CYIA team from Lewis County, from left: Mark, Tobin, Alicia, Emma, me, Alana and Marie.

I'm back from summer camp! I am soooo glad to be home.

Isn't Paul a great photographer? He took this picture of our neighbor's dog, Dexter, yesterday. I will miss him (the husband, not the dog) next week when I am at camp. You won't hear from me for a while but I will make sure to post many pictures when I get back.

Our first crop of strawberries. Last year we harvested about two the WHOLE year. So we're very excited.

Two of my friends from highschool, Addie and Kara, and I got together last night for fun. Addie lives in South Carolina and was home for a week. Kara lives in Bellingham. Thanks Alysun for the recipe for Emergency Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Broiler frosting. It was a hit. Anybody want to start a recipe blog? I've been seriously thinking about it. You can have multiple contributers on one blog, so we could all contribute. Let me know if you are interested. Leave me a comment. People are always asking me for recipes, and recently my sister in law pointed out that I never remember to give it to them. Maybe this would help.

Isn't she lovely? And yes, the curls are natural. And yes, at 29 she's still got 'em. Eat your heart out. Check out Smith's Bliss for more.

My husband actually said this while we were shopping at Macy's (eyeing a salesperson suspiciously):

"Don't look too lost or they'll come and harass us."

He said this under his breath as if we were on some secret mission. Shopping is a foreign thing to him. Everything must be questioned. In fact this is the only time when he sees me at the leader and he as the sidekick. Even though we are shopping for him. We shop for the polo shirt, the button up shirt, and the T-shirt. He views all other styles with extreme suspicion. Once we went into Eddie Bauer and I said, "How about you go over there and look at the men's, and I'll look at these dresses." He gave me a look as if to say, "Are you out of your mind? Leave me alone to wander this store? You're not going to protect me from harassing salespeople?" I actually started to walk away to see what he would do. He just stood there, like an abandoned child. One time I saw something across the store and headed over to look at it, somehow I lost him, and when he finally caught up with me, he expressed his displeasure at me leaving him alone. "I couldn't find you," he said.
I have to say though, after we were all done shopping for him, he actually followed me around while I shopped for myself. I even modeled some clothes for him. It's a give and take thing I guess. In the end he did have fun. He tried on all his clothes when he got home, just to make sure that they went with the things he already had. I love him. Paul is starting an internship in a week and needed the appropriate clothing. He goes shopping about once every four years (I'm really not kidding). We have been married for almost 5 years and I can only remember one other major shopping trip, where he actually bought things other than for hiking or camping or other such outdoor sports.
It's Monday and it's raining torrentially outside. I am in my (empty, sniff sniff) classroom cleaning up. Have a great week.

Kayaking at Tugboat Annie's (6/10/06)

Bliss (and a bit of sadness too)

Yes, it is the last day of school. I bet you were wondering (all three readers of my blog) where I have been all this time. The kindergarteners cried, the first graders cheered....the joy, the sadness, the pure freedom of it all....some faces panic stricken (what? kindergarten is over, why, it just started!)....some faces joyful (get me out of this prison!)

Yes, now I start that season of the year which actually takes a little getting used to. I know, you're saying, "Gag me, lady, I have to work all year." Needless to say, I'm outa here!

Here are some quotes that I forgot to blog about:

"Teacher, my grandma got her gold-bladder cut out."
"My favorite part of kindergarten was learning how to read." (I'm tearing up)

Have a great weekend. We are (weather permitting) going kayaking with the fam tomorrow. The whole family. As a blogger, I live for these outings because I KNOW there will be a story. More later...

One of the benefits of my job.

We went to the zoo in Tacoma today. Some of these kids don't get to the city very much and here's how I can tell:

Student: "Look, teacher, there's cool writing and pictures and stuff on that wall."
Teacher: "Yes that's very nice"
Teacher: (to herself) "Yeah, that's called grafitti"

Smile

I really miss college sometimes, especially MY college, MBC. Here's one (of many) reason why:

Once found, now they're lost

"Yeah, we voted for Taylor twice. We were gonna vote again and then daddy told us it was a dollar each time you vote."

-Kindergartener

My husband works very hard.

Wife: You are going to get sick if you don't sleep and relax more.
Husband: I don't get sick lady.

Two days later:

Husband: Well, lady, you're gonna say 'I told you so'...

(no, I don't nag my husband and yes, 'lady' is a term of endearment in our house)

Post #555 - a post about nothing in particular

This is one of the two personal days I get per year. I always save them until the end of the year in case I have an emergency. But then I get to the end of the year and realize that I can't take a day off because there is too much to do. But I did anyway. How can you just give up a day off? That's why I'm blogging at 9:28am, contemplating doing laundry and going to the gym or Walmart to get my oil changed.
At school my students have been taking standardized tests. They have been so good about it, and have been trying so hard. I'm really proud! I think Kindergarten is a little young for standardized test (ya think?) but they think it's a pretty fun game and it makes them feel like big kids so I guess there's no harm done.
Well, the day stretches out before me and I'm sure it will be gone before I know it. I went to a Christian elementary school and in the morning we would always sing, "this is the day, this is the day that the Lord hath made..." What a great start remember that God made this day, I will rejoice and be glad in it. Of course, it's a little easier to "be glad in it" when you have the day off, but you get the idea. I think there is a treadmill with my name on it...

For a while I have been so irritated at the evangelical community that I am a part of. Why so much hysteria over the Davinci movie? It's just a book / movie, and it has lies in it, but people tell us lies all day long, what's the fuss over this one? I finally put my finger on it today when I read this very articulate article. Let me know what you think:

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/pc_article.php?id=7179

Maybe we could take some of this fear / hysteria and direct it at the pornography industry? abortion? anything else! just a thought.

Paul and I saw Caedmon's Call this last weekend! I was not disappointed. I have really liked this bands sound and message for a long, long time and it was neat to be able to see them in concert.

Mother's Day Spruce Up

I have a picture of them doing this when they were teenagers. There was the inevtitable "whoops" (something you don't like to hear when your hair is being cut) and "how do you feel about a shorter hair cut?" Dan's hair started out about 5 inches longer (not kidding) than it is now.

Wes and Paul share a love of books, books, books. Wes seems to be fixated on a certain page of this I Spy book. It's seriously all he ever wants to look at.

Paul and the fam have started demolition of Kyle and Anna's bathroom in thier NEW HOUSE. They had fun tearing down walls and pulling up floors, now comes the hard part of actually putting the bathroom in.

Paul got the internship! Also, it will turn into a part time job in the fall (he has a few more classes to finish up) if they feel they work well together. This development is moving at the rate of six (cookie-cutter) houses a month, so you can imagine that it will be a busy place. Paul is excited! He will be working on scheduling and infrastructure (i'm not really sure what that means) and helping manage things.