Summer

The other morning, I headed out to the patio area to read. 

It was so quiet and peaceful.  

Everything is blooming and growing and green. 

The garden is changing as Gary adds more plants and 

changes pathways. 

There are little statues and rocks tucked in here and there. 

He has made some of the planting beds larger this year.  

Pops of color are delightful. 

Then the girls came out to play for a while.  Abby and Ellie were down by the fruit trees playing. 

I love it that all of my granddaughters love to play outside.  They are always making up games and using their imaginations.  

Adeline and Ellie spent some time swinging. 

Then all three of the girls decided to play in the pool.  Ellie gets chilled easily (we don't know if it has anything to do with all of her heart issues at birth or not) and she likes to stand in the sun and warm up every now and then.  Then she's back in playing with her sisters.  

I love the quiet moments in the yard, reading and relaxing. 

I also love the sounds of my granddaughters joyfully playing. I am so glad we get to have them all so close to us.  

Granddaughters

Ellie and Adeline often come up to visit me during the day.  They had become used to me being at home after my surgery.  They really missed coming up to visit when I went back to work.  Now they are enjoying being able to come up and visit again while we are on summer break.  

Little Miss Isla is a snuggle.  Gary and I take turns holding her so Sarah can eat her dinner.  

Its a tough job, but someone has to do it.  

Summer Reading

My reading stack for the summer.  I've already finished the top two books and I'm reading The Zookeeper's Wife now. 

Fathers Day

My Daddy and me in Linton, Indiana 

Pretty much a Daddy's girl. 

Last picture of Daddy with his four children. 

Four generation family photo

Gary is a wonderful husband and father. 

My little family 

Gary is a great Papa to these lovely granddaughters.

Clay is a wonderful husband and father to Liz and Izzy.

Tony is a wonderful husband and father to Sarah, Abby, Ellie, Adeline, and Isla (hidden in this picture since Sarah hadn't announced her pregnancy yet).

How lucky I am to be surrounded by wonderful men who are amazing fathers. 

Granddaughters

Isla is such a cutie!

Tony, Abby, and Izzy watching Beauty and the Beast. 

Isla loves her Mommy. 

Love these four sweet Aina girls 

Fresh from the shower. 

And now her hair is fluffy! 

Ellie loves to help cook.  This time she was helping me make Italian Chicken Tenders.  Just dip the tenders in Italian salad dressing, then in a mixture of gluten free Italian Bread Crumbs, and grated Parmesan Cheese.  Then bake in the oven.  She also helped make a Greek Salad and some rice too.  

Isla and her Papa. 

The Last Days of the School Year

Lots of fun end of the year activities. We have the Red Carpet walk to celebrate our end of the year successes.  End of year testing is over! Students wear crowns with the number of reading steps they have read this school year.  A step is fifteen minutes of reading. Students read for thirty minutes at their independent level in school every day and 30 minutes of reading at home is assigned for homework too.  For the third year in a row, all of my students have been at or above the expected reading step level.  I really push reading with my students.  I hope they learn to love reading and choose to read for fun.  

The Spring Ridge Middle School Rhythm Club came to perform for us.  Seven of these students are former Carver students :-) Check out this link to see them at the Washington Wizards vs the Toronto Raptors game. 

I received a pin for 15 years of service in the county.  

My classroom and all the third grade will be in trailers next year.  The trailers aren't

 even here yet.  So I had to box up everything.  They gave us each 4 of these gray totes to pack up.  After we all stopped laughing, we got creative about packing up.  

I had 4 of these little bookcases in my classroom.  I bought them years ago and have moved them from room to room.  Two of them looked like this when I moved them away from the wall.  Yes, that is mold.  It was on the floor and baseboard too. Disgusting! That is two less things I have to move to my new room.  

The thought of packing up everything was totally overwhelming! 

This year has been tough.  I was out for seven weeks following my total knee replacement.  I was back for the last seven weeks of school.  I was exhausted at the end of the day though.  

They give us one day to clear out at the end of the year.  

Gary came in on the first day, and we worked like crazy.  Sorting, dumping, cleaning, packing, etc.  

I came back two extra days and worked from 8 - 2 both days.  

I even found a box that I have been reusing for about 17 years.  Leslie Tapscott was my teaching partner for 2 years at Owens Road Elementary School in Prince George's County, before we moved to St. Mary's County.  

Finally done!

Desks, cubbies, cabinets, and shelves are all cleared. 

My stuff is piled together in totes and boxes awaiting the arrival of the trailer.  

Now to read, rest, relax, and recharge during the summer so that I'm ready for the new school year in the fall.