Day 31 ** PIGEONS **

Today I took the boys to see Pigeon Party! performed by the Pittsburgh International Children's Theater. It was an enjoyable performance based on the Pigeon books written by Mo Willems. We weren't allowed to take pics of the production, but here is one of the display of books for purchase that Mo Willems has written. I have all of these books, so I bought myself a t-shirt... it says "Driven to Read" :)
(I'll post a pic of that also... but Gavin took it with my phone... and his little hands were a bit unsteady :P )

Day 29 < FULL MOON >

It's a full moon tonight... Unfortunately, I was using my phone camera to take this pic... but I didn't have access to my camera. Bummer. But hey, I was sick today... it's all I've got to offer! :P

Day 28 :( Sick ):

I can't stop sneezing & sniffling... I ended up making a doctor's appointment, and because I waited 1 HOUR in the small, enclosed, slightly claustrophobic room... I just had to take a picture.

And... for the record, I just so happen to have a sinus infection. :( No fun!!

Day 27 ~~ River ~~

A pic of the Clarion River... taken from the car on my cell phone. :)

Day 25 ** sweet **

On the 25th day of January... this is what I see...
My favorite "bar" game bowling... Yippee!!

Ok... so this was delivered today to MAC's downtown... My brother & Mel and JR & I totally rock this game... and now it's back! Fun!

Day 24 $ 8.00 $

It's been a very trying day today... finding myself needing some of this tonight... cheap at $8/bottle... but one of my favs :)

Day 23 *Birthday*

Today was Ava's birthday party... Yummy cake!

Day 22 **Colors**

Ok... so I should have pulled over to take this pic.... but instead, I really really slowed down and aimed my camera phone out the window :) (so I wouldn't be late for work!)
It's a bit blurry, but you can try to imagine how gorgeous it looked!

Day 21 ^^ Reflections ^^

After work I looked out my window... and the sun was shining so brilliantly. Nothing beats the sunshine after these gloomy wintery days we've been having!

Day 19 *MVP*

Shopping and saw this... wouldn't it be nice to be someone's MVP? I love going to baseball games... so this for sure caught my eye. Maybe someday.

Day 18 *Workshop*

Today I presented two workshops for Keystone Oaks School District in Pittsburgh. It was a great day, and the keynote presenter was Will Richardson... so here is my pic for today!

Day 17 *Words*

Saw this picture in Hallmark & liked the saying. :)

Day 16 !We won!

Ok... so tonight we BEAT Super Mario for Wii!! We were super psyched... and unlocked World 9. (which by the way, you can only access if you have collected ALL the star coins from each world)
Here's a couple victory pics... (taken with my Nokia E71x cell phone in all the excitement...)

Day 15 ^Penguins^

Today was the much anticipated Penguin Day... since the snow day last Friday pushed it back a week. The kiddos had fun making their hats, sock penguins and penguin glyph. I think I'm all penguined out... except for those Pittsburgh Penguins, that is!!

Day 14 ~ Huge Icicle~

The boys had a blast sledriding today... and when we saw this huge icicle... they wanted to hold it! I bet it would've been as tall as Gavin if we stood it upright!

Day 13 *A Gerry Dee Moment*

Gerry Dee is one of my all time favorite comedians! He seriously cracks me up. When talking about Kindergarten, he says "It takes everyone an hour and a half to get their coats & boots on". I couldn't agree with ya more, Gerry! Sometimes I wonder why we allow our students to sledride at recess!! :P
19 kids, 19 snowsuits, 19 hats/scarfs, 38 boots, & 38 mittens = crazy teacher and a bin full of 'missing mittens' everyday!

Day 12 ^^ Go Green! ^^

Are you familiar with the phrase Go Green? Well... I must say that I'm not usually the greenest person... but that's gonna change in 2010! Ya see... today I was shopping and a bag caught my eye. I did a double take... and I realized that I MUST Go Green this year! Because...(drumroll) little did I know that Green is the new color of Love! It's true! I read it on the bag. ;) (See for yourself below!)
Soooooo... I think I'll start thinking green, wearing green, eating green, drinking green, dreaming green, and even peeing green.... (okay... maybe that's a bit much...)

Wish me luck!! ** And yes, I bought the bag!! **

Day 11 ~Imagination~

I love that I have kids who are little builders. :)

Day 10 * Super Addicting *

Ummm... what can I say?? I'm at Koopa's castle! :)

Day 9 ^DEN event^

Today Jan and I were at Propel Montour schools in Pittsburgh for the DEN SCIcon LC Live Event. This pic was taken with my webcam. We had an awesome day!
:)

Day 8 ~Fascination~

I'm staying in Pittsburgh tonight (well, Mars...) at my brother's house. My precious niece Ava just loves "Aunt Cici's" (that's what she calls me...) phone! She wanted to call Mammie and Papa, and was just content as can be pushing the buttons to try. I love my babydoll!

Day 7 (( Penguins ))

Tomorrow is "Penguin Day" in B-7. We'll be creating penguin glyphs, sock penguins, and making penguin fleece hats! There will be a penguin relay... and penguin snacks. We'll also be sporting Pittsburgh PENS clothing! The kids are super excited... they are unaware of all of the activities planned! Check out the hats... I cut and tied the tops and rolled the bottoms tonight... and I made myself one. :) There will be 19 very cute 1st grade penguins in my classroom tomorrow!

Day 6 *Favorite Things*

One of Gavin's favorite things to do is read to our cat, Peaches. And everytime he does... I have to take a picture to "show his teacher", which just happened to work out perfectly for my blog today. :) Peaches truly is his cat, and I still haven't figured out why she adores him so much. Gav had just turned 1 when we got her... so picture in your head the page in the book No David! by: David Shannon that says "But she likes it!!" and shows David pulling the kitty cat's tail. That was Gav a few years ago... as he would never leave Peaches alone. So... I find it rather amusing that 90% of the time, she only goes to him when called, snuggles with him, and sits on his lap when he calls her to hear a story. It is definitely apparent that Gav is her favorite too! :)

Day 5 ~Choices~

Life is all about choices. We choose the clothes we wear each day... the career we have... the people we want (or in some cases do not want) to spend our time with. We even choose our emotions... whether we want to be happy, sad, or angry. Choices. I'm gonna be honest. Choices can be annoying. I hate being asked to pick a movie, or a restaurant, or even what I want for my birthday. I'm often an indecisive person, and I'll be the first to admit that I have not always made the best choices along the way. One thing I have learned though... is that choices eventually shape us and guide us in directions that were certainly unplanned. Choices can be fun... and choices can be heartbreaking. Choices can move us closer to or farther away from something. Choices.
As I was making dinner tonight, I had to point out my sign in the kitchen... because I do not run a restaurant... and even dinner is about choices.

~ Look for your choices, pick the best one, then go with it. ~

Day 4 ~Snow Angels~

As I watched the snow falling, I noticed my little angel in the window. It was a Christmas gift and I just love how it turns purple in UV light. My best friend passed away when we were 15... and her favorite color was purple. This is my "Lacey" angel for sure.

DAY 3 ~ Bricks ~

I'm so glad a friend of mine got me this lovely brick... although... it doesn't get thrown for "BAD CALLS"... it gets thrown for the STEELERS giving up points and playing stupid in the 4th quarter every game! Yep... Even though they ended up winning, I still took a shot numerous times at the TV today!

DAY 2 -Sorry!

Nothin like a game of Sorry! with Gavin on a cold, snowy, winter day! (He's the villians... I'm the princesses)

DAY 1 *Beads*

So I got this bracelet... and the beads each have special meaning.
Black Onyx~ Courage & Determination
* To remember to believe in your inner strengths when doing what it takes to make your dreams reality.
Clear Quartz~ Clarity & Truth
* To remember to believe in yourself, your passion, your purpose.

** I chose this as my first picture post for 2010 because I'm hoping this year brings new dreams and passions to explore... and everytime I wear this bracelet, it'll remind me to believe that anything is possible!

Taking on the challenge...

So I came across this post... and I'm not so sure I'll follow it exactly, but will do something similar... And my pictures will be taken with my Kodak EasyShare.
http://www.langwitches.org/blog/photos/365/2010/
My friend Jan is also challenging herself... so check out her blog here. I had quite the year in 2009... I was blessed with connecting and building friendships through the technology conferences I attended. I was also able to do some traveling... which I LOVE! Over the course of the year, I found myself in Philly (numerous times), Maryland, Washington DC, Chicago (briefly), San Francisco, and New York City. 2009 opened my eyes to many things. I experienced new friendships, love & laughter... as well as heartache. I gained relationships... and let relationships go. But overall, the events of 2009 all helped me to become the person I am today. I'm ready to start 2010 re-energized!