It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

Nope, it's just the Seventh Grade!

Every year the 7th grade science teacher has the kids make hot air balloons out of tissue paper and glue. Then on a calm, COLD morning, the maintenance crew brings down their equipment(don't ask me to explain it) and we launch the balloons.

Last year Mr. Eisley (the Science teacher) and Mr. Pulsipher (the Social Studies teacher) got the crazy idea to make a MEGA BALLOON out of black plastic and strapping tape. I must admit, I giggled a lot and NEVER believed it would work.

And then the dang thing took off. It went higher, and higher and higher. People all over town were calling about the UFO. We had to hurry and alert the power plant, the airport, etc. Mr.P tried to track it down, but after driving well into New Mexico, the balloon was never seen again.

Fast forward to this year. The plans were for a bigger, better balloon. They spent 3 days designing and building the MEGA-BALLOON-TO-END-ALL-BALLOONS! A face was painted on it, and an address was added so we could track where it ended up.

And then . . . it was GO time.

3. . .2. . .1. . . Lift-off!

It's Climbing. . .

And off it goes, into the wild, blue yonder. . .



This one flew quickly east of town. Within minutes, it was out of sight. Unfortunately, it also quickly landed out past the railroad tracks. By lunchtime, the school had received an unhappy phone call from a "40-acre" man wanting it cleaned up really quickly. I just knew that whole address thing was a mistake! Come to think of it, I'm not sure how Mr. Eisley handled that one. But for the kids, it was a great to see all their hard work pay off. I just can't wait to see what they come up with next year.

Funny Story of the Day

Today in Primary, we were few in numbers, so we decided to keep all the kids together for sharing/singing time. Well, we finished up and began to release the kids to go to classes. I am not kidding, I looked away for less than a minute, and the CTR 5 class had disappeared.

I tell the substitute/teacher's husband who got suckered into helping, "Oh, I'm sure they just headed right to class, let me show you where it is." We get there. . .no kids. "Oh, I bet they went with the Sunbeams." Nope. "Well, maybe they went to Nursery." No again. At this point, I'm not really nervous, I figure they followed another class upstairs.

My lazy butt, just doesn't want to search up there. But, I am in charge, so search I must.

I rally the troops. (aka my counselors and secretary) Two of us head upstairs. The others return to the scene of the crime. Upstairs? No. Now I'm starting to wonder. What the heck?! They can't get far can they? It's snowing outside. Could they even open the door?

Downstairs, I'm met by my counselor. She's found them. Or more exactly, they found her. Right after they popped out of the closet in their classroom. They had been hiding from us the whole time!

Kind of one of those "you had to be there stories", but dang, I've been chuckling all evening...

Sure Signs of Plagiarism

This week in 7th grade English, the kids were assigned to present their biography reports to the class.

My favorite line of the week was, "And she was, once again, brought to bed with her ninth child."

Plagiarism? Cut and Paste? You be the judge.

I later asked the girl, "What do you think that means?"

She answered, "Well, I'm sure her ninth child, picked her up and brought her to bed. She was probably sick or something."

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today is my anniversary-17 years. The kids are at various friend's houses watching the Super Bowl.

I am hanging out in my bedroom, folding clothes because Ryan is screaming at the officials on the TV downstairs.

If only they could hear him.

Before you feel too bad for me, I think it is kind of funny.

If only
a) The Cardinals were winning
b) The damned officials weren't so bad (hee, hee) and
c ) I really expected to get my room clean.

The Way It's Meant to Be

I'm sure many of you have heard about the girls basketball team in Texas that beat another team 100-0. It's brought outrage and debate all across the country (or at least to those of us who follow ESPN).

But here in St. Johns, we had a story of sportsmanship and fun-one of the most-if not the most-unusual games I've ever seen.

Thursday night, the High School basketball teams played against Rough Rock. Within a quarter, we had the game fairly well in hand. Still, both sides kept playing tough and doing their best. In fact, at one point, a Rough Rock player actually dunked the ball! Not something you see much around here. It was a two-handed, backboard-shaking, pull yourself up on the rim sort of slam. He got a technical for pulling himself on the rim, but it was worth it for all of us. Even the St. Johns fans were cheering for him. On the court, our boys were high-fiving the kid and telling him how "bad" he was.

With the fourth quarter about half over, our coach put in some of the kids who don't get as much playing time. One of them is a boy with some difficulties. But let me tell you, he is a three point shooting king. Our goal was for him to get a basket. He would set up on the 3-point line, and everyone else would get him the ball. After each miss, the crowd would "Aaawwww!" in unison. After the first two attempts the Rough Rock kids caught on to what was going on, and backed off of him to let him get his shot. Finally, a shot went in and the whole crowd went wild.

But the story doesn't end there. There was still three or four minutes left in the game. How in the world would the boys go back to a normal game after that?! The answer is...they didn't. It now became a game to see if that Rough Rock player could dunk the ball again. The poor kid was wearing out, but time after time, he took the ball and tried to slam it in. This time, our team backed off and his team rebounded for him, while he attempted it. The crowed "Aaaawwed" and cheered him on each time. The officials (both good guys from here) were smiling and laughing with the rest of us as they overlooked any traveling or double dribbling that had to be done. He never was able to do it, but the one during the game was impressive enough.

As the final buzzer sounded, I think some of us realized that the final score wasn't the measure of this game. (Yeah, I know, I can say that because we won...) It was another instance when a bunch of teenagers showed us that really, it is just a game. And while it may be a rare thing for SJ Basketball, I think we all left the gym with a smile on our face.

Spelling Bee

Much to Sydney's chagrin, she earned a spot in the school spelling bee. After weeks of not studying, she participated in the bee today. After weeks of knowing about it-her mother failed to bring a camera. (In my own defense-I was a judge, so it probably wouldn't have been appropriate to be snapping pictures of my daughter. . .) Anyway, she did well. Not the first one out, and not the last one in. Just about perfect for her tastes.

Speaking of taste-she got out on boysenberry.

My favorite time of week

I love Friday afternoons. The whole weekend just lays before you like an unopened present.

Who cares if I really ought to be cleaning and doing laundry?

Who cares if Cade has a game Saturday night in Greyhills?

Who cares if I have Primary responsibilities Sunday?

At least for one evening, the possibilities are endless.