Wednesday, April 30, 2008

That sounds familiar!


I was watching TV and saw this movie...

Tom Bailey is in love with his best friend Claire. But Tom has a fear of commitment and refuses to admit the obvious--he should propose to Claire before she finds a less procrastinating suitor. When Colin, a rich Scotsman sweeps Claire off her feet and asks for her handin marriage, Tom must witness her unquestioned happiness up close and personal--because she's chosen him to be
her Maid Of Honor.



Does it sound familiar?! How about....







It's the same movie but It's a guy that wants the one getting married! I'm curious to see how alike and how different they will be... but it's still the same story line though.

Kids say the darndest things

Not a lot has been happening up here in Holbrook. We've been working a lot- the past two weeks I subbed everyday which was fantastic, and this week I haven't worked at all, which is also fantastic ha ha. Been busy cleaning and I finished a really cute cross-stitch. It's been really nice to have some "alli time" ha ha. But now I'm getting bored- so I think I'll start on my New York scrapbook. That would be a good idea!
I thought I'd share a few funny things that happened the past 2 weeks in my second grade and kindergarten classes...

1. I was walking down the hallway last friday and a class that I've subbed a lot were coming my way and they all broke out in "Hi Mrs. Gardner!" and I walked past one little boy and he said "Will you be our sub tomorrow?!" I laughed a little and told him that we didn't have school tomorrow and I'll be at home, anyway- I thought it was cute.

2. I was sitting in front of the class watchin' the kids while they were doing their work and they were being SO good! No one was talking and everyone was doing exactly what they were supposed to do. I broke the silence by a huge sneeze and the entire class, in unison, said "Bless you Mrs. Gardner" it was halarious. I couldn't help but laugh.

3. There was a little girl Angel that was passing out paper and she dropped it all and it sounded like she said "OH $*&(" so I looked at her and said "What did you say?!" and another little girl said "She said OH $*&^" and i said "Sophie! Don't say that!!" so i looked at Angel and I said "Angel- what did you say?" because I wasn't sure if I had heard he wrong or what, I probably shouldn't have asked her but I did and the other little girl Sophie said "I told you! she said OH #*$&" ha ha. I scolded them and told them those were not words we used. But it gave me a good laugh.

I should have posted these things right when they happened because I know there were so many other funny things that happened with them but I'm a slacker! ha ha.

I hope everyone is doing awesome and we love reading your blogs!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

KandA Sound


Well we have been getting quite a few unsolicited requests to do DJ jobs lately so Alli and I decided that its time to invest and get back into the business. Besides as a teacher I need a second jo anyway. So if anyone is looking for a DJ or knows anyone who is feel free to send them our way.

www.kandasound.com

Get it K and A Sound

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Tag! I'm it!

I love geting tagged! This one is from Breezy...

1. Answer the questions about the list of friends/family that you have on your blog.
2. If you don't have the number of names that the question asks, answer the question about the next name that you have not had a question for your your list.
3. Tag your friends and family.
  • When did you meet the first person on your list?
That would be Brent and Jodie- Kyle's brother and sister-in-law. I met them Brent for the first time about October or November of 2007... he was in town for business I think and we were down in the valley with Kyle's students for the State Fair. I first met Jodie when we went to New York and stayed at their house. They are such a cute and awesome family!
  • What do you like about the third person on your list's blog?
Caitlin! She is so sweet and is so creative! I love hearing about her adorable son- her blogs somehow also make me laugh!
  • What do you like best about the 5th and 6th people on your list?
That would be Chris and Kati, and Cindy Carroll. Chris is my brother- so that means Kati is my sister-in-law. I think the best thing I like about them is.. they make the cutest babies! I love their babies! and Cindy is like my second mom. That's Stormy's mom and I have known stormy for like.. ever. I was always at their house when I was younger. I remember when I was dating a boy and Cindy told him that I was like her daughter and if he made me sad she was going to hurt him. haha. It was when we were leaving for Prom. It's was pretty funny.
  • How long have you known the 8th person on your list?
I have no idea who that is. It's Kyles friend.
  • What impresses you about the 11th and 22nd person on your list?
Jesse and Amber impresses us by living in Utah. We all know what a challenge that would be. Seth and Tara.. I'm impressed that she has 3 kids all 3 and under and still can look cute every time I see her. That's impressive.
  • What memory do you have with the 23rd person on your list?
Steven and Meghan are my 23rd.. and I would have to say that my favorite memories would be when Steven and I were in High School and he took me and our friends to the dances every Saturday. It was so fun and we had a blast every time.
  • Say something nice about the 27th person on your list.
Tyler Gardner. Tyler is a such a sweetheart and he is going through a lot right now. He has more courage and strength than anyone I know.

You're it!!
Chris and Kati, Steven and Meghan, Jennifer and Michael, Caitlin and Zach

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

LET ME BUY MILK IN PEACE!

I'm so annoyed with people thinking I'm a high school student and how dang rude they can be to me. It seems like almost once a week I get someone that think I'm younger than I am. I look young- yes I know, and I get it. But you can be a little nicer! We have a Safeway here and some of the High School kids go there for lunch and I'm assuming that they only let a few kids in at a time.. So today I was walking into the grocery store to buy some milk and this guy (that doesn't look much younger than a HS student either) like stops me with his hand like right in my face and says extremely rudely "Are you a high school student?!" and I glared at him because he was rude and had in hand in my face and I said "NO!" rudely back. I know I was rude and I know I should have been nicer, but I was walking in to get milk and I get a hand in my face. It's just annoying!
I have numerous stories about people that are rude because they think I'm a HS student and then when I say "I'm not a student" they are so apologetic and try to be nice- but the point I'm trying to make is they should have been nice in the first place! I don't care how old anyone is they shouldn't be treated so rudely. I don't know these people and they don't know me- so I understand that they don't know how old I am etc. but they shouldn't feel the need to be rude to me. Anyway- stupid safeway preson.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

What's in the bag?!

Today Kyle, Mom, Derek, and I were all in town shopping for various things. Well- my mom and I went into a Michaels, and Derek and Kyle went into Target because they didn't want to go into Michaels. Kyle asks "If there's a Wii can I buy it?!" and I, knowing Wii's sell out really fast, say and in a very sarcastic voice, "Sure Kyle, if there's a Wii you can buy it." and off the boys go, I didn't think anything more about it.
About 10 minutes later I get a phone call from Kyle...
Kyle-"Ok- they have a Wii! Can I really buy it?!"
Alli-"They have one?!?!"
Kyle-"YEAH! There's only one left can I get it?!"
Alli- "Kyle I wasn't being serious. Do we really have the money for that?"
Kyle-"Nooo... I won't get it."
Alli-"Ok"
Kyle- "ok bye"

I get off the phone and my mom gives me a little speech about how he is the one that earns the money and I just need to let him do it... so I call him back and tell him that he can get it, still not thinking he would buy it.
My mom and I are now standing next to the dollar bins in Michaels and I'm looking at ribbon (I love ribbon and I have a box that I have to still need to fill up so whenever I see ribbon on sale I try to get a few...)
Kyle walks in and has a Target bag in his hand.. I look like I've just seen a ghost and ask "What's in the bag?"
Kyle- "YAY! We got a Wii!"
Alli-"You're so lying, what's in the bag?!"
Kyle opens the bag- "A Wii!!"

I am seriously shocked. With high desperation and panic I say "Can I get some more ribbon?!"
I turn frantically to the ribbon and start picking various ribbons and every time I grab one I say "I want this one, and this one, and this one"
My mom is the background asks "Do you want a basket?!" As I'm carrying like 12 things of ribbon in my hands- I ended up getting 20. :)

There was a lady right next to us that is dying of laughter. It was pretty funny. She told us it totally made her day- and she hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. It was pretty funny.

Anyway- Long story short, Kyle bought a Wii. It's pretty fun to play :)

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Music

Recently I was able to speak at our youth standards night on the topic of music. I love having the opportunity to speak because I feel like I can receive inspiration that I probably wouldn't other wise. On this night I have to confess that it snuck up on me and I was not well prepared so I was very dependant on the spirit. Gratefully God is very generous and blesses us with his spirit many times when we probably don't deserve it. I said one thing that night that I have thought about many times since. I'm sure it was as much for me as anyone there.

I said, "I'm sure no one in here would even think of saying many of the things we say while singing a long to the songs we listen to. Most of us are good about avoiding songs that have cursing in them or talk directly about sex, but we should be raising the bar so that we are not being influenced by songs that are contrary to the doctrines of the church in any way."

The Bon Jovi song Its My life comes to mind as a prime example. Here is part of the Chorus: It's my life
It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive

I can find at least 4 things in just that much that are contrary to very simple gospel doctrines and yet I have sang those lyrics many times. There is tons of wonderful music out there. I am challenging myself to only listen to the very best. Wish me luck.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Tradition!
I can almost here Tevye sing it now.
As a first year teacher I realize that I have much to learn and one of the things I have learned right away is that people like tradition.
I am coming into a school where I teach all music from 4th grade up. Band, Choir, General music you name it. Needles to say this requires a lot of time and effort. On the auditorium wall where everyone coming into the community (its a small town) can see are the Words, "A Tradition of Excellence" and they mean it. I love this about the school the kids are really great.
The problem is people define excellence differently, depending on their perspective. Every year for the last 10 years or so the High School where I am for part of the day has put on a Musical. Largely at the expense of nearly everything else in the program. I talked to the previous teacher who told me the musical takes priority over everything else. The problem with this, at least in my opinion, is that seems very unfair for those not in the musical.
So I chose to not do a full blown musical but a musical review. It would not take as much time, more people could be the stars and I wouldn't loose my mind in my first year teaching. Sounds like a good plan. Well as I am sure any music teacher with at least one year of teaching experience could have told me, this did not go over well with parents. To be fair I shouldn't group all the parents together most were very supportive but a few very vocal parents were very upset to say the least.
I had one parent tell me that if I did not do a musical the town would revolt and all the kids would drop music all together and basically I wouldn't last the year. Well needless to say I am still here and as we are registering for next year, my numbers are up.
One concerned parent told me that some of the parents were in talks with the previous music teacher about having her come back and do a community musical during the evenings. Luckily that never panned out.
I will refrain from telling all the stories I am sure you get the idea. Well the Musical Review has come and gone now and I have heard nearly all good things.
Administration is a happy because I didn't keep kids out till 10 and 11PM every night for the month before the performance like was done in the past. It was a big problem I was told in my interview because kids were falling asleep in class. We had 3 full dress rehearsals and they were all done by 9PM.
Students were happy because more than 3-4 people got to be leads. Some are already telling me what they want to do for next years Musical Review. I'm not ready to start that tradition either.
Parents, for the most part, were happy because their kid got to be the star for at least one song. Many people came to me after and said "I had no idea we had so much talent here".
The Band was happy because we also did a Movie Review for them. Generally they don't have anything because the Musical takes priority.
All in all I thought it was a great success and I would do it again.
The kicker for me though was when one of the parents that was helping me out a lot, sent a letter to my principal trying to "help me out" with out me wanting her to or even talking to me about it. She wrote a p.s. comment at the end that I don't think she knew I would ever see. Luckily I have a great principal who supports me and keeps me in the loop with what is going on.
She said, "Even though not doing a "musical" this year saved me personally a lot of time and effort, I believe it is a sad thing for not only the students but also the community. I hope you will rethink this in the future. "Traditions of Excellence" will never be achieved by mediocrity."
I was enraged after reading that, luckily I didn't say anything to anyone and kept my cool and let it blow over. Since the show I have heard many parents say it was the best they have seen in a long time and band parents thank me for not forgetting the rest of the program and many great compliments along these lines.
For some reason tradition can become so important to some of us that we fail to see the big picture. Hopefully I can truly strive for excellence in all that I do and not let parents ruin my love of music and sharing that with the next generation.

Tevye: Because of our traditions, we've kept our balance for many, many years. Here in Anatevka, we have traditions for everything... How to sleep, how to eat... how to work... how to wear clothes. For instance, we always keep our heads covered, and always wear a little prayer shawl that shows our constant devotion to God. You may ask, "How did this tradition get started?" I'll tell you!
[pause]
Tevye: I don't know. But it's a tradition...





Thursday, April 3, 2008

A Tribute to Zeusicals

Kyle and I love our dog :) It's true. I felt really bad when Steven and Meghan posted pisture of Zeus because I haven't ever posted a blog about him so I will :) Thanks for the inspiration. He cracks us up. These are just a little bit of the funny things he does...


He loves to watch Kyle take a shower. Not me, just Kyle. He does this all the time, it makes me laugh every time. And after Kyle is done, Zeus will run up and lick his toes. He seriously sits and waits for kyle to put his foot on the end of the bathtub so he can lick them.

He loves to lay in the sun. If I haven't seen him in a while, I either look in the office or in one of the spare bedrooms and he's always laying in the sun.

He chases flies and moths. He has never caught one that I know of, but he loves to try! In this picture he is sitting on the side tables and he would just watch it fly into the lamp light. The moth started to fly away and Zeus trying to jump and get him and ended up falling off the table and taking the lamp, the plant, and a picture frame with him. It was hilarious. No matter where he is laying, he loves to have his belly scratched. If he lays next to you and you touch him and he will automatically roll over.

Popcorn Popping!

I looked at the window and what did I see?! Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!! Spring has brought me such a nice surprise!! Blossoms popping right before my eyes! I can take an arm full and make a treat, a popcorn ball that would smell so sweet! It wasn't really so, but it seemed to me, popcorn popping on the apricot tree! :)


I was in the office and looked out to the backyard and this is what I saw! Our tree is blossoming popcorn!

It's been a good day!

Today is an excellent day! And it's only half way through so it can only get better right?! :) I woke up at around 7 and had Kyle bring me the computer (I was still in bed, what a good husband) and I surfed the net and watch ER until 9. That's my kind of way to wake up for the day :). Then I took a shower and started cleaning my house. Before we left for New York Kyle had his musical review so needless to say, we spent most our time at the school and definitely not keeping our house clean :) This week I have been subbing so I didn't really have a chance to give the house a good cleaning like it needed. SO that's what I did!
On another note, at ALCO the other day I bought this HUGE picture frame thing and after I cleaned I started putting pictures in it from our first year of marriage. There are still empty spots because the photo printer I got for Christmas a few years ago only does 4x6 and smaller, and the empty spots need 5X7 pictures- that can really give you idea of how big this thing is. ALCO always has 40% off sales, so I saw it, and waited till it went on sale. Three days later I went back- and it was on sale! Yay! Anyway- Here is a picture of the frame, not quite finished but almost!