Sunday, August 26, 2012

Sunburns and Spoonfuls


August 2012.  
Great Grandma Jennie would have been 112 this summer.  
Her spirit and faithfulness lives on!

Whoa!  BEAN is big enough to attend preschool!
Emma and Nicole on their way into Flagstone!

The music room before...

...and after!

The Boom Boom Room - a place where the kiddos can drum 
and whack the BoomWhackers in their own space and place! 

Fit in a Rockies Game after the first week of school.

We were MELTING with absolutely NO shade
in Row #1,248 near the lower dome of Heaven.

Bethany Pals!

Cotton Candy makes everything better.
Especially when it melts before it hits your mouth.

More Bethany Peeps.  Smart peeps with HATS.

Found this in my mailbox at school.
Apparently, I'm very friendly..when I don't send the
 little people to the office.   GOONS!

Kelly made her amazing fudge for Nicola's birthday.
She said I could have a spoonful...

...AND I was gifted with my very own bucket'o'fudge the next day!

and grow and grow and grow


The Superintendent of the Douglas County School District 
stopped by our classroom!  No pressure!  HA!

Just for you, Mom

Pretty sure my new lunch Noodle Bowl requires 
an additional Masters Degree to assemble...

Hmmm.  While this looks ridiculous, 
it's packed with protein and tastes delicious!

Shine on.

Indeed.

The summer harvest at Flagstone!  
The kids were so excited to see produce they planted!

We now celebrate birthdays during our lunch time together.
YUM!

Just a pack of M&Ms and matches from my buddy, Barry.
BOOYA!  Two of my students had connections to go see 
Air Force One land in Colorado Springs, 
and were able to meet President Barack Obama.  
It's okay.  You may be a little bit jealous.

THREE!??  I couldn't stop at three!!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

By the Numbers


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So, remember that half marathon we did on Saturday?  
Yeah, my calves remember.

Anywho, they posted the results, which are downright amusing.

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Remember when I said they announced 
Sarah's name as "Rachel" at the Finish Line? 

We looked up the fake Sarah (the lady whose real name was Rachel), 
and she had a killer time!  An hour faster than us!  Punk!   

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 Then we looked up the REAL Sarah, listed here as Rachel.  


There we go.  A MUCH more realistic time.

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Finally, we confirmed Brenda's ranking.

#268??
We're going to say that's out of...um....over 5,000 people.
Yes.  5,000.  That makes my number MUCH more respectable.

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 And now, for a couple of photos that will cost us more than the race itself.....





Saturday, August 11, 2012

Hey! We did a MARA!

You know, a MARA:  half of a marathon!

We completed this half-marathon from the city of Georgetown down to the city of Idaho Springs, Colorado back in 2010, when we were prepping for the full marathon.  (read that story here)  Last year, I bailed on the race, as it was the first weekend after the first week of school.  The race directors said they'd apply our race fee to NEXT year's race, so here I found myself walking 13.1 miles on the Saturday BEFORE the first week of school!  Whatever.

The weather was beautiful, the miles were long...and I'm thrilled that I still have it in me to complete such a long race! My inner Warrior Brenda is leaping with joy!  (well, more like limping, but still...full of joy!)

 I'm not sure how 4:15am is a reasonable wake-up time, but I needed 
to get ready AND get to Sarah's so we could then travel to Idaho Springs.    
Oy.

 I've seen more sunrises this summer than ever before!
BEAUTIFUL lake reflections.

 Sarah, ready to go!

 Bring it on!

 Hey!  Mile one at around 14 minutes, which for a bunch of people 
who DIDN'T train one iota, we think that's a pretty respectable number!

 Started remembering the  lovely views along the path.

Mr. Horse, might you give me a ride!?
 
 Wow.  God is good.

Not bad for an early Saturday morning.

 What's a few raindrops during the last few miles?
Refreshing, right?  We lucked out - only a few minutes of the wet stuff.

Please slow down.  How ironic, considering we needed 
a little encouragement at that point to SPEED UP!

 BOOYA!  We finished!  Seriously, folks, the bar was pretty low.  
Our goal was to finish without the assistance of the local paramedics.

They announced Sarah's name incorrectly at the end ("Congratulations, Brenda and Rachel") so we plan to look up this mystery woman...and hope she had a better time than us!  Either way...Sarah, Brenda AND Rachel finished this race!

 Happy Brenda. 
(tired, exhausted, pained...but HAPPY!)

 Idaho Springs has some beautiful hanging baskets.

 Love the colors.

 My new eye's first half-marathon - and it did quite well.  Swelled a bit near the 
end of the race, but has settled in pretty nicely over this afternoon.  Whew!

 I just walked 13.1 miles, and all I got was this...
...creative t-shirt designed by a kiddo of a runner.  Nice!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Keep Calm and Pray On


Little people's rooms make for the biggest collections of clothing and toys and bedding AND AND AND!  We tackled the girls' rooms, organized like madwomen, donated a bunch to charity and everyone is now enjoying the renewed space! 

B E F O R E

A F T E R

Isn't it?!

B  E F O R E

A F T E R

And for some random summer pics from the camera....

 Looks who is THREE Little John!
 We found pics from back in Spring, too!

How to Hike Castle Rock with a little one...and survive!

My peeps SOOOOO get me!
Keep Calm and PRAY ON!

Doesn't she just warm your heart!?  Love.