Spring Break Highlights

I'm afraid I may have caught a case of Spring Fever over the break!We started Spring Break with a quick trip to my parents' in Shell Point.

Shell Point is one of the most peaceful and natural places left in Florida. It borders the Gulf of Mexico and the Apalachicola National Forest. Shell Point is undergoing extreme changes as "The Resort at Shell Point" is being developed.

We had a wonderful time visiting with family while we were there. My parents, Tim, and I had a great dinner at El Jalisco's Mexican restaurant while Josh was at a Tallahassee Titans game. The next day we went into Tallahassee with Josh to see 300.

The purpose of our trip was to pick up my *new* laptop (yay!) and two sets of fine china that my parents having been holding for us. Yes, two sets! A Christmas collection and a Renaissance pattern. We never had room for fine china until...

Mr. and Mrs. Scheib came for a very nice visit in early March and they brought a U-HAUL *full* of stuff. This "stuff" included everything from Tim's childhood toys to a new mattress for our guest room to a magnificent Ethan Allen dining room set!
Now we have a place to display the china!
Annabelle and Thomas have taken to snuggling together in our new chair...

Special Thanks to Mr. Scheib and Paul for loading everything up in Mobile!


~Other Hightlights~

Replanting 12 of my student's plants.

Highlight or Lowlight...you decide! We planted corn and pumpkin seeds two weeks before Spring Break. My classroom windowsill never gets direct sunlight and our classroom helper ("The Gardener") may have gotten a little overzealous with the water on a couple occasions. Only 6 seeds sprouted! In past years my plants have always blossomed! I told the kids I would give their plants the love they needed to grow over Spring Break...but I knew I would be doing some replanting. Good news~ new sprouts are already popping up!

Ordering 20 real Painted Lady Caterpillars

We observe as the caterpillars molt their skin and multiply in size, then make their chrysalis, and finally transform into butterflies! I love teaching first grade science!!

*Little known fact: NO butterfly makes a cocoon. Not ever!
That stage of a butterfly's life is a "chrysalis." Only moths make cocoons. This misconception is found in several children's book including Eric Carle's in The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Relaxing.

Tim was busy working through the week so I found myself with a lot of time to do...whatever I wanted! Sleeping in, washing and putting away the china, exploring all the functions of my new computer, making stickers for craft projects, cleaning out my closet (a day project in itself), etc. To be honest...I got almost everything done in those first 2 days off. I call it "shell shock" mode. It's when you can't sit still for the first few days of a vacation. It was nice to not be on a schedule. The best was not having to eat lunch at 10:30 in the morning!! It has me looking forward to *summer.*