Five For Friday!

Hi There!!!  I meant to do a Five for Friday last week, but just couldn't get to it.  There were conferences to do and bags to be packed for spring break so blogging didn't happen.  I am happy to be back and am doing a combined "2 week" Five for Friday linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

I had a few more students bring in some leprechaun traps.  They were all so excited about having the traps in our room and that the leprechauns were visiting our school. On Saint Patrick's Day, the leprechauns really made a mess in our room and they even left little footprints and glitter across our floor.  I adore the last picture where the children are on the floor, investigating the footprints.  How sweet!!!!!  This is one of my favorite times of year in the classroom and I am sad it has passed - but, there is always next year!

One of my little sweeties got sick on the carpet on Saint Patrick's Day.  The rest of the class did a good job calmly evacuating to the other side of the room.  We were headed to our tables in a moment anyway so leaving the carpet was not a problem.   I quickly went to the little girl with a trash can and my IA got her out of the room with a bag.  Poor things was so upset, and obviously, not feeling well.  Our sweet custodian came and cleaned it up, but the next morning when I walked in, my room did not smell good - at all! My principal had the carpet removed and it was cleaned with a steam vacuum carpet cleaner.  The children thought it was very exciting to get to choose to sit on the carpet, or on the tile.

I had conferences WED night and all day THURS so the timing worked out well for the carpet to be removed.  (But, my room seemed incomplete with my carpet removed)  I also saw the carpet on the THURS of conferences and it looked beautiful!!!!  It looked like a new carpet again.  I was told they went through 4 dirty tanks of water until it was cleaned.  Phew!  Glad it is all ready to go when we return to school on Monday.

My husband and I went to Denver for spring break.  That first weekend of spring break was so much fun!!!!  Both of my brothers and their families live in the Denver area so we all got together FRI night for dinner and time to catch up.  Then, we spent the weekend visiting and walking/hiking around Denver.  Denver and the surrounding areas have so many walking paths and trails all over the place.  Denver has great urban planners! The top picture is of my hubby, me, my sister-in-law and brother walking around on the trails by their house.  

The bottom picture is of my hubby, sister-in-law and other brother hiking around Red Rocks Amphitheater.  Have you been there???  It is stunning!  First of all, it is a great place to watch live music, and secondly, it is a beautiful place to hike.  There were so many people at Red Rocks hiking, running the stairs, doing push-ups and squats - it was motivating to see so many fit people.  My brother kept saying, "Suz, who is making them do that?"  Ha!  We had a lot of laughs.  

Another reason, actually the main reason, we went to Denver was because my husband was presenting at the American Chemical Society.  He is an organic chemistry professor at our local university and he is also interested in art.  I just think he is so talented and creative.  He combines chemistry, history and art and creates all of this unique imagery with oil paintings at his studio in Portland.

He had a poster in the Sci Mix Monday night and then he had his paintings on chemical warfare displayed all day Tuesday during a symposium on chemical warfare used during World War I.  He also did a little podcast about his art and then presented on Thursday on engaging students and the public through art.

I am so, so, proud of him and happy that he had a successful conference.  He got more exposure for his art, as well as positive feedback.  If you are intrigued by his paintings and want to learn more, you can check out his website Chemical Jungle.

We had a wonderful time in Denver!  We were able to spend time with family, my hubby had a good conference (and I even got a guest pass so I could attend his sessions), and we were able to explore this fun city.  I also rocked my Fitbit (I got over 21,000 steps 2 days in a row!).  

We enjoyed walking all over - sometimes it was just me since Dave was in a conference - and sometimes we were out together.  We also love good food and we found some amazing restaurants with incredible vegetarian selections.  

But, the BEST part about the vacation was having some quality time with my husband. We were so very busy before our trip.  He was so busy painting and getting ready for the show and the conference and I was very busy with report cards and conferences.  It was so nice to be in Denver without the regular distractions from home and just being able to walk and talk and enjoy life.  That is really what it is all about!  Enjoying the short time that we are here with loved ones.

We are now back in Oregon and it is always nice to return home after a trip.  This was an exceptional spring break!  I hope you have had, are having, or will have a great spring break as well!

When we return to school on Monday, we have about 2 and a half months left to learn!  Time is going by so fast - yikes!