One Week In...

I have been at school for 1 week, with kids for 3 days. How could I forget how exhausting it can be? I love this bunch...they are all very sweet. I still only have 5 classes (am pushing hard for a 2nd period - who wants a 2nd period prep?)...but our enrollment jumped quite a bit, so we'll see. I don't know if I'm getting older or if my "cup" has finally brimmed, but it's taking me longer to learn 145 names. I did take individual pictures of 2 of my classes, but no group shots, so I'll wait to give you those later. The individual shots will go into their time capsules with their information from this fall, and we'll have a good time checking them out in the spring. (It also helps me match faces to names.) I have gotten to the point where most of my kids remind me of a former student, so I have to be careful not to call them the wrong thing...it cracks me up, but as a kid, I know that bugs some...parents are totally used to it, calling out whatever name comes to mind until they go through the whole list - I'm there!
Here are some pics from our 7 dog, 6 human camping trip, thanks to Cam and Deb! We keep talking about how much fun that trip was...definitely have to do it again.
Going to bed now...love you all :)

Home Again, Home Again

We made it! It was a fabulous, if always on the go, trip... we got home Thursday evening (Google directions are sometimes right about distance) after a 680 mile, 10 1/2 hour drive from Casper. We unloaded the car, cooked the Freschetta pizza, and started watching our DVR.

Friday we vegged...literally. Slept, ate a little, and watched MORE dvr.

So today, we awoke with resolve in our hearts - to thunder, lightning, and dogs on our bed. No weeding getting done today folks! I've been cleaning and laundering, and for those of you that received the AAADD email from me, that's my day.

Since I last checked in, we went to Apple Valley, MN, and had a great time (as always) with Neil and Amy. They have an awesome house! Then we stopped back by Grandma V's on our way to Fargo/Moorhead. We had supper at Jim & Rhoda's, then off to Karen and Eric's for sleep! Our time in the F/M area was a blast, including the terrifying (for me) Ferris Wheel ride in Scheel's - Connor was a trooper! Then we drove south and west to the Black Hills...with a stop at Wall Drug, of course. Andy LOVES the Black Hills, we kept GPSing spots to come back and camp or hike. He was not prepared to love Mt. Rushmore, but typical to our style, it was raining, so there weren't as many people as there might have been - but we were all in the gift shop at once!After Mt. Rushmore, we headed west to Casper (short, navigator error detour involved). Grandpa and Mary were great sports about the dogs - they did, of course, come to love the girls. Then, back home... The funniest part was that we hardly took any pictures...the main point of this trip being "time is short", you would think I would have taken some for posterity, but NO! So, if any of my lovely relatives have pictures from our travels, could you email me?

Also, thanks to all those who are voting DAILY for the Apple Valley Water Harvesting project on Pepsi Refresh... here's a direct link http://www.refresheverything.com/applevalleyutah