A new season, a new sport~ HOCKEY

Yep, that's right, Fall is here and so is the latest sports season, Hockey. No not for the St. Louis Blues, sure they play, but I'm talking about the Affton School Hockey League. It is a floor hockey league for kids in grades 1-12. Justin starting in 1st grade, Hannah has played for 3 years now and Adam is also in his third season.

The first games of the season were held on Saturday. Justin and Hannah play on the same team it's called the Stealth. They won 7-2 with Hannah scoring a goal!! It was great because she is the only girl on the team and she feels a little intimadated by all the boys. So we were totally psyched about it! Adam's team, coached by Bob, lost 5-1. The Mohawks are probably going to have a re-builing year as they moved up to the midget division and they are now the youngest team in the division. It's a fun sport thought, fast paced, short games lasting about 40 minutes.

Both Bob and I played when we younger too. The league has been around for 30 years. We can't wait till next week to see how they play.

They say it's MY birthday

Well I'm 36, I don't think there is really much more to say. BLAH!!

Bob took me to brunch at the Bevo Mill on Sunday (which was the day of my actual birthday.) It was pretty good, I love German food so I enjoyed the saurbraten, red cabbage, and potato pancakes. The breakfast stuff was so-so but it was just the two of us so that was enjoyable. He gave me a box of dark chocolate covered molasses puffs from the Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company. They are my favorite candy!! I won't even share with anyone! He also washed, vacuumed and armor all ed my mini van for me which was exactly what I wanted. Then he had to go to work from 3-11 which is a crappy shift. But my mom barbecued steaks and baked potatoes, YUM-O! My parents gave me some cash to buy my own gift/pay bills. My sweet grandma sent me $20, kind made me feel ten years old but it was the thought! And that's about it folks.


sweet goodness

More Freakin Pink Eye

I can't even fathom how I have come to get pink eye again but yes as of 2:30pm today I was diagnosed with it. I have the pain, the swelling, the gunk flowing from my eye you know how it goes. Seems like only yesterday (or 4 months agobased on this post) that I got rid of my last case of it and now here it is again!! I mean I wash my hands and I keep germex in my purse, the car, the table next to the front door and in my classroom so WHAT'S UP???

Man does this hurt!

Affton Cougars Football 2008

These kids played great all season long and they are definitely champions in my book.

Justin is wearing #72..

Hockey Fight

Adam had a little accident at hockey practice Monday night that required an emergency trip to the dentist.

see what I mean (pic taken with my camera phone, not great quality)





All better now with a cap on the tooth, he won't let me take his picture of the new tooth for some reason, he says it's no one's business but his. Too bad Adam, mom can't let that slip by without posting!


(no it wasn't a fight, someone shot a hard puck and hit him in the mouth, just glad I wasn't there to see the initial reaction)

Sparky got a haircut!

Isn't he handsome!!

Happy Birthday Justin

Justin turned 14 on October 12th and I really can't believe how quickly the years have gone by. This year he actually asked for clothes for his birthday, I mean CLOTHES!! Good God, he's a teenager through and through! So that's what he got, new jeans, and hoodies, and sports team shirts. He also got NFL Madden 09 for XBOX and has been playing it non-stop. We went to Red Robin for his birthday. Tomorrow night he and his friends are going to a Haunted House then having a bonfire in our backyard and spending the night. Hannah camping with her friend Kelly and her family so I thought this would be the perfect weekend for his party. Tomorrow morning is his last football game of the season and I WILL take pictures and post them ASAP. I haven't taken many pics lately because our camera is on the fritz but I AM going to get football pics.

I came across some old baby photos of Justin that I thought I would post because they sure bought a lump to my throat when I thought of how quickly he will be grown up.


Newborn Justin


Justin at age 5


Justin at age 11


Justin today.

7lbs 2oz. when he was born 14 years ago now at 6 ft tall and 200+ pounds, on his way to becoming a man.......... so proud of who he has become!

-2

Down another 2 lbs. Not bad. I keep trying.

So much to say so little time

I can't believe it is mid October already. I was hoping October would linger for a while but NOPE it is flying by. I am going to attempt to do some major catching up in the next few posts. WHEW!

But, don't you just LOVE this weather!! UGH I wish it would stay this way with highs in the mid 60's and lows in the 40's for a long time instead of just a few weeks. The leaves are starting to turn, it's so pretty on our street.

October Bliss

Can't believe it's October already. Seems like I was just posting about it being labor day and boom we are 7 weeks into the new school year. October is my favorite month of the year. WHY?
Justin's birthday (10/12 he will be 14), my birthday (10/19), my dad's birthday (10/24) and Halloween, my favorite holiday of the year.

And mother nature sure has provided some awesome fall weather to ring in October. It's been cool, sunny and wonderful. Yesterday I took Justin to his football game and even got a little sunburned, but it was a great game with the Cougars winning 39-18 and Justin doing a fantastic job at center all game!

The leaves are just starting to change, ahhhhhhh FALL!

-3

Nothing more to say, after a two week hiatus from weighing, I lost 3 pounds.

No Big Deal!

Bohemian Rhapsody, Morgan Freeman and Hershey's Kisses

So I had this bright idea that I would have my students write a compare/contrast essay about Hershey's Kisses and Skittles. I wanted to do it in stages to kind of draw it out and get more lessons out of it. I started day one with a quote from the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

"I can't do without it [gum]. I munch it all day long except for a few minutes at mealtimes when I take it out and stick it behind my ear for safekeeping. To tell you the truth, I simply wouldn't feel comfortable if I didn't have that little wedge of gum to chew on every moment of the day, I really wouldn't." ~Violet Beauregarde

Then I asked the kids to write about what they can't do without. I got some pretty cool responses but the two I liked best were Bohemian Rhapsody and Morgan Freeman. The kid who said he couldn't do without Bohemian Rhapsody said that it was his favorite song and he listened to it and sang it every day and he couldn't imagine not being able to hear it. The one who said Morgan Freeman wrote about all the great movie roles Morgan Freeman has played, specifically his role in the Dark Knight.

Sure they wrote these responses to be funny but in reality the points they made were actually pretty thought out, so I guess my little assignment did have some impact. We barley even had time to talk about Hershey's Kisses so we will be continuing that tomorrow.

Twilight

Just finished the novel Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and all I can say is WOW! It was breathtaking. I had seen several of my female 8th grade students reading it at school and many of them had commented on how much they love it so I thought I would give it a try. Well I was blown away. It's target audience I guess would be teenage girls but it was so well written that I was enthralled for the whole 500 pages. It is also being made into a movie to be released in November. I put a widget at the bottom of my blog containing movie facts etc. It is an incredibly dark novel about vampires, which usually isn't my thing but it's not the standard blood and gore you usually find with these types of novels. READ IT, now!

Writing Project

I volunteered to go this workshop called the Gateway Writing Project. It's through my school district and it is supposed to help us teach better writing skills to our students. Yesterday was the first class. I admit I had some mixed feelings about going, I mean mostly these types of things are really boring and just go over the same old tired techniques that everyone knows. So I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this workshop. The instructors made us write just like we make our students write and they connected writing to literature in a way that makes it seem interesting not the same old boring read a book and write about. Since I like to think of myself as a "good" writer as evident by this incredibly wonderful blog that I write ;) it was challenging to try to write some interesting and creative things to fit the goals of this class. Not sure why I am putting all this in my blog but it's my blog and so here it is.

Also, today is Wednesday and I am NOT weighing in for the biggest loser, Justin has a football game tonight and I have to meet Bob at the car dealer to sign the papers for our new truck. Besides it has been a terrible food week and I really don't WANT to know if I gained or lost. If I relent and do actually, secretly weigh myself and I actually really lose some pounds then I'll blog about it, if I don't then I won't. Hmmmm sometimes it's good to be your own author.

+ 1

I can't FREAKING believe it but I gained one pound this week. I mean I have to tell you that I have been really, really, good. I have eaten more fruit this week than in the entire month of August. On Tuesday I ate a pear, a cup of grapes, a bannana, a glass of o.j. and a raspberry yogurt. Good lord have I been in the bathroom a lot and still I gained 1 pound? HOW, HOW, HOW can this have happened?????

I have even started exercising 2-3 nights per week. I mean COME ON!

That scale is rigged, I must've had heavier clothes on, I was retaining water. ARG!

Hurricane Ike Damage in Affton

We live far, far, from any ocean but we still felt the damage from Hurricane Ike which made it's presence known here in Affton yesterday. It rained, no it poured, 4 inches in about a 3 hour period to be exact. We also experienced the gusty winds of over 30 mph. (the basement stayed dry, thank God for sump pumps)

Our local ballpark didn't fair so well. Hannah is playing fall softball at Affton Athletic Association. The same place she has played since kindergarten, the same place I played for about 12 years of my childhood. The same place that my dad was president of for about 5 years back in the day. It is not only a ball field but a hockey complex that is home to the award winning Affton Americans hockey club.

Here are some pictures of the damage. The storm got so bad that 18 people had to be rescued from the ice rink by the fire department. It swept away several cars in adjacent Gravois Creek which is normally a little trickle of water but surged up over it's 8 foot banks to flood the ice rink, 12 ball fields and concession stands.



Car floating down Gravois Creek

Flooded ball fields

Busted up concrete next to concession stand

As the rain came down


Needless to say, I think the season may be over.

- 4

Okay, to make friends at my new school, I joined the Biggest Loser club. Today was the first of our weekly weigh ins and I lost 4 lbs. I joined Weight Watchers online and I have been following the points system and trying to walk the track at the high school a couple nights a week. Not a bad start although I was hoping for more. I'll try to keep you updated on Wednesday.

Sick Day Part Deux

Yes, I took my second sick day Tuesday. Adam still wasn't feeling well enough to where I thought I could leave him with anyone but me or his dad. And since we both have new jobs, I had to do the duty again. He still had fever and sore throat and vomiting. Today, even though he didn't go back to school, I went back to work. And much to my surprise my classes were fine in my absence. In SLPS if you were lucky enough to get a sub they usually left the classroom totally messy and they hardly ever followed the lesson plans. Well these Mehlville subs were great they followed my plan even gave out extra assignments to keep kids busy. My room was still clean and things were still organized. I couldn't have asked for more!

Sick Time

I am taking my first official sick day today. It's a bit earlier than I would've liked but poor Adam has been sick all weekend. He kept saying he had a headache Friday night so I gave him some Tylenol. He didn't really mention it much Saturday morning but I was out running errands and didn't get much of chance to talk to him. Then Saturday night, Bob was working 3-11 and I was working part time at this restaurant that I used to work at before I became a teacher called the Fatted Calf. (I started working there about a month ago just one or two nights a week as a manager, basically to help out the new owners and because my friend Larry was working 55 hours a week and needed some time with his wife and new baby, plus it's a little extra grocery money. And I only work like 10 hours a week.) Any way when I left home at 3:30 he was fine when I returned home at 9pm he was running a 103 degree fever and my in laws who were baby sitting said he had been sleeping most of the evening and hadn't eaten anything. So I thought, FLU< great it's starting already.

So here I am on my first day off school, luckily as teachers we get 10 per year. Took Adam to the doctor and it is strep throat, not the FLU< thank goodness. He still has fever but I am hoping that antibiotics will hurry up and work so I can go to work tomorrow even though he will probably need to go to grandmas.

LAZY HAZY LAST DAZE OF SUMMER

To me Labor Day has always been the unofficial last day of summer. I'm sure this lingering heat will remind that summer isn't really officially over for a few more weeks but I am looking forward to fall. It's my favorite time of year.

You may be wondering how it's been going at school. Well, much to my surprise it continues to get better! My 3rd and 4th hour classes are fantastic! I would say my 4th hour is my somewhat excelerated class but the 3rd hour kids are all really nice and well behaved. My 5th hour class is the hardest. It's also the biggest with 32 kids and it is right before lunch. My 6th hour is talkative with like 4 boys who are class clowns but they aren't disrespectful like 5th hour. My 7th hour is a combined push in class with the resource teacher and it is challenging due to all the kids who receive special ed minutes. It is by far the class that I have to slow things down.

Justin has his first football game Wednesday night against Brentwood and he is super excited. I'm going to try to take some pics, although it's hard up in the stands.

This weekend is pretty lazy, no plans, just hanging out at home. Bob has to work all weekend and the rest of us don't have much going on. I'm happy about an extra day that I don't have to wake up at 5:30.