First Week Down

The first "week" of school is in the books.

And by "week", I mean two-and-a-half days.

Two-and-a-half great days of seeing smiling students, talking with families, spending time with teachers, and hanging out for a few hours at high school retreat. 

Every time the kids walk through the door, my heart is filled with the importance of why we do what we do.

In the midst of the busyness of the first morning, I snagged a couple of shots of my boys.  The oldest started 6th grade.  Here he is with his super sweet teacher.

 

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The youngest started 3rd grade.  I have a great pic of him with his wonderful teacher as well, but I couldn't get it to load. Here he is outside of his classroom.

The first day of school also brought a "selfie" challenge by one of my colleagues to see which of us could take the most selfies with students.

Thanks to the challenge being posted on Facebook and Twitter, I had elementary students walk in the front door and ask if they could take a selfie with me before they went to their classrooms.  It completely made my day!

My colleague rocked the challenge by taking pictures with entire hallways of students.

I had been taking pictures one by one, so I had to up my game and jump on the bus with the kids at the end of the day to take a shot with a bus full of students before they left for home. 

Here we both are trying to take a selfie at the same time with one of our seniors.

I'm pretty sure it defeated the purpose to have us both in the picture...

...but we still had fun.

All in all, it was a great first "week". 

Looking forward to many more!

Roughing It

I have spent many weekends at the lake in my life.

I don't even remember when my folks started camping, but I was little. My best guess is that I have clocked at least 75-100 weekends since I was 5 years old.   

But I have never seen this.

This gives a whole new meaning to "roughing it".

Somewhere along the way, camping has gone from tents, no electricity, cooking everything over a campfire, and sleeping on the ground...to showers in the camper, satellite dishes for 245 TV channels, and big screen theaters.

I think this current version of camping might be missing the original intent, but they are still enjoying the great outdoors!


The only problem...their sound wasn't loud enough for us to hear it.  :)

Do You Need a Popsicle?

I am once again breaking the "be careful about blogging about your job" rule.  Sometimes a little reflection is a good thing.


Tuesday was a long day.  Not a bad day, just a long day.  I worked until 2:00, raced my child to the doctor for a physical, dropped him back off at grandma's, and headed back to school to prepare for a board meeting.  I finished about 6:15 and gathered my things to head into town for the 7:00 meeting.

I saw that I had a little extra time before the meeting and realized that it had been a while since I had watered the plants for our first grade teacher.  She heads out of state for the summer, so we try to keep her greenery alive while she is gone.  I don't think she knows what an incredibly black thumb I have, but I am fairly sure I have already had one plant fatality.  The sad thing is, compared to my previous plant records, that really is pretty good.

Anyway....I successfully watered the plants, and headed down the hallway to check to make sure all lights were off before I left.  The next thing I knew I was flying/sliding/half-falling down the hallway.  There was water all over the floor.

I never actually hit the ground, but I am fairly sure that if my gracefulness was caught on the security cameras, I might be eligible for $10,000 from Funniest Home Videos.

I carefully retraced my steps and entered the elementary bathroom. Sure enough, there was a toilet running and a nice little sprinkler effect was occurring behind the toilet.

Herein lies a problem for me.  I have had a fair amount of training in teaching, discipline, special education, school law, and curriculum.  Toilets shooting out water? Not so much.

I called one of our board members to let him know that I may be cutting time very close to get to the board meeting. He, of course, said he would come help in a moments notice if I needed him to.  That answer would have been a resounding "YES!", except I knew there was another guy in the building who would be willing to help me out (not that I am implying that a girl couldn't take care of a toilet shooting out water, but unfortunately THIS girl is not that girl. However, by the end of the school year, I might be!).

I headed over to the high school hallway where there was a family working on a huge locker painting project. I could go on and on about this family, but let me just say that they are amazing, and I aspire to be servants like they are.  This school dad, who had been working tirelessly in unairconditioned situations all day long, immediately dropped what he was doing to come help me.  Sure enough, he found the problem, turned off the water, and then spent his precious work time on his hands and knees helping me mop up all of the water.

After we got everything taken care of, I gathered up my stuff, and walked out of the building all sweaty and dirty from the clean-up. The board member I had called previously was just walking in....carrying two popsicles. "Do you need a popsicle? I thought maybe you could use one," he said. Part of me chuckled inside, and part of me nearly teared up.

My response, "I would love one!"

Seriously, it was just what I needed in that moment.  It made my day.

Here is what I realized:

There have been many times this summer when I have thought that I am in over my head with new responsibilities at school.

But each time, I am taken care of.

If I had not needed to come back to school to get ready for the board meeting, I never would have discovered the water issue.

If I had not remembered to water the plants, I never would have discovered the water issue.

If I had not decided I needed to check the lights and grab a water bottle before I left, I would have walked out in a different direction, and never would have discovered the water issue. 

I truly do not believe that those things were all just "coincidences".

Had we not found the water issue until morning, we would have had water all over the elementary hallway and inside a classroom that just had brand new carpet installed.

To top that, I had two people more than willing to drop what they were doing to help out if needed...and needed they were.

God's got this.  He always does.

And sometimes he sends angels who are covered in paint and carrying popsicles.

A Weekend of Dumb

Typically we are organized.  Really, we are.

We are list-makers. Rule-followers. Logical planners.  (Yikes....BORinnngggg!)

But this weekend - not so much.

We have had a little family lake get-away planned for a long time.  We were going to be gone Wednesday through Sunday for some R & R before the August school rush really hit.

Who am I kidding? The August school rush hit in May!

Leaving Wednesday turned into leaving Thursday, but we were still determined to go since we had only used our camper once the entire summer.

Packing was a little...haphazard. It was done intermittently over the course of a few days, and we knew it was going to be a miracle if we had everything we needed.  We were just hoping we didn't forget something we couldn't live without.

We set out late Thursday morning, and arrived at the lake around lunch time.  All was well...for about the first 20 minutes.  That would be when I realized that I was completely out of the chemical that you have to pour down the toilet every time you camp.  Trust me, you don't want to go very long without this addition to the holding tank.

When we bought the camper, there was a pretty good supply stashed in the bathroom.  Apparently we depleted it back in May. I did not remember that little fact.

After a couple of stops, I found a very local we-carry-everything-you-may-have-forgotten trading post type of store.  Thankfully, they had what we needed for the low, low price of double what I would have paid at Wal-Mart.

Fast forward several hours to Thursday evening. It was 10:15 and we were starting to get the kids to bed.  I headed in to the camper to take my contacts out...only to realize that my entire bag with everything remotely similar to contact solution must still be sitting on my dresser at home.

Hmmmmmm.  Drive somewhere for contact solution and a case? Or throw out my contacts (of course, I had just opened a new pair) and waste some money? We literally started calculating which was cheaper - gas or a pair of contacts.

The gas won. My husband was ready to head out to get my needed supplies.

But wait, this particular lake closes the gates at 10:00 p.m.

Splendid.

I am guessing it is not a good long term solution, but turns out that bottled water does actually work in a pinch when not wanting to trash new contacts.

The next morning I headed home.  Why home? Because in addition to my entire cosmetic bag, we also forgot to pack jeans for dirt-bike riding, paper towels, and the kids' allergy medicine.

Later that day, I did something minorly annoying.  I can't even remember what it was, but I said to my husband, "Well, that was dumb."  He shook his head and said, "This has been an entire weekend of dumb."

Well stated, honey.

What else happened?

Well...we discovered that the lake we were camping at has much stricter rules than the lake we usually camp at.  Our oldest child has always ridden on the jet ski when going to unload at the boat ramp.

We found out that is against the rules.

The next day several of us were riding in my parent's boat to go unload at the boat ramp.  Surely, we thought, that would be okay since the boat has sides and is much safer.

Nope, turns out that is against the rules as well.

Thankfully, the park custodians and rangers were very nice individuals.  But, seriously, it got to the point that my husband didn't want to go 16 in a 15 mph speed zone for fear of getting talked to by another park attendant. 

We are fairly sure there were conversations at the check-in house about the crazy people camping who thought they could do whatever they wanted to.

And then there was the little matter of the cell phone meeting up with the lake.  That was its own special sort of fun.  It is now tucked away in its very own rice bag, hoping for a little resurrection power.

Of course, it couldn't have been my phone.  That would have been too easy. I have been trying to figure out a way to get rid of that thing for months now, but my husband actually likes his phone. Go figure.

To top it all, by Saturday morning, the 11 year old was doing breathing treatments in the camper.  I think that was a first for us as well.  Good thing I had forgotten my contact solution and snagged the treatment supplies "just in case" when I was home.

In spite of it all, we really did have fun.

And it really could have been worse.

We didn't have any flat tires like the guy I saw on the side of the road trying to change a camper tire.  We didn't have to tow a broken down boat or jet ski off the water like we saw others having to do. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, especially for the beginning of August. We were able to come back in for a beautiful send-off church service for a dear pastor and friend. We spent quality family time together on the beach, around the fire, riding bikes, and playing games in the camper.

I'll put up with a little "dumb" for all of that.

But I promise to pack better next time.

I am already making my list.

Just a Short Jaunt Down the Highway

We spent a little time in the great state of Illinois this past weekend.  The days absolutely flew by.

My kids spent a ton of time in our aunt and uncle's pool, and I just realized that I did not get even one picture of them swimming.  I will blame it on not wanting to get the camera wet.

I did, however, get several pictures of this crazy football game.  One of my favorite things about this family is that they are amazing about doing things with the kids. Just about everything can be made inter-generational.  Typically this is a great thing. It was not so great when my husband landed on the arm of our 8 year old cousin during a later volleyball game and thought he smashed it into pieces.

Thankfully, all was well. No ER visit needed.

 

Back to football....I am not sure these teams were really fair. What I am fairly sure of is that my little guy may not of understood what he was doing, but he still had a blast.

 

Part of the reason he had a blast may have been because he got to try to tackle his brother over and over and over...

We scheduled in a bit of "no kid" time as well.  The guys went golfing one morning, but my husband refused to take the camera.  He has been golfing all of maybe 3 times in his life.  When I was bemoaning the fact that I didn't have any proof that he actually went, my uncle quickly replied, "Sure we have proof that he went.  We came back with three fewer golf balls than we took with us!"

Ha.  My husband loves all kinds of sports.  I am not sure that he really considers golf a sport.

After the guys went golfing, the girls went for pedicures.  Funny little golf parallel here...I have had all of maybe three pedicures in my life as well.  The last one was when this middle gal got married...three years ago.

 My husband asked what it is that they actually do when one gets a pedicure.  I tried to explain the science and the reason of it all.  He still did not think it was worth $30.00 when I could just polish my toenails for basically nothing at home.

He might be right.

But I still enjoyed every minute of it.


Every time I look at this picture I think of Field of Dreams. "If you raise the net, they will come."

  

This is what you call volleyball in the middle of nowhere.

This state is serious about their soybeans and corn. We thought Kansas corn was tall this year.  Not so much.  In Kansas you could easily lose a 10 year old in the corn.  In Illinois, you could easily lose full grown adults.  In stiletto heals.

I was waiting for the collision in this shot.  No such luck. Apparently there is a ball somewhere up there.

  

The kiddos lost their wiffle ball in the beans.  There is no way that all of those beans survived that plastic bat.

I sure hope their combine knows how to harvest sports equipment.

 

No weekend in Illinois is complete with a Rook game.....or 20. I have never seen 4 members of the family quite this serious.  We really did smile...and laugh...a lot.  Someone must have just lost really badly here.

Or it is really late at night.

Or both.

Now we are back home for at least another 6 months.

I miss my family already.

But the 10 hour drive? Not so much.

It Takes a Village

Today I am feeling thankful.

This is actually surprising me a bit, because it was a crazy day.  I met myself coming and going, sometimes at a rate of speed that made everything one giant blur.

But on the way home tonight, as I was reflecting on the day, I was overcome with thankfulness for the many people in my world.  People whom I work with. People whom I call family. People whom I call friends.

Let's rewind to first thing this morning.  This year I have the privilege of serving on a team at school with some amazing folks.  They are rock stars. We gather at 8:00 on Wednesday mornings.  No teacher should have to come to a meeting at 8:00 a.m....during their time off....in the months of June and July.  These are the months when teachers are trying to recoup their sanity and gear up for the 70 hour weeks which are right around the corner.

But this team does it, even though their contracts don't start until August 1st. Like I said - rock stars.

I am thankful for the colleague today who gave of her time to sit with me through an interview, who walked with me at a hurried pace from place to place so we could collaborate on the run, and who took a load off of my shoulders by making a supply run that I had scheduled in my day.

I am thankful for the colleague who texted me today and commanded that I remember the vacation rule this weekend when I am gone - no texting about work unless someone else texts you or unless you absolutely have to.

I am thankful for the colleague who is helping me graph and analyze test scores this summer who was completely understanding when I had to regroup and reschedule our meeting due to the crazy day.

I am thankful for the colleagues who came in on their own free time today to help unpack supplies and curriculum and get it all organized.

I am thankful for the colleagues who met me for lunch to discuss curriculum and plans for this coming year (with some great wedding conversation thrown in, too!).  It was a nice reprieve to relax, talk, and laugh. 

I am thankful for the colleague who made phone calls for me, emailed documents, answered phones, and always keeps me on track.


I am thankful for the colleague who texted me a picture of herself working on curriculum guides at home!  Not so much because she was doing school work (which, of course, I am in favor of!), but the fact that she noted that fun rings, painted nails, and good coffee make her work experience so much better. Seriously made my day.

I am thankful for the colleagues who have worked like mad to prepare for the upcoming work day at school and who are stepping in when I am out of town.   

I am thankful for the colleague who let me drive to her house and steal her keys when I locked myself out of my office this afternoon. Yep, it was that kind of day.

Folks, it takes a village to make it all happen.

In the midst of all of that, I was receiving texts from my Illinois family, whom I have the pleasure of spending the weekend with. Those texts were full of plans of family dinners, swimming, pedicures, Rook tournaments, and birthday parties. Ahhhh....pure bliss.

Last night at our board meeting, the board member who led devotions talked about soaring like eagles.  He challenged us to look at life from the vantage point of the eagle -- to take in the big picture instead of always looking at life from the ground level viewpoint. 

I am guilty of that.  I am always scurrying around, seeing the piles of things to do that are stacked near me, and sometimes I forget that there is so much more to life than crossing things off a list.

I want to soar.  Not for success, but for vision. Vision to see clearly the big picture.

And if I know anything, it is that this cannot be done alone.  So, to those of you who I have the privilege of seeing often, to those of you I rarely get a chance to catch up with, thank you for being my village.

May we all soar like eagles.

I Think He May Have Actually Showered

I'm just gonna say it...8 years old seems awfully young to go away to camp.

I started talking to my boys about church camp months ago.  This was the one year that they could both go to the same camp during the same week.  The little guy would have come home one day earlier, but still...it was the SAME WEEK.  Does any other mother out there see the benefit of that?!

My husband and I loved camp when we were kids.  In fact, that is where we met for the first time ever.  Granted, he "dated" my best friend...or they were "going together"...or whatever it is that we called it at that age, but still, that is where our first memories are of each other.

We looked forward to camp every summer, and we wanted our kids to have that experience as well.

But the older child wasn't having it.  He did not think that going away to camp sounded all that fun.  We encouraged him like crazy, even up to the point that he asked if we were trying to get rid of him.

We backed off just a smidge after that.

The youngest child, however, thought camp sounded great.  At least he did as soon as he read "riflery" and "archery" on the camp brochure.  I am fairly certain that he wanted to go to church camp simply to shoot a gun and a bow.

So we took the leap.  We signed up the little guy and let the older kid stay at home.  Weird, I know.

We packed him up and sent him on his way.  I forgot to take a camera with me for the send off from church.  I wanted to take him to camp myself, but I knew that the possibility of him changing his mind and getting scared was greater if I would have been there.  So I blew him a kiss and sent him on his merry way.

I was nervous.

Nervous that he would think that camp was one big lizard-hunting experience and he would always be wandering away from his group.

Nervous that he would get frustrated by something and his behavior would be a bit less than desirable.

Nervous that he would come home in the same clothes he wore to camp, with a bagful of clean, untouched stuff.

This morning I picked him up.  He had a great time. When I asked him what his favorite thing was, it kept changing....horseback riding, shooting the gun, swimming...and eating.  The food, and I quote, "was A-MA-ZING."

He loved his counselor.  

 

The picture is dark, but there was a whole lot of muscle flexing and laughing going on.  

Here is a better one.

 I talked to his counselor all of 2 minutes today when I loaded up the camp gear.  I am pretty sure he was a perfect fit for my little guy.  It's amazing how God works out those details.

When I walked into the cabin, the counselor told my son to "show mom how organized and ready to go you are".  I had to pause for a moment to realize that he actually used my son's name and the word 'organized' in the same sentence.

I thought about sending him home with his counselor for a few more weeks of training.

I really wish I had pictures of the day I sent him off to camp to prove to him that those shorts are the exact same ones he wore on Monday when he left.  When I stuck him in the bathtub tonight, I realized that the underwear were the same, too. Oh my.

He promised me that he did actually change his clothes during camp, and that he must have just put these back on today. At least the shirt and socks were different.

In the grand scheme of life, it doesn't really matter.  But I couldn't resist asking him if he ever showered at camp.

"Yep," he said, "my counselor made me."

To which I just had to laugh.

It's actually possible since I sent two towels to camp and he only came home with one.  Or...the towel could still be at the swimming pool with the goggles that didn't come home either.

On the bright side, he is the proud new owner of a Nike sock...that has no match.  So sorry to the kid who this actually belongs to.

Right away he told me that he wanted to go back to camp next year.  An hour later, he said he had possibly changed his mind because there was no free time to catch lizards, and he couldn't take the wildlife home anyway.

I, for one, am ALL for that rule.  If that is the worst that camp has to offer, I'd say his rookie year was a success!

I don't even want to know if he ever brushed his teeth.