JULY thru AUG 2nd~

 We had a pretty low-key 4th of July.  In fact, we almost missed the parade on the square, but we rushed up and got to see most of it from a spot where it basically ends.  There was the usual small town charm.... little miss, little tiny miss, the lawnchair brigade and the library cart crew.  

There was political stuff, boy scouts and dance troupes, but Mercer latched onto the Corvette club cars.  In fact, he keeps pointing them out when we see them on the road... hmmm.  Isabella wanted to go home half-way through because it was hot, however, she was rewarded by petting horses as they were waiting to load up after the parade was over.  

We packed and cleaned much of the day, but did go back up to the square for fireworks - stopping along the way at some neighbors' houses who were lighting up the sky and setting off little smoke bombs on the street. The only photo snagged that evening was of Isabella who was NOT a fan of her sparkler.  Mercer was running around with some boys, so we have no photos of him; they would be a blur anyways.  

Because of the uncertainty in the job situation, we did not plan a summer vacation.  But - it's hard to go all summer without at least sticking our toes in the water so, we asked our friends and former neighbors Scott and Shelli if we could come and visit. 




They bought a house near Gulfport MS and within days of closing - Hurricane Katrina hit and wiped out their house (as well as thousands of other people's houses).   The shell of their home remained on the bottom level as water rushed through.  Water had risen into their main level / ruined what was above.  It was uninhabitable. Todd helped out with some drawings, but we joke around - that Scott - being a contractor - took the permit drawings, flipped the house and added a 2nd story... he did not build what the architect drew.  Typical.  ha! 

It took years, but they rebuilt.  Eventually, they sold that place and moved to a nearby town where they are closer to the water.  In fact - here's a photo of the ocean from their porch where they live now in Pass Christian, MS.   Our first night in "The Pass" - we went to a place on the water for dinner where the kids could run and play and get some energy out.  There were also painted rocks at this restaurant. :)  The sun was setting and there is great light!

 They had to work the next morning, so we walked to the nearby park and splash pad.  There were these interesting sculptures throughout the park (and up / down all along the coast actually) where an artist came in and created pieces of artwork out of the felled trees that Katrina left behind. 

 Later, we walked across the street to the beach - it was empty.  As it turns out, the water in this area is not so clear because of the barrier islands prevents waves from washing out the silt and stuff that flows in from the Mississippi River.  We literally dipped our toes in the water, but we just didn't swim in it.  We played in the sand building castles and played paddle ball games on the beach.  (Here's a photo from their porch overlooking a marina that we spent some time in. Look the other way and you see the exact spot in which we were camped out on the beach... their apartment is right behind the red umbrella.)

The next day, they took us to a pool at a nearby hotel so that the kids could swim.  The kids thought it was cool that we could order food at the bar at the top and eat pool-side.  They also liked the waterfall between the two levels of the pool. 

We had fun cooking in the apartment sharing meals together.  Scott and Shelli also taught our kids a simple little dice game called left-right-center.  (which we now own an play on a semi-daily basis.)

The funny line that evening was "I'm back in the game, baby!"  (Isabella!!)   Our kids are A LOT but our hosts seemed to sincerely enjoy our family visit.  Shelli sent me a sappy text after we got home about the kids as well as us as parents.   Honestly, though, we have admired them as parents - as theirs are grown and on their own now - both of their boys are doing great.  

Scott and Shelli miss their boys as each are in opposites sides of the country most of the time, but they seem to be enjoying their time on the coast.  They seem to be thriving and finding their groove.  The big surprise - Scott has really come out of his shell there.... he's making driftwood art and has joined an Elvis impressionists group!  Here's a photo Shelli sent the week after we left:  her youngest son came for a visit.  ha!

I also got a sun-rise walk on the beach to myself.

It was not a big trip, but honestly, it was really awesome seeing them and laughing each night.  We definitely miss them. I guess we weren't "too much" because they want us to come back next summer.  :)    It is a long drive, though.  whew!  

 On the way out to Mississippi AND on the way back home, we got to visit friends and family in Alabama.  My cousin, Lyssa, just had a baby.  He's tiny - so Isabella was head-over-heels in love with him.  

Their dog< Scout, looks a lot like Hip-Hop so we had to get her in a photo with my cousin Lyssa.  Maybe one day we can get Scout and Hip-Hop together?  (chaos will definitely ensue!)

On the way back, we visited another former neighbor and her kids who live in a different part of Alabama.  We took a different way home so we could spend some time with our friend and her sweet family.  Here's a cute little photo montage she put together and sent of our dinner out together.











When we came back to Georgia, we jumped right back into life as normal.  The next day, Todd had work, Mercer had camp and Isabella/ I went back to the school in Mableton.  (I went back to the infant room and doing STEM lesson juggle / she went back to her Pre-K class where they were practicing all week for their "Pre-K Graduation".)


They performed in a play with another Pre-K class - which was a narrated tale about the Little Red Hen.  Isabella and a little girl named Cecilia were the Sly Foxes.  At no less than 10 - 12 places during they play, they hopped up, ran up to the mic and sang, "I am a lean, mean, steel-eyed fox.  I'm no sweet little Goldilocks.  When I want a big belly meal, I don't cook, I just steal!"  

There was also a group performance that all of the kids did reciting their Mandarin Chinese numbers 1 - 10 and a song in Spanish that the whole group learned.  There were a couple of other songs + a dance party.  At the end, the director called up each of the kids by name to hand them a certificate and the kids got to cross a little wooden bridge in something they do called a "Bridge Crossing Ceremony."  It was long - but the kids hung in there and did great.  

Isabella was so excited to see Todd and Mercer at school and said to anyone we bumped into at the reception that followed: "this is my daddy and this is my brother."  "I can't believe that they are here!"  













She also got a quick hug from a 2nd grade teacher who no longer works there, but always would dote on her.  So sweet that she came to see Isabella and a couple of the other preschoolers one last time.

Another cute thing she said after the graduation ceremony - "I can't believe I am really crossing THIS bridge.  I have ALWAYS wanted to cross it!"  ha~  She really knows how to emphasize and play up things.  It's cute (for now)!



(whew... that dance party did a number on her hair!)  :)

 She was "saved" by this woman - Ms. Helen.  Literally.

WE. LOVED. THIS. WOMAN.   She was firm and poured everything she had into the kiddos.

Isabella was in trouble last fall - at the threat of being kicked out of Pre-K.  Yep.  Odd.  But - she's strong.  She was running the classroom... basically running over the teacher that was in the room.  This was happening because the teacher in the room was not strong.  Ms. Helen came in at the end of October and totally turned that classroom around. She was firm AND loving.  She really pushed reading and writing.  The kids responded by absorbing everything she threw their way.  She turned that entire rowdy class into a (mostly) orderly class full of excited readers!  Ms. Helen had a special thing for Isabella...and kept calling her "my girl." 



Later that evening we took her out to celebrate her Pre-K graduation.... when asking what she wanted for dinner, she exclaimed "mac and cheese!" (of course)  She got smoked gouda variety and then she voted for snow-cones afterwards.  

For the last day of school (the 27th of July), we took in plants with heart-shaped leaves.  A phrase that Isabella says that really gets you is "I will always remember you in my heart."   Ms. Helen couldn't handle the good-byes.  She was tearing up, so I did a quick good-bye and left.  Nothing drawn out.  But - just like Mercer had a special "angel" (Ms. Angela) at his little daycare... Isabella's "angel" was absolutely Ms. Helen.    

Here's a photo (below) from the last day of school - courtesy of the online messaging system that the preschool uses.  Happy that she got to have one more (musical) STEM program at school -- even without me there!  :)    Overall, this school was very good for her in the end and she had a lot of enriching experiences there. 

I'm not sure why Pre-K graduation & bridge-crossing was on the Friday after the school break... technically there were still 2 more weeks left after their ceremony, but I am glad it was, as it afforded me the opportunity to actually attend.  I was only at SAE for 2 more days after graduation (through Tuesday) and then started at my new job on that Wednesday.  My last day was a fun one... I shared lighted magnifiers and real butterflies with the Pre-K classes + my old 1st graders.  Then, we had a garden work party -- one final push to leave one of my projects in good shape + to pass the torch. 

I went through new teacher training for the county, had one "free" day to set up my classroom, then started in on meetings at my new school.   For that 1 1/2 weeks of training / meetings for my new job and while Isabella was at her existing Pre-K program, I seriously put the miles on my car.... driving to SW Cobb (35 min) then to training in NW Cobb (30 min) then back to my school in W Cobb (20 min) then back to Isabella in SW Cobb (15 min) and finally home Central Cobb (45-50 min).  One thing I have learned -- Cobb County is GIANT.  In fact, the school system is the largest employer in the county with 15,000 employees.  The schools have 113,000+ kids!  wow.

I had applied for at least 40-50 different teaching jobs between private schools, this school system + our local city school system.  (Once you set up the online profile and upload information, it's easy enough to apply for multiple positions within a school system.)  It took 10-15 minutes for each application after the initial set-up unless you wanted to tweak the cover letter - which I did for some of the more desirable positions.

This job situation had been all-encompassing of my thoughts and time this summer!  I'll be honest, it's been a rough / depressing summer.  

My Building Arts class ended at the SAE School at the end of April because enrollment at this private school substantially dropped.  For the most part, I was having a blast and teaching some cool things.  I was doing different types of art, math and science, spatial visualization, three-dimensional thinking and problem-solving with the kids - much of it with a framework of architecture.  I also got a chance to run several after school clubs - things that I enjoyed trying out such as Science of Art, LEGOs, a little robotics club, stinky / icky science club, craft and jewelry clubs, and even a couple of maker-club workshops.  

This was - by far - my favorite thing:  painting with a pendulutm in my "Art of Science"club!   We also made scribble bots, used UV paper to make sun prints, etc. Basically the combination of art and science was way up my alley and I'm grateful that I got a chance to explore these things.

 I ran a few week-long science camps (LEGO science, Earth-Day, and general science) as well with some of the other science teachers which offered additional experiences.  In my 2 1/2 years there, I taught 5 different science classes, a gardening class and this building arts class mentioned above.  I also wrote for a chemistry supply grant, a garden grant, an energy audit grant and a solar panel / LED lighting grant.  (We received all 4 of those grants too.  I certainly let my mark on the school!)  Overall, my experience was a good on, but it was time for me to move on.  Although very stressful, the teacher layoffs gave me the nudge that I needed to do something different.  (Above and below throughout the text are photos of the highlights of my classes and/or after school clubs).

 (This was snapped when Mercer came to my school on a snow day that his school called but mine did not. I got to pull Isabella up to my room too after teaching my last class for the day and let them play around / draw while I finished my work that afternoon.)

At the beginning of the summer, my main concern was insurance (I carry it for our whole family) + what was I going to do with Isabella in May, June and July?  I didn't want to start her in a new school for 3 months before she started Kindergarten.  Thankfully, the woman that runs the preschool offered me work in the infant room.   It was a HUGE mental shift, was a substantial pay-cut and wrecked havoc on my scar tissue that I have from a surgery almost 10 years ago.... but, I needed insurance + Isabella's tuition, so I accepted the work.  

She was flexible in my leaving for job interviews - which definitely took some stress off!   It's mentally tough because of all of the crying and physically hard - chasing after crawlers / constantly being on your game to keep them safe!  I haven't had a job where I've been watching the clock in a long long long time.  I was "relieved" to leave the infants & crawlers every day to go to my old classroom and run STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) lessons with the Pre-K kids including Isabella - as mentioned quickly in the last post.




(At left:  using Mathcubes to build 3D shapes and then draw plans, elevations and Isometrics of them.)

(At left, after exploring animal habitats with 2nd graders, we created a bio-inspired 3-dimensional "nest.")

(At left, middle school architecture class - some still in design of their studios -such as dance studios, gaming studios, etc -  and constructing a model out of chipboard.)







After 3 hard months of not knowing what would happen + tireless hours of  searching for a job / filling out applications / setting up interviews... all while working full time in the preschool.... a job LITERALLY fell into my lap.  I did not apply for this particular job, but my resume was in the HR department and it fulfilled a need. They called my head of schools who gave me a great review and the same day - I had an interview and an offer!  I will be a 6th grade science teacher at a STEM school about 20-25 minutes from our house.  I will have pretty much the same school breaks as our kids and I will have summers off.  Honestly, when applying for corporate jobs, it was STIFLING to submit for a position that only had 2 weeks vacation.  I know that teaching 120+ students a day in public school will be hard -- but I hope that it will be worth it so that I will have more time with our two during breaks... especially while they're little.

(At left:  5th graders building Massing Models for a development project across the street from the school that each of them designed.)
















(At left - "fun Fridays" with my high-school life coaching group.)

One of my favorite in-school projects was  cityscape print-making with the 4th and 5th graders. I have this nice little artifact (at over 7' long) in which to remember this project.






At left:  After studying hexagons and looking at math in nature, students made this tesselated "hive" -- and they were pretty excited (as was I) to explore how their project as a group was stronger than the individual pieces.... I called it "The Collective" and displayed it in the stairwell of the school.




As you can see, almost every age is represented.  I literally taught 180 kids each week from K-8th grade from August through April + ran life-coaching with the high-schoolers.  

Beginning in May, I began working with the babies in infants (10+/-) as well as close to 75/80 Preschoolers around 4 and 5 years old.  This past school year, I probably interacted with about 90% of the population of that school.  Whew. 

I actually really enjoyed the Pre-K STEM/STEAM projects and the Building arts for the older elementary kids (grades 4 & 5 specifically).  I had some great memories, though, with my middle schoolers as a science and architecture teacher doing some cool projects like working on a play / production, building soapbox derby cars and overseeing a CRAZY rube-goldberg project.  We took some team-building trips with our kids such as zip-lining with middle school and an escape room with high school.  We went to my old company Southface + a green school as a field trip + a trip to a couple of colleges that were fantastic experiences.  I had the satisfaction of seeing some of the high-schoolers I taught the previous year + mentored in life coaching graduate.  Here is the FINAL graduate from this school - he graduated late, but did it.  There is no longer a high school program so Camden may be the last?  (They only graduated 4 students total in the past 2 years.)

(At left, making wildflower mud-bombs with Pre-K 4 and 5 year olds.)

(At left, using Isabella's cod-i-pillar to teach the Pre-K 3s and 4s class about sequencing and programming.... they put on the sleep (zzzzz's) module and a bunch of the kids went to sleep with it!)

Another "Pre-K" things that Isabella and I did this summer -- we joined a nature-inspired playgroup called Tinkergarten.  

She got to play in the mud, explore simple machines out in nature and play with hundreds of caterpillars each week as we visited the same park and watched them grow.  (The caterpillars were not a part of the program but definitely a perk of this particular park we were at.  Once the kids knew which tree was covered by the wigglers, they visited each week!)

We also celebrated her "1000 books B4 Kindergarten" milestone at the public library at the end of the summer with a party and cake.  :) 

 Mercer played in one more baseball tournament, but the 2nd one was cancelled.  This, however, spurred the idea of that coach to begin an East Marietta travel team... without the cost and extensive travel of most travel teams.  Our little league has not had a travel team before, but in trying to keep the All-Stars at this age playing together, one is being formed where they will play in local tournaments.  Mercer was also in a sports camp for most of the summer; his camp ended the same day that Isabella's Pre-K program year ended - the 27th of July.    They actually did some STEM stuff one week at camp.  Just before school started, we had a "Science Sunday" and fired-up his solar oven to make s'mores.  We also played with a robot kit that he and I built / he programmed.

Todd had to take a few days at the end of the summer off with the kids because of my training / meetings. Other than that - this transition worked out PERFECTLY.  Several people told me that it would all work out.... God had a plan... but honestly it was hard while in the middle of it.  It was scary.  This job - literally - fell in my lap... it found me.  wow! 

On August 1st, I started school with students.... I have almost 130 kids between 4 science classes + I keep my 2nd period class for another period of the day that is a STEM class / project block.  I can already tell that it's going to be tough managing all of them + delivering "advanced content" lessons / keeping them engaged.  I do hope that it will be worth all of the hard work during the school year to have more time during breaks.  Yikes!      

Two days before school started, we went to a Kindergarten parents meet-and-greet.  We met Isabella's new teacher and she didn't even flinch when we talked about Isabella's strong will.  She's an experienced teacher and Todd / I came away feeling confident that she knows how to handle our girl!  There is also a paraprofessional (a helper) in the room - so the ratio of adults to teacher is low - 16 kids to 2 adults!  

Mercer seems happy with his teacher.  He wanted a nice one and said she is.  The kids went with Todd to the student-parent "sneak preview" on the day before school.  He has several buddies in his class.  Here is a photo of him with his friend, Langdon, from the neighborhood + Cub Scouts that was sent to me.    

My new schedule allows me to be at the house until it's time for Todd to take the kids to the bus stop or directly to school. I don't have to leave quite as early as I did the past several years.  Yay!  Here are some back-to-school pictures before the kids left the house on their 1st day.  

I was not able to take Isabella to her classroom, but Todd walked her in for the first day.  She came back home with positive reviews & seemed to like it.  Whew.  Fingers crossed that we'll have a fantastic school year ahead -- ALL three of us!!