Summer Vacation!

A lot has happened since I last posted: school ended, awards happened, a trip to Vegas for a funeral was taken, and my dropbox account was out of room, so it was hard for me to post pictures!

Let's recap, shall we?

 A few days after the 8th grade trip to the water park, it was the 4th-7th graders turn to enjoy a day in the sun.  Evan was excited because this was his first time at the "big kid" field trip.

 I bought the boys new bathing suits, goggles, and World Cup T-shirts for their last day of school presents.  However, Evan really needed a bathing suit for the water park, so I gave them their suits on Thursday.  I love Evan's flower suit.  He seems to like it as well.

 I barely saw him throughout the day.  He was having so much fun hanging with his friends.  Funny story: he and his friend Isaiah were going to split the cost of renting a boat (see picture).  Evan got super excited when I told him I was going to pay for his boat.  It was very sweet.

 I decided on pony tails for this field trip.  And a sucker.

 I look a bit goofy in the photo, but Miss V looks great!  She's getting married next December!

 Coach Washington hanging out.  We all floated in the lazy river.  Relaxing day.

 Hi Stacey!

 She got mad that I took a photo without her knowing, so I took another.  Little did she know both would end up on the blog!  It was a very easy and low key day.  Perfect way to end the year the day before awards.

 On the last day of school, Eric was with us for Mass and awards.  Both kids got an Excellence in P.E. award, and Evan got Principal's Honor Roll.  So proud.  Right after school was over at 11 we headed to Las Vegas.  We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe our first night there.

The reason for the trip was because Eric's sister, Cynthia, passed away a few weeks ago, and we were heading there for the funeral.  I didn't mention it before because not everyone in the family was immediately aware of the circumstances.  She had a heart attack and passed away in her sleep.  Very sad situation.

 First night in the hotel.  The boys were snuggled up with each other...kind of like the dogs!

 We decided to stay one extra day to make a tiny vacation out of the long trip.  Ever since I ate at The Rain Forest Cafe in Anaheim, I have been wanting to take the boys.  Since there was one at the MGM Grand, we ate there on night three.  Hudson loved it when the animals started moving!  Evan said he liked it as well.

We changed hotels for night three.  Eric plays a game online and earns points.  He redeemed his points for a free night at Circus Circus!  After Rain Forest Cafe, we went back to our hotel and proceeded to spend $60 for the lovely stuffed animals in the above photo!  Ah well.  The boys had a TON of fun playing games.

 After driving home on Monday, we did NOTHING on Tuesday.  I worked a bit on Wednesday.  Then we went to visit Grandma on Thursday.  She bought the boys mustache straws.
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 Grandma loves us!

 They aged over night!

We left Grandma's house and went to soccer practice.  Apparently, there was a fire off in the distance.  Not good.  I submitted my photo to ABC 30.  They never responded.  They didn't care!

 I had to work again today.  People like to get their paychecks!  After we left school, the kids and I headed to the movies to see How to Train Your Dragon 2.  We were too early.  I guess I misread Fandango.  We bought the tickets and went to lunch.

 Miss Drew asked me if I could pick up a package at their house.  She said we could use the pool!  Yay! Too cold for me, but Hudson is doing great with his swimming skills.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get in and teach him a few more things.

 He's not afraid of the water.  Goggles help.

 Their back yard is GORGEOUS!  Evan was being a pill and didn't want his picture taken.  Oh well.  Too bad.

 Chicken is a fish!

Evan and Eric relax after dinner by the pool.

That is what we have been up to for the past week or so.  I spent a good amount of time going through my dropbox files to free up space.  I should be posting regularly for the summer.

Oh, and we are SUPER excited that World Cup has started!!!  I've already watched three games!  I NEVER would have dreamed I would care, much less pay attention, to soccer!

New Shoes and Healthy Lungs

My little goofy-faced kid.  Post shower jumping on my bed.

 Someday this face is going to grow up and leave me.  Hard to imagine.

 When did his little body get so long?  And how did I miss it?

 After our Weight Watchers meeting, we ate at El Pollo Loco.  Then Eric took Hudson to get new shoes, and I took Evan to Wal Mart to get snacks for the trip to the water park tomorrow.

Hudson gets a field trip tomorrow as well.  His class is off to Pump it Up and then back to school for a pizza and ice cream party.

Harry was missing his best friend.  He often climbs into Eric's neck and just stays there.

Today was interesting.  I had my follow up appointment to see if my lungs are going to give out on me.  They aren't.  I'm fine.  The doctor was a little more forthcoming about the bad stuff that could have been my life if the test came back positive for restricted lung disease.  Biopsies, steroid, oxygen.  Yikes!  I'm glad I didn't do any research or know how serious of a thing he was looking at when sending me for those breathing tests.  Basically, I don't breathe out the same amount of air as everyone else.  I take in enough oxygen and it circulates through my blood stream properly, but I can't blow out very well.  In other words, instruments that require large amount of puffed air are not for me.  Piano is more my speed!

School was crazy busy.  Kindergarten graduation.  Filling out awards.  Planning our schedule for next year.  Planning summer school.  Filling out yet more awards.  Assigning summer algebra homework.

The kids were super excited...NOT!  I gave them the first two chapters to have completed as they walk in the door on the first day of school in August.  However, I really stressed that coming to summer math camp is a good thing because I would be going over the first two chapters there.  In other words, getting this work done will be a LOT easier if they are at math camp.

Can't believe it is 8:30.  I have a lot of awards to finish before heading to the water park.

Off to the Water Park

Today was the little kid field trip to Blackbeard's.  It is a water park/game/ride park.  I only took Hudson because it is much easier to keep track of one kid rather than multiple.  It's a good thing I only had him, because I ended up having to stay late to make sure all parents left, and I didn't get back to school until close to 1 p.m. 

 Apparently Hudson needs new shoes.  Ugh!  My kids are so rough on shoes.  These puppies need to last three more days.  However, he'll need tennis shoes for summer stuff, so looks like a trip to the shoe store is happening soon.

 Mommy and Hudson heading to the water park.

 Ready to play Laser Tag.

 Bumber boats!

 Waiting for everyone to be loaded in their boat.

 Enough with the pictures, Mom!

 Manning the boat with ease.

 Piece of cake!  (Other kids got stuck...there was a bit of drama!)

Almost time to go home!

Yesterday the preschool had their graduation.  These were some of the decorations up on the wall.  Super cute!  I'm thinking of doing something like this at an 8th grade level!  Maybe for Open House!  Parents would love it!

Recovering From the Weekend

Farewell happened.  Costco happened.  Graduation happened.  Three graduation parties happened.  Soccer happened.  Team pizza party happened.  Four boys running around my house playing happened.  Filling out awards happened.  Laundry happened.

What didn't happen was getting to the grocery store, getting my Sunday paper for my coupons and making my CVS run.  For that, I am a bit bummed.

I don't have any pictures of farewell or graduation because I was busy running the events.  I don't know that the parents would have understood if I told them to pause so I could take pictures for my blog.

Trust me, though, both events were amazing, beautiful, fun, rewarding, and worth it!

 Must be nice to have a warm and fuzzy blanket to rest upon.  These two dogs have a nice life.

 Harry.  I don't think it's that cute of a shot of him.

Bandit.  He needs to be groomed.  Looking a little shaggy.

 Hudson (left) and Nathan head to head playing on a phone.  Sometimes it's tough being the little brother.  Somehow these two manage to find things to do during soccer games.  I always crack up at how close they sit to play games.  Gives me the heebie geebies to sit that close to people!

 The team we played was tough and were up 3-0 in the second half.  I was so proud of our boys for keeping their heads up and staying calm.  They managed to rally back to tie the game 3-3.  That was enough to give us first place for the spring league!  Evan is on the far left.

 They boys always come over to the parent side for high fives.

 It was pretty hot outside.  Sweaty Hudson.

We have the first of two award ceremonies this afternoon.  Today is the sports and third trimester awards such as grades and perfect attendance.  Friday after Mass we have the end of year awards.  The photo above is the hundred or so awards that I have already filled out.

My 8th graders are gone and graduated, but that doesn't mean I am short on things to do.  Clean my office and classroom are at the top of the list along with getting ready for awards.  I'm also going on two field trips this week.  It won't slow down until next week!

 The flowers I received at Farewell from the students as a thank you.  They look great on the corner table and the lilies are just starting to open.

These are the roses that I purchased from Costco for the graduation.  After the ceremony, I brought them home to enjoy.  They are gorgeous!  Roses from Costco are only $16.99 for TWO dozen!  It's almost worth it to buy some every few weeks to pretty up the table where I sit!

In any case, both bouquets make me surprisingly happy.

Lunch, Farewell, and More Lunch

I've done a pretty poor job of chronicling the past few days.  Things have been so crazy busy getting ready for graduation that I haven't even thought about taking out my phone for pictures.

I did manage to grab a couple photos of kiddos on the go.

 Father Robert received a generous donation from two parishioners who told him to "treat" the 8th grade to something special.  We thought ice cream, but the amount given would have covered much more than ice cream.  So, Father came up with the idea of treating us all to lunch at Dog House Grill!  YUM!!!

Of course, I forgot to take any photos of the kids inside with Father.  We were waiting for one of our drivers to come back for us when I snapped this photo.  I only thought about it because the kids were taking their own photos with their phones. (I have no idea what the girls are doing with their hand.  Strange.)

Lunch was delicious, as always at this place.  I had the tri tip salad drenched in ranch!  So full.

 After school I took this lovely young lady out for a Jamba Juice and pedicures.  Her parents bought my donation at the school dinner dance.  Little One wanted strawberries painted on her toes.  They turned out very cute.  I stuck with plain pink!  It's been a while since I've had a pedicure, so it was relaxing and fun.

Today was the 8th grade farewell.  It is the school's way of saying goodbye to the 8th grade class before their graduation tomorrow.  Being the 8th grade teacher, there is a LOT of planning that has to be done to help these two days run smoothly.  One day down, one to go.

As a surprise, the mom of one of the students provided the four 8th grade teachers with gifts.  I got the biggest bouquet of flowers and a gift card to a nail salon!  Looks like another pedicure is in my future!  I love the vase and the flowers.  They are gracing my kitchen island, and they make me happy to see them.  It was an unexpected and much appreciated gift.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the luncheon set up by the 7th grade teacher.  She did an AMAZING job of decorating the Hall for the event.  The theme was, "Race to Your Future," and everything was done in checkerboard race flags and Cars motif.  Over the top adorable.  I don't know how she thinks of the creative stuff that she does.  It is simply perfect.

And now I need to finish a few things before tomorrow's graduation.

Pirates

After a very long and tiring day of graduation practice, the 8th grade met at Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater to enjoy dinner and watch The Pirates of Penzance.

We had 21 kids and nine adults sitting at three great tables near the front of the stage.  These were some of the kiddos at my table.  I sort of forgot to take photos today with as busy as it got.

Oh Eddie.  There will be times next year when I think back and laugh and hope you are doing well!

Like always, the show at Roger Rocka's was amazing.  We had a spectacular time.  I'm finishing up details on the graduation program before collapsing into bed.

One more hectic day of practice and then Farewell Friday and Graduation Saturday.  Time moves quickly.

I Have a Hard Job...if you count relaxing by a pool hard!

Today was the 8th grade field trip to the Island Water Park.  I only had 16 kids out of 22 attend.  Last week, the numbers attending were even smaller, but that's another story.  Let's just say the principal gave them a bit of incentive to show up, swim, and act happy!

Honestly, I'm not sure why almost half the class wasn't interested in the water park.  Who is going to pass up a day of no schoolwork, relaxing, playing, and no stress?  Not me!  Turns out we had a good time.

I picked a spot near the baby pool and set up camp.  I figured if I got too hot I could wade in the shallow water.  It never came to that.  It was also a nice day with only four schools and around 300 kids total.  I never felt overwhelmed by people or kids.

I think the hat and glasses with my hair pulled back make me look like a boy or a bug.  Oh well.  My goal was to not get burned.  We all need a goal.  I succeeded in my goal.  Still pale as a ghost.

Midway through the day I switched chairs and sunglasses.  Here I am lounging.  Rough life.  The kids pretty much scattered and only came back to base camp for food or sunscreen.  The rest of the time I was on my own.

My shady view in the lounge chair.

I had my iPad, my book, my phone, and peace!

I think I'll just settle back and watch the world float by.  It was hot, but staying under the trees kept it manageable.

Just before driving back to school.  It is always so weird to me that 1. I have a car that can hold 7 people and 2. there were 7 people in my car!  Six teenagers in the car is something different!

I think the trip was a success.  I had two kids tell me that they had more fun than they thought they would!  Yay!  Like I told them, it was never my intention to torture them into a day off from school!

Tomorrow is practice for graduation.  When they ask how long we practice, the answer is, "Until Mrs. Forcey cries!"  There is usually a moment when they all process into the church, take their spots, and I just can't imagine that they are almost done and ready for high school.  Sniff.