Montana Part 2

Well, the formatting is crazy here, but here we are visiting the Rocky Mountain Museum. The place was awesome, with tons of stuff about dinos, Native Americans, old time living, and Jamestown. We really had a lot of fun!

Montana Pictures Part 1

Here we are on vacation in Bozeman, MT. I enjoyed a delicious beer of some sort at Montana Ale Works, and on a different day we both enjoyed a bison burger at Ted's Montana Grill. We went on a hike to "College M" and Chuck had some fun with that as you can tell!

The Runner

I cannot believe it! I just ran 10 miles! I just ran 10 miles! I really don't know what else to say about this subject! But, alas, I will find some words to express what is happening! Today was my ten mile run day. And last night I spent a considerable amount of time at www.mapmyrun.com to develop my route. I was so excited about it. Then I woke up this morning, not quite as excited about it. Reality had set in. I was committing myself to a 10 mile run, where in if I got stuck or stranded, no one could help me. The furthest I have run before this is 8 miles and that was on a treadmill. I don't care what anyone says, running on a treadmill is so very different than running outside. It is mindless, you don't have to think, you can watch TV or movies while you are doing it. Outside, well you have traffic, ice, snow, hills, music, cars. It is so much different. But, with Chuck's help, I was able to do it. I ran most of the time and took a couple walk breaks. But I did it and it feels great. Now, I am going to shower, pop some ibuprofen, and get a massage!

The Reading Monster

I have always enjoyed reading fiction books. I can't remember a time when I didn't enjoy reading, or a time in my life when I didn't read. I can even think back about a certain book and remember exactly what age/grade I was in when I read it. One of my favorite classes that I took when I was in college was Children's Literature. It was a required education course and it was like heaven for me. Not only was I introduced to a whole bunch of books that had come out since I had gotten out of grade school, we were also assigned to read about 30 chapter books and write book reports! I LOVED IT!

Well, anyway, this post is not about me, actually, it is about Skyler. We started reading chapter books with him about a year ago. He got hooked on The Magic Tree House series, which by the way is very good. We also read a couple of Captain Underpants books, these are not that good by the way (but they are funny). We have also read Charlotte's Web, Dinosaur Cove, and Zoobreak. I had told a friend about a really great series of books that I had, that I thought her daughter would enjoy (I loved them and so did my students) and she talked to her daughter about them and she said she would like to try them. When I was digging them out of my sacred box of books, I saw some of the awesome chapter books that I had picked up when taking Kiddie Lit. I went through and made a pile of some that I thought Sklyer would enjoy, showed them to him, talked about each one and let him decide if he wanted to read any of them.

He was so excited, I couldn't believe it! He made a fantastic choice of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. We started reading it and the boy could not get enough. He wanted me to wake him up early so we could read a lot before school. He would come home from school and want to read it. It was non-stop. I loved it. It is one of my favorite books of all time, and perfect for him. We finished that book in a week!! We sat for more than once for over an hour and a half reading that book!!!! When we were done, he asked, what's next? There are a few books about Mr. Brian Robeson and we will be starting them soon. But first, a Magic Tree House or too, because they aren't quite as intense and man, my voice needs a break!

Montana

I love vacations. They are such a great opportunity for Chuck and I to recharge and have some fun without worrying about the kids. Yesterday was our first day in Bozeman, MT and we had a great time. We hike for a couple of hours up to the Montana State University "M" on the side of the mountain. Then we drove around and scoped out the area, ate a bison burger, drove around some more and came back and just chilled.

Today Chuck is snowboarding. I ran this morning and am going to spend my day chilling. I plan on taking a very long, hot bath and then doing some homework. Not sure what else, but who cares! Whatever happens, happens; I'm on vacation! Pictures to come later.

Three instrument band

Oh the fun the kids have with their instruments! Here's a taste of life around here.

Teacher Appreciation Day

I am always trying to make or find unique gifts for all occasions. Tomorrow is Teacher Appreciation Day and I was struggling with what to get Skyer's teacher. I had an idea, but needed to find the stuff for it. I went to my favorite craft store and was disappointed that they did not have what I was looking for, but then I found something a little bit better. I got a huge oversized coffee mug and a rub on that had apples and a cute teacher saying. I transferred that on and had Skyler write a message on the back with puffy paint pens. Then I filled it up with coffee and biscotti, note cards, a note pad and two wooden flowers. It was pretty cute and I'm sure his teacher will like it.