Mr. Kelly's Classroom

I was waiting to post about Greg's first week of teaching until I made sure that he survived. The first day was pretty rough but he says each day since then has just gotten better and better as the students began to abide by the rules.

Greg's desk.

Greg's classroom.....

Student lockers that are in Greg's room.....

Since Greg teaches science, we seek out whatever live creature we can find for him to take to school. This and another frog came to us from my sister's yard and they now live in the aquarium in the classroom.

We also bought a beta fish to go in the small aquarium that we had. Greg let the students nominate and pick the name of the fish. This is what won. The mascot for his school is cadets
and their school colors are blue and white.....

.....and the fish is blue.

Mr. Kelly writing information on the board. We went up to school today to pick up some things that Greg needed to work on

Greg really is enjoying teaching so far. Will check with him later on in the year.

Jonathan at 8 weeks.....

Happy 3rd Birthday, Bricen!!

I am NOT dull.......

This came from a friend and has been on the frig for a long, long time......

Texas sunrises are nice.......

Babysitting

We got to babysit with Jonathan last night while his mom and dad went to dinner to celebrate their anniversary. He was a good baby.

"Who me? I didn't do it....."

Just a bit of a smile and a wave......

He is starting to hold his head up.

We talked and talked and then he got tired and went to sleep.

More Yummy Stuff

I looked at Brandon's blog and saw this recipe. I HAD to stop on the way home yesterday and get the ingredients to make it. It reminded me of a similar recipe called Texas Caviar that Millie made for us this summer when we were in Florida. This recipe was really good, too. This is what was left after Greg and I demolished it. His comment was "I don't know what this is called but I could eat it with a spoon"......which had been Brandon's sentiments as well!! It is good stuff!!

We snacked on this with chips while I made chicken quesadillas. We were stuffed!!

Tipsy's birthday was yesterday. She was 10 years old. She also just happened to go to the groomer. She looks so much better. But not so much like a Yorkie anymore. I told the gal that I didn't like the "beard" so she trimmed it all off. Tipsy now kinda looks like a fatter, darker version of the Taco Bell chihuahua!! Notice her trendy scarf....

I asked the groomers if Tipsy had given them a hard time and they both replied "yes". They said she had quite an attitude, which Greg and I already knew. All I know is that I wouldn't try to cut her hair!! She would eat you up!! It is worth the money for them to deal with her.

Mr. Kelly, Teacher

Greg got his teacher's certificate at the start of the summer. He has taken a teaching job with the Connally Independent School District at their middle school. Connally is a 3-A school (the same size as Robinson) and is only about a 20 minute commute from home. He will be teaching Science, Social Studies, and English to 5th graders. He will have new teacher training and other meetings until school starts on Monday, the 25th. Greg is very excited about this new phase of his life. I am very proud of him and know he will do well and enjoy imparting his vast knowledge to his young "peeps".....

Welcome Rain

The storm clouds followed me home today. But I didn't complain. We still need rain.

It looks a little trailer-trashy around the house. Greg was trying to help me out with rain water for my plants and got pesky brother-in-law Tim to get him some barrels.

The gutters have filled them both up, plus every empty bucket we could find.

We got almost three inches of rain today. It was very welcome. The clouds began to clear.

The sun started coming out just as it began to set.

And I knew there would be a rainbow to follow......

Cookies

The cookie delivery lady came by today and brought us this box. I recognized it so signed for it as quickly as I could, mouth watering......

The officers here in Waco have been going to Austin to help cover while an officer there was out on medical leave, and she sent us these cookies as a thank you. I hollered for the "troops" to meet in the breakroom and opened the box. Yum!! Had coffee and cookies for our afternoon break. This was what was left after we all indulged.....
.......leftovers for tomorrow!!

Rain gone....

That didn't last long but it was nice while it lasted!! I found out that it did rain in Robinson so that is a good thing.

Rain!!

This is rain in case you don't recognize it!!! It has been so long since we have seen it!! I sure do hope it is doing this at our house......

I hope it doesn't wash my little pink Tracker away.....
Hope you Florida families don't get an over abundance of this stuff!!

Jonathan at 6 weeks

Jonathan is growing so much. And starting to stay awake longer and interact a bit. He looks a little startled in this picture but there was no flash involved.

Just a hint of a smile.....

I was just messing around with Photoshop, trying to get the pics in black and white. I am sure I will get critiqued.

Yum, Yum!! This is awesome stuff!!

Candy Jar

Rich caramel ice cream containing all of your favorite candy pieces - peanut butter cups, chocolate chunks, peanut brittle, chunks of caramel and chocolate crisp pieces.

Red Riders

We have been riding on Thursdays with a group of motorcycle folks that take a short ride, and end up at a restaurant.

Last night there were over 20 bikes. Here we are leaving the motorcycle shop to start the ride. There are riders of all kinds. Young, old, male, female, big touring bikes, "go fast" crotch rockets, and even several three wheeled "trike" bikes. The gal in the pink shirt is Carla and her husband, Chester. He works for Blue Bell ice cream. He is my new "best friend".....have you guys tried Candy Jar ice cream? It is wonderful!!

Crossing the bridge over Lake Waco.

Our shadow.

It was a nice evening to ride. Started out a little hot but the clouds soon rolled in. It looked like we might get wet, but we didn't.

The sky was really pretty.

We rode some really curvy back roads and ended up in Gatesville, which is about 45 minutes from Waco. This is Doris and Steve. Doris and I have known each other since first grade. Steve was a year older.

This is Vicki and Donnie. They also graduated from Robinson with me. They were in Steve's class. These two couples own an air conditioning business together in Robinson, the girls working together in the office, and the guys out on jobs. They have taken many trips together. I am envious because they have gone so many places all over the country on their bikes. They have told many stories about their adventures over the last three years. Hopefully we can all plan a trip together sometime in the future.

We have had a lot of fun riding in this group and getting to know everyone. With football starting up, last night was probably our last ride for a while. Be safe, guys!

Flora

If you don't like plants, just pass over this post and go back and look at the last picture of Jonathan. We finally got a little rain this afternoon and I was on the patio looking at my plants.

My pineapple top looks really good. Someone had one that didn't survive.....

The banana trees got shredded up pretty badly during the storm last week. I am trying something new by taking them out of the ground and putting them in this large pot. The plan is to bring them indoors during the winter. It may have to go to my office when it gets cold outside.

This is a new plant from this year, in a pot that Greg bought me for another purpose. I about needed CPR when he told me what he paid for it and then it never became a fountain....

The split leaf and rubber plant are both doing well. I am going to have to sweet talk Greg into making me some rolling plant stands so that all the large ones can be taken to my office. I lost several last year when I just put them in the garage for the winter and it got too cold for them. I don't want a repeat of that.

Asparagus fern......

I am probably proudest of this, a ficus tree that I picked up in a ditch down the road. It was sitting out for the trash, no pot. There was another smaller tree too that had lost almost all of its leaves that I now wish I had picked up as well. I was too busy snagging this one and wasn't sure that the other one was salvageable. The leaves on this one were very light green, almost yellow, from lack of moisture. Once I got it home, it spent at least a month sitting in a large trash can with nothing in it but several inches of water. I wasn't sure if the tree would lose all of its leaves and put on new ones or if the existing ones would hang on. Little by little the leaves started turning green again. I could not find a pot large enough for it so it is planted in a tub that livestock feed comes in, Greg drilled drain holes in it. This one will really need wheels for the winter......

.....and I still have no birds in my aviary. It has just been too hot. Maybe in the fall when it begins to cool off a bit I will buy some birds.