School Year Wind-Down

It's hard to believe that this school year is coming to an end.  But it is.  Tomorrow will be May 1st.  The schools' last day will be June 15th. 

Summer will be here before we know it!

Town Budget Woes

Once again, our town is facing budget-planning woes.  The Board of Ed is struggling to make the most out of the relatively small figure the Board of Finance is proposing to give them.  Unfortunately for most, this will mean more cuts and changes will take place in the schools. 

As of right now, two of our favorite teachers are facing the possibility of being handed a pink slip at the end of this year.  The Multiage program that Grace, Dianna, and now Will, have had the pleasure of experiencing, is slated to be phased out.  (Meaning William will be placed in a regular 2nd grade classroom next year)  Many programs and activities at the Middle School and High School will also be affected by these budgetary woes.

I'm so very sad to see our schools struggling like this.  I am upset that our town is going to allow our children to suffer like this.  I'm frustrated that I feel like there isn't anything anyone can or will do to fix this problem. 

This is definitely one of those times that I wish I had a magic wand.

Polar Camping

This past Saturday, our local Girl Scout Service Unit hosted a Camporee.  The theme was "Back to Basics".  There were stations for the girls to learn about solar cooking, letter boxing, knot tying, compassing, flag etiquette, and marching.  Tracey, my troop's leader, and I were in charge of teaching the girls about flag etiquette and marching. 

All of the troops were invited to camp out either Friday night and/or Saturday night.  Our troop opted to stay just Saturday night.  Only one other troop camped. 

As I arrived at Camporee, I was really wishing we could back out of camping.  It was COLD!  The temps were forecasted to dip below freezing Saturday night.  I was NOT looking forward to spending the entire day Saturday out in the cold, and then following it up with sleeping in a tent overnight.

Not only that, but I didn't even have a girl participating.  Grace decided to drop out of scouts back in the middle of March.  I have continued to co-lead the troop, but will be stepping down as soon as the scouting year ends in June.

I'm so very glad we did stay overnight!  The girls (and I!) all had a blast.  Lucky for us, the wind died down mid-afternoon on Saturday.  After eating dinner, the girls who were still there did some singing and acted out skits.  Then, one of the other leaders suggested we play a game.  We played kickball and then taught the girls how to play SPUD -- a game I haven't played in more than 20 years!!

Even with the temps dropping below freezing overnight, the girls all declared that this was the best overnight campout they have ever experienced!

Spring Break in VT

The kids all had Spring Break a couple of weeks ago.  I took them up to VT to see Mom and Bert for a few days that week.  We couldn't have asked for a better week, weather-wise.  It was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! 

Mom and I decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather.  We drove to Burlington to take the kids on a walk along the bikeway, which runs right along Lake Champlain.  Grace helped me take a few pictures.  Here are some of the pictures from that day:



The kids wanted to explore along the shoreline.  I told Grace she'd have to relinquish my camera while she explored, but I gave it back to her as soon as she was back away from the water.  It was only my point-and-shoot camera, but still not the cheapest piece of equipment.

.....but, of course, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of them while they explored!

Once we were back away from the shore, Grace comandeered my camera again.  She loved the gargoyles on top of this building:

And the little metal "Champ" monster, swimming along the ground:

She also took a few "artsy" pictures of the general area.  Like this one of the row of light poles.

Deja Vu?

For those of my readers who knew Gordon when he was a little boy, can you tell me.....does this remind you of when he was a little boy?



No Training Wheels!

A friend of mine shared with me a cool bike add-on that she'd bought and tried with her daughter, to aid in teaching her to ride without training wheels.  Heidi, my friend, said that her daughter was riding on her own in no time.  I showed Gordon.  I thought we should get a handle like that, to help Will learn to ride without his training wheels.  Gordon told me he could make one.  So he did.



Will is still working on learning to ride on his own, but he's getting better and better.

Another Game Night!

We had another one of our monthly game nights on April 7th.  Not only did we have Rachel, Lee, and their clan over, but Amanda and Dan joined us too!



Future Problem Solvers

A group photo that I took of Dianna and her fellow Future Problem Solving teammates.  I'm sure you'll notice that I erased our town name in the picture.  It's all to protect the innocence and annonymity of anyone featured in this blog.  Y'all understand, right?



Homemade Kitty Bed

Dianna and William built a kitty bed, which Ashton gladly claimed as his own.  

....a little backstory of why I took these pics....I had no idea they had made this bed, until I went to put laundry away in Will's room one day.  It was too stinkin' cute to find Ashton snoozing away.  Once the kids got home from school, I confirmed that it was meant to be a kitty bed.  Will was excited to hear that Ash used it as he hoped.

Invention Convention pictures

As promised, I'm here to post some of the pictures I've had backlogged on my cameras.  Below, you'll see pics I took of Dianna working on building one of the inventions she created for the school's Invention Convention.

 And here you'll see a picture from the local paper.  Dianna with both of her inventions -- "ARW 1.0" (the Automatic Rabbit Waterer 1.0) and "Shade" (an elongated billed visor).

Spring Break

Hey......remember me?  The one who posts entries on this blog?  The one who has been SLACKING in that very department as of late?

I'm here.  I'm not making any excuses.  I just want you to know that I think of you often.  Well, maybe I think more about all of the pictures that I wish to share with you.  You know -- the pictures that are STILL on my camera!?!

The kids have started their Spring Break.  I'll be taking them to VT to visit with Mom for a few days.  We will head up Monday, late afternoon, after I attend a wake for my dear friend's grandfather.  We shall return on Thursday. 

With any luck, I'll find the time and energy to upload all of my pics to the computer.  Then, I can post them here to share with you finally!

Desperation -- the Mother of all Inventions!

Do you know how difficult it is to find mini pie tins to purchase?  In the last two days, Nora and I have tried (unsuccessfully) to find disposable mini pie tins.  I need them to make individual chicken pot pies.  I finally purchased some 7" round tins, which will be the perfect size to make a Gordon-sized serving.   I'm more than guaranteeing that my childrens will not eat anywhere near that much.

I have a solution, though!

I just decided that I could make mini chicken pot pies in my little glass prep bowls.  They're each a 1 cup size.  I have about 12 of them.

I wonder how many inventions were creative solutions to a Mother's problems?

Fly-by Post!

I just have a quick minute -- I should be heading out the door to volunteer in Will's class!  Before I do, I wanted to share with you a quick post.

I LOVE watching my kids be kids. 

I don't mean when they bicker or wrestle.  I don't mean when they're glued to the tv.  I also don't mean when they're glued to an electronic device.  (Though the quiet time that affords me can be quite valuable!)

I mean times like this morning.  Will and Dianna were at the end of our driveway, waiting for the bus to pick them up.  Instead of fighting over who gets to board the bus first (a regular debate in their daily repetoire), they were shadow fighting.  And laughing.  And having a GREAT time.

I soaked up the moment as long as I could and then called out to them to make sure they didn't hurt their shadows.  This sent them into even bigger fits of giggles. 

....in case you're wondering what I mean by "shadow fighting", I mean simply that they were moving their bodies around to make it look like their shadows were kicking or punching each other.  It was all in GREAT fun!