MEMORY MONDAY--our funny

July 1997? Camping in Arizona.

That's me in the trunk and Becca in the backseat. We thought we were so funny. 
(Get it?)
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JONAH AND THE WHALE

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.


OH. MY. GOODNESS. You MUST watch this video! My Grandpa Brown e-mailed it to me, and I can't stop watching it. It is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. NO JOKE! Her expression...her lisp...her confidence...and her big white bow... 


I DARE any of you to disagree. 

OUR FIRST

We have never hosted a Thanksgiving meal before, that the preparations weren't carefully supervised by a more experienced mother figure. This time we were on our own. There was no one to ask how to roll out a pie crust, to share the best fruit salad recipe, or provide reassurance that the turkey is in fact, cooked through.

Okay. I got it into the pan. Now what?

We tag teamed the pie. Andrew handled the filling while I conquered the crust. Ready to bake!

Our makeshift place settings. We took our tiny kitchen table built for two, pushed it up against our skinny hall table, and covered it with a spare window curtain. We didn't have enough matching place mats for our three guests, so I just went with the mismatched look. Not only the place mats were different, but so were the chairs, and all of the dishes. Apparently, we're not set up very well to entertain.
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And I'm still wondering why I took a picture of the table...and not the people.
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But we enjoyed a lovely meal with belching Becca, her Canadian roommate, and Andrew's crippled Canadian business partner (ha!). Then we played card games, ate pie, and kicked our friends out, so we could hit the icy road. We were off to Utah for the next day's Thanksgiving dinner!

(The camera doesn't capture it, but imagine a whirling blizzard out that window.)

THANKFUL THURSDAY--I Scream

Dreyer's holiday ice cream flavors. Absolutely delicious. Even better with a warm brownie.
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My gratitude knows no bounds for these rich, creamy, festive desserts. Especially that of the Egg Nog variety...
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TEACHING SCENE TUESDAY--achin' for bacon

There is a student in my class who I love a lot. He is so weird and quirky and funny. He's the sweetest thing and makes me laugh on a daily basis. Recently, he quipped the following to me:

"Mrs. Ashmore, you know what we should do? At the end of the year, let's have a party with bacon ...because I like bacon. And cupcakes. Everyone likes cupcakes. Can we do that, Mrs. Ashmore?"

A few minutes later, I heard him exclaim to no one in particular, his head buried in his desk:

"That's where my mustache went!"

...And because I'm at a loss for a way to follow that, I'll just end now.

Until next time,

Mrs. Ashmore

MEMORY MONDAY--Fluffy

Fourteen years old. Gilbert Jr. High.
Mr. Granio's 8th grade earth science class.

"Grah-knee-O," he demonstrated the first day of class, pointing to his own knee at the appropriate syllable.

He was AWESOME. And totally weird. But that is probably what made him so cool in the first place. Let me share what I remember about Mr. Granio.

1.) He was great at multi-tasking. He could give lectures about tectonic plates while shooting at flies with rubber bands (the classroom door faced a horse field). I've never seen a happier man than the day he shot and killed one flying midair.

2.) When he thought something was funny, it wasn't a knee slapper...it was an ELBOW slapper. He'd laugh hysterically while slapping his elbow. Like I said. Weird.

3.) Mr. Granio reminded me a Fred Flinstone. Without the orange dress.

4.) One day, Mr. Granio excitedly told the class that his wife was having a baby girl. We got on the subject of names, and he got frustrated, as he described the difficulties of agreeing on a name. Apparently his wife just wouldn't cooperate. When we asked what he wanted to name her, he replied dramatically, with outstretched arms, his attentive students in suspense:

"...Beached...Whale..."

he said, staring theatrically at an unknown distant vision.

5.) We were never allowed to say we got a HAIR cut. He said this didn't make sense. Why would we go to a hair salon and pay to have ONE hair trimmed? No...we got a HAIRS cut.

6.) Mr. Granio had a pet rock. He named it Fluffy, kept it in a cage, and had students regularly change its food and water. He would even remove it from the cage, put it in a hamster ball, and let it get some "exercise." The strangest part was the fact that the ball would actually rove all through the room as if a real animal was running its little heart out.

7.) And he taught us a bunch of stuff about rocks...and space...and volcanoes. That was cool too.


It's amazing what an impact a teacher can have.

THANKFUL THURSDAY--thankful tree

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Every year, our class writes what they are thankful for on construction paper leaves, and arranges them on our thankful tree. 


Of course there are the usual and expected:
I am thankful for...

• my family
• friends
• mom
• dad
• Mrs. Ashmore
• school

But being from a predominately LDS community, our tree also holds leaves that say: 

I am thankful for...

• the scriptures
• the temple
• Heavenly Father
• Jesus
• the church

And then there are the unique ones that remind why I just love these kids: 

I am thankful for...

• ME!
• A voice
• doughnuts
• milk and water
• flowers in my yard
• a birthday
• sports
• turkeys
• Pokemon cards