New Job!

I went and got myself a job.  Ok, it has a lot more to do with divine intervention than my doing.  One event after another led me to being able to get this job and I feel really blessed considering how many teachers are looking for work in New Jersey. 

I'll be teaching Spanish for our district's middle school.  It's a good school with (mostly) good kids. I subbed for one of the spanish teachers there for two weeks during the last month of school and I think I have a good idea of what it's going to be like. 

I'm excited but also exceptionally nervous as I haven't worked full time since before schmoo was born.  My dear husband is above and beyond helpful so I know we'll be alright, but I'm still nervous nonetheless.

Pirate Ship

Our friend invited Schmoo and me to go on a really cool adventure with her and her two visiting grandkids.  There is a pirate ship that sails from Ocean City--it is set up for a whole adventure with the kids.  IT WAS AWESOME! The kids got a painted tatoo, the crew was in costume, Neptune sent them up a map, they found a message in a bottle in the bay that told them wear to find Pirate Pete, they battled pirate Pete with water cannons, they found the red X in the water and drug up a treasure chest--which was filled with prizes for the kids, they found a "bottle of grog" in the bay that they served to the kids.  There was music, limbo, bad pirate jokes and lots of fun. 

There were also tears!  Some kids got scared now and again--Schmoo was one of them. He was scared of Pirate Pete who pulled up in a boat next to ours.  The kids had to battle him with the on board water cannons and it scared the schmoo!  He also freaked out when they hauled the big bag on board that had the grog in it, he was scared to death of what they would find in there.  The pirate captain pulled him aside and told him a secret about what was in the bag and it calmed his fears. When all was said and done, it was so awesome, and I highly recommend this adventure!

Signing the pirate flag

Taking the pirate oath

Battling Pirate Pete

Using the water cannons

Showing one piece of the loot

I have way less hair than last week!

Concerned child listenting to one of the stories

Pretending to be dead to surprise the other pirate

Dolphin watching

We scored a great Groupon deal for a Dolphin watching cruise in Cape May--and since kids 6 and under are free, we only paid for one of us :)

We saw a big pod of dolphins with 2 babies.  They were fun to watch, but you can't tell anything because of our little, sad, out of date camera!

Another tooth  bites the dust

Dolphins, and a really cool building right on the beach

Feeling a little queasy

Proof that I am indeed alive

And a little Mario Bros parade later in the day with our friend, T.

Independence Day

This is Schmoo's interpretation of The Statue of Liberty.  I happen to think it looks more like Elton John.

Last Day of School

We LOVED kinder this year!  I can't believe how quickly it passed, and I also can't believe how sad Schmoo and I were when it was all over.  He had a fantastic teacher who did amazing activities with the kids and that made ALL the difference. 

Last Day of Tball

We loved Tball this year!  Schmoo liked it so much better than soccer because it is less there is less direct competition.  He ended up being sad at every soccer games because "they took the ball away from me!"  Despite explaining that the other players should be trying to take the ball away, he did not like it.  So Tball was a better fit :)

Here are pics from the last game:

And he says...

I've been so bad about posting the funny things that Schmoo says to FB, but not here.  MUST DO BETTER! 

From May 23rd:

Discussing poetry in Schmoo's class today, the teacher asked the kids what "white fluffy clouds" reminded them of. Schmoo's answer: My mom's underwear.


From June 1st:

Schmoo got off the school bus and said, "mommy don't worry about reading any emails you might get from my teacher today." Too bad kid, I already read about your misdeeds.


From June 6th:

Schmoo has a great bus driver. They play 20 questions every morning when the kids get to school but before the school doors open.  One kid stands in the front and says, "I'm thinking of..." and the kids have to ask yes/no questions to guess what it is. Bus driver was laughing as I picked Schmoo up this afternoon. She said no one could guess his word because he picked "abyss".  She said when he revealed the answer all the kids were staring like "huh? did you make that word up?"  The other kids' words had been "monkey" and "happy meal".