Betsy

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Saturday, June 3, 2017

The Last Weeks of School


The end of May was so busy.  We went to see our very own softball All Star!
Caroline had a softball tournament in Columbus, so we drove down to watch her play.  
G loved it.
I was like, don't get any ideas, sister.
My rear end does not like bleachers.  


We brought our own chairs and even sat through the rain.
Caroline is quite the little athlete.  Clearly this trait came from her father.  The Hunts can barely walk.


School ended with some seriously fun days.
We had our annual Field Day in 1st grade.
I was in charge of the sidewalk chalk station.
See?
Athleticism!
My babies were really jazzed about crime scene chalk drawings.  




These children were just so adorable and sweet.
The past two years back in 1st grade have been a dream.
Some days I would look at their sweet faces looking up at me and lose focus because they were so cute.
Cheesy, but true!
I mean...exhibit A:


Exhibit B:

I took Genevieve to my school's EL picnic.
She ran around with Singo, one of my darlings.
Just for perspective, G is 4 and Singo is 7.
I'm not kidding about the size of my students!
Singo and G exchanged "notes" all year.  

I got crafty with Mother's Day projects.
I'm really bad about paint in my room.
I loathe messes, but I'm trying to get better!


We went to the zoo for a field trip on an absolutely beautiful day.  






I shed many tears on my last day.
Now we are ready for summer!  

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Spring Rain and Fun

Genevieve had her big art show at preschool during the last week of April. She was so proud of her week.
Guess who else was proud?
Crazy YaYa.
She was questioning G's teacher, Mrs. Norris, about the artistic process that was involved in the project.
Mrs. Norris is quite familiar with YaYa questions, and I love this picture of them.
I just adore G's teacher.  
She is younger than me, which is hard for my vain self to accept:)
I'm really not even close to being the young teacher anymore.
Gulp!



Bob had fewer questions.
Fewer=zero.
That's Bob and YaYa.
They balance each other out that way! 



Look!
Her parents came too.
Whenever my parents or T's parents are around, she acts like we aren't even there.


Her show was on a Thursday evening, and my parents took her home for a long 3 night stint!
Holler!

That evening I received my first duck face selfie.
My mother is hip to the vanity of social media culture.


I took a personal day to go to a doctor's appointment on Friday morning.
Then I met J for yoga and Patachou!
We sent this selfie to our teaching besties to gloat.


I'm not sure how jealous they were since we look like homemade sin in this picture.
But the joy... do you see the joy?
Cinnamon toast will give you that glow.
I can't believe it has been 10 years since we shared our firsties.

Meanwhile back in the Haute...


Mother and Genevieve participated in Mom's yoga class. 




Mom takes yoga in the Methodist church community room, so it lacks the ambiance of Invoke, but G loved it!
Those photos about made me keel over with laughter.
Mother said my child did not say ONE WORD during the hour long class.  
What?????
I guess her real yoga class taught her the art of silence?

T and I went to dinner one night at Revery, a lovely south side establishment.
They served cotton candy after dessert, so I was totally on board. 


I kept our romantic dinner interesting with my sketching.




Genevieve and Finn maintained their strong bond with shoe shopping.


That precious cat follows her around and lets her do whatever she wants.
I'm sure Kashmir is still hissing at her from Kitty Heaven.

On Saturday Trinity and I got our cocktail game on at Hotel Tango, a distillery in Fountain Square.


It was fabulous.

By then G was over photos and was denying my mother the joy of photogging  




That following week we celebrated Mrs. Norris during Teacher Appreciation week.  We brought Long's donuts one morning for the preschool teachers.
Now the south side of Indy doesn't have nearly as much to offer as the north side when it comes to food and dining.
But Long's.
We have Long's, and it is like a mile from our house.
So there's that. 


The weather has been so rainy.
I snapped my babies sharing umbrellas as they loaded the buses last week.  




Some days I cannot handle their cuteness.
I just love them so much!


May has been THE month for birthdays, and this little guy turned 7.


Seriously?
Is he not just adorable?
He is also smaller than G.
I'm not kidding.
Our birthday tradition in room 94 is that they get to pick a cake mix and icing for their birthday gift from me.
Jamie started this eons ago and I have kept it going.
They just love it and it gives them such joy for about $2 a kid!

I met Robeghan, Robby, and mom at the IMA last Sunday.  
The beer garden continues to be a hit for us.




My elaborate plot to snatch my nephew and claim him as my own baby continues.  
He just reminds me so much of G as a baby.  


My mother just kept gasping and saying, "It's just incredible!  They look so much alike!  They could be brother and sister!"
My witty brother looked at her, pointed to me, and quipped, "Yes, mother... because she is my sister.  We look alike too."  
Ah, Robby.
So true!  




Sunday, April 30, 2017

Earth Day 2017

 This year I did a lot with my class in observance of Earth Day.  We read lots of books about recycling, reusing, and reducing.  We wrote thank you letters to Mother Earth and we also presented projects where my children reused an item by turning it into something else.  
My favorite was a giant piggy bank that was made out of one of those giant plastic barrels that cheese balls come in.  
Earth Day was on a Saturday this year and the weather was gorgeous.  Genevieve chose to visit her favorite spot,  (besides the mall-Lord) the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

The new Audubon exhibit was there.
Although he killed every bird that he subsequently painted, at the time he was known as a conservationist.
I tried not to focus on the dead bird aspect, but more on the beautiful artwork:)

There was a little display about helping the Earth, and G decided to write recycle.
I dictated how to spell it, and she wrote it.




Look at that sweet concentration.
She insisted on clipping it herself.


"I don't like where it is, Momma!!!
Why won't you help me???"


Cue the Sybil routine.
Good grief, she wears me out.

We spent most of the time exploring the gardens.
They just added a beer garden to the greenhouse, so that's a win win for everyone.
T had a beer and I had some Riesling and a Bavarian soft pretzel.  It was divine and I insisted that he call me Frau.

Now I have always considered myself a body double for Big Bird, so this photo worked out well.  



Our next stop was Nicey Popsicles for a treat.

Mango for G, key lime for me, and something spicy for T.


The day concluded with a bike ride, which is how she will be getting to school from now on to conserve the Earth's resources.


Minnie and Jacques will be her chaperones on her trek to preschool.
I will be riding on a solar powered rickshaw, drinking Kombucha, and eating kale chips on my way to school.
I wish.
Happy Earth Day!  


Easter 2017

Trinity did not have to work on Good Friday, but G and I had to go to school.  Meh.
We decided if we had to go, we might as well look like human Easter eggs.


My bunny ears were on my desk at school, but I did wear them all day.
On Saturday morning we attended the egg hunt at our church.


Genevieve and Kate worked together as a team.





Since we certainly did not have enough sugar after eating donuts at church and finding candy, we decided to share a cookie at The Flying Cupcake.  Fun fact...I now buy only cookies from there.  Weird, right?




When we arrived home after our bunny cookie lunch, Abby and Papi had arrived.
Genevieve rip snorted her way through her gift from Aunt Shirley.
Shirl buys shoes and clothes for gifts.  
This is yet another thing I love about her.


We enjoyed the evening outside with some BBQ.


Easter morning brought this display.
Actually Patsy brought it.
G was tickled with lots of candy, art supplies, toys, shoes, and a new outfit!

 I was pleased with G's behavior in church.
She enjoyed yet another hunt for eggs in our yard.

It was a lovely Easter,

but let's not forget my favorite...