Gymnastics

Today was Sara's first day of gymnastics. She had a blast! She did very well. Maggie and Emily started today too and that made it even better.
And guess what, I FORGOT my camera. I said, "Shoot, I can't believe I forgot my camera." Kimberly said, "Yeah, I thought about mine but KNEW you would have yours." It is usually an attachment, part of my body. I CAN NOT believe I forgot it!
On a sweet note, while Sara was waiting her turn on the balance beam, I jabbed Andrew and said, "Look!". Sara was telling the little girl behind her that that was her big brother sitting on the blue bench watching her. Moments like that make me very happy, make me know how much they love each other. I need to remember those times when I am telling them they are brother and sister and shouldn't talk to each other like they do. Sibling love!

Busy and Fun Filled Packed Day

Well, part of that is true. It was definitely busy but not so fun filled. I guess I could say these few days are the most important part of my job. I have to make sure all 504, ELL, Sp. Ed. (this includes speech), Migrant, School Choice, Free/Reduced/Paid, G/T, Scheduling and class minutes and enrollment for all grades and classes by sex and race (race and sex'm, as Verion would say) are in APSCN correctly by October 1. My numbers have to equal everyone elses numbers and vice versa. So far, so good. I shouldn't brag though, that always back fires. But I have to do a few more pulls tomorrow and hopefully all will go well. Oct. 1 is the most important Cycle Pull for me. If you work in a school system, you also know that testing data is pulled from Oct. 1 reports. This is one of the main reasons it is so important to have all sub groups correct.
And now that I have bored you with this information (sorry, I come home thinking about what I have and haven't done and what I need and don't need to do) I will do some pan handling. Prescott Athletic Booster Club is selling chicken strip dinner tickets. I spent some of my day calling around to businesses trying to sell tickets. If you are interested, they are $7.00 for chicken strips, baked beans, potato salad, dessert and a drink. Carry outs are available. Serving hours will be 4:30-6:30 p.m. before the homecoming ballgame at PHS pavillion. I only cut 250 tickets, so that is all there will be. I hope we sell out! If you want them, get them while you can. Sorry, gotta get rid of my tickets.

Fair, Football, Family and Fun

Curley Wolves beat the Go Devils 45-0! That was expected. They were pumped, had the big bonfire the night before and ready to win. That they did! On a less happier note, the Razorbacks lost to the Longhorns. That's about all I have to say about it.
We went to the District Fair in Hope this weekend. The kids had a blast. Dusty and I decided we aren't what we used to be. We all rode the big ferris wheel first. They loved that and were ready for more. We all rode the Tilt-A-Whirl, which has always been one of my all time favorite rides. Sara LOVED it! Andrew liked it but got kinda dizzy. He was looking a little pale once when I could see he and Dusty. Dusty and I had fun riding but got off a little yucky feeling and sweaty. Andrew had enough and stuck with lemonade and games. I stuck with him. Sara was pumped but of course didn't want to ride any kiddie rides she could ride by herself. She talked Dusty into riding the strawberries that spin. Dusty got off sick, had to sit on a bench for a while and gain his composure. He didn't look too good. He said if it had spun one more time he thought he would have lost it. I begged Sara to ride the carousel but that was a "baby ride". I just wanted a picture of her on it like I have one of Andrew at that age. But I didn't get one and don't see if happening in the future. We played a few more games and went to eat.
I left the a horrible headache, Andrew and Dusty didn't eat and Sara was starving! Dusty and I decided we were old! That's sad, it took a fair for us to think that. We had a good time watching the kids but if you haven't been to a fair lately, be prepared. It cost a lot of money. I had to come home and write Andrew a check for the extra $30 I borrowed from him.
We are going to mom and dad's this afternoon to see 1 of the 2 only first cousins my daddy has left on the Johnson side. We see them once or twice a year. It is always a pleasure. Bill is very scholarly and witty to be around.
Hope your weekend was a fun filled as ours. A little fun never hurt anyone. (Unless it involves spinning!)

The First Big Day

Today was interim report day. The first report card (or kinda) of the year. Andrew's first high school one.......he did well. I was relieved, worries me just because it is totally new. I always do and for nothing. Guess that's what moms are for!
Sara did well too. She brings home things every week with notes and such. Elementary is not so hard to keep up with.
They both brought home their PIV letters with passwords and id's. That's Parent Internet Viewer letters. Parents have a password and id for each student in school and can check grades on the internet at anytime. I really like this! Keeps you up to date when you kids don't!

Hindsight

I should have made this my first post for fall. Debbie Maxwell did an excellent job as art teacher while she was there. Sara brought home lots of neat things. This project is really cute. Each classroom made a scarecrow in art at P.E.S. out of different things. They were placed outside each classroom door. Andrew went down today to take a picture of the one placed outside Mrs. Avery's door.
Here's one up close:

And one of the whole masterpiece:

Tuesday

Sara had a drawing entered in the Nevada County Fair. All first grade drew a picture at school. They were entered and judged as clothes line art at the fair. Sara won first place in her class. She called her picture "Happy Days".

Andrew got home from his golf tournament late. He said it was a long day, hard course, lots of water to hit over and "weird" greens. Only one of them will go on to state. I told him no worries, we will practice, go to lessons in Texarkana and keep up the good work. I am proud of him.
Dusty and Andrew ate at the Sonic tonight. Sara and I went to Amigo Juan's with Aunt Kim, Lori and Janet. We went for a late birthday celebration for Lori. Great company, great friends and good food. When were getting out of the car Sara told them, "We should do this every afternoon."

Autumn Begins

Today is the first official day of fall. Maybe the cooler nights are a little indication that it's here in Prescott. Other than that, it still feels like summer.
Andrew and I drove off to school by ourselves today. Sara stayed home with her daddy. She awoke around 1:00 a.m., throwing up and feeling horrible. Needless to say, Dusty, Sara and I ended up in the living room, sleeping on the couch after 2 times of getting sick in my bed. Come to find out, Sara had been to a birthday party this weekend where mid-way thru the party a little girl says, "Mrs."""", I threw up all night last night." All the girls excluding two, (the one that gave it to them and the only one that didn't get it and hopefully doesn't) were not at school today. They all, believe it or not, started throwing up last night. The party mother called to apologize. She felt horrible but we all knew it wasn't her fault. Just one of those things.
On a lighter note, I dropped Andrew off at the country club to practice golf. He is leaving at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow to go to Glenwood for regionals. I hope he does well. I know he will do his best. It will be a long walk and day. They don't get to use golf carts in tournaments.

Grandparents Luncheon

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we had a Grandparents Luncheon at P.E.S. Pop and Gran came to eat with Sara and Sebastian. Sebastian is my sister's oldest. He is in the 2nd grade. I was finally able to get my hands on a picture to share with you.

GO WOLVES!

Friday was a busy night in Prescott, Arkansas. It was ball game night!
We had fish at the Kiwanis fish fry. Then it's off to open the Wolf Wagon. There were a ton of people. More than I have seen in a while. There were a few reasons for this.
1. The Curley Wolves were playing the Hope Bobcats.
2. It was Friday Night Touchdowns with channel 7.
3. Mini cheerleaders were cheering before the game.
4. KLAZ 105.9 was broadcasting live from the stadium.

Now if you know me well, you know that I don't know a lot about the logistics of football. I enjoy going and watching. I know the basics but that's about it. But I was smart enough to catch a few really good plays of the night.

Those plays and other shots were featured on Channel 7's 10:00 news. It was exciting!
www.fridaynighttouchdowns.com Go to the clips and find Prescott!

PRESCOTT CURLEY WOLVES 49 HOPE BOBCATS 28

Golf, Good Laughs and Pizza

Andrew, Sara and I went to play golf this afternoon. I haven't played in years. I gave up pretty quick and just enjoyed watching. It's a good thing there was no one one on the course but us.....Sara drove and Andrew and I died laughing half the time. We were kinda loud. He did do a lot practice chipping and putting. Before we knew it, it was past time for Dusty to be home. We ordered pizza, ate and are going to be early. It was a fun afternoon. Next time we will have to be more serious though, Andrew needs to practice for the regional tournament next Wednesday.

July 18, 1936

My papa and granny were married July 18, 1936. They were given this rocking chair as a wedding gift from Tom and Lil Bemis. It sat in their bedroom since I was old enough to remember and I am sure long before that. Little memories like that make me smile, very teary eyed but especially blessed to have the BEST grandparents I could ask for. Granny gave me this chair when I moved into my house. She wanted me to have something "special" for my new home. It is in my bedroom now and will hopefully be in my son's bedroom when he gets his first new home.
As I sit typing, I am cooking supper in a cast iron skillet Granny gave me for Christmas years before she passed away with a note telling me it was my great grandmothers. I am baking cornbread in my favorite cornbread dish that she gave me. I cherish everything Granny and Papa gave me but the memories and stories will be in my head and heart forever. God gave me the best gift when he gave me them.

A Good Way To Begin

On Mondays at Prescott Elementary School we wear school shirts. This makes it very easy to find something to put on on Monday mornings. When you are standing in the closet half asleep, wondering what the heck to put on, thinking, "I'd rather be under the covers, just grab the good ole t-shirt and stick it on. This takes care of Monday. Curley Wolf shirts on Fridays. I am just left with the 3 days in between. I think I can handle that, but sometimes I wonder. Mornings can sometimes be hectic around here. But it's a good way to begin the week.

Shirts are sold at the P.E.S. office for $10.00.

Another Golfer

We have another golfer in the family. Fed Ex finally brought Sara her pink golf clubs. She has been patiently waiting and got them one day last week. She has been to the country club a few times already. She and Andrew hit in the yard yesterday while I mowed. They had a big time!

Once again....

TGIF!! This one has been a booger. We have had something to do after school almost everyday this week. Our schedule has looked a little like this:
Monday - school and/or work (of which we were late (or I was, I have to be there at 7:30), Andrew played golf all day and we were pretty much couch potatoes that night because we were still recovering from the weekend. I don't think I even cooked supper!
Tuesday - school and/or work, Andrew had to be at school at 7:15 to leave for golf tournament, left school, home to honk for Andrew to come on and brush Sara's hair and then off to fairgrounds for P.E.S. fair booth (I think I told you how successful that was), Sonic for supper and home by 9:15. Sara went to sleep on the way home, no bath, no homework done.
Wednesday - Sara worn out and crying in the morning, no one else wants to get up, late for school and/or work, Sara has to do homework at my desk since we are really early for her and "It is all MY fault!" Which it is, but....., left school late because of left over kids(why I am ever amazed, I don't know, but I can't believe people just FORGET to pick their little elementary kids up from school), quick supper and AWANAS. Sara grouchy AGAIN from lack of sleep!
Thursday - actually on time for work and/or school but dragging,Grandparents Day and luncheon at school that made for a H-E-C-K of a day at work, had 97 extra folks at school and kids every which a way, had to be at Wolf Wagon (that's the Athletics Booster Club building at football field, if ya dont' know) at 5:30 to work it for 2 ballgames, left at 8:15, Dusty grilled burgers after working until 7:00 and we were going home to eat!
Friday - dragging but made it to school and/or work on time, another extra 119 grandparents at school and kids every which a way, an injured grandparent/friend (she's ok but broke 3 ribs and in lots of pain), left at 4:00 sharp! No ballgame to my childrens dismay!
So as you can see I'm tiring and whining. This post is full of dangling participles, incomplete sentences, bad punctuation and probably some horrible grammer and for that I am sorry. My mind is wandering and my eyes are crossing. I shall recover this weekend and be fresh as a daisy come Monday morning. I have to, Andrew asked me this morning why I kept waking him up later and later. When mama's late in the morning, everyone's late! And when mama ain't happy, nobody is happy! Or so the saying goes.......
P.S. There should be a saying that goes something like this, "When Sara gets no sleep, Sara is a grouchy girl!" Sara needs her sleep more than anyone in the world. Andrew rolls with the punches and Sara is throwing them. And it is always, "MY FAULT" (that's me), "IT'S ANDREW'S FAULT!" (that's Andrew) or the famous "YOU ARE ALL BEING MEAN TO ME AND DON'T LIKE ME! (that would be me, Dusty and Andrew, as we all just gang up on her.)

9/11

May God bless each and every person that lost someone that horrific day. Words can not convey the feelings of Americans on September 11, 2001.
Our flag flew a half mass at P.E.S. today in honor of the fallen.

Firsts.........

We had a some firsts in our family........Andrew played in a golf meet today that would determine who went to regionals in Glenwood. He qualified along with the whole team. There's a whopping 4 of them! He said he didn't play the best in the world, came home with 2 blisters (one bleeding, yuck) and grass all over his new shoes. If you know Andrew, the grass teed him off the most. But all in all the team came in 3rd again. Shelbi was one stroke away from winning. He's tired, met some new friends, talked with a couple he meet last time and liked and got a few tips from the coach at Parkers Chapel that he liked. So we will see what comes next.
Sara had her first AWANAS meeting of the new school year tonight. She was excited but we had to come home and take a short nap so we wouldn't be so grouchy. She had a good time, refreshed on a bible verse and wants another patch. So we have a goal and will work on that.
I worked at the fairgrounds last night. Wendy M. and I had a P.E.S. booth. We had a coke bottle ring toss and sold t-shirts. No, we didn't SELL any shirts. And only made about $5.00 with the ring toss. But we had a good time visiting with people and watching people. Dusty came along to help us watch people when he got off.

Just Another Manic Monday

We have been lazy this afternoon. It's Monday and we are all kinda wiped out. We didn't have a day this weekend that we could be lazy and do nothing. No one wanted to get up this morning...........that's a Monday for ya.

P.S. Notice the clothes on the back of the chair. It's in my bedroom and those are DUSTY'S clothes, not mine!

Razorback Comeback

The Hogs came back and beat Louisiana-Monroe, 28-27. It was a close one! I had to let ya know, just in case you didn't know. Dusty and Andrew said I ended my last post saying they were losing and that I needed to correct it!

The Cobb Jersey

I bought this jersey for Andrew about 7 or 8 years ago. He was around Sara's age. We found it while cleaning out his closet before school started. Sara wore it to our first "real" ballgame of the season. So I had to share. I wish I had a scanner so I could scan a picture of Andrew in the same jersey.
Prescott vs. Hermitage was a blowout. We won 43-6. The clock just ran the whole second half of the game. It was hot because we were playing at 4:00 in the afternoon. Hermitage couldn't make it last night, the river had them flooded in so the game was postponed until today. Now we are home listening to the Razorbacks get beat and that's NO fun!

Wet but I have Internet

That just about says it all.....it's wet but I now have internet again. Our DSL has been down for a couple of days. It finally up and running. I kinda showed my temper today, don't know if that is a Cobb, Johnson or Strickland family trait but it came out. You better not mess with my internet. I'm sure the first lady I talked to thought I was crazy because she either hung up on me or we were disconnected. (yeah, right) The gentleman I talked to this afternoon was very nice and I was very nice to him. That's all ya have to be is nice! It can get you lots of places and things but rude gets you no where. (Life lesson #2 of the day)
So we are back on line. Thank goodness!
It's rainy, windy and wet here. I had to have gas this morning before school. I had only 11 miles left on the Expedition. And, yes, I will have to admit, and I can do that, that Dusty was maybe a little right once again. He always tells me if something happened to one of us we'd have to say, "Sorry if you are bleeding to death, we've got to stop and get gas in Valarie's car." So by the time I got to school this morning, the back of me, hair and all was soaked. Oh, well, another life lesson(that was #1).....MAYBE I've learned.
Andrew did well in his golf match. The team came in 3rd and that's pretty good since everyone's new but one. He was worn out. No one told us he could have a pull cart, so the poor kid pulled his clubs all day. Needless to say, we went to Target and got a pull cart this weekend. Practice and meets for this week were cancelled so we will see what next week brings.
Until tomorrow.........if we dont' drown on the way to school tomorrow morning.(cause we won't run out of gas)