Soggy Sunday

Hello Family and Friends,

I sit typing this blog as the rain drizzles down in South Bend. It has been a strange weekend, as my car's transmission gave out Friday night, and both Audrey and I have been sick with fevers and colds the entire weekend. I am desperately attempting lesson plans and substitute teaching plans for tomorrow while I battle a runny nose and, more importantly, the runny nose of a 19-month-old girl! The weekend has mostly consisted of trips to the kitchen for ice cream or milk to soothe the itchy throat. While it is not the worst thing in the world, it is definitely not the way I intended to spend my weekend.

Fortunately, only a few weeks remain of the school year. It is always a time of mixed emotions because there is so much more that I want to do with my students in terms of their academics and projects. Too often I feel that I am just scratching the surface of their abilities when they move on to the next grade. However, it is also nice to see them advance and prepare for the next batch of young minds. It is a process and I do my best. I am looking forward to the summer with my internship. I believe that being an administrator for part of the summer will open my mind and bring many new and exciting experiences.

It is nice to have Grandma Dixie around to corral Audrey for a while while I recover. Kim attended the annual Vera Bradley massive blowout sales yesterday and returned with quite the bounty. Unfortunately, no new photos to post today. More very soon, though. Back to the salt mines that are lesson planning and runny noses! Happy May!!!

-a

What's Happening

Hello Friends and Family,

There are 29 days of school remaining. It is difficult to not look forward towards the summer. I so enjoyed last year and all of its simplicity: walking with Audrey and Phoebe, breakfast of oatmeal or Cheerios, naps, and playing in the yard with bubbles and toys. Before the summer, however, I am doing my best to tighten the reigns with my students and ensuring that they continue to complete work and keep their desks tidy...although I may be losing the battle on that front.

This summer I will be taking classes for my administrative degree, including a law course and an internship under my principal. I am very much looking forward to the internship because this will (hopefully) provide me with the most realistic, and thusly useful, experience in the program. I will have the option to take part in hiring teachers, interviewing other administrators, and taking part in all aspects of building operations.

Audrey continues to amaze and astound. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. Potty training awaits not too far in the future. She continues to be fascinated by animals of all kinds, especially birds that we see out on walks. She treats the cats and dog with love and kisses, although the occasional tail-tug does happen when close to bedtime. She identifies many things throughout the day, and babbles constantly. The interesting part of her speech is that when she babbles a sentence and you ask her to repeat it, she babbles in exactly the same way. This tells me that she IS talking, and is just a few vowels and syllables away from full-out sentences!



As the sun stays longer each day, I find myself with more and more energy, and attempt to clean more, walk more, write more, etc. I am pleased to be returning to my school for another year of teacher, and am flattered to be asked for another year of my brand of education. It will be nice entering the summer not worrying about job leads, insurance and income and packing boxes of classroom materials. Besides my internship and law, I look forward to a relaxed summer with many visits to the zoo, walks to the park, and times where we forget the time and day.

-a

Back from Spring Break

It is the first day back from spring break and I am already looking forward to summer. This break was an absolute treat! Ted and Lisa visited from Texas and it was a special moment introducing them to their granddaughter, Audrey. We spent the week doing many activities including a trip to downtown Chicago, deep dish pizza from Pizzeria Uno, a trip to Brookfield Zoo, and many walks with Phoebe!

Lisa, Audrey, and Ted in front of the Chicago Art Museum

Audrey making faces at a board at Brookfield Zoo

We were also treated to a visit from Dixie and Ann who brought a delicious dinner and Audrey's big red wagon! Sitting at our dinner table, looking around at everybody, reminded me yet again about how lucky I am to have such a beautiful family.

From Left top: Ted, Lisa, Kim, Audrey, and Abel
From Left bottom: Dixie, Ann, and Phoebe

Now I return my focus to the remainder of the school year and transitioning into the summertime! I will be completing an internship and taking a law class over the summer, but have every intention to spend teh remainder of my time going on walks with Audrey and Phoebe, and taking many naps and reading a lot! Can you tell I am still mentally on Spring Break?

-a

Spring Break

It is finally Spring Break. I am sorry for the lack of blogging as of late, but I have been run ragged with school and grad school and baby Audrey and life in general. It really hasn't sunk-in that I'm on break, but hopefully when Kim's morning alarm goes off and I don't have to go to work, it willhit home! :-)

As the daylight increases, so does my energy and activity level. I am always amazed every spring how we survive such dark, cold winters. I am starting to understand why people move South for the winters. I am doing my best, when not at work, to not pay attention to the time and just enjoy whatever is in front of me or whatever it is I am doing. I am doing my best to be in the "now" and it is helping me to search-out more detail and focus more effectively on tasks at hand or games with Audrey.

Speaking of, Ms. Audrey Ruth is doing quite well. Her 18-month check-up was a success in terms of her bill of health, which is quite clean! However, Audrey did not take too kindly to receiving two vaccination shots, one in each leg. Some vanilla ice cream at home helped ease the temporary pain.

Tomorrow will be a special day because Grandpa Ted and Grandma Lisa will be arriving from Texas for a few days. It will be a treat to introduce them to Audrey and spend some time showing them around Chicago and the burbs. Some of the items we have on tap include walks with the dog, the zoo, Chicago style pizza, and Ted and Lisa will Audreysit while Kim and I get to a movie or sleep in the car in the driveway! :-)

Pictures and stories to follow soon!

-a

Taco Night

Tonight is taco night in the Orelove household. No survivors were reported.





-a

Spring Walks

We've been out and about these past couple weeks, traveling all over to visit friends and family. Last weekend we were in South Bend, and this weekend we had a nice lunch with friends at a Japanese Steak House! It is always fascinating to have an entire meal cooked right before you! Audrey expecially enjoyed the sizzling and boiling and steaming of her meal, and mainly stuck to the comfortable familiarity of rice and the occasional bit of chicken.

The weather, while not perfect, is finally transitioning into spring! It is still very gray most of the time, but the temperature has found a new home in the high 40's most of the time, with the infrequent visit to the mid 50's. This means walks with Audrey in the jogger and Phoebe accompanying. We did about 6 miles today around the subdivision over three different walks today. Audrey is able to verbally identify dogs, geese, ducks, rabbits, and birds. For the most part, however, she is very quiet and seems to enjoy the fresh air and constantly-changing scenery as we move down each street.

Spring break is a mere two weeks away, and the Summer vacation is on the horizon! More updates and pictures soon. Happy Spring!

-a

March Update

Audrey making a mess!

It is nice to finally be in March. It gives us hope that this gray that is winter will finally find a time to move on. The constant gray days and ever-present snow has given a sense of hibernation at least in myself. I have found my eyes wandering over the calendar days more and more as spring approaches with the promise of more sunlight and warmer temperatures. In years past, I have never really minded the long winter days, but I am eager to see green grass and be able to walk with my daughter and dog on summer mornings.

The past two weeks have been a blur, including the weekends. Two weeks ago we made a trip down to Indianapolis to visit my friend, Amy and her new baby boy, Dexter. I know that Amy and Gary will be wonderful parents, and I look forward to having many more play days with Audrey and Dex in the future! We also spend some quality time with Beth and Mark at their house, while our dog, Phoebe, savored having access to a backyard whenever the urge struck her! We also got some nice hang-out time with cousin Gail and some Beatles Rock Band! Thanks for dinner cousin Gail!

Momma Amy and Baby Dexter

Last weekend, our little family visited South Bend because it’s been a while since our last trip there. It is always nice for Audrey to have some time with her Grandmothers and family on Kim’s side. I have been desperately trying to finish my most recent book because I have a stack of about eight that I need to get to at the moment. However, graduate papers and books along with standardized testing in school and preparing for the final push in the year have really consumed most of my time.

I am also very much looking forward to my spring break, as my step-father, Ted, and his wife, Lisa, will be visiting our house from Texas. This will be their first time meeting Audrey, and I am very much excited about this. It has also been a couple years since we’ve seen each other, and I miss him very much.

The days are slowly becoming lighter, the weather a little warmer a degree or two at a time. Audrey gets bigger, laughs louder, and is walking all over. She is saying lots of new words, especially animals: bat, pig, sink, socks, shirt, among others. Here are some pictures from a recent time when she found her way into our flour jar!

-a

Look who is getting into some trouble!