Memorial Day as a Mom...

I will forever be grateful for my experiences as an Army Brat and as an Army Wife. Living in so many locations, meeting so many wonderful people, and struggling through the challenges associated with that lifestyle, helped me become a person I am happy with. I also believe it has contributed to my deep sense of Patriotism and pride in my country. Is it a life I would choose for my children? Probably not. However, being that Scott has dedicated a goodly portion of his adult life to the military through his years in the National Guard I have accepted the fact that my opinion doesn't matter. Luckily, Scott has come through a tour in Afghanistan and most of a tour in Iraq safely. We miss him terribly and worry about him constantly. We try to not count the days until he is home with us again. Instead, we stay busy and keep him in our prayers. But on holidays like Memorial Day, our thoughts can't help but turn to him. We are proud of his dedication to our country, his honorable performance of his duty, and the commitment he has for his fellow soldiers. As we enjoy the blessings of living in this wonderful country, let us not forget those who serve and make that life possible for us all.

J is for joke....

My class has been counting down the last days of school by the ABC's. Each of the last 26 days is assigned a letter and activities are planned based on the letter of the day. A few days ago we had "J is for Joke Day" and these are some of the best:

Ben A. "What do you call a bank robbing bird?" ...A robin"
Alison B. "What is the worst gift in the world? ... an inflatable dart board"
Emma N. "What did the dentist give to the marching band? ... a tuba toothpaste"
Rylee O. "Why couldn't the bike stand up? ... it was two-tired"
Celes G. "How do you make a tissue dance? ...you put a little boogie in it"
Alex K. "Why did the rocket lose it's job? ...it was fired"
Ben M. "What did the sea say to the beach? ...nothing, it just waved"
Alore F. "Why was the flower able to go for such a long bike ride? ..it had petal power"
Grace K. "What did the chef give to the marching band? ...a drum stick"

Just remember, they are only first graders!

Special temple trip...

Yesterday we escorted Leslie and Gerson through the temple! What a wonderful day filled with sweet spiritual experiences, joy, happiness, laughter, close friends and family.

A rainy Saturday morning...

Rain in Texas is such a time for celebration. I love the fresh-washed feeling that comes when the storms pass. The effects on the flowers, grass and trees is amazing and it always seems to give me a sense of renewal and hope. I guess knowing that the long, hot, dry and barren summer is lingering in the not too distant future and I simply do not want to let go of these wonderful spring days.
Seth stayed the night last night and watching him splash through the puddles and hearing him giggle when the cold drips from the wet leaves fall on him reminds me of the days when I was young. I can remember one time when Larry and I decide to use a sudden downpour for a quick rainwater fresh shampoo. There we were, standing in the back yard of Mom and Dad's place on Gephart Rd. with a head full of shampoo bubbles and the rain stops. Just one of many of Larry's hair-brained ideas that went wrong.
Anyway, here are a couple of photographs I took this morning while Seth was playing. I include some before and after shots of the front flower bed. Isn't rain amazing?

Something lost in the translation...

One of my son-in-laws, Gerson, is originally from Mexico. Because of the differences in language and culture, he ends up being the brunt of some good natured teasing. Also, we are trying so hard to retrain him so that he "fits in" a little better in social settings. One of the things that G is evidently comfortable with, is eating freely from ANYONE'S plate whether in private or in public. Our family, on the other hand, is totally uncomfortable with that and has been trying to break him of that habit. Unfortunately, G has slip ups quite often. For example, last night all of the family had come over for dinner. We had just cleared the table and most people were at various points in finishing dessert. Ryan, my oldest son, was sitting at the end of the table with a brownie on his plate. Gerson was sitting to his left with his own brownie. I was sitting on Gerson's left and my daughter Leslie was directly across from me. Ryan got up from the table to get a drink of milk at about the same time that Maggie walked up to her daddy (Gerson) and asked for a bite of brownie. Suddenly, Leslie shouts, "Gerson! I can't believe you just did that!" Evidently, when Ryan walked away, Gerson very boldly and without any qualms, decided to reach over with his fork and get a bite of brownie for Maggie off of Ryan's plate instead of his own. Of couse, when he was caught red-handed, he smiled that goofy smile, started chuckling, and said, "What? I was just getting Maggie a bite." Leslie chewed him out for taking food off another person's plate instead of his own. So, Gerson decided to make restitution by taking a bite of brownie off his own plate and placing it on Ryan's plate. Needless to say, that just caused another uproar. I thought Ryan was going to smack the tar out of G, but instead he said, "Dude! Get that @$&*@#* piece of crap off my plate!" Honestly, I think Gerson actually was being greedy and just didn't want to give up a bite of HIS own brownie and thought no one would notice him feeding Maggie from Ryan's plate. But, with that whole language/culture thing going on, will we ever know for sure?

A copy of Holly's threes.....

Here's what you're supposed to do . . . and please do not spoil the fun. Copy, repost in a new blog, delete my answers and type in your answers. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known things about each other.

Three names I go by:
*Gwen
*Mrs. Searls
*Sweetness

Three names I no longer answer to:
*Miss Porter
*Gwen Porter
*Republican

Three jobs I have had in my life:
*bank teller
*zoo membership salesperson
*teacher

Three jobs I would still like to try:
*vet assistant
*travel planner
*park ranger

Three places I have lived:
*Ohio
*Germany
*Kentucky

Three places I have *really* loved:
*Budapest
*Austria
*Switzerland

Three TV shows that I watch:
*local morning weather segment
*Prison Break
*24

Three TV shows I would still watch if they were still on:
*Jehrico
*As Time Goes By (British sit-com)
*Murder She Wrote

Three places I have been:
*Phoenix, Arizona
*Breckenridge, Colorado
*Nashville, Tennessee

Three places I would go to in a heartbeat:
*on a cruise to Alaska
*Scotland
*Australia

People I e-mail regularly:
*Barbara
*my grade level team members
*Ron (when he is out of town)

People I so wish would e-mail me regularly:
*Scott
*Ryan
*Edward

Three of my favorite foods:
*homemade bread
*potato soup
*Mom's bean and cornbread

Three foods I know I'm supposed to like but I just don't:
*salad
*fish
*nonfat dairy products

Three friends I think will repost:
*Nobody
*No One
*Yourguess Isasgoodasmine

Three things I dread:
*grading papers
*purging personal files
*sewing on a quilt binding

Three things I am looking forward to:
*having all my boys home from Iraq
*the new granddaughter
*summer

Where do they get those crazy ideas?

I have another funny school story to share. I have a kid in my class named "Simon" who brings a lunch to school everyday. Last week he went through the cafeteria serving line looking for ketchup packets. I asked him what he needed the ketchup for and he said he needed it for his lunch. Unfortunately, they were serving spaghetti that day so consequently, no ketchup packets.
Today they were serving hamburgers and fries so "Simon" snagged himself a couple of ketchup packets. After lunch, the kids had returned to the classroom and "Simon" told me he had a magic trick to show the class and needed 2 volunteers. I asked him what the magic trick was and he told me he could make ketchup disappear. We were in the middle of center rotations so I told him we would do the magic trick at the end of the day if we had some extra time. He went back to his table and I went on with my reading group.
A few minutes later, "Ralph" comes out of the bathroom and says, "Mrs. Searls, someone put a ketchup packet under the toilet seat and when I sat on it, it squirted all over the place!" Needless to say, "Simon" was wearing a guilty look. I called "Simon" over to the table, and in my most shocked teacher's voice I said, "Simon! The most horrible thing just happened! Ralph went to the bathroom and somehow ended up squashing a ketchup packet all over the bathroom! Do you have any idea how that happened?"
"Simon", being the sweet, always obedient, non-malicious little boy he is admitted to putting the ketchup packet under the toilet seat. So, I sent his repentant little butt off the to bathroom to clean up his mess with directions to come and chat with me once the mess was gone.
When "Simon" came back to my reading table, I asked him where he got such a crazy idea. He looked up at me with his huge, doe eyes and said he had read about it in his book, Captain Underpants, and wanted to see if it really worked. We continued to have a little chat about what is appropriate in a comic book and not appropriate for the classroom.
Now, Simon happens to have his father working at the school as our campus technologist. As soon as I finished chatting with "Simon", I popped an email off to his father. Needless to say, Dad was mortified. I told Dad that I personally thought the whole thing was way too funny, which put his mind at ease. I told him that I explained that it would be better to test out those Captain Underpants theories at home. (Dad didn't think that was such a good idea.) Anyway, it is the little incidents like this one that keep me smiling through the day.