We're Back!

We had a wonderful vacation! Greg and I had a chance to relax, read, and have fun together. We enjoyed the ship, the food of course, and all of the ports of call. Now we are back to work and reality has set in. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Tennis, Kids, and other stuff

I am so tired of this weather! Greg and I are leaving on Sunday for a cruise to the southern carribean. At the time we booked the cruise we were worried that it would be hot. Isn't it sad that you have to go that far away to find summer? Anyway, tennis is going well. The class has learned many of the rules of tennis and are learning some of the terms as well. Haliey is enjoying the class and we are glad she had this opportunity. Jordan turned "2" on Sunday. The terrible twos began quite some time ago....he is so cute and SO NAUGHTY. Johnny got a new (to him) car this week and is hoping to sell his old one off the front lawn. I said good-bye to Hilary this week and loaded her down with lots of stuff. The Florida school system is lucky to get her! The blog will be quiet for the next 10 days or so and then probably closed forever mid August when the summer class is finished. This is all the news from here...we would love to hear from you.....

Busy days

Today is Jordan Matthew's 2Nd birthday! WOW, how time flies by. He is definitely a character. He is always in motion--running, climbing, jumping, hopping. He is a peanut sized bundle of energy! We are having a family party this afternoon. It is a Sponge Bob day!

We had the yard sale yesterday. What a super day for a sale. We were busy all day long and cleared our house and garage of lots of old stuff. Apparently it is true that our trash was someone else's treasure because it "flew" off the lawn. Everyone did very well and we put the final remains out front for "free". Not much remains there this morning. We connected with some old neighbor friends from Saco--that was fun. Greg's favorite part is talking to the people. He LOVED that part. Johnny was in his element as well, connecting with young parents, teens looking at his helmets and speakers for sale. Amy was in and out taking Haliey to Karate for her lesson and for her belt test. Haliey is now an orange belt! Between Karate and Tennis, she is a busy little girl. I enjoyed the time to sit and talk. I also enjoyed our old Saco neighbors who walked down. We had great weather and made some $$.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Rainy Days

What a dreary day! I can't complain too much though because we really need the rain. Amy and I postponed our yardsale and will try to have it next Saturday. Hanna, Jordan, and I went outside and played in the puddles.

I added a picture from the Maine State Truck Driving Championships. Greg has participated the past several years in the twin division. One of the rules of the "rodeo" is that you are not able to drive your own company equipment. He did not do as well as he would have liked this year but enjoyed the competition and connecting with old friends.

The picture in this posting was a score he received for one of the driving challenges. He and I both look forward to another year of competition and hopefully a trophy!

Summer Courses

This summer I am taking two graduate courses. This blog is a requirement of one of the courses, Web EDU, through Learners Edge. I must say that of all the courses I have taken, this one has given me the most trouble. I thought I was fairly computer literate but working on the applications for this course have been quite humbling. Thank you to everyone who has read and responded to my blog. I am only a few comments short of the requirements and am hopeful I will be finished up soon. It has been interesting to read through the text for this course and I can see ways that a blog could be used as a place to post homework, kids to post their work, and for a newsletter. I like that the postings archive and can be revisited. While I would like to think I would have time to use a blog in conjunction with the day to day expectations, I think it is a reach, but we will see!

The second class I am taking has to do with students who may struggle in the classroom. I am hoping for some helpful hints to take back to school with me in the fall. At the end of the summer I will be only 2 classes away from my +30 degree! I HOPE to have the required # of classes completed by mid April.

It is late. The dog is asleep on the rug by my feet. I will carefully step over her on the way upstairs for the night. Tomorrow is tennis and a stop to pick up the yard sale permit. I could get used to this "hectic" schedule.

Family, Friends, Fun, and Food

Happy July 4th! We spent the day here at home. I have been reading through some old magazines and decided to try out some of the Kraft recipes from the free magazine that comes to me in the mail. We had BBQ potato salad-which I am not sure I really liked but it was a nice change from the normal-pasta salad-which I really enjoyed-Lime Chiffon pie-lowfat recipe but still tasty-Strawberry Shortcake-again low fat but delicious. We also had the Watergate Salad which I made with vanilla pudding, not the pistachio flavor from the recipe. We added hotdogs, kielbasa, and chicken to my Kraft recipe foods. We visited with friends, and just enjoyed the day! I would love to hear about your holiday.

Tennis Anyone?

This morning was the beginning of Tennis. Amy, Jordan, Haliey, and I set off with water, portable chairs, and the camera to record this event. Haliey joined a class of beginning tennis stars at South Portland High School. The two instructors were very patient and taught several tennis moves this morning. We learned that there are 4 steps to think about before hitting the ball. First position, do a little split, pivot, and then lollipop the ball over the net. That is what Haliey learned. Jordan learned that if you look hard enough, you can find rocks and dirt to play in while you wait. Amy and I learned that we need bug spray and a cold drink while we wait in the broiling sun for the future tennis stars to learn the finer points of the game. We look forward to the next lesson and will be better prepared I am sure!

Avoiding Homework!

As I was reading the text for this course I came across several mentions of a weblog that is written by a teacher. I also have a friend that has a wonderful blog. She has inspired me with her layout and her pictures. I really do have a ways to go in my learning. I would encourage you to check out the blogs at the following addresses to see what I mean. So I guess you could say I am not really avoiding my homework, just looking for inspiration.

http://gardenpath.wordpress.com

http://anne.teachesme.com

Memories

Do you accumulate "stuff"? We do. We have boxes and bags of "stuff". We are trying to clean up and clear out the garage and basement to make room to move around and yes, more "stuff". Because one man's trash is another man's treasure, we have decided to have a big yard sale next weekend. Greg, Johnny, Amy, and I pulled boxes and bags out of the basement and garage and looked through all of our treasure. We played with Amy's old Barbie toys, tried on Johnny's minibike helmet, found a missing necklace, cried over some very sentimental keepsakes that were ruined by being stored in the garage, reminisced about life long ago, and prayed someone will find our trash to be something they can't live without! Greg and I laughed over memories of the "zebra stripes" in the lawn when we unearthed the spreader-it was not very funny at the time-; Amy and Johnny remembered their first home together and reflected on life as a "cellar dwellers". We hope you will visit our sale and take home some of our treasure and use it to make memories for you. I would love to hear from you about "stuff".