Summer...Where have you gone????

Well, I see it has been awhile since my last post. May to be exact! However, I have good excuses.
1. It's summer
2. Graduate School
3. Moving
4. It's summer
5. Visitors nearly every week
6. Personal time
7. IT'S STILL SUMMER

Overall, I have just been a slacker. So with that said please let me fill you in on my summer life! Ryan and I closed on our house during the second week of June. We are still settling in but things have progressed. We are really enjoying our neighborhood and the Hamburg area. It is a different way of life over here but I think I can handle it for several years! Below are a couple pictures of the house before I started putting things away. Maybe I'll post some pictures of what it looks like now in the near future.

The back yard before we had a lawn mower!

Sitting in the living room looking into the kitchen area

I think I moved a couple things before this picture! It is not nearly a cluttered as the previous!

I have also had graduate courses this summer. I took one class in May while school was still going on. Then in June Gayla, Abby, and I participated in the Kentucky Reading Project. Today, I just started my third class. I'm not really sure what it is all about though. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a syllabus? These are pictures of our last day in class when we had to present our school literacy action plan in an interesting way so the other participants knew what we were doing. I don't want to brag but I think our skit was the absolute funniest! If you see Gayla please ask her what she does for differentiation constipation :) After viewing the pictures please let me know if you would like use to perform the skit for you!!!

Well, there is a small post about life in the Harrington Household. Hopefully there will be more to come in the near future. Oh... and I believe after ONE successful year of marriage we are no longer newlyweds so the subheading under the blog will be changing!

Tears

Tears, Tears, and more Tears. This is how I have spent the last two days. When the bell rang at 2:35 on Friday I said to my kids, "Wait, you can't leave. I'm not ready." They had to go though so we parted ways with hugs and promises that they would come and visit. However, that didn't stop the tears.

I started crying on Friday afternoon and the tears have yet to stop. Ryan actually just asked me what I was doing over here and as I was explaining that I was blogging and the waterworks started again. He thinks I'm crazy but he teaches high school. There is no way he can understand.

Back to my year... Though parts of the year were stressful and my kids weren't always angels I had a great year and I believe that my students did too. We learned and laughed together. Fifth grade was arranged differently this year so not only did I get to know my homeroom students but I also got to know the 80 other fifth graders. It is hard to walk away from 105 students. That is probably why I spent Friday afternoon at Southland Pool with about 30 of them and Saturday at a couple ball parks watching games and hanging out. I know I am silly but I LOVE THESE KIDS!

Everyone says that other great groups will come through but I think it is something extra special this year. I can't wait to see what they do with the opportunities placed in front of them. I hope they reach their dreams and then come back and tell me all about it. I guess this means I will have to stay at Clays Mill forever that way they know where to find me!

It is off to bed for me now. It has been not only a physically but also mentally exhausting two days. I am sure that as I drift to sleep tonight more tears will flow. I can't wait till next year but at the same time I don't quite want to let go of this year.

A funny site!

As I was pondering my sick day tomorrow (more of a mental than physical need) I decided I would google sick days. I know I should be doing something more productive but hey I am taking a sick day tomorrow. So, back to google. I typed in sick days and I found a very funny site. http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page This site will help you learn how to do anything! Funny ones that I read included...
1. How to call in a sick day when you just need a day.
2. How to get your crush to notice you
3. How to pull a vehicle with a rope

Oh and so much more. Have fun!!!

So Many Things, So Little Time

Well lots of things have happened since I last blogged. So, I will go through the list!

New House - A funny story to start out with. We took Ryan's parents and sisters to see the house last weekend. When we went in everything seemed normal however when we went into the kitchen we realized there was bird poop on the floor. We then went upstairs to find even more bird poop and also a glass vase knocked over and broken. Needless to say we called Jim (our realtor) and let him know. We haven't been back but Jim called and said he took care of everything. Apparently there was a vent to the outside uncovered and the fire place doors were open which allowed the bird inside. No bird was found on the inside so hopefully it got out. We close on the 10th of June. We plan on painting several of the rooms during that week and then moving over the weekend. Ryan has football camp that week so we can use all the help we can get. I believe we will be renting a U-Haul for the weekend so hopefully we will only need to make one or two trips.

Graduate School - I started graduate school through Georgetown College two weeks ago. All is well except I wish someone would have clearly explained that the class I am taking right now (along with teaching full time) requires you to write both a 25 page paper and a 10 page paper. It is just a little much while still teaching every week day. It would be different if it was a true summer class and I wasn't teaching. However, the good news is that I am halfway done with the class. It ends in two weeks!

Summer Plans - Well our summer is pretty booked with moving, football camp, and graduate school. Ryan's football camps are the 2nd and 3rd weeks of June. We are moving the 2nd week/weekend of June. I have graduate classes the last 2 weeks of June and then all of July. Ryan is also going to hopefully work some other camp through Bryan Station for a little extra money. So, we are just a little busy. We are hoping to take a mini trip (maybe to St. Louis ) sometime hopefully.

School - We are at the end of the year. It is a very bittersweet time for me. Ryan is happy (first year teachers!). Our last day of school is May 30th (stinkin snow days). I know my kids are ready to be done and so am I but I am really going to miss this class. They are sweet kids. Ryan is hopefully going to be able to go and be certified for AP Statistics. He won't get to teach it next year but maybe the next.

Is a title really needed?

So, I am at a loss for today's blogging title. Nothing really important has happened since I last blogged however I feel the need to write something to keep my many audiences entertained!

With the school year winding down I have gone into my reflection mode. I have thought about how and what I want to change for the next teaching year and also about how much I love school this year. Last year was HARD! Even though I'm ready for summer I'm not sure I want to let go of my kids this year. People will probably think I'm crazy but the other day as I was driving home it really hit me that I only have 30 days with my class. This moment led to tears streaming down my face. I love my kids and really couldn't ask for anything more or better. Next year will be an interesting year because I will have the kids that I student taught in Jennifer's room. They are really sweet kids and I am sure that it will be another great year. We are also adding an enrichment program which will be a great change for Clays Mill.

Everything with our house is coming along nicely. We have an inspector coming tomorrow just to make sure everything is up to par. After that we have a meeting at the mortage office to sign some final papers. We plan to close the second week of June. We might paint a couple rooms before we move everything over so we probably won't move until the end of that week or the third week of June. I can't wait! Bella is going to love the yard and I am going to love the garage that she will be sleeping in (so I can't hear her bark at night!).

Well my husband says dinner is ready so I better get going! Sarabeth (my other half in the fifth grade team) are blessed to have husbands that cook! I believe it is chicken. Who would have guessed Maria and chicken?

OUR FIRST HOME!!!

OUR NEW HOME!!!!

Can you tell I am just a little excited? I can't wait to move however I guess I have to since we are not closing until June. The house is in the Hamburg area. You can actually get to it either off of Man-O-War or Todd's Road. Ryan and I are going tonight to sign a couple more papers so that everything is official. I am sure I will have more pictures soon.

Housing Update

Well, Ryan and I met with the loan officer at the bank today. It was a wonderful meeting!!! We were approved for a much higher amount than we plan on spending. We are now in our in-depth search. We have several houses in mind with one in particular in Masterson Station. When our relator is back in town we will hit the ground running with our search. We are hoping to find something and put an offer in before the end of April that way we are able to move in the beginning of June.