Wrinkled Fingers and Orange Julius Mustaches

Today is the first official day of summer for the whole family.  So what did that mean...hours of backyard swmming and yummy homemade Orange Juliuses.  Let the summer fun begin!!!

Here's what going on in the Potater Patch...

We've been oober busy in the patch with the end of school quickly approaching.  My principal actually asked me if I ever leave the other day.  She and I keep running into each other at after school functions like the Sock Hop, GT/Challenge Architecture Night, 4th Grade Art Show, etc).  Anyway, it's been crazy and we have one week more of it.  So before it starts, I thought I'd post a few picture of the last 10 days.

First, J-man totally blew us away!  I'm so proud of him.  I got a notice the other day that he'd be on announcement for an AR prize.  (AR is a reading program where you read books and then take a computerized test over them for points). I had not idea what prize.  Neither did he until that morning.  I was totally wowed when he won 1st place in 4th grade for the highest number of points.  He had a ridiculous amount thanks to Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and his fantastic memory.

End of Unit:  GT Architecture Night.  They could roam around the gym and build to their hearts content.  Pictured  L to R is one of my students, J-man, Alan, and one of J-man's best buds.

The completed bridge.

Little sisters even got to join in on the fun.

They call themselves The Three Amigos and yes, they even have the greeting down...don't ask me where they learned that.

The 4th Grade Art Show is a big deal at our school.  Our art teacher works with them from the beginning of the year to prepare the art pieces.  This is J's self portrait.  He's trying to make the same face. :)

This is J's favorite, his ceramic guitar.

J's mosaic piece called The Storm.  He also made an amazing mission picture that I'm going to frame.  It's amazing...can't believe I didn't get a picture.

Dream Home

I'm not one that wants a huge house or something incredibly fancy but I would love a craftsman style home.  I found some link this morning and fell in love with this one.  Simple...that's what I like.  The only thing I think I would do is paint the door red.

Whoo-hoo!!!

Only 2 1/2 days of school left and 1 workday.  I have survived the year, a feat I didn't think possible 9 months ago.

Teacher Appreciation Week

 

I found something like this on pinterest (the bank of great ideas) and thought it was brilliant.  As a mom and a teacher, I'm all about a cheap useful gift.  So, as usual, I took it and recreated it with a potater patch flare.  For under 20 dollars, I have a gift for all 3 teachers (J has two) for every day of the week and it's something a teacher would actually like.  I am going to change is the MINT tag.  It sounds kind-of weird.  I'm going to make it say, "I was MINT to have you as my teacher!" or "You were MINT to teach!" But that is for another day. 
Hope you're having a great weekend! 

Lesson of the day:  BEWARE:  Pinterest is really a time machine.  In just a blink of an eye, hours can pass.  "Pin" with caution!!! 

Want

I like shirts that only a fan would understand.  

This one ranks right up there with my Lost t-shirt.

Anticipation.....

Pillow fabric...it's a little less white and more of a neutral in person.

Almost a month ago, Alan and I finally broke down and bought a new sofa and chair.  We've been pricing, shopping, debating this for months, but since our sofa (that we absolutely love) is finally getting so thread bare the piping is showing through, we decided to take the plunge.  We looked forever because we want our furniture to last a LONG time.  I mean we've had our present sofa and chair for 14 years and I want this next set to last even longer.  I'm also very picky about style.  I like the style I have now and wanted the same (classic, not bulky, no foo-foo, no skirt, well made).  We finally found exactly what we were looking, so we did it...we ordered the furniture.  So in hopefully a week (after a long 30 day wait) our new set will be here.  We went with a cocoa brown sofa and a complimentary lighter brown chair.  One set of pillows will be the same cocoa but the others I decided to go with more fun pattern that can be changed when styles change (pic above).  I had to somehow bring in all the red in my living room and tie in our antique mustard colored chair.   It looks great with the sofa and chair fabric.  I just hope it works when we bring it into the room.  I guess we'll see next week. :)