Welcome!


Welcome! Join me as I share my experiences as a wife, mom, and kindergarten teacher, and my reflections on them all. Come along as I share my crazy journey!


Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Day 11 - The Power of the Flashlight

March 11, 2020

We used a powerful new tool for reading this week...



A Flashlight!

Our March is Reading Month theme at school is "Reading is a Bright Idea!" When we kicked off the month of March we had a read in where the whole school gathered in the gym with a good book, we turned off the lights and the kids read by flashlight.

My kids loved it so much I decided to try it in the classroom. It was our best day of independent reading all year! They were quiet, they read the whole time, and no one asked to get drinks or use the bathroom.

Guess what we are going to do more often? FLASHLIGHT READING! :)

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Day 10 - It's Happening

March 10, 2020

It's happening.

My son has taken driver's training, both sessions. He has passed the driving test. He has passed the written test. He has turned 16 and, maybe most importantly, he has earned his license.

It's happening.

He has been added to our insurance as an occasional driver. He's a good driver and we trust him.

It's happening.

Now, he has joined the school golf team. This means he has to be at practice before my husband and I get out of work. To clarify, practice is at the golf course, about 10 minutes away from school. He gets out of school later than the rest of the team because he is in a career center program for half of the day and has a slightly different schedule than the rest of the team. No worries. Except for getting to practice.

It's happening.

We have hit the point where we have to have a third vehicle in order to survive without bumming rides from grandparents and aunts. That just doesn't work in the long term. So, I guess...

it's happening.

My baby boy is all grown up.

Monday, March 9, 2020

Day 9 - An Exciting Day!

March 9, 2020

Today was a big day in our house! Two packages arrived today that upped the ante on the level of excitement for spring break.

First, I received a blue bag that contained all the things. Our travel planner is absolutely amazing!! She put together a folder of information that is next level amazing! Every detail we might ever need to know for our trip is included. There are laminated items and brochures and directions and everything else. She even included Harry Potter treats (Chocolate Frogs and Every Flavor Beans) because we are going to see Harry Potter stuff at Universal. She included a Mickey Mouse picture frame for one of our photos from Disney. She’s incredible!

The second package we received was from Disney! Our magic bands arrived today! They are colorful and labeled with our names. They also sent us luggage tags for our suitcases.

It’s happening! Spring break is coming and we are so excited! It will be the kids first flight, first Disney/Universal trip, their first visit to the ocean...so many firsts to be had! I can’t wait to see this trip through the eyes of my kiddos. Bring on Mickey Mouse!

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Day 8 - It’s a Barbie World

March 8, 2020

I live in Michigan where Spring might show up on a random day here or there but it doesn’t really arrive until late April. That said, it was 60 degrees today! The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it was beautiful outside.

My girls took total advantage of this day by pulling the toys out of the basement Barbie World and relocating to the deck. They spread a blanket, carried up the treasures they needed for today’s play fest and they played outside for 4 hours.

The Barbies has wild adventures from climbing trees to hiding in bushes to dangling from branches. They watched wildlife in the yard (I can only imagine the wiener dogs must have looked like enormous dinosaurs to the Barbies!) and they drove their SUVs around the deck from vacation spot to vacation spot. It was quite the day for them.

My girls got some much needed fresh air and I got some much needed quiet time. That is what we call a win-win situation around here!


Saturday, March 7, 2020

Day 7 - Little Pink Dress

March 7, 2020

I went to see my mom today. I had previously asked if I could borrow her suitcases for our upcoming spring break trip, so she had one of them ready for me. The other one was larger and still downstairs. As I was going down to get it, she came to the top of the steps.

“While you’re down there, look through that pile on the table,” she told me.

For the next five minutes I was caught up in a moment in history. She had placed a carefully laid out pile of baby clothes. As I lifted each little dress by its plastic baby hanger (some being older than me, I realized), she told me it’s story.

“That one your Grandma made for me out of feed sacks.”
“That blue one with the pink flowers was from Hawaii. My friend sent it for your sister.”
“Your Grandma Irma bought that yellow one for you. She told me I could put you in it every time you came to visit because she thought you looked so nice in that color.”
“Oh, I made that one for you girls. The yellow one with the sailor collar. It was so cute!”

Then I came to the tiny little pink dress with pretty little birds stitched on the front. This one I remembered all on my own. This story I knew by heart. “This one was mine,” I smiled.

“Your dad left the hospital and went out and bought you 4 or 5 dresses that style when you were born. But that one he insisted was for you to wear home from the hospital.

I smiled as I thought of it. It made complete sense to me! My dad is also the one who insisted my name would be Robin if I was a girl. It only fit that I’d come home in a dress he bought me with little birds on the front.

The specialness of the moment did not escape me today as I stood there looking at the little pink dress. Today is my dad’s birthday.  He would have been 77. He’s been gone for 13 years but sometimes it feels like yesterday.  I miss him and think of him every day.

Today was the perfect day to hold that little dress in my hands, touch those little birds, and smile.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Day 6 - oh no!

March 6, 2020

My positive thinking tank is apparently pretty low right now. You know how I realized this?


I saw this today and I immediately cringed. I immediately started thinking that I’d like to just skip out of next week.

You see, my class this year is hard. It’s harder than normal. It’s a collection of kids with baggage of various sorts. It’s a group that is harder than it “should” be on the best of days.

So today this slice is short because I’m already tired from next week and it’s all I have left in the tank today.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Day 5 - Math Hoops

March 5, 2020

I had the pleasure of accompanying my daughter’s school team to the Math Hoops competition today. Our school district sent 10 teams of students to compete.

Out of 60 teams, our kids did great! We had three teams make it into the second round. Our little school district represented 3 of the 8 teams in round two! My daughters team being one of them, although they lost in the second round.

Two of our teams made it to the final round and ended up playing each other for the championship!

The kids got to meet and play some basketball with a couple players from the Detroit Pistons basketball team and had the opportunity to shoot hoops on their new, state of the art practice court.

It was an awesome opportunity and an experience they won’t soon forget.