March 31, 2011
In the midst of all the madness it is always great to get away from it all and have some fun with your friends! Tonight we went bowling. It was really fun! Ryan and Janice were the bowling champs, but I think Elijah's extreme bowling was my favorite!
Then I came home to brownie madness.
At this moment I am in the middle of making brownie bites for tomorrow's luncheon at school. I need 80+ brownie bites, and I just put in the batch that tips me over to half way done.
Tomorrow I just have to ice them, add sprinkles and place them on the tables. So close to done with this crazy week!
March 30, 2011
Lately it has been harder and harder to get myself out of bed and get going in the morning. I have always loved my coffee in the morning, but it has become even more dear to me these past few weeks of craziness.
On Wednesday mornings I go with Janice to a coffee shop to do our weekly prayer time, it's a triple treat, Janice, prayer and coffee! Also, many Wednesday's Mer and Steph head out to get coffee after lunch because their kiddos are in music class, so they have some extra time for lunch. Today, I got coffee BOTH times of the day! And from two different coffee shops...
There is only water in the Coffee Bean cup, but believe me, this morning I had a different cup filled with plenty of coffee!
I had to share two pictures today, because as Steph and I were headed back to school to keep working on more projects, we got to see a beautiful blessing, a VERY pink sky!
The clouds were amazing, and getting pinker every second. I guess that's the beautiful side of smog!
March 29, 2011
This week I feel like I'm just staying one step ahead of the game. Every night I'm working on something to get ready for the next day, and right when I'm finished with that "one" thing, it's time for the next thing...
Today I was working on the book fair picture booth, the "Read-A-Coaster". I think it turned out OK, although I still have to finish a few details and add a second row.
Here's a picture of Leah and Tracy on the Read-A-Coaster. Fun, fun, fun!! Just waiting for Friday night's Family Fun Book Fair Night, we'll have lots of pictures on this thing!! : )
PS. Technically I didn't take this picture, but Mer did such a great job, I just decided to borrow it for today!!
March 28, 2011
Today was Literature day at LACS. It was a lot of fun seeing all the costumes and doing tons of reading with the whole school. I love that all of our staff gets involved with our "Spirit Days". Here is a picture of our amazing elementary school staff.
All day we focused on books and reading. We had so much fun hearing stories from guest readers and being read to by teachers and doing activities with each other. Some of the costumes the kids dressed up in include, Percy Jackson, Fancy Nancy, Prince Caspian, Reepacheep, Edmond and Peter from Chronicles of Narnia, tons of princesses and super heros, and one of my favorites, Charlie Brown...
We (Leah, Mer, Steph and I) dressed up at the Berenstain Bears, Papa, Mama, Sister and Brother.
March 27, 2011
Today was a day of projects, getting ready for Literature Day tomorrow at school. I sewed, cut out fish, made some monster faces, photo copies, typed, and checked everything off of my to-do list!
Here's a sample of some of the stuff I made today. The hat and noses took me all morning, even though they shouldn't have. There are the fish, and some monster faces and shapes from construction paper in this pic too.
I actually love the noses. I had to re-do these things too many times, but finally they came out good enough. I think they are ready for Mama, Papa, Brother and Sister Berenstain Bear.
And here's a little preview! Just wait for some more fun tomorrow at Literature Day! : )
March 26, 2011
I was working in my classroom at the middle school today, and had to search my desk for a very specific pen, which I never found, but I did find these amazing pictures of Stephanie Goddu and I in China. Whenever we saw a photo booth we had to stop and get some photos taken. I found a whole stash of the pics in my desk...
These ones say we are fine and cool! There are great captions and random words in English on most of the frames. Of course we always had to choose the most random!
I think this is my favorite, "Sports Fascinated, Top Player". Hahahaha! (It was really humid there, so I had some pretty great hair most of the trip, until I got it permanently straightened...)
These are really random. On a cigarette carton, really? I love the third one down, next to our Chinese boyfriends!!
Such fun memories! I think I need to go to more photo booths in the US!
March 25, 2011
We are getting ready for the Book Fair at school, our big family fun night at the book fair is next Friday. This year's theme is Book Fair Carnival. One way we are working up to the big event is by trying to have the whole school read for a certain amount of minutes. Our goal is 100,000 minutes! I made a little "scale" that looks like one of those games at the fair that you hit the bottom with a mallet and see how high the disk will reach (I don't know what those are called).
Every Friday we get an update on the reading minutes, and one student comes up and hits the bottom part to see how close we are to reaching our goal. Today Carlos, a 4th grade student got the privilege of hitting the target, and showed off his big muscles before doing his job!
Sadly, we only have one week left, and after today we are only almost half way there...Oops!!
March 24, 2011
Well, the day finally came when I didn't have time to take a picture. How sad! At about 10:30 I fixed that by quickly snapping some shots around my house... Here's what I came up with.
The disco ball Christmas ornament that I have hanging from the light in my bedroom. I'm not sure why it's there, I had hung it in the same place in my old house, and it just felt right to put it back in the same spot when I moved.
This is a picture that one of my fifth grade students drew for me a lot of years ago (she is now in college!!). I LOVE this picture, the day she gave it to me I knew that I would frame it and keep it forever!
My new plant, a Peace Lily. I got it last weekend, it is so beautiful, I love it! We had gone to the flower mart to get plants for the banquet we had last weekend, and then at the end of the day we got to take the plants home. I was really happy we had picked these ones out to use.
Hopefully tomorrow I will be back in the game, taking pictures throughout the day, not at the last minute!
March 23, 2011
Today is Tammy's birthday!! She wanted to go to Urth Cafe for a Spanish Latte for her birthday "breakfast", so we all got up extra early and headed out before school.
Urth has delicious coffee (and treats) and they bring them to you with a fancy design on top, depending on what you order: this is my coffee, with a leaf/feather kind of thing on it... : )
It was a fun morning with a great group of friends. Happy Birthday Tammy!!
March 21, 2011
I was too tired to wake up and work out this morning, so today after school I came home and did one of my favorite videos. A little while after I finished I went to wash my hands and noticed something funny:
I had worked out with my pearl earrings on! Haha! Don't they go well with my fancy t-shirt?!?! (It is really killing me putting this picture up for all to see, but we're supposed to be living transparent lives, right?)
That's my new toy, a Kitchenaide Mixer, and I LOVE it!! I have been wanting one of these for a long time, and finally decided to use part of my tax return to get one.
So far I have only used it to make pudding (which would have been a lot easier if I had just used my whisk...) but I can't wait to play with it more! Get ready for lots of treats LACS!! : )
March 19, 2011
Today we had our World Impact Los Angeles banquet, celebrating 40 years of ministry in Los Angeles and across the United States.
I was on the decoration committee, and we worked hard to get the gym all dressed up and ready for the big day. I think it turned out beautifully!
These were the table center pieces. Super fresh and spring-y. Tracy was the master-mind behind the whole set up, and she did a great job leading the team and getting the banquet off to a great start.
Although, my favorite place for the day was in the 2nd grade classroom, where all the desserts were being housed until serving time! Meredith led the team of staff who pitched in to make delicious home-made desserts, pies, cakes, cupcakes and cheese cakes! I wanted to sample all of them, but sadly didn't get to!
And here are just a few of the lovely ladies from staff who helped to make the day a success! What a fun (and beautiful) team to work with!
March 18, 2011
...Is the flower mart in downtown Los Angeles! I LOVE walking through the rows and rows of flowers, all the different colors and smells.
Today we went down to get some flowers and plants for the World Impact Banquet on Sat. (tomorrow). We were looking for yellow, but I couldn't help but ohh and aww at all of the colors I saw!
This was one of my favorite rows, I could just lay down in these flowers and stay forever! I want to take the whole thing home with me, or have someone carry it around behind me so I can always be near it.
And these were my favorites for the day. For some reason my eye just kept getting drawn to these beautiful orange ranunculus. I love them!!
March 17, 2011
We had some fun at school today! The first and second grade classes came and sang to a group of people who come help out at the school once a quarter, Friends of World Impact. They were all decked out in their green tops, and did a great job singing "Oh Susanna" and "Blessed Assurance".
Then in 5th grade writing class we made up our own Irish Blessings. This was a bit of a challenge for some of them, but they ended up doing a great job. This is just part of the class, those who got done early enough to be in the picture.
March 15, 2011
Today we had another day off of school. I decided to stay home and rest, do laundry and clean out a closet or two. After I had done all of that, I got to keep reading Percy Jackson! Today I finished book 3 and started on book 4. I can't wait to see how the whole thing ends! : )
Today we had a day off of school, so we headed to Disneyland! It was a perfect day, warm, but not too hot. It was a bit crowded, I think the Spring Break crowds have started, but we didn't have to wait too long for anything, and we got to do a lot of the attractions we don't normally do when we go. Only 11/2 more months until our passes expire, so we'll see how many more trips we can squeeze in before our times up!
March 13, 2011
Today my family celebrated MORE birthdays!! My mom's birthday is tomorrow, March 14, and so is my sister-in-laws! They share their birthday, so we celebrated with a B-B-Q and cake.
My mom is someone who is so special! She is joyful and fun and always there for her family when we need her. She gives sacrificially and is always ready to help out whenever there is a need. She has always supported me and I know that she always will! I love her very much and am so thankful that she is my mom!
My sister-in-law Gina is a wonderful person! She is a great mom, and a great sister. Her love for her family and friends is contagious! I have enjoyed all of the times we have spent together laughing and talking and hanging out, and look forward to so many more times together!
Today I met my sister, niece and nephew in Pasadena for lunch.
They had come for an archery lesson in the morning, and I met them after they had finished. We went to a little Italian restaurant we happened to pass by as we were looking for another place, I don't even know the name of it. But it was a good call, we all loved it!
Tonight we played Wii! It was really fun, except the new Super Mario bros. got really frustrating when we couldn't pass the level we were stuck on! Leah is a monster at that game! Then we switched to Toy Story Mania! Just like the ride at CA Adventure, except without the cart to ride around on, or the 3D objects flying out at you, or the long line, so really nothing like the ride at all! : )
March 10, 2011
This morning I broke out the juicer and made some fresh orange juice for breakfast! Yummmmmmmmmmy!
I got a nice bag of oranges from Fresh and Easy last night, and was ready to juice this morning (notice the Tupperware orange peeler...one of the greatest inventions ever!!)
I got the juicer all set up and ready to go (it had to be cleaned up a bit, because it had been collecting dust for a while in the box under my table...oops!).
And in no time at all, this delicious orange juice was ready to drink! Super easy, from start to finish it only took me 20 minutes, set-up, juicing and clean-up! You can't beat it!
