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Happy Friday!!

Today is my first real day of summer break! I am done with both of my schools! Hooray! 

I will still technically be teaching in the summer as I have 25 students signed up for my summer lesson program, but that is something I am really looking forward to. It should be a great experience for everyone involved. 

 

I found these while cleaning out my desk at United. Baby Michael! He was just 3 months old and so sweet. I remember thinking he was so big at the time. 

 

Michael recently discovered a bag of cotton balls that he has gotten lots of play out of. I'm not sure why they are so fun but he loves them. I think he likes to play with things he has multiples of- a huge pile of cars, a big thing of sticky frogs, four jars of playdoh. Safety in numbers, maybe? It is so cute to watch him use his imagination and hear him playing and telling stories. 

 

After a week of waking up the craziest hair after naptime, we finally got in for a hair cut. He has hair like mine that is thick and wavy and doesn't like to lay straight. The stylist said if it was longer it would probably be curly but I think it would just be crazy and messy like mine! I love him with short hair and I will never get tired of how cute he looks in the barber chair. 

 

I got a new iphone case for summer. I had a very minimalistic one on during the school year but mostly my phone was always in my pocket or on my desk. Now that I am outside working and out and about with Michael I figured I better step it up to an Otter box. I am usually constantly worried about dropping my phone so this gives me some peace of mind. 

And finally, things are doing well outside. I should take you on a full blown spring garden tour sometime! My lupine are blooming and are a bright spot of color this time of the year when not much else has popped yet. We got our little garden planted and can't wait to reap the rewards! I tried to mulch really well this year and hopes that helps with the moisture retention. We had barely any tomatoes last year but I am thinking that probably had something to do with the drought. :o( 

Happy Friday!  
 
        
        
            
            
        

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Guess what?

Today is the last of school at one of my schools. Yay!

I can't hardly believe the end of the school year is here and I survived going to school every single day. I am very, very proud of myself. I think going back to work after losing Trace has been one of the hardest things and also best things I've done. And to add on top of it a slightly high-stress *new* job with working *way more* hours on top of that...I am very, very proud of myself. But more so, I am very, very proud of all my students because without them I wouldn't have a job or kids to teach music. 

I feel like since I love band so much and am such a huge band nerd, it is my duty to keep providing the world with kids who love band as much as I do. I definitley have some crazy kids who practice hours a week and some kids that never practice but still show up every lesson and rehearsal and love it. 

I've had more comments this year from students than I can remember in the past so I just wanted to share them not to brag, but just so I can get them down to remember. 

I had a student my very first year teaching who never, ever talked and I swore she hated me. Well, she graduated this year and in a scholarship application essay she wrote about an influential teacher she chose ME. She said I was always so nice and positive and helped her learn saxophone which she still plays today. I was floored. I am very proud of her.   

I also had a student this year who always looks like he is asleep during rehearsals and I could never really tell if he was doing what he was supposed to. On our last day of rehearsal he said if he would be a teacher the only type he would be would be a band teacher because, "it didn't seem like that much work and was a lot of fun". Wow! I'm glad I make my job seem easy because it is a lot of work but what is the saying that goes something like you know you are good at doing something when you make it look easy? Also I do have fun every day at my job and if you do what you love you'll never work a day in your life.

And finally, I got a great thank you note from a student who was in 5th grade this year and she wrote "thank you for saying "good job" to me at every lesson, no matter what". That just melted my heart because first and foremost, I want my students to always know that I think they are doing a great job, no matter what, and that I am proud of them and I am here to help them succeed. Being in band is going above and beyond in school and it requires a lot of extra work outside of their normal school day. I appreciate all those kids' hard work and I work hard to make sure they feel special all the time.

I had such a great experience when I was in school in band, which is ultimately why I am a band director today. I want them to know that by being in band that they are special, they are safe, and they have someone who cares a lot about them.

 

Okay, I am off my band soapbox now. :o) 

I've had a great week otherwise, which mostly included....you guessed it...hanging out with my favorite guy, Michael.

 

 

Michael has been loving tinkling on our piano, especially when I am working in the kitchen. He will tell me what the song is about and sometimes will even sing words to it. I am really impressed and thinking about signing him up for some sort of children's music class in the fall. His piano playing has evolved from banging to actual thoughtful playing and I think it is just awesome. I was first turned on to music when we moved into a house with an old piano that I love tinkering on and then my mom signed me up for piano lessons. I know it was brutal sometimes but- thanks, mom!! :o) 

(everyone should thank their moms that signed them up for piano lessons as a child, even if they hated it because it is so good for you!) 

We had a rainy (surprise!) weekend last weekend but it gave us a chance to get out of the yard and to the library. Michael played for over an hour and we had a fun time just being together. He loves to walk through the little nature area by the entrance and jump out of the trees to surprise me. He is a goofball.

Have a great Friday! 

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We have been loving this nice spring weather here. It is so nice to come home from school and just be outside for a long time before it is time to go to bed. It is really good for my soul. Michael has taken his role of smell quality control very seriously. He loves to smell all the flowers and will often say, "this one smells like peanut butter!" or "smell this one!". I do think he is a budding little horticulturalist and he loves to examine all the plants and flowers up close. He has been a good helper for me getting things in the ground this spring, usually being the plant food sprinkler (which he calls "planting the flower seeds"). 

 

It wouldn't be spring without multiple trips to Menards. Our big car is in the shop so we had to stuff bags of mulch in my little Prius...so funny. It doesn't hold much but at least my car smelled like cedar chips all week. Michael has had fun looking at all the fountains on display.

 

My lilac has been so pretty and it just bloomed at the right time-on Trace's birthday. It was a gift from all the families at Trace's childcare and it is a nice reminder of the wonderful care and love he had when he was here. 

 

This weather has also been good for wearing out little boys. We can definitely tell Michael is worn out at the end of his days even though he says he doesn't want to go to bed because "it's not dark out yet!".   He has also been waking up with all the storms we have had lately- something we definitely did not experience last summer with the drought. It is totally new to him!

Scampy has also been enjoying his time outside and prowling his territory accordingly. He does take pretty good care of killing little rodents in the yard so I am good with it. It is so funny to see him as a fluffy house cat out stalking little mice like he is a big lion. He sure loves it!

Have a great weekend, friends! 

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I totally forgot today was Friday! So guess what? You get to read two posts from me today!

Michael learned about rainbows at school this week and wore this cute rainbow hat out the rest of the night-even to dinner! I just love his spunky little 3 year old personality. 

We got to meet a new baby this week- welcome to the world, Baby Brooks! We have been praying for you and your safe arrival. We are glad you are here! Most importantly...thank you to your parents for letting us come over and get some tiny baby snuggles in. He is a little peanut and it was so fun.

Scott's hockey team won their league championship Wednesday night. It was a pretty heated game and dare I say it- I even had fun watching it! They are a great team and they have a great time with each other...proof that men will always be boys at heart. :o)

And lastly, we have been enjoying this nice weather this week. I hate that I am not home during the day to take Michael to all the fun places he likes to go so usually we will do an after school park playdate if it is nice. This week we were the only ones at the park and it was almost like a little wind down for Michael....sometimes I think it is important for kids to be able to chill a little after a big day just like adults. We had fun swinging, listening to the birds, and picking "roses" aka, dandelions.

Have a great weekend and Mother's Day! 

 

A Night Out with Friends!

This past weekend I had a rare treat and went out to see a show with a group a friends. A night out! Wow!!

Scott was in CO skiing so I was dateless, but my good friend Gwyn came along with me. It was so super fun. I hope this is the first of many fun nights!

We started the night out at Americana, a really fun restaurant downtown. They had all sorts of fun drinks on their menu. I had my first Moscow Mule! I think part of the fun is that you get to drink it out of a cool copper mug. We also got their "small plates" for dinner, which are like appetizers you can eat for your meal. It was super yummy and I can't wait to go back, even though it is pretty rare I get to go out for dinner at a place other than McDonalds. :o) 

 The above photo is our proof that we actually made it out together without kids! The lights are really weird in the theater so that is why it turned out so blurry- but still nice to have the documentation! 

We saw Book of Mormon and it was really entertaining. I loved the music, energy and the dancing. I know people said it was shocking and yes, I knew what it was about but I was still pretty shocked. It took me a while to absorb it and now I think I am ready to start listening to the soundtrack again.

It was a fun night and I had a great time! Thanks again to my friend Skippy who organized it all- lets do it again soon!

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We had lots of fun on our snow day together this week. Making blanket nests on our trampoline and reading books; playing playdoh with mommy; doing snow day school with print outs; and laying around (that was mostly Scampy). It was nice to have a day off without my normal to do list staring me in the face all day (as demonstrated below).

Last weekend we had a great Saturday of playing at the library (below) while Scott was at work, then naptime, then out to the Y for family swimming. So much (free) fun! Afterwards Scott treated us to a dinner out at Jethros. It was a great place to take a kid because it was LOUD and BUSY! I didn't pack a change of clothes from the Y and didn't fix my hair so yes, I was wearing sweatpants...but I'm pretty sure lots of people wear sweatpants when they go out to eat BBQ so I wasn't the only one. :o)

Tonight I am looking forward to a night out with friends to go see Book of Mormon. It was organized by my dear friend Skippy, as seen in the above picture. We still look the same as we did 10 years ago, right? 

Have a great weekend!!  

 
        
        
            
            
        

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Can you believe tomorrow is December 1st?

Crazypants, right? 

I also can't believe today is finally Friday. After last week's super short school week, this week has seemed to go by super slowly.

Last weekend we wrapped up the ISU football season with a cold home game. It was cold, it was windy but at least it was sunny. 

 

We are cool and yelled at the marching band to come over and play us a song. And then we took pictures with them...because our whole tailgate isn't lifelong band geeks or anything....ha.

Despite the weather, we actually had a really fun tailgate and even snagged a group picture (totally stealing this from you, Christa!). I love it.

 

 

 

We were about the only ones tailgating in our lot. It was windy and we had our tent tied to a tree and it still broke. :o( 

The Cyclones lost but for the most of the game I thought they had WVU beat. It was a great way to round out the Thanksgiving weekend and hope it continues to be a tradition. Go Cyclones!

 

(not an insta, but I'd thought I'd include this one of my sister, Michael and I!)

Happy Friday!