This N That

For starters - Thanks for the idea Tigger....love my new background!

Fall Conferences 2008 - CHECK! They went great! Grades were pretty good this quarter, so I didn't have much to give parents to complain about. :) My kids's conferences were good too. My daughter likes to talk a little too much (who knew?!) and my son is getting better at using his words. Ahhhh boys!

Pumpkin Patch Visit - CHECK! It was a great day, windy, but great! The kids had fun along with Kerry and I too. Well, except for that small moment in time where we figured out we lost the camera. Thanks to some honest person, we got it back though. Note to self - don't let 8 year old go to the bathroom with camera...it will get left behind. Oh yeah, I am to blame too. LOL! We went to the Pizza Hut after all the pumpkin patch excitement. Drive off after having supper and about 2-3 miles out of town I realize that I left the camera back at the restaurant. DOH!

Halloween 2008 - CHECK! I can't believe that is over and gone!?! Christmas will be all too soon, but then again, I'm really looking forward to the break and vacation with my family. Of course, giving presents is always a joy, and Midnight Mass is my favorite of the year. You can't forget the lights and sounds of the season either. I love Christmas!

That's all for now...hope you enjoy the photos!

Just how long is too long?

So it's been about 4 months since I posted. Yeah, I'm due for an update! As I look back over those months, I notice time has really flown by. One of the biggest pieces of news: We moved Kerry's parents into their newly remodeled house a couple of weekends ago. Kerry still has some smaller inside jobs to finish up, as well as getting the yard cleaned up and the fence put back up. But it can be lived in, and that's what matters most!

Lenae is doing well in school and enjoying 3rd grade. She's getting taller by the day and I fear she'll soon pass me up. Ryan had some trouble adjusting to preschool. We finally got the potty training down right before school started. Well, for the most part anyway. But, he had a rough first day and has never really let that memory go. I still battle it occasionally with him, but he's doing better.

Lenae just completed her first marathon this year! A full 26.2 miles! The kids at school ran 1 mile each day for 6 weeks. Last week they had their final mile and a big celebration afterwards, complete with t-shirts, medals, necklace charms, and a snack.

I just finished up with parent teacher conferences today. 1 quarter down, three to go! It's going by FAST too. Conferences went very well, and overall, I had good reports to give. Sure makes it easy (for me and the parents) when most everything is positive news.

My dad's mom died this week. She was 89. She'd been sick for a while and had spent the last 8 years in a nursing home. She went peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday morning. I wish I would have been closer to her, but we just never had that connection. I really enjoyed hearing my cousin talk about his memories of grandma. It showed me a different side of her, one that I never really experienced.

My thoughts are drying up, so I guess that's my cue to bring this to an end. Till next time...

It's a blur

Summer has gone by incredibly fast, as usual. Unfortunately it didn't take us anywhere this summer. In fact, the farthest that I got was my class I took in Wichita ~ how sad! With the closing and remodeling of Kerry's parent's new house, our time to get away has been completely squelched. We are possibly thinking of taking a trip over Christmas vacation though. We'll see what happens. All I know is, someone better be darn thankful when Kerry's done...cause it's been 4 months of non-stop fixing, moving & remodeling.

Ryan is officially 4, and is finally making some pretty good progress in the toilet training department. I knew he could do it, although I spent many a day being a skeptic. It's been a frustrating journey, but we are finally seeing lots of progress. It looks like he'll be able to attend preschool!

Lenae is bored, and ready for school to start. We bought school supplies and more uniforms over the past couple of weeks. She's officially ready to go! Well, except the whole registration thing. I think I might get her in to have her hair cut. She looks really cute in shoulder length hair, and I think it would be easier on the morning routine.

Well...I'll leave by posting a slide show of various kid pictures taken in July. I did add a few photos on the end of my new hobby. I think I talked about it in an earlier post this summer. It's really been a lot of fun starting this garden. Although I planted everything about a month and a half late, it's looking pretty good. My pumpkin plants are really getting big, as are the watermelon plants! I can't wait until next spring. I'll be on the ball then. Hopefully I'll also expand and have that whole section of the yard behind the fence into a garden. This year was just an experiment. Oh...my dad brought me some fence to keep the critters out. :) I just got it all up tonight.

Till next time!

Are you kidding me?

Take a look at this:
CNN: Communion Wafer Held Hostage
Sometimes it really does anger me that people can get off by saying just because, "I give you money" they have the right to decide what's right and wrong. As in this case, this college student believes that it is his right to remove a consecrated Eucharist from Mass to show it to his friend who has questions about the faith because the college faith community receives money from the school. What? Are you kidding me? I have no doubts that many do not understand our belief of the Eucharist and what it means, but if your friend has questions...take him to Mass, talk to someone who knows about the faith, READ a book! For crying out loud there is a vast array of possibilities where you can investigate the beliefs of our church, but don't take what is considered one of the most sacred objects from our celebration and put it in a ziploc baggie! I also can't believe he is shocked that someone tried to get it from him! DUH! If you believe in the faith, and the Eucharist, and what it is - he should have expected it!

Okay...I'll get off my soapbox now.

Toad-a-ly Awesome!

As I've said many a times, he's definitely a boy! He's outside playing with this little guy as I'm typing this. And yes, that is the dog's water dish that is now the toad's swimming pool!

Mid-summer already?

Time has flown by as usual this summer. Lenae attended a soccer camp for the first time ever, and she said she enjoyed learning about the game and playing. She and Ryan have also been taking swimming lessons. This is Ryan's first year taking lessons, and I was worried about how he would do. He LOVES going, and gets pretty upset when it's Lenae's turn and not his again. He was quite entertaining to watch during the first lesson. There were 2 teachers and 5 preschoolers. Ryan wanted all the turns. He kept telling them, "How about me?" It was too cute!

This weekend we accomplished another "first" at our home. Lenae's first slumber party! I'm sure they'll be many more in the future, but this time we decided to get our feet wet by only allowing her to invite 4 girls. One wasn't able to make it, so we ended up with 4 girls total, including Lenae. They had a ball! Lots of swimming, pizza & popcorn, more swimming, and of course a lot of laughter. The only thing we need now is a bigger house!

This week Lenae will be attending Totus Tuus (Bible School) here in town. Hopefully she'll make some new friends. I am always concerned about that since she commutes with me 35 miles away to go to school. Most of her friends (like the ones she's pictured with above) are all out of town, and I'm sure that is difficult for her.

This past week I also took a class in Wichita at Botanica. It was called "Gardening in the Classroom." It was an awesome class! I have a lot of ideas for the teachers back at school to use with our new school garden that was started at the end of the year. Hopefully I'll be able to tie somethings into my social studies classes as well. It would be much easier to tie things in if I was doing science (although I would not want to teach science anyway). With this class I am now done with getting college hours until 2010...when I renew my certificate. Then I'll have 5 years to get 4 more hours. I'm just glad I'm done for now, and that I ended on a high note.

Keep crossing your fingers with Ryan and his potty training. He's getting there bit by bit. He knows what to do, it's just getting him to consistently do it. He can tell me and he can get up on the big potty himself (he doesn't like the training potty). But to get him to do it on a day to day basis...forget it! I'm still trying to be patient, but 4 year old preschool starts in August! He's already enrolled, and this year I really want him to go.

Until next time ~ enjoy the sunshine!

A few photos

An update, if you please!

It's been a while and I thought I'd do a laundry list update.

April 4 - My inlaws moved in with us
April 6 - Lenae turned 8 *cry* my baby is growing up WAY too fast!
April 9 - My brother's birthday
April 11 - 1 week with inlaws here
April 12 - Found a house for inlaws, just a few blocks away...put in an offer
April 14 - Offer accepted! Closing July 1
April 18 - 2 weeks with inlaws here
April 19 - Found a buyer for their farm
April 25 - 3 weeks with inlaws here
April 27 - Lenae made her first Communion - pictures will be added later, and again, my baby is growing up!
April 28 - My 6th graders put on the 2nd annual "Medieval Festival". It went SO much smoother than last year.
May 2 - 4 weeks with inlaws here
May 6 - 6th grade Field trip to Hutchinson Underground Salt Museum/Mine - We had a GREAT time!
May 9 - Mother's Day Mass - 6th graders did a fabulous job & after Mass, I took the rest of the day off!
May 9 - 5 weeks with inlaws here
May 16 - 6 weeks with inlaws here...MOVE OUT DAY!!! They moved to a rental about 4 blocks down the street. We also begin working at their farm packing things up. Oh...the stories!
May 19 - 6th grade graduation...my last day with this years class. This year was definitely a bittersweet occasion. I REALLY enjoyed my class this year. They were one awesome group of kids.
May 20 - Last day of school! Wa Hoo!
May 21-June 1 - Continue working out at the farm trying to get it cleaned out.
May 27 - Lenae lost another tooth (she pulled it out because she "needed money") Poor girl has BIG gaping holes in her mouth. I hope the permanent ones come in soon.
May 31 - Closed on their farm
June 2 - Lenae started soccer camp (and she likes it - YES!)
June 3 - Ryan's first ever swimming lesson. He did great and was a hoot to watch!

That's it for now....I'll get some pictures up soon. :)

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!!

OH Yeah baby! Awesome nail-bitting game, with a dream come true ending!

Way to go KU!

Spring Break!

Beautiful aren't they? I was hemming some pants, and they put what I cut off on as hats. LOL!

We just got finished playing cards with some of our friends. Sadly, I have to report that the girls lost 3 to 1. Oh well, sometimes you have to let the boys win so they'll keep wanting to play. Yesterday was our first "official" day of spring break. Kerry was diagnosed with Strep throat, Ryan played with his 1 million hot wheels, and Lenae and I made the yummy cookies that are pictured! Frosted sugar cookies are my absolute favorite cookie! YUM!



Lenae will be making her first communion next month. She's very excited about finally being able to go to communion with us. We found a dress this past week (thanks mom!). I picked her up so shoes that just happened to match too! When the day arrives, I'm sure I'll have plenty of photos to post. She'll also be turing 8 here in a couple of weeks. YIKES! Guess I better figure out what we'll be doing for her birthday too.



Ryan is wearing us out as usual. He has taken a liking to the phrases, "you're a pain in the ying yang" and "meanie". He's also FINALLY decided that going to the potty is fun! Now, to get him to tell us that he has to go, instead of us playing the guessing game. Maybe by the time he turns 4 we'll have it down!

Happy Easter!

Hardest thing I've had to do this week....

A challenge from Jeanne....

I guess that would have to be being the emcee at the Geography Bee today. Although it really wasn't THAT hard. Thank goodness we didn't have a ton of parents. Put me in front of a crowd of kids, and I'm good. Add adults, and I get weak in the knees.

A Survey

Seeing that I don't have much to post right now...I thought I'd do this instead: (by the way...I'll do a real update this weekend when I have more time!)

Name someting you eat with fruit: cottage cheese
Name something you make with fruit: smoothie
Name something you do with Flour: make dough
Name a color not in the rainbow: pink
Name a college in the South: Texas A&M
Name a state in the West: California
What is something teenagers do on Saturday night: Drink
What is the most used room in the house: Kitchen
What is the most used appliance in the kitchen: Refrigerator
What is a fun food to take to the theatre: m&ms (easy to sneak in)
Name a kind of dancer: Belly Dancer
Name a type of root: Carrot
What is another word for male: boy
What is another word for female: girl
What dog breed is typically the smartest: jack russell terrier
Name a child's cartoon: Bob the Builder
Name a Disney Movie: Cars
Name a romantic comedy: Somewhere in Time
Name a horror movie: Nightmare on Elmstreet
Name a food that is good with garlic: Bread
Name a food that is good with milk: Cookies
Name a food that is good with ice cream: Brownies
Name a pizza topping: Cheese
What is the best way to call a dog: whistle
Name a government office: President
What is a word that has the word Key in it: keyboard
What is a phrase that starts with the word Don't: Don't touch!
Name a type of house: Ranch
Name something that people do just before going to sleep: Take their medicine
Name something you associate with McDonalds: Fries
Name someone famous named Billy: Billy Idol
Name something made of metal: Scissors
Name something you build with wood: A desk
Name something you do while on a camp out: roast marshmallows
Name someting you light with a lighter: candles
Name an exercise that everyone hates: jumping jacks
Name a tree with the prettiest flowers: redbud
Name a reason (other than being sick)people call in sick to work: Tired
Name a piece of furniture that is most comfortable: Couch
Name something people steal from work: Copies
Name a popular Milkshake flavor: Strawberry
Name a movie with the word Kill in the title: Kill Bill