Entomology

Charlie just told me he had something in his ear. I asked him what it was and he told me it was a bug looking for nectar, but all he found was dirt.

Our Friend, The Roadrunner

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 was very low-key, but very nice.

We started the celebrations off at Shawn's mom's house for Christmas Eve. AJ had made a book of poems at school and gave them to Shawn's grandfather. They were a huge hit.

Our actual Christmas day was very quiet, as it was just the four of us. AJ was thrilled to get his own set of actual tools and a woodworking book. In an effort to win the College of Wooster vs The University of Minnesota battle, I got AJ a sweatshirt, shirt and a hat. The hat was actually an alumni hat. I said on the card that he might as well get use to the idea.

Charlie got a bike from Santa, which he has no interest in. He was however very excited to get a bunch of matchbox cars. What can I say? The kid is a cheap date.

I also made cinnamon rolls for the neighbors. I will probably be doing another batch on Friday. I gave all but one pan away, and that did not go over well with my almost teenage (read: eating us out of house and home) son.

The Kid Knows What He Wants

I took the kids to ASU today to get my Institutional Recommendation paper. It is a magic piece of paper that allows me to go to the Department of Education, and get my teaching certificate with minimal hoop jumping.

While we were there, I wanted to stop at the bookstore. We walked inside and Charlie saw this t-shirt. In fact, he made a bee-line to this t-shirt. He hugged it. He hugged it some more. When we got to the checkout, he would not let the lady put it in a bag. He wanted to change into it RIGHT THERE. I'm sure there weren't too many people who would have gotten overly offended by a 3 year old changing his shirt in the actual bookstore. But just to be on the safe side, I told him he had to wait until we got out to the car. This picture was taken, in the parking lot, right after he put it on. He may never take it off.

Old Age Has Its Privileges

We got a pizza from our favorite pizza place the other day. When we were done we were all too lazy to clean up right away. A few minutes later, we looked and saw this. We were not sure if he was guarding the pizza or if the box was the perfect spot to sit with his arthritic hip. No one had the heart to tell him that there wasn't any pizza left.

Happy Holidays

ITeach Celebration

The theme for the night was The Oscars. The auditorium was decorated with stars and even our very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. There was even a red carpet. It was very cute. We each got an award and a nameplate for our desk at the ceremony. My classmates and I were responsible for coming up with some type of presentation to sum up our experience. We used "Oh The Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss as a template and each person made up his or her own stanza.

These are my classmates from the last year. We had our moments, but there were many times I wondered if we were all going to end up in some type of support group together. They came from all walks of life and I am so glad I got to know them.








This is a picture of me with my mentor, Kelly and Lauren, who worked in the classroom next door. They are a big part of why I looked forward to going every day.



It was a fun night.

Shawn made a gift basket for me to celebrate. It had flowers, apples (because I am a teacher) chocolate and wine. He chose the wine based on the labels. One was called Liberty School, and the other had a picture of a duck followed by ducklings. It was too cute.

I am so glad I did the program and I am so glad it is over.