Sunday salon - Monsoon Madness style

Living in the desert like I do brings a real appreciation for the wet stuff - RAIN.

We love it.

Today is a juicy, humid, rainy, monsoon filled day!

We love it.

It has rained off and on all day, including thunder/lightning and flash floods.

We love it.

Okay, we love it when we are protected and safe and have working A/C.

As it is Sunday I thought I should update my week....

I read here this week. 

I read about Albert Einstein, Jane Goodall, science experiments, The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews for some light mindless reading, and started Matched by Ally Condie.

I love this corner of my library.

J and I took this from the yard and made this...

and hung it in the library!

Love my rocks and sea glass too.

Creative juices were flowing.

Just in time to use them to get ready for a new school year to start!

(sorry about the photo quality...night shots and I don't always get along:(..)

My little corner of the room is coming along.

We're eating quite well here....

(Heavenly Raspberry cupcakes I made for a friend's wedding... okay we I licked the beater a lot...)

And we are staying hydrated with Eegee's~~ L.O.V.E. it!!

Watermelon makes life worthwhile.

I loved having a helper in household chores this week.

She helps with dishes, laundry and she motivates me to keep the floors clean.

It doesn't matter how many times I sweep and mop...her little knees always get dirty!

The favorite sounds of the week were...

rain dripping on the roof

and

baby belly-laughs.

We bought a printer. 

We finished a puzzle.

 (My First! I know that's hard to believe but it's true! I had a lot of help!!!)

We finished the week.

It's been a great one!

Happy Sunday!

Saturday Snapshot - Washing Dishes!

I hope I never forget how fun it is to wash dishes....with her!

I remember a saying I read by Ann Landers/Dear Abby that went something like...

Thank God for dirty dishes;
They have a tale to tell.
While others may go hungry,
We're eating very well
With home, health, and happiness,
I shouldn't want to fuss;
By the stack of evidence,
God's been very good to us.

True, true, true!

(I'm linking to West Metro Mommy - Happy Saturday!)

PS....I promise the sponge was clean and brand new :)

Saturday Snapshot - Happy 4th of July

We spent the day in the best way possible...celebrating with our friend as she become a citizen of the 

United States of America!

There is not a better way to appreciate all we have than going to a Naturalization ceremony.

 It was incredible.

Over 200 others took the oath with her this day and our hearts cheered!

There was red. There was white. There was blue.

This was better than fireworks!

Congratulations, Echo!!

I'm linking to West Metro Mommy for this Saturday Snapshot of our life!!

Books = Brain Food!

Being a bookworm boosts your brainpower into old age

(Study out of Baylor College of Medicine via MSNBC and Today's Health)

Now there's proof that holing myself up with a book is good for me....

So...in order to stave off old age I am cramming my little neurons with delightful pieces of information!

For example, here are some of the words I learned while reading, Top of the Morning; Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV 

by Brain Stelter....

evinced, polymath, panopoly and plenteous. 

Whoa! 

I discovered what the Principle of Favorability is while reading The Alchemist by Paul Coehlo.

I was able to peer into the mind of a furniture refinisher in Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman.

I discovered what 'freegans' are while reading the mystery,

Bookplate Special by Lorna Barnett.

I learned that Philippe Petit walked between the twin towers in 1974...in broad daylight(!!) when I read 

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein. 

I discovered a new set of heroes in 

Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan when I read 

Helen Keller; Out of a Dark and Silent World 

by Sandra H. Shichtman. Those two women astounded me.

Thank you, dear books! 

Now, back to the stacks...

Saturday Snapshots

Happy Saturday....today I am sharing a slice of my summer life!

To fulfill my challenge to read a Book-a-Day this summer I seem to be frequenting this special place.

 I LOVE this library! 

It's not cozy and quiet, but it's a place filled with energy. It is swarming with people really using every part of this place. Yet.... it somehow radiates peace. 

I LOVE these ceilings. 

AND this quiet sentry, guarding the door...he's my own personal book-soldier!

What a view. 

PS. When my car broke down last week I was able to somehow make it to this parking lot so I could wait for the tow truck in a safe place!!! 

Talk about making lemons into lemonade! 

"Gosh dear, I will just HAVE to wait in the library. No rush on that tow truck!"

I am linking to Saturday Snapshots at West Metro Mommy

My Summer List and Sunday Blogpost!

Kneaders French toast - it was on the list!!
Kneaders is brand new in the valley and we are HAPPY!

I started the summer with a list of things I wanted to do...you know; places to go and people to see!! Things I really can't seem to find time for when school is in session and I am caught up in teaching. But, I was really surprised at the fact that so many of the things on my list involved food! (Insert frowny face here as my pants are getting mighty snug!) This week I am going to go work with a friend who has developed a  great granola mix that she sells at local farmer's markets...it's on the list! It has been such fun to choose something new to do everyday and then to try to find someone to do it with!!

Listening... to the still and the quiet. Isn't it funny how this quiet is peaceful because I know noise and bustle will be returning shortly!?!? At other times quiet is lonely. I like this quiet tonight.

Eating... Paradise Bakery Lemon Zester cookie, ice cream, Backyard Tacos, Birthday dinner at The Keg for Rich (yum!), BBQ foods at the family June birthday celebration, Kneader's French toast, great hot-weather salads...yep, it's been a good eating week. Tonight I made it simple...a fresh BLT with home-grown tomatoes - YUM! (Geez, I have got to make sure I get to the bike riding, hiking and walking part of my summer-to-do-list! No wonder my pants are getting snug.)

Reading... my Reading list is eclectic. I have reading-ADD. Currently reading:

1. The Beyonders by Brandon Mull
2. Accessible Mathematics
3. Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo (audio)
4. Marco Polo (all the books I could find at the library in the juvenile section!)
5. Top of the Morning by Brian Stelter (about the cutthroat morning TV wars!)
6. The Shadow of the Blackbirds by Cat Winters

I have a huge stack more just tempting me and reminding me that I need to read faster!!!!

Feeling... happy! I love summer. I love my family. I love bagels. I love my friends. I love reading. I love my air conditioner. Random happy things I love!

Watching... Longmire (based on the Craig Johnson series of books that we love), and all the end of season shows on my DVR. I can't wait for Covert Affairs to return in July as well.

Wanting... a new haircut and color. It will happen this week. Yippee!

Thinking... how excited I am that my students did so well on our standardized tests(AIMs)!!!! I was over the moon-excited when my principal emailed me the results. The hard work was so worth it and my kiddos really rallied and shined! What a great confirmation that what we did worked. I wanted to bottle up that feeling and sip on it over and over. I literally sat in my car reading the email and wept!! Tears of joy for jobs well done. You kids rocked!!!!!!

Random Fun Photos.....

Book-A-Day

I love it that I am making the time to read for myself this summer. I am always reading for Book Groups and for work as well as for my kiddos at school. 

Book-A-Day (Based on Donalyn Miller's program) is forcing me to be mindful, read and record my reading so that I can both model for my students as well as read what I want to read.

As I was listening to a really interesting book on King Tut I became really intrigued with a time period I have never known much about beyond cursory knowledge. Since then I have checked out multiple books on Ancient Egypt as well as books on Historical Timelines. Cool stuff, guys!

I fell for Eleanor & Park while wondering what all the buzz was about. Who knew?!

Common Core Math has me boning up more than my skills....I am creating, pondering, persevering and making meaning of fractions, factors, and fractals - - just kidding about the fractals but it was too good to pass up all that alliteration! Nonetheless I Fraction Frenzy has me reading all sorts of fun books for kids. What a cool thing to have literature to match a math skill. Wish I had that when I was a kid.

Keeping with my all-things-Egyptian-summer...I am reveling in the 109+ degree temperatures and have finally tried an Elizabeth Peters book. Her classic Amelia Peabody book (#1), The Crocodile on the Sandbank, was witty and delightful. I can see more of those classic books in my future. 

I am still pondering MY one amazing thing but I do know that the book, by Chitra Divakaruni was AMAZING. I L.O.V.E. her as an author and I have ever since I read Arranged Marriage back in 1995. Whoa, can I truly remember that?!?! You bet! Her writing was incredible then and it has sweetened with time. I loved how I stretched with her first book. It truly was a thrill for me to read her again. I also got to hear her at the Tucson Festival of the Book this past March. Again, Amazing!

I am not chronicling all of my books here until the end of summer, but I am diligently keeping records to show my kiddos. I even signed up for the summer reading program for adults as I encouraged my students to do. That accountability factor will help us all. In the meantime, I am on a real roll with some great books. Yep, I do love summer!