Fall Colors in my yard...

Here is a picture of the Autumn Blaze Maple tree and Burning Bushes as they are displaying some fall colors of their own. Also the trees in the front yard haven't begun turning colors just yet.

Article from the Newspaper about the CSAP testing.

142 students earn CSAP triple crown

You could call these students a triple threat. In fact, 142 students can proudly wear that title who scored advanced in the three main subjects in CSAP.

And of the 142 students, 26 also scored advanced in CSAP science, giving them four advanced proficiency ratings. CSAP Science is only given in grades five, eight and 10.

"Congratulations to each of these students," said Superintendent. "It's a stellar achievement, and their parents, teachers and entire school communities should be very proud. It's also a good reminder to us all that we must continue to challenge students of all levels, including our brightest, and help them grow and achieve even more."

The students came from 17 schools.

"There are students in this group enrolled at every single one of our neighborhood middle and high schools, and at nine of our elementary and K-8 schools. They are not isolated to one part of town or a small handful of schools. Great academic success can come from every classroom, every school, and every neighborhood in our district," said the Superintendent.

Proud Moment

We got a call from the Assistant Principle yesterday and were told that Zac was one of only 22 kids in his school to achieve advanced scores on his CSAP testing from last year in all categories: Reading, Writing and Math. Also he is only 1 of 142 kids in the whole school district to achieve this! WOW! I had to say that was a proud moment. Of course we tried to play it down as we don't want two things happening. First for him to get a big head about it also to not put pressure that he has to perform that way every year. It would be great, but I only expect him to do and give his very best and if that is the result then even better. Also the school said that the local newspaper is doing an article and wanted to know if Zac's name and possibly picture could be in the paper. Of course why not! I guess every day that we send him to school he really is learning something and what is cool is that he loves to learn. I hope he is more like his dad in the learning department. Jeff is such a sponge and absorbs knowledge. Me not so much I have to work really hard to learn and remember what I learned. Also it was cool as we went to work yesterday morning Zac said are those clouds from the hurricane? Jeff said no they are coming from the mountains. I told Zac that the hurricanes are happening in the east and those clouds are coming from the west. Then Zac went on to expound on vortex's and other stuff. Wow. He is a smart kid. Did I ever know that stuff? I am sure at one time I did, but they had their weather section in second grade and now he is in fourth grade. It must be sticking!

Well that rootbeer float just showed up so I will go for now!

I hate being sick...

I absolutely hate being sick. It never fails when I get a cold it turns into a sinus infection. My dad would say use a salt solution and rinse out the infection. I can't hardly stand to put any nasal spray in up my nose that is just gross! Thus I suffer from allergies all year long. The doctors solution use a nasal spray morning and night and here is another medicated spray too. YUCK! So I just suffer. I guess you could say that I am a glutton for punishment. Also my patience is paper thin. My boys know just to agree with me and stay away. Then Ginger comes and puts her head on the keyboard...oh no...mom has no patience for that either. So I sent the boys to the store. I have ran out of tissues here and at work. The tissues I like when I am sick is the Vicks tissues with the menthol in them. Also they are soft on my poor chapped nose. I also love NyQuil to dry me up so I can sleep. Lucky for me the last time I was sick and not getting over it I finally went to the doctors, by the time I went I was on the mend so I held off for a day and saved my Zpak. So tonight with the sinus pressure building behind my left eye I started on that. We have a busy weekend and I don't have any more time to waste on being sick. So back to the grocery list I sent with the boys: ice cream, rootbeer (for floats) cereal and tissues of course! I think that will make mom better. Don't you??? Also when I am sick I catch up on all the shows I have tivo'd. Right now I have been watching reruns of Nash Bridges. I also like the Hallmark and Lifetime channels. They have a lot of good movies on them too. Yesterday when I was home sick I read an entire book. That is why I felt like I could go to work today. Boy was that a mistake. Getting up and moving around it was a miserable day. So an hour before it was time to go home I went to my boss and asked if I could head out. I was done being miserable. I had finished off my box of tissues and then used the rest of Heidi's tissues too. Now I need to replace 2 boxes of tissued on Monday! I have also had the time to read everyone's blogs.

Well that is enough for now I guess I will watch another show.

Saturday with Grandma Jewkes

We went to spend some time with Grandma Jewkes. She is 99 years old and doing so well. We went and picked up lunch at KFC and went back to her place to eat and then we took her to Wal-Mart to go shopping.




Then back to the apartment to visit. We had such a good time just spending time with her.

Just before Zac and Grandma tumbled back into her chair...

New Hair Style...

Well I am trying something new using the straightening iron.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Here are some scenery pictures from Great Sand Dunes National Park.















Dave & Kathy went with us and so did Gingersnap. At the end of the trip if dogs could talk Ginger would say that she loved the dunes, but other than that leave me home. All that traveling in a cramped truck bed as we were packed to the brim with our tents, bedding, clothes, food and of course camera gear. It didn't help that it rained Sunday afternoon while we were taking pictures out on the dunes. The rain came pouring down. Dave, Kathy, Zac and Gingersnap took cover under some trees while Jeff and I quickly put away the camera gear at the top of the sand dune that we were on. Little did we know that they had taken cover and since I knew that I had Zac's jacket I was panicking that he was out in this rain with only his jeans and t-shirt. No shoes and no jacket. Oh no!! So I went running down the dune and luckily in the wind I heard them call my name as they were actually behind us. (I wondered where they went so quickly) But as it was pouring down rain I was only thinking about my boy out there in the rain and no jacket. :( So I turned around and ran back to where they were and got under the tree as the rain slowed down to a trickle. Then a few minutes later we hiked out of the dunes in a light sprinkle. Then we went back to camp took showers and got into dry clothing. We went out for dinner as it continued raining all evening and most of the night. Back at camp Zac and Ginger got to sleep together in Zac's tent. Zac said that Ginger shivered most of the night and he kept trying to cover her up with a blanket that was now wet. I think at this point Ginger would have said next time just leave me home! So we packed up in the morning and thank heavens it had stopped raining and the sun had come out. It was still a long trip to go home as we traveled thru Kebler and McClure passes to check out the trees and scenery to see what the view will be come fall color time. Here are a few pictures...