Scarecrow Shenanigans

Meet my class scarecrow. He was made for a contest and has found a home outside my classroom door for the last few weeks.

At first, I had him in a spot where I could see him if I glanced at my door. After thinking I was being watched for about two full days, only to realize it was my scarecrow time after time, I moved the thing............to a spot on the OTHER side of my door, so I couldn't see him. That worked out MUCH better.

Before long, I realized that OTHERS were also caught off guard by my innocent scarecrow. Once that discovery was made, the scarecrow shenanigans began! With the help of Keith, our night custodian, scarecrow ended up in a few doorways and closets......and the assistant principal's office.........to greet people in the morning when they got to their room or office. Opening your door, only to be greeted by the lifelike scarecrow, can most definitely cause even the calmest person to jump back just a little. The reactions were quite worth it. I had way too much fun with this. Anyway, he is gone now. He went home with one of my kiddos. I'll miss the shenanigans. I had one really good one left.......

Haiku Wars

Recently, I taught my class about the art of haiku poetry. They caught on really fast and loved it! There's only one problem! It has become a war of boys vs. girls.

It all began with one little boy writing a hilarious haiku about girls. I had him read it aloud. The girls became wide-eyed during his recitation, and their jaws dropped! Thus, the poetry war began. The girls retaliated in huge numbers. I had haiku's being handed to me left and right. Then the boys began firing back! It's been an ongoing battle for about a week:

Girls

Girls are disgusting.
All they want to do is shop.
Girls are really weird.

Boys

Boys are really gross.
They are dirty, loud, and mean.
Boys are annoying.

Here's what I'm thankful for..........They are writing up a storm! They are following the rules for haiku's! They are writing poetry for goodness sake! Let the haiku war continue............

Three Down, One To Go

Marching band season is in it's last two weeks. We've been to three competitions and have one left. Saturday was spent at MSU. We got 3rd place in prelims and advanced to finals. In finals, the kids kicked it into high gear, and we ended up 2nd. Advancing in finals is exciting, especially when you're beating bands that have previously beat you! Oh, and here's a HUGE shout out to Kenny, who spent the entire day at the competition.

This coming weekend will be the finale.......in St. Louis at the Dome. It's an overnighter, so it will be the longest weekend of them all, with parent/teacher conference week to follow! AHHHHH! The only saving grace is that we get Halloween OFF. NO SCHOOL!

The Good and Bad of Autumn

If that ain't a perfect pumpkin, I don't know what is! Kenny and I went to the "pumpkin patch" in Republic on Sunday and found this beauty! See how perfectly proportioned it is??? And I love how the stem is longer! I was very excited when I spotted it and got even more excited when I discovered that it was only $3.00! I found another one for my classroom that is also quite nice. Pumpkins are definitely another thing I like.

Leaves are another story. I love how they turn orange, red, and yellow with the green ones still mixed in! The color of fall trees is another favorite, BUT raking those leaves once they've turned brown and are covering my yard is NOT one of my favorite things. I guess it's my fault. When house hunting, one requirement was that I had to have beautiful mature trees. I really wanted a neighborhood lined with trees, and I found one! Trees all around! I have 3 in my front yard and 3 in the backyard. And I love them.......with two exceptions: fall raking duties and winter ice storm clean up. But before I start thinking about ice and snow, I need to focus on the current situation: leaves are starting to fall. Since I have 6 trees, that means I have about a billion leaves. And since I don't care to rake all that often, it means that it usually doesn't get finished any time soon! So this year maybe I'll turn over a new leaf (hahaha....) and maybe I'll be done raking by at least Thanksgiving! I know, maybe I should have a raking party! Anybody up for some fun???? I'd even make snacks! Let the raking begin!

More Things I Like

My Nephew: He is the greatest and cutest baby EVER! Along with Emma, of course and Kenny's nephew too! I dropped by Hill's tonight to see them. Seeing him was a stress reliever. He has totally mastered the art of crawling! Now he's working on pulling himself up to the standing position. He is getting very good at that too! Hill has her hands full!

My Class: I really loved my class last year. I didn't think I'd ever be able to bond with a group like that again. I had amazing parents too. Luckily, knock on wood, this year is shaping up to be another great one! I really like my kiddos. They are hilarious! They keep me on my toes, but I really am enjoying them.

Sammies: This is quite possibly one of my most favorite food inventions. They are at Quizno's, and they are great, especially the Sonoma Turkey. They have good raspberry lemonade too!

Sitemeter: If you've read Whitney's most recent comments or her blog entry about Sitemeter, you already know that we have a tracking thingy attached to our blogs. We love this! It provides tons of fun for the analytical mind........info from the location of the visitor to if they're using a Mac! It is SO interesting to see who comes to read our silly banter. We have our usual suspects, aka, our buddies who visit regularly and leave their fun banter via comments. We also have the accidental visitor, who does NOT find what they're looking for when they google "laryngitis" or other random phrases. Then we have what we've dubbed our "mystery visitors." For instance, someone at work really enjoys coming to our blogs! We know it's not us because we don't get on our blogs at work. We aren't even sure which building they work at! Then there's the infamous "marlinco" mystery. We pretty much covered this in Whit's comments the other day, but we're still puzzled by the daily occurrence of our marlinco friend. I thought my covert shout out might be a "lure" (hahaha) but it wasn't. That only made our friends question our sanity. Anyway, Sitemeter is another thing I like, but it's definitely cause for things that make you go hmmmmm......................that reminds me of a song.

CSI: The season premiere is tomorrow night and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!! I am very excited. I love Grissom. I know you're with me on that, right Jill?

Weekends Off: This weekend is band free. I'm already looking forward to lunch with friends and sleeping in!

This Weekend

I am not a night owl, except when forced. For the last two weekends, I haven't had a choice in the matter. Two weeks of late Friday and Saturday nights are catching up with me, so when I had my first opportunity in about 3 weeks to NOT set an alarm, I was very excited. I slept until about 9:00 this morning......and although I wouldn't say I'm necessarily a morning person either, 9:00 is pretty late for me and it was glorious!

In marching band universe, life was good this weekend. Friday's performance at the football game was pretty good. Saturday's performance, however, was GREAT! The band got 3rd (ONE point away from 2nd). My girls placed SECOND!!!!! We were thrilled. They did an amazing job and worked so hard. Luckily, we all get next weekend off!

Now I think it's time for a nap!