New Addition...

We volunteered to host a potluck at our house for the Knights of Columbus and others in the church who volunteered at the booths during Round Up. Wouldn't you know it, we had our first really good fall rainstorm that day!

Marc had just finished transporting our new playhouse to the concrete pad he put down this summer. The house is a hand-me-down. Ashley, the past owner, is a sophomore in college now. Her dad built it for her...which totally got Marc off the hook. He has been promising a playhouse for a few years. The girls are looking forward to spring coming so they can paint and redecorate the inside.

The house was a welcomed shelter for about 15 little kids that day.

The adults & big kids all ate on tables in the garage. (Marc worked wonders in the garage to make space to feed all the people. An added a perk for me, there in now space for me to actually park my car.)

Eventually the rain slowed down and everyone could warm up and dry off by Marc's fire.

Everyone enjoyed the fellowship, despite the damp weather!

What have I done...

We haven't even gotten rid of our last lamb...and we added a steer to the mix. My dad had a calf that got separated from his mother when they shipped the cattle from California back home. When they discovered him they began bottle feeding him. If anyone out there has ever bottle fed a baby calf it is fun for about 2 weeks...and then it becomes a chore, just like anything else. My dad quickly began negotiating with us to take on this calf. After a promise of feed and hay to be included we signed on for Buckwheat the Charolais-Angus cross. He thinks he is human. Taryn is hoping to be able to get him to gain enough weight to be able to show and sell him at the Union Livestock Show next June.

This is Taryn showing Donald at the Pendleton Livestock Show

She got Reserve Champion for the Juniors. Her best show yet.

There were HUGE tears when she walked him onto the sale truck.

She thinks it is going to be easier to sell a steer. Should I burst her bubble or let her live in a make-believe world for the next 9 months?

The Best Lunch Ever...

A little guy in my first grade classroom was headed out to recess with his lunch in hand. Quickly about 20 other classmates told on him... I mean reminded him that his lunch was supposed to go in the lunch bucket.

I met him at the door and told him I would put his sack into the lunch bucket and he could pick it up in the cafeteria.

I don't know what made me peek into his lunch, but I did, and I could not believe my eyes!

His ENTIRE lunch consisted of one Diet Coke and 18 large marshmallows. Go figure.

Being the "mean" teacher I am, I told him he would need to purchase a hot lunch and that I would put his "snack" into his backpack for an after school snack.

A Round Up of Pink

Thursday was Tough Enough to Wear Pink day at the Pendleton Round Up. It seems like a perfect day to take my girls. This year we met up with other girls and enjoyed the entire rodeo...and all the junk food that comes with it.

Miley Rocks!

If you look *really* close - in front and just below the front tire - you can see a person with their arm up in the air. That is me! That is me rocking to Miley Cyrus in Portland with my girls. It was a wonderful night.

After the concert we stayed in the same motel that Miley had stayed at the night before...The Hotel Monaco. The funniest part of the night was when we pulled into the parking garage. The Honda doors slid open revealing our disaster of a mess. I told the girls to gather their things and we would go to our room. Reagan said, "Well lets just roll up a luggage cart, load her up and go to our room." Our valet commented that she must have done that before. Hmm...not so much. We are not regulars at hotels where Valet is the only parking option.

It was a memorable evening for mom, girls and friends!

Photo: http://justjaredjr.buzznet.com/

9-9-09

As a 10 year veteran, but first year, first-grade teacher I was DELIGHTED a week ago to see this date on my plan book. It meant that for an entire day I could plan '9' activities. So we came up with 9 ways we played with 9's at the end of the day.

1. Sang 9 songs...
2. Stuck 9 stickers on a nine inch piece of paper...
3. Sat quiet for 9 seconds (and not one second longer)...
4. Wrote '9 or nine' for 9 minutes quietly (my favorite)...
5. Made 9 rhymes (they didn't get 'wine' but did get Frankenstein-wow)...
6. Fact families of 9...
7. Read Comet's Nine Lives by Jan Brett...
8. Read Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings by Deborah Hopkinson...
9. Had a 9 min. recess (oops...should have be 15, but I can't get my schedule down)

Another bit of interest for the day was the lead story in the EO, our local newspaper. Yep, that is yours truly. Now, in the honor of 9-9-09 may I share these thoughts:

1. Thank you for leaving out the nose picking boy.
2. Thank you for not mentioning the farting that was taking place.
3. Thank you for not showing my roots that got colored/covered today.
4. Thank you for taking time to show a bit of extra effort we all do in education.
5. Thank you for sharing that we do our best to be resourceful.
6. Thank you for an article not about a teacher having sex with her students.
7. Mental note: Starch is better than a quick iron job.
   
8. Next time, let's not take the picture at that angle, please.
9. Next time, could you leave out the 'vultures on roadkill' comment?

And my final, too good to leave out Reagan-ism, overheard by dad as she and Grace were circling the catalogs for Christmas, (yes, already.)

Grace: I want this.
Reagan: I want this.
Grace: I want this.
Reagan: I want this - oh and this too. Because you know Grace, when Taryn moves out we are going to have a lot more room, and then Mom and Dad can spend all their money on us!

Oh, so that's how that works!

Mark your calendars everyone...the next time we can have this much fun on a school day will be 11-11-11. I can hardly wait! (It is a Friday, BTW)

First Grade

I have spent countless hours the past few weeks getting ready for my new adventures in teaching first grade. Here is a glimpse inside my classroom.

We will start with a caterpillar/butterfly/Eric Carle unit

My boards are cute, but they don't hold a candle to Mrs. Z.
She's untouchable.

She painted her own paper and free-hand cuts her letters.



I love-love the sun!

This shiny, organized, *empty* classroom gives me peace just like when I look at a sleeping child.



Tranquil, sweet, perfect, full of hope!

The top posters were created by the talented Queen Renee. I was delighted when she offered her services. I hope she does not regret opening that can of worms. The best part of Renee coming wasn't the posters, even though they are fantastic. While we were chit-chatting I mentioned being from Klamath Falls. She smiled and told me she was born there. Then we started the 'where did your family live, how long were you there, what schools did you attend' routine, when she stated, "My mom went to school in Bonanza."

My grandma was the sixth grade teacher in Bonanza forever. She was *only* a sixth grade teacher too. She never got a wild hair and decided she needed a change. She was a smart cookie.

It only took a quick phone call for Renee to confirm that her mom was a student in my grandma's classroom. It warmed my heart. It was so unlikely, unexpected for my grandma to show up today. Just like always, she has a knack for knowing when I need a little nudge. I'm going to be just fine in my new grade. There will be bumps, but I'll just pull myself up, dust myself off and try again. I know she would be tickled to see me teach. She's been gone for five years. Missing her sneaks up on me...today was one of those days, but in a good way!


************

Some things should never come out of the closet.

I want to keep it real here. No false illusions. This is my closet, it houses all that are NOT right in the world. Yes, things fall on me when I open this closet. Yes, this was on the to-do list.
Someday! The closet is closely related to the area 'behind my counter'.
I did not get a shot of that, but you get the idea.

This is what I brought home with me. I have vowed to spend the day at home on Sunday. I will make good on that, however some time needs to be spent reading teachers guides or I may be in big trouble come about Wednesday.

First Grade : Learning : Growing : Changing

I can't wait!