Friday, June 19, 2009

Sunsations Softball


Carissa was part of the Sunsations softball farm league team this year. She had Coach Randy and Coach Mike again, her 3rd year in a row with them. It was a great year! We had a wonderful team with a lot of fun and talented girls.
Carissa could, of course, be counted on to do her own thing at times. When she was bored she would play in the dirt with her toes or just crouch down and relax. Once, when she was in the outfield, she decorated her entire mitt with things she found in the field.
When she wasn't bored she did very well. She showed a lot of progress this year, throwing harder, hitting better.
She even got the chance to pitch one game and did well when she calmed down.
All in all another great year of softball with her awesome group of coaches.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Summers Here!!!

Finally! It seemed like such a long school year, mainly because we added on so many days because of the snow days we took this winter. But today was the last day and the kids are officially done with school!


I was able to attend the awards ceremony and field day at Tristan and Carissa's school. The kids both got awards from their teachers. Tristan got the "Truly talented artist and 'creative juicy word stories that come alive' writing award" from Mrs. Fisher. Carissa got a writing award and her word this year was "gentle", very close to "kind", which is what Ms. Carolyn gave her last year.



After the awards it was field day. The kids had a great time going to all the stations, playing and chatting with their friends. It was just a fun day. Here's a few of my fave shots from the day.

Just hanging around...

How hard can you stomp the stomp rocket???

Carissa on the obstacle course
Tristan running for the finish line

And now school is over for them. They move on to 3rd and 5th grades next year. Because they have mixed-grade classrooms, this means it's time for them both to move our of their classrooms and into the next blended class. So Tristan will be moving into Sippo's 5/6 blend and Carissa will move up to Mrs. Fishers 3/4 blend. As much as they love their old teachers, they have had them for 2 school years and are both really looking forward to moving on to new teachers next year.



Another change next year will be Tyten's departure. He and Carissa are such sweet friends. And somehow they always manage to end up together - by chance or by choice I'm not really certain. I do know that they like each other and they really are so adorable. She's really going to miss him and I'm going to miss his mother Nikki and her other kids, Kyah and Azlynn, who were in my classes this year. I wish them luck in Spokane, but they will be leaving a void here in our lives.
I missed Chase's award ceremony, but he came home with an armful of awards. He received an Academic Honors Award, another for no detentions and was given the best boy speller award. He is also EXTREMELY proud to have received the Presidental Education Award for Oustanding Academic Excellence. What excited him most about this, besides the cool pin that came with it, was the it's signed by President Obama. He's been showing that thing off to anyone that will look. LOL

Oh, and he came home with his report card. Straight A's again - that makes straight A's for the entire year. Way to go!

Well, it's been a wonderful year but I'm really looking forward to a little down time. Next week we head to the beach for a few days and then it's back to work for me teaching summer camps on and off for the rest of the summer. But for now I'm just enjoying the bliss of knowing I don't have to get up in the morning!!!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Obsessed (Again)

So in my mind I had my summer reading planned out. I would start the Twilight series again, the series that I became obsessed with last summer. But this time I would slow down, savor every word. I envisioned evenings outside on the porch swing, book in my lap, watching the kids ride their bikes and play with their friends. So it was with this anticipation that I started reading Twilight last week. And then it hit. The obsession of it all. The feeling that you just have to keep reading, have to keep turning the pages. The need to know what happens next, even though I already know. And so my summer full of Twilight turned into a week of obsession. And 2,444 pages later I'm sitting here wondering what the heck I'm going to read this summer!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Many Welcomes ...

Today is a day of many welcomes.

First and foremost, I welcome SUMMER! Today was my last day of teaching for this school year. I bid goodbye to my classroom and my preschoolers and look forward to the fun and freedom of summer. Tomorrow night is graduation, so I still have that to get through. But the teaching part is done for now. Of course, I do still have plenty of summer camps I'm teaching this summer (my first is Fairy Camp, which I'm SOOOOO excited about!), a few trips to the beach, theater camp and Boy Scout camp on my agenda. Oh, and how could I forget the most exciting - the Nickelback concert we're going to see to celebrate our 15th Anniversary!!! So a great big YAHOO! to summer!!!

My other welcome is to the new members of our household. After having Peach put to sleep last week, Chase took some time to get over it. A few days ago he came to me and told me that he was ready to start looking for a new pet rat. One trip to the pet store and he found it. Of course, Brian fell in love with one too so now we have 2 new pet rats. They are sharing a cage and are getting along well together. In keeping with out tradition, we chose Disney names for them.

Here is Chase and his new rat Minnie. She's a little older, a young adult rat. She's beautiful and quiet and a perfect match for Chase. He loves her and she's already perfected the art of patiently sitting on his shoulder when she's out, peering over at the book he's reading or the game he's playing. It's adorable.

And here is Brian and his rat Princess Dot. She's still a baby and takes a little to warm up. She gets startled easily by noises and did NOT want to have a bath! While Minnie loved being blown-dry after her bath Dot just got scared by it all. But she's young and she'll learn. She is also great at shoulder-sitting and likes to hang out with us.

So there you go... that's the news from here. Hope all is well with our friends and family. Stay safe and have a great summer.

Friday, June 05, 2009

Sad Days


The reality of life and death can be pretty harsh, especially for kids. And that's very apparent in our household this week, as it's become evident that Chase's dearest friend, Peach, needs to be put to sleep. She's a little over 3 years old and blind in one eye. But we can deal with all that. What we can't deal with is the huge tumor that is growing on her side and has now gotten so large that she can't move well any more. Tumors are very common in female rats, especially when they reach this advanced age. But her quality of life is starting to suffer and this is where we feel the need to have her humanely put to sleep.

Yet, this is a sad decision to make. To have to sit down with your 12 year old and discuss the reasons why he should or shouldn't make the decision to end her life is very hard. And Chase is, obviously, distressed by it all. Yet in the end we had to admit that it was time. So we're taking our last few days to say goodbye to a wonderful, wonderful rat that we all love.

Peach is Chase's little buddy, sitting in his lap while he reads and, before getting too big, hanging out in Chase's shirt, peeking out through the armholes. She is absolutely the most sweet and calm rat and has been his best buddy for 3 years. She will be sorely missed.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

New Moon Trailer ...

The movies are nowhere near as good as the books, but I am REALLY looking forward to New Moon nonetheless. The first trailer just came out and it look awesome!!!

For those who don't know, this it the 2nd movie in the Twilight series. And now that the first was a big hit they're pretty much throwing money at them so this movie will be bigger and better. I can't wait!!!

Check it out here: http://www.mtv.com/videos/movie-trailers/395235/trailer-premiere-new-moon.jhtml