Christmas Dance

Faith and her friends got to dress up and attend the masquerade themed dance at their school.  It wasn't the best time she ever had, but I know she enjoyed the special time with her buddies.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Were we ready for a break or what?!  This was a fun and relaxing extended weekend!  A chance to visit, shop, sleep, eat, etc...  I'm rejuvenated and ready for the next three weeks! (I think :-)) Here's our holiday in pictures and captions.

Our Thanksgiving Dinner (potluck) at the church.  The pistachio salad was my favorite!

In Portland/Tigard the next day enjoying peanut butter pie at Banning's.  Vaughn wanted a picture to remember it by.

Faith enjoying her piece of peanut butter pie.  Yum!

Griffin "helping" Grandma get to the entrance of Olive Garden for our Black Friday Dinner.  We didn't do a whole lot of shopping, but we seemed to do a lot of eating!

Waiting for our yummy dinner at Olive Garden.

Griffin wasn't being overly cooperative for this picture.

So nice to have time with Bob and Lois!

Vaughn's "selfie" picture as he enjoys his Coca Cola.

Relaxing and hanging out at the hotel

Back home for the first Sunday of Advent.  Griffin, with Vaughn's help, lighting the first advent candle.

Griffin reading the scripture for the First Sunday of Advent - Galatians 4:1-7.  He did a great job reading!

Valuable Volunteer Hours

November is a special month of service for Griffin's Scout Troop.  Two Saturdays ago, he and I helped deliver paper bags to the houses in our neighborhood and another nearby.  The paper bags were left on the doorsteps with a note attached letting the homeowners know of the food drive for the Sutherlin/Oakland Food Pantry.  All people had to do was place donated food items in their bag then place it on their doorstep the following Saturday morning.

The boys do a lot of walking, but they understand the importance of helping others (with a few reminders).

On Monday the 11th we were in Roseburg for the annual Veterans' Day Parade.  This year Faith and I found a place to watch the parade while Vaughn walked in the parade with Griffin.  It's not the most spectacular parade, but it's very meaningful.  This year all of the Boy Scouts of Douglas County marched in the parade together.  It was fun to see them as one big group, and I think it was encouraging for the boys too.  Our troop is small, so it was fun for them to see so many like them.

A few days ago, Vaughn and Griffin returned to pick up the filled bags for the food drive.  We had better participation than last year so that was encouraging.

Faith has not inherited my enjoyment of parades.

It's not a parade without some classic cars!  This Chevy was especially beautiful!

Troop 143

Vaughn and Griffin got good exercise that day!

My handsome Scout

Halloween 2013

October 31st was a busy day!  YMS's first pep assembly occurred and was a big hit!  We had relays, a drawing for gift cards, and a staff vs. students volleyball game. 
 
Once home, it was time to get ready for the Second Annual Calapooia FMC Trunk and Treat.  This year we had twice as many people which was very exciting!  We're praying that with each outreach event and contact that families will come and try our church out.  Even better than that is they make CFMC their church home.
The weather was amazing!  It wasn't cold, and there wasn't a drop of rain! Here are a few pictures...

We had a loop of trunks.  Visitors parked in the main parking lot, then walked to the parking behind the church building for the trunk and treating.  The door to the fellowship hall was open where the  popcorn, punch, cookies, face painting and of course, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" playing nonstop were located.

It's lame I know, but hey I borrowed the little pumpkins so my van wasn't too blah.

My biker dude.  He tried to look tough, but was just too adorable!

Our little Frodo (from "Lord of the Rings")

Super cute Minnie Mouse who designed and crafted her own costume!

I dressed up as a mean middle school teacher, so we didn't need a picture of that!  :-)

A Great Yet Busy Weekend!

This was a great weekend!  It started out with my mother-in-law and father-in-law arriving for their weekend visit.  Since we hadn't seen them since August first, we had been really looking forward to seeing them!  It was so nice just to hang out and visit.  Faith and Griffin got special grandpa and grandma time Friday night as Vaughn and I went to our life group.

Saturday morning I got up REALLY early to meet a teacher friend in Eugene so we could travel to Portland together and attend the C-GEO conference.  This was a conference to support Oregon teachers who teach geography.  It was great!  There were workshops to choose from and I received a lot of resources to help me in the classroom.  I was disappointed to not be home and continuing to visit with my in-laws, but I was glad that Vaughn and the kids had time with them even though I wasn't there.

Today was church - which was great to have them in service with us and then Sunday dinner together before they made the long drive.  At least the fog had burned off, and it was sunny and beautiful with the autumn colors all around. 

Thanks for coming Bob and Lois!  We loved having you here!

As they drove away today, I realized that I didn't get any pictures of them! 
This is one from their visit in June.

Mom and Dad Come For a Visit

There's nothing like having Mom and Dad visit to bring comfort when comfort is needed.*  After all, they were the first ones who would hug me and tell me everything was going to be okay.  Fast forward a great number of years and we get to Thursday, October 3rd through the 6th, 2013.  Mom and Dad come for a visit bringing their love, hugs, and encouragement to boost my weary self. 

As many of you know, my job is tough.  The first month I seriously questioned whether I would make it through the school year.  My calling is not babysitting middle schoolers or running a detention program.  I was doing very little teaching. Now after six weeks I can truthfully say it's getting better.  Each day I get encouraging glimpses of what this school year can become. 

So with that said, having my parents come was wonderful - not just for me, but for my family.  Griffin got lots of "grandpa" time which made both of them happy.  Mom and I talked recipes.  Faith spent less time on her ipod.  Vaughn got advice on home repairs.  We even squeezed in a breakfast at Tolly's.

It's never easy to say good-bye, especially when we probably won't see them until Christmas, but I'm still glad they made the trek to Sutherlin.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

*I want to clarify that the love and support of my husband, kids and even church family are AWESOME!  It's just that sometimes I go back to that little girl who needs her mommy and daddy.

Happy Birthday Pastor Vaughn

Yesterday, at church, Vaughn's birthday was celebrated between the services.  I've decided that Calapooia FMC loves birthday parties!  We have a birthday party every month and the pastors each get their own party.

Griffin wanting to hug the man of the hour

Vaughn listening while Pastor Stewart  showers him with complements and birthday wishes

It's Back To School

We have made it through our first week at school.  I have to say the kids jumped right in and have done great! For myself, I feel like I am just barely staying ahead of my students.  Part of this has to do with the fact that everything is new.  But, it's also because I have six different classes to prepare for.  Yoncalla has a unique schedule due to surviving budget cuts a few years ago.  They do four day weeks with slightly longer school days and an extra four days at the end of the year to get in all of the time.  The next couple Fridays are teachers only, but after that many of the Fridays are no school for teachers or students.  Right now, I'm looking forward to those Fridays so I can get ahead in my lesson planning!!!

A couple posts earlier I showed the "before" picture.  Here is after.  So weird having chalkboards with a smart board!

Griffin striking a pose before heading out the door.

All settled in his new fourth grade classroom.  He looks so old here!  Where is my baby?

Faith, on her first day of 8th grade.  It seems like just yesterday she was starting kindergarten!

A Special Week

Last week we were blessed to spend time with Erik, Kaden and Natalie.  It's a long drive to Sutherlin from Everett, so we were excited to show them around and hang out!

It was a hot day so we waited until after dinner to take a walk.

The fort the kids made.

The porch swing is a favorite photo location even with a squirming dog.

Natalie decided to try tennis with Griffin.  That lasted about 15 minutes.



Cooling off in the Cooper Creek Reservoir

Erik with his sunscreened head, and Kaden sporting a trendy life jacket.

A very large bear at Wildlife Safari

A cheetah enjoying the cooler day.

We picnicked at Wildlife Safari.

One of the goats giving Griffin a piece of his mind.

A cute little calf, Natalie.

Kaden and Griffin on the stone turtle

Natalie and Faith striking their poses

Griffin watching a very large goldfish

Many opportunities to pose for silly pictures

Many little birds who would land on feed sticks.

So many birds and no one got pooped on!

Thanks for coming!

Transformation Begins

I wish I had taken a picture of my classroom before it was painted, but I'm not sure a photo would have captured just how unappealing that shade of green was for a classroom color.
It is now painted a nice, bland off-white.  This is just fine with me since I have bulletin boards and other things to cover the walls.  These pictures were taken on the 13th.  I'll post more pictures when the transformation is as complete as it will probably get.  :-)

This picture shows my desk area and the nice large windows.  The windows look out to a park.  I still have a couple tables up front that I haven't figured out what to do with them.  I'm waiting to find out my numbers.   The white appliance up on the wall next to the windows is the heater/air conditioner.  A heat pump was installed recently for two classrooms.  Already I've been so grateful for the cool air blowing into my room!

This picture is looking at the back of the classroom.  I'm redoing the bulletin boards.  There will be four student computers along the back of the room.

This view shows the door to the hallway, the cupboards, counter, sink, etc...  (Yes, they are orange.)  Right now there are a ton of texts on the counter, which I'm hoping to be moving those soon.  You can also see the student computers waiting on the counter to be hooked up.  That's on my to do list.