The Best Day Ever

Today was the last full day of school, and tomorrow we have a half day left. Two nights ago Susan and I went shopping for an end of the year gift for the kids. We got them sand buckets and filled them with a $5.00 DQ gift card, summer goodies, coloring books, math flash cards, etc. The kids had no idea.

I couldn't resist capturing the looks of their faces when they first walked in!

At the end of the day, the kids (and Cheryl and Jessica) gave me a framed and signed photo collage that was mounted and the kids signed their name on the mounting. Then I got three gift certificated to my favorite places!! I guess they had been planning this for a while and even sent home notes to parents.....I was shocked that the kids kept the secret for so long....I was totally clueless. Never in my six years of teaching have I received a gift so generous, personal, or so nice. I even got a little teary. I am a little saddened though. This class has been one of the better classes I have had in a while. They are also my last second grade class, as I will be teaching first grade next year. This time of year is always a little bitter sweet for me! I just love and get so attached to my kids. They truly are a wonderful group and I will miss them bunches!

Morning Smiles

For six weeks, Mandy Hatfield from the OSU Extension service comes to our classroom to teach a Nutrition unit which includes related picture books, food making and sampling by the kids, and fun activities. She comes once a week for six weeks. Her focus for second grade is "breakfast." Last week the kids got to sample mangoes and loved it! On this day the kids made Morning Smiles which includes a whole wheat english muffin, cream cheese, shredded carrots, crasins, and fresh peaches. I couldn't resist a shot of two of my favorite girls!
Then I caught them with their mouths full! Thanks girls for being good sports!!

Happy Birthday!

Friday was Jason's birthday. It had been quite a while since he actually had to "work" on his birthday (under grad. and grad school). He was a little bummed out about that this year. So my mom and I decided to send him some semi-pro golf balls attached to balloons to his classroom. He was really surprised! It was funny because his first graders are so used to their peers getting balloons sent to school on their birthday......they couldn't understand why an adult might receive them. We ended up going to dinner later and Jason got several golfing gift certificates, along with his favorite golf balls. Happy 31st Birthday! I love you!!!

Family Time

Last weekend, Jason's mom came to visit. She used to live over here for years, but now lives in Bend with her husband. The last time she was here visiting was about 2 years ago. On Saturday we spent time with our nephew Michael, while Rachel (Jason's sister) was working, and his mom....we even went to Real Deals for fun. Michael is a sweet little boy. He loves to "ride" in our laundry basket with his "seat belt" (the pillow) all around the living room.

Michael really thought that he was pushing Jason and it was really funny!!

Later that evening we had a barbecue with Rachel's family, and Kevin (his younger brother). The last time Jason's mom and siblings were all together was about five years ago. After dinner we played cards and games. It was a fun evening. Somehow James (Rachel's husband) and I weren't in the pictures...we were taking them =0).

Ever Wonder Where Easter Eggs Come From?

Yesterday Kristina surprised me with a Get Well/Easter basket. It was really sweet and thoughtful of her. Below is a video of the best gift in the basket, which explains where Easter eggs truly come from.

The Beach

A few weekends ago we all went to Bandon for a day. It was a gorgeous sunny day when we got there and then by the afternoon it turned stormy. It was still as beautiful as ever.

Silly boy! Jason forgot his sunglasses as we were waiting in the sun for our fish and chips.

We found a great spot on the beach to look for agates. The tide was on its way in which made the agate hunting kinda tough. At least we remembered our rain boots! We even saw some of our students on the same shore.

A sneaker wave got Jason as he was looking for agates. I couldn't help but laugh....he got SOAKED. Then on the way home Kristina fell asleep and spilled a full glass of hot chocolate all over the front of me.....I was SOAKED. They all kept teasing me that I had an "accident." Then on her way home, she spilled coffee creamer all in her purse.....who do you think we were laughing at then?!?!

Funny Story

It was such a beautiful day yesterday! Jason and I decided to go for what started out to be a short walk. We got to walking, and walking, and walking and before we knew it we were close to the Green bridge. We decided to continue walking into Winston and when I realized I needed to go to the bathroom badly. The nice people at Figaro's let me use their very clean bathroom, which I greatly appreciated. Then, we noticed that Muchas Gracias was in sight and decided once we got there we would turn around. Well, we got there and I suggested that we just continue and walk to the church and then turn around, which we did. However at that point we were pretty pooped. We walked home a little more tired with feet that were a little sore and starting to blister. Reaching home seemed like the longest journey ever! We finally arrived home and then got in the car to clock how many miles we walked in the last two hours. My guess was five miles. The grand total ended up being 8.4 miles! Whew! My feet were so sore and blistery today that I contemplated going to church bare footed (although I didn't think the other members of the worship team would appreciate the state of my feet.) Needless to say we are enjoying today's sunshine from our deck!