The Aquarium

I jokingly said this is me on a bad day! This creature fascinated me.
Missy and I underwater with a curious fish!

Cody and I in the same bubble. (Sometimes we share our bubbles).

I took my personal day and enrolled in a Love and Logic seminar. WOW. It was a well used day!! I was going to make it a "me" experience and go alone. When it came right down to it, I knew I'd be lonely in the big city and so I loaded up the family. On Sunday, we went to the Downtown Aquarium in Denver to eat at the restaurant there. We waited an hour for our food..turns out the waitress never turned in our order!! So they gave us armbands to tour the aquarium, which we were planning to do anyway. We were ever so glad to see our yummy food when it did arrive!

I recommend Love and Logic to parents and teachers alike. Check out their website.

STATE CHAMPS!!

They won first place!! Yea Ram Band! This is their fourth in a row and fifth for our school. Cloudcroft won first to interrupt our winnings, a few years ago.

Cody was dancing around when he got word this evening. He called almost everyone he knew. If he missed you, it was only because I cut him off after a while! :)

State Band

Cody's band binky..getting ready to warm up before comptetition.
They did really well in their competition, but we won't know how they placed until tonight.

The band. Cody is under the "U" in music.

ClassmatesCarissa, Cody, Rebecca and Andrew..all 8th graders.

Our family

Summing it all up on the patio at Garduno's. YUM!

Up on the TIDE box!

I was sitting in "traffic"(yeah, that's a concept foreign to here!) I was in the car ALONE which meant I got to pick the music! WOOHOO!! I was waiting for the pilot car, which will be a daily activity from now thru the end of school, clicking through the presets on my XM radio. I listen to Christian talk radio sometimes and as I clicked onto it, I heard that aliens are killing people. WOW. I glanced down wondering what kind of station I was on. The Roswell network?? Sci-fi? Have the men in my family been switching my presets?? When I saw what channel I was on, I..well..I turned it up! Curiosity killed the cat. It turns out, the man was talking about "illegal aliens"(those martians who sneaked in). Who EVER coined that phrase??? People who immigrate to the US are immigrants. Even if they are illegal ones. I think "aliens" should become taboo just like that "W" word we used freely growing up and it is now politically incorrect.

Finally!!

We finally got some sunny days without a lot of wind! We are starting on some landscaping. Our area is SO severely dry!! It took a Backhoe to break the ground!! Yes, TWO tractors AND a workhorse to get this little tiny job done!
Two of the girls enjoyed the sunny day! We are so starved for sunshine without wind!

Easter flashback

Goofy kids! Hickmans, McNabbs, Hughes' and Pittmans

Two pretty girls!

Happy 14th Birthday, Tristan!

My favorite rotten easter eggs! :)

Naming the planets

One of my students was attempting to name the planets. She said, "Missouri, Venus, Earth...".
It hit me so funny! I felt badly because I laughed and she got teary eyed from embarrassment. I think it was just one of those times my giggle bucket tipped over and I couldn't get it contained again! She forgave me....

I had to share that.

40?

Jerry and I were talking about the number "40" in the Bible. What does it symbolize? What are your thoughts?

Happy Easter!

I hope your day was a nice one. Ours was!

I notice I have a couple of new followers that I don't recognize...introduce yourselves to me, okay? Please?

If you are a silent follower, leave me a comment and let me know you read my blog! I'd love to hear from you. (I might decide to go "private" with my blog so that only invited guests may read. I don't want to leave anyone out!)

It's been a long day of family, chatting and FOOD! So this is all for tonight.

Cousins!

Cody and Clayton
Jessie and Lindsy (see Jess's new braces?)

4 wild and crazy monkeys!

Clayton's and Lindsy's mom is Jeanette is one of my loyal readers and commenters! She is my second cousin and was a most wonderful babysitter for Cody and Jess until they were 4 and 2 and we moved away. My kids have the best memories of her babysitting/spoiling them. In fact, Jessie's only memories of our days in our old house are Jeanette memories. Now, her two kids have matching personalities and looks to my kids. (Looks as in one chocolate one vanilla!) Even their food perferences match! Scarey!! So I've enjoyed watching her kids grow and relive my kids' childhoods too. We met them in Red River last evening for supper and catching up. We all decided, on the way home, we need to do it more often!
PS: Jeanette, I got in trouble this morning from Jamie 'cause she wants to see your pregnant belly! I forgot to take pictures of YOU! Duh. So..post some on your blog, okay??

I was tagged! I'm it!

4-4-4
1. Choose the fourth folder where you store pictures on your computer.
2. Choose the fourth picture.
3. Explain that picture.
4. Tag 4 other people.

I was hoping I'd get a cute old picture that brings back memories. My files are in alphabetical order and Camp Alexander is the winner! This is Cody earning his badge in life saving, last summer at camp. Don't you love his farmer's tan? :)

As I was looking thru files, I saw this, from 5 years ago. This was when Jess had a severe reaction to a bee sting. OUCH.

I tag Amy, Jeanette, Jamie and Jacqui!

Getting the sports park up and running!

You can't live many weeks without a basketball hoop on your property. I think it might be a law in the rural areas of our state! So...creative Mr. Dad hooked the kids up to a new "adjustable" goal! I think this is for days when confidence is low..you lower the goal and dunk it!

Here is Cody, the fashion statement himself! I cracked up when I saw him outside shooting hoops in this get up!

SLAM DUNK!!

And...SLAM DUNK for Jess!

Morning memories

This morning on our trip to school, my kids were remembering lunches of the past! Jess gets braces tomorrow and we were talking about making protein shakes at school if her teeth hurt, which is what started the conversation. Cody recalled how grandma used to bring him shakes to his old school..and he misses that. His pain tolerance is such that he doesn't hurt when his braces get tightened. Or...maybe it is just his bigger need for food that overcomes the pain!!??

Jess said she loved when Aunt Shari brought lunch to the old school...warm tortilla pizzas, chopped up cucumbers with salt, in a ziplock....Ahhhh, yess!! Cody recalls the same yummy food and chocolate milk.

And then Cody remembered Grandma bringing him lunch. Sandwiches on homemade bread and homemade banana cake. They both agreed that Grandma should still drive the 25 miles to bring them lunch at school. I laughed at that! What do you think, Mom??!!I think Fridays or Saturdays might be an option.

They both laughed at the prospect of asking Aunt Shari to bring lunch. While they think she should, they realize a 4.5 hour drive might hamper her efforts. Maybe during basketball camp?

I love memories. You always wonder which moments will be etched into your kids' minds. I love then they reveal those. I remember Grandmother making the BEST cinnamon toast ever!! Mom's was never as good. Of course, Grandmother's had about a tablespoon of butter and a cup or so of sugar and cinnamon!! I hold my memories so close to my heart and they are comfort to me in crazy times. I love that we are built that way!

Count your blessings

Sometimes, we realize our problems are so small and we need to just turn and count our blessings. I'm posting a link to a story that has made me feel this way. Read her story. It is a "local" story, but I know it will touch your heart.

Hug your family today and thank God for your blessings. Pray for someone whose problems are more severe than yours. Bossy, ain't I?!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chasityrussell.

#22's baby

(Cellphone picture)Cody and Jess with a baby calf, born last weekend. We have two cows who are family and couldn't be sold with the others. One of them calved last weekend. There is nothing like a baby calf!

Halfway through the week

This week is SBA testing in New Mexico. (Standard based assessments) Joy. Oh joy. I hate testing. I understand we have to have a method of assessing our schools, our students, our teachers, BUT.

That is a huge soapbox and I've only had one cup of coffee. I will share this: I have taught (I PROMISE) about the food pyramid, about milk, calcium, vitamin D etc. etc. One question on yesterday's science test asked what food or drink is a good source of calcium. One of my students wrote in "Sprite". It was a written response, not a multiple choice. I almost cried, but decided to laugh instead.

One of my favorite students moved away yesterday. My heart hurts. Yes, I have favorites. ALL of them. This little guy has a special story and he had my heart around his little finger. I'm not good at this part, not at all. No, not at all. I'm just glad my faith tells me God is watching over him and I can continue to pray for him.

On to happier news...Jessie is the new Vice President of the Jr. Chamber of Commerce of Eagle Nest!!! They elected officers at last night's meeting. This is yet another awesome program through our school. Their first main project is to plan the 4th of July parade. There are 6 of them in the group and it is so much fun to hear their chatter and decision making at the meetings. This is a cool experience!

The wind continues to blow in our little corner. We have no more top soil. I believe it now lives in Oklahoma. I also think our elevation might have dropped 1000 feet from all that dirt leaving. Ugh. I wonder if there is a place the wind doesn't blow? I want to move there. (Yes, I said move. But I haven't accummulated stuff yet so I think moving would be okay if we do it within the next few weeks! NOT.)