Happy 4th of July!

I love the 4th of July - I think it is my absolute favorite holiday! It's easy, (no spending hours shopping for that perfect gift, no elaborate menu's to prepare, not a lot of decorating just fun). I love the easy BBQ food, the warm weather, the parades, the get togethers and of course the fireworks.


We had a busy, but not too busy weekend. Friday, Katie and I made these yummy patriotic strawberries.

Friday evening we were invited to a friends home the Lawn' s for a BBQ. Jim did an excellent job grilling burgers, brats and hot dogs. We all brought a side dish to pass. We brought these fun strawberries and brownies. Afterwards, we all gathered on their front lawn to light sparklers and watch spectacular fireworks. Fun!

Saturday morning we went to church for the 4th of July Picnic breakfast. I brought my yummy cinnamon rolls. We enjoyed watching the Boy Scouts raise the flag, the kids bike parade and then we played outdoor games, potato sack races, tug of war, and various water games. I was in charge of the water balloon toss. The benefit of being in charge of this activity is that you don't get wet since you are running the game. We also had our ward version of America's Got Talent.

Sunday evening we invited the Tanner's over for games and dessert. We enjoyed sharing one of our favorite games with them "Spinner" and then had Blueberry, Strawberry Shortcake. I guess this was a big yummy food weekend.

Monday we traveled to Barrington to meet up with Uncle Bill and then traveled to Woodstock to visit Uncle Dick who is recovering from spine surgery. Uncle Bob, Aunt Lee and Aunt Shirley met us there and it was nice to see the Hartman Clan. We hadn't been all together since Thanksgiving.

So that raps our holiday weekend up - Food, Friends, Firewords, and Family. Not a bad holiday!

Happy Holidays

Summer Time!

Well it's summer time, at least that is what the calendar says, but since I've been out of school the weather has been cool and rainy. Hopefully, next week it will be warm and I can get Katie to the pool. She will be a happy camper then.

So, what have you been doing with your time since you've been out of school you may ask.

1. Well, first and foremost I have been enjoying the slower pace!

2. Twice a week I have been tutoring a very hard working little boy in Elburn. We are working on improving his reading skills, and I never have seen a student work harder and have a more positive attitude than this boy.

3. I have dusted off my sewing machine, located my quilting supplies and have been quite content hearing the hum of my machine as I create new quilting patterns.

4. Kristen gave me a book she wanted me to read, My Sisters Keeper which I am enjoying. I also went to Borders and used a gift certificate I received from a student and bought a couple more reads that I plan to enjoy this summer.

5. Katie is taking clarinet lessons once a week and will begin Band camp in one week, and Kristen is working almost full-time so I've become the designated driver.

6. I'm also registered to take a class that begins on the 24th of this month and using Research Based Literacy Instruction in Your Classroom. This is a 3 credit online grad class so my education continues . . .

7. I'm working on digging out my home. (I get a little bit behind in my housework when school begins.

I'm Walkin' Yes Indeed…

Yep, somehow I've become the team captain for a walking challenge at my school. The school district that I work for has developed several healthy challenges for the teachers and staff. Our latest challenge is a walking challenge. One requirement for entering this challenge is that you needed to join a team or organize a team. So I thought I would ask the team leader from the previous walking challenge if she was going to be a team leader again. She replied that she was but her team was full. (I guess she knew a slow walker if she saw one. albeit she is also the PE teacher - go figure!)

Well working at a small school is somewhat similar to living in a small town; news travels fast - and before I knew it a couple of teachers asked if they could join my team, MY TEAM I was just looking for a team to join, but then I figured why not - so this afternoon I send out an e-mail to my fellow teachers inquiring if anyone would like to joint my team and two hours later I had a team of 12. So, I'm all excited and I began making plans on my way home on ways to add steps into my day! I think I love a challenge!

Which leads me to my next thought - how about we have a family walking challenge? It would begin Monday May 11th and end June 8th (That would give us all time to get our pedometers). The would last one month and all interested parties could all put in $5.00 into a kitty that would be given to the winner at the end of the month. Each week you could e-mail me with your steps and I can keep track of the weekly winners. So family what do you think? Dad, I know you already walk and this challenge could be a real cinch for you. And, Jake I know you love a challenge. Erik, Colette, Samantha, Sarah, Anna, Uncle Mike and Uncle Bill you guys are already into fitness and could give the rest of us a run for our money. (No pun intended!) The rest of us could just use a little motivation. If you're in let me know.


OK this is off topic - here's a picture of Nana, me and Katie in Arizona, at the Desert Botanical Garden. We were enjoying a beautiful glass art exhibit by Chihuly.


Here are a couple of pictures from the exhibit - the sculptures are much more striking in person!

Things Are Looking Up!

Surprise Erik, here's another post. Kristen just got home from her Biotech Trip. She went to St. Louis and U of I to see several biotech facilities. She was gone for three days and we all missed her, but I think Katie missed her the most. According to Kristen she was constantly texting her. What will we do when Kristen goes off to college?

Katie was a big kid and came home all by herself two days and did just fine. She went to a party Friday night and I was home alone since Lee was at the Temple. It sure did seem weird to be home by myself since I'm hardly home alone. But I quickly adjusted.

I had a less stressful week this week with my little kindergartner. I began a new behavior intervention plan this week with him that it seems to be working along with changing his paraprofessional. Can't wait to see what next week with him will bring. I was only hit once this week with him, which sound bad but really is good for him. Thank goodness he's little and doesn't hurt much!#?

Happy Brithday Katie!

Well Erik, here it is. You'll have to respond so I can see how long it takes for you to check the blog. For the rest of you, yes it's been awhile since I've last posted, but Erik informed me last Friday that I don't need to add a picture each time I blog, but I could just post a few thoughts. So here it goes…

The biggest news this week is that Katie turned 12, and as of today I no longer have a child in Primary after 24 years. WOW! Yep, Katie is now in Young Women's; a Beehive, imagine that!
Life is moving on, and that is good.

Anyway, we enjoyed a Saturday celebrating Katie's birthday. Lee and I began our celebration with Katie by taking her out for a Mom and Dad lunch at Applebees, and since we mentioned that it was her Birthday, they provided her with a complementary ice cream sundae. YUM! Then Katie and I were off to Target to purchase a new bedspread for her bed (Happy Birthday) and then to Meijer to purchase food for her party. We made one more stop before we went home however, to purchase an Oreo Ice Cream Cake at Dairy Queen.

That evening with our family room floor covered with balloons, and the kitchen island all decked out we had a Fondue Party for several of Katie's closest friends. We had three different fondue pots ready for the event; oil, cheese and of course chocolate!

All and all Katie felt that it was a wonderful day - what more can you ask for?

This upcoming week Kristen will be traveling to U of I to attend a BioTech field trip with her Genetics class. She'll be gone from Wednesday until Saturday. We will miss her.

BEACH

We went to the beach on Labor Day. It felt a little more like a parking lot. There was a lot of traffic (cars, horses and scooters) driving on the beach. It was crazy. We both had never seen a car drive on the beach before. We even did it. 
One of the 2 whole sand dollars we found. Erik got really excited every time we found a large chunk of one. After about 1/2 hour of finding many pieces we found this whole one. We walked a long the beach for about 1 mile or so. The water was cold. But we still stuck our feet in it. 
It was beautiful. It was sunny and around 65 degrees. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there. We packed a picnic and ate that on the beach. We also played card games, which Erik thought was silly, but I liked it. 
There we are at the beach. This is not fake. 
Our shadows still exist! This is proof that there is sun in Washington. We even got sun burnt on our legs, because we rolled up our pants. All and all it was a great day. Goodbye.