P::52 Door

Door.
It doesn't look like much - just an ordinary door.
A bedroom door.
With a hole.
This is Son #2's bedroom door.
We haven't replaced it or fixed - some day we will.
But for now the hole is a reminder.
It reminds us of his passion.
A child who is not aggressive.
Who does not anger quickly.
A child who loves life.
A boy who loves soccer.
He had dreams and goals.
He aspired to play soccer in college.
That dream seemed to come crashing down in 2007 when he fell during a soccer game & heard a pop in his knee.
He had torn his ACL.
He held his composure when the doctor confirmed the diagnosis.
Until his bedroom door got in his way when we got home.
This was the end of his junior year in high school.  He was supposed to go to college soccer camps that summer.  Coaches would be at spring tournaments scouting.
He would not be on those fields.
Instead, he was in a hospital 4 hours from home having his ACL repaired.  His summer was spent doing rehab and working harder than he had ever worked conditioning for a season.  
He was determined.
He was successful.
A door.
A hole.
A boy.
A dream lived out to his every imaginable thought. 

Wordless Wednesday

Because they love you little man.

Pinterest Pass or Fail

Yes - I am on Pinterest.

I have been for about a year.

I have pinned, but Dream Boy pins more on my boards than I do sometimes. 

No lie.

I have tried this and that and the other thing and I believe I've posted from time to time about my tries.

If I haven't, I am now.

I've had this idea on my board since before Christmas.  I even went out over Christmas break & bought the supplies from the dollar store.

Yes - the dollar store.

This project cost me a whole dollar to make!

So tonite I knew I was going to be on a conference call for a while.

Before the call came in, I gathered my supplies to work on while on this call.

The Supplies

Old Book

Stapler

Styrofoam Wreath

Glue Gun

I had a book that I had taken the binding off before to use on another project about a year ago, so I used the guts from that book.  You can pick up books from the $1.00 store to use for this project - that's why it's so cheap!

As I was talking I ripped out pages and rolled them, then stapled them at the bottom.  I spent an hour doing this, that's how long the call was.

When the call ended, I fired up the 'ol glue gun and started gluing.

 With my tutorial in front of me from here I got started gluing.  

Don't believe the gun when it says Low Temp.

Seriously.

I have the blister on my finger to prove it's not!

I started on the underside and went all the way around.

Then I flipped it over & started from the outside & worked my way into the center of the styrofoam wreath.

This is my finished project:

Pretty dog gone cool, eh?

I'm having dinner with my bestest friend tomorrow night.  

She's a retired librarian.  

She's gonna like this.

So, other than the low temp glue gun which was not low temp, I give this Pinterest Pin a pass!

In less than 2 hours I had this baby done.

What do you think?

Morning Coffee Time

Here it is - Monday again!

Wow - how does that happen so fast?

It can't be I'm getting older, right?

Let's see......what to talk about, what to talk about....

1.  Our 80+ degree weather has taken a hiatus for now.  We had 9 straight days of records temps.

2.  We're still above normal for this time of year.  Hope we don't pay for this come summer.

3.  I was interviewed on the radio last Thursday.

4.  I've been told I had a very good radio voice.

5.  My transportation for my senior trip has been resolved.  

6.  No, I didn't get my money back.....and no, we're not flying - unless John Travolta comes through.

7.  Yes, John Travolta.  I received an email from a grandparent of one of my student's who "stepped outside of the box" and contacted John Travolta & told him of our situation.  He said maybe John would fly up here - take us back down there & then return us again in 3 days to Michigan.

8.  This made me smile.  

9.  You never know unless you ask, right?

10.  Oh, I didn't tell you, we've chartered a bus.  Twenty four hours down, 48 hours there and 24 hours back.

11.  On the same bus.

12.  With 41 high school seniors.

13.  This.will.be.fun!

14.  Won't it?

The school bus just went by and that's my cue to leave for school.

We'll talk more about this bus deal later --  in the meantime, pray that John Travolta takes pity on us.

Toodles!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

After a crazy, busy week at school due to a defunct airline stealing our money - I wasn't able to participate in SHS last week.  It bummed me out.

So I've made a point to return this week.  But I did have to resort to my archives - albeit the 1st time I've done so this year.

So without further blabbering from muah.......here are my interpretations.

Whimsy

I took this of the center of a Hibiscus flower on our trip to Florida last month.  See the little tiny bug up on the ball?  It reminds me of "Horton Hears A Who"

Create

I created this "one little word" banner, Embrace, from shots I've taken here & there to depict letters.

Dust

With the warmer weather it's time to dust off my walking shoes & get busy once again.

Sprout

We have had record breaking temperatures the last two weeks.  It has caused my perennials to come up early & the trees to bud out way too soon. I hope we don't get any deep freezes yet this spring - it could hurt the fruit farmers terribly.

Drop

This is from my archives - it was from last year's senior trip.  This is Sheikra at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL.  I.LOVE.THIS!  You climb 200 feet and pause at the top for a few seconds before you drop at a 90 degree angle straight down at 70mph.  Did I mention I love this ride?

That whole front row is filled with all my kids!

Want to see more interpretations??  Head on over to Ramblings and Photos and click on any of the linky's at the bottom of the page.

P::52 Sign

And the sign said long haired freaky people

need not apply.

So I tucked my hair up under my hat

and I went in to ask him why?

He said you look like a fine 

young fellow

You're swell, I think you'll do.

So I took off my hat

said, "imagine that! Huh, me working for you!"

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.

Do you remember that song from the late 60s - early 70s??

This week's prompt was "sign".

I have been so overwhelmed with this trip situation, losing $9000 to DirectAir.

We have been fundraising, fundraising, fundraising.

Our community has rallied to the cause & are helping wherever & however they can.

I have been keeping a list of who has donated in whatever way and today I needed to spend some time in my creative corner to unwind.

So, I decided to make up some thank you cards.

As I was creating, I was also thinking of the prompt for this week.  Where can I get that shot, what can I do?

Then the words of comedian Bill Engel, "here's your sign" popped into my head as I'm making these cards.

I am blown away at the outpouring of support for my seniors.  My heart is so full with gratitude.  I am hoping my kids see that even though DirectAir was so dishonest, there are caring people and business' in this world.  

We are getting close to our goal of $17,000, but are still about $5,000 short.  We do know that we have enough money to charter a bus down to Florida & back.  The $17,000 is what we need to fly all 46 of us down & back.  

Flying would be the best way - but you know what?  A bus can be a whole heck of a lot of fun too!

So my sign "thank you" is where I'm at this week.

I am so very thankful to everyone who has stepped up and helped us out.  Whether it be monetarily, offering to host a fundraiser, or lifting me up in prayer through this challenge.

From deep within my heart.....thank you.

God has lifted me up & carried me through this past week and a half & He has shown me that all things are possible if I do it with His guidance.

Wordless Wednesday

Some days I just need to remind myself.

It's Coffee Time!!!

Top 'o the morning to ya!

Yes - St. Patty's day has come and gone yet again ---- did you survive?

1.  I spent mine doing a fundraising carwash!

2.  Then I came home and did some research for transportation for our senior trip.

3.  Then I laid down to read my book and promptly fell asleep for 2 hours.

4.  Dream Boy woke me up & took me to dinner.

5.  It was a pub that was packed with crazies!

6.  Oh my!

7.  We went grocery shopping and then came home at 9pm.

8.  Then I cooked for 2 1/2 hours making meals for my in-laws.

9.  My mother-in-law is having a tumor (non-cancerous) removed from the front of her brain tomorrow.

10.  Prayers are appreciated.

11.  With the airline situation last week I never had a chance to complete my Sunday Scavenger Hunt.

12.  I missed doing it - I even tried to pull it together yesterday, but decided to move on to next Sunday's prompts instead.

13.  We have had the most unbelievable weather the last week and it's supposed to continue right through this week!

14.  I hope we don't get a hard freeze anymore this year - the fruit farmers will suffer greatly if we do.  All the trees are budding.

Well, I'm running late and I need to get to school.  

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Thanks for stopping by!

So Thankful

Remember on Wednesday when I told you about my predicament with Direct Air taking almost $9,000.00 of my high school seniors money?

Yeah - they "suspended" all flights until May 15th due to not paying a fuel bill.

Thousands of people were stranded in Florida and even more are out money for tickets bought for upcoming flights.  Yesterday they declared bankruptcy.

Every spring I take our high school seniors to Florida for a whirlwind weekend trip.  These kids' pay for most of the trip out of their own pockets.  Their class funds only cover a very small portion of it.  

Forty one seniors have paid $600 to go on this final trip.  They look forward to it from the moment they start walking the halls as a freshman.  They work hard to pay for this trip.

On Thursday our local news station came out and did a small piece on it & it aired on the 5pm and 6pm broadcasts that night.  Since then we have been inundated with calls of wanting to help - donations & fundraising opportunities have poured in.

This morning - in mid March when the snow is usually still blowing and the temps are normally in the 30s - we held a carwash!

Yes - I said in mid March, in Michigan --- we held a CARWASH!

The day started out beautiful!  And it continued on and on and on.  My kids' showed up at 9am ready to start working.  It was already 57 degrees out.

In less than an hour we had over $200 raised.

 We kept washing and drying.

 Yes - we even washed a mobile Tea Cup.

We worked and worked and the temps reached 75 degrees.

We raised almost $1900.00!!!

AH-MA-ZING!!!

We received a $500 donation yesterday and several other small ones. 

We are on our way to making this trip happen.

Yes - we have a long way to go.

BUT - we just started and have time to do it!

I am so proud to be a part of these seniors lives.  They all worked so hard today & deserve this trip.

Now pray that I can get another airline to work with us & make us a great deal.

P::52 Down

This week's prompt is "down".  

With what has happened in regards to my flights for my upcoming senior trip, I could be pretty down in the dumps.  But I've chosen to "embrace" this issue and do the best I possibly can to make this trip go on for my kids!

Today when I got home from school it was 80 degrees outside.  UNHEARD of in Michigan in March!!!  So, I embraced the gift that God had given me in this beautiful day & went out into the back yard to read in the sunshine.  

It wasn't long before Libbi The Wonder Dog decided she had enough relaxing and wanted to play Mountain Goat Dog.  She found a slimy, dirty tennis ball that has seen it's better days & promptly dropped it between my legs.  So I played fetch with her for a while & then ran in to grab my camera.

While sitting on her mountain perch I was able to get a shot of Libbi The Wonder Dog looking "down" on me.

A little bit different perspective - rather than me shooting looking down on something, I took the shot with LtWD looking down on me!

That's my girl!

That Which Doesn't Kill You...

.....makes you stronger, right?  

Isn't that Kelly Clarkson's new song? (Which I love by the way).

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know that every April/May I take almost my whole senior class from school on a whirlwind trip to Florida for a weekend.

In a matter of 4 days, 2 of which are spent traveling, we hit up Busch Gardens in Tampa, Grad Bash at Universal and/or Disney and spend a full day at Sea World's amazing watermark - Aquatica.

When I return, I give myself about a month before I start planning the next year's trip.

We're in Michigan - the trip is in Florida - a good 24 hour bus ride.  So we fly.  Yep - anywhere from 40-55 people - we fly.

Yesterday I was in our state capitol at a symposium for school.  As I was leaving the parking garage my phone rang.  It was one of my senior's.  I waited until I was out of Lansing and had stopped for gas before I called him back.  He gave me the news that Direct Air (our airline that is transporting us this year)

had announced they were suspending their business until mid-May.

So I told him not to worry & I would get on it as soon as I got home.

I immediately called my big sister & she was already on the website.  She filled me in, yes, they were shut down for at least 2 months.

Our trip is April 20-23.  Ouch.

My biggest concern is getting the money back we paid for tickets.  Fortunately my final payment had not yet been sent from school, so I still have those funds.  When I got home & checked my email I found one from my group sales contact stating they would have a check in the mail to me by the end of the week.  They are supposed to call me when the check is mailed.

Please pray that I receive it - and that it is good.  

Seriously.

I don't want to disappoint these kids.  I am doing everything I possibly can to make this trip go off nonetheless without them having to pay anymore than they already have.

I pulling in all my favors, I'm pleading my case to other transportation carriers and I'm working through this with the strength of Christ, with Him I can do all things.

Well, I'm off to school, my head is swimming with new ideas about my classroom program & things I want to change.......and it's drowning with solutions for my senior trip!

I'll keep you posted as to what I am able to do.

Happy Hump Day!

12 On Twelve

I'm hooking up with Dear Lizzy today and joining in on her 12 On Twelve challenge.

On the 12th day of the month you take 12 photos to depict your day.  So yesterday I carried my camera around a lot.  It's more challenging than I imagined when you have to think about taking 12 shots, they don't always present themselves.

But here are my shots - I put them in a mosaic form thanks to Big Huge Photo Labs.  You can pull your pics from your Flickr on over to this sight to make your mosaic.

Exciting day, eh?

Monday Morning Coffee

Good morning!

Yep, that's me, but I'm fresh out of the shower & so that's all you're gonna get.

I'm participating in 12 on the 12th today, so this is one of my 12 shots for the day.  

I'm trying to take pics in an out of norm fashion for this one.

So how was your week since we last had coffee?

Mine - divine!

1.  You probably all know by now my #1 son is engaged!  Soooo excited.

2.  I had a wonkie school schedule last week so it was VERY hard getting up this morning.

3.  Daylight Savings Time this weekend probably didn't help either.

4.  Did I tell you I am now in charge of prom?  Uh yeah -- like as of 2 weeks ago.  Prom is May 5th & the only thing done was the venue was reserved.

5.  In 40 days I will be heading off to Florida for my 10th annual Senior Class Trip!

6. I made Lucky Charm shirts for my seesters and my nieces and my 2 girls on Friday night.  They loved them!

7.  We had family dinner last night and EVERYONE was able to come home.  Both boys & both girls.

8.  We had a celebratory toast to the newly engaged couple.

9.  Dream Boy grilled a Pork Loin and I made roasted red potatoes w/ garlic & fresh parsley in the crockpot.

10.  For dessert, we made 5 minute microwave chocolate s'more cakes.  It was so much fun watching Dream Boy & our 2 girls working together making these up.

11.  I have pictures, but they're on my computer at home -- I'll post them later.

12.  It was 62 degrees yesterday and supposed to keep warming up all week.

13.  I sat on the patio yesterday & read all afternoon.

14.  Since the bell just rang, I need to get to work.

Happy Monday everyone!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

 Wow!  Another week has flown by.  Such an exciting week & tonite is Family Dinner Night.  We're going to celebrate Son #1's engagement together as a family!

But now, onto this week's interpretations of the hunt.

Water

Can you hear the sun sizzle as it sinks into the water?

Light

I started with a wine glass filled with water. Then I made a new light box from a tutorial on Ashley Sisk's blog.  I pulled out some old Christmas lights to try & get a bokeh effect.  Then I played in PE10 to get this effect.

Chocolate

There are always chocolate chips in this house.  Dream Boy loves them at night with his glass of red wine or his beer.

Animal

 We haven't had much of a winter here, so the ground has never fully froze.  The temps have been warming up a lot lately (unseasonably warm) - while roaming the yard today I came across this giant paw print from my favorite animal!

(Libbi The Wonder Dog)

 Crowded

 It's a little crowded in this patch of spring flowers that sprouts every year in our woods.

Want to see more fantastic photos?  Head on over to Ramblings and Photos and click on a link to see more great interpretations!

Hot Off The Press

Earlier this week I was reading my blogs, a favorite past time of mine.

When I got to Monika's blog I saw this free download she had created!

So I thought to myself, "Self, why not do this for all the girls' in my life this year? Even though we're all Dutch, we can be a wee bit 'o Irish for one day!"  Although now that I think of it, me grandmother on me father's side was a Miller, so there is a wee bit 'o Irish in me after all.

So on Tuesday when DMarie and I were lunching, we went shopping afterwards & picked out the t-shirts.

Then yesterday I went & bought 2 more t-shirts for the daughter to be & the Son #2's girlfriend too!

Tonite I heated up the old iron (believe me when I say it's old) and I buzzed the iron on transfer through the printer and I made these:

So tomorrow this little (ahem - in my mind I'm little) leprechaun will be dancing a jig to me sister's abodes to deliver these "charming" shirts to them.

On Sunday when the kids come home for family dinner, the other 2 girls will get theirs.

Thanks so much Monika for the free download!

Want to make these for the lucky charms in your life?  Just click on Monika's name anywhere you see it in my post to get your download!

Now I'm off to dream about rainbows.

Bride & Groom To Be.....

My son and his new fiancé came home tonite from Florida.

We, along with her mom, met them at the airport.

I brought her this:

..and Son #1 got to share this:

...the card.  :)

Then she opened the bag and put on this:

 Then we went out to dinner with parents and I took this:

The newly engaged couple.

Son #1 just smiled his quiet smile while Daughter To Be, her mom & I talked wedding schtuff!  They are talking about a September 2013 wedding.

I like September.

My mom and dad were married in September.

I was born in September.

Dream Boy and I were married in September.

Son #1 was born in September.

September's a good month!

We talked about a church and some ideas for a reception.

We talked flowers and talked about my friend and my sister who are both really good at flower arranging.

We talked girl talk.

We are so proud of these two - we are so happy for these two.

Dream Boy and I look forward to a long life of love & happiness for these two, just as we have!

P::52 Work

Work.

Most of my day at school is spent on this contraption.

Checking attendance.

Checking credit standings for graduation.

Assigning courses for my at risk students.

Allowing retakes on their online course quizzes and tests.

Entering attendance.

Typing up the daily announcements.

Posting the daily announcements to the website.

Answering emails.

Then I come home and play on this same type of contraption - blogging, emailing friends, photoshop, editing pics, pinning on pinterest, reading blogs, reading the paper, and finding inspiration for my creative side!

It's called "work" - but really I enjoy it, so it should be called "playful work"!

Next week's prompt::Down

My Days....

We've had some beautiful, but windy weather here the last 2 days.  It's been 64 degrees both days, but it will once again return to more winter like temps tomorrow.

Typical.

But I can't remember the last time I've seen this in March:

 These don't usually start popping in my yard until late April!!

Yesterday I didn't have school so I took this beauty out to lunch.

 This is my oldest niece, DMarie.

We dined at Sonic.  Then we went to Michael's & she helped me pick out colors for something I'm making for her, my other niece, me & my 2 sisters.

 Remember all those shells I collected in Florida a couple of weeks ago?  All those conch shells?  Well, I made this yesterday!  I wanted to hang it on the wall, but it's very heavy, so it has become a candle ring for my kitchen table!

Okay.....remember my BIG secret??  I've been bursting trying not to spoil the surprise for my #1 Son.

Today I received this pic on my phone.....

She said "yes!"

Finally!  I get another girl in the family besides one of the furry nature (Libbi The Wonder Dog).  

So I am now officially a Mother of the Groom!  

Does that make me a M.O.G.??

Monday Morning Coffee

Hi.

Hello.

Good morning.

Have you had your coffee yet?

I'm working on it.

Let's see, where shall we start?

1.  Last week was so hard getting back into the reality of it all.

2.  One of our teachers flew to Jamaica on Saturday, she is getting married today!

3.  One of the other teacher's bought her a little veil & a sash that said, "Bride to be" -- she wore it all day Friday at school - so cute!

4.  I got pissy with a parent on the phone last Thursday - my principal got an email from the pissed off parent.

5.  My principal emailed me Friday morning about pissed parent - - - he wanted the whole story. He was on my side when he heard my side.

6.  In my defense, said pissy parent was pissy with a teacher last week & when I answered my phone said pissy parent was pissy right off the bat with me.

7.  O.K. ---- enough of the pissy parent, let's move on, shall we?

8.  Dream Boy took me out for pizza Friday night.  We then came home & rented  "Tower Heist" on pay-per-view.  A pretty good movie.

9.  Saturday I slept in, I smashed and then Dream Boy & I went out for dinner, went to movie in the theatre and then we went out for a beer.

10.  Did I mention how much I love that man of mine?

11.  Sunday we went to church and then up to Holland to see son #2.  Haven't seen him in about a month.  

12.  It was nice to see him.

13.  I have crazy weird school schedule this week.  I have all day Tuesday off & half days on Wed/Thurs.

14. The half days are afternoon classes with the mornings off.

15.  The sophomores & juniors are testing, so the rest of us cannot be on school grounds.....state mandated.

16.  I finished another book on my Kindle, "A Heart of Stone".  It was freebie, a simple Christian novel, I really enjoyed it.

17.  I need to remember to get my library card number from my local library so I can start checking out digital books from the online library.

18.  Temps are supposed to be warming up again this week - YAY!

Okay - I think that is about it for now.  I still can't reveal by BIG secret, but soon enough~~~~soon enough!

Happy Monday everyone!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I'm back with another "hunt".

This week's didn't fall into place as last week's did, but I am proud of myself that I've been able to accomplish this challenge every week since it started at the beginning of the year.

Without further ado......here are my shots!

Routine

 Every morning I fill my thermos with black liquid energy to get me through my morning at school.  The clock should actually read 6:50am, but we don't really use it, so we've never reset it.

Music

 I love music - it's a big part of who I am.  I love to crank it up when I'm in my Creative Corner.  Yesterday while I was creating, Dream Boy was doing his ride --- so I turned up his tune, "Sexy And I Know It".  

Heh, heh, heh!

Technology

On any given day, at least one of these pieces of current technology is found in my hands.  It amazes me - what did we do when I was little without ANY of these things?  Yes, I am that old to remember a world without computers, MP3s, & cell phones.  I even remember when we got our 1st colored t.v. AND our 1st gaming system was "Pong".

Those were the days my friend!

 Show Me Your Style

A self shot - so hard to do these.  

My style, relaxed & comfortable.  Big sweaters, jeans, favorite Dansko's & in the summer....t-shirts, Birks, capris....

I'm a simple kinda gal.

Mismatched

I can't believe I put this out there for the whole world to see.  The inside of my cupboard with all our mismatched glasses & mugs.

Did you play along this week?  If not, why don't you give it a shot this next week?

Head on over to Ramblings and Photos for more interpretations and next week's prompts?

Today

I slept in til 9am.

I caught up on my blog reading.

I stayed in my jammies until 11am.

I took a long, hot shower.

I've been rocking out to my iTunes......a little bit of Beatles, a little bit of Journey, a little bit of Adele, a little bit of Amy Winehouse, a little bit of Melanie.....

I SMASHED.

P::52 Morning

I, by no means, am a morning person -- until I'm up & about.

I do not bound out of bed at the crack of dawn......only if my alarm makes me.  But still, I do not bound out of bed.

Unless I'm on vacation or senior trip.

Then it's a different story.

I like to wake up on my own - no alarm clock.

I like my mornings quiet -- unless I'm on the senior trip.

I don't like the 3 months of winter where it's dark as dark can be & it's still dark when I get to school.

It's starting to get lighter every morning now - that makes me happy.

That means the days are getting longer & spring/summer is on it's way sooner rather than later.

So yesterday as I was leaving for school, I snapped this pic through my rain soaked car window.

We were supposed to get freezing rain over nite, but the storm went way north of us.

That's okay.

The U.P. can keep their snow & ice a little longer.

Do you like mornings?