Schools Out For Summer!!!

OK, here are some pictures of Cooper and Chloe for their class programs and Chloe's Kindergarten graduation.

So there is Cooper at his desk.  Cooper with his teacher.  Can you find Cooper getting ready for the Third Grade Program?

Chloe had a part in the Kindergarten Program.  Hers was the very first that began the program. (I'd show you a picture but it is all fuzzy and blurry).  Her line was, "Everything we need to know, We learned this year in School.  We learned about the ABC's, And how to live the golden rule."

Had a Nice Visit

My mother and my sister Ruth came to Utah for a visit.  They came to my house to watch Chloe's Kindergarten graduation.  Chloe's class sang, had a slide show and received their diplomas.  During the slide show, we of course looked for any pictures of Chloe.  But I was in a few of the pictures since I had been a mother helper in Chloe's class.  I turned to my mom and said, "Mom, that was me in the movie.  Did you see me Mom?"  She laughed, nodded that yes she saw me.  Then afterward, she said, "Oh, I should have said, That's my little girl."

After the graduation, we went out for lunch.  Kyle took his lunch break from work and met us there at Barry's Parkview Drive-In.  Then it was to my house.  We played games, watched some videos and took naps.  We played Dictionary Dabble and Upwords.  We watched the two Brian Regan videos that I had.  Ruth and Mom were cracking up.

On Saturday we went to my sister Emma's house.  We had a nice visit with her family and with a few friends too.  It was good to catch up.  The food was good too.  There was an assortment of kabobs,sides,  snacks and the kids made S'mores on the new fire pit.  Chloe called them snores.  We had a god laugh at that.

We went back on Sunday evening.  This time to play games.  We played Qwirkle, Apples to Apples, and Mad Gab.  We snacked and snacked.  Of course, the diet starts tomorrow, right?

Day at the Zoo

Friday I went with Chloe's Kindergarten class to the Hogle Zoo.  I was one of the parent helpers.  I had a small group of 5 kids, one of them being Chloe. 

One of the little boys didn't want to be a part of the picture.

We saw monkeys, tigers, camels, snakes, penguins, birds, kangaroos, giraffes, elephants and rhinos to name a few. 

 

We rode on the little train.  We even played at the playground there.  The weather was nice and cool.  It rained a bit.  The kids did pretty well.  I lost two of them once (one of them being Chloe).  There was a little bit of whining about when can we ride the train, when are we going to eat,  my feet hurt, can we play on the playground, etc.

Oh, I saw a friend of mine from high school days.  Vicki was there with her two youngest children.  It was nice to talk with her, but of course the kids were bored because we were just standing there.

All in all, I think the kids had a pretty good time.  I know I was pooped when we got home.  I took a nice long nap on the couch.

Mother's Day

So my day started out pretty nice.  I was able to sleep in a bit, we don't have church until 11am.  Nobody had to run off to meetings in the morning, they had all been canceled for Mother's Day. 

At church there were a few youth speakers talking about their moms and motherhood.  The Primary kids sand 2 numbers.  My kids actually sang and didn't just stand up there waving at me.  The mothers were given a music CD of hymns out of the hymnal that Emma Smith had put together.

After church, Kyle and I cooked together to make my Mother's Day brunch.  But it wasn't technically brunch since it was at 3pm.  We made a frittata, home fries and scones.  The scones were not what people out here in Utah call scones, which is just fry bread, but the type of scones you would find in a New England bakery.  They are like breakfast cookies.  The recipes I got from Anne Burrell, she is a chef and star of Food Network's Secrets of a restaurant chef.  She was also one of the chef mentors for the Worst Cooks in America competition.

Kyle really like the frittata and home fries.  I really liked the scones.  I want to make them again, but try some other dried fruit and nut combinations.

Anyway, Chloe had made me a book for Mother's Day.  Kyle's mom sent me a bouquet of flowers.  I have yet to tell Kyle what gift I want.  I sent my mom a bracelet and a necklace, one was for her birthday and the other was for Mother's Day.

So I had a nice relaxing day with good food and good company.

Blow to the self-esteem

Lately I've been going to interviews trying to land a student teaching internship for the Fall.  Some of the interviews have been with individual principals for a specific job opening and others have been with district personnel for a teaching pool to draw from for their multiple openings.

I interviewed at Alpine School District.  They had 4 intern openings.  I never heard back.  Never got a call to interview with a specific principal.  In talking to some of my cohorts, I think the 4 positions have been filled.

I interviewed with one principal for an elementary school in Springville.  I thought it went well.  I got a call back saying that the position was filled, but that I was a strong candidate and they wished me luck.

I interviewed with a Nebo School District man, Mike, and two principals of elementary schools at the same time.  I thought it went very well.  But again, I got a call back saying the positions had been filled.

Then I interviewed in Provo School District with 3 people who were putting together a teaching pool  I have yet to hear back.  I've emailed the lady twice for information as to whether or not I am in the pool.  I called yesterday and left a message on her voicemail.

My visiting teaching companion is a secretary at Spanish Fork Junior High.  She told me that their Special Education Teacher just put in her resignation effective at the end of month.  The job wasn't posted yet but she told me to call the principal.  I did call.  He had interviewed only one person so far.  It was one of my cohorts.  He was under the impression that only one person was interested in secondary.  I informed him that there were at least 7 of us wanting internships.  He said he would talk with Mike.  I called back a few days later.  By then, he had gotten a copy of my resume from Mike.  He said that his schedule was hectic that week with an accreditation team coming in so he'll do interviews after that.  So I called the day after the team was in his school.  Again, I got the hectic excuse.  I asked about interviews.  He said that they'll schedule them for later that week.  I call again Friday because I still did not get an interview set up.  I know that two other of my cohorts got interviews with him.  I called again yesterday.  "Oh, yeah," he says, "I got a note right here to call you Friday".  Well, the position had been filled.  They did a couple of interviews and one stood out.  But he thanked me for my interest.

Seriously?!  I was so upset.  Why wasn't my interest enough to warrant an interview?  I had called, made myself available for interviews.  I didn't call every day, I didn't want to be a pest.  I only called once, maybe twice a week.  For some reason this really was a blow to my ego.  What about our phone conversations or my resume wasn't good enough for an interview?  Did Mike tell him something about me because he had sat in on one of my other interviews.  Did one of my references not give me a good review?  Who knows.  Oh, and at the end of the phone conversation he told me, "I was talking with Mike, he said that there may be an opening at Springville Junior High" so I should try there.  "Good luck."

I was very emotional the rest of the day.  I talked with a few cohorts, they too are frustrated that district personnel have not returned their emails and  phone calls.

I just felt like I was being black-listed or black-balled or something.  Kyle thought it was weird that I am having a hard time getting an internship.  He thought that with my years of experience I would have the pick of the litter.  I guess I'm not as great as I thought.

Happy 17th Anniversary!

May 1st was my anniversary.  To celebrate Kyle and I went to Salt Lake City for an over-nighter.  We went to a restaurant called The Roof.  It is on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  We had a nice view of the Salt Lake Temple and the city below us, and of the sunset set across the valley at the Oquirrh Mountains.  The food was delicious.  It is buffet style.  There were sections of appetizers, salad bar, main course, soup & sides, and of course, dessert.  We had Monterey Chicken, Marinated Flank Steak, Pork Roulade, ham and prime rib as our main dish.  I had french onion soup, and some coconut shrimp appetizers, a salad, and pasta.  then for dessert I had strawberry cheesecake, brioche, creme brulee, rum ball (which I didn't know what it was until after I had a bite and we asked the server what it was because I couldn't place the flavor), peach crepe, and a chocolate covered strawberry.  For dessert Kyle had an eclair, peach crepe, chocolate cake.  The servers bring you hot rolls and refresh your drink.  I had a pomegranate lemonade and Kyle had a peach lemonade.  Even though all of my portions were small, there were a lot of portions.  I felt like I ate so much I could puke.

We stayed the night at the Little America.  We just laid around like beached whales and watched TV.  We slept in and took it easy in the morning.  When we got hungry (which wasn't until about 9:30) we went down to their breakfast buffet.  Oh  man, I ate myself silly again.  I had bacon, sausage, strawberries, grapefruit, pineapple, blintzes, a cream cheese danish, hash browns an egg benedict, apple juice and chocolate milk.  Kyle had a biscuit and gravy, bacon, hash browns, oranges, melon, ham, 2 blueberry muffins and Dr. Pepper.  They also had a section where you could have your omelette custom made.  After breakfast we lounged around the hotel room again.  Checkout wasn't until noon.  Kyle took a nap, I watched TV.

After we checked out, we went to IKEA.  It was on the way and we've never been there.  It's pretty big.  There are lots of ideas.  We got a new pillow for Kyle and some magazine holders.  We also bought some Swedish food, an apple soda and a sparkling apple-pomegranate juice.  There is a restaurant there.  Maybe after we get a new house (who knows when that will be) we could take the kids there for a meal and to get decorating ideas.

It was a nice relaxing weekend.