I heard his response. I knew that drastic measures had to be taken. Every day before last period we passed in the hall. So when he started to walk past, I looked up and said, "Hi". The next day in that same hallway, he asked me out. I had to beg and plead with my parents to let me go because I was only 15 and I wasn't aloud to date until yet. I finally talked them into it with the stipulation that he had to come in and meet him. I was mortified that I had to ask him to be subjected to such a thing. He said he had planned on coming in and meeting them all along. I knew he was not your average guy. He opened the car door for me (and continued to do so for many years). I sat with my body pressed up against the door. I was so nervous. Throughout the night, I felt more and more comfortable. The night ended with a small kiss and a promise for another date. From then on we were inseparable until he left for UD 8 months later. Two years later I followed to Wright State. Five years later we were married on a beautiful June day. And now here we are 10 years, two houses and 3 kids later. Like every couple, we have had our highs and lows over the year. But the good times have drastically out weighed the bad. I think back to that shy sophomore girl with no self esteem and I still can't believe where I am today. When we met I had no idea who I was going to be or what directions I was going in. Duane was so encouraging and showed me all the great possibilities that my future held if I worked hard enough. He taught me so much. And he continues to do so every day that we are together. He has always been and will always be my hero and my greatest blessing. I have always said that I knew he was the one that summer at the pool. I am so grateful to look at him after all these years and still feel those same feeling. Words can not truly express the love I feel for him. Even though they are young, I tell our daughters that when they are old enough to get married, they need to marry a man that is as wonderful as their father. I hope and pray that they will be as blessed as I have been. Here are some then and now pictures. One is of us on duane's last day of high school, our wedding day and our 10th anniversary. No making fun of my poofy hair:)