Summer Soccer Mom

 Since June we've been spending our Monday and Tuesday evenings in Wooster watching the kiddos run up and down the soccer fields.  The first game we went to was so cold we needed sweatshirts.  By the end we were sweating just from getting the chairs out of the trunk.  Sitting in 94 degrees for an hour wasn't much fun, but we endured to not miss out on the kids last moments at home.

 This one is just too funny not to post, but Kota threatened to delete my blog.  (So no teasing if you see him)

The difference between girl and boy soccer is huge!!!!  There are only a few girls who put on the speed the boys do in every play (at least from what we've seen.)  Our boy team has just enough players for the team, so they are playing the whole time with no breaks.  A lot of endurance goes into what they are doing.

In one week official conditioning starts for the kids.  They will be working hard and before we know it the real season will be starting.

Classroom Coming Together

 This is one of five tables still loaded with stuff to find a new home.  I've worked in my classroom between 2-6 hours several days for the last couple of weeks.  Emptying, stacking, sorting, placing items where I think they should go.  Moving things around when I like something else a bit better.

 Whittling down the piles hours after sweat filled hours.  I see a lot of my colleagues doing the same thing.

 I have been lying awake at night just thinking of all the things that need done so I can get to the lessons.  I have three weeks until I have students.  Can you believe it?  Three weeks.  I have meetings with my new team, meeting with the new Building Leadership Team, meetings for grade level facilitators, etc.  Each of these three weeks will be filled with unpacking, opening new supplies, getting ready for the students.

So after a few days, I've made it.  All the boxes are accounted for.  I cleaned off the five tables of stuff today in a marathon day.  I worked Kyle's work schedule.  He dropped me off at 7 am and picked me up at 3:30. I stopped long enough to eat lunch with my kids and was back at it.  I only have a few more posters, curtains, and my desk to tackle.  Then the room will official be done.  Yeah!  A little whiny, but I'm tired.

What Will You Do In the Summertime? To Keep Yourself Cool

 You swim in pool to keep yourself cool!  Mom bought a pool a few weeks back.  She lives right around the corner from us; and we spend a lot more time there right now, especially in the recent heat waves.

 Guess who's having her 16th b-day party here?

Yep, it is so much fun and refreshing.  Thanks mom for giving us a place to cool off and do some aquatics.  It's been fun!

Building Chairman

I like to work hard and serve.  This quirk of mine usually has me volunteering for additional jobs wherever I may be.  So in the academic world, I am on our Building Leadership Team (BLT), I am grade level facilitator (like a department chair), and I'm the Osborn Elementary (Intermediate now) Building Chairman.  As I've mention earlier our school district is consolidating.  We are going from 5 elementary buildings to 4.  Everyone in May packed up everything they had and moved.  What a big task that was.  Now everyone that moved is beginning to unpack those boxes.

My job this past week has been to consolidate the guided reading books from two buildings into one.  30 boxes, sweat, a lot of sore muscles, and 2 1/2 days later, I can say its done!  Phew, glad that's over.  I drive Kyle nuts, because when projects like this needs done I feel like I'm in chaos until it's complete.  You know how things like that look worse before it gets better.  I unpacked about 14 more boxes in my own classroom and made a small dent.  There is a lot of work left to do.

For me, it's just going to be one box at a time.

Michigan Return Trip

We enjoyed out return trip home a little bit more than we paid attention to the clock.  We decided that we only go into Upper Michigan every once in awhile and instead of racing home we were going to enjoy ourselves.  That made everyone happy.  We saw Smokey the Bear signs along the way.  On the way up the signs said low chance of forest fires.  On the way home we saw moderate and high chances of forest fire depending on the area we were in.

 We booked a room in Munising on the way home too.  And had to go back to Sandy Point Beach.  We were 1 of 3 families there.  It was gorgeous.

 Saturday we woke up and decided to take one more detour.  We were 41 miles from Grand Maris.  We loved that little town the last time we were up and I really wanted to get some pretty rocks for my 1st primary lesson.  We weren't disappointed with the view either.  Superior has in this area a rocky beach.  The rocks are rolled and tumbled in the lake to make them smooth and beautiful.  I was able to get enough for my kids to have a prayer rock.  They were pretty excited to pick from the rock basket the next day.

 When your in Grand Maris you can't skip Grand Sable Lake either.  Plus, it gave me some more opportunities at senior picture shots.

 And why not get some Junior year shots while we're at it!

 This dune is three to four stories high.  Of course you have to climb it.  They were so funny coming down.

 Lessons in physics and gravity were being applied.  They'd jump and see how far down they could go.  Kota dropped about 10 feet in one jump.  They laughed and giggled the whole way down. That was a grand end to the MN/MI vacation of '12.  We have a pretty normal week back in Ohio.  I got some work done in my classroom, I taught summer school, Kayla and I went shopping for back to school clothes, and I enjoyed cake for my 37th B-day.

Not much when a week ago we were dipping our toes in Lake Superior, but everyday can't be a vacation day I suppose.

We're Going on a Bear/Moose Hunt

One of the nice things being in the northern states is the opportunity to look for black bear and moose.  I really want to see them in the wild.  So all through upper Michigan and our trip up to Ely we searched the ditches and looked deep into the forest as we were whizzing by.

Once we were in Robin's area we got to take a canoe out on to Oxyoke Lake, which is about 2-3 miles from their house.  I think this was my favorite part about the trip.

 We could see all kinds of fish as we paddled the canoe.  In Ohio it's hard to see the bottom of most lakes I've been on.  The MN lakes are crystal clear.

 I just missed a Northern Pike in this shot, but this is about 10 feet down to the bottom.  Amazing that we can see it.

 On our hunt for bear and moose we saw much wildlife.  Ducks...

 ...a blue heron

 ...three Common Loon families (I love this about the North, their song is awesome to hear)  We were up close and personal with the loons.  Kyle rowed us through the reeds and they were right there.  I really enjoyed this canoe trip.

...we saw chipmunks and white-tailed deer, but no moose or black bear.  I guess we'll have to go again and try another time.  Shucks!

Three Day Crawford Hoe Down MN Style

When we go to MN we go to see family.  Kyle's family is HUGE!  In his family are 8 kids.  All 8 are married, of the 8, 6 live within an hour of Robin and Toby.

There are 20 grandchildren and 1 on the way, 17 of them were at the festivities.  We met every night we were there for dinner.  Poor Robin who cooks for a cafeteria at a factory was head chef of the family reunion.  She makes all kinds of things out of her small kitchen, when two people are in there its crowded.  But, she makes the best food, and everyone eats it up.  There are not much leftovers to put in the fridge for the next day after those feasts.

 During the day we tried to see as much as we could and be back in time to help do as much as we could to ease Robin's burdens of reading the house for family.  We made a day trip to Leech Lake.  It was COLD.  I just dipped my feet and said, no thanks.  I sat out and watched the kids play.  Sometimes I wish we lived closer, our kids don't get much of the cousin time that I had when I was growing up.  Every time we leave to go home our kids say it feels like we are leaving home.

Needless to say, we enjoyed our time visiting and preparing for Kota to become part of the MN scene.  Funny how life works, Kyle came to Ohio to find his little family.  Kota will be going to MN to live with the family Kyle left.  At least we know he has a loving, close knit family unit to belong to in our absence.  He probably won't even get homesick.