laeroport

Another school year draws to a close

This year has absolutely flown past.  I so clearly remember my own third grade year: Mrs. Coder, her love of poetry, learning about jazz and Kansas history, thinking she would be a strict teacher, but learning that strictness came with great love....

Third grade has been pretty similar for Aidin.  We loved her teacher, who allowed me to come in every Friday to help out in the classroom, filling Friday folders, shelving books, putting up and taking down bulletin boards and occasionally giving a spelling test.  I so love the opportunity to be there in the classroom, see my child interact and to know her friends.

 
I really wanted to give Mrs. McI something special each day during teacher appreciation week, but that week happened to be the week that my Grandma* was fading fast, so those good intentions never materialized.

So before the final picnic on Tuesday, I brought in a few gifts.

 
A note pad that said "you are a teacher of note", a coffee cuff with a Starbucks card attached,

and a little pocket retractable tape measure that I covered with monogrammed wool felt and a note that said, "you really measure up!"

Corny, I know.  Blame Cindy and her wealth of ideas. :)

I also made her a bag, based on the Tiny Happy bag, one of the first things I made when I started blogging.

 
Of course, I had to embroider something, so her name and a sweet little bird went on the interior pocket.

The green lining was kona cotton I had on hand, the exterior fabric - goodness knows.  It has been in my stash for probably 10 years.  And there is at least a yard remaining.  It is such sunny happy springy fabric.  It makes me smile.  Maybe I need to make my own bag out of it!  Now there's a thought.

 
It was a great year.  Now on to summer, and camps and ball games.....

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* Ironic - my grandma was a teacher for 47 years - starting in a one room school house, teaching in the Topeka public schools in the midst of Brown v. Board....  For the past 10+ years sat on the floor with the pre-schoolers each week and taught Sunday school.  And she passed away during teacher appreciation week.  Fitting.

Hello, friends....

I know.  Two months.  I did not intend to take a two month blogging break.  I did not intend to take any blogging break, but life sometimes gets in the way.

A lot has happened at Chez Laeroport in the past two months.

Eliot finished up his soccer season.

 
Tim went out of town with his friend, Gunther Dedmond, to a Horror Fest tribute to Vampira.

I ran a chilly, rainy overnight camping and tenting training with my dear friend, Jill, and a bunch of enthusiastic Girl Scout leaders.  During the training I got some sort of bite (tick?) that turned into a staph infection and required 3 weeks of antibiotic.  But that won't keep me from getting out there again as soon as a free weekend appears.

 
We celebrated Easter.

 

Tim was laid of his job of nearly 12 years due to company restructuring.  They did provide him with a severance package, so we have a few months to figure out the next move.  We are looking at this as an opportunity for Tim to find what he really loves.  And I now have a big stack of Time Warner Cable polos to refashion into something else.

Aidin got new glasses and Eliot learned he didn't need them - yet.

I became the Administrator of the Color + Color group on flickr when Amy needed to step away from the computer.  If you have any interest in playing along, we'd love to have you join us.  Participation has really dropped off, which makes me sad. I do so love this group.

I also managed (somehow - I'm amazed) to keep up with my 365::2010 challenge. It has been good to document my days.

We enjoyed the colors of spring - one of the most beautiful in recent memory.

 
I've done a lot of crochet, none of which has been photographed.

We had a Brownie Girl Scout overnight at the Topeka Zoo.  It was amazing to tour the zoo after dark and wake to the roar of lions, however, I'm getting a bit old to sleep on a concrete & tile floor.

 
Aidin and I went with two other mother/daughter pairs to visit the Girl Scout camp the girls will attend this summer, three hours away.  I think the girls will love it.  And we all decided an annual road trip was in order.  Spending time with those four and laughing (and laughing) was just what I needed.  The margarita at Applebees was pretty good, too.

 
My grandmother, Grandma Jean, fell ill.  She was in the hospital for a few weeks but she was beyond the hope of improvement.  We moved her to hospice and she passed away peacefully early the next morning.  We were all so sad to see her go, but felt blessed to have had her with us, and in such good health, for so very long. 

Aidin turned nine.  NINE!  We celebrated with a family party on Mother's Day and a PURPLE party with her friends on her actual birthday, the 15th.  I am amazed at what a lovely, smart, funny, sensitive and compassionate person she is becoming.  And I love her very much.

 
There have been many school activities - working in the gardens, field trips, sports day, and a final potluck at our beloved montessori school.

 
Farmer's Market opened and our CSA has started up again.  Tim's band, The WiseAcres, played at market on Aidin's birthday.  They took requests just for her.

My niece, Clare, graduated from the 8thgrade this week and gave a speech at her promotion ceremony.  She is quite the young lady. The whole famliy left at 4:00 a.m. the next morning for Disney World.

 
And that brings us to now, with softball and t-ball and summer camps and mini-vacations on the horizon, and wondering about the future and where we will be in a year and when Tim will find a job.  And although we've had plenty of heartache and worry in the past few months, we have certainly enjoyed life and each other to the utmost.
 
Thanks for getting thought this massive recap.  Thanks for your friendship here and on facebook and on flickr.  And thanks for hanging in there while I've been away from this space.  I'll try to be more present in the days to come.

~L