Month: May 2017

The Imaginative One’s Confirmation

Posted on by traci

Last Sunday, the Imaginative One was confirmed at our church.  He was the only 7th grader.  The other two young men that were confirmed are in the 8th grade.

When I was confirmed back in 1988, I was a 7th grader and the other ones were 8th graders.  I think it’s cool that we both had similar confirmations.

From January until last week, Nick was on hiatus from weekend camp trips so that he did not miss very many classes.  He ended up missing two because of an ear infection and then for his cousin’s confirmation. Read More

Wilderness Lodge and the Entrance of Epcot

Posted on by traci

Join me on Saturdays to see photos from our Universal Studios/ Walt Disney Resort vacation during Thanksgiving.

  1. Cabana Beach Bay Resort – Part 1
  2. Cabana Beach Bay Resort – Part 2
  3. Cabana Beach Bay Resort – Part 3
  4. Islands of Adventure – Part 1
  5. Islands of Adventure – Part 2
  6. Universal Studios – Part 1
  7. Universal Studios – Part 2
  8. Characters in Flight
  9. Disney Springs
  10. Port Orleans – French Quarter
  11. Pop Century
  12. Art of Animation
  13. Animal Kingdom Lodge / Entrance area of Animal Kingdom
  14. Boardwalk / Entrance of Hollywood Studios
  15. Yacht and Beach Club
  16. Contemporary / Entrance to Magic Kingdom
  17. Polynesian
  18. Grand Floridian
  19. Wilderness Lodge / Entrance to EPCOT
  20. Wishes

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Sight Word Intervention – Part 1

Posted on by traci

This school year I had a fifth grade student who had sight word recognition as one of her goals.  Specifically she was to identify fourth grade sight words.

So where did I find a list of sight words that she could use?  I used this website.  The website has the Fry list which is my favorite one to use when I’m teaching students sight words and the Dolch sight word list.

I first had her read the words from the 300-301 Fry sight word list which is approximately the third grade list.  I started with the words she missed on that list and then worked towards the fourth grade list.  By the end of her IEP year, she was on the fourth grade list and typically recalling the words with at least 90% accuracy.

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What Did You Just Say?

Posted on by traci

2. Something your kids said that made you think.

Let me start off with this disclaimer:  The Imaginative One is a ferocious reader.  He almost always has a book in his hand.  In fact on Tuesday, he was supposed to help with a fire safety merit badge class for Boy Scouts.  Instead he wanted to read.

A while back, he had not done one of his chores so I threatened to take away his book he was reading.  He told me that I was going to mess up his education. Read More

Wedding Chapel and Grand Floridian (Photos and Videos)

Posted on by traci

Join me on Saturdays to see photos from our Universal Studios/ Walt Disney Resort vacation during Thanksgiving.

  1. Cabana Beach Bay Resort – Part 1
  2. Cabana Beach Bay Resort – Part 2
  3. Cabana Beach Bay Resort – Part 3
  4. Islands of Adventure – Part 1
  5. Islands of Adventure – Part 2
  6. Universal Studios – Part 1
  7. Universal Studios – Part 2
  8. Characters in Flight
  9. Disney Springs
  10. Port Orleans – French Quarter
  11. Pop Century
  12. Art of Animation
  13. Animal Kingdom Lodge / Entrance area of Animal Kingdom
  14. Boardwalk / Entrance of Hollywood Studios
  15. Yacht and Beach Club
  16. Contemporary / Entrance to Magic Kingdom
  17. Polynesian
  18. Grand Floridian
  19. Wilderness Lodge / Entrance to EPCOT
  20. Wishes

The Imaginative One and I walked over to the Grand Floridian from the Polynesian.  As we were walking over, we passed the Wedding Chapel area.  The Imaginative One asked me if that is where his dad and I got married.  (Not even close)

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Once we got to the Grand Floridian, the Imaginative One and I checked out the gingerbread house while waiting for the Wee One and Hubby.

After we found them, it was time for the Imaginative One and my reservation at 1900 Park Fare.

After our brunch, we checked out the Grand Floridian a little more before getting on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom area so that we could get a ferry to Wilderness Lodge.

Later on in the evening, the Imaginative One and I once again visited the Grand Floridian.  We got to hear a choir singing Christmas carols which was awesome.

A cast member helped us find the Mary Poppins’ penguin fountain in the Disney Vacation Club villa.  That was on my bucket list for the three days we were in the Disney area.

Enjoy the many photos I took while I was at the Grand Floridian.

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Have a magical day,

Traci

My Aunt’s Quick Trip to Home – Throwback Thursday

Posted on by traci

In April 2014, we received word that my mom’s cousin,Kate, was diagnosed with cancer.  She was not given much time to live.

My aunt, Missy, lives in New York about 12 hours or so from where I live.  Since we did not know how long Kate had before she died, Aunt Missy and my cousin drove in for a day or two to visit Kate.

While Aunt Missy was in town, she made time to visit with the boys and I.  We went out to one our favorite places – Young’s Dairy.  Afterwards we picked up my cousin from where she was exercising while we were at Young’s Dairy.

These are photos from the visit with my aunt and cousin.  As you can tell the Wee One was not cooperating in the first photo.  The second one ended up being hilarious with the Wee One climbing on his brother’s back.

Sadly, Kate ended up dying on September 11th that year.

Oh and a cool thing is that my aunt is only 15 years older than me.  I’m 14 years older than my cousin.  My cousin is 13 years older than my oldest and 15 years older than my younger.

Have a magical day,
Traci

Mama’s Losin’ It

University of Dayton area

Posted on by traci

My oldest has told me that I could be a tour guide of our area because I know a lot of places.  So during April, I’m going to share some of those local sights beginning with A and then ending with the letter Z.  I’ll be sharing these sights Monday through Saturday.  On Sundays, I’ll be continuing to share my Disney photos.

So where are these local sights?  They are mostly in the Dayton, Ohio area.  Some of them are in Columbus or the Cincinnati area.

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Today we are heading to the University of Dayton area for a lot of cool places to see.

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The first stop is Carillon Historical Park.  I talked about Carillon previously so I’m just going to post the link.

Next we are heading to Woodland Cemetery.  A lot of famous Daytonians are buried there.

Some of the Daytonians that are buried there are the Wright Brothers, Erma Bombeck, and Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Woodland Cemetery has been in opened in 1841 and is also known for their ghosts that haunt the cemetery.  One of my favorite ghost stories is of the boy and his dog.  I will link that story here.

Here are some photos from Woodland Cemetery.

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There are two other places I like to visit when I am in the University of Dayton area.  One is Esther Price.  The other is Ghostlight Coffee.

Esther Price sells the best chocolate in the area.  We enjoy going to the flagship store that is located near the University of Dayton.  My mom had never been there until I took her back in December.

Esther Price.jpg

The Imaginative One loves trying the samples they have there.  It’s always a special treat for him when we visit the store.

Ghostlight Coffee is a coffee shop located close to both Downtown Dayton and the University of Dayton area.  They have the most unusual syrups for the coffees such as fig vanilla black pepper.  Yum!

I love it because it’s a local shop and not a big chain.

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Two other places to try while down there are Butter Cafe located just down from Woodland Cemetery and Zombie Dogz also located close to Woodland Cemetery.  Hubby highly recommends both places.

 

Orville Wright’s home is located near the University of Dayton.  I’m not sharing photos of Hawthorn Hill in this post.  The photos I took last month will have to be for another post since this post is getting so long.

Have a magical day,

Traci

Polynesian

Posted on by traci

Join me on Saturdays to see photos from our Universal Studios/ Walt Disney Resort vacation during Thanksgiving.

  1. Cabana Beach Bay Resort – Part 1
  2. Cabana Beach Bay Resort – Part 2
  3. Cabana Beach Bay Resort – Part 3
  4. Islands of Adventure – Part 1
  5. Islands of Adventure – Part 2
  6. Universal Studios – Part 1
  7. Universal Studios – Part 2
  8. Characters in Flight
  9. Disney Springs
  10. Port Orleans – French Quarter
  11. Pop Century
  12. Art of Animation
  13. Animal Kingdom Lodge / Entrance area of Animal Kingdom
  14. Boardwalk / Entrance of Hollywood Studios
  15. Yacht and Beach Club
  16. Contemporary / Entrance to Magic Kingdom
  17. Polynesian
  18. Grand Floridian
  19. Wilderness Lodge / Entrance to EPCOT
  20. Wishes

 

I’m sorry it’s taken me 3 weeks to get back to finishing my Universal/ Walt Disney World trip photos.

The Polynesian is on my bucket list of places to stay on the Walt Disney Resort.  It has been on my bucket list since I did my Disney College program in 1995.  One of my assignments in the classes I took there was to go with a group of friends to the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian.  Ever since then, I fell in love with the resort.

One of my friends I met while on the College Program also took me to the Polynesian to hang out on the beach area.

 

Back to the trip in November –

After we got done with the Contemporary, the Imaginative One and I traveled by the monorail over to the Polynesian.  I had gotten a message from Hubby saying they were leaving Pop Century and would meet us there.

While we were waiting the few minutes for him and the Wee One, the Imaginative One and I got a lei from the front desk.  If you ask them, they will give you one.  So cool.

After they got to the Polynesian, we stopped and got Hei Hei stuffed animal from Moana since we had seen the movie the night before.  Our Hei Hei has been in our Christmas tree and hidden all over the house.  Best $15 spent (I think that is how much it cost).

The Wee One and Hubby then got their leis.  Afterwards, they got breakfast at Captain Cooks because Hubby wanted Tonga Toast.

We split up once again because the Imaginative One and I decided to walk over to the Grand Floridian while the Wee One and Hubby took the ferry.

Later in the evening, the Imaginative One and I came back to the Polynesian to watch Wishes and to eat Dole Whip.  Yum!  I’ll share my photos from Wishes in another blog post.

Enjoy the photos from the Polynesian.

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Have a magical day,

Traci

Sophomore Year = Operation Desert Storm

Posted on by traci

During the 1990 – 1991 school year, I was a sophomore in High School. I was boy crazy. Each week, it seemed as though I had a crush on a different guy.

I would listen to music on Z-93. Back then you would have to listen to the radio and then press play on the tape recorder, if you wanted a single of a song or you would have to go to a place like Music Go Round to get a single of the song.

We had one phone in my house.  It was located in the kitchen so EVERYONE could hear your conversations.  I lived with my grandparents.  My grandma would get on me if I took too long on the phone because we did not have call waiting.

Operation Desert Storm was in full force.  Two specific memories from the tenth grade involve Operation Desert Storm.

Mrs. M. was my 10th grade English teacher.  She had a son who was involved in Operation Desert Storm.  So we had constant updates about what was happening with her son since she was in constant worry about him.  We were suppose to be learning how to write and understand literature not learn about her son.

Needless to say, my grade that year in English was low.  My mom was not very happy with her teaching and her as a person because of the lack of instruction I had that year.

My writing has suffered because of that lack of instruction.  I struggled during the remainder of my high school and then college career.

 

My high school also had an idea for the students sign up to be pen pals with some of the soldiers over in the Middle East.  I wrote back and forth with one young man a few times.

I don’t remember much about the letters or the young man.  I was just happy to help with the morale of those who were serving the United States of America.

Now my junior year was much more memorable.

Until next time.

Have a magical day,
Traci

 Mama’s Losin’ It