They've been inside working all week. They "shoot" the walls Monday...yes, they had to explain it to me...and then paint. The two men who are doing this have agreed to paint my wild colors for me! YIPPEE!! I was resigned to waiting until summer to get the colors I want. They'll do that next week also.
The roofing crew should be done by Wednesday...Jerry and company built the decks....
It is getting closer!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
A peek into my classroom
cupcakes, made in ice cream cones, for breakfast in honor of a student who learned all of his multiplication tables from 1X1 to 12X12!!Cody and his friend Dillon were in my classroom. Dillon is my teacher's aide but I think Cody smelled a party.
This is my reading class. They wore their PJs for our Read a thon.
If you wish to keep up with my classroom, email me and I'll invite you to be a view to that blog..it is by invitation only.
This is my reading class. They wore their PJs for our Read a thon.If you wish to keep up with my classroom, email me and I'll invite you to be a view to that blog..it is by invitation only.
Friday, January 30, 2009
It's finally FRIDAY!!
FINALLY an end to a month of five day school weeks. Ahhhh....I'm ready to get back to our four dayers.
I am blaming the five day weeks on the fact that I have a cold and it has officially gotten the better end of the tug of war rope. Ugh. For those of you who don't know, we have a four day school week here but due to four snow days in December, we had to make them up in January. We were not pleased with the decision to do them all at once, but...no one asked us to vote.
Today is Read A Thon in the 3rd and 4th grades. We take pledges, read all day, and collect money for our field trips. Yes, we have to raise our own. Any major city is 2 to 3 hours from school, so a trip is a TRIP!! Many kids don't have the opportunity to travel unless it is with the school. Today will be a fun day.
Oh, the house? They are inside doing the finishing work and the flooring. The roofers are to be back any day to finish up. It is getting closer. I'll let you know when we are finally going to move!!! The end of December passed, didn't it? Oh well.....
Barry shared this with me via email....I thought it spoke volumes.
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." (Dr. Adrian Rogers 1931 to 2005)
I am blaming the five day weeks on the fact that I have a cold and it has officially gotten the better end of the tug of war rope. Ugh. For those of you who don't know, we have a four day school week here but due to four snow days in December, we had to make them up in January. We were not pleased with the decision to do them all at once, but...no one asked us to vote.
Today is Read A Thon in the 3rd and 4th grades. We take pledges, read all day, and collect money for our field trips. Yes, we have to raise our own. Any major city is 2 to 3 hours from school, so a trip is a TRIP!! Many kids don't have the opportunity to travel unless it is with the school. Today will be a fun day.
Oh, the house? They are inside doing the finishing work and the flooring. The roofers are to be back any day to finish up. It is getting closer. I'll let you know when we are finally going to move!!! The end of December passed, didn't it? Oh well.....
Barry shared this with me via email....I thought it spoke volumes.
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." (Dr. Adrian Rogers 1931 to 2005)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday, Jess! We celebrated at Texas Reds..her choice, with her favorite grandparents!
I can't believe she is 12 already!!
Friday, January 23, 2009
This is my husband....
(Hubba, hubba!!!)
Jess and I had an evening of laughter and fun doctoring up pictures. Here are a couple.Thursday, January 22, 2009
We have a new President
We watched the festivities unfold, at school on that historic day. 3rd graders had no clue why it was an important day in our country until I reminded them about our election study last October. It was hilarious watching them as they watched the events on the big screen. If the crowd was asked to stand, so did all of the 3rd and 4th graders. During the swearing in, all of the kids raised their right hand with the President and Vice President. They folded their hands in prayer, though they looked up often as the prayers went on and on, in monotone voice! They waved "Obama" signs at the big screen TV and judging from the view from the back of the room, they were THERE in Washington DC as far as they were concerned.
One student made me laugh as he summed up the day, "It is the day President Bush moves out of the desk an President Obama moves in." Sounds more like mice than men! Another student was disgruntled because our new President is black. Well...I did point out that his father is black and his mother is white. And as I've pointed out all year, we all bleed red.
One student made me laugh as he summed up the day, "It is the day President Bush moves out of the desk an President Obama moves in." Sounds more like mice than men! Another student was disgruntled because our new President is black. Well...I did point out that his father is black and his mother is white. And as I've pointed out all year, we all bleed red.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Progress
The shop has doors....
The house has part of a roof! The holes on the rood is where two dormers will be. (On both sides.) The door with the ladder by it is the laundry room. It faces north. The front door is on the east..the side you can't see. Our sliding door, off the living room, will have the porch where we will be most often! The views from upstairs (and down) are GREAT!!Sunday, January 18, 2009
Dressing up isn't for the kids!
I haven't posted pics of Jer and I lately, so....
It has been so busy that Jerry hasn't been able to get a haircut. He's a BUSY man!! And I, being the woman I am, got a cut and color just to make things seem a bit more...well...cheery around here. Just a normal Sunday at the Pittman home.
(Our kids are appalled..which makes it even MORE fun!!)
(Our kids are appalled..which makes it even MORE fun!!)Sunday thoughts
I'm spilling over my heart today. I've been emotionally and spiritually churning lately and I haven't felt like letting my heart be "naked" on my blog. Today, I almost do...so here it is. (Don't shy away, I am not baring all, even today!)
We didn't attend church today for a multitude of reasons/excuses. Yes, I say that because what is a reason to one is an excuse to another. It is all in perspective, isn't it? Just like all things in our life...things that seem like obstacles can be seen as opportunities. Difficult times can be seen as periods of growth. A happy face might really be a veil hiding the pain. Just a reminder to me not to judge others and where they are in the moment unless I've looked into their heart. Unless I've heard them pray. ...Kindness, acceptance, allowing others the freedom to establish where they are and what they are experiencing without my interpretation. Really, the proof of our experience is in our conversations with God. That is when we are really honest and that is when we learn what the right perspective is.
I've been thinking about a word that, after rolling around in my mind for a month or so, has become foreign and odd. Do you ever do that? Think of a word so long it sounds funny? The word is worship. Is it a place? Is it a time of the week? Is it an hour on Sunday? Is there a right or wrong way to do it? Without Websters help, what does it mean?
For me, here is my conviction...worship is honoring, respecting, devoting myself to God always. That is it. Every day, every moment. Worship should be my lifestyle. The verse that I like best is Romans 12:1 present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Of course, this is impossible to do on my own. It is all interactive, interwoven, interdependent...all the factors brought on by God's Holy Spirit. It isn't my testimony of what I am but my goal of what I want God to make me.
One more thing....I want to be a person who loves deeply. Not conditional, based on silly human standards and expectations. Human "love" is like that and it stinks. That brand of love doesn't draw, it repels. It is easy to love "our own" deeply, but I'm talking the bigger circle...
Will you keep my nephew, Riley, in your prayers? He enlisted in the Army last week and will head out in the next couple of weeks. He will probably be heading the the Mid East. He is in his early 20's, unmarried, no kids. I admire his commitment but admit I am scared to death. Eventually, the war hits us all in the heart, doesn't it?
We didn't attend church today for a multitude of reasons/excuses. Yes, I say that because what is a reason to one is an excuse to another. It is all in perspective, isn't it? Just like all things in our life...things that seem like obstacles can be seen as opportunities. Difficult times can be seen as periods of growth. A happy face might really be a veil hiding the pain. Just a reminder to me not to judge others and where they are in the moment unless I've looked into their heart. Unless I've heard them pray. ...Kindness, acceptance, allowing others the freedom to establish where they are and what they are experiencing without my interpretation. Really, the proof of our experience is in our conversations with God. That is when we are really honest and that is when we learn what the right perspective is.
I've been thinking about a word that, after rolling around in my mind for a month or so, has become foreign and odd. Do you ever do that? Think of a word so long it sounds funny? The word is worship. Is it a place? Is it a time of the week? Is it an hour on Sunday? Is there a right or wrong way to do it? Without Websters help, what does it mean?
For me, here is my conviction...worship is honoring, respecting, devoting myself to God always. That is it. Every day, every moment. Worship should be my lifestyle. The verse that I like best is Romans 12:1 present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Of course, this is impossible to do on my own. It is all interactive, interwoven, interdependent...all the factors brought on by God's Holy Spirit. It isn't my testimony of what I am but my goal of what I want God to make me.
One more thing....I want to be a person who loves deeply. Not conditional, based on silly human standards and expectations. Human "love" is like that and it stinks. That brand of love doesn't draw, it repels. It is easy to love "our own" deeply, but I'm talking the bigger circle...
Will you keep my nephew, Riley, in your prayers? He enlisted in the Army last week and will head out in the next couple of weeks. He will probably be heading the the Mid East. He is in his early 20's, unmarried, no kids. I admire his commitment but admit I am scared to death. Eventually, the war hits us all in the heart, doesn't it?
Friday, January 16, 2009
Guess what?
I got to go inside our house today!!!! The cranes came and left yesterday. This morning, before school, we went over and walked through. I am soooo excited. I am so disabled when it comes to understanding spacial relationships. Jer would tell me the size of our rooms and I just can't...CAN'T...visualize it. (There is a joke about it, but it is not blog appropriate, so I'll leave it off. It is the blonde part of me. Jer teases me.)
It is pretty!! I love the wood floors. The carpet will be put down next week or so. The countertops are pretty...my bathtub is big and nice with pretty hardware. Our closet is huge..for the first time in our lives! I'll take pics when they get the roof raised and the dormers in.
Just wanted you to know we have a house on a foundation and we've been indoors! YIPPEEEEE!!
It is pretty!! I love the wood floors. The carpet will be put down next week or so. The countertops are pretty...my bathtub is big and nice with pretty hardware. Our closet is huge..for the first time in our lives! I'll take pics when they get the roof raised and the dormers in.
Just wanted you to know we have a house on a foundation and we've been indoors! YIPPEEEEE!!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Flashback
The 8th graders have to take baby pictures to be put in the yearbook. These are two Cody chose. I swear this was, like....three years ago??!! Time flies.Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Another hurdle
The cranes didn't arrive yesterday. J got to call Monday night that one of them broke so they couldn't make it. So...another company is scheduled to bring their cranes and get it done Monday. We may be homeless before this is all said and done! Mom and Dad have said we can move into their house or their apartment if we need to. We'll see! We have until Feb. 15th to be out of this house. That being said....I'm thankful we have a house and a place to go if we need an in between place. (This probably won't happen.) So many people in our country are fighting to keep their homes and are finding themselves truly homeless. We are sooooo blessed. With every setback, I remind myself to look for the blessings and I find them in large numbers!
Have a great Wednesday. I plan to!
Have a great Wednesday. I plan to!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Saturday News
The shop and one of Jerry's best friends...the boom truck!
The shop is up! It looks great! Yeah, we will be adding doors...maybe a second level...our weight room...our 5th wheel...the Jeep....ETC!!
This is Cody and schoolmates before the Geo Bee. He didn't win, but I am very proud of him for making it to the top five in his class. Those questions are HARD!! I knew the answer to two out of twenty in this school competition! YIKES!!Friday, January 9, 2009
Go Cody!!
Today, about 2:30ish, Cody competes in our school Geo-Bee. (National Geographic Bee). It is kind of like a spelling bee only they are asked geography kind of questions. He is the top representative from 8th grade having answered 6 out of 6 qualifying questions correctly. If he wins at the school level, he'll have the opportunity to move on to...?? state?? I think that is what is next.
So...think of him today and send him good thoughts and your support. This kind of stuff comes naturally to him, oddly enough, so I hope he does really well!
So...think of him today and send him good thoughts and your support. This kind of stuff comes naturally to him, oddly enough, so I hope he does really well!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Hurdle # 293
The cranes aren't licensed to operate in our state. Grrrrrr......don't you think they would KNOW this??? So we are working through this hurdle as we insist they hurry up and find some cranes that CAN do the work!! All the while, we continue to watch the weather forecast since this is the time of year we get the most snow, usually. So far we have been very blessed with excellent weather.
That is today.....
That is today.....
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
House update
Our house is HERE!!! WOOO HOOO!!! It arrived yesterday, in two pieces. Don't worry..that was the plan!! We are waiting to hear when the cranes will be here to set the house and raise the roof. Funny, huh?? My kids raise the roof all the time and we're having to wait for two cranes to do it!
Anyway, we peeked in windows and it is exciting. My favorite part, through the windows, is our wood floors.
Jerry and crew are putting the metal on the skeleton today. I'll post pictures this weekend since I'm not home during daylight hours to take any!
I know some of you are anxious to know the developments so I'll try to keep you up to date every few days.
We are back in school today..doing our Christmas program this morning!! Yeah, we had a snow WEEK the week before Christmas break. Friday are our Christmas parties. I love this!! This is how it should be..Christmas everyday, all year!
Anyway, we peeked in windows and it is exciting. My favorite part, through the windows, is our wood floors.
Jerry and crew are putting the metal on the skeleton today. I'll post pictures this weekend since I'm not home during daylight hours to take any!
I know some of you are anxious to know the developments so I'll try to keep you up to date every few days.
We are back in school today..doing our Christmas program this morning!! Yeah, we had a snow WEEK the week before Christmas break. Friday are our Christmas parties. I love this!! This is how it should be..Christmas everyday, all year!
Friday, January 2, 2009
The difference a day makes
A shop raisin'!
Getting the shop framed up took the whole crew!
How did they do this in the "olden days"?? Don't you love modern equipment?!Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year's Day at our home
I thought I was done for the day, but here's a peek of today:
First of all, someone felt the need of spending some leisurely time in the hot tub today.....Maybe she partied too hard last night. This is Beverly. Dolores was waiting her turn. (Jeanette..they have a good life. Thanks for sharing them with us. I honestly love them.)
(This is the dog's heated/freeze proof?? water bucket)
The girls rested under the lilac bush after eating leftovers from a week of way, way to much food for the humans on the ranch.
While others worked. Can you tell who the foreman is??
Making use of the 60 degree "winter" weather. Cody, Jessie, Jerry, Bill and Ron are getting one step closer to putting up the shop.
Making use of the 60 degree "winter" weather. Cody, Jessie, Jerry, Bill and Ron are getting one step closer to putting up the shop.
Happy New Year!
I wasn't ready for 2008 to end! It flew by much to quickly! But, even though I protested, they didn't stop the clock for me so I was dragged into 2009 whether I wanted to or not! Well...the truth is, I didn't like the options involved of not coming into 2009! So, now we are here and let's make the most of it!!
The four of us stayed up (kinda) and brought in the New Year. We played "Apples to Apples", some video games, a little nap....and Jessie jostled us all at 5 til midnight to drink champagne. In the 9.5 years we have lived here, this was the first time we've been just family on New Year's Eve. With all the changes, this whole holiday season had its "firsts". Not bad firsts, just firsts.
Looking ahead to the new year....Cody is looking forward to a learner's permit later this year. Jessie is looking forward to decorating her new room, when it is built. Jerry is hoping to find some domestic goats to scare..a result of watching Mythbusters. And me..well, my first goal is getting into our new home. I also am going to work on getting "highly qualified" to teach mid school.
Looking back at 2008...Pat and Matthew moved to California and we surely miss them!! The ranch sale went through. Those are the big news flashes of the year! Lots of smaller blessings though...a principal who truly believes in Cody..a mentor, an encourager etc. Neighbors who are our chosen family and who love deeply. Jessie winning a park naming contest. Me having a job where I can drive my kids to school and have one hour a day just to talk with them as we drive. Jerry "retiring" and having more time to spend with us..camping, traveling, playing. My parents living close. Health, life, an assurance of God on a daily basis. Looking at my list, I realize all of those are pretty big!
Love, hugs and best wishes for a great new year! (I hope you'll leave me a comment or two this year as you read along! They mean alot to me.)
The four of us stayed up (kinda) and brought in the New Year. We played "Apples to Apples", some video games, a little nap....and Jessie jostled us all at 5 til midnight to drink champagne. In the 9.5 years we have lived here, this was the first time we've been just family on New Year's Eve. With all the changes, this whole holiday season had its "firsts". Not bad firsts, just firsts.
Looking ahead to the new year....Cody is looking forward to a learner's permit later this year. Jessie is looking forward to decorating her new room, when it is built. Jerry is hoping to find some domestic goats to scare..a result of watching Mythbusters. And me..well, my first goal is getting into our new home. I also am going to work on getting "highly qualified" to teach mid school.
Looking back at 2008...Pat and Matthew moved to California and we surely miss them!! The ranch sale went through. Those are the big news flashes of the year! Lots of smaller blessings though...a principal who truly believes in Cody..a mentor, an encourager etc. Neighbors who are our chosen family and who love deeply. Jessie winning a park naming contest. Me having a job where I can drive my kids to school and have one hour a day just to talk with them as we drive. Jerry "retiring" and having more time to spend with us..camping, traveling, playing. My parents living close. Health, life, an assurance of God on a daily basis. Looking at my list, I realize all of those are pretty big!
Love, hugs and best wishes for a great new year! (I hope you'll leave me a comment or two this year as you read along! They mean alot to me.)
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