Saturday pictures

Here are a couple pictures from Saturday... I'm bummed you can't see my sparkles ;)

Pictures...

I was going to post some pictures of "Night of the Stars" but I can't find the cord to connect the camera to my computer - not surprising since I can't see the floor of my bedroom, much less the desk. I will hopefully post some in the next day or two. Oh, and no, I didn't win at the district level, but it was a really fun night and such an honor to represent my school. And another big no - I didn't trip on live TV! :)

Tonight...

I meant to post this earlier in the week, but time got away from me. In my last email (a very long time ago) I mentioned being awarded the honor of "Outstanding First Year Teacher" at my school, West Gate K-8. Tonight is the district celebration for all the district nominees. The "Night of the Stars" will be broadcast live on TV and on the school district website. Oh, and not only am I a nominee, but my dad is one of the Master of Ceremonies for the celebration tonight!

I'm not expecting to win at the district level (I am up against about 40 other first year teachers), but thankfully they are introducing and announcing the nominees and winner of the OFYT first thing! So if you want to see me all glitzy and dressed-up (I bought three different outfits for the occasion and finally decided on one last night - don't worry the other two are going back!), tune in TONIGHT at 6:00pm EST to either one of the local stations listed below, or if you live out of county, state, or country it airs live at this web address:

http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/MediaServices/

Once you get to the website, look on the left side and click "Watch us live" If you can't watch tonight, they will also be rebroadcasting it through the video on demand option later in the week.

Here are the channels to watch if you live in St Lucie County. On Saturday, February 28, the “Night of the Stars” employee recognition event co-hosted by the school district and the St. Lucie County Education Foundation will air LIVE beginning at 6:00 PM on WLX, The St. Lucie County Education Channel. WLX is on Comcast Channel 13 in north St. Lucie County and Channel 19 in south St. Lucie County, and on Hometown Cable Plus Channel 19 in Tradition.

And if you want to pray about anything, don't pray for me to win... pray I don't trip and end up flat on my face on live television!!

Love,
LeAnne

It's been a while... (scroll down for pics)

I really would like to keep up on the blog. I love teaching, but the last thing I want to do is come home and get on the computer. No promises on how much I'll post, but I will start posting more in the coming weeks and months.

I wanted to show off my new haircut... I don't think my hair has been this short since I was five... but I like it. I needed something new, so why not?



Teaching seventh grade has been great. I'm really enjoying getting in to the groove of my new career. Every day is an adventure... not quite as adventurous as Bosnia, but everyday has it's own surprises!

Skoobi is doing well... I'll put a new picture of her up here next time I sign on. I actually have a video I want to upload, but for some reason, it won't take. Let's just say she is quite fond of Dunkin' Donuts!

Besides teaching school, I've been busy at my new church attending a ladies Bible study on Tuesdays and then teaching middle school girls on Wednesday nights. It's a lot of fun, and I am so glad they asked me to involved with the youth. I am team teaching with a wonderful lady named Liz. Her and her husband took me out on their boat a couple weeks ago. It was SO much fun! I can't wait to go again. I put some pictures down below.

Liz does a ministry to the nursing home on Mondays. A few weeks back, she met a very downcast lady at the home... as they began talking, she told Liz her family was from Serbia! She has never actually been there (she's in her 70's, I think), but her family spoke the language when she was growing up. It was very fun to be able to go to the home to speak to her before we went on the boat. My language is so rusty at the moment, so it will be nice as I stay in contact with her to practice some. Liz and I plan on cooking up a little Eastern European something before we go next time. That should be fun!

In September, mom celebrated her 60th birthday. We decorated her office, and had a really nice day for her. No one had to wonder how old she was since we put the "Hoppy 60th birthday" sign outside her door! Yes, it's "Hoppy" since she collects frogs, remember.

A few weeks ago, two of my friends from Bosnia were here - Tiffany and Sladjan! It was really fun to catch up with them. We went to Downtown Disney, and had a nice and relaxing afternoon.

The most fun thing that has happened in the last two days was after 31 years of living in the same house, in Florida, by canal... we finally had an alligator in the yard! OK, it wasn't more than two feet long, but we finally had an alligator in the yard! It was so cool!! Mom was out walking the dog for me (I tend to come home from work and fall asleep on the couch for an hour) when she suddenly was at the window, yelling in a loud whisper " YOUR CAMERA, GET YOUR CAMERA NOW! THERE'S A GAToR OUT HERE!" And I'm thinking "Save my dog...! And yourself, of course!" :) So I grabbed the camera and ran out to find the sweet gator I aptly named Fred. He is pictured below... we haven't seen him since, but I'm more concerned about meeting Fred's Momma! :)

OK, well, I am back to blogging! I hope some of you are still out there! Drop me a line and let me know!

Just a couple pictures from my day on the boat. I loved being out on the river and the ocean. The ocean was very cool with all the waves. I would put a video on here, but it's kind of embarrassing hearing myself yelling "woohoo" the whole time :)

Tiffany and Sladjan show their true colors!

We had fun on Mom's birthday! It's great working at the same school together.

The sunrise over our canal and dunes the other morning... apparently this is where Fred-the-Gator was born!

Can you find Fred-the-Gator's eyes? Look smack dab in the middle...

There is Fred right before he went in the water. I tried to video his move, but my camera battery died! AARGH!

And here is a close-up of Fred... what a cutie!

First Day and Fay...

The first day of school was Monday. I think it went very well. I enjoyed my first day as a teacher. It seems that I have many good students. However, we have yet to have second or third day of school! While Fay was only a tropical storm, she was full of water, and our county is flooded. Thankfully, we don't have any damage, but some friends of ours, only about a mile away, have a foot of water in their house. Most of the streets are impassable. We don't know if the schools will be able to open tomorrow since the people who need to go out and inspect them (like my dad) aren't even able to get to most of them.

One thing we need to work on is getting Skoobi to go potty in-between feeder bands :) She did fairly well, but did need to go out once in the middle of some good rain and wind. I'll put some pictures below for your viewing pleasure. As soon as that's done, I need to go and revamp all my lesson plans. No matter when we head back to school, it's going to be the first day all over again!

Just a quick video from our back window yesterday afternoon

(the video wouldn't upload, so I'll try again later)

The back yard beginning to flood... The neighbor's was already flooded.

This plant is supposed to be standing straight up, but it looks like a giant stomped on it!

More backyard pics

Skoobi loved the wind

The front of the house usually floods with more water than this, but it's still raining so you never know.

While not liking the river or ocean, Skoobi seemed to have a fascination with the really big puddles.

Skoobi's nemesis checking out the storm from inside her cozy room

The canal next to our house rarely has water in it... you can't really tell, but it's about 3/4 full... probably about 4 feet of water or so.

The backyard water started to receed this morning, but has kind of stalled. It will probably be there a few days, beckoning many mosquitos as it stands. Uugh.

Skoobi had to go outside at 11 last night. There was just so much water, the fire ants were floating around everywhere, and both Skoobi and I got bitten. The fun just never ends :)

More Chandler Pics and Video Proof...

Here are some more pictures (in random order) of Chandler's last few days with us... his flight just took off from Orlando... Skoobi and I will miss you Chan!

Chandler and his grandpa Shaq doing some sort of freakish water ballet. It was such a beautiful day on the beach. Florida does have some perks!




Dad and Mom and Chandler at dad's birthday and Chandler's going away lunch.



Me and the boy last night after dinner



Chandler and his cousin Skoobi got along very well. Skoob already misses him... and all the treats she won't be getting anymore :)


Back to Cracker Barrel and a mean game of checkers


Chandler and 2/3 of his grandparents...

Hahahaha... who doesn't love the Cracker Barrel staff singing happy birthday? Ok, so he specifically said he didn't want the singing... I have a lot of missed birthdays to make up for! I suppose i'll have to start paying rent now...


The Fam...


Oh, and by the way, my heels were closer to three AND A HALF inches... as you can see from the above un-touched photo. No wonder my feet still hurt :)





And last but not least, I took the above video for my dear sister Jean in Oregon. It's a little hard to hear, so make sure you turn up the volume!!

Happy 61 Dad!

Well, here is your present - everlasting fame on my blog :) Hope you have a very happy birthday! Love ya!

Lion Country Safari and a few other things...

Who doesn't love to climb a tree?

Dad and Chandler playing golf at Lion Country Safari. We had a really fun time down there, and I personally had a great time seeing all the animals. Feeding the giraffes was definitely my favorite part. Below are some more pictures of that trip plus a couple others. I'll post some more later this week. I can't believe Chandler leaves tomorrow!

This here monkey was all about the pose

This was my favorite monkey picture

It was raining and mom was being weird...

Every one loves a bongo drum

Feeding the giraffes was very cool. That was my favorite part.

But...Butt...Buttt... I mean Putt!!

Zebras are pretty cool too

This was my favorite zebra picture

Here's Chandler meditating. Oh wait! It's a monkey meditating - my mistake!

The baby giraffe was so stinking cute...

Any idea what kind of wildlife eggs these are? I think it's a very cool picture.

I can't remember what they are, but they are very pretty

I hate birds - especially ones with bigger feet than mine!

Lions are cool

Everyone wants a water buffalo...

This little guy was a doll... he just finished pee-peeing and was wagging himself dry... too cute.

I have a picture almost exactly like this of when Chandler was about three and my sweet Gimel is giving him a kiss just the same way... Skoobi and Chan got along very well, so we were all happy about that.


Chandler got to go fishing on a boat with both his grandpas - he caught the only fish, pictures above. Not so shabby :)