Catching up once again

Once again, it has been a long time. I was reprimanded by a friend for my lack of blogging.. in my defense, she isn't keeping a blog for me to read :) This week was exhausting and that is my excuse. School has been okay this week. I had my first test over atoms and their structure this week. I was impressed by the grades. I will say the test was not hard, but it did cover the information we have learned, so I was proud of my kids. I also had them work on presentations about a family on the periodic table. They worked in pairs to do some minor research, make a poster, and orally present their findings. It was a good experience for them to get up in front of everyone and have to say something, and everyone said something. So, my goal was acheived. I had parent teacher conferences on Thursday from 4-8pm. It was one of the busiest conference nights I have ever had. I was busy from 4:30 - 7:15 with no breaks. On Friday after school, I headed to Dalton. My brother, Ben, and his family (Steph and Cale) were moving to their new house this weekend. I figured I owed Ben for all the times he has helped me move and also I hadn't been home since Labor Day. I worked for about 6 hours on Saturday cleaning walls and floors for them. It will be fun to see what their place looks like when I come back to Dalton the next time. My dad is still healing from his back surgery. He is showing great progress; in fact, on Saturday morning, he walked for 2.2 miles! That is quite a feat. I told him that is farther than I walk in a day right now! It is encouraging to see him feeling better. On moving day, I had a lot of fun seeing everyone again. Nate and Jen brought their kids out on Saturday, too. I miss the time I had when I lived in Ashland to hang out with them almost daily. Steph and Luke were also their helping, so I was able to spend time with their two kids. And Cale was staying at my parents while his parents were moving. Some of my little nephews are great about flashing their grins, and you can't help but smile back. I came back on Sunday after lunch.

Jeremy has been working at the two elementary schools he helps at for the latchkey program. Also, on Tuesday, he headed to Smithville to help his dad with Shepherd's Guide stuff. He stayed overnight to help Ben with some intial move stuff then on Wednesday. He did not return with me this weekend because he started getting a cold on Wednesday and felt wore out and sick still on Friday. So, he stayed here instead of spreading germs to small children. He seems to be doing better today - lots of rest, I think. I am sure watching the Buckeyes win on Saturday didn't hurt his recovery either :)

I don't know what this week will bring. Hopefully, Jeremy and I will have a few more nights to spend together. I will work to blog a few nights this week, so that my blog is not so wordy. I hope everyone is doing well.