Grant the Elf

This is an elf hat that Grant made with Ms. Cooky at "Cooky School". I know it looks like he has no clothes on......but he does have on his pajama bottoms! I just thought this picture was cute!!

2nd Grade Choir 2006

The West Elementary 2nd grade choir had their annual performance in the Food Court at Richland Mall this past Friday. They sang a variety of songs and did a great job. Jill is on the back row in the middle------the tallest one-----no surprise there! We are very proud of her!

Weird Things

In response to Shelley's challenge to come up with 6 weird things about myself........here goes!
1. I record the Young and the Restless while I am at school everyday and watch it when I get home in the afternoon or all at once on Friday night or really whenever I get a chance!! I have been doing this since you had to actually record onto a VHS tape........I guess I was in college when I started all of this! I am definitely thankful for TeVo and the digital world---its much easier AND you cannot accidentally record over yesterday's episode!! I know......I know........its a soap opera, but I like it!
2. I put on my lip gloss before my lipstick! Its a Merle Norman trick that works for me!
3. My brain picks out words that are incorrectly spelled. It is terrible-----in the newspaper, billboards, wherever.......they jump out at me!
4. I actually want to go on Fear Factor. Jonathan and I could win! Neither of us are squeamish and would do all of that crazy stuff (even drink blended tarantulas!) for a million dollars!
5. I like to eat squished up Chips Ahoy cookies with milk on top-----I think Cathe did this first and I just copied her when we were little. Sounds gross I know, but you should try it. This is the reason that I don't buy those cookies anymore...I end up eating the whole package.
6. I know there has got to be something else........but I can't think of it at this time! If you think of something, leave it as a comment! THANKS!

Crow Christmas 2006

First of all, let me apologize for the layout of these pics.......I still have not mastered it! Anyway

here are most (Angie's Emalea was asleep when these pics were taken and I did not remember to take one later!) of the kids that attended the Crow Christmas this year. We decided to have the get together in West this year.........we usually have it in Lubbock.........everyone seemed to have a great time. We met at our church and ate, played games, and opened presents together.

The kids from the top left are: Jill (7), Jael (4) belongs to cousin Angie, Thomas (6) he would not cooperate!, Lucas (1) belongs to Farrah, Brooklyn (7 mos), Boston (7), Branson (5), Beau (almost 4), and Grant (4). Needless to say.........we were busy........but had a great time. Merry Christmas to all!

The Tree

As some of you have seen, we have a huge tree in our backyard that the kids love to climb. These pics are from October--------but I just love them. It represents a time and place of happiness. I am scared every time they climb the tree----I guess I should say that I am scared that they will get hurt----because they climb up so high! My insurance-selling husband reminds me that we have an accident plan and medical insurance for that very reason........it doesn't bring

me any comfort!!

I was just looking at these photos today and thought I would share..............Love to all!

MY CLASS

These are some of my students. This was a day that we went to an airshow at TSTC in Waco. We had a good time, even though it was very loud at times. I was showing CJ and Zak my blog and they wondered where their picture was...............so..............here it is! I am going to miss these kids!

WOW! A picture!

Here goes my first attempt at adding a picture! How in the world do I rotate the picture? Anyway--------here is the Sweet Babboo at Halloween..........I will have more time later to mess with it!

This weekend is Christmas with the Crow Family. I will post this weekend or Monday about the happenings-----and maybe even add pictures!!!!!

Sweet Baboo

As some of you know, I call Thomas my "Sweet Baboo". I call him this because he carried around a baby blanket for YEARS! Just this year it mysteriously "disappeared" into his time capsule. Today is my Sweet Baboo's 6th birthday and he asked me this morning if I could eat lunch (at 10:45 no less) with him at school. So.......with my wonderful paraprofessionals covering for me........I went to eat with Thomas and all the rest of the Kindergarteners at West Elementary. The cuisine today was nachos, pork 'n beans, pears, corn, and milk. DELICIOUS. I walked in and he had on his birthday hat and he was so excited to see me. We moved to the table where the parents always sit and he just kept smiling at me. While driving back to the high school, I kept asking myself why I had not made the time to go have lunch with him before now. It is the 79th day of school.
I guess what I am trying to say is...........take the time to do the little things..............I know I won't forget the smile on my Sweet Baboo's face.

Shelley inspired me!!

After reading all of my cousin Shelley's postings, I have decided to enter the blogging world. I have just learned how to text message from my sister, Farrah, and now I am jumping into this! Bear with me as I figure out how to upload the pictures-------I am not technological as you can see! I will try to keep this updated as I have time---it is December---and there is a lot to do before the end of the year!

The biggest thing for me is that I am changing careers. Starting in January, I will be working for Horace Mann Insurance instead of teaching Life Skills at West High School. This has been a difficult decision to make, but Jonathan and I feel that it is the best one for our family. I will be out of the state a lot in January while completing training for the new job------thank goodness I will not miss Jill's eighth birthday on the 14th. I was worried about that.

Speaking of Jill--------she is almost EIGHT! She is in second grade this year and loves sports, reading, Girl Scouts, and arts and crafts. We are pleased with the young lady she has become. She is looking forward to Little Dribblers basketball starting in January.

Thomas will be SIX next week. He is enjoying Kindergarten and has gotten green smiley faces every day except one-------he and another little boy had an altercation on the playground apparently--------he loves his teacher and is learning to read. He also loves sports (the Pittsburg Steelers), trains, Transformers, and mostly all little boy stuff!

Grant is FOUR and he is so funny! He tells me all the time that he is going to love me forever and that he is "mommyish". We have the best babysitter, Cooky, that comes to our house to keep Grant. What a blessing she is to our family! They take long walks, play in the barn, cook, paint, swim in the summer, and even find time for school work! Grant also loves sports (Dallas Cowboys), trains, airplanes, and riding his bicycle.

Jonathan is enjoying the insurance world these days. Last night he and I sold tickets at a playoff game here in West and I asked him if he missed football and he said that he surprisingly missed it less and less. I never thought I would hear that from him! He is a good daddy and husband.

I guess that is all for now------I will seriously try to keep this updated! I look forward to hearing from you all!

Vanessa