Ready for 1st Grade....or Not?

Carley was so excited to start school today. She was a little apprehensive that she wouldn't know all the answers if there was a test on the first day in 1st grade, but other than that...she was READY! She's had a runny nose for a few days...something I just passed off as allergies until last night. She went to sleep at 8:15 like a sweet girl, knowing she couldn't sleep in on Monday. At 11:00, she woke up and told me she couldn't go back to sleep. She coughed for at least an hour. It was pitiful. She coughed up phlegm, so I knew this was more than allergies. She finally went to sleep around 12:30am and then woke up coughing again at 5:30 and coughed until 6:30 when she fell back asleep.
I was laying there trying to decide...send her coughing to her first day so she didn't miss all the "get to know you" activities or keep her home so she wouldn't infect her classmates and teacher.

I decided to keep her home and take her to the doctor. Turns out her throat was very inflamed, but it isn't strep....just a sinus infection. The doctor said to keep her home today but she should be ok to go tomorrow. She started medicine today and just relaxed around the house.
Hopefully, she will be able to go to school tomorrow and meet her teacher and her classmates. I sure hope so...she's been looking forward to 1st grade most of the summer!

She didn't feel well when she woke up this morning at all!

A Summer to Remember (Check Offs on Bucket List)

Well, I don't officially have a "Bucket List" but if I did I think I could cross off several things from my travels this summer. My summer isn't officially over until August 8, when PDS teachers return back to school, but as I lay here thinking tonight, just thought I'd post a few things that stand out in my mind about this summer. (Forgive me, this may ramble and probably will have lots of run-on sentences!)
First, going to Costa Rica with a group of PDS rising 6th graders and a male teacher and male administrator was a great trip. Being the only female going, I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I think I did a good job hanging in there with all the guys through our adventures-staying in an eco-lodge with no AC and no hot water, sleeping under a mosquito net with lattice over the windows not knowing what could fly, crawl, or slither in my room, walking through the rainforest during the day hearing howler monkeys above us in the tree tops, walking through the rainforest in the pouring rain during a night hike (with possibly the worst flashlight on the planet that I thought was a good one when I bought it), white water rafting (and grabbing the life jacket of Mark Fruitt every time we went through the rapids-ha ha!), zip lining-which I LOVED and was amazed at God's beautiful creation, Tarzan swing-which I didn't love, but I did and didn't wimp out (if you missed the video, you missed a good laugh), being attacked by what I thought was a bat in my cabin, but turned out to be a bird (which I still didn't want in my cabin), meeting great people in Costa Rica and being reminded that STUFF doesn't bring you happiness, meeting and visiting with school kids in Costa Rica and helping their playground situation, taking care of scrapes, homesick, stomach aches, reminding boys to fill their water bottles, reminding them to eat even though our food was a little different from what they were used to eating, and just being a "mom figure" to them for a week was something I wouldn't trade! We had lots of laughs (including late night UNO and I Doubt It card games) and I enjoyed seeing those boys grow in leadership and service on this trip! I think we are going back next summer and if you are reading this and you are a PDS parent of a 5th grader this year, I would strongly encourage you to apply for your son to go...it's a great experience!!! I found out that my boss asked Mark (the administrator on the trip) how many times I cried on the trip and he immediately replied with THREE. I mentioned two of the times above (Tarzan swing and "bat attack" and the third was our first night there when the eco-lodge owner told me I was staying about 200-300 yards away from our group in my own cabin IN THE PITCH BLACK in the middle of the rain forest. Yes, I had electricity for light, but being that far from others scared me some! So, they put me in my own room in the area our guys were staying in but it had a door and I had privacy when I needed it. :)

Chris and Caleb went on a Father/Son mission trip and our trips overlapped so we didn't see each other for 2 weeks. I am so grateful for Skype and was always happy to video chat with them! They had an amazing trip! I need to have them post a summary together on this blog soon!

Our family took our yearly trip to the beach with our small group two weeks after returning from Costa Rica. We went to Gulf Shores, Alabama and rented a house on the beach. There were 18 of us this year. One thing that stands out to me was the threat of a hurricane the day after we arrived. It created HUGE waves and it was just amazing to see. I guess those waves brought in lots of sand dollars. We found over 300. I told Caleb when I was little and we went to the beach that it was a very rare thing to find a whole sand dollar. He couldn't believe it because they were everywhere. That was a neat thing...sounds small, but so neat to see them everywhere when you dug in the sand.

After that was my trip to Australia. I was there for a conference for school. I met people from all over and enjoyed hanging out with them for meals (especially my buddies from South Africa, Australia, Canada and the US). After the conference, Chris came to Australia. More bucket list items would include whale watching (one of my favorite things to do), hiking up a mountain in Manly to see the ocean from high above (even though I thought we were lost for a little while!), seeing the Sydney Opera House, taking a train up a mountain to a small village in the rain forest, holding a koala, petting a kangaroo (loose without a cage), diving in the Great Barrier Reef, and just BEING in Australia!

The times I have been home, I've spent with the kids swimming at my sister's, making cookies, and other things that some people wouldn't think are on a bucket list, but we enjoy just being together and having fun as a family.
As summer winds down, I guess I am realizing (not that I haven't always felt this way,) that I am truly blessed. I'm so thankful to be healthy, have a great husband, two healthy and fun kiddos, my family is close, great church, great friends, etc...could go on and on.  I hope you have had some fun this summer and hope you take time to reflect on all the blessings in your life!

Dive the Great Barrier Reef? Oh Yes We Did!

We spent the day at the Great Barrier Reef. A bus picked us up at our hotel at 8am and drove us about an hour to Port Douglas. Upon arrival, we loaded a huge boat to take us for an hour and a half ride out to Agincourt Reef to the Quicksilver pontoon (which is more like a floating platform.) The Agincourt Reef is on the very outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef and is part of a group of special reefs known as ribbon reefs.
While on the boat, Chris decided we should scuba dive. They have guides to go out with non-certified divers. We signed up to dive and I was very nervous. If you know me well, I'm not one who goes into the ocean easily. Not knowing what's under me is something that freaks me out. We were in the first group to dive. There is training and throughout the training I wasn't sure I could do it. I was very nervous and it felt like someone was pressing on my chest (and we hadn't started diving yet!)
Our guide was fantastic and reassured me he would be right by me and hold my hand the entire time which made me feel better. I survived the training (without crying, although I did tear up two times thinking I couldn't do this) and down we went. There were four in our group.
Underwater was the coolest thing! Once down for about five minutes, I calmed down (still holding the guide's hand the entire way.) We touched an anemone full of clown fish (Nemo fish!)
We also touched a giant clam! There were some things called Christmas tree worms that when you tried to touch it, it would pop into a hole. It was very cool. We saw schools of fish and lots of different types of coral.
I'm so glad we did this- worth every cent to see lots of God's creation that we don't get to see very often.
After diving, we ate lunch. Then we rode a boat that had the part you sat in submerged under water. That was another cool way to experience the ocean!
After the boat ride, Chris decided to dive again-this time going farther out.
He saw a other giant clam, starfish, a Queensland grouper that was as big as he is, and more fish! I was able to take pictures and some video of him from and underwater observation deck.
We are purchasing a video of our dive adventure...can't wait to see it!
Overall, a perfect day and a great way to spend our last day in Australia. We fly home tomorrow. Our first flight is at 6am Thursday morning Australia time and we land around 6pm Thursday night Memphis time.

Fish we saw right when we got in the water

Chris on the second dive (so I was able to take pics)

On the boat that submerged underwater

Ready for dive #2

Loving the wetsuit!

Great Day in Kuranda

We rode a bus to the train station this morning and took the train to Kuranda. The train was a great ride! We saw waterfalls and great views of the rainforest.
When we arrived we went to a place called Rainforestation. While there, we went on a tour of the rain forest, saw aboriginal dancing, threw a boomerang, and saw an aborginal man throw a spear and play the digiridoo. (probably spelled that wrong!)
After that, we had a buffet lunch and took our picture holding a real koala. I was so excited to hold a koala. It was so sweet!
Then we toured an animal park and were able to pet kangaroos. So timid and cute! We also saw a huge crocodile, baby kangaroos, and other neat animals.
We took a sky lift down and there were great views from there as well.
We had a fantastic day!

Australian Sayings and Other Info

After being in Australia for almost two weeks, below are some differences from the US that have stood out or people have pointed out to me.

Elevators are called lifts.
After you say thank you, most people reply with "no worries."
Grills are called BBQs.
Trash is called rubbish.
Umbrellas are called brollys.
Australia has no one cent coin. They got rid of one cent years ago. Everything is rounded to the nearest five or ten.
What you see on a price tag or menu is what you pay. Tax is included in all prices posted.
Tipping in restaurants is optional. Many people have told us not to tip, but we've always left something.
While we were here, their students were on holiday for two weeks for winter break.
Mum is their word for mom. :)
Bathrooms are called toilets.

Welcome to Cairns!

We made it to Cairns and our room wasn't ready. We ate lunch and spent $10 in the casino across from our hotel. After that, our room was ready. The pictures are the view from our room. We have a balcony overlooking the water. Beautiful!
This afternoon we are going to some local markets then dinner somewhere.
Big plans tomorrow taking a train, going to a wildlife refuge, then a sky lift back down.

What a Crazy Morning!

We woke up to leave for Cairns in plenty of time...so we thought. In all of our travel experiences through the years, this was one of the worst ever! We went to the domestic terminal and went to check in at Quantas airlines. We were told we weren't on that airline and to go to jet star which was one terminal down. We got to jet star and were told we needed to go to the international terminal which was 5km away and we had to be there in 15 minutes. We grabbed a taxi and headed toward the new terminal. Upon arrival, they were asking for passengers going to Cairns (we weren't the only ones running late) and put us ahead of the long line to check in. We then had to pay because our bags were over the 20kg limit. We rushed to customs and then through security. Upon leaving security, I was stopped for a random additional security check for explosives. Chris went ahead to the gate. After passing the check, I rushed to the gate. I was wearing a shirt, sweatshirt, and added my north face jacket when trying to lighten my luggage-so needless to say I was very hot while getting to the flight.
We made it to the flight and are really considering today to be a day by the pool relaxing but guess we will decide when we arrive!
We will plan for our return trip to Sydney to catch our flight to LA much better than we did for this flight. Ha ha!

From Sydney to Manley...another great day in Australia

Today, we started our day with breakfast in the hotel restaurant. It's a buffet that we get for free, so we've eaten there each morning. The buffet includes eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, breads, fruit, cooked to order pancakes and eggs, etc....but also has several items we found interesting such as sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, baked beans, and fried rice.
After breakfast, we walked to the Sydney harbor and went to a very neat marketplace called The Rocks. It was packed with people and vendors selling neat items, most made in Australia. We ate corn on the cob they were grilling. It was good. There were also great views of the Sydney Bridge and the Opera House.
After some shopping, we took a ferry to Manly. It was a 20-30 minute boat ride but it took us right by the Opera House. We arrived in Manly and had lunch at a local restaurant. Chris enjoyed the fish and chips. We saw the beach at Manly and found it interesting that people were swimming in the ocean and there were people on the beach in bathing suits and others in jeans and jackets. Guess it's only as cold as you think it is...we had on long sleeves and thought it was chilly.
We hiked around Manly for about two hours. We went up on a cliff and hiked through a pretty empty area. It was a nice break from tourist areas. Also, there were great views of the ocean from our hike.
We made our way back to the Manly harbor and took the ferry back to Sydney. We walked back to the hotel and had snacks from the Executive Room at the Hilton for dinner. We are in for the night as we leave for Cairns in the early morning...our flight leaves at 8am. Overall, it was another great day in Australia!

View of Opera House from the ferry

Hiking in Manly

Taking a break from a hike in Manly

On the Sydney Harbor

Fish and Chips for lunch

Great view in Manly

Beach in Manly

Opera House view from Sydney Harbor

A Fun Day in Sydney

Last night, we enjoyed an Italian dinner at a small place in Sydney. After that, we were so tired, we came back to the hotel and just watched tv and went to sleep so we could be ready for Saturday's adventure.
Saturday, we started our day with a great breakfast at a restaurant in the hotel. We then hit the town running! We went to Darling Harbor and took at 2 hour whale watching cruise. We did see several pods of whales which is so amazing to witness! It really is one of my favorite things. We were able to see lots of Sydney from the boat that we couldn't see from land. The cliffs were amazing! We also saw the Sydney bridge and Sydney Opera House from the water. It was absolutely amazing! We also saw lots of sailboats on the ocean which was a beautiful site.
After the cruise, we went to lunch at the Sydney Fish Market. I had pizza and Chris enjoyed lobster Morney. The market was a neat thing to see.
We then walked to a market place and just looked around. After that, we returned to our hotel and rested before going to dinner. We did a LOT of walking today!

View of Sydney Opera House from our whale watching boat

Ready to see whales!

It was windy and cold on the boat!

One thing we saw at the Sydney Fish Market...we didn't eat this, though!

Sleepy!

Made it to Sydney!

Well, Chris made the long journey and arrived safely in Sydney this morning. I took a taxi with new friends to the bus station and we took a bus to the airport as we were on the same flight to Sydney. I made it safely as well and Chris met me on the way to baggage claim. I was so glad to see him!
We took a taxi to our hotel and then walked to a harbor since our room wasn't ready. We checked things out there and then had brunch at a local cafe. We ate outside, which was nice as we could "people watch." After brunch, our room was ready and we are now resting a little in the room since he is so tired from his 14 hour flight.
During our walk at the harbor, I saw they have Whale Watching adventures. We have done this every time we have gone to Hawaii and Chris knows that it is absolutely one of my favorite things to do. I think tomorrow, we may go on a cruise to see whales, go to Manly, and whatever else we decide. Still time to plan, but those are just a few things we have in mind. :)

Fun in Australia

I have enjoyed meeting people from all over the world during the International Boys School Coalition conference in Australia. I mainly hung out with people from Canada, US, South Africa, and Australia. Every time we went to dinner, we had lots of laughs. Many times the laughs were caused by differences in words in our countries. During a session at the conference, the presenter talked about fairy floss. I had to ask the man next to me and he really didn't know what Americans called it so he explained to me that it was like fluffy sugar...which led me to figure our fairy floss is cotton candy in America. Another thing I love is the accents from all over the world. Of course, my southern accent is in the minority here, so everyone enjoys hearing me talk and several times I have been asked to say "y'all" and sweet tea. Again...more laughs!
Chris is flying over as I type and we are meeting in Sydney tomorrow. During lunch, I found out that some of my new friends are on the same flight I have to Sydney, so I don't have to worry about getting to the airport by myself as we are sharing a taxi to the bus station and taking a bus to the airport. That was comforting. :) We are leaving our hotel at 5:30am. Chris and I will be in Sydney for a few days then head to Cairns (pronounced Cans) for a few days. We are hopefully going to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns.

What I'm Up to in Australia

I arrived in Sydney Saturday morning, July 7 at 8am. The flight from LA was 15 hours. After taking a bus to a bus station in the city, I took another bus to my hotel and arrived around 10:30. My room wasn’t ready, so I enjoyed lunch at the hotel café and used their wireless access to let my family know I had arrived safely. Around noon, my room was ready and I went to my room and rested until 4pm. At 4, there was a reception to meet the Action Research team. We are a group of about 48 people this year. It was nice to finally put faces with names I have seen on our team website for the past few months. After the reception, about 10 of us went to eat at a restaurant. We returned around 9 and I went straight to bed to try to recover from jetlag. I woke up quite a bit throughout the night and finally got up around 5:30am. On Sunday, July 8, we spent all day being trained for our action research (AR) project. We met in small groups a little with our AR team. After the training at Scotch College, we returned to our hotel and had another welcome reception for the AR Team. The former president of IBSC welcomed us and thanked us for being on the AR team. After the reception, I went to dinner with about 20 people. We took taxis to the restaurant, so I was able to see a little more of the city of Melbourne.

On Monday, July 9, we had more training on our AR project. We spent more time in our AR group working on our question for our AR project. My question (though it may change throughout the project) is “How can the use of various Web 2.0 tools help to facilitate the creative thinking process in third grade boys?”

We then attended the conference opening. The Scotch College orchestra and choir performed. It was absolutely amazing! The keynote was after the opening. It was titled Practical Disciplines for the 21st Century Mind by Rufus Black, Ormond College, The University of Melbourne.

After the keynote, we had a kickoff reception at Scotch College for all 475 delegates. There are 12 countries and 165 boys schools represented at this years IBSC conference. I have met people from many countries around the world. The conversations are amazing. Buses took us back to our hotels after the reception. I went to dinner with a group of about 8 people.

On Tuesday, July 10, we started the conference with a keynote by Julia Atkin.

We had a morning tea break (tea breaks happen in the morning and afternoon in Australia), then went to a breakout session with students for a discussion on creativity. Hearing from Scotch College students was a neat experience. After that was the first session. I went to iPads & Inquiry...a recipe for creativity and reflection. I ate lunch on campus with several from the action research team. The afternoon keynote was Andrew Fuller on mindset. I really enjoyed his message. He was very engaging.

The afternoon session I went to was last year's action research team reporting on their results. We were encouraged to go to one of two sessions like this to know what to expect when we have to present at next year's IBSC conference in Virginia. We walked to the metro and took it back to our hotel.

We went to the Melbourne Cricket Club stadium for a formal dinner. I tweeted a link showing them bringing in haggis as an appetizer with bagpipe players. There was beef (steak) and fish for dinner. Dessert was an apple tart. After dinner, buses took us back to our hotels.


I am enjoying meeting lots of new friends from around the world and hearing all about things they are doing in their schools that we may consider for PDS.

Day One in Australia

Well, the flight was long, but not horrible. :) I had an aisle seat which was great. Each seat had its own entertainment screen so you could watch movies, tv, play video games, etc. and that was nice. I finally saw The Hunger Games and also watched We Bought a Zoo and some tv shows. I am guessing I maybe slept about three hours total on the 15 hour flight.
Upon arrival, I easily made it through customs ;) and then went to get my luggage. I was a little nervous as mine came out with only about 5 people still waiting, but I got it he headed to the SkyBus. This bus takes you to a station in the city then has a free bus that will drop you off at your hotel.
When I arrived at the hotel, no rooms were ready because it was only 10:30am. I used the free wireless in the lobby (limited to 30 minutes every 24 hours and only 50mb-what's up with that?!?) I ate lunch at the hotel restaurant then my room was ready.
Upon trying to get my room, they wouldn't charge it to the school credit card because I didn't have it with me. No problem, I said and handed them my Visa(that I had just used at lunch.) It wouldn't take my Visa...guess Visa turned it off thinking it was stolen and being used in Australia. (Note to self: when traveling abroad, call and let the credit card company know!) I said I needed to call visa so they let me go on up to my room. They were very patient and nice but in my head I was thinking they probably hear all the time that "my credit is good, really."
Upon getting in my room, I went to charge my iPad and realized the electricity outlets were totally different than in the US. This caused a breakdown....mainly I think because I was so tired! I skyped Chris and was crying telling him the Visa story and about the outlets. Chris, my calm thinker, told me to go to the front desk about the outlets. He also called Visa and straightened everything out. (thanks honey)
I relaxed in my room, took a shower, then went for a meet and greet with the action research team at 4pm in the hotel lobby. It was a very nice group. My team leader, Linda, talked to me and I shared with her about being nervous since I was on the action research team for the first time. She was great and reassured me it was going to be fine. Words I needed to hear. :)
I met a girl from Virginia who does technology for K-5 at her school. She was staying at a different hotel, so she came to my room after the meet and greet and we talked all about school and our travel plans in Australia (her husband is coming after the conference as well) until we went to meet a group going to dinner at 6:30. We walked to a pub type restaurant and I really enjoyed getting to know a few people better. Two of the team leaders were there and everyone was very nice. we walked back to the hotel and I went straight to bed at 9pm.
I woke up this morning at 5:45. Early, but grateful I had some decent sleep. Today (Sunday), we are going to a school for meetings/training all day. We have another meet and greet this afternoon in my hotel lobby. I'm thankful I'm staying here as those two events are here and the bus leaves for here to the meetings. Headed to get ready for the day...lots of learning about action research to come today!!! The picture is a view from my hotel room in Melbourne.

Off to Australia

I left today for Australia. It's a very long day(s) of travel. 3 and a half hours to Los Angeles, 5 hour layover, and then 15 hours to Australia. My friend Joe told me to try to stay on Australia time and that would help with jet lag. That means I should go to sleep on the plane at 6am Memphis time. Not sure I can make it that long. Ha ha!
I arrive Saturday at 8am. I don't have to be anywhere until around 4 that afternoon. I'm hoping the hotel will let me check in when I arrive but not sure that can happen.
I will be at the International Boys School Coalition conference Sunday through Thursday. I will also have training for the action research project I am participating in this school year.
After the conference, I am meeting Chris who is flying to Sydney on Friday. We will spend time in Sydney then go to Cairns and hopefully see and maybe snorkel the great barrier reef! This is a bit scary for me since the ocean kind of freaks me out (those who know me well are laughing that I said "kind of" freaks me out)!
I am thankful for my mom and mother in law keeping Caleb and Carley while we are gone. We will miss them but know they are in good hands.
I just met a couple from Australia at the airport that are on my flight. Small world as they went to Canada and drove to visit some places in the US and Memphis was one of them. :)

Another Great Beach Trip

We had another great week at the beach with our friends from our small group at Heartsong. For those that may not know, for the past six years we have rented a house right on the beach with all the families under one roof. It is a lot of fun and a week of relaxation. Each family takes a night and prepares dinner for everyone. Meals this year included chicken pasta, enchiladas and tacos, hamburgers and hotdogs, chicken stir fry, and party foods the night of the NBA draft.
The weather was fabulous this year despite the threat of a tropical storm when we were arriving. It caused huge waves our first full day here, but they were amazing to see.
The kids had a ton of fun playing in the waves and in the sand...and in a little pool of ocean water that was created by a sand bar right near our tents we had set up. Sand dollars were ALL OVER this year! It was neat to see them.
Of course, one day we hit the outlets in Foley and then went to lunch at Mellow Mushroom with several families.
We also rented a pontoon boat for the day that had a top level we could jump off and a slide to go down. It was fun and everyone enjoyed it. We played banagrams,UNO, and other games. We took lots of pictures. The guys went deep sea fishing one day. We went crab hunting two nights. Lots of fun!
As I was looking for shells, it made me think about the awesomeness of God. He created everything and makes no mistakes. Some shells were broken just like people have broken aspects of their lives...but rather than throw us back (like many shell hunters do), God picks us up and thinks we are precious! I may have heard that comparison before but can't remember who said it.
The week ended quickly and we loaded up and came home. We really cherish the time we have at the beach with no schedule and just hanging out with great friends. God has blessed us with that time with everyone. We are already talking about next year...can't wait!

Summer 2012

Our summer is off to a fantastic start! Cindy went to Costa Rica with a group of sixth graders from PDS in early June. It was a great trip that included service work and learning all about their culture.

Caleb and Chris went on a mission trip to Honduras with a group of fathers and sons from PDS. They had a great experience sharing God's love with the people there.

We were so happy to celebrate with Cindy's sister, Carla, at her wedding in Galveston, Texas. It was a beautiful ceremony!

Now, we are headed to the beach for a week with our small group from church. This is our sixth year to go with this group of five families and it is really a great time of fun and relaxation. We rent a house together right on the beach.
Hope you are all enjoying your summer!