Sunday...sad day....not a very fun day.

The past 24 hours have not been so great.  In fact my heart is so heavy. 

Let me start from the beginning... yesterday started out great!  Dylan, Maddie, Lauren and I went up to the campground where Karla and Joel and some of the softball team went.... Falls View.  We took our air mattress to them and stopped to get some ice and candy for them!  It was a beautiful day out and such a pretty campground.  The view of the waterfalls are pretty.... and I got some good pictures!

Maddie...the waterfalls are far away, bigger than they look, and WAY down!

Dylan McStud (lol)

Lauren...Auntie Tara had to get her to laugh to get a good smile!

Even Lily posed!

Auntie Tara, Auntie Karla, Lauren, and Maddie!

The waterfall zoomed in!

The Waterfall

The river below

The river zoomed in...

A large nest....possibly an Eagles nest?

 After we left there we went to Walmart and then to my mom's to visit for a bit. She enjoyed the kids very much! She loves to see her great-grandbabies. She loves visitors!

Then we get to the bridge and this is where we landed....on the bridge while a couple Navy boats went through. The kids took some good pictures!

 Lauren took the pictures so she wasn't in them. :(  We got home and the kids searched the neighborhood again. The girls went in the pool....then took a shower.

Papa went to get Andrew.... Dylan wondered why Toby kept looking in the next lot.  So he put Toby on the leash and walked over there and called me.  There was a cat's head.  Shook me to the core.... I kid you not.  It was gross and disgusting.  I came in the house crying....then the girls noticed and I told them we may have found Punkin. The lost it and started crying hard.  Lauren was yelling "Why did this have to happen???" Maddie was hyperventilating. Papa and Andrew came and Papa looked at the skull and put it in a bag.  The weird thing is.... we haven't noticed it before and it was sitting about 7 feet from the road.  Without getting too detailed and gross...it looks like it had been dead longer than 3 days.... and Dylan saw a little fur...but it was black fur under the right eye.  She doesn't. Papa thinks the head was too small....I think the teeth were too big. I don't know if it is wishful thinking...but we are still praying it wasn't her. But out of respect... Papa buried it and made a cross a said a prayer.

To say it was a rough night is an understatement. Unless you're an animal lover....you may not understand.  And the grandkids love our animals.  Dylan had to go to his grandpa's. I sat with him rubbing his back while he cried...but was trying not to.  He said "Punkin' was my cat. I loved her." It broke my heart and still makes me cry. I wish he wasn't the one who found it. He was shaking. I am glad his grandpa picked him up. The girls took a long time to calm down. They were afraid. Afraid to sleep in the trailer. Afraid to go to bed. Afraid of everything. They made a bed on the floor to sleep together. All night long they took turns waking up and coming into my room and sleeping with me. Lauren had the hardest time....when she gets like this it turns into missing mom, wanting to go home, scared someone is going to come in and get them....long, long night. For papa too. They would come in the bed and he would go to his recliner. Maddie and I slept in until 8:00. Then Karla came shortly after that and picked up Maddie.  Maddie was ready to be with her mom. I ran Andrew to Kevon's again to take care of their dog.  Lauren woke up around 10.  Papa made us breakfast and we lazed around until Ryan and Amanda got home....then we took Lauren, Mac and Sandy home. Now we are just chilling. Waiting for bed.  And still praying.
Enjoy your week and thanks for your prayers and support! Love you all!

still....no cat!

I love Saturday's. I would love this Saturday more if Punkin' was home. Dylan, Maddie and Lauren are out distributing signs and asking people in the neighborhood. We drove up and down every road several times. Praying and calling. When they get back we are going to Walmart and to my mama's. Going to do some retail therapy. I need it.

Yesterday after work when I picked up Maddie and Dylan from Grammie's... they had some crab for us and Dylan had picked these flowers for me!  I love Dahlia's!!!

 I also love "Chocolate Soldiers"!!!  You can only find them in the South! I searched online and cannot find any where to order them from.  Our family in Oklahoma can't find any either. I am sad.

Yesterday at school I got my newsletter done plus other things! The kids watched Wall-E and had popcorn!

 This little friend of mine got very upset because someone bumped his train track and then it was clean up time... and he just shut down. literally.  He curled into a ball on the floor. I had to carry him to my office and he still wouldn't look at me or talk to me. He finally fell asleep. Poor baby.

I'm not much in the mood for writing so I will let you read my newsletter to the parents instead. lol! Have a great day!

July 29, 2011

Friday

Dear Parents;

We are mailing the newsletter to you each month instead of weekly! We don’t want to bombard you with too much….but we want to keep you informed with what is going on in the center!

JULY

July has been such a fun month at the Children’s Learning Center! Even though the weather has not been very cooperative….we had water fun! We even had some parents join in when they arrived!

We went on a field trip to see a Magician and the next week we saw Reptile Man!  It was a long walk, but worth it!

We also took a field trip to Port Ludlow to a beautiful beach by my house!  The ground was wet so we didn’t get to do our cardboard sledding….but it didn’t rain on us while we were there!  And the children had so much fun beach combing and exploring and having a picnic.  A big highlight was riding the Martha and Mary bus! 

Speaking of wheels, during Wild West Week the kids brought their wheels to the school and we closed the parking lot while they rode around with their bikes, trikes, and scooters.

During Recycle Week Niko’s mom came and talked about Recycling with the kids!  It is never too early to teach the children to take care of our Earth.

The children made several trips next door to the Health Center having ice cream with the grandma and grandpas, bringing birthday cards, gardening, and they even had a tea party!

We closed out our month by having a Fun Friday!  The children cleaned up the play yard and were rewarded with little animals to take home!  We also wound up the week of Recycle by watching the move “Wall-E” and having popcorn! They loved it!

I have pictures to send to you parents….I have not forgotten them. I am just getting them together for you!

AUGUST

We have a busy month starting with Healthy Habits week!

Rest is important….so we are having Pajama Day on Tuesday, August 2^nd!!!  The kids don’t even have to get dressed that morning….they just come to school in pajama’s! Us too!

Exercise is important also, so the kids will be hiking Thursday the 4^th to the Library where the library is going to read to just our class!   

Cleanliness is another lesson they will be taught…and we will be getting a visit from the Tooth Fairy on August 4^th! Everyone will be excited to see her!

The second week is Music In Me week!

Monday the 8^th we are going by bus to **** Park next to the *****! There are many places to explore and crawl and climb and have fun at this park… plus a picnic! It really has nothing to do with music unless we sing on the way….but it was the only day we could get the bus. Lol!

During the week of music we will be visited the rest of the week by the Poulsbo Grade School Music Teacher, Mrs. Cyndi Gilman. She will be bringing her family with their many musical instruments! It should be so fun and educational!

Week 3 is called Lights, Camera, Action!

The children are going to be in a play! The play will be performed on August 19^th, Friday at 3:00! During the week we will learn about acting, stories, reading, and how fun pretending can be! 

The last week will be very special….it is called Me & My Family!

We are going to a Fairy Tale Carnival next door at the Health Center with the Grandma’s and Grandpa’s!

We are going to make scrapbooks of our families to take home!

We are ending the week with a family barb-b-que at 3:00!

We are very sad….there will be many children going off to Kindergarten. We have grown so attached to these children and they will be missed.  We will also be saying goodbye to Ms. Juanita at the end of August.   She will be missed by the staff and children! L

Ms. Hailley is doing a wonderful job with the children and there is mutual love going on here.

In the fall, she will be with Pre-K children.  We will be having a new teacher for the Junior Kindergarten class!  And Mrs. Lynch will return to teach a Kindergarten / 1^st grade class!  We are looking for great things to continue at Martha & Mary’s Children Learning Center! 

If you are interested in signing your child up for Hooked on Phonics, Dance Class, or Spanish Class...please call me and I will help you to the right person!

We have a brief survey to see how we are doing.  There is one in the classroom when you pick up your child. You may drop them off in the inbox next to my door.  And, please, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns……call or email me!  I love open communication!

Have a great month of August!!!! Hope is will be warmer! J

Joyce Black

Site Coordinator

Children's Learning Center

jblack@mmhc.org

360-394-4085

still gone....

I am trying to be strong for Papa... but my heart is breaking. Punkin' never stays away this long. I am praying she comes home...but not counting on it. :(  Papa keeps sitting out on the porch waiting for her. He was out there last night in the dark. He is really having a hard time with this. Please keep praying. He is taking signs around the neighborhood today.

Worked yesterday. First half of the day good. Second half not so good.  It is funny how 2 boys can just make you miserable. Two little boys.  I talked to both the mom's when they came.  These parents really need to get their kids to bed earlier. They are so tired.  Today we are watching "Wall-E". Never watched a movie in school... maybe they will all fall asleep. lol!

After work Veronica and I went to the games... brought papa, dylan and maddie all milkshakes. They loved them! I think my friend is going to move to Oregon to become a teacher.  I will miss her. :(  She is crazy and funny and makes me laugh!

Well.... we have 4 wonderful, awesome grandkids all weekend so I am stoked about that!!! So is papa!  In fact, I brought Dylan and Maddie home after the game last night and this morning I am taking them to Grammie's house for the day. They are going crabbing with their Grandpa Rogers! They have their licenses and are all ready and excited!  Papa will get the others and their little dog Mac! We will have 3 dogs, 4 kids and 2 adults! Busy time for us.... s'mores, sleeping in trailer, and fun!

Best get moving.  Not much time! Have a great weekend!

Where, oh, where, oh where is punkin'?????

Have you seen my baby?  Punkin' hasn't been home since yesterday afternoon. She always comes home for dinner.  Or in the middle of the night.  I called and called for her. I am worried.  And praying!  I love my baby kitty!!!!

I am also sad I missed my friends birthday on Monday!!!  Candice had a birthday and I blew it off. I have to make it up to her!  :(  Not sure how... she moved to Washington D.C.!

Didn't sleep well worrying about that cat!  Got lots on my mind.  My brother David. My mom. work, and my feet are cold. Tonight are games.  I missed Kevon, Ryan and the girls playing Monday. It wasn't on Tuesday like I thought. But I get to see Veronica!  And the Karla, Joel and Tara play!  Dylan kept score last time... maybe he'll do it again. He did good.

I got my Theme Planning done for the school year!!!!  I was so happy to accomplish it! Not 100% happy with it so there might be some tweaking going on.  Today we have one of the mom's coming in to talk to us about Recycling! And the afternoon is the Ice Cream Social next door. Also they are going to clean up the weeds in the playground. Busy day! Tomorrow we are going to watch a movie! Wall-E.  I got permission.... and it should be a great movie to end our recycle week with!

Please pray for my kitty to come home.  Have a great day all!

THREE MONTHS! Yippee!

The next three days I go in at 9:30.  I woke up at 5 and fell asleep at the computer. I went to the couch. It is now 7:30 and I just woke up again. So.... I don't have much time to do my stuff. lol! Good thing I played my sister the games on "It's Your Turn" already.

Yesterday was a great day!  Took Andrew to his rehearsal.  Then went to work. Today I have been at my job 3 months!!!!  I am an official employee now... my probation period is over! Yeah!

Met with Marcey. Got some work done in my office. Andrew brought me lunch. I watched four of the boys while Hailley took 8 of them next door to the Nursing Home for an Afternoon Tea with the "grandma's and grandpa's".
They looked so cute dressed up to go!

I kept 4 boys with me. I tried to play shoots and ladders. That didn't work...they just wanted to go up and down the ladders and slides. So... I walked away from the game and let them play...until they started fighting. Put the game away. I should have seen that one coming.
Last night Veronica came to the center while I closed and went with me to Azteca to pick up a Macho Burrito for mom!  I wanted her to meet my mama... but my mama was sleeping when we got there.  I mean REALLY sleeping.  So I left her dinner and took V back to her car. Then I was leaving town and turned around and met up with Papa, Lauren and Andrew at CMC... where Andrew goes to youth group. He had to give a presentation on his Mexico trip. And Amanda was picking Lauren up so I got to hug the kids goodbye.... and Lauren got to sit on my roof out of the sunroof yelling by to Andrew and "I love you".... just to embarrass him. She is so funny.

Today is Wet Wednesday.  Not sure what we have in store for them.  I need to let the teachers plan more and me a little less.  It is hard.  Right now I am planning themes for the school year. I should coordinate with Allison... the kindergarten teacher.  She kind of has her own agenda. She is also suppose to have a baby any day! In fact she is late!

Well... gotta go have breakfast.  Have a great day!!!!

surgery = success ! field trip = finished!

Mama's surgery went great!  She is already home and enjoyed a burger and shake last night for dinner!  It was awesome! I went there after work and did her pills and visited.... Lois was there too and spent the night with mom.  Very happy!!!

Today I will be dropping Andrew off at rehearsal on my way to work.... Papa and Lauren are going to the movies.  I was suppose to have my physical today and I had to postpone it again. Maybe next month will slow down. I don't know. 

Yesterday's field trip at my beach was a success too. And it is finished! Dylan and I kept watching the radar pictures of the weather. It rained before and after they came. But it wasn't too wet....just too wet to go box sledding. :(  But they had a picnic and had fun beach combing. And they loved riding the bus!!!!
I will leave you with are a few pictures....

Started out with a picnic lunch!

Then gathering treasures and checking out tiny crabs!

and crab claws!

and oyster shells

and laughing at the waves....

I loved how Dylan laughed at the kids!

Lauren is very serious of the child I put her in charge of!

Maddie and her little girl could be sisters!!!!

I gave Dylan the wanderer... I knew he could stick with him.

He is so ready to leave....lol!

Mama mia!!!!

Woke up feeling happy!  I have four of my grand babies here this morning!!! Andrew is still sleeping. I tried for more grand kids but it wasn't possible. The kids are helping me this morning down at the beach with the school kids!  The kids are taking the bus to our beach and meeting us....it will be lots of fun.... I hope. I am a bit nervous since I woke up remembering there are NO bathrooms down there.

Yesterday was a great day!!!  Picked mom up and took her to church. She looked so beautiful!!!

Having coffee after church with her friends.

Then we went to Albertson's so we could get some groceries.  Guess who we ran into!!!

 

I was so happy to see my Makoa!!!!  

After that we took mama home and came home to put our groceries away.  Then Joel brought Maddie over.... Maddie and I went to pick up Sandy and Lauren.... Dylan's grandma brought him here.... and we had chicken and dumplins for dinner.  We all picked out.  Then Papa picked up Andrew from the movies and he had some!  

The girls had some fun in the pool yesterday. It got hot out.  Well... over 80 is hot to us!

The girls hadn't seen each other for a few weeks... they were happy to be together!

The dogs were happy...running around playing!

Well.... I got to run and get ready!!!!!  Have a great day!  Remember to pray for my mama... her surgery is today.  Love and prayers to all!

Waking up to an earthquake!

Well.... guess what I felt when I got up this morning?

A minor earthquake occurred at 5:19:28 AM (PDT) on Sunday, July 24, 2011.
The magnitude 3.0 event occurred 20 km (12 miles) WNW of Brinnon, WA.
The hypocentral depth is 41 km (26 miles).

Papa was awake because I heard him talk to Toby and I yelled "Did you feel that?" He said "Yes. Was it an earthquake?" And yes it was. Very short and shaky. But what a thing to wake up to!

Another thing I woke up to was this beautiful view. The sunrise... it comes right through this window!

This was what we had for dinner. Prime Rib!  Well, mine was cooked. This is what Papa got when he ordered his Medium Rare. He couldn't eat it. He sent it back once and I think all they did was flip it on the plate.  We ate at Chimicum Cafe which usually has great food. Mine was so good! I think he was disappointed. But he brought it home so he could cook it. lol!
 

 I guess you could call it a date.  We laughed and had fun being together!  I love that guy. He is really funny. He sure makes me laugh.  That is good.

Leaving in two hours to take mom to her church. Then to the store and/or maybe for a bite to eat? See how she is doing.  Last Sunday she was really unhappy because no one called her all day.  She gets that way when she is nervous about surgery. I know she's worried because she wants communion... but she is going shopping so she must know she will be ok.

Dylan and Maddie are spending the night and helping me with my class field trip tomorrow at the beach!  I can use extra eyes and ears!  Two teachers will be riding the bus....and maybe some parents. It will be fun! Pray for dry weather!!!! Maybe some sun?  

Well.... I am going to sit on my porch with my coffee.  Enjoy your Sunday! xoxo

And we'll have some sun.....

This is where papa and I like to spend time together talking.  It is so wonderful in the mornings.

Our front porch!

We have a gate at the steps of the front porch so Toby can spend all day out there if he wants. He loves it too!

Had another great day yesterday at work.  I am so tired at night but I love my job!  The days go by so fast, I love the people, I love the kids, and Andrew spent part of yesterday at the center with me! Those kids sure love him and they make him laugh!!!  He is also a help. Which is great!!! Andrew and papa brought a big chunk of ice with Jungle animals in the ice. The kids went outside and started scraping and chipping away. After awhile... Andrew picked up the block and threw it on the cement! The kids squealed and laughed and ran for the ice chunks with animals like it was a pinata! It was so funny!

and then he played tag with them!!!

Today I have already cleaned up the outside plants and cleaned the deck, cleaned the den, the dining room and living room, and washed the sheets! And it is still morning!  Need to run and do some more like kitchen! Papa is great at keeping up on laundry, dishes, vacuuming, and bathrooms, but there are little things that need my attention. Papa has no walmart work next week! He is happy!

We are taking mom to church tomorrow and to Albertson's after church.  That will be nice for her. She has surgery on Monday and she wants communion. It is an outpatient thing.... ballooning her fistula a bit.  Please keep her in your prayers.  She worries so much.
Loving the sun... off to enjoy!