Grandpa Paul Robinson, my Paul Robinson and Mark Robinson on a trip to Mt. Ranier a couple weeks ago. Grandpa is visiting from Mission Viejo this month. 

Paul and I walked around Port Townsend and looked at the old buildings there. This is a church with a neat red door. 

Paul on board the Lady Washington when we went to visit Sarah and Paul in Port Townsend last weekend. 

Our garden produced A LOT of greem beans this year - so I canned them. I sometimes felt like I was burried in green beans. 

Since I can't show you a real class picture, here's a fake one.

"Teacher, did you know that my mom has an inner voice?"

First Grader

I have a mixed age class this year (blended, looped, whatever). I have my first graders (who I had as kindergarteners last year) and a new batch of kindergarteners. There is quite a difference in ability (from not knowing letters to knowing how to read). The first graders have done a good job so far of encouraging the "youngers" (we call them olders and youngers). Today a first grader came up to me, pointed to a kindergartener who was "reading" a book upside down, and said, "Teacher, do you think you can teach HIM to read like me?" I assured him that I felt pretty confident that I could.

"Teacher, my arm is beeping." (what he really meant to say is that his arm was throbbing)

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. "

Marianne Williamson

Sarah has a great picture on her blog concerning the price of gas. The other day I left my car running in the parking lot while I read my mail. It had never occured to me before that I was wasting gas. I guess it should have. It has made me more aware of the resources I use.

What's happening at our house on Labor day weekend? Much relaxing, that's what. The most work I am going to do is go fishing, and can some pears (I actually find canning and cooking to be very relaxing). After two days of school I am exhausted. I only had ten kids in my class last year, so 21 feels like a really full house to me. For my brother Kyle's birthday he got some pearl jam tickets (a band he has wanted to see since junior high). And (bienvenido daniel) my brother Dan is home from Mexico for good. I am at school and need to finish up and go home. Have a great Labor Day weekend.

The First Day of School

1. Getting used to students calling you mom.
2. "Oh, thank you for the (what is it?) it's beautiful."
3. "Here, my mom told me to give this to you."
4. "When is lunch?" every five minutes.
5. "When is recess?" every five minutes.
6. "Last year I went to God's school."
7. Stomach butterflies
8. I love the smell of crayons.
9. I hate glitter.
10. Ahhhhhhh.
11. "What was your name again?"

This is the picture I have as the background on my computer to remind me of the great summer that Paul and I had. It's hard to be gone all day even though I am having fun at work. Tomorrow school starts!

Four hundred and eleven posts later:

I can't remember right now exactly when I started blogging. I know that it's been 411 posts since those first words: test..., and I know that the only thing I can think to do right now, at 12:49am, when I can't sleep and nothing good is on T.V., is blog. This is just the first of many wakeful nights in which, though I may try my darndest, I cannot keep myself from laying in bed and thinking about SCHOOL, SCHOOL, SCHOOL. I didn't think I would ever say this, but I think I may be a workaholic. I think I would go to school right now and work on my classroom if I also didn't think it would be totally UNCALLED for at this time of the night. Many nights I lie in bed and think about how I am going to solve a certain problem with my students or classroom. And now, after spending a whole summer sleeping quite soundly, I realize how stupid it is to ruminate over things in bed. "Do not worry about what you will eat, or wear, or about when Jimmy and Timmy will finally stop hitting each other, or about Timmy's mom who insists that it was provoked, or about good artwork to put in the hallway for open house, or about not losing a kid on the next field trip." To quote my brother in law, I need to "simmer down". During particularly stressful times last year when I knew I would have trouble sleeping, I would go to the gym and wear myself out so that I would hit the sack and be out like a light. It's 1:05 now and my husband is sleeping like a baby. I think I will try again...Goodnight....

"recipes" from kindergarteners

LOGAN'S DELICIOUS RICE My brother doesn't know how to cook because he will burn his ears. You take salt and put it in the rice. You stir and bake until 6:00 at 7 degrees. Then stir it and start to take it out.

KATHERINE'S TEMPER PIZZA You put in the stove and you cook it. I don't know the temper but I know how long it cooks. It cooks 4 hours! You take it out of the oven and you put it on a plate and eat it.

MARSHALL'S CRUNCHY PIZZA You take it out of the freezer. You put it in the oven. You cook it about 15 hours at temperature as hot as hot water. Then you take it out of the oven and eat it.

GREYSON'S GRILLED STEAK You put it on a grill and you cook it. Then you put sauce on it. You cook it a pretty long time; I think about 3 minutes.

CHANCE'S WHITE POWDER BISCUITS You take white powder and take milk and pour it in there. Mom takes her rings off so she won't get them dirty. Then she flats them; hits 'em down. Takes another one and squishes it down again. She puts them in the oven and cooks them 4 hours very hot.

COREY'S DELICIOUS "BASAGNE" Well, you put some of the white stuff and some sauce on it. Then you cook spaghetti and make it flat. Then you cook it and viola! Basagne!

KAITLYN'S FRESH-WATER FISH Get a pan and put water in it. Put fish in it and stir it up and then you flip it. Put it in a plate and eat it.

BRAD'S CRUSTY FRIED CHICKEN Well, sometimes you go the Hardee's and the Hardee's man will cook your fried chicken. But my Mom cooks fried chicken in a pan. You put it on the stove. It has a lot of chicken on the inside and lots of crust on the outside. When I was four, I threw the meat away and ate the crust. Now I'm five and I eat the meat.

CAROLINE'S JUST-PERFECT-WITH-CHICKEN CORN First you pour it in the bowl and then it goes down the bowl. First you boil it, then you put it in the sink and let it get water. Wait a minute! Everytime my Mama cooks corn, my Daddy cooks chicken on the grill. I don't know what that red button is for (the one on the grill), but I know what the black one is for.

NICOLE'S "WATCH-IT" ROAST Put the roast (that big kind) in the oven in these square bowls. You watch it cooking. If you're not watching it, it starts on fire. You cook it 12 minutes at about 31 degrees.

NATHAN'S GIANT SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS You take big meatballs and take our giant spaghetti (t-h-i-s b-i-g) and I take some spaghetti and pour the meatballs in. You put it on top of the stove. It takes 100 minutes at a very hot temperature. Then you put it in a plate. Then Mom calls you to eat it.

R.J.'S "ORANGE SUGAR" PUMPKIN PIE You take some orange sugar and you cook it. After it is done, you get a fork and put holes around it. Put it in the oven for 20 minutes

http://www.alphabet-soup.net/kk.html

sunflower 

my blackberry picking buddies 

evening walk 

our garden sunflower 

Well, I'm officially here back at school getting my classroom ready for the new year. We've had our fun and now it's back to work. I really enjoy the days when no one is around and I can get a whole bunch of stuff done. I feels good to be back.

Take your daughter to work
I had to steal this picture from my friend Alysun's blog just IN CASE you don't read her blog (you should, you know). I'm not really sure what piece of farm equipment this is but Jeff seems to taking time to teach Emma the basics of farming. I love it!

I had to change the format of my comments to allow only registered users. I had been getting some sales comments. I still love your comments!

"any die hard garage sale shopper's motto is: buy first, think later"

-Sarah Marie Chance

I haven't done much garage saling this year because we really don't have room for much more stuff, but it is by far one of my favorite things to do in the summer. I love a bargain! And so does my Dad. He bought my mom a surger (this is like a sewing machine only better) for 25 dollars last weekend that had been used once. My best find ever was a Kitchenaid Mixer for 50 dollars at an estate sale. Although an estate sale is pretty morbid (going through a dead persons belongings) the thrill of the deal is very exciting to me. I would describe it as "morbidly thrilling".

Campfire 

Nehalem Bay (Kara and Annie) 

wahoo 

Paul and I are in the process of making a big decision. We would appreciate you prayers for wisdom and discernment. Don't worry, if we do make the change we'll let you know.

camping again
We just got back from camping with our friends, the Johansen's. I really wanted to post some pictures today but I realized that my camera is not available. I will put them on soon. I have never camped with friends before (always family or just Paul and I) and it was so much fun. We are already planning for next year. The beach was beautiful and this was one of those campgrounds with real toilets and showers and yurts with cable TV. More like a resort really. Paul calls it "fake" camping. I think he had fun nonetheless. Paul thinks it's a rule that you can't take a shower when you are camping or it's not really camping. I took one twice a day. Who knows when I will ever get the chance to take a shower whilst camping again?
This "fake" camping was much less peaceful than the camping I am used to. The first two nights we were actually surrounded by campsites filled with churchgoers attending family camp. Not a good situation. Tons of kids, everywhere, with those little walkie-talkies cranked up to the highest volume possible. Now I am a fan of kids, but I'm also a fan of peace and quiet (I'm aware that you parents are snickering at me right now). We moved to a quieter site the next night.
Pictures to come.

Letter I recieved at the post office today:

Dear Mrs. Robinson,
I can't wait for school. I learned how to swim the pool.
Love,
________

It's official: I have worn out my "You've Got Mail" video cassette. Good thing I have a backup DVD. Now all we need is a DVD player.

Watching the prevailing winds: Paul sails our friends sailboat with ease. It was a hot day and the winds were not very strong but it was still alot of fun. I still prefer my trusty canoe. 

Currently reading: I am really, really enjoying this book. It explores Jewish traditions from a Christian point of view, the first one being Sabbath. It's interesting to think about the value in tradition and ritual that as an evangelical I miss. Our Sabbath tradition is to go to my parent's house, eat, play with our nephew, etc. What if we really were to refrain from creating anything on the Sabbath? The book also explores food (ie. being intentional about the food we eat) and mourning, but that's as far as I've gotten. My friend Kara goes to a Presbyterian church. At confirmation the child/teen receives a quilt made by members of the congregation. They wrap the child in the quilt, symbolizing the church surrounding then in love and support. What are your favorite traditions (church or otherwise) and why. What do they mean to you? Leave a comment if you want!

Just finished reading:

This is a funny must read for anyone who has moved from the city to the sticks. One reviewer says: "He learns to wave like a native, discuss septic tanks with interest, and read local newspaper gossip with glee. When neighbors suggest using blood, bonemeal, and human hair to keep the deer out of his garden, he quips, "Are we gardening, or practicing voodoo?"

It does contain a bit of vulgarity, but not enough to make me put it down.

Our Latest Adventures
We've been very busy. With only two weeks left until I start getting my classroom ready for school we have things we must do! People to visit, places to go. Let me give you a recap:
7/27 We leave to go backpacking at Goat Rocks. We hike in to Snowgrass Flats. I am still learning how to backpack and this will be my longest ever (13 miles in three days).
7/28 We hike from Snowgrass Flats to Goat Lake. We have been to Goat Rocks before but never have seen a mountain goat. On this day we see 36 mountain goats grazing. We also see a herd of elk and hear them bugling in the evening and the morning.
7/29 We hike out 6 miles to our car and go home, stopping for ice cream and popsickles in Randle.
7/31 After church we head to Monmouth to attend a BBQ with the Peter's clan . The Peters are farmers and they live and work in very beautiful fields (right now they are gold with wheat). They sure know how to show thier guests a good time. After the BBQ we load up their big trucks with rafts and inner tubes to float down the mighty? Luckymute River. We parked one of the trucks four miles down the road by a bridge so we wouldn't have to walk all the way back. Alysun, Jeff, Dan, Jessie, Julie, Paul and I start down the river. It was warm out and the water was just right. We lazily started floating down the river. According to our hosts, it could take one hour, or three, but none of us really cared much. Five hours, some blueberries, two log jams, one nutrea, and seven very tired and hungry people later we climbed out onto the bridge where we parked the other car. That night Paul and I slept in the Peter's guest room, which Alysun has cleverly painted plaid (I wish you could see it).
8/1 Alysun, Emmaleigh, Paul and I (Jeff has to work, remember, he's a farmer) pick blackberries. We say good bye and head to the Ensz's house. We have a wonderful lunch, I get inspired to scrapbook, we see Livia for the first time and Trenton all grown up. THEN we go visit Kara and Jason in Portland.

Whew...we are taking a rest now. Today we both took naps and picked vegis from our garden that seem to be coming our of our ears. More on that later though. Enjoy the pictures!

Mt. St. Helens 

Our campsite. The view was great! Notice though that our tent is a little lopsided. Oh well, we thought, no big deal. Never ever will we do this again, no matter how great the view. I was smushed up against the side of the tent and Paul was smushed into me. 

I take a nap by a stream 

Mountain Goats 

Elk 

Sunset 

This is right before we packed out. 

Alysun, Paul and Annie pick blackberries. Emma eats blackberries. Notice the berry stained hands, mouth and shirt.