Emily's new toy!

Meet the newest addition to the Johnston menagerie.

You're probably looking around for some sort of animal... or something with a food name (i.e. Biscuit, Pumpkin, Cookie, Smores... oh yeah, and Butters, the chicken) - well, your not going find it, unless maybe you're looking for something small like a bean -

No, no... this addition is named "Murano" ... and it's sleek... it's stylish ... and it's Emily's - not Gabe's. As you may be able to tell from this shot, the boy... well, he ... well, shoot, I don't know what he's trying to do. Maybe he wants the readers of the Johnston Chronicles to think it's his new car. Or maybe he wants to model the car instead of Emily. Oh well, doesn't make any difference.

I wanted Emily to stand next to HER car. The boy decided he needed to show her how to stand! Oh geez!Emily was trying to make him happy and act like she was taking his advice. He told her to bend her front knee just a bit. She did.The boy finally moved out of the way when I told him I had already taken the photo. As soon as he moved - SNAP - I got the photo I wanted.

Not wanting to hurt the boy's feelings, I told him to get back over by the Murano. He did.

The boy was happy when I told him I wanted them to pose for a FAMILY PORTRAIT with Murano.Sometimes, airtime on the Johnston Chronicles is a coveted thing.

Teaching

I love teaching. One of the many wonderful aspects of the job is all the great kids I meet...and get to know... and follow as they grow up.

Stephanie is a former "Room 8er." She's now grown and married and living in Nevada. She even has a blog that I love to read. Lindsey is another. Stephanie and Lindsey were in the same class and were friends, good friends. Lindsey is also all grown up and married with 2 adorable kids...and she lives in London. I also love to read her blog!These photos are of Stephanie and Lindsey's class. In this bottom photo, Stephanie is second from the left and Lindsey is on the far right. Here, they are in the 6th grade!

My sweet daughter-in-law, Emily, is a 6th grade teacher. This past week, I was in their area for meetings so I was able to visit her classroom on Thursday.
When I was getting ready to take the picture, I don't think Emily realized SHE was also going to be in the picture. "Smile, Emily!"Look at the art on the walls...

Her class was getting ready to go to the library. One of her students asked if they could sing for me. They did... and they sang "The Verb Song." It was SO cute! Room 8, my classroom, will now learn that song...along with the noun song, and the pronoun song...etc. Thank you, Emily!This picture below is an art project idea I think I'm going to steal! Isn't it pretty? It's pointillism... done with a Q-tip!
Friday, I headed down to Lindsey & Donnie's... and my first stop was Lindsey's classroom. She teaches 7th grade Social Studies. I've been in Lindsey's room before and was excited about going again. Lindsey told me she had stuff for me to do! Oh boy....Some people say teaching 7th grade is a job they wouldn't want. Not Lindsey. When she was getting her credential, she asked to be at the middle school even for her student teaching. I love to watch her interact and teach them. She greets each student at the door by name and shakes their hand. As you can see, some want more than a handshake!Lindsey played 'Roman Bingo' with the class. They have been learning Roman numerals and Roman prefixes. She made Bingo boards to use as a teaching tool. What a great idea!Teaching... I'm glad Lindsey and Emily love it too!

Prolific chicks

It sure makes a person feel good when someone is excited to see them. Take this chicken...I think her name is 'Red.' If that's not correct, we'll call her that anyway.

And...if you want the truth, she's not excited to see me. She was probably pretty agitated from her master turning the water sprinkler on and getting her soaking wet!Here's the brood - after they shook the water off. They were just hanging out but wanted to show me something.

I followed..."Come on in," I was told. That made me feel good that they thought I was actually thin enough to fit through their door.Their master knew I would never fit, so he showed me hidden door...The chicks all piled in. One was pretty busy... Butters was a bit concerned with the intrusion. She just wasn't too sure why we were peering in from the hidden door.Red, (I think this is her) stuck her neck out to try and put Butter at ease. I didn't tell Red that it wasn't a great idea to 'stick her neck out'... what with being a chicken and all...
She decided to just get up in the roost with Red...Notice anything???Yep, eggs... lots of eggs...

But do you notice anything - well, anything a bit unusual about any of them?

Like the color?I guess ole Red and the others needed a little encouragement to get busy. I have to tell you that the yellow egg was actually not laid by any of these prolific chickens. Sorry. It's fake. It's plastic.

But it worked. Look at her sitting on top of all those eggs!"OK, enough of that business," claimed Red. "It's time to eat."Ole Pumpkin was hanging out by the chicken's water bowl. He (Is Pumpkin a he or a she?) was just hanging out, watching the whole escapade.

My afternoon with Jack

BubbleShare: Share photos - Create and Share Crafts

Dear friends

Many of you know about 'my buddy Bob.' You may not know what he looks like, so check him out:My buddy Bob often sends great emails that I will pass on to my friends. Even though they haven't met him, they know about 'my buddy Bob.'

My buddy, Bob, is married. He'll introduce you to his "first wife, Helen." There is no second wife, and he and Helen have been married for 57 years! We used to get together every Thursday night for a Bible study. This went on for...I don't know, maybe 5-6 years? We were known as 'The Luke Group' because we stayed in the book of Luke for - well, for a long time!

Last night, Bob and Helen came over for dinner. It's been a long time since we sat down together for any length of time to just visit. It was fun to show them around the house because they've been following the entire remodeling project here on the Johnston Chronicles.

You may remember this post. Here's a photo to remind you:This is our dear friend and neighbor, Marvin's, match holder. If you read that post, you'll remember how much I loved it.

Last night, my buddy Bob and his first wife, Helen, come to dinner... Helen hands me this decorator bag with a big sunflower on it... but it's what's INSIDE:A match holder... an antique match holder...one my buddy Bob cleaned and polished up for me! I absolutely LOVE it... it's perfect! More than anything, it's a gift from the hearts of two dear friends.

Thank you Bob and Helen!

Do you think it's cold enough for a fire yet?

Green madrone on a Friday afternoon

"Hey dear," my guy said when I answered the phone.

"Hey dear!"

"Hey, would you back your car out of the driveway so I can back in? I've got a load of wood."

I did my duty, and then proceeded to sit back down in my lounge chair in the backyard. I was so enjoying the sunshine. I had been looking at a new REI catalog when my guy called.

I think I dozed off a little. Ron stomping his feet to get the dirt off startled me awake.

I went out to look at the load of wood and guess what he said? "Here dear, these are for you." Now it wasn't flowers or anything like that, but it was a pair of gloves....for taking the wood out of the back of the truck and stacking it.
He did get in the back of the truck and put the wood down on the tailgate to make it easier for me. Thanks, dear!He spent about an hour cutting and splitting this today. I think it's about a quarter of a cord. It'll be great when the wood is dry...and it's cold outside... ah, cozy, cozy, cozy!My guy says cutting wood warms you three times: 1st when you cut and split it; 2nd when you haul and stack it; and 3rd when you actually burn it.

Do you see a resemblance?

This is Thalia...

I've written how I have this sweetheart new class of students. One of them is Faith. Faith is new to our town so I didn't know anything about her. The first couple of days of school, I just kept looking at her - KNOWING that she was reminding me of someone....but it wasn't clicking. Finally, it dawned on me.

"Faith!" I said, "Now I know who you remind me of!"
"Who?" asked Faith.
"You remind me of my granddaughter, Thalia!"
"Does she talk a lot?"
That was the first question out of Faith's mouth when I told her about the resemblance. I started to laugh. I said, "Well, I guess a little, but not too much!" Faith's only answer to that was "Oh."

Now I see more of a resemblance. They act a lot alike, they walk a lot alike, they both dress so cute...same style. Their skin is the same color, as is their hair, and their eyes. Of course, they ar both in 4th grade. Thalia is a little older with her birthday being in October and Faith's in May. I just had to post their photos.

Do you see the resemblance?
This is Faith...Thalia (and Ozzy)...


This is Faith...Thalia and her Mimi (me!)...

Faith with part of her collection of shells...Thalia eating sushi with Saddie...Faith with one of her favorite books...Thalia with a banana slug...

Thalia ... after her haul of firewood tipped over...

So there you have it... Thalia and Faith. There's definitely a resemblance there that I see. I bet they would be good friends if they lived close to each other... they're both sweethearts!