Sorry... I'm caught up now, though!

Keaton said no one would see this where it was, so I'm re-posting it.

The pictures are small and I don't know why, but they're on Facebook, so you can see them there.

I admit I've pretty much fallen out of the blogging world as of late and have read only Mom's because it comes directly to my e-mail. But I'm caught up in my reading and I'm really glad the rest of the family isn't slacking as much as I have. I LOVED the April Fool's day and fishing videos as well as the cat & dog story... Haha... and I liked Keaton's new song, and the song Devon posted for Alicia was so sweet. Which means Gregan, Jaron and Kindy have been slacking as much as I have. Whoa... I just realized it's every other person in birth order who has and hasn't posted! Trippy....

There are two reasons (excuses) I haven't blogged though. 1 - I really don't have that many exciting things to say, and 2 - I've been sick! (Yeah, I'm using that...) I really have been sick for over 2 months though, and I'm SOoo tired of it. I've taken about 4 sick days which is always a pain cuz there are no subs who know sign language... It started out as a head cold/flu and I never did anything about it so it turned into pneumonia. The cough never really went away, then I got another cold on top of that a few weeks ago... It started going away, then yesterday I started feeling all cold-like again! Ugh.

Anyway, in other news, Randy got accepted but wait-listed for the U. That means he's heading to California for med school. Actually, he's already moved into his new place as of today and tomorrow. I found this out on Easter, which is why I didn't go down to Mom's house for it. Then he went to Hawaii for 2 weeks, came back and we hung out all of last week, then he moved yesterday. I'll see him again on his way back through to Montana on Wednesday, but otherwise, we're done.
As you may or may not remember, we got Lola from the humane society.  Her file said she had been abandoned.  We found out on Friday exactly how that happened.  After they pulled the moving truck up and started loading it Lola got right in and absolutely would not get out.  She was NOT getting left behind again! 

She did jump out and come greet me when I went to see them, but she jumped right back in afterwards.  So funny... Soo sad.. 

I also went to Red Rocks in Nevada to go climbing last weekend.  It was so nice to get out of the Utah "spring" weather (rain and SNOW) and enjoy the sun.  I didn't even burn!  Here are some pictures from the last half of the day as I didn't have my phone for the first half.

After climbing in the direct desert sun for about 5 hours or so, we went on a hike to a little waterfall and cooled off. 

 This is Shalee and Ian, the friends I met up there.

Our shoes. Me.  Super cool, I know.

Rocks what are red. And some what are white.

Welp, that's all I've got for you.  Should be a pretty cool summer though, full of adventures.  I'll keep you posted.  :)

Just checkin in...

I have a "Year-In-Review" to write and only 8 1/2 hours to get it handed in, so this won't be newsy, but I just wanted to post these adorable pictures of Lola that Randy just sent me.  They're both big Dolphins fans.  Here she is in her new jersey!

They love me, they really LOVE me!!

Just thought I'd toot my own horn for a minute.  I was nominated for a Brighton Parents' Choice of Excellence.  I didn't win, but there were only about 15 or so teachers who were chosen as nominees, then about 5 who actually won.  :)

She Turned Me Into a Newt!!

(This isn't my nose, it's a false one.)

This is my Halloween costume for school this year.  It's the witch from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in case you didn't know.

I thought this would be a really low-key, easily-crafted costume, but you would not believe how hard it is to find a carrot nose and a black funnel!  I ended up ordering the nose from England (only $7 including shipping!) and painting a blue funnel black.  The rest was pretty easy to find.

Here's the quiz I gave my students today.... Enjoy!  :D

(So far the highest score is 7.)

1.              Halloween originated in which country?

a.     Ireland

b.     Scotland

c.     Romania

d.     Germany

e.     North America

2.              What was Halloween called before it got that name?

a.     All Saints’ Day

b.     The Day of the Dead

c.     All Hallows Eve

d.     All Souls’ Day

3.              The first “Jack-O-Lanterns” were actually carved out of:

a.     Radishes

b.     Turnips

c.     Squash

d.     Apples

4.              The Jack-O-Lantern” got its name from:

a.     Jack the Ripper

b.     Stingy Jack

c.     The Headless Horseman (who was named for a real man whose name was Jack O’Malley)

d.     Wandering Jack

5.              Why is Halloween celebrated on Oct 31^st?

a.     That was the day Jack the Ripper died

b.     That was the Celtic calendar’s New Year’s Eve

c.     That was the day the Catholic church decided to honor the dead

d.     That was the day the Pagan religion celebrated Lord Samhaim, the god of death

6.              How was “trick-or-treating” started?

a.     Village people would go door-to-door asking the rich for food donations for the village celebration.  If people would not donate, they pulled pranks on them.

b.     On a Halloween night long ago a blind man was out begging door-to-door.  Someone gave him bad cheese and moldy bread, so in return he set fire to the house.

c.     In the early 1800s beggars would send their children door-to-door in order to invoke sympathy and thus, get more money from donors.  Because of the religious affiliation with the upcoming Day of the Dead, people tended to be more generous on Halloween.

7.              Why do people dress up in costume on Halloween?

a.     Long ago people would dress like the rich people they were approaching so that they were more likely to give to them.

b.     To blend in with the dark night after pulling pranks.

c.     To blend in with the spirits believed to be wandering the streets.

d.     To disguise their identities and scare the victims of their pranks.

8.              What was the original date of “All Hallows’ Eve?”

a.     October 31^st

b.     November 1^st

c.     December 21^st

d.     May 13^th

9.              If it changed, who changed it?

a.     A Druid Sorcerer

b.     A Catholic Pope

c.     A Jewish Rabbi

d.     A Mormon Prophet

10.           During the famous witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, how many witches were burned at the stake?

a.     0

b.     10

c.     20

d.     30

Answers are in the comments.

Calling all educators... and others...

K.  School starts tomorrow and I'm STILL torn about whether or not to cut the answer pages out of the backs of my students' new books.  The books come with a DVD with activities in it that they have to do.

Here's what I've come up with.  Please read the information, then vote on the poll.  I really want your feedback too, so when you vote, you must leave an explanation as to why you voted that way as well as any other options or suggestions you may have.

Pros: 

1. The students can check their answers right away to see if they got the answers correct and, ideally, learn from what they got wrong and watch the video again.  

2. That means less grading for me.  

Cons:

1. Obviously, they're high schoolers and likely to not even watch the video, but just copy the answers from the back of the book.

2. If they do that, they will not learn the information and since this is a beginning level class, they will not form a good foundation, which is something I as the instructor will have to deal with for the next two or three years.

Side notes:

1. If I don't cut them out, their homework would be worth less than it is currently (HW is 40%, will be 20%) and their tests will be worth more (going from 40% to 50%).  So if they cheat on the homework their grade will suffer because I will probably still use part of the video in their tests.

I'm leaning towards leaving them in for a semester and seeing how it goes.  I hope you guys get this and vote before I leave today!  :)

Hike, Take II - With Pictures This Time

So last time Randy, Spencer, and I tried to hike to Doughnut Falls, we didn't actually make it all the way to the falls because we had Lola with us and she was, well... BeIng a less-Than-Cooperative Handful. :)


This time around, I got a picture of the boy for you guys. Sorry it's not better quality.

Randy and Spencer at the falls.

After our hike, Randy decided to vacuum his house. After emptying enough hair out of the cylinder to make at least two more small dogs, he decided to go directly to the source of the problem and vacuum Lola as well.

Havasupai Pictures

So some of those pictures allowed you to click them and make them bigger and some didn't.

I added a photo album on Flickr so you can check them out at full size if you'd like.  I also added a bunch I didn't put in the blog.

Enjoy.  :)