Triplets, Please!!

Chase and I have thought about getting a dog several times, every time we try to find a boy, so we have tons of awesome boy dog names lined up.  This evening we went to look at a puppy who happened to be a girl, on the way home we were racking our brains for a good girl dog name.  We couldn't come up with anything. Then he suggested August, which we both liked.  Somehow, we started talking about girl names, you know, for humans. Our conversation between dog names and baby names got all mixed up so when he (jokingly) said Solstice, I died laughing.  I told him we had to name one of our future children Summer Solstice Smith. Come on, SSS would be super sweet initials, if you know what I mean. Then we pulled up behind an Eclipse at a red light.  "LIGHTBULB" (for all of you Despicable Me fans)!!! It was like a hippy revelation. We pinky promised that if we have triplets we will name them Summer Solstice, Lunar Eclipse, and Aurora Borealis. I'm really psyched about these names so please if you know of any old wives tales on how to make yourself have multiples, fill me in!!!! LOL!!!

Pictures from the Party with a Purpose

The bracelets were handmade in Kenya out of Bone.

 

 

 

 

Reclaiming Hope for Orphans

At a girl's retreat this past spring, we heard Lisa Holbrook speak. She is the creator of Caroline's Promise. An organization that helps orphans by providing Adoptive Family Assistance, care for the orphans, and education to the local community.  One way they educate the community is through jewelry parties called A Party with a Purpose.  The proceeds also help them to provide care for the orphans.  A lot of their work is done in Guatemala and Guyana. 
This past Friday our church hosted a party. I enjoyed speaking with Lisa so much.  You can see her love for God and passion for helping children in all that she does.  The jewelry, bags, and scarfs were all so beautiful and each one as unique as the beautiful people who designed and made them.  Caroline's Promise is an amazing cause. Please check out their website: http://carolinespromise4u.org/

New Beginnings

Today began the 2011-2012 school year. Honestly, I was feeling bummed about summer being over and school starting back up.  The summer went by so fast this year.  Even if it didn't feel like it was time, school still started.
Yesterday, I went to a training on how to deescalate agitated students and how to respond if the student becomes violent. Talking about all those different situations made me feel a little nervous for this year and what might be in store. This morning when I met all of the students, I felt a huge sigh of relief because all of them were totally calm and pleasant. Of course, this doesn't mean that the rest of the year will be as stress free but we had a great first day.

A teacher had a sign on her door that said "New Beginnings: How will you start?" This also helped me to think more positively about the school year. I want to start the school year so that the students share respect with me and trust me so that throughout the year I'll be able to have the greatest impact on their learning.

My only complaint from the first day is that while monitoring students outside, my hair became incredibly frizzy because the air down here is so terribly thick!! LOL!

More of You

You might be thinking a BLOG titled "Les of Me" makes no sense because what you're really getting is a whole lot more of ME!!  Possibly, more of me than you ever really wanted to know. My inspiration comes from a Jeremy Camp song.

Holy Fire burn away,
My desire for anything
That is not of you and is of me.
I want more of you and less of me.

Not so Modern Monday

We inadvertently made today Old School day! Today we watched clips of "Whose Line Is It Anyway." Still very funny by the way! Then we watched some of "Jurassic Park." LOL!! I also heard the song "I can only Imagine" which might only seem so old because it came out at the beginning of current Christian music radio. Seriously, everyone was obsessed with that song forever.

All three of these bring back memories of childhood friends and my family. "Jurassic Park" reminds me of my best friend growing up. The chicken club flashes through my mind every time I hear "I can only Imagine." Watching "Whose Line" I could almost hear my dad's knee slapping laugh (literally...knee slapping). 

Post a comment if you have an Old School moment for today!!

"Putt"ing on the Ritz

I enjoyed my last Saturday before school starts at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC.  A man from church gave my husband tickets to the golf championship. Definitely not something I would have chosen to do but it turned out to be a lot of fun. A main area was set up with tents for advertising which had activities to pass the time.  This is how you know a particular sport is too boring to watch. Baseball is another example, the pitching game is always set up and bounce houses for children.  You don't see "time passers" like this at football or hockey games. Anyway, we played a putting challenge which showed my putt putt practice hasn't paid off.

The culture was interesting...I've been to the country club in little ole' Circleville maybe once (as someone's guest) and this place was like 100 times more ritzy.  Everyone was wearing their sperry's, khaki shorts, and polo's, except a teenage boy who walked past us in bright green and yellow.  He almost distracted the golfers with his loud outfit. While the golfer's are hitting it really is that quiet, 50 people may be all around you but you hear nothing.  I wish that kind of silence could happen in my classroom. Oh well!

If you ever have tickets offered to you...I say go for it.

Judging a Book By It's Cover!

At the beginning of the summer I saw a book called The Scarlet Letters at the Library. The cover showed the midsection of a person in a trench coat and official looking leather gloves holding a briefcase.  The inside flap described it as a story of scandal set in the 1950's where the truth would come out layer by layer.  The author put his modern twist on Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. I figured I couldn't very well read a book based on a book I'd never read so I set out to read The Scarlet Letter. More out of obligation than desire.  

The language Hawthorne used created great mental images, especially of Hester's child, Pearl. The story explains the harsh legalism that the Puritans lived under, I enjoyed the history of it.  He also created suspense about who shared the blame with Hester. The character of Roger Chillingworth brought misery and revenge to the story, he was a chilling villain.

The story made me think about how often we keep our "scarlet letter" hidden and it ruins us inside. Some become bitter, some angry, some apathetic, some addicted...it's different for everyone. The similarity is that all of us make bad decisions and have a choice to seek reconciliation or to stay hidden.  My heart went out for Hester Prynne, that in the day she lived in one small mistake set her path forever. Although Hester was condemned her entire life, she wore the scarlet letter with remorse and dignity.  She took what was given to her and did the very best with it. The book turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Once I finished The Scarlet Letter, I was so excited to begin The Scarlet Letters. However, my excitement did not last long. Not at one point did I feel on the edge of my seat or that some great secret was about to be unraveled before my eyes.  I read the whole story hoping that something extraordinary would eventually happen just to find myself grateful that at least it inspired me to read a great American classic.

If you've read either one let me know your thoughts!

Copy Cat

Why Blog?That's what I've been asking myself for quite a while now. 
Here are the top 5 reasons I've come up with:

5. To keep up and expand my writing skills. Since I have graduated college I feel like I don't exercise my brain   very often.
4. My husband kept harassing me about accepting his Google+ invite and when I did I saw there was a place for a blog. It looked simple and for me when it comes to the computer...I only do simple.

3. I read more now that I have more free time and I would love to share my thoughts on books and hear other people's insight too.
2. Maybe my family and friends back home want to hear how things are going from time to time.


AND NOW...DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!

1.My friends are doing it. And it looks fun!!
What can I say? I guess I'd be floating in a river somewhere with all of my friends if they jumped off a bridge. At least I'd be in good company.