Trip to Cleveland

Declan and I just got back from a whirlwind week in Cleveland with the Ely family. Thought I would fill you in on our exciting adventures! Here we are in flight. Froggie got to come on the plane with us. Declan hated the noise of the engines (for those of you who don't know, he hates loud noises that he is not in control of) but loved being above the clouds.

We spent some time at The Children's Museum of Cleveland. Here he is in the space section communicating with the astronauts on the "space station." Very cool to talk through the intercom to people across the room. That is my mom with him.
Spent an afternoon at a Cleveland landmark, the Memphis Kiddie Park. It is a little kid amusement park. Here he is with my dad on the train. I got tortured by having to ride the roller coaster with him. Should be a center of gravity lesson for high school students.
Uncle Evan (yes, he was a preschooler when we were in high school. Now, a police officer!) came home to visit and took Declan to a cool park.

Declan worshipped his cousins while we were there, chosing them to read his story at bedtime each night. This is Colin (for those of you at our wedding, he was 2, now going to be a freshman!) who shares my birthday!

Makes it all worth while

Sometimes teaching can be a thankless job, hugely gratifying yes, but at times a little thin on the praise. My customers don't really think they are getting a whole lot for what they pay. Tuesday, though, I had one of those moments. Those moments when you realize why you do something, why you get up each morning, stay up late doing work, put on a smile each day. A student of mine received some awards during an assembly...this was particularly unusualy since he has never been recognized for anything good in his whole life. His reaction was above enthusiastic, it was full of joy, pride, and total abandonment. Everyone in the audience, our administrators, teachers and students could tell and there was a resounding huge smile held on everyone's face that witnessed this event. I teared up as well as his classroom teacher, I tear up now as I write this. When he received his classroom award back in his classroom, his whole class cheered for him. He deserved all of these accolades as he has had an incredible year, due mostly to his spectacular classroom teacher. I beam with pride for him. As Declan once said, "It makes my heart smile."

Always makes you smile...

Minister: The reading will be from the first chapter of Genesis...
Declan: Mama, that is one of your favorite music groups!

Tee hee!