Things Are Looking Up!

Where do I begin? Sit down, grab some popcorn and settle in...

Things are looking up for the Sartis...so much good news to share on this wonderful Mother's Day. Although we are not with our lovely mothers, we are thankful for everything they have taught us, done for us and in the words of Mimi "I'm glad I didn't stop after 2!"

I'm glad she didn't either...truly a Sarti Party!

(and there are 3 more grandchildren that were born after this pic was taken, whew!)

I am so blessed to have an amazing mother who has done more than I can even put into words...

And here's to this possibly being the last Mother's Day where I'm just a daughter :)

Wednesday was great! My kiddos took the Dibels (reading) test and all but 2 beat the 40 words per minute goal, some reading in the 100's! The two who did not have made exceptional growth, scoring 33 wpm and 32 wpm...allstars!

The Smiths arrived Wednesday afternoon and some of our other friends joined us for a BBQ and Johnst took the ladies for a ride!

Friday the Smiths and Mr. Sarti brought me lunch and came to help with some Friday math games. The kids were beside themselves with excitement! It was so nice to get out some fun money games and have enough adults to supervise. Each person sat at a table while I taught "Money Bump".

Mr. Smith played "Clean Up the Money" where each kid has a bingo type board with numbers down one side and letters across the bottom. They spread out their coins in each box and roll 2 dice, one with #s 1-6 and the other with letters A-F. If they roll C 2 they have to pick up the coin in the corresponding square and make a tally mark for that coin on a recording sheet. At the end of the game they count up the value of the money they have "cleaned up".

Mrs. Smith had word problem dice (made with Kleenex boxes) and butcher paper to write number sentences. This was new for the kids and they loved it! She was great and had the kids write number sentences in a "table".

Mr. Sarti's table played the "Caterpillar Coin Game". Each player has a small cup of coins and they dump them out on a sorting mat. They sort the coins by heads or tails and count up the total value of all coins that landed on tails. Then they write the value on one part of the caterpillar's body. The first one to fill the caterpillar with values wins!

I have to credit the teachers and bloggers who created or inspired the games we played!

I made it through the rest of the day on pins and needles waiting to see if I would be offered a position at the merged school next year. The afternoon became chaotic with rumors up and down the halls and we finally figured out the principal was personally notifing those who he did not select.

The girls and I came up with many escape plans if he came down our hall, the plans to hit the deck were not necessary because by 3pm the phone calls from the superintendent began. It was my turn with an offer for a 1st grade position and "Meyer/Hudson", funny  because we have all been calling it "Hudson/Meyer". I felt as if 1,000 pounds had been lifted! My lovely teammates were also offered positions at "Hudson/Meyer" however, we will no longer be the 1st grade dream team (tear).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will not have to move classrooms! Monday will be tough because a fair amount of teachers were not offered positions and must spend this week interviewing for other district openings, best of luck to them all!

I received these beautiful flowers from ma wonderful husband, "Congratulations and Happy Mother's Day". Mother's Day? Yes, I am the proud mother of our German Shepherd Dog.

Saturday morning brunch was great, everyone came and I made french toast casserole, scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit. The boys mixed up some Tequila Sunrises and Mimosas and I enjoyed some OJ in a champange glass :) The best part was using all of my Mackenzie Child's ceramic ware and setting a spring brunch table!

We played games, hung out and had a visit from sis and bro in law Tufano and my favorite nephew Nicholas. Then we hit up bro in law Jim's pool for a few hours and went to the movies. The boys saw "Thor" and the girls saw "Something Borrowed". LOVED it! Although I would have gone for Ethan :)

Thank you, come again! I'm up to 3 followers and going strong, feel free to join the Sarti Party!