Bengal Buddies

These two were adorable yesterday, and brought the Bengals good luck. They defeated the undefeated Patriots! Loved seeing my two guys in their matching gear more than I loved seeing the Bengals win. Guess what they'll be wearing next Sunday???

IU vs. Purdue

This kid is going to be so confused...or prepared. One of the two. We think he looks good as a Hoosier and a Boilermaker, though!

August Rundown

The final installment of our summer rundown. (You can find June and July here and here.)

August

It's funny that this is part of our summer rundown. Technically, it was summer, but my first teacher day for school was August 1st. The weekend before school officially started, we ventured to Cincinnati for a bridal shower for Stacey, Kevin's cousin Larry's bride-to-be. 

One of the best parts of August in Indianapolis is the Indiana State Fair. This year, we ventured to the fairgrounds for some fun. Ethan got to ride in his wagon and pet some calfs, and Kevin and I got to enjoy some yummy fair foods. 

At the end of the month, Kevin and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. He got us a beautiful hotel room at The Conrad downtown and we enjoyed a very delicious and filling dinner at The Oceanaire...our favorite!

July Rundown

This is a continuation of our summer rundown. You can read about our June here. Now, for July.

July

July wasn't super duper exciting. Not like June, anyway. I slowly started to spend more time at school, prepping for the new year. Yes, folks, it's true. Most teachers DO work during the summer.

The best thing that happened in July was, of course, Cindy and Steve's wedding. We had a blast! Here are some pictures of the event. As you already know, I am horrible at taking pictures and documenting things, so I've gathered these from others. 

I'm Still Here! and June Rundown

Hi Friends! It's been a while, hasn't it? Like, I don't know, June??? The last time I blogged, I had just started summer vacation, and now I'm in the throes of another school year. I look back at that chunk of time and think, That went by so fast! At the same time, I'm not quite sure how we managed to pack so much into such a short time. Every time I thought about playing blog-catch-up, I was overwhelmed. Where should I start? So I've decided to give you a rundown of our summer...but I'm going to do it one month at a time. Here goes nothin'!

June

Pinsky Family Vacation...It was of to Gatlinburg for the Pinsky Crew this year. We got to spend time with Uncle Sherman and Aunt Nancy, as well as Momma and Pops. Ethan's favorite stop was the aquarium.

As soon as we got back, it was off to Cincinnati for Cindy's bachelorette party...also known as my first night away from Ethan. We painted pottery, ate a nice dinner, and spent a night out downtown. The next morning, Steven came home and made as breakfast!

I came home, unpacked, and repacked. This time, I was off to Atlanta for a conference, leaving my boys at home. I got to meet some lovely ladies from different schools in my corporation. It was refreshing to spend time with other passionate educators.

To round out the month of June, Kevin went out of town for his brother, Steve's bachelor party.

To the Park with Play Group

One of the things Ethan and I have been looking forward to regarding our summer break is rejoining our play group. This group of moms and littles were a great support to me, especially when I struggled with PPD and anxiety. One of the things I knew I'd miss when I went back to work was my biweekly meeting with these ladies. 

But now....we're back! Ethan and I enjoyed a romp in a local park  and then lunch together. It was such a sight...seven mommies and ten littles.

We can't wait until our next adventure with our friends!

Officially Summer

Yep. It's official. We're on summer break. 

Today was Ethan's first day at camp. He's moved into the 18-month room which means no more cribs for naps. My little big boy napped on a cot today for the very first time.

I got to have a little personal time while Ethan was having a ball at camp. I started my Couch-to-10K workout program with these brand new running shoes. I went home by myself. I can't tell you how long it's been since I've been home alone. I showered, made some salads for the week, organized some cabinets in the kitchen and ate lunch. I also got finish my first big-person book of the summer - Inferno, by Dan Brown. (FYI, this book wasn't as good as his others, but it was still a good read.)

After I picked Ethan up from camp - at the normal pick-up time, mind you - we went on a long walk and played outside a little bit.  We had a great dinner. Even Ethan got adventurous and tried some new foods on his plate! (By the way, I've decided to dedicate the summer to making new and different foods for Ethan to try to see if I can't get him to eat a larger variety of foods. I'll blog about this soon.)

A nice, warm bath, complete with play time and some stories capped off Ethan's night. He's now sound asleep and I'm sitting on the couch with absolutely no grading to do. Who knows...I might even start reading my next book!

I Made It...

...through my first year as a working mom. 

It was trying at times. Ultimately, it was extremely rewarding. Rewarding to the point that when Kevin mentioned something about me not having to work in a few years, I internally panicked. 

My class was huge so much fun. Not to say that there weren't some bumps along the way, but we made it. It was the perfect group to come back to. They had a great sense of humor, lots of motivation, and were bursting with creativity. I will miss them. (Even though I hear next year's class is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!)

Right now, I have my feet up and I'm ready to read my first "big person book" of the summer. 

Here's to another successful school year in the books!

Appreciated

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. 

I was going to write a post about how under-appreciated we feel, how people have misconceptions about the teaching profession, and what being a teacher is really like. 

But none of that is important.

What is important is that I love what I do. I don't think there is anything else I could do that would give me the same feeling I get when my kids get it. Or the one I get when a kid jumps two reading levels within the course of a year. Or the one I get when I hear my students tell me how much they missed me when I had a substitute the day before.

Or even the one I got this morning, when a parent of one of my students sent me a link to this blog post he wrote for our local newspaper.

Yep. I feel pretty appreciated right about now. And it's things like that post that make me feel like all that other stuff is just stuff, and what I do makes a difference.

Our Passover Meals

I'm so lucky to be on Spring Break during Passover. It's hard enough to work and cook meals, but even harder with all these food restrictions during this eight-day holiday. Sure I could throw together some matzah + cream cheese "sandwiches", but how many days of that can one tolerate? 

Having the time off allows me to actually think through our menu for the week, shop day-to-day for ingredients, and take my time when cooking or baking. I can usually get away with making dinner during Ethan's nap, and I try to get breakfast and lunch for the next day taken care of in the evenings when he's gone to bed.

We've had to get very creative with some of Ethan's meals, since he's a super picky eater anyway, but we're trying to get by. I'm sure he's wondering why he hasn't had his normal menu of carbs, but he seems to be adjusting.

Here are some of our favorite passover meals:

Breakfast
Apple Cinnamon Potato Noodle Kugel with Golden Raisins
Matzah Brei with Cinnamon + Sugar
Matzah Farfel Granola with Craisins

Lunch
Passover Sandwich Rolls
Egg Salad 
Tuna Salad

Dinner
Homemade Turkey Meatballs with Chili-Grape Sauce
Wild Salmon Potato Casserole
Safta's Homemade Matzah Balls + Chicken Soup
Passover Roll Pizzas
Passover Roll Grilled Cheese (E's favorite)
Spaghetti Squash Kugel
"Breaded" Chicken Breast Cutlets

Dessert
Forgotten Cookies
Chocolate Covered Matzah

Children's Museum ~ March

It's amazing how much fun Ethan and I have been having since we've been on Spring Break. I so wish that I could have more time to spend with him and just be his mom and Kevin's wife. Although I know I wouldn't savor these weeks as much if they weren't few and far between. It wasn't so long ago that I was itching to get back to work when I was on maternity leave. 

Anyway, Ethan and I have been going on outings every day. We've gone to an Open Play at the Carmel Library with our play group, Open Gym at a local community center, and today, the Children's Museum. It's so neat to see how he interacts differently with the different exhibits as he grows. He still has his old favorites (like pushing the toy lawnmowers around the little kid's play area), but today he experienced a few new things...including climbing and hugging a Sphinx in the Egypt exhibit. 

Here are some of Ethan's highlights from our trip.

Passover Sensory Tub

I've been itching to make Ethan some sensory tubs, but between work life and home life, I can't seem to find any free time. I put this project off for the summer. But then, the beauty that is Spring Break arrived, and I've got some time to be a crafty and creative Mommy. 

I decided to put together a Passover Sensory Tub to entertain Ethan during the Seder tomorrow night. I chose items that represent the ten plagues: blood, frogs, lice, wild beasts, cattle disease, boils, locusts, hail, darkness, and slaying of the first born. (I know, I know, sounds macabre, but my mind was swimming with all the neat items I could use to represent these things!)

Here is what I used:

• sand, stones, rocks, shredded paper (desert filler)
• sparkly red pipe cleaners
• sparkly red poofs
• aluminum foil
• squishy frogs
• Little People animals
• lion figurine
• grasshopper figurine
• foam spiders
• sparkly black foam
• baby figurines
• green tub and scoop (both from the Dollar Tree)

Here's what I ended up with:

First Haircut

We've been toying around with cutting Ethan's crazy curls for the last few weeks. If he were a girl, he'd have the start of a nice ponytail. On Friday night, we were out getting frozen yogurt, and noticed that the Cookie Cutters next door was still open and had no wait, so we decided it was time for Ethan's first haircut.

He looks like a little boy now, no longer a baby. He was an angel in the chair (since he got to watch a little Elmo during the process) and really loved climbing on the indoor jungle gym.

16-Months (and 15, too)

As you can tell, we've been rather busy in our neck of the woods. So busy, that I forgot to do Ethan's 15-Month post. Oops. 

Without further ado, his 16-Month update!

What Ethan's Doing...

• Running - Like, for real.
• Talking - He says "dog", "more", "all done", "no", "up", "down", "night-night", and we think "mommy" and "daddy". 
• Climbing - He learned how to get himself on to the couch. Now we're working on sitting on the couch only.
• Clinging - Ethan is very attached to Mommy. He doesn't even like it if I run to the restroom...even when Kevin is still in the room with him.
• Reading - Still his favorite past time. He really enjoys books with animals and any book by Karen Katz.
• Teething - Endlessly. He got one back bottom right tooth, and one back top right tooth. They looked like they hurt!
• Growing out of ALL 12-month clothing. I'm working on putting them away.
• Eating...sometimes. Apparently, he eats everything at school and saves his pickiness for home.
• Loving that darn bottle. Any advice for how to wean him off of it???
• Throwing tantrums...fun, fun, especially in public.
• Sitting in a booster chair...no more high chair!
• Commandeering electronics - He doesn't discriminate! He loves iPhones, computers, tablets, remotes, everything. As you can see, we had to bribe him with my iPhone so he'd pose for pictures!

Bye, Bye, Break

Tonight is the night before we head back to school and work. Kevin and I have so enjoyed spending a relaxing two weeks off with our little angel. I'm going to miss lots of things about this time, like...

   ...Sleeping in until 7am (even Ethan)!
   ...Cooking dinner each night (and creating freezer meals).
   ...Reading for pleasure.
   ...Spending the day in pajamas.
   ...Taking family trips to the Children's Museum.
   ...Having help in the evenings.

Now I guess it's time to get back to the real world. How long until Summer Break, again???

Family Trip to the Children's Museum

We are very fortunate to live so close to the Indianapolis Children's Museum...the largest in the United States! My parents,  brother, future SIL, and family friends Debbie & Terry got us a family membership for Ethan's birthday. Today was our first visit as a family, and boy did we have fun! 

Ethan enjoyed playing in all the vehicles, riding on the carousel, and pushing a toy lawnmower all of the little kids area. We visited Egypt, played with some Hot Wheels, and explored the Science Works area. Needless to say, Ethan {and Mommy} needed a long nap when we got home!

14 Months

Happy {belated} 14 Months, to our Little Prince! He definitely rules this castle {and our hearts}, that's for sure. It's so true, that the more he grows, the more our affection for him grows.

What Ethan's Doing...

• Running - In a wobbly kind of way!
• Communicating - Turns out "dada" is code for "I want that." He's realized if he points to something and says "dada", he can get what he wants...within reason.
• Stacking - We noticed that Ethan enjoys playing with toys that he can stack.
• Reading - Hands down, this is his favorite activity. He will sit amongst his books for 15 minutes at a time. I love when he brings books to us to read to him.
• Riding - He gets on his lion rider and rideable car...he's can move himself backwards. We're working on forward.
• Teething - After a four-month hiatus, he is finally getting another tooth. This one is coming in on the bottom.
• Giving kisses - Only when he feels like it, of course!
• Still wearing 12-18 month clothing. Still a beanstalk.
• Giving foods another chance. Like sweet potato fries, peas, and corn. Yay!!
• Refusing to drink milk out of anything but a bottle.
• Dance, dance, dancing. I'll have to post video of this soon!
• Fighting diaper changes. You practically have to wrestle him to the ground, endure his whining/crying, and give him a jillion and one toys to play with in order to change him. 
• Raising his hands over his head when we say "up". He's not quite sure about "down" yet...it's not as much fun.
• Kicking a double ear infection's butt! He was such a great patient, and took his medicine down like a champ. His sleep was barely interrupted as well.

2012 ~ Our Year in Review

2012. 

As I look back at this year, I realize how much life has changed, and how far we've come. Here's a look back at our year....