White Christmas

I snapped this shot from the front porch reeeeally quickly ( I was standing in snow, barefoot).  Rarely do we ever get a white Christmas, but this year...we got 8-10 inches of this wonderful white stuff.  In fact, it's our second big storm that Silver City has gotten in December.  That's pretty rare here. :)

Monster snow man!!!

Merry Christmas

I know you might be here looking for Christmas pictures, but you won't find any.  Instead, here is a picture from several years ago.  I happened across it and thought I would share a shot from the past.

Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!!!

Dreams do come true.

My husband has been a 49ers fan ever since he was little.  I have been a fan of them for approximately 3 months.  Hey, come on...I've only been a fan of football for a few short years.  (I grew up in a basketball family, a basketball town, and worshipping at the feet of Michael Jordan.  My high school didn't even have football.)

I know some of you may have read my post last year as I walked you through my team-hopping experience and I am supposed to be officially an Eagles fan.  But there's not much to cheer for this year and the 49ers are having their most successful year since 2002 (no, I didn't know that factoid on my own, I had to ask Aaron.  So don't go getting all impressed or anything).  Aaron's enthusiasm and excitement is definitely contagious, so we've all enjoyed cheering for the 9ers this year. 

For years I've always told Aaron I would buy him tickets to a game, but he's always wanted to hold off until they're actually good to go watch them.  This year he finally got his chance.  This past weekend we went to our very first NFL game in Phoenix to watch the 49ers vs. Cardinals.  Unfortunately the 9ers came up short, but it didn't matter.  It was so much fun to experience an NFL game, especially at this particular stadium.  I don't know how other stadiums are but this one has all kinds of restaurants and stores and stuff to see and do (it's kinda like a Downtown Disney type area), and we spent most of our time eating at different places (which you know if you follow me on FB, since I checked in everywhere we ate) and shopping. 

(Don't worry, I haven't completely abandoned my basketball roots in support of football.  Our weekend started out with a 4 hour drive up to Springerville to watch Tracey's basketball team play in a tournament there (see previous post), then continued with a 5 hour drive down to Phoenix for the game.  And in case you were wondering...ended with a 6 hour drive back home.  Might I point out to those of you not from these here parts- that none of this driving involved any backtracking whatsoever.  We made a giant circle through New Mexico and Arizona.)

Let's hear it for the Lady Colts!!

I really do need a camera that takes better action shots and zooms better. 

Homecoming 2011

Lions, Tigers, and Alligators...Oh my!!

One of the funnest things we did on our vacation was visit the Aransas Wildlife Refuge. It was a little way up the coast from Corpus Christi. Aaron was there on a fire assignment some years ago and has always wanted to return. Since we were in the neighborhood...off we went.  :)

We had a great time looking for different types of wildlife. And we certainly saw a few that we don't see here in New Mexico, that's for sure. I saw my first alligator. And then saw 3 more! It was sooo cool!!

Disney Stars on Ice

On the first day of our vacation I took the little ones to see Disney Stars on Ice, Toy Story 3.  I had never seen an ice show and have always wanted to experience one.  Maybe I bought the tickets more for myself, than them...nah!  The girls enjoyed it, but when I asked them what they liked best... they responded that their favorite part was the very beginning when Mickey & Minnie came out.  :) 

Sonic??

I finally changed my background now that our beach vacation has come and gone.  I left it up in anticipation of our trip.  It was fabulous, in case you were wondering. 

First things first.  I have been anxious to share this picture with all of you.

This was in some small Texas town somewhere on I-10 between Ft. Stockton and San Antonio. 

Never in my life have I ever seen a walk-in, sit-down Sonic with a play area.  I didn't know how to order without that little menu outside my car window.

Are you tired? Cuz you've been running thru my mind all day!

Hello!!

I am still here...just not as often.

As you have probably noticed I now have a job that I actually have to do work for.  Say goodbye to the wonderful 2.5 hour lunch breaks and mindless days.  Say goodbye to free evenings and weekends. 

And hello to grading papers and doing lesson plans.  And last minute brainstorms that take 2 hours a night.  And trips to the store late at night.  (Did you know that you can only buy one package of Sharpie's at a time?)

Oh, don't worry.  I absolutely love my job and love my subject and enjoy using my brain again for something more than just preventing my skull from caving in on itself.  But it certainly has taken up a lot of my spare time.  It's definitely interfering with my internet life. 

There are so many things I would love to share with you all, but you'll just have to be patient and wait for me to find the time.  I haven't forgotten about you and I hope not all of you have abandoned me. 

Please, please don't leave me.  *insert puppy dog eyes*

Life is speeding along at warp speed for us.  We are still busy with our usual Bible study, Awanas, ballet, and youth night.  I somehow manage to squeeze in other hairbrained idears too.  Like cramming in a trip to Cruces to shop, and go to the Mesilla Valley Maze, then rush back for the monster truck show here in Silver.  Yes, I know I am crazy.  For those of you not from these here parts, Las Cruces is a 1.5 hour trip- each way.

Welpers, gotta run.  Tracey wants her braided in a bunch of teeny tiny braids. 

Au revoir,
me.

Not sure what au revoir means, but it sounded cool. 

I Wanna Be....

....knee deep in the water somewhere...

This weekend we are headed to Corpus Christi, TX for a week long beach vacation.  No thrills, no frills, just the beach.  Just typing that makes me feel relaxed. 

Ahhh......



A Day Made Better

I saw a great program over on The Meanest Mom's blog. 

A way to give back to the teachers in our/your community.

So click on over!!

Today is the end of Kylee's first week in 1st grade.  And she has done fabulous!!  She begs me everyday..."Please let me stay in 1st grade". 

She adjusted very quickly to the work.  They write a lot more and I'm a little concerned just because her writing skills aren't up to snuff.  Or at least what I think they should be.  We never really practiced on good handwriting.  She can definitely write her letters, but they're still...wonky.  She got a 102% on her spelling test yesterday and is very excited that 1st graders got to check out 3 books from the library instead of just 1.  She is AR testing and they're also did other tests on her to be sure how she fit in academically and she performed better than most of the other 1st graders.  She really enjoys doing subtraction as well.  Addition she's been doing for quite some time, but subtraction is new.

Adjusting socially has been pretty easy.  She already knew a couple of the kids in her class (one from ballet, the other from daycare) so that really helped- seeing familiar faces.  Her birthday is in November (she will be 6) so she isn't really that much younger than the rest of her classmates.  From the beginning she has always gravitated toward older kids anyway...like at church and stuff.  So I am not too worried about the maturity/age factor.  Even when she gets older, mainly becuz, like I said, (wow, too many commas...lol) she isn't much younger than the others. 

I can tell her little brain is finally getting worked because she is definitely tired in the evenings.  Hopefully that will level out when she has had more time to adjust. 

We still need to officially go through all the hoops to get her moved up, but it definitely looks like I now have a 1st grader.  :) 

Thank you everyone for weighing in with your opinions.  I have been asking everyone I know what they think, and most people think it's a great move for Kylee. 

Guess I'd better post some more 'first day' pictures.  LOL.  Wait, I don't think I really posted the official first day pics yet.  Oh well.  I'll get to it at some point. 

What is your opinion?

Many of you know that Kylee is smart.  And that I'm not just the typical mom doing the typical bragging on your kid. 

Kylee started Kindergarten about 6 weeks ago.  Next week she is going to 1st grade. (for a week long trial period)

She is miles ahead of her current classmates.  Her teacher has been giving her work that she usually does toward the end of the year.  She reads, she takes AR tests and yesterday they STAR tested her at a 0.7 reading level.  Which doesn't sound very high, but keep in mind...she's in kinder.  She is 5.  They don't normally STAR test them until 1st grade.

Anyone out there have any experience with their kids skipping a grade?  I know that maturity is a big concern with many kids in this situation, but Kylee is very mature for her age.  She has gravitated toward older children since she was really young. 

Please give me your thoughts on this. 

My thoughts?  I think Kylee definitely needs to be challenged.  She loves Kinder, but she will soon grow bored with the work once she masters everything.  When she is bored, she loses interest in school.  That happened last year in preschool. 

I guess I am a little surprised because I didn't think this would happen so quickly.  I'm a little taken off guard.

So....please share your thoughts.

I'm still here!!

Wowie...will you look at that.  A new post by yours truly.  Are pigs flying?  Did the sky turn green?  What's going on?

I feel horribly guilty for not updating in so long.  I always want to update, I just don't really have the time right now.  Or anything of substance to contribute to the vast blogosphere. 

But I thought that since it was getting late, and I'm tired, and I really need to go to bed...that it would be the perfect time to post something. 

Things are going as well as can be around here.  I started school 3.5 weeks ago and things are going really good.  I'm finally feeling like I'm getting my nose above water and remembering how to teach in a classroom again.  One thing I did forget was how painful grading papers was.  I guess it's a lot like child birth...after a few days you think to yourself, "now, that wasn't so bad was it?" 

The little girls are doing very well at their schools and are still excited to go each day.  Routines are going well, and that's been a huge help to me these last few weeks.  (That reminds me, I need to go sign Kylee's reading log...brb)

Tracey decided not to play volleyball this year (gasp) in order to concentrate on keeping her grades up.  While I applaud her decision, I am still disappointed to not watch her play vball this season.  She is however, going to play next year.  And don't worry, she will be playing basketball. 

We've all been busy but it's helped my stress level sooooooo much not to have 2 hours of driving time each day.  It's amazing how God has really worked in that area. 

Aaron is still gone.  Maybe he will be home this weekend, but I really don't know for sure.  He is somewhere in the wilds of Montana where there is no cell phone service.  Or, apparently, service of any kind.  I haven't heard from him in....12 days.  I am handling the single mom thing pretty well, logistically anyway.  I posted on FB last night that I was done with fire season and didn't care if Montana burned to rubble.  But my poor attitude affected my sleep last night, and my day today.  So, I am trying to change that attitude and just keep on like I have been doing without letting it get to me. 

We haven't had fast food for dinner every night...just every other night.  LOL.  I have tried cooking when I can...we've been gone a lot in the evenings so that sometimes makes it difficult.  We all miss healthy cooking... especially Tracey, who was the biggest skeptic.   I try my best, but I have been super, duper exhausted since school has started.  Yesterday it was all I could do to whip up some instant pancakes. 

I know my complaining probably makes things sound terrible.  It's not really that bad, I guess I shouldn't write late at night when I'm tired.  But things are really going pretty smoothly (oh no, Murphy's Law....quick, I take it back). 

Thanks for sticking around, even when I haven't seemed to be here.

The one area I've dropped the ball on is brushing teeth.  I don't do it in the morning cuz we don't have time (don't worry, I do brush my teeth).  So I try and do it at night, but most of the time forget.  Guess that's why my 4 year old has an appt next week for fillings.  I have been better since I found out she's got cavities...but not great.  While that's not my only flaw...it's one I will admit to publicly!  LOL

Night all.

Kindergarten is great.

Kylee is learning so much in Kindergarten.  She came home with this little gem today:

Donald Duck burned his butt,
On his way to Pizza Hut.

Fantastic.

Milestones

Yesterday I took my oldest daughter to register for high school.  Wow.  It's official, she's got an ID and everything.  No backing out now.  She is excited and ready for high school.  And so am I.  I think.

At the same time, my middle child is about to begin her educational career as a Kindergartener.  She is going to have a teacher that really focuses on challenging them academically, which is exactly what she needs.  I am really excited about seeing what she learns in Kinder.  Not at all freaked out.  Really. 

My youngest is going to be starting PreK.  New Mexico created a PreK program that wasn't income or developmentally based, therefore my kids are able to attend preschool.  She is super excited about getting to go to school.  She and Kylee will be at the same school.  Am I freaked out?  Nope, not really.  Just excited for her.  Her teacher should be a little worried...lol!





Is your child ready to read?

I know every parent likes to brag about their kid and thinks they're the smartest thing since Einstein.  The dude, not the bagels.  And I'm no different.  My middle child is extremely smart.  Too smart for her own good.  I could go on and on about examples of how smart she is but that's not the point of this post.

This summer I have been looking for activities to challenge Kylee.  One of the things she loves to do is read.  She's been begging to learn to read.  There are a zillion sites out there where people have created educational activities to do with your child, no matter the age.  I looked at many of them and finally found one that fits our style.  It's called The Moffatt Girls and she is a former teacher now stay-at-home mom.  She has created a wonderful program that teaches your child sight words and word families.  It's called Ready2Read and you know the best thing about it?  It's free!!

We are currently doing Unit 4 and Kylee absolutely loves doing her daily activities.  She has created a word wall with her new sight words and she also puts up all the other fun activities that she does.   My camera is on the blink...(rather, my stupid computer refuses to acknowledge my camera) so I can't upload any pictures of Kylee doing her activities, but on her website Annie has taken pictures of her own daughter completing all the activities so you can see it in action. 

I highly recommend you check out this site and download and try the Ready2Read program.  You'll love it.  And so will your kids.



my lame "ode to summer"

2 weeks until I go back to work. 

*sniff, sniff*

Summer is quickly fading away.

If I was poetic I could write a poem.  I would call it "Ode to Summer".  Original, no?

I had my first school-mare in 5 years last night.  For those of you who don't know...those are nightmares that teachers have about school.  Hence, school-mare. 

I dreamed that I was taking over a class midyear and my very first day was parent conferences.  I had never seen my kids, didn't even have a room yet, and the first parent didn't speak English...she spoke Chinese. 

Tacos a la Flambe...a new recipe.

Last night I made tacos.  Now, I know in most of the parts of the country you guys buy Old El Paso brand premade hard taco shells.  Not so in New Mexico.  Those kinds of taco shells are almost sacriligious, I'm not even sure they sell them in the stores.  In these parts, we fry our own shells.  Trust me, they're way better.  No contest.

So, I was happily frying the tortillas (blue corn torillas, if you want to know)  and was being fairly successfull at it.  Usually that's Aaron's job, but since he wasn't home yet, the duty fell to me.

Where was I?  Oh, right, I was about to stir the beans (not crappy black beans or whatever ya'll eat elsewhere, but good ole refried pinto beans).  Anyway, I wasn't paying attention and accidently let the condensation from the lid pour into my pan of hot oil. 

I now have flame marks on the hood above the stove.

Jesus is busy

I overheard this piece of a conversation on the way home this evening:

Kylee:   "It makes Jesus sad because you're not sharing."

Krysten:  "Jesus is busy doing stuff in the clouds, so he doesn't know."

Happy 4th of July...twice!

This year we got to celebrate the 4th two different times.  Well...I will clarify...we went to 2 different parades.  Fireworks were banned in NM this year due to the extreme dry conditions and the number of fires we've had in our area lately. 

Not having fireworks is a big deal to us.  We LOVE our fireworks around here.  It's so much fun, we go to the city fireworks display and then when we come home we sit on the porch and watch everyone around us shoot of their fireworks.  We usually have our own display at some point too.  Loads and loads of fun.  If you live in an area where it's illegal to set off your own fireworks...I am sorry.  You are truly missing on out on some good ole fashioned American fun.

Anyway...back to this year. 

Where was I? 

Oh, right.  Parades.

We went to Quemado last week to visit my parents.  Quemado had their parade and festivities on Saturday.  Their parade was comprised mostly of Forest Service people.  But not local, they were all from Montana and Idaho.  They did the coolest parade thing I've seen FS do, they had a line of them in their full fire gear walking down the road.  Maybe I just really like it because they look just like Aaron. 

After the parade they had a small carnival at the school with face painting. 

We returned back to Silver for the festivities on Monday.  We again went to a parade but the FS was pretty cheesy.  Smoky was sitting in a lazboy for goodness sake.  Sheesh.

Happy (late) 4th of July everyone!!

Big, exciting news!!

Things, they are a'changin' in my life.

For the last 11 years I have taught in Lordsburg, NM.  Lordsburg is 55 miles away from my house- one way.  That makes for veeeeeeeery long days, each and every day. 

I am happy to announce that I will no longer have to make that commute 184 days a year!

I accepted a job here in Silver City this week!!!!  I will only have to drive about 8 miles to get to work, that is just simply incredible.  I can hardly wrap my brain around this dream come true!!

I will be teaching 7th grade New Mexico History at La Plata Middle School.  As many of you know, that's my absolute favorite subject to teach and I taught that before I taught PE. 

Whew, all those years of filling out applications has finally paid off and I got my dream job.  The possibilities of what I will be able to do is limitless.  Simple things, like finally being able to make it on time for Tracey's games, or getting home at a decent hour of the day, or saving $300 a month in gas, are going to make a big difference for me.

Toes in the water....

Deep in the throes of summer I am dreaming of a beach somewhere.  I'm not too particular...I'll take any beach right now. 

It's been 2 loooooong years since the last time I saw the ocean (not counting last year on Galveston in March when it was super cold).

It's My Birthday and I Can Do What I Want To!!

I haven't posted any pictures lately because my camera card and my computer have decided to stop speaking to eachother, much like 2nd graders do when they're mad eachother. 

I finally remembered was able to find an interpreter to get them to start speaking to eachother.  I used my microUSB cord and plugged my camera directly into the computer.  Duh! 

Voila! There were all my picture for the last 2 months. 

So....
....here are some of the major events [that I had my camera] that happened recently.

(sorry I didn't take the time to edit/crop these)

Here is Tracey running the 400 at her last track meet.  She ran a 1:12, which was her personal best.  She only ran this race maybe 3 times.  She hated it, yet couldn't stand to lose.  (No, she's not like her mother at all, nope, nope, nope.  LOL)

 At Kylee's PreK graduation ceremony her class sang a song called "I Am A Fine Musician".  Each group of them played different instruments.  Kylee played her triangle with style!

This is Kylee with her teacher, Mrs. Huff.

(see all the haze in the background?  no, we're no all of a sudden getting pollution...it's smoke from the Horseshoe 2 Fire in Arizona)

T-ball has started.  Kylee is soooooo excited about it.  She did really good!

Tomorrow night is their final ballet performance of the year.  They are performing "Night at the Ballet", which is a combination of various ballets.  Krysten and Kylee are in the Little Red Riding Hood group.  Aren't they just the cutest things?  I took these pictures tonight at the dress rehearsal.  I learned really quick that is the best time to get pictures.  You can stand really close to the stage since the theater is empty.