(pronouced Spa-deena - who knew?)
The students picked pale yellow and I accented it with leafy greens and bright pinky-orange flowers.
Walking past Casa Loma on my way to "Dressing for Downton" at the Spadina House (pronouced Spa-deena - who knew?) My cast of "Into the Woods" at their finale show First ice cream truck of the year! Easter "nest" cupcakes - carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut and mini-eggs on top Family trampoline time Sister love Gave my hedgehog some hair with a mustard plant (lasted for about 3 months - pretty good) I always get tulips at St. Lawrence Market I had a whole bunch of bananas that were too ripe - so made banana-chocolate cupcakes Teacher Day at the zoo. Saw the new pandas and polar bear cub, and this peacock strutting his stuff Getting out the outdoor patio furniture and stringing up the lights Painted this little shelf and decked it out with some Anthropologie pulls (more on this later) Hydrangea cupcakes - didn't use buttercream so they melted pretty quickly into a tie-dye delicious mess Mother's Day love Had my family over for a Mother's Day BBQ One of many cat love pics of Earl Grey (my neighbour's cat who pretty much lives on my porch) Florals for spring (only the tulips are real) May Long Weekend at the cottage with Moose (right before he swatted at me, I'm sure) Decorating for the Music Banquet. The students picked pale yellow and I accented it with leafy greens and bright pinky-orange flowers. Marta and I - work wives Nothing like a little coordinated dancing from my awesome music students Go Jays Go (I'm wearing a Jay's shirt, I swear!) That Jays Game was followed by apps and margaritas at El Catrin in Distillery ...and then Ed's real scoop. And then we walked home. So Roger's Center to distillery to Queen & Broadview to home. That was about 3 hours of walking, but it felt good! Last rehearsal of the year with my students :( Enjoying a drink outside one warm spring evening I heart gelato Marta and I at Wonderland for our performance at the Music Festival Happy 25 years Skydome! The Roots concert outdoors Just a few sweet Tea-cher gifts.
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Okay so I've been looking over all the pictures I'm taken since April and am trying to do a series of mini-posts mixing home stuff with events. The first up is the play I (along with MANY other people) worked so hard on all year. This year we did Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. We had a cast of over 60 students which is a record, and many staff and student volunteers as well. Here are just a few pictures from the show, taken at one of our last rehearsals (you'll see students out of costume here and there): Joe Swag Warm up - singing and dancing to the "Megamix" Prologue with narrators and "children" (really just our choir) There's Joe - Any Dream Will Do Jacob and Sons (and wives and some of the chorus) Family portrait Brother's don't so much like Joseph... Joseph's Coat (many colours) Joseph's Dreams (this ones about corn!) The Dreamer has to go! Ishmalites (and a camel) There's one more angel in heaven... Joseph's gone - time to dance! Sold to be a slave...to Potiphar ...and his evil wife Close Every Door Lalalala... Listening to the Butler and Baker Go go go JOE! So much colour! This was a great dance! Act I Finale pose Act II Begins The Pharaoh (the "King" - notice the blue suede shoes?) Will Joseph's luck change? Looks like it! Those Canaan Days A little dance interlude Great tango Off to Egypt they go! Joe's got some bling now Brother's grovelling Time for some Benjamin Calypso Benjamin is an innocent man! This kid stole the show! Brothers recognize Joe - family reunited! The coloured coat returns Act II Finale Pose Last pose post-bows Opening night cast photo Marta (dance direction) and I (vocal director) on the 2nd night
*I know this isn't really home-decor related, but I wanted people to know what else I do with my time when NOT renovating* So along with the school musical, I also co-direct the school's Christian Band. Mike Peever is the head guy - he knows how to hook up all the music and works with the band part, and I mostly direct the singers. We have about 50 members consistently, with upwards of 75 when everyone is there, which is incredible. Last year our numbers were more around 35 on our best days. It is a great group of students who just love to sing and play instruments and who love them some Jesus. They are such a break from the routine of teaching and even from the typical students I have in my classes. They have faith all their own and are not afraid to express it, which makes my faith much restored recently. We play Christian rock along with some praise and worship music (a LOT of Hillsong). We are expanding our repertoire in 2013 and the students are tweeting me some of the favourites over the break for us teachers to take a look at. Here are some pictures of the events we have done with them over the past few months: We performed at the Grade 8 Confirmation Retreats at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Ajax Peever teaching the girls to line dance on one of our breaks The B&W's were from the St. Anthony Daniel 50th Anniversary celebration - we performed both during the day at at night for everyone We led an overnight retreat with social justice - 50 kids came! (The faux fur was because we told them they turn down the heat on the weekend...they went a bit overboard) Some get to know you ice breakers Karaoke - their fav Midnight Just Dance party Popping some corn for some Hunger Games movie treats Look at these athletes! Movie time! (PS - the boys did sleep in a separate room from the girls) Mass the next morning with Father Dave Christmas Concert 2012. We also performed at the church Christmas concert the following night, and the parent-council mass earlier that week, and for the Manresa priests the following - it was a busy few weeks of school before the break, and these kids are one dedicated bunch! So just a little of what I do outside the home and what has been taking up a lot of my would-be blogging time in the past few months, along with the musical JOSEPH (come see it in May!!!).
Yes, I have not blogged in over a month, and even then, the posts were sparse. I honestly have been incredibly busy with a new course I'm teaching at school, with the play, and with the Christian Band. This past week alone I was at school until 10 pm 4 of the 5 weeks. On the weekends we have been doing various projects, and if I'm not doing that, I'm seeing family or more school prep. I feel like I am sleeping, working, or house working 90% of the time. That doesn't leave a lot of room for blogging, but with Christmas break coming up in one week (choirs of angels are singing here), I'm hoping to fire off quite a few posts. Here are some sneak peaks of the projects we have done in the past month or so, along with random events: 1. The Great Railing Demo (which was actually quite a brief process) 2. The Even Greater Railing Reconstruction (which, proportional to its greatness, took much longer) 3. The Stair Stripping (much less sexy than it sounds...) 4. Christian Band Events (aka the best kids in the world singing and playing their hearts out) 5. My Grandpa is 88 and AWESOME (self-explanatory) 6. 50+ Reasons Why I Love My Husband (but since I have yet to make this list, it could be less, or more, depending on the day and time...) 7. Surprise - I Painted The Living Room Again! 8. Pure Bliss Sofa (with and without its legs, and no more falling between couch cushions) 9. What? Christmas is in 10 Days? (Better decorate that tree we've had over a week...) 10. Post-Stripping Stairs (plus staining, painting, and taking them two at a time...) Not Pictured Above:
- Putting some back into the living room console (pictured above beside the stairs, currently happening as we speak) - The teacher's strike (depending on if I'm in a rant-y mood or not that day - my board already settled in the summer) - Distillery Christmas Market (going to tonight, along with dinner at Archeo) - Go Go Go JOE! (our school play this year) - Going Purple (in the bedroom decor) - Top Home Projects of 2012 (90% happened in this above post, I think) - House Goals for 2013 (the projects never end!) - Personal Goals & Resolutions for 2013 (oh yeah...I have a gym membership) - And of course all the Christmas festivity-related posts in the next few weeks! Here are the pictures from late July to Labour Day weekend that I took on my phone: First Row: 1 - Matt's birthday and anniversary presents wrapped up (he got a coffee grinder and gravity filter for his birthday). 2- Out for dinner at Pachuco - a great Mexican place at Danforth & Broadview. 3 - Meg's baby shower with the pool girls - such a lovely afternoon! Second Row: 1 - Anniversary dinner - we intended to go out but after being in Vancouver for a few days, we were exhausted! 2 - Our anniversary gifts - year 2 is cotton, so we went to Banana and picked out something for each other. 3 - Rainy weekend at the cottage meant torturing Tabby a bit...put him under a laundry basket...he just stared at me pleading, so I let him out, and he just ran away. Stupid uncuddly cat. Third Row: 1 - Figures the sun comes out just as we leave the cottage. 2- Matt ran 21 km as part of his training program for the marathon next month. It was rough on him. So of course I photographed him while weakened. 3 - More painting begins while we were in NYC! Fourth Row: 1 - Prepping at school - beautiful quiet school. 2 - Teaching Marta how to use Instagram. 3 - Labour Day cottage weekend - this is barbequed caesar salad Matt made!
Prepping for my grade 11's last week in my classroom - the calm before the storm. Literally. Today was the first day back...*sigh* Started off my day with the 11 U Chemistry class - it's a big class - 31 students (used to having more like 24), and as it was first period in the morning, raining, the power went out twice, and the air was not on so sauna-like conditions existed, they were a bit dazed and unfocused. Second period is 12 E Science - brand new course for me so lots of prep to do, but the students seem nice enough so we'll see how that goes. After my prep at the end of the day I have 12 C Chemistry - they are actually a great group. Again, a big class of 26, which is high for that level (usually have less than 20).
Since I was so tired and hot and had frizzy hair and my feet hurt from my high heels, I was a bit grumpy today. Let's pray for a better day tomorrow! Happy first week back to all my teacher friends. How was YOUR first day back? One of my summer to-do activities was the clean up the rainbow bookshelf downstairs. There were too many of certain colours and they were getting cramped and messy. Easy little project that I had all summer to do, but didn't do until last week. Here are the changes, in pictures, but first, the original: Way back from the spring of 2011 Last week - tidy, but a lot of books not on the shelves and many books behind other books Everybody off! Here it is all tidied up! White takes up the most space, along with Jodi - how I love her. Matt's books are on the first two shelves, and pretty much every other shelf is filled with my books, haha The bottom shelf is filled with random textbooks A side-view *I took a lot of $5 beachy-girly books to the cottage, and eventually I'll donate them.* **You CANNOT throw books in the garbage, it's just wrong.** Here's the hobby corner - piano (I wonder what musical will be in store for this year), and my attempt at working out with Zumba on Wii - I do it a lot, but I feel like a clumsy uncoordinated idiot EVERY SINGLE TIME. Just got the water meter removed from inside to ouside behind the chalkboard, and had the gas done last year. So now no real reason for that panel in the wall...oh well. Office space - now to tackle that other "chemistry" shelf back there...geez it is packed... A bit more tidy - perfect for me to start prepping for the fall...back to school NOOOOOOO!
*Wrote this post last night and updated it a bit just now* Well it's just under a month into the summer vacation, so what have I done? Well, for the long weekend we went to the cottage. See more pictures of that here. Then from Tuesday-Saturday after that I tried my best to not go crazy from boredom. I pretty much did all the little things on Tuesday - cleaned the house, organized my school stuff, got groceries, and went to the gym. By the time Matt got home I was wired and bouncing off the walls. The next few days were similar, so I immersed myself into bad TV and blogging and scouring Pinterest (more on that soon). A few days before the trip I did get my nails and toes done - I went to Tips Nail Bar on Danforth and it was a great place. The women that work there are so friendly and I will definitely be going back there this week! Here are my beachy toes via Instagram (that's right, I now have an iPhone, finally!): Then the trip took us away to the Dominican for the week. Before I left school, I casually mentioned to the summer school principal that if they really needed a teacher for science, I could be available. Well, it turns out that they needed me, because I got many calls and emails throughout the trip, and I ended up getting grade 10 science (my usual summer course) for the next two weeks. I had the Monday we got back off, but then on Tuesday I was back to school. Typical summer kids - not bad, but annoying - 6 hours a day with most kids would do this to me, though. Last Thursday I had dinner with Jessica, Carolyn, and Stephanie at Leslie Jones on Queen. We had a good meal and caught up - last saw Jess and Carolyn at Hixmas in December, and Steph not in a year, which is so sad. It was good to see all the girls, and found out Jessica moved and of course has her little baby Sophia - I'm planning on visiting her for the first time in the next few weeks! The whole weekend was really a Leslieville/Riverside weekend - Friday Matt and I went to Goods & Provisions for dinner (SUCH good food), and then to see Batman (very good too). Saturday we had brunch at The Commissary - had an apple and brie french toast on a croissant - wow - it was yummy. We walked around the street for a while and went into all the furniture stores and antique shops. There were a few things I liked but didn't love enough to purchase. After all that food, there were a few days of hardcore working out that followed. Tuesday Megan came over and we gossiped about The Bachelorette (yay Jef, ohh Ari - that breakup was super awkward), boys, and our summers. We had some sushi, and went to see Spiderman in 3D - much better than the Toby Maguire ones - Andrew Garfield is a way better spider!
Now it is Thursday night, and I'm not feeling so great. I swear Marta, if you got me sick, I am NOT going to bring you Starbucks tomorrow (PS it is now Friday and I'm actually feeling much better)! The exam was today, and of my 13 kids, only one failed (which is better than some years), and now I only have to be there tomorrow until 10AM to give kids their marks, give in all my paperwork, and pick up my paycheque (PS once again it is now Friday and I am DONE - yay summer!) What will I do for the rest of the month? Well Sunday is Meghan's baby shower at The Lakehouse. Next week will be a boring week again, but I'm hoping to get some more cleaning, organizing, and gym-ing done, plus some cooking adventures! Next Thursday we leave for Vancouver, and we're there until Tuesday, for Adam and Emily's wedding on the 4th (also Matt's birthday - must get him a gift soon - PS I did that today at Yorkdale). When we get back, it is our 2nd wedding anniversary on the 7th. Year 2 is cotton...he's probably getting a t-shirt (PS got him something today, haha). Then who knows for the last 3 weeks of summer...some painting, decorating, gardening (oh how I've been avoiding all the dead plants), and relaxing! Oh yeah, and at some point I'll prep for my upcoming school year. Okay, done with the "dear diary" style blog post. Have a great weekend! School's out for summer! Anyway, this is about Canada Day weekend at the cottage with the family - here are some pictures from all the relaxation, eating, and drinking we did! Friday night - finally done school and enjoying a glass of wine with the in-laws. Matt playing in the water after a Saturday of golf for the boys Jamie totally got in trouble for jumping off the boathouse... Some of a lot of food we ate that Saturday night -asparagus bundles, salmon, flank steak Matt with friends Lynn and Sandie Lynn with her boys Matt with his wine Jamie with his cat. Tabby does not look impressed. This would have been a very appropriate picture had we been in the city this long weekend... Happy Canada Day! Great Canadian decor The family friends all around to celebrate Jamie forced to wear something "Canadian" - he eventually borrowed one of Pete's golf shirts Red and white food, including the caprese skewers we made! Group shot in our red and white! Best of the multiple pictures I took of these three...oh boys... The boys - Pete, Jim, Bruce, and Jay The boys talking sports Singing Oh Canada before dinner Nautical photo-op Matt making me laugh and who knows what! Matt...and the amazing boathouse of the neighbours behind! Enjoying the sunset Very artistic, Matty
Last Saturday night we headed out with the family for dinner at Mezes on Danforth to celebrate Jamie's grad from university. Next year he's headed to teacher's college! Here are a few pictures from the night: A toast to the graduate (although the pic didn't turn out as well as the toast...) Meg is a great way to test the light - always posing Jamie and his proud mom Mmmm flaming cheese (I wasn't quick enough to get a pic of it on fire) Daddy's girl Meg Just realized that Matt and I outfit coordinated a bit, haha... The proud grandmothers from both sides of the family Classic Jamie face Ended up focusing the background instead of us - still a pretty cool shot!
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