Christmas in Destin

This year was a different kind of Christmas for me. I am one who likes traditions. I like to put up a tree, driving around on Christmas Eve to look at houses that are lighted up, waking up early to make Banucaco, opening up stockings, eating the Banucaco, opening up presents and then having my mom come up and have a Christmas dinner with us.

This year that did not happen and I was kind of sad. We left on Saturday, December 20 to go to Destin. We did some sight seeing, bike riding and shopping at some of the outlet malls. I read quite a few books while I was there. They have a library where you can check out books. I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Christmas Box, The Timepiece, The Letter and The Last Lecture. They were all great books.

We had to check out on Christmas day around 10:00 so we decided to get up early and do Christmas. It was a light Christmas this year as things are quite tight. We didn't have a tree so we found a fake potted plant and placed that in the middle of the coffee table and placed the gifts around it. I have a picture but that will have to wait for some other time.

The hardest part for me was not having Christmas dinner. On the way home we thought we might find some restaurant open. Nothing, not even a McDonalds was open. So when we finally got home I made a grilled cheese sandwich. Andrea and I just sat laughing. I think sometimes when things are bad, you just need to laugh about it.

On Friday I went up to school and got my Charlie Brown Christmas tree - it's only 3 feet high. It's a beautiful little tree though. I brought it home and spent the day decorating it. I felt like I needed to do that for my mom who was coming up on Saturday. My family couldn't believe I was doing that. I spent the rest of the day baking cookies for the sisters that I visit teach. Later on in the day I got the stockings, filled them up and then we opened them.

My mom came up on Saturday around noon. We played Pictionary and just hung out together. I made a turkey dinner with potatoes, green beans, stuffing, rolls, cheesecake and apple pie. I usually make a ham but we didn't have our traditional Thanksgiving dinner either so I opted for a turkey dinner.

It was beautiful where we went but I like to be home for the holidays. I like traditions.

Weeds or Flowers?

Today was one of those days when you ask yourself, "Did I sit down once today?" When I began to make a batch of Christmas cookies around 4:00 I was a little touchy. I sort of got on Taylor for not having the floor swept yet. While I was putting all the ingredients into the bowl he came in and set something on the counter and walked away. I glanced down and noticed he placed a flower on the counter. Was he trying to get me out of my bad mood?
A little while later he came in from outside and Andrea walked through the kitchen. I said, "Look, a flower from Taylor." (I wanted him to know that I saw it). She replied, "It's a weed." I said, "No, it's a flower." She said, "It's a weed." I then said, "It's all in how you look at it."
Things were not going well and the floor still was not done. He must have sensed that I was in a bad mood again. He said, "I think I need to go out and get you another flower." I just smiled.
Now I have 2 flowers sitting in my kitchen.

Just Hanging Out

Taylor has been working on a science fair project (I am glad this will be the last year for those). His project needed for him to construct two types of bridges. He had to conduct the experiment 3 times. So, that means 6 bridges. It was taking him forever to build just the foundation for one bridge. He then tried doing it another way. That didn't pan out well either. I told him to scrap it and do something a little easier. He is now measuring his shadow every two hours. This requires us to hang out around here.
So, it's hard for me to just sit around. I have decided to decorate the house for Christmas. I don't know when I'll have another "free" day to do it. And while I'm at it I might as well do a little cleaning as I decorate. Kill two birds with one stone, right?
Later on Taylor and I are going to see Bolt. I heard it's a pretty funny movie. I could use a good laugh.

Happy Thanksgiving

I would like to say Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends out there. This year's Thanksgiving turned out to be very different, but a special one in many different ways.
I got this idea to write a poem to my son and daughter this year. I have finished Taylor's and I am not finished with Andrea's yet. I thought that I would post it because who knows what will happen to it. I would hope that he would save it like I save special things. But, he is a boy you know. It goes like this.

I am thankful that you Try hard at school this year.

I am thankful that you Always want to be tucked in for bed.

I am thankful that ... You are my child.

I am thankful that you Like to play games with me.

I am thankful that you Often find ways for me to win games.

I am thankful that you Really like to be a kid.

I made a homemade apple pie for Taylor because he can't eat many sweets. When I was doing the top crust nothing was going right. It was all falling apart. Taylor said, "Mom, it doesn't matter what it looks like, it will taste great." How sweet.

A Day at Disney

Taylor and I spent the day (well half a day) at Disney. I was amazed at how many rides and shows we were able to see in half a day. We got there around 3:00 and stayed til 11:00. It was a beautiful day! I would have to say that my favorite was the Mickey 3-D show. We stopped in to see it as we were making our way to Space Mountain. I was glad we were able to get in. We arrived at Space Mountain around 10:00 and it said that there was a 70 minute wait. I thought, "Is this ride really worth standing in line for 70 minutes?" I mean, you stand in line for 70 minutes and then you get on a ride that lasts for what, a minute? Not worth it to me. Just as we were leaving a family came up and asked the couple in front of us how many were in there party. They said, "2." They said they had fast passess and wouldn't be using them. I then spoke up and said we have 2. So the couple in front got 2 and we got 2. We were in the right place at the right time. I think it took us about 10 minutes in total. It definately would not have been worth the wait.

Wendy Dress

My friend, Ashlea, asked me to come over and help her make a Wendy (from Peter Pan) dress for her daughter's Halloween costume. I gladly accepted the offer. This time I brought some scissors, my pins, a seam ripper, a measuring tape and a few other things. She told me that she went out and bought those things. I just wanted to be sure we had everything we needed. I got over there around 1:00 in the afternoon. I showed her how to lay out the fabric and get it all cut out.
Once all the cutting was done, we were ready to sew. However, the sewing machine wasn't ready to sew. It was not being very cooperative. There was something wrong with the stitching. We tried adjusing the tension and even rethreaded it. NO GOOD! The only thing we needed was a sewing machine now. I didn't think to bring that with me. So, I looked at her and said let's go to my house and get my machine. When we got back to her house we were ready to begin.
Everything worked out great! It was around 8:00 and the only things left were the zipper and the hem. I needed to go to Wal Mart and do my grocery shopping. So I told her that I would take the dress home and do the zipper there during the week. Grace overheard this and with the saddest voice said, "She can't take my Wendy dress home." She finally agreed to let me take it home, but I knew she wanted that dress. So I thought as long as I can get out of here by 9:30 I will be fine.
Back to sewing. I told Ashlea to look in the bag for a zipper foot. She said, "A What?" I explained to her what it looked like. She found it and we went to put it one and I realized she had the zipper foot for her machine not mine. What do we do now? I couldn't remember if I have ever put on a zipper without a zipper foot. Well, we had not choice but to try. It actually worked out quite well with a little improvising.
Grace was still awake when the hem was finished, which meant the Wendy dress was done. We had her try it on. She looked beautiful! She doesn't need a dress to make her look beautiful, but the two of them put together made you smile. I can't wait to see her in it with her hair all done. And of course, with Peter Pan standing beside her. Gavin will be Peter Pan.

Fun with a Friend

I was driving to work today and heard the author of The Secret Life of Bees discussing her book. The story sounded really interesting. The converstation then lead to how her book became a movie. The movie was opening tonight. I thought, "I want to go see that." So when I got to school I was talking with some teachers out on the playground about this and one said to me, "I'll go if you want some company." I thought how fun that would be.
After work I stayed at school for a while to get some things done. I then headed to the mall to meet Julie. We met up and I told her I was starving. So, I grabbed a sub at Quiznos while she went to Bath and Body Works.
The movie was great. It was definately a girly movie. I laughed durnig one part when a dessert was brought out. It was a pineapple ring that had half of a banana sticking up through the hole. I turned to Julie and said, "My mom used to make us those, but ours had a cherry at the top of the banana." As soon as I said that, someone stuck a cherry on the top of the banana. I told Julie about the time my mom made brussel sprouts. I would not eat mine. The dessert was one of those pineapple banana things. She placed that dessert right in front of me. I think she did that so I would eat the brussel sprouts. The things we do to get our kids to do things. Anyways my brother wouldn't eat his brussel sprouts either. She then sent him to the kitchen. I think she was separarting the brussel sprout non-eaters. I finally gave in and ate the brussel sprouts and then I got to eat the treat. You will never guess what happened with my brother. He sat a little longer and she finally gave into him. He didn't have to eat the brussel sprouts and he got to eat the dessert. I have never forgotten that event in my life.
Back to the movie. I really enjoyed the movie, laughing and being with a friend. I really would like to read the book now. Books give so much more detail.
After the movie we went to Olive Garden and had pumpkin cheesecake. It was fantastic. They only have it this time of year. I may have to make another trip there soon.

Can You Add?????

I was on the phone tonight with Scholastic (book club) ordering books for my students. When the order was finished the representative was reviewing my totals and bonus points. She told me that I had earned 102 bonus points. I had her repeat the bonus points because it was different than what I came up with. I came up with 128. It was only a 26 point discrepancy, but points add up over the years. That means more free books for the classroom. Anyways I asked her about this and she said, " I can't do anything about that, the computer came up with that number." Don't you just love computers sometimes?
She then put me on hold to talk with someone about it. When she got back on the line she said that the total was 102. I said to her, "When you add 32 and 96 together it equals 128." She told me that she could transfer me to someone in customer service.
I explained to the lady how the computer came up with 102 instead of 128. She put me on hold to talk with someone else. When she got back on the line she said that they would give me the 128 points, but she couldn't see where that came from. Hello, 32 points plus 96 extra points = 128 points. Do people know how to add or do they always rely on a computer?

Our Faith... Soaring to New Heights

We had our Primary Activity today from 4:00-6:00. The kids rotated through 7 different activities. One of the activities was to write a gospel message on the balloon. My message said, "I know that I am a daughter of Heavenly Father. I know that He loves me."
After we ate, we all stood together and released them. However, I was making a balloon for Gavin and didn't get to release mine with the others. When I got out there I released mine and the wind took it straight into a tree. So I went in to make another one with the same message. This time I went out into an open field away from the trees. It had no problems soaring this time. I wonder where it will end up and who may find it.
When we were cleaning up I walked over to the tree where my first one went and I couldn't find it. Maybe that one went on its way too.
We all had a great time being together and having fun. I had some fun myself. I joined the CTR class and ate donuts on a string. They were yummy. Thanks to all who helped to make this a success.
As you know I still don't have great internet access so I don't have pictures. If you would like to see some pictures go to http://shipleystales.blogspot.com

Surgery Is Needed

This morning as I prayed I asked for Taylor's appointment to all work out. I wasn't prepard to take off of school so I was hoping for a late afternoon appointment on Friday. I also was hoping they could get him in on Friday with such short notice. Taylor was suppose to go to camp this weekend. As long as he was in a cast he would have been okay.
While my students were reading I made the call to the orthopaedic and she got me in on Friday at 2:45. I wouldn't have to take off work. On the way home from my doctor's appointment I was thinking about my prayer this morning and how it was answered. I was thankful for a prayer being answered.
When I got home Mark wanted to talk to me out on the dock. He told me that he wasn't comfortable with Lake County doctors and took Taylor to Jewitt Clinic in Orlando today. They looked at the x-ray and took one of their own. Taylor didn't have just a broken bone. He had a broken bone, another bone that was dislocated, and some cartilege problem. They said that he needed surgery to put a pin in somewhere. If he just had a cast put on and nothing else, he would most likely have troubles down the road when he was older.
I thought a little while later about my prayer. My prayer was answered more than I thought. Had Mark not felt the need to take him to Jewitt we would never have known the seriousness of his injury. So, Taylor heads off to Orlando tomorrow to have surjery. Good luck, Taylor.

I Have to Brag

Taylor wanted to go to school today. I wanted him to stay home. I was being the "over-protective mother." I kept thinking that the kids in the hall will bump into his arm. I finally realized that he is in middle school and he is 13 years old. Cut the ties, Mom.
I had a 504 meeting with all his teachers after school. I was dreading this meeting because all you hear is how he can't focus, he can't sit down, he doesn't complete his work, he can't be quiet, etc. You get the idea. Well, this is why I have to brag. All of his teachers couldn't have said nicer things about him. Not one of them noticed any of the following items I mentioned above. I was thinking in my mind... Is this the same Taylor? Do you know who he is? Did my son become a different person? I guess he is finally growing up.
I then went home and ran a few errands. I had to return to the school to pick Taylor up from Wednesday school. The teacher who was in charge called about 10 minutes after we got home making sure that he got home. She didn't see each child making contact with a parent, so she wanted to make sure they all got home safely. I thought that was pretty neat. Anyways, when she was on the phone she said that she wanted me to know that Taylor was a model student at Wednesday school. She couldn't understand why a child like that would be there. I was quite pleased with that comment.
Way to go, Taylor!

A Broken Arm

Mark called me at school after work and told me that Taylor's school had called and said he injured himself at school. When Mark got there, his coach told him that he thought it might be dislocated or broken. I left school around 4:15 and met them at the emergency room. About 2 hours later we learned that he had a broken bone near his elbow. So they put a splint on it and wrapped it in a gauze bandage. They gave us an orthopaedic's name to call so we could get an appointment for a cast to be put on. Taylor was not a happy camper. He was in quite a bit of pain. They gave us a prescription for some pain pills. We finally got home around 7:30. It was a long day.

In a Nutshell

I can't believe that it has been about 1 1/2 months since I last blogged. Actually, I take that back. Yes I can. Like my husband says, when I go back to work I am a different person. I do get wrapped up in school work. However, the demands today are nothing like they were when I first started teaching 23 years ago.
My class this year tries my patience each day. In my morning prayer I always ask for patience to deal with these students. Besides the 8 students that are below grade level and the 8 or so that you have to stop for because of something, I do have a group of students that are just wonderful. They make my job exciting. They make all the work I do woth it. Maybe they will be an influence for good on the others. There is always hope for change.
I have been spending many Saturdays at school trying to get ahead. However, as soon as I walk into the room on Monday morning there are many things to do and then I feel behind again. I don't think this is a profession where you can ever get ahead.
I have also been spending many nights working with my daughter on projects for school. She is in an Honors History class and this teacher gives many projects to do at home. I keep telling her to get out and get in the regular History class, but she wants to be in this one.
I have kept my jogging routine up. I go about 3 to 4 times each week. It has been getting harder as each day goes by due to the dark coming earlier each day. I may have to start going in the morning at 5:00. I will see.
I will try to keep this blog up a little better than I have.

Back to Work

Summer is not over, but vacation and relaxation time for me is at its end. I love the summer because I get to do things I don't have time for, but most of all because I don't get stressed and uptight.
It was back to work this morning. I don't quite have my timing of morning procedures down yet. It may take a few days to get back into the swing of things. In fact, I was almost late for work this morning. It was a productive day. It was nice to see old faces and a few new ones. We have 3 new male teachers on our staff. I think that brings us up to 10. It's nice to have male teachers around. It would be nice if each grade level could have at least one. Some boys, in particular, need a male figure in their lives.
This year is going to be a tough one I hear. I am looking forward to my blessing on Sunday that Brother Shofkam is giving me. I will try to be optomistic. They say things go better when you have a good attitude. I will have to remember that.

A Head Start

Our welcome back letter gave us a run down of our plans for the week. I knew we would be in a meeting for a couple of hours on Monday, then on Tuesday we had a county inservice meeting, Wednesday is going to be Meet the Teacher, Thursday is another meeting, and Friday there is a breakfast and meeting following that. So, where is our time to work in our rooms, plan and get ready for Meet the Teacher?????? I was feeling a little panicked. After doing my usualy Saturday chores, I headed up to school. I stayed for about 2 hours, not too long. I got my computers all rewired and moved back in place and got my desks situated. I left feeling a little more at ease.

North Myrtle Beach

We left bright and early Friday morning and headed off to

It took us about 9 hours to get there. I got a lot of reading done on the drive. Taylor brought one of his Harry Potter books to keep him entertained. We were glad about that as he can get "antsy" and "pesty." Andrea was the map reader and guide for Mark.

After getting settled in and checking out the beach we decided to go out and find a seafood place to eat at. After eating look what we found!

We couldn't pass that up.

The next morning we got up and the waves looked good so they decided to...

Surf!!!!!!!!

One day while eating at Subway we noticed that Surf City was two stores down. We decided to go in and see what they had. Mark found a surfboard that he really liked. They decided to trade in Andrea's surfboard and get this one. I found some flip flops. I also found this shirt that says, "Surfers Rule" that I knew Andrea would want. She is wearing it in the picture with her new surfboard. If I would have let her, she would have worn that shirt for the rest of our trip.

Parking was a joke. We ended up finding this cone that had the word "Engineering" written on it. So we put it to good use. Each day when we left we put the cone in our parking space, which happened to be right by the door to the stairs, in hopes that it would still be there when we got back. Every time we would go into the parking garage we would say, "Is the cone going to be there?" Would you know that it worked the whole time we were there until the last night. Another car took our spot!

We were amazed at how many people could fit on the beach in a tiny area. Take a look at the before and after pictures.

One day Mark decided to rent an umbrella and 2 chairs for the day. He wanted to have the experience of sitting on the beach all day long. He could barely make it through. Taylor, I think, sat down in the chair for maybe 2 minutes at the most.

I got up each morning around 6:00 and went for my jog/walk. Here is a picture of a sunrise I was able to view. It was beautiful.

Each night I would go for a walk around 8:00. It was so relaxing to walk barefoot in the sand, feel the water run over your feet and listen to the waves crash on the beach. It was also fun to view all the creations that were made by kids throughout the day. Taylor joined me a few times. He brought along his skim board on one of the walks.

On our last day there we found this really good ice cream shop. We wished we had found it sooner.

We left Friday morning and decided to go home a different way. When we got near St. Augustine we decided to take one of the exits and go exploring in hopes of finding a seafood restaurant. We drove past the fort and turned down this road that lead us into this little neighborhood. We stopped a man who was walking his dog and asked him if he knew of any good seafood restaurants. He began to talk about this one that was on A1A heading south. We finally found it tucked in a corner. We are so glad that we stopped that man. It was the best seafood restaurant we have ever been to. We had gone by a Cold Stone Creamery on our way to the restuarant. Yes, we were full. But who can turn down a Cold Stone Creamery offer? Not me!

We finally arrived back home around 9:30. It was a nice trip, but good to be back home.

Missing Photos

I was working on my picture albums yesterday and today. I had three different albums going on at one time that got to be a little confusing at times. I have one for Andrea, one for Taylor and one for the family. I was making sure that my pictures were ending up in the right album.
As I was working on a section of Taylor's I noticed that there were no pictures for his second birhtday. I looked in the other albums and nothing. I was quite sad.
Then when I was working on a section of Andrea's I found no pictures of when she started Kinderarten. I remember taking quite a few pictures of her with her backpack, out in front of the school sign and a few in her classroom.
I began to think: my children are 3 years apart. When Taylor had his second birthday, Andrea would have just turned 5. Which means in a few months she would be starting Kindergarten. Then I remembered a roll of film that I put in to get developed. When I went to pick it up they told me that it wasn't there. They gave me the number for the place where they get printed. Come to find out that if you go a certain period of time without picking up your pictures that send them back to the company and they destroy them. How sad. It would be nice if they gave you a little friendly reminder phone call or something before sending them back.
So, both of my children have an important event in their lives missing. I'm glad I have a digital camera now.

Living Out in the Sticks

When we lived in Deltona my friend and fellow teacher, Kathy Anselmo, told me that when we moved to Lake County we would have to put our trash cans on the back of our truck and haul them up to the road. I said, "No way. Living in Lake County won't be like living out in the sticks." Well, guess what? We do have to load our trash cans and haul them up to the road. I do like living out where we do. It's very peaceful and our property is just beautiful. What's nice about where we live is that we aren't in the city, but within 10 minutes I can be at Publix, Wal Mart, Target, the bank, etc.
There is one very frustrating thing about living out in the boonies. We don't have access to high speed internet. We have dial up and it takes forever. One day I got an e-mail from a friend that had pictures and it was taking forever to download. In fact, I had 11 other e-mails that wouldn't open until that one was opened. I had to let the computer run all night so it could download the pictures. Trying to add pictures to a blog is another joke. I literally was trying to upload a picture to my blog and it was taking forever. So, I went outside to wash and vaccum my car. When I got back in, it still hadn't finished. I was ready to give up on blogging. Blogs are more fun to read when there are pictures. I've found a solution to that problem.
The other day I got on the phone and called Embarq and Dishnetwork to see if, by now, we could get something better than dial up. No luck. I then got the idea to ask someone that lives in Lake Dalhousie what they use for internet. I found out that they have comcast and love it. I got on the phone right away and found my service request from five years ago. Boy, do they keep good records. They found out that the house near ours uses Comcast. They are sending someone out next week to see if we can hooked up.
I will cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Nesting Stage

You know when you were at the end of your pregnancy and you started doing all this stuff so that everything would be in order when the baby came? Well, that's kinda what I feel like now, though I am NOT having a baby. I get this way about 1 or 2 weeks before school starts. There are many projects that I had on my mind to do that haven't been completed yet and I only have 4 more days left. School doesn't begin for me until August 11, however, we are leaving on our week trip to Mrtlye Beach on Friday morning. These are the things that I have left to do: make Brother Hewitt's pants into shorts, visiting teaching, temple day, photo albums to finish from last year (that's a BIG project), burn my photos onto CDs, download all my computer info onto my external harddrive that I bought in June (no Debbie, I haven't done that yet), make 450 spelling cards and laminate them, and create new folders and transfer all my reading documents into their proper folders (we have a new reading series this year). I still have to water the trees each day, mow on Thursday, fix and eat meals, run errands, finish a book I'm reading, pick up Andrea from the airport, wash clothes, pack and do daily house chores. Do you think I will get this all done? I am going to think positively about this and say, "yes."

Two Thoughts

Before I go to church I pray that I will hear something that will touch me in some way. Today I heard two statements that touched me and caused me to think. The first one was this, "The world teaches us to know something and the gospel teaches us to become something." The second one was this, "If you want blessings that you have never had, then you need to do things that you have never done before." Those two statements have very deep meaning to them. I now need to examine myself and look at what I have become because of the gospel being a part of my life. I also need to think really hard about those blessings I have been asking for and what I need to do to make those happen. I'm glad that I didn't get distracted and heard those 2 comments.

The Inside Has Been Neglected

I feel like I have spent my whole summer outside doing yard work. I think the inside feels a little "left out." When summer comes I have the time to touch-up paint my walls, clean the windows inside and out, steam clean the carpets, wash the baseboards, etc. I knew I had only this Saturday to accomplish some of those things. So I washed my car and got it vaccumed, washed all the baseboards, pulled out the oven and refrigerator and cleaned the floor under and behind them, and cleaned the two 3 glass paned sliding glass doors and thier tracks. My windows and carpets will have to wait for another time. Christmas maybe??
To end my day of hard work I went to Bealls and bought a few things. That was my treat!

30 Oak Trees Have Arrived

We had 30 oak trees delivered on Friday afternoon. They are in 15 gallon pots. We are putting them at the front and along the side of our property to make a border. One day, 30 years from now, they will look big and beautiful.
So Mark spent Saturday, Sunday and today digging holes and planting them. My job is to water them twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. We have a 125 gallon water tank, so it goes by pretty quick.

One Down, Two to Go

Andrea called us late this afternoon and said she passed her first exam. She got a 96 on it. Way to go, Andrea!

A Prayer is Answered

Isn't it nice to know that our Heavenly Father listens to our prayers and they do get answered in one way or another and in His time. I have been asking this certain prayer for about 2 weeks now when I go on my walk in the morning. It finally was answered today. I am grateful that it was answered in the way that I needed it to be. So my prayer this morning was one of thanks.

Later in the day another prayer was answered. Taylor had his friend Lance come over this afternoon. I went to our Primary Presidency meeting and got home around 4:00. I saw the bikes down on the dock and went to look around. I noticed that the ganoe (flat bottom canoe) was gone. This is no big deal because they always take a ride in it when he comes over. However, they weren't anywhere in sight and I couldn't here any kind of noise around the lake. Those boys are always making a bunch of noise. I yelled for them, but no answer. You know how well sound travels across water. Plus, they like to turn the ganoe over and let it fill with water. My mind began to think the worst. I thought maybe they were turning it over and got stuck under it, gators, etc. So, immediately I said a prayer that everything would be fine.
It was then that I thought, "What was the last thing I said to Taylor?" How were my words spoken then? I think we take life for granted. I would hate for one of my children to leave this world remembering unkind words being spoken to them.
We did find the 2 boys up on shore at the far end of the lake. Taylor and Lance have been banned from the ganoe for the rest of the summer.

Hair Cut

Yes, I finally went and got my hair cut today. I think it was in September of last year when I got it cut last. That's a long time. I just don't seem to fit things like that in. It feels really light and healthy again. It will take a little getting used to. I like how the hair in the back flips out.

Andrea's Off

Andrea got up bright and early this morning for her trip to California. She will be out there for about 3 weeks. She is out taking some classes. She has been looking forward to this trip for quite some time now. We went to Best Buy last night so she could purchase her first digital camera. Have a great time, Andrea! We know you will be successful with your classes. Have fun exploring California and take some good pictures.

New Plants

On Friday we decided to go to The Yard Stop in Mt. Dora to look for A plant to put in place where one of our sago palms died. When we got there we found a plant we really liked. Then we decided to walk all around. Well, when we got to the very back we found these very unique looking trees. We also found some Travellers Palms. We decided to get 2 of the trees and 2 of the Travellers Palms. We had no idea where they were going to go. It's kind of like buying a pair of shoes that you really like and then finding an outfit to buy to go with them. We did end up finding places for all 4 of these plants. Andrea was very sad because we ended up uprooting her crape myrtle (?). We transplanted this crape myrtle about 2 years ago and it just hasn't taken kindly to the move. Andrea has had such faith in this plant and has never given up on it. It was quite touching to see the expression on her face when it got ruined with the tractor.

This is the unique tree that took the place of Andrea's crape myrtle.

We bought 2 of these. They will go into a new island with a palm tree.

This is the plant that took the place of the dead sago.

YW Lake Fun

The dock beauties: Anabell, Melissa, Andrea and Nashua

Nellie, Jensen and Emily

Sister Carter (the wild driver), Nashua, Emily and Anabell

Melissa and Andrea

This is when the steering froze. Andrea pulled them into shore.

Way to go, Andrea!

Lunch For Two

I took Debbie to








in Mt. Dora today for her birthday lunch. Yes, it is a little late, but she has been quite on the go lately. I wanted to take her somewhere she has never been before. I didn't know if she would like it, but I think she did. We both had chicken salad surrounded with fruit. It was yummy!

Taylor's Off to Camp

Taylor got up bright and early this morning, 6:00 am, to go to Scout camp. He packed his suitcase like he was going to be gone for 2 weeks. He is taking rifle shooting, archery and environmental science this year. He has been looking forward to this ever since school got out. He will be joining Brother Peeler and the Sanford ward since he is the only boy from our ward going. I will miss him joining me on my morning walks. Have a great time Taylor!

The Weeds are Gone

I have spent the last 4 days outside doing yard work. Yes, that's right, outside where it is hot, where you sweat and get dirty. All the things I hate about being outside. I would rather do work inside where it is cool, you don't get dirty and you don't sweat. I was mowing, edging, weeding, weeding and more weeding. Mark would come and tell me that I was doing it the hard way. All he needed to do was spray his magical liquid and the weeds would be dead in a week or two. But, I like to see results fast. I don't like to wait for things to happen. Does that mean I am impatient? There are 3 islands when you first come into our property where I spent most of my time. They were covered with palm fronds, weeds and vines. I also took the shovel and made a nice edge all the way around the three islands. Everytime I drive by those islands I go really slow and look at how beautiful they are now. That work was worth all the effort.
So here are the islands after the weeding.

Service Rendered, 3 Years Later

I have been Ashlea White's visiting teacher for over 3 years now. I remember visiting her one day when Grace was a few months old. Ashlea had asked me if I would teach her how to sew and of course I said yes. It was summer and I had a lot of time on my hands. Well Grace is now 3 and guess what????? I finally went over and taught Ashlea some basic sewing techniques.
Before I left my house a thought ran through my mind about bringing some of my sewing necessities: scissors, pins, seam rippers, you get the idea. My next thought was, no, she'll have those things if we are planning to sew.
I showed up at her house around 1:30. I couldn't wait to see the material and pattern that she picked out. She began to show me what she had bought at JoAnns. There wasn't a pattern or material. It was an adult sun dress piece that we would somehow turn into a child's dress. I thought, "She must think I sew all the time." I've never made anything from scratch in my life. Ashlea was giving me the opportunity to stretch myself.
It took us a while to get the machine threaded. It was different from my 27 year old machine. That's right, my machine is older than Ashlea. We were ready to start. This is when the sewing adventure became quite interesting. Ashlea handed me her every day scissors. Boy, did they need a sharpening job. Then she handed me a pair of scissors that had a blade no longer than 2 inches. I knew I should have brought my scissors along. We just laughed. When we were ready to pin the fabric together I asked her for the pins. Ashlea didn't have pins, but she scrounged around and found about 10 needles. We laughed some more. I don't think I have ever used needles to pin fabric together, but it worked.
When the first mistake was made I asked Ashlea if she had a seam ripper. She said, "A what?" So, as you can tell she didn't have one and we used a needle instead. Needles saved the day for us. It wasn't until later when we were sewing a small area and I needed the bottom of the machine to come off. I was pulling this, pushing that and nothing was coming off. Then I pulled on something and a compartment opened up and we discovered a bag full of goodies. Guess what we found in the bag. A seam ripper! That came in handy until Grace got a hold of it and broke it. So, it was back to the needle again.
Ashlea had many good ideas as the dress was being created. I think we must have changed our ideas about how the dress should look 5 or more times. I was proud of her creative ideas and how we changed things around. She learned a lot, laughed a lot and did some great sewing on that dress. Grace was a trooper too. I think she had to try that dress on about 15 times. And trying to keep a 3 year old still was an even bigger challenge. The dress was finally finished at 10:00. Since Grace was still up we had her put it on one last time. It was sweet how she just twirled around like a princess in her dress.
Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to serve you and your family. I feel bad that it took so long. Let's do it again sometime.

Time Together

The other night I was upset about something and needed to leave the house, so I decided to go to Lake Dalhousie and walk. I really enjoyed being out in the open and talking to Heavenly Father. It started to drizzle on my walk, which was quite refreshing. Near the end of my walk I saw a rainbow. There is something beautiful about a rainbow and I just smiled when I saw it. So now, I have decided to start walking each night. They say it's good for you. Tonight there was another drizzle, but this one was heavier so I decided to wait until tomorrow. Taylor and I sat down and played a game of checkers, I won. It was 8:35 when we finished and he went over to the door and pointed outside with a big smile. I told him that it was almost dark. He really wanted to go so I thought this would be a nice thing to do together. He rode his bike while I did my fast walk. His comment during the walk was this, "Boy mom, you go really fast." I'm gald I took his lead and we were able to do that together.

Death in the Family

My family spent two weeks out in Texas for a couple of reasons. The main reason is because Mark's father was being moved from the hospital to another facility. The hospital couldn't do anymore for him. They also did some sight seeing around the state. They returned home on Monday night around 9:00. Mark had said that the facility he was in had to move him to yet another facility. He must have been in bad shape. Anyways, shortly after they returned the phone rang and it was his mom calling to tell us that he had died. I told Mark that he should have just stayed out there because now he is going to have to go back. His comment was this, "He is going to be cremated and doesn't want a service or anyone to be around." Wow, how sad is that. Death, in a way, is a celebration of the life you have lived. I hope when I die one day that many people will be there to say good-bye. I hope that I will have been an influence for good and will have touched people's lives in some way that they will want to talk about it.

Fun in the Sun

My family has been gone for a little over two weeks. I have been relaxing, reading and watching some good movies. When I got home from returning my books and videos I noticed there was a message from Melody asking me if I would like to come over and swim. I have been waiting for the invite for a while now, even though I know she wouldn't care if I just showed up. So I called her back, no answer. I had a visiting teaching appointment with Katelyn so I figured when I was finished there I would just show up and say, "Surprise it's me!" So I showed up, put on my suit and had a great time. It's nice to spend a day sitting around talking with a friend. Thanks, Melody.

I Am Finished

I spent the past two days at school organizing my books and cleaning all my shelves. It's a lot of work at the end of the year. Many teachers just throw paper over their things, call it done and walk out the door. However, when they come back in August they have much work to do. I like to come back and have my room all clean and organized. This way I can get ready for the new year. If anyone knows me, I am all about having things in order. I think there are others things in my life that I need to get in order. Maybe that will be my summer goal.

Having Fun!

I got invited to the Shofkam's for dinner tonight. It was great. I told them that I created a new blog. So.......... guess what? She wanted to create one too. We had so much fun choosing a horse background for her. She encouraged me to do the same. Here it is. Do you like my rainbows??????

Hello Out There

Debbie has twisted my arm into creating a blog. So here it is! This summer I will make it a little more me.