Congratulations to my niece Telia!!

My lovely niece, Telia graduated from high school today! I am so very proud of her. She has worked very hard and is a wonderful young lady. I am pleased beyond words for her. I hope the next step in her life brings her a bounty of happiness. She deserves it!!

It was so windy today at the graduation that things were blowing everywhere. All the kids were holding their mortarboards to their heads so they wouldn't blow away. At the very start it began to rain. (Luckily I brought my umbrella with me). They did cut down the speeches so the kids could get their diplomas before another rainfall came.

Congratulations Telia. I love you!

take care,
Dawn

Girls Night Out

I meet with a group of friends once a week to knit. We usually get together at one of our houses. We have been doing this for just over a year. Last night we went out to dinner to celebrate our "anniversary" . It was just what I needed to wind down from my stressful few days. I laughed so hard and it felt great!

We did an exchange where we all knitted the same bag for each other. It was a surprise for each of us since we didn't know who had who...or is it whom! With a little detective work I think we all figured out who we each had. When it came time for the exchange I got the most gorgeous shade of dark red for my bag and I just LOVE it. It's almost too nice to use :)

Tonight is another party. I almost think I can get used to this :)

take care,
Dawn

STRESSED!!

Yesterday was one of the most stressful days I have had in a long time!! I just have so many things going on and I am one to be easily overwhelmed. Just yesterday morning one of my friends was reminding me of something that was due Friday and I just cried! That's one of my ways of dealing with stress.

There is a retirement party at school tomorrow night and I was volunteered to sing in the "chorus". It's just a few snippets of some songs. For the life I me I can't get the tune of the chorus of RESPECT. I know you all sing it as loud as you can in your car when no one is listening LOL! I listened to it for what seemed liked hours and it still sounds pathetic. How do they do it on American Idol LOL!

We have a volunteer tea after school today and I never even got around to making something to bring. I did finish up my gifts last night so they are ready to go.

I am suffering from allergies and my lungs and chest are so sore from coughing.

The good news (of this whine fest of mine) is that tonight I am going out to dinner with some friends :)

There....now I feel better.

take care,
Dawn

Grandkids update

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend some time with my grandchildren on Friday. Mackenzie enjoyed playing with all of Tim's dinosaurs. They filled some buckets with water and put in reptiles of all shapes and sizes :)

Jack sat on my lap for a while. He likes when I sing Jack and Jill to him. Mackenzie on the other hand asks me to stop LOL!

Jack has the cutest thing going on with his hair. It sticks up like this naturally :) If he were a girl it would be perfect for a pony tail.


When he smiles it is a full fledged smile. What a cutie! I took all of these pictures from one of Britt's accounts. I am sure she doesn't mind if a few extra people get a peek at her beautiful children!

take care,
Dawn

Oh, what a lovely smell!

My whining has paid off! I stopped at Britt's to bring her some things that I had and she gave me some lilacs to bring home. Oh, do they smell lovely. I'm almost thinking that I should just go to a nursery and buy a lilac bush to plant somewhere else in my yard. I suppose I should think about moving the ones that I have already since they do not seem to be productive where they are.

Speaking of productive, I feel like I should have gotten so much more done today than I did. I headed out this morning and bought a new router so I can use my laptop and had a devil of a time (my grandmother used to say that all the time!) getting it hooked up. I have NO idea how I did it, or what I even did, but it seems to be working. Keep your fingers crossed.

I overbought in the summer clothes department for Tim today. He's going to end up with more clothes that he will wear. I don't know why I do this all the time. It's got to be a personality disorder of some sort.

take care,
Dawn

A touch of spring

I did my weekly grocery shopping today and on a whim bought myself some new dishes. I've been looking at these for weeks now and just took the plunge today. Even though there are only three of us here I bought enough for 12! My personality is to have extra just in case!!!!!

I think I am also feeling a bit nostalgic today because corning ware always reminds me of my grandmother. She used corning ware all the time. I have some of her corning ware oven ware that I use all the time.

It feels good doing a little spring cleaning and replacing the "winter snow cabin" dishes that I have been using for the last 15 years or so :) Now I've noticed that I need to go buy some new shelf liner because the old stuff is, well, OLD!

take care,
Dawn

Green thumb??

My friend Beverly posted about her hydrangea the other day and it made me, oh a little sad, to look at mine. It is just a matter of inches tall and no where near ready to bloom! Every year at school we have secret valentine's. In February of '07 I received this hydrangea from my secret valentine. It had lovely pink flowers on it. I planted it last year hoping it would come back bigger and better. I guess only time will tell.

Speaking of lovely pink plants. These are my azaleas in all of their glory this year. When they are in bloom that are just so lovely!!!

My greatest disappointment is my lilac bushes. I have had them 11 or 12 years and they never bloom!! I have neighbors who all have lilacs (some even in the shade) and I have nothing! Oh, how I long for the smell of fresh cut lilacs in my home. Someday I just going to have to go out and buy a lilac bush and start from scratch, hoping that it will eventually bloom.

take care,

Dawn

3 bags full

I get together once a week and knit with a group of friends. We always have the best time laughing, knitting and eating! One week a few weeks back, it was suggested that we have a swap and we decided to knit these summer grocery bags. This purple one is the one I made for my mother for Mother's Day. I filled it with a lobster (bagged and wrapped so it wouldn't leak on this) and the ingredients she needed to cook her meal.

I also made this white one for my friend in the swap. We haven't given them out yet so I can't say who it is for!

This is the first bag I made. It was for my friend Cathy for her

birthday. I filled her bag with a recipe book I made her and all the ingredients to make a spinach artichoke dip, including the dish to bake it in.

These bags are so fun and easy to knit. I also made a blue one for Britt but I haven't taken a picture of it.

Right now I have a yellow one on my needles. It is going to be an end of the year gift for Tim's teacher. I'm hoping to fill it will some summer items. I am going to put a beach towel, sun screen, and maybe a gift certificate to a book store in it.

take care,
Dawn

And the winner is......

David Cook. I was hoping for David Archuletta but I will admit I like David Cook too! He is very talented. It was a great season and I'm sure that they both will have wonderfully successful years!

Now, I have to wait until January to have it start all over again.

I'm sure there are millions of bloggers out there posting the same message.

I'll bet he'll have his song on the radio as early as today.

take care,

Dawn

Seperation of Church and State

I wish I could invite you all to join Tim and I for our car rides home from school. There is never a dull moment :)

Tim had a social studies test today and I asked him how he thought he did. With his optimistic smile he said, "great!". Now he can be taking a test on something he knows nothing about, get everything wrong and still think he did great!

Our discussion then ventured to the Constitution and the amendments. Tim told me that he knew what the 8th amendment was and we had a little conversation about some of the amendments.

When I thought we were done he told me that there was an old man who talked to God and wrote 10 more amendments. I told him what he meant to say was commandments and that the old man was Moses.

He always makes me laugh!

take care,
Dawn

Gifts from the heart

Britt has reminded me that I have been derelict in my maternal duties. You see, the other day when I was posting about the mother’s day gifts I received, I neglected forgot to mention the lovely gift my sweet first born bestowed upon me. This is the goldfish plant that Britt gave to me. It is named goldfish because of the orange flowers that bloom.



I certainly don't want to leave Mackenzie out. This is the pine cone bird feeder that she made for me. I proudly hung it from a tree in the back yard. I won't tell you what it reminds me of. I think you can probably figure that out yourself :).



take care,
Dawn

All the comforts

I guess everyone is entitled to spoil themselves a little and I am no exception to that rule!

I love coffee and for the life of me I can not make a good cup. After what seemed like hundreds of tries I finally figured out the right combination to make a good pot of coffee. But alas, I can not drink a full pot! My friend Ingrid told me about a coffee maker she had that makes just one cup at a time. I thought I would buy one for school. Last summer I ordered a Keurig coffee maker that brews one fresh cup every time. I used it over the summer and liked it so much that I bought myself one for home. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the automatic drip coffee ever again.

take care,

Dawn

What a beautiful spring day!!

Oh, it just beautiful outside. The temp is 64º but it feels warmer. It is hard to stay inside. Today I have been trying to take care of some "outdoor" jobs. I pay the lawn company to come and take care of my lawn (fertilizing, weed control etc.) and this time of the year it just looks so lovely! As soon as the heat comes this way without fail my lawn burns even though I water it. I bought a new sprinkler today and I am having the hardest time adjusting the spray to get water to the entire yard. Rich gets upset because it hits the house and I get upset because it doesn't get all of the lawn. My neighbors must think I am crazy running back and fort to adjust the spray! Ideally I would just like a sprinkler system put in but I don't want to pay the money to do it!

take care,

Dawn

May update

Since I have been "spoken" to by both friends and family, I guess I should update. :)

Today I had Jack and Mackenzie for a few hours. It was the first time I've had them both. Jack is such a big boy. Brittainy says he's about 16 pounds right now.

I was without my car for 9 days while it was being repaired. Rich had to bring me to school every day. I'm lucky to have good friends who were willing to bring me home from school. It's good to have my car back. The repair shop did an excellent job on it.

We are down to 23 days left of school. This is really a busy time of year for me. Not only is there the regular day to day "teaching" but there's class lists to make for the outgoing and the incoming kids. I'm "learning" how to write our kindergarten grant and have an accreditation yearly update report that I am working on with one of my friends (who happens to teach with me).

Mother's day was lovely. Tim made me a lovely tissue paper flower and card. He and Rich got a candle holder that is very pretty and a g/c to A.C. Moore. Mackenzie made me a peanut butter, pine cone bird feeder that is hanging outside.

I knit a grocery bag for my mother and bought her a lobster for mother's day. I'm not a fan of seafood but I thought she would like it...and she did.

take care,
Dawn