Teacher Appreciation Week

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week - or in the case of Isabel's school - Staff Appreciation. It's a chance for parents to say thank you to all those who work so hard to ensure that our children have a safe secure environment in which to learn. Isabel has truly enjoyed her time at William Winchester Elementary - aka Willie. During the week the staff are treated to such pleasures as a catered lunch and a gift card to a local restaurant or store.

In addition, Isabel and I put together these fun gifts (inspired by thestampteacher.blogspot.com and skiptomylou.org):

We filled bags with a food treat, a packet of Crystal Light and a quotation. Then tied the bags to a bottle of water and added a cute tag:

Thanks for the MOUNDS of work you do - included a Mounds candy bar

You are EXTRA special - included a pack of Extra gum

We're NUTS about you - included a package of almonds

You are o-FISH-ally one of the best - included a package of Goldfish

Willie SKOR-d big when you joined our team - included a Skor candy bar

The quotation inside the bag said:

The art of teaching consists of helping students feel that although you may stand in front of them you are really behind them.

It took a while - we needed to make 105 treats!

I have a great respect and admiration for those who can teach. We need more fabulous, dedicated and gifted teachers. When Isabel tells me she wants to be a teacher I cheer her on. Teaching is a definitely a gift and I thank God for those who choose to teach.

I can remember every teacher I had through the 6th grade and most of my junior high and senior high teachers. I remember the good and bad. School was (for the most part) a good experience. And Isabel and Nick both look forward to school and I believe it has a lot to with their teachers.

So, next week - or anytime - remember to say thank you to a teacher.

Quote for life

The best messes are the ones that just happen when you're too busy playing to notice.
-- Teacher Tom

This is courtesy of teachertomsblog.blogspot.com. This man is an amazing preschool teacher. I loved his most recent art project - Fly Swatter Painting (which is where his quote comes from).

PEEP Show

Isabel, once again, participated in the Carroll Arts Center Annual Peep Show. After last year's enormous dinosaus she decided to downsize and went with an 'alien cat' design. All done by her own hand - she's a master of the glue gun!

UPDATE: Isabel won the 'Out of the World' Award!
Check out the photos at the Carroll County Arts Council website - carrollcountyartscouncil.org - click on Arts Activities and then PEEP Show and you'll find a link to all the photos. Some very creative ideas.

We love daddy!

Sandbox Fun

The kids had fun playing in the sand - just getting ready for the Florida beaches!

The Greatest Show on Earth

We surprised the kids with a trip to the Circus last night. What fun! Upon our arrival we had to wait a few minutes inside the parking garage for the doors to open. Nick and Isabel asked if this was 'it' and I said yes. Nick's reply - BORING!

We arrived an hour before the show to take advantage of the pre-show. This allowed us to go down on the circus floor and interact with some of the clowns, try on dress up clothes and even walk the tight rope.

The best part was when the clown asked Santi to come up on stage. The clown had him try to balance a pole on his chin and forehead (which he did for about 3 seconds - impressive), then gave him some sunglasses and finally a red nose. At the end we were laughing as Santi discovered he had a white forehead and chin, black eyes and a red nose!

We had made the splurge for the Celebrity Seats which allowed us front row seats - so close we could almost touch these talented elephants!

The clowns came over throughout the show to interact with us. We got a chance to move to floor seats when the tight rope act came on because the rope was stretched right above our seats. And Isabel made special friends with this cute clown.

It was a great time for all!

For Sale

The house is finally for sale. It doesn't look like our house at all - plain walls, clean counters, beds made. Isabel told me she liked the house the other way - me too. The kids have been great about keeping things put away and I am so grateful. So say lots of prayers the house sells quick!

We are going to especially miss our backyard. Seems in Florida land is a premium. It will take some serious looking to find a house that suits our internal and external needs - the pool being a priority for the kids and the school being a priority for the parents. But I have faith it will all work out in the end.

Florida Bound!

After much thought, prayer and discussion we made the decision to relocate to Florida. Wow, what a relief to have this decision finally made. We have been in limbo for months, waiting to find out first the location - FL v VA, then if they would offer Santi a job in the new location.

The kids are excited (as much as they can be). We are trying to downplay the move so that Isabel stays focused on school. But when she asks we tempt her with thoughts of her own in-ground pool, trips to Disney since we will only be 3 hours away and trips to the beach. Nick is oblivious to the move idea except he tells me he will miss the snow so I tell him we can come back to a visit in the winter.

Santi met a few of the Miami Visa office folk yesterday and really enjoyed their company. In return they seemed excited to know he was coming and offered lots of encouragement and help with our move.

So now we are Florida bound. As many know I'm a blogaholic so I've been searching for blogs written by moms who living in the Ft. Lauderdale area as that's where we will be living since Broward County has much better schools than Dade County. Here's hoping I can make some online friends and get some good advice before we arrive.

More to come...

Isabel's birthday

It was a SPY PARTY for Isabel and a few friends from school. One of her favorite shows is Phineas and Ferb which features their pet, Perry the Platypus. Now Perry is really a secret agent, Agent P, which was the basis for her party.

We played some spy games:

- Guess Who - the kids had an animal taped to their back and they had to ask yes/no questions to determine which animal

- Footprints - we traced each child's foot and they had to guess who's foot was who's

- Fingerprints - everyone got fingerprinted and divided into teams, they had to put the name with the fingerprints

- What do you remember - the kids stared at a tray of miscellaneous objects for 30 seconds, then they had to list everything on the tray

- Target shooting - using a gun that shoots rubber discs the kids shot at three baskets to score points

- Pin the Hat on Agent P - just like Pin the tail on the donkey

- Find the thimble - with heads down and eyes closed, one child placed a thimble in plain sight, at the go ahead kids searched from their seats to find the thimble

- Pop the bombs - over 60 balloons covered the floor and the kids went crazy

Then it was cake time. This fabulous cake was made by a dear friend:

Friends!

Then sleepover time!

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Five years have flown by my little man. And wow have you grown. You (and your sister) definitely take after the Green side of the family.

Today I got to spend the morning with you at school and you even let Isabel come along. What a fun day. Chocolate cupcakes for you and your friends.

I remember the day before you were born. We celebrated Isabel's 3rd birthday with me volunteering in her classroom in the morning (Mrs. Slater's class). You weren't due for 2 weeks. After school we headed to Dundalk to pick up Nana and then go to the Rain Forest Cafe for an early dinner. By the time we were done dinner I knew I was in labor. The contractions were slow but steady. We got home and as I was putting Isabel to bed I told her that I probably wouldn't be here in the morning because I was going to have the baby real soon. I labored at home for a long while (much longer than with Isabel - my first trip to the hospital resulted in them telling me I was 1 centimeter and to go home - ugh!). By the time we headed to the hospital it was snowing. Daddy parked in the handicapped spot despite my protests. And to my glory I was at 7 cm! Yeah. I labored a while longer, slept a little and by morning you were ready to come into the world. Two big pushes (again unlike your sister who I pushed out for several hours) and you were here. A beautiful miracle.

You are the most amazing little boy - sensitive and caring, generous and kind. I'm so proud to be your mommy. I love you so very much. Happy #5!