Celebrating Earth Day

This past weekend we attended the big Earth Day celebration at Tautphaus Park in Idaho Falls. Bailee had to check out the quilt her 4th grade class made (that's her square in the upper left hand corner - PLANT MORE TREES - she is definitely her Nonnie's girl!). She also had to do some shopping at her godmother's booth. Hey, if there's a possibly of shopping, Bailee is SO there! "Aunt Dalene" creates wonderful products from goat's milk, and her business (which she does with daughter-in-law Jennifer) is called WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR GOAT. The white paper bag contains her treasures of milk bath, lip gloss, and animal soaps.

We also had to stay to check out her friends performance. Way to go STUDIO ONE! They did an excellent job (even though they were absolutely freezing)!

We ended the day by going to the Kids At Art display at one of the local art museums. Bailee had a drawing featured there. How many of you recognize Sapphira from the ERAGON book series?

The Teachers' Kid

We've really been blessed with our little one. She is SUCH a good helper when it comes to helping out in our classrooms. She seems to enjoy being on the inside sometimes, but I have to wonder if sometimes it doesn't get old. I do know that she feels a great deal of pressure to be a good student - probably because she hears us grouse so much about the many children we teach that simply do not give a hoot. Bailee, on the other hand, gives so much of a hoot that she does a pretty fair impersonation of an owl!

This week she was extremely stressed about taking her first ISAT test (the horrific offspring of No Child Left Behind). It was in Reading, which she sometimes feels a little less confident about (Math is simply her strongest suit). She was in quite a state that morning, and it really got me thinking about what all this testing is doing to our children. Certainly it is causing a great deal of stress. The stakes seem to just get higher all the time, but I for one am not seeing the Holy Grail of achievement that NCLB promised. I just see lots of stressed out teachers and kids - and the not so slow death of ANYTHING not tested. I think we lost more than we gained, and the children are paying the price.

By the way, Bailee did just fine on her test (scoring in the Advanced range) - even though she read the term "simile" as "smile" on one section of the test. She definitely thought the test questions had gotten a little strange! She was determinedly looking for the example of the "smile" until she noticed her mistake.

Here Comes the Rain Again

We woke up this morning to gray skies and the treat of rain. Diana and Bailee had to head back to school, but I still have this one day left of vacation. I am going to try to make the most of it - cleaning. Not much fun, but it needs to be done. I want to paint the kitchen and living room, so washing walls is a must. I must say that I don't exactly look forward to it, though I know the end result will be worth it.



Bailee has early release today, which means that she will get home around 1:00 pm. That will leave her with just enough time in between school and dance to do her homework AND clean up her room (at least a little bit)! When I walked through her bedroom this morning, it was suffering from a terrible case of "piles." It's a family malady of couse. Most of us living here suffer from the same disease, and the treatment is simple - though painful. Dealing with the piles and finding permanent homes for them is always a challenge. Necessary, of course, but definitely not fun.




The photo was taken last summer at BEAR WORLD. That's Bailee and neighbor, Abby, on one of the rides. Just a reminder that better weather and fun times do lie ahead!

Easter Morn

We began the day at Sunrise Services this morning. It was chilly, but otherwise a beautiful morning. The sunrise was breathtaking, and it was simply PERFECT. The best way ever to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The message of the sermon was "Christ has gone on before us, in all things. We need not be afraid."

The services were held outside of course, so we were all bundled up in blankets. We then went inside to the church for a special breakfast. It was a great way to begin the day.

As you can see from the photo, Caribou was really glad to see Miss Bailee when she came home. She was looking lovely in her new Easter dress. However, she was eager to change to get on with the big EGG HUNT. This was also a big event for Caribou, who stole an egg. The pair of them ran all over the house batting that egg around, and a good time was had by all. Caribou ended the event by shredding tissue paper in the living room.

I hope all of you had a wonderful day. We are enjoying a very special day as a family. The sun is shining, the weather is fairly good, and there's a feeling of hope in the air.

We even managed to fit in some naps! How incredible is that?

The Big Egg Hunt

Every year our subdivision has an Easter Egg Hunt for all the little kidlets. This year the weather actually cooperated with a sunny morning in the higher 40s. It was also NOT windy, which is even harder to believe. Here are some shots of the festivities.

Our nextdoor neighbors - Steve and Bree checking out their haul.

One of the baseball diamonds strewn with eggs.

This was a shot of the toddlers - it took awhile, but they got the idea.

Miss Bailee prepares to go hunting.

All in all, I think everyone had a really good time. Bailee enjoyed herself, but I think this will be her last year. She's nearly eleven now, and wasn't as excited about the hunt as past years (other than using it as a venue to hang out with her buddies). Oh well. She's growing up, but we're finding that each stage has it's own joys.

She was very excited about going to a skating party for her dance bud, Aleks, today - as a celebration of her birthday. Bailee was not happy when she went out into our garage to get her skates and found them missing. Not a very happy surprise for her. Apparently someone walked by when the garage door was open and helped themselves. Luckily, we found another pair on sale while we were out shopping today. Bailee is determined that these skates will be kept in the house! I am determined that our garage door is going to stay down!

Happy Easter!

This is a photo of Miss Bailee doing her rendition of a scene from "Hannah Montana." The audio for this would be I was home schooled in Canada - where the moosey live! It seldom fails to get a laugh or at least a smile from the adults in the family. Quite frankly, we need all the laughs we can get.

We had 5 inches of snow last Friday. Five. Fortunately, since it is April, they didn't last long. Now we are enjoying rain along with our perpetual wind. By the way, HAPPY EASTER! I hope that you are enjoying a lovely holiday with plenty of spring flowers and balmy spring days. For us, balmy is anything over 45 degrees. Go figure. Life is just SO relative!

We are entering the roughest months of the school year. April and May are the high stakes state testing months, so tensions and stress are very high. This is also when I look at the lazy students in my classroom and their unsupportive parents and start having visions of ... well, let's just let your imagination fill in the blanks. Having my teaching worth based on them is the height of maddening.

The fact that the state of Idaho seems to be on a binge of "teacher bashing" has made this a very special time for us as well. Honestly, it is a real challenge to get through the day when everyone from business owners to legislators to newspapermen tell you how worthless you are. It certainly tries your faith!

April is Foolish

It's April Fool's Day, and nothing could be more foolish than our weather. It is April in Idaho and I feel like I am freezing to death! April is not a time to be contemplating using a snow shovel (but we are), walking through what seems like a sub-zero wind tunnel (but we are), or huddling indoors (but we are)! The entire state of Idaho seems to be populated by people who, with good cause, are feeling rather sorry for themselves. Things could be worse of course, but we just can't trust Idaho not to take it into its head to prove that to us. So, forgive us if we are cranky and are frequently casting wary glances over our shoulder. We're just waiting for that other shoe (or in this case, blizzard) to fall.

Diana and Bailee have enjoyed their last day of Spring Break, all in the absence of spring. They went to see the movie Monsters vs. Aliens today to celebrate the end of sleeping in late and doing what they want to do. Bailee gave it a thumbs up. Everyone is giving going back to the routine of school a firm thumbs down. I hope that when I have my Easter Break, the weather has softened up just a little.