Is she anything like Michelle?

On my last trip to Portland I was visting with Michelle and her family and Luke asked me: "Is Jo like Michelle was when she was little?" I am not sure what I said but I have been thinking about this over the last couple of weeks. When Michelle was young I spent a lot of time with her. She would come to Granny's house just to hang out, swim in the little pool, and anything else we could think of. One main similarity is that Granny and I loved just watching Michelle being Michelle. I have noticed on my visits that Poppa and Grammy also love to watch Jo and the simple silly things that she does.

It is clear that both these little girls are the apple of their mother's eyes. They both seem to like to cuddle and give lots of kisses and hugs.

Granny would do her nails every day and Michelle like to have her nails done as well. You can see in this picture that Granny finds something funny.

Michelle liked to look at pictures of herself. Before the iphone days we kept pictures in a photo album.

Michelle loved to look at books. She was not picky on who should read the books to her whoever was available would be drafted for the task.

I think that Jo is like Michelle was when she was young. Only time will tell if Johonna will be the wonderful mother, wife, and all around great gal that her mother is!!

Where Have I Been

I really have not been doing anything special. It was summer break and I do not have regular access to the internet. I know not a good excuse but let me catch you up.

My big events for the summer were two trips to Portland. The first was to see my brother, his wife and son and everyone else. We do keep in touch online but is it nice to have a hug.

My sister Nancy hosted a dinner and baby shower for her daughters.

Here are the five "Ellis" kids on the right. And below are all the grandkids (missing Meagan and Trish) and great grand kids.

The pregos.

Below is little Johonna showing her doll the cake. Johonna is into frosting.




My second trip was to meet my Great Newphew Baylor Blitz. It has been a long time since I have held a day old baby. His head is so small and perfect I gave him my nickname of BB. I am sure it will not last. On the right is me and little Baylor.

Below is the new family. Luke Baylor, Johonna and Michelle Middlebrooks.

Here is Johonna holding her brother Baylor. Right after this picture Johonna pushed Baylor on to the pillow when her mother asked what surprises Aunt Laurie brought.

Now for Jordan Valley:

School has started again in Jordan Valley. This is day 3 with students and we already have a lice breakout. The student response to this news was Ohhhh. Kept them away from us. I must agree with them.

The students think that summer was too short. I was shocked that they did not miss me at all. I am not sure that I really missed them. I do have many that kept in touch during the summer through texting. Maybe this is why I did not miss them.

Before school started we have a major fire about 10 miles out of town. The school grounds were full of US Forest Fire crews. (eventho we do not have trees) One of my students was telling me today that they lost 3 cows that were not able to get out of the way of the fire. So sad!!

The fair and rodeo in Boise are keeping the students up to late. After pratice they head out to the city to enjoy the events. When I asked them why the response was "Girls" That is a teenage boys mind for ya.

Good news is that cattle prices are way up!! To some of my seniors that plan to take over their family ranches next year this means lots of money. At least until the cattle prices go back down then they will give the ranches back to their parents and look for gold somewhere else.

After 3 short days the students are already complaining about hot lunch. Tacos, Spaghetti, and today Hot Dogs are not what they are hungry for. One girl said today I am glad I have peanut butter and jelly for lunch. I am just glad that I always go home for lunch.

This year we have more students. We have 13 in the middle school, 6 in the freshmen class, 4 in the sophomore (they have one girl now. Homecoming is looking hopeful for a princess) 6 juniors, and 8 seniors. Grand total 37 up from 26 last year.

Little things sometimes mean the most.

As many of you know I was never able to have children because of my early onset of Polycistic Ovaries. I must admit at first it really did not sink in because I was not married and I did not want to raise a child by myself. (I think being a single parent would be the hardest job in the world) Since I cannot have children maybe this is why I love teaching children. I have said before in this blog how much I enjoy my job but I do not know if I would be a good teacaher and parent. Today some students were stroking my ego and I realize that the little things I do sometimes seems like a very big thing to a student. (Jordan Valley Student Body pictured to the right)

For Example:

I try to greet every student as they enter my class. A good morning or good afternoon always brings a smile to their face. Asking them how their day is going or how was lunch also are good conservation starters. At the end of class I always tell my studentsto have a good rest of the day. I call them dear and sweetie and I always tell them to drive carefully if I know they are going somewhere.

I have been know to give my students Nike stuff. (Thank you Michelle!)I found some Nike lanyards that I had at the house and I brought them to school. The kids loved them. By the end of the day most of the students had USB drives and keys on a new black Nike lanyard. Of course if they wanted one they had to set a school goal and meet it!

I have also been known to by treats. This week it was strawberries. It is true that young kids will eat fruit. All you have to do is give it to them.

When I was in town on Monday a student asked if I could pick up a bag of dog food. No big deal since I was going anyways. You would think that I saved her dogs lives. She told me that I do to much for the kids and her dogs. I never really gave it much thought in this town it is comman to pick things up for neighbors.

Today was really something special. About 20 years or so a go one of my former students was serving in Operation Desert Storm. As a typing assignment I had my students type letters and prepare care packages for this student. As a daughter of a career marine I realized how nice it is for them to get letters from home. This morning the son of this past student told me that his dad saved every one of the letters that my class wrote. I was so surprised that he saved the letters. I never really thought that such a small task would be so special.

Now of course I sound like a real hero in these stories which I do not mean to do. I feel like I am just doing little things but sometimes they really make someone feel special. I tell my students that when you give you get back much more than you give. I have found this not only with my students but with all of you wonderful neices and newphews. A babysitter book here and there, or maybe a quilt or cross stich. Or maybe a trip to the beach or a movie. These seem such a little jester but the looks of surprise of your faces are priceless!!!

Thank you all for the love and respect that you have given me over the years. I am so blessed to call you family!!

Count your Blessings

I have always known that I had a wonderful childhood. I did not have to worry where we were going to live, if there was going to be any food in the house, or if I was loved by my parents. Being a teaching for 26 years I have seen a lot of different family situations. Some good, some surprising, and many different from how my family life was. I tell the kids that when we are born we do not come with an instruction book so parents are on their own triying to figure out how to raise their children. I try to not judge a parents situation however something happen yesterday that made me stop and count my blessings.

I have a student that is a senior. His parents are divorce and for most of his life he lived he lived with his mother in Bosie. Last year he moved to Jordan Valley to live with his dad and grandfather. Like many teenagers his father and him have had some disagreements over the years. Yesterday this student came to class early. I could tell that he was not himself. He told me that the night before he had an argument with his father about his ripped pants. (I had told him that if he brought me the pants the next day I would fix them for him) According to my students the argument got bad fast because his father was drunk. I guess the father took a swnig at my student who was able to move out of the way. Fearful of what he might do my student left and went to a freinds house. My student and I called his mother to explain what happen and she decided that she did not want her son to go back to his father's home. With only five weeks of school left what is there to do?? After a few minutes of calling around we found a place for my student to stay at for the remainedr of the school. Thank goodness our little town has a big heart.

This Easter I am reminded how lucky I was and am . There never was a time that I did not feel love from my parents. Loosing my father at the age of 18 was not a joy but I knew he loved me. Now I live in a community where I could ask for help for anything. I feel love and acceptance from my family. I am blessed, truley very blessed thanks to all of you!!

Teaching Moment of the Day

During the last hour of school it is my prep. I am to use the time to work on class stuff but a lot of times I have students that ask to work in my room. I am not joking myself I know that they just want to see if the computers will let them use facebook. Today I was working on my computer when I heard a strange noise. I turned to my student Dustin and ask what he was doing. He said: "I am blowing the cheese out of my switch blade" My response was: "Oh ok" I guess I have been teaching in a small school too long. It does not concern me when a student has a switch blade or pocket knife in their pocket. Of course usually they do not need to clean the cheese off of their knives. Most of the time I never know they have them. And yes, in case you were wondering we do have students that usually have some type of gun in their car especially duirng hunting season.

Jordan Valley Updates (yes again)

1. Guess what? It is snowing. I am sittingin my classroom and it the is last period of the day and it is a mini blizzard out side. We did have a few days of good weather (rain and some sun) but now the snow is back. Just in case I thought it was going to stop, it is perdicted to snow tomorrow. 2. Be glad you are not the middle school students they have a track meet today! 3. The seniors and some juniors are on a biology trip. This year they went to San Francisco. I hope they find lots of fish, birds, and plants to study since they have to keep a log on these items. 4. Some ranches have been turning out their cattle. This means that they move the cows form their home ranches to range land. The range could be write down the street or many miles away. This morining I had a student that was late. I asked "Why are you late" His reply was "We had to move cows" Does this mean that they need to pack for them and call a moving van? No not really. They may call a semi truck or if it is close by they just turn the cows loose on the road and move them down the road to their new home. 5. For my birthday one of my students made a bunch of cupcakes that said "Happy 50 Birthday Miss Ellis We Love You" Not only was I surprised by the juster but I was also surprised that we had enough cupcakes for the entire school. The students told me that she did cupcakes instead of a cake because she knows that I am diabetic and that I would not eat a big piece of cake. She was right. I guess these students know me way to well. 6. Not much else going on, and yes it is still snowing! Love to you all!!!

24 hours in Jordan Valley

During the last 24 hours a lot of things have happened. I guess it is the time of year but here are the highlights.

1. We had snow. Again. Eventho it is just a couple inches it is the bitter wind that makes the day rough. I have new windows in my classroom but they do not shut all the way so when the wind blows we all are reminded that it is not spring yet.

2. Student saves calf: Last night about 11:00 pm one of my students went to check on a cow that he figured would have her calf soon. When he got out there the calf was laying in a pile of snow. Why the cow did not think to have the calf a few feet to the right or left on dry ground my student did not know. The calf was still wet and was freezing so my student took the calf inside to warm it up by the fire. After the calf was dried and warmed up my student returned the calf to his mother. The mother was angry and ran after my student. It was a good thing he was on a 4 wheeler because he said that he would not have been able to out run the cow. I guess even mommy cows are protective of their young. All are doing well.

3. The Jordan Valley school district has an outbreak of Lice. About 12 students were sent home fromt he high school and elemetry school because they had head lice. The high school kids were excited to miss school. According to them it is better than a snow day. They were told to stay home until they long longer had any lice. It can take up to 7 days to get rid of the lice and eggs. They may be excited now but wait until they see all the school work they will be missing.

4. Track began. It was not nice according to the students to run in the wind and snow. Today should be better.

5. I went to town (Nampa) to pick up some medicine. The doctor's office called in the wrong amount so the pharmacy was not able to fill it. 120 miles round trip just to find out that there was a mistake. I did make good use of my time and go food shopping. I got the kids some drinks (gatorade, juce, and Ice sparkleing water), muffins and candy. They were on a surger high today. I spoiled them and then sent them to their next class. Kinda like being an Aunt or Grandmother!

6. My students and I hope that tomorrow is a better day!!