The Video part 2

I previewed the National Geographic video last night and in the first two minutes I realized this was not going to fly with my bad boys. I should have looked at the copyright date on the back. It was 1982. It was probably a video I watched in school. In 1982 I was 12 years old and in the 8th grade!!! So I pop in the Pole to Pole video and start watching that. Unfortunately it plays more like a travel guide than anything else and I figure this isn't going to work either. I go to Tivo and see what I have recorded. There is a video of the making of some of Disney World's rides and attractions. I decide that is what we will watch. So today had absolutely nothing to do with Africa like I had planned.

Oh well.

Friday Videos

Today I have been in a bit of a panic. It is Thursday and in my class on Fridays I try to bring in a video usually having something to do with what we have been studying in class. It isn't a "movie" as the kids would like but a documentary or some sort of TV show corresponding to our subject. For the past two weeks we have been doing Africa. Last week we watched the Biography of the Wright Brothers (nothing to do with Africa). So this week I wanted to find something on Africa. The kids have been asking about the Egyptian pyramids and I was hoping to find something interesting on TV but to no avail. So this evening I went to the local library to see what videos they had that I could show.

They had a series called "Pole to Pole" it is an A and E series that showed in the early 1990's on PBS. One man (and his camera crew) take off at the North Pole and travel to the South Pole. They go through all kinds of countries and the cover much of the continent of Africa. At one point at the equator he shows the spin of the Earth affecting water draining out of a bucket. On one side of the equator it goes clockwise and on the other side it goes counter clockwise. Pretty cool.

I also got a video (National Geographic) on Egyptian pyramids. Now the panic has changed from can I find a video to which one do I show. Oh, the dilemmas.

The Fever

My oldest came down with a fever on Wednesday of last week. He continued to have a fever until Sunday morning. Sunday morning my middle one started with a fever. She is still sick today and currently curled up on the couch sleeping. If her's lasts as long as the older one's fever did we should expect her to be out of school through Wednesday.

The last time we all got sick it was the Norovirus. We all caught it and it was one rough weekend with kids throwing up this way and that and the parents running to the bathroom every few minutes. (sorry for the visual) It ran through the whole family.

So far My youngest hasn't shown any fever yet nor have me and my husband. I don't know if that is a good thing or if we are still waiting for our time. Agh. I hate the waiting game.

My Kitchen Garden

This is my little garden by the house.

Strawberries

Our strawberries.

Strawberry Jam!!!! Mmm Good!!

My New Passion

Today I woke up and decided that the cabbage plants in my little garden by the house had to go. It was just getting big and there were no heads coming up. It was only producing leaves. Lovely leaves but no good stuff so out it came. I planted in its stead two zucchini plants and two squash plants. I did some weeding and I took some pictures for you. I have a space for some carrots that have yet to be planted.

I then took the girls strawberry picking. It is a bit of a ride to get to the berry farm but well worth it. We arrived and everyone else apparently had the same thoughts as me because they were ALL there. We got closer to the ticket window and I realized that this is the Strawberry Festival at the berry farm today. The girls were good and didn't bug me about riding rides and such. We went to pick strawberries and that is what we were going to do. We picked some good berries, about 15 lbs. When we got home I made some strawberry jam, masserated some for shortcake tonight and we have a bunch left. I will make some more jam tomorrow and freeze some for later too.

I love this time of year. It is warm but not too hot and the veggies are growing, the flowers are blooming and the strawberries are ripe! Plus it is Mother's Day tomorrow!!

Thursday

I can't quite put my finger on my 'funk'. I have recently been thinking that it is because it is getting warmer and I am not wanting to be at work anymore. I am totally unmotivated to teach right now. All I want to do is be outside and digging in the dirt. I take my daily walk around the house (outside of course) in the afternoons when I get home from work and as my youngest says, "check the plants". She usually walks with me and she tells me about her day and we pick the weeds that have grown up in the flowerbeds and check on the daily growth of our lettuce, cabbage, and newly planted tomato plants. It makes me happy but I have realized that I am being a bit OCD about the weeds.

I ventured over to the larger garden this evening with my youngest in tow. She and I had just spent $30 for a bunch of marigolds "for the deer". She thinks that they will like the flowers and will want to eat them instead of our vegetables. I tried to explain to her that the deer don't like marigolds and they will not only stay away from both the flowers and our vegetables. Or at least that is the theory. We will see if they work. So we walked around the garden there and checked on how much the deer had eaten. The lettuce that they ate down to the stem is coming back nicely, the potatoes are HUGE (the plants that is), the onions are coming along. The cabbage has the worm in it and we need to spray. The purple cabbage is coming along too. Some though were nibbled on by the deer. Two of the broccoli plants have little heads on them and we both got very excited when we saw that. My little one LOVES broccoli! The tomatoes are coming back but we definitely lost a few to the deer. We couldn't find the peas and only saw two bush beans. The peppers are not much bigger than when we planted them. We have some squash seedlings coming up and the second plot is ready to be planted with squash, cucumbers, corn and others stuff. I will try to take a few pictures so you all can see my newfound joy.

My Successes

I have realized that I need to count my little successes to feel even a bit better about the huge list of things to do compared to what actually gets accomplished.

So this weekend I:
1. actually got to my friend's house and completed 13 pages scrapbooking. That was Friday evening and today I realized that I had already made Caroline's 2nd birthday book. So now we have two of the same event, damn.
2. planted 3 tomato plants in my little garden next to the house. We found out that we lost a bunch of broccoli and tomato plants as well as all our lettuce in our larger garden down the street. Deer came and ate them all.
3. have done approximately 7 loads of laundry in the past two days. I still have a bunch to do AND I haven't done my clothes in two weeks!
4. watched two soccer games, one for each of the girls. I sat in the rain...
5. cleaned out the front closet and part of the living room. I still have the kitchen, rest of the living room, dining room and family room oh and the bathroom to do before Tuesday evening for Bunko. (it is at my house this month)

So with that list I hope everyone knows why, just why most of the time I feel like I am moving ever so slightly backwards.

The Longest Week

This has felt like the longest week. It is finally Friday. Whew! I made it. This morning I was commenting to a fellow teacher as we both dragged in late that even with an inservice day on Monday it has felt like a terribly long week. She too agreed and also added that she was glad that the bus came to pick up 4 kids to take them to prison yesterday. When that happens it makes the next day a bit nicer because those who are usually picked up are the ones that cause trouble during the days just before the pick up day. Are you following me? So today did feel a bit better but looking back it feels like last weekend was forever ago.

Another teacher also commented on it and our principal agreed as well.

Let's think for a minute, yes, 6 1/2 weeks to go before we are off for "summer break", if you can call it that. We work an extended year so our summer is only the month of July. Then the 1st of August we are back with our little jailbirds again. This year we get exactly 5 weeks to the day for summer break. I guard those weeks with all I have. This summer two of my three are going to summer school in the mornings and the afternoons are filled with time at the pool. I don't think we will get to the beach but I do plan on taking some long weekends camping. We have this trailer that we don't use enough. Anyone know any good fun places to camp in the VA, MD, NC, WV area? Tell me about them...

Five things weird things about me!

1. My third toe is longer than my second toe only on my left foot.

2. I can't stand the word "fester". It just grosses me out!

3. I don't like to start things that I know I won't be able to finish. I think it is because I am a perfectionist at the core and so if I can't or won't be able to finish something then means that I can't start it. That includes housework...that never ending cycle.

4. I don't like bumps and pick at them until they are gone or bleeding. Not only on me but I have been found to pick at other people too.

5. When I cook I secretly pretend I am the host of a cooking show.

So, all who read this I challenge you to list five weird things about you. Zebra, that should be easy. Barefoot, I KNOW you have five weird things. Anyone else who has been reading and not commenting, this is your time. Like a "getting to know you" thing.

Sunday

Two weeks ago my kids asked at the dinner table on a Friday evening if we could start going to church again. When asked why they responded with enthusiasm that they wanted to learn more about God and Jesus. I suppose my answers to their questions are just not enough anymore. So I agreed and since we had been planning for forever to try out the little church right down the street from us we figured that it was a good time to go. So Sunday morning we got up and dressed (both girls in dresses and gladly agreed to put them on and need I say this was a first in a long time) and off to the little church down the street we go. The kids attended Sunday school first and Kenneth and I wandered and talked with other members in the fellowship hall around the coffee pot while we waited for Sunday School to be over. Everyone seemed very nice and very welcoming. Then came the church service. Now this is the part that could make it or break it for me but learning that the retired priest from the church that I went to when I was a child now is a member here made me feel a bit more comfortable. We all entered and I was happy to see that the church had the thirteen stations of Christ on the walls around and that there was Holy water in the font at the door made me feel even more happy. (more happy? well, you get my drift) I was very pleased with the rest of the service too. It is "high" Episcopal, for those who don't know, basically it is as Catholic as you can get and still be Episcopalian. It is similar to the services I remember as a child. Haha, when we got back from the alter from taking communion, Caroline asked me, "Did we just get married?". Too cute.

The church has a big children's program which not only includes sunday school but also a children's literagy during the service. The kids go out for literagy just before the readings and come back after the sermon and before communion. It is perfect so Kenneth and I can sit and listen and not be worried about the kids getting wrestless. They also have a Wednesday evening program for the kids in the fall and spring (we missed it this spring) and they have an active EYC.

Well, we have made it there two weeks in a row; a record for this family in quite a while. The kids love it and Kenneth tolerates it. So we are back and it feels good.

Random Thoughts

Work with me here...

First I just thought you should know that I tried the ripping a phone book thing and I could actually do it. Well, I didn't completely rip it apart but I started too and it does work. The only problem was that we still need our phone book so I couldn't rip it all the way. Sorry zebra, yes the first scene of the video for the phone book is a little odd looking and can be misconscrewed as possibly something rated higher than "G". I am going to leave it on there and eventually it will move off the front page of my blog.

Next, have you ever started to write and nothing comes out? Well that has happened to me several times this week. I have been in a little funk this week. I don't know what started it and I hope to end it soon. It started about Tuesday and has lasted through today. I haven't really wanted to do anything. I haven't been interested in teaching either which makes for a fairly boring workday. Hopefully it will disappear as quickly as it came. It may have something to do with my diet. I have gone off the Atkins diet this week and am eating more carbs than I had been. That may have had an affect on my behavior. No everyone, I am not depressed. It is a funk. It could be PMS which would be right for this time of the month. Anyway, on with life...

I have been working on a new project recently. It is a bathmat. I am knitting it and it is pretty cool looking. I am pretty excited about it and have been working on it every chance I get. It is coming along well and I am about half way done. I also tried out a potholder last night right before I went to bed. I crocheted it with three strands of Peaches and Cream all cotton yarn. It is very stiff but it looks like it will work well. I am excited to use it and see if it will really work. Never know friends out there, you may all be receiving these for Christmas this year. Family, you are definitely getting something handmade. There is something about hand making the things you use everyday in the home. I get a sense of pride in that. Maybe I am weird but hey, I live in my own little workd, that's okay, they know me here!

FINALLY.....

Well, it must be a sad day for many people. However, I was totally ecstatic that Sanjaya is going home. The only depressing part is that he will be going on tour with the others at the end of the season. I, honestly, felt very sorry for him. I think he really thinks he is a good singer. He is not bad but, really, he was playing with the big dogs and he didn't belong in the yard with them. Now we can get down to business with really choosing a good singer. I have vascilated with a few in recent weeks. Now if you go back in my blog several weeks ago I announced that I was going for Blake. I still like Blake but I am becoming attached to Melinda Doolittle and Jordan. I also like the bald guy (name slipped my mind). He did a good job with Country week. It will be interesting to see how it will all pan out in the end.

Oh, yes, America, I DO vote weekly!!

Rip a phonebook in half

Today's random lesson!! I am going to try it but I need to find a phone book that we don't use. It actually looks kind of easy.

Back to School

So today we went back to school from Spring Break. I must say that it was a great spring break and I do feel refreshed. I learned something this past week. If you are going to feel like you had a vacation you must go somewhere. We spent the first weekend here at home for Easter and then Monday morning the kids and I headed down to the beach for the rest of the week. It was a great time and K joined us on Thursday night. He had to work all week. We ended up coming home early on Saturday because of the huge Noreaster coming in with high winds. Because we came home a day early I was able to get laundry done and do a little cleaning. By yesterday evening I felt like I had been out of school for a lot longer than just one week. I think the illusion has to do with the fact that we went away and then came home again and had some time at home too. This way I didn't feel rushed to get ready for today by coming home on Sunday and having to hurry to be ready for this morning. I had a whole day to get ready.

But I ramble. Short story is that I had a great break and spent good time with family.

Only 11 more weeks before I am out for the summer!! Yippee.... should I start counting down now or wait a while more?

Snow in Spring!

I was going to post this before the Easter Pictures but we got a freak snow storm on Saturday morning. I took a few pictures of outside, our Dogwood tree and Caroline's snowman.

Easter Morning!

Here are some pictures of us Easter Morning. We were very excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought. Finding eggs and bicycles, candy and more!! Now we are off to the beach for the rest of the week to relax, refresh, and find a bit of sanity before the last 9 weeks of school begins. This is our favorite time of the year for the beach. It is still cool and there aren't many people there. The kids play under the house on the large driveway, we go for rides and walks on the beach and just be us for a while.

Easter Eggs

We love dying Easter eggs!I thought you all would enjoy our fun!

Guess What?

I missed American Idol last night. I did see a few highlights of the show on the Today Show and I heard that Sanjaya was worse than ever. I am excited to see it tonight. Sanjaya is this your week?

I spend way too much time on this subject...

American Idol is on TV again tonight. I am excited to see who will bomb worse than Sanjaya again.(Yes zebrafeet, I DO agree with your comments from the last post!) I can just see it now though, all these tweens getting ready to dial the numbers for Sanjaya right at the end of the show. They just keep hitting redial, redial, redial. They ooh and ahh over him. I can't believe he is the next heartthrob! But then again I got all tingley over Leif Garrett, Shawn Cassidy, and Ralph Machio. Who did you fantasize about when you were a tweeny bopper? Come on be honest... I wanna hear!!