By My Side neighborhood parenting group

Hi, All!

What a whirlwind since April!! Glad to report we are now settled into our new digs at Atonement and playgroup is rockin'!

The new space had some water damage problems that needed to be addressed so we could do wall repair and such to get it ready for the families.

May was spent dealing with building issues....getting a new downspout intalled (figured out that the missing one was causing most of the damage) so we could start repair work., many hours scraping off old plaster/paint, sanding down windowsills, giving everything that moved a squirt of WD 40 (oh, how I love that stuff!!), replastering, painting, cleaning & such.

On the other side of May at Summerfield we were busy holding playgroups and eventually packing. Jeannie, my right hand, was MIA in May (could be a song)...aceing her CNA class at the Red Cross. Congrats, Jeannie!! We're very proud of you!

Thanks to so much help from parents sorting & packing up to my very supportive husband who spent so many,

many hours making the walls look beautiful again to our dear friend Ron who made sure the electrical runs were up to code to one of our fathers, Bill Mullenhard who brought and assembled scaffolding  so we could get to the ceiling, to the guys from Brotherhood Mission who did the hard work of moving all our stuff along with Jeannie's husband, Anthony and the great crew of parents (Maggie, Ashley, Susan & Julia) who helped us unpack and set up to my friend, Janice who gave up her Sunday off to help clean and put the finishing touches together so we could welcome folks back Monday, June 8th, we made it! Also thanks to the church folks at Atonement who donated time and some of their nursery items to realy make the new space kick!

I most thankful for everyone who had to deal with me over the course of the past month who showed patience and understanding for my passion to get this done and get back to normal schedule! Amazingly, we only missed 1 playgroup the last week of May and 3 the first week of June!

Whenever a program moves, there is concern for how many folks will follow to the new location. As Jeannie and I busied ourselves Monday, June 8th setting out the feast for opening day, we wondered who would show. How delighted we were to welcome 19 families opening day!!!

Seeing folks come in and watching the children's delight at this new, large space was totally awesome!! Finally enough room and areas for various activities and ages!!!

I am so grateful to all who made this possible!!!!

So, if you haven't made it to Fishtown's premier playgroup space yet..c'mon down!!!

We'll be waiting for you!!

Stay tuned for expanded programming in the fall!!

Happy summer..