A few more

long overdue Easter pictures.....

I thought I should add a couple of the older kids, although they're not as much fun to photograph!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo and Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!

just a quick update....

I am finally getting around to putting up a few Easter pictures.... and this cute one of Charles that was from awhile ago.....

I am having quite a struggle around here for the computer. The "my space" addiction has quite a hold on my children. I am seriously considering putting a one hour limit on computer time per day....... Just don't have the energy to enforce it as of today, so I will have to hope their obsession wears out or I get some gumption.....

The 2 beauties above are my sweet nieces..... love the mischieveous look in Madi's eye and the giggle on Livi's face.... it's not often that Livi gives up her worried "crinkle"!!

I am still hoping for more adjectives on the link below.... (down about 3 posts or so) check it out if you have time.

Love, N

Happy....

and tragically behind on all schoolwork!!!

Had a WONDERFUL trip to Tuo Co this weekend.... lots of chatting, talking, about things serious and not with friends who we miss. Am hoping to get back soon to soak up that soothing essence of friendship.....

Had a pretty good day back today with the youngsters. Am entirely stressed about getting my room ready for open house this Thursday, but maybe I will not do as much as I planned... Maybe I will let some of it go... let some OLD artwork grace the walls and ceiling and hallway.....

If you have not yet clicked that little link in the post below.... please go and do it.... am loving the results!

Happy Tuesday! Hugs! Nancy

Sorry...

for not being around lately.... have been suffering from same old blahness again....

Help me out and go answer these QUICK questions about me.....

http://kevan.org/johari?name=nberg

Love, Nancy

Back to Work

I am severely dreading that moment tomorrow when I am in front of my class and someone starts to act up. Inevitably, it will happen... sometime.... hopefully not in the 15 minutes between the start of school and music class... my prediction is DURING music class..... So, how will this be handled.... I guess it depends on the infringement.....

I am so relaxed.... so content.... it's hard to picture how the day will go tomorrow.... I have missed those sweet little souls, but I worry about how much they have forgotten these past NINE days.

Wish me luck!

Hugs! Nancy

Refreshed

So, I've officially ended my week of Spring Break, and I feel pretty refreshed. I have my class memory books now complete for August, October, November & December, and September is in the works. Today I watched "Little Miss Sunshine" which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I have been rereading "Gone with the Wind".

If you notice a post from a while back about M missing, some nosy girls (not the girlfriend) found my blog and messaged him on "my space", and now I am forbidden to write about him. Most especially about his love life... this is very difficult for me, as I spend a LOT of my time worrying about him, and now I am limited in the places where I can vent!

Have been wishing I could scrap more for myself this week, but the demands of assembly line scrapping necessary to complete the class memory books have sucked out all my creative energy. It is well worth it however, as the kids in my class LOVE to see their pages, and making them each this special gift is something I believe in.... for some of them it is the only scrapbook they will ever have.

Today...

Today I sat with my 15 year old son and his counselor and discussed his future plans.
Today I got to work early to have a parent teacher conference before the students arrived.
Today I wore my navy blue capris.... because the weather is getting warm.... and a turtleneck sweater because it's never warm enough here.
Today I sat on the floor of my classroom and organized the calendar numbers for the rest of the school year.
Today I laughed with my colleagues in the lunch room.
Today I talked to my mom, my mother in law and my sister in law on the phone.
Today I rested my body after three straight days of exercise.
Today I cuddled with my puppy on the bed and watched Friday Night Lights.
Today I drank 24 oz. of diet Pepsi.
Today I tried to call my Michelle twice because I miss her.
Today I didn't have to urge anyone to come out from under the table.
Today I received the bad news that one of my sweet students is seriously ill again.
Today I made cheeseburgers and french fries for dinner.
Today I took the time to pray for my concerns and the concerns of others.
Today I felt fullness inside myself......

Instead of doing my report cards...

or running on the treadmill... or cleaning my bathroom....

Actually, instead of doing anything I SHOULD be doing, I am in my scrap room making this cute page of Kyla and my nieces from last Halloween.

The green paper is velvet paper from SEI. It is sooo soft and yummy! And, all the supplies are old stuff.... didn't use anything out of my new basket at all!!

Hope you take some time to do something you LOVE today!

Sweet little guy

Last weekend we had the pleasure of babysitting our 4 month old nephew, Charles. As soon as he woke up, Kyla and I were ready with a photo shoot! Here are my favorite shots....

100th post

Here I was all set to blog about some other thing when I logged on, and then I have to go and notice that this is my 100th post!! So, what in the world can I do to celebrate? Go and eat 100 chocolate chip cookies? If I had any chocolate chips in the house, I would certainly consider it!! Instead I think I will name 100 people I love..... if you are on the list I would love a comment from you, and if not maybe you can comment and tell me what a bad friend I am!! (Of course, these are in no particular order... except for my #1!)

1. Mark
2. Mason
3. Kyla
4. My mom
5. My dad
6. Cheryl
7. Dave
8. Alyssa
9. Alivia
10. Maddie
11. Michelle C.
12. Michelle D.
13. Danette
14. Gina
15. Karen K.
16. Ann
17. John
18. Liz
19. Charles
20. My grandma Millie
21. Aunt Ronie
22. Joanna
23. Steph
24. Anne
25. Lori
26. Shari
27. Karen T.
28. Kristin
29. Shelley
30. Marie
31. CJ
32. Jenny
33. Susie
34. Jim
35. Kristy
36. Blue
37. Kody
38. Ryder
39. Jace
40. DJ
41. Raquel
42. Aunt Kathy
43. Uncle Kevin
44. Uncle Bill
45. Uncle Louie
46. Dennis
47. D3
48. Blair
49. Jessica
50. John K.
51. Rick
52. Greg
53. Eric
54. Terri
55. Karen M.
56. Trevor
57. Taylor
58. Alison C.
59. Ryan
60. Alison K.
61. Grace
62. Jill
63. Dolores
64. Nancy T.
65. Aunt Toni
66. Johnny
67. Katie
68. Bob
69. Aunt Pat
70. Ron
71. Lanore
72. Shay
73. Julie
74. Melissa
75. Shelly
76. Linda
77. Uncle Blue
78. Ronnie
79. Bridgid
80. Bryleigh
81. Carson
82. Colby
83. Cyrie
84. Emma
85. Ethan
86. Galilea
87. Jasa
88. Kamden
89. Kevin
90. Kyler
91. Maddie
92. Madison
93. MaKenzie
94. Marcus
95. Mariela
96. Riley
97. Sawyer
98. Savannah
99. Tommy
100. Colin Firth

Numbers 79-99 are the special souls who fill each of my Monday-Fridays with activity, fun and learning!!

And if by some MIRACLE I get more than 10 comments, I will send out fun presents to a lucky comment leaver!!

Just a little update...

The "running" which is still mostly walking.... is coming along. I skipped on Thursday, but was just too drained to attempt it.

I scrapped a page today... and am hoping to work on my class' memory books tomorrow... maybe not, though, report cards are coming up and I have lots to do to prepare for that.

Got to babysit my nephew, Charles, tonight... took a few pics and will post them as soon as they are developed.

Kids are growing up too fast, but can't post about it here as they would die of embarrassment and never forgive me......

House still for sale...

Doesn't the new kitchen counter in our "old" house look nice!! Wish we would have made all the changes while we lived in it!

So, offers anyone?

Tired, oh so tired....

Have been sticking to my training routine so far for the race.

The waist high mob (as I AFFECTIONATELY call my class) has been wild and crazy.... it must be the wind... it is carrying a hint of spring fever.

Spend too much time looking at magazines planning to scrapbook without completing anything.

Have been praying lots for my husband's stepmom who is dying of cancer and won't let anyone contact her. Also for his dad and the pain he must be suffering.

Have been having lots of arguments with Kyla.... the teenage years are here.

Need a vacation soon....

Sweet and Sassy

Yesterday I also did a little scrapping... here's a layout I made with Kyla and some of those flowers I painted. Doesn't she just crack you up?!?

October 21

I checked it out online, and the race (not that I will be racing, of course!) is on October 21. I ran yesterday.... and again today. As of now I am only able to run for about a mile out of 4, but it's only the first week of my training, so I am OK with that. I know I am pretty out of shape aerobically as I only workout regularly on the weekends and 2 days out of 7 is not enough to keep your heart in shape. But this goal feels so good to me.... and tomorrow is my rest day!! Yay!

The real test will be on Tuesday when I have taught all day and need to come home and run. I will be stopping off to buy new shoes that day as my current running shoes are 10 years old! Of course, they haven't been used for much running in the last 10 years, but I definitely need new ones... and some of those nifty socks that keep your feet from getting chafed. Hopefully the new socks and shoes will inspire me! LOL!

A goal....

So this morning as I was bopping around doing a lot of nothing.... looking at magazines, sponge painting flowers in every color of the rainbow just because I felt like it, walking on the treadmill, watching TV.......

This thought hit me.... and I do mean "hit" literally, because it came with a force few thoughts ever have..... I am going to run a half marathon. In September.

So I went to Google and printed up a little training schedule.

This decision has made me feel full of purpose, and as FULLNESS is my word for the year, I am feeling happy.... very happy.

I spend so much time berating the state of my almost 40 year old body.... It's time for this to end. If I don't like it, I will change it.

Now, off to do a little running (but mostly walking since I am so out of shape! LOL!).

On Sunday....

Kyla and I took Pepper and went to the beach to get some sand for my classroom. One of the things I keep promising myself to do more often is to go to the beach . There is just something so magical about the ocean. It is so soothing to walk along listening to the waves, feeling the wind in your hair and the sand under your feet. Of course going anywhere with Pepper is the opposite of soothing. He pulls so hard on the leash he chokes himself. The choking causes him to stop and cough about every 10 feet. Also, he goes crazy every time he sees another dog, so we have to pick him up and carry him. Being that it was a fairly nice day (50 degrees with cloud cover and only a little wind) the beach was a pretty busy place. Dogs were running wild everywhere. Kyla, of course, flips out wherever Pepper is concerned. She is sure he's going to get off his leash or pull the leash out of my hand or get attacked by a dog or be hit by a mini-meteorite!! There is just no rationalizing with her. She runs completely on FEELING.... and she just loves that little stinker so much that she gets herself all freaked out! Needless to say, the beach was not soothing or magical. It was downright horrid. So after about 15 minutes we were on our way home.

Stopped off at Woodley Island Marina to finish off the roll of film. I made Kyla walk out onto a little dock thing so she was in front of Carson Mansion. She has always loved that building and it really puts her out that it is a private club and she cannot go there. While there she was sure one of us or Pepper was going to fall into the bay. Ack!

Hopefully next time we will have more luck.

A boy

There is this boy who lives in my house. He is slowly metamorphising into a man. He has hairy man legs and a deep voice. He is the tallest member of our family. But he also comes and asks me for hugs about once a week. He does not know how to put gas in the car. He generally doesn't know where he is in his new hometown. He works out everyday, but he doesn't consistently do his homework. He is getting a C in Spanish and a D in Algebra. Today he didn't walk to my classroom after school as he was supposed to. I returned to an empty classroom after my staff meeting. I cleaned up around my room and checked my voicemail. Nothing. About 15 minutes later he called and said he was "somewhere" and would call me when he was ready to go. Does he not understand what kind of fear that puts into a mother's heart? I need to know exactly where "somewhere" is... I need to have a timeline for when he will be done, and he MUST be on time. For the next 4 years, our survival depends on these boundaries.

It's going to be a long road. Wish me luck.

Would you, Could you, in a car?

Well, tomorrow is Dr. Seuss' birthday, so in the world of Kindergarten we have been rhyming our little hearts out this week. Today I was doing a listening game with my class, and I said, "Say 'tam'"(because that's what the book said to say)..... "tam"..... "Whisper to your neighbor something that rhymes with 'tam'"..... and all I heard was lamb and jam and clam and Sam..... What a good little class I have!

Tomorrow we will be eating Green Eggs and Ham. We will make a graph of whether we like it or not, then we will write about it in these little "Cat in the Hat" journals that look like red and white striped hats. What a lovely day it will be.... I hope it isn't raining!!

The neighbor strikes again!

So on Valentine's Day, the dreaded neighbor from across the street came and paid Mark a visit... (if you look back to November 3, you can read the first part of this story). He was complaining again about how our dog's barking disturbs him. He admitted that we limit Pepper's time outside to 15 minutes about 3 times per day, yet even that small amount of barking was driving him crazy......

So, my sweet husband who is light years ahead of me in neighborly instinct.... went to the pet store to weigh our options. He considered a shock collar, wherein we would have to shock our baby each time her barked. Then he considered some new do-hickey that squirts the dog in the nose when he barks (too expensive). Finally he settled on this classic nylon muzzle.

When I arrived home from school that day I was shocked to see my sweet puppy obviously agitated by this foreign contraption. But regardless of my feelings on the topic, each time that I put him outside I attach the contraption to his head. He is still able to bark with it on... it just kind of limits his range of motion therein keeping his bark at a lower pitch.... you know, less yappy. You can also see from the photo that he can get his prodigiously long tongue out of it. The neighbor has conceded that he can live with this new arrangement. I am debating on whether I should put this picture in his mailbox with "Are you happy now?" scribbled on the back.

What do you think?