Is It Wednesday Yet?

It won't be long now. Looking forward to relaxing and hanging out with our Grandpa Buick!

The Fort

An afternoon of fun with our friends Alex and Nick!

What a Cutie!

I am so loving this digital phase of my life. This past month I have learned so much. I am the official download queen. It never ceases to amaze me how much one can learn. The only downfall is that in another month, I'll probably have to start all over since that is how quickly the technological world seems to be changing. For now, I am going to enjoy this new knowledge and share it with you. Enjoy!

The Countdown has Officially Begun!

The kids and I are officially counting down to our trip to visit Grandpa Buick, Cheryl, Uncle Jay, Aunt Aminta, Cousin Dylan, Uncle Tom, Aunt Mika, Cousin Joshua and Cousin Matthew. We can hardly wait. Just 5 days...

This week has been a horrible start to our summer vacation in regard to the weather. It was dreary, raining, and only 47 degrees on Wednesday. Ema wanted a webkins, so we headed to The Castle Rock Shops because she was convinced she saw them at a candy store there. She was right! And are we ever glad she was. It was sunny and a balmy 65 degrees. Unfortunately she hadn't saved quite enough of her allowance, so she had to settle with a couple of new outfits and a new pair of tennies that mom bought!

Yesterday the weather was much better, but oh so windy. We did venture to the pool for a couple of hours and what a mistake. I got a little too much sun and spent the rest of the evening slathering on the aloe vera and popping advil to try and relieve the pain. Better now than in Florida I kept saying. Although, I will remember to slather the 100 spf on before heading out again. Do they even make 100 spf?!!

Today, we are planning a low key day cleaning and starting to think about how little we should really take for our month away. Our motto is..."We'll just buy it when we get there!" Seems a little frivilous, but I really don't want to lug a ton of suitcases through the airport. Two kids will be just fine thank you very much!

Will It Ever Stay Warm?

I am starting to get a little annoyed with the weather. One day gorgeous, the next too cold to even think about being outside. This is a little frustrating considering my seven year old son's favorite activites include anything beyond the walls of inside. Fortunately, we are headed to Florida next week to get some repreive from the up and down temperatures. We are just thrilled to have only up temperatures. Please note: I am sure we will be complaining about the heat by the third day!

School's Out for Summer (la la la)

Well I made it through my first year back to teaching. What a fabulous ride. I had 13 boys/6 girls. For those of you that have been in a room of 19 children before, you'll understand when I say...phew, I survived! It was actually a fabulous year. I am so proud of the accomplishments all of them made. What a difference between a beginning first grader and an ending first grader. The next two days the kids with finish up with my job-partner, Mrs. Gonzales. In the meantime, I will sit back and relax before the summer with my own children begins. I am so looking forward to spending some quality time with them...in Florida with Grandpa Buick!!

WAY TO GO EMALEIGH!

On Wednesday, Emaleigh Rebekah won a computer at school. Wow, are we ever proud of her! Her music teacher and the Kiwanis Club set a goal for all second through fifth grade students to keep a music journal for the year. They were given a few guidelines on what to include, but the ultimate goal was to write about anything that inspired them musically. The original 400 were narrowed down to 40 using a scale designed by the music teacher. Then the principal and assistant principal chose the top 20 using the same scale. Finally five members of the community including a local news anchor and the assistant superintendant nominated the final twelve. And the winner is.....Ms. Emaleigh. In addtion to her new dell computer, parts of her musical journal will be professionally printed and put into a hard cover book. The books will be distributed to all of the elementary schools in District 11 to help inspire other students. What an honor.

UGGGHHH!

Today has been a frustrating but rewarding technological nightmare. After spending some time taking this photoshop class, I realized I was in dire need of a faster computer. Fortunately, I was able to pull one from the basement that has more memory, but had to spend the day adding all of the necessary programs to be able to upload this next page onto the blog. After a few explatives, I am now pretty sure everything is up and running. Just need to invest in a new printer since I can't fine the disk to my current one...I know what your thinking...Ms. Organized can't find what she needs??!

Becoming "Techy"

Most of you know I am not what most consider to be technological. I didn't get my first cordless phone until it was absolutely necessary--I was ordered to bed rest while pregnant with my second child. My friend Alicia insisted I must have one in case I needed to call someone to get me to the hospital. I didn't get my first cell phone until 2002. My mother-in-law bought me a prepaid phone because Craig, the kids and I were going to be taking a car trip and needed it for emergencies. I do now own one with a a camera, blue tooth capabilities, access to internet, etc. but of course why would I want to learn how to use them?! I am slowly joining the 21st century and finding out it is not as complicated as I allow myself to think. This week I enrolled in an online class to teach me how to digital scrapbook using Photoshop elements. (Thank you Susan.) Now I am realizing I need a faster computer. Mine is 6 years old. Hard to believe that is really the dark ages for most computers today. Anyway below is a my first digital scrapbook layout. Not bad for a first timer, but really much easier than one could ever believe. Enjoy. The picture is a little old, but enjoyable to remember the kids were ever that little.

Appreciation

This week I have realized how much I really enjoy my job. With it being the end of a school year, I am putting in some extra time to get things wrapped up...grades, conferences, meetings, planning...not to mention the fact that I am also responsible for the actual teaching part...my favorite! Anyway, even with all the extra responsibilites I know I am doing what I was designed to do. I love seeing the faces of these six and seven year olds when they realize they know how to do something they didn't think they could do. Yesterday, I had my students write a final copy for something we had written the previous day. Mind you for first graders this is a very long and daunting task. First of all, they think writing it one time means they have done it perfectly. They don't know if they forgot to capitalize their sentences. Punctuation...what's that for?!! Not to mention their very creative way of spelling things (aprenss = apprentice...poleesn = policeman) One of my students, Joey, comes up to the table to get some coaching and I told him he received a score of 4 (which for first grade is the highest score your can receive). His face beamed so brightly you would have thought he won the lottery. He was so excited he couldn't wait to get home and tell his mom! This, my friends, is the reason I teach. To be a part of watching someone else be excited about their own learning is...priceless.