Oh, Hey There!

I've missed you! No, really, I have! Oh so much has been going on, and on top of everything, I have been experiencing the most sickly year I have ever had! My kinders have been sickly...like for real sick...over Christmas, 8 of my 18 had the flu. They've passed around horrible stomach bugs all year, strep, colds that never end, terrible ear infections, Fifth's disease, pink eye...oh the horrors of kindergarten! It has never been this bad though. We have a new cleaning crew, and I have to wonder if it isn't coincidence that germs aren't going away anymore. Fortunately, so far, I haven't had the bad stuff...just a general feeling of ick. Yes, I meant to say ick, not sick. It has not been fun. And along with the sickly kinders, who by the way have allergies out the wazoo, SPRING FEVER HAS HIT. Me, my intern, and the kids. In full force.

I am dying to get in my garden and work. According to The Farmer's Almanac for this year, my area has had its final hard freezing spell of winter this week. Now, I did not use that trusty resource last year, and guess what? My garden produced a total of 2 dinners worth of potatoes, about 10 meals of fried okra, an occasional tomato, 2 quarts of green beans, two carrots, and about a half dozen sweet potatoes. That's it. And last year, it snowed in May. May 7 to be exact. The day after I put out my tomatoes. I cried. I so hope the almanac is on the money this year. I want need to be out there, nursing my plants and filling basket upon basket of beautiful produce that I can practice my canning skills on. It isn't supposed to rain again until Sunday, so I am planning to be out there tomorrow evening, planting cucumber and green bean seedlings. I also have some turnip and pepper seedlings, but I don't think that they are quite ready to transplant. I did plant my potatoes and onions about 10 days ago, and the onions have started to sprout, which is definitely exciting!

What else has been going on? Well, Lefty had her last ever cheer try-out two weeks ago and made it. She was named captain of her squad!!! I was asked by the other senior mom to be the President of the booster club and Treasurer for the squad. The other senior mom is Vice-President and Secretary. It's gonna be a busy year. Boo decided not to try out for cheer this year, but did try out for dance team. She was a nervous wreck, but I had no doubt that my tiny dancer would do just fine. That will be a new thing for us; we've always been a cheer family, so competitive dance team will be a new adventure. The Boy tried out for his basketball team and didn't make it, BUT he had better luck trying out for track. He is in his first year of being able to do school athletics, so it's a pretty big learning curve. Also, baseball season starts next week for The Boy. Things are gonna be oh so busy for the next two months. Lou tried out for her middle school band and chose to play trumpet like Lefty. I hope she enjoys it.

As for me and my man, we've just been following the kiddos from this to that. We haven't done any more craft shows or anything, although I scouted one out last weekend that is a definite possibility for November. I have gotten a little discouraged. Things have been very slow. Like non-existent. I sold two wreaths last month, and that has been pretty much it for 2014 so far. Kinda sad. However, one of those was for a church a few towns away, and it turned out fantabulous!

Speaking of churches, we have been visiting a new church. We went alone the first week, then last week, we took all four kids. They seemed to enjoy it. Boo asked to go with us this coming Sunday (when she is going to be at her dad's). I am glad she wants to go.

There is so much more for me to go on and on about, but I guess I can save some for other posts! Weather for example. My new addiction. A diet (or the lack thereof) update. New cooking adventures. The four new florals I made. School. Theatrical performances. A band performance with the Beatles. Spanish Honor Society. Faith.  I truly could go on and on. But I will wait.

Right Here Waiting...

Oh.
   My.
      Word.

Life is so busy. There has been so much going on, and I knew it had been an eternity since I was last here; since I even last visited a single blog or really thought about posting. I have all of these fantastical ideas for posts swimming around in my head, and yet there seems to be no time or inclination lately to actually sit down and put them into print. I just wanted to tell y'all that I am still here. And this blog and all of the bloggers that I usually adore reading posts from are always right here waiting for me to take the time to share with them. What has kept me away from you? Well. These are the top ten things (in addition to Mother's Day, Father's Day, 4th of July, Lefty's first prom, our last dance recital, cheer try-outs for Lefty and Boo)...

1. Finishing another year in kindergarten. Finishing always seems to take so much out of me!
2. Beginning preparations for the new year in kindergarten. It will be my eighth year! Wow!
3. Professional development meetings for new things happening in our state regarding education.
4. Staying home and spending time with all four of my kiddos. For the first time ever, we chose to have them during the first part of summer, rather than in the middle. I am really liking it this way.
5. Having and recovering from surgery. Nothing serious...just a boob job and a touch of liposuction. I am at three weeks post-procedures, and I am loving the results of both!!!
6. Getting to be an Aunt for the second time! Weston is so precious, and Carson is the best big brother!
7. Working on the garden that would be. Chris keeps saying that this is just not the year for my garden. It has really sucked. I still have hopes that it will just be a late bloomer. Literally.
8. Becoming the mother of a 16 year old daughter. There are no words. 
9. Throwing a Sweet Sixteen bash. Hilarious!
10. Preparing to get a business license for my mesh obsession. 

I do have pictures, I swear. Uploading them is just another thing that I have not yet gotten around to. But I will. Promise. In the meantime, enjoy the ones that I do have!

Uninspired with Inspiration

Normally, I am fairly easy to inspire or motivate to do something. Not so lately. I am in a funk. There are so many things that I need to do; would love to do...but I can't seem to get the energy to do them. Some of the problem is the weather, I am sure. I require sunlight, and lots of it. My body and psyche need the precious  serotonin to help fight off the tendrils of depression that tickle at the edges of all aspects of my life. Yes, I have medication for that...but it only treats the surface symptoms, so every little bit of help I can get, I'll take. It has been very dreary around here lately. Rain, sleet, or snow 4 days out of every week for the past six weeks or so. The rest of the problem...who knows.

So what is it that I want to do? What should be inspiring me to create and grow and sparkle? Well let's see...

Crafting with these awesome, bright colors
that are patiently waiting for me in my craft room.

Breaking through the plateau that I have hit with
my weight loss. Twenty pounds, and no more will
come off...gonna hafta hit the gym! :-(

My garden...currently referred to as 'The Swamp'
Potatoes and onions are beginning to sprout, and
it is so wet down there that I can't even go look!

A clean house! Spring break was for spring cleaning, and now
we have room for more stuff!

Lefty getting to go to prom with her boy bestie.
He's a senior, she's a sophmore...he better be good!
Oh, and prom means...school's almost out!!!

On the upside, sort of, I stayed home from school today due to pink eye. Don't judge, it's a hazard of the job. Kinder teachers come into contact with more goo and bodily fluids than I care to think about. Apparently I came into contact with conjunctivitis. Gross. ANYWHO, while home, I actually felt like doing things. Not fun things, mind you. I worked. The master bathroom is sparkling clean, all laundry is done and put away, 'pit stop' surfaces are cleared off and dusted, the carpets are clean, and all of the household garbage is empty. I even had time to work on my coupon collecting. So maybe, just maybe, this weekend, I might feel like digging into that abyss of a craft room that is bursting at the seams with beautiful blingy things begging for me to use them. I'll be sure and show you what I manage to come up with.

iHeart my iPad

A month or so ago, a co-worker and I were told that we would both be provided with iPads for classroom use and for home use. Mine was delivered on Friday afternoon right before I left for spring break. The instructions were...USE IT. Use it at school, use it at home, use it however you can as long as the activities fall within the school's internet usage policy. How is Jeri Lynne feeling about this, you ask? Can you say excited?!?! I had never even laid hands on an iPad before, much less used one. Needless to say, I have spent a bit of time over the past week at home figuring out some apps that I think the kinders will enjoy, and also experimenting with some apps for me as well. How fun is this? 'Cuz I so needed a new gadget to play with *insert heavy sarcasm here*!

This little guy helped us try out some preK - K apps. He was pretty excited to try it out!

Chester Drawers

Yep. That's his name. He is a retired performer out of Branson, MO. In his 'retirement,' he has been writing children's book and touring elementary schools as a children's comedian to promote his books, as well as encouraging a healthy lifestyle and making good choices. Mr. Drawers visited our school on Wednesday morning. Now I will be honest. Always Normally at these little assemblies, I am bored to tears. With this guy, I was actually LOL'ing. Really. When his presentation was over, he signed autographs and let us take pictures of some of our kinders with him. What a fun guy. I just can't figure why his parents would've named his Chester Drawers. *wink*

The kinderbabies (along with the pre-k and firsties) had a ball watching, listening, and singing along.

Autograph and photo-op time!

Look at her sweet little hands, with the pink fingernails :-)

Having so very much fun!

I wish they paid this close attention in class!!!
He had all eyes on him 90% of the time...it was the most attentive I have ever seen at an elementary assembly.
Impressive.

Where Have You Been?

and what have you been doing??? I have been everywhere but on this blog!

I have seen more rainbows in the last month than I have in my entire life!

We have had serious drought conditions since May. September has brought us much more favorable weather...and the promise of better days to come!

One week this month, I saw at least one rainbow every single day. Insane!!! God was making me a promise that week...









I have spent time watching my precious girls do this...one as a Jr. High cheerleader, and the other a Sr. High. Where has the time gone? *tear*

Hubby and I put out the fall decor, which got me wanting homemade bread...so I made some. First. Time. Ever. and it was Y.U.M!!! must.make.more.soon.very.soon.

And finally, we are going to attempt to do a couple of craft shows next month. **serious nail biting here!** Therefore, I have spent pretty much all of my 'spare' time in the craft room, either crafting or cleaning or planning. Some of the results look a little like...

 OH...and I have been spending some time getting to know these sweeties!!!

I've Got Good Air!

Kids really do say the darnedest things. Sometimes the things they say can make your day, make your soul smile, or break your heart. I get a little of each of those every day in my kindergarten classroom.

This year one of my kinderkids in particular surprises me everyday with something she says. She is very much a "tomboy," hating everything pink, ruffly, or remotely girly. On the first day of school, I had a little gift for each child including pink heart erasers for the girls. She stomped her foot and said she hated it; that she just wished everyone would quit acting like she's a girl! HAHA! A few months into the school-year, I was walking by her and she whipped her head up and said, "Hey! You better walk by me one more time!" It caught me off-guard, so my response was, "Huh?" She turned her nose towards me and said, "Oh Mrs. Knight, when you walk by me, your air blows over me and makes my nose smell good things! Please walk by me again!" It was pretty cute!

This baby lives in a pretty sad situation, so I had a brilliant idea. I took my perfume to school...Coach Signature Fragrance, no less...with the intention of spraying a bit on her coat so she could take my 'air' with her everywhere she went. When I showed it to her, she refused. Little thing told me she "didn't want ta' smell like no girl!" HAHAHAHAHA! However, last month, she asked me again..."Mrs. Knight, how come your air has to smell so good? It makes my nose happy when you walk by!"

One of many Joyful Moments in kindergarten!

Ignored

There are some times in my life when I have felt as though I am being completely ignored by everyone around me. The past three days have been some of those times. It has seemed as if every time I open my mouth, nonsensical blabber must be coming out, because no one is understanding my meaning...or even hearing what I say. Maybe the noise is only in my head, and no sound is actually coming out of my mouth, which would explain why no one responds. Sigh.

Tomorrow my kinderbabies and I will embark on a monumental task: quiltmaking. We learned about quilts during our study on Pilgrims and as we worked on learning about the sound that the letter Qq makes. The students were very interested in using old pieces of torn clothing and scraps to make something new and useful, so I told them that if they could gather the supplies needed, we would make a quilt of our own and donate it to a needy family for Christmas. They were SO EXCITED!!! We gathered the supplies, laundered the scraps, trimmed the frayed edges, and are now ready to cut strips and sew. Yes, I said it: SEW...with kinderbabies...on a machine. My husband thinks that I am crazy for attempting it. I think it is adventurous. Time will tell. Pictures to follow. :-)