Monday, June 30, 2008

Pay it Forward....

  • Swistle has started a massive group effort for a Pay-it-Forward contest. I love giving gifts....big, small, gifts that are hand-made, or bought...I love giving. SO, I've decided to do this on my blog too.
Welcome to the Pay It Forward Contest
  • Here's how it works.
  • I want to you to win something, and I want to send you a gift. A random winner will be picked and all you have to do is leave a comment on this post by noon (central time) on this Friday, July 4th. A computer link will randomly pick from the commenters a winner and that commenter will be sent a great gift!

  • THEN. Here's the pay it forward section.... If you win, you must pay it forward to someone else. In this blogworld, it means it's your turn to assemble a gift and pick someone else to mail it to. Then that someone will find another commenter or friend or stranger and send another gift and so on, until we're all paying it forward around the world! You can participate even if you don't have a blog. If you're not a blogger, just email me and I'll enter you in my drawing and throw your name in with the commenters. Then if you win, to keep the pay it forwardness going, either I can do a post for you here and you can pick from the comments on "your post", or you can just pay it forward to someone you know in real life; just pick a random person you know and surprise them with a little care package!

  • It's all about just passing on that little bit of something nice to put a smile on someone's face... and the real world is just as important as the blogworld! (It's just more fun to see it unfold on blogs so we can all see the goodies everyone gets! :) I'll let you know when the contest is up. I can't wait to see what I find to send!!! I can't wait! Now go comment. Also: if you're feeling adventurous, Swistle has a whole list of Pay-It-Forward contests linked on her blog so you can go check those out.

Thanks Heather for helping me out with the wording of the post! ha! :)

Weekend Update with K. Laughlin

  • I feel like I am giving a commercial with Saturday Night Live...you know...Weekend Update with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler....anywho. Let's give you a little recap of my weekend, shall we?
    • Saturday night I went to a wedding with my friend Kayla. One of the teachers from our school was married and it was beautiful. Afterward we went over to our friend, Krista's house and her and her husband cooked shrimp and steak and it was yummy! We had a great night of conversation and enjoying the changing weather. One minute is was sunny, then it started to drizzle and pour! I loved watching the clouds change and move across the sky. Finally a rainbow came out....pretty! :)
    • It doesn't feel like Monday today. It should, but it doesn't. I went into O'Fallon on Sunday afternoon to spend the night and hang out with the Morrisons. We played Nertz, went to dinner with Heather and Erin at Red Robin, and ended up playing Buzz. It was great to finally make my way into see Heather, Ryan, and the kiddos. I stopped by my parents house this morning before making my way back to Columbia by noon. I hope you all had a great weekend!!! Happy Monday! Can you believe tomorrow is already July 1st?!

    Friday, June 27, 2008

    Fri. thoughts

    Not much to say today....My life is pretty boring with summer here. Just relaxing and hanging out. So I thought I would ask some questions and have ya'll answer. Sound good? ok. Here we go!

    1. Where is your favorite place to get shoes?
    2. If you had $10.00 what would you do with it?
    3. If money was no problem, where would you go on vacation?
    4. What is your favorite ice cream treat?
    5. What is your favorite all time movie?

    My answers:

    1. My favorite place to get shoes is usually Target and at Kids Foot Locker (they are usually cheaper!)
    2. If I had $10.00 I would probably use it to get a cup of coffee and a book.
    3. If money was not a problem, I would take Mike on vacation to Kenya. When we met he could've gone for 3 months, but he didn't want to be away from me. Awww...so I'd like to repay the favor someday and take him.
    4. My favorite ice cream treat is mint chocolate chip in a cone.
    5. My favorite movie that I would watch over and over again is Remember the Titans

    Your turn! Click on the comment link and go!

    Wednesday, June 25, 2008

    One word

    Here’s a fun meme that I got from Here's the Diehl

    One word…that’s all you can write as your answer…can ya do it? Not as easy as you might think.

    1. Where is your cell phone? desk
    2. Your significant other? sleepin’
    3. Your hair? perfect (ha!)
    4. Your mother? loving
    5. Your father? devoted
    6. Your favorite thing? family
    7. Your dream last night? none
    8. Your favorite drink? SweetT
    9. Your dream/goal? mom
    10. The room you’re in? classroom
    11. Your ex? hmm...
    12. Your fear? storms
    13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? mom
    14. Where were you last night? home
    15. What you’re not? sad
    16. Muffins? nope
    17. One of your wish list items? basementfinished
    18. Where you grew up? St. Louis
    19. What are you wearing? capris
    20. Your TV? off
    21. Your pets? goofball
    22. Your computer? dell
    23. Your life? excellent
    24. Your mood? sleepy
    25. Missing someone? friends
    26. Your car? Escape
    27. Something you’re not wearing right now? makeup
    28. Favorite Store? Target
    29. Your summer? laid-back
    30. Like someone? hubby
    31. Your favorite color? blue
    32. Last time you laughed? morning
    33. Last time you cried? yesterday
    • Who else wants to play? Go for it, and link back here if you do, so I know to check it out.

    Sunday, June 22, 2008

    Enjoying summer

    Some of you may have been asking yourself "What is Kasey up to this summer?" So...I've decided to show you with pictures! :)
    • I've been hanging out in the sunshine with my new pool
    • Taking trips to Target to browse all the wonderful things that I wish I could get
    • Wrapping birthday gifts
    • Going out for drinks with some great friends
    • Cleaning and organzing our kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets (fun, right?!)
    • Reading all the new Mark Twain books for next year so I am ahead of the game with my students

    What have you been up to this week????

    Saturday, June 21, 2008

    Movie Night

    Going to see S.e.x and the City tonight with some girl friends! I am super excited!!!!
    Has anyone else seen it?
    Edited: I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!!!! I had tears of laughter and tears of sadness. It was EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!! There were a few points that I did have to cover my eyes, but it was one that I would see again and buy. I loved it!!!!!

    Friday, June 20, 2008

    Happy 1st day of Summer!

    Hope your first day of summer is going well. Mike and I went to see The Love Guru and it was hilarious! You must go see this if you like Mike Myers movies. In other news..."aunt flo" decided to show up today, so our A.I didn't work this month. Crap. :( So...we'll try again next month. Thanks for hanging in there with me on this waiting game.....

    FYI

    Just in case you didn't see the Icon on the bottom left of the page, the new look is courtesy of LeeLou blogs. The best part is they are free!!!! Click here

    TGIF

    • I've enjoyed my first full week of summer. Last week I had class and this week I've done absolutely nothing! It's been amazing! :) I have caught up on laundry, set up a blow up pool in the backyard for me, and cleaned out cabinets. It has been wonderful to actually do what I want to do.....For the weekend we don't have much planned and that is good! I can't wait to relax and get some things around the house accomplished!

    Tell me...

    1. What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
    2. What is your favorite part of the house to clean? What is your not so favorite?
    3. What do you eat for breakfast?
    • My answers... On a rainy day, I love to cuddle up with a movie or a great book. I love cleaning the kitchen and I hate cleaning the bathrooms. I usually eat oatmeal and have coffee for breakfast. You're turn! Share! :)

    Monday, June 16, 2008

    Hey Mr. Postman

    Seriously, our postman must have some problems recently. On Saturday I put in 2 cards to be mailed; one for Dan for father's day and another card to send to a friend. Saturday when we went to pick up the new mail, the two cards were STILL in there. I am thinking he didn't pick them up because the flag fell down, who knows?! So today, Monday, we tried again. I put the two cards back in there, with the flag up. I come home to check the mail and our new mail is in there, WITH the two cards to be mailed. Seriously! What the heck?! So, needless to say, I guess our mailman must NEED that flag to be up in order for him to take the letters. But can't he look in there when he is putting in the NEW mail to see that there are letters to be mailed?! Geez! Mike is going to just take them by the post office and drop them off since our postman is having a hard time with picking up our letters. Dan, you'll be getting your Father's Day card soon, I promise! Hope your Monday is starting off on the right foot!

    Saturday, June 14, 2008

    Happy Father's Day Weekend

    • Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there!
    • I want to wish my dad a Happy Father's Day...

    • Dad,
    Thank you for being there for me. For showing me that if I want something to go out and get it. Thank you for loving me and my brother and sister and now our spouses. Thank you for showing me tough love at times but also knowing when to back off. Thank you for telling me the truth and holding me accountable. Thank you for loving, listening, and defending us when needed. Thank you for showing me how to be proud of myself, but also knowing when not to boast or brag. Thank you for taking us kids to all of our soccer, basketball, and baseball games growing up; whether it was freezing cold or scorching hot, you were there along with mom. Sometimes I know we complained (ha!) about having to practice sports in the yard or run at the park, but you pushing us had made us the people we are today, not to mention helped us get free college tuition because of our athletic abilities. Thank you for taking me to have surgery and caring for us after all of those sports injuries too! :) Thank you for everything you've done for us growing up to help us become independent people. Thank you for loving us even when we mess up and wreck cars or say mean things or disappoint. Thank you for showing us how to forgive and what the true meaning of family means. We love you and mom so much even if we don't say it everyday! Thank you for being you and as each year that passes, our love towards you continues to grow. We are so proud of you and mom and know that you are proud of all of us too!
    Happy Father's Day.

    Happy Father's Day Weekend

    • Happy Father's Day to Harold and Dan too! Enjoy your day!!!!

    Friday, June 13, 2008

    Notes

    • Kayla and I took our classes together this past week about bullying and violence in our schools. We were kind of excited to get together on Thurs. night with a few teachers from our school to let them know what we've been learning and to hear how their summer has been going. I want to let you know some of the things I've learned.

    • I learned...
    1. Bullying occurs on average every 7.5 minutes in our schools
    2. Most bullies bully for power and control over others because that is all they can control in their lives
    3. The most important thing is to listen to bullies and victimes and let them share what is in their heart
    4. Women are more likely to bully using words and men with physical actions
    5. If you or your child is being bullied it is important to tell someone, if that person doesn't listen, tell someone else. Don't suffer in silence
    6. Bullies often model what they see at home. Most broken homes, whether rich or poor, see an increase in bullying and violence with those children.
    7. Bullies are usually crying out for help when they bully but don't know how to verbalize those feelings.
    8. There is a strong correlation between a child's ability to learn and the importance of feeling safe.
    9. It is important to teach your students or children to overcome their fear so it doesn't control them.
    10. The most important thing is to let our students and children know that we care about them as individuals so they can trust us and we can help when good/bad things are going on in their lives.

    Some of the movies we watched were Coach Carter, a documentary called Bullied, Battered and Bruised, Bang Bang You're Dead, Karate Kid, Going Up the Down Staircase, The Great Debators, Bowling for Columbine, and two national news documentaries on Columbine High School and Virginia Tech University. Lots of thoughts and other interesting points were made during class that will help me as an educator and one day as a parent. I'm very glad I decided to take these classes to help our children in the world today.

    Summer...

    Since I finished my classes today, I can say my summer has really started! :) Woohoo! I finished my 6 credit hours, turned in my papers and was done by 11 am. Mike and I had the day off so we played Buzz Hollywood style. We also caught up on laundry and took a nap. It feels like we haven't seen each other this week because I've been at class during the day and he was sleeping and then when I got off, he was at work. A couple of times I did go meet him at the station to bring some snacks. Last night he got off around midnight and 4 other officers went over to a friends house to play poker. Mike lost, of course! He got home around 5:30 am and was going to bed as I was getting up! :) We are starting to plan our vacation and think we will try to go someone pretty close, maybe near Hannibal, MO to relax for a few days. I also want to be able to go visit some friends and paint my basement :) A couple of my students have been emailing me and want to get together sometime this summer, so I think at the beginning of August we are going to try and get everyone together for a pool party at one of their houses. What are your summer plans???

    Help

    Amy posted about finding this great link where you can disable the right mouse clicking so no one can "take" your pictures...click here But I need help on how to do this! Can anyone help me?

    Wednesday, June 11, 2008

    Still in class

    I am still in class and have 7 papers done out of 10. In the meantime, I want to hear about your bullying stories since that is what I am learning about. Have you ever been bullied? Were you the bully? When? Where? What happened? Tell me your thoughts! The classes I am taking are through Lindenwood Univ. with Dr. Jackard. I will definitely post more once I am done with these classes and papers.

    Tuesday, June 10, 2008

    Writing....

    I promise once this week is over I will have some things to write about. I am taking 6 credit hours this week about violence and bullying in schools and I am busy typing papers. Wish me luck!

    Sunday, June 8, 2008

    Sunshine and Surf

    This weekend we had a blast! Dan, Amanda, and the girls came into town and we were outside most of the weekend and I'm completely fried now! Friday we headed over to a local park and they had fountains up and we watched the girls run around in the 90* weather. I couldn't believe how hot it was. They had a great time! Saturday we were going to go canoeing, but the rivers were too high for the girls so we headed to Big Surf down by Lake of the Ozarks. We had a great time going down the slides, playing in the wave pool, and the lazy river. Sunday we had a great day too. Mike and I headed to church and met up with everyone later on in the afternoon. Sarah and Dave had us all over for a bbq for dinner and we got to hang out and just relax. I hope you all had a great weekend as well!

    Friday, June 6, 2008

    I'm it

    1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
    2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
    3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
    4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

    • What were you doing 5 years ago?
    1. I had just turned 23.
    2. I was enjoying my first summer as a married woman.
    3. I had just ended my first year of teaching 6th grade.
    4. I was getting ready to go to Miami for a friend's wedding with the Massenas and Mike.
    5. I was living in our first home in St. Louis.

    • What are five things to do on your to do list for the day?
    1. Watch Live with Regis and Kelly. I never get to watch this during the school year!
    2. Wash and dry a load of laundry.
    3. Wait for Dan, Amanda, and the girls to get here.
    4. Put away all of my school stuff that is here at home.
    5. Shower :)

    • What are five snacks you enjoy?
    1. chips and salsa
    2. flaming hot cheetos
    3. kettle corn popcorn
    4. green grapes
    5. orange freezer pops

    • What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
    1. Buy a newer house.
    2. Stay home to raise our kids.
    3. Adopt kids
    4. Go on vacation every summer.
    5. Give money to my family and some friends.

    • What are five of your bad habits?
    1. cracking my knuckles
    2. procrastinating
    3. ignoring my husband when he's being annoying
    4. always being right with my hubby :) This could be considered a great habit!
    5. losing my keys

    • What are five jobs you have had?
    1. Current Job; 5th grade teacher
    2. 4th and 5th grade teacher
    3. Waitress at TGI Fridays and Cracker Barrel
    4. Soccer/Basketball Coach
    5. English as a Second Language Teacher at Maryville College

    • What five people do you want to tag?
    1. Mandy M.
    2. Sarah
    3. Heather S.
    4. LeeAnn
    5. Melanie W.

    Summer Fun!

    Today is my first Friday of summer vacation and I'm excited! Dan, Amanda and the girls are coming into town this weekend and we are going canoeing tomorrow! Today is the first morning since probably last summer that I have watched Live with Regis and Kelly. I love seeing their interactions and comments back and forth. I was watching Ashanti sing, Jack Black do Kung-Fu and Dr. Oz talk about sun safety. Very fun morning...Mike even made me breakfast! I hope that your weekend is starting off well too!

    Thursday, June 5, 2008

    Finally!

    After months and months of pestering my sister, Kelli and I finally started her blog tonight! woohoo! Click here to see her blog and welcome her to the wonderful world of blogging! :)

    Wednesday, June 4, 2008

    Round 3

    Send good vibes our way....round 3 of our fertility "stuff" was today. :) Thank you!

    End of the 2007-2008 school year

    • The last couple of days were a lot harder for me this year because of the class I had. It was very difficult to see these kids move on to middle school knowing that they were in my class the last two years. They are a great bunch of kids and I'm glad I have the opportunity to teach them. We had lots of fun the last two years and had fun the last two days of school too. I gave them their graduation gifts and we watched the DVD montage and they LOVED it. I was so excited. They loved the shutterfly picture books I made for them too. I think their favorite gift by far, was the Candy Bar Awards that I give out. Each students gets an award related to candy (and I give them the candy too). For example...the gummy worm award goes to the class wiggle worm. The whopper award goes to the person who is the best storyteller. The Dove Award goes to the class peacemaker. The Hershey kisses award goes to the class flirt. The 3 Muskateer award goes to the person who always wants to work in a group. They love this and each candy goes with the person...it's perfect! :)

    • Monday we had the Variety show and the Mentor Assembly. I also gave them their gifts, we cleaned desks and sent all of their stuff home. I also put them to work and had them help me clean the rest of my room! :)
    • Tuesday was the last day of school and we had their graduation that morning. I was a mess. Each teacher gave a little speech to their class, and I lost it. I did pull it together and manage to say some heartfelt things about how much I was going to miss them and to remember to always do what is right because it is the right thing to do. I was so proud to be their teacher. After graduation, we went back to the room, the parents came down and we took some pictures (with red, teary eyes I'm sure) and then got ready to go skating with the rest of the grade level. Once we got to the skating rink, the kids were fine. They had a blast doing limbo, playing the star game and helping others who it seemed had never skated before. We had a blast! After skating for a couple of hours, we headed back to school and some of our classroom parents set up for a bbq. We had hot dogs, watermelon, pretzels, chips, and cake/ice cream. They did such a great job setting up for all 70 kids! After eating, we had the kids go get their yearbooks and they had the chance to sign books/shirts and hang out. After an hour or so, we headed back inside to get their things and we watched their DVD slideshow again and some of the acts from the variety show. We cried a little bit more and said our goodbyes....The good news is that some of them will be up to help me get my classroom ready for next year! :)

    • I ended the day with dinner with my in-laws and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. We ate a Friday's to celebrate the end of school. My mother-in-law retired this year after 29 years of teaching! Dave is also switching schools and hoping to teach Spanish. It was great to get together and catch up. :) We decided to take a picture of the 5th grade (me), 6th grade (Lynne) and 7th grade (Dave) teachers as an end of the year memento!