Monday, August 20, 2007

Back to School 2007


Emma started her 6 year old year (1st grade) at Lakeland Montessori. This is her fourth year there. She spent 3 years (half her life!) in the 3-6 primary class.Now she has moved up to the 6-9 elementary class. Very exciting!



John returned to College Heights Cooperative Preschool for his second year. He'll be in Miss Lynn's 3 year old class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. We went this morning and he cried when we had to leave. I take that as a good sign!


More pictures here:

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Ballykissangel


Lately, Rob and I seem to hurry the kids through bathtime, rush the goodnight kisses, and race to the TV room. All to see an old BBC show from the 1990s.


Ballykissangel obsorbs my thoughts!


The storyline revolves around a young English priest, Peter Clifford, who is posted to the tiny Irish village of Ballykissangel. There, he finds himself having to deal with an Ireland that he is totally unfamiliar with.

The main reasons for his difficulty are the colourful array of characters that he finds himself faced with. There is Brian Quigley, the wheeler-dealing businessman and his sidekick Fr MacAnally, the Parish Priest who is not quite as holy as he appears to be. The local Garda, Ambrose and his wife Niamh who just happens to be Quigley's daughter. Most significantly, Peter meets Assumpta Fitzgerald, the young landlady of the local pub. Assumpta has little time for the English and less time for the clergy, which does not explain why she is so interested in Peter.

So, OK, Rob and I admittedly have a bit of a soft spot for the love lives and love interests of young priests. But this show is more than that. The characters are some of the most well developed and real characters I've seen on a show. It makes me sad to know that there are no new episodes coming out. These are characters that I'd like to know for a long time!

Monthly Menu

I do everything better when there's a plan in black and white. So I created a monthly menu for our family. It makes everything so easy! I even made weekly shopping lists with all the ingredients I need to make the dinners for the week.

BBQ chicken, corn spoon bread, and broccoli tonight!

Running! my latest obsession!

No clue what has gotten into me, but I'm obsessed with running. I've started quite slowly, using the Couch Potato to 5K Running Plan. It starts out pretty slowly, but (ideally) in 9 weeks I'll be able to run 5k! We'll see!

To make it a bit more fun, I bought an MP3 player and downloaded these podcasts. They are customized for each week of the CPto5K plan. I don't even have to think. I listen to this upbeat zen-like music and every so often an encouraging voice tells me it's time to run. And then, the best part, he tells me it's time to stop! But, seriously, I love it! I've even bought ugly running shorts!

Quick update on Rob and me

After years of teaching, Rob is now the Director of Religious Education at our church, St. David's Episcopal. The job is the perfect combination of priest and teacher, making it just right for him!

Outside of work, his main "hobby" is our house! It's a constant work in progress, but things are really coming along. Rob never ceases to amaze me with his ability to just take on a project, figure it out, and make it happen!

I have found myself with a little part time job that I just love! I work for the Early Learning Coalition. I go into preschool and daycare classrooms serving kids ages 2.5-5 and evaluate their learning enviroment, materials, schedule, safety, etc. I LOVE it! I set my own schedule. Each assessment takes 3 hours at the center and another 1-2 hours at home writing the report. It's perfect! I can do it while John's at preschool, which is really ideal.

Let's see... I still stay busy with our local La Leche League group, planning our state LLL Conference, serving as the facilitator for the Parent Action Committee at Lakeland Montessori, and working to develop a Montessori Middle School.

That's about it!

Quick update on Emma and John



Check out my kiddos! Cute, huh?
Emma is 6 and a half. On Monday she'll start her 4th year at Lakeland Montessori.
John is nearly 3 and is starting his 2nd year at College Heights Cooperative Preschool.

Trying again!

It's been nearly 2 years since my one and only blog post. Much has happened and changed! I'll post more in a bit, but wanted to just try to get started!