Tom Sawyer in the making

I have read Tom Sawyer with my sixth graders several times.  I read Huckleberry Finn in college.  That dynamic duo were some of the orginal American trouble makers.  They lived life just a little on the wild side, pushing the limits of propriety--just like kids today, but in that more innocent, tolerable way.  You know, running away from home and sailing down the Mississippi on homemade rafts, only to return home after a criminal tracked them down in a cave. 

What does this story have to do with me?  My husband decided that will be his 2012 summer high adventure trip with the boy scouts-- to raft down the Ohio River, Tom Sawyer style, with the scouts.  So he made a raft to test with the boys, this year.  (He's such a kid at heart)  Well with the unforcasted rain this weekend, the father/son campout got cancelled because the parking area would have been a muddy mess. 

We went up to grandma's and tried out the raft anyhow.  We parked in grandma's driveway and hiked and drove our gear in with the 4 wheeler.

Does this look like a Tom Sawyer raft?  I think it looks more like a wooden pontoon boat.

 We were going to camp at the pond with the kids.  We ended up not camping because a large thunderstorm blew in.  We did all the work though.  Setting up Kyle's new tent for scout camp.  Last year I mentioned he was a tent collector.  We were going to break it in.  Well, it weathered the storm well, but it did not accomodate any sleepers.  (I'm a fair weather camper, wimp I know)

 Kayla and I got to enjoy the raft and did some more fishing.  It was fun.  Kyle knows some improvements he wants to make to make next year's trip a good one.

I wish I could get my home improvements projects done like he does for the boys.  Hmm, I wonder if I adopted 6 boys and had them live here with us if it would make any difference?  I doubt it!

Happy Memorial Day!

Living History Tour

The Ashland Historical Society put on a free living history tour at the Ashland Cemetery Sunday.  What a neat experience this was.  The historical society members as well as genealogical society members brought history to life by bring founding members of Ashland to life by doing biographical stories of the founders in period clothing standing by their gravestones.

 I found this instrument very unique.  I have never seen one and don't know what it is?

 Col. Slocum was a member of the Civil War.  He commanded a volunteer army for the North. He went to visit President Lincoln to volunteer for the army.

 Mary Freer left money to the city to start a Children's home.  The Children's home still exists today, it is no longer an orphanage or a place for children who are removed from there home, but it is where the children who get in trouble with the law go, fondly called the Detention Home or DH by the youth of our community.

 Sally Andrews son was the second boy born in Ashland.  He was the President of Kenyan College.

 Dr. Hill wrote the first history of the City of Ashland in 1880.  His books have been very vaulable to me in my own genealogical research.

 Francis "Frank" Graham changed the name of the town from Uniontown to Ashland because he wanted a post office to expand his business.  The federal government denied the post office because there were already two Uniontowns in Ohio.  They suggested the name Ashland to him and without asking anyone else in the town he refiled for a post office under the name of Ashland.

Martin Mansfield was an inventor of a clover huller.

Today was very fun for me, but quite hot.  I had Kyle and Kayla with me who were hot and thirsty.  Yaya from Whispering Pines blog met us there too!  So I did not get to go on the second loop of the tour.  Next year (I hope there is a next year) I will bring water bottles and a change of clothes from church so I can see the whole thing!

Happy Birthday Mom! and It's About Time

 Happy Birthday Mom.  Today I met mom for lunch and treated her for a change.  She usually won't let me buy.  We enjoyed a nice lunch at Wendy's, then I hurried home to make her the apron she is wearing.

I learned how to make these aprons through Relief Society.  Kyle was impressed he said it looked professionally made.  I'm able to sew thing that are mostly square!  Anything intricate forget it.  Mom turned 55 today.  This week she had another milestone, she is a great-grandma.  Yep!  GREAT, we can call her GG now.

 

Chloe Barr was born Monday, May 16.  When mom remarried to Tom his oldest grandchild was 12 years old.  Dakota was 3 weeks old.  Hence, GG status at 55.  Oh well, family is family.

Great-Grandpa Tom.  (hehehe)

My dearest husband is quite the handyman. He is capable of car mechanics and carpentry.  He built our out building without a kit.  He drew up his own plans.  However, in all his handiness, he has a character flaw: completion.  Yep, every project he starts he leaves it one or two steps from finished.  This nice out building has one board that isn't painted.  I have one piece of trim missing in my kitchen.  My bathroom is missing trim and the tile never got sealed.  Do you see the pattern?  I can keep listing, but then you'll just feel bad for me.

 I love it when Robin is coming down, because I get to get some projects finished.  (Whohoo!)  I have to be choosy about what I want finished so that I get the most bang for my buck!  I wanted new porches (too big) so I settled for the basement entrance being finished.  (He started this project 2 years ago.)  Who says I can't be patient.

 This is what the door has looked like for 2 years!

I'll keep posting the progress!  I got to go to Home Depot today to pick out the tops I wanted for the walls he is building.  He is going to lay several layers of cement block and pour some new stairs.  The sides will be high enough that we can make benches out of for my future patio.  (maybe in 5 more years, hehehe)

Outdoor School

Today was a beautiful cold, overcast day to be at outdoor school.  We had an event filled day.  We arrived at Camp Nuhop about 10:30 this morning.  The kids were busy since we got here.  They unpacked their things then worked in cooperative group games until lunch.  After lunch they went on an all day hike.  We hiked around Mohican and saw both sets of falls, more like trickles than falls even after all the rain.  I was surprised by the trickling. 

On our way out of the hike one of my students fell and twisted her ankle on a tree root.  I helped her hobble out of the woods and the camp had a car waiting for us.  She ended up spraining her ankle.  So after phone calls to mom and school she decided to stay.  She was a real trooper!  I ended up staying with her for the remainder of hike time (3 hours).  We occupied her time with a couple of movies.  I will have to say that was a first for me, watching movies at outdoor school.

Overall, successful day.  I could do this daily!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The boy scouts have been spreading mulch for a fundraiser for summer camp. The fruits of Kota's labor is black inked hands and face where he wiped off all the sweat.  He had two clients for his summer lawn care business.  It has been raining so much that he hasn't been able to go yet.  On the nice days he has had track meets or scouts.  I think Kyle is going to substitute for him this weekend.

We are enjoying the show of our azelea bush.  She is in full bloom and is showing her magnificient colors.

At work I have been busy getting the 6th grade students ready for outdoor school next week.  I am so excited to get outside, the change in environment will be good for all of us.  The kids are getting a bit squirrely with summer break approaching.  The only problem, there is a lot of rain in the forcast.  I hope the extended forcast is greatly changed by Monday.  At little rain, no problem.  A lot of rain, not so much fun!
   I attended the baby shower of a dear friend last night, and left my camera at home.  Check out pictures at Whispering Pines, Yaya will post about it when she gets back from Michigan.  My friend is have twins, 1 boy, 1 girl after a lot of infertility treatments and heart ache.  She is at home on modified bedrest taking good care of herself and the twins.  I am so happy for her.  It was such a treat to watch the joy in her eyes as she opened a truckload of gifts.  It will be exciting to see her with the babies, they will be the two most spoiled babies in the world, because she has been waiting a long time on this miracle.

Happy weekend.  Take time and enjoy the flowers!

Mother's Day Bliss

Kyle asked me what I wanted to do for Mother's Day.  I decided that I wanted to go fishing at Grandma's after church.  I love to let my feet kiss the water as I'm winding up for the cast off the dock at the big pond.  The gentle tug of the lure pulling through the water, attacting the unspecting bass.  The feel of the strike at the line and the set of the hook brings exihilerating feelings and gets the heart pumping.  Tug, reel, tug, reel coaxing that unwilling foe into the dock or boat.  Then sweet surprise at the catch, getting to see its size and color of otherwise unseen life.

Kyle caught the first fish....and several more before anyone else.  That's good because he helped his girls defish their hooks.We are usually a catch and release type family.  It's just a fun way to bond and relax as a family.  It's nice spending time in the sunshine with my three most favorite people!

 Thanks guys for a fun, relaxing, just what I needed Mother's Day afternoon.

Met the Challenge

 Great news for the Moose Man.  He earned his Varsity Letter in Track last night.  He got his 6 points that he needed to earn the letter.  There are 4 more meets and regionals to earn some more points, but the pressure is off.  (Sort of)  He still can earn personal records or PRs. 

He is sitting with some of the ribbons he has earned this season.  He met his personal challenge to earn a varsity letter.

I met the challenge of figuring out the Wii today.  Our sensor bar broke.  (We only had it for 3 months).  They replaced the sensor bar and I hooked it up tonight with out Dakota's help.  It really wasn't that hard.

So we have been challenging each other to Mario Cart.  I really like playing this game. 

Phew!

Well, it time to wait for all the grading to be done on our state mandated tests.  There are so many variables.  It comes down to life.  Did they get enough sleep, did they have a good start?  No matter what happens, I know I did my personal best teaching them.  Win or lose, we worked hard.

On a happier note, I got a continuing contract this year.  That means as long as I am a teacher for Ashland City Schools I will have a job.  (tenured, I suppose) 

We are working on some fun projects for the rest of the year.  The 6th graders are making a product to sell using the laws of supply and demand.  I'm always surprised as to what they come up with they can be so creative.  Some of them might actually grow up to be entrepreneurs.

The 5th graders are going to do an immigration project.  They get to do a bit of genealogy to find out where their ancestors immigrated from.  Then they will find out a little about the country they came from.  This will help them realize why we have so many customs and traditions in the United States.  I'm excited to see what they will come up with!

Grillin' Time

There is nothing better than BBQ on the grill.  Kyle has learned how use a smoker.  He can make some mean BBQ.  They boys were out delivering mulch for the Boy Scout fundraiser on Saturday.  I decided that I was going to get a brisket ready for the grill.

 Last summer we bought a smoke box for the gas grill.  Kyle thought he'd try it out on the grill and see if he liked it as well as his smoker.  We have been asking him to smoke some meat for a few weeks, and he has been ignoring us.  I decided if I got the meat ready to go he wouldn't be able to put us off anymore.  Well here are our results.

MMM!  It was so good!  There is nothing like a good meal at the end of a long day.  Thanks dear, I knew you would take over this meal.  I was banking on it!