Hawks, Hail, and Helicopters!

Hawks, Hail, and Helicopters!

It was a really weird week. One day when I was taking Alayna to school, a huge helicopter flew right over our house. It looked like it was mere feet from our roof! It was super loud and we both stood there with our jaws dropped, staring at the sky. Right after the helicopter passed, a huge hawk with a giant wing span came soaring into our yard and landed on the tree house. Alayna and I were looking at each wondering what the heck was going on. I raced in the house to get the camera, but by the time I came out again, it was gone. Also, this week, a freak storm hit with golf ball size hail. I would have gotten a picture, but I was too busy trying to convince a room full of 6^th graders that we weren’t in the middle of Armageddon! My poor van has dimples all over it.

Apple pies

We made 4 apple pies this week and we got pretty creative with the top part. We baked one of them in the toaster oven (our oven has been broken since Alaynas baptism) and it was so yummy! We have another huge crop coming in so this weekend we are declaring “Apple Day” and will bake til we drop.

Things that make me go “huh?”

Here are some school funnies that happened this week:

One of the questions on the Daily Geography test this week was “What two countries border Mongolia?” Now, mind you, this exact question was covered in class and we even showed it on the class map and their atlases. One of my students wrote “Salt Lake City and Provo!” Bet you didn’t know those are countries that border Mongolia!

Same test, same explanation as above. The question was “What continent does Central America belong to? One kid said “Denver”.

Another day, while working on Daily Geography, I saw that a student was getting frustrated.

Student: Mrs. Hart, I cant find North Dakota for the life of me!

Me: Ok, where are you looking?

Student: I’m trying to find a close up map of Iowa because I KNOW its in Iowa but I just don’t see it.

Yep- my job is SO not boring.

Things I have learned this week:

~Tyler woke up on Tuesday morning running around like a loon saying he was late for jazz band. Um, you are in jazz band? Apparently he had auditioned and made it and “forgot” to tell us. So, congrats to Tyler on this cool new activity to participate in.

~Do any of you know what “jeggings” are? Apparently it’s this new type of pants- they are skin tight (like Leggings) but made out of jeans- hence the “jeggings” name. Weird, right?

~Did you know that the only type of pink hair dye spray they make here is “fluorescent”? Just what I need-hair streaks you can see from space! Big day is this Friday.

~I’m going to suggest to Congress that they pass a law which says in order to be a parent you must spend an entire week with a teenage girl trying to find an appropriate Homecoming dress that is “the one”. I think people would think twice about having kids.

Ok, so I won’t go into the details about how many stores and how many hours we spent looking for a dress. You wouldn’t believe me even if I did. Apparently the new “style” of homecoming dress is to make sure it as low cut as possible, no sleeves, and as short as your undies are. After several huge failed attempts, I got a brilliant idea (it was either this or I become a homicidal maniac). I said we should look for long dresses and cut them off. So, that opened up many more possibilities. So, this week we went to David’s bridal again (the 3^rd time) and she tried on every dress her size, that was long on the clearance rack. (That is not an exaggerated statement-trust me!) After 2 ½ hours, we got it narrowed down to 3. She loved the yellow one, I hated it. I loved the red one, she wasn’t excited about it. FINALLY, one of the ladies that worked there said, “Do you mind if I give my opinion? You guys have been here longer than I have!” So, thank heavens she liked the red one more. Marisa looks so stunning in it. (I just think she doesn’t like how it shows she has a figure). So, we bought it (a $200 dress for $40!!) and Grandma Hart, the amazing magician that she is, cut it and fixed it! So, I will include the original dress picture and you can see the fixed one at Homecoming.

Misc Extras:

Tyler and his partner won their match again this week. 4-0

I finished Al Capone does my Shirts this week. It’s a Newbery Honor book and I loved it. It’s about a boy whose family moves to Alcatraz because his father gets a job as a guard there (during 1935). His sister is autistic and how that affects him and his family. A really sweet book. (Based on the true history of Alcatraz).