Weekend in North Carolina

Some of my favorite pics with niece and nephew...more to come on flickr.

temp's backyard

winston-salem,nc

Carving pumpkins with the Clacks

The first one is Temp's, he did a shaved skeleton, also shown below. I did a cartoon version of Salvador our cat. Matt and Emily did the Newlydeads, because they are newlyweds!! Fun times!

A Day in Richmond

We went to Richmond mainly to go to the Botanical Gardens there...
Beautiful fall foliage




Cool bug.
The Screw Tree, loved the texture of it's bark
We also stopped by an estate sale and got a whole sewing box about the size of a tackle box full of thread, needles, etc. $8.25...then hit the Williamsburg outlets and got some slip-on vans when Temp traded in some they he got for free from them and didn't want, and 2 sweaters. Mental health day--successful!

Time to be grateful

So seriously, in the past week:

1. A student is being sentenced to 2 years in jail for robbery (next week)--with ankle bracelet in school in the meantime
2. A student found out she is pregnant
3. Another student's house was burglarized during school---like seriously, everything gone.
4. Student had a botched surgery and is very ill.
5. A student's mom tried to kidnap her, she wanted to runaway...mom is now getting custody of her in November because no one will take her in to save her from the drama
6. A student's dad went to jail for violating probation
7. Student beat up school security guard--expelled

These are just things I know about. Let alone, numbers 1-5 were all in one class in the same day.
These kids each have gone through more than I have in a lifetime...time to be grateful for our upbringing...

adorable

life on a couch

since saturday the majority of my time spent here. diagnosis: stomach virus & sinus infection. liquid diet...looking to recover by wednesday.

the good news: have lost 4 lbs. so far

Makin' art-encaustic

Today I wanted to experiment with wax, heat and adhesives (glue, rubber cement). It's called encaustic. I was fascinated by the surfaces these create. The board beneath the gourd drawing is a heating tray which I worked on.
Temp experimented as well, but he didn't enjoy it. He's more into construction and flat colors. I am going to try it with my kids!

i got bumped!

you know those bump it commercials? one of my student brought one in for me...it's a hair accessory that bumps up your hair! too funny

The 4 year old apron

So since I started student teaching, I have been wearing a black apron-for multiple reasons. To protect my clothing, to cover up that random occurance of the fly down (kids will never know), and to separate me from the kids--but in a playful way. I know I look young, especially compared to high school kids, this gives me a little separation of authority.
About 2 years ago, kids just randomly have given me buttons for my apron. The get excited when they see me wearing them, it's fun for me to decorate it. Here are some of the buttons I have gotten over the years, some have fallen off...

These are two of my favorites! Monkey Business and I Found Nemo!

First Days of School

Yesterday I had the first half of my kids. Introduction to Art and Drawing/Painting classes. Pretty cool, one kid got dragged in by the asst. principal, you know that's a good sign! Today had some interesting stories, taught Intro to Art and Photography. I played "get to know you games" in each class, and had some interesting tid-bits about my students:

"My name is ____, and I'm pregnant. I just wanted to tell you guys so you don't ask when you see me getting bigger."

Another game I played in a different class, ask your partner some questions and then report back to the class:

"I asked her if she had any kids, she said no." (he was so serious too)

I have a student that doesn't speak--at all. Physically cannot (also can't write or read or barely hold a pencil). So I asked her some questions, and her responses were with a smile--wild right?

In discussing our class, a student raised his hand asking if he could draw gang signs in my class..."uh no, I'd report you to the police, don't even try".

I am pretty exhausted, but having some great laughs. It's gonna be a good year, just gotta get in the swing of things...

We built our own ping table--in 30 minutes

Norview HS Light pole fell on bleachers

Not sure if you heard, but on Thursday we got an email at work:
No personnel allowed in stadium effective immediately.
So of course now you are curious right?
Well we look outside, and the giant light pole for our stadium broke off it's foundation and landed on the bleachers--fortunately no one was there or hurt!
These poles are only about 4 years old because the stadium was just rebuilt.
Turns out the manufacturers had a recall called out Aug. 25, because 9 had fallen down all over the country. I hear they are out of business...and we're out of lights for our stadium...(they had to take any that looked dangerous) For the news article click here.

The first picture up on top: This is the back of the bleachers, the pole was on this side--snapped, and fell over to the front of the bleachers!

Towing away our lights...

All lined up.

heating things up!

sal on a heating pad on a radiator

cat grass as decoration!

sal loves to munch on cat grass-and i like it for decoration. i thought i'd experiment with a transparent vase and some rocks for an "all natural look"...fashion and function. I like the roots interweaving with the rocks....all stuff found around the house.

Opportunity

bottom of vase, originally uploaded by kellettelliott.

I saw this opportunity of morning light casted on this vase of flowers Templeton brought home yesterday and this is the result---no photoshop, and I usually don't

RIP Kermit

I found kermit hanging himself in parking lot

I love red pandas

At the Norfolk Zoo today

a man's best friend

buddies working on the screens

I'm on Smithsonian.com!!

So as we all do sometimes, I googled my name. I submitted some photos to Smithsonian.com, and I was voted Photo of the Day!
Here is the site