Monday, June 14, 2010

End of the School Year!

Lydia's 3rd grade class has had a whirlwind of events. As things are still a bit crazy with me finishing up in my classroom and the kids in their last week of school, I'm just going to post some photos.



Battle of the Books winners:




Read Across America winners. Lydia is in the middle


Project Recycle Runway:




I also had the end of the year Drama Production that we put on at my school. It is a lot of work, but the kids and parents love it, so it is well worth it. Ryan is well, but I haven't been able to take pictures of his most recent school events, which have been mostly field trips. So, sorry, no pictures of Ryan this time. He is a slugger in baseball. Catching...not so much his thing, yet.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Queen of the Laundry

My mother is queen of many things, but if I had to pick one household thing, this would be it. Here is my mother in her kingdom, or queendom as it may be. Look at this, she even looks like she enjoys it. If you want your clothes to look good, even 15 years later when they are out of style, then my mom is the laundress for you. Everything neat and the same color and size as when you bought it. I do not have the patience to do laundry as well as my mother. I would say I don't have the time, but even when she was much busier than I am, she was still the queen of laundry. I currently have about as many clothes ready to wash as my mom has in this picture. I'll try to force a smile on my face that matches hers and attempt to be princess.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Documentary

Here is a link to Legoland's Sealife Aquarium documentary on Ryan's 1st grade beach trash project.

Beach Trash

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Trash-A Whale of a Problem!


The first grade classes at Ryan's elementary school have been collecting trash at the beach since the beginning of the school year. They have been learning about the impact of trash and pollution to our oceans and animals. It has been a wonderful experience that culminated in a program put on by the First Graders singing whale songs and unveiling "Little Gray." Little Gray is a whale created by the kids and a local artist made with all of the trash the kids collected. Little Gray will soon live at Legoland's Sea Life Aquarium. This was an amazing project!






Lydia's Brownie Troop participated in Thinking Day. Thanks to the help and donations of Uncle Phil and Aunt Martha, the troop created a fabulous display about Malaysia. The girls had a great time, and learned about many different countries. I am the Troop leader this year, but it is really the work of many moms coming together. Thank you to all the helpers this year that are making it a very special experience for our girls.



Sunday, January 03, 2010

Happy New Year!

Here are the picture highlights of our year since Ryan's birthday. Our trampoline has added lots of fun and excitement. We don't have to make the kids play in the street as often, we can now have them try to knock their teeth out on the trampoline.

Below is a picture of Ryan's Thanksgiving Pow Wow. The Native American head dresses on Ryan and a friend were supplied by Aunt Connie and Ryan was very excited and proud.


Lydia was Molly in Annie. She was wonderful, of course. I saw the show 4 times. My mom came out and went 3 times, and Joel and Ryan also went multiple times. She had so much fun, and cried when it was over.

We also celebrated Christmas with my Mom, which was wonderful. Joel did a Lifetime movie, Amish Grace. Doesn't he look great with his fellow cast members? He even drove the horse and buggy. I used to love the Lifetime channel. It was a staple for me in the 90's. Ahh, the days of hanging out with a Lifetime movie. Looks like we all have something to look forward to in Amish Grace!


Christmas was very relaxing and fun, too. All of Marguerite's sons (my cousins) and family came out. It was great to see them. Everyone came over Christmas Eve, and then Christmas itself was quiet, peaceful, and glorious. I even took a nap. Lydia was up at 3am, announced to us that Santa came and we had 3 more hours to sleep. Below is a picture of the kids putting out their reindeer food made with oatmeal and glitter.



Any New Year's resolutions? Well, I'm back to getting up at 6:15 instead of 6:30, so I can be on time in the morning. As I watched my gas tank in the car go down to zero, I thought should I resolve to be one of those people who get gas when the light goes on with 25 miles to go? I think not yet. I'll continue to let it go to zero before I get gas. I can even go up to 3 miles after it hits zero. I'll start this year by resolving to not chance those 3 miles and definitely not try 5. I also need to walk our crazy dog more, oh, and floss EVERY day. Well, let's see how it goes! Happy 2010 to everyone!