the hats.

Hats: wool, captain's, baseball, fishing, little red beret, knit, top, fedora, cloche, cowboy, straw, bonnet (I always sported silk flower adorned easter bonnets as a child). Some hats for function; some merely fashion.

I have come to determine that I am, in fact, a woman of many hats. I am a teacher. I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a cook, a baker, a cleaning woman. I am an unofficial counselor. I am a follower of the Lord. I am a student once again. Some hats are neglected here most certainly. One of my main part time hats is that of 'Soccer mom' to Alayna and Joshua and to the Croatian Eagles Red Soccer team; I am "the coach's wife," team blogger, and unofficial photographer. Alayna plays only in the fall and spring, as she is now a middle school pom and dancer, that's right I wear that hat now too; it's a blue one with sparkles.

This weekend, our Eagles family played in their second tournament of the new season. Alayna's soccer team kicked off their season yesterday too. It was a busy weekend at the roaming office of the soccer mom. Lanes kicked off in Eagle. Josh and the boys played five games in New Berlin. Let me just share that this hat was a pleasure to sport this weekend. Though I still love to wear it when my littles lose, it is so easy to wear when they win. And win they all did. Alayna won under the unplanned and unexpected coaching of her godfather: Uncle Steve. Josh and the birds of flight shot out every team they played into the championship game. Even then, only one ball made way into the Eagles net on a PK. No designer could duplicate this soccer mom's hat to my kiddos.

Now it's time to juggle the hats of mom and cleaning lady to prepare the house for the day job hat. I picked up a new hat as I prepare for my grad class tomorrow. Time to finish correcting papers and planning for my extended weekday family of 130+ in my teacher hat. And I will do all of this, with a smile, because my life is full and amazing with this closet brimmed with hats. I wouldn't trade even one of them for anything. Now if you'll excuse me, my nurse hat is on . . . Alayna is under the weather.

last day

Tomorrow I return to the wonderful chaos of my classroom filled with students. Yes. I was called back last week. I love my job and am filled with excitement for what's to come. It is a bit like that last week of pregnancy when you haven't met your baby yet and wonder what he or she will be like. I can't wait to meet my new kids, all 130 of them.

But getting back to today. I sit and write across the table from my littlest while he pages through a school calender admiring the selection of student artwork chosen for this upcoming school year. My oldest still lies in bed at 10:24, enjoying this last chance to catch extra hours of sleep. Tomorrow she will be eating lunch already at this time.

Today is a day to celebrate my kiddos and bring a close to the vacation called summer while empowering them to anticipate all the amazing opportunities on their way at school this year. It's a day to be a family, for me to be their mom.

By the end of this school year I will have a teenager going into her last year of middle school and a 10 year old heading into fifth grade. Each day matters as a parent. And I am Laney and Josh's mom everyday. Today is a celebration of that. Tomorrow our family multiplies once again.

crawling back to potential normalcy...

i love my life. it consistently reminds me that normal is in fact relative. for teachers, summer vacation is a break from our "normal" routine. for stay-home moms, school affords a break from the "normal" daily parenting tasks of summer. for those of you "normal" teachers out there whose schedules and tasks vary little from year to year, you are prepared for another "normal" year.

and so here i am, unsure which normal to prepare for as i have not been recalled to my classroom or school, yet enjoying the "normal" chaos of my life as a parent. let "normal" reign, and i will as i have a few weeks to go before everything returns to "normal?" once again.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the daddies of the world!
dan is a great father to our children. he might not be touchy-feely like I am, but he sure does love the kids and me. he cares for us in his constant hard work and devotion to all aspects of our needs.
josh and i initiated father's day on friday by cleaning out the gazebo and assembling the outdoor swing; the hope was to relieve just a smidge of pressure from daddy's "to do" list. josh selected flowers that we planted in honor of dan in pots along the front walk. last night father's day continued at a picnic where josh and his friends bestowed deliberately individualized treats for their dads: dan was gifted a cadbury fruit and nut bar and a box of reeses pieces. this morning after a breakfast with my oldest brother's family, dan opened his tokens of our love. a trip to brennens in search of apricots (one of his favs) and dinner at five guys nearly closed out the celebration until my car coughed, choked up, and died.
dan's final gift this father's day is his current trip to the auto store in hopes that the new battery will resurrect my turmoiled coche. ironic right? my husband, the father of my littles concludes this father's day loving us the way he does, working hard to make our lives better.

No ipad for YOU!

:) so i really did not expect an i-pad at the close of techno-camp. i really didn't. and i didn't receive one. :) those who were part of the original techno team unwrapped their i-pads. and then those, like me, who are currently laid-off, had to wrap them back up and return to sender. i mean . . . not a huge surprise.

today was then officially Day 1 of summer break for me. it was wonderful. laney's with a friend; josh and i just enjoyed the unstructured time together: errands, library, doc appt, breakfast, ice cream, planting flowers for daddy, cleaning out the gazebo (this is absolutely the latest we have ever gone without opening it up for use!!), and now listening to books on CD while the storm roles through Muk-town.

josh's soccer practice has been rescheduled three times due to weather. he is supposed to have it again tonight. what do you suppose God is telling us? we'll see if the air takes a turn in favor of practice or not. i know i needed the timeout, or should i say time-in? my psyche screamed for a moment of introspection of what and who really matters in this brief life. i think God has been pretty clear these past few days.

boot camp at summer vaca.

though my status as a teacher is at bay, i am enjoying three days of technology boot camp offered by my maybe school district.

let me say. overwhelming. i am old and rusty, but teachable.
so i am in the midst of a slew of projects as i teeter off task to write. a class moodle for american lit honors, my edu-blog page, updating both good reads and shelfari, adding to delicious, altering my membership email addresses, and more.

did i mention that the sun is at peak for the week right now as i shiver in the rather cavelike confines of the windowless library.

i am in all truth thrilled to be here. seriously. no sarcasm intended. there is such a wealth of technology out there, well right here, and our students are going to be entering a world where these skills will be utilized and commonplace. it is my responsibility to bring it to them.

one more day of techno-sweat tomorrow. and then summer, maybe indefinitely, begins.