Well, I thought you'd all like to see a picture of you dear old Mom/Granny on Halloween at school! Here I am with my good friend Orel Higene (aka Ron Stone - 4th grade teacher) We saw each other at the school Halloween parade, and immediately realized..... We have the same dentist! Trevor, we need you! There's plenty of work waiting for you in North Idaho!!!
Apparently I have to download a CD and study it before I can add the photos from Dad's new camera onto the computer.... Anyone want to make a quicker suggestion? I've got the camera hooked up to the computer, but nothing happens... so, I guess I'm just going to have to do some studying - except that I was hoping to get this done quickly since I've got LOTS to do (big surprise...) and there's a picture of Ashlyn meeting ARIEL, for crying out loud! We've got to get that on the blog!
Wednesday and Thursday we spent time at Disneyland with Ava and Vivian and their parents (Lindsay and Riley) so we could have it all scoped out for when the other grandkids came on Friday!!!
The Carousel was a favorite - either the disney one with all of the beautiful horses, or the one with all the sea creatures at California Adventure. They were both high on the list of 'we-gotta-do-that-again'!
Aren't fairies supposed to be SMALLER than average kids? They look pretty tall here!
I thought it was so cute to see these fairies having such a serious 'fairy' discussion with Ava. If I remember correctly, they were discussing when she would get her wings!
And then there's "Baby Vivvy" as Ashlyn liked to call her. She was very happy that Gramma wanted a Mickey Mouse ice cream treat. She was intent on getting her fair share! I think we even got a better picture the next day when she got another one!
This past weekend (July 10th) Coeurimba was invited to play for the Chataqua at Chewela, Washington. This was my third time there, and it has always been a fun event, so I was able to convince Steve that it would be ok to play 'chauffeur' to most of the Coeurimba gang and attend the event with us. He liked it! I asked him to be our photographer, too, so I could put some new pictures on the blog - that's why most of them feature 'yours truly' - but I guess they are still interesting! I don't remember which song I was playing in this first picture, but it's a soprano marimba, so that's something!
I do remember what I was doing in this picture! I was introducing "Shariaku" to the audience - it's the African 'Romeo and Juliet' without the tragic ending. I also get to play lead for that song, so I really like it!
That's me on the bass - duh! Duh is right! I well remember which song we were playing here: Chipandani! I had a fine practice and warm-up with the song, but when it came time to perform, I just couldn't do it right until I finally got to segue into the main part of the melody and play a bit easier rhythm! Oh, well, nobody except us players really knew I flubbed it!
And here is a shot of our performance space. It's really cool with lights and all! We felt like such super stars! And they LOVED us! Ah, life is fun!
It's official! I passed the Praxis test! I am now accepted as a certified music teacher - thanks to study and prayer. I'm NOT kidding! I was promised that if I did my part and studied to the best of my ability I would not only pass the praxis, but I'd pass it with "flying colors". Well, after taking the test, I wondered if that blessing was for the first time I took the test, or a subsequent time, but I found out that even though I had some 'doubting Thomas' tendencies, I was still blessed beyond my abilities. I needed 148 points to pass, and I scored 165!!!!! Proof positive that miracles have NOT ceased!
This picture is for Heather. Teresa heard about the half marathon, and she decided to show you her medals for winning races - she said that since most serious runners run longer races, she usually wins for her age group in the 5k and 3k's because most ladies her age (73) walk!
Here we are making last minute preparations for the retirement party at Mary's house. Left to right: Teresa, Mary, Viva, Crystal (traveled to Europe with Ellen when we were in Belgium - remember her?) Ellen and John.
Teresa's graduation from Law School picture!
This one is for Lindsay. These earrings (Kathy took the picture without her glasses on - that's why it looks blurry....)are made from bottle caps taken from a soda that Robert liked on one of his trips to Mexico. They were so cute! Thought you might like the idea. Teresa has a soda bottle cap necklace, too.
Kathy and Judy - sister and niece. Judy is Ellen and Ruffin's mom.
Amanda (Philipp's wife) and Mary, my niece.
Ruffin, Andrea (Rachel's daughter), Viva and Teresa (Rachel's youngest)
Lance - Mary's 'man' and one of my favorite people!
On the right is Philipp, Teresa's son, my nephew - I don't know the other guy.
Viva, Bryce and Cody.
Ruffin and his wife - forgot the name, but she is a really nice girl.
Another earring shot... and I'm holding one of the 400 mini-cupcakes that Viva made for the party. They were pretty spectacular - especially the Persian love cakes with the dried flowers on top!
Teresa, Kathy and little Teresa.
Ellen, party planner extrordinaire!
Mary and Kathy. It was a great time together. We all want to plan to get together around Dallas next Spring. Start making plans!
I'll just describe the pictures in order, since I can't seem to make this post follow my orders...
Next is my line up of Cowhands singing "Cowboy's Lament" (aka 'Saddle Sore') while riding some of the cutest stick horses ever! Ms. Deyo the art teacher made about 7 of them for the program, and she even gave them names like 'Zeke' and 'Princess'! How cute!!!
Next is the opening scene: a backyard campfire with fake marshmallows on sticks 'roasting' over a flickering campfire. We dimmed the lights and turned on the disco ball for a 'starry' night effect and sang 'Home on the Range' and 'Little Old Cowboy'. Cute is a word I'll keep using to describe this show, I promise!
The next picture is of me and my 5th grade stage crew. They love doing their jobs, and I really give them stuff to do, to! They hand out and collect props, set the stage up, run sound and lights, and help clean up and get the music room put back together after the program. They are a bunch of great kids!
Well, I am not only the proud owner of a real piano that I am actually learning to play (and I even love to practice!) but this weekend I bought my first ever pair of REAL cowboy boots! And they are cool, too! I've wanted a pair of cowboy boots since I was 6! I even had a horse as a kid, but you know, cowboy boots aren't cheap, and you can ride a horse in tennis shoes, so I never got that pair of boots - until yesterday! And the saleslady (at D&B Farm and Home!!!) was so nice! She found out that I'd waited so long (Steve said 20 years... but that makes me younger than my kids...) and she wanted me to get the PERFECT pair!
I have tried to figure out how to 'post' anything on my facebook page, and I simply cannot figure out how to let people know anything at all! So, read it here or go without news from me. I'm old. Deal with it.
Well, while I was gone to St. Louis to play with grandkids and just kick back and have a little fun, Steve had to stay behind to get some business done. Good thing. A pine tree from our back yard blew over in a storm and crashed through our roof! Steve said it looked like a war zone. It will be well into 'cleaned up and getting fixed' before I get home on Saturday, so I'm just waiting for pictures to be e-mailed to me.
Well, what a wonderful treat for Spring Break! I got to come to St. Louis (Edwardsville, Ill) and play with the grandkids. But that's not all! Saturday I got to hop in the car with Heather and drive out to Ohio (my first trip there...) and meet some of my favorite cousins! (I've never met them before, but they quickly became some of my favorite people!) This has been a really cool treat. Pete Roan (aka Kenneth Jr.) is my cousin's son - so my first cousin once removed. His son, Tater (aka Matt) is a 25 year old good-lookin' Roan boy who is in law school. I promise, once I find pictures I'll post them. His wife had a baby the day before we got there and she is C-U-T-E!!! (yes, both mother and baby are cute!) Anyway, we (Heather and I) had such a great time with those guys! I hope they can come visit us, or we can have a reunion or something. It was so wonderful to meet them and just sit around and visit (and stare!) for a while. I want to do it again!
Woo-hoo! My life just got easier! Lewis and Clark went off without much of a hitch this evening, and I got applause and flowers! The kids did great, I have the day off tomorrow, and life is getting easier now! All I have left is the third grade, second grade and first grade programs - but they are all so much fun (and quite a bit easier than "L and C") - that I am looking forward to putting them on. Life is good - now I just have to study my brains out so I can pass the Praxis!
Well, I've just started piano lessons and tutoring sessions so that I can pass my praxis on June 12th! I'm just cramming information in, but it is fun to learn at the same time. If I seem distant or unresponsive, let me give you a quick overview of my week: Monday at school 7AM - 4PM meeting at MidTown center to introduce new teachers (me - they'd notice if I didn't show up...) Then home to finish off preparing 2 more lesson plans for kindergarten and first grades; Tuesday school 7 - 4 then Coeurimba 7 - 9PM; Wednesday; Special Chorus rehearsal before school, school collaboration until 4PM and then District collaboration until 6PM; Thursday; school 7-3:30 (I leave early so I can get to Bryan by 4PM to have a tutoring session with Sally until 6PM. Friday I have the day off (HA HA!!! - yeah, so I can do laundry and prep my lessons for next week - and have a piano lesson on Friday afternoon!) Then Saturday usually is 'mop-up' from what I didn't get done during the week (including that laundry I probably ignored on Friday).
