Starting summer off with a bang

'cause a little bit of summer's what the whole year's all about...

- John Mayer

I found this video and who doesn't love themselves some John Mayer (btw doesn't he look a little bit like Nick from the Bachelorette??)?

The weather has been so gorgeous (and SO HOT), so Trey and I have been outside as much as we can stand.  The school year ended and Randy took off for a week with his buddy Jason to do some fishing.  Trey and I got to spend the first week of summer doing some serious bonding, and we had a really good time.

Aunt Julie has this fun little pool in her backyard, and Trey loves it. He especially loves putting the slide into it and turning it into a water slide.  On this particular sunny weekend, my dad came up to hang out with us for the day and evening.  We spent most of the time at Julie's and got some good shots of the boys.

On Sunday, Julie invited Trey, my dad, and myself over for craft day with Deena, Deena's mom Judy, Coen, and baby Dax.  Apparently, craft day means mimosas and homemade cinnamon rolls while the boys play, so I am all in!

Coen, Grady, Trey, and Case 

After we went home, Trey decided that a little naked iPad time was in order...

Trey and I have a project for the summer and that is to visit every park in Beaverton.  I have a map posted on a corkboard and am hoping to mark each park with a color coded pin about how awesome the playground is.  We started this weekend and hit Greenway Park (review: too hard to find an entrance not to mention a good playground; however, it would be a great park to bike in.  I'm determined to find a good playground, so we will be back, but at this point the playground review would be POOR.)

Julie had to get the boys home, but Trey and I were determined to find a good playground.  We really liked the park at Fir Grove Park because a) it was shaded and b) it had an awesome playground.  Playground review: FABULOUS.

During the first week of summer, Trey and I could not have been happier.   We slept in every morning, cuddled in bed and watched shows, and had numerous playdates.  It was the only real week I have of summer thanks to summer school starting, so I really tried to enjoy it as much as I could.  It was an awesome start!

Swimming with Camille 

Hammock time with Ana 

 Writing his birthday treat bag names all by himself!

Watering the garden for Mommy 

Finally earning his keep!

So far I wouldn't trade summer for anything.  While summer school is going to be really intense (stay tuned for that), I love love love our mornings at home, enjoy spending time with Trey, love seeing friends during the week, and really love not going to work.  Summer, you can stick around as long as you want! 

May Round-up

Something I really value about blogging is that it reminds me of the things for which I am grateful.  I love looking back at all of the pictures of the events, playdates, silly adventures, and moments that I share with my family and friends.  It is good for me to remember that in the midst of all of the day to day sameness and duldrums of grownup life that Trey, Randy and I have a really good time with our family and friends.

Here we are on the last day of June and I never got around to finishing up this round-up post from May.  It's going to be out of order, but oh well.  It's the remembering that matters, right?

Trey and I don't see Mindy and Camille nearly as much as we'd like (I think I've said that before, but, hey, I'm known for repeating myself).  Our playdates and adventures are always fun, although I think as the kids get older they sometimes act more like brother and sister.  Also, with them both being only children, they sometimes (they being mostly Trey) like to be in charge.  If I had a dollar for every time I say, "Trey, you are not the boss of Camille!!!"  On this sunny day, we took the kids to Tanner Creek park, one of our favorite midway points, and then to frozen yogurt.  We had some time at the end before we each had to be at our next spots, so we also visited Willamette Park.   The kids had fun playing, and we had fun visiting.

There's something about this picture that I just love.

A selfie while the kids are on top of a play structure is not as easy as it looks.

I think it was the next day when we met Sarah, Kai, and Zander at Hiteon Elementary, the boys' school.  The kids played for a while on the play structure and then we walked across the field to another little park.  Trey LOVED this spinning toy.  It amazes me that the boy doesn't get sick.

There's just something that a child loves about watermelon.

Have I mentioned how happy we are that Curt and Ana are back in Portland?  They've been here for nearly a year, so I bet I have on numerous occasions.  Trey and Ana love each other (another brother-sister/only child relationship in the works if you catch my drift..."Trey, you are not the boss of Ana!!!") and we see each other a lot.  We were lucky to celebrate Ana's sixth birthday with her at the end of May.  I spoiled her with a bunch of outdoor toys because they just moved into a new house and have a GINORMOUS yard.  

Happy 6th birthday to Ana!

One thing I really like about working in McMinnville is seeing Dan and Kristina more often.  Dan and I have known each other for probably 12-13 years as he was my old boss in Woodburn, and his wife Kristina has become a good friend.  We have seen each other more in the past year since I've been in McMinnville than ever before, and it is wonderful.  One night I ended up there for happy hour (in fact, I think I might have invited myself over), and Lee Ann (old boss, new boss, good friend) joined us along with Luann.  It was so much fun to have everyone around the table together that I was giddy with joy.  I love good friends.

Dan, me, Luann, Lee Ann, and Kristina with a mini photo bomb by Aidan

Trey has been dying to do karate because he wants to be a ninja warrior.  We checked out Aim High Academy in Beaverton and were really impressed.  I'm sure I'll be talking about them more this summer as we are now doing regular classes, but I am thrilled with their program.  Not only does he get to learn how to be a ninja warrior, but they also talk a lot about self-discipline, focus, and empathy.  It's awesome.

Trey going through his first "evaluation"

Learning some new moves

Randy has been working hard on cultivating our garden, and it looks way different now than it did at the end of May.  We don't get as much sun as we'd like, so things like tomatoes and peppers can be a little sketchy, but it doesn't stop us from trying.

Our peas and strawberries

One day I had an especially long and exhausting and hard day at work (worse than usual), and I met Randy at home for some pre-daycare-pickup margaritas.  Nothing quite like sitting in the backyard with a delicious cocktail and your honey and no four year old demanding attention.

Pretty pretty broccoli

Lovely lovely pea blossoms

Recently, we hit the farmers market in Beaverton and played in the fountain with Julie, Tim, and the boys.  Trey loves the water, and he had a real hoot running around in the water and hollering at the top of his lungs.

Check out this cool rainbow that appeared in the fountain!

Julie and the boys

May was a long but sunny month, stressful with state testing and wrapping up paperwork, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel with summer looming.  And, no matter how stressful or tiring the days get, there is always this...blue sky, beautiful trees, and a really good book.

Book Love

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved books.  I loved Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Pippi Longstalking, and the Boxcar Children.  I read the Little House on the Prairie series when I was in the first grade and had a book with me every where I went throughout most of my childhood.  

My lifelong dream is to own a small bookstore by the ocean.  A backup dream to that would be working at a bookstore which I was lucky enough to do for 12 years at Annie Bloom's Books.  Working at Annie Bloom's changed my life because I was exposed to a whole new variety of books, authors, and people who loved books.  I met some amazing people while I worked there, some of whom have become lifelong friends.

Randy thinks I have too many books, but I totally disagree.

Since I left Annie Bloom's in 2008, I have had to work harder to know what to read.   I use Indiebound a lot, follow some authors on social media who recommend books, and follow sources like NY Review of Books on Twitter.  Luckily, I have a lot of friends who read who also give me recommendations.  I'm constantly adding books to my library hold list and bookmarking book pages on the computer.  I know I miss a lot of really good books, but I hit a lot of good ones too.

Trey has hit some huge reading milestones in the last month or so.  He has started putting sounds together to read words and knows a handful of sight words.  He is more interested in longer books with more complex content.  This summer could be really really fun when it comes to reading at the Clark house.

The quality of this video isn't great when I uploaded it to the computer which is frustrating, but you'll get the point.  My favorite part is at the end when you can tell that he is really sounding words out.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Trey and I drove to my dad's.  I thought I would give audiobooks a shot, but I wasn't sure if Trey would be able to stay focused on the story without any pictures to anchor him.  I'd stop the cd every chapter or so (at the beginning) to check for comprehension, and he seemed to be doing okay albeit not that interested in the story.  After awhile, I asked him if he wanted to stop the book and do something else, but he said he wanted to keep listening.  On the way home we were listening to the second half of the book, and at one point I looked at him in the rearview mirror.  He looked upset or sick (a few of us had been fighting a stomach bug so I was actually nervous he was going to puke), and I asked him if he was okay.  He said yes and I said, "You look like you're going to cry," and he responded, "I'm just sad about Ralph."  Love.  Him.  So. Much.

I have been dreaming about the day when Trey would read chapter books with me.  I have been trying off and on for the last year or so, but he has clearly told me he is not ready.  "Mom, I only want books with pictures and they HAVE to be in color."  More recently, he somehow got into Flat Stanley, and he is now on number nine of the Flat Stanley Worldwide Adventures.  He loves to get an extra chapter each night, and it makes me so happy.  We just started the Magic Treehouse Series, and he loves those too.  I can't wait!!!!!

Trey and I have also discovered Oliver Jeffers, and we love his books.  I could put pictures of every single one of his books on here because Trey loves them all, but if you haven't seen them, check them out.  They might rival Mo Willems as some of our favorite picture books.

I have also been reading some young adult books, and I forgot how much I like them.  The writing is great, they read fast, and they keep me in touch with some juvenile fiction.  Brown Girl Dreaming is written in prose form and is actually nonfiction, but it is a great read about a young girl growing up and living with race and prejudice.

El Deafo is a graphic novel about a girl who has to wear hearing aids due to an illness and subsequent hearing loss.  It touched a special spot about a young girl feeling different and having to live with that every day.

I was in a really good streak of books, but lately have been in a bit of a lull.  I've read a few weird ones (After Birth and the First Bad Man) and started one that I could not get into (Joshua Ferris's newest).   I did enjoy Life Animated by Ron Suskind about his son with autism, and I just finished what could be my dream book.  I found it on this blog and read it in just a few days.  Traveling through Europe with my mom or my child and writing about it?  Perfect.

I'll be doing a lot of reading this summer - textbooks, books to Trey, and books for pleasure.  Reading brings me a lot of joy, and I can't wait to jump into summer reading.  Any suggestions, friends?

The year in numbers

If you read my blog or have had any conversations with me over the past school year, you know it has been a tough one.  I was thinking about the year in numbers and here we go:

2014-15 school year:
Years in special education - 17 (9 in Woodburn, 7 at the Clackamas ESD, and now 1 in McMinnville)
Miles commuted this year: approximately 12,160
Audiobooks listened to: ummm, didn't keep track, but probably 20?
Stops at Starbucks: too many...it became the happy way to start my day.
Steps a day on my Fitbit: 8,000-9,000 - without exercise
Kids on my caseload when the year started: 22
Kids on my caseload when the year ended: 36 (that's a big gain for those of you not in the special ed world)
Standardized tests given to kids across the district since I also worked as a district evaluator: 67
Smarter Balanced tests given to IEP kids: 140
Progress reports written to communicate IEP progress to parents: around 360
Visits with professionals to deal with insomnia, stress, and bad mood: probably a dozen
Number of bottles of my favorite Boodles gin consumed: too many, according to my recycling bin
Weeks off before summer school starts: 1
Credits to take in summer school: 20
Weeks to complete 20 credits: 8
Stress level about completing 20 credits in 8 weeks while caring for 5 year old: high

A colleague showed this video to me yesterday, and it totally is how I felt about teaching this year, especially in math.  The teacher's facial expressions are priceless and probably how I looked a lot of the time.   It's perfect.

Preschool Graduation

It is really, really hard to believe that Trey is "graduating" from preschool and moving on to kindergarten.  I just can't wrap my head around the fact that he is old enough to enter public school.

Since we moved to Beaverton in December 2012, Trey has been attending Home Sweet Home Preschool and Child Care.  While every place has its pros and cons, I will say that this daycare has a lot of pros.  It is a half mile from our house, the owner and her daughters love Trey, and he has made some really good friends.

The school did pictures earlier this spring, and I had no idea they were doing caps and gowns.  I had to buy this picture mostly because of Trey's goofy expression.

Randy does morning duty almost all of the time, and I asked him the night before pictures if he wanted me to put some clothes out for Trey.  "No, I got it," was his response.  When I picked Trey up in the afternoon after school pictures, I could not stop laughing that Randy dressed him in the same shirt he wore for school pictures in the fall.  I guess we all know which shirt Randy thinks is Trey's best.

Trey, Everett, and Ryland, the three Musketeers

Late in May, the preschool did a graduation for the seven kids who are moving on to kindergarten.  The kids sang a few songs, Laurie gave them a diploma and said some kind words about each child, and then they threw their caps in the air.  The staff went over the top with gifts for the kids, and it was really cute.  

Ryland, Everett, and Trey

These boys spend so much time together, they are almost like brothers.  

I think they are going to miss spending 10 hours a day together in a small room.

Hopefully, we can all stay in touch because they are all going to different schools.

Trey is going through an uncooperative stage with the camera.

Curt and Ana came over that night after graduation for pizza and ice cream sundaes.  These two have a great time together, and it is so fun to watch them play together.

Fast friends

Trey's last official day at preschool will be June 19th, but he will miss a few days that week since I will be out of school.  He will go for a few days this summer so I can work on my coursework, but his regular daily attendance will actually end this Thursday.  I can't believe we are through this stage of his childhood, and I can't believe that we are almost done paying for full time daycare! Woot woot!!!