Introducing Aria

I have the wonderful privilege of teaching Recorder classes to the 3rd and 4th grade students this year in school! Why not have a pink recorder? :) Actually, I'm going to have to confess...*Shhhh don't tell, but I was in a Renassaince recorder group in college!* We were a tiny group and I thought I'd purchase a pink recorder to add some fun and variation. I think it worked. :) Anyway, I decided to name my recorder ... and she is named Aria - meaning: song, melody; also referring to a vocal solo in an opera. How fun that Aria will be "singing" solos in recorder class! Although, she will be "singing" Old McDonald instead of Rigoletto ... :)

CPR

CPR! Whew, I needed the refresher! I guess I never feel confident to step up when it might be needed, but that's what these courses are for, right?! Never know how God can use this class to help save someone. I enjoy doing this course with our school staff ... they're just too fun. ;)
So, next time you're choking or are planning to have a heart attack ... I can help! :-D I have photos to prove...

Here's Jess - nervous?!

School is right around the corner!

Children's Choir

Thank you to my friend, Jessica, who took these pictures! Children's choir sang in church tonight ... we quoted John 15:12-13, sang an arrangement of "Jesus Loves Me", and played "Ode to Joy" with our bells. :) I've thoroughly enjoyed teaching children's choir the past month - they're just adorable! How precious it is to hear children sing ... and sing godly music that honors the Lord. Just wanted to share a few pictures of these amazing children. :)

Wishing it was ...

... FALL!
I've seen quite a few blogs already posting about fall. Can I just say that I'm a bit jealous? It takes awhile to catch up to the fall season here in California - at least in my view. I miss the changing leaves...the cool crisp air...the smell...wearing jackets in September...making giant leaf piles in the yard and jumping in them...the list could go on. What do YOU love about fall?

Let me just say ... once it becomes September 22nd, my fall mat will be out and I will be burning a pumpkin candle whether or not it's 63 or 103 degrees outside. ;)

Surprises!

Today was full of surprises for me! First, the happy "surprise" - look at these post-it notes! They're gigantic ones! I love them. They're not actually mine ... they're Lexie's. I've no idea how I would use them or what I would use them for, but I think they're pretty great. :)

The second surprise isn't quite so happy ... entirely. We've had some "friends" visiting our school. I'm sure they're friendly things just wanting to greet the staff and children, but they really must move someplace else. Really. I heard he was caught and thrown into our emtpy [at the time] dumpster and couldn't resist taking a peek at the big guy ... ugly thing, isn't he?!

The cutest niece and nephew EVER!

I realize I'm a bias aunt, but I wish people would just see that I have the cutest niece and nephew EVER and just accept it. ;) All in jest, of course. But I love these two so very very much! I wish we weren't 2,983 miles away. *sigh* My sister-in-law, Sarah, posted this picture awhile back - I'm in love with Julia's scrunchy on her wrist. Sarah said that Juliebean likes to wear it on her ankle. Too.cute. :) I pray that these two will grow up loving the Lord and accept Him at an early age. How special they are to me!

August

Wow, it's been far too long since my last post - yikes! August has been a busy month so I thought I would recap with a few pictures ...

I went camping with my friends, Lexie and Jenn - went went in Capitola, CA - beautiful! Can't wait to go again.

The next fun even was the circus! Our friends Josh and Ginny asked Lexie and I to go with them last summer ... it appears that we might make this tradition every August. :) Their son, Jack, is almost 3 yrs old and just raves about the circus. We've been talking about it since April - the very poster that he's holding is from April. lol! So cute. We had a fun time!

My pastor's wife, Sue and one of "my" teen girls, Lauren AND I took a day trip IKEA - how fun! Lauren had never been - I enjoyed seeing and hearing what she thought of it all. Couple of funnies ....

How about a Baptist menorah?

On the way home we passed by a car dealership ... um ... do YOU see anything wrong with this? Totally messed with my ocd.

I hope to be better at blogging these next few weeks. School IS around the corner ... we'll see how I keep up. :)

Guess Where?

GUESS WHERE?!

Can you guess where me, Lexie and Jenn are headed for the next 2 days?! Ahhh SO excited!

Peter Pan in San Fran

Lexie's parents gave her two tickets to the Peter Pan show in San Fran for her birthday - I was the chosen one to go with her - what a shocker, eh? :) No really, she could've chosen someone else but I'm SO glad she chose ME! I really wanted to go when I first heard about it back in late winter/early spring. It's a play from London and it's in a round 360 view building - it's so hard to explain what it looked like. They wouldn't let us take pictures inside either...boo. But there are pictures below of what the outside looked like. They "flew" on suspended lines inside the building and had this 3D type screen that you see right in front of you as they are "flying" through London to Neverland. So.cool. And the screen would also show 3D images for the pirate's ship, Neverland, water scenes, etc. Well done! It was an amazing show! I loved the British accents too. :) Anyway, thankful for a fun time in the city, as always.

Dinner first - cute lil New York style pizza place near the Embarcadero.

360 Building - amazing production!


















Embarcadero - Pier 1 - all lit up at night - beautiful

Lexie was immitating Peter Pan...can you tell? :)

My souvenir - I love my Peter Pan hoodie! :-D

I love Summertime

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely a fall-season girl, but I DO love the freedom of summertime. Lexie and I decided to grill tonight - it's been too long! Someone, I won't mention who...had a hard time starting the fire. (and it wasn't me) ;) So I GOT the chance to light it ... with lighter fluid ... I'm not sure why I find it so fun ... Anyway, fun evening with food, fire, and friends. :)

One last day trip of the summer...

My friend Jenn and I went to Santa Cruz and Capitola - the weather couldn't have been more perfect! I did forget my camera, however...sadness! :( Jenn took a bunch of pictures will I shall post later ... we saw some strange and very "LOL" things/people today! I was able to take a few pictures with my cell phone - definitely not the same quality, but I wanted to post. :)

First, we went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - it was Jenn's first time! I HAD to take a picture of these donuts - called Texas Donuts. Have you EVER seen such huge donuts?! It made me sick to look at them! No. I didn't eat one. Bleh. lol



How about this house? Reminds me of Mary Engelbreight - So cute! It's in Capitola - I love this lil town. It's definitely a bit of a beach town...quirky little shops, but it's cute to walk around in. Also saw some lifeguard classes/training for kids - cute idea! We enjoyed watching them "train"...



And last but not least ... in front of this adorable house pictured above was this "flower" - or plant. Which is it?! Can ANY of you tell me what it is? I love it!



I love day trips. :) Thankful for a restful summer ... definitely working at school tomorrow to start preparing...