It Didn't Rain on our Parade

Wow! What a day yesterday was! It was our town's summer celebration, and the culmination of most of our hard work this summer. We started the day off with the parade. Remember that model of the church I talked about having to pull....Well, the people who are storing it for the church told us not to pull it if there was a chance of rain. (The rain could ruin the paint and the wood it is made from.) That morning, as my husband and I were driving into town, it was raining. I checked the radar after we got all the banners hung on the truck, and it didn't show too much rain out there, but there was still a 50% chance. It certainly looked like it could rain at any minute too. So, to make a painfully long story shorter, the president of my board and I decided not to pull the model.

Then, we didn't know where we were supposed to meet to join the parade. The coordinators had given us a special spot in the shade because of the kids - we were just supposed to join the parade in our place as it went by us. That's great, but they didn't have anyone at our place telling us where exactly to line up and when to join the parade. So....we just lined up where we were and joined when we felt like it.

The kids had a blast though. They managed to throw all of their candy out by about halfway through the parade, so my husband ducked into the dollar store (which was conveniently located on the parade rout) to grab some more. They, of course managed to throw all of that out within the next five minutes too... That was fine though - they enjoyed waving and smiling at all the people who were watching. We even got applause from a big section of people by the park!

Since we were at the beginning of the parade, we ducked out before the end and let the kids watch for a while. They were the only kids in that area, so they managed to get about a bucketful of candy each.

After the parade, we were hosting a photography booth in the park. This was all happening during the community picnic, so there were a ton of people there. We made a cutout photo booth - you know, the ones where you stick your face in the hole to appear you have a body of something else - of a cheerleader and a football player. We sold about 10 pictures (which was kind of a disappointment, but I'm blaming it on our location), but I'm not too upset about that. We made back the costs of the equipment, and that's about all I could hope for.

All in all, I'm going to call the day a success. We had a ton of people in our float, and I'm so grateful for that. I think we appeared as a strong, happy, friendly group of people. The kids were having a blast, which helps send the message that our preschool is a great place for kids. I think only good things can come from the experience - even though it was a ton of work!

Oh, Maui! Why can't you be closer?

Man, I have been really bad about posting recently. I've got a lot on my plate. The funny thing is I'm stressed out about it and the one thing that really helps me get rid of that stress - blogging - has been difficult for me. For whatever reason, it's hard for me to give myself what I really need. It's almost as if I feel the need to punish myself. I need to change that.

What all is on my plate?

• My preschool is going to be in a parade this weekend at our town's summer celebration. I figured it would be a good way for us to get out into the community - to show people we're still around. I didn't realize how much work it was going to be. There have been so many decisions that, unfortunately, had to be made by the entire board, which means we've had about a bazillion board meetings since the end of the school year. Decisions like: Should we include the model of the church on our float? It's on a trailer that's not big enough to include the kids, what do we do? What are we going to use to decorate? Who's going to paint? Who's going to get the markers? twizzlers? labels? Oh. My. Word. I'm so ready for this parade to be over...
• Instead of hiring an assistant teacher and putting all of our students in one class, we're going to break them into two classes so I can teach them alone. I'm at peace with this decision, but now I have to decide who's going to get their second choice instead of their first choice. I don't want to lose any students. Also...I really wanted an assistant teacher. I really don't want to be on an island any more. :(
• I have six 3-5 page papers to write by July 20.
• My husband and I are moving to a house on July 23. We're excited about the move. The house is in a neutral location, and it'll be cheaper; however, if our landlady doesn't find someone to rent our apartment, we'll have to pay for the next year. That could be $4500 spent on nothing. We can afford it - we're not going to have to declare bankruptcy because of it - but I'd rather have that money to spend on something worthwhile.
• My husband and I are wanting to start a family. Because I'm the girl in this relationship, I'm starting to worry about all the things future moms worry about. What if we can't get pregnant? What if I get really sick? What if there's something wrong with the baby? What if we're not ready to take care of another human? I need to just relax. I'll work on that.

So many things....I'll survive. I just need to keep breathing. Also, a vacation would be nice. We're talking about a day trip somewhere. We'll see what happens. Getting away would be perfect. I miss Maui at times like these. Waking up to this:


every morning would be absolute heaven.

Such a Fun Week!

Okay, so I've been neglecting my blog a little bit, but I have a very good reason why! This past Thursday, my preschoolers cheered at half-time of a basketball game. We spent most of the week practicing and getting ready for it. Let me tell ya', it was totally worth the effort! The students were so excited to perform for the community. The girls got to wear bows in their hair and hold pom-poms, and the boys did a little bit of stunting. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen! Our (me and my board, that is) goal was to have more people notice our preschool. After some pretty heavy drama with our preschool last summer, we have been working hard to show the community that it is still a great place for kids. I think we accomplished our goal with this event. The students got some quality gross motor skills practice, and we were out in the community. What a great time.

Also, we spent this week gearing up for Valentine's day. We're delivering singing valentines throughout the community on Monday and Tuesday, and the students are super excited about it. We'll be headed all over town to sing songs and deliver a preschooler-made valentine and fresh flowers. This is another of our attempts to show the community our preschool is a good place for kids. We talked a lot about how we are being the salt and the light of the world by delivering these valentines, and the students are excited to bring smiles to our friends in town. I'm excited for this adventure.

With all the craziness of cheer practice, the game, and preparing for singing valentines, it seems like our study has been pushed to the side a little. We've started a study on food, nutrition, and health. This week we talked about dental health. The students got very excited to talk about cavities and how we can prevent them. We wrote and illustrated many stories about sugar bugs this week. Plus, I got to read one of my absolute favorite read alouds - Sweet Tooth by Margie Palatini. It's hilarious!

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate with kids, and I'm really looking forward to it this year.