Thanksgiving Break!!!

We are so excited to have the week off to celebrate Thanksgiving!  It has been a busy couple of weeks! 

Gypsy Rogers...

We just couldn't deal with a quiet house much longer!  We adopted Gypsy a week ago and love her so much already.  She is about three years old and weighs a little under twenty pounds.  She has plenty of energy and loves to chew on her toys.  She also loves to lick faces and nibble on fingers.  It is very hard to get a picture of her when she is awake.  It took a long walk and plenty of play time to get her to settle down for the family bonding time pictured above. 

School Quotes...

English Teacher: What are you doing?

Student: Stapling my motorboat!

Student: Miss!

Me: What?

Student: She's all up in my Kool-Aid and she doesn't even know the flavor!

Student: Can you come to my math class?

Me: Why?  Do you need help?

Student:  No, you just make everything more fun.

Parent: Was my child at school yesterday?

School Employee:  Yes Ma'm.  The student was here all day and wasn't even tardy to any of his classes.

Parent:  Ooops!  I already gave him a whoopin' because I thought he wasn't there.  Oh well!  My motto is discipline first and ask questions later!

Student: You don't choose the french horn...the french horn chooses you!

Student 1: At my old school we had ninja belts for our instruments.

Student 2: That sounds cool!  At my old school we had some lame chart with stars on it.

Mike:  You mean like our charts?

Student: Uhhh.....your charts are cool...

Mike:  Thanks.

School Quotes..

We are finally settling into our school routine!  As usual there are plenty of things I would love to tell you about but will edit myself and only share the lighthearted side of teaching middle school.

Student: I'm sorry Mrs. Rogers.  I have an anger management problem.

Me: Me too!  Let's try to keep people from noticing.

Student: Mrs. Rogers!  My pants are sagging.  Can I go to the nurse?

Me: Why do you need to go to the nurse for sagging pants?

Student: She might have a belt I can borrow.

Student: How do you get baby bumble bees?

Me: That is an excellent question for your science teacher.

Student: How did the siamese twins have kids if they were attached to each other?

Me:  The same way any person has kids.

Student:  But if they were attached.....

Me: Stop!  I know where you are going with that thought and we are not going down that trail.

Mike: Doughnut holes aren't really holes...they are more like a nugget.

Me:  Your behavior is ridiculous!  I want you to all sit silently until the bell rings because I will not reward your bad behavior with the opportunity to talk!

Student: Can we play games?

Me:  Have you lost your mind?!?!?

Goodbye Sadie...

This last week was tough because we had to say goodbye to our sweet Sadie.  It turns out she was much older than we thought and had developed a few health issues that are common for older dogs.  She spent a few days at the vet but didn't respond well to the medications.  We were glad that we had the opportunity to have her at home with us on Monday night before taking her in to be put to sleep on Tuesday.  We miss her so much and are still settling into our lifestyle without a dog.  We know we will get another one in the near future when we feel ready.

Thank you to all our thoughtful friends and family who have been checking on us.  We had no idea how hard this would be.  We know we made the correct decision and felt a sense of peace almost immediately when we knew she was no longer suffering.  

Box Tops For Education

School has started and I'll write about that very soon.  One thing that I am excited about is my school's new or renewed interest in the Box Tops For Education Program.  I remember my parents collecting and sending product labels to my school when I was little.  Every year schools are asked to achieve more with less funding.  Thankfully, it is now even easier to earn money for your favorite school.  I went to the program website and registered our grocery store card.  That's it!  The box tops I earn will be automatically credited to my school.  The website also has coupons you can print out.  It is totally worth your time to take a few minutes to see if you can help.  If there currently isn't a school you have an interest in supporting you are always welcome to support my school.

Sadie Dog Rogers...

Check out the souvenir we brought back from Waco for Sadie!  I have wanted one of these for her for a long time!  Watch out for our little linebacker! 

San Antonio

We went to San Antonio near the end of July for Mike's band director conference.

While Mike went to seminars I was a tourist.

One of the places we had to eat while we were there was Mi Tierra.

The place was beautifully decorated.

They also had an amazing bakery.

We were lucky we got a table pretty quickly because they usually have a long wait.

The food definitely did not disappoint. 

I even recommended it to some friends who went to San Antonio a few weeks after we did.

I would never write about San Antonio and not include a picture of the Alamo! 

Waco Wedding...

We went to Waco recently to see one of my school friends get married.  Holly is so sweet!  While in Waco I also took the opportunity to do some Baylor shopping and have lunch with Mrs. Long.  I student taught with Mrs. Long and wish I had remembered to take a picture with her. 

The wedding was lovely and the reception was so much fun.

Congratulations to Keith and Holly! 

Conservatory...

Believe it or not...these are the last of my pictures from Pittsburgh.  We visited the Phipps Conservatory. 

My Grandpa Palmer would love this place. 

I can't even begin to name all the types of flowers they have. 

This bonsai tree is impressive.

This one has a nice pattern. 

I liked the bright vibrant colors. 

We spotted this caterpillar in the butterfly room. 

The butterflies were everywhere. 

There were many different kinds of butterflies. 

This one tried to sneak out with me. 

There also some gorgeous glass pieces created by Dale Chihuly. 

I think these are very Martha Stewart. 

They had a very fun and interactive Children's Garden. 

This is definitely one of my favorites. 

These were interesting too.

I would definitely recommend visiting this place! 

Aviary Penguins...

I've seen so many penguins this summer but they are so cute that I just can't resist taking pictures of them.

These penguins live at the Pittsburgh Aviary.

They are quite playful. 

It was really neat to be so close to them. 

I think I could watch them swim and play all day. 

If you are tired of seeing penguins...

...too bad! 

They eventually took a break from swimming. 

Mike enjoyed getting up close and personal. 

Alex likes to sneak up on people and take pictures. 

I like how the penguin sort of posed for our picture. 

Christine was happy to take a picture with a penguin. 

Check out this cute sign!  This should be our last penguin encounter this summer...but I guess you never know. 

Aviary...

We took a trip to Pittsburgh's Aviary with Christine and Alex.

There were some really big birds there.

Those birds are definitely fast when it comes to food.

This bird was quite funny.

They had some great educational elements.  Mike got to feed some birds.

There were some very brightly colored birds.

I liked this one because it looks like it has a mustache. 

This one was fairly normal looking.

I didn't realize finches could be these colors.  Wow!

People could purchase a cup of nectar to feed a room full of birds.  Because of the high likelihood of us getting pooped on we decided not to participate. 

This one has some pretty colors too.

This one was very easy to take a picture of because he didn't move as much as the others. 

This one was definitely hungry.

Mike, Christine, and Alex fed him. 

This is where they prepare all the food. 

This is the clinic.  I'm not entirely sure why there was a child in there.  We definitely enjoyed visiting the birds.