Looking forward to the weekend.....

I'll be quite honest, it has been a rough week for my kids and I. It's tough being a special-needs mom and working. Sometimes, I feel I can't advocate for them since I can't help out at their school. And then when I see things that as an educator I KNOW should be done differently, it upsets me. So we are taking each day one day at a time and trying to see some glimmers of positives.

We are very much looking forward to this three-day weekend because ALL of us need three days to relax and regroup.

This evening, we are hitting Kings Island (until it closes) and hopes the rain doesn't hit until the park closes. The weekend seems like a washout with rain heading our way, but sometimes that is a blessing in disguise.

Enjoy your weekend!

Wordless Wednesday ~ New Glasses

First Week Recap

The first week of school was quite a blur! We are so very thankful for a 3-day school week! Cinderella and Mr. C had a great week of school! They love going to school and riding the bus. (Honestly, I do not know why the bus is so much fun since I HATED riding it when I was a kid!)

Today, we went to Soak City since Mr. C's foot is healed. He had a BALL! He loved the waves and would tilt his head back and laugh out loud when a wave crashed into him. They also enjoyed going down twisting water slides made for kids as well as a pirate ship that had slides and water spouts and tunnels. Fun was had by all!

The kids had a great first day of school! I had a good start for my 13th year of teaching second grade! I'm starting to feel OLD!

Open House!

Last night was Cinderella's Open House for her second grade homeroom class. Tonight, it was Mr. C's turn to meet his homeroom teacher and the big transition is that they switch for Language Arts/Math/Science/S.Studies. I cannot believe how old they are getting! They were so excited to see old friends from last year and Mr. C has his girlfriend in his class again for the THIRD year!!

This was taken in her intervention specialist's class! There are 7 students in this class and there are only 2 girls in that group! (Poor teacher!! Ha Ha Ha!)

This was taken in his third grade homeroom class. He has a special friend H from church that is in his class this year. He also has his "girlfriend" in the same class!

I am gearing up for my 13th year of teaching second grade! I also start on the same day and am looking forward to a new school year and teaching 13 students!!

In 2 days....

I will have a second grader and a third grader! Wow! My babies are not babies anymore! Tonight, Matt took Cinderella to her Open House. She met her second grade teacher who was Mr. C's student teacher in second grade last year.  I had my Back to School Night and have met most of my new students. Tomorrow evening is Mr. C's Open House and I am so glad to be able to attend of my children's events!!

School starts on Wednesday! I hope to post a pic of everyone on Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday - One week to go!

Hibbard Clan

This is my dad's family! He is the second oldest of 13 children! Yep! Did they get a tv show for having a big family? NOPE! LOL! My dad is the second from the left in the back row. He went to his family reunion on Saturday and this photo was taken there.

I am fascinated with large families! It's amazing how most of them have some sort of same facial feature that makes them siblings. No doubt my grandmother was an amazing person and mother in her time! I was blessed to have known her for the first 17 years of my life and she was the only grandmother I really knew since my mom's mom died when I was a baby.

There are about 40 something grandchildren and also more numerous great-grandchildren and great, great-grandchildren!

It's been awhile...

Last week was quite busy with doctor appointments, teacher training, and classroom prep. One WONDERFUL piece of news was that Mr. C graduated to going to the eye doctor once a YEAR! Woooohoooo! Ever since he was like 3 months old, we have been going to the eye doctor EVERY 3 months!! I am overjoyed probably more than him! (Now, if Cinderella could get promoted to once a year, life would be GRAND!)

Last week, I worked in my classroom, met most of my new students at the Get Aquainted Party, finished school shopping, helping my sister, and had a cookout with Matt's family. The kids enjoyed going to 3 different parks this weekend. All in all, it has been fun but TIRING!

I am down to the last few days with my kiddos. It is bittersweet times. There are certain things I will miss and other things I will NOT (constant fighting and whining!). We all need to get back into the groove of things!!

So this week, I am taking them to the movies, Kings Island, and the Aquatic Center (for a birthday party), so that last full week of summer should be fun for them!

Beautiful Day

Yesterday, we had one of those beautiful summer days with low humidity and lower temperatures. The kids and I spent a lot of time outside playing (well, the kids played and I watched!) and enjoying the weather. After dinner, we took the kids to Kings Island for a few hours. I can't ride most of the rides (and I can tell you how that REALLY annoys me!), but I can ride a few rides like Surf Dog, Scrambler, Monster, and Boo Blasters which are all smooth, non-jerking rides. The weather was cool and just PERFECT! We had so much fun!

Our Kentucky Adventure

We had to cancel our Lake Michigan adventure due to Mr. C's foot infection. We tried to get a cabin at Hocking Hills with no luck. We looked into Indy, but it was the Brickyard race so....a weekend later, we decided to head to Kentucky!

My parents were born in Southeastern Kentucky. I have lots of family there....too numerous to count because my dad is one of 13 children. When his parents passed away, Dad inherited 9-10 acres of land in Clay County near Manchester. His land is near the old home of my grandparents. My memories of them are in that house and playing outside there. Well, it is completely different because that house is gone and weeds and trees have taken its place.

We park Dad's car and head up a dirt made path to Dad's land. The banjo medley from the movie "Deliverance" came to mind as we trek to the location. I am being SERIOUS people! Many of the homes in this holler are so old and in bad repair! It really was sad! I must say it is so quiet and peaceful. I was a little on-edge due to an incident that happened a few years ago at a different location in the same county. (I think it has brought some peace and closure to my hated feelings of that place!)

His land is full of trees, hills, grass, and just untouched nature! He walked around and checked it out while we watched. (Too many unfamiliar plants prevented us from exploring too much!) The land would be perfect for a cabin, but it is so far away from civilization that I think I would be in panic mode if an emergency came up.

We visited one of Dad's brothers and his family and my mom's sister and husband.

The highlight of the trip was Cumberland Falls. It was my mom's idea and I haven't been there since the summer before my senior year in high school (1993). It was so much fun, but a little scary due to rocks, steps, and dangerous cliffs. We had very firm holds on Mr. C the entire time and it was helpful to have his Papaw there. The Falls are so very large and beautiful!

The kids enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool and (despite getting hit in the head with a football) I enjoyed the pool as well! Cinderella did NOT want to go home and wanted to hang out at the pool. It was a fun weekend!