I got to teach 3rd graders all about cities through the Junior Achievement program today. This is my 3rd year to do it. It is soooo rewarding for me.
I left really really early thinking I would get there 30 minutes early. But a huge wreck made it so I got there EXACTLY on time. Man!
I walked into Ms. Barrio's class and she introduces herself with a very strong Spanish accent. I look around the room and realize that all the children have a darker complexion than myself. Hmmm, interesting. So I go to the front of the room and introduce myself as Mrs. White. Ms. Barrio then says, "Oh. None of these kids speak English, didn't they tell you?" As I pick my jaw back off the floor and get a little nervous about how the day will go, the entire class (including the teacher) starts laughing. It was a joke. They ALL speak English and are additional proficient in Spanish. I find out later that they switch teachers every other week. One week all in Spanish and one week all in English. (There is a 2nd half of this group who are mostly not Spanish speaking who are in the same program. It seems kinda cool for the kids to be able to learn through total immersion.)
The class is absolutely delightful. The entire day. In fact, they invite me to come outside and eat lunch with them and everything. I loved it and I look forward to another fun JA experience next year!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Additional note on the craft
We came up with several ways to attach the pen (like taping a piece of ribbon underneath and tying around the pen, but because the holder is at a slant the pen rests perfectly there on top.
And Caroline said I should put this on Etsy. What is Etsy? Apparently I am out of the loop on that one.
And Caroline said I should put this on Etsy. What is Etsy? Apparently I am out of the loop on that one.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Tutorial (especially for Meredith)
Buy you a $1 plastic frame (front photo)
(back photo)
Turn it upside down and lay it on it's side.
Pick some fun paper & cut to fit.
Take off the last 2 pages of the sticky note pad (because for some reason it tends to lose half the pad if you leave the brown backing on it). Use a piece of double side tape to adhere.
Add cute embellishments. And either buy cute pens or unscrew the pen and put a piece of sticky note or matching paper to match the pad. This is the only tall one I've made. All the rest (which here are some more examples) are wide. The following examples are thank you for my choir peeps for their hard work on the black light song.
These are my ones for boys.
I hope you have as much fun making these as I have!!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
One last post for today
I know, I know - 4 posts in a day is a little bit of overkill. If I were smart I would have scheduled them to post one a day for the next 4 days. Oh well, too late now!
My dog walkers came back yesterday. They said that they forgot about coming over a couple days and they came over when I wasn't home a couple of days. I was relieved.
Richard went on a Father/Son/Priesthood camp out last night. Allison spent the night over here. We went to a friend's house for a couple of hours with a couple other girls and their kids. It was fun. Unfortunately I chose to stay up a little too late so when the dogs came a barking at 7:00 I was still a little tired. Still am a little tired.
My dog walkers came back yesterday. They said that they forgot about coming over a couple days and they came over when I wasn't home a couple of days. I was relieved.
Richard went on a Father/Son/Priesthood camp out last night. Allison spent the night over here. We went to a friend's house for a couple of hours with a couple other girls and their kids. It was fun. Unfortunately I chose to stay up a little too late so when the dogs came a barking at 7:00 I was still a little tired. Still am a little tired.
New glasses that I actually wear
So after all the drama about glasses you would think I would have posted pics of the ones I actually wear on a day to day basis. And yes I am going for the 1950's librarian look. I want to match my 1950's mechanic hubby's glasses.
As a side note, the first time my dad saw me in these he said, "Hello Velma!" I thought it was hysterical. (Thanks Dad for even reading my posts to know to make that joke!)
You can't really tell from these pics (unless you click on them and enlarge them) but they have pink squiggles on the sides and red rhinestones on the front.
As a side note, the first time my dad saw me in these he said, "Hello Velma!" I thought it was hysterical. (Thanks Dad for even reading my posts to know to make that joke!)
You can't really tell from these pics (unless you click on them and enlarge them) but they have pink squiggles on the sides and red rhinestones on the front.
Super cute craft
You might have noticed that I finally transferred photos from my camera. Took me long enough! That's why there will be at least 3 posts today.
So I learned this super cute super easy craft at the Craft Hobby Group at work. (I'll have to show Loralee for her nofussfabulous.com website. As a side note, if anyone could teach me how to do hyperlinks in my posts, I would sooooooo appreciate it! Amy and Mandy both come to mind as great hyperlinkers.)
I don't think you can really tell from these pics but these are 4 x 6 plastic frames turned upside-down and laid flat. You cut out and slide in a piece of paper, attach a sticky note pad with double stick tape, embellish and add a pen. So cute, so fun for gifts. I've already made like 10 and I'm going to make like 15 more today to recognize my little choir at work. These are the ones I made for my sisters for Mother's Day. I'm not going to lie, I've gotten better since then. But the only one that I really don't like is the one I gave Jayne. (Sorry Jayne!!) So that means I will make her another one! I think it would be fun to have one for each phone in the house... assuming you have house phones. Otherwise I think it would be fun to have one in each room that you might need to jot down a note or reminder.
I'm pretty sure that Melanie got one of these two. I don't remember if she got pink or blue.
This one is Allison's. She likes Spongebob and I recently bought a stack of cool sparkly Spongebob stickers. Richard picked this one out as the best for this craft.
This one is Jayne's. I mostly just don't like the 3 stickers. I love the fairy paper because Jayne loves fairies. But at the time I didn't have many embellishments and I thought these went okay. (Really? What the heck is wrong with your eyes?! They don't match AT ALL!)
I actually made one for my mother too but I changed it up and didn't take a photo of the changed up one. (This was going to be her gift before I decided to get her the one from the last post.)
So I learned this super cute super easy craft at the Craft Hobby Group at work. (I'll have to show Loralee for her nofussfabulous.com website. As a side note, if anyone could teach me how to do hyperlinks in my posts, I would sooooooo appreciate it! Amy and Mandy both come to mind as great hyperlinkers.)
I don't think you can really tell from these pics but these are 4 x 6 plastic frames turned upside-down and laid flat. You cut out and slide in a piece of paper, attach a sticky note pad with double stick tape, embellish and add a pen. So cute, so fun for gifts. I've already made like 10 and I'm going to make like 15 more today to recognize my little choir at work. These are the ones I made for my sisters for Mother's Day. I'm not going to lie, I've gotten better since then. But the only one that I really don't like is the one I gave Jayne. (Sorry Jayne!!) So that means I will make her another one! I think it would be fun to have one for each phone in the house... assuming you have house phones. Otherwise I think it would be fun to have one in each room that you might need to jot down a note or reminder.
I'm pretty sure that Melanie got one of these two. I don't remember if she got pink or blue.
This one is Allison's. She likes Spongebob and I recently bought a stack of cool sparkly Spongebob stickers. Richard picked this one out as the best for this craft.
This one is Jayne's. I mostly just don't like the 3 stickers. I love the fairy paper because Jayne loves fairies. But at the time I didn't have many embellishments and I thought these went okay. (Really? What the heck is wrong with your eyes?! They don't match AT ALL!)
I actually made one for my mother too but I changed it up and didn't take a photo of the changed up one. (This was going to be her gift before I decided to get her the one from the last post.)
Happy Mother's Day Mother!
I mostly spent Mother's Day feeling sorry for myself. It's hard when you want to be a mother and you're not. Baby showers are really hard for me. I'm not really sure why because I don't particularly want a baby - just a child. Most any age would do I think. Strangely I'm not saddened by spending time with or teaching or taking care of other people's children. I just sometimes wish they were my own. Like the little boy I taught in Primary TWO YEARS AGO who REMEMBERED MY BIRTHDAY. Seriously almost shed tears on that one.
Anyway, so I spent Mother's Day feeling sorry for myself instead of feeling grateful for my mother. (Sorry Mom!) So this is my post to tell her how much I appreciate her.
She really is amazing. I've been convinced for years that she hasn't been translated because we all need her so much. :o)
One of the things my mother passed along to me is an intense love of reading. She has no children or grandchildren with her and she still goes to the library and checks out children's books. How cool is that?! She is the one who got me hooked on Fancy Nancy. It's about a little girl who likes to be fancy and say fancy words. Her family is very plain (they don't even get sprinkles on their ice cream) but she wants to be fancy. Part of the appeal for me is the amazing vocabulary that she introduces to kids. Love love love!
So here is your present Mom. I probably am too cheap to ship it to you so you'll have to come back to Texas to get it. (That way we can spend time together too!) And yes, I did get myself one too - like mother, like daughter. Oh and Allison pointed out that these are DEFINITELY dalmation spots and NOT cow spots. (Yeah, yeah - they're both black and white.)
Anyway, so I spent Mother's Day feeling sorry for myself instead of feeling grateful for my mother. (Sorry Mom!) So this is my post to tell her how much I appreciate her.
She really is amazing. I've been convinced for years that she hasn't been translated because we all need her so much. :o)
One of the things my mother passed along to me is an intense love of reading. She has no children or grandchildren with her and she still goes to the library and checks out children's books. How cool is that?! She is the one who got me hooked on Fancy Nancy. It's about a little girl who likes to be fancy and say fancy words. Her family is very plain (they don't even get sprinkles on their ice cream) but she wants to be fancy. Part of the appeal for me is the amazing vocabulary that she introduces to kids. Love love love!
So here is your present Mom. I probably am too cheap to ship it to you so you'll have to come back to Texas to get it. (That way we can spend time together too!) And yes, I did get myself one too - like mother, like daughter. Oh and Allison pointed out that these are DEFINITELY dalmation spots and NOT cow spots. (Yeah, yeah - they're both black and white.)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
A few short things
I'm tired so these will be short. And I still have photos to post of my cool black and pink glasses as well as this way amazing craft that I learned and have been making for all my friends and family that I just haven't downloaded to my computer.
1 - I pretty much haven't seen my little dog walking friends since I posted about them. I'm feeling a little insecure that the parents read my blog and decided they couldn't talk to me anymore. The dogs are sad. Just saying.
2 - Beauty Night for Young Womens tonight was GREAT! I didn't even mind teaching the serious class about proper hygiene and smelling good. Actually I know it was WAAAAAY better than if I did make up or hair.
2b - I really do love serving in Young Womens.
3 - On a related note, I hate deodorant. Actually I just hate finding new deodorant. And those companies really do mean satisfactoin guaranteed. If you hate it, they will totally send you a reimbursement check. And you probably knew this but didn't realize that you knew this - sweat doesn't stink. It's the bacteria that forms when sweat is in a hot humid place like the armpit. Sweat running down your face is usually odorless.
4 - My sister Melanie is NOT being paid enough. She should totally be a party planner. She put on this Jungle themed ordeal at her daycare and it was AWESOME! I was very impressed.
5 - I wish I knew how to attach video to my blog. I would totally attach the black light white glove song that we recorded for choir at work. It's an unprofessional masterpiece.
6 - I collected 2,724 pennies, 46 nickels, 66 dimes and 29 quarters for my sister/nephews penny drive for March of Dimes. That's $43.39. I think I'm pretty much the coolest sister/aunt ever.
7 - I just watched a video of my niece's dance recital. She's like 4 or 5. Wow I can't remember. Anywho, it was adorable. We are sooooo going to be dancing buds the next time she comes to TX. I soooooo just got a new leo and skirt for my dress up clothes room that just might fit her. (I wonder if I still fit into my leo and skirt - that was only a couple years ago.) I need to take another dance class.
8 - One of my primary boys from 2 years ago remembered my birthday. He associated it with Mother's Day and brought me a lovely gift to church on Sunday. Seriously made me want to cry. I love that kid. He's the sweetest 9 year old that I've ever met. Good thing he's 9, otherwise Richard would have a run for his money. (Just kidding honey!)
Finally leaving my most important all encompassing subject for last... my husband wants to buy a 1988 military Humvee. It's been decomissioned (which means it doesn't run and needs a little tender loving care). It cost $15,000. Keep in mind that restoring cars is something he absolutely loves. Also keep in mind that we are also trying to get out of debt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
1 - I pretty much haven't seen my little dog walking friends since I posted about them. I'm feeling a little insecure that the parents read my blog and decided they couldn't talk to me anymore. The dogs are sad. Just saying.
2 - Beauty Night for Young Womens tonight was GREAT! I didn't even mind teaching the serious class about proper hygiene and smelling good. Actually I know it was WAAAAAY better than if I did make up or hair.
2b - I really do love serving in Young Womens.
3 - On a related note, I hate deodorant. Actually I just hate finding new deodorant. And those companies really do mean satisfactoin guaranteed. If you hate it, they will totally send you a reimbursement check. And you probably knew this but didn't realize that you knew this - sweat doesn't stink. It's the bacteria that forms when sweat is in a hot humid place like the armpit. Sweat running down your face is usually odorless.
4 - My sister Melanie is NOT being paid enough. She should totally be a party planner. She put on this Jungle themed ordeal at her daycare and it was AWESOME! I was very impressed.
5 - I wish I knew how to attach video to my blog. I would totally attach the black light white glove song that we recorded for choir at work. It's an unprofessional masterpiece.
6 - I collected 2,724 pennies, 46 nickels, 66 dimes and 29 quarters for my sister/nephews penny drive for March of Dimes. That's $43.39. I think I'm pretty much the coolest sister/aunt ever.
7 - I just watched a video of my niece's dance recital. She's like 4 or 5. Wow I can't remember. Anywho, it was adorable. We are sooooo going to be dancing buds the next time she comes to TX. I soooooo just got a new leo and skirt for my dress up clothes room that just might fit her. (I wonder if I still fit into my leo and skirt - that was only a couple years ago.) I need to take another dance class.
8 - One of my primary boys from 2 years ago remembered my birthday. He associated it with Mother's Day and brought me a lovely gift to church on Sunday. Seriously made me want to cry. I love that kid. He's the sweetest 9 year old that I've ever met. Good thing he's 9, otherwise Richard would have a run for his money. (Just kidding honey!)
Finally leaving my most important all encompassing subject for last... my husband wants to buy a 1988 military Humvee. It's been decomissioned (which means it doesn't run and needs a little tender loving care). It cost $15,000. Keep in mind that restoring cars is something he absolutely loves. Also keep in mind that we are also trying to get out of debt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Happy birthday to me!!
It's 7:30 on my birthday morning and I've already been up for an hour! (Thanks Angus, preciate you bud.) It wouldn't be quite so bad if we hadn't stayed up until 1:00 last night. (That's when we got back from our "rescue mission" to help someone in need.) I think I might be a little tired today, but it's my birthday and things are always fun at work on my birthday.
I am now 32 years old. Wow. Kinda makes me reflect on life and where I am and where I've been. Things are not exactly as I planned when I was 8 years old but I am very happy with the things the Lord has blessed me with. I'm grateful for my family - my sweet husband and our sweet 4 doggie children that lessen the bummer of not having real children yet and then for my parents and siblings families. I'm grateful for my job that helps provide for our needs. I'm grateful to have a neat calling at church. (I really think Young Womens is my favorite place to serve. Oh - and I'm also delighted to have the same calling as my mother now. How cool is that?!) I'm grateful for our little home. (And if I didn't have to get ready for work I would post photos of all these things that I'm grateful for.)
One of my birthday presents is $$ for clothing. So far I've found 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of slacks, 1 skirt and 4 tops. Hooray for the clearance racks at Kohls! I'm excited to open the rest of my birthday presents (that I got to pick out) later on. And I'm also delighted to still have a little bit of $$ left for clothing (thank you clearance rack at Kohls!) Maybe I'll go spend the rest tonight.
It's going to be a great birthday!
I am now 32 years old. Wow. Kinda makes me reflect on life and where I am and where I've been. Things are not exactly as I planned when I was 8 years old but I am very happy with the things the Lord has blessed me with. I'm grateful for my family - my sweet husband and our sweet 4 doggie children that lessen the bummer of not having real children yet and then for my parents and siblings families. I'm grateful for my job that helps provide for our needs. I'm grateful to have a neat calling at church. (I really think Young Womens is my favorite place to serve. Oh - and I'm also delighted to have the same calling as my mother now. How cool is that?!) I'm grateful for our little home. (And if I didn't have to get ready for work I would post photos of all these things that I'm grateful for.)
One of my birthday presents is $$ for clothing. So far I've found 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of slacks, 1 skirt and 4 tops. Hooray for the clearance racks at Kohls! I'm excited to open the rest of my birthday presents (that I got to pick out) later on. And I'm also delighted to still have a little bit of $$ left for clothing (thank you clearance rack at Kohls!) Maybe I'll go spend the rest tonight.
It's going to be a great birthday!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Just in case...
...you are new to the blog and don't want to read all my boring posts, there are a couple of really good ones on March 7th and February something (I think 25). These posts totally include great dress-up clothes photos!!
Rebecca, Elizabeth & Acra
Those are the "alternate" names my 3 new friends gave me to call them. They are 10 years old. We met last week when we were walking the dogs. They wanted to meet the dogs, then they asked to help walk them home, then they asked if they could come back and help the next day, and the rest... is history.
I now have 3 dog walking helpers. (And I even decided to pay them because the dogs are getting more exercise than ever before. Besides that Rebecca asked if she could do anything for me for one dollar. I figured they were definitely worth one dollar a week!)
Yesterday they came inside after the walk. Having not ever been a mom before it didn't really occur to me that they needed permission before I let them come in. I had already met Rebecca's mom and dad. They are really neat people. They even have chickens in their backyard. I'm excited to have neighbor friends! Anywho, they came inside to help me take off the leashes. They walked down the hall and saw the dress up clothes room. They (much to my delight) were excited and wanted to try stuff on. I told them no but we could another day.
Later I was thinking about it and called my mother to see if it was creepy to have your 10 year old play at a grown-ups house in the neighborhood. She said yes if you don't meet them. I then realized that I needed to make sure they know who I am and have my phone number, address and blog address. (That way they can find photos of the dress up clothes room or be entertained by my goofiness and mostly decide that I'm not creepy.)
I am actually so grateful for these girls. It's so hard when you want to be a mom and you are not. Mother's Day was pretty hard for me this year. Unfortunately that will have to wait for another day for me to tell you about it. I really need to head to bed.
I now have 3 dog walking helpers. (And I even decided to pay them because the dogs are getting more exercise than ever before. Besides that Rebecca asked if she could do anything for me for one dollar. I figured they were definitely worth one dollar a week!)
Yesterday they came inside after the walk. Having not ever been a mom before it didn't really occur to me that they needed permission before I let them come in. I had already met Rebecca's mom and dad. They are really neat people. They even have chickens in their backyard. I'm excited to have neighbor friends! Anywho, they came inside to help me take off the leashes. They walked down the hall and saw the dress up clothes room. They (much to my delight) were excited and wanted to try stuff on. I told them no but we could another day.
Later I was thinking about it and called my mother to see if it was creepy to have your 10 year old play at a grown-ups house in the neighborhood. She said yes if you don't meet them. I then realized that I needed to make sure they know who I am and have my phone number, address and blog address. (That way they can find photos of the dress up clothes room or be entertained by my goofiness and mostly decide that I'm not creepy.)
I am actually so grateful for these girls. It's so hard when you want to be a mom and you are not. Mother's Day was pretty hard for me this year. Unfortunately that will have to wait for another day for me to tell you about it. I really need to head to bed.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Feelings...
It's time for another feelings blog...
I feel:
bad that I haven't blogged in a couple weeks.
tired because the dogs are now getting up before 6:00 instead of 7:00.
annoyed that my husband is out working on a car. (Not at him mind you, really more at the obligation to this particular vehicle.)
tired because I haven't been sleeping especially soundly and the dogs are getting up BEFORE 6:00!!
guilty that I haven't done any of the work I should do on YW camp.
lonely because I really don't have a good girlfriend that I hang out with. And I'm not even sure lonely is the right word. I have my sweet husband and we are enjoying each other and getting along swimmingly. I think it's a female companionship thing. Maybe I miss my mother. She's in Mississippi now. And we kinda quit spending quality time together before she even left. Maybe it's because I don't really have any friends at work right now. Maybe it's because all of my church friends are just that, church friends. When we talk it's about church. When we get together its a church activity. Not so much anything outside of church.
(wow that was a long feeling)
irritated because I just remembered my pajama pants are still in the washer and I forgot to move them.
grateful because my husband just came in finished with the car.
tired. Really, really tired. The kind of tired that makes you forget what you are doing and make mistakes on things you know really well. The kind that gives you a headache. Am I the only one who get tiredness induced headaches?
excited about plenty of things but just too tired to focus on those. The tired is mostly making me feel blah. Wow - I just realized how dang tired I really am. And tomorrow morning I get to go get blood taken on my way to work. Joy.
curious about how many people actually read my blog...
I feel:
bad that I haven't blogged in a couple weeks.
tired because the dogs are now getting up before 6:00 instead of 7:00.
annoyed that my husband is out working on a car. (Not at him mind you, really more at the obligation to this particular vehicle.)
tired because I haven't been sleeping especially soundly and the dogs are getting up BEFORE 6:00!!
guilty that I haven't done any of the work I should do on YW camp.
lonely because I really don't have a good girlfriend that I hang out with. And I'm not even sure lonely is the right word. I have my sweet husband and we are enjoying each other and getting along swimmingly. I think it's a female companionship thing. Maybe I miss my mother. She's in Mississippi now. And we kinda quit spending quality time together before she even left. Maybe it's because I don't really have any friends at work right now. Maybe it's because all of my church friends are just that, church friends. When we talk it's about church. When we get together its a church activity. Not so much anything outside of church.
(wow that was a long feeling)
irritated because I just remembered my pajama pants are still in the washer and I forgot to move them.
grateful because my husband just came in finished with the car.
tired. Really, really tired. The kind of tired that makes you forget what you are doing and make mistakes on things you know really well. The kind that gives you a headache. Am I the only one who get tiredness induced headaches?
excited about plenty of things but just too tired to focus on those. The tired is mostly making me feel blah. Wow - I just realized how dang tired I really am. And tomorrow morning I get to go get blood taken on my way to work. Joy.
curious about how many people actually read my blog...
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