Rain, Really?

 Who would have thought that such a wonderful beginning to Melon Days could have turned out to be so poopy.

School was fantastic today. My class is truly a dream to teach. I can't believe how wonderful it is to have such a fun class. I had a melon bust with them this year (the first time in about four years). We invited the fourth grade to join us since they were the only ones who had not had one. It was good fun and the kids really enjoyed it.

As soon as school was out, I headed home and changed into more comfortable clothing and headed to the park. My wife had all the tables up and the peg board hung and was trying to get things hung and priced. We got everything set up and....

It was the slowest afternoon in the past 5 years of doing this. There was very few people there in the park. And then the clouds started to appear. It wasn't too bad at first. The breeze felt good and it kept the flies away. Ms. D showed up to visit with my wife and they took the my youngest son over to the inflatable toys. My second oldest sister also arrived with her three daughters to do face painting. They got lots of practice with my kids, but no paying customers. Where IS everyone????  My oldest sister is also selling her wares. She runs the Petals, Pens, and Pots website.

After some discussion, we decided that we should cover everything up and batten down the hatches. We got everything moved to the middle of canopy (thanks sis for sharing your canopies with us).  I kept watching the tree above our booth. We had noticed early in the day that a branch was broken and was hanging above us. As the wind swung it back and forth I kept hoping and wishing that it would stay attached. Let's just say that I didn't ever end up doing a tuck and roll, but I am still very leery of it falling and destroying our booth. You have to admit, that with they way our luck runs, it is almost a certainty.

Well, we didn't blow away, but we also didn't get to have our booth open for the rest of the day. And then, came the rain. It started out as a hint of wet- carried on the wind, and then it turned in to a refreshing mist. We felt that we could make it through this with out any problems. Then came the down pour. It was very interesting trying to keep the little one's out of the rain, keep all of my wife's amazing crafts dry, and stay dry myself. My oldest sister went and got everyone dinner, which was much appreciated as we were all starving. We ate in the rain, well, not IN the rain, but with the rain falling all around us. We got everything secured and battened down and headed home. My wife went to the queen pageant and I took the boys. My niece was in the pageant and she did good. She didn't win, but she was a winner in our books. She played her piano piece beautifully- Go Mikey!

Well, it is late and I am exhausted (I say that a lot these days...). We are planning on being at the park EARLY and I am also helping a friend with his float- I get to run the candy cannon! Wahoo! :)

Later...

Pre-Melon Days

This will be a quick post this morning.

I just wanted to say WAHOO, It's Melon Days once again. My wife and I are looking forward to having our booth set up once again. Being as talented as she is, my wife creates some pretty amazing "stuff". Click HERE to check some of it out. While there won't be as much this year AND she is going to be doing less each year (SO COME EARLY TO GET THE BEST SELECTION), there will be lots of other fun stuff to see and purchase.
We hope to see all our friends swing by for a quick visit while you are out and about.

Later...

Back On the Scene!

I feel like I have been totally out of the blogging loop for several days now and then when I actually sit down and have time, I have nothing that is all that important to actually share with anyone.

I have already recapped the Melon Days week. It went okay and I enjoyed "MC"-ing the queen pageant. It was an experience I NEVER imagined myself having, and one that I doubt I would do again. However, working with those 5 young ladies was a real treat. They were fun, funny, and very patient with my (at times) inability to read my script. The booths on the park for the actual Melon Days were fewer this year and it seemed there was even fewer people. But, over all it was a nice weekend and it was fun to see my sister.

Since then, pirate week at school has ended (I don't even know if I blogged about that) and we have settled back into a regular routine in our classroom. What a fantastic class I have this year. They are fun and bubbly and aren't afraid to try new things. It is very refreshing to have an energetic class. Go Amazing 6th Graders! :)

Tonight was a fantastic parent math night. We had many parents show up, many more than in the past in fact, and it lead to a great discussion about concerns, upcoming units, and then a chance to play a few math games and make a game to take home. We (the 4th grade teacher and I) are very excited to do our next Parent Math Night in December. YEA!

Class last night was good. I enjoyed having my laptop in class. I wasn't able to do anything with it really, because there is no WiFi in the high school, but it was like a little security blanket for me. Class seemed much less intimidating and mundane. I get to have it next week too! YIPPEE! :)

Well, it's time to get back to work! :)

Later...

Melon Days Came and Went!

Well dear friends,
Melon Days came and went. My wife worked HARD to get all her words and frames ready to sell. We made it to the park and set up quickly. The waiting was the hard part. Last year we made a large amount of money. We knew this year would be a little slower what with the economy and all, however we didn't expect it to be as slow as it was. We didn't even make HALF of what we made last year.

But, that is okay. We still made some money and we have many, many sets done and ready to sell. My wife was disappointed to have spent all that time only to have them not sell, but at least they will keep forever.

Today has been interesting to say the least. My sister was at the park and did quite well with her booth. (www.petalspensandpots.com). She headed out today after church. I went to the first hour of meetings and then headed to the school to get Pirate week decorations cleaned up and plan for the next three days. It took almost 7 hours to get things cleaned up, new displays up, copies made, and planning complete. Now I am still avoiding my paper (however I do have almost 3 pages completed on it- so almost done!).

Being the MC of the pageant wasn't all that bad after all. I think it went really well and I am VERY glad that it is over. I don't think I will ever do that again. Ok, I know I won't! :)

This week is also Parent Math Night. It will be fun. I enjoy having parents come and learn about how to help their student. I only wish I knew Spanish so  I could communicate with the Hispanic parents in my classroom better.

Well, I better finish my paper.

Later...

P.S. Don't forget to VOTE for my little princess. Remember you can vote ONCE a day! :) (See the post below for more info)

Holy Cow! What a Weekend!

So that was the fastest 4 days of my life I guess. I couldn't believe that it had been that long when I checked my blog. This weekend was a fantastic experience, and one that I am glad it OVER! The student council (I am an advisor as I have mentioned- not to mention the instigator of the whole thing) raised well over $3,000 in ticket sales. It was really good. I am not sure how much we will get to keep, but we did raise a LOT of money!

We got my wife's booth set up on Friday and she sold a few items. It went well. I ended up sleeping in our booth Friday night so we didn't have to haul all the items home. That was weird. I never thought I would be sleeping in our city park, nor do I want to do that again anytime soon. Saturday was a crazy day. We had the booth open by 8:30am and I had sold quite a few sets of her words by the time she made it back to the park and returned from the parade. The day flew by and she sold like crazy. I loved it. When all was said and done she sold 30 of her 32 sets of words, almost all of her frames, and lots of her scrapbook materials. I think it was a successful weekend. I am glad it is over, but not quite looking forward to school yet. Not that it matters as it will be upon me in a few short hours. :)

This week will be good as well. We are off to Junction for our niece's birthday party on Saturday. The only thing that makes it remotely a downer is it is the 3rd weekend in a row we will have been going. I am excited to see Nichole and Justin and go to the party. It is going to be a blast for the kids as well. It sounds like quite the ordeal and should be a blast! Well, readers, I am very tired and want to sleep. I had lots of things I was planning to say, but I am too tired right now. I will fill in the details as we go over the next few weeks.

So...Tired...Must...Sleep...

I am feeling EXHAUSTED this week. It was a great weekend, but no rest. WOW! Today went okay. I was a little disappointed that after 4 weeks of school (that is crazy all by itself) that a few of my students STILL don't understand what it is that I expect from them. I worry about them because I want them ALL to be successful! I hope they realize that really soon. After school I was able to attend a pointless meeting for 2 stinkin' hours. I am doing what is called a Level 5 in my district. Basically I agree to do a bunch of extra work and I get extra pay. The teachers that presented did a great job- that wasn't it. I was just SO tired. I almost fell asleep on my books. After the meeting I headed to my parents to borrow their lawn mower. Got the lawn mowed, returned the mower, had dinner, fixed my music student's DVD for the queen pageant, then had scriptures and prayers together, had some tasty pie from a teacher I work with, headed to the queen pageant practice, came home tucked up the kids, typed my sub-plans for 1/2 day tomorrow, and am now blogging! Whew! Just typing it makes me exhausted. :)
I hope tomorrow slows down a bit, but with Melon Days this weekend, I think that life is only going to get a bit more crazy! Have a great night,
Later...