White Squirrel

This is the white squirrel that had moved into our neighborhood.  Everyone was enjoying him very much.  One of the neighbors came down this week to tell me he got hit by a car.  It was honestly pretty sad to hear.  I usually saw him early in the morning when I was running, so I'll miss looking for him everyday.

What to Do???

I'm having a hard time understanding that I am now on summer break.  It is a strange feeling to not be going to work for the next few months.  I have some big goals set for myself, so hopefully I can stick to my plan.  It is very hard to do a good job keeping up with the house now that I'm teaching, so my first job is to tackle the house.  Not just the little things, but things that go unnoticed for a long time.  I'm a Flylady follower when I have the time, so I'm sure she'll help me get things cleaned up in no time.  I also plan on catching up on scrapbooks and photo albums.  Even this blog has been neglected, so I will spend more time here.  I want to read books.  I have always loved to read, but in the past few years I haven't read much more than picture books to the kids.  This summer I hope to read books for my pleasure, but also books to help me in my profession.  I want to do meal planning, so that I have something to fall back on during the hectic school months.  If possible, when school draws closer I will freeze a good supply of meals that I can pull out on nights when I haven't given supper any thought.  I plan on getting back into my running routine.  It will take a little hard work and dedication, but I think I can do it.  Most importantly, I plan on having lots of fun times with my family.  Now that we will all be on summer break at the same time I hope we can make some good memories together.  That's just a small listing of some of the things I hope to accomplish.  Now that I've put it in print, I'll hopefully feel obligated to stick to my plan!  :-)

End of School Picture

These nine kids taught me a lot this year, and I'm not lying when I say that I will miss them.  Hopefully I am sending them on to the fifth grade well prepared for the challenges that will come. 

One of my favorite bulletin boards of the year!

Mother's Day 2012

Ella looked so pretty lounging in the sun room.  She's a good photography subject.

We went to Moberly after church and ate lunch with my parents and grandma.  Nana Kaser gets worn out pretty easily these days, and she went home after we ate lunch, so I didn't get any pictures with her.  I guess the pics from the Mother/Daughter banquet will have to suffice.

Even though it's Mother's Day, we let Grandpa sneak into a picture.

Brent went golfing (yes, I approved it) and the rest of us headed to the park and rode the train.  Ella has been asleep in the vehicle the past few times, so Gracie was the only one who rode.  Ella was still awake today and enjoyed the ride.

Ella did fall asleep after the train ride, so Gracie, Grandpa and I went back to the park and rented a paddle boat.  We had a good time paddling around the lake and exploring all ends of the lake.  It was fairly tiring, but Gracie did a good job as my partner.

Dance Recital 2012

I could post all 100+ pictures I took of the girls at their dance recital, but I trimmed it down to under 20!  They have so much fun taking dance class, and were super excited about their recital.  The first pictures are taken in their ballet costumes.  The pink skirts they wear later were for their jazz dance.

Gracie's Art Show

Our little artist had an art show at her school last night.  We thought her picture of sunflowers was beautiful.  She was glad to find a ribbon on everyones pictures.  They all got participation ribbons, so everyone can be proud of their artwork.

Mother Daughter Banquet

Tonight our church had a Mother/Daughter/Friend banquet.  I invited my mom and grandma to come up for the evening.  We had a great meal and I'm glad they chose to come with us.

Savannah, Madison, Gracie, and Ella -
There were lots of little girls at the banquet who came with their mommy.