Two of my favorite gals.  

What a wonderful garden party!

Mustard and Ketchup

Linda, you look great.

What a sparkle in those eyes.

The first wife....and stepson?? lol

Winter, thanks for bringing Dan.

My handsome guys!

A pair of lovebirds.

More birthday celebration pictures!

Looking beautiful at 90!



    

Birthday Pics

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Happy birthday to the very best Mom in the world.  You have always been there for me.  I love you for your generous spirit, enduring faith, sense of humor and all that LOVE.  Thanks for being my Mom.

By the way....you look great.

Family-get-together

We all got together this weekend to meet Sara's boyfriend, Tyler, and to celebrate Joy's birthday.  We had lots of fun together.  It was especially exciting to go kayaking together in Lake Michigan from our own home.

Weekend trek to Springfield and Chicago

Christmas Exchange 2012

Christmas Exchange 2012

Susie   buys for    Jay

Paul P. .............    Ryan

Paul N. ............     Sara C.

Emily Marie ...     Winter

Tracy ...............     Adam

Tim ..................     Paul P.

Sarah N. ..........     Joe

Peter Marvin ..     Joy

Emily Ann .......    Addy

Alaina ..............     Faith

Addison ...........     Lindsey

Carol ...............     Alaina

Ken ..................     Emily Ann

Ryan ................     Peter Joseph

Joy ...................     Tim

Isaac ................     Tracy

Adam ..............      Peter C.

Sara ................      Addison

Linda ..............      Debbie

Bob .................      Susie

Debbie ............      Linda

Peter C. ..........      Sarah N.

Addy ..............      Bob

Joe ..................      Emily Marie

Faith ...............      Isaac

P. J. .................     Carol

Winter ............     Olivia

Lindsey ..........      Peter Marvin

Jay ..................     Ken

Olivia .............      Paul N.



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 !