Everyone should go at least once....

Well, I have officially recovered from our trip to D.C. It was incredible! I think that I had a better time than some of the kids. I was amazed most by Arlington. There is no way to capture what it is like to be there. With the war in Iraq, they are averaging 25 funerals a day. Since it was Memorial Day weekend, we were there when the soldiers were laying the flags on the more than 500,000 graves. At each grave site, the soldiers would pause and then measure exactly one boot length from the stone to place the flag. It really was an amazing thing to see.

I loved going with 4th graders. They were well-behaved and seemed to love being there. I can't wait to take them back next year!

Off to D.C.

I am so excited to be heading to Washington D.C. in the morning. We are taking a group of our students for a 3 day trip. I think I may be more excited about it than the kids. I have never been before, so I can't wait! I think it going to be fun to watch the kids be excited and amazed as well. I am sad that not everyone on our team can go. I think it would be fun to have everyone go. If only we could find the $$ to pay for all of our student to go! Back late on Friday... We'll see how excited I am then!

The Importance of Asking Good Questions...

This weekend, my girls spent some time at their Granny's. She is known and loved by them for her mashed potatoes. They also love spending time with her 2 year old Bichon, Molly. The following is a conversation that happened at the table...

Gracie: "Granny, does Molly lick her butt?"

Granny: "Yes, honey, she is a dog. All dogs lick their butts."

Long pause...

Gracie: "Well, then I am going to need a new spoon."

Spending other people's money...

Yesterday my sister let me feel how much fun it is to spend other people's money. She is in the process of building a new house, so we went to an auction for building supplies. If you have never been to an auction before, they are a blast! For those of us who are competitive... addictive. Thank God I have no money or I would have a garage full of hardwood flooring and ceramic tile just for the sport of it!

Here I Go...

I have decided to start blogging. I had a blog awhile ago, and I am going to try again. I would like to start blogging with my students and I don't think I can do it without actually blogging myself.

I decided to put this picture on my first post. This is a picture of us releasing a monarch butterfly that we raised from an egg we found on a milkweed leaf. I don't know who had more fun with this, the kids or me. We all had lots of fun watching the caterpillar grow from a tiny thing we could barely see to a beautiful bright yellow, black and white. We even got to watch him make his chrysallis (if you have never seen it, it is unbeleiveable). It takes less then 2 minutes and they actually split their skin and their chrysallis is underneath. After 10-14 days, they hatch out and are a drippy mess. After drying they are ready to be set free. We let this one out a little early and he needed more time to dry off. The kids got a great up close and personal look at him (we could tell he was a boy from the spot on his wing). We can hardly wait until the fall when we can start all over again and steal milkweed leaves from Frish's parking lot!