Ha ha...I started this post a month ago. Now August is coming to a close. Summer is almost over, but I can say that I stretched my comfort zone. My husband will be thankful for the end of my projects. It was kind of like Phineas and Ferb every day. I still think their summer adventures might be more "fun"! My children helped as you will see below.
Look for STEAM posts soon!
Here are the top 3 that you might find of interest:
1. We cleaned out a overgrown scrappy patch to create a garden. This was heavy and messy, but we do have a small garden growing. Beans and tomatoes are doing best!
The "before" picture of the garden
Just planted in June...look for a current picture soon
2. Build a bench from the blocks from the garden project. Thanks Pinterest for ideas.
Cleaning the blocks before my 7 year old got the power washer out!
Scraping off moss, mud, and more!
Bella sealed the boards with a clear coat.
The bench!
The beautiful backyard
3. Barn demolition - well more of a cosmetic face lift before construction begins. There is a great old horse barn that we hope to turn into a meaningful space eventually. This was a huge project including filling an 11 yard dumpster with debris and old build material and animal feces.
We did salvage an amazing picnic table in the process.
Barn condition
All cleaned up
Loved eating dinner, visiting family and friends here, and watching my children explore.
THE BARN
Removing old paneling and styrofoam "insulation".
The ugly ceiling that needed ripped down.
These are the sheets that were on the ceiling then covered in white tiles seen here.
The ceiling is solid, dry, and, beautiful without the ugly tiles!
As I go through the summer, I hear these questions:
1. How is your summer going?
2. Do you have to work in the summer?
Here are the answers and some pictures to go with them!
CRAZY and 10 "contractual days".
So what made June 2019 so crazy or what has been keeping me busy?
I had to complete 4 contractual days where my fellow librarian and I weeded 1500 books and inventoried the entire 13000 book collection as well as working with my grant team.
The weeded books were officially marked surplus at the June board meeting, so we can start to stamp them DISCARD and then cross off the barcode.
Here is a few of the titles that were chosen to be discarded for a variety of reasons. Age, cultural sensitivity, condition, etc... Who would disagree - mold is gross ?!?
In addition, I "worked" at our local cub scout camp. I was at the cooking station.
It has been busy but fun!
Up next...household improvements and project post!
Mrs. Fonzo and I started the summer with an overhaul of the "everybody" section or picture books. 1300 titles are worn, outdated, cultural inappropriate, etc...
This allowed us to move all the picture books up off the bottom shelf to assist withADA requirements.
First...Phineas and Ferb lied! There are not 104 days of summer vacation...actually I have about 72!
In all reality, this post is a rambling of my thoughts and opinions as I began SUMMER 2019! I try to keep my post free of religion or controversial topics. However, this is a deep part of who I am and this post. Please keep that in mind as you continue to read.
To start, last week I was listening to a priest that I follow on You Tube. His video was on the idea of TIME!
He talks about the idea of our life in one day as well as how we spend our time. One big take away - PUT DOWN THE ELECTRONICS!
As a mom, how do I balance a summer of fun, relaxation, and technology for the children and myself. There is the phone in my pocket to take pictures, but it is always vibrating with some notification. I can check work email 24 hours a day - 7 days a week. I am still dreaming about work. So I know that I NEED to disconnect!
For the children, it is easy to watch a video. There are computers, tablets, google home, and more! Do I ban them 100% for the summer? My answer is no...we all need to have an outlet. But the balance is tough to maintain. Today, we chose to spend our time working in my library, burning down the bonfire pile in the backyard, and a variety of small tasks. The kids did not ask for devices in the busyness of today and we had fun working together! However, as the rain comes down, I find them turning on devices before bed. Tomorrow is a new day ;) I will take each day, one moment at a time.
Another reminder of time and living in the moment came on Sunday during my pastor's homily! (I am so lucky that he posts them so that I can re-listen when I am not creatively keeping a 3 and 1 year old quiet.) My take away was to BREATHE more. Sounds easy...but boy do I need that reminder in my crazy world. Father Larry's homily
So I am going to try to balance relaxing with my family, accomplish many household projects, work my ten contractual days of library work, and take care of myself over the precious next 72 days. This sounds daunting in all reality, but I will keep you posted on how I find TIME to BREATHE and live in the moment!
It is time to sign off the technology, snuggle up with my children before bed, and maybe squeeze in a few minutes to read or reflect before going to bed myself.
What are you doing this summer? What is your theme for summer?
It is a busy time of year for parents and teachers! The Holderness family recently celebrated "Maycember" in this video -
I couldn't agree more!
3rd and 4th grade are busy with presenting genius hour projects, 2nd grade is exploring e-reading websites from MackinVia and Capstone Interactive plus magnets, 1st grade is counting 793 markers for color cycle program, and Kindergarten is going on a scavenger hunt!
Green house fun
Scavenger hunt time
Art and Geo Designs
Crayola color recycling counting
Counting 793 markers
Counting fun
Genius hour presentations
Sharing knowledge
Presenting our work
In addition, I am busy with training on May 30 and 31st called "PA SMART K - 8". It is all about Computer Science.
Here are a few pictures from my training:
New tool...microbit
Why computer science matters?!
Puzzlets
Paper airplane algorithms
The end is near teachers...just remember all the students who are not ready for summer.
