Random- life, cards, etc

   Tonight is going to be a bit scattered because I have a lot of stuff we've done but am not feeling focused.
    Regarding mail, I've been really good with sending at least 1 piece of mail a day out but most of it has been Postcrossing cards. The good thing about that is that pretty much guarantees that I will be getting mail back. The bad part is that I still have some major penpal guilt. Here are some of the pieces of mail that have come in this week:

 From Belgium

From China- from the same Postcrosser who sent me the mystery lollipops!

From Spain, depicting Don Quixote. 

    Family adventures:

      

Timmy had a baseball practice and David and I had a few hours. So, we went to see a local band perform at our town's summer concert series. They were great and I caught a picture of David having a blast dancing around. We had just stopped giggling at 2 older women to the left of them dancing to "All About the Bass."

David asked to go to the library to do Lego club. he has always been very orderly. Some kids had some extremely creative, piled up creations. David had a simple house with a garage. He's very like me in a mathematical/orderly sense.

 On the 4th of July, our town has a Horribles parade. David's kindergarten teacher from last year retired and a whole bunch of families marched in her honor. Her daughter brought her to the parade and it was so cool to be a part of the 35 people or so that came out to recognize her. The kids won a trophy for "Most like" our town and they cheered and jumped up and down. Then they grabbed the trophy and immediately ran and gave it to the teacher without any adults asking them to, Super cool moment. This is the sign David labored over (for 2 hours) and the shirt we made together.

     After the parade, I surprised the boys with a little red, white and blue treat. Yummy.

 Can you find David? The other day we spent a few hours at the playground and came home for some rest before baseball. Timmy is reading (as always).. in the middle of our driveway.

 Find David yet?

And there's David.. in the tree.

Timmy made a new friend. Ew. Notice that his eye is STILL black from the beginning of baseball season. This is after all of us went mini-golfing. Matt won... as always. 

     Other random items:

Just got a brand new vacuum. I'm going to use it right now. I've never been so excited for a cleaning product.

   This freaky blimp has been flying around our area. It feels like it's staring at you. There's a contest that if you take a picture of it in your town, you can win a ride on the inside. It's nice in there, but I'm not interested.

CHRISTIE M FARRIELLA/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Today's adventures

     What a day! Lots of adventure today. First we started out having a nice family breakfast (except Matt, who was working.) The boys are starting to learn that, even though Matt usually cooks during the school year so we can eat as a family, I actually can cook. 

     Then we went to see Inside Out. I'm sure you have heard all about the movie by now. I thought it was good but I wasn't blown away by it. The kids seemed to like it too but, again, not super excited about it. After the movie, we went to Panera for lunch.

    

   After lunch we came home for some quiet time before our big night.  Not every "adventure" needs to be huge.

 However, some big adventures are great too. We headed off to see Newsies at the Boston Opera House through a trip organized by the local rec dept. This is David's first professional show. Look at the excitement on those faces. You should've seen mine. I was 100% more excited. I loved the movie and really looked forward to seeing the show.

   Did I mention David was also excited about riding a coach bus? Small adventures, remember?  If you've never seen the Boston Opera House, it is pretty cool. Here's a horrible picture from my cell phone:

David's reaction: "Woah! Naked people!" This led to a long (and loud) conversation about why they have naked people on the ceiling, why people draw naked people, why people would be naked in a painting and a lot about nudity. I don't think he was satisfied with my answers. Lol

    We loved it. There was a weird thing where the actor playing Davey came on for the first scene and then about 3 minutes later (during a scene) there was an announcement saying that due to illness, another actor would be playing the role. I've never seen that before. Hope the actor is okay.
     So, this show was full of adrenaline. If you like the movie, I think you would like the show- though there are some major changes. I don't know if I think the changes were for better or for worse yet. I didn't mind them. I will say that if you can appreciate dance, you'll have a great time. If you don't like people breaking into song and dance, probably not. My boys were really excited by the set, the effects, the dancing, singing and the whole package.

Did I mention I hate my cell phone camera?

   This is David with one of the "papes" they threw into the audience. Someone gave it to him.

     No big plans for tomorrow. Timmy is starting on a new baseball team for a tournament. Happy July!

The Summer of Adventure

    Many summers I take time to take some classes for professional development, do some organization in my classroom, develop lessons and then I try to have some downtime. This year I have reorganized my priorities. Although I will still work (I actually enjoy working and having some time where other things are not due or not dealing with a few hundred children a day is really conducive to get things accomplished), I plan to take up some opportunities and to have an adventurous summer. This does not mean that we have to be busy everyday or to do giant events, but I will attempt to do something fun every day. We are planning a cross-country road trip in August. We are not going all the way to CA, but we've never taken a trip this large. I will keep you updated on the blog every week.
      So, the kids just got out of school today, which is late for MA. It was freezing this morning.

        Although today is the official start to our summer, I would say that we kicked summer off with a trip to Plymouth, MA. See the red, plaid blur up there by the lights? That's one of my old students. He is a fantastic musician and I was so excited to go hear him play. It was really nice for me to introduce him to my own children and to have them meet him. If I had to pick a favorite student of all time, Chris is up there. I have been so proud to watch him grow up into who he has become. On top of being talented, he's a super nice guy. So, check out his music!
   

(This picture is Chris'. He was using a much better camera :) )

  Sunday-
     We started off the day at church. Our pastor is preaching about The Prodigal God, which is a series based on the prodigal son. We also got to meet a new baby in the church this week. Super cute.
      After church the boys had a playdate with one of Tim's best friends. I wish I got a picture of Tim, David and Katie. David and I hung out and played a while then we left Tim for a few more hours. The family also took Timmy out to dinner with them, which was really nice.

Monday-
      Last day of school. After school we chatted with a few families to hear which teacher everybody has next year. (Our district puts next year's teacher on their report card. I love this since it gives the kids a chance to meet up with kids who will be in their class next year.) Both boys have some good friends in their class and they both got the teachers we had hoped for. Honestly, the boys will do well with any teacher if they work hard, but they were excited to be assigned to people they had thought about before.
     After school,we came home for a yummy lunch and some housework. A few hours later,  the boys went to a birthday party. The mom decided to try a homemade laser tag game with squirt guns filled with Kool-Aid. Everyone had a blast. She had given the boys a bunch of boxes and duct tape for them to build barricades, then the fun began. They also brought out a slip'n'slide. It was nice to see both boys really comfortable with their friends. David decided not to really join the water fight, but I think he knows himself well enough to know that he would've gotten overwhelmed. He wanted to get wet but he didn't want to be in the middle of all of the older kids.
      After the party, we came home for dinner. (Chicken stuffed with spinach and colby-jack cheese) Matt's ice cream shop has a promotion where the kids can get a free junior sundae by showing their good report cards. Of course the boys really were excited for that so we visited dad at work and the boys got sundaes. Now they're watching a movie before bed. Tomorrow will be another fun, exciting day!


While I'm updating, here was today's incoming mail:

 Postcrossing card from the Czech Republic

 Mail fatality. Beautiful envelope and stamp from China.

 I thought this was ironic given the condition of the envelope.

Inside the envelope I found these cute little lollipops. I'm waiting to hear the allergy info before I let the kids try them. Anyone from China reading?