8 weeks, 8 pounds!!

I just finished my biggest loser challenge and lost 8 pounds!
And I'm not finished yet.
I'd like to lose another 7. It's getting harder but I'm going to keep at it.

So all you bloggers out there who wish they could lose weight, remember, YOU CAN!!
There is no quick fix for weight loss.
It's taken me 17 months to lose 30 pounds.
Set small, achievable goals. Start living a healthier lifestyle. And get some girl friends to keep you accountable.

P.S. I was able to wear a pair of pants today that I haven't worn in 2 years.
And they were still in style (at least I thought so)!!

fun at the park

Molly and I took the little kiddos to the play park when they were here visiting for the weekend.
The weather has been perfect for outdoor play! So unlike Kansas in August.
Hayden is just all smiles and loves the camera!
Delaney is a much more serious girl.

But one thing is for sure...



they both love to swing!!

a new favorite food...yummmmm

Delaney was not at all interested in the green beans or bbq rib meat on her plate.

She only wanted mom's corn on the cob. She kept pointing to it and saying "this" (one of the few words in her vocabulary).

I had already eaten pretty much all the corn but she loved nibbling on it just the same.

Maybe next time we'll even try the cob with a little corn on it!!

scott & erika

Erika's church had a couple's shower for Scott and Erika.
Aren't they a cute couple?
Only 6 more weeks (give or take) until the big day!!



Delaney was "that kid" who was into everything.
You know what I'm talking about.
The kid who wants to be in the middle of all the excitement.

Finally I was able to convince her to hang out somewhere other than the stage.
She loves to write.
This entertained her for about, oh, 2 minutes!

They got some really great gifts!! I'm so jealous of the nice, new absorbant towels!

The apron was from me. It says "You'll eat it and you'll like it!"

Perfect for Erika to wear when dealing with Scott's picky eating habits.

But that's a whole other story!

ace of cakes

I love to watch Ace of Cakes. Even though I hate baking, I do enjoy decorating cookies and cakes and I love to see all the cool designs they create.
One of my other favorite Food Network shows is Challenge.
Especially when they are having cake decorating challenges.

This weekend I helped Molly create a cake for a baby shower she is throwing for a co-worker on Monday.

Not your typical cake.

And it's nothing compared to something those talented pastry chefs might come up with. But I know the mom-to-be will be tickled pink!!

As we were rolling those diapers, I couldn't believe how teeny tiny the dipes were! The newborn size is for up to 10 pounds. They looked like they were for a baby doll.

I can hardly remember when Delaney was just a little peanut wearing those itty bitty unders.

Oh, they grow so fast!

nate made the news!!

Nate's school (and mine) received over $1600 after a fundraiser last spring. All the schools participated and our school earned the most money. The $$ will be used to purchase technology and other items for the school.

Nate was selected to be his classroom representative for this photo that was in our local newspaper.

Go Nate!!

our new favorite way to blow our money...one dollar at a time

There's not much you can find for $1 anymore. Even most things at Dollar General are more than a dollar (so deceiving!!) But Jeremy and I can entertain ourselves for a whole evening for only $1.

We recently discovered this beautiful thing called Redbox. It's so convenient.

We were getting our movie entertainment via blockbuster[dot]com, but it just wasn't working for us. We'd put a movie in our queue and it would arrive on an inconvient movie watching day. So it would set on the kitchen counter for a few days. Get shoved aside with a pile of papers. And then we'd run across it a couple of weeks later. By then, the movie had lost its appeal. Until finally we'd force ourselves to watch it just to get it back in the mail. And so the cycle continued.

But thanks to the brilliant redbox invention, if we get a hankering for a movie, we can get online and see what's available. Run up to the nearest redbox and voila, cheap entertainment.

Now I may have just spent my savings in gas when I had to drive 12 miles to find the closest redbox with the movie we wanted. Hopefully the movie was worth it. I'll let you know.

teacher tuesday...third day of third grade

I've decided that since teaching is such a big part of what I do, I'll try to dedicate Tuesdays to share some of the fun things going on in my classroom. If you're a teacher and blogger, leave me a link to your blog in the comment section and let me know what fun things you're doing in YOUR classroom.
After all, all great teachers stole borrowed their great ideas from someone else!!

Third Day of Third Grade

Last Friday we celebrated the third day of third grade. It's perfect for us because it always falls on a Friday (unless of course they decide to change the schedule on us).
Everything we did revolved around the number 3.

My favorite part of the day was when I read The Three Armadillies Tuff. It's such a cute story. A southwestern version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We recorded the story elements on a chart and compared the two stories.

We also made a giant number 3 out of butcher paper. I used an overhead projector to make it really big and trace it. Then I made puzzle piece shapes (one for each student) out of the three shape. I cut those out ahead of time and then gave one puzzle piece to each child. They drew their three favorite things on their piece and when everyone was finished, they had to work together to put the puzzle together. I didn't tell them what it was supposed to look like, but most of them remembered seeing the giant three in the hall last year. It's a great activity for team work and collaboration.

I think creativity and art are a very important part of school. So we ended the day with an art project.

I drew a number 3 on a piece of paper. One for each student. I told them to look at their 3 and create a picture with the 3 hidden somewhere. They were very clever and came up some really unique ideas!

These are just 3 of the activities we did. It was such a fun day.

Come on teachers! What fun things do you do?

fresh from the farm

I am weirdly fascinated by several things.

One of my fascinations is with farm life.

Now don't get me wrong. I KNOW I don't have what it takes to be a farm wife. I like all the modern conveniences that come with living within city limits. Like Wal Mart. And paved roads. And fast food.

But I thoroughly enjoy reading about other farm families.

This book was one of my summer reads. And yeah, one of my other fascinations is with memoirs. Kind of like blog reading. I like to read about other people's lives.

I wish I enjoyed gardening. Or could raise chickens in my backyard. But that's just not me. I'm way too lazy for physical labor.
So I have to settle for grocery stores. And more recently, farmers' markets.
After living in Kansas for 35 years, I went to my first farmers' market last week. My friend, a very seasoned organic shopper, showed me the ropes.
It was so much fun.
I came home with a watermelon, cantaloupe, onions, corn on the cob and green beans. Snapping those green beans really brought back childhood memories.

And speaking of home grown vegetables, one of my former students paid me a visit before school one morning. Last spring, my students planted seeds in tiny plastic cups. We watched their seeds sprout and then they took their little seedlings home. Well this little boy took extra special care of his seedlings (or more likely, his mom did) and planted them in the ground. His seeds grew into cucumber plants and his plants produced several cucumbers.

He shared 3 of his cucumbers with his former teacher. I was thrilled. And they went perfectly with my farm fresh green beans!

a couple of fun photos

I'm tired.

It was a long 3 days of teaching kids.

But I wanted to share a couple of pictures.

What a silly girl!!

kindergarten

I still can't believe Nate is in kindergarten!
Even though he's 6 and should've gone last year, it just doesn't seem possible that he's old enough to be a kindergartener.

I had to leave before Nate was out of bed so I snapped a picture of him as he wheeled past my classroom (I love having him in my building!)
Not the greatest of pictures, but I didn't have time to get the perfect shot. I had a room full of students and Nate was already late.
Yeah, the bus tends to run late.

Nate went all day on the first day. Our school has an all-day kindergarten program.
But normally he'll go at 10 and stay the rest of the day.

He slept off and on throughout the day.
Pretty typical for him.
But at least he stayed awake for his little art project.