Monday, September 29, 2014

Monday Mania~Stitching & Stewing on Sunday~Where the Weekend Went...

When the alarm went off at 4:30 this morning...
well, it was tough to get out of bed!

It was a full weekend...
I finally finished this batch of owls.

...and I made some huge strides in finishing these turkeys.

My cousin, Drew, came for a visit.
He wanted to see when I work, 
so we toured the school and athletic facilities.

We shared good conversation,
we watched college football,
and enjoyed some great meals.
I tried a new recipe for Stuffed French Toast.

Thank you for coming to visiting me.
It is so important to stay in touch with family.

Take care,
~Natalie 

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Happy Fall, Y'all...and a Happy Heavenly Birthday to my Mom...

Today would be my Mom's Birthday...
She celebrates in her heavenly home.

Her "Heaven on Earth" was when she was surrounded by her family.

Here she is at 86.
We all went to Central's Coronation...that's the year that
Emily was crowned Homecoming Queen.

Here's Grammy's 87th Birthday 
when she still lived on Fair Street.

Family was her first priority and she so loved 
these visits from her nieces and nephews.

We were all together for her 90th Birthday Celebration.
The Women's Group from our church presented her with this homemade quilt.

And, this is the last birthday that we celebrated together...
sweet memories.

Happy Birthday, Mom.
Take care,
~Natalie

Monday, September 22, 2014

Monday Mania ~ Forecast for the Week: Highs and Lows

 Once again, our weekend didn't disappoint.
Dinner with friends...college game day, with friends...
and some time at home to clean, organize and prepare for our week.

In any career there are successes and challenges.
However, last week, I experienced the extreme for both.
Now, this doesn't happen very often, but a young lady was removed from my class for inappropriate behavior. Not, just the ordinary...but, concerning behaviors.

I am still thinking about her today, a week later.
(I said a little prayer for her in church yesterday.)
How can a 15 year old girl grow up to have so many issues?

And what does this have to do with Cinnamon Rolls?
Well, that is my success story for the week. It was Yeast Bread week in my Foods class...
and no one killed their yeast!

The rolls were beautiful and delicious.

Here is the Foods classroom where this takes place.
This term, of the 28 students, 20 are boys...
only 1 senior, 2 juniors, 4 sophomores, and the rest are freshmen.
Keep in mind, you can't see all of them here.
There are 2 more labs with 8 more freshmen boys behind the micorwave on the wall to the right.
My main mission is Safety First...
I don't think they are paying me enough!

Last Thursday, we held Parent/Teacher Conferences...
I think I reached a record high with 34 conferences.
Doesn't sound like much when I see 110 students a day,
but it does break down to about 10 conferences per hour,
from 5 - 8 p.m. The last hour, 8-9, is much slower.

google image~Line for iphone 6

Parents had a bit of a wait in a line outside my door...
maybe only 5 minutes, or so.
But one of the moms made my night.
She was next in line, I greeted her and brought her into my classroom.
She said, "We don't need to sit down, this will only take a minute or two."

"You don't have my daughter this term,
but when I came past your room, I just wanted to stop to tell you that you are her favorite teacher.
She is looking forward to your class next term."

Did I just make a remark earlier about my paycheck?
Well, you can't put $$$ on that...

Take care,
~Natalie

Sunday, September 14, 2014

College Game Day Highlights...and the Highlight that Made My Day

Saturday=College Game Day
Probably the most fun that hubby and I have had in months.

The highlight of my day was this...
These sweet, young women, former students (and knitting club girls)
broke away from their new friends for hugs and hellos with their old teacher.
Seriously, it was the best part of my day...
and our day was pretty awesome!

We left town after work on Friday...
thought we'd stop at Scheels, 
as we haven't purchased any Bison Gear since Emily was it college.
Our shirts were not Shabby-Chic...just Shabby!

Lots of Fans had that same idea.
The store was Chaos...a managable chaos.
(and yes, there is a full size Ferris Wheel in Fargo's Scheels)

We had an inexpensive hotel room (not blog worthy),
as we needed just a bed and a bathroom...
well, and coffee.

We were downtown before 7 a.m.
It was dark and 39 degrees.

We walked around a bit to take in the experience.
Some of the fans were there Friday evening at 7 p.m.
A lot of the fans gathered after the bars closed at 2 a.m.

We decided to watch by the Turf Stage.
You can see Thundar is taking instruction from 
one of the Game Day Producers very seriously.

Plus, we had ring side seats when 
Samantha Ponder interviewed our coach.

We were in a great spot to see what was going on,
however, our biggest disappointment was that we could not hear what was going on.
(There was a problem with the sound system at our end)

So, after three hours downtown,
we decied to find a place to watch, and listen to Game Day, inside.

And now...Hubby has his new favorite restaurant in Fargo.
They specialize in beers and sausages.

Then on to campus,
where we watched the end of ESPN Game Day 
at the Bookstore with this charming employee.

The tailgating site did not disappoint...

I love catching up with the my friends from college.

Our best laugh of the day, was discovering that seats 1 and 2
are all by themselves in the corner of the dome.

The view was great,
like hubby said,
they are like having our own 'box seats'!

It was an awesome weekend.
Visiting with friends,
enjoying good food and great company.

And, the Bison won.
Still, my highlight was getting hugs from these darling girls.
Have a great school year!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Where the Week Went & What'cha Workin' on Wednesday...Knitting Club, School, Crafting...

I am happy to introduce our new Knitting Club.

Some of you remember our charter knitting club.
For 4 years, we created scarves for Special Olympics Athletes.
Most of these girls graduated and now we have a renewed interest.

Every Friday, I fill my slow cooker with soup...
we eat a quick lunch in my classroom and then go to work.
(This is my Vegetarian Chili.)

We are also fortunate to have a School Resource Officer
at our high school.

When he is not busy in the front office,
he likes to visit our classes.

He talks about school safety.

We do a mock traffic stop, complete with field sobriety tests.

On the homefront, we are in frantic fall crafting season.
Owls, Turkeys, Santas, Snowmen...

I crafted so hard that I actually got a blister on my finger!
(My ring is my Kappa Delta Sorority crest. 
My grandpa was so proud that I went to college,
and when I was elected president of our sorority, 
he wanted to purchase a keepsake for me.
It is one of my treasures)

I still have not learned the art of taking a 'selfie'...
I must take lessons from the Kardashians.

Take care,
~Natalie

Road Trip ~Day Three ~Burger Battle ~Sweet Shopping Highlights

Our last full travel day took us through four states… Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Including some Big Bridges over some Big ...