Spring Break

Most people go to Florida to see the beaches... we went to see this guy...
Well, and the beach, but how can you pass up that adorable face??
So some of our dearest friends live in Clearwater. We went to visit them last year, and had such a blast that we went back for round 2!!

Day 1... we went to Tarpon Springs... sponge capital of the world!!

I think those things are weird!! They feel weird too! I mean, why would you shower with something that came out of the ocean? How clean can it be? I'm all for decorating with it, but not actually using it. I don't know, just seems weird to me.

Also, Tarpon Springs is home to a large Greek community and let me just say, the food is A-MA-ZING!! We went back again 2 days later, same restaurant, same lunch. We are suckers for good food :)

After our Greek food and sponge expedition, we arrived back at our friend's house to find this yummy bouquet from my mom!! YUM-O! It is HUGE, but it barely made it through the night- we all LOVE fruit! Especially chocolate covered fruit!!

Day 2... Ty and I hit the beach... and ate lunch at our favorite lunch spot from last year, Frenchy's. They have amazing grouper sandwiches. Also, we discovered their chili cheese frieds last year. But Ty was playing golf after this meal and wisely decided chili cheese fries may not be the best idea. So grouper sandwiches it was!

Day 3... was actually my 30th birthday!!

We went BACK to that Greek spot, and had this delicious Greek salad and gyros. In Clearwater, they all put potato salad on the bottom of their Greek Salad. Fattening? yes. Delicious? yes. Worth it? absolutely!

I finished this meal with a piece of rocky road fudge from the fudge factory across the street!

Then Ty and I headed to the golf course to watch the PGA Transitions Tournament. Ty is a HUGE golf fan and over the years, I have seen my fair share of golf on TV with him. I really have grown fond of watching it and I really enjoy the tournaments. I mean, being outside, in a beautiful well manicured place... with snacks every where you turn?? what could be better? And now that i can recognize some of the golfers, I love it. my favorite part is watching the interaction between the golfer and caddy- what a special relationship that must be. One golfer had his wife as the caddy- what was weird is that she carries the HUGE bag. And as I thought about it, I thought "they must have a GREAT marriage for him to allow her to be a place to make suggestions at his place of WORK." Not a position I'd want to be in. Not that Ty and I don't have a great marriage, just no need to add that much tension!!

We ate dinner at our friend's place... I wanted a picture of myself on my 30th birthday, so I had the 2 oldest boys take our picture. I told them it was a competition to see who was the better photographer...

Grant (4th grade) took this pic.

Cal (6th grade) took this pic.

I told them I liked them both (and bonus- I get TWO pictures of me on my birthday!!)

Dont I LOOK 30??

YUM!! Birthday Dinner (sorry for the sideways pic)- we had taco "stuff" to place in a bowl "chipotle style." Chicken, beef, fajita steak, cheese, lettuce, homemade salsa, chips... I'm getting hungry!!

wil...love him.

Cookie Cake dessert!! (from Sam's, and let me say- amazing!)

This was a nightly activity for Ty and Wil... lots of puzzles!! That is 1 smart 3-year old!!

Ty's birthday!! day 4... we spent the morning at the boys' basketball games. Then lunch at their house... followed by LOTS of March Madness watching... then late afternoon we hit the beach.

Grant made a podium to stand on.

Landry (2nd grade) and Cal made a ramp and tunnel for a ball to roll through.

Wil just ran around ... a LOT.

Kelley and Ty on HIS Birthday!

Dear Dear Friends!! The whole gang!

Chris is a pastor at a church down there... (and he married us 3 1/2 years ago)
So Sunday morning, we went to church and then hit the road!

But this guy had a surprise for us first!! We had the honor of watching him be baptised!! Man, did I cry! I love that moment! so sweet, so special, so sincere!!

We returned home Sunday night and THIS was waiting for me!! Birthday week just keeps going!!

I'm back in school now (sad). But Ty has a big 30th birthday party planned for me this weekend! yay!!

Fun spring break... wish I was still there!!

Let the Birthday Celebrations Begin

My birthday is March 18th... during spring break. So my class just HAD to celebrate before we left for spring break... and that means the party was today!!

I got to school at 7:15 and found this~

So of course I wore my crown all day! Proudly displaying my age!! I am excited to turn 30!!

How creative! The balloons make a flower!!

They even changed the message on my little white board! It does not get more detailed oriented than that!!

My birthday banner! (don't judge me if I'm saving all of these decorations for the birthday party at my house which my sweet husband is throwing me because I told him I wanted him to throw me a birthday party. I have realized men are not mind-readers, so I just took it upon myself to let him know that turning 30 was a big deal to me)

The parents in my class brought a HUGE breakfast buffet! Cranberry muffins, blue berry muffins, sausage balls (reminded me of my dear friend Lauren all day long)

Donut holes, and LOTS of fruit!! My favorite! pineapple, honeydew, strawberries, apples!

Look at these flowers- I have never seen anything like it! so beautiful!!

I really wish I could be a florist, but I could never dream of something like this!

It was a fun day! the kids were a little on the hyper side... so after lunch I took down all of the decorations. It's funny, that really did help calm them down.

oh and we had DELICIOUS cupcakes- but those deserve their own post!! Coming soon...

My Teaching Look

Everyday I take pictures of my class and post them on a private blog for the parents to see what we do each day. I love this! It keeps the parents totally current on what we are learning, clarifies some of the students' "stories" about what happened in school, and gives the parents fodder for a conversation about "what did you do in school today?".

However, sometimes my sweet, dear, lovely teaching assistant takes the pictures. So sometimes I end up in the pictures. And when I see these, I always post them, but I wonder "how do kids look at me all day?" and "do I always look like that?"

it's no secret, I do NOT get dressed up for PreK4. In fact, I wear the same clothes over and over- clothes I don't really care if they get messy, clothes that I will probably burn when the year is over so I can fully get rid of the germs.

But my FACES... they crack me up!!

So- here is a small sampling of my "teaching face."
Fire Drill
Helping with some craft

Demonstrating a craft

This one was posed... getting ready to help with a wet pants accident

Reading and teaching sign language. (Pioneer Woman always talks about her "alien hands." Um... look at mine!)

Science experiment

=
Science experiment

Demonstrating how to jump rope with a hula hoop (yes, it's in my job description. not.)

Holding up a letter and showing off my massive nostrils

Here she really went for the "close up of the nostrils" angle. As if I wasn't already subconsious enough about their size. Love it. And again, alien hands, with chipped off nail polish. very professional indeed.

So that is my teaching face.

I will be paying for my assistant to go to photography classes so that this doesn't happen any more.

And that was just the humor I needed today!! I am laughing to myself as I write this! Yay God! thanks for leading me in this direction!