Seeing how it's already Sunday in Paris...I'm going to claim it! So two weeks from Paris Sunday I'll be on my way! My mom and I fly out Sunday (our time). Yay! I'm packing light that is why I bought the tide and shout. :o) Bathtub laundry.
The trip to Houston was wonderful! The conference on Friday was inspiring. I took away so many helpful tips to use in my classroom along with happy goodies from Office Depot. (I shared them with my students; they hit pay dirt. They loved it.)
On the way home from Galena Park, I snapped a few pics.
Good ol' downtown Houston. This is on the way back to my folks house. There were some excellent shots of downtown but all these pesky cars and semis kept getting in my way. The nerve.
Oh yeah. Made a quickie detour here...it's sooo close to the house I just had too. I found goodies! I didn't go upstairs where all the furniture is displayed. I walked through about a fourth of the downstairs and ooed and ahhhed over sweet white bisque bud vases, succulents, storage containers galore, and their FABRIC! Goodness me they have a textiles department now!!! I bought some BAS shadow box frames for experimenting purposes, scissors for my classroom, and the.creamiest.dreamiest.Swedish.milk.chocolate.ever the world created. (Picked up extra bars to share with my secret pal and roommate at school.) I am so thankful IKEA is not around the corner from our house. Whew!
On to old stomping grounds, my high school. It actually closed at the end of my sophomore year due to low enrollment. The student body was consolidated into three other area high schools. Where do I get to go but our arch rival. Not fun. At the end of my junior year, the district allowed the few students who desired transfers to go to one of the other schools. I flew outta there lickety-split. I love my senior year. Great classes, friends...
However, The Bears still ROCK. :o)
Well, as they say in Sweden, Hej da! aka, See y'all later.
Nothing like coming home after a vacation. I have lots of laundry to do and tons of unpacking but it is gonna feel so good to sleep in our own beds tonight.
The boys were able to bring a friend this year and man, did they have a good time. Three peas in a pod. They like this pose. They entitled it, "Cingular. Raising the bar." The bars should really be the other way around but that's ok.
We drove to Galveston on Monday and got home today. Lots of sun, surf, sand, and thankfully, a pool for some sand-less refreshment. Castles, boogie boards, football, shooting foam rockets, crab hunting, wave riding...a perfect vacay.
Kenny wasn't that ready to go home. His words, "I like living with y'all." (I think his Dad has saved up lots of work around the house and their rental properties for the two of them to do.) He enjoyed the relaxation and loafing around. Oh. Well. And lots of Gameboy and Legos and Astros, too.
One day we needed to run to Target and Kenny asked if he could come because he hadn't been to Target since he was six. :o) That's when the boys all purchased Legos with their own money, of course.
The pic to the right is an annual picture. We've taken this pic ever since we started going to The Galvestonian. I believe Joshua was 3 and Caleb was 1. I need to put them all in a common frame so we can see how much they've grown. (Mom, isn't this great! I have your copy.)
Down in the lobby there are two computers for guest use. I spent about 30 minutes a day hitting all my fave blogs and on Rusted Rhubarb I saw a fun family beach picture. So, Michelle, if you are reading this...I stole your idea. We took this our last evening at the beach. I love it. I may make it my new banner. My Summer Vacation Commemoration Banner. That sounds just right. :o)
School starts in two weeks. YIKES. I better get busy!
See you soon!
Last Night:
Caleb's tongue got hooked onto his new mouth appliance. Twice. And then he fainted. All at a friend's house out in the middle of nowhere. Called the ortho and he met us at the office and fixed it. He felt horrible! Gave Caleb 5 coupons for free ice cream. His tongue is better but is still needing to get used to eating and talking with this thing in his mouth.
We leave around 9:30 from the office and the car will not move. The transmission decided to expel its fluid. All of it. The doc took us home. Got a gallon of fluid put into it this a.m. to drive it to a shop. They said the seal busted. Took it to the transmission place and discovered none of the fluid that Jeff had put in this a.m. had leaked out. ?????? Phantom Broken Seal? I thought we'd have to rent a van to go on our vacation but it seems like mine will be ok. I hope. (We've already had transmission problems once this year + the alternator went out and now Jeff's fuel pump is going out.)
I NEED A VACATION. I hope we can get there. Don't look for me around here til Sept. I'm taking some time off. I might post after the beach but that will be it. TTFN.
When the boys were small, we used to check out videos from the library that narrated/animated (with the author/illustrator's original drawings) wonderful stories. I don't remember the maker of these videos, all I know is they were old. There was a catchy tune sung at the beginning yet the only phrase I remember is "look for the smiling caravan sign". Beats me. I stumbled onto an entire cassette devoted to the works of Robert McCloskey. I even think he was the narrator. Whoever the narrator was, his voice was deep, calm and soothing and I loved to watch it with Joshua and Caleb. We checked it out often.
My favorite story became Time of Wonder. Such poetry! Mr McCloskey's illustrations are wonderful too. It takes place in Maine, during the summer. Eggamoggin beach, Pumpkin Island, Seagull Island... fiddle heads (tiny beginnings of ferns) unfurling, a hurricane, 'and the green grass growing all around all around and the green grass growing all around'. I implore you! Go check out the book. Buy it! It is by far one of the best pieces of children's literature out there.
I've been thinking that one of these days, I hope to get to Maine. See all these islands, beaches, coves, maybe Acadia National Park. These photos will keep me company till then. Hope you enjoy them as well.
Joshua, our oldest, is obsessed with anything military but most especially with WWII. We passed the D-day museum on our way to our hotel and he about fell out of the car. So we promised we would go after the funeral and on our way to see G&G.
The second we walked into the building he grabbed me and exclaimed while pointing enthusiastically, "A SHERMAN TANK! Look, Mom! A Sherman!! Take my picture!" Now what 12 yr. old boy actually wants his picture taken?! Who'd a thought.
I really like all the posters.
All the graphics were amazing. I still have that WWII poster from England that needs framing. Must get on that.
I think one of the reasons I have no problem with Joshua's obsession with this war is because I don't want him or anyone for that matter to forget what horrible atrocities were done to the Jewish people. And it wasn't just the Jews, but anyone who went against Hitler's schemes. Our family believes that the Jewish nation is God's chosen Nation...His people that he chose to be a "peculiar people" to demonstrate His care. (peculiar meaning set apart from others) ... anyway this trip to the museum was a good one and I highly recommend it.
Well, I'm in Houston. No pics to show since I forgot my cable and my Mom's MacBook!!! (jealousy abounds) doesn't have a memory stick slot. *sigh* The comfort in this is at least it isn't perfect. However, I think I'd settle for imperfection. Just twist my arm.
Pressie time and then din din. Yum!
We're going to see a foreign flim tonight, Paris,Je t'aime. I cannot wait. CANNOT. I am in serious France Dehydration Mode. I thirst for that country down to the tips of my toes.
Also, helping my Mommy set up a blog on blogger. Hee, she loves it! She'll get to play with it alot while in CA this July. They stay in Carmel Valley for the whole month. Drooool.
Off I go. TTFN...have a great weekend.
OH! I almost forgot! Happy 16th Anniversary to us! I love you Honey...who never reads this blog...but the rest of bloggy world will know that my Jeff is the best! Love love love you.
