Summer fun

We had a picnic outside today for lunch as we are working on a landscaping project (more on that later). The kids are loving this unseasonably cooler weather. We've had temperatures in the 70's and 80's, which is at least 10 degrees cooler than usual. William and Amelia climbed in this canvas chair on their own. Miraculously, there wasn't any fighting! They wrapped their arms around each other and requested I take a picture of them together.

Splash pad, video #2

Kids at the splash park #1

This is a splash park I dragged the kids to today. As you can see, they had a terrible time despite their complaints on the way in to the park. They were totally bored and didn't enjoy themselves one bit.

Notice anything?

Do you notice anything?

It's exciting!

Gemma is finally forward facing as she is over the age of 2 and is very, very close the upper weight limit of her car seat in the rear facing position. As you can she, she is totally thrilled! She has been excitedly pointing out all the things she can see now!

FYI- it is now advisable that kids ride rear facing until they are 2 years old, although it isn't a law. More information about this topic here:

http://extendedrearfacing.org

GED Graduation Speaker

This year's graduation speaker is a student I worked with briefly last year.  She wasn't assigned to my regular class, but had signed up for an extra session I was teaching last year about getting and keeping jobs.  I'm so happy she finished her testing and so excited about what will come next for her!

http://youtu.be/IGxSxeDWFQI#sthash.1ilK8F1b.dpuf

GED graduation

GED graduation was last night. It is always an inspirational evening to celebrate all the hard work students have put into earning their credentials. I had only 6 students participating in the ceremony, but many more who completed the program this year. I am so proud of my students and I am so proud to have the job I do. The work I do is important. It is critically important. It opens to door to new options and new opportunities for my students.

When I was in college, I remember vaguely feeling like elementary education wasn't the exact fit I was looking for. It wasn't quite right and I wasn't sure why. Seeing as I didn't know what WAS right, I went ahead and finished my elementary education degree. And now? Now I know that I belong where I am at. THIS is what I wanted to do, even if I didn't know it back then.

A trip to the zoo for Gemma's birthday

This week was going to be another super busy one. Gemma's birthday was on Monday and we could see it was going to be difficult to find time to properly celebrate her day. (Not that she cared one bit).

On Sunday, we ended up going to the zoo as a family, which turned out perfectly. The weather was great and everyone enjoyed themselves. We caught the sea lion show and saw everyone's favorite animals.

The birthday girl especially enjoyed herself. At almost every animal she would point and exclaim "wow!"