The last 2 weeks of school

So its the best and the worst time of year for teachers. I am getting excited for the summer, but have so much to do before it ends! There are papers to grade, kids to manage, desks to be cleaned, bookshelves and cabinets and closets and such to be organized.... The list gets longer as the days go by. And amidst all of this "wrapping up" I am supposed to keep my kiddos engaged and learning. I have checked out, and so have my students! So I have resorted to having my kids teach instead. Everyday I pick two students to teach for an hour. They can pick any topic and do whatever they want- but they are the ones coming up with the plan. All I will do for them is make copies. Let me tell you, I have learned a lot! Today my student teachers taught us about the different animals in the rainforest. We even played animal bingo and I almost won! Earlier this week 2 of my smarties taught us the factors of 300 and 500. Tomorrow we are going to learn about dinosaurs. One of my little teachers said Ms. Rowles, I don't know how you have done this all year! I am sick of yelling at the students, I have a headache, and now I just want to go home and take a nap! (Seriously, she was just teaching for an hour!!!) But I think it has been a great little changes of scenery for all of us! And then as soon as they leave, it is back to all the tedious little things I have to do. Checking in textbooks, entering my grades, taking all the staples out of my walls, etc. It might sound ridiculously easy, but the hours start to add up! Perhaps that is why I didnt get home tonight until 7. My poor baby and husband. But come June 7th, they are going to be sick of me! How is that for my first blog entry ever?
- Maureen

Memorial Day Fun and Baby G Turned 1!!

you'll start rhyming too if you read as many kids books as i do!

I can't start this blog without first telling everyone that Maureen is a year older today! So happy birthday Moe (and Shannon too...). St. Louis was a blast this weekend chock full of activities.
Gianna had her first piece of birthday cake, along with a graduation cake and Moe's birthday cake....three pieces in three days i think she might have withdrawals today. We got to see the Lengyel's this weekend and little cousin Colin (up high! down low! in the hole! you got soul brother!), whose a walkin talkin little ball of energy. I think G got some serious ideas about how cool walking is this weekend.. it won't be much longer.

So this weekend Ryan had a graduation party.. and busted out all the gear for a little concert. They were pretty darn good, so good in fact they made the cops come over...maybe that was just cause they had they're amps turned up to 11! No worries though they made enough money to pay for the ticket....

We also went to Grant's Farm. Not sure why they call it Grant's Farm it's Basically Budweiser's petting zoo....Seriously when have you ever been to a petting zoo where they gave you FREE BEER!. G had a blast and loved to watch the elephants and parrots. She even started imitating the parrots and they talked back!

I would upload all the pictures but that would take forever...check out our flickr(link on the side)
for pics from the weekend!!

Gossip (another rant from chris)

There's not much gossip on our end. I'm just going to have a quick rant today about Gossip. It's amazing how quickly information is exchanged these days and it's because of the internet. I know the internet has been around for a while...but it's only recently that people have really started to share themselves through it. There's no telling how many people are looking at your myspace, facebook, or even this blog.... You have to constantly monitor your site to make sure your friends don't write something on there that you don't want them to read (i am guilty of this). And now employers are even looking you up to see what you have to say about yourself online....
And then there's the snooping.... Do we really care about that one high school friend who we haven't talked to since before HS graduation....no...but will you add them as a friend? sure..and why? Specifically so you can go through their not so private internet life and look at their pictures and see who they still hang out with...It's almost like the dreaded HS/College Reunion except it happens on a regular basis and once you add them you can do it any day you choose to (the snooping that is). Are we going to give that person a call the next time we go home...or wherever they are...probably not. The creators of these sites call it social networking...unless they're going to give me a job or buy something from me, i'll just call it snooping.

Ok I'm off my soapbox...we're headed to st. louis this weekend where we should have lot's of fun. We got a birthday, a graduation party and loads of family. Stay tuned for pics.. we'll get them up on flickr at some point, (link on the side).

Booger Butt

Little booger butt was a real stinker this weekend. She's got some more teeth coming in up top and needs to let the whole world know (by screaming at the top of her lungs at 4 am) . She's pretty much kept this up all week too. So at a bout 5 in the morning today i gave her some ambesol (for kids) she really liked it...but i think i gave her a little too much (could be because i was doing it at 5 in the morning). She licked her lips for about 10 minutes before finally falling back asleep!

We taught her something new this weekend...kissing on command. We'll have to post some video of her. Moe and i were on opposite ends of the room. "Gianna come give me a kiss" and she'll book it to the other end of the room just to give us a kiss. It's adorable.

Still working out some kinks here....

Chris' morning rants....

So I am still working this thing over trying to get it looking nice. I got some pics in the slide show, some videos goin, it's starting to look good!

Gianna's birthday is May 24th and we will be in St. Louis to celebrate with the Family. I guess we better plan on bringing an extra suitcase for all her presents. And that spoiled little girl is going to have a Dallas birthday the following week! That little srb is probably going to have two birthdays for a while to come. If you're looking for something to get her, she loves books and mom loves clothes. And anything monkey as i am now convinced that she is a little monkey. Last night that little girl wouldn't stop making monkey noises (of course expecting me to do the same). Food in her mouth,"ooo hooo hoo haaa haa" bath time, "haaa haaa" giving kisses it doesn't matter.

RANT/ADVICE OF THE DAY: If you have ugly toes (looooonnng toenails, yellow thick nasty toenails, hairy (i mean nasty) toe knuckles....do not wear open toed shoes or sandals. Yes people will see your feet!

A year?

Seriously. That little booger is almost a year now, and doesn't she know it! It won't be too long before we are running around the house just to keep her out of stuff. I don't know if we're ready for this and I know for a fact that the house isn't ready for her...aye yay yay. 10 days from now we'll be in St. Louis eating her first cake (only to be followed up by a second birthday in Dallas the following weekend!).

I just started this thing so stay tuned for pics and updates! little snippet...still one of my favorite pictures ever.