Is the weekend over already?

This weekend we enjoyed being home...for once! On Friday night we rented some movies and relaxed at home. On Saturday we ran a bunch of errands and then picked up Samuel so Sarah and Dave could get their house ready for someone to look at. Later some friends came over for a BBQ. I honestly can't remember the last time the weather was this nice...it was almost cooler outside than inside. On Sunday we went to brunch in Kirkwood and sat outside on the patio to soak up a few more minutes of sunshine. I just can't believe how fast the weekends fly by, especially when you're a working woman again. :-) I took lots of pictures on Saturday, especially of my adorable nephew.

Mallory and Brian brought over their new puppy, Max.

Lindsay gives Max some lovin'

Dustin and Brian playing bags

Sarah, Jonathan & Dave wait for their turns at bags

Sweet Samuel...don't you just love that face?!?

He enjoyed "watering" my plants with ice from the cooler

His look of "surprise"

Taking a break

Samuel really enjoyed playing bags with the big kids

Helping pick up the bags

I am sad that summer is quickly coming to an end. But I am super excited for fall - especially for cooler weather and college football. Two things that make me really excited! Go Sooners and Golden Hurricane!

1st Week of School...

...and I survived! On Monday I wasn't so sure I would make it. I absolutely love my class, but my, are they young and immature! Especially compared to my class last year. But they are so cute and funny...I quickly forget about how wiggly they are. Here are a few funny things I overheard this week:

"Is it time to go home, yet?"

(This happens about 200 times a day...it gets worse after lunch)

"First grade is hard!"

"I just can't do anymore work today. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow."

"Man! These chairs sure are slippery!"

(By the way, they're not slippery at all. He just has a hard time not falling out of his seat.)

Oh, bless their little hearts. It's going to be a long, but very fun, year. Oh, and this is a TRUE story that happened in my friend Lisa's kindergarten class. I think she should enter it in a magazine...she could make money off this one! The parent sent her an email with this story. (And just in case you've never heard of it, The Kissing Hand is a really sweet story about leaving for school for the first time):

I thought you might enjoy a cute conversation Tuesday afternoon when Sam was asked about school. It was the day they did "The Kissing Hand".

Dad: So, Sam, What did you do at School today?
Sam: We learned how to make Love....
(Dad is in a little shock as Sam fumbles a bit)
Dad: You did what?
Sam: We learned how to make love....see? (and attempts the sign language for love).

Dad to Mom: Whew! I was wondering what they were teaching in that class!

Bartlesville High School Class of '99

My high school reunion was last weekend. As President of our Senior Class (I know, I was a dork back then, too!) I had the privilege of planning the weekend. Luckily I have FABULOUS friends from high school who all pitched in and made it all happen! There's no way I could have come close to making it as fun without them. Especially when Jonathan and I didn't make it until Saturday evening. (That wasn't in the plan, but what can you do?!?) So I owe a huge thank you to several people...Megan, Melissa, Sara, Jill, Hollye, Britney, Mary and April all made the weekend so much fun for everyone. Thanks, girls! You all are the best!!!

There were fun events all weekend. On Friday there was a "meet and greet" at a local restaurant. Saturday we had a picnic and tour of the high school in the afternoon. That evening we had a dinner and dance at Hillcrest (the country club in B'ville.) We made it in town just in time for the fun that was had at Hillcrest. There were lots of people there...my guess is over 150...and everyone had so much fun! We even got kicked out by the Hillcrest staff and moved the party to the Elks Lodge.

I'm so glad so many people from our class made it back for the weekend. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up. Go Bruins! :-)

Me, April & Megan

Britney, April, Megan, Mary & Hollye

Cutting a rug on the dance floor

Jonathan and Britney had LOTS of fun dancing. Someone even asked Britney if Jonathan was my husband or hers...too funny!

Sara, me, Mary & Melissa

The infamous close-up shot (J took like 20 of these with different people...that might have to go on its own post.)

Some of the girls who helped pull off the reunion...Sara, Melissa, Mary, Jill, Megan, & me

Kansas City

Last weekend we went to Kansas City with some friends from Oklahoma. Britney's husband, Ryan, has been playing baseball for the Kansas City T-Bones this summer. We were all so excited to go watch him play! We watched his games on Friday and Saturday. We also shopped and played some games at Dave & Busters on Saturday. It was a wonderful weekend, and we are excited to see everyone again next weekend in Bartlesville!

The whole group: Jonathan and me, John and Hollye, Ryan and Britney, Drew and Megan, Nick and Jill, and Tyler and Sara (with a friend from college)

The boys weren't exactly thrilled to pose with our signs!

We used some of Jill's signs from work to make posters for the game...we were so proud of ourselves!

More Letters

I'm sitting here cleaning out my binder for school, and I found two more funny notes from my students:

Dear Mrs. Teal,

1st grade has been a blased! I just wish 1st grade wlod be lognger, Becase I love to be with you. I even like read aloud, Oh YaY I even wish spring break is not even close! But when I go to 2nd grade I will say hellow every morning, If your still there.

Love,

C

*This little guy was having a really hard time settling in that day (well, most days actually) and I think I sent him to "take a break" for most of centers time. The letter was waiting for me on my desk after lunch.

Im sorry I was Being gooFy at the carPet and at centers.

From S

That last one just melts my heart! I felt bad for getting on to him, even though I know he deserved it. They're little minds are just so funny!!!

School and "The Best Thing in First Grade..."

I've been back at school this week working on my room. It's so much fun! I realize that I'm a complete dork for loving school this much, but I just can't help it. (I also love, love, love buying school supplies...side note) This year I'm super excited to have a new addition to my classroom...a SmartBoard! Our PTO worked really hard last year to raise money for new technology, and I'm so thankful that I was chosen to have one of these boards. If you've never heard of them, they are like a white board that can hook up to your computer. They're absolutely incredible. At the end of last year, the word on the street was that my board would be in by November. But lucky me...it's already here! Today Pam got it all set up for me and I got to play with it. I can't wait for all the cool stuff I'll be able to do with my classroom this year. (Again, I realize I'm showing my true dorkiness in this post, and I'm totally okay with that.)


Since I have this new addition, I've had to completley rearrange my room so that the focal point is now on the SmartBoard. We've also added another 1st grade teacher so I will have 17 students this year instead of 22 like last year...another huge blessing! With less students, I was able to get rid of a bunch of furniture and junk that I didn't use last year. There's nothing like purging to make a girl feel good!


Yesterday I put up my bulletin board in the hallway. I had my students write to the prompt "The Best Thing in First Grade is..." at the end of last year. I thought it would be fun for the incoming first graders to read them when they come meet their new teachers. This one is my favorite...it's written by Miss Madalynn (I left the original spelling intact because it's much cuter that way):

"The Best Thing in First Grade is...

meeting Mrs. Teal, having feald day, speling test, meeting Ilona our new student, studying plants, writing workshop, the delishus lunch, and did I say meeting Mrs. Teal.

Madalynn

White Water Rafting

On Wednesday we drove to Buena Vista, CO to go rafting at Noah's Ark. We had a blast! We got stuck on a rock for a long time, which made for some great laughs. Other than that I think we did pretty well.

Family Pictures

It's been awhile since we've had a good family picture, so we thought we'd take some while we were all together. We used the self timer for lots of the pictures, and I was surprised at how easy it was to use.

Lake George, Colorado

We spent last week in Lake George, Colorado with my family. It was such a wonderful week! We really enjoyed relaxing, and the weather was absolutely beautiful. It would rain every afternoon for a little while, but it was never enough to ruin any plans. We kept the windows open in the cabin the whole time, and in the morning it would be nice and chilly! I enjoyed snuggling up by the fire with a cup of coffee. You can't beat that! The views all around us were breathtaking. Like my mom said, it's easy to believe in God when you see this much beauty in the world. He created so many wonderful things for us to enjoy, and I'm so thankful we got to spend a week in this place where it's so easy to be reminded of that. Here are some pictures from the week:

Lake George

The cabing where we stayed, thanks to my sister's good friend, Rebecca

I love this bench near the lake

Boats were lined up everywhere, between the road and Lake George

Sarah and I at the top of the mountain (I especially like our bejeweled sunglasses...I think it's a nice touch when you're hiking)

Mom, dad, Sarah and I hiked up the mountain one morning

This is how Jonathan spent most of his time...fishing. He loved it! Here's one of the many fish he and my dad caught

The boys favorite fishing spot in Eleven Mile Canyon...it was so beautiful there!

Catching a fish

Jonathan showing off the 9 fish he and my dad caught the last day

The big catch

On Friday J and I hiked to the top of the mountain, and my sister took this picture from the cabin. You can see us in the middle of the picture if you look really hard...

This was the view out our bedroom window on Saturday morning before we left. What a beautiful way to say goodbye!

I have tons more pictures, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more of them very soon!

Colorado Springs

Last Sunday we left with my family to drive to Colorado. Our ultimate destination was Lake George, which is about 40 miles west of Colorado Springs. We decided to drive all the way to "The Springs" (as the natives call it) on Sunday. That night we stayed at the Broadmoor Hotel...it was AMAZING! There were framed pictures of all the famous people who had stayed there, including Barak Obama. We definitely had to get more dressed up to fit in around there. On Monday morning we ralxed, ate a yummy breakfast, walked all around the hotel grounds and then headed to Pike's Peak.

View from the front of the Broadmoor

The beautiful hotel

Lake at the Broadmoor

We made it to the top! (In the car, that is)

My dad, Sarah, me, Jonathan, and mom

Me and Sarah at the top...we were very light headed at this point! I'm just glad we didn't fall off the mountain :-)

What a fantastic view!

The view from a stop along the way to the top of Pike's Peak

We're Back!

Jonathan and I spent the last week and a half traveling. First we went to Tulsa for his 10 year high school reunion. We drove to Tulsa on Thursday afternoon. On Friday we went to lunch with his parents and spent some time visiting Grandpa Teal.

That evening we went to his high school, Booker T. Washington, to see all the changes they've made since he graduated. After that we went to dinner with Max, Stephanie and sweet Madelyn. Luckily they let us go to In the Raw...my favorite Tulsa restaurant! We had such a good time catching up. J and I also had fun loving on Miss Madelyn. What a sweetie! Later Max came with us to a party that one of Jonathan's classmates was throwing. It was very entertaining, if you ask me. Since I only knew a few people, I had fun standing back and watching everyone and just laughing. And I met Renaldo Works, who played OU football when I was there and then played for the Dolphins. Jonathan totally embarassed me in front of him, but it was worth it! Gotta love OU Sooners...

On Saturday we relaxed and did a little shopping before we went to the dinner and dance that was held at the Petroleum Club downtown. It was a very nice event, but we were both tired and knew we had to get up early the next morning, so we headed in early. We had a great time in Tulsa visiting family and friends, and it was fun to meet some of Jonathan's high school friends. Now I have faces to match all those wild stories! :-)

Noah

Last Wednesday I got to take some pictures of my friend's baby. Stacie and I teach 1st grade together, and it was so fun to watch her experience pregnancy and motherhood this year. Noah is such a cutie! I ended up taking LOTS of really bad pictures, but I did find a few good ones in there. (Does anyone else have that problem?!?) Just as soon as I'd get the lighting and focus set, he'd move. It was definitely a learning experience! Stacie and Matt were so sweet to let me "practice" on their family. Here are a few of my favorites. I hope they help Matt and Stacie remember this fun time in little Noah's life...

Catching up...

So I haven't been posting much to the blog lately. Not really sure why. I should have lots of extra time on my hands, since it is summer and I'm off work, but somehow the days keep flying by. I guess that's a good thing...I definitely haven't been bored, yet! Enjoy the updates and look for more soon. Happy Friday!

4th of July

The 4th of July got off to a great start. Jonathan was off work on Friday, so that afternoon we hung out at the pool with Dustin and Lindsay. The weather was beautiful! The boys played tennis while Lindsay and I relaxed and chatted and worked on our tans. That evening Jonathan and I had our own small barbecue. We tried a new recipe for hamburgers that were de-licious! I would share the recipe, but Jonathan is claiming it as his new "secret" recipe...which, I found out, you can do as long as you change one or two of the ingredients. :-)

Saturday morning we woke up to tons of rain. We went and got breakfast at Uncle Bill's - our new favorite breakfast spot. (It's on Manchester near 141 if you're interested!) Later we went back over to Dustin and Lindsay's for a barbecue and to hang out with Dustin's family. As soon as Dustin started cooking the steaks, it started raining again:

Dustin and his dad checking the steaks in the rain

Dustin was so nice to stay outside in the rain and cook for us...nice apron, by the way!

After dinner we tried to go watch some fireworks in St. Charles, but it started raining yet again. We tried to stick it out as long as we could, but by the time we left we were all soaked. Yucky weather for the 4th, if you ask me. Thanks, Andrews, for letting us hang out all weekend. We enjoyed meeting your family!!

Overall the weekend was fun and relaxing, even with the crummy weather. Jonathan and I both missed being with our families over the holiday, but we did enjoy spending extra time together. Hope everyone had a very happy 4th!