Rhubarb!

I love rhubarb! Some people pucker up at the mere mention of the word but I just love it! It reminds me of my Grandma. She made the best rhubarb and I'd slather it all over my toast when we would visit during the summer. Last week, Donna gave me a bundle of rhubarb and to prove that I AM getting more and more domestic I took pictures to prove that I actually did something with it!

This is what I started with! Yummy rhubarb home grown in Donna's backyard!

This is one of the batches I made for toast. My neighbour Leslie gave me a great recipe that's basically just adding strawberry jelly, sugar and cinnamon. It was delicious!

And here's a picture of the pie Steve made...with my decorative touch! hee!hee!

Thanks Donna for sharing! I love rhubarb!!!

Tout Fini!

The last day of school has come and gone! Report cards are DONE, classroom CLEANED out...I'm ready for vacation! I can't believe how fast this year went by. I had a great year in my classroom. To tell you the truth, I'm sad to let my grade two's go. I've had the majority of them for three years so I've grown very attached (to some more then others of course ha!ha!) The good news is that I have my grade one's again next year since I'm teaching a multi-age and I'll get a few new ones as well. I might have the opportunity to work with an educational assistant too. Anyway, an awesome year overall.
Big thanks to MY Donna (who I know is reading this...for taking such good care of me, always having her "chair" available and being such a wonderful lunch partner!!).

The end of the year is always sad/happy for me. Don't get me wrong, when that dismissal bell rings on the last day, in my head I'm singing "It's the most wonderful time of the year" but until it does, my stomach is in knots all day long. Not only did I have to say goodbye to my students on Friday but this year my principal, who I adored, is leaving for another school. He is so funny, approachable, easy going and all about the kids...and really isn't that the best quality for an educator.

The worst though was saying good bye to Mary. I'm tearing up just writing that last sentence. She came into my classroom on Friday to say goodbye before she left for Ontario (where she will be living while her husband attends Staff College). I can't even describe all the emotions I felt when we hugged. Needless to say...we both went to the ugly cry. I was a mess! Ugh! The military can be so hard. :-(



Sometimes people come into your life that you just know that no matter what distance separates you...you will always remain friends. I know Mary and I will be friends forever! Love ya babe!

Report Card Hell!

I'm smack dab in the middle of report card HELL! To all the teachers who are reading this... you can relate. To all those who keep telling me "June's here eh? You must be winding down?" I say "Are you mad?!? I'm wound tighter then a top!!!" and to all those who say that teachers have it easy having the whole summer off... I say "*%#^@&!"... you get the picture!
I have three days to finish my report cards. Ugh! I know I can do it. They will get done, they always get done...but it's soooooo stressful until they are completed, signed and stuffed in the envelopes.
Where's my Mommy???????????????? hee!hee!

Short and Sweet...

that best describes my best friend Tanya's visit to Nova Scotia this past weekend. We had such a fabulous time together. We had good food, great catch-up chats and relaxing girl time!

Here's a picture of Tanya and baby Kate (4 months old) in Margaretsville. It was the first time I met Tanya's newest family member. "Special K" truly is extra special. Not only is she so beautiful but she's the best baby I have ever met. She's unbelievable!!! Tanya has three amazing children. I was lucky enough to be present when her first son Jacob was born. What an honour! Then came adorable Zack and finally she got the long awaited GIRL...third times a charm!! and boy was Kate worth the wait!!!

This picture is right before our delicious lobster supper!!! Yummy!!!
(not sure why I can't make those two pictures bigger?!?)

Here's Tanya and I on the pier in Halifax before we dropped her off at the airport. :-(

So... short and sweet trip indeed. Thanks Tanya for coming all this way to visit. It meant so much to me to show you my new "home". We love it here and I'm happy I got to share it with you. Also I know how hard it was for you to leave your boys. I truly appreciate it!

See you in a month T!

Proud Soccer Mom!

We are in our third week of soccer now and Abbey & Michael are starting to really enjoy it. They weren't too sure about it at first but are really starting to come around. We bought the cutest little cleats for them. Michael's are red and black Nikes and Abbey has pink and black Adidas'. They are ADORABLE!!! Abbey loves her cleats but hates the soccer socks. She only pulls them all the way up when she sees Coach Steve on the field. (I told her that all the very good players wear the special socks so she should too...it seems to have helped!) Anyway...the two coaches are super nice and both have their own children on the team. They plan fun drills and the parents get really involved.

Here's Coach Steve giving instructions. When he blows his whistles they stop, put their foot on the soccer ball and listen. It's so cute to watch.

Here's some action pics taken at last week's practice.

At the end of practice, they all huddle together and chant Hip Hip Hooray for the white team. All the players love it! Here they are cheering!

After soccer, the team gets freezies and we all go play at the park. I'm pretty sure that's every players favourite part.

Soccer Stars!

Soccer season started last week for the Kingston/Greenwood Soccer Teams. We signed Abbey and Michael up in the four years old or younger category, and even though we will be away for most of the summer, it was just too cute to pass up. Steve's away in Manitoba right now so I took the kids to their first practice last week. Here they are excited to hit the field.

"Coach Steve" and his wife run the team and they both seem very nice. Abbey and Michael are on the white team and they play in the field behind my school which is a six minute walk away....very convenient!

First practice, they were hard at work running drills, practicing skills and actually tried playing a game (picture 10 kids all running after the ball like little sheep!!!) ha!ha!

At this age, there's LOTS of parent involvement...SO...picture me getting not one but TWO soccer balls kicked at me at once. I got such a great workout but I'll be happy when Steve gets home! The most important thing is that Abbey and Michael seemed to enjoy it so it'll be a fun activity before we leave for Ontario.

My little soccer superstars....Abbey #1 and Michael #10!

Backyard Fun!

When we found out we had been re-posted to the Greenwood base (which means another 3 years or so here) we started looking for play structures for Abbey and Michael. Both of our neighbours have them and they are so kind in letting us use them whenever we want but I really wanted MY children to have their own. Anyway, Grand-papa and Grand-maman come in to save the day (and our bank accounts) to purchase the most amazing swing set EVER!!! It has everything!!!
So, we rented a truck and off Steve went to pick it up in Halifax. A ton of boxes later and an instructional DVD that stated it took 15 hours to put together, he was hard at work assembling. (with his trusty assistants...my Dad and Michael...and frankly we're not sure who was more helpful lol!) Here's the play by play pics...

Day One...just pulling in from the trip to Halifax with the goods!!!!

Here's Day Two (very keen and working late into the night) and Day Three (making lots of progress). The picture below is the end of Day Three and it's really starting to take shape!

This is Day Four....the fun stuff starts going on. Abbey and Michael can't wait to play!!!

Day Five: FULLY ASSEMBLED! Thank goodness Steve is good at doing this kinda stuff. The instructions were daunting to say the least but all the hard work paid off. The kids LOVE it and we are getting so much use of it already (despite this crazy cold spring weather!) Thank you SO SO much Grand-maman and Grand-papa. You sure do spoil us!