My First Day of School

After 20 years of teaching, I thought it would be nice to have a pict of me on the first day and do a LO of my room.Andrea Gold "Double Template 05" side B (modified)Weeds & Wildflowers "Believing in You"

I have a great class this year. There are nineteen cute little boys and girls. (Mostly boys!) They will be a challenge, but I am looking forward to it.

We will be so busy! I can't wait to tell you about Luke and Sam. I will make their lay outs tomorrow.

First Day of School

Me in first grade!

One of the things that I love about teaching first grade is getting to have that first day of school feeling every year! The little ones are so excited! I love the new sharpened pencils and the pointy crayons.....The whole new feeling. There is a whole year in front of us full of possibilities.

I didn't go to kindergarten. So, my first day of school was the first day of first grade. My teacher was Mrs. Thomas. She was a really funny lady who was laughing all the time. She was a bit scattered as well. She had used my first name on my name tag which is so not the name I go by. So I am a little OCD about name tags and name spellings to this day.

I lived way out in the country. There weren't many kids around. So I was relieved to see my neighbor, Ellen, who lived a half mile down the road was in my class. She and Jill were my best friends that year.

I really started teaching that year. I had figured out how to read from some books my mom gave me....(My reading teacher still made me sound things out. ARGH!!!!) There was a little boy who sat next to me who was so not getting the whole school thing. He wouldn't do his work, so after I finished mine, I pointed to the problems or helped him make letters. I didn't ask the teacher if I could and I don't think she cared. I'm not sure why little Anthony wasn't getting more help in the class. I know he left for Plan A (which I'm sure was some form of Special Education) but he seemed ignored in the classroom. I remember thinking that that was just too sad.

When I teach, I see all the different children who have passed through my lives in the faces of the kids in my classroom. I want to make sure that every child gets what he or she needs and I try to teach them with love and compassion. I hope that my sons and my nieces are getting that same love and attention from their teachers.

I do have a few picts to show you. This first pict is a name plate that I have made for the outside of my door. My room has a definite bee theme. I want everyone to "bee" kind, "bee" polite, "bee" creative, etc....

This is the header for my weekly newsletter that does home.

This is the card that I will be sending home with each of my kids! I made it for a challenge at Scrapbook Chalet. I think they will like having a little welcome!
I would really love it if some of you would share some first day of school stories to inspire me. Happy stories and sad stories help me understand what my students might be going through!

Thanks for looking and sharing!

Nice Matters

My friend Didi at the Scrapbook Chalet gave me a wonderful little award. It is called nice matters. I really like that because I try to be happy and nice as much as possible. It means a lot to me that someone truly thought I was nice.

Now it is my turn to pass on the award. I have lots of nice friends, but I have two gals that I met since I started doing digital scrapping that I am really happy to call my friends. We have never met in person....but I feel like we have so much in common.

Karen lives in Ireland. I've never been there but I would love to someday. She always cheers me up with her little comments and really makes my day. She always has something nice to say on her blog. She is such a positve and upbeat girl! So she deserves this award.

Fantacy is my other new friend. We have spent some time chatting and emailing. She is an awesome new digi designer! Even when people are ugly, she is still thinking about her Christian witness. It is foremost in her thoughts. I love her character and the sweet comments that she send to me. So I am happy to give you this award.

Of course...I have tons of friends that deserve this award. Stacie, Sara, Diana, Sandy.....the list goes on so, consider yourself served.

UNPUBBED

http://www.unpubbed.blogspot.com/

You can pop over there and read some great news. Well---I can keep it in, so I will spill. I am the "Famer" over at Unpubbed! I'm so excited to be chosen!

I was chosen because of this LO! So now, people from all over the world are going to scraplift one of my "Queen LO!" How cool is that. (For my unscrappy friends, that means that they are going to make a scrapbook page that has elements similar to mine.) I'm so happy!

Now for my life changing event blog challenge from the scrapbook chalet. Anyone who knows me knows that my life was changed forever when Sam was born. At 1 pound 11 ounces, Sam was a blessing for our family.

All the hours that Luke and I spent at the NICU bonding and feeding Sam changed the whole family. We were tested. And we came through the experience as a closer family. I have seen a miracle! God is good and there can be no doubt about it! Now Sam is just an awesome little guy going into second grade. He keeps us hopping and laughing!

If I Were a T-shirt

This is another challenge from Scrapbook Chalet. So what would I say if I were a T-shirt. Well it certainly had to be something to do with being a queen. So, here it is.....This is my first grade picture. Since I have been at school this week and getting ready for work on Monday, I thought I would scrap the picture.

Date Night

This is another entry for the blog challenge at Scrapbook Chalet. This is what a typical date night is like for Clay and I. Doesn't everyone go to Cabella's for a date night. Clay tried to get me excited about taking pictures of dead animals for my friend Shirley. I think I took pictures of all the dead animals. Then when I ran out of dead animals, I started following Clay around with the camera. I think it amused him at first and then he got a little embarrassed. Hmmm....maybe I will take a picture of one of our dates to the grocery store!

Childish Activities

This is another Scrapbook Chalet Challenge. When I was a little girl, I loved the days when my mom and I would go shopping with my Granny! This is an activity I have never out grown. I can't think of anything I would rather do!

The LO was done with Claudia Campbell's "Appletini"

Love Hate Relationship

This is another blog entry for the blog challenge at Scrapbook Chalet. I decided that I would tell you about my love, hate relationship. Depending on which day you talk to me, I will love our hate Ben and Jerry. I have a weakness for Phish Food. It is so rich it almost makes my jaws lock. Before the boys were tall enough to reach the freezer, I could keep a pint of it there for a month taking a spoonful at a time. Now, I hurry and eat all I can so the boys don't eat it all. It makes me hate the stuff. So....I don't get it too often. Only as a special treat or when I am feeling really down.

I was going to make sure that I had a new blog entry everyday this moth....but alas, I already missed a day. Clays mother's ancient computer wouldn't read a flash drive and would let me upload a pict. Argh! Oh well!

Dublin Dr. Pepper

I've named my poison, and it is Dr. Pepper! Not just any Dr. Pepper will do though. If you want to really make me happy then give me a Dr. Pepper straight from Dublin, Texas. What makes these Dr. Peppers so much better than anything else? Well I will tell you. These flavorful beverages are made with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar. It is so awesome! Truly Nectar From the Gods.

BTW- this is for the Blog Challenge over at Scrapbook Chalet!

A Favorite Memory

Some of you guys were wanting to see pictures of my Madonna days. Well here they are. The guy that took the picts, really didn't have the right equipment. Non of the picts are good, but you can get the idea. This is at a Bar Mitzvah at the then Mandalay Four Seasons. We had a great time. The set is actually part of the Miss Texas set. The kids in the theatre department at Wesleyan decided which singer they looked like...then we did costuming, hair and makeup and auditioned to get the gig. I danced and did some lip syncing to "Material Girl." I was told that "I was Madonna."

I remember at the time wearing a size five and had a little room in it. I wanted to be skinnier. I think I look just fine in the picts now. I would really like to be that size five. In these picts I am wearing the very early Madonna look with the black lace gloves the see the bra through the mesh shirt with a funky pattern shirt over. I have on pinks lace leggings layered over fushia tights with some fabulous Roman sandals. This is the first time I highlighted my hair. I have a huge bow with tons of jewels on.

After we did our main feature show, we went out into the audience and danced with the audience. We had a great time. The funny thing at this party was that the lady who hired us wanted an Elvis impersonator. We didn't have one. So she went out and hired an "Old Elvis." The guy was rude and awful. He barely moved. He had all these demands like he thought he was the real thing. The lady said afterwards, she should have saved her money and hired more college students.

Well this is one of my favorite memories I wanted to share. Thanks for looking!

Double Tagged by Karva

If you are looking for my Scrapbook Chalet blog challenge then go down two posts. This is a special edition.

I love that the internet has connected scrappers from all over the world! My friend Karen from Ireland likes to play too and she double tagged me. Apparently...I'm not a very fast runner! LOL.

Seven things you don't know...Since I already did five things a few days ago, I'm going to cheat and use those.

1. I'm the only girl in my house
2. I change hair color like socks
3. This is my 20th year of teaching
4. I used to be a Madonna Impersonator
5. I read vampire trash
6. Brook is not my first name
7. I only watch comedies
So I have to tag 7 people that is hard... not sure if I know seven....
Stacie, Kristie, Tracy, Tracy, Didi, Paula, Robin, Gals from the chalet thought you could combine it with your five things. You don't have to play if you don't want. No one will check up on you!

I was also for tagged for the bumpercardsociety.

The "rules" are:1) Send ONE card to someone you know within 7 days! (family, friends, associates, cyber people, etc.) ANYONE!!! Doesn't matter who... just do it. Can you imagine the smile on their face when they open their mailbox and see a card from you?

2) Tag (yes, I know, but this is the only way to spread this) 5 people you know to do the same thing (Tag means tag them to send their own cards to their own people).

3) Proudly display this on your blog to spread a little sunshine and pass it on.

Tagged by Rianne!!

I hadn't planned on updating again because I have been doing Scrapbook Chalet Challenges. SO if you are here looking for that, it is the post below. But....sweet Rianne over at Challet did tag me....I always like a good game of tag so here it is:

The game is SCATERGORIES….Here are the rules:
Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions.
They MUST be real places, names, things … NOTHING made up!
If you can’t think of anything, skip it.
You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
If your name happens to start with the same letter as mine, sorry, but you can’t use my answers!
My Name is Brook!
1. Famous singer/band: Bangles
2. Four letter word: Baby
3. Street: Broadway
4. Colour: Black
5. Gifts/presents: Bling
6. Vehicle:BMW
7. Things in a sovenir shop: bottles
8. Boy Name: Brandon
9. Girl Name: Babs
10. Movie Title: Beauty and the Beast
11. Drink: Blizzard
12. Occupation: Banker
13. Celebrity: Bob Barker
14. Magazine: Bizarre
15. U.S. City: Boston
16. Pro Sports Teams: Bengals
17. Fruit: Banana
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: broke a nail
19. Something You Throw Away: boo boos
20. Things You Shout: Be Quiet!
21. Cartoon Character: Betty

Now who will I tag? Stacie, Shari and Sara

My Favorite Actor

I was a theatre major during college. I have been in a lot of plays and I love going to plays and movies. I have seen so mighty fine actors. But no actor could be as near and dear to my heart as Luke is. He just has this amazing comedic sense of timing. He can take a tiny part and make it special. Luke has also had some great parts and made them memorable. Here he is as The Mad Hatter from Alice and Wonderland his fourth play. When he was singing and dancing, he was bouncing so high I thought he would fly!

Five Random Things About Me

So you don't think that I just love talking about myself....I will let you know that this is yet another challenge from Scrapbook Chalet. I supposed to be letting you know 5 things about me.

1. I am the only girl in a house with four males. Even the dog is a boy. Well maybe I'm not the only girl....The rat, Mrs. Snappy, is female. Does she get to count?

2. I change my hair color like some people change socks. I never really know what color my hair will be until I look in the mirror after Katie (who I taught back in '94) colors it. For the most part, I don't really care what color it is. I like it in the redish area. I don't know why I color it. I don't have grey hair (or I didn't have it the last time it was uncolored) and my reddish brown hair is nice. Dying it....is just something I do.

3. Since I mentioned my former student, I will tell you that I am starting my 20th year of teaching. Three years in third grade, four years in fourth grade and thirteen years in first grade. I love teaching first grade. I love watching the students learn how to read!

4. I used to be a Madonna Impersonator when I was in college. I would lip sinc to material girl and do a nice little dance routine.

5. I read Vampire trash, as my husband calls it. When I was around twelve, I watched Salem's Lot, The Exorcist and The Omen. Plus some girl scout were murdered. These events combined with my way to active imagination, we enough to keep me from sleeping all summer. It bothered me that I was scared of Vampires, so I made myself start reading about them. Now....I'm hooked on a couple of series so I keep reading.

Well enough about me. Why don't you write 5 random things about you and let me know when you do. I'd love to read about you.

My Best Friends

Another challenge from the Chalet is to write about my best friend. Well, I have two friends that I want to write about.

Sandy is my partner in crime at school. We have been such good friends for so long. We have laughed together and cried together. She is a totally awesome teachers, the best I have ever met. I want to teach just like her. You couldn't ask for a better friend or a sweeter person. She has a great new grandbaby now, Miss Kaitlin. There is never a dull day with Sandy.

Stacie is my scrappin' friend. We became good friends because we both LOVE to scrap! We go to crops together and have made several road trips together. She makes me laugh so hard that it is hard not to pee in my pants! She is a great support in my scrappin' endeavors. She has a little girl who is quite the little actress. Stacie is about to be mega busy!

These two gals are wonderful women and I am really proud to call them friend.

My Favorite Endulgence

These blog Challenges from the Scrapbook Chalet are getting a little personal. My favorite endulgence is the subject of this entry. I love so many things!!!! Should I talk about my books? Or maybe soaking in bubble bath? I love chocolate too. So many wonderful things to choose from. I think that I will tell you about Sam and my new happy spot-----The Cupcake Cottage.

It all started because my friend monkey at http://www.himonkey.net/, sent me a link for a great cupcake holder. It won't let your cup cake icing get smushed. It is really a great idea. I looked at the web site and saw that they were sold at The Cupcake Cottage on the corner of El Campo and Camp Bowie. Well....that is not too far. So Sam, Luke and I jumped in the car to go get a holder. When we got there, there were only three cupcakes left. Well, we bought them and the holders. OMG!!!!! They were devine!!!!

So we went back a few days later at 10:00 am so we could be among the first. The case was filled with all sorts of cupcakes made with no preservatives and wonderfully fresh ingredients all made from scratch. Should I get double chocolate, red velvet, strawberry, pink lemonade or maybe Fiori di Sicilia. I don't know....maybe we should get one of each!

Everytime you go it is a treat, the menu is always changing. You can check it out here.

www.thecupcakecottage.com. The people there are so sweet. They didn't even care that I was running around with my camera wanting to take picts.

My Little Hive

Well every Queen Bee, needs a little house to call her own. This is my hive! I love it. It isn't a whole room. (I may do that when Cody leaves the nest.) But it is a little place where my favorite things reside.

This desk is Clay's old desk. I sanded it, painted it, and deco'ed it all by myself. Then after a little trip to the Container Store, I had my shelves.

There are many things that I love. I love my buckets that have my scissors and stamping supplies. I also love the baskets for my ribbon. I used plastic needle point canvas. I notched them, wrapped my ribbon around them. Then I placed them in the basket and wrapped a ribbon around the basket. I wrapped ribbon around my pen basket also.

I have little jars for my flowers. Jars filled with all sorts of little goodies.

Now you can see that I need to file some paper. I'll get around to it. I have some specialty files like boys, holidays ect... The other files are put together by color. I do ahve a separate elfa tower that has a drawer for each boy. That way, I can throw things in the drawer and get around to it later.

Where ther little blank spot is over the desk, is where I mount my mirror so I can watch the t.v. behind me.

A lot of my things are missing because they are still packed from my last crop. I'm going to another one on the 18th, so I don't know if I will unpack or leave it in my bags until then. I'm feeling a tad lazy, so they will probably stay where they are for now! LOL!

I eventually want to get another work space to put beind so I can trun my chair around and work on it. (Does that make any sense?) Then I can have my Wishblade set up permanently. I'm also going to recover my nasty blue chair with some happy material.

This is my happy space. I like to just go in there and sit sometimes. If I could keep the boys away from my things it would be better.

Template- Andrea Gold

Weeds and Wildflower "Celebrating Colors" All of them

Scrapbook Item I Can't Live Without

This is a blog challenge from Scrapbook Chalet.

I have had a great week. This summer, I have discovered my favorite scrapbooking tool. It is my computer. Digital scrapbooking is my passion. I love not waiting for pictures to be developed. I upload them to my hard drive and make a layout right away. I don't have to worry about ruining paper or making a mistake. I'm very free. Then I can share it. I don't have to worry about lighting or anything else. It is instant gratification at it's best! My favorite example of that was when I scrapped the two layouts of Sam after the trip to the Van Grow Studios. I was able to remember everything that he said and did.

Happy Week

This has really been a happy week. Just a recap for those who haven't been keeping up. Monday I found out I had the LO of the day at Scrapbook Chalet. Then Natural Designs in Scrapbooking, featured my LO. Yesterday a LO of mine was in page maps. Thursday.....over at Unpubbed, by LO was featured! Today is Friday and I have a new layout of the day over at Scrapbook Chalet! How much fun is this. I am doing quite the happy dance!