2014 - The Year of the Baby

In Chinese culture, each year is connected to an animal (rabbit, goat, horse, etc.) and the cycle repeats every twelve years. (Missing the year of the horse by three years, I was born in the year of the rooster. I guess that's better than being born in the year of the pig!)

Well, in Isenbarger culture, 2014 will be the year of the baby.

Cole and Emily were the first to announce. They are due in January.

 A text was sent with this picture and the question, "What's on your summer reading list?"

While visiting Kyle and Ashley in Florida, Ashley sent Craig and me this picture.

 (Isn't Corinne darling?) Their baby, #4 for them, is due in February.

A day or so later, Ashley and I were sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in when we got this unexpected text from Andrew.

She and I looked at each other, raised our eyebrows in unison, and went, "Hmmmm."

We were right. Sunday as were were driving home from Florida, Jessica called and announced their good news. They're due in February, too.

That will bring our family total to twenty-one. Wow. Are we blessed or what?

The Joy of Teaching High School

One of the joys of teaching is the relationships you develop with your students. Since you're together much of the day, you get to know each other well. I know elementary teachers get a lot of heartfelt notes and little presents; I didn't realize high schoolers would do the same. (Makes sense, though; they're kids, too!)

At the end of school this past year, Sarah received one of the most touching notes I have ever seen in my career when she left Clear Creek Amana High School this May to move to Colorado.

This was left on her white board by one of her students.

Sarah also went out with an unusual bang. Earlier in the school year, she had agreed to let an up and coming band, Jocelyn, film a music video in her classroom. The video just was released.

It's fun for me to see Sarah's things in the background of the video - and I like the music, too. One of the band members was a student teacher.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday, me!! It's August 1, and time to celebrate!

When I was a kid, August 1 (not my real birthday, that's August 28) was a BIG DEAL. I remember having trouble going to sleep on July 31 because I was so excited for the next day.

Why? Because on the first of every month, Captain Kangaroo sang "Happy Birthday" to children who had a birthday that month, and August was mine. In reality, it was to every child watching out there in TV land who had an August birthday, but I thought it was really, truly for me. From someone I loved (and still do) along with all the other members of the Treasure House.

 Dancing Bear, Bunny, Captain Kangaroo, Grandfather Clock, Mr. Moose, and Mr. Green Jeans.

(What's funny is that, as I searched, I found a lot of references to the monthly event by other people, all of whom thought the Captain was singing just for them, too!)

I have looked online for quite a while trying to find a clip of the birthday song they would sing, and all I can find is a newer version. But I did find the theme song which I was already humming, and when I played it, I was humming just a half step off pitch. How's that for a memory? I must've heard that song a lot of times in order to ingrain it so firmly in my memory!

So, a cheery Happy Birthday to me and to all the thousands of other folks who still remember waking up on August 1 in anticipation of having the Captain and crew of the Treasure House sing.

Just to them.

And thank you, Captain Kangaroo. You made my birthdays special.

A New (and Safer) Playground

For years the Hershey playground has also been part of the visitors' parking lot. Despite large orange cones, signs, and gates, I cannot tell you how many times I have been supervising kids at recess only to see some fool drive their car past the cones and through the children. Or ignore the "Closed from 8:00 - 4:00" sign and drive down the access lane and onto the playground despite the press of children all around.

Linda has been working for quite some time to have a new playground built in a safer location, and she has succeeded. The  first Monday school was out for summer, the heavy equipment arrived and began ripping out the swings, basketball standards, and other things on the playground/parking lot.

The new playground is on the south side of the school and next to (but not sharing) the teachers' parking lot. A much safer place for the kiddos.

The kids will exit at the opposite end of the hallway from my classroom, so I should have less hallway noise than I did when they used the parking lot and went outside through the door by me.

 Some of the new apparatus - a climbing web.

 Some of the previous equipment that was relocated.

 A rock climbing wall! Bet that will be popular!

I think the children will be excited when they return and see their new play area. And the teachers will breathe a sigh of relief that we will no longer have people driving through the children.

Back to School Preparation

Two weeks from today, I go back to school. (Well, I get paid to go back to work that day. But you can be sure I will be working hard well before then!)

Just before we went to Florida, I drove out to Hershey to check on the cleaning status of my room. You really can't begin working in your classroom until things are cleaned and put back in place. I was disappointed that my room had not yet been cleaned.

 A view of my desk and the mini computer lab.

 Actually, it looks pretty good for not having been cleaned!

 I am anxious to get those tubs and things off the counters and back into their places.

Some welcome changes have been made, however - new electrical outlets! And some older ones have been moved to more convenient spots.

 My desk is an electronic hub - computer, printer, Eno board camera and docking station, electric pencil sharpener, fan, etc. But the outlet was down below the desk and nearly inaccessible to me. When Linda Fields told us we would be getting new outlets, her directive was to put a request in anywhere we wanted an outlet. She could not guarantee we'd get all we'd ask for, but she said we would get some, so to dream big.

I did. I hung orange signs all over the place with "Huston, outlets here, please" written on them. (Huston is the name of the electrical company.)

But for my desk, I felt that one was critical to be moved and not overlooked. And so I wrote an additional sign for it:

"Please put them up high. I have arthritis and several artificial joints. It hurts to go low to plug things in. Thanks much! Mrs. Isenbarger"

It worked! I got my desk outlet raised to desk height.

I also got one on the front wall under my Eno board. Why there is no plug there has always been a mystery - it is one of the busiest spots in the classroom, the center of instruction, and yet there was nothing there to support electronics used in lessons. Until now.

So, the electrical rewiring has been completed, and I will drive out tomorrow or so to see if the room is cleaned and I am able to get busy.

Florida View or Utah View?

Friday evening as we were preparing for the water balloon fight, I got to thinking about other times I had visited Kyle and sat outside his home on a lawn chair. Such different views!

The Florida view - palm trees, a lake, green grass, and knowing the ocean is a few miles to the east.

The Utah view - rocky mountains looming over the patio.

Which view do I prefer?

Any one with Kyle in it!!

Florida Trip - Day 3

Friday we went to the beach! I cannot remember the name of it, but the sand was pure white and soooo soft. It was somewhere in St. Augustine.

As we walked on the boardwalk from the parking lot to the beach, we saw a gopher tortoise digging itself a hole.

We had our own gopher tortoise - Braden!

Kyle and I posed for a mother/son picture when...

... he decided that dumping ocean water over me was a good idea. Luckily, he was only playing around.

Craig and I took Addie out to enjoy the waves that were rolling in.

We'd each hold her hand as one approached...

... then lift her as she jumped over it.

She also played gopher tortoise.

Corinne models the latest beachwear for bab(i)es.

Ashley and Corinne play in the sand together. (I think Ashley looks like a model here!)

Boompa and Addie catch some more waves.

Another photo of Kyle and me.

We played at the beach much of the day, coming home mid afternoon. What is it about water that is so relaxing?

While Ashley decorated Addie's birthday cake, we went outside and got water balloons ready for after-dinner fun.

Addie and Braden helped the adults fill them by stretching out the balloons.

We ended up with a cooler full!

Ashley took some wonderful pictures, so I pulled a screenshot of hers from Instagram.

 Braden sits on the ground from the effort of stretching the launcher waaaay back and releasing it.

 Addie tries the same tactic. 

 Addie and Braden ride their bikes for a while.

Water balloon fight over, we celebrated Addie's birthday.

She loved the Barbie and horse that we got her. "I'll name the horse Abby," Addie pronounced. Made me smile!

And Corinne shows that she, too, has an early interest in horses!