Double Dog Double-Take

I was driving through Bown Crossing this afternoon and saw a golf cart coming down the road.  There isn't a golf course very close and it's not the kind of road where a golf cart would be sort of legal.  The young guy driving looked very casual, like he might drive this way every afternoon, and in the back seat of the golf cart were two big, black, Newfoundland dogs, looking this way and that.  Not five seconds later I turned the corner and saw an older couple walking their dogs along the greenbelt.  They looked like twin dogs again, only this time they were brown and white Brittany Spaniels, and they both had plastic cones around their necks.  Weird in a happy, funny way. 

EFT

That stands for Environmental Field Trip.  We take the sixth graders to Cascade for four days every May.  It takes all year to plan and organize, but the week that we're there is always glorious.  We stay at a beautiful Nazarene church camp that always makes me want to switch religions.  I've been to three different Girls Camps, and one Boy Scout Camp, and even though we have a good, uplifting time, by comparison, they are pathetic, anemic, and miserable.  Everything about this place is amazing, the lodge, the cottages, the views, they river, the playground, the ropes course, the zip line, the food, the amphitheater, and fireplaces.  They have a nice basketball court, a soccer field, Frisbee golf, ping pong tables, Foosball, an archery range, and free WiFi. We saw eagles, vultures, foxes, deer and two dogs that live down the road and come to visit.  I did blog while we were there, but just not on this site.  Check out all our fun at:

tweft2011.shutterfly.com
Password:  6thgrade

Carnival Time

Friday the 13th was our annual carnival at school.  This school puts on an amazing carnival.  I've been waiting to blog about it because I wanted to post how many thousand dollars they raised this year.  It's taking too long for the PTO to count all their money, so I'll have to update that part later.  They have a lot of small businesses sponsor different activities which cuts down on their overall cost.  There is a big silent auction too, which is all donation, plus the bake goods.  They always have a couple rides like the orbiter, and a giant climbing wall.  There's always a petting zoo, Karaoki, entertainment like a band or magician, and good food options.  This year besides the cotton candy and crazy stuff, they had grilled chicken skewers and smoothies.  A lot of Jr. high and high schoolers come, along with moms, dads, grandparents, and cousins.  I've been to a school carnival every year since I started kindergarten, but this school is always way over the top.

This year the weather was perfect, not hot, not windy, and no rain.  I ran one of the jump houses from 5:30-9:00.  I had set-up a schedule so that a couple sixth graders would come in shifts and I could wander around or get something to eat.  Little kids in the jump house are pretty crazy.  There are some that never want to leave.  A couple darling sisters (maybe kindergarten and 4) must have taken more than 30 turns.  They were bouncing even when they were waiting in line.  Toward the end of the evening they were acting a little drunk.  One rolled off the entrance twice and landed on her head both times, but she never stopped smiling and giggling.  

First Fix-up

It's been a great day.  The weather was so nice, and it was Saturday, so I could sleep in, and get a lot done.  Terry and I worked in the yard getting things ready for summer.  I love planting.  I love having flowerbeds edged, weeded, hoed, and raked smooth.  I don't know a lot, but in my next career, I think I want to work in a nursery.  I like putting in bedding plants, planting from seeds, watching my perennials bloom, fixing my hanging baskets, and spraying everything off.

After all the outdoor work, a soak in the tub always feels so good.  Then Terry came with me while I ran errands to Tandy Leather, The Distribution Center, Lowes, and Fred Meyer.  It was great because he paid for everything.  Then we ate a Cafe Rio which was healthy and yummy.  By the early evening it started to blow and rain a bit.  Everything smelled so fresh, and even though it was gray, it was still beautiful and summery.

Toady Yodie

Look at those cute fingers.

I'm so excited.  Look what I found in our yard today!  This is the second time we've seen a toad in our yard.  The first time was in July, two years ago.  I wanted catch it and take it over to a pond in Lakewood because our yard doesn't really have a water feature and I think every toad needs a little pond.  It was night time and we never saw the toad again, so I thought it might have hopped over to the canal or something. 

Then today when we were outside working in the yard, out hops this guy!  I think it's the same toad.  I'm not sure where it lives, but I found him by our backyard shed that does have a buried water feature.  The water falls on some rocks and there's a little pool underneath and a pump that circulates the water back up to this watering can.  I don't think the toad can access the little pool, but maybe it lives in a mud hole by it. 

I like him, but I don't want to touch him. 

Anyway, he was very still, observant, thoughtful, and Zen-like.  I named him Yodie, like Yoda.  I think he'll eat bugs that I don't like.  I want him to stay and be our new pet. 

Advice for Life

I'm reading a book to my class and as the young character gets ready to leave home, her ma gives her this advice, "Ain't nothing in this life comes easy to any of us, child.  Every road you walk down's got a price.  Sooner you learn that the better.  Don't matter the direction you go, there'll be some bad mixed in with the good and you just gotta learn to take the one with the other."  Good advice.  I wish I had thought to say that when Ty left home.  I'm going to store it in my memory banks and use it sometime.  I know the opportunity will come.  I would add that some paths you choose, and the direction you move, does make a difference.

Ty = Joy

It's a wonder Ty doesn't have some sort of identity crisis.  His name has changed three times.  Working backwards, his name is Ty Livingston Swain.  Livingston is my dad's middle name, his mom's (my favorite grandma) maiden name.  He became a Swain at the beginning of his eighth grade year when Terry legally adopted him.   He got to choose his own name at that time.

Before, he was Tyler J. Livingston, but everyone called him Ty.  I had legally changed both of our names when I came to Boise.  He wasn't even one yet.  There was a divorce in the works, and I didn't want to keep my married name, that name wouldn't be the family name that Ty would relate to, and I didn't want to use my maiden name.  I felt like it was going backwards and I wasn't that same person.  We started fresh with a family name that meant a lot to me - Livingston. 

The day he was born we chose Tyler.  His dad just had a middle initial that matched his father's name.  I suggested carrying on that tradition which would have made his initial B, but his dad (for reasons I now understand) didn't want to use his name, he suggested J instead.  I went along with it not because he would carry my initial, but because I wanted to name him Joy.  That's what I felt, that's what he was to me, pure joy, but Joy is not a name for a boy, so the initial, whose meaning I knew, worked.  Coincidentally, Joy is the middle name of the same dear grandma who's maiden name was Livingston.

I love his name now, all three of them.  I miss the J initial, but it doesn't flow.  Anyway, the joy is still there in him.  I feel it.

Mother's Day 2011

I had a good one.  I always admire those people who can stretch a birthday into a week of celebrating, and I halfway pulled that off.  Ty called on Thursday and chatted for almost an hour.  Terry took to me out to a new restaurant on Friday night - crab cakes and key lime pie - Yum.  I went to long leisurely lunch with Mom and Nan on Saturday, and the weather was warm and breezy.  On Sunday I went to church with about 100 mothers that I admire, and my stepson (representing other family members) came to dinner with a beautiful geranium hanging basket.  It was the two hour finale of the Amazing Race, and then time for bed.  Not a bad four day Mother's Day.

Hippies and Happy

This year's creation - probably won't look any better on.

It's a tradition to tie dye t-shirts for the 6th grade EFT trip.  Last Thursday was the big event.  It took a day of of soaking shirts in the soda ash (in the school washing machine), eight or nine parents, four hours of work on the tarps outside, and in the end 140 shirts were completed.  I don't know what it is about tie dye, I don't like the look of it, but it's always exciting and fun. 

Before we have the student rubber band their shirts, we have them all watch a cheesy video on how-to tie dye, with a aging (long gray hair) hippie, who after each demonstration repeats "leave in the plastic bag for 12, preferably 24 hours, before you rinse".  Every time she said that, one of my teaching partners would tell the kids, "I have a note with all the instructions for you".  After about the 4th time, everyone in the room would repeat the lines.

The best part of the video is after the shirts are rinsed and the rubber bands are removed, they hold up the masterpiece and everyone in the room would Oooo and Ahhh.  It sounded like a crowd watching a fireworks show.  I was just sorry that we sent all the shirts home for the final steps.  We would have had quite the event if we had revealed all 140 of them at school.  Oooooo, Ahhhhh!

Yummy Teaching

The way to a teacher's heart is through her/his stomach apparently.  Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and we received (and consumed) the following:

• a heap of fresh strawberries
• fresh popped popcorn
• pulled-pork sandwich lunch with salads, chips, soda, cookies, and mini-cupcakes
• 100,000 $ candy bars
• more popcorn
• Cafe Rio lunch with chicken and pork burritos, beans, rice, salad, dressing, chips, salsa, and margaritas
• key lime pie flavored cupcakes and cinnamon chocolate ones
• muffins, fresh fruit, and orange juice

I think that's about it.  Grand total = 1,347,520 calories

Stuck in a Bad Situation

I was stuck in my black pencil skirt yesterday.  As I was getting ready for church, I tried to unzip, so that I could better tuck in my shirt, and the tab broke off.  Then I couldn't get the zipper down.  I hiked up my skirt to pull the shirt tails down and that made the lining of the skirt bunch up and get twisted.  Terry tried to help with his needle nose pliers, but I didn't think he put much effort into it.  We didn't have a lot of time either because we didn't want to be late.  I was finally able to get the lining under control, so we just went to church.  When we came home, Terry put some muscle into attacking the zipper with the pliers and was able to break the zipper, so I didn't have to cut my way out of the skirt.  I was thinking later that if this happened when I was late to work, and I was in pants, it would have been a bad situation. 

Best Burger Ever

Mmmmm!  Mmmmm! 

A sixth grade student brought these birthday treats in last week.  AMAZING!!  Actually, his mom, grandma, and great-grandma brought them in after a morning of assembling them.  They were so cute.  I'd never seen anything like it.  What a marvel.  His classmates just dug in and polished off their burger and fries.  Talk about a Happy Meal!  I really didn't know what to do with mine.  Just a picture didn't seem to be enough, even if I blogged about it.  The thought of a coat of shellac went through my mind, but where do you keep something like this, and why?  In the end I just ate it.  Shortcake fries dipped in red frosting, a soft chocolate cookie, green frosting, marshmallow fondant for cheese, and a sesame topped cake bun.  I savored it.  Truly, the best burger ever.

Gotta Lotta Lasagna

I made the tofu lasagna today.  It also had wheat pasta, low fat cheeses, and a cup of cauliflower and zucchini puree.  We liked it a lot (of course we like everything more on Fast Sunday), but we gotta lotta lasagna.  It makes 9 -12 servings.  We needed a family of kids to help us eat it.  When we have a household with kids at the end of the month, we'll probably still have some left over.

May Day

This is a holiday with a lot of potential, but maybe it just didn't translate into our modern times.  I don't remember ever finding flowers left on our doorstep, but once at school a class made paper baskets of flowers that they hung over the doorknobs of each classroom.  There was a cheery note, a bright bouquet, and a pleasant surprise.  It changed the mood that day.

Another time at school a group of second graders performed a May pole dance.  They had fastened wide ribbons to the top of the tether ball poles.  There was happy music, girls in full skirts, boys in button-up shirts, and as they wound in and out, the pole was braided with the ribbon.  I was very impressed. 

So today there were no bouquets delivered, and I'll probably never see another May pole dance performed, but after a very cold April, the sun came out and the sky was blue.  I celebrated by painting my toenails and wearing sandals for the first time this season.  Happy May Day!

Every Day is Mother's Day

Testimony meeting today was perfect for the Sunday before Mother's Day.  It helped that there were two babies blessed.  Both moms and dads bore testimony, and one grandpa.  One of the moms spoke about being away from family.  Her husband's family was there in force, but she only had a brother and a cousin.  She was counting on a good turn-out from the ward which she counted as her family.  I also love those in our ward family.  We share, and support, and strengthen each other. 

Another new mom, who gave birth to a 1 pound 2 ounce baby in January shared her testimony also.  A week ago was the first time they were able to hold their little girl wrapped in a blanket.  They have been on such a difficult path and they have a long way to go.  I read the blog that they keep updating for their daughter, and they've met this trial with such faith and strength.  They continually speak of gratitude.  With prayer, fasting, priesthood blessings, and support from family and friends, they are doing a remarkable job.  They'll be spiritual giants when they come out of this.

A grandmother spoke of holding a grandson in the hospital, waiting for a kidney transplant.  With just a week to go, another family in grief donated a kidney.  The grandson is now 16, driving, and very much alive.  Now another grandson is awaiting surgery for a very rare congenital heart problem.  Only a few are capable of performing the surgery.  This grandmother is so full of faith.  She testified that whatever happens, this is God's plan, and it will be the right thing.

Testimony meeting this week was full of wisdom and love.  The Spirit was strong and sweet.