Play Ball!

It's been all about baseball around here this weekend. Friday, we attended a team cookout, where the boys got a chance to play and the parents worked on the team float for the Ball Day Parade on Saturday morning. This was our first year participating in Optimist Baseball, so Ball Day was a whole new thing for us. Amid questions about looming weather, the parade Saturday morning went off without a hitch. I loved seeing so many of my music students in their floats as they wound through town. The only downer was that some of those kids had squirt guns and, when they saw me, unloaded them on me. After a few instances, Andy decided to let them know I was around by shouting, "Hey look, it's Mrs. Walton!!" Needless to say, I was soaked even before the rains came. The kids had a blast! Right after the parade, the skies opened up and it was a hot, humid, and miserable afternoon with many of the day's games cancelled. We headed home to keep packing for the remodel.

Today, we went to Victory Field to see the Indianapolis Indians play. It was a super day! Many of the family members came, as it was baby Trevor's quasi-first birthday party. We spent the afternoon on the left-field lawn and Joel enjoyed seeing "experts" play. Most of us got a touch of sunburn, but it was a most enjoyable day. When we got home, we kept working on the house. See a theme here?

Monday, the Pod arrives and this remodel will be put into high gear. We've already chucked the kitchen cabinets in the dumpster and most of our daily life has been packed. Not looking forward to meal prep and dishes without a kitchen. We'll be doing lots of grilling, crockpot, and electric skillet meals. Joel and Hanna are enjoying the fact that we moved the livingroom TV and Wii to Joel's room. The computer is in our bedroom, along with the piano. Feels weird typing while sitting on a step stool between the bed and dressers! Soooooo much to do! As soon as we get the furniture and boxes out and in the Pod, I'll snap some pictures so I can keep track of the before and after. We are SOOO looking forward to the 'after'! Better stop for now...may not blog again for awhile; chances are we'll be falling into bed each late night. Wish us luck!

Insert Sigh of Relief Here

After a long school year of uncertainty, my future as elementary music teacher is finally in the books. The past several weeks, even months, have been filled with tension throughout the school, low morale, them vs. us ridiculousness, and lost sleep. We've lost some great teachers altogether; others have been forced to retire or move into other schools. Luckily, I was not one of them. Friday, the teacher's union voted on the proposed contract that would increase insurance costs, but save 8 more jobs. Last night, I got word that the 2-year contract was ratified. I am safe for at least 2 years.....let me rephrase that......our students will be receiving the imperative arts education they need for at least 2 more years. Since the dawn of time, specials teachers have bucked the perception that we are simply someone's prep period. Well, it's the contract language that states all classroom teachers are required a certain number of prep minutes a day that saved my position. So, despite the misguided notion that we are simply there to give the classroom teachers a break, it has saved the art and music in my school. For that, I am thankful.
We've spent the past 2 months in a wait-and-see pattern, so now we are late gettting started on our home improvement project! It's GO time!!!!! :0) Thanks to all who've been checking in with me and pulling for us, as well as arts advocacy in general.

Mother's Day by Joel

At the end of the school day today, Joel arrived in my classroom with a decorated flowerpot containing seedlings he had started in class. He also presented me with a Mother's Day "essay" (fill-in). It read (Joel's words in blue):

My mother is the most special mom in the whole world! She's as pretty as candy. She weighs 50 pounds and she is 20 feet tall. Her favorite food is mustroos (mushrooms). In the good ole days when my mom was little, she used to watch TV. I know my mom is sad when she lays down and I know my mom is happy when she remembers her list. (my personal favorite!) I think she looks funny when she laughs but I know when she is really angry when she breaks something. (???!!!) I wouldn't trade my mother for a toy train because I love her very much!

Too funny! I foresee a very busy weekend so...
Happy Mother's Day to all those moms out there!

Catch-Up

Pics are out of order!

Here are the pics of the new scrapping area that I've been meaning to post for quit some time. It's not 100% organized to my satisfaction yet, but you get the idea. I love it! Last weekend, I whipped up an "Organized Home" binder/scrapbook for a colleague's bridal shower. I love working right in front of a window and having Andy hanging out watching TV nearby while I scrap.

Before shot (don't worry, I still have the treadmill)...

Joel is loving baseball! The team he's on are truly beginners and it's comical to watch sometimes, but we are happy he's learning. He's so sweet looking in that uniform...the one that gets a heavy dosage of Zout twice a week! :0)

Enjoying the Weather!

Wow, it is gorgeous 'round here! the kids are having a ball playing outside, the house is opened up, and of course we are enjoying the first few grill-outs of the season! With warm weather comes the outdoor mishaps. Tuesday, Joel came to me in a panic because Hanna fell off her scooter in the driveway. Apparently she landed on a piece of something because she had split her eyelid. This was my first "Do I go the ER for stitches or will she be ok?" incident. This family has some pretty close (and practical) relatives, so I called up Aunt Cindy for some advice while Hanna lay crying with a cold washcloth on her eye. We were lucky because Cindy was actually on her way toward us. After her second opinion, we decided it was in a bad place for stitches and they probably would be able to do nothing for her, so I modified a butterfly bandage and patched her up. Cousin Kara played the part of deathbed nursemaid as Hanna was her drama queen self. I asked Hanna if she needed us to draw up her will, and she snuffed and mewed, "yes..." She may have a little scar...I'm a touch worried about that so we're using Mederma liberally. Two days later and she's parading around telling everyone and showing her trophy wound.

In other news, Andy just finished building me a new scrapbook area...in the bedroom! My front room work space is slated for the big remodel this summer (barring job loss), so Andy whipped up another one. I think he did a fantastic job! I'll post pics later; we're almost out the door to go pick up Andy from the bus garage and be on our way to Illinois for the weekend. One of these years, I really wish our school Spring Breaks would line up so we could relax and have a few days without one of us worrying about jumping right into school the moment we return! (It's always me, hence the griping!) Yeah, spring weather...more please! Happy Easter all!

It's Spring...Time to Pull out the Blue Eyeshadow!

The weather here has been spectacular over the past few days. But alas, the conversations have turned to how cold and how much rain and wet snow we're in for by tomorrow! I'm sure many in the midwest are having that conversation...I think my parents are getting a good dose of the white stuff as I write this! I saw a scrapbook embellishment that says, "Even the most fierce of winters fears the spring." I, for one, am ready to see spring fight back ASAP! The walks, the fresh air and sunshine...it does a body good after the winter doldrums.

In other news, I got some scrapbooking done today! It may be the last time before the whole scrapping area gets moved in preparation for our interior remodel (assuming I have a job come June 1). It felt good to get the heck out of school stress and the like. Joel earned his Tiger Cub Scout badge this afternoon. Later, we went for a walk in the neighborhood and met some new neighbors...they have a 3-year old and 1-year old. Joel and Hanna (mostly Hanna) are thrilled to have a new playmate. And......Monday is Andy's birthday! I can't wait to give him a present we've been hiding for awhile. I think I'll bake his favorite kind of cake and give him the night off from cooking for us! Tee Hee!

Well, someone's bugging me to come into the livingroom, so I'm off! Happy First Day of Spring! See you on the other side of this crazy weather! Oh, and I just thought I'd throw a crazy pic in here for good measure...I'm so proud of my little beauty queen! :0)

Time to Play Catch-Up

Joel is enjoying Optimist Basketball...

Joel raced a cool car at his very first Pinewood Derby. He even made it into the local paper

Here are some pics from oh, say, the last 2 months!!! Pretty bad, huh? Everything's going by so fast I guess. Joel is participating in a few extra activities, school is keeping me busy, and I have found myself in the throes of planning a major Cub Scout event at the end of February. Don't expect me to stay on top of things from this point on, either. Family and friends know how busy Feb./March gets with performances.

An additional thorn in my side this year is the gut-wrenching reality that budget cuts may kick me out of a job. Schools all around us are axing their specials teachers right and left. Every single time finances get tight, they go for the fine arts jugular. It's pathetic and cowardly to assume that the related arts aren't an important backbone in the life of every child. And don't get me started on the disparity between our elementary building and all the other schools in our district. We have the lowest SES demographic in the district. Our kids need absolutely every teacher and assistant we can muster. Yet, our building is ignored by the district while everyone else is under new construction and has all the bells and whistles. While our sister school has a full-scale rock-climbing wall in their gym and the board has approved additional bleachers for the space, our kids are having school in a building bathed in darkness with little natural light (due to budget cuts), a boiler that is on the fritz, second-hand playground equipment that sits rotting, and gymnasium bleachers that have threatened to cave in for 2 years. Boy, could I go on and on....!

Thanks for reading all that miserable venting! The sad thing is, that's not even half of the surrounding problems. I am scared for my livelihood. If I get RIF'd, who in their right mind is going to hire me when EVERYONE is cutting the arts? (and a master's degree to boot!) Deep breath in.....deep breath out.... Honestly, I had not intention of unloading in this post. I was simply aiming to catch up on the blog a bit since it's been sitting idle. Guess it just comes out easier when you know there's no one out there talking back to you and telling you to relax and quit worrying, and that there are far greater problems out there than my puny little elementary school job..............................How 'bout I just focus on the beautiful and joyous things in my life through pictures, eh? (I tried uploading a cute video of Hanna, but it never fully processed...I'll try again later.)