Day two of Utopia here in Coeur D'Alene...

I'm supposed to weigh in today (on my side bar) but I'm just going to tell you I feel like I MUST have lost 5 pounds already just walking all over the town...you can take my word for it, okay? (wink, wink)

















We awoke to hike Tubbs Hill this morning! Our goal was to hike just half of it, as we were then going into town to eat lunch at Calypsos! (my favorite place)
We began our hike going south from grandma and grandpa's, and within 2 minutes we were at the trail head! (Did I mention I love this town?)
The hike was simply spectacular- with beautiful vistas of the lake and its surrounding acreage. All kinds of people hike there: older people with dogs, younger families with kids, serious athletes getting ready for IRONMAN this weekend...and everyone saying "hi" as they walk by you. I had forgotten how much I miss the smell of the pine trees, as I was enjoying the hike. I tried to take a picture of the tall trees, but they literally are so big, they didn't fit in my lens of the camera. Even most of the trees in the neighborhood are gargantuan! (See movie of tall tree below)


Okay, I will admit that halfway through the hike I was getting tired. I think it was the fresh air. I'm not used to so much pure, clean air, and it was affecting my lungs by making me sleepy. Maybe it was the beautiful sunny day that added to my blissful dream-like state, because by the time we were done hiking....all I wanted to do was to sit down in a comfy chair and sip ice tea at Calypsos. Even the kids were chatting to each other saying, "I'm not tired, but my legs are. They are tired of walking." (Jamie) Did I mention I am in the company of 5 out of the 7 cousins, all under the age of 7. (We miss you Abby and Jimmy T!)






*bridge pic: Grandma and Erin (with Jillian)
Tierney, Bobby, Cope and Jamie

*rock pic: Bobby, Cope, Tierney and Jamie (l to r)

*climbing up pic: Bobby, Cope, Jamie and Tierney (b to top)







Once lunch was over, we (my mom, my sister and myself) were craving an iced coffee drink, and decided that if we took it to the park and let the kids play some more, then it would totally negate the calories laden in it. So off we went walking across town to the park, where we spent another hour just talking, sipping our yummy delicious iced coffee drinks, and enjoying the sunshine.








Another park-
McEuen Field...right
near Grandma and Grandpa's
house!




















Tierney playing with Jillian Me resting in a "blissful dream-like state"


We decided it was time to go back home and rest a little bit. We would meet back up and start "cocktail time" at 5:00pm at Grandma and Grandpa's, then try a restaurant called Tomato Street.
I have snuck away during this 'rest time' to walk over to the 'office' and make my entry for the day! I will post more tomorrow, as I have a bucketload of pics to share with you!
CLICK ON ANY PIC TO ENLARGE IT!
Let me know if you have been to any of these places, or if I missed a good place to try!




Here in downtown, they have
flowers everywhere...

This wheelbarrow was just
one example.

All the street lamps have
hanging flower baskets.










The beautiful
Coeur D'Alene Resort-
which I aspire to stay in
at least 1 night someday!
They have a 'floating green'
associated with their
golf course








Entrance downtown
to the shops, lake and beach

















Being half Irish- this is
one of my favorite places
to shop!
All Things Irish
(website coming soon)










A really neat building downtown
that has a great waterfall
feature at the front of it











Not only a great example of the
beautiful old houses here,
but notice the church steeple
in the background.













On a recent field trip to Grandpa's office downtown, the girls (Jamie 5 and Tierney 7) used the bathroom and were gone a long time. I went to check on them and found them huddled over the sink washing their hands. For a split second I thought all my preaching had finally sunk in...until I overheard something about cupcakes. They were talking about the soap in the bathroom smelling good, like cupcakes. It turns out to have a positive effect on little girls, and I must make a mental note to buy some when I get home. If you would like your hands to smell like cupcakes, then purchase some Bath & Body Works hand soap called "Warm Vanilla Sugar". It really does smell yummy!

In my next life....Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Yesterday the kids and I flew up to see my family in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Each time I come here I seriously ask myself, "Why am I living in Palm Springs, California?"

The first thing I noticed while still in the air was how green the ground was. Mostly because it was all pine trees, but in the spots where there were no trees, it was green. I'm guessing it was grass, only because it would take a ton of spray paint to color all their sand...oh wait- they don't have sand in Coeur d'Alene! So one obvious difference is...no sand, and everything here is green. Love it already!


We stopped off at my parents new place (soooo adorable and I want to buy one) and they had their windows open wide, and blinds pulled up! I ran around the house trying to shut them all so the sand and heat wouldn't get in, but Mom explained they have no sand. "Oh yeah, right."

I slept with the windows wide open and a cold Nordic wind was blowing gently around the room. I must have stared at the ceiling (in awe) for over 15 minutes before I realized there was no snow coming, and once curled deep down under the 2 comforters and my flannel pajamas...I slumbered quite heavily off to sleep.

I awoke to my children whispering my name at 6:41am, asking if they can go play downstairs. I told them to go back to bed, as it was too early. They slumbered off until 8:00am and got the 'ok' to play downstairs (surprisingly rather quietly) until I awoke in the now 'too quiet' bedroom at 8:03am.

Calypsos' child-friendly play area-
What a great idea! Mom can relax
with a Chai Latte while the kids play!
BTW- the food was INCREDIBLE!




Coeur D'Alene is so breathtaking, and everyone is so friendly here. We must have walked several miles back and forth the downtown, hitting the local coffee shop (Calypsos) for lunch, going to Fort Sherman park, (which the whole community got together to build for the children) (CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE)
walking past the lake,'scootering' over to Grandma and Grandpa's house,
picnicking in the front yard, and most importantly- going to FigPickles Toy Emporium for a treat. <---check it out for yourself! At 4:00 pm is the Farmer's Market downtown, which we will 'scooter' on down to and check out!
Homemade furniture from the Farmer's Market









Looking down the street at Farmer's Market










Before I go (for now) I want to say hi to Cindy and Scott DiQuattro- "Hi guys!!!" You would love it here! Stay tuned for more!

Am I dreaming...?

I'm sitting here in this increasingly uncomfortable chair, doing laundry, snacking on a hot pretzel (not Nurtisystem) and looking for my airplane reservations....all the while wondering if I need to be pinched-
Is tomorrow really our last day for this year?

I keep going over it in my head...half day, last day, half day, last day...
I think it just might be, by golly! I am afraid I will wake up and find out I still have 6 weeks left.

I need to look back on this incredible year-if only to take inventory of HOW FRICKIN' MUCH I DID THIS YEAR!
*learned three new jobs at once
*came up with my own curriculum for 1 of them
*participated in a UCLA Media in the Violence study program
*did everything the previous ASB Advisor did, and then some
*successfully created and published a yearbook with minimal glitches, despite server being down for over two weeks (right before my deadline was due)
*survived Harvest Festival
*had a community member come to school and teach mosaics
*had a second community member come to school and teach mosaics
*entered our school in not one, but two art shows
*created a mosaic 'matador' mascot for our school via the artists and mosaic classes
*brought my hot air balloon to school for two weeks and taught the kids how to "crew"
*learned how to do deposits for the whole school
*learned bookkeeping for ASB (a second job all in itself!)
*and a whole slew of other odd things...(brain fart)

Of course- I could not have done any of this without the help of some VERY SPECIAL friends:
*Tracey Hermann- for his tireless efforts working on the yearbook
*Nedra Young- mother, artist, community member, FRIEND...who gave so much of her time to be with me and my students and teach us the wonderful art of mosaics
*Jennifer Johnson-artist extraordinare, who also gave us her all with teaching these kids the art of mosaics
*Teresa Weeks- who helped me count countless bills each month
*Mrs. Atik- who so graciously donated not 1, but 4 digital cameras for our yearbook class!
*Cathy Seeger- who has been my stronghold and personal advice columnist whenever I ran into a problem (which was quite often!)
*The "Foul-Mouth-Friday Lunchers- who kept me sane and could always make me smile or laugh, despite how downtrodden I was (I love you guys!)
*My mom, who I love very much, and who listened to me complain, bitch, moan, cry, and laugh as well as monopolize every conversation we had together, with me and my jobs this year
*Jeff, my husband, who tried to be so patient as I went through hell and back, and stayed with me at school when I needed him to
*God- who listened to me each time I talked, held my hand through tough times, and even carried me on his shoulders a time or two


THANK YOU- each and every one of you. I survived and am so thankful I had you by my side.

Hugs and kisses-

Beth Ann

Celebrating again is twice as nice!

This weekend, the last weekend before school gets out, is blissfully free from work, or having to get up early! It is Saturday, and we celebrated the kids' birthday since we had the whole day to do so.
We sleep in, we watch millions of cartoons, we went out to Ruby's for lunch, and then came home and opened up presents. (from mom and dad)
Then we went swimming until 6:30pm, where we then came inside, and the kids cooked their pizza and dessert, all from the kids' cookbook! All in all, a VERY wonderful day!
Happy 7th Birthday Cope and Tierney!


Cope and T got a
"Subsurfer"!










T got a new princess
book with stamps










Cope and Tierney
trying out their
new Subsurfers!
Did I mention it was
in the triple digits
today?!




Kneading the
pizza dough for
our dinner!







Sitting down to
enjoy the pizza.
Cope was mad
because we made him
stop playing with
his new Legos, so he
could eat.



T licking the brownie mix
after we popped the ice cream
brownie cones into the oven.
We put frosting on top,
then sprinkles. Yummy!

Happy Birthday to you.......

June 11th is very special in our house.

Cope was born at 32 weeks, 3 lbs, 12 oz, at 9:57pm.
Tierney was born at 32 weeks, 4 lbs, 12 oz, at 9:59pm.

They reached 7 years old today. My-how time flies!

Waking up...






















Brand new swim goggles! Much needed for this summer!


Tierney figured out she got "Heelies"!










So Tierney straps them on,
tries to 'skate' with them,
almost falls, begins running,
and trips up in the hallway...
running so fast that this is all
I got of her.







Cope took one step, tried to 'skate'
and fell in one quick swoop!











Cope's new remote-controlled car!








This weekend we will have a family party for them. They both wanted to make a pizza for us, along with a dessert they picked out in the Kid's Cookbook, so I'll have more stories to tell soon!
Happy Birthday Babies!
"Goodnight, Sweet Dreams, and I Love You!" Grandma Betty

Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival

Friday night, Balloon glow

Saturday morning, Balloon flight
Saturday night, Balloon glow

Sunday morning, Balloon flight

We had a grand time in Temecula for the Balloon and Wine Festival!
Check out some of our pics...and next year- come and see us!



Fri night "glow"- Jeff at burner



Rowdy and Dan- the
GREATEST friends EVER,
as well as great crew!






Vic and Cindy
learning to 'crew'
-inflation process






Getting ready
to take off Sat. am







Vic and Cindy
have 'lift-off'!
Up, up & away....












Some of the
beautiful balloons







packing up after a
'powderpuff'
landing from our
pilot-extraordinare!
(Lauren in yellow hat)




An important event-
"Butt's On"...ask if you
don't know what it is!

Happy Pre-School Graduation to my niece- Jamie Provost!

Jamie-

Cope and Tierney decided they wanted to make you a video for you.
Auntie B made a second version because they weren't being nice in the first one.

Hope you enjoy- and we are so proud of you on your special day!


(Version 1 was 45 M and wouldn't download past 9 m...)
(Version 2 was 35 M and wouldn't load past 5 m...)

We will have to sing to you when we see you in 10 days!!!! See you then!

Hugs and kisses-

Auntie B

Time for old friends-

I want to give a "shout out" to my old friend Deanne!

"Hi Deanne!!!!"

Great to hear from you and check back to see what the ole' family is doing! Let us know when you come to town, as we would love to see you two!

Hugs!

Calgon....Take me away...

Feet.
Help us stand.
Help stand firm
Except when they throb, then they send your body swaying back and forth a little each time your heart beats...ever notice that?
Throbbing...mine are RIGHT NOW!

Ive been on my feet since 5:30 am, and it is now 8:22pm. The Mosaic Art and Talent show was tonight...and despite the air being turned off at 1:50...and everyone sweating their f*@&$#* a$* off, it was a huge success and the unveiling of the Matador was the best part!
Here are some pics:

Nedra Young (l) and
Jennifer Johnson (r)

Two mosaic goddesses
who came in my classroom
twice a week for over
a semester to teach my
kids the art of mosaics



Matt McNamara,
local abstract artist
who donated a painting
just for our show!





Actual art created
by my students~
All for sale (still)
$15.00 a piece
Click on pic to enlarge it!



We had over 6 tables of art for sale
(pieces still available, just ask)







Packed house even
though it was so hot
in the gym!
Talent show was
FAN-TAB-U-LOUS!





Jennifer and Nedra
ready to unveil
the Matador!
Drum roll please...








Da-Dah!!!!!!!

He is over 5' tall
and absolutely
GORGEOUS!
And kids worked on this!






Close-up of his
legs and fancy
bull-fighting pants









The End

*email me if you are interested
in a piece! The money supports the
mosaic class for another semester!
Thank you!

Time is slipping away...

What?!

Today is June 1st, ALREADY??!!


Oh my goodness...this means a whole bunch of things happening!
My first and most important thought is- school is almost out! Our last day is June 16th, and it is a minimum day. The magic number is 16.
16 more days left of school. A little over 2 weeks left...
Technically though, Saturdays and Sundays don't count, so that leaves 10.5 days left of school. (Remember the last day is a minimum day)
Wow.
Thought it would never come.

This year has been the hardest and most stressful year I have ever had. Yet it has also provided me the most satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment too. Two weeks before school started last year, my principal called me and said he wanted me to teach ASB. ASB stands for Associated Student Body and it is a leadership class. These kids plan the dances, decorate, work them, clean up, plan dress up days at school, plan class of the quarter...anything fun on campus- they do it.
I would be in charge of them. I was thrilled! I had always wanted to be a part of ASB, but never thought I would actually get the chance. The gal who had it before me, had a prep period to help plan for it, in addition to a prep period for the rest of her classes. When I took over, a prep period was taken away. (budget cuts)
So, I had 50 minutes each day to help plan for this class. Cool. But wait- there was more...I was also the bookkeeper (there is supposed to be a separate person for this), a bunch of non-ASB related jobs they threw in there like ID picture taker for the school, Picture Day liaison, etc. I would also be Yearbook Advisor, and an Exploratory teacher. I got to teach three classes of whatever I wanted! Except I had to come up with my own curriculum and materials.
Whew...planning for all this within 50 minutes? Did I mention the bathroom is 4 minutes away?

It was an incredible year, and despite coming down with Strep three times, (or was it four?) Cope and myself ending up needing outside counseling, Cope's behavior at school down the tubes, seeing my children for approx. 2 hours a day, and having everyday be a 12 hour+ day...I am ready for the year to end.
I somehow managed within this year to meet a mom and mosaic artist, who ended up coming in my classroom, teaching the art of mosaics to the kids. I also applied for an art grant, got it and ended up growing the mosaic art class to the second semester, and adding another great mosaic art teacher coming in and co-teaching the classes! We beautified the school by creating a mosaic version of our mascot- The Matador, which will be unveiled at our Mosaic Art and Talent Show this Tuesday. We also entered the district-wide art show located at the Palm Springs Air Museum last weekend and had a great time!
I also participated in a UCLA media study called "Violence in the Media", which is 10 lessons long, and teaches the kids how to look for 'violence' in things they watch, play, and buy. It really is pretty interesting, and I'm looking forward to teaching it again.

I'm not sure what next year brings, as I declined to do ASB again if a second prep wasn't added. A very difficult, heart wrenching decision I dreaded making. I still am saddened by my decision, but know it was necessary for myself, and more importantly, my family.

When I know what I will have take its place, Ill let you know- In the meantime, plan on coming to our mosaic show, enjoying the talent show, and saying hi!

Until then...I'll be counting the days...