A Work In Progress

Hold on - final plans are being solidified even as we speak!




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To Whom It May Concern. . .

Please be advised the the "Grabbing Moments" blog normally active in this location is taking a temporary hiatus in order devise a creative plan for future entries.  I trust that this break will not be an inconvenience to anyone visiting this site.  Thank you for your patience.

Photo Day#31 - The Adventure Never Really Ends

Wow!  It is so hard to believe that my "31 Pictures in 31 Days" is over tonight.  I spent all day thinking of the "perfect" picture. . . would it be something from my morning routine?  how about my wonderful class?  a quick planning dinner with a good friend?  the sloppy joes I made for dinner?  I just couldn't figure out what image I wanted to end this adventure with. . . that is until I looked across the livingroom at the love of my life and decided on the perfect picture! (Yeah, long story about how the bear ended up in there too!)

This is a wonderful reminder, to me at least, 

that my adventures will never really come to an end 

♥  as long as I have Steve by my side.  ♥

My 31 Days may be up, but I still have many more adventures to capture.  

Stayed tuned to my blog as I continue Grabbing Moments: 

 the big ones, the little ones, and the ones that stay forever in my heart.

Photo Day#30 - IRT

Our favorite Sunday night TV show would have to be Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel.  We've been watching it since it first began on the Canadian ice roads three years ago.  In the past two years they've moved to Alaska's Dalton Highway.  Tonight's show was the first time I think they've ever shown Nuiquist, a small town of 400 people just north of Prudhoe Bay.  This little town can get deliveries for only two months out of the year, and tonight the truckers convoyed into the village.  It was quite the event!  My favorite moment was when one of the truckers dropped off school supplies and then went into a preschool classroom.  The little kids were so cute!  But it wasn't the kids that caught my eye - it was the native language posted below the classroom name. . . that's AMAZING!!  Can you imagine being a little kid and having to learn words that big!  WOW!   Makes me realize the importance of teachers - in every part of America!

*picture quality is the result of the attempted TV capture*

Photo Day #29 - Ahhhhhhh. . . sauna

One of my favorite things about staying the night at Linda's is the traditional Finnish sauna that they have in their basement.  There is nothing more incredible than starting your day out with a sauna shower at about 150* - it is so wonderfully warm and relaxing!!  I wish that you could attach a "feel" to the picture - - the visual itself doesn't capture at all the amazing feeling that was still lingering in the room.  Yet another wonderful, warm memory of time with my friend Linda.

Photo Day #28 - Girls' Night

Steve made his annual pilgrimage to the Posen Potato Festival this weekend, so I took the opportunity to have a "girls' night" over at Linda's!  The Ethel to my Lucy - the peanut butter to my chocolate -  the Baskin to my Robin - the Ben to my Jerry.    We make such an awesome team, and she makes such an awesome milkshake! It's a traditional snack at their house, so about 10p after our first movie and before our second feature, we had milkshakes.  We stayed up way to late - okay, they stayed up to watch the movie and I promptly fell asleep after the first thirty minutes, but it was still fun!  "Girls' Night" with your bestest bud - - just about nothing's better!!

Photo Day #26 - Our First Writer's Workshop

I know this may seem like kind of an odd picture to post, but, to me, it was such a great way to capture how truly excited I am about the new reading/writing workshop plans that I have this year!  Today we had our very first Writer's Workshop in the fifth grade!  I actually had my kids come sit up by my easel-board with their journals in hand, and we chatted for a while about "Where do authors get their ideas?". We started creating a list; they were really thinking!  We could have gone on for a quite a bit longer, but we ran out of time and space!  I then introduced the "JOT list" part of their journal (the place where they "jot" ideas that could later be turned into a "long write"), and sent them on their way to begin their JOT list.  In order to get the creative juices flowing, we listened to Moonlight Sonata  while writing.  After about five minutes, we met together, and they shared some of their ideas.  I then assigned them their first journaling "long write."  With the classical music still playing in the background, they began to write.  I was so proud of my kidlets!  They wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote - just like real authors!  Before ten minutes was up I only had two little guys come up and tell me they were "done."  When I asked both if they had told me EVERYTHING about subject - "I mean EVERYTHING!" - they both grinned sheepishly and headed back to their journal!  I love reading and writing and it's so very exciting to pass on that passion to the next generation!

Photo Day#25 - Mmmmmm. Tasty!

     Tonight was quite a tasty dinner, if I do say so myself!  Yesterday I bought some lemon pepper marinade (on sale) along with some chicken breasts (on sale).  I prepped the chicken and poured in the marinade and let it sit in the fridge overnight.  Today I looked up a recipe for lemon pasta "sauce."  The first one I passed on because it was way to complex with ingredients like heavy cream, not the best choice if your watching caloric intake.  The second one I found was really easy, so it was a go!  I made the pasta (whole wheat of course), mixed it with the lemon garlic sauce and topped it with the stove grilled chicken breasts.  I added a dash of Parmesan cheese and presented it to Steve for dinner.  His first response was, "Where's the sauce?"  I informed him that the sauce was already mixed in.  As he took the plate, he sighed quietly, "How can it be pasta without red sauce."  So much for fancy, smancy plated dinners at our house!

Photo Day #24 - The Mess

My goodness!  Today was one of those non-stop days at school!!  We're having some issues with our schedule, and as I tell my kidlets (and remind myself) part of growing this year means learning to be flexible - and today was definitely a test of that.  By the end of the day, my desk looked like a tornado hit it.  (see picture)  Of course, I could not leave until it was neat and tidy.  [Fly Lady may not reside in my real house, but in my classroom, shes' a constant companion, and my "sink" is my desk top at this house!]  Well, I just thought that this would be a perfect pictures snapshot of :

1.) what busy looks like

2.) what productive looks like, and 

3.) what my desk doesn't look like in the morning!!

Disclaimer: The contents and appearance of the desk

was in no way altered prior to the photograph being taken.

Photo Day #23 - Hmmmmm. . . .

Today's picture is actually a conundrum that I am facing.  How come clothes baskets rarely stay in THIS form?  Most of the time they are either filled with dirty clothes to be washed or clean clothes to be folded and put away, but they aren't often found just like this?   I saw one like this for the briefest of moments today, and just had to make it my "picture of the day."  It was such a rarity, and to be honest, I think it has already disappeared. . .

Today I challenge all who view my blog,

what is YOUR explanation for this phenomena?

(leave your answer as a comment)

Photo Day#22 - Our New Roof

Even though it was a Sunday (which usually starts out pretty early), this Sunday started out even earlier than usual.  By 7:30a, Steve was dressed in his long sleeve work shirt and jeans to get up on the roof and finish 'his part' before the roofing guys got to working in the same spot.  [By the way, Steve rebuilt the entire left side of the dormer - see Photo Day #21 for details.]  This was the view of our house when we left for church about an hour and a half later.  By the time we got home after lunch, it looked like a brand new house!!  I'm so glad to have the TREE vs HOUSE saga almost wrapped up.
                                                     Now, on to dealing with the rental house drama. . .

Photo Day #22 - I Like Pretty Things

I like pretty things, so when I decided that I needed a clip board for school, there was no settling for a generic, boring old clipboard.  Nosiree!  I found a site online that showed a fancy clipboard, and I went with it!  It's pretty and polka-dotted and perfect for keeping "stuff" clipped in place on my stand at school.  See, fashion CAN walk hand-in-hand with function, at least in the clipboard department!

Photo Day#21 - My Handyman

I just love today's picture!!  It's actually what I saw outside my front door for a good part of the afternoon.  The other part of the afternoon would have included the ladder w/out the feet as Steve as standing in the attic working on the roof.  (Finally, after a tree falling on our house several months ago, the insurance-paid roofer is coming out to fix the roof, and before he could do that Steve had to fix the hole.)  I'm so glad that I married a guy who knows how to do "stuff" - like fix a hole in a roof, and doesn't mind getting dirty - "dirty" hardly described what he looked like when he was done!  He saved us over $800 yesterday by doing it himself; what a guy!  I will say, I was slightly terrified that at some point I was going to see him laying in the front yard; so, I'm also glad I married a guy who has good balance!

Photo Day#20 - My Birthday Day

WOW!  What a fun day!!  and what a tough day for photo selections!  I could have grabbed a picture of Steve as he padded down the stairs this morning with his still half-asleep "Happy Birthday."  I did get some pictures after my kids surprised me at school with flowers, a cake, and a card that they had somehow all signed!  As they brought it into the classroom, one of them said, "Hey!  We gotta sing to her.  Okay, everybody on three. . . "  So, I also enjoyed a very sweet rendition of "Happy Birthday" - - too bad pictures don't come with sound tracks in this challenge!  Finally, the day ended with the traditional "birthday dinner" out with Steve's side of the family.  This year it included Grandma too, which was kind of fun - she makes me laugh!  We met at Bucca de Pepo and enjoyed way more food than we could finish (have the boxes in the fridge to prove it)!  Steve snapped some pictures of them singing to me, as well as my birthday brownie treat.  But, today I decided to use the last picture of the evening in my post.  It's not the best picture of me, but it's a great picture of "my girls."  I love being an aunt!  I love the hugs and kisses.  I love the giggles and adventures.  I don't, however, love the fact that they are growing up just too fast!  Oh, well - I guess it comes with the territory. . .

This is my Megan and my Juanita.

The two bestest nieces in the whole, wide world!

Photo Day #19 - Lunch Time

It is my personal opinion that the school year cannot be started properly without the purchasing of a new lunchbox.  It is a tradition that has dated back to my childhood.  Today, in honor of the second lunch of the school year (and the first lunch that I didn't forget) here is a delightful portrait of my lunch "box" and matching water glass.  This very festive ensemble is brightly fashioned to bring both joy and a smile to its owner's face.  It does to mind, and I have to admit - I LOVE LUNCH!  And it's not just because of my beautiful, new lunch box, but it's because I get to spend every week-day lunch with an awesome group of fellow educators.  During that short respite from the day, we laugh, encourage, share, offer help, giggle, make fun of other people's lunches, advise, offer a shoulder, plan, procrastinate, and, oh yeah, we eat!  What more could you ask for from a lunch!  As a result, this picture is more than just a lunch box - it's a way to capture the very essences of one of my favorite times of the work-week: LUNCH!