Summer Vacation Weeks 7 & 8

I'm not so sure weeks 7 and 8 can qualify for summer vacation when a vast majority of the time was spent at school getting my new classroom cleaned out and set up for students as well as at Lakeshore Learning and U.S. Toy and Constructive Playthings.  First and foremost I have to thank my amazing husband for all of his time and talents spent with me at school!!  He took vacation and helped me in my classroom!  We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Friday at school getting things cleaned, organized, and set up for the kiddos (I was at school Wednesday for a class).  He was such a help and it would have never all gotten done without him!  That meant during the first half of week 8 I had minor details in my classroom to finish up.  I spent a few hours at school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of week 8 to get as many of the fine details taken care of as possible.  There's always more to buy and to do in the life of a teacher, but I am quite pleased with how the new classroom turned out!  The latter half of week 8 was spent back at school getting to know our new leadership, new staff, district initiatives, catching up with friends, laughing, stressing, trying to plan, updating class lists...  I was exhausted last night!  However, I am VERY excited to see everyone on Monday, August 1st at our open house.  Tuesday, August 2nd is the first day of school for students.  School starts at 9:05 and ends at 3:58.  I look forward to working with all of you and all of your children this year!

During the time that wasn't spent at school, I did all my normal things - laundry, mowing the lawn, watering flowers, tending the garden, etc.  I even managed to squeeze in my yearly visit to my doctor who confirmed I'm healthy!  Speaking of our garden, it is doing amazing considering this is our first time gardening!  We've harvested peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and cucmbers so far.  Everything has been absolutely delicious.  We have so many beans and cucumbers that my colleagues at school were able to enjoy some on Thursday and Friday.  Today we discovered our first two ears of sweet corn.  We are really excited about that!  The pictures below show the garden and some of the beans, cucumbers, and carrots.  Just a few nights ago, we had the deer visiting our neighborhood.  The were nibbling on the bushes and hanging out so we snapped a picture of them as well.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you Monday!