Monastery of the Holy Spirit

Mom and I visited the Monastery of the Holy Spirit on Wednesday with a group of ladies from her church.  It was very interesting.  The monastery was a beautiful combination of old and new architecture.  We visited the heritage center to learn about the history, participated in noon prayer, looked through the bonsai garden, and visited the abbey store.  They have 1000 acres of beautiful land in which there are nature trails and garden.  They also have a "green" cemetery.

We met Father Luke who is turning 101 years old on August 3rd.  He is the only remaining original founder of the monastery.  He said the 2nd "100" is the hard part.

When we went through the heritage center I was intrigued by this placard about the words "Community" and "Alone."

and this is my favorite photo from the day...

Touring the Tall Ship Niagra

This ship was a replica of a ship that fought in the War of 1812.  With crew of over 100 I found it hard to believe that they all could survive in such a small space.  Down below you could only stand up straight in certain areas.  We were told that each person was given a quart of rum a day and I guess that was how they survived.  It was very interesting.   Debbie

Reading Apprenticeship

Over the past year I have been participating a the Reading Apprenticeship Improving Secondary Education (RAISE) program which is funded by a federal i3 grant to teach teachers how to help their secondary students to become experienced, active, and engaged readers, thinkers, and learners.  I have been using this new framework for my teaching which involves a social, personal, cognitive, and knowledge-building dimensions all in the context of extensive reading and centered around metacognition (thinking about your thinking).  I had 80 hours of training, earned 6 graduate credits through Madonna University, learned a ton, and totally revamped the way that I teach (slowly but surely).

This week I am participating in a 40 hour training along with my colleague (Tess) so that we can facilitate the professional development for up to 40 of our colleagues in the district (8th - 12 grade teachers) in RAISE.  We have been up to our eyeballs in reading, thinking, and learning.  We are truly excited about bringing this back to our colleagues as it has transformed our framework for teaching and the way that our students are engaged in the learning process.


In August, myself and four other colleagues will begin a 3 year process of becoming consultant trainers of the Reading Apprenticeship Framework for the parent company West Ed and will eventually have the opportunity to travel around the country to teach other teachers, administrators, specialists, and the like.  


Hope you all are well - in light of my recent journey through Reading Apprenticeship I thought I would leave you with a question.  What are you reading lately?  A novel, magazines, cookbooks, etc. Name it all, it will be fun for all to *read*!!!

Chicago Visit

This week I have been visiting with Pete, Emily Ann, Alaina, and Addison Jane.  What a great family I have. They have let me stay up late, eat delicious food, and sleep in late every single day.  It's been super hot outside so we have been staying cool by playing in the sprinkler, watching movies in the cool basement (Mary Poppins [The girls watched it and now love saying "spit spot"] and Amélie), swimming lessons, taking trips to our favorite air conditioned stores (Target and Cost Plus World Market), coloring, using our imaginations, and just having time together!

WHERE HAVE ALL THE BLOGGERS GONE?????

WE MISS YOU !

Family Camping

Although rainy at times it still was a good time at family camping.  Missed those who couldn't be there.

Hi All,

Hope you are all enjoying your summer.

This August Mom {Grandma} will be turning 90.  On August 12th the coffee fellowship, after the church service, will be in honor of her birthday.  I wanted all of you to know in hopes that some of you will be able to come for her birthday.  90 years!  Imagine all of the things she has seen in her lifetime and thankfully her mind is strong and full of happy memories.  Come and share more happy times with Mom.

Love,  Debbie

Happy 1st Birthday Peter!!!!

Confirmation

Today we celebrated Isaac's Confirmation!

He chose Revelation 1:8 for his Confirmation verse.

"I am the Alpha and Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was,

and who is to come, the Almighty."

Isaac wrote a faith statement and this is part of what he wrote:

On the day of baptism, God opens His arms for you to join Him in His kingdom and on the day of confirmation you accept the invitation with gratitude.

 So blessed to be surrounded with family!



 Faith and GG after our Mothers day lunch!

Carol, GG, Mom, and Faith

Linda, GG, and my mom at the Mother Daughter Dessert

Faith and her best friend Luke.......running into church!

Faith and Pj on mothers day

My beautiful family!

Pj playing in the yard....not sure about the grass yet

Doesn't GG look amazing!

Father Daughter Dance

 Faith and the girls from her class....aren't they sweet!

 Joe and Faith My loves!

 Faith loves to dance!!

 Smile!!!

At the dance YMCA

In the yard, its just to precious!

 Posing in the yard

Daddy and Faith at the dance!

Busy Boys!

Isaac and Adam have been busy lately and I want to share some pictures with you of what they've been up to!

Isaac ran in his first track meet this week.  He ran the 1600, the 800 and did the long jump.  I loved watching him run!!!  Looking forward to many more track meets.  When Ryan was in college in track, he and other guys who threw shot put and discus called the runners "stick dudes"  Isaac is definitely a stick dude!

Isaac is glad to be running outside after spending the winter in the pool swimming for both his school swim team and the YMCA.

Here's Adam prepping for his school Science Fair - He was studying dry ice and how it goes directly from a solid to gas.  He built a contraption that allowed him to use the gas from dry ice to create bubbles. The gas goes through that tube that he then dipped in dish soap.  The bubbles were amazing! That's Isaac's hand you see holding the bubbles - if they touch bare skin they popped but on cotton they'd last and you could hold them.

Adam played the scarecrow in his class's Decades Project.  The kids in his class all studied a decade, wrote a research paper on it, and then combined all their knowledge to create a play -- these characters "visited" each decade and met people like Rosa Parks, JFK and other greats.  They got to perform their play for the entire school. Amazing!!!  It was incredible to see the amount of creativity and hard work his class put into it.

Our city's Optimist Club honors students in 6th and 12th grade at different schools each month.  April was Adam's school and he was chosen by his teachers to be honored with Student of the Month!  We were invited to a luncheon for the kids ... Adam had to give a speech and did a great job!  Ryan and I were so proud!  This is the picture that was in the newspaper.

The kids keep us busy and I wouldn't have it any other way!
We miss you all!
Love, Joy

Back On The Band Wagon

I'm trying to get back on the blogging band wagon in the next couple weeks.  It is an incredible historical record of our family!

Here are the posts I need to work on:
1.  my new living room
2.  trip to Haiti
3.  trip to Brussels and Paris
4.  CIT and LIRA Programs
5.  Owl Cake for Asher's Birthday
6.  New purses I am making
7.  Running Progress & Potential Races
8.  Shalom Series at Church

What do you need to write about?

On another note - what new recipes have you been trying out - I know Tim and Sarah have tried quite a few and I would LOVE if they would post them to the cookbook.  Do you have any to post?

We miss you....hope to hear from and see pictures from everyone soon!

Joe and Peter on Easter

I love this picture, baby handsI took this of Isaac when we visited the Carlson's He is growing up so quick!

This is Faith.......happy and all smiles