Back to School

August 24th was the first day of school for the children in our subdivision. It was a pretty big day. Everyone was excited to get back to school and thrilled with their teachers. I'm glad that our kids have such a good attitude. I certainly wish that more kids shared it. For some, school is nothing more than a way to interupt their Wii/Nintendo/Playstation time. Such a pity.

Bailee loves everything about fifth grade. She has come home bubbling every night. She is such a good kid! We have certainly been blessed to have her in our lives. She turned 11 on the 26th. That is so hard to bleieve! It seems that she was just a little six-month-old fresh from Vietnam just a few seconds ago. People have always told us that childhood goes by so fast. I am determined to continue to savour every moment we spend with Bailee. She is such a treasure!

One of the great things about this stage is the way her mind works. She thinks up the most interesting things! Our little "partners in crime" - Bailee and the Jenkins' girls, are creating a scrapbook about their WebKinz stuffed animals. The little stuffies are having all sorts of adventures during the girls' photo shoots. Put it down as another great memory!

On Beyond TIred

This has been a full and busy week. Diana and I worked like crazy (and far beyond crazy) on getting our classrooms ready. I managed to get most of my tasks completed by the date of our Open House (August 19th). We were not able to have an opening meeting with the parents because our gym is not finished yet. That will have to come later. That is just one of the many ways in which this school year has lacked cohesiveness. My students came for their first day on the 20th. It was a very interesting day. The fifth graders did pretty well, but we had many younger students who got lost in this HUGE school. It is a big change (in many ways) for the little ones who came from Harwood Elementary. I know it is cheaper to build large elementary schools - but I prefer the smaller schools we have in Ammon.

Diana (and Bailee) had their Open Houses on August 20th. I don't think I have ever seen Bailee more excited (or nervous). She spent a lot of time getting dressed and making sure she looked "just right." I think that she will have a good school year. The first day for Diana and Bailee is August 24th. I'm glad my first day is over with my kids!

Because of my Open House, I had to miss registration night for Studio One. I was really disappointed by that, as it is always fun to touch base with all the other dance families after the summer. I love our studio, and I really enjoy doing the website for it. Check it out at www.studioone-dance.com. We are doing open auditions for THE NUTCRACKER on September 12th, so anyone can come and try out. Many of the parts do not require a great deal of dance experience and include parts for itty bitties and adults. It's a great Christmas experience.

The Last Days of Summer

This is the last weekend of summer for us. School will be starting on Monday for the teachers in the family. We finally got to go into our new school on Friday (albeit with lots of restrictions - such as no helpers under the age of 18). This is what I saw when I walked into my room. I fought the desire to turn heel and run though. Somehow during the move I lost my matched set of desks (which were replaced by crap from the district warehouse for some unfathomable reason), my podium, several portable white boards, an easel, and a 6 foot table (all belonging to me). We were told "We only brought over what we thought you needed." Nice (and typical).

Thank goodness for the sillies waiting at home. The "Jenkies" (our neighbors) came for dinner and provided a spoony good floor show. Little Bree couldn't manage the spoon, but her smile lit up the room.

Bailee took a photo of another of our favorite sillies - young Caribou. He was napping in his playpen when she took the shot - waking him up in the process. I'll add the caption "What do you want?" for him.

Now, it is back to the rock pile! Hope you all had a good summer!

Good News at Last!

I had to start this post with this funny picture of Bailee. She's chomping down on her favorite #4 Slim (just meat and cheese) from Jimmy Johns www.jimmyjohns.com/ (our favorite place for sandwiches). Can you imagine her trying to eat a sub with anything else on it? Good grief, she seems to be dislocating her jaw as it is.

Today we finally got some good news. We get to close on our refinancing of the house in about 6 days. The appraisal is tomorrow (and getting ready for it has been killing me - yesterday I fell down the basement stairs thanks to misjudging the steps with my bifocals). My knee hurts like crazy, but I am still mobile.

We finally can get into our school AND I found a way to access my e-mail. The head tech is changing everyone's passwords (wouldn't it have been nice if he'd told someone), so we have to use a special generic password for now. Our access to the building is limited and there are lots of restrictions to follow. The hardest is the fact that no one under 18 is allowed in the building. That took out the bulk of my helpers! Very frustrating! Hopefully, when the district takes final possession, that restriction will be dropped. Of course, that restriction will HAVE to be dropped by the 20th! It's hard to start school if ALL your students are under 18!

Good friend, Christa, and her husband are picking up their seven month old baby boy this weekend. They have waited so long to adopt! I hope all goes smoothly for them. They will be fantastic parents!