What a week

This will be short and sweet. The week has gone by quickly. It was a pretty good week, but Wed. night my eyes began to burn and then Thursday morning when I woke up my eyes were matted. PINK EYE. I got some medicine and now on Friday they are better. I just seem to flat out have a spring cold. JJ had called me on Wed. and asked to come to GiGi's house after school on Thursday. Because of my eyes I did not get to go get him and bring him to my house. I hope he wasn't too disappointed. I was. I was really looking forward to spending some time with him. Easter was the last time we were together. He is such a sweetie. We got to see Dominic last weekend. Dominic too has an eye infection. Maybe we all got it at the same place the same time. Who knows. I hope to see JJ and Amara this weekend. Hope I feel well enough to be around them. Don't won't to give them what I have. See you all later. I'll post more later.

Opera

Friday after school Mike and I drove to Stillwater. We were on our way to a benefit music recital for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Kevin Short a world known opera singer/wrestler agreed to a recital to raise money for the special projects they do at the museum. This year it was "Wrestling and the Military". He was a Bass/Baritone singer. It was a wonderful concert. The people who had the opportunity to come and didn't missed a great performance. He sang "Ole Man River" as good as I have ever heard it sang. He wrestled for Morgan University in college until he decided to concentrate on his music. He graduated from Julliard School of Music in 1989. He sang at the Olympics in Japan. He sings in operas all over Europe. He plans to come back next year and raise money again. It was something everyone who likes music would enjoy. He sang in English.

We very much enjoyed our weekend with Dominic and his parents. Saturday morning we went to the Arts Festival in Couch Park. Dominic and Bop walked around and enjoyed the history exhibits while Krista and I looked at the jewelry. There was a man riding a bull, horses for the kids to ride and many other people dress up like pioneers. It was cool and damp but we still had a good time. There was music for Dominic to dance to. He was so tired when we left that 2 min. after we got in the car he was asleep. He slept through the shoe store. Mike was the only one to buy anything. He finally got a new pair of sandals. I wasn't like he needed them. He has worn the last pair for about three years.

Saturday night was fun. We played on the Wii again. This time it was Rock Star though, and raced Mario Brother cars. Wes played the guitar and Krista, Mike and I took turns playing the drums. Krista and I were also singers. We aren't that good but we had fun. Dominic was doing everything. We had a fun day. Dominic has learned to say O S U. He said it all over the pet store Saturday night. We found the perfect place to take Dominic to eat. Buffalo Wild Wings, it's loud, and they have a TV on sports. He can be as loud as he wants and watch sports too.

Sunday morning I made biscuits and sausage gravy for all of us. Then it was time for us to come home. I think we all had a good time, but were ready to rest for a little while before we had to go back to work on Monday. We will miss Dominic, but hopefully get to see him again soon.

Life's A Dance: Easter 2009

Life's A Dance: Easter 2009

Easter 2009

 
Yesterday was Easter. We had a very large family get together at my brother David's house. Amanda, JJ, Amara, Krista, Wes, Dominic, Merv, Sue, and myself went to church at South Yukon Church of Christ. It was a little tricky since all roads but one are closed to get there. I only got lost for about 30 min. We all made it though and had a good lesson while we were there. We all went to David's in a caravan after church. Merv's children and grandchildren did not get to come, we missed them. Hope they can come back next year. David's two boys and their children were there. Barbara's sister and her children and grandchildren were also there and then some of Brian and Kenny's extended family were also there. Paul, his wife and youngest child came. He is Barbara and David's foster son. We had tons of food and the kids had a great time, even though they had to stay inside because of the rain. It helps that D&B have a 5,000 square foot house. We each bring something for the kids easter baskets and then David puts money in the eggs that they hunt. The grown children, ages 15-38, play Deal or No Deal with David. The grand prize is $50.00. Brian won again. Everyone gets at least a dollar. JJ and Phobe became great friends. Amara had a wonderful time. Dominic was having a hard day especially when he and JJ were playing and he got a bloody nose. He loved the easter pails and eggs and did not want to give his up. We recycle the buckets and eggs every year.

My three grandkids were dressed alike. JJ and Dominic had matching shirts and Amara had a dress with the same color in it. They all looked so cute. There is a picture here of the three of them. Dominic was being camera shy, but I still got a pretty good picture of them. It was a long day, but I love being with my family. I think everyone had a great time.

The boys!!

JJ and Dominic love to go with GiGi to OSU sports. Here they are at an OSU wrestling match. They also go with me to the OSU football games and we have even managed a few basketball games too. Bop likes to take the boys to baseball and softball games. They love to go to tailgates in the fall to run and play with whatever kids are there. Pistol Pete is one of there favorites too. These two love each other and each wants to do what the other one does. If one is in GiGi's lap they both want there. They love to wrestle and rough house. Dominic is 2 years 8 months younger than JJ, but he thinks he is just as big. I hope they will always be great friends.

The kids!

My kids and their families. Krista and Wes with Dominic. Amanda with JJ and Amara. This picture was taken at my brother David's house. We had most of our family there. I think Mom would like the fact that we still try to get together as a family as much as we can. She would really be surprised at how many great-grandchildren she has. I think she has 13 if I count correctly. She would love to see all of the kids playing, opening presents at Christmas and hunting eggs at Easter. She always helped the kids color eggs. They have so many good memories of her. She was probably the best grandmother ever put on this earth. She had 9 grandchildren and she was able to make all of them feel special. We could all take lessons from her on how to be a grandparent. More about Mom on another date. I am going to try to create a blog about each one of my children's realtives that I can tell them about. I hope I come up with the correct information.

Monday, Monday....

I arrived at school this morning at 7:15. I walked out the door tonight at 5:50. This was a very long day, especially since I came home and cooked after that. I was gone last Friday. It is so hard when you are gone. I spend 2 to 3 hours getting ready to be gone and then I spend another 2-3 hours the day I come back trying to get caught back up. Papers to grade, grades to post, getting ready for the next day. It just seems like there is so much to do that I never get caught up much less ahead. I also figured out that I need to re-teach at least one lesson too. We have CRT's this Friday. We will be testing most of the day. We can only hope that the students will do their best and try their hardest. They will do fine, if they do that. We have certainly covered a lot of material. It is a good thing I like what I do. I think that is enough about school today. I can't wait till this weekend when the kids get to hunt easter eggs. They always have soo much fun. Amara is going to wish she could walk. She might try to crawl for the eggs, now that would be funny. Dominic will have more fun this year, and I am sure JJ is going to find more than last year. He found more than his share last year. It is really fun watching 20 kids or so look for eggs in David's back yard. Everyone has a good time, even the adults. I will just keep thinking about the egg hunt and that will make this week go more smoothly. Today was really cold and tonight is going to be even colder. Tomorrow is still going to be cold, but I think it will warm up in the afternoon. I surely hope so. I am really ready for some warm weather.

Life's A Dance

Life's A Dance

Saturday Morning

We have seven more weeks of school. This has been quite a year. There were times I wasn't sure I would make it to the end. Now, it sort of seems all down hill. Teaching in 2009 is sure different than it was in 1979. Some changes are for the better and some I am not so sure about. We don't have control over that though. I still love teaching and trying to help children. That is why I continue to teach. I do enjoy my weekends though. You have to have a break so you can re-fuel for the next week. I hope that I have been able to make a difference to at least some of my students over the years. Yesterday I went to the Oklahoma State Geography Bee. Some of these young students are so knowledgable. There were many questions they answered that the average person would never know the answer to. There were many questions that geography teachers didn't know the answers to. It covers much more than just location of places. It covers currency used, crops grown, current events, population, bridges built in certain countries. WOW was I impressed.

Grandchildren are a gift from God.

Amara is our only sweet little girl, but guess what, she is going to give those boys a run for their money. She can hold her own with the two of them. Dominic was trying to wrestle her the other day and she just rolled with the punches. She is crawling everywhere. She is pulling up and it will not be long before she walks. She thinks she is much older than she is. She wants to eat whaterver every one else is eating and thinks she can drink out of a big cup. Amanda is Mom to JJ and Amara. They look very much alike. Amara worships her big brother. He can make her laugh louder than anyone else can. She is a little angel to us. She has not been here very long but she has all of us under her spell. She's our lady bug, sweet little miss.

Grandchildren are a gift from God.

This is Dominic. He was born October 29, 2007. He is a little charmer. He almost always has a big smile on his face. Everyone at his daycare says he smiles more than any child they have ever seen. Dominic is our second grandchild. Krista and Wes are his parents. Dominic is built just like his Bop. He really likes to be held, hugged and kissed. When he first started to talk you could not understand a thing he said, but he said the same thing every time when talking about whatever is was he was trying to say. He knew, we didn't. Now he is talking and he almost always says several words at a time. One of his very first words was Gi Gi and JJ. I think he likes us the best. I can think that if I want to. He also loves at go to the sports activities. He also can say Pete when he sees Pistol Pete. He has the bluest eyes. You can get lost in them. He is going to break some girls heart some day. He is quite a sweetie pie.

Grandchildren are a gift from God.

This is "JJ" James Rogers Jr. He is my oldest grandchild. He is so full of life. JJ has a smile that just melts your heart. Everyone who sees him thinks he should be a model. He calls me GiGi and Mike is Bop. Our own children were and still are precious to us, but our Grandchildren are the numero uno. I did not realize that I could love someone this much. He is just so cute and cuddly and he gives his love so unconditionally. JJ's birthday is on St. Patricks Day. I think that is ironic since his great-grandfather's name was Patrick. JJ reminds us so much of his Uncle Ryan. He wants to be busy all the time and he loves just about every sport that he watches. The plan is for him to play T-ball this spring. It will be his first organized sport. JJ is four years old now. He is growing up to be a fine young man.

Sleep

I should be in bed. I do have trouble sleeping. I hope my students are good tomorrow. It is so much better when they come ready to learn. Maybe tomorrow, or should I say today, will be a good day. Mike is going to see JJ. He gets to do that in the middle of the week. Shift work does have some advantages. He doesn't go back to work until Thursday night.