My 5 Happy Things....

1. My Husband - I know, sappy, but you know what, he is pretty amazing to me. Yes he's picky, and opinionated, and leaves a trail of mess wherever he goes. BUT - He loves to spend time with me, that's what he would prefer to do over anything. He loves to just cuddle and talk. He never leaves the house without giving me a kiss, and always comes in with one too! He's romantic, seriously goofy (he rarely reveals this to anyone but me), and always thinking about what is best for me...so yeah, my love makes me happy.

2. My Dogs - Lulu is my baby-girl and she just knows me, we're connected, and when I need something she's always there (she's not so good at fetching my water, or getting me a tissue, but she's still there!) Rudy is our little lover - he has a big heart and tries to always be around to make you happy - And he does occasionally like to sneak onto the couch to give the extra good kind of love. Max - well, he's sad these days, and it breaks my heart, but I still love the guy!

3. When the kids don't want to go home... It's certainly not every day, and definetly not much lately, but sometimes we just have a great day at school and when the bell rings they just don't want to go home. They loiter around until I have to kick them out the door! It feels good to know that I have helped kids learn to love learning. The other day we got to giggling and we just couldn't stop, we all walked down the hall, trying to be quiet but not being able to stifle our giggles... It's a hard job, but the kids make it worthwhile.

4. An Adventure!! I don't get nearly as many as I used to, or as I would like, but I sure do love a good adventure. Planning a trip, taking a drive, seeing something new, exploring unknown territory, even a great shopping challenge - I just love adventures! (Pics are from our trip this summer with the family from Spain, I was the photographer on both, but still part of the adventure!)

5. My Family - the one I've got and the one I'm working on.... I do love to see the fam, and be around them. I've always preferred family over friends. And we're pretty excited about the Peanut (that's the nickname for the baby cause it's the size of a peanut). Thinking about the family that is growing inside me definetly brings a smile to my face!

So there you have it - my top 5 happy things....

Answer to the TV Post...

Well, I don't really like TV, I watch, but mostly just to occupy the mind. There are a few shows I do like to see....

This Old House Hour: Gotta love it, I think it runs in my blood. But it's not on at the most convenient times and we don't have DVR.

Seinfeld and Scrubs: Reruns, but good for a laugh. I am VERY happy Scrubs will be back on in January.

Baby Story etc: If I happen to be home, and they're on, I do love to see a good birth (Heidi's fault!)

Project Runway: I will miss my Project RunGay...It was addicting, and I think Art secretly liked it...

My biggest shame: America's Next Top Model: It's totally ridiculous, and Tyra Banks is an idiot, But it's like a drug and I can't stop! (thank heavens the season is over!)

That's pretty much it, we do watch the Daily Show as our form of one day old evening news, but mostly we watch movies.

Sunday Thoughts

I'm not the real religious sharing type, but I felt like today I needed to be... so here's a change of pace for me.

I recently got released from the Primary Presidency and put in as a Relief Society teacher. (Nothing like a once a month calling as a welcome change.) So today was my day to give the lesson, I had read it a few weeks ago, hadn't gleened much. Yesterday I knew I had to get busy and plan so I read it again and highlighted a few things, but fell asleep before I had much. This morning I got up and again attempted to plan, but I had a very sick stomach and just couldn't focus. So I quickly outlined some thoughts and then proceeded with the less-than-pleasant morning. By the time I had to go to Relief Society my stomach was again upset, but I had no choice so we headed off to church.

As RS began they asked for any 'Good News' for the "Good News Minute", I spoke up and announced to the sisters of our new arrival, and asked for their patience in my lesson. Of course they were excited and optimistic, I was not. For most, getting up to teach causes a very upset stomach and in my condition I was expecting the worst, but as I stood my stomach completely calmed down. And moreso, I had energy, and I could stand and talk and project (all things I have been lacking as I've attempted to teach school over the last few weeks). But more than all of that, my random thoughts came together and spilled out in a lesson that made sense. I shared ideas from the book, got our normally silent sisters (I know - an oddity) to talk and share ideas, and the spirit was so strong. I don't know if it was the best lesson ever given, but it was good, and more than anything I know that the message got across. I had wondered how I would ever fill the time, but I was rushing to fill in my testimony as the last minutes of class ticked away. I know today that I was blessed. I had someone there to help. As I said to Art as we left, when you're doing what's right, the right things happen in return.

So there's my thoughts...the gospel is true, the Lord is good, and we are all blessed.

Fast Forward Christmas

I'm not sure if it's the nausea, or the sunny weather, or the house under construction but frankly I'm just not in the spirited mood this year. I've never "loved" Christmas. I was too young in comparison to my cousins, so by the time I got big enough to remember Christmas Eve programs most of the big kids were about done doing them. And I was the youngest in the house too, so I had to suffer through watching all my brothers and sisters leave until there were a few sad years of just Bud and I, and then I was alone on Christmas morning. I'm not trying to get pity, but being the youngest does change your perspective. Alot of my Christmas memories are of my nieces and nephews, and cousins children (whom are now grown-ups!).

The other major issue is that I also spent the longest time at home which means I have had to unload my mothers 20 giantic boxes of Christmas Crap all through the house helping her decorate year after year. Yes, I complained, but I was still there, even after I moved out. But this over decorating at her house has caused me to be a non-decorator at my house. I have A (ONE) smallish box of Christmas crap. I even have some interesting ornaments we've purchased from around the country, but alas, they are still in the basement and may just stay there this year.

And so I share my bah-humbug (Isn't that nice of me), and I curl up in my blankey and wait for Christmas to be over. I'm not wishing it to pass because I am THAT much of a grinch, but moreso because I'll be through the first trimester come January and I can stop feeling so icky and become a real human again. And so, if you don't see me wearing my Jingle Bell socks and matching appliqued Holiday Theme Sweater you'll know it's because I'm stuck in jammies until the new year.



(PS - I am SO pathetic that the Jewish 5th grade teacher is choreographing our Christmas Sing-a-long this year! I have a wonderful teaching team!)










Authors house NOT pictured. Image represents optimal holiday decorating for those who are not puking.

We STILL love July!

Reannouncing - now that we have told nearly everyone, I think we can officially say it here. (We had to rush delete the last entry after we realized the family in CA reads the blog and we didn't want them to find this way!) Yup, still pregnant...to share in my joys....

Top Ten reasons you might know I’m pregnant …

10. I always have Cheerios with me
9. I am only wearing one pair of jeans – the rest don’t fit – ALREADY! (perhaps a preexisting condition)
8. I’ve been on the same chapter of Sacajawea for 6 weeks now, I TRY to read in bed!!
7. If you come in my room before school you may find me asleep under my desk.
6. My hair isn’t done – ever.
5. If I’m not in my classroom, I’m in the bathroom
4. I haven't had a Chocolate Chip Cookie in weeks, but I'd die for a Peanut Butter Ball right now.

3. I can't open the refrigerator, at all.

2. Just the word EGGS makes me run for the bathroom (even typing it! Ick!)
1. I don’t know, I can’t think of anything creative. I can’t think of anything at all. What are my student’s names again? What did I stand up for? How many times have I walked across the room for the tape and forgotten? This isn’t going to get worse is it?

Ready to Move

So I am here in Ogden ready to begin the big conference tomorrow. We have over 500 people registered to attend a two day conference to focus on Dance, Visual Arts, Drama and Music. We hope to inspire some amazing arts happenings in the schools. This year the research has been released showing the power of teaching the fine arts in classrooms and their direct effect on growth - in students AND their test scores. Kids who were dancing once a week and connecting movement to curriculum had the most significant increases in test scores. So my point - CREATIVITY is KEY!

Another week...

I've decided that everyone must be busy, it seems the blogging has slowed down as we all rush to keep up. But after nagging, Kassie updated, so I shall also.

1. Lulu is doing great she loves to chew on toys and she is very excited about having a real dog bed to sleep on.
2. Rudy gets to take his cone off tomorrow and he's very excited! He is still clunking alot!
3. Max is.....ok, really i'm not going to update on my dogs.

Life is ... Busy.

Grades are due Monday.

The bathroom is almost done - still.

The play continues, though I do need to start thinking about scenery... one step at a time.

I am presenting at the State Arts Networking Conference this week so I am busily preparing for that. I have about a millon things to do before I head to Ogden for three days of dancing (some of you may not know that I have become a dancer - true!)

Other than that, life just continues on. There is that minor thing of teaching every day. Just this week I took away my students rights, kicked them out of Europe, sailed to the New World, established colonies, read an entire book, and taught kids that division doesn't have to be hard!

And so, that is life. No pictures, the camera is full of dancers, and I have not impressively cleaned any bathtubs. (see Kassies blog for clarification on my wit)

Moving a Million Miles

Alas, another week is gone. I'm not sure what happened - I was in meetings. It seems that's how the weeks go these days.

On Friday Rudy got neutered. OW!! But worse than that, he has to be a cone head for 10 days. So having a puppy in the house is one thing, but a puppy that is now twice as wide and has no peripheral vision - watch your legs, and clear the tables! Not only does he have to be a cone head but he's supposed to be 'taking it easy', no walks or long outside play time. He's miserable! (And so is the rest of the house, there is a great deal of "clunking" going on.)

The tiling continues...we are so close to finished now...We have to do the closet and the bottom row of the shower and then the tile is set. It looks really good, we're very proud of ourselves. Once the tile is done it should go much more quickly because the rest is done, it just needs to be put together!

The most exciting part of my weekend? I learned a new way to multiply, it's a cross between lattice and partial product and it's so cool!! Yes, I am a math nerd. I blame it on Emily.

And so that's the Reina household. Tomorrow begins another insane week, but at least I have my tests corrected and I got to spend the day in my jammies!

We survived Halloween! My class proved themselves nutty - as expected, but we managed to have a great day. We have a 5th grade tradition where we dress up as witches and do all these fun matter experiments (the science you wish you had time for on a normal day). It's a lot of work, but it shuts them up for 2 1/2 hours and they actually learn on a holiday!!

Art and I spent the evening hiding in the basement - not that our doorbell rang!

Saturday we got up and got right to work (after watching This Old House for inspiration). We started laying the tile in the bathroom shower. We did the hardest wall first, but were really happy about how it turned out. We would have finished but we had to go to St. George to see our nephew Connor get blessed today (long drive - short trip; but Art did get Bratho de Gitano and In & Out).

So alas, it is Sunday night and we are quickly winding down. The puppies are exhausted from their sleepover at Grandpas, and frankly we're all quite ready for bed.

I'm Tired...

I just got home from work, like 20 minutes ago. I just had a 16 hour day. And tomorrow is Halloween - which should be called "Torture the Teacher" day. If I never update again, you'll know I didn't make it.

Oh the woes....

I'm not sure the antics of turning 175 elementary kids into the 100 person cast of a musical production is the kind of thing you all want to read about, but it's what plagues my thoughts these days. Today we finished our dance auditions with 5th and 6th grades. Friday are the soloist auditions where all kids sing their 30 seconds as they compete for the top seat. After watching each of them dance, smile, sing, and shine - I'm stuck. My school seems to be overflowing with talent and somehow I have to eliminate. The other terrible thing is that I now know so many of the kids, either having taught them or a sibling, or having had them in a play before; and so the prospect of cutting every child is heart breaking. Despite all of that I am beginning to see my leads take shape. I think I could pick the big ones right now, if I had to, except the ever-important role of Annie - I just haven't found her yet. I'm hoping that Friday my thoughts will become actualities and I will find my shining star.

And now a note to the parents that read this...

One of my major woes over the last month has been teaching the election. Not because I don't love politics or I dread the discussion; in fact, I love teaching 5th grade because it is all about the evolution of our countries government. In my class we do an extensive unit where the kids parallel the real election with our class elections. We hold primaries, have debates, make posters, campaign, and the whole nine yards. It's a blast and we have so much fun! Until...we have to talk actual politics. You see one of the rules of my class is that you can have any opinion you want, as long as you support it with evidence. When it comes to our discussions of the the candidates that is where the evidence is consistently "Because my Mom and Dad are voting for him". I have so many kids who are staunch Republicans, and Democrats, solely and entirely because their parents are. When I ask them why? I get answers like "Because we're Mormon", or "Because we're conservative." And when I ask for more justification, I get blank stares. I am so happy that there are parents who talk politics with kids, and I think you should, but please - don't impose your views on your child. Teach your child how to come up with their own opinions. Let them know it's ok to think something different - because - guess what? - It is!! I'm never going to tell you who to vote for(ok, I will if you really want me to), but I am going to tell you to be an educated voter. But also be the educator of a future voter. They might be 10 now, but one day they'll be the President and when you ask them "Why are you a Republican?" I sure hope they don't say, "Because my mom said so."

Good Intentions...

I thought with a 4 day weekend I would get my papers graded...
I thought I would get my planning done for this month...
I thought I would get my laundry caught up...
I thought I would finish the Hardi-backer in the bathroom...
I thought I would walk the dogs every day...
I thought I would get my audition dance choreographed...
I thought I would write interesting and amusing blogs every day...
I thought wrong.

It's Sunday night and my adorable husband wants "lovies" (I shouldn't complain), I have a stack of spelling and math tests to be graded, Hard Knock Life is playing in the background, the bathroom is half done, and I'm finally getting in a blog entry(not the interesting and amusing kind). And it's not that I was lazy this weekend, I did A LOT of laundry (how 2 people create that much laundry I don't know!).

Thursday was chores day, I cleaned the house, wiped the baseboards, and dusted deep corners ,etc. (exciting huh?)

Friday I woke up to a double batch of peanut butter cookies for the wedding (Wendy on Saturday). Then Heidi and I went to Kassies for a play date. We went to visit Kyle for his 40th birthday and took him a pie. We took a trip to Thrift Town for some bargains and went back to visit and eat lunch at Kassies. Oh yeah, and the kids played.

Saturday was a working day with a lot of cutting and screwing and only 2 trips to Home Depot!!
My day ended with some sad news as Anna called to tell me that one of our close friends had died on Saturday morning. He was a great kid with a big heart. He and I loved to laugh together because we were the 'shy ones'. Jepson was the kind of friend who listened more than he spoke and was always full of smiles. He will be missed, but I think he was needed elsewhere right now. We will miss you Jepson.

Thank heavens for Sundays - a little catch-up, a little relaxation, a little family, and a little more time before we have to go back. Now, I think I'll go to bed.

Top 5 Cousin Memories

*Thanks Belinda for starting the fun...I hope all participate, we don't want any party-poopers in the family....

Well, I am a young cousin so my memories are a little different than you big kids, but we definitely did learn some things from you. (pic; EVERYONE has always had a turn blowing out the candles)

1. Jamie and I were professionals at asking for sleepovers or extended play time. I would ask nicely in my cutest voice, and if that didn't work, Jamie could cry on cue. They could never say no to her tears.

2. Kick-the-can with the 'big kids', I'm sure I thought I was really playing, actually I was usually being carried around by someone bigger than me. I remember hiding with Lisa near the wood pile (ick! spiders), and Kyle running across the field with me in his arms using my feet as a bat to hit the can.

3. Backpacks - especially sitting around the campfire hearing stories, or when you all got to sit around the campfire while my mother made me take a kettle bath, in the rain, and lightning, with everyone a tarp away!!!!! (scarred for life)

4. Christmas's at Grandpa's....it was always packed with people! I remember when Libbi had my name one year and gave me a stuffed moose with big floppy legs, I loved that thing forever!

5. Getting to stay over at Penny's (after Heidi and Belinda had worked their charm and then I got to tag along because I was young and cute, and also a good crier). We got to pick jammies from Belinda's big cupboard at the end of the hall - it was the mecca of clothing.... Then we got a glass of milk (ick) and a ding dong before bed, we got to lay on the floor and watch MTV, in the morning there were SO many choices for cereal! If we were lucky our day might include walking to Millies for Donuts and the place on the corner for lunch....playing at Pennies was like a luxury vacation in my eyes.

(pic; Emily and I in our earliest years...)

...I too could go on and on...I'm glad we have ladies lunches so the memories can continue...

William Penn proudly presents...

I've finally made the decision for this years play, "Annie". Yup, a repeat. I realized that this will be my 12th full school production. 12!! Where has the time gone! And that isn't counting the plays I've written for graduation, end-of-year, and other festivities....

Anyhow, I am quite excited, and a little hesistant as it is always difficult to reproduce, but I think it will be good. I'm going to audition in a week and a half so I am beginning to spend my evenings dancing around the house coming up with choreography (Em, I do miss your skills!), and preparing for the big day where I watch 250 kids sing and dance their hearts out for a chance to be the star.

The funniest thing is the questions I get every day from kids all over the school. I'll go to my door at recess and there will be a collection of 2nd graders waiting with their big question, "Do you have to be a red head to be Annie?", or the 6th grade boys, "Are there any guys in this play?" Ahh the fun!

And the best part, I've already got "Hardknock Life" stuck in my head, where it will remain for the next 4 months!

Here we go again!........

A Fall Outing

With a rainy conference weekend drawing us into the comforts of home we were relieved and excited to see the first waves of sunlight on Sunday morning. As the sun peaked from behind the ominous clouds we packed our snacks, rounded up our leashes and loaded the car for a drive to Logan.
We had a calming drive up listening to conference, until the last few minutes which were lost in the fuzz of radio. As we cruised the canyon we were wishing we would have been there one week prior, as the leaves faded to a dusty gray. Still, we found a spot amidst the oaks to let the dogs run and enjoy a little of the fall colors. The dogs were SO happy to be out, they ran so fast and thought we should climb the whole mountain. Lulu ran, Rudy chased, Max sniffed and straggled behind. They do love the trail, and it reminds me of how much I miss my life as it used to be, when there were no responsibilities of home ownership, and Emily and I could take off at a whim to head for the hills. We spent many fall weekends driving through the colorful Henry's or squeezing in one more narrows hike. We often took off on Friday night to a place we'd never been and woke up in the light of an entirely new world. Those were the good ol' days, and we enjoyed them while we could. Now, a Sunday drive to get away is a real luxury, and a pleasant escape.
We drove into Logan to look at a few houses, drive through some neighborhoods, and enjoy a little fall in the small town. On our way back we stopped at Grandma's to catch the end of conference and ended up staying for dinner.
When we finally loaded up to drive home the dogs were pooped. (Rudy always comes home exhausted from a play with Maybelle!) And so our week ended and we begin another, and if I got one message from conference it was the idea that we have to be optimistic, despite what is going on around us. With chores, work, distractions and the like it is easy to get caught up and pulled down. I often look back at 'the good ol' days' and miss backpacking and trips, but then I look forward to watching puppies grow, and creating new adventures. We can't get hung up on things, we have to move on with a smile. We have to learn to find joy in the little things, like dogs that wrestle, husbands that want "lovies", and fall Sunday drives.

The Weekend

I was very lucky, and excited, to have a 3-day weekend. I had a whole list of things to accomplish on Friday while Art was at work, but he surprised me Thursday afternoon by telling me that he had Friday off too! Which meant, no play - all work. You see about 3 weeks ago we ripped everything out of our upstairs bathroom and began a big remodel. It is one of two big jobs to complete this fall in order for the house to be "done".

So we got up Friday and headed to the tile store to pick out the shower and floor tile. After hours of math and figuring we came up with a great pattern for the shower. We spent the rest of the day putting in a new bathroom window. While Art carefully leveled and attached the window I got to rip out the last pieces of drywall so we can put in Hardi-backer. We discovered that we are going to have to do a little re-plumbing as we have installed a slightly larger tub than before.

On Saturday, Art went shooting with Branden and friends from work, they had a great time. (Art has bruises on his shoulders!!) I went shopping with Heidi and the kids. Nothing like Target bargains to please us and drive the kids nuts! When we got home we went back to the bathroom for a little more figuring...

Anyhow, that's how exciting our weekend was. That's how things go around here, we get into a project, spend all of our time doing it, and when it's done and the relief comes, we start a new one. So tonight as I blog, the rest of the family is crashed in the living room, and I'll be joining them shortly!

(Rudy is the CUTEST puppy ever! He was tired from playing with Maybelle at Grandma's)

ahhh, Friday

We made it! 4 hours and 12.3 miles! We had a great walk, did some excellent bonding and all but 2 of my students walked to school too! I wasn't all that sore yesterday, just very sleepy. Art couldn't come pick us until 4:00 so we had to stumble around school all afternoon. Fortunetly 8-10 of my kids were hanging out after school "helping" their parents get ready for the Walk-a-thon, so I roped them into the classroom and put them to work cleaning, tidying and running errands. It was like having my own personal maid crew! By 6:00 I was on the couch, by 8 I was sleeping to the sound of the SCU game.
Today I am lucky to be off school and enjoying a day at home! My hips have me walking like an old lady so getting my yard work done could be difficult but I'll have to power through.

Tomorrow We Walk

It's 8:17 and I am headed to bed. The reason? I am getting up at 4:00 to walk to school.
This week, as the culiminating event to our Spirit Week our school is having our annual Walk-a-Thon fundraiser where students walk laps and earn money from pledges they have taken from family. I decided that I wanted to provide a little extra motivation for my class and challenge them to see who could walk more miles. So I rounded up some teachers to walk to school with me and tomorrow we set out for our 12.3 mile trek. Now, I have done this before, for a slightly different cause, and for a lot more miles. Several years ago Emily, Brian (a colleague), and myself walked 41 miles from Brian's house to school. We taught all day, drove an hour north to his house, walked through the night and arrived at school, to teach another day. I guess that's why I'm not too worried about 12 miles. The last experience was a motivating one for my students as well as for myself. I learned a lot about my friends during the wee hours of the morning as we walked down the pitch black streets of Davis County. I also learned that I really can accomplish whatever I set my mind to. It takes time, and a lot of energy, but goals are attainable if you really want them to be. I suppose that is one of the major lessons I hope to teach my kids from this; go the extra mile to accomplish the truly difficult.
So if you're driving down Highland Drive tomorrow between 4:30 and 9:00 AM you might just see us, we'll be the ones wearing the TEAM PENN shirts, as we walk to school.

Yes, I cheer.

This week is Spirit Week at the ol' Penn (aka the Penn-itentiary) and we are gathering our spirit for the big walk-a-thon on Thursday. One of the many requirements of the week is to create and perform a class cheer. Yes, a cheer. I presented this idea to my class last week, with an unenthusiastic sigh. I tried to explain to them that I am the farthest thing they can think of from a cheerleader. I tried to tell them I spent hours looking over cheerleaders, TRYING to ignore them. I tried to explain that I despise RaRa's, but they said, I still had to cheer.

So I set them to coming up with ideas, I do not have cheer writing capabilities. They came up with some very interesting thoughts. I told them to keep brainstorming. Today we presented ideas, voted, and tried to compile our thoughts to one cohesive cheer. The main problem was that they were all cheering about me. Just me. Now I know I am one amazing and incredible teacher, but an entire cheer about how Mrs. Reina is 'da bomb'? So we did some rewriting, and a whole lot of laughing. I moaned and groaned, they sissed, boomed, and bahed. After an hour (yes, we skipped science for cheer writing, there are a few things wrong with public education) we came up with a cheer. Are you ready? It's fantastic. I had to 'perform' it several times in leading the group, you really should have been there. So here is it is, our cheer:

We're no fool
We think school is cool
Personal Best under Reina's Rule
We recycle each week,
like a QB Sneak
We're gettin' real smart
Cause we learn from the heart
BOOM BOOM Go Reina BOOM BOOM Go Reina BOOM BOOM Go Reina
We got Who? Who? Who? Who? Who? Who? Who? Who? Who? Who? Who?
We got REINA!

Ok, Ok, it really lacks without our personal style, or as we explained it White-kid-wanna-be-gangsta-style. But trust me, we're good. Ok, truth is, they're good. I just can't stomach it, I can't even do it with a really cheesy attitude, it's like stooping to a level I just can't access. So yes, I can cheer. But only those 31 very privileged 5th graders will ever see it.

G'nigt, it's 34 minutes past my bedtime...

Catch-up

I was pondering the sort of thing I might write on here, beings my life consists of dogs and 10 year olds, and that's not all that exciting; so I thought I would start with a catch-up for those who have been away awhile.

Our family consists of our 3 spoiled puppies. Max, 10-11 year old Golden Retriever, also known as "Ol' Half Dead", who enjoys napping, barking at the fence, and then more napping. Lulu is our 3 year old yellow-lab who also enjoys barking at the fence, and anything that might involve a W-A-L-K (we have to spell that word around our house). And lastly, Rudy, the newest member of our family. He is one of Lulu's 9 puppies that we just had to keep! He's very sweet and cute and calm for a puppy (My parents also kept a puppy, MayBelle, she's crazy and hyper - we lucked out.) We have had an adventurous week with the dogs as Rudy ate a bottle containing Spray n' Wash and spent a day in the vet and is now on special meds for a burned esophagus and pneumonia (you can only imagine the puppy eyes looking up at you with a pathetic little cough). The following day Lulu went to get fixed (only one litter for us) and she is supposed to be 'taking it easy' for 10 days. On top of that she caught Kennel Cough and so we now have two pathetic coughing puppies. Max is holding strong, he hasn't woken up long enough to notice anyone is ill.

My in-laws were here this week to visit my new nephew Connor, and a little work meeting. It's always fun to have them, and their giant yellow lab Oliver (he's like having a drunk horse in the building). We really do love Ollie, he gives everybody something to laugh at and wears Rudy out fast!

We're off to another week of school, work, remodeling the bathroom, walking to school, picking a play, planning a presentation, building a vanity...sorry, it turned into a to-do list, that's life, always a million things to do!

Umm...I guess I'm blogging

After a lovely afternoon with my cousins and much discussion of what is on the blog, I suppose it is time I join the antics. It's not like I'm amiss on all technology, I have a website I update daily, but unless you care about the happenings of my classroom it's really quite boring.
So, Welcome, I'll attempt to find something more creative to discuss, but for now, at least I've started.