Easter Photos...better late than never!!!

So here's Easter photos. As you can tell, Payton was her usual ornery self that day. The rest just speaks for itelf.

Do you have Autism???

If you have HBO or know anyone that does, you have to watch the Autistic Musical. I thought it was a joke at first...but it's really neat. A lady in California got a group of autistic kids together and created a musical with them. They went into a lot of background info about each kid. It was very enlightening.
Partway into it there was a kid acting like Payton...but of course she's two so that's her reason...Scott said "Payton, do you have Autism?" To which she immediately replied "No, I have PIZZA." She was eating pizza at the time. I thought that was hilarious.

A Vessel of Unconditional Love...Remembering Dorothy

I got a shocking call from my principal on Sunday afternoon.  Dorothy, one of my students I have taught for two years, died in her sleep on Saturday night.  She had apparently had a seizure and her parents found her on the floor.  The whole family went to Easter mass Sunday morning where this announcement was made to the church.  I was shocked, to say the least.  Dorothy and I had a special relationship.  She was diagnosed with Sodos Syndrome shortly after she was born.  She had many challenges, including being very large and impulsive.  These were the obvious things that you noticed about her daily.   Teaching her was always a challenge, but her family was amazing and so was she...so it was always equally as rewarding.  This has been a really difficult week for me.  We had to face class on Monday without her.  Seeing high school kids deal with it is tough.  I also had to face the parents and go to the viewing and the funeral yesterday.  I just didn't even want to get up this morning because I was completely worn out.  

But at the funeral, this family was amazing.  To everyone they saw, they said "Thank you for loving Dorothy."  Her dad spoke at the funeral and said God put her on this earth to be a vessel of unconditional love.  She said her fair share of problems that she either caused or took on, but she woke up every morning starting all over again.  Everyone was her favorite.  Everyone was her friend.  She was truly what life should be all about.  Just livin' and lovin'.  I will miss Dorothy tremendously but will always remember in my heart what one special person can do. 

Look what "Wii" did toda!

Today it rained...and rained...and rained. yuck. Payton took a nap with her great grandma. Carysn and grandma watched Nanny McPhee. I ran to Target for easter candy. Then the satellite went out because it was so cloudy...so the family pulled out Marcus' Wii and played bowling, tennis, golf and baseball while I made a big pot of deer chili with not enough beans....our gate was stuck shut so I couldn't get out to go buy more. Yummy!!! Today we are supposed to go see Horton and tomorrow is the zoo.

How We Spent Spring Break...Day 1

1. Cleaned the computer desk...found the top! And found my photo disc from July Amy!!!

2. Loads and Loads of laundry

3. Took Naps

4. Read a book....my latest Jodi Picoult fix..not quite done.

5. Colored Easter Eggs with the kids...and didn't spill anything!

6. Watched Bee Movie..again.

Now we are just waiting on Scott to come home so we can eat!

This is cool...try it!

Here's a Tibetan personality test I got from a friend. Follow the directions. It was pretty startling...very accurate for me!!!

http://memoriter.net/flash/test.html

For Amy..

Here's a super easy, super cute Easter treat idea. Carsyn adn I made 75 of them in about an hour. All you need are dixie cups, scraps of paper, easter grass (one bag was way too much), plastic eggs and candy...plus some double stick tape.

First cut apart a dixie cup...cut off the circle bottom and trim the "lip" off the cup. Lay it flat.,.it's an arc...trace that as a template. I traced a little longer to make sure there was enough overlap. Tape around the cup. Cut a strip for the handle and attach with tape or brads. Then fill.

Happy Birthday Mia!!!

Saturday was Princess Mia's first birthday party. Here are some photos. Carsyn and Luke were the normal ornery selves, which always makes for a great photo. Mia loved her cake...shewas a little overwhelmed with the gifts, but the other kids helped out quite a bit. Payton, Carsyn and Luke all helped feed Mia mounds of princess cake. Notice Payton's change of outfit from the blue dress to the stripe shirt...she and Luke were playing outside...she came in soaking wet...of course neither knew what happened!

Life in the Country

1. It snowed Thursday night.

2. I scrapped today- 6 pages!

3. A truck dumped their load of hay while driving by our house a few weeks go...what a mess..can you see the mountain of hay? now that's something you don't see in your front yard everyday!

4. A random photo of Payton...apparently she has a runny nose..and apparently Marcus took this earlier today.

5. No photos...but Marcus got straight a's again!!!

6. Scott's working. He doesn't love it but he's doing it. Pray that he'll sell cars and make money...and pray for a better offer!

Payton...retro and dancin'

So here's some new photos of Payt. She is getting to be so grown up. She is absolutely hilarious with the things she says and does.

Here are two different days...one is a saturday...she is a cheerleader/princess, or so shethinks in her big girl ponytail and carsyn's dance clothes.

The other are from this morning..a modern/retro look mixed with a little cowgirl. She loves her red boots...recognize the 1970's mushroom sweater dress Davis girls???