Books 7 and 8

I finished book seven on Friday; I also started it on Friday! It was that good. I can't say much more about it, though, because it is currently unpublished. Kaitlin wrote it, and I am so incredibly proud of her. It's been a long time since I have read an entire book in one day, and I'm thrilled to be one of her early readers.

I finished book eight this morning:

I'm still working my way through the Poldark series, and I'm still enjoying it. This one took a weird twist in the last few chapters, so I'm anxious to start the next one and see where it goes!
 

A Huge Weekend with Only One Bad Picture

We had a very busy weekend!

Saturday, we spent most of the day at Meredith with Issa. It was her admitted student visit, and we got to see more things and get a lot more very specific information. She was most excited to take the self-guided tour of all of the residence halls. She was grateful to get to check out the storage in the rooms, the laundry rooms, and the kitchens. This is the only picture I took all weekend:

 She is compiling her graduation wish list, and she wanted to be sure she knew what was already there. 

She is still so confident in her decision, and she has decided there really is no bad option when it comes to residence halls, so we'll take it!

Saturday night, Mom, Shannon, and I went to see the musical Mrs. Doubtfire. It was cute, but the highlight was dinner before. We tried a new tapas place, and it was delicious. The menu is fusion, and the atmosphere was bright and not at all crowded. We will be back!

Sunday afternoon, all we girls went to see a debut ballet, The Little Mermaid. The score was composed specifically for the ballet, and we had a live orchestra and soprano. It was absolutely the best ballet I've ever seen! It was both classic and modern, and it was danced absolutely beautifully.

We met the boys afterwards for dinner at Radius, and I was in bed by 9:00. It was a perfect weekend!

Last Dance Pictures

We had our last dance pictures Wednesday night:

It's the first time she's put on that graduation cap, and I would be lying if I said I didn't get choked up:

I will miss all of studio life, but I am so, so excited for her. Closing these chapters has been nothing but celebrations, and she is so ready for what is ahead. I'm just going to soak in all of the lasts over the next few months as we start preparing for the next...
 

So Proud

Issa has been doing an internship in an elementary school one day a week for the past two years. Once she decided she wanted to do special ed with a focus on behavior, I wanted to be really sure she knew what she was signing up for. 

Watching her grow has been amazing--especially as it's under the guidance of one of my former students. This week she reached a new level, though. She designed a brand new intervention for one of our friends and then helped teach him how to use it:

He loves Pokemon, so she created his own deck of strategies to help him calm down:

Everything he needs is in the box, and he has successfully been able to use it for two days!

I know I'm biased, but she has a gift, and I'm so excited to watch her use it.
 

What a Weekend

Saturday, we had Evan's end of season wrestling banquet, and I got exactly one picture:

He was pretty irritated he was one varsity match away from a letter, but that's what next year is for! I was shocked as the amount of pizza a wrestling team can eat. It was good to watch him hang with his buddies again, and it was great to celebrate the season!

Sunday, we spent all day at a wrestling competition for Issa. We did pack in a fun Irish lunch of Dubliner cheese, Irish cheddar, and whisky cheese:

We love watching our girl do her thing:

We actually managed to take a picture of the jazz dance group:

And the professional photographer did an amazing job with her solo:

I love seeing her so happy on stage:

 

Happy Pi Day

 We know I love any reason to celebrate, and this new berry pie is my absolute favorite. It has very little sugar, and it came together so quickly and easily! Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries were a perfect combination. Even Evan said it was his new favorite pie! I have a feeling this will enter the spring rotation.

It's Spring!

I'm on spring break this week, and the weather is cooperating. It truly feels like spring, and the trees and bulbs are starting to bloom. I am spending a lot of my break getting our yard spring cleaned.

Tuesday, I cleaned out the front flowers beds, and yesterday I mulched all of them:

It only took me two trips to Home Depot for mulch. The guy was laughing at me because I didn't measure anything. I just trusted my heart, and I was off by seven. But I love the final result:

I like the black mulch against my purple flowers and the eventual red of the Japanese maples.

Today, I started on the back yard:

I left the last dump of fall leaves down for the winter to give critters warm homes. Now it's time to rake them up. I got the front section of the backyard finished, which meant I could get the fire pit back set to rights. I'm hoping we use it this weekend!
 

She's Home!

My girl is home! 

She had an absolutely fabulous time in London and Paris. It's her story to tell, but I loved getting these pictures and then hearing all of the stories when she was home. Harry Potter was a huge favorite and great way to start the trip.

She loved the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace:

I loved hearing how much history she soaked up at those places. She also ate  really, really well, which makes her more confident to study abroad:

Europe really does do food allergies so much better than the US.

I'm glad she went to Bath, but she was not as enamored as I was:

She did love tea at Sally Lund's:

And they got to go into the circle of Stonehenge at sunset:

She really fell in love with Paris:

But we are all glad she is home, especially Inks:

 

Weekend with the Boys

Since Issa was traveling last weekend, I got to tag along with the boys! We spent Saturday afternoon at Drive Shack:

I am not a good golfer, but the games made it really fun, and I did get better the longer we played.

From there, we went to see Fluffy:

He was so funny:

He is one of Evan's favorites, so it was fun to see him together:

I also finished book 6:

The Poldark saga is getting more complicated, and I have no idea where we are going next!
 

What a Weekend

This weekend was a whirlwind that ended with a fabulous launch.

I made it home very, very late Thursday night, and I have a very full day of meetings on campus Friday, so Friday night I just collapsed.

Saturday morning, I was back on campus for our Symposium and a luncheon celebrating 40 years of graduate programs in education. It was so much fun to see so many former students! I ran home, took a quick nap, and then picked up Mom. We headed to the airport to pick up Shannon, and went straight from there to have dinner and see Peter Pan at DPAC. It was a fun show--nothing fancy. I thorough enjoyed the old school theatre magic, though.

The main event was Sunday, though. I spent most of the day helping Issa prep for her senior trip with Aunt Shannon. This is her spring break, so they are headed to London and Paris for a week:

It's Issa's first time using her passport, and Shannon has thought of every single detail:

They landed safely in London and are now at the Harry Potter experience:

They are getting to see the sets from the movies, and Issa is having the time of her life! I can't wait to hear all about their adventures!