Hello again!

Well, school has been kicking my butt. I have 8 more kids than last year which means 8 more of everything. And while most of my kids are super sweet, they tend to be lacking in the ability to keep their mouths closed. Which leads to long, headache inducing days. They are getting better, but slowly.

So, what has been going on lately?

Hurrican Isaac came and went. We got 4 days of school for it, and combined with Monday off for Labor Day, we had a surprise 7 day weekend! You would think I would use this time for great things, but I got nothing major accomplished. I marathoned the entirety of The Pacific (watch it, its good) and made 3 new Flat Stanleys for my class (school uniform, classic,and LSU fan). I was lucky enough to have power the entire time, so it was an easy storm for me.

Here are some of the highlights from the past month or so...

LSU Stanley and "Hurricane" Isaac

Hurricane holiday Stanley crafting

my neighbor is King Kong...yes, that is a hanging bushel of bananas

attended the LSU season opener against Washington...bought tickets for $12 each about 5 minutes after the game started...cant beat that!

Learned a new way to curl my hair...will be sharing more about this later in the week

found a delicious new gelato flavor at Whole Foods...banana chocolate swirl. If you like banana flavored things, try it!

Our class got a pet gerbil, Nilla (because she is the color of a nilla wafer)

got free samples of Mario Badescu skin care products. I had already bough a few at Ulta, but am excited to try these new ones. If you fill out their skin survey, they will send you the recommended samples for free!

I promise to make a better effort!

Until later this week :)

-whit

Well, summer is officially over

We just finished the first full week of school. Somehow over the summer, I forgot how tiring it is!
Goodbye summer, sleep and lazy days. I'll sure miss you!

Flaming Lips show (world record for most shows in most cities in 24 hours)

converted Granna's guest towel holder into a jewelry stand

Jessie (my long-time bff) is having her third boy! So glad I was there to share in the news :)

snowballs...nothing more summertime then that 

:)

Shipley's donuts. Delicious. 

4th of July mani's with my mom and sister

Love how they turned out!

I'll try to keep up here, but it might take me a bit to get back into the swing of school. Plus, we are starting an hour later, which means I now get to leave an hour later, aka smack in the middle of rush hour. My drive home is now averaging 90 minutes. (versus 30-40 last year) 

Fingers crossed things get less hectic soon!

Larry Bird's babies

You may remember that I have a bird's nest on my patio. I checked the nest when I got home from California on Tuesday and didn't see any babies (squabs to be exact). But when I looked today, one of the eggs has hatched! So sweet :) Hopefully the other one is ok and will hatch as well. I read online that they are laid about 48 hours apart, so maybe they hatch at slightly different times? Fingers crossed!

Larry, guarding his baby

baby bird!

so sweet and small. it's hard to not touch it. (I read online that mourning doves are known to carry lice and mites and that they can easily be transferred to humans. ick.)

family photo :)

Larry, his lady (trading places) and the kids

Flat Stanley and Larry

I have decided to use Flat Stanley in my classroom this year. Stanley is a boy who gets flattened when a bulletin board falls on him and then gets sent on adventures through the mail.

my Flat Stanley

You can find his books here and learn more about the Flat Stanley project here.

I am going to California to visit my sister before school starts and decided to make a Stanley to bring with me. I am excited to share this with my kiddos and think it will be a great way to get them excited about geography and writing and learning about new places.

That's right, that is Stanley with a bird's nest! 

Backstory:
I have a few different plants that grow on my balcony. I normally move them inside if I am going to be gone for an extended amount of time to try to keep them from drying out. I was at my parents' house for about a week and a half and left the plants out on my patio. When I came back, I went outside to water them, and discovered a bird had decided my dying mint would be the perfect place to make a nest!

It's hard to see, but there is a bird in there! (Click to make it bigger)

(Further backstory: I am scared of birds. I have this fear that they will attack me and get tangled in my hair and peck and scratch my face. I know its dumb, but oh well.)


I immediately freaked out and ran back inside. Over the past couple of days, I have gotten (slightly) more comfortable with the bird. I no longer have to wear a sweatshirt with the hood drawn around my face to water my plants. Progress!


I was trying to figure out what kind of bird it is and came across a guy online who said he could identify nests and eggs. I emailed him with some info and included a couple of pictures. Turns out my bird is a morning dove, and the eggs should hatch sometime in the next week. The babies should stay in the nest for about two weeks before they leave. 

The eggs :)

I am calling the bird Larry after the bird man who identified him. (The bird I have seen is a male...apparently the male sits on the nest during the day, and the female at night.)


I am hoping to get some good pictures of the babies when they hatch! I'll be sure to share them if I do :)

Stanley and Larry

I would try to get him closer if I wasn't terrified that Larry will attack me. That's not even me holding Stanley...it's my brave friend Rita :)  

(We ran screaming inside moments after this picture was taken and Larry got scared and flew away which in turn scared us!)

P.S.: If anyone wants to help with the Flat Stanley project, let me know! If you have an iPhone, you can download a free Flat Stanley app that superimposes him on pictures. I can also send you a Stanley to take pictures of. Thanks!!