Too hot!

One of the 2nd grade teachers, where I work, incubates eggs for her class. I was able to take my class in one day last week to see the baby chicks. They are so cute. We will go in again this week to see how much they have grown. I have 24 children in my class so I divide them up into groups of 8, it's less distracting as class is in session when we go in.
It has been hot the last 2 days. 95 today and the same tomorrow. That is around 15 degrees higher then what is normal for this time of year. I am posting a photo of Chloe, she is sprawled out on the cat climber, where she is getting a direct breeze from the ceiling fan.

At least the mornings are cool and it is still cooling down at night.

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I am still going through the retirement papers I need to send in. Hoping to get them in the mail before Friday. I am also finishing up assessments and getting ready for conferences. The rest of the school does not do spring conferences. We do them so we can let parents know where their child is socially and academically as they are getting ready to go into kindergarten the end of August. I don't like some surprises and so I let parents know 'if' I have any concerns that I will pass onto the kindergarten teachers and I do hand over a copy of the 'academic' part of the assessments to the K teachers, the parents get a copy also. On the last day of school I send home a little packet of work for the children to do over the summer. I laminate the papers so they can practice their names, letters, etc. using a washable marker. Then they can wipe off the marker with a damp cloth and do it again.

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Tonight it is no fun doing paper work when it is so hot, and it is way to early to even think of using the AC.

It is getting late, but I think at last it is cool enough so I can get some sleep.

My yard is blooming ♥

I wanted to post some pictures of my yard. The weather has gone from extremely windy and cold to more then warm. The flowers are in all stages of bloom. God has a mighty way of painting beauty for us!

Oops.

There is always going to be something missed when children grow up. One is coloring Easter eggs. The kids had fun and the cat was curious.

BUT, I still make "Bunny Bags" for those who are at home. I am afraid 'these' bunnies had a hard time waiting for Easter morning.

They still had a smile on their face.

Need I say more? What's done is done. ♥ We had a good Easter, hope you all did, also.

Praise the Lord!

He is risen!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. HAPPY EASTER everyone! ♥ ♥

Odds and ends ♥

Here is a funny picture of Squirt. He is so afraid of going outside, but loves to watch the birds. This is his latest position ~ on most days. He is watching the finches or doves on the ground eating the seed that has been knocked down.

We have found a cat food that does not make his food allergy flare up. It is so nice not to have to take him in every other month for his allergy shot. It is nice that he has all his fur also, he looks so funny and pathetic when he is half bald.

Keith and Elizabeth getting ready to go to their older brother's for a couple days.
I really thought the storm we had the other night ruined my flowers, but I was (happily) wrong. The Sweet Williams are beginning to bloom. If you want butterflies to come to your garden these flowers are one of several that will attract them. I really like them~ one package produces many different colors and they will reseed for years.

The roses are beginning to let loose. Here is a picture of just a few. If you look closely you can see the buds. There are 4 different bushes in this photo and all different colors.

I thought the iris's were gone, surprisingly they did survive. They are laying down a bit but still look pretty.

I have been working out at the gym more. This week I added some more weight to some of my routines, and I am feeling it. I have started using the cross trainer ramp and that really gives me a work out. I don't usually go on the weekend, but am thinking of going tomorrow as I skipped today. We try and go between 3-4 days a week.

Well, now it is about time to think about dinner, think I'll do breakfast tonight!

Slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

My computer/internet has been at a snail's pace lately ~ for any number of reasons. This is the first I have been able to get to my blog in a couple of days, or to read those that I follow.

We had one terrific storm go by last night, thunder, lightening and rain that was extremely loud. Two of our cats hid for sometime and would have slept with us if they could, but they aren't allowed in the bedrooms. It was enough to wake us up around 1:00 am, and the thunder sounded as if was right above our house (but it wasn't, it was just very loud). Having lived in the Sierra's for several years we have experienced lightening just across the street from us. We got close to an inch of rain in just a few hours. There is another storm coming in tomorrow evening and through Friday. Last I heard 'our' storm was in Utah and I don't know where it is going from there. The valley really needs the rain.

Elizabeth and I went down to the passport office Tuesday so she could get the application process started. I believe they said 8 - 10 weeks. When she went to New Zealand it took around 3-4 months. If all goes well she should be moving to Korea this summer to join her husband who is stationed in South Korea. We will also apply, who knows maybe we'll go to Korea for a visit.

I finally talked to my supervisor about my retiring this June. I now need to fill out the paperwork and get it in the mail. Since my computer is now up to some speed I can finish reading the information that was sent to me (I don't want to download 50 pages of instruction, I just want to fill out the 10 pages I have.) I am still struggling with it a little ~ so I will put my name on the sub list, but I am also looking forward to the time I will have doing some of the other things I enjoy and just spending time with my husband. More on that later. Since we are planning on driving to Colorado this summer to visit our daughter and her family, we now will have more flexibility in planning our trip and what we can do!

God Bless ♥

Photoshop

In my photoshop class the instructor is talking about scanning now. We will be taking in a picture that needs repairing, scan it and then fix it. I am not sure which one I will take in, as I have several to choose from. Last night I took in a tin picture of my dad on his 1st birthday (1925). We weren't sure if it would scan or not, after making the necessary adjustments on the scanner it was a go. It scanned really well, I am pleased. I had a flash drive with me so we were able to save it, and that makes me happy. Now I can work on it at home and then get some copies for other family members.

He downloaded some of the pictures we will be "repairing" so I can practice at home. There were 4 students left at 9:00, class is over at 11:00, so we all were able to get some downloads to take home. Three of the others, me being the fourth, have CS3 or CS4 at home, I have Photoshop 7. But I will do what I can, and at least it will give me some practice. I need to mention that the 4 of us at 9:00 were not the youthful typical college students, but more the more mature ones that really want to learn the program. It is interesting learning this stuff, but lectures and video tend to be on the dull side. Working on the computer, going through the book, step by step is not always exciting but it is hands on and it does help. Sometimes I need to do a lesson over a couple times to really get. I have finished all the required lessons, now he will give me some extras to work on in class or I can just go over the more difficult ones I had.

We have had some nice weather, but we still could use more rain. I am afraid that anymore storms that may come our way will not be significant in the amount of rainfall or snow we need, but hey anything is better then nothing. The flowers are doing great and the oranges are delicious.

This & That ♥

Our flowers.
The new blinds, of which I am thrilled as this window has sun all day!

We had the children in class do some planting. They planted green beans, peas, butternut squash, viola's and pansies. What for? The flowers we are hoping will be nice and healthy plants to send home for Mothers day, the veggies go along with our gardening theme. The beans came up in 3 days. WOW! the kids are impressed so am I. We set the containers outside, weather permitting, during our outside time and bring them in at the end of class. The new blinds allow us to put them in front of a window where they will get the warmth of the sun but not the hot rays.

We are still waiting for our caterpillars and silkworms, but I do expect them any day now. We did get our praying mantis egg and it is as big as it looks. I checked out some books from the children's section of the public library for the children. They are just amazed to watch this egg just sit there. It is in an aquarium (minus the water) for safe keeping from little hands that want to touch everything they see. I do have plastic, life size replicas of the egg and the praying mantis so they can touch. It is fun to just watch the hundreds of little critters come out of the egg, it is like an explosion.

Since Elizabeth has been home Chloe is delighting in going outside on a daily basis. She actually looks like she has lost a little weight. This cat weighs around 16 pounds, she is just fat.

We let the boys out also, they don't know what to do ~ especially Jonah. Jade does, he just runs away or hides in the bushes and we have to flush him out. They also enjoy the 70 plus degree weather we are having now.

Spring!

OK, so the first day of spring was Friday. We "celebrated" in class by making vegetable soup. Having to do with our theme of gardening/planting/spring, and following 2 of the stories we are reading and discussing with the children. All went well. Then on Saturday night, late this wild and crazy storm came through Calif. and dumped rain and snow where ever it could. I am grateful for what we got, though it wasn't enough. It rained Sunday morning and by the time church was out the rain was over and the storm moved on. Today it was in the mid 60's and tomorrow it is suppose to be 70. I am glad we went to Yosemite the weekend before as it snowed there over the weekend, roads were closed and those open required chains.


Now I am curious as to the type of birds that visit my yard. If you click on the photos they will enlarge. I am posting more for identification. It is really hard to get good pictures, even with my zoom lens on. Just as soon as I walk out the door the birds fly away. Even when I am trying to be as quite as I can. Occasionally I can sneak out for a picture.

Any comments are appreciated.

God Bless.

Doings

It has been a long week, just random daily things I will spare you the details. I had Open House on Tuesday, and that kept me busy. I had a really good turn out, 18 of my 24 families came into the class. Talking with other staff at school, it was good all around. Usually spring Open House is not a good as the one in the fall ~ but it was a little better this year.


Here are some ramdom photos around the house. It seems we can't keep enough bird seed out to satisfy the birds. I am not sure what kind these are, but there can be as many as 6-9 little birds on the flat feeder and the one hanging next to it ~ at one time. Lots of doves also.
We have even had some pigeons showing up. Of course it drives the cats crazy as they are in the house looking out. The other birds do not want to be on the feeder with the pigeons. There have been a couple humming birds on occassion, but not many as they usually migrate. However, I will refresh their feeder today.

Some of the flowers are taking off also. The purple daisies are spilling onto the sidewalk.

My mom bought me this germanium when we bought the house as a house warming gift, sorta. It is doing great this year.

My iris's are georgeous, but they will soon be done.

The weather has been in the upper 70's all week. We are due for some rain tonight and tomorrow, then it will go back up to the 70's again.

We learned how to add color to drawings in photshop this week. So much stuff, it is very interesting but not very exciting. It is hard to stay awake during the videos. I brought a copy of the video home to "rewatch" it.

Have a Great day!

Yosemite

Friday, Keith and Elizabeth went to L.A. to deliver the Galaxy to it's new owner. It was a long day for them. Keith drove the Galaxy and Elizabeth followed him, so he could come home. Needless to say it was a long day for them both. The person who purchased the car also gave them money for gas and food, very considerate as it took them 5-5 1/2 hours to get there. He is staying near Knotts Berry Farm Amusement Park in Anaheim. The cars next destination, New Zealand.

Saturday we went to Yosemite, Elizabeth, Dan and I. I haven't been there in the snow and have been wanting to. I am not sure that the amount of snow there really counts. The snow pack is somewhere around 88% of what is normal this time of year. We had a good time. Walked a lot, so we got our 'gym' time in, sorta.
Yosemite Falls, upper and lower. There were people going over the boundaries and climbing on the rocks/boulders around the falls. I really don't have much to say about their mentality. I am sure that most of the fence jumpers don't get hurt and go home with some exciting photos and stories ~ but some get severely hurt.

Half dome looks as if it has been sprinkled with powered sugar.

This is the river in the meadow and a view of upper Yosemite Falls. When we had the girls out from Ohio in 2006, we ate lunch here and they played in the water. Then again it was 103 when we had them and it was around 50 this day.

A view of Bridal Veil Falls.

Half Dome again.

We walked where we could, and saw what was open. Part of the park is closed until late May, they don't plow those roads and the road to Glacier Point is one of them. What was missing were wild flowers. We saw fields of them on the way up, but not many in the park. I guess it is just a bit early for that elevation.

We enjoyed ourselves and plan on returning. It takes us about 2 hours to get to the valley floor.

Just one of many places that magnify the glory of God and his miraculous works.

And it's off!

It's been over a week since I blogged. What ever was I thinking that when my children grew up I would have lots of extra time, HAH! There is so much to do and not enough time. I will admit that I have been on the computer doing various things, and playing a game here and there, but not blogging ~ even though I have been reading others. I have lots of thoughts to blog, but am usually not even near the computer when the thought comes around.

So much for the needed rain last week. We had one rainy day and that isn't enough as we go into our 3rd drought year. There still is hope that we'll get some spring rain and snow, but it won't be enough to catch up. It is nice and sunny today but the wind is very icy and bone chilling.

Eric and dad are switching cars ~ Eric is getting the '59 El Camino and dad is getting the '55 Studebaker. Sometime during the early hours on Sunday someone broke into the Studebaker and stole the steering wheel. We think some kids out for a kick. They really didn't know what they were looking for. It is now in the yard behind locked gates. They egged Keith's car, so we think high school kids.

Keith is selling his Geo to a friend, but alas the tranny is having problems. He spent most all day Sunday working on the car, with his brother and dad. He now needs to finish putting it back together, after work.

This picture was taken last June. Keith is doing some work on/for his '59 Galaxy. Here it is! Looking nice and shiny. I can't even begin to say how much time and effort he has put into this car. He did a really nice paint job and enjoys driving it.

His goal has been to restore the car and sell it. There has been interest off and on. This last weekend he went down to Bakersfield, with his brother and dad to a vintage car show, meet. Anyway to make a long story short he sold the car to a man from New Zealand who is a collector. This gentleman has been in the U.S. for a couple months looking at and buying old cars for his collection, and will be in the U.S. for another month (with his family). Keith will drive the car to L.A. on Friday and the gentleman will bring him back.
Interestingly the car is going to become part of a collection.