Cheap, Cheap, Cheap

No I'm not a baby chick..I'm just trying to help all my "peoples" out. Have you looked into Skybus.com yet? B and I will be flying to NC this summer round trip for a total of 175 dollars. If you add in travel time to the airport and our final destination (with gas and all) we're spending around 350 dollars for both of us to "fly". When I checked out local flights all the tickets were at least 325 dollars a piece so I'm pumped about the savings. Check it out!!! See if you can come visit me!!!

Mamma Mia'!!!

What a wonderful Mother's Day gift! Megan and Ben (in care of B) sent Mom and I to see Mamma Mia' at the Aranoff. The production was amazing. The energy, music, costumes, and story made for a fun night. Thanks to Aunt Meg and Uncle Ben for keeping B for our night out on the town!

The Count Down Has Begun!

I know, I know, I know I shouldn't wish my life away and really I'm not. Who in their right mind wouldn't start counting down to our two week trip to NC this summer! After much debate, and honest conversations about my need for "alone time" and my grumpiness; the Gibbs have graciously invited us down for two weeks this summer. The kids will go to day camp for one of the weeks, maybe a short trip to the beach, porch time, good friends/food. Nancy asked if there was anything special I wanted to do or people I wanted to see. It became very apparent that I have good friends because the two most important people to see....Nancy and Emily! Maybe we'll relive our final spring break again.....Emily with shopping, me with a Tattoo, and some cleaning chore at Nancy's. Girls do you remember that fiasco? I still haven't figured out how Nancy worked in us painting her bedroom into a girl's fun week! Or how about a drinking night; like when we had all of those martini's at that fancy restaurant? Ooooo, good times! Looking forward to see you two and spending time together....a girls night out IS A REQUIREMENT!!!!

LUV YA BOTH!!!

Our "Pigs" have flown!

What a weekend! Friday after work B and I headed downtown for the health and fitness expo to pick up unc's running packet. He was so well behaved; said please and thank you. The booths handed out so many freebies we went home with a bag full of "stuff".
Saturday morning we got up and headed back downtown with Nana in tow for the Piglet race. The amount of people and kids was amazing. Although the race wasn't as organized as this teacher would have liked, we did have fun. B "ran" and won a gold medal. He wore it proudly, between his two year old meltdowns! It was a good morning.
Unc arrived home that evening and we headed over to Megan's for the family Pasta Party. Unc seemed pumped and Aunt Meg was ready for her relay (Three Chicks & A Legend) too.
Sunday morning arrived quickly, the weather was perfect. Nana, B, and I headed out to see if we could catch a glimpse of Unc and Meg. Unc ran by at mile 12, looking healthy and spry. Note: I don't even look that good after driving 12 miles! He pointed at B, and B tried to run along side of him. Now that was a cute moment! Meg, finished her part of the relay and met up with us. We then loaded back up and headed downtown to the finish line. We saw Unc again. This time he looked tired but still moving strong, and told us "THIS SUCKS!"....but damn he finished! I'm impressed, inspired, and overall amazed at the sites I've seen this weekend.
This event showed me that all types of people run; thin, fat, young, old, able, disabled. I should have no excuses for not getting out and moving (IE. getting exercises) everyday. If all these people can I can too! Wanna join me....I need support?!

TEST TEST TEST!!!

Why must we adults take the simplest things and make them ever so daunting? This week all the school children in Ohio took the Achievement Test. You say no big deal, however it is such a poor evaluating tool. Now, if you know me you know I'm not some super political person but the idea that this test is simply to please the all mighty politicians is clear! Take a step back with me!

When you were in 6th grade, what was your daily routine like? Do you remember your math teacher? How about your best friend? Remember those silly notes "Do you like me? Circle yes or no". Did you know what surface area was? How about volume? Shut, can you name the formulas today?

Now, lets compare your memories to the lives of some of my children. I have 2 in foster care, at least a dozen living in condemned houses, 40% of them receive free or reduced lunch (meaning their parents don't make an average income to support them), three of them don't even speak English as their first language, and seven have parents who don't even know English. These issues don't even begin to address emotional and physical issues. So to help them out we adults decide that providing them with two to four straight days of 2 1/2 hour testing is a great idea. The test covers everything they were to learn in this grade level, however the year isn't over. The test is written in such a way that not only requires them to know the content but to be able to apply, sort, and utilize various steps after choosing the proper procedure. Last year one of the math questions was as follows: (note this was not a multiple choice question)

Sara and Bob want to sell popcorn for a fundraiser.

Sara wants to sell small bags of popcorn.

Bob wants to use large bags of popcorn.

Sara will charge $1.00 for her small bag of popcorn. The small bag is 2 x 4 x 6.

The large bag of popcorn is 3x5x7. How much should Bob sell it for.

Some of you math whizzes might have figured this out right away. But my babies had to know that they needed to find the volume of each bag and then create a proportion to compare volumes to the cost in order to get the correct answer. Not only did we expect them to know what to do but then also do the calculations correctly. All this from kids who still to this day write notes about who loves who and if this boy likes this girl.

The test are required, and they do serve a purpose, so we'll keep giving them. Just remember the complexity when you begin to criticize schools for not being highly qualified. There are so many unmeasurable factors. We, both teachers and students, work hard, failing is not something we strive to do!

Sunshine from Strangers

The best thing happened to us tonight! B and I met Aunt Megan at a nearby Perkins. Nothing fancy, just another night out to dinner. We were chatting away, B sitting with my on one side of the booth and Meg on the other. An older man came in and sat down in the booth behind us. My son, the friendly talker, struck up a conversation with this stranger. I tried as best I could to keep B focused on his dinner but then the stranger started interacting with him and all was lost. The man announced that all of his grandchildren were grown and gone, as he began to "make a mouse" for B.
The mouse was a handkerchief contraption that had ears, nose, body and tail. It was adorable, he crossed his arms and made the mouse jump in the crook of his elbow. A couple of times the mouse jumped right out of his arms onto his booth. B was amazed and just kept asking "What's that?".
We all went about our business for a few minutes. B kept turning around and smiling at the man, but he was well behaved so I let him go. Listen, a well behaved two year old is much more acceptable than a screaming one! The man then began asking B what his name was and how old he was and so on. B did a great job holding a conversation. Finally the man said B "I like your name. I wish I had your smile! Do you have a piggy bank at home?" To which B answered "yeeeeeesssssssssssssssss". The man continued, "would your mom let you have a couple of dollars to put in that bank" as he looked at me. I replied "oh, no! Maybe a couple of pennies". To which the stranger took out his wallet and handed B a 5 dollar bill! He instructed B not to buy any junk, to which my hilarious son answered "ahhhh, man!". B then on his own said Thank you, and our evening went on.
I considered slipping the 5 back to him, but it seemed that giving money to B made this stranger happy. B slid the 5 into his pocket we came home and it is now in his piggy bank.
I know it is important to teach our children to stay away from strangers, but sometimes it's important to teach them to be kind and friendly too. The whole event made me happy and I hope that this stranger has joyous events placed into his life because he sure brought some into ours!