Welcome Summertime!

 Summer break is finally here! At least for the kids, that is...they are out of school, but things are (hopefully) ramping up for our move! As it stands: the appraisal was performed last Wednesday and we should hear the results early next week. If that went well, we're looking at moving on the week of the 20th :)  If it did not go well, then we're delayed. That would be bad. We're now to the point where we have to move forward with the moving process in order to be ready in time to move. We've started packing, and Kait gave her notice at work in to transfer to Richmond July 1. Tiff has decided to move in with a friend in order to stay in Dayton - not sure that I agree this is the best for her, but she feels that it is and I hope that it is. We canceled the paper and will be canceling cable, so that we can be sure they both definitely stop before we leave this apartment. Most of our potted trees and bushes are doing great, but a few did not make it through the winter. I wanted to wait awhile to give them a fair shake, but I was finally convinced they were done and dumped those pots. Oh, and we also dumped our compost bins so their new owners can take them home. Lots of moving projects in the works so that we can be prepared when our moving time comes!

May was a busy month, of course. We were unable to go to COSI, and our Dragons game was rained out, but we stayed busy nonetheless. I was able to sub quite a few days at Greenmont, which was awesome! I can't wait to get my own classroom, but the next best thing is to be able to walk through the halls of a school and have the kids recognize you and say "Hi, Mr. Roberts!". I have applied at a couple more schools recently, but we'll chat about those when and if they turn into anything. We were able to chaperon Cora's class field trip to Boonshoft and to the zoo (Cincinnati) - both great days! My next big project will be to get ready for Aullwood's summer programs - six weeks of teaching for me, outdoors, even! Over the summer I'll continue to update my resume, seek and apply for teaching positions, and hopefully come up with something by fall.

So far this month, the kids have spent lots of times with their friends, including some overnights. We're definitely looking forward to having friends over to the Blue House - it will keep our little ones connected to their friends and hopefully be a great experience for their friends to be in the country. Drake and I went to his Dragons MVP field day yesterday. He was able to play some games, eat some food, and get autographs during this warm and sunny event. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed being able to spend this time with him. Yesterday we went to the Fairhaven Antique Fair. It was not as exciting as we thought it would be - more of an antiques yard sale for the block. But it was nice to walk our new neighborhood and meet some of the people. We finished that visit off with ice cream and pie at Fairhaven Community Church - very nice place, and nice people. Today we will stay home. Today we pack, tomorrow I start getting back into my Aullwood planning, and we pack. Then we pack some more. It's gonna be a busy summer!

This is such an exciting time! Past all of the planning, stress, and preparing, we are working to get to the home we've wanted for so long! OUR house, our home, our garden, our sustainable well and septic, our orchard, our Fresh Eggs Farm - our corner of the world to grow our family. It's a garage to build and work on things, a yard to grow and play in, and porches to hang out and grill on. It's also a new life adventure. It's only an hour away, but it is a new place to be - our universe will shift an hour west :) Life will begin again - not that it ever stopped, but it will be renewed. This is our fork in the road, and we're ready to go!