My Tiger Scout

Couldn't resist sharing this with all my blogger friends... how cute is my little boy scout????

Family Gatherings

For those of you who don't know my mom is from a big family (I mean REALLY big!)  If all her siblings were alive she would have been one of 10, she is the youngest girl (at the spritely age of 68) and the second to youngest of them all.  Every year we have a casual get together at my Uncle Kenney's house, although we are all spread all over a good chunk still try to come to this little event.  We have even have a chili cookoff (with prize money) and a 50/50 raffle.....  The family that gambles together stays together right?  Anyway, here is a picture of just the people who came to the cookout.  Keep in mind I am the youngest of the first cousins, so everyone younger than me is a 2nd cousin.  Also our family is the smallest with only 3 children if that helps you figure out how large we are!!!

Fundraiser

Tonight is my first official fundraiser for Evans Jr. High School Orchestras.  If you are in the Bloomington-Normal area click on this link, print the flyer and head on out to Monical's tonight for dinner.  Hey, if nothing else it is a good excuse to not cook right?

http://www.monicalspizza.com/assets/eventdocument/EJHSOrchestra101811.pdf

New School; First Concert

Just an FYI (in case you care) my new school George L. Evans Jr. High School will have its first EVER concert on Tuesday night, October 11th, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the gym.  The concert will feature Evans 7th & 8th grade musicians (band, orchestra and choir.)  The grand finale will be the premiere of the school song (written by my colleague Josh Masterman, lyrics by none other than ME!)  There will be a light reception following the concert in the cafeteria.

New "toy"

So for those of you who didn't hear Chad and I had really had it with Sprint and made the jump to switch cell phone providers, for only a few more dollars a month we were able to COMPLETELY increase our package and going from dumb old phones to shiny new smart phones.  Well, only 2 weeks after getting our lovely new droids Chad decided to take a swim with his at Fairview Pool (nice huh?)  Thank God for insurance so for a deductible (totally not free) we were able to replace it (but still cheaper than buying a new phone.)  Anyway, Chad's new toy takes some GREAT pictures with fun views, exposures, etc.  Here is a cute one of the boys on the playground!

9/11 Memorial

I shared this with my students today in class, it is an audio recording of YoYo Ma playing the Bach Sarabande from the 1st suite.  The visual is of Obama at the memorial now set up at ground zero.  If you close your eyes and listen you can hear the water from the memorial.  I just found this very moving.
911 Memorial

My 1st Grader

Thought I better get this up for you all before he is in 2nd grade!  Here is our big kid, 1st grade.  The year is starting out great for him, he has Mrs. Williams as his teacher.  You can check out their class blog over here at http://www.mrswilliamsfirstgradeclass.blogspot.com/ We feel very lucky that Killian continues to REALLY enjoy school and looks forward to it every day.  So far the highlights have been an increased desire and skill set with reading and two perfect score spelling tests!