Thank you

To all of my kids that read this blog, thank you so much for all the lovely gifts. It is not expected, but means more than you know. I feel very lucky to be a part of Burnaby Mountain.

I hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday!

Love Actually

OK If you haven't seen it you must. I LOVE this movie. My favorite 'new' christmas movie. Make me happy whenever I watch it. So many great actors... amazing interlocking storylines...

ahh love is all around us.. :)

Oh Christmas Tree...

As much as I have never wanted to go away for Christmas my dream is to see this tree at Rockefeller Center one day....

And now it's all lit with LED lights!

Christmas Questions...

Found this on Sonja's blog who in turn found it on Sandra's...


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? - both
2. REAL OR FAKE TREE? - Fake...We have cats.. a real tree would be pulled down so fast!!!

3. When do you put up the tree? – December 1st.. though Jon let me put it up on Nov. 30th this year!

4. When do you take the tree down? - Around Jan 5th ish depending on when we go back to school

5. Do you like eggnog? - I can take it or leave it

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My General Lee! Power wheenls type car, Auntie Jan looked all over for it!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? – No

8. Hardest person to buy for? – my mommy

9. Easiest person to buy for? – Jon

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I have been very lucky... but my sis in law got a used M&M's sweatshirt!

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? – Mail .. actually i like to save postage..i have been known to drop off :)

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? - One Magic Christmas, A christmas Carol.. White Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? – November ... though sometimes I'll buy as early as August, though i usually forget i bought it!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? - I confess i got a box of chocolates that i in turn gave away :(

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? – I'm not a huge eater at christmas! I've had a few years that I lost weight! Blame it on the food anxiety!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? - coloured

17. Favorite Christmas song? – 'All I want for Christmas is you' and the Eagles "Christmas Song'

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? – Stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? – Dasher Dancer Prancer Vixen Comet Cupid Donner Blitzen Rudolph and.... Olive..

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? – Santa!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? – Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? – The kids going crazy and trying to get through the last week of school!

23. What I love most about Christmas? Being with Jon and the cats on christmas morning.. JOn adopted my dad's tradition of having the lights on and the fire going with the christmas music on downstairs before he gets me up... It's awesome

fun with my camera

Feel kinda bad for the parents in the park...as much as i tried to tilt my camera up.. i think they still thought I was taking pics of their kids..

It's beginning to look a lot like.......

CHRISTMAS

I can feel it in the air.... it's coming! Report cards are done... december is upon us. The Christmas tree is going up this weekend! I'm looking forward to a relaxing holiday this year! The in-laws will be away (which sucks for us but its great that they get to have time with their grandson, son and OTHER daughter in law ;)

The good news is that Jon and I don't have to work boxing day this year! We both did last year and it was brutal. We were exhausted.

Yay.. christmas carols in stores are ALMOST actually in season!

Ps Banner image from christmasallaround.com

I've been tagged

OK i guess this is like an email tagging thing.... here is what you do... tell 5 things about yourself that people may not know about you.. then tag 5 bloggers and let them know that they have been tagged..

confused? don't worry its not a chain letter you won't have 5 bad thing happen to you in 5 minutes of you don't send this to 5 people

1) ok first thing people may not know.. I'm related to Marie Antointette.. yeah i know she got her head chopped off but it makes my princess-ness make sense!!

2) I have a tattoo and i'm getting another one :)

3) iI think i love my cats a bit too much...... ok that's not an unknown thing

4) I've decided photography is my new 'thing'

5) I blog at school.. with students in my room...


So I am taggin....
Cate
Jenn
Sonja
Ali - cause i love her blog
Heather

Happy Hallowe'en!!!!!

Hope everyone has a fun day!!!! Happy Hallowe'en!!!!!!!!

:)

BOO

My beautiful sister in law and Cameron

Look what I did!!!!!

I don't know what its coming up so small but Look what i did in photoshop!!! I got this great book called the phtotshop cs2 book for digital photographers and it is AMAZING. So helpful wihtout techno junk. Step by step how to do things!



By the way thats cameron the cutest child EVER ( my nephew.. no bias here...)

Bad Blogger.. BAD

It's been a while, I admit it... but it has been a bit crazy. School is in full swing.. I LOVE my new school, so fun and great kids and a very welcoming staff.

On another note.. We had a big scare 2 weeks ago, sheldon, my parents 16 year old cat got locked out the window while my parents were in whistler. When they got home and couldn't find him in the house of course we panicked.... long story short, after 3 days of crying and worrying we found him!!!! A man broughthim into the SPCA on monday afternoon. 3 nights outside for an indoor cat! Pretty awesome. He's a tough little guy!

This weekend I've got a photo class on saturday.. With Karen Russel , out at photo express in maple ridge. Not a fan of their Photography department but their scrapbooking department is amazing and I'm REALLY looing forward to this class.

That's it, hopefully I'll have great photos to post soon!

PS Happy Birthday Cassie!!!!!

Jenn's Shower

We had a baby shower for Jenn here today! We were so lucky to be able to have little Angelo here for it :) I love the baby showers that involve the baby! Just a few pics of the day thanks everyone that came :)

Getting close..

Well, September 4th is fast approaching. Now the nerves set in. Last year at this time was a bit easier as I was going to a school where i could be certain that in most, or all of my classes i would know students. This year it's another ballgame. I am certain this year that i will know NO students in my classes. Its a little nerve wracking. Of course it doesn't help that i'm reading a book right now about a school from hell... maybe i'll wait until i have the first week of school behind me before i continue with that one! At least I had jon there today to help me set up my classroom, it sure made it more fun having someone else there!



Other than that.... Jon and i have had a great few days together, taking pictures around town. playing with new lenses and stuff ;) Here are a few taken with the fisheye lens.. oh and one thrown in for good measure in a candy shop. We got in trouble for this one. Apparantly we could take the photo and build our own candy shop and steal her ideas..... too much like work if you ask me :)

Well, i sure have been enjoying my new camera! The best part of it is that i get to use all of Jon's fun lenses and i don't have to buy them! (for saying that i KNOW i'll have to buy the next one)

2 Years

2 years have flown past...

Happy Anniversary Babe

Happy Birthday Blake!

2 years ago you were born. I'm so glad. it feels like you really are my own baby :)

My New camera

So I gave in. I bought a camera. Its a Nikon D40 Digital SLR and I'm already having so much fun with it! This is with my normal lens BUT jon got a macro lens today for super close ups .......

The clarity is amazing! Can't wait to play more :)

Shut Up and Sing

What a powerful movie. Just finished watching it and it made me so sad that these amazing women went through what they did. In the end though they were vindicated at the 2007 grammy awards. I love that they stuck up for themselves and didn't back down to the pressure of ignorance. I think i might have to go out and buy their CD now!

Harry Potter....

The best of the series.. won't say more for those of you that haven't read it.. GET ON IT ;)

I loved it... i know there has been crtique about it but as i have said over and over they are still kids books! Any series that can make kids BEG their parents to get the book the second it is released has to be a good thing!





.

Not much is funnier than one turtle mounting another...

really what more do you say? I went to the aquarium this June on a field trip... could not help but laugh at this!!!

So it has been a while since my last post. A few trying weeks but now it seems life is clearing. I have finished my year and North and i'm looking forward to moving on to Mountain, I have finished my masters.... so much work but SO rewarding. This is our little crew Don, Laurent yasmin and I..

And this is Yasmin and I.... I'm going to miss this whole program.

Well thats all for now last words..... 1 day , 4 hours and 27 minutes till the big day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elliott Harty

So.. I haven't posted in a while. We suffered a tragedy this last week. The death of one of my grade 11 students. It has been very difficult. Instead of rambling I'm just posting the speech i gave at his memorial today.



When I heard the news of Elliott’s passing, I was as we all were, shocked and heartbroken. I went into my classroom to absorb it all and I remember looking around at all of the empty desks in the room. Though they were all empty, Elliott’s desk seemed emptier than the rest. He had a presence wherever he went, in the classroom, the hallways, at a party or even here in the courtyard. We can feel the loss. Throughout the past week I have had many students in my classroom to talk, to cry and to remember Elliott. Though there have been countless tears, through those tears there has also been much laughter. Things Elliott said and did. He was passionate about so many things, his friends of course being one of his biggest passions. So much so that not a class went by that along with sneaking in a slurpee, he was constantly sneaking text messages.

There are so many things that I will remember about Elliott. One of which has to be the Spitz that he stole. I made the mistake one day of giving Elliott and his friends a packet of sunflower seeds. Well now Elliott knew where they were. I had to move them INTO my desk so they would not be nabbed. When that didn’t work the next step was moving them into my locked cupboard. That seemed to work, at least as far as I know! No matter how mad I was at Elliott for not working as well as he could, he could always make me laugh. I was so happy during this one class that he was working so intently on what I thought was his class work. I was wrong. What he was really doing was writing out the ultimate curry recipe for me to try. He was convinced I could do it. No matter how many times I assured him that there was a reason my husband is the cook in the family! Each week there was a new story for him to tell me in our daily conversations at my desk at the end of class. It could be about the party that weekend, the curry he made or my favourite, the mysterious visit from the Easter Bunny this year.

Though I could go on and on, what I most want to express is how much Elliott will be missed. He was a one of a kind kid, and I feel very lucky that I had the chance to spend the year with him

POTP retreat

What a great time this weekend! Scrapping with some amazing women all weekend long! Tiring yet inspiring! Danielle, Cate and Julia and I all stayed together and scrapped together. Jenn came with baby Angelo.. what a sweetheart! It was amazing to get to know Sonja (who is one of the most inspiring women i have ever met) and Tracy a bit better and to meet amazing women like Tara who owns Pageframes and Amanda who own Upsy Daisy Designs.. one of my new favorite lines!

All in all an amazing weekend and thanks to everyone who made it possible!

What I did this afternoon

Fun stuff :) This is my dress form that I was going to do at Bookers Club, but i had to miss that day... so Sonja gave me the form and i did it today :)

Bookers Club Layouts

Went to The Bookers Club tonight, always nice to get some scrapping done with very little thinking. Sonja makes up all the kits for us :) Sorry the pics kinda suck though

GOLF CANUCKS GOLF

In all seriousness.. good job boys

next year

WHOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO CANUCKS!!!!!

My GOD WHAT A GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


My throat is killing me from screaming.. Winning game 7 with a game like that will hopefully give our boys some drive when we face Anaheim on wednesday. Thats going to be a tough go but hey they pulled off this one!!!!!!!

Ali Edwards Mini Book

Got this Kit at Teasury of Memories in the U.S. a few months ago... just did it today. Used pictures of my nephew Cameron.. He's too cute

Scrapping Away

Feels good to be getting some scrapping done again.. doing a little 6x6 chipboard album for our friends Carrie Ann and Troy (and of course their adorable little boy)

Feeling not quite as creative as I'd like, but i wont be inspired unless i get my butt in gear!!! In case you can't tell in the picture She is like 9 months pregnant.. so soon I'll have baby pics to scrap!!

I look like Angelina!!!!!!!

ok.. thats pretty cool




Go to www.myheritage.com and see who you look like!!

Pictures of Rod McTaggart

he sure helped make our wedding special

Good People in the world still

So here we are at Canadian Tire..... we need a storage shed, we find one... no truck.... I know lets call a mini van cab to get it home... Good thinking right? Well we call and they said Yup it will be there in 15 minutes. 25 minutes later a cab shows up....... Is it a mini van???? OF COURSE NOT.

He has no interest in helping us... can speak English either. So Jon calls the company back and they say oh sorry we sent the van to the airport.

As he is on the phone a lady is listening in. She asked where we needed to go, we explained about 5 minutes down the road. She tells him to hang up and DRIVES HIM AND THE MASSIVE BOX HOME IN HER TRUCK. Not only that but she refused to take gas money,just said that if we see her at our local pub come on over and buy her a beer. Its nice to know some people are still willing to help out. Sure makes me want to find someone to help today.

Mr McT

I had some devastating news today. My favorite teacher passed away on Thursday morning of Cancer. The Big C. Though to many a teacher's passing would be regarded as sad and he may be remembered wistfully, but to me Rod was different. Without him I would not be the person I am today. Rod was the person who introduced me to Shakespeare and the man who inspired me to teach. He was a massive presence in the classroom, not only by his size but also his heart. He taught us with passion and i continued to visit him at Seaforth often in the years after I graduated.

He encouraged me to become a teacher. I think i may have disappointed him in the fact that I became a secondary teacher.. but i know he was proud that i had joined his profession nonetheless. We spent so much time at professional days reminiscing and of course laughing. He was much more than just a teacher. Almost 2 years ago now I asked him if he would pipe me down the aisle at my wedding. To my utter delight he said he would love to. It made the day that much more special. For me to recount all the memories I have of Rod here would take hours.. there are simply too many.

He was the kind of teacher to play a joke on the class for April fools and still leave them guessing to this day as to who really played the joke.. ( I was privy to the secret.. but only years later.. yes he was the one that toilet papered the classroom :) and blamed those of us at track practice)

Rod.. You will be truly missed. I feel so lucky that I was able to have you in my life.

The Dean Family

Cameron and I, He is way more photogenic than I...

Jon and Cameron..... love this picture

Here we all are.. finally after only a year and a half ;) all together

So much to say about their trip but i'm too tired right now. I'll post about it later

I will say in a very important note Happy Birthday to my Baby Austen.. You are 2 years old today!!!

Mel, Ryan, Chandler and Raven

Jon took some pictures of Mel, Ryan and the kids the other day...... they are all so beautiful...

They're here!

Rich, Dana and Cameron are finally here, I'll post pics soon

Got my new computer!!

Here are some pictures that my darling husband took of me for the POTP tag swap. I needed a decent pic of myself with my red hair! Look on his website soon for more! Jonathan Dean Photography

I'm so excited to have a new computer. My old one was goiong to fly out the window if something wasn't done. I'm now trying to figure out Vista.. it's different that's for sure.

So the bomb threat.. it was a hoax by grade 9 boys (surprise). At least it didn't put anyone in danger but still, it was not fun.

Scary Day

So scary day for us. During second block, we are minding our own business when the principal comes over the PA and announces an evacuation because of a viable threat. No idea what it could be. I felt so bad for the kids, lots of confusion and stuff. I think we got out very well. 10 minues and the place was almost empty. Everyone got out safe though and that's the most important part.

Amazing how your day can change in a second



PS Danielle you say it's about time I updated my blog HAHAHAHAHA

Grrrr

Well, I have about had it with my pc. It is going to fly out the window soon. The stupid power cord won't stay in.... I have to hold it in and even then it doesn't charge. Stupid crappy @$#& #^@(& ok

thats my rant

So.. my new goal... to get a job with MAC for the summer. Talk about up my alley (since i do know pretty much every product they make. and i have most as well shhhhh don't tell Jon that) I don't think i can handle another summer of 330- midnight shifts. I want to enjoy my summer!

Ok on a positive not the POTP retreat is coming!! I have already signed up and I cannot wait! A whole weekend of scrapping. Not only that but with some amazing ladies! Come on out and join us!

Well, a pause there. I just got a phone call that made my night. Two of my best friends just called from winnipeg to tell me they are coming to town with their new baby. We don't see them nearly enough. I'm so excited to see them. They will be here for 2 whole weeks! I'll post pictures of baby Chandler and ever babier Raven when they are here.

Planning 10

Here I am in my planning 10 class. They are usually a bit trying.I have to say that today they are being great. I have no energy today (aren't you supposed to have more energy when you work out???) and i cannot face actually fighting them for quiet as i usually have to do. Today they seem to be picking up on my exhaustion and they are being so good. Gotta love those simple things. A class that does not drive you crazy. As i type this I have several students watching intently. Who knows maybe I will make bloggers out of them too. Of course every class has it's own moments. Today i dealt with a staple through a finger. Nice. Gotta love it.


The weekend can't come soon enough.

(of course it's great when I have grade 10 boys singing Fergie (the stupid song in which she cannot spell tasty, have to laugh at them. My days are never boring)

Just a layout I did today....

Ali Stuff

Some pictures of my projects from Ali's class :)

Ali Edwards!!!

First a pic of me and Dani.....

Well I have been waiting so long for this! Ali Edwards taught a class here, it was amazing!!! So much fun and she is so down to earth. I was so inspired