I'm a Nerd!

I was at a workshop today, and the presenter showed this clip. It is a single guy, singing four different parts, paying tribute to John Williams's music and telling the story of Star Wars. I completely loved it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4

The Dog Days of Summer

I really don't have any fun pictures to share or any fun anecdotes that have happened, but I thought I really should attempt to blog since I've been so bad at it recently.

Summer is getting into a good rhythm. Last week, Braden and I got to spend some quality time together. We pretty much played outside, played the Wii, played at the park, and watched Phineas and Ferb... a lot. We also took a special day and went to the movies, just the two of us, to see "The Prince of Persia." Let me just say that Braden and I absolutely loved this movie! It was like the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" when it came out. So fun!

The boys both go to their summer programs every weekday. Landon is at his pre-school and is having fun every day. This week he is the story helper- not sure what this position does, but he was excited. Every Friday they have "Water Day," which basically means they are playing in water hoses and kiddie pools. This Friday, they do get to go to the Mickey Mouse pool and have fun splashing around in the city pool. How would you like to be in charge of fifty 3, 4, and 5 year olds?

Braden is attending T.R.A.C.K.S. at his school. It's a character building educational summer program that helps bridge the gap during the end of one year and the beginning of the next to help students not loose too much of what the teachers gave them and have fun in the process. He gets to spend the day reading, playing with a lot of the kids from his class, and doing special programs. They get to travel two days a week with this program. This week, they're going to a petting zoo and then a picnic and play time at the river. Sounds kind of fun to me!

As for me and mom, we've been working on creating a bedroom for the boys to share. Since we are all staying in mom and dad's house (my house is basically stripped down to studs in most areas, and Jonathan's work schedule keeps him out at weird hours), the boys really don't have a space of their own. Mom finally decided that she was forgoing her formal living room and turning it into Braden and Landon's room. We've gotten bunk beds, moved all the "adult furniture" out, and started setting up a cool play/bed/activity room for them. They seem really excited about having their own beds, at least until bedtime. For the last nine months or so, they have been sleeping in one of our beds. I guess we're going to have to work hard to get them used to sleeping in their own beds again!

I'm meeting with my new principal tomorrow to go over my staff development plan for the summer and to see one of my new classrooms. I'm really excited about working at Batesville again. The elementaries are set up magnet style- meaning each elementary focuses on certain aspects to allow students a chance to better meet their interests. Eagle Mountain focuses on Health and International/ Multicultural Interests. I can't wait to do all the World Drumming and other programs I've always wanted to do. Central, the other elementary I'll be at, focuses on math and science. I can't wait to start coming up with lesson plans that relate to all the fun subjects these schools can bring. It's going to be fun!

I guess that's all I have to share right now. I really didn't mean to type so much, so I guess I had more going on than I thought I did.

Change is a-comin'

Well, since I haven't posted since the beginning of March (bad blogger!), lots of things have happened. We've had lots of concerts and several graduations, including our own graduate!

First, at the end of April, the band director and I took a couple of our ensembles to Branson to compete in the Music in the Parks series. The band placed second with a good rating, and the Chamber Choir placed fourth with a good rating as well. Which meant we brought home trophies. Yeah us!

The next weekend (what poor planning on our part!) was the 2nd Annual ICC Talent Show. We had fun with over twenty entries in the competition. Congratulations to the winners!

The next Monday, I did something really intense. I interviewed for an elementary position in Batesville. Apparently Helen Musgrave is retiring, so her position at Eagle Mountain and Central will be open for next year. After going through the interview process, I was offered the job and accepted. There were just too many pros and not enough cons to not take this job. So a week later, I resigned at ICC. I was able to prepare a couple of students before I made the announcement, so it wasn't a total shock. However, one of my students recently asked her mother who my sub was going to be until I came back!

On May 24th Braden graduated from Kindergarten. And Landon had his Spring program too. I'm so proud of both of them. Braden even did most of the motions this year, rather than standing there looking mad! Landon, on the other hand, looked scared to death the whole time he was on stage. At one point he even tried to escape.

We've made it to the end of another school year, and am looking forward to relaxing and reading a few books. Braden and I have three days by ourselves this week. Everyone else is in school through Thursday!