101 things I love.....

1. My kids

2. My husband

3. My Mom and Dad

4. my family

5. great friends

6. Jessica, Jackie, and Jeremy (sisters and brother)

7. long road trips

8. WINE (oooooo, sounds so good)

9. living the legacy my grandma left behind

10. my dogs Jill and Milo

11. date nights

12. pink

13. having a clean house

14. pedicures

15 watching October road

16. seeing old friends

17. making trips "home" to Riverside (I really miss it sometimes)

18. hour conversations with my mom on the phone

19. having my kids run to me after a long day of not seeing each other

20. going a day or so without seeing my husband and getting the same response as above!

21. shopping

22. taking pictures

23. my job

24. learning more everyday about my job

25. hugs

26. baseball (I have to stand my ground though, take the heat, hear the roar and say........I'm a cubs fan!!!)

27. GOOOOO CUBBBBIES!

28. knowing that I have "city blood"

29. also knowing I have a "country heart"

30. scrap booking

31. school spirit

32. cuddle nights that require no sex

33. sitting outside

34. giving

35. family guy

36. reminiscing

37. SHOES

38. long showers

39. sleeping in

40. the smell of clothes when they come off the line

41. the smell of rain

42. seeing the smallest accomplishment of a child who was unable before

43 once again here I go with you Missouri folk.....IOWA HAWKEYES!!

44. running

45. old country music

46. saving money

47. the smell of Clorox

48. garage sales

49. motorcycle rides

50. flowers pick from my kids (dandelions usually :)

51. a clean bed

52. when everything is shaved and fresh (sorry, but I do love that feeling :)

53. caring people

54. my children's questions

55. parties

56. swimming

57. lazy days

58. shopping (I'm sure I said that, but boy do I love it :)

59. changing styles

60. fishing

61. my cousin Kalena

62. fresh cut hair

63. giving someone fresh cut hair

64. coupons

65. birthday cards

66. a clean car

67. my husband doing housework

68. being pregnant (not going to go there again, but I did like it, both times)

69. well, just that ( <- ) in general :o)~

70. low bills

71. COFFEE (I can't believe that's not way up there)

72. being young

73. feeling accomplished

74. painting my fingernails

75. the excitement in children

76. looking at old pictures

77. facebook

78. myspace

79. blogging

80. going to weddings

81. feeling energized

82. potatoes

83. hot tea

84. decorating

85. kisses and I love yous before bedtime

86. reading books to my kids before bed

87. long conversations

88. money

89. medicine

90. technology

91. babies

92. being a step mom

93. the sounds of the night when your windows are open

94. pictures drawn by my kids

95. new purses

96. the "I love yous" from my husband in the middle of conversation

97. horseback rides

98. peach pie

99. playing cards

100. nothing

101. being myself......without that I would have none of the things listed above!

HELLO OUT THERE!!!

yes...I am still alive...just haven't found the time to blog yet. Not going to bore you with boring stories from weeks ago, just wanted to let you all know I am still here!
I've been having some pretty busy days at school, in which leads to busy days at home!? go figure!
Hopefully I will get time Sunday or Monday with something fun to blog about....we are taking the kids camping this weekend with Jeff, Janean and Tana. I'm sure it will be a fun, adventurous and very inquisitive weekend as our kids have never been "camping". They will have lots to talk about! As for me I've never had to plan a camping trip (I always left it up to my parents) so this has been quite the experience getting things ready and set for the weekend.
Hope everyone has a fabulous Labor day weekend!

An inspiring thought to get all you teachers in the mood for school!

THE CREATION OF THE TEACHER
Author Unknown

The Good Lord was creating teachers. It was His sixth day of 'overtime' and He knew that this was a tremendous responsibility for teachers would touch the lives of so many impressionable young children. An angel appeared to Him and said, "You are taking a long time to figure this one out."
"Yes," said the Lord, " but have you read the specs on this order?

TEACHER:
…must stand above all students, yet be on their level... must be able to do 180 things not connected with the subject being taught... must run on coffee and leftovers,... must communicate vital knowledge to all students daily and be right most of the time... must have more time for others than for herself/himself... must have a smile that can endure through pay cuts, problematic children, and worried parents... must go on teaching when parents question every move and others are not supportive... must have 6 pair of hands.

"Six pair of hands, " said the angel, "that's impossible""Well, " said the Lord, " it is not the hands that are the problem. It is the three pairs of eyes that are presenting the most difficulty!"

The angel looked incredulous, " Three pairs of eyes...on a standard model?"
The Lord nodded His head, " One pair can see a student for what he is and not what others have labeled him as. Another pair of eyes is in the back of the teacher's head to see what should not be seen, but what must be known. The eyes in the front are only to look at the child as he/she 'acts out' in order to reflect, " I understand and I still believe in you", without so much as saying a word to the child."

"Lord, " said the angel, " this is a very large project and I think you should work on it tomorrow".
"I can't," said the Lord, " for I have come very close to creating something much like Myself. I have one that comes to work when he/she is sick.....teaches a class of children that do not want to learn....has a special place in his/her heart for children who are not his/her own.....understands the struggles of those who have difficulty....never takes the students for granted..."

The angel looked closely at the model the Lord was creating. "It is too soft-hearted, " said the angel.
"Yes," said the Lord, " but also tough, You can not imagine what this teacher can endure or do, if necessary".
"Can this teacher think?" asked the angel.
"Not only think," said the Lord,. "but reason and compromise."
The angel came closer to have a better look at the model and ran his finger over the teacher's cheek.

"Well, Lord, " said the angel, your job looks fine but there is a leak. I told you that you were putting too much into this model. You can not imagine the stress that will be placed upon the teacher."

The Lord moved in closer and lifted the drop of moisture from the teacher's cheek. It shone and glistened in the light.

"It is not a leak," He said, "It is a tear."
"A tear? What is that?" asked the angel, "What is a tear for?"

The Lord replied with great thought, " It is for the joy and pride of seeing a child accomplish even the smallest task. It is for the loneliness of children who have a hard time to fit in and it is for compassion for the feelings of their parents. It comes from the pain of not being able to reach some children and the disappointment those children feel in themselves. It comes often when a teacher has been with a class for a year and must say good-bye to those students and get ready to welcome a new class."

"My, " said the angel, " The tear thing is a great idea...You are a genius!!"The Lord looked somber, "I didn't put it there.

At last

Well, after today I'm a little happier. Found out I don't have to move after all!! They finally got everything figured out (I guess?) The situation is a little more chaotic and 1 person is really mad because she had to lose space she didn't utilize(as if?) But I think it will all work out in the long run and hopefully the school year will run a little smoother than last year. I think I'm going to go shopping this evening to get things to put the final touches on the sensory room. Now that I have it mostly set up and ready to go, I need to make it pretty now!! If anyone has any good ideas on a "theme" or just anything in general I need some ideas! I may just stick with the puzzle things Jenn had going on, I really liked that! I don't know??? Hope everyone has a good evening!

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

That's what I've
been trying to do all
day!! Stay
calm, relax, everything
will
be ok, yeah well no it's
not ok!
I'm
upset
and need tovent.My husband is
not home and my
kids just don't
understand :)
I went to the school
today to try
and get the
sensory
room put together, looking nice (in the
cramped
little area
we have) I
really wanted it to
be all done this week
and not have
to worry about
it come time school starts. Took
Lyndsi
with me
to help,
walked in
the door to have someone tell
me not to waste my
time cause I was
probably going to have to move
again! YEAH so I'm not
very
happy about
that. I guess it
doesn't bother me to move, I'm
just
thinking in
the
perspective
of a child walking in that room in
a week with
it being
nothing but
chaos and nothing arranged or put
away, how are they
going
to
feel? They
will feel chaos and
that's how our week will go.
It's just not fair to them! So
then I ask
the question of
where
do I
have
to go???ahahahaha yeah, to the Jr.
High special
ed room!! Not only
do I just
get a cramped little
corner, but I
also have to deal with the
fact that
there will be 5
kids on the
other side of
the partition
playing, screaming,
fighting, etc! Our
kids have a hard enough
time
focusing the way it
is so
now we
have that to overcome! NOT FAIR!!
Sorry to complain
like this
but staff really only has 4 days to work
until
school
starts and
absolutely
nobody knows what's going on!?! I
guess I just
don't
understand?
So now I
guess the school is have a
preschool
classroom
(which is another subject
that doesn't make me very
happy,
great for the school
but o heck some of you
know the
story!))
anyway
there is a possibility I "may"
have other EIBI
cases to take on
which is great, I love doing it, but I just
don't
feel
confident
enough
to I guess. Maybe it's the fact that I know
the
child I
work
with and
just the fact of seeing "new" faces
and I not knowing
them
and not
knowing how they are is
what scares me? I had
fabulous
training,
but I still ask
questions?! (keep your phone on
you all
times person
who
trained
me I
may need advice) :o)
I don't know I
hope my confidence
builds back up come time school is in
session.
ANNYYWAYY.......I know
enough,
enough, enough!! ok I'm
done now!
But, this is my only
way to
get things out,
I'm just a
little peon at school
with no
box to stand on
so I have to vent this
way! Hope everyone has a
great week We'll see
what tomorrow
brings!

(I don't know what I did to this post but I for some reason can't fix it! sorry, makes it a little hard to read!)

water+boat+tube=pain the next day!!

We had been planning a trip to the lake like all summer, but never got the opportunity to actually go. Just our luck the boys had been talking about visiting Gramma Cassiday for awhile now, so we called her and asked if they could come spend the day and she gladly took all three of them! WOOHOO finally we got to go! At first we weren't sure if we were going to get to with the talk of e-coli in Kirksville, and we knew we didn't want to go to Rathbun because they were having their "summer splash" so it would have just been packed. Jon called down to Kirksville and they informed him that a test had been taken that morning and the water was clear so they were going to open back up! So off we went!

It was a beautiful day to go, the lake was calm, not a whole lot of boats out so we had pretty much the whole thing to ourselves. We went with Eric Dabney and his GF Dayna and Jon and Lyndsi. I hadn't been on a tube since I was probably 15 or 16 so I was excited to go again! Matthew overcame his fear of water! Yes he is scared of water too! Never been on a boat, never been tubing, never jumped off a dock, all of these first time things for him!! He was so much fun to watch! I really didn't think he would get on the tube just because he can't swim, so I thought for sure the boat ride was all he would do! Boy I was wrong! He got right on that tube and had a blast! He even tried the knee board but couldn't get it out of the water, in which I think it's harder to get those up than it is to get skis up, everyone else seemed to agree with me! But he tried!
We got home around 8 or so, went to get the boys from Downing and came home. Tired and wore out! I felt pretty good until I woke up Sunday morning!! AHH I was sore! every muscle in my body ached! Matthew felt pretty good but I think he uses his upper body muscles more than I do! I can't complain to much it was worth it and I probably would go back today if I had the chance to!!

Wed. Thurs. Fri.

wow I guess I have some catching up to do!

Continuing our week with Dylan, Wednesday we did a whole lot of nothing! Waited until Matthew got home and the boys talked him into taking them coon hunting. He got everything rounded up and they waited very patiently until it got dark. I would have pictures but Matthew left the camera in the truck! (yeah he heard about it when he got home:) Anyway they had a pretty good time. The dogs only treed 3 coons, Matthew said that's pretty good considering how hot it was outside! He didn't stay out long for fear a dog would have a stroke cause they are so fat! Then we had to explain to Jayden and Dylan why they couldn't shoot the coons out of the tree! That was interesting! Jayden- "Well, why did we waste our time if we couldn't even shoot them out and skin them"? Matthew told them, that first of all they were not in season to shoot, second of all they wouldn't be any good and that they had to wait until it got cold outside before they could shoot them out, skin them and sell them. After about 45 min of questions I think Jayden and Dylan finally understood why they didn't get to bring the coons home! Now they can't wait until it gets cold outside!

~this is what the boys did the whole time Matthew was gone getting the dogs!~

Thursday was almost a repeat of Wednesday. We really didn't do anything during the day. The boys spent most of the day swimming and just playing! That evening we took them to the big Queen City fair. I thought I would let them enter the pioneer contest. None of them won but it was still a fun experience for them. I really didn't put much thought into costumes but a lot of families did, and they were awesome! I enjoyed seeing all the children who were dressed up! After that we let them jump on the big blow up things they had there, played on the playground equipment, and just hang out with us while we visited.

Friday I took Jayden and Dylan back to the fair to do the pee-wee 4-h show. Dylan had never even been that close to a "real pig" as he stated! It was fun to watch them, Jayden was a natural he acted as if he knew everything he was suppose to do (even though he didn't) I just let him think that! Jayden chose to show a bucket calf which was a good choice because that's probably what he will end up showing if he decides to join 4-h. They were pretty proud of themselves after that was over with!