D-Landing it Up!

This last Tuesday Anthony and I spent the afternoon at D-land (that's Disneyland for all you non-native Californians) and we hit the park at like the best time... ever! The lines were non-existent and it was perhaps the first time in a long while where I didn't feel like I was being run over by strollers.

 

Our passes--sadly--are about to expire and we already both had the day off, so we spent three hours at the park and got to see some of the new features they've added this spring. 

When we loaded off the trams, I wanted to hit up the Cars Land racers, but as soon as we arrived at the entrance, loads of people were fleeing the scene and grumbling to the sound of "ride shut down... again!" What's with that ride by the way?  Does it shut down all the time or just when I want to ride it?

So, we left and headed to one of my favorite places.  Have you ever been to the Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar?  It's right next to the 'Napa-esque' vines and it's such a cool place to preview the latest happenings in Disney. Gosh, that sounded so nerdy... whatever.

Right now they're showcasing the new Fantasy Faire area by Sleeping Beauty's Castle and so naturally we read all about it and then headed over to check it out.

They have some cute stuff over there and I enjoyed looking at all the Disney architecture in the area.  We saw their live production of the retelling of the Tangled story--which I thought would be lame and only went to be nice to Anthony and then I ended up really liking it.  Always a plus.  

We then strolled around Fantasy land for a little and we rode the Teacups.  I don't normally enjoy these as I tend to have motion sickness, but Anthony promised not to spin us around too fast.  

Oh, and last but certainly not least, I pinched Iron Man's booty... :) Or at least I made it look like I did.  Hee hee. 

- Chanell

Summer Reading Chart

My wonderful husband found this incredible summer reading chart and I wanted to share it!  I just love how many wonderful books are on it.  There are so many I want to read and so many I wish I knew more about... and now I do!

Via Teach.com and USC Rossier Online

Yearbook Affirmations

There's 1.5 days of school left... which means on Tuesday my 8th graders will be graduating and heading off to high school.  Sniff sniff.  This also means Monday they'll be passing out the yearbooks and all of my students will be asking, "Mrs. Friedman, will you sign my yearbook?" 

I never have enough time to leave really inspirational and uplifting affirmations in their yearbooks.  So, this year I decided to write notes for my 8th graders ahead of time.

I bought this great 50 notecards pack at Target for $9.99 (such a great deal) and I'm using my PaperMate Flair Felt tip pens.  These pens are THE BEST by the way and you should totally get them if you love pens.  They're on Amazon here.

So I've written a really sweet note on each card and I've been able to really think about everything I want to say to them before they leave me. This note is for Tara.  She's a great kid.

I also cut the flap off the envelope so I can tape it to their yearbooks and they'll be able to just slide the notecard out.  Plus, like how fun will it be to have something taped in the yearbook?

They're so colorful too.  I'm really excited about slipping them into their yearbooks and then seeing the look on their faces when they see how intentional I'm being about signing their yearbooks.

Okay, here goes... 1.5 days left!

Summer To Do List

Summer is almost here!  I can taste it.  Although my countdown started weeks ago, I finally feel like it's near.  I have just this week and one full day next week and Tuesday is our last half day.  Let's not talk about that day though.  It's my 8th graders graduation.  Sniff Sniff.  I'm going to be a hot mess of tears.  Here's some of them.  Aren't they cute? Gosh I love my students.

The thing I'm most looking forward to about summer is finally feeling like I have a life again.  Free time! Bliss!  I have so many plans for my summer.

One to start with is I actually want to start blogging again.  I know, I know.  It's like the billionth time I've said that.  All you can do is plan and hope, right?

Back to what I was previously talking about.  Free time.  I plan to fill it all!  There are so many things I've been wanting to do in the last 2-3 months and all I say in the back of my head is... "Summer.  I'll get to it in the summer."  Well, it's almost here and I don't want to waste any of my time.  Here's some of things I'd like to do.

1. Clean/Organize my closet - It's horrible and has been ignored forever!  (Yes, that's one of my cats on the top shelf.)

2. Purge some books (this will be hard) - We have 4 bookshelves in our tiny place and boxes of books scattered about.

 3. Digitally organize my classroom library

4. Actually DO all the sewing projects I've pinned on my "I Could Do That" Pinterest Board.

5. Deep clean my bathroom and kitchen (so needed) - I won't show you photos of this because I wouldn't want to gross you out with all the grim and gunk on my oven!

I'm sure there's more.  But for now these will take up a good chunk of days. 

Well, wish me luck in my last week of school.  There's still papers to finish grading and finals to grade.  Hope I get it all done in time!

Delilah

One of the things that brings me the greatest joy in my life is our cats.  When I come home from a hard day, they greet me and melt away all the junk.  I've usually got one (if not more) on my lap at night.  I call them my "space heaters" in the winter, because they keep me warm under the covers at night.

Kitty #1

Our first kitty was Delilah.  

Anthony gave her to me as a wedding gift actually and we picked her up before we were even married.   We drove to uptown Whittier to a sweet little old lady's house.  She advertised that a feral cat had kittens in her backyard and one was a calico.

I have a thing for calico kitties.  They make me smile.

When we went to get her, she had a brother and we agonized over taking him home too.  We didn't.  Anthony and I still talk about him to this day.  We should have grabbed him too.  Back then we didn't know if we wanted more than one cat... time would tell us WE DID. 

She was crazy when she was a kitten.  We opened our wedding gifts and it was like we'd opened kitty crack!  She jumped into the pile of paper and the rest was history.

 

Do you see her crazy eyes? 

Well, she started to grow out of her psycho phase and soon she was just the sweetest thing ever.  She just loved to cuddle.   

Ah, sad cone kitty.  And since she was our first kitty, we dressed her up and made her look foolish.  Oh, how embarrassing for her...

Eventually we started calling her "Mama Kitty," because she was always trying to take care of everyone else.  She told the other kitties what to do and everyone looks to her.   If she's grooming, the other kitties are grooming.  If she's sleeping... well, everyone sleeps a lot.

One of the funniest things about Delilah is she likes to balance in unusual places.  Here she is in one of her favorite places.  We have a staircase and the railing at the top is her favorite little nook.

 This is her balancing on top of our headboard.  Perhaps one of the most ridiculous habits of all.

 

When no one is around, she is super cuddly.  You see, she likes to pretend like she's a grouchy old lady when the other cats are watching.  However, when everyone else has found a corner to lay down.... Mama Kitty comes slowly creeping in.

Harvest Festival

Last Friday was Trinity's annual Harvest Festival and my first opportunity to enjoy this event.  Here are highlights from some of my favorite moments of the night. 

"The Sales Team"

 

Our kids were selling glow sticks as a fundraiser and some of the students (ie- Carlton and Luke in the first picture) were the "sales team supervisors."  Carlton in particular was so serious about his job.  He reminded me of a modern day business man.  The second picture is the girl's expression upon hearing the "rules" of sales.

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"The Cake Walk"

 

 

Like all good church events there was a cake walk.  For those who aren't as familiar with this phenomenon, everyone chooses a number and stand on it.  Usually there is music to follow while everyone walks one direction on the numbers.  When the music stops you land on your number.  The conductors select a random number (in this case from the box) and someone wins a cake!  However, these ladies were having trouble reading the numbers and it made for quite an entertaining sight hearing them banter back and forth as to what number was just pulled.  Such a great job ladies!

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"Hanging Out with Friends"

 

 

I just love watching my students enjoy the fellowship of their friends.  Trinity is such a big family and you can tell as you watch the kids interact with one another.

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"Booth Leaders"

 

 

 Many of the students were involved in booths.  Watching them building their leadership skills is awesome!  Plus, they are learning how to serve others.  Wow, what character building!

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"Letter to Soldiers"

 

 

My favorite booth was Mrs. Broome's.  She brought supplies and encouraged the kids to write letters of appreciation to a soldier.  Wow, what an impact her booth must have made.  Just another example of the character building that I love at Trinity!  Plus, one really great teacher to look up to.

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I'm already looking forward to next year! 

Outdoor Education

Yesterday, I just got back from a full week at Alpine Christian Camp with my 36 Jr. Highers.  What an exhausting and exhilarating week with my students!  Here are some pictures I took of the campus.  It's located near Lake Arrowhead.  Isn't it gorgeous?

 

 

The kids had such a great time!  They participated in team building activities and played so many creative games.  I ended up taking over 500 pictures all together.  

One of the best parts of the time as seeing them push themselves in the high ropes courses.  Many were simply insane and I swear they had no fear! Here are some highlights from their adventures.

I'm glad to be back home (because it was crazy exhausting!)  Lastly, I wanted to show you how fun my kids are.  We made up this inside joke where someone would yell out "SMALL FACE!" (usually me) and the person would try to scrunch their face as small as possible.   Here are the resulting pictures.  (Check out third row, second from the right... not sure he quite understood the concept.)

Ah, I love my job!