Happy Birthday Parker James!

Butterball is finally here!

Jill's baby, Parker James, was born September 30 at 2:52 am. Mom and baby are fine (though a bit groggy). Parker weighed in at 7lbs 13 oz and 20 inches. FYI: Parker means keeper of the trees. A pretty fitting name for the newest Clennon.

Details are still fuzzy since I spoke with Jill (who is coming off meds) and Becky (who has been awake for 24 hours), so check back for corrections. Jill went into labor yesterday afternoon.

When I talked to Jill the first thing she told me- before a name or a birth story- was "Mom had to be taken out in a wheelchair." What?? After a long day of waiting and traveling (Becky and Brian's mom Mary Clennon drove up Tuesday night), Becky lay down on the floor of the room and a passing nurse grew concerned. They made Mary Clennon wheel Becky out of the hospital when they left.

Stay tuned for pictures or check Jill's blog for updates.

Congratulations Jill and Brian! Welcome Parker!

All things China

I was scanning back through the blog and I can't believe I didn't post this story.

Caroline loves all things China. I don't know where she got the idea, but one day (she was about 3.5) she told us that she was going to China when she got older. This expanded to going to college in China, moving to China (and taking her dog and family with her), and learning Chinese (which Hunter has taught her). She loves to read about China and visit a neighbor of ours who lived in China. So, when the Houston Museum of Natural History was the first museum to host the Terra Cotta warriors exhibit I knew we had to go.

In July the two of us went up to HMNS for the exhibit. We read about the Terra Cotta Warriors in several fiction (thank you Miss Frizzle) and non-fiction books and she was ready. Of course the place was packed with people who are listening to the exhibit notes and aren't looking down so C kept getting run over. So at each main stop I would sit down in front of the windows and pull her into my lap to read the information out loud to her.

The exhibit is amazing. If you get a chance to see it you must go. The description of how these statues were made is incredible. Each statue is incredibly life like.

We were almost through the "learning" part and headed around a corner to where they had one of each kind lined up like they are in the pits and we came across an archer in a corner. I was reading and Caroline was just staring at it. All of a sudden she screams and takes off running. I chased after her and she finally stopped and said " It blinked at me". Her little heart was pounding. I asked her again what happened (and by now a bunch of people have gathered to make sure she is ok) and she said," The Scarry Cotta Warrior blinked at me". We sat near a wall until she had calmed down and then she wanted to see the rest, while holding hands of course.

So, Scarry Cotta Warriors they have become. Caroline has told tons of people about Scarry Cotta Warriors and that when they go see them, they should hold someone's hand so they won't be afraid.

Offshore with the family

Labor Day weekend we went offshore "like a family" as Caroline would say. The fish were apparently told of our evil plan ahead of time and all went on vacation because it was slow fishing.

C was kept entertained by the shrimp boats in the area, dolphin watching and the occasional "puuuullll, reeel, reel, reel, reel, reel."

At one point Caroline mentioned that she wanted to go swimming. I think she may have meant in Maddy's pool, but Daddy threw her overboard in 89 feet of water! She had "an island" on the end of a rope and had a grand time swimming around the back of the boat. She thought it was pretty cool that the tallest building she could think of would fit under her and she wouldn't even touch it. (she recently watched Drain the Ocean on Discovery)

On the way home, I practiced driving the boat. As you can see, I am not a very confident driver. Hunter was standing up front stowing gear as we were approaching a barge and I freaked out that I could not see out the windows. Aftert that he took this picture.

Of course Caroline missed it all becasue she is her mother's daughter and can't stay awake.

My classroom

Here are a few pictures of my little classroom. It has changed a bit recently as I start filling in blank spaces with kid projects.

C helped me pick out fabric for the bulletin boards. Purple and gold are our school colors- GO Tors! The table was in pieces on the floor when I first came in. A neighboring teacher helped me put it back together and It works great. Notice the pink princess clock. C got this for Christmas several years ago from Grandma Mary. It stopped playing sound which was a problem since we have started setting her alarm clock (it plays music from Cinderella). So the old clock went to school and we got her a replacement for home. C also picked out the chiauaua poster under the purple bulletin board. Every classroom needs a little bit Skippy Jon Jones.

This corner is my "prep" closet. I am not in a lab room so all my supplies go in my closet (or o top of it). The wooden table under the yellow bulletin board is a science cart on wheels. This serves as my demo and prep space. This wall has turned into the Chemistry wall. I now have three IPC (Integrated Physics and Chemistry- sort of a pre chem, pre physics class for those with low math skills) and 3 Biology classes. When I went shopping for posters, I was only teaching IPC so I don't have much in the way of Bio stuff yet. I am trying to hold out for the CAST conference where I will pick up LOADS of free stuff.

I realized I don't have pictures of my favorites. One wall is covered in Watt Watcher posters. It is interesting to hear the kids quote facts from these posters that we created over the years for school use.

And, above my desk I have a 3ft x 5 ft Watt Watcher flag hanging. The principal came by last week and asked me what WOW was. Pretty fun to explain that, especially since he has started seeing posters and flyers around our school (wherever I roam I try to post one to remind teachers to turn off the lights).

So, that is my classroom. I still haven't painted any windows on my wall like I thought I would. But then again, I can show great Dicovery channel shows from my LCD projector since I don't have to contend with natural light coming in a window.

Have a Tor- iffic day!

The newest toy- the "jetski"

The Friday of Labor day weekend C wanted to go out on the boat and we decided to blow up the "jet ski" (Caroline's name for the long skinny type tubes) and take it for a spin. Daddy had it all ready to go when we got home from school and we jumped in the boat.

A little history on the jet ski. Christmas 1996 or so I gave this to Holly. I figured she could use it on the lake. Spring 2009 Mom found it in her closet (that her children affectionatly call ShopKo since you can always go there to find a present for someone). The box had not been opened so she sent it down to Caroline.

So, we drove out to an area where we would not get run over by boat traffic and deployed the jet ski. Except the plug had come loose while driving out and Hunter now had to blow it up by mouth. All blown up, we deploy and C and I get on.

C loves it!. She is having a blast and screaming at Hunter to go faster. I was having fun for awhile, but soon noticed that my heiny was dangerously close to the water. I look over C's shoulder and the plug is out again. We are now riding a half deflated jet ski. We soon crash and we spend no less than 10 minutes trying to get back on. After another round, we throw it in the boat and try to blow it up again. Now noticing that neither end is holding air. If you look closely, C is trying to close the plug while we are still in mid ride.

The jet ski was great fun for the weekend, but it mysteriously disappeared on garbage day. I am positive that the Overton's catalog will be getting some of our business in the near future.