homecoming and 20 year reunion

This week was a busy one! It was homecoming, and all the festivities that accompany a small town homecoming. And it was also my 20 year class reunion.

Thursday night was the community pep rally and powder puff football game (senior girls vs. underclass girls). Bri and Allison both played but I only managed to get a picture of Bri.

It doesn’t look like she got too physical during the game!

Friday night was the football game. Allison had a couple of fans come from out of town to watch her dance.

Saturday morning Delaney and I went downtown to watch the homecoming parade. She scored big time when it came to candy!!

 

And that candy must have given her all the energy she needed for her soccer game, because she was on fire. Which really just means she kicked the ball a few times. I was just glad I brought my camera for proof!

 

After our busy morning, I went home, cooked lots of pasta, meatballs and chicken alfredo sauce and helped set up for our reunion. We had a great time.

These were some of my very best friends all through middle and high school.

high school football

At last night’s football game, all three of my girls participated in the half-time show. The dance team sponsored a clinic for elementary girls, so Delaney got to dance with the big girls.

 

Warming up before their performance.

 

Our football team didn’t win, but the halftime performers were winners all the way!!

arrrrr matey

Did you know today is “Talk Like a Pirate Day”? Our school celebrated our monthly reading goal with Pirate Day activities.

Many of the teachers (and some of the students) dressed up. Sorry, no pictures, but I will tell you that I had an awesome (and quite uncomfortable) parrot on my shoulder along with my pirate garb.

The students in my class made a treasure map for their kindergarten reading buddies. They counted how many paces it would take to get to each destination and drew their map. Then they took their kindergarten friends on a treasure hunt. The kids got little trinkets (gum, a feather, a jewel) at each stopping place. Then they got a Pirate snack (snack mix) at the end.

In the afternoon we went to 5 different stations:

1) Pirate Ship Races (scooter relay race)

2) Pirate Training which included  swabbing the deck (using a broom to move a beach ball around cones), walk the plank (balance beam), Peg Leg race (hop on one leg) and untie knots

3) Talk Like a Pirate (they learned sign language for pirate phrases)

4) Make Your Own Jolly Roger (flag)

5) Make a Pirate Hat

Here’s my pirate modeling his pirate hat (and pirate shirt!)

We had a great day!! The kids loved it and I think most of the teachers and staff did too!

Then after I got home from work, I found my own Pirate’s booty (that’s pirate talk for loot).

This summer I entered a drawing at the Intel website for teachers. I submitted a response to the question “How has technology bridged the gap for students with special needs?” I used our experiences with Nate in my answer and my name was drawn as the winner. I was told I would receive a flip video camera and a mini tripod. The tripod arrived a few weeks later, but not the video camera. I emailed the contact person and he said I should have gotten the camera and he would look into it. Well, after 2 months or more went by, I had pretty much chalked it up as a loss. Then out of the blue last week I received a follow-up email and then another email stating that my prize had been shipped, along with some extra goodies as an apology for the glitch. So I got a waterproof case for the flip video and a $50 Amazon gift card!!! So exciting!!

gymnastics

Delaney went to a birthday party last weekend at Funtastics (a gymnastics studio/birthday party venue). She had a blast and looked forward to going from the moment her invitation arrived in the mail.

Even the adults had a great time!!

Future gymnast?

Uh oh. Probably not going to be an Olympian!

Happy belated birthday, T. And thanks for the funtastic day!!

apples

I love cooking (could be part of the issue with my recent weight gain!!) And two of my best friends when it comes to cooking are my crock-pot and Pinterest. I’ve been seeing lots of yummy fall recipe pins on Pinterest and I decided I really needed to try one of the crock-pot applesauce recipes.

Today was the perfect day. Chilly temps. Overcast sky.

And while we were at it, we had some fun with the apples.

 

Yes, I’m ready for fall. Not quite ready for Christmas, although it appears that somebody is!

She built towers with the apples.

Sorted them.

Put them in pairs.

And made patterns.

And then she helped chop up the apples.

Here’s what you need if you want to try some crock-pot applesauce:

I combined a couple of different recipes.

8-10 apples
2 T Brown Sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 t. lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 strip of lemon peel (I used a vegetable peeler)

Cook on low for 6 hours. Yummy!