Three Things

Happy Thursday!

I hope you’ve been having a great week. We’ve just been trying to stay cool!

I haven’t written a Three Things post in a while, so today I’m sharing a few tidbits about each of us. 

1.Mowing the lawn: You know you are in middle school when your dad tells you that you are old enough to start mowing the grass. LOL

Hayden took on this responsibility this summer, and he’s really kept up with it. For living in a neighborhood, we have a decent sized yard. There have been a few times that Travis will split the responsibilities with him, but overall, Hayden has kept up with this task. I’m not sure if he realizes that he has a couple more months of mowing left to do, but he’s had a good attitude about this responsibility. 

On top of mowing our yard, he’s mowed a few neighbors’ yards, watered flowers and fed the neighbor’s cat as well. 

2.Cross country: I can’t believe it’s already Hayden’s 8^th grade cross country season. I swear, I think middle school years really fly by because they are only there three years. Hayden had his first race of the season on Saturday, and he did great. It was a 3k race, and he placed third overall. Eventually, they will run 4k races later in the season. I’m hoping for a healthy season for him. Towards the end of both his 6^th and 7^th grade seasons, he wasn’t 100%. At the state meet as a 6^th grader, Hayden was still recovering from Covid. Then, last year, Hayden injured his IT band about ten days before the state meet. Anyway, I’m just hoping he can have a healthy season! 

3.Scrambled eggs –I’m sure I shared that last summer Hayden mastered grilled cheese and quesadillas for lunch. Well, this summer, he mastered scrambled eggs for breakfast. While I realize making eggs isn’t that hard of a task, I commend him for eating healthier than a Poptart and a taking a few extra minutes to make a homecooked meal. Now, if only he’d wash the skillet after cooking them…haha (Maybe he’ll master cleaning next summer?!? A mom can dream, right?!) 

1.Babysitting- Hadley has been quite the sitter this summer. She’s been able to watch my brother’s kids quite a bit, and Hadley and her friend watched a few kids together at one point this summer. She’s at a great age to hang with the little kids, and she enjoys earning money. Hadley continues to say that she wants to be an elementary school teacher, and so far, I think that would be the perfect fit for her. Besides baby sitting, she’s done a great job helping neighbors when they’ve gone out of town. She’s fed fish, collected mail, watered flowers and more. 

2. Volleyball- This year, Hadley wants to focus on volleyball. I really can’t believe she’s not dancing anymore, but I also appreciate that she’s making these decisions on her own. She really fell in love with volleyball last year, so I hope she has a great year. In our district, the girls middle school basketball is in late summer/fall, and then volleyball is late fall to December. So, right now, Hadley is playing a short season for a club, but it’s more like a clinic a couple days a week practicing serving, hitting, and blocking with some scrimmages as well. It seems like the perfect time commitment and a way to work on the volleyball skills before the season. 

3.School goals– Hadley has big goals this school year, and she also declared this as the year she stays organized. Like most first weeks of school, she has all the school supplies, and she has all her folders organized. Honestly, she even helped Hayden organize his folders for the school year. Besides staying organized, she says she’s going to manage her time better as well. I guess time will tell. 

1. I can’t believe that I’m starting year 22 in education! I’ve had a few friends ask me recently if that means I will retire in six years. Unless we win the lottery, the answer is no. Thirty years has always been my goal for a variety of reasons…and depending on what I’m doing when I hit year 30, I may stay longer. I have sat in plenty of meetings looking at grumpy educators and thinking, “Why don’t they just retire?” I never want that to be me. I hope I’m always approachable and helpful to new educators over these next few years.  

Also, I’m still doing academic intervention, and I’ve really enjoyed that over the past few years. I hope I can continue doing that, but there are times I miss the classroom full of kids. I’m also still in charge of our after school tutoring program and credit recovery sessions. For now, I don’t mind this responsibility because it’s another way for me to help students and teachers. 

2.Travis is coaching cross country again this season for the kids’ school. It’s definitely an extra time commitment, but he enjoys it. He will be busy soon with work and the September horse sales.

3.Homer is probably sad that we are back to school…haha 

I guess Homer updates are pretty boring since he’s matured and is a pretty well-behaved dog. That being said, when we were out of town, we had a new dog sitter who said as soon as she opened the front door one day, he bolted out of it. Poor lady was panicked to get him back. I guess he hasn’t matured that much?!

Anyway, what have you been up to lately?