In Spanish this phrase literally means "pure life" but is more commonly thought of as meaning "full of life." Costa Ricans use this phrase to express a philosophy of strong community, perseverance, resilience in overcoming difficulties with good spirits, enjoying life slowly, and celebrating good fortune of magnitudes small and large alike. This blog is about our life... Pura Vida!

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Friday, August 30, 2013

Classroom Makeover

During the school year I spend almost seven hours a day in my classroom.
 
That's a long time in the same room!
 
For the last three years, I hadn't done much with my room. I hadn't made it my own. It didn't feel welcoming to come to every day of the school year with it's enormous high walls, huge pipes decorating the ceiling, dirty white walls, and not much bulletin board room. Oh, and let's not forget the completely mismatching tables. (half were rectangles, half were trapezoid tables).
 
 
So this summer, I spent some time painting and decorating to make it feel more inviting.
 
Portions of the walls became blue.

Different sections of my room became different countries.
 

The rubric that I use for grading became real and visible.

AND I GOT ALL NEW MATCHING TABLES AND CHAIRS! YAY!
 
I'm excited to start my new school year on Tuesday with a new feel to my room.
 
What do you think?


 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A Weekend Away Part III

For us, this summer meant a lot of traveling. Lucky for us, we enjoy it and have wonderful parents who take care of our little ones while we are away! We are very thankful for them!
 
This past weekend we were able to enjoy a trip up to the North woods for a wedding. Even though I was a bit under the weather, we still had a wonderful time.
 
We left early Friday morning and started on our six hour road trip. It seemed so quick after our Chicago get away a month ago! We checked out the resort scenery and headed up to our condo. Joe immediately found the pitch and putt golf course at our resort and played it 9 times while I napped hopping to get rid of my cold... no luck. Later that evening we checked out the Superior National Golf Course across the road. I still wasn't feeling strong enough to play, but enjoyed the scenery of the mountains and Lake Superior and driving the cart! :)
 
The next day, Joe played some more golf while I rested and then we headed up to Lutsen Mountains to check out the Alpine Slide. I was a little nervous. I had never heard of it before. I thought it was a big slide that went really fast straight down the mountain. It wasn't what I was expecting. You got to sit in a little yellow slide where you could control the speed. It went around curves and up and down. It was worth checking out.

 
Then we played the pitch and putt at our resort before we got ready for the ceremony. I only lost by one stroke on my first time out for the summer, so I was pleased!
 
It was the PERFECT day for a wedding. The people up there said it was the nicest day of the summer. We were very lucky! The wedding was held right on the shores of Lake Superior. It was beautiful! We are so happy for my roommate and her husband! :)
 
 
The ceremony was followed by supper on the outdoor patio, and a bonfire by the lake. It was so much fun!

 
Congrats roomy!
 
 

A Cowgirl Party

A week ago today, one of my sweet little girls turned THREE!
 
 
It was a perfect day!
 
She had only been talking about and planning her big day since, oh, I don't know... her last birthday! For the first six months of being two, she thought the next birthday needed to be a Daisy Duck party. However, when a certain birthday catalog arrived at our house with more options than we could even think of, the plan changed. She knew what she wanted...
 
A COWGIRL PARTY!
 
It all started with these cute plates:
 
Then we made these invites:
 
Made this cake (idea from Kara):
 
Made some yummy s'more bites:
 
Decorated a bit:

 And we were ready for a cowgirl party!
 

 
Happy Trails to You!