If pictures could speak they would say... Clothes are easier to find when they are sprawled all over the floor.. Right?! Clean Dishes... who needs em' anyway! These last couple of week have been insane. Robert hadn't had a day off in over 2 weeks and I have been pretty much living in my classroom. I just keep telling myself that there is a time and a place for everything... and now is not the time for a clean house and lazy weekends. Good thing we love what we are doing.


Work
Work has been pretty exciting! This week I had some education celebrities visiting my classroom (Chancellor Klein and Eva Moskowitz). Since the movie "Waiting for Superman" (which EVERYONE should see) came out my school has been getting a lot of publicity. (If you go see it you will see my school, coworkers, and some of my students!) We went to a special viewing this week for Charter School teachers. We were greeted at the doors by our friends the AFT (Teacher's Union). They aren't very happy about this movie coming out. Reality hurts! The film made me rededicated to teaching and even more passionate about reform.

This weekend Robert finally had a much needed day off. He has been working so hard. I don't know how he does it. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and went on an ALL DAY bike ride. We rode up Riverside to Central Park, and back on Riverside down to South Ferry. Our buttocks are a little sore! Oh yeah, did I mention that I saw Leonardo Dicaprio riding his bike on Riverside. I made Robert chase him down with me! (I have been a huge fan of his since Titanic!)




We needed some calories so we stopped by Levaine Bakery. YUMMMMMMMMY!!!
Enjoying a little lunch while keeping an eye on our bikes. Those Huffy bikes go for a lot now days... NOT!

Great day! Now I am just waiting to get a gimps of my husband before it is time to go to bed! Night!

It's what keeps me going......

The names of the people in this story have been changed to protect the identity of the innocent and not so innocent.

Girls like Diamond are what we call K.W.L.M's (Kids We Love The Most)! She needs A LOT of LOVE and attention. I told her she is going to give me gray hair by the end of the year. Here are some funny and not so funny stories about Diamond:

Diamond story #1
Diamond loves food. She talks about it, reads about it, writes about it, and even lies to get it. In fact the first week of school the front office pulled me out of class and asked if I was still hungry and needed anymore food. I was really confused and asked what they were talking about. They said Diamond had been coming to the front office for the last week asking for a box of granola bars.... "Mrs. Staples is really hungry and needs food fast."

Diamond story #2
Diamond idolizes another girl in our class named Destiny. Destiny is Muslim and wears a scarf to cover her hair for religious reasons. One day Diamond showed up to school with a pillow case over her hair. I asked her what was on her head and she said it was a hat just like Destiny's. I guess it pays to be cool!

I love my class this year but they kick my butt. They are an exact reflection of what I am feeling that day. If I am happy and energetic... so is my class. If I am sluggish and tired.... so is my class. They are giving me a run for my money but I love their guts!

Vermont Teddy Bear Factory

We had way too much fun in the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. We are lucky they didn't kick us out!
We tried to find a bear to represent every member of our family. Can you guess who is who??

#1

#2
#3
#4

#5
#6
#7
#8

"GRANDMA'S my name. SPOILING'S my game!"

#9

"Bear-foot and Pregnant!"

#10
#1 The Doc- Robert
#2 The Bikini Beach Bum- Anyone that love the BeACh ...aka ME!
#3 The School Teacher- Denice, Great Grandma, Betty, ME!
#4 The Business Man/Lawyer- Blaine, Jon, Josh, Ryan
#5 The Dentist- Matt, Kendall
#6 The Nurse- Jaime
#7 The Basketball Jock- Chris, Matt, Samantha, Steph, Josh
#8 The Grandma- Mary, Betty, Jamie, Denice
#9 The Prego- Taren, Steph, Sarah
#10 The Princesses- Julia, Karlie, Hailey

When I graduated from graduate school, Jon and Denice bought me a Graduation Vermont Teddy Bear! This is his cousin :)

Someday, I would love to collect these for my kiddos!

Labor Day Road Trip

Friday evening Robert and I jumped in our rental car without any directions or plans, other than the fact that we knew we were signed up for a race in Montreal, Canada that weekend. We have both been so busy that we didn't have much time to plan for it. Ironically, this was one of our favorite trips ever!
We pulled over late Friday night and found a camp ground. We set up our 2 person tent and slept. When we woke up we realized we had just slept next to the most beautiful lake (Lake George) in a cute, ritzy sailing town. It was adorable and I can't wait to go back.
We took the long route through Burlington, Vermont and Lake Champlain. I had never been here but Robert came as a child and has raved about it since. We stopped at the famous Vermont Teddy Bear factory.

Burlington is also the birthplace of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. We ordered their "Vermonster". We couldn't even make a dent in the bucket, it was HUGE. We have been on a no sugar agreement since April and this was one of our first indulgences! Go big or go home.. Right??!?

We love, love, love Vermont. Ps Lake Champlain was so beautiful I couldn't spare a minute to take a picture of it.

Montreal
(cute little skyline.. I know... NYC has warped reality)

The Race

1. We woke up 30 minutes before the race
2. Ran 3 miles to find the starting line
3. Luckily made it before the gun went off
4. Couldn't understand anything people were saying to us because everything was in French!
5. Perfect crisp running weather
6. Ran right through the city
7. Laughed all the Nordic Walkers
8. The race ended in the gigantic Olympic stadium
9. Ran 4 miles back to our car
   

We did it!

I felt like I was in France all weekend. Other than no Eiffel tower, there weren't any differences. I stuffed my face with my favorite .... Banana and Nutella crepe!
Robert stuffed his face with Montreal's famous fritz, gravy, and cheese curds... yuck!
Mark Twain once remarked of Montreal that "This is the first time I was ever in a city where you couldn't throw a brick without breaking a church window." Cosign. There were beautiful churches everywhere.

Bye Montreal and Vermont! Thanks for the best weekend ever!

JRWS in Utah

Robert could tell I was really bummed about not being able to go home with him this last week so He did his best to make me feel included by sending me pictures of all his activities.

Robert and his beautiful mom! She's lookin' young and gorgeous as always!

Part of the Staples crew. Welcome home Elder Staples!

Hanging out with the bros on their first day at BYU!

Reading and playing the piano with Karlie

Visiting the in=laws! Sniff, Sniff... miss you guys!

Cathing up with Taren and Jaime

Playing at the park!

This picture almost made me cry! Denice doing her magic in the kitchen! Oh, how I miss her cooking!

Utah, thanks for taking care of my husband for the week and returning him safely!