Total Pageviews

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Egg Dying Ceremony

Mark and I have always made a huge deal about traditions.
When it comes to a real holiday we'll stretch that baby out like we're reaching for the moon.

This year we let the tradition of egg dying almost slip through the cracks.
But we called in Aunt Molly a couple day before Easter.


She helped with the spinner.


She guided the dipping.


She was even a little more nervous than me:-)



Kids with objects being dipped into permanent 
solutions raises any adults hair.


Overall, we did extremely well!
Thanks so Aunt Molly!








We also needed to egg grabbing glove.
Which everyone loved to use.


Thanks to Aunt Molly for adding the 
excitement to the usual egg dying ceremony.









Findin' Some Tadpoles

Months back this summer Victoria learned Aunt Molly knew how to find tadpoles and capture them.  She been asking for months when Aunt Molly was going to come over to do just that.  One day in April Victoria called her to thank her for something and as I held my phone on speaker to her little mouth she ended the thank you as, So when are you coming over to find tadpoles with us anyway Aunt Molly?"

What a nice thank you right? I was mortified!  You don't ask for a favor in a thank you for cry in out loud.

But a couple hours later.....



Aunt Molly shows up with waders, several nets, etc....
it was amazing.
She set up the kids with boundaries and they obeyed.
Turns out the frogs hadn't laid their eggs yet, 
memories were still made.
And there's still time...

2nd Annual Daddy Daughter Dance

Victoria and Mark attended the 2nd annual Daddy Daughter Dance on April 13th.
She was so excited this year.
Last year she was exhausted and cried for an hour before they left.
This year she was jumping around for an hour prior in pure excitement.
She got her hair styled by Mommy.
But the curls didn't last long.


Uncle Guy and Emilee went along again this year.


Look at that love!

Two proud daddies with their girls!





Little dude was sad the girls were getting all the attention and he suddenly wanted his picture taken.
So he put on Mark's hat and his backpack and stood there crying.
I love the look of concern on Victoria's face.


He said he needed seven pictures taken to 'be even' with the girls.


He didn't smile for any of them though.


The Professional shot from the dance.


They didn't make it all the way through the dance but they had a great time learning new dances and enjoying juice and cookies.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Scooby Doo Lessons

It is often I'm planted on the couch in the early morning hours with one or both of my kids watching Scooby Doo.  I do not enjoy watching Scooby Doo one bit, but I do love a good I'm-Still-Sleepy-Cuddle so I'll do it, with a magazine or the laptop or I'll just shut my eyes and relax.

This morning it's just Christian and me.  Christian has watched this episode at least three times and he just caught Shaggy saying, "Sugar, sugar!  I love sugar!"  Christian said, "Mom, Shaggy and Scooby eat way too much junk food!  They should eat some broccoli."

That's my boy!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Do You Have $10,000

Today I received this email with the subject line: Do you have $10,000

Hi Kelly,
Did that subject line catch your eye. For only $10,000 you can get
VIP NKOTB tickets for two to Hershey PA. Check out the details at
Groupon escapes.
I'm sure Mark will have no problem with you going to this. I mean its
not like you have to even ask for time off at work :)
Molly

This was my response:

Thanks for the info Mol, but I ordered mine this morning at 7am.  I am so excited!!!  I will take you free of charge.

Then at 5:01 I received a voicemail that went something like this...now mind you I was in the Teacher of the Year Extravaganza that she should have been waiting on pins and needles to hear from me.  Instead here's the gist of what she left me:

Hi Kelly, I just opened your email.  Wow, I'm uh not sure if you're serious or not.  But um, call me right way.  I know you're a super fan and all and maybe you were serious.  Call me when you get a chance. (giggling nervously)

There are so many things wrong and funny about this.  Here are my Top 2:
1. I do not have an extra 10 grand for anything.
2. If I did and I could use it for anything I wanted - it wouldn't be NKOTB related but if it was, I would pay FIVE grand to have Jordan perform on my very own deck. 

But it was pretty funny she would, even for a second, consider I would pay that much.  

I Am not the Teacher of the Year

After a very long and exhausting process, I did not win Teacher of the Year today.  Although I learned several things while trying to win.

* It feels damn good to be recognized for my work.
* It is truly an honor to be nominated.
* Waiting until the last minute to begin doing paperwork is not a good idea and always adds extra stress.
* Now that I have a teaching philosophy in writing, I think it makes me a better teacher.  I'm thinking of posting it somewhere in my classroom.
* Preparing for the interview was one of the best moves I've ever done to get myself ready for something. I learned a lot about myself in that mock interview and should have done something like that long ago.
* When I get really really really nervous my hands go numb.
* I have never been more proud of myself than when I walked out of that room filled with 20 people who listened to my responses.
* I have more friends and family who support me than I ever realized.




I was so proud of the two little girls who's mother nominated me and they introduced me tonight.  My little student counted all the people in the auditorium as she sat next to me and whispered, "140 people came here to see you win, Mrs. Humphrey!"  What was really amazing was she and her sister spoke into a microphone in front of all those people so so very well.

Here are their speeches:

Mrs. Humphrey was my second grade teacher last year.  She made my 2nd grade experience the BEST EVER!  I was very nervous and scared until I realized my teacher was super nice and that made me feel better.  She saw my weakness and helped me be more excited to learn.  Mrs. Humphrey took time to give me one on one attention and to make sureI always had a good day.  Mrs. Humphrey has always had smile and great things to say to me.  She makes me feel good about myself and shows me that she really cares about me.  I miss 2nd grade because she is no longer my teacher, but I make sure to say good morning to her every morning, and good bye to her with a hug at the end of each day.  I love Mrs. Humphrey and she REALLY deserves this award because she will always be in my heart no matter how old I am!  I will never forget how much Mrs. Humphrey treated me and made me feel special.  I LOVE YOU Mrs. Humphrey!


My teacher Mrs. Humphrey is the best teacher EVER!  I seen how happy my sister was in her class, so I wanted to be in her class - and now I am!!  Mrs. Humphrey cares about everyone she meets, she loves her class VERY much!  She makes me so happy every day that I go to school.  She is a great teacher because she has good ideas, she likes to play games with us, she makes sure we are all learning and she keeps everyone safe.  I learn a lot in her class every day.  Even on the weekends I think about her and can't wait until Monday to see her.  (The crowd cracked up at this point!)  In Mrs. Humphrey's class she pushes us to do better and she sees all of our potential.  Mrs. Humphrey makes me feel awesome inside!  She gives me hugs and she asks me if I am having a good day.  I do have bad days, but she helps she me out of them!!  She makes sure I stay on task and helps me to have better days!  I'm going to be so sad to leave 2nd grade because I am going to miss her so much!  But I know I can still see her and visit her!  Mrs. Humphrey has shown me, my sister and my mom what a true love of teaching really is!  We all love her and want her to be recognized for all of her hard work!

We Love You Mrs. Humphrey!

I will cherish those speeches forever.  


We were all nominated!!


Christian was being a crabby little dude.
I think he was mad I lost;-)



My wonderful teammates gave me a beautiful arrangement of flowers this morning.

It was a fun adventure.  I'm looking forward to the parade on June 15th.