A trip to D/FW

The last week in July we went up to the D/FW area for a nationals basketball tournament for Caleb. His team played from Thursday - Saturday. The team was knocked out early but we had a very enjoyable time getting to stay with my parents. It was such a blessing not having to stay in a hotel.

We had fun site-seeing in Grapevine, TX. We went to the old train depot, visited Nash farm, and the 9/11 Memorial dedicated to the flight crews that were lost in the tragedy. My understanding is that it is currenlty the only memorial to the flight crews that were lost in our country.

We also visited the Veterans' cemetary in Dallas. It was a very impressive site. I can only imagine what Arlington National Cemetary must be like.

Thank you Mom and Dad (a.k.a. - NaNa & Poppy) for being such wonderful, gracious hosts and for showing us such a great time. We love you!!

So Much Going On...

Instead of just doing summer projects the previous project list I posted became a mega project marathon. This was not just to get these things accomplished but to prepare our home to place on the sales market. The house was officially listed online Thursday, July 10th.

On Thursday my parents came to visit and I had the priviledge of spending the day with them. We had fun looking at houses and taking pictures in a new smart car (NOT ours).

Friday was my nephew's birthday (Happy Birthday Toby!) and Jacob got a haircut by his Aunt Jill.

From Friday-Sunday we had six showings on the house.

Caleb had a basketball tournament (3 games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday).

The weekend was also spent preparing for Vacation Bible School which started today. We had over 1,000 children that came today. I am serving as a crew leader with Isaiah's group.

Summer School has Ended!

Yesterday, June 30th, summer school came to an end. This was probably the most trying experience in summer school that I have been through due to a very few but major discipline issue children. However, in the end I could see that good did come from it.

The majority of the stuendents in my class were from bilingual classes and were in summer school to help them continue to improve in their English language skills before being moved into ESL (English as a second language class). This is when they will be taught in regular classes with support to assist them be successful as they continue to learn the English language. These were actually my hardest working students and were not my discipline issues. Three of these students raised three reading levels in fifteen days.

All of the students greatly increased their math scores and all increased in their science scores as well.

The side notes were left by two sweet little girls. There may be spelling and grammatical errors. However, based on the fact that these children are 7 and 8 years old, are just leaving bilingual classes, and have families that speak Spanish at home - I think they are awesome.

Now I am starting my summer. I will now have the opportunity to get to the projects that I normally don't have time for.

• Painting a bedroom
• Cleaning the outdoor ceiling fans
• Pulling the weeds out of the flower beds
• Making some new curtains for my kitchen
• Spray painting the cheap brass cafe curtain rods black
• Painting the back door
• Cleaning out the garage
• Working with my own children on some educational needs
• etc..., etc..., etc...