Red White and Blue

I'm finally getting around to importing pics from my camera. On July 4th we took the kids to Blossom to see the orchestra and celebrate Scott's birthday. Could these 3 be any cuter?

A Day in the Park(s)

Scott was busy studing for summer finals so I decided to take the kids to the park to get them out of his hair for a few hours. We ended up packing a picnic and spending the whole day in the Emerald Necklace.
At one point on our drive we had to stop for a flock of turkey crossing the street. When I explained why we stopped the kids looked at the birds and declared that turkeys are on farms and the birds must be baby osterich....you know because some how in their mind it's ok that baby osterich are running about in N.E. Ohio.
We really are so fortunate to have such a spectacular park system. I used to spend every free moment I had in one of the various parks. The kids and I visited my 2 favorites, Squaw rock and Squires Castle. I was expecting alot of belly aching about tired legs when it came to hiking but both kids were real troopers and Leah kept climbing higher and higher, leaving her poor breathless mama in the dust.
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The adventure begins

Squaw Rock

Leah - Chagrin River

Tyler - Get me off this rock!

Race to Squire's Castle - note who's last

Dad's Day Run

I very rarely log on to my pc at home anymore. After looking at a pc all day it's the last thing I want to do when I get home...so if I can't do something from my iPhone I generally won't bother. As a result this post has been a long time coming.

Scott ran his first 5 mile run on fathers day. The kids and I dropped him off then drove to my parents house just down the street then walked up to cheer him on. Unfortunately we weren't able to find him before the race started but I promise we were there. We hung out on the play ground and the first runners started to come in a half hour later. We went to the finish line to watch him come in...again he came in sooner then I was expecting and I missed the photo op so this as good as it gets. I gotta say that's one good lookin guy after running 5 miles.

School Change

While I like to keep this blog filled with fun childhood antics I feel it's worth noting a key decision we've recently made regarding the kids education.

We will be transferring Leah to our local public school in the fall. I have very mixed emotions about it. I never pictured the kids staying in Catholic school and thought of it as a temporary fix until we could sell the house. Given the amount of work we've had to put into the house it's apparent we are now here to stay. I've mentioned that I feel very disconnected from our neighborhood even after living here for 9 years. I feel like we need to do a better job of embracing our surroundings and that includes the schools. I want Leah to have friends in our neighborhood and not feel like an outsider.

I've only heard good things about the elementary schools and I know if more in-tuned parents send their kids to public schools they can only get better. I feel like it's in Leah's best interest if we make this transition now verses a year or 2 from now.

Scott has spoken to several people that rave about the School including the fact that the 2010 Teacher of the Year teaches 3rd grade there. The class sizes are small and a partnership with the local University provides a better teacher-to-pupil ratio. We have a meeting with the principle scheduled for July 1st . Hopefully she will have some preliminary results from the 2009-2010 proficiency tests and we'll discuss what the school and district are doing to address the 5th grade proficiency gaps.

We will be breaking the news to Leah tonight. Hopefully this transition will be more difficult on me then her. She's resilient and I'm confident if we do our best to stay involved she'll continue to achieve no matter her surroundings.

Graduate - Again

I thought it was so silly last year when Leah had her preschool graduation and even sillier when I found out she would have a kindergarten graduation this year. Really what's the purpose of a kindergarten graduation? She's not changing schools. She'll be right back there with the same kids come late August.

Well I have to say this graduation really meant something to me. She's blossomed so much in the past year. The whole school gathered with parents and grandparents to celebrate the kindergarteners. I felt like it was a way of welcoming them into the community. After the service the 1st grade parents hosted a reception. In the past week I've had a blast going to various PTO functions and seeing how Leah interacts and relates to her classmates. She no longer needs us by her side. I just get a kick out of seeing how the older students know her and engage her. The boys in her class tease her but only because they love her and they know she can take it. The girls in her class are all beautiful and full for smiles and giggles. I just love it. My beautiful little girl is starting to find her way in this world and in a blink of an eye I'm sure I'll be sitting at her highschool graduation longing for the days of silly kindergarten graduations.

Memorial Day 2010

We had perfect weather this Memorial day weekend. Just the kind of weekend that leaves you feeling truely blessed and giving thanks to those who made it possible for us to live such a wonderful life.

Waiting for the Parade 

Bubble Samurais

 

Is It Wrong To Laugh?

The other night we had some pretty nasty thunderstorms come through. Not a whole lot of wind or rain, just a whole lot of lightning and thunder. Just as soon as I would get the kids settled back into bed another wave of thunder would come through. Somewhere in the middle of the night I heard a loud clap of thunder that woke me. Just a few seconds later I hear both kids screaming then the little pitter patter of feet. Leah's running into Tyler's room. Tyler's running into Leah's room. I opened my bedroom door just in time to see the two of them realize they had passed each other and turn around to run back into their respective rooms, only to...bam... they run into each other, knocking themselves to the ground. The image had my chuckling all the way to work in the morning.