Keeping up with the Joneses

The Last Week of GSP

I didn't do the best job of photographing the last week of GSP.  In my engineering class, we spent time finishing our Rube Goldberg Machine.  An important lesson: use less dominoes in any future machines. The set up was frustrating. Here you can see that Kenisha is not too happy that her dominoes fell over prematurely.

We also had limited time with our videographer, so our final video is not as polished as we hoped, but we still finished.  Considering that we only worked on it a few hours and generally groups spend months creating their machines, I was pleased with our results.

 

During this week, we also made our banner for Final Banquet.  I really like how everyone was actively involved in the creation of the banner.  Every student created one letter.

In general studies, we finished reading and discussing Happier.
We also spent time saying goodbye.  One of our last activities was for each student to anonymously write something nice about every other student in the class. I then provided them with a frame to commemorate our time together. I wasn't sure whether the kids would like it, so I was pleased when many of these scholars shared that it was a highlight of their week.
I was also overwhelmed by their kind words to me.

Later in the week was Final Banquet and the Closing Ceremony. Unfortunately, I neglected to bring my camera to those events. 

This summer at GSP was exhausting and busy...maybe especially in light of being pregnant. But it was also my favorite summer with the program.  I feel so much more comfortable in my own skin, which I think helps me to be a better teacher. I also really appreciated all the wonderful scholars (both faculty and students) that I had the honor to work beside.  Going into this summer, I assumed that this was likely my last summer with the program. However, I loved it so much that I really can't imagine never doing it again. Who knows?

5th Week of GSP, Nephews Visit, and Moores Visit

So, as it always seems to happen with GSP, things get insanely hectic. As such, I'm super behind on my blogging. In fact, I didn't even have time to take belly pics the last fews weeks (much to the chagrin of my momma who scolded me for not doing it since she doesn't get to see me very often. Sorry, Momma! I'll do better.)

The fifth week of GSP my engineering scholars went to East Kentucky Power in Winchester.
Scholars got an exclusive tour of the plant. (Since September 11th, it is nearly impossible to get into a power plant.)
After an amazing lunch at corporate headquarters (seriously, that was the best hot dog I've ever eaten), we got to hear from a snake expert. This man had us all constantly laughing.
The scholars especially loved touching real snakes and reptiles.

 In general studies, we started our week with my friend Justin Dobring who brought some comedy to our happiness class by teaching us about improv.
Then, we took our last trip to Safe Place (or so we thought). The scholars continued working on their mural in the morning.
Several scholars also spent time tending to the garden.

Safe Place provided us with pizza for lunch to say goodbye.  (The scholars were so happy to get this food because they had been "homeless" with little food the previous day.)  After lunch, we made duct tape bracelets with the teens at Safe Place.
 
Then, we said goodbye to the teens at Safe Place.

Meanwhile, our two nephews came to visit for the week. One of the first things 7-year-old Caleb asked Tim to do was to help him "waste the days away so he wouldn't be so home sick." Tim tried to oblige. He took them to see Cars 2, the Kentucky Derby Museum, the Waterfront, Cherokee Park, Bernheim Forest, etc. 

 

 
Unfortunately, my days were so long that week that I often got home after 9 pm.  Even on Saturday, I was unexpectedly asked to take my general studies class back to Safe Place for their community service experience related to homelessness.  The scholars were excited to go back and continue working on their mural. 

Since it was a Saturday, the artist's kids also came along. They had some very good babysitters. 
 
Still other scholars washed the Safe Place Vans.
When I got home, I literally thought I was going to collapse. I planned to go swimming with Tim, Caleb, and David. But I just passed out. :-(  The next day was church, bible study, GSP meetings, and THEN...we got an unexpected call from Rebecca and Adam. They had frantically flown into town because Adam's dad had some heart issues. When it was clear that he was okay, we squeezed in a visit.
We ended the night by making some S'mores.
Aren't we pretty?
That was a BUSY...but wonderful...week!

GSP Engineering Scholars Go to Lexmark

During the third week of GSP (my 4th Week), we took our scholars to Lexmark.
They got to tour the plant and hear from engineers and other scientists at Lexmark. They learned more about sound,
light and color,
printer ink,
and polymers.
It was a good day.

The Great Gass Visit

On the last weekend in June, the Gasses paid us a little visit. Nate and Tim met when we were living in Illinois.  They were both working as library clerks at Warren's O'Plaine campus. Their bromance has remained strong over the years.  As such, they were super happy to see each other.   (Happily, I really like Andrea as well. So, as the boys were have super long conversations, Andrea and I chatted away as well.)

Friday night, we dined at the Irish Rover. Then, we walked around Frankfort Avenue. The weather was so super lovely.  We ended the night at Graeter's where we had spectacularly yummy ice cream.

The next day, we headed towards J. Gumbo's for lunch. It was yum-tastic. Our only regret is that we could not eat our leftovers because they got too hot in the car while we were out.

Then, we moseyed on down to Waterfront Park where we decided to do a little quad biking.

 

We were warned by the previous bikers of the cart that it would be super difficult, but we really had lots o' fun.  We did stop at one point to enjoy the Lincoln Park. Isn't this a strange "I'm Lincoln and I'm too sexy for my shirt" piece?

Oh, no! Tim!
That evening, we grilled and chilled.  Sadly, the Gasses left after church and Tony Boombozz.  It was so fun getting to spend some time with them, though!

In regard to pregnancy-related news: I GET TO FIND OUT IF IT'S A GIRL OR A BOY ON AUGUST 4TH!!  Yay!!!!!!!!!

16th Week Preggo and 4th Week at GSP

This was another busy week at GSP.  My general studies looked at happiness in regard to both education and work. At Safe Place in the morning, we finished painting and started on a big mural.

 
After lunch, we played zipper tag along with a few other games with the teens at Safe Place.
Meanwhile, my engineering kids went to Lexmark this week (I'll post pics later) as well as began to compile their Rube Goldberg Machine into one machine.
This Saturday, was Uncommonwealth Day. Scholars could choose to go to a variety of places around the state like Natural Bridge, Mammoth Cave, Speed Museum/Derby Museum, Keenland, Shaker Village, Newport Aquarium, etc. Emma and I accompanied the Newport Aquarium group. Before going into the aquarium, a few scholars had a jam session with a local musician:
 
 Emma's favorite part: petting the sharks. She spent 45 minutes petting every shark in the tank.
Afterwards, we admired the view of Cincinnati while eating some dippin' dots.
 
It was a great day...until the ride home. Due to NASCAR traffic (almost TWENTY miles of stopped traffic in both directions), instead of taking an 1 1/2 to get home, it took us 4 hours! For a 7-year-old and a pregnant lady, this was not pleasant...especially since we were on a bus with no air conditioning in well over ninety degree weather. I also felt sorry for the scholars who were sitting three to a seat. It was not easy, but we made the best of it.  (The NASCAR fans were also making the best of it: I saw at least one van blatantly drinking while driving.)

By the time we got back to our house, it was around 7:30pm and I had one of the worst headaches I can remember ever having. For the first time in my pregnancy, I broke down and took Tylenol. My wonderful husband took Emma to Chick-fil-A as well as to the market for a few items we needed for a birthday party the next day, which allowed me to rest for a couple of hours.

Sunday was another exciting day. After church, we headed to the Ventures for Otto's first birthday. 

Otto was really into the candle.
At 2:30 pm, they told us there was going to be a surprise:
A SURPRISE WEDDING! I almost did the ugly cry.
Cindy and Brandon, we are so happy for you! (And doesn't Cindy look super happy here?!?)

Gina was picking Emma up before I had to get back to work at 7 pm. She had been begging to go swimming, so I took her to the Y. We had a great time. As we got out of the pool, though, Emma could not find her black flip flops. Someone had mistakenly taken hers and left behind a larger pair. Also, the towel that I brought for her was missing. Boo!

Pregnancy-wise, things are going swimmingly. No real complaints this week. In fact, I'm still in the "Is this REALLY going to happen?!?" mode. Of course, I'm feeling little flutters, but I'm still not totally sure that I'm not just making that up.  I also really need to start taking these pictures in the morning before I get totally exhausted. I look rough in this one.

Engineering Scholars go to Toyota

I think I'm a week off on documenting my engineering group this summer. Their second week (my third week), they toured the Toyota plant.
No photos are allowed in the plant, but scholars were excited to get a sneak peak at the new Camry. While on the tour, scholars were presented with another engineering problem. Their ultimate goal was to determine how to reduce the bead width variation of the urethane used to secure windshields for optimal performance as well as cost.

After the tour, scholars were taken to Georgetown College to work on the problem. First, they did a few team building activities as well as were assigned to their teams. 
 
 

Then, they went to the library to research and prepare their presentations for about 4 hours.
Finally, we returned to Georgetown College's Conference Center where each group presented to Toyota's upper management.
And bless their hearts, were they grilled! After each presentation, Toyota's management questioned each group for about THIRTY minutes to be sure that they really knew what they were talking about...and they were not easy questions. (Keep in mind, we left our school at 6:30 am and these presentations lasted until around 10 pm...the fact that they weren't passing out from exhaustion alone was admirable.) I was so proud of how well our kids performed. In fact, our bus driver (who drives a bus during the school year for a charter school in Florida) was bemoaning the public school system before the presentations began. Afterwards, I think he was sufficiently impressed. I told him, "That's public school."

15th Week of Pregnancy and 3rd Week of GSP

I just completed my third week at GSP (second full week with scholars), and I am beginning my 15th week of pregnancy.  I am happy to report that things are going extremely well in both departments.  I am teaching two classes at GSP. My focus area is engineering while my general studies is studying positive psychology using a book called  Happier, which is written by Harvard professor, Tal Ben-Shahar.

During the first week of GSP, my engineering scholars were hosted by the U.S. Corps of Engineers at Taylorsville Lake. There are actually two engineering classes. This is a picture of both groups combined.
Scholars were first given basic information about engineering at the Corps before working on their civil engineering problem. At Taylorsville Lake, there is a boat ramp that is inaccessible. Scholars were to create an access road as well as a parking lot for this ramp. They had to do a cost analysis and consider topography in their design. At the end of the day, scholars presented to the U.S. Corps of Engineers. To do this, scholars were first taken on pontoon boats to examine the site.
 
Afterwards, students were given a few hours to create their design and presentations.
Finally, scholars presented. I was so proud of them all.
Meanwhile, when my general studies group has not been studying happiness, they have been working at their service learning site: Safe Place. Safe Place is literally a safe place for teens in Louisville who are for whatever reason homeless.  
Every Thursday morning, we will be painting or doing other manual labor.
Then, in the afternoon my scholars will be creating activities to do with the teens at Safe Place. This week, we played a few intro games: The Name Game, "Would You Rather?", and Question Ball.
 
My engineering scholars also got a good start this week on their Rube Goldberg Machine.

 
 
It's so fun seeing all of these kids thinking outside of the box. Every day is challenging, but they are literally "all in."  I forgot how much I love doing this.

In regards to my pregnancy, I continue to grow out of my clothes.  Today, I finally purchased a few maternity pants and a nursing bra. Not to get too personal, but my girls and my behind are kind of out of control.  I guess with as short as I am, the extra fat doesn't have many options.  Depending on the time of day I weigh myself, I have gained either 2 lbs. or 7 lbs.   I also think my "bump" is starting to look a little less like extra fat and a little more like a baby belly (although I'm not sure you can tell in this picture).

  
As a comparison, here I am at 8 Weeks:
Finally, sometime last week, I started to feel the baby moving!  It felt like little butterflies fluttering in my belly. It is very light, but I can feel it especially if I am lying on my back. At first, I thought maybe I was just making it up. Then, Jaby, the other engineering faculty member, asked me specifically if I had yet felt the butterfly-like movement. So exciting!