How To Get Some Work Done At School....

Buy her a banana cream pie Blizzard....

....and create some places where she can hide.

Libby was such a trooper yesterday. She loves to play with all of the things in my classroom and was even helpful a few times when I asked her to do a job for me. At one point, after she'd been quiet for awhile she asked me, "Mom, are you gonna tell the kids in your class not to pick their nose too?"

My reply?

"Yes. Yes, I am."

Remembering Fuzzy

Today we're remembering our dearly beloved friend Fuzzy.

With a worm.

She named him Fuzzy.

Back to School

Usually the words "back to school" spoken in July make me want to plug my ears and yell "Lalalalalalalala!". But, this week I moved back into my classroom and have made tons of progress. The stack of broken down cardboard boxes in the hallway makes me giddy. Each box on the pile represents being one step closer to getting my classroom ship shape for September. The bummer is that I feel like I just packed these boxes. The good news is that I totally remember how this feels. This, meaning getting ready for a school year to begin. And hopefully that means I'll remember what it feels like to actually teach.

On Sunday night, after we unpacked the trailer from our Shasta trip, I had a brainstorm. "Hey, let's back, back, back that thing (minus one bed, which turned out to be a total bonus) up to the shed and load my classroom into the trailer." On Monday morning that's what we did. It took exactly one load to get my classroom moved in one day. One day. And not even a full day. We loaded the trailer while Libby was at camp. Then, I checked into the building at 1:00. We had the trailer unloaded and I checked out by 2:00. Since then, I've been unpacking and putting away my classroom. In the mornings with Peyton, and in the afternoons all by myself. I remember doing this. I like teaching. I'm a teacher. I think this is gonna be good.

Shane came by yesterday and I recruited him to help me rearrange some furniture and even construct some new furniture out of some old furniture. Very DIY, we are. It doesn't look like much yet, but just wait...

Peyton heads down the hallway with her backpack which hits her just below the knees. She's got her backpack because Libby's at camp with hers. I packed Peyton a lunch to eat at school just like Libby. They both resemble turtles and move at about the same pace. Here, Peyton scrutinizes the bathroom light which turns on automatically when we walk by it. Spooky. Don't even get me started on the automatic flushing toilets. Terrifying. Thankfully, the girls weren't with me when I accidentally set off the alarm system. They may have never gone back.

Note to self: When you go in that door you have exactly .05 seconds to get to the key pad (which is roughly two miles away) and disarm the system. Don't go in that door.

Deconstruction, and construction.

Lunchtime for Peytie.

As I'm putting things away I'm throwing out a lot, which is very gratifying. I've always liked the cutesy details of my classroom, but teaching fifth grade seems a little more businesslike than third, and letting go of those details is actually pretty liberating. Besides, kids have too much visual stimulation in their days already, right? Minimalistic is the way to go. I'll let you know how that theory holds up.

A huge shout out to my friend Nancy Hall who recently vacated her old (and my new) classroom. Not to mention leaving me her j-o-b, job. She left the room in the best shape possible, which has made moving in so much easier. Thank you Nancy!

Shasta 2010

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll let my camera speak for me. This one's a(nother) novel....

Mt. Shasta from I5

We went to bed late the first night, and Peyton wasn't interested in sleeping. Shane went to check on her after awhile and tuck her in...... again. When he jumped (literally) back into bed, the whole thing collapsed. With me in it. I rolled onto the floor. All we could do was laugh. I slept in the other bed with the girls and Shane slept on the couch.

The next morning Shane took the bunk apart with an axe he borrowed from my dad. It's better without the bed, anyway.

Shasta has been a great vacation over the years, but last year's discovery that there are Black Widows had me a little freaked out. Lots of Black Widows. Did I mention that they eat their own mate? And bite people who then get very very sick? We came equipped with spider spray this year and I looked in all the nooks and crannies before setting up camp. We did kill one under my dad's table. This one was in the light box a few camp sights over. Blech. Isn't she horrible? And menacing? And poisonous.

This dog and his owners walked by one night and I asked if I could take a picture. Are you kidding me? Look at those ears...

Girl time with Aunt JuJu

My water babies

This is how you tolerate temperatures over 100 degrees.

Worn out

This is about how clean the girls were all week.

Air time

Jamison on the rope swing

Peyton's pretty unfazed by a time out in the trailer.

Peyton's first Pop Rocks. Loved 'em.

Peyton lovin' on Jersey

Happy Birthday Jamison! Twelve years old!

Drivin'

Libby somersaults on the lawn at Lilly's in Mt. Shasta City.

Monkey see. Monkey do.

We had a flat on the trailer on the way home. The first in two years. Our hero changed it and we were home 20 minutes later.

it's always good to be home....

It just gets better....

"Mom? Mom. Maaaa-aaahm. MOM! MAAAAAAAAAAHM!!!!"

"What!?"

"Can you show me where Grunny's boobies are?"

Oh, for the love.

Libby

7.9.10

Daily Libbyism

I cannot make this stuff up.

This afternoon Shane and I were both inside the house while the girls played in the back yard. Libby was turning every square foot of dirt into mud, and Peyton was doing what Peyton does on the deck. The door was open and we'd check on them about every 40 seconds. In an instant the peace was disrupted with the kind of screams that send parents into a frantic dash for the door. Libby got inside the door before we could get out of it and both of us had to stifle our laughter. She was soaking wet and bawling. She pointed angrily outside and said, "I don't like Grunny doing that!....and the hose..." I'm thinking she just tried to make Grunden her scape goat. He hates to be sprayed with a hose and won't come within 50 feet of anyone holding one, so her story didn't add up. I asked, "Did someone spray you with the hose?"

"Yes."

"Was someone holding the hose and they sprayed you?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Meeeeeeeee!".....followed by more tears.

Luckily, when Shane and I burst out laughing, she did too.

On another note, this week was Libby's first week of camp and she loved it. She's been singing the songs she learned, telling us about the projects she did and generally, loving it. Phew! Her week was a raging success! Here are some of her projects:

I promise not to bore you by turning my blog into a brag board of work that the girls produce. But, if you know anything about my current situation (a.k.a. my anxiety over returning to work) then you know how important it is that my kids are happy and involved in school/camp settings that are good for them. This week has been great for us all. Case in point.... We ended the day by going out for Sushi. Libby fell asleep on the way to dinner and didn't wake up again until the next morning. She just slept in the booth while we ate and went straight from the car to her bed when we got home. That's one happy camper....

At least it's ad free....right?

Today Libby said to my friend Julie and I, "Thank you for your contribution." We weren't totally sure what she meant, but I'll admit I was super impressed by her use of the word contribution. Moments later, it became clear. She said it again, only this time she finished what she'd set out to say. It went like this.....

"Thank you for your contribution to this PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you."

Um, what can I say? I'm glad the sun is finally here. Perhaps it's time to unplug.

God Bless America!

Peyton has just learned to lay down in the tub and let me wash her hair. She's fairly relaxed about getting her face wet, even. Maybe she'll be a little fish.

This is Peyton on the way to the parade staging area. The Pet Parade has been a family tradition since I roller skated with my dog Hippie when I was (probably) seven years old. For this year's parade we brought our cat and our mouse....

Peyton spotted my family and made a bee line for them. Focus was not her strong suit and Shane spent a lot of the parade retrieving her from whoever she'd run into. She peddled those little legs as fast as they'd go, she just forgot to watch where she was going.

Popsicles for parade finishers.

Heading into the park with Jayden.

Peyton and animals.... Like a moth to a flame.

This is my dad. This photo speaks for itself, don't you think? I've heard the Bend Bulletin ran a similar picture.

Long time friends... Julie, Stacy, Hollie and Me.

Back at my mom's house for a bar-b-que and fireworks.

Nancy sparkles.

Peyton was a bit wary of the fireworks and the noise that came with them.

Getting into the groove of the holiday.

Watching the fireworks.

We had to drive home late last night so we'd be home today for Libby's first day of dinosaur camp. She loved it by the way, which was such a relief for me. Shane dropped her off and teared up at the notion that his big girl is big enough for this. Her teacher said she loved it, and said she never shed a tear. She made a fossil and a dinosaur mask. She told us she'd made friends, but couldn't remember some of their names. She ate her lunch that Daddy packed for her. She came home with a stack of envelopes she called her "mail" and she and my friend Julie spent some time this afternoon making a mailbox to put in her room. She did know a couple of people going into this experience, but all in all this was a bigger adjustment for her mom and dad than anyone. I told her over and over today how proud of her I am. I really am. The look on her face isn't about not wanting to go to camp. She was annoyed at me for wanting to take her picture when they were trying to get out the door.

Shane dropped Libby off at camp and when he came back Peyton first heard the garage door and said, "iiiiiiiiiibbyyyyyyyy", "iiiiiiiiiiiibbyyyyyyyy." "iiiiiiiiibbyyyyyy." She wasn't expecting Libby to be anywhere other than with her dad. Luckily, my friend Julie's staying with us for a few days, and Peyton made her her playmate. Then, she moved on to Grunny.