Summer Update

Wow! It has been a long time since we updated this. The end school was crazy busy for me and Jeff is taking summer classes that have been keeping him quite busy too. The last few days of school were just crazy. The parents of some of my students decided to throw me a surprise birthday party the 2nd to last day of school. It was very sweet of them. One parent even made me a frog shaped cake.

The last day of school was nutty. We had a school carnival for the last day. Wow! I don't think that I can say much else except that I survived. Nikki, my niece, came along to help out that day. I was sure glad she was there to help and she provided good moral support.

Backtracking just a bit, in May our new baby niece was born. Little miss Lanie Mae Catt was born on May 23rd. She is super cute and growing fast. She seems to change every time I see her. I think she is now 12lbs. I think Vance and Katie are very blessed by their new little one. I have been told she is a good sleeper at night and not very fussy unless she needs to be changed.

Jeff and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary this summer too. We went to Cannon Beach for 3 days. It was so much fun to bum around the beach. We went down to the tide pools at Haystack Rock one day. We walked back to a different part of Hug Point that you can only get to when the tide is out. Seaside had a really good firework show for the 4th, and Cannon Beach had a cute parade that reminded me of our Sandy Mountain parade. I just love how relaxing the beach is. It was a very nice get away. Oh, and of course we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. There is nothing better that an ice cream cone and squeaky cheese. :)

Jeff's summer classes are going pretty good. He just finished his business class and is now on to accounting. His group project in his business class went so well that the teacher told them they didn't have to take the final. That is about all for our summer. We have mainly been doing little things here and there (going hiking with friends, catching a movie, etc.). It has been a nice summer. I don't want it to end but I still have a few weeks left. Well, That is all for now. I will try to update more often.

Happy Mother's Day and Jello Frogs :)

We just thought that we would say Happy Mother's day to our mom's. You are wonderful and we love you a bunch. We would not be who we are today without you.

Here is a picture of my mom and I during my sister in law's baby shower.

Here is a picture of Jeff's mom and step dad when we visited them last spring up at their place in Alaska.

What is with the Jello frogs? My first graders are learning about the frog life cycle and one of the lessons is about frog's and toads. So, to introduce the differences between the two they get a jello frog and a rice crispy toad because frogs are smooth and toads are bumpy. The other first grade teacher and I decided to split the task so she is making toads and I am making frogs. Well, I should say that Jeff and are are making frogs. It has been a challenge to get the jello frogs off the cookie sheet once they are done. We had to add extra plain gelatin to the jello mix to make them stiffer. Then once it is set we cut it with a cookie cutter. Then the fun part comes with getting them up without tearing them apart. The first batch made it with no casualties just a few misshapen feet. We'll have to see how the next batch goes.

Life so far

May has been off to a busy start and I don't really think that it is going to slow down any until the school year is over. I have survived my first field trip with my 1st graders. We took MAX (that was truly an experience that I never wish to have again :) ) to the Children's Museum to take a clay class. The kids loved it. We have another field trip this month, too. I don't know what crazy notion caused me to save field trips until now. But hey, what can you do. We also have tadpoles in the classroom which I hope survive and turn into frogs. At least a few anyway. Jeff is busy taking classes at MHCC. It is midterm time so he is studying away. Plus, to add to his work load :), he is helping to design the church's student ministries website. The stuff he has done so far looks really cool. Here are some of my adorable 1st graders on our field trip to CM2.

Max with 1st graders, Yikes! Clay Class, what messy fun!!

First posting

Welcome to our blog. This should be fun. Here is Jeff and I at the beach during spring break! The sunset was so amazing.