Living Wax Museum Project

Ella Fitzgerald

Sacajawea

Leonardo DaVinci

Bill Gates

The living wax museum was a big success.  We presented 10 times on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We had all the classes come and some doubled up.  Parents/grandparents were welcome at any showing and I'd say close to 80% showed up.  Most of the kids memorized their 1 mn speech so that was very impressive too.  So now I have to decide how I can adapt this to first grade next year!  Other figures presented were Princess Diana, Benjamin Franklin, Mollie Pitcher, Sally Ride, Kirby Puckett,  George Washington, Pocahontas, Laura Ingalls, Amelia Earhardt, Wilma Glodean, Harriet Tubman & Helen Keller.   No class has ever presented a living wax museum in our school before so it was fun to have something new.  It was also fun to have something interesting at the end of the year and like my 4th graders said, "It's a lot better than doing work in the room!"  I agree.

In case you're not familiar with a LWM, the kids pick a person, research and write an autobiography, memorize if possible, pick props and then present.  To make the characters come to life you have to press their start button, then they freeze again.  Have you seen it done in any of your schools?

Memorial Day

We remember those who bravely serve and have served our wonderful country.   We are also mindful of the sacrifices that families must make while their loved ones are away.  Thank you Jimmer, stay safe-we are all so proud of you!  Dan & Laurie

Random posts

I spotted the first house wren on Wednesday night.  He was on a feeder which is very unusual but then I realized he must be eating the ants off of the oranges since they are strictly insect eaters.  I've always liked these tiny birds because they eat so many bugs including mosquitos but didn't realize how nasty they are to other birds and their eggs.  They use those sharp little beaks to destroy other bird's eggs  who dare to nest in their territory.
David Cook won tonight!!  I taped it because we had the senior first grade reunion pizza party this evening.  The party was fun but back to Idol, I predicted David A would win after a flawless performance on Tuesday night.   You know that David C has been my favorite, not only for his voice but also for his boots and jeans-very nice.  

We had Jan's retirement party on Friday night and it was a great success.  It was very well attended and we had a wonderful potluck.  I had hoped more people could be outside but the winds picked up to 30 mph just as the party began at 4.  Luckily, the cabin was huge and had great views so you felt like you were outside.  Jan, Melissa and I spent the night there and enjoyed a gorgeous calm morning with our coffee, scones and strawberries.  It was so peaceful.
I started hanging some clothes out on the line this week-nothing smells/looks like summer more than sheets on the line.  I bought some pillowcases at the bargain bazaar on Saturday while working-they are so pretty.  I love hanging vintage linens out on the line.

It was Warren's birthday on Sat and the whole family came over for dinner.  We planned to grill down at the cabin, but hurricane winds forced us back up to the house-my very messy house. I don't think they cared! :) I have a great photo of Warren & Ann to post when I can locate my camera.  Ann, tell Warren that I picked up the red Hawaiian shirt for him to go with his new shorts!!! Would anyone else like a Hawaiian shirt?  You know where I can find them.....and it's not Hawaii.

Oh yes, there was one more event, the baby shower on Tuesday for our janitor and my carpenter friend Al. His wife is expecting in June.  It went great too, lots of cute outfits, yummy bars, coffee & punch and then at the end Shirley had a fun surprise.  She called the BB that afternoon and asked them to pick out the cutest/best baby boy outfits and fill two bags full.  So the ladies working got busy and picked out at least 20 outfits.  There was a special-fill a bag for $4 so not a bad deal!  Al and his wife thought that was cool.  

Things are slowing down, only book club tomorrow.  We're meeting in Alex for a special end of the year meeting.  I think some of us plan to carpool since gas is $100 per gallon, okay not that much, but yikes!!!

She's back!

Lots of things going on at school.  We have a big retirement party tomorrow after school for my friend Jan which is going to be a lot of fun.  However, these things do take time to plan, not to mention our spring concert is tomorrow which makes the kids go a little crazy.  On Tuesday, I'm organizing a baby shower for a staff member, which will be fun and everyone chips in so it's not a big deal.  In my spare minutes, I'm moving materials into my future room and making room for Shirley so she can start moving into my room.  8 1/2 days left??  Is that all?  We still have the wax figure museum to present to the school and parents...I hope!  Believe me, there's lots that I didn't mention going on too.  At the moment, I'm enjoying a nice glass of red wine and when Dan gets home I shall have another and we'll watch the season finale of "The Office".  It's a little glass.  :)  Have a good weekend everyone!  

Happy Belated Mother's Day

I had this picture ready for a Mother's Day post and then forgot to use it!  So,  I hope all of you moms out there and especially Darlene and Lorraine had a lovely day.   Wasn't the weather the best on Sunday?!  On Saturday, Mom and I spent a rainy morning checking out some rummage sales and found some fun items.  After lunch, we split up and I picked up some plants and visited a few favorite shops downtown before I headed home.  It was fun to get some herbs and flowers into pots on Sunday but not so fun on Monday night when I had to cover them up for fear of frost.  Tonight it will dip down to mid thirties too so I covered again.  I'm getting a little tired of it already.  Tomorrow sounds nice and that is good as we have an outdoor field trip in the afternoon.   

Idol Chatter

I recorded Idol tonight and enjoyed watching it later without all the commercials.   David Cook was my favorite tonight and has been for the last few weeks.  David Archuleta was my early choice in the season but he's second now with Syesha in third.  I think they have a solid top three this year.  My favorite song tonight was David C's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing."  I even voted for the first time this season.  I wasn't going to but that last song inspired me and though David A is very talented,  he's just a little predictable and too cute.  Syesha seemed like she was holding back tonight.

Anyone else still watching Idol?  I never got a busy signal once for DA, that's not a very good sign.  I hit redial quite a few times.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

On Saturday evening, this beauty arrived!  His mate looks like a big sparrow, not so showy.

They're Back~

The first hummingbird arrived on Thursday, May 8 at our house.  This bird is the one that truly signals the beginning and end of summer for me. The males arrive a couple of weeks before the females which is a good thing as about the only food source around here are the feeders I've set out.  In a couple of weeks, we may have some something blooming around here like the columbine that they love.  We have the orioles back too, on the same day as the hummingbirds.  They feed from the same feeders too.  Hope we have oranges at school this week so I can take home some  that the kids didn't eat.

Miscellaneous Photo's

Here's a picture from our field trip to Prairie Wetlands in Fergus on a chilly Friday afternoon.  Our leader insisted that the fourth graders stay in single file and not talk at all.  Kind of a tall order for a Friday afternoon but they did their best.  I was not impressed and when I go with first graders I will request a different leader.
I do have one pot of flowers that I couldn't resist from Costco.  I got them about 3 weeks ago and they have spent a lot of time indoors during that time.  They will probably end up down at the cabin as they'll want a lot of sunshine.
On Sunday afternoon, after we finished painting the pergola, we went to Alex and had pizza at  Warren, Ann, Andrew and Sarah's.  It was Sarah's birthday last week and she is a big Audrey Hepburn fan.  When I found this bag, I was so excited to get it for her.  She loved it.  Dinner was great and it was fun to relax outside in the sunshine on their patio.  Thank you guys!!!
This little terry cover up was only $1 at the Bargain Bazaar.  The brand new shoes for only 50 cents!  I'm hoping they'll fit Gracie.  I know the cover up will anyway.  No other big buys there to report.  
On our way home from Warren & Ann's we snapped this photo of a house on Lake Victoria near their house.  Dan and I love this house and if we ever built or remodeled we would want this type of look.  I would probably set the garage back and choose different front windows but you get the idea. We like a one level craftsman.  

Spring projects

Dan scraped and I painted the pergola on Sunday afternoon.  I can't take credit for the scraping because that's a job that I hate and Dan did all of that and joined in later with the painting.  It's a project we neglected to do in 2007, so we got it off our list right away in 08.  Monday after school, we got the second coat finished and I wasted no time putting out some furniture so that we can enjoy this space again.  Now all it needs is some flowers!  Maybe I can work on that this weekend.

Loons

I heard the first loon call of 2008 on April 23 but couldn't see them anywhere.  The lake opened up in front of our place on the 24th.  Every year the loons follow the ice out by just a day or so.  Since then, I have spotted two with the binoculars.  They are so beautiful and it's neat to hear their call when we're busy working outside in the spring.  We count a dozen some springs but we're just a pit stop on their way to somewhere else.  We're a quiet lake which they like but the water quality isn't good enough for them.

White Throated Sparrows

Many of these little birds showed up under the feeders this week.  They have distinct stripes on their crown and little white bib on their throat-hence the name.  Not all sparrows are bad like the house sparrows, these are native birds like their relatives the chipping sparrows that are very common here.  

Grilling Steak

Tonight we grilled T-bones and I used Mike Halloran's technique that he learned from a friend who owned a restaurant.  Coat your steaks in olive oil before grilling to seal in the flavor and keep it tender.  After oiling, I added the normal seasonings and we thought they turned out great.  Dad's Angus steaks are always great however.  Try it sometime and see what you think!

My day was productive at the Bargain Bazaar. I spent time pricing jewelry, organizing linens and then a couple hours organizing books.  It was busy as there were some big events going on at local churches.  I managed to find a few treasures....cute shoes and a beach cover up for Gracie, 2 white embroidered trimmed pillowcases, books for my first grade classroom, some vintage jewelry, and  a cute T-shirt.  I also brought in jeans, bowls, hat and vases so I'm even.

The sun was shining all day but the wind was cold & brisk so I did very little outside this afternoon and I'm really getting antsy for that.  Everyone is posting days left of school so I counted mine and I have 17 1/2.  That's with the April snow day that they made us make up, one lousy snow day!

Happy May!

May sounds better doesn't it?  Typically in May, I have purchased a bunch of pansies or other hardy flowers to put out in pots but the greenhouses haven't even set up their tents this year!   It is so depressing and now I feel like every cold day is stealing away from this summer, it goes fast enough the way it is.  Anyway, I don't mean to write a depressing post so I will stop there.

  For some reason, probably all the birds singing, I awoke at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning. So, it's 7:30 and I've already cleaned the kitchen, made coffee and a little ebay research.  I have a cool old deck of cards I'm wondering about.  Today, I am signed up to work a whole day at the Bargain Bazaar, 10-3.   Shirley will be working too so we'll have a good time.  She is so funny, in her teacher profile that was in this week's paper she wrote that teaching and the Bargain Bazaar were her passions.  I recruited her to the Auxiliary so I'm glad she's enjoying  it that much.

Has anyone picked up microfiber at Target?  Nobody commented on that post so maybe not, but I have another use for you.  I've been using it on my face this week and it cleans so well and is very gentle. I always have make up residue it seems and with the mf cloth, nothing.  My face also feels very smooth and clean.  For guys that don't like to wash their face, you don't even need cleanser, just water and the cloth.  It would be great for teenage skin as the fibers do a great job removing oil deep into your pores.

 I might find some treasures to post today.  Jen & Nancy, I picked up the book "Sacred Hoops."  It's a bestseller about basketball.  Do David or Eric have it already?  

Have a great Saturday!!