Jools

Here is Jools in her favorite habitat in the entire house. If I can't find her, I know to look under my desk. When I work at my desk, I automatically sit to the side so that my little dingo (not the one that ate the baby) can be comfortable. She survived Katrina, so darnit, she's gonna get spoiled here.

The squeaky belt gets the oil -- then tries to chop your finger off

On the way home from work for his mini-bday celebration, Luis decided to stop and put some oil on a sqeaky belt in the Honda... in his effort to be fast so that he could get home and get showered before my parents got there, he put his finger down to steady the belt. Well, the belt had no regard for the steadying intentions of my poor husband and it took his finger all the way around and through the pulley. Needless to say his finger looks like he should be on the news for a shark attack.

They always say that the squeaky wheel gets the oil -- is this the logical next step: attempted amputation? If so, I am ignoring the parents in the class who make huge deals to get little perks for their kids so that I can protect my digits. And, yes, that is a napkin ring around L's finger -- we like to decorate where we can.

Luis's Bday

Yesterday was Luis's 31st bday. My parents came for supper and we had a low key night with them. Today, though, for his bday we are going on 2 surprises -- one of which Dad accidently spilled the beans to him about. I could have screamed. As hard as it is it to surprise Luis, I was impressed that I kept it going this long. Here is Luis posing in the jacket my parents gave him.

Going off the rails of a crazy train

Tomorrow is the last day of teaching that I have until 2008. Kathryn (my trusty TA) and I are holding onto our sanity by our fingernails and have been for the last 2 weeks. Our normally borderline-genius kids have been acting ... well... like children from the "other" Kindergarten class. We had some high schoolers come down and talk about recycling and my students told them that they really don't like coloring. I think we all just need a break from Kindergarten. But as soon as we are ready to be over it, one of the kids will hand us a "love note" which is their latest craze. They take paper from the the estimation box and write messages on it like "I loe m v" (translated from the original kindergarten this means I love Mrs. Velasquez) or more brazen attempts like "I love Vlascez". We might be going nuts, but at least we'll all go down with love :)

The tree

Luis finally got to do one of his favorite things that involves cursing in spanish a la Ricky Ricardo... he untangled the Christmas lights and put up our tree. It is really nice (of course I'd say that). We also put up the Christmas village. Good thing his cousin Andres was here to remind him the bad words in his native language in case he forgot any of the good ones. So after a bunch of mumbled mal pa-somethings and bestia hijo de pu-somethings, the tree is up and we are filled with Christmas spirit!

Christmas House

The Christmas decorations have been out since Monday, but now that Thanksgiving is done Luis could finally put up the lights. I love our house and now I love our house with Christmas lights.

And then there is the matter of the cute creature who put the lights up in shorts, a camo jacket, and hat -- Christmas lights AND eye candy... it doesn't get much better!

Huge Bone

Simon and Jools celebrated a very successful day today. Simon was celebrating his trip to the vet where he got a ton of shots and was maligned as being overweight by 5 pounds and Jools was celebrating her first day ever out of the crate while no adults were home.

This bone is HUGE. It is literally as long as my arm from my wrist to my shoulder. I had to buy it for them. The funny part is that neither of them can chew it -- all they can do is lick it and carry it for short distances.

And the bathtub

Here is the bathtub we've been working on. It is a real tub that we have painted (with the labor of the children included) to get ready for a reading destination. The kids read sitting anywhere (it is funny to see where they choose) and they are always so good that when the offer of a tub came we couldn't resist it. It is hard to tell from the picture but the pillows are made out of towels -- an idea much too creative for me to take credit for. So, soon as the rest of the pillows arrive the kids can have another place to read.

Thanksgiving Feast

So we had our Feast today and here is one of my students dressed as a Ingrim (a pilgrim/indian hybrid that was so unintentional I had to let him keep it on). The feast was much less chaotic than any of us expected.

Rainy days and Thursdays

I had my observation and it actually went really well. The mom (and the backup) mom had to cancel for centers so the principal ended up observing a math lesson. The children were super. They had no problems and looked brilliant by sorting manipulatives by esoteric sorting rules like "these blocks have scratches and these ones don't" she loved that. It is supposed to be a rainy day today so we are knocking out some assessments -- at least that is the plan.

Wal*Mart Oil Change

So we're all about saving the pennies so Luis asked me to go to Wal*Mart to get the Jeep's oil changed. I considered the last time I went there and wasted 2 (TWO) hours of my summer waiting to save about $11 ( or 1.64841 Switzerland Francs), but considering that I did get to sleep in past 12:38 this afternoon I was down. I showered quickly and put on my best "I don't care how I look because I am going to the Wal*Mart in Wake Forest" outfit and hopped in the jeep. I put Dr. Laura on my IPOD and nodded along while she got impatient with a guy who wouldn't get rid of his 8 year old cat even though the cat didn't get along with his wife of 4 months -- jerk. About, oh, 24 minutes later I pulled up to Wal*Mart and there was an empty car parked where you're supposed to wait for the guy to check you in. I pulled beside it so the guy would come and he told me to go ahead and park. OK makes sense Sam, so I parked. Twenty-three minutes (that would be 1,380 seconds) later and 2 handheld devices critical to checking me in running out of batteries I was in. I wandered around Wal*Mart in Wake Forest and I was able to hear a lady point out that she had enough ammunition in her dad's car in the parking lot to keep some other person at bay for at least 5 minutes (I swear she really said this and she wasn't joking). About an hour and 17 minutes later (but who's counting) I went back to see if they had successfully been able to replace my more than 1,247 miles overdue oil... of course they were done about forty minutes ago-- they just had not called me like they promised they would. LOVE saving money.

It's the freakin weekend

So, it's been a long week with my TA out one day. We are really a pair so it was good to have her back even without her voice. We made the Native American costumes (vests, necklaces, and headpieces) and part of the Pilgrim costumes. We are looking forward to the feast that we have scheduled for the day before we go on Thanksgiving break. The kids made their invitations today so we'll see how many parents RSVP -- I suspect most will. It's going to be a nutso day that day.

Oh Crap (again)

So we have a new principal and apparently she likes to observe a little more casually than the old one... she dropped in with her laptop today just as my little blessings were lining up for PEPI (where the high schoolers come and play games with them) so I dodged the perverbial bullet this time but now I know she's on the prowl. It's not like I have anything exciting to hide, but I like to be over-prepared for observations and today we were not going by the script... we've been doing 2nd quarter math assessments and even for Kindergarten those assessments suck the life out the the kids. So today I was letting them work on their Native American necklaces for our upcoming feast. It was an ambitious project since we were using bottled glue and sand so I guess she would've been impressed... but now we have to wait for the next unexpected visit. I can just about hear the jaws music in the background.

Cheyney is in Raleigh

So, I opened my facebook today and there was a message from my high school friend Cheyney. She and I went to school together when we lived in Georgia and now she lives in Raleigh... what are the chances? I am so excited to see my friend. She and I had a great time back in those olden days. Can you stand how life works out like that sometimes?

Sandy Toes

So here we are at the beach. Our condo is called Sandy Toes and it is owned by one of my students' family and some other friends of ours. They have an album of the condo makeover and I am IMPRESSED! It is also funny to see pictures of 2 of my students on the wall -- work is never far away, but that is a good thing sometimes (like when we get to go to the beach because of it :) It has been so nice and Luis is having fun playing Nintendo 64 Vietnam-vet style (marine jacket with no shirt and ripped off pajama pants).

The dogs have had fun fun and attacking each other in the sand and we have eaten TOO MUCH. That's what the beach is for.

Thomas Logan

This post is for my celebrity band member and computer-tinkering friend Thomas. A little known factoid about Thomas McDonald Logan is that he is a member of a highly innovative band that has been recognized internationally. He is such a busy traveler that I'm starting a rumor that his passport is actually a tattoo on his left calf muscle. I am posting to send a little "what what" in his direction (wherever that direction is today) since he's such an avid reader who literally begs for new posts. Thommy... this post is for you, hun.

Lake trip pictures

Here we are at the lake. We had a big family trip: Mom, Dad, Papa, Gma, Nathan, Amanda, Isaiah, Luis, Christy, and Simon ... I got so sunburned -- but it was for a good cause.

Here is Luis giving Simon a good swimming lesson. That dog swam and swam -- one of the few times in his life that he was wiped out!

Ahhh, get your kids out of the sky

Luis got his official pilot's license in the mail today. Since he is not a bragger like me, he refuses to let me scan it and put it on here. If I were the one who got my pilot license, I would have it blown up in full resolution with bulleted captions... but that's me. Anyway, just imagine it. It is beautiful. Picture a plastic card with vital information and a backdrop of the Wright Bros and you will get a nice mental image. I can't scan it, but I can sure describe it. He didn't give me any rules about that.

Pilot

Here is my cute husband flying and studying aviation.

Free glasses

This was the first day that the new principal came. She gave all of the students in the school (and teachers) a pair of sunglasses to demonstrate her new motto and these are the kids wearing their new glasses.

Our House

Here is our house. We moved in at the beginning of April so it is still a work in progress.

This is the living room. That was a BIG painting job.

This was the hole above the fireplace that I couldn't solve for the longest time... I just knew I didn't want to put a TV there.

Anyway.... it's getting there.

Here is my class

Here are 4 of my students standing beside a HUGE job they did matching capital and lower case letters. They were the only group to actually make all of the matches!

This is the day that we were making play-doh letters. It is part of the school's handwritting program, but it's such a fun activity that we were doing it for fun here.

Oh Crap!

Now Jamie has linked me on her site so I feel like I need to post :) This past week was a sniffly one -- first me then Luis. His take on the situation evolved from "leather up... it's just a cold" to "IIIIIIII cannn't dooooo aneeeething I feel so bad". Colds are no fun. We got a bathtub in our classroom that we are painting as a class project. When the tub is done, we will put pillows in it for a reading center (a super creative mom in the class is sewing pillows out of towels for the tub). Anyway. Track out is in just over a month... then I'll be off for almost a full month. Pictures to come of the finished tub.

Just a picture that is one of the extremely few pictures that shows my husband smiling. This is when we landed inBogota on our first trip to Colombia together (and Luis's first time in 8 years).

Testing testing

Ok, I'm copying my friend Jamie who is so on top of things with her newlywed blog. This could be a good place to post pictures. Let's see if I keep up with this.