A Sunset Rainbow

(This photo doesn't do the rainbow we saw justice, and the colors aren't quite as true as the real thing, but it was still a neat picture.)

I've NEVER seen one like this before. There was no rain out there, just a partly cloudy sky as the sun set. But as Matthew & I drove home from VBS, we saw this rainbow on the edge of a cloud. WOW!!! We hurried home to grab the camera just in time to catch it as it disappeared with the sun's last rays.

I just LOVE rainbows. They so make me think of God and how faithful He is, even when we are not. He keeps His promises, even for centuries and centuries, even when the person He made that promise to (Noah) is long since gone. If only I can be just a part of that kind of faithful to those in my life.

Another Night in the Nuthouse

Okay, so only in my house can one hear the following and all within a five minute period (and at 11:30 at night)! :)

• video clips of dry humor, British comedy shows found on the net compliments of Dad
• three guys laughing hysterically
• three guys quoting lines, one right after another in rapid-fire fashion, from some of the world's stupidest movies- Strange Brew, Wayne's World, Napoleon Dynamite (I am sorry to have to include Napoleon in that list- though it is a very stupid movie, I kind of like it, but the other two I HATE)
• one girl giggling hysterically and shouting at the top of her lungs while she wears her "daddy's" sound-cancelling headphones
• in the midst of all this, a son start commenting, sarcastically, about the Corsicans. ??? Where in the world did that come from???
• two teen aged boys playing a combination of soccer & keep away with the sister's cell phone

I sure do live with a bunch of silly males and one goofy teen aged girl! :)

Yeah, just another night in the nuthouse called my home. Got to love it! :)

New Donorschoose.org Projects- Please help me spread the word

(This is a just a sample of the supplies I am purchasing- with my own $- to include in each homework backpack. This will help my students & families be able to complete homework projects and have a few materials to be creative with while they have the backpack at home. There will be one of these in each backpack so that each time a child takes home a bag, they will have access to these materials.)

My first Donors Choose project was fully funded recently, after only a week on the web! :) In late September/early October I should receive BIG boxes of books and learning materials, and the "hard" work of assembling and organizing my homework backpacks will begin. Let me tell you that I am SO, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY excited!!!!!!!!!!!I have two new projects which, when funded, will help me create more homework backpacks for my students and their families to borrow. If these are funded in time (before December), then I will have enough backpacks for the whole class for the school year- one bag per kid per week (mid-October through April, not including December). I'm getting a lot of questions from fellow teachers and staff members, so I'm hoping that this project will be very successful in helping students learn, families grow closer and stronger, my parent-teacher relationships grow even closer, and that it won't prove to be an organizational or time nightmare for me. I'm working on figuring out the logistics of all that!

If you would like to donate or know anyone who might, please view my projects at these links:

Project #2-http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=190939

Project #3- http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=192414

My students and their families will receive HUGE benefits from these donated materials, and I will be eternally grateful! I do plan to be able to use these bags each year, and am putting a significant amount of my own money into them. I have already, eagerly, started buying school supplies to stock them with all year as well as notebooks for the student/family journals, and backpacks to keep all the items in. I will be making lots of hand-made learning materials for each bag as well. :)

Thanks for just taking a look, considering it, helping me spread the word, and maybe even donating!
Rebekah :)

Barbara Helps Out

The kids have all spent a day with me in summer school helping my students and me. :)

Today, Barbara came back to help. She worked with the kids on sorting and later, helped them create their own books about their homes. :) She also went with us on our "Shape Hunt" and took lots of photos for us too. :)

Thanks Barbara for all your help! I had a nice day having you there with me. :)

Robert's Back in Business

Cool thing today- on my way home from work, while I was driving on the interstate, Barbara shouts out that she sees Robert on "his road" (a long story) which parallels the highway for a few hundred feet. It sure was! He & I called each other on our cell phones and met up for some pictures of him cycling.

So, almost healed up from his bike crash, here he is riding away once again.

Dexter & Samson

Jessica, these are for you since you asked me about the dogs.

Samson- 1 1/2 years old

(lab & border collie mix)
Dexter- almost 7 years old

(lab & basset hound mix)

Sunday, Sunday

Oooohhhh, yum! To end this day, I am enjoying the BEST cantaloupe I ever ate and these yummy blackberries, both of which Barbara and I bought yesterday at the Farmers' Market.

I was violently sick today and left church early. I just barely got home in time to visit the toilet. My stomach hasn't hurt that bad in a long time. My ears were ringing so loudly! I took my anti-nausea medicine, read Psalm 91, and slept all the rest of the morning and afternoon.

Thank God I am feeling better now!!! I have done my lesson plans for this week, and am going to now eat my delicious bowl of fruit and watch a Jane Austen movie- my favorite author!