Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Mid-Summer (Almost!) Post

In four days, this handsome young man and I will be boarding an airplane bound for Santiago, Chile, Lord willing.  If you were to ask me about my summer agenda a couple of months ago, my answer would not have included a trip to South America, but God had other plans.  Thanks to the prayers and generosity of many friends and family, God provided for Benjamin and me to take this trip in order to serve the Lord in various ways, including in service teaching at my high school alma mater, Santiago Christian Academy.  It is Benjamin's first time in an airplane, and he is excited to be spending time with his cousins in Chile.  It is really the highlight of his summer vacation, but he has also enjoyed swimming in our little backyard pool and studying the various species of ants in our yard.


This young man just returned from a week of camp at Camp Conquest in Lancaster County.  He has been attending camp there since he was in second or third grade, and this was his last opportunity to be a camper, due to his age.  He has worked a lot this summer in a variety of jobs, and has graciously taken his dear old parents on "dates" to the movies with his earnings.  While I'm in Chile, he will be attending a basketball camp at Messiah College and helping his grandparents care for his younger two siblings.  I think all in all, it's been a good summer thus far for Sabastian!


Nathaniel has another hole in his head, as he lost his second tooth just last week!  He is enjoying his backyard swimming pool, too, and has learned to hold his breath under water and swim around with his goggles on.  I'm going to miss this little guy while I'm in Chile, as he tells me several times a day, "I love you, Mommy."  We are working on writing his loooong name and reviewing his letters and sounds in anticipation of kindergarten at our home school in the fall.


And then there's Sophia.  Home for two years earlier this summer, she is growing and maturing, albeit at her own sweet pace!  Hopefully she will be as excited as this when she realizes she is spending almost three weeks at her grandparents' home beginning this Tuesday!  She amuses herself in a variety of ways during the day, but truly loves to be out and about with the family.  She is much more interested at being outside these days, and we have to watch that she doesn't run out into the road before she gets into the house after disembarking the van!  She certainly keeps us on our toes!


And as for my sweet hubby, he will be holding down the fort and working hard to meet the needs of our family.  His job is going well, but is very physically demanding, especially in the heat we've been having.  I'm very thankful for Dave and his commitment to me and the kids.  Lord willing, he will be visiting our oldest son, Jonathan, while I'm away.  It will be the first time Jonathan has sat down and talked with one of us face to face in almost a year.  It will be good for both of them.



Many thanks to my dear friend and sister in Christ, Naomi Atkins, for taking these lovely photos of our family earlier this summer.  You can find her and her partner's work on Facebook or their blog.  We highly recommend them!  Happy rest of the summer to all!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

2012-13 Home School Curricula

On a field trip to a coal mine a bit north of where we live.
This year I officially began homeschooling my first grade son, Benjamin.  One of my reasons for homeschooling was the flexibility if offered, and we have definitely taken advantage of that this year as we had many appointment for Sophia and other things that have cropped up.  We used Five in a Row materials for the first part of the year which uses a piece of children's literature as a springboard for all other subjects.  In addition, we used Horizon Math materials for a more systematic grade level approach to math.  Halfway through the year, Benjamin began receiving some tutoring in reading to help supplement and ease our frustration with each other over the subject (even though I am a certified reading specialist, go figure!).  He now sees himself as a reader and is doing much better, and I didn't have to fight him over it.  Works for me!

I have spent this past year investigating other curricula and thinking through what else I want to use to teach my children as we progress forward.  Next year I will have Benjamin in grade 2 and Nathaniel officially in Pre-K/K.  Today I took the plunge and made some decisions and purchases, and I am very excited to receive my new materials and get planning!  I have also decided to continue homeschooling over the summer months, just not as rigidly, so that we can take breaks here and there at other times of the year and also to keep our routine going.  So, here is what I have come up with:

Math - Horizons Math 2 (Benjamin) and Horizons Math K (Nathaniel) from Alpha and Omega Publications
Spelling - All About Spelling Level 1 from All About Learning Press (Both boys...it will be review for Benjamin, and new for Nathaniel...I will continue with Level 2 for Benjamin at some point in the year.)
Grammar - First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, Levels 1 & 2 (Benjamin only)
Reading - Five in a Row (Both boys); Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K (Nathaniel); guided reading with leveled books (Benjamin and eventually Nathaniel)
Writing - Write Shop Primary (Benjamin and eventually Nathaniel); Kid Writing (Nathaniel)
Science - God's Design for Science from Answers in Genesis (Both boys)
Social Studies/History - Unit Studies based on holidays/interest; The Mystery of History, Vol. 1:  Creation to Resurrection (Both boys)
Foreign Language - Hooked on Spanish (Both boys)
Keyboarding - Typing Instructor for Kids (Benjamin first, then Nathaniel)

Additionally, we LOVE field trips, and we will participate in a home school Art class and sports locally.  Now that I type it all out, it sounds very ambitious, but I think it will be fun.  I am definitely not going to be doing every subject every day, but with a nice menu of choices, I will have plenty to work with.  Let me know what you think!!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Homeschooling Benjamin

This year I am homeschooling Benjamin for First Grade.  We have been going for almost a month now, and, for the most part, we are having a lot of fun.  We have set up shop in our dining room area, where we usually work together at the table, but Benjamin also has his own desk area, which he loves to use.


We have been using Five in a Row materials which consist of reading a picture book for five days in a row, and doing all kinds of other curricular activities that piggyback off of the book.  Additionally, we use Horizons math from Alpha and Omega, and Benjamin's Word of Life Quiet Time and memory verses for Bible.  I throw in a lot of odds and ends from my years of teaching, too, so it is quite eclectic.  This is the map we hung on the dining room wall to use of geography and also to map the settings of the stories that we read.


I have also been doing some little workbooks on basic skills with Nathaniel each day, as he never wants to be left out!  He enjoys listening to our stories, too, and is gaining a lot by just being around when I work with Benjamin.  Sophia usually occupies herself, but when she gets bored, she makes enough noise to let us know!  All in all, it has been a good experience thus far.  Benjamin is a little sponge right now, so when he gets interested in something we touch on, we can take the time to investigate it further.  Last week it was electricity, and the week before was Paris, France.  Who knows what it will be this week!  That's the fun of homeschooling!!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

I'm Baaaack!

It's been four months since I took a break from blogging on this family blog.  I guess it's time to catch everyone up on our family's happenings.  Here's the bulleted version:


  • The end of May Benjamin graduated from Kindergarten, and I finished my second year of teaching K5 at Blue Mountain Christian School.

  • On June 9, Dave and I left for Taiwan to adopt our daughter, Sophia Elizabeth Chia-Lin Fisher!  After almost three years of waiting and praying, we finally met our daughter and began a new chapter in her life and ours!  (You can catch up on all those happenings at my other blog, Our Silk Road.)

  • Since March, Dave had been commuting to Indiana for a new job.  We were scheduled to move there the end of July in order for our older boys to begin school.  Two weeks before our move, we found out that Dave's company changed their mind--we weren't moving after all!  Time to unpack the boxes and resettle in our Jonestown home!
  • Due to the impending move, we didn't really take any vacation time this summer as a family.  Hopefully we will get around to that next year...I could use a vacation after this crazy year!
  • The end of August brought Hurricane Irene and the beginning of the school year.  This year Jonathan is a Junior at the Northern Lebanon High School and is studying carpentry at the Lebanon Career and Technology Center.  Sabastian is in 8th grade at Blue Mountain Christian School and enjoying being back with his friends.  Benjamin is being homeschooled by Yours Truly for 1st grade...we are having a blast!  Nathaniel and Sophia, both 3 1/2 years old, are along for the ride.  My days are full!

I'm sure I've forgotten something in the craziness of the last four months, but there's a synopsis to catch everyone up!  I will attempt to post some fun photos from the summer soon...Happy Fall, Ya'll!!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Back to School Monday!


Here's our annual "Back to School" photo shoot...today was the day our new school year began.  This year I have a 10th grader, a 7th grader, and a Kindergartner.  We had a beautiful day today to start our school year, and all in all, it went well.  It will take a bit of time to get back into the routine, but in some ways, it feels like we never left it.  I think time just goes by faster when you get older or something!  Here's a photo of Benjamin with his Kindergarten teacher...


Yep, that's me!  Pray for us this year if you think of it.  He did a great job today with remembering to call me "Mrs. Fisher" as much as possible around his classmates, and not trying to get my attention unduly.  We'll see how it goes when the novelty wears off!  Hope your back to school has gone well, whatever shape it takes in your household!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

We're Losing It Around Here!

"It" being teeth!  This week Benjamin lost his very first tooth.  It had been quite wiggly for some time, and finally I just yanked and out it came!
I shed a few tears about it, too...not because it hurt him, but because this means my little boys is growing up!  He starts kindergarten in a few short weeks (with yours truly as his teacher--pray for us!) and is really maturing in a lot of ways.  I still have by baby, Nathaniel, but he's growing up way too fast, too!  When Benjamin lost his tooth, Nathaniel wanted me to pull one of his out too...didn't want to miss out, I guess! 
Benjamin was very surprised when his tooth under his pillow "turned into" four quarters...we don't make a big deal about the tooth fairy or anything, but we told him to just put it under his pillow to see what would happen.  He was happy to put the money in his piggy bank and that was that! 

Saturday, July 17, 2010

The Angels are Singing!

It was a very busy week in our house this past week.  This week was our VBS at church, and three out of the six of us were involved each night in some way.  Benjamin attended the VBS with his kindergarten buddies while Sabastian served as part of the worship team leading the songs and motions in the opening and closing, and helped out with the four-year old class.  I taught the Bible lesson four times each night to the elementary students...with groups ranging from 35-75 or more kids at a time, it was quite a challenge to teach an active curriculum (as in the kids were to be part of the story!) and keep order at the same time!  Fortunately the children were divided into "crews" and the crew leaders were mostly adults or teens who were able to help out with discipline and crowd control.  On Thursday night I shared the gospel as part of the Bible lesson with a very powerful visual presentation that was part of the lesson for the evening.  Many children raised their hands indicating that they were accepting Christ as their Savior that night, but we like to personally talk with the children and make sure they understand what they are doing.  On Friday night, a couple of the Children's Ministry volunteers took time to meet with each child who indicated that they had prayed to become a child of God.  Out of a rather large group of children, the ladies were pretty certain that 23 understood the decision that they were making.  Praise God...the angels are singing in Heaven this weekend!  It's such a blessing to be able to be involved in such a meaningful ministry and to see young lives changed.  It makes the craziness of the week all worth while!  Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be teaching the same curriculum in two other locations that are outreach ministries for our church.  Sabastian will be joining me to help lead the music.  Please pray for the children in these two locations, too, that their hearts will be ready to hear the truths of God's Word!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Winding Down

The school year is winding down, which is always a bittersweet thing for a teacher. Yes, I'm looking forward to summer vacation, but I've grown attached to my young pupils. Several of them will not be returning to our school for first grade, so I pray that I have made a difference in their lives in this short school year. I have seen so much growth...I was looking at their school photos from the fall and they have matured so much! They are all reading now to varying degrees, and they all understand our routine and handle it like champs. Today there was a hiccup in our day, and they went with it like seasoned surfers on a rogue wave...I'm so proud of them!

Tomorrow we will add a straw to our days of school count and be at 162...only 18 more days left, but actually a bit less for my class as we graduate a few days earlier. Hopefully I have taught them more then phonics and math...may they remember that God loves them and has a plan for their lives...like Joseph, Esther and King David. May our theme verse, which we have said for 162 days...resonate with them for a long time: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." (Colossians 3:23). Keep up the good work, K5--I'm proud of you!

Monday, May 3, 2010

May Musings

Today I changed the calendar in my kindergarten classroom and announced to the children that they only had one month left in K5...where has the time gone? This past weekend I finished teaching my spring grad course which started out delayed due to my trip to Florida in January to see my Haitian nephews and then due to snow in February. And Saturday we were experiencing near 90 degree temps and high humidity...amazing!

I think the older I get the more quickly time flies...and the more I realize that I really must seize the moment and use it wisely. There really is no time to waste. I was reminded on Sunday of God's faithfulness and immutability...in this world of constant flux and change, He never changes. He is my anchor as life swirls wildly around me. I am so thankful for the relationship I have with Him. Some day I will spend eternity basking in His glory and enjoying sweet worship and fellowship. And, I believe, time will finally stand still.

Oh glorious day!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

History Fair


My Kindergarten Class


Last night was our school's History Fair and Spring Concert. My parents were able to come up from Delaware to see their grandkids perform, which was so nice. I even got in on the act as we finished the evening with a song performed by the teachers. It was great to be singing in a group again, as I haven't done that in quite awhile!


The History Fair theme this year was toys and games. Students in grades 3-12 had to do individual projects, while the K4, K5, and 1-2 grades did a class project. For my K5 class, I chose to research the game, Barrel of Monkeys. It just seemed so apropos for the group I had this year! I did some online searching for info, and then the children helped me develop a Venn diagram comparing the "old" version of the game with the "new" version of the game. I was even able to find a 1966, new in package, version of the game on Ebay for a great price! The children enjoyed comparing the two barrels of monkeys visually, as well. I also had each student take home a die cut monkey to decorate for our display. They did a fantastic job! I was really pleased with how it all turned out.




Benjamin's class (K4) did a little project on their favorite games. His teacher had the students bring in their favorite games, and then she took a picture of each of them with their game. Her display really turned out cute, too! Sabastian's project was on Silly Putty. We all learned a lot about that silly stuff! Did you know that it was created accidentally as a scientist was trying to make an alternative to rubber during WWII? Jonathan's project piggy-backed with his research paper this year. He did the game of Chess. He loves playing that game, and it was interesting to read up on the history and the innovations over the years. Sabastian's project won third place in his age group, and all the boys did a really nice job (after some motherly prodding and prompting!). Way to go, guys!




Friday, April 2, 2010

Where...

...has the time gone? I figured I should at least try to figure out an answer to that question for myself, so let's see...in the last of half of March (in no particular order):

- I held my Pampered Chef show and it went very well. Thank you to all who ordered to help bring Sophia home!

- I finished out a reading emphasis month at school with various weekly activities. I kind of spear-headed the whole thing, and was very pleased with how it went. And, my K5 class tied with the High School for the most participation, so they get a special lunch as a reward!

- I dealt with a sick hubby and sick kids and ended up sick myself. I'm trying to get rid of a very stubborn cold/sinus infection and am running on near empty every day...ugh!

- I had the girls from our Grantville Girls Bible Club over for homemade pizza and a movie. It was fun!

- I taught my grad class at LBC, worked my last few hours at The Children's Place (I'm now per diem) and of course taught K5.

- I went to DE to attend a Stamp Camp with my mom and had lots of fun being creative.

- I read a variety of books including Jana's Journal by Jeanette Windle. I really like her books, both for kids and adults!

I'm sure there are more things, but that's all my foggy brain can remember at this point. Suffice it to say, it's been busy around here! I'm glad for a mini Spring break this weekend, and time to meditate on Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made on my behalf.

Happy Easter!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

When It Rains, It Pours!

Ironically, I began my day and week yesterday by reading in the book of Job. Specifically, I was reading about Job's wife and how less-than-encouraging she was to her husband and how we, as wives, should be careful to encourage our husbands in their walks with the Lord. But anyhow, in reading various passages from the book of Job, I was intrigued by Job's response to God at the very end of the book in Job 42:2 where he says, "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." No typically we think of God's plans as being great and wonderful things in our lives, but if you look at God's plan for Job's life, the experiences he allowed to happen in Job's lives were much less than great and wonderful! Yet Job realizes that God ultimately sovereign, and in being so, who are we to question His plans? Little did I know what the next 48 hours were going to bring to our lives!

Fast forward a bit and you have my youngest three kiddos playing on the school playground for literally 5 minutes while I finished up in my classroom and Nathaniel falls, hurting his leg. We spend the entire afternoon in the ER only to be sent home with the instructions to see a pedatric orthopedist in the morning because the x-rays are inconclusive as to whether the bone is fractured or not.

Fast forward again to today. We go to the orthopedist who again deems the x-rays to be inconclusive, but the physical examination shows that something is indeed wrong with his upper, inner leg, sort of in the groin/hip area. In order to not incur further damage by waiting unduly for an MRI or bone scan results, his recommendation is to put our little almost two year old in a full body cast to immobilize his pelvic area and allow whatever the problem is to heal. I guess when you have a very active little one, this is the best you can do for him. Of course, he will have to be anesthetized and taken into the OR in order to put on said cast. And of course, I am supposed to be at in service meetings the next three days and school starts on Monday.

But of course, God knows all of that and His plans can't be thwarted! And I thank God that my children are alive and well (unlike Job's children!), and this bump in the road will only make us stronger as a family and as individuals.

But we would covet your prayers! Thanks!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Summer Creativity

Heard at our house yesterday:

Benjamin (in kitchen at art easel): "Yessss! Yessss!"

Mom and Sabastian exchange quizzical looks in the living room.

Mom: "What are you 'yesssing'?"

Benjamin: "I drawed the Axiom!" (Note to those who have never seen the movie WALL-E...the Axiom is the spaceship in the movie where WALL-E follows EVE and saves the day for humankind...you must see the movie...)

Mom and Sabastian walk to the kitchen and look at the conglomeration of color and share an amused look over Benjamin's head.

Benjamin (with a huge grin): "I'm an artist now!"

Mom (with a smile): "Yes you are, Buddy!"
-----

As a Mom, I love to see my 4-year old being so creative. My older boys were adopted out of foster care. I missed out on participating in their more formative years, and, probably due to the circumstances in which they lived during those years, they rarely engaged in imaginative or creative play when they became a part of our family at the ages of 4 and 6. It's so refreshing to see our younger two boys developing their imaginations and creativity, and their sense of self-accomplishment. I know you are dying to see Benjamin's painting, so here it is:

Notice the brown line weaving around the other colors? That is the "footprint" (tread) that WALL-E left when he roamed around the Axiom trying to find EVE. (Again, you must see the movie!)


----

We have made several trips to the library in the past week and a half. Jonathan, our 14 year old, has polished off two thick books already, and Sabastian, our 11 year old, is plowing through the Left Behind series for kids. Even I have gotten into the action...I've completed four novels for young adults thus far...maybe I'll post about them at a later date. In addition to books, our local library has a nice selection of jigsaw puzzles. Sabastian really enjoys putting puzzles together, so he also checked out a puzzle last week. He completed it last night. Here it is:


I'm looking forward to what other kind of creative fun my kids can find this summer...I'm especially excited that both Benjamin and Sabastian will be participating in Summer Art Camps at HATCH with my dear friend Beth. If you are in the Lancaster area, be sure to check out the schedule on her website...I know your kids will have fun and learn a lot!



Thursday, April 30, 2009

Grand Opening: Hatch Studio and Gallery


Please join me in congratulating my friend, Bethany Hissong, on the Grand Opening of her dream, Hatch Studio and Gallery! I am so excited for her! If you live in the Lancaster, PA, area, you might want to come on out on Saturday, May 2, between 5 and 10 p.m. to check it out for yourself! All of the Grand Opening information is on her website, as well as information about the first adult photography class and the summer children's classes--of which my sons will be a part for sure! Beth is a fantastic artist in her own right, as well as an Art teacher. She is displaying and selling creative works from her friends around the world, including some adoption fundraising cards made by me and my mom. Please join me in congratulating her by visiting her blog, Red Yarn, and leaving a comment! Hope to see you on Saturday!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Busy Week

Where has this week gone? It always amazes me how fast the weeks fly by. It really makes me covet the time I spend with my children, and I'm so thankful that I can be home with them. I just pray that I'm using my time wisely, as it goes by so quickly!

There are several things on my mind tonight. I have committed to directing our church's Daily Vacation Bible School in July, and my mind is swirling with details related to that and our first committee meeting next Tuesday. I'm excited to possibly be using curriculum from Answers In Genesis...great stuff if you need a VBS curriculum. Check it out!

Please pray my two little nephews home from Haiti...my sister Stephanie is really praying that they will be home before June 24. You can read her post about that date here and I encourage you to also check out the rest of her blog if you haven't already. Haiti is such a random country when it comes to their adoption procedures; it is very different from what we are facing with Taiwan, and much more frustrating as a result.

Speaking of my sister Stephanie, today is her birthday. Happy Birthday, little sis! We love you lots and are so proud of you and all that you do for your family and the Lord. Keep up the great work! Hopefully Pedro treated you really well today!

Finally, we have had a bit of movement on our adoption proceedings this week. You can check out our updates at our adoption blog. Thanks for your continued prayers and thoughts!

Have a great weekend!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Another Busy Week!

Last week zoomed by with no posts...sorry! This week might likely do the same, although I do want to post about the Bible study I'm teaching this week, as I've learned a lot from preparing it. I'm teaching our two ladies' Bible studies at our church this week, one tonight for working women, and one on Wednesday morning for moms and other ladies who choose to come then. I'm teaching on the promise of God to guide and direct our lives. Look for more on that later!

I worked a lot this past weekend again, and my dear husband is nursing yet another cold, so hopefully the rest of us won't get it! Nathaniel is just getting over his second ear infection, which seem to be brought on by colds, so we don't want any more! I'm ready to spray down the whole house with bleach at this point! Tomorrow morning I'm hosting our play group at our house for the first time, so that ought to be interesting, too...another reason for no colds!

A busy week lies ahead for me, but I'm up for the challenge! Hope your week is fun and productive, whatever it has in store for you!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Working Weekend

I will be working my two jobs this weekend...teaching my grad course, and waiting on customers at The Children's Place. In this season of life, weekends have become my work days instead of the week days, so I can't complain. I'm thankful for the extra income, and for my wonderful husband who is so supportive of it all. For those of you with fun plans this weekend, enjoy...

Monday, August 4, 2008

Last Week in a (Sorta Big!) Nutshell

Last week was a very busy, but fruitful and fun, week! While our oldest son went to a week-long camp last Sunday, the other three boys and I piled into the family van and drove a couple of hours southeast to my parents' home in Delaware for the week. The reason for the trip was to participate in the Daily Vacation Bible School my parents' church was having all week long. I was asked to teach the 2's and 3's which is a class for children of that age whose parents are working at the DVBS. I had six little ones, including my son Benjamin, and on two days, when there was no nursery, I had my son Nathaniel and another little girl. Fortunately, I had a great helper, too, so I wasn't by myself. The theme of this DVBS was "Digging for the Truth of God's Word" and the Bible stories were basically Creation and Noah's Flood. So, we did a lot with dinosaurs and animals which was really fun for me and the kids. Here are some photos to show you some of the fun things my little group did...


...we put on dinosaur masks and played "Dino Tag"...


...we stenciled dinosaurs onto t-shirts with sparkly fabric paint--too cool!...


...and we made dinosaur hats!...

Of course there are many hilarious stories to be told after working with this age group, but I won't get into all of that! Suffice it to say that it was very fun, yet extremely exhausting, and I was more glad than sad when the week was over!


Another happening last week was that our youngest son, Nathaniel, now 10 months old, finally figured out how to pull himself to standing pretty consistently. In fact, the toy box in our classroom served as a great stability object to do just that. Here he goes...




You can see he's pretty tickled with himself! I guess the toys were a big motivator for him, and he figured that since he was with the "big kids", he ought to start acting like one! (Now if I could only have Benjamin use that logic when it comes to going on the big boy potty!)


After the busy week of DVBS, I deposited the children with my hubby, and my mom and I went to Valley Forge on Saturday to attend the Creating Keepsakes Convention there. We had a blast shopping all the vendors and taking a few classes. When I totally complete the projects, I'll make sure and post photos...they are pretty neat if I do say so myself!



As icing on the cake, I received some pretty nifty stuff in the mail this past week. What a nice treat to come home to! Remember my post about Postcrossing, the site where you can send postcards to people around the world? Well I received two postcards this week, one from Indiana here in the US and one from Finland. I am really enjoying being a part of this site. Here are the postcards I received:






And last, but certainly not least, in today's mail I received a huge surprise treat from my good friend Beth at Red Yarn...Benjamin Bear (and other goodies!) made by my new friend Kathy at Lizzie Jane!


What sneaky gals, I must say! Ever since I saw Benjamin posted on Kathy's blog, I was enamored with him...and now he's residing at my house! Thanks, Beth, for being such a thoughtful and wonderful friend, and thanks, Kathy, for making such delightful creations!

Wow...I wonder what this week will hold! Whatever it holds for you, have a happy one!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Back to Work!

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving the house bright and early to start a week of graduate school teaching. I'm looking forward to the intellectual stimulation, but not the early mornings--although, I must say, the solitary hour-long drive is not such a bad deal when you have four kids! I am very grateful that my mom will be coming up from Delaware and staying for the week in order to cover the hours that I'm teaching and Dave's working. Thanks, Mom! We are hoping to hear from our adoption agency this week, so I'll keep you posted on that. I hope everyone has a great week!