Weekly Post: 5/22 - 5/28

So I wasn't as good with pictures this week, but we did do a lot!

Sunday, May 22:

There is a beautiful street called Hines Drive near our house. It is 17 miles lined the whole way with parks on both sides. The weather was beautiful, and Ben and I biked about 10 miles. It was lovely!

Monday, May 23 - Tuesday, May 24:

I got really sick and spent most of my time in bed or wishing I was in bed. But I did plan much of our upcoming trip to Tennessee!

Wednesday, May 25:

I raised most of the money for our Cedar Point field trip (thanks again to all of you, who donated and made it possible!). But I asked my students to contribute $15 each for their ticket. There were some really touching moments as some students paid entirely in quarters and dimes. Others had to ask for help covering the money. But we ended up scraping enough together for 80 kids to go! This trip meant a lot to them. They have been talking about it for weeks, watching videos about the rides, and planning out what their plan of attack once they got there.

But they were all laughing at how much cash I had on Wednesday from student contributions, so they insisted on taking several pictures of the fat wad. This one is probably the least embarrassing.

Friday - Saturday, May 27: 

Friday afternoon we drove down to the Tennessee with two of our friends, Nena and Davy. We camped there with them and their dog, Alex, and met up with other friends, Austin and Whitney and their two dogs. Hopefully, another longer post is forthcoming about the trip. But here's a teaser pic!

Weekly Post: 5/15 - 5/21

Seeing my nieces and nephews poring over their family's blog books has inspired me to be better about blogging again! I want my kids to laugh at posts about Ben and me from before they were born. Since I also struggle to remember to take pictures, I've also adopted another practice of theirs - trying to taking a picture every day! So, here's my first, and only guaranteed post.

Sunday, May 15:

We got back from camping in Western Michigan the night before. I was enjoying sleeping in while Ben was cooking up a breakfast feast. This is one of Ben's regulars: eggs with a hat with bacon, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and avocado. Yum!

Monday, May 16:

To celebrate students completing and growing on a district-required standardized test, I baked 5 different types of desserts: caramel brownies, turtles, ginger snaps, snicker doodles, and avalanche bars. I convinced/tricked one of my best friends/co-workers, Kathryn, into coming over to help. After a deep, self-realizing moment where Kathryn recognized that she hated baking, she was put in charge of organizing the treats onto paper plates. When Ben got home from basketball, he too chipped in. It's really important to have good-natured friends to help when you have plans that are generally crazy.

Tuesday, May 17:

My kids tested in our beautiful library; I was in charge of proctoring two all-male advisories (about as fun as it sounds). The library is both beautiful and mostly unused. The books on the shelves are either old encyclopedias or fake. Yes, we actually have fake plastic covers meant to look like books from far away. Pretty funny. We do have fancy computers though from some donation at some point. What else do you really need?

After the test, all of my students were invited to my room to celebrate. It was pretty fun actually, and they got really excited about having so many dessert options. I love spoiling my students when I can (especially by doing something I love to do).

Wednesday, May 18:

 School felt really hard that day. I got home around 8 PM, and Ben was doing yard work. That man never stops working. Our house looked beautiful and the lawn called to me. I actually got out of the car and laid on the grass for a while before going in. Neighbors may have thought I was crazy, but it was worth it.

 Thursday, May 19: 

 

I love when my students text me for help, and I'm able to guide them to the correct answer without telling them exactly. Those are the moments that make my job worth it. This text came at just the right time after a mini-drama with administration. Recara has been one of my biggest allies/fans since about January when she finally stopped hating me. That's frequently the way it works.

 Friday, May 20: 

Ben and I have been working up the energy to plant flowers in front of our house again. We asked our neighbors for advice since they planted the flowers here last year that we loved. First, they gave us advice. Then they asked if they could pick up the flowers for us (refusing to tell us how much they cost). Then, they came over on Friday and asked if they could plant them. They jokingly mentioned that if it wasn't ok, we could call the police and tell them Muslims were burying something in front of our house. Living in the neighborhood we do reminds us how ludicrous it would be if Trump wins and demands that high-Muslim neighborhoods like ours be monitored. Maha and Ali are some of the nicest people we've ever met. If they move, we move.

 Saturday, May 21: 

Ben has slowly but surely convinced me over the past five years that a dog belongs in our celestial family. We are planning to adopt a puppy in the next few months and have been looking at a few different adoption agencies. On Saturday we went to this adoption event filled with about thirty dogs and what seemed like a million smelly people. We fell in love with a few puppies and then went through the INSANE application process. There was a six page application along with an interview. If we're accepted, we have to have a home inspection. The process is quite complicated, and I couldn't help being a bit sarcastic about it in our interview (which, as Ben reminds me, is sure to help our chances). Ben took all the pictures...that's why I'm in so many.