Fletcher Creek Park

I enjoy taking walks with the boys.  While taking a walk to check out the elementary school that Xander will be attending, the boys and I discovered this park.  I let them out of the stroller for awhile to run around the playground and have some time.

General Butler State Park Kentucky

On our way back to Tennessee from Ohio we decided to stop at a park and let the boys play for a little while.  We went to the scenic overlook, the mansion, and a playground.  If we had more time we would have checked out some of the other attractions.  In addition to being a state park it is also a resort, it even has a golf course.

Ohio Trip

Playing with my boys in Grandma Miller's pool with Grandpa George.

Pamela's grandmother has been very kind to us.  She offered an extremely generous gift to help us get settled in better after the move.  We spent a weekend traveling to Ohio in order to pick it up in person.  While it was a difficult trip for Xander we were glad to have fun as a family and we are extremely grateful for the gift.

On Sunday before coming back to Tennessee I had the opportunity to hear Pamela's uncle preach.  It was a very nice experience.

Three Donalds in Three Days

My two boys love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which has six main characters including Donald Duck.  When Xander was little we went into a Disney store to look around.  He fell in love with a Donald toy but it was way too expensive for us to get it at the time.  He was heartbroken when we took it away.  Later on he tried to get us to buy another Donald but there was no money for him to get the toy that time either.  Finally we offered to buy him a Donald and he did not want it.  It was as though he associated Donald Duck toys with disappointment.

Curtis was born after all of that.  He loves Donald Duck.  He hates it anytime that Donald gets hurt or teased.

I walked with the boys into a Disney store here in town and I knew I needed to get a Donald Duck.  Xander saw me pick it out and he went away and hid in some shirts and started crying.  It strengthened my resolve that I needed to get the toy.  There was a special deal with the Donald toy as long as I bought another toy.  Luckily there was a Bolt toy, I picked it out and gave it to Xander.  Bolt has become Xander's favorite movie since our move, he smiled and embraced the toy.  When we checked out of the store they had to scan the bar code as Xander hugged it.

The next day we saw some Tsum Tsums.  Disney has a game about these toys and does short cartoon shows that our boys simply adore.  Xander picked out a Winne the Pooh Tsum Tsum and Curtis wanted Donald Duck.  I am not sure if I have ever seen Curtis so happy about a toy as he was with his Donald Tsum Tsum.

Xander plays in the boy's new room where two of the Donalds are on display.

The next day we went out again.  I know it must seem strange going out everyday, but it was such a cool feeling that we lived so close to stores and that we did not have to do all of our shopping on a single day.  I decided to get Disney Infinity 2.0 and what better character to get than Donald Duck?

Xander and Curtis both play with the first two Donalds and both of them think it is hilarious when Daddy plays with the digital one.  I am very happy that Donald is no longer associated with disappointment.

New Words

My three year old Xander is much of a talker yet, but he does say more than I did at his age.  The other night he decided to try out a new word.  "Attack!" then he hit me with a pillow.  He followed this pattern several times until he tuckered himself out and went to sleep.  At least with the advance warning I was able to block his blows, and wanting to encourage his language usage I also used the word before lightly tossing a pillow at him, which made him giggle.  My son is all boy.

My youngest son loves Mickey Mouse and we have a toy that sings the Hot Dog Song.  That same night after Xander had fallen asleep Curtis and I played with the toy.  "Hot Dog," he said at the right moment in the song.  One night and two new words for each boy.  We are very blessed.

Independence Day Celebration in Bartlett

Our family had a wonderful time celebrating July 4th this year in Bartlett, Tennessee where my lovely wife is a member of the Community Concert Band.  The band is made up of volunteers who meet and practice every week.  It was so nice to hear Pamela playing again.  Both of the boys enjoyed hearing the music, though after a couple of songs Xander was ready to get up and start playing!

To keep Xander occupied during the festivities I took him for a walk around the pond.  He really wanted to go up and pet the mallard in the foreground but I warned him that they were wild animals and that he should only wave at them.

A while after Pamela and the band had stopped playing they had the fireworks show which was very impressive for a small town.  Then as we were leaving some private citizens decided to do their own display.  It was a lot of fun.  We look forward to hearing Pamela perform in more concerts!

I-Zone Retreat

I had the opportunity to attend parts of a professional retreat soon after moving in.  I missed the opening sessions due to the fact that I was unloading a moving truck.  I did however attend for two days later on.

It was nice and awkward at the same time.  I was very busy trying to make new connections while not knowing really where to go or what to do.  Thankfully the people of Memphis are wonderfully polite and happy to help.  One of the more difficult challenges was trying to figure out where to be.  The program said one thing and the people would say another thing.  Finally I found the office of scheduling for the entire university campus which solved the problem.

I met a lot of good people from several of the schools in the I-Zone and from my future school, Treadwell Elementary.   I am so excited to be working with them and to meet my new students!

The retreat itself was good, the first day we talked about the new TN Ready standards that fit into the Common Core, it's very similar to Arizona's AZ Merit.  The final day was a celebration of what the I-Zone has achieved.  It really pumped me up to work with them and to get into the school.  There were musical and dance numbers, a preacher spoke, we are in the South, and awards were given.

I can't wait to get started and be a part of this amazing team!

Adjustment and Heat Wave

For most of my life I have lived in deserts.  I've never been fond of heat but the nice thing about the desert is that the nights can get very cold.  I have never really been around that much humidity.  Before moving to desert climates I lived in Oregon, which is wet but cool.

When we arrived in Memphis there was a heat wave going on.  Humid heat is very different from dry heat.  Dry heat burns, but it is also a lot easier to deal with.  The humid heat hangs over you and drowns you.  In Arizona I had been walking several miles a day, working in the house, and trying to live an active lifestyle.  For the first week in Memphis I had a very hard time doing much of anything.

To make matters worse our air conditioning did not work for the first four days and we had no refrigeration.  The air was fixed after several attempts and we finally did get a fridge but it had some problems keeping the right temperature for the first few days.

Finally we had a fridge, we had air conditioning, and the temperature began to drop.  I was finally able to get back to doing things around the house.

Long Journey

A new adventure for the Maynard family awaited in Memphis, Tennessee.  All we needed to do was pack up all of our possessions, our animals, and our children and head out across the nation.

For the last five years my family and I have lived in the Navajo Nation where my wife and I worked in education.  We have taken on various roles.  My wife has been a Music Teacher, Academic Advisor, Cheerleading Coach, and Senior Class Sponsor, a Dean of Students among several other things.  I have taught World and American History, Spanish I & II, and Education Professions.

In Memphis my wife Pamela would work as a Dean of Students at a middle school and I would teach English as a Second Language at an elementary school.

At the conclusion of the school year Pamela still had to work for another week.  My mother-in-law and I worked on packing up the house and getting ready for the big move.  The Elders from our church came over a few times to lend a hand. 

When Pamela finished her work day she came home and helped us finish up.  Then we left Arizona.  On our way out we noticed that the headlight of the truck was not working.  We stopped two hours sooner than we wanted to in order to have the problem fixed.  We had to cancel our hotel room and stay the night in Gallup as a result.

The next day we started our trip several hours behind but we drove on and tried to make up the time as best as we could.  We discovered a new problem with the truck.  Rust had created a hole over the roof, when it rained it poured on the inside.  It was an extremely rainy trip.  Since we were so far behind where we needed to be we needed to stop early again.

On the third day we once again started out late, we had to wait for the rental company to come out and inspect the truck.  Later when we were finally back on the road my mother-in-law discovered a mouse in the truck and the headlight stopped working again.  When we looked at the headlight we noticed that it was actually hanging off of the truck!  We tapped it back on and decided to keep going.  Eventually we stopped due to exhaustion, a third hotel room lost.

Finally we arrived in Memphis, filled out the paperwork for our house, and were able to move in!  Several people from the church showed up, it made the work move on a whole lot faster!  Pamela's grandfather was also here to help us.  It may have been a long journey but in the end it was worth it.  We had arrived with our family to begin our new life together.