Goodnight Sweetheart!

It's time to go...

She's Alive!

Rosie came out tonight!

I think her imaginary boyfriend went out of town.

Strong Girl

Lauren wanted a pic of her bandaided leg tonight. She gets a shot once a day to help her grow big and strong.

OUCH!

Praising the Lord for an insurance company who will foot the bill... $25,000 per year.

DOUBLE OUCH!

You Never Imagine It Quite Right...

It is strange teaching here sometimes.

Two doors down is the classroom where I met my exhusband 14 years ago.

I am teaching an English class right now in the very classroom where I failed Latin miserably just 13 years ago.

Thankfully Mrs. Buck gave me a D once I promised her I'd not try to take Latin 1 or 2 again.

Ever.

Fact of the Day

It's hard to know exactly how a dress will look in an outfit all put together when you are trying it on with sport socks.

*Side Note: I didn't buy the dress anyway because it said it was the size I usually buy clothes in... but it was too big! Woohoo!

Progress is being made.

Rear Window

Back at school. Teaching film class today.

We are watching the Hitchcock movie: Rear Window.

I've never watched a Hitchcock movie before. I hope it isn't too scary.

I don't do scary.

Breakfast of Champions

If it makes you feel any better, I had a tiny green apple too.

Young Authors Breakfast

These are balloons from the school district's breakfast to honor the children who placed in the top 12 for each elementary school and middle school in the district in the Illinois Young Author's Competition.
I was there because that genius I've mentioned was there. Her book placed first in her school...
and her potential has yet to be tapped. I can't even imagine how she'll wow us next.

Margaret Mitchell Take Me Away...

High tech and relaxing probably don't go together that often. Still, here I am, hot bath, Gone with the Wind on the mp3 player, and blogging from my cell phone.

The important part to relaxing? Silence from the rest of the house.

Bribery

As a parent or teacher, never discount the effects of bribery on a student's willingness to stay quiet and pay attention.

Despite what you might think, for a short term fix it works better on jr high kids. They are better at controlling themselves for an hour than an elementary school kid who remembers for 10 minutes today... and then forgets again until tomorrow when they ask you for more.

Who Said She Could Grow Up?

Brilliance shows itself in many forms.

I know I promised a post about the Holocaust survivor, but I had to share this video of my 11yr old genius first.

She is teaching herself to play from books.

And right this minute she is at a lecture by that Holocaust survivor I mentioned earlier.

*Sigh* Who gave her permission to grow up?

P.S. That free piano was the best money I never spent! (I LOVE freecycle.)

A Blessing to Meet Her...

Okay, so this is just a picture of the back of my camera... I'll post more later.

I can't resist the chance to blog about this woman.

She is a holocaust survivor who was days away from extermination along with her family.

Her mother is still alive at 101 years old and lives in NY.

Gotta Keep Moving...

When I started working out about 20 months ago, my first goal was to get one mile in under 13 minutes. Then it was 12 minutes. Then 2 in 24 minutes.

Even with a sporadic workout schedule, I was down to a 10 minute mile when non-stop sickness hit.

Every week, something new hit. Now, after a month with no workout, I'm back to this. :-(

I'm working on it, and I'll keep you posted.

Stamp It!

My class today practiced their spelling words by stamping them out.

I did a little stamping myself. It's always fun to let kids know what a great job I think they are doing.

Chicken and Noodles (Hold the Soup)

1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 eggshell milk

Mix together, knead, roll out, coat lightly with flour, and run through the pasta cutter.

Add to already boiling pot of chicken pieces and broth. (As long as it's already boiling the noodles won't clump together.)

Boil them covered to cook them, and uncovered to let it thicken up.

I multiply by three to get enough for dinner for 6 and usually some leftovers for lunch the next day.

A pot of mashed potatoes makes these perfect!

Springtime Snow

Complain, whine, moan. You've heard it all before.

Hope your Sunday is warm and sunny!

Are You Kidding Me?

The snow hasn't started yet, but is coming.

This is ridiculous!

Big Feet Tiny Shoes

My poor son needed new shoes so we went to Walmart.

The old ones are a size 1, so we went for size 2. They didn't even come close to going on his feet.

There is nothing that makes you feel more like a great mom than realizing that your son has been walking around in shoes 2 sizes two small!

Poor Baby

Poor, deprived baby.

I took the video because telling her story on camera always dries up the tears.

You can see how heartbroken she is about her brother getting the last piece of pizza when she forgets she's on camera and starts watching TV!

Feeling Sheepish

I took the kids to a sheep farm today to see the new lambs. Four born within the last two weeks and two more born within the last few days!

This is me.

I manged to pick up a baby, but it struggled and I fell... right on my butt.

Thankfully I missed the lamb poop.

Photo courtesy of my 11yr-old genius.

Burnt Bacon

It's never good when the bacon blends in with the frying pan.

Finding something edible becomes like playing "Where's Waldo" at breakfast.

Nana

This is my mom.

She is a realtor.

She is also a respiratory therapist.

While those may seem like two very different careers, I figure it is best to work with a realtor who is able to give you CPR should the 'sticker shock' hit you while you are shopping for a new home.

Ready For Summer...

Yes.

I know. I can't believe it either.

I feel a little sick.

In case you aren't sure what I'm refering you to, let me point out that Saturday will be March 28th.

There is a seventy percent of snow. Not flurries. 3-6 inches.

Pardon me while I go cry.

Creepy Gift

I keep this snow globe sitting out because my kids gave it to me for Christmas.

The sticker on the bottom says it plays 'Bells'. These are the scariest bells I've ever heard! I think it sounds like the opening to a horror movie. P.S. I don't watch horror flicks.

Not getting rid of it anyway. It is growing on me I think.

I fully intend to creep out my grandkids with it someday. -A long, long, time from now!-

The Name Game

This was a gift from a kindergarden student today.

I've never seen so many strange names in one classroom.

Chi
Armani
Camden
Jenilee
Evander
Matayo
Hahlay
Tayshawn
Jocelyn -I actually like that one a lot-

and Ontario.

The day is almost over!