Treats From Grandpa & Grandma

The kids so enjoyed the ice cream that Grandpa brought!

well, most of them did…

“How come my ice cream is so much smaller than theirs??”

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

Helpers

Grandpa came over to fix the chair…Ben and Hannah were there to help out- 

…and also Stretchy!

Race Results

Good Morning!  And since I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats…Matthew won TheBigRace!!  But not on Friday.  Apparently on Friday the other racer couldn’t race because he had, “unfinished business”.  Whatever that means.  According to Matthew he had five other kids he had to race, so TheBigRace was postponed until Monday, and that’s when Matthew won! 

But!  (and I would love to have been a fly on the wall when all these rules were negotiated.  By a bunch of second grade boys.)  Matthew is obligated to race B “every other day also including tomorrow”.  Ha!  Which means he had to race yesterday..and due to a bad start…he lost.  He didn’t seem to broken up about it because apparently the playground jury decided that it didn’t count.  (I verified this with another second grade runner lol).  He has gotten quite fast due to all this racing and (don’t tell her I said so!) he can even outrun Caitlin in a sprint race.  Caitlin can still take him in the long distance running though!

Soccer and baseball evaluations went well.  I decided to coach as an assistant to Caitlin’s team.  We are both pretty excited!  Practice starts on Thursday.  Matthew is not on the same baseball team as last year, but does have his best buddy from last season on the team so he’s happy.  His new coach is a baseball fanatic and I know Matthew is going to love this season! 

I signed Pea up for a beginner ballet class.  I desperately hope that she hates it because the cost of real ballet, with recitals and costumes?  Is like a car payment.  A very nice car payment.  But I do want her to try it out. 

Ben has started showing an interest in soccer lately because we’ve started practicing a lot with Caitlin.  Here’s a picture I took of him “practicing”:

Chassie is obviously unimpressed. 

Grandpa is coming over for a visit today…we are so looking forward to seeing him!  More soon…

Friday Bullets

Good Morning!  Just a few things to report today.

• Soccer and baseball tryouts are tomorrow morning and Caitlin has already been recruited by two of the three teams that are playing this year!  One of the coaches asked me to assist him coaching because this guarantees Caitlin will be on his team.  I’m actually considering it because I love the idea of coaching and we did have a great experience with this coach last year.  We will see…regardless, I’m proud to be mama to such a soccer star!
• Today at school, Matthew has TheBigRace.  Apparently the boys at school spend recess racing one another around the playground track.  It has come down to Matthew and another boy “B”.  Today they will race each other.  Matthew was very concerned about losing until yesterday when he found out that “B”’s girlfriend has switched alliances and will now be cheering for Matthew.  “And mommy, she used to be a cheerleader so I’m sure I’ll get a lot of spirit”, he told me.  Apparently “spirit” from a cute former cheerleader is the edge he needs.
• Hannah woke up this morning practically in tears because she doesn’t get to go to preschool today.  She absolutely loves it!  Yesterday I went to pick her up and she was walking in from the playground holding hands with her new best friend (who Hannah talks about all the time).  I’m glad that she likes it…and might even consider a full time preschool next year…maybe.
• As I was writing this post, I just had to race upstairs to get Ben, who according to Hannah, “was using mommy’s makeup but I NOT!”.  (she is always in trouble for touching my makeup).  Sure enough, I find Ben in the bathroom holding a tube of mascara which he had applied to his eyes.  There goes that “all boy” theory…

That’s all for today.  Have a great weekend!

This Happened a While Ago

…but I didn’t want to not report it.  Even though it’s about fishing.  Grody.

Before school started, Matt wanted to take the kids fishing.  They love fishing (clearly not my children.  Mommy and fish are not friends.  Ew) and Matt loves fishing so he planned a morning to take them to a local park that has a smallish pond filled with sunfish/bream/ginormous turtles.  I was hoping to hang out at home and do something more fun, like scrub the floors or clean out the garage, but Matt said he needed me there for moral support. (read: four against one is not happening). 

So we loaded up with the four kids, the dog, 4 fishing rods and a loaf of bread.  Clampett style. 

We got to the pond and after 25 minutes and two stuck thumbs (I’m clumsy) they started fishing.  I volunteered to not fish take pictures…I’ll let them tell the rest of the story:

Pea.  A natural:

Check out her big catch:

Yes.  That is a stick.  But it’s more than anyone else caught!

Waiting.

More Waiting.

And even more waiting.  But in her case, it was waiting for a chance to sneak over and eat the bait. 

Finally we changed locations. 

This bridge looked promising…we actually saw a fish or two swimming around.  That is until Hannah managed to drop her beloved ‘pinksparkle’ flip flop in to the water…she was devastated!  As bad as it was…there was a silver lining.  It finally gave Matt an opportunity to show off his mad fishing skills!

That was all Matt caught that day.  One stinky (but much loved) pink flip flop.  I suppose it’s better than an old boot.  Ha! 

However this was not the worst part of the day.  The worst part happened when Matt needed a break from all the not catching fish and made me take over for a few minutes.  And then this happened:

I think this was my punishment for laughing hysterically when Matt only caught the flip flop.  Stupid Karma.   

First Day Of School Picture

…taken on the fourth day of school.  Pretty good for The Shoe!

Small Town Life

Since I have started the search for a teaching job, I have gained a new appreciation for small town life (this may come as a surprise to those of you who know I did not get the local teaching job for which I interviewed because I wasn’t the assistant-principals-second-cousins-baby-mama, but wait). 
First off, a little background.  I graduated in December equipped with a teaching certificate, Masters degree, and the enthusiasm and optimism that comes only with a shiny new diploma.  Oh, I knew it was a rotten market for new teachers, but surely I’d be able to find a job…I’d had a great student teaching experience thanks to a wonderful lead teacher and had gotten positive feedback about my performance.  I was ready to take on the (elementary school) world.  I sent out applications to all (and I do mean all) of the surrounding counties, complete with a resume and snappy cover letter, and waited for the calls and interviews to roll in, meanwhile telling everyone who would listen that I was on the hunt for a job.
As the days, and weeks went by without so much as a call or email from the schools, I got a bit less optimistic.  And as the weeks and months went by I got downright depressed.  But even though I wasn’t hearing from the schools , one thing I did hear a lot of was care and concern from the people in our small town. 
“How’s the job hunt going?” my favorite checkout lady at Kroger would ask.
“Any word yet?” from the guy who walks his dog three times a day in our neighborhood.
“Did you find a job? Any leads?” Matthew’s former teacher always asks. 
And while the answer has thus far always been a shake of my head…their answers have never failed to lift me-
“Well keep at it.  It’ll happen in God’s time.”
“The right job just hasn’t come open yet.”
and my personal favorite:
“They don’t know they’re missing!”
While the job hunt stinks, and the job market is depressing, I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many folks who really do care about how I’m doing.  Small town living may have it’s downsides, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.