How I am spending my summer vacation

If I had to sum up my summer in two words it would be be boys and baseball.  I sort of feel like a chauffeur once summer rolls around.  I am constantly driving one of the boys to either swimming lessons, baseball, golf, the pool, or sports camp.  I don't know how I get everything done around the house when I am teaching because the days go so darn fast in summer when I am off and I rarely accomplish everything I set out to do.

Baseball has pretty much dominated our summer.  My oldest son's team won the Little League Major League championship in our city.  It was quite an accomplishment and I all I can say is that we had great pitching and barely any errors and that is why we ended up winning.  It was really an exciting way for Ben to end his LL major career.

Drew on the left played in the minors and Ben was in the majors.

Drew also had a great season.   His LL team went undefeated and he made the 9 yo All-Star team.  They lost their first game and won the next two games.  They ended up losing their fourth game.  Drew played a great tournament and batted clean-up and had some very nice smacks.  It was a fun experience for him and the team would have been much more successful with better coaching and better fielding.

Our All-Star and brothers with Nana and Papa.  Cooper plays t-ball for the Pirates and had a game the same night as Drew.

I have been to the dentist three times already this summer (two check-up appts and a filling for Drew) and have visited the ortho twice.  Cooper has to go back tomorrow to get sealants on his permanent molars that have come in.

Cooper's dental check-up.  Despite his smile he was not happy when he found out he needs to go back for sealants tomorrow.

I went into my classroom to assess things yesterday.  I have decided to shift my desks around to hopefully give everyone a better view of the SMARTBoard (which is on the left angle wall that you cannot see from the photo).  I also want to do Math Learning Stations and will most likely store materials for that in the front right corner of the room.  We almost never use the front chalkboard because we always use the SMARTBoard.

A view of my classroom from the back.  Nothing like having an oddly shaped pentagon for a classroom.  I think the architects that designed our pod failed geometry.

I can't believe I have not taken a single photo at the pool this summer.  We have been there several times and it has been really nice to go lately with the scorching heat we are experiencing in WI.  The pool is open on Mon and Wed nights so we went tonight and then picked up Chipotle and Noodles on the way home.

I have been spending a boat load of time on the internet trying to find ideas for implementing the CCSS in math into my classroom this coming year.  I have also been stalking K and 1st grade blogs looking for ideas to work with Cooper to get him ready for K this year.  I have been using the Ready to Read Printables from the Moffatt Girls Blog and have been so impressed with how he is catching on.

Thanks to other blog stalking I discovered Mo Willems's books.  I put a bunch of them on hold at the public library and we read a bunch of them today.  Cooper and I both loved the books and I must say his older brothers enjoyed watching the DVD of a few of the stories.  It brought back memories for them.

We have been going to the library and I am making the boys read nearly every day.  They joined the summer reading program and got several great coupons to use this summer.  I am just amazed at how I can put books on hold and then walk into the library and they are all there waiting for me.  I love it!

We are looking to spend some time in Chicago and Door County or WI Dells before the summer break is over.  I have to say that it has been a great balance for me of work for school and fun this summer.  I am thoroughly enjoying all the time I get to spend with my boys over the summer.

I am linking up to Clutter-Free Classroom's linky party.