Easter Weekend

Had a really great weekend with the family.  It's warming up and I love it.  My mom rented a cabin at McCormick's Creek state park for Charlie's birthday.  I took the boys out there on Saturday.   We hiked around for hours and then I went home to my bed and watched some NCAA tournament basketball. The Hoosiers are out but I still like to watch.  Harrison's friend Griffin runs for Villanova, so they drove to Louisville to watch the Villanova-Kansas game.  Nova put #1 seed Kansas out.  It was a pretty exciting game.

I went back on Sunday for more hiking and fun. Hayden is terrified of heights but he finally climbed the fire tower.   I had to pay him $20 to go to the top. And then Uncle Scotty offered $10 to anyone that could stay under the freezing cold water for 5 minutes. 

Hayden and Sydney for the win!!

We also crawled through Wolf Cave. That place is so fun.  I got a little freaked out by all of the spiders though.  To exit the cave, you have to belly crawl through water to get out.  I didn't really enjoy that part, but I survived.  My mom took video of us all crawling out.   I haven't watched it yet, but I'm sure it's entertaining. 

My mom made a delicious carrot cake and Abby made cupcakes for all of us. It was such a great weekend. I hope Charlie had a fun birthday!  

The boys can't wait to go camping this summer. I'll probably take a bunch of boys again. I plan to sit by the fire with my feet up doing absolutely nothing!   2 more days until  my spring break!!! 

Day 3 of No Internet

We haven't had internet at work all week.  I almost walked out today.  This school is right in the middle of a major city in the United States of America.  It's not on a tropical island in the middle of a third world country.  How in the hell do we still not have internet?  I told the office staff that we better have internet tomorrow, or I'm quitting.  The one thing that I do like about this no internet thing is NO EMAIL.  HAAAAAA!!  But when the internet does start working again, my inbox is going to go crazy.

One student drew this instead of doing his Daily Math Spiral

The 6th graders have lost their damn minds this week.  I have another new student and let me tell you, these last 2 new students have put me over the edge.  I have NEVER met kids like these.  They will straight up tell you to shut the fuck up. Without even blinking.  I'm pretty sure these kids were kicked out of their other schools.  General insubordination seems to be the new norm in grade 6 this week.  One kid was jumping down flights of stairs on the way to electives yesterday.  I asked him to stop.  I begged him to stop.  He just laughed at me.  He jumped down the next flight and landed on his face.  He had to be taken to the hospital.  He has 5 stitches in his forehead now.  I have 48 days left with these kids.  

Skittles and ISTEP

I survived ISTEP.  Barely.   I planned a ton of fun activities for the week.  The kids were bonkers, so we only finished a few of them.   I think they enjoyed the graphing day with Skittles the most.  They also designed zoos and learned about biodiversity in Mexico.  That place is amazing.  It's considered to be megadiverse!  Of course, only 3 kids found this interesting.

On Wednesday, I forgot my Diet Coke.  So after ISTEP, I ran to the gas station next door.  I bought a ton of caffeine.  I also got flowers from one of my students that morning.  Super sweet kid.  It made my day.  Sometimes, kids are awesome.  

The internet was down all day today at work.  I had a ton of visuals to help introduce Energy Transformation to my class.  I projected a few of the pics off of my phone, but it didn't really get the job done. This job is exhausting.  I can't wait for Spring Break.  I don't have the same break as my boys, so I can't take them to Florida this year.  I think I've taken them every years since they were 2.  This is going to suck.  Henry is bummed, but we are planning a trip in June.  I'm hoping to drive down to the Keys.  

Hayden in Florida. 2003

I'm taking Henry to his first Blackhawks game in a few weeks and I got him tickets to the men's Big Ten tournament final game on Sunday.  I'm really hoping that Indiana makes it to that game!  

Hayden wanted a desk for his birthday.  I took him to Staples and he picked one out.  That kid put the entire thing together all by himself.  I helped hold things and handed him the screws, but he did it himself.  I was impressed!  

I've been thinking about all of the things that I need to teach these two before they get out of high school.  The list is long.  I have a few short years to make it all happen.

Henry Spring Break 2007

Harrison got a job at the Wayport Kennels. I69 forced the owner off of his property, so he built a brand new facility off of Vernal Pike. Harrison is really worried about managing his time and maintaining his GPA.  I can't believe how responsible he has become.  It's nice.  

Birthday Boys

The boys turned 14 on Sunday.  We spent almost 5 hours in the car on that day driving back from Ann Arbor.  It was sunny and 70 degrees.  Bummer that we had to spend it in a car.  It was a rough weekend for the Blades.  2 players stayed home and one kid got kicked out of the entire tournament.  We tied for 3rd place and there were only 4 teams.  Ouch.

I think the boys had fun though. They got to play 2 games at Yost arena where the Wolverines play.  It is amazing there.  Hayden scored a goal on his birthday.  He was super happy about that.  He also mentioned that he checked someone into the boards.  I didn't see it, but I believe him.  Hayden is still in denial that this is a contact sport.  He stays as far away from the other players as possible and Henry will just lay someone out.  He's fun to watch.