Boompa's Buddy

Not only did Ian help Boompa mow on Wednesday, they spent some time together on the porch, gliding and enjoying the unseasonable weather.

Gliding, Grandpa, and graham crackers - life is good!

Helping Boompa Mow

It's an Indiana thing (or so I've been told) to mow your leaves instead of raking them. Mowing chops them into tiny bits that then turn into mulch and nourish the soil. Plus, it saves your arm muscles from all that raking, right?

Ian took a stab at helping Boompa take care of the leaf problem on Wednesday.

That sidewalk  and grass is now perfectly clean. Thanks, Ian!

Sickies Together

I stayed home today from school. The time change in the fall, when you "fall back" an hour, is especially hard for me since I am an early morning girl. It takes a while for me to adjust, and this year has been tougher than usual. I have been having migraines from the sleep interruptions.

Couple the time change with our usual Tuesday night shift at the temple (we get home between 11:30 and midnight) and I took today off to sleep and see if that wouldn't stop my headaches.

It didn't. And someone else came over who was also not feeling well.

We cuddled and rocked on the patio for forty five minutes.

My head still hurt, and Ian still felt ill, but we both enjoyed the peacefulness of rocking together.

Who is this Gorgeous Model?

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed this morning, and paused at an exceptionally lovely picture, an ad (I thought), of a model in a wedding dress. She was stunning!

And then I realized that this was not an advertisement, it was a former student, Elise Ellinger. She'd recently married and had posted a photo from her wedding day.

I tell my current students that I will have a tough time recognizing them as adults because they will change so much, and to not be hurt if I don't know them at first.

Talk about a case in point!! (And congratulations, Mrs. Holmes!)

How to Visit Your Mom

Because she is in end stages of COPD, my mother has to be very careful around germs. Thus, if you have even a sniffle, you must stay away.

For someone who is a teacher and is exposed to everything and anything, that can make it hard to visit her. I often am a bit under the weather due to illnesses my class is sharing amongst itself.

Saturday, the day I usually visit her, I had the remnants of a cold. I'd been sick the previous week with it and it just kept lingering. I hated to miss a second week of visiting her - she gets lonely, and phone calls just aren't the same.

So, I had an idea - something that I knew would make her smile AND let her see me. Safely, and without worrying about spreading my germs to her.

I stood outside her windows and chatted with her by phone! (If you look carefully, you can see her through the windows.)

While it wasn't a personal visit per say, still we were talking "in person."

Good thing her apartment is on the ground floor!

Happy Halloween!

This year I invited my students to come trick or treat at my home on Halloween. Since they live so far away, I doubted any would come. Lisa asked if she could join us and invite her kiddos to our house since we live in her school district. Not a problem.

Fourteen bags of candy later...

 AY was our first trick or treater of the night!

And then came MM (in black) and his family. His two brothers are both in the 2/3 multiage class and are future students of mine.

 GS and CP (and CP's sister) showed up.

 And so did this cute Dalmatian puppy.

 Ian!!

Cutest Dalmatian ever.

(This and the following pictures taken by Curt and Vanessa.)

 He and a friend came over and trick or treated our neighborhood.

Apparently they ran into another litter of Dalmatians!

I ran out of candy at 8:00. The doorbell rang and I had four candy bars for the five kids there. Time to turn off the lights!

Happy Halloween! 

Grammy's Care Packages

I love to send care packages to my out of town kids and their families for holidays and special occasions.

This movie, taken by Jessica, is of Cambria at her cousins' home as they all open their packages together.

 And here's Julie - she's grabbed her mama's keys and is trying to open her box!

Success!

Happy Halloween, everyone!