Gulf Shores or Bust

We are getting ready for our Gulf Shores trip. My parents and Thara's parents are going to go with us. It will really be fun. I am about to admit something here.....I haven't ever been there. So if you have any tips at all as to what I need to take for Mary-Kate, please comment. Also if there are any restaurants that I shouldn't pass up, please let me know. I have been packing and trying to get us all ready. I haven't really been doing anything interesting, it is just too hot.

Happy Father's Day Weekend

I tell you what, if we are going to have 96 degree weather in Arkansas now, what is August going to be like then? We have been trying to beat the heat and do lots of fun things indoors. A lot of MK's classmates are just now turning 3. She attended a party Saturday at a local train depot and it was the neatest thing. A long table was set up for arts and crafts. The kids got to decorate boats and butterflies using foam stickers. They played a game like musical chairs, but they passed the Captain Hook pirate hook. The boys mostly played that one. Landry's mom had a big box filled with sand and small plastic rakes. The kids got to search for buried treasure. She had buried necklaces and toys. It was so cute. Of course there was cupcakes and ice cream. I was just so impressed with the whole thing.

Buried Treasure

MK doing her Thing

Crafts

Crafts

Then, we took Mary-Kate to the movies for the first time. We decided to really make it special and take her to the Chenal Imax theater. We saw the movie Up. If you haven't seen it, you need to. It is great! It was in 3D and she didn't want to wear the glasses. It was a little blurry for her.

She got to see her baby cousin Isabella. She calls her "Baby Ella." We had dinner at Johnny Carino's with Nick, Alissa, and Isabella.

3D Movie

Happy Father's Day to my dad and Thara's Dad!

These men have been awesome Dads to us and awesome Grandpas to MK.

Now for a special Father's Day tribute for Thara!

Fast Facts about Thara:

He was born in Little Rock, AR.

He has two sisters.

He is the middle child.

He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

He has a Master's degree from Arkansas Tech and Auburn

He loves going to the gym

Won a body building championship when he was 19 years old.

The absolute best listener!

Huge SEC football fan

Loves to grill

My husband is a wonderful man. He commutes 2 hours round trip a day to work. He never complains. He knows that I love my job and MK loves her school. He is so patient and kind to Mary-Kate. After a busy day, he always makes time for her and me.

We love you Thara!

Workshop

update:

The workshop was entitled, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works. That is also the name of the book that we were given. The authors are Howard Pitler, Elizabeth Hubbell, Matt Kuhn, and Kim Malenoski.

The following are researched based high yield strategies that help students achieve

• identifying similarities and differences
• summarizing and note taking
• reinforcing effort and providing recognition
• homework and practice
• non linguistic representation
• cooperative learning
• setting objectives and providing feedback
• generating and testing hypotheses
• cues, questions, and advanced organizers

My workshop showed us how to include technology when using these strategies. We didn't even get through everything there was so our instructor (Angie Zimmerman) said she may have a part II for us.

We discussed interactive white boards. I have a smart board in the library. It is really awesome for the kids. I also have "clickers." I create quizzes or mini-assessments to see if my students understand certain concepts. It gives them and me immediate feedback. Each child gets a "remote." I post the questions on the screen and the students answer using the remotes. They point their clicker towards the smart board. I have a sensor connected with a usb to my computer that picks up their signals. At the end the software gathers the data and we can see who missed what question and what concepts I need to reteach or if it is safe to move on.

She gave us websites like www.shelsilverstein.com. There are poems that students can listen to. She gave us suggestions of how students can compare the poems to famous people in real life. We were given websites for kids to create their own venn diagrams to compare and contrast information.

Here is a link to Angie's page. You can click on Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works and see her PowerPoint and websites she gave us.

Older:

I attended a workshop today that was very good and thought provoking. I'll post more details later, but this was a video that they had us watch. Remember I am an educator. This really got me.

Shake it Up about 2 minutes long, but so worth it.

Happy 6th Wedding Anniversary

My husband and I will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary today! We met in grad school in 2000. He was so smart, cute, and fun! He loves the Lord, just like me! We dated for 3 years before we got married. I have had the time of my life with this man!

It was a neat wedding because it was a family affair. Everyone of our family members were involved in it in some way.

The photos were taken by Ewing Photography!

Thara and Me

Jim with me before the wedding

Jim and Blake walking my mom down the aisle

Another view of the wedding

My family

(I love this picture! It makes me really miss Blake, though.)

Thara's family

(They are the nicest people you will ever meet.)

Our nieces and nephews

(Josh, Aron, and Claire aren't pictured. Isabella wasn't born yet.)

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Fun Week

My sister, Rhonda, has been here this week! She lives in Alaska. We don't get to see her very often. I have been to Alaska. I was 14 years old. My sister usually visits every 2 to 3 years. In the last couple of years we have gotten to see her every summer. Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to. (She has a son Aron (27) who lives in California, She has a daughter Raelynn (20) who lives in Texas, and Ivory (16) who lives in Alaska.)

Rhonda and Raelynn

(She saw her daughter in Texas before coming to AR.)

Josh, my brother, Blake's son, bought a swimming pool and took it out to my parents's house for MK and her friend to play in. They had a blast!

This isn't the "Heart and Soul" I remember! Ha!

Flowers at my parents' house.

Rhonda spruced up this area for me!

Rhonda made this arrangement to go in my bedroom.

She also made these arrangements for my mantle.

An up close look.

She luvs Hobby Lobby!

My brother, Jim and his son, Collin

Honey Blowing Bubbles for MK

MK catching bubbles

Rhonda and I made a polar fleece blanket for MK's room!

Me with Jim and Rhonda

My Mom and Me

I am so sad to see Rhonda go! Her next stop is to see Aron in CA and his wife and baby.

Good Times, "New Bike", Grandparents

This evening in pictures.....

Family Fun

I don't know if you guys have read the magazine Family Fun. If not, you should. It has great ideas for arts and crafts for those of us who are not so creative. It has recipes. I also like it because it gives ideas for things kids can plan indoors or outdoors.

For the June/July issue some of the topics are:

• Tons of Easy Summer Ideas
• Fun Family Nights (How to make any evening special)
• Our Favorite 4th of July Menu
• What Makes a Dad Fun?
• Craft a Magical Kids' Play Space
• 8 Creative T-Shirts Your Kids Can Make

For Father's Day it Gave a Cupcake idea called "Hey Dad! Want Some Mower?"

Every year MK and I plant flowers together and water them everyday. They had a great idea for a watering can. Take an empty juice container and poke holes in it. It becomes a slow-flow watering can for kids.

Anyway, I really like the magazine and thought you might like it too.

Pudding Poke Cake

Ingredients

1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix

2 egg whites

4 cups cold fat-free milk

2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Chocolate Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding

PREPARE and bake cake mix as directed on package for 13x9-inch baking pan using 2 egg whites and 1-1/3 cups water. Remove from oven. Immediately poke holes down through cake to pan with round handle of a wooden spoon. (Or poke holes with a plastic drinking straw, using turning motion to make large holes.) Holes should be at 1-inch intervals.

POUR milk into large bowl. Add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes. Quickly pour about 1/2 of the thin pudding mixture evenly over warm cake and into holes to make stripes. Let remaining pudding mixture stand to thicken slightly. Spoon over top of cake, swirling to "frost" cake.

REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour or until ready to serve. Cut into 24 squares. Store cake in refrigerator.

Recently we have been having a lot of cookouts! This is a quick recipe for a yummy dessert.

This dish is delicious and healthy too! I use applesauce instead of oil. My dad is diabetic. This is a good treat for him. It is just an Internet recipe that I found.