This one is in the cafeteria (obviously) and if you look closely you may notice that the scarecrow is holding an apple and drinking some milk.  It's my favorite part.



We have a "food of the month".  October is Apple month.  November is Potato, which in my opinion is much harder.  This board is also in the cafeteria.



This board is in the hallway, between the computer classroom and the reading help classroom.  I recently put up two new boards in the computer room and I will try to post some pictures of those next week.

This week in the cafeteria I learned ALOT.

~Kids will say the darndest things. This week I heard one 2nd grader say to another 2nd grader "Hello my brother from another mother."  An aide was also asked by one kindergartner if she would move another kindergartner to a different table because "he has willy smelly bref."

~I don't care what the naked chef says freeze dried mashed potatoes rock.  At school we get these tiny little kernels of mashed potatoes in a bag.  You add water and in minutes you have mashed potatoes.  These aren't the flakes...these are magic mashed potato balls.

~It's my stem.  This was a phrase I said over and over on the day I decided to wear a jack-o-lantern shirt and a "stem" on my head. 

~Drop a tray day.  This week seemed like it was drop a tray day everyday.  I think we are going to have to start adding at least an extra five into the daily count to make up for the "Oh nos" and the "Ought ohs..."

~Kids know how to cheer you up.  Even on days when you think everyone around you SUCKS.  Little kids (and co-workers who care) can really cheer you up.

What did you learn this week?

Helen Keller once said "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow."

Today I am working hard at keeping my face in the sunshine.

I am taking the high road when I would rather yell a four letter word.

I am swallowing my pride and keeping my head held high.

I often tell my tweenager to remember that if you wouldn't say it to that persons face you shouldn't say it online. That is great advice. I should know, I said it.

Today, I'm following it. I'm keeping my face in the sunshine.

This blog post was inspired by Mama Kat. If you aren't visiting her, you should be.

Enjoy the sunshine.

This post about a pedophile that stole a picture of this blogger's deceased child off her blog really freaked me out. 

I mean really freaked me out.

In fact, right after I read it I put a plug in onto my blog that prevents people from stealing awesome pictures of my kids like these.  And I'm urging you to put the same plug in on your blog

Middle G and Big G at the wedding

My sweet little boy scout

As promised, here's my hippie picture. I think I may have missed my calling.
After our soccer game we drove about two hours for a family wedding. My husband's cousin got married in the mountains near this beautiful lake. The setting was gorgeous.

• Kids will do anything for a sticker.  Children in K-3 will actually eat their green beans if I give them a "prize".  Even if that prize is a Make Your Own Pizza sticker.

My oldest is almost 12.

It is hard for me to keep track of who is her friend, who used to be her friend, who is her frenemy, who is her enemy and who she thinks is cute.

I am at a complete loss as to how to help her.  I don't understand tween girls.

I don't like them.

They judge you by who you know, what you wear and who eats lunch with you.

I vividly remember how torturous "they" made my middle school years and I'm not ready for Oldest to have to endure this.  But I feel like my hands are completely and totally tied.

Even though these girls treat her like a tissue, she values their opinion more than mine.  If I tell her that she looks great in her new glasses, she thinks that I'm just saying that because I paid for them.  If the girl who fed her a dog biscuit last year says she like her glasses, oldest beams about it for three straight days.

Today there was bus drama.  Who sits with who and where they moved to after so-and-so got off the bus.  Who isn't talking to you, who is talking to you.  It makes your head hurt just trying to follow along.

"I have no friends," says oldest.  "No friends at all."

It hurts me to hear her say this and to not be able to fix it.