packing

tomorrow is the BIG day!  vacation!!!!  we are all excited around here.  i've been doing laundry all day to make sure we have enough clothes clean for 10 days.  i just finished packing the suitcases with a little help from the varmints.

colby and i are sharing a suitcase, and when we got it all filled he asked, "are you sure that's gonna close?"  i told him of course it would close, and he said, "how?"  

"you're going to sit on it while i zip it!  that's how it's gonna close!" 

of course he was all over that idea!

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packing

quote of the day:  "Yeah!!!!  My gluteus maximous  rocks!!!" ~Colby, as he was sitting on the suitcase!

p.s.  for all of my loyal 'fans' out there, i will be trying to blog while we are gone!  daryl is taking his laptop, so whenever possible i will update you on our adventure!

1st day of summer vacation

and colby is sick!  he has strep throat again for the 3rd time in a couple of months!  poor little guy!  the doctor said if he gets it again, then he's going to send him to an ear, nose and throat doctor.

before we went to the doctor's office we stopped by petco to get some sand for the hermit crabs. colby found a plastic ball for squirt, so we bought that, too.  i don't know if squirt really liked it all that much!

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squirt's new toy

quote of the day:  "Mom, when does school start?"  ~Spencer....{i thought i was going to hurt the boy!}

celebrate good times, come on!

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last day of school

this is supposed to be my super-excited face but it kind of looks more creepy than happy!  oh, well!  

it's official......school's out for summer!  it's been a long year, and it's finally over.  we would have been finished last week, but we had so many snow days again this year that we had to make them up!  at least the last day of school is super kids day, or as i used to call it "back in the day", field day.

super kids day, or SKD, isn't like it was when i was a kid.  we had sack races, 3-legged races, softball throwing, jump-roping, etc.  our school today had inflatables {including a water slide}, frisbee golf and ice cream!  but the big thing on SKD is the fire truck.  as long as local firefighters aren't out on a call, they come to the school and hose down the 3rd through 5th graders!  it is quite a site!  it's amazing how far that hose can spray!!!  our playground turns into a muddy mess, the kids are shivering and soaking, but they absolutely love it!  then of course they like to chase their teachers so they can give them big hugs!  why aren't they that nice the rest of the year???  where are my hugs then? :)

quote of the day:                       

"You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go."
~Dr. Seuss

5th grade honor day

today was the day that we honored the 5th graders and the impact they've made at park lane.  and boy, has this class left an impression!!!  they have definitely been the most challenging group i've ever taught, that's for sure.

as a whole, they are energetic, boisterous and demanding!  usually a teacher has a couple of those kinds of kids in his/her class, but i've never had the majority of the class be like that!  they definitely kept me on my toes and challenged me to find new ways of reaching them.  so while they have continually kept my nerves on edge, they've also taught me endurance!  

tomorrow is my last day with them, and i wish them all well.  there are some in this class that are so talented and driven, that i know they will excel in whatever they choose to do.  then there are others that i just want to shake and scream, "believe in yourself!  you're not a loser!  stop thinking you can't do something before you even try!"  it's exciting to see what my kids become.  3 of my former students are now teachers!  how awesome is that?

the picture below is my team....my friends.  i'm so blessed to work with such dedicated teachers!  next year one of us won't be teaching 5th grade.....{sigh}.  thanks budget cuts.

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my team

quote of the day:  "Fifth grade rocks!" ~me

i like this place

tonight some friends and i celebrated rhonda's birthday at the riverwalk in jenks.  i like the riverwalk.  it's very relaxing and peaceful.

photo #145

riverwalk

quote of the day: "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~Dr. Seuss

spencer did it!

with minimal assistance, spencer made supper tonight!  he even found a recipe for chicken all by himself!  he made savory chicken, mashed potatoes {from scratch} and green peas!  it was all very yummy.

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chef spencer

daryl took spencer to see the new star trek movie today, so colby and i went to wal-mart and target.  while we were in target, i found this toy and immediately thought of lisa-smor....

quote of the day:  "Today's menu:  take it or leave it!" ~unknown

party time!

tonight after church a group of friends came over to eat and hang out.  i love it when we have people over!  i love the noise, people all over the place and the laughter.  we should do this more often.

the kids swam in the pool while the moms talked.  god knew what he was doing when he gave us friends!  i love these girls!

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my friends, my sisters

quote of the day: "A friend is one who strengthens you with prayers, blesses you with love and encourages you with hope." ~unknown

1st sign of summer

the pool is open!!!  

after a sweltering graduation ceremony at the perry high school stadium, the boys couldn't wait to get back to our neighborhood pool this afternoon.  they kept asking, "will we be home before the pool closes?"  we made it just in time for them to jump in a few times and get right back out because of a storm that appeared out nowhere!  if it had only been raining, we would have stayed. but the lightning and thunder did it.......

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first day at the pool

quote of the day:  "Once a maroon, always a maroon." ~principal of Perry High School  {It's funny because Bugs Bunny calls morons, maroons!}

i'm still here!

i know i haven't blogged since wednesday.  i'm sorry to all my blog fans out there!  my internet was not working at all last night.  i tried for many hours to get it to work, but it just wasn't meant to be.

so let's catch up....

thursday:  no faculty meeting at 8 a.m. {woo hoo!}  

when i walked in my room that morning after the kids started coming in i found a dr. pepper on my desk.  i'd made a little deal with one of my students that kris allen would win american idol.  he is a huge adam lambert fan, and every wednesday morning he'd come in and say, "kris stinks!" so 2 weeks before the finale we bet each other a dr. pepper that the other one's favorite wouldn't win.  i never expected him to pay up.  i really thought adam would win and i would bring him a dr. pepper!  when i asked him if he'd take his picture with me and the dr. pepper i expected him to say no.  instead he said, "sure. let me check my hair."  

the coolest thing about the whole bet is that this kid has gotten a bad rap all through elementary school.  let's just say every teacher knows who he is even if he's never been in their class.  but he and i made a connection this year, and i absolutely love this kid!  of course he can be a little varmint, but there's just something about him that makes me smile.  so the fact that he paid up was a BIG deal to me!

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the best dr. pepper ever

quote of the day:  "Kris still stinks." ~Kolby

friday:  today was my last friday of this school year!  woooooooo hooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

after school colby and i went fishing.  man the fish were biting like crazy today!  i only caught two, but every time i put my hook in the water, something bit it!  we went through a ton of worms only to catch 2 little sunfish or blue gills.  they kept taking our bait!

colby baited his hook for the first time tonight.  he just sat down and did it!  i didn't have to convince him or anything.  yay, colby!

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baiting a hook

colby didn't catch a frog with his fishing pole this time, but he did capture one on camera!  this big guy sat there and watched us fish the whole time.  it was like he was the lookout for the rest of the frogs!  all of the others jumped in the water and never resurfaced when we walked up, but this guy came back and didn't leave!

after fishing i went to loops with lisa.  it's a really awesome yarn store in a really ritzy part of tulsa!  i felt so out of place in that store.  i'm sure they could smell my "just from fishing" odor when i walked in!  oh, well....

they had so much yarn!  i had to touch all of it and of course look at the prices!  one skein of yarn that i really liked already had tiny beads worked into the strands.  guess how much that one skein cost...........$239!!!!  yes, you read that correctly two hundred thirty-nine dollars!  the yarn in this picture was my favorite because it was so stinkin' soft!  i just kept petting it!  even the label read, "touch me"!  how nice of it to give me permission!

when i sat down tonight to blog, i felt sorry for joey because he hasn't been out of his cage much this week.  so i got him and put him on the desk in front of me.  he immediately stepped up onto the keyboard.  {i think he likes the sound of his little toes on the keys.}  of course i took a picture because he looked so cute perched up there like he was some sort of stud!  but i needed to type so i put him on my shoulder.  and guess what i found on the keyboard........yep, poop! 

what is it with our animals??????

quote of the day:  "I just baited my first hook!" ~Colby

america got it right!

photo of the day #139

kris allen

quote of the day:  "The winner of American Idol 2009 is..........Kris Allen!" ~Ryan Seacrest

soccer....done.

one more time, our soccer season has ended.  colby's last game was tonight.  they managed to lose every single game, but they had a great time doing it!  

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go colby!

quote of the day:  "Burn baby, burn..."~Colby {he was singing just this phrase as he was running down the field during his soccer game, obviously loud enough for the spectators to hear!}

therapy

the weather was so beautiful today!  i told one of my students that i'd rather be fishing today, and he agreed!  so after school this afternoon, i went to okie bait shop and bought some worms and a fishing license.  the boys and i didn't even go in the house when we got home!  we pulled into the garage, loaded up our fishing gear and headed to the ponds!

sitting out there on my tunnel, watching the ripples in the pond is so therapeutic....and after the ordeal in my class this afternoon, i needed some serious therapy!

i hadn't had my line in the water two minutes, and bam! i caught a little fish!  i love the anticipation of fishing....watching the bobber for that exact moment when the fish takes it under. then you reel like crazy hoping to get it in before the fish gets away.  but i absolutely hate getting the fish off the hook!  i will not touch the fish.  i'm afraid it's going to fin me!  most of the time i can shake the fish off, but today i had to hold the little booger down with my foot while i pried the hook out of its mouth!

not long after i caught my fish, colby caught something too!  only it wasn't a fish....it was a ginormous frog!  he saw the frog sitting on the edge of the water "looking at my worm" so he said he just put it in front of the frog and he bit the hook!  the poor little guy was croaking and squeaking and moaning.  

photo of the day #137

hey mom!  i caught a frog!

he had that hook stuck pretty good in his mouth.  of course neither one of the boys was going to get him off, so that job was left to me.  this frog wasn't like other frogs i've held.  he was soft and smooth, not all bumpy and cold.  he was so helpless in my hands, and i really felt sorry for him.  i know it hurts fish, too, when they get hooked, but they aren't as cute as frogs!  i had to put the frog in my lap and use both hands to pop the hook out of his mouth, and by the time i got it out, he was bleeding which meant i had frog blood on me!  nice.....{i've washed my hands a gazillion times tonight, but they still feel dirty.}

colby felt so bad for catching the frog that he wouldn't fish anymore.  he just sat down beside me and watched.  we didn't fish long after that.  colby was ready to leave, and spencer had a soccer game anyway.

this was the last game of the season for spencer.  his team went undefeated this season even though they don't technically keep score!  spencer was a scoring machine tonight....3 goals in one period!  my boy rocks!

quote of the day:  "Frogs have it easy.  They can eat what bugs them." ~unknown

just another sunday

nothing terribly exciting today....

church. 

lunch.

reasor's (had to get stuff for sandwiches at church tonight).

nap.

church.

graduation celebration.

survivor season finale (way to go, JT!)

blog.

today's photo of the day is of a cute new couple at church.  i was kind of dared to take their picture and put it on my blog.  and most of the time, i don't pass up a dare!

photo of the day #136

young love

quote of the day:  "What's meant to be will always find a way...."~from Trisha Yearwood's song, She's in Love with the Boy (that song is stuck in my head right now.)

family fun day

today was such a nice day!  the boys' soccer games were cancelled because of the rain last night, so daryl and i slept in until 10:00!!!  i can't believe the boys were quiet that long!  since the games were cancelled, we didn't have any plans. so i suggested a family road trip. 

my growling stomach chose our destination....i was craving chinese food, so we all loaded in the car and drove to bartlesville to eat at hunan super buffet.  daryl and i discovered this place a few weeks ago when we were out on a date.  it was so good then, that we didn't mind the long drive to go eat there again!  it was even better today.

since we were in bartlesville, spencer said he wanted to see price tower {the only skyscraper designed by frank lloyd wright}.  why he wanted to see it, i don't know.  but the rules of our road trips are to go somewhere you've never been and see things you've never seen, so that's where we went. {of course AFTER we took this picture we saw the sign that said do not climb on this!  oops!}

after that we drove around for a while finally ending up in skiatook, ok.  there's not much in that little town except an awesome antique store called the antique depot!  we weren't planning on antiquing today even though i really wanted to.  we actually passed the antique store but spencer wanted to go in it! so daryl turned around.  yay!!!  

there were all kinds of hapPy things in the antique depot:

the coolest thing i found at the store was spirograph from 1967!  

photo of the day #135

spirograph!

the boys had no idea what this was, and i couldn't wait to show them!  as soon as we got home {and the boys cleaned their rooms....MAJOR ordeal for mr. colby....} we created awesome pictures with our new spirograph!  

quote of the day:  The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.  ~St. Augustine

not a bad day!

i was expecting another cruddy day, but it actually wasn't that bad!  my students were way calmer today than they have been the rest of the week.  maybe they're running out of things to say finally!

my awesome friend, gina, drove all the way from jenks today just take me to lunch!  how cool is that?  it was a much needed break.  thank you, geeg....you rock!

the most exciting part of my day was this afternoon when one of my kids found a "huge crawdad" in a puddle by my classroom.  i sent them out with a little container to put it in, but one of them came back in carrying it by the tail!  

i know i've already had a crawdad as my picture of the day, but this is all i've got!

photo of the day #134

another crawdad

i let the boy that caught it take it home.  {just fyi...it was the same kid who brought his dog's toenails to school at the beginning of the year.}

random quote of the day: I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they chose a king, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas. 

~Jack Handey

fears....

today i learned something very interesting about one of my good friends, lisa smor.  i must say i was perplexed by her confession.  she is scared of....well, maybe scared is too harsh a word. let's just say that she is uneasy about sock monkeys!  yes, you read that correctly.  sock monkeys. those adorable little guys made from red-heeled socks.

to me this seems like a strange fear to have.  i can understand snakes or rats or death, but sock monkeys?  really? 

 i'm afraid of these {which, by the way, is a completely rational fear!}

i can even sort of understand nellie smor's fear of clowns, several people share that fear.

but i've never heard of anyone having unpleasant feelings towards sock monkeys.  especially this one!  this is mimi.  she was one of my favorite stuffed animals as a child.  i just pulled her out of a plastic box tonight.  i hadn't realized before how worn and tattered she looked.  i guess i just loved her too much!

photo of the day #133

mimi

this whole sock monkey discussion came about today because i was looking for directions on how to make your own sock monkey.  i think it would be awesome to make one myself.  during my search, i came across this little tidbit about the history of sock monkeys.

quote of the day: "Fear can sometimes be a useful emotion. For instance, let's say you're an astronaut on the moon and you fear that your partner has been turned into Dracula. The next time he goes out for the moon pieces, wham!, you just slam the door behind him and blast off. He might call you on the radio and say he's not Dracula, but you just say, 'Think again, bat man.'" ~Jack Handey

p.s.  i'm not really making fun of lisa smor.  i love her to pieces!  she's one of the most awesome people i've ever met!

too much

i've got too much to do, and i don't necessarily want to do it!  i need a better attitude....

photo of the day #132

cool toothbrushes

when i walked into the boys' bathroom tonight, i noticed that the varmints had found a new place to store their toothbrushes....on the mirror!  yes, that's right.  they are suctioned to the mirror!  i couldn't help but giggle when i walked in!

quote of the day:  "Kris Allen, you are safe!"  ~Ryan Seacrest

Park Lane Night at On the Border

tonight was park lane night at on the border mexican restaurant.  10% of the profits from 5 pm to 9 pm is going to our school!  how cool is that?  

the varmints and i were headed there to eat, but we got distracted by freddy's!  a burger, fries and frozen custard just sounded so much better {and cheaper} than on the border!  terrible, isn't it?  i should have been supporting our school.  i know, i know.  but look at this:

photo of the day #131

freddy's

these are the best fries in the world!  they're long and skinny and crispy!  yum-o!

random quote of the day:  "If you work on a lobster boat, sneaking up behind someone and pinching him is probably a joke that gets old real fast." ~Jack Handey

i hate coughing

coughing hurts.  i hate coughing.  it keeps me from sleeping which doesn't make me a happy camper.  so today i went to the doctor so she could give me some strong medicine to get rid of whatever i have.  however, she said i'm riding the fence between something viral {which just has to wear off} and something bacterial {which can be treated with antibiotics}.  so now i wait to see if i get better or worse.  thankfully she wrote a prescription for an antibiotic just in case.... 

in the meantime she hooked me up with 2 kinds of cough medicine--one to keep me awake so i can go to work and one to help me sleep.  ahhh....  i hope the nighttime one kicks in soon because i only slept a couple of hours last night!

photo of the day #130

doctor visit

quote of the day: "cough, cough, cough.  ow that hurts. cough, cough, cough. ugh!  i hate coughing!" ~me

mother's day

even though i feel like i could cough up my toenails at any moment, i've had a great mother's day! colby was well enough this morning that we were able to go to worship and hear another inspiring sermon by one of the best preachers in the world!

then my boys took me to lunch at applebee's.  i was craving their chicken salad for some strange reason.  that is usually not my first choice of restaurants, but today it was.

after lunch they gave me the most awesome presents!!!  colby had planned to paint a picture for me, but he since he got sick friday he was stuck at home with me all weekend.  he couldn't get the picture painted, so he let spencer and daryl pick out a gift for me.  so colby gave me this super-cute green, black and gray shirt.  love it!

spencer's gift floored me...you know the saying, "it's the thought that counts"?  well spencer put a lot of thought into his gift.  two months ago he made arrangements with my good friend, lisa smor, to knit something for me.  at the time he didn't know what he wanted to give me, so he trusted lisa to figure something out AND he even worked out a payment plan with her!!!  so this is part one of my gift from spencer:

photo of the day #129

felted camera bag!

it is so cute!  it's purple wool that's been felted.  it is the perfect size for my camera!  lisa even embroidered an 'A' and {with the help of gina smor} added these adorable buttons! 

 i {heart} my new camera case!

part 2 of my gift from spencer was also handmade.....by spencer!  he took 3 square frames and made artwork for studio A!!!  two of the frames have quotes about moms and the other frame has a picture of my two precious varmints.  how cool is that?  my eyes got all leaky when i was reading the quotes and thinking about the time and effort he put into this gift.  so sweet!

aren't mothers awesome?  i'm not saying that because i am one, but because i have one!  my mother's day blog post wouldn't be complete without giving a shout-out to my amazing mom!

this is my mom...aka grammy.

isn't she pretty?

thank you, mom....

for drinking all that nasty castor oil so i could be in this world today.

for loving dad and being a devoted wife.

for teaching me how to make chicken and dumplins!

for singing in worship so i could learn to sing alto.

for loving music and dancing around the house when we were kids!

for teaching bible class.

for NOT dressing me in prissy clothes even though i'm sure you wanted to!

for letting me play outside and get dirty.

for cleaning up my puke in the car {sorry about that.}

for growing beautiful flowers.

and for loving me when i haven't always been easy to love!

quote of the day: When your mother is mad and asks you, "Do I look stupid?" it's best not to answer her.  ~

Megham, age 13