Low Cost Costume Ideas-Dickens' Version

Have you ever seen that SNL sketch where Adam Sandler is on Weekend Update, and he is giving low cost Halloween costume ideas? Well, Greg and I have been coming up with some of our own low cost Halloween costume ideas. Here are my favorites.

Crazy DVD Case for a Hand...Don't you see I've got a DVD case for a hand? Now give me some candy!

Crazy Bucket for a Head...I've got a bucket for a head. Isn't that crazy? Now give me some candy!

I know that Halloween isn't for a few more months, but feel free to use these fantastic costume ideas when trick-or-treating rolls around!

Just Moving Around the House

I definitely have a mover and shaker on my hands. It's really fun being home with Greg and watching him develop. When I say develop, I mean run all over the place and get into everything. :) He is such a happy baby; I'm such a lucky mom. He developed a very unique style of crawling. He figured that he could go faster and propel himself further if he pushed with his one leg up. Here is a video of his crawl. It has been described as peg-leg and looking like Quasimodo and Golum. Love it! That little table in our entry-way is his favorite place to hang out.

Greg has also starting walking a few weeks ago. He has gotten pretty quick the last couple of days and spends a lot of time walking from room to room carrying his bear, a highlighter, or a fistful of spoons. I thought that I took some video of Greg walking (for the grandparents to see), but I was wrong. I'll get some and post it later.

Really?!

What a week...or possibly the worst week ever. Last Tuesday I was riding my bike to school when I decided to jump onto the sidewalk from the street. 10 seconds later and lots of blood and pain, I was picking myself out of the gutter. Since I was already running late and I needed to shower before school began, I quickly made sure nothing was completely broken and headed off for the Johnson Recreation Center. Walking through the doors my left arm was a pool of blood and my shirt was torn and mangled. After a quick shower I stopped by the main desk where they supplied me with some gauze and bandages.

But that was just the beginning. During the fall I apparently slammed my right hand into the cement, bruising and severely spraining the wrist. Because I am tough (or supposedly so) I waited until Thursday to go in for an x-ray. I had the x-ray on Thursday, but then had to wait until Monday to find out the results. In the mean-time my right hand was useless. No more biking, no more running, and lots of sitting...Yuck!

But did I forget to mention that I came down with a cold as well. Yup, that's right. Murphy's law was is complete effect this past week. Saturday and Sunday were spent curled up in blankets being one grumpy cuss.

The week is over...and things are much better.

My photography website is finally up and running...check it out (http://www.pureandpensif.com).

I can feel my wrist again...no broken bones.

And my head no longer throbs from being sick.


As a side note, I will no longer being making additions to this blog. I now use my blog attached to my photography website. If you are interested, you can access the blog via my photography website or at http://www.pureandpensif.blogspot.com.

That's all for now folks. Hope your week is better than mine! :)

School is Starting

That's right my friends, school is starting on Wednesday. And guess what I'm not going back! Yahoo! For those that don't know, I'm not going to be teaching this year because I get to stay home with Greg. I'm so happy about this; it was a difficult school year trying to balance being a good mom with being a good teacher. It was totally exhausting, to be completely honest! I know that it was hard for Noel as well, being home alone with Greg. He is a great dad and did such a wonderful job with Greg last year. That kid adores him!

Even though I am so excited to be a stay-at-home mom, a small part of me already misses teaching and being at school. I worked with some wonderful people who are amazing teachers and even better friends. The good thing is I am still in Lexington and will get to still hang out with them on occasion.

And what is a post about school/teaching without some little kid funnies?!?! Last year I had such a fun class. There were some definite challenges, but those kids made me laugh so much! This is mostly for me to just be able to get these memories down, so don't feel like you have to keep reading.

Right before we started our end of the year testing, I sharpened a bunch of new pencils so that all of the kids could have a few sharp pencils that actually had erasers on the top. Here is how a couple of conversations went.

C. C.: What are those Mrs. Dickens?

Me: Pencils.

C. C.: Are those brand new pencils?

Me: Yep.

C. C.: Sweet!

N. W.: Whoa…new pencils. What I’ve always dreamed about!

If I would have known new pencils would be such a big hit, I would have given them to the class a lot earlier!

I had a student that I just wish everyone in the world could meet. He is so wonderful. He has some special needs but is the sweetest kid, and almost everything he said made me laugh. I just love him! He would pretend to drive around a car whenever we went somewhere. When we went to the bathroom, he would "drive his car" down the hallway, "park" it outside the door, open the door and get out, then hang up his keys on an imaginary hook. So funny. Here is a little conversation with him.

Me: Did you get a haircut?

L: Yah. I went to the haircut store. They gave me a sucker!

Another little girl was drawing a picture after she finished her work and said, "Look! A teddy bear with a uni-brow!" Who draws a teddy bear with a uni-brow?

I had another little girl in my class who was developmentally delayed. She was 7, but developmentally she was about 4. She is also a student who I just wish everyone could meet her; she is great! She is student C.C. Another little boy in my class was concerned about her having a boyfriend.

Mason: Ms. Dickens, C.C. says Eminem is her boyfriend.

Me: C.C., Eminem is too old for you. (I was thinking of the rapper, Eminem)

Courtney: Well he is red and chocolaty and he is still my boyfriend. (M&M, not Eminem...oohh.)

During a reading group:

Me: What’s this word?

C.C. : But…like buttocks.

So funny. It's crazy for me to think that they will all be in second grade. Even crazier to think that my class from the year before that will be in third grade. Whoa!