A total tease, but such a blast

Spring break came and went, but it still lives on in my memory as one of the most unexpectedly good vacations I've had in a long time. I started writing this from a Starbucks near where I work and had to meet my co-workers at the flagpole in 20 minutes (oh the joys of working in a union!), so I never had a chance to finish this.  But I wanted desperately to tell you about my amazing spring break and even though it's April 30 and I'm at a curriculum workshop for my district, I'm going to finish this post while I eat my lunch in silence (finally - get 8 English teachers together and no one shuts up!).
My vacation was unexpectedly good because I initially thought that since it involved being home with both kids, that it would be far from a vacation. But vacation it was.

To let go of any guilt for not spending my "break" catching up with grading, I set aside one morning (out of the 9 days I had off) to get a little bit of work done, so I wouldn't feel overwhelmed when I started teaching again Tuesday).

Aside from, that I didn't worry or even think about work other than that 4 hour block of time. I completely vacated from my professional life and that made my vacation mostly stress free. It was so freeing to not have that hanging over my head. I didn't realize what a burden work is on me, even over the weekends when I supposedly have time to spend with my family, until this vacation.  You know what other vacation is worry free? That's right: Summer vacation. In that way, spring break was a total tease.

So what started out very low-key (think playdate at the park) turned to be a whirlwind of family and friend get togethers and meet-ups. Summer vacation is like that too. We're all desperately trying to squeeze in every last bit of time with each other, since we know how busy the fall gets.

On Saturday 4/12, I met my friend Emma and her two kiddos at a park in Modena for a little bit of play and food (picnic anyone?). Bevin had a blast on the swing and Cole was super excited to play with Hailey, Emma's also almost-4-year-old.  The playground we played at was adjacent to a field where several teams were playing rugby. At one point the team decided it would be a good idea to bring their game ONTO THE PLAYGROUND where they kicked a ball almost onto mine or Bevin's head (I was wearing her at the time). Luckily, I saw it coming and knocked it out of the way with my hand and proceeded to curse out the coach who kept claiming he didn't know the ball was going to come our way. Aside from that scary moment, we had a nice time getting the kids together and talking about pregnancy and child birth.

On Sunday 4/13 I decided it was imperative that we use the good weather to our advantage and get into the woods already. The spring and the fall are incredibly good seasons to hike because the heat and humidity is not unbearable as it can be in the summer. We also decided that it would be nice to start utilizing some of the local preserves maintained and supported by Scenic Hudson . We decided to hit up Black Creek Preserve in Esopus and had a great time visiting the Hudson River and enjoying an afternoon surrounded by woods. Cole, though, has reached a point in his almost 4 years of life where he gets "tired" and "hungry" both reasons to stop hiking and go directly to a diner. Yes. True story. We don't give in though because we've realized he is just bored (well, and maybe a little hungry). Even so, he had a diner detector (stick) where he "doo doo dooed" his way back from the river to the parking lot. And we let him do that to maintain our sanity. Of course, we hit up Frozen Rainbow and had a nice late lunch/ice cream snack that tided us over until dinner.

On Monday 4/14 Cole went to preschool in the morning and Bevin and I spent some quality time with each other (eating breakfast at Panera, shopping at Target, napping in the car) before picking up Cole again and then meeting Keith at our local playground where we spent a nice afternoon playing on swings, slides, etc. Can I tell you how much Bevin LOVES the swing and the slide? She has so much fun.

On Tuesday 4/15, after checking out the two possibilities for Cole's Universal Pre-K placement in the morning, we met Keith's sister and her daughter at the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum in the afternoon. All three kids had a blast. The place is awesome because they have something for every age. Bevin got to go down and climb up a baby size slide. She got to shake a bunch of tubes and climb over foam pads. She got to climb up stairs with the big kids and stand inside a train table. We wound up going to dinner with Lauren and Emmie as well and it was a blast.

On Wednesday 4/16 I spent the morning getting work done and then Keith and I flipped childcare and the kids spent the afternoon with me.

On Thursday 4/17 Cole and I had a special mommy son day. We went hiking with a childhood friend of mine (she's my cousin's cousin) and then we spent the afternoon at our house before picking up Bevin.

On Friday Keith and I went on an awesome hike to Giant's Ledge in the Catskills. We got a lunch from Bread Alone beforehand and it was such a reward to eat that while gazing at the amazing view of the mountains around us.

We spent the morning and afternoon of my birthday in New Paltz, eating lunch and walking the rail trail.

It was magical and spontaneous and will live in my memory. And if it doesn't, well at least I wrote it down.

Working far from home

Every day I have to remind myself why I like my job. I do this because it can get pretty discouraging when you travel so far to get to work only to have students misbehave and make my 3 year old look like a saint.

Pluses: students are awesomely funny and crack me up on the daily. 9th graders are even funnier than 7th graders. 

Exhibit A:

As class was ending a female student noted how good someone smelled really good. A male student who was sitting nearby commented: "Thanks, I just farted."

Exhibit B: I was really pissed about someone spraying the obnoxious body spray called Axe repeatedly in the classroom, and so the next day let it inspire a fun activity where students came up with product ads using persuasive appeals (something I've been teaching them since December). The catch was I gave them really embarrassing products like deodorant, anti gas medication, pimple medication, toilet paper, etc. They had a BLAST with it and came up with the best & funniest ads. When I return back to work next week (on spring break now) I'll photograph some of the best ones. 

Exhibit C: I was told by one of my students that I ruined her freshman year because her parents took away her phone when I called home (on several occasions) for her behavior. Then this past week she was bragging she got the iPhone 5s. But it wasn't an overt brag, it was more of a "I need a case for my new iPhone 5s, do you have one?!" Holds up phone for all to see. 

Minuses: 

Grading essays. 

Staying after work an hour every day. 

Coming home at the beginning of childrens' witching hour. 

Discovering that a student disrespected my classroom library:

Always a given: 

Coming home to these awesome people:

A love of cars.

No, not the movie. 

Match box. Hot wheels. Mattel. Doesn't matter the type of car. He loves them all. And if he loves them, she does too. She can be found frequently holding one up in triumph or crawling around the house with one hanging out of her mouth. Not that I condone it, but sometimes we just can't fight every single battle of things-she-wants-to-put-in-her-mouth. 

Recently Keith picked up a container of cars and other cool motor vehicles in front of a neighbor's house.  He knows it was some other kid's but he's always reminding me that the cars are "new to me." In the box were some precious gems: a school bus, a space ship, and a few light up cars. 

Cole also loves to understand the differences among real cars like colors, sizes, makes and models. 

"Who has a Toyota mommy?"

 Recently he has also become enamored with cleaning his toy cars. 

"Mommy why don't cars get their bath at night?"

Here he is with a clean row of cars underneath his bed:

"My job is to clean cars with a paintbrush. Cleaning cars is hard work."

A car pile up on a Monster truck (that I accidentally stepped on and broke a little while later)

Dancing queen

When I have a tough day in the classroom I just look at this picture and remember the look of pure joy in her sparkling green eyes. She's my little dancing queen....

What they like to eat these days

Cole is apparently a bunny and prefers carrots over the delicious dinner Daddy cooked us....

And Bevin is a horse? (She's eating dried grass here). Anything but the real teethers we buy for her. 

Cole is currently NOT eating bananas after puking them up Sunday morning. Poor Dole will probably see their sales suffer tremendously (we used to buy 2 bunches a week) as a result of Cole's new boycott. 

Mama is eating one cup of hot oatmeal a day (slathered in granola, raisins, honey, and fruit) and I am noticing that it is truly benefitting me!

Which brings me to granola: bread alone granola is the bees knees. Local and yummy-liscious!

Getting outside

Yesterday we got outside. The weather was perfect and it was one of those days you could go outside and stay outside. Warm sun, light breeze. Sounds of birds chirping incessantly. I love April not only because it brings my birthday but because it shows signs of life coming back to the Hudson Valley. It is like the world is being born again. Spring may bring with it a season of hay fever, but it also brings us closer to nature. 

Wherein Cols brushes Bevin's hair instead of his own

For some crazy reason Cole develops a little dread in the back of his head if GD goes even one night without having his hair brushed. However, you sometimes have to chase him down to get any brushing done. Last night we saw Bevin trying to brush her hair (unsuccessfully of course) and Cole immediately took it upon himself to show her how to brush her hair like a big kid. Below are the pictures I snapped quickly with my phone to capture this sweet sibling moment.