Goodbye to Merry Ann III - SOLD

She is sold and I am happy and sad all at once. 

Neely!

A perfect shot of Neely 

Happy 8th Anniversary!

Matt and I celebrated by going to Tico's Steakhouse. I skipped the diet tonight. We saw a couple of my old friends which was fun. The meal was delicious and the company was even better. I love Matt even more today than the day I married him. It was indeed a Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Sunflowers....Thank you Matt!

I Spent Father's Day in Brooksville

 What Are Fathers Made Of?

A father is a thing that is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic.

A father is a thing that growls when it feels good . . . and laughs very loud when it’s scared half to death.

A father is sometimes accused of giving too much time to his business when the little ones are growing up.

That’s partly fear, too.

Fathers are much more easily frightened than mothers.

A father never feels entirely worthy of the worship in a child’s eyes.

He’s never quite the hero his daughter thinks . . never quite the man his son believes him to be . . . and this worries him, sometimes.

So he works too hard to try and smooth the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him.

Fathers grow old faster than people.

And while mothers can cry where it shows . . .

Fathers have to stand there and beam outside . . . and die inside.

Fathers have very stout hearts, so they have to be broken sometimes or no one would know what’s inside.

Fathers are what give daughters away to other men who aren’t nearly good enough . . . so they can have grandchildren that are smarter than anybody’s.

Fathers fight dragons, almost daily.

They hurry away from the breakfast table . . .

Off to the arena which is sometimes called an office or a workshop . . .

There, with calloused, practiced hands they tackle the dragon with three heads . . .

Weariness, Work and Monotony.

And they never quite win the fight, but they never give up.

Knights in shining armor . . .

Fathers in shiny trousers . . . there’s little difference . . .

As they march away to each workday.

Fathers make bets with insurance companies about who’ll live the longest.

Though they know the odds they keep right on betting . . .

Even as the odds get higher and higher, . . . they keep right on betting . . . more and more.

And one day they lose.

But fathers enjoy an earthly immortality . . . and the bet’s paid off to the part of him he leaves behind.

–Excerpt from Paul Harvey News, American Broadcasting Company, Father’s Day 1950.

This weekend the boys and I went to Brooksville to have Father's Day with my Daddy. Stephen and Nathan and their buddy Matt Ferguson painted the M-Club all weekend. The color is perfect for the setting at the lake. The paint color is called "Cabin Plank" and the trim is "Woodrow Wilson Putty." Sunday I went to Brooksville Baptist Church with my family then the entire family had lunch that Mama prepared. We had a great time at lunch discussing the interesting sermon about Fathers, one of the young men read the Paul Harvey monologue and the sermon was about how men should be leaders by loving their wives and family properly. We also had fun telling family stories and crazy weather stories. Afterwards I went back to the cabin to watch the boys finishing up painting. I know Daddy and Matt are proud that the boys finished all that work on Father's Day. 

Happy Father's Day to Matt and Daddy!! 

Also on Saturday night I stopped by the Noxubee High School/ Central Academy Reunion. Below is a picture of the group! Centered is Coach Wayne Stewart. He coached so many of these guys including my brothers Tiny and Keith. It was fun watching all the folks cutting a rug at Land of Lakes Lodge. 

Nancy Heard

Classroom Hints:

1. Make sure your pens are always stored pointing down....that way gravity will keep the ink where it needs to be and it won't dry out and stop writing as much. Students should help monitor the markers making sure only the good ones get back in the box and the dry ones are thrown away. Keep sharpened pencils at easy access to students. 

2. Number your students. Have them put that number in the corner of each paper they turn in. Have a student go through the papers and put them in number order to quickly see who has not turned in their paper. Have a system and a specific place for all papers to be turned in.

3. Assign students their classroom jobs and keep them for a whole semester. At the end of the first semester, have kids fill out applications or draw to get there new job. It saves time as you do not have to 'reteach' a job weekly. (If you prefer it could rotate every nine weeks.)

4. Have a signal for when you are teaching at your table with a small group or one on one. It could be a hat or a broach with a picture.  This will signal that other students cannot talk with you. (Assign a student in the group to remind you to take it off when the group work is complete.)

5. Devise different ways to group your students so that you can pull them into a small group on the fly. Group them by reading level, skill review (i.e. a group that needs to work on punctuation), and independent reading genres. This helps you use every second!

6. Teach one student to be your 'Computer guy/girl'. This student can pull up programs needed in class, help with problems, and guide students.

7. Have a guided reading basket that you can grab in a snap. In this basket have pointers, sight word phrases, pencils that are already sharpened, reading cubes, highlighter tape, hi-lighters, book markers, crayons, and paper.

8. Your desk is not as important as you think. Make the area for your desk small, it only needs to hold your teacher computer and provide a place to write IEP. (SPED Teacher) Very few of us use a desk for more than a place to pile things and you can use that space as an extra reading area. Label plastic pencil 'boxes' to hold: hi-lighters, pencils, pens, glue sticks, stickers, etc. Keep them on a shelf for easy access. Labeled clear plastic drawers on those shelves are even better.

9. Prepare centers that you can 'fall back on' in case of an emergency or for writing....these centers can be based on incorporating writing into your classroom. Other centers can be more skill specific and can be changed whenever needed. This way, you are never without centers and the students always have something that they 'know' how to do independently. It is helpful to have an extra work/activity drawer for students to go to independently. That way the faster student will still be engaged while waiting for the other students to catch up. Known classroom procedures and routines will help keep the day moving efficiently.

10. Develop a special code to use with students so that you can remind them it is time to clean out their desks. I remind 3-4 at a time, and they are always in separate places in the classroom so that things do not get switched. Never do a whole group clean-up because the room becomes a disaster zone!!

 Classroom procedures are key to success. 

My Diet and Exercise Routine this Summer

Started May 28, 2012 

Monday:

Breakfast- 2 eggs

Lunch - tuna salad (tiny amount light mayo and relish)

Snack- trail mix

Supper- grilled chicken, green beans, salad

Exercise- light walking

Tuesday:

Breakfast- 2 eggs

Lunch - spinach salad made with lite raspberry vinaigrette, nuts, raisins, and  two grilled drummies. 

Supper- baked skinless boneless chicken, green beans, butter beans, and English peas

Snack- carrots and 35 calorie laughing cow cheese as a dip

Exercise-  light walking

Wednesday:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 turkey sausage links

Lunch - baked chicken and spinach salad

Snacks- carrots and 35 calorie cheese, a few almonds

Supper- Pork loin, baked zucchini, butter beans

Exercise- walking

Thursday:

Breakfast- 2 eggs, 2 turkey sausage links

Lunch- pork loin and spinach salad

Snack- peanut butter and celery

Supper- broiled fish, steamed broccoli, steamed green beans 

Exercise- walking

Friday:

Breakfast- 2 eggs, 2 turkey sausage links

Lunch- Newk’s salad with grilled chicken

Snack- banana and nuts

Supper- Salsa Chicken, guacamole, salad, low fat cheese, black beans 

Exercise- walked 

Saturday:

Breakfast- 2 eggs, 2 turkey sausage links

Lunch- chicken picante soup (no rice)

Snack- nuts

Supper- Salsa Chicken, guacamole, salad, low fat cheese, black beans 

Exercise- walked

Sunday:

Breakfast- 2 eggs, 2 turkey sausage links (Matt cooked them)

Lunch-  Steamed Brocoli pork loin

Snack- peanut butter on celery

Supper- Dinner out at Table 100- salad, prime rib, steamed green beans 

Exercise- walked
So far I feel better and I think I am dropping the weight but I have not weighed yet. I just don't want to get discouraged if it is not coming off fast enough.