humuhumunukunukuapua'a

this one's for my sister. she bought taylor this hawaiian sing-a-long dvd and as you can see, taytay really gets into it! mommy had to put her craftiness to work to produce the "fish hat" taylor requested. definitely cracked me up. =)

and exhale...

remember my post about holding my breath until the TAKS scores came in? not only did i exhale a sigh of relief, but i screamed and threw my fists in the air as my principal told me the completely *awesome* news: 33 out of 35 passed!!! he then punctuated the info with this little tid-bit: it's the highest passing rate for the 1st attempt he's ever had! time for caps: WOO-HOO!!! =) i'm *so* proud of the kids!!! telling the kids the results was such a pleasure. the best reaction? one of them screamed and waved her fists in the air and hugged me so tight, i thought i might have broken a rib!!! go on, sing it: "go jonelle, it's your birthday..." hee, hee. {grinning ear to ear and doin' the dance that goes with the song}

grey's anatomy's visiting doc

meet dr. mark "McSteamy" sloan (in black shirt). yeah...i'll let you mull this one over for a few. {winking}

spring break

so it's tuesday, during spring break. oh boy did i ever need a break from school! i started the weekend with some serious relaxing...got to do something i don't normally do during the school year: read for pleasure. read this chick lit novel called the bachelorette party. it was crazy funny! a bit on the raunchy side, but hilarious. jonathan came upstairs a couple of times to check on me because he heard me cracking up so much. and for those of you who may have read it, no, it did not resemble my own...what a night that would have been if that stuff had happened!!! still, my bachelorette was still a blast! sure we were in coudersport instead of a bustling city, but as any of my bridesmaids will vouch, we brought the "city" to coudersport that night when we walked in the bar. talk about the record screeching and heads turning! now i still have a few moments i do not recall (thanks to all the tequila shots), but i'm told there were some pretty unforgettable times. anyhow...'nuff about that. ok. feelin' inspired by the "spare tire" around my hips to go run...since the weather's perfect: sunny and cool (high 60's). hope your tuesday's a good one!!!

what i love...

there's nothing like the few moments before it rains. i just love it. i got to experience that about 10 minutes ago, making me so happy right now. the cool breeze coming through my open window. the lightning flashing in the pitch black sky. the thunder rolling every few minutes. the humid air swirling about, smelling so damp. and then it starts...the sound of raindrops hitting the window and the clean scent that follows...i know, i'm a freak...but it reminds me of home (hawaii) so much!

i see paris, i see france

guest host-daddy: so i'm doing my normal saturday morning laundry routine when Tay Tay comes up to a freshly dried but unfolded pile of clothes. the first thing she does is pull out a pair of dora the explorer panties and puts them on her head saying "i'm wearing a hat daddy, look at me". this is the kind black mail gold she will pay dearly for at age 16 and beyond.

baby cantalope

meet baby cantalope and her responsible mommy (showing her caregiving skills here). i don't know how taylor came up with the name, but the baby has been and continues to be called cantalope, so i guess it's really her name. i wonder if she was inspired by gwyneth paltrow and her choice for her baby's name? =)

the upswing

ok. so TAKS is over. the olympics are over. parent-teacher conferences are over (been going on all week). jonathan's trip to PA is over (the single parent thing is not easy). my life is starting to revert back to its normal state...thank god. i have been trying to keep up with so many things lately...*slightly* overloaded. how'd the kids do on TAKS you ask? we don't find out until the 10th. as i walked around the room on the test day, it seemed like a lot of the kids were trying really hard. keeping my fingers crossed that what i observed paid off. jonathan's PA trip, you wonder? his grandma passed away, so he went for her funeral. she had lived such a full life...just so glad that taylor was able to spend time with her when we went up for new year's. so thankful we made that trip. tay and i stayed back because it was just easier, considering all that had to be arranged in a quick time frame (my substitute, dog-sitter, transportation, etc.). that, and jonathan expressed his preference to go alone. i respect that about my husband...we all deal with grief in our own ways.

the olympics? well, as i've shared with some pals, i was a-watchin' bode miller. mmm-hmm. =) some think he's arrogant, and yes, he is. but after catching some of the nike commercials and reading articles about him, i have to say i admire some of his philosophies. now i don't agree with all of the bodeisms i've come across...but there are some really great ones! (and yes, i got crap for liking this "bad boy")