Happy New Year!

As I write it is already 2010 in Hong Kong (the one sure way I can be awake at midnight!), but some of us are still waiting to ring in the new year. We pray you all have a safe celebration (even if it just means not rolling off the couch in your sleep) and may God richly bless you in 2010.
PS - if you'll click on the picture it will enlarge for you so you can actually read the caption (that note is especially for us baby boomers)

Happy Trails to You!

This little guy is visiting our home tonight. He'll be making a loooong road trip tomorrow, so he and his daddy are stopping over here to save some time.



We told 'little guy' that he didn't have to 'dress' for the trip, but he didn't believe us :o) I think he is waiting for Uncle Buba to tie a windsor knot on him!

Christmas in the Desert - Part Deux

While some folks are nestled by a warm, cozy fire, drinking hot cocoa or spiced cider, ( or in some cases, taking their annual cold dip in the ocean) we desert rats are on the golf course!

Our Christmas dinner hostess has a putting green in her backyard (which opens up to a real-life golf course!)

We had a mix of families represented for a wonderful dinner-- Great laughter, good fellowship, and yummy food!

Just in case you were wondering, our temperatures have been hovering in the 60s during the day, in the mid-30s at night.

Merry Christmas To All!

Yeah -- A Winter Storm!

What's so great about a winter storm, you may ask? Because they have been so rare for the past decade! We had a great rain storm..... thunder, lightening, wind, the whole package LOL

First came the clouds, they lingered all day long. Finally about 1:00 in the afternoon the thunder and lightening show began, then the rain. Then the high winds that knocked out our power source! No electricity for about an hour, just as I was getting ready to write this blog :o) I just had to amuse myself with candle lighting, a little reading, and enjoying the rest of the storm. (Fortunately the power came on in time for us to cook and enjoy a fam fav --- Old Fashioned Beef Stew)

We even have some colorful leaves, finally! Gorgeous greeting as we turned onto this street.

How Do You Know It's Christmas in the Desert?

You have the usual home decorations
The Cactus are wearing Santa Hats!
And Thom is on his way to have fun being "Uncle Thom"!

Happy Birthday, Tommie-Toes!

Hey Thom-- we hope you have a great birthday week! Maybe get a little rest like you and dad when you were 7 weeks old! We treasured every minute back then as we do today.





Your first birthday you got the 'birthday cupcake' and stayed pretty neat with it. At least that's what the picture shows, and I'm stickin' with it LOL














You were the first grandchild for the L. side of the family.
Here are 4 generations walking along.




















Then you got a little sister. How fair is that??
And yes, we kept her and you all did just fine.



















You absolutely LOVED reading with grandma, almost as much as she loved reading TO you! She kept you supplied with great reads!









you were a creative child......loved to explore and pretend.





















































"Is this really my life??"
You were usually a patient brother, and you have always been a joy to know! Being the oldest had its perks and its drawbacks, I'm sure, but we wouldn't trade a single minute of it!
We love you forever.........

Happy Thanksgiving to You All

Ahhh.. family gatherings in the 'good old days'.....those days being in the 1950s!
This was a complete family gathering for my side of the family.....we're working on locating one for papa's side!
Grandpa L. is nearest to us, Grandma to his left, Uncle Randy, Great Grandma, Great-Grandpa, 'Granny', Uncle Gerald, and Uncle Scott.
I can still walk through every room of this house in my mind! Do you notice those great aluminum style glasses?! I loved those things! They always felt soooo cold to your teeth!

School Intensive?!

It's been quite the week! Spending the bulk of a day among 200 singers was .....interesting!
The high school near our school hosts a festival for the 3 elementary schools within it's boundaries. We bring our junior high choirs to sing for each other, meet & hear the high school choir, and get a tour of the facilities. Then....they ALL get on stage to sing one number together. It was impressive to see 200 kids file onstage and sing a patriotic piece. I believe it was the highlight for most of my 70 students attending. But wait....there's more.....that evening we came back to sing a concert for the families. ALL the students dressed in black and white. which made the mass-choir even more impressive.
Just our school on stage performing their piece.
During the day we wore our own chorus uniform. Ah, the joys of transporting 70 (missing 15 of us) to and from a high school, keeping them from disappearing into the high school crowd, and getting them back and actually returning to their classes is always a plate-load!
But wait......there's more!........ The Friday before papa and I spent the evening at the equivalent of a school carnival. Every fall our school hosts a Family Fun Night, so we spent the night hawking candy, setting up portable lights, teaching students to make change, keeping a hawkeye on the change box AND the candy, and saying hello to a ton of students and their parents.
And yet....wait.....there's more! The week ended with our State Convention meeting in Tucson, a DOEM retirement party in the northern regions, and several speaking engagements on Sunday.
We are truly an 'integrated' parental unit LOL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUNKIN!

2 weeks old, and a joyful addition to our little family

1st Birthday - mommy was a coward and gave you
a cupcake in a bowl for you to devour. Daddy encouraged
you to put it on your head a few frames later.
Several proud Grandma's here! 4 generations
are loving every minute!
2nd Birthday - there was a top to this carousel cake
but the missing chunk was the result of an early
birthday nibble!
5th Birthday, your last in CA. Love your smile!
You got to have a party this year!
6th Birthday, our first winter back in AZ
And we'll stop our post here so we don't cause you any embarrassment,
but we loved and still cherish every year we've had with you. What a joy to see how God has grown you into an incredible women, wife, mother, and friend!
Love you forever, our sweet daughter :o)

Someone Stole October!!

Record heat....record cold....end of baseball season (for most teams anyway),... beginning of Fall....October holidays......all of a sudden October is in the past and it's November!! I have NO idea where it went, but I must have been in it somewhere along the way LOL
We went to the last D-backs game, enjoyed a 3-day cold spell last week, and now 'enjoying' record temps in the 90s.
Our schedule is slammed to the hilt, adding some sinus/allergy/junk days along the way, and we're just trying to keep up! Hopefully it won't be over a month before we sign-in to update again! I actually forgot our password it had been so (too) long!
Happy Fall Ya'll!

Frogannai

Here is my 'new' classroom friend for the year. I've named her Frogannai (gaelic for little frog, I believe). She is sitting on top of her 'secret box'. When my kindergarten students see Frogannai sitting on her secret box they know she has something for them to 'play with'. Sometimes it's colored squares, sometimes cut-out shapes, sometimes papers to take home. They don't really seem to care as long as they know they get to handle something special from Frogannai LOL.
I'm excited to have a gaelic poem about Frogannai to teach my students as well. I usually do a few frog themed lessons along the way, so the poem will fit in nicely :o)

Arizona Sunset

Here's the view that greeted me as I went out to fetch our mail this evening. The colors are so much brighter than my camera can capture, but hopefully this gives you a hint at the sight that took my breath away for a moment.


This second picture is out on our front street. What a great silhouette of AZ.

We have amazing sunsets here in the desert, but especially during Monsoon season.

Thank You....Hurricane Jimena!

Rain is a big deal in the desert! And we FINALLY got some good rain thanks to the hurricane traveling up the west coast of Mexico.
Saturday morning was our typical Monsoon rain, at last, and we all enjoyed hearing and watching it. I had to be out for some errands, and it was interesting how everybody's moods were upbeat and happy. Like I said, rain in the desert is a BIG deal!



These shots are out our patio gate. The most measured rainfall in the valley was just over an inch, which may not sound like much to some of you, but out here it can cause flash floods and close streets. The last picture is out our front window. But as is true to the desert as well,
Sunday and Monday have been gorgeous. We are going to a Diamondbacks game
for our Labor Day fun!

We're Havin' a Heat Wave......a Tropical Heat Wave.....

You probably have to either be an old-movie buff, or an old movie-buff to catch the reference to the song in our title, but it is totally appropriate for AZ right now. This past week we saw three straight days of 113 degree highs, tying the record high for each of those days. We're still in the 106-111 range, with humidity flux-ing all over the place.
Fortunately, we have Hurricane Jimena creeping up the Pacific coast from Mexico that dropped a trace of rain last night. We hope to have more substantial moisture by the weekend.
Soooo... think of us as you all are enjoying the beginnings of Fall.....we HOPE to see some leaves changing color here by December LOL

Old-School Tweet

Note to self -- NEVER put 90 junior high students in the same classroom at the same time!
I made the mistake of stating the wrong rehearsal day this week, (we are on a 6-day rotation schedule) and ALL of my 90 junior high chorus students showed up for rehearsal in a room that is made for about 55.
Well....I decided to have them all stay (for many reasons you don't want to hear, I'm sure :o) ) and found out several interesting facts.
With 90 junior high students in one room --
1. There's a whole lot of talking going on
2. There's very little singing going on
3. The room heats to about 200 degrees in 10 minutes
4. You're actually in the middle of a whirlwind that you can't really control
5. I was smart to separate the rehearsals and only see the full group on stage in the cafeteria!

The good news is that I totally survived and can laugh about the day. I also told the students that they are ALWAYS to calculate the days in their head to make sure what I say is ACTUALLY a real rehearsal day for them!

Back to School

Welcome to Granny's classroom, or my "home away from home" :o) We are the Bulldogs, hence my welcome pic. Kids love seeing these dogs as I open the door to invite them into my room.
We are 3 days into the school year, and things are moving along nicely. My schedule is extremely full, but seems to be working out well so far. I have over 90 students in my junior high chorus, so we had to do some creative scheduling to make that work, but I'm excited about how they will sound!
I see kindergarten through 8th grade, so my classroom reflects all levels of teaching. The shapes on the floor are the seating chart for the little ones, everyone else sits on the risers. I use every bit of wall space to facilitate my teaching :o)
So now you have a glimpse of where I spend 9 months every year, making music, dancing, singing, and having a GREAT time!

Well, my classroom is ALMOST ready, so I thought I'd share a few more of our favs from the UK. The hydraengeas were incredible all over. They were mostly purples and blues, but huge,

puffy balls of color all over. They were amazing.

On a trip to Cong we found a beautiful garden and wandered around. The girls aren't mad, or upset or in trouble :o) We simply caught them in a bit of a rest from running around and around some huge trees.

Cliffs of Moher....need I say more. We visited on an unusually clear day and could see clear across Galway Bay to the shore on the far side.