how can books be exhausting? and why are tiny vegetable so stinkin' cute?!?

what a week!! even though it was short because of memorial day, it was long! how backwards is that??

we had our end of semester tests this week, and that was grueling...then i worked with some of the students we were worried might need to be in summer school. then on wednesday, we had our birthday celebration-beach theme. we were not lacking food!

happy june/july birthdays!!

they were better hot...at home~

 also this week:
leftover spongebob cupcakes...i was so proud of myself for refraining 3 times! dangerous walking into the break room!

they looked so inviting!

i reasoned olivia out of eating one...

..but andrea was a different story, the baby made her do it!! (which is fine, because she's been watching what she eats, so a little sponge bob once in awhile...

then there was the fire alarm, for which we all had to exit the building...and i happened upon some child's jacket-the only reason i took these pictures is because i was proud to be holding something made in HONDURAS!!!

i'd much rather purchase something made in HONDURAS than something made in china or anywhere else!

and this week after school i found myself out in the garden a few times. i had to check on the crops! things are growing!! i haven't been tending to the tomato plants as i should have from the beginning, so i finally got around to some pruning. on thursday, i noticed that one of the beefsteak tomatoes had just blushed (that's what happens when you compliment the tomaters...they are so humble). so i set it in the window of 109 to see if it ripens up over the weekend, or if i picked it too soon...and then the next afternoon, there was a perfect cherry tomato that was ready-so, i had to see if it passed the taste test...it did!!! that's a testament to our tomatoes, because i have never been a huge tomato fan, but this one was so tasty!!

this one was delicious, and there are tons more just waiting to ripen!!

and then there was the morning that i went out and found this little cutie! i love little mushrooms! they remind me of little umbrellas!

 and the swiss chard is growing! i definitely cut a few leaves to use in a green shake this morning and it was great-the leaves were smaller than the ones i usually get at the store, so they were more tender-love it!

swiss chard is so pretty!

the jalapenos should be ready soon! i LOVE using japs in my salsa and some of my chicken dishes!

and let's hear it for this little cutie!! i mean mini bell pepper?!! i know i've said it before, but i really love tiny things!!

on monday, we have our career day in the morning, and then in the afternoon our fifth graders will come out and help harvest the potatoes. i am hoping that we don't have too many ants! that could be a problem...but i pulled two plants from different beds, and they provided several decent sized, cookable potatoes! woo hoo!! i can't wait to see how they turn out!

on friday afternoon, we were finally getting around to sorting through a load of books that were donated by a partner school that has adopted ours! they are really great books, too!! one of their students organized a book drive and they were able to gather over 700 books!! so guess who had the joy of going through them and sorting them into reading levels. yep, i helped our librarian, our principal, our math coach and our cis rep...it was a long day! and we are not done yet! my neck was so stiff after day one! we still have some sorting to do...sort of...heehehe. thankfully today when i woke up, nothing was sore!

this morning i was able to attend a great demo of torsh! this is a really awesome product that basically allows you to video yourself and document comments to improve what you're doing-it works in conjunction with swivl. both are pretty amazing products and could really revolutionize the way we reflect on what we are doing! if i were a teacher, i totally would have wanted this! even now as a coach, i would love to use it for myself to get better at what i do-i need it! the cool thing is that i should be able to use it during summer school to try it out! groovy!

julie