Back to School

This year Mallory started a new year of preschool, Molly began First grade and Madison began Fourth grade.  It'd always hard to say goodbye to summer, but the girls were excited for the first day of school.  We decided to switch Mallory to three days a week this year.  On Wednesday she gets to stay and have lunch with her friends.  Her teacher is Mrs. Hatton.  Mallory continues to love school and her teacher.  Molly went through the typical growing pains that I see every year with my own first grade class.  She was worried about making friends and we tired after a full day of school.  After a few weeks she settled into the routine and had made lots of friends.  Her teacher is very creative so Molly's "out of the box" way of thinking seems to fit well in her class:)  Madison has a busy schedule with lot of responsibilities that she's trying to adjust to as a Fourth grader.  She is involved in Orchestra and Chorus.  She is learning how to play the violin.  Also she is on Safety Patrol and was elected by her class for Student Council.  She has lots to keep track of and it's been a big adjustment. This year I have one of the biggest challenging of my career.  I have 27 First graders in my class.  This is the largest class I've ever had.  It's a wonderful class and we have lots of support from parents and a classroom aide.  Every day is getting easier for all of us.  I'm excited to begin helping out at Madison and Molly's classes on my days off.  We're looking forward to another great year!

Summer Memories

We had another great summer full of good times and memories.  It is truly my favorite time of year and not just because I get the summers off!  It is so wonderful to slow down and to not have to deal with homework and schedules.  We are busy, but in a non-stress kinda way.  Our family really needed the time to take a break from the scheduled routine.  I started the summer by attending the graduation ceremonies for the first class I ever taught when they were in second grade!  There were many kids very near and dear to my heart.  It is still my favorite class to date.  We went to Jennifer, our favorite weekend babysitter and our cousin Amanda's graduation parties.  It was great to see family and friends.  We had Duane's company picnic at Houston Woods and won a free night at the lodge there.  Our goal is to use it as a night away without kids before it expires in a year.  Fingers crossed!  I celebrated my 35th birthday.  I got a mac book which I wanted for a long time and am madly in love with!  Not going to spend a lot of time dwelling on being a year older.  Next subject.  We spent a lot of time at Pleasant Hill.  Mallory has come so far with her swimming skills.  It was the first time in years that I could sit in a pool chair and just relax.  I always had to keep my eyes on Mallory though, because she has no fear.  By the end of the summer she was jumping off the high dive and swimming all the way across the pool.  She has great role models to keep up with.  We are a family of water lovers.  We started a new tradition of weekly pool nights with the Nels family.  Such a great idea!  We took turns every week meeting at one if our pools for an evening of pizza, swimming and cocktails.  Fun for the whole family:)  We must continue to tradition every summer!  We got Kings Island passes this year.  Again, I felt my stress level drop.  I could take the girls by myself for the day without skipping a beat.  We really enjoyed Kings Island.  Now that she was tall enough, Molly ended up being even more of a roller coaster enthusiast than her big sister, much to Duane's delight!  They all three spent a lot of time on the big coasters.  We made our usual trips to Orchardly Park, Wegerzyn Gardens and Krispy Creme.  These are special places that are a must every summer.  The kids spent a lot of time playing outside with the neighbors.  My parents came for a visit and we spend an evening at the Greene.  The girls love playing in the fountains there.  Madison went camping for a few days with Lola.  While she was gone I took Mallory and Molly to the Newport Aquarium for a special day for just the two of theme.  It was an all around great summer!  I will always wonder if we should have had a fourth child.  But this summer I was in such a good place.  No diapers and nursing babies, and not  dragging strollers and diaper bags around had it's perks.  I was truly enjoying the sudden independence that all three kids have developed.  It was nice to catch my breath!  We were all sad to see the summer end.  But we always have next summer to look forward too!