See You Later Alligator.... After A While Crocodile

Today was a great day! It has been my favorite day of the summer camp I have been running so far. This week I am running a "GO WILD" Camp all about animals. Today we had a visit from the "Crocodile Man". He brought reptiles from all four of the reptile families...

Can you name the four reptile families????

TURTLES .... He brought ten different turtles and tortoises. There were 9 aquatic and 1 terrestrial turtles/tortoises. They were really cute. The kids LOVED them. We saw an Alligator Snapping Turtle - it is really cool. It has a red squiggly vein in it's mouth- it shakes it back and forth and it looks like a fishing lure... the fish swim right into his mouth- then SNAP! (Bye Bye FISHY!)

LIZARDS... He brought a bearded dragon for the kids to pet. His skin was really rough- it felt callused. He was a cutie though- he kept giving the trainer hugs on the arm-- and he would smile now and then at the kids.

SNAKES... My skin crawled as he pulled out 3 snakes and urged all of the students to touch them- then he came to me... I said "No thank you..." He teased me and got the kids to tease me- so I did it! I touched all 3 snakes... and (shock of all shocks)

I LOVED it! There was a beautiful sherbert colored Corn Snake, a White Rat Snake (Albino), and a Black Rat Snake. The Corn Snake was my favorite... so BEAUTIFUL. One of my first graders was chosen to come to the front of the room and the trainer put the snake on his arm and left him there to hang while he continued with other animals... The little boy wasn't even scared- he loved it. His mom was there taking pictures and he turned to her and said, "Can I get one?" You can imagine Mom's face...

CROCODILANS..... Or more commonly known as Alligators and Crocodiles... He brought BOTH. We pet the cutest baby alligator. Then he brought out a 4 foot Nile Crocodile... which brings me to my FAVORITE PART OF THE DAY! The trainer tested the children's knowledge on what each aniaml ate- when he got to the crocodile, he asked- "Can you guess what this guy's favorite food is?" A little kindergardner stood up behind his desk and was shaking like a leaf, and in complete seriousness said very faintly, "...HUMANS?" You could see the terror in his little face. It was so adorable! ( In case you're wondering, it isn't humans, - in the wild it is large game, and on the reserve it is chicken- LIVE chicken.) Another interesting fact about CROCS- they can run faster than a race horse for a short distance (about 30 yards or so).... so don't ever cross a Croc!

What an awesome day! I get PAID to do this!?!

Looking Forward

Another fabulous weekend! Wow- Last week I was off from work- but working hard at home. I am almost grateful to be going back to work with the kiddos again tomorrow. There is something almost comforting about having a routine to follow.

Our visit with Suzy & Mike was awesome- we played trivial pursuit- (the boys won- BARELY), and we had a blast playing with super cutie pie Adia.

(This pic is from when she was about 4 mos. old- she's now nearly 15 months!)

She is running around- and boy can she talk! She loved trying to talk over Suzy. We taught her to say "Maybe!" and she said it like a song- soooo cute! Then we taught her "shoes" which came out "SHHHHHHH". What a sweetheart! We are so glad they were all able to visit and so sad they live so far away! We hope to visit again with them soon!

We are busy getting our house organized--- My in-laws are coming for a visit next week! We haven't seen them in a while-- it's been almost a year since we last saw Monica- and she has been through the ringer this last year. (Boating accident, Mystery Illness- you name it- it's happened to her.) Andrew is coming too- we LOVE when he visits- he is our resident electronics genius- and the best brother in law I could ask for! My mother-in law is coming too! She is always so helpful and wonderful to have. We should have an awesome visit together.

Girls camp is right around the corner too- I am the Stake Craft Lady... so I'll be busy getting everything together for camp over the next couple of weeks. My sister is going to camp with me this year- and I am so excited and grateful for her help! She will make camp a blast for all of the girls! (and ME!)

SO .... BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!!

That's my life...

But- I wouldn't trade it away-

I gain so much from all of the experiences I am having!

Reconnecting

I hope everyone had a BLAST on the fourth of July! I celebrated with my family on the 3rd. Yesterday I spent my day working on my term paper and resting some... I had a really bad migraine for most of the evening and turned in pretty early.

I am excited today, b/c I found out that my dearest friend in the world is going to drop by this evening for a visit. I haven't seen her in about 8 months! I am excited to spend some time with her and her family. I am spending my day today working hard so that I'll have a little free time to "play" tonight. I am STILL working on my term paper on the Creative Process- my creativity is NOT helping me out on this one... (Go Figure!) I am also screening some possible tenants today, and frantically trying to get the house perfect for our guests. Whew! I am tired just thinking about all of it! :-)

I can't wait for this evening! It should be fun!

Happy Independence Day!

Today I am reminded of how lucky and truly blessed I am to live in the United States of America. I am so grateful for the inspiration of our founding fathers. Happy fourth of July!

Childhood Memories

I think I've decided there needs to be 6 of me. I need 1 of me to do the housework, 1 to volunteer for church, 1 to go to school, 1 to work, 1 to run our business, and 1 to have fun. Geez... no wonder I'm tired- I'm doing 6 people's jobs! :-) How blessed we are as women to be able to multitask!

It's a crazy thing when your life is filled with so many different things, sometimes you are so tired- that you don't even feel like putting forth the effort to have fun. There have been days when I have come home and just felt like I don't even have the eneregy to try to relax. ;-)
I can't complain though- it's nice to know that you are working hard and making a difference in the world.

Sometimes I like to reflect on the "care-free" years of my childhood. Now not all of my childhood was carefree- I dealt with a lot of struggles as a teen,- but what I wouldn't give to be 9 again! I remember going to the beachhouse with our whole family and putting on the most ridiculous skits. I was always the writer and director of the skits- b/c I'm the oldest grandchild... Our poor parents and grandparents would sit and endure hours of all of us trying to be funny and cute. I remember going to see OKLAHOMA the musical and THE ALAMO on the beach in Galveston- I had my ears plugged the whole time b/c the cannons were too loud. I remember organizing the neighborhood kids to put on a show- and then charging the neighbors to attend in our front yard. I remember trips to the dollar theatre-(we thought we were hot stuff without our parents). I remember trips to McFrugal's (a dollar store)- we would buy all kinds of junk and then take it home and show off what "treasures" we had gotten. I remember that every year on the fourth of July, we would pop small firecrackers in the street- then we would drive to the mall to see a huge show. We had to drug our poor dogs (our vet's advice) to keep them sane- and we would leave them inside with Mozart playing in the background to keep them calm. I remember joint birthday parties with my little sister- b/c our birthdays are so close. I remember trips to Peaceful Valley Ranch in Bandera, TX- one year my friends and I thought it would be funny to play a trick on my sister and we made a "water snake" out of tin foil and launched it in the river while we were rafting... funny thing- she didn't get scared- but then we all got freaked out b/c a REAL water snake swam by when we were in the water pulling the raft. I remember jamming out to Tiffany songs and Depeche Mode. I remember reading Sweet Valley High Books and wearing BEST FRIENDS necklaces- and thinking I was
so COOL. Childhood was carefree and fun.... what I wouldn't give to have that again....
Well, maybe I will someday- when we have children of our own- maybe some of that childhood magic and freedom will come back.

Mellow Thoughts

Whew! Well I set today aside to write my paper, and as luck would have it- a whirlwind came in and swooped me away from it. It's funny how you can be busy and work hard all day- but not get one thing on your to-do list accomplished. Sometimes I think those lists aren't all they're cracked up to be... It stinks at the end of the day to not cross off a single thing on the ever growing list of things to be done....
It seems life sometimes distracts from life. Just when you think you have it all planned out, the stuff hits the fan, and everyone needs you.
Sometimes I think it would be so nice to just float around and watch life go by- without actually having to take part in all the hustle bustle of it. Wouldn't it be neat to just lay back on a bed made of marshmallows and just breathe and take it all in? ahhhhh....

Where does it come from???

I am off of work this week and finally able to catch up on everything that has been lacking around here-- organization at home, real estate, and of course- my Humantities class (which I have been neglecting). I have dedicated today to writing my term paper on creativity. Funny thing- I feel that I am a very creative person, but when posed with the question as to where creativity comes from, I'm not really sure. My paper is a "Creative Process Paper". I have to write about the origins of creativity...

So I pose this question to all of you:
Where does your creativity come from?

It is hard for me to really pinpoint it in myself- I just get an inspired urge to create, and I follow through. There isn't really any true process I follow. Often times when I am writing poetry, the thoughts just flow out through my pen- sometimes without my realizing what I am writing

This topic- which I thought would be rather easy to write, has me stumped....

A penny for your thoughts......

(*You just might help me get an A*)

Never thought I'd do this...

Well, here it is 2007- and I am finally getting into the world of blogging- thanks to my good friend Ismari. I guess in the past, I never really saw the use in it- but I must admit, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Ismari's thoughts, and so I have decided to begin writing my own.

Well, as everyone who is reading this knows- my life is a bit of a whirlwind all of the time. Every now and then, little glimpses of sunshine peek through and make all of the craziness worthwhile. Friday, I had one of those moments. I have been running and teaching at a summer camp all summer, and on Friday- I was pretty wiped out. This little boy came up to me and gave me a great big hug and said, "Thank you for all of the work you put into our class. You make everything so much fun. I wish all my teachers were like you." WOW! As a teacher- this kind of comment melts your heart- we don't hear 1st and 2nd graders say things like that everyday. It made all of the stress and countless hours and overtime worthwhile. This little boy even cried when his mom picked him up for the last time- he was sad he wouldn't get to see me again. It's funny how a small thing like someone thanking you can make life brighter. What a great example to me to remember to thank all of the people that make a difference in my life. That is one of my goals this year- to remember to take the time and thank those who make a difference in my life.