1st place trophy!!!

On Friday we attended the "Reflections" award ceremony at Gilbert Magnet School.  We were notified ahead of time that Katie was a "winner."  We didn't know exactly what that meant, but it turned out that she won 1st place in her division, primary photography.  She submitted a collage of 4 photos that she took at Red Rock Canyon to represent this year's theme of "Beauty Is....."  They gave awards to the top 5 in each catagory. Way to go Katie! :) 

Red Rock’s Beauty relates to the theme, “Beauty is…” because my pictures show all different colors of the earth. The pictures show that there are many places to explore. It’s beautiful because I can be with nature and see lots of things.

Here are the 4 pictures that were in her entry:

Each year, the PTA Reflections Program challenges students to create art inspired by a specific theme. Themes are selected from hundreds of ideas submitted by students to the PTA Reflections Program Theme Search. Past themes have included "Exploring New Beginnings," "If I Could Give the World a Gift...," "A Different Kind of Hero," and most recently, “I Can Make a Difference by…” and “Wow!” The 2009–2010 theme is “Beauty is…”

Students participate in the Reflections Program by submitting entries to a local PTA or PTSA. Nationally, the program has six arts areas—dance choreography, film production, literature, musical composition, photography, and visual arts—and four grade divisions—primary, intermediate, middle/junior, and senior.

Katie's school

I got a newsletter from Katie's school today and it had some pretty fantastic information.  I'm going to just copy the info for your reading pleasure.

Gilbert Magnet School has been identified as a Magnet School Of Excellence! We applied for a received this top award that is given by the Magnet Schools of America Association.  Therefore, out of all the magnet schools in America, Gilbert is considered to be one of the top school in the country!  ......

Going along with this fine honor, Gilbert recevied the top number of applications for an elementary magnet school in Clark County.  Over 1,213 students applied to become a Gilbert Giraffe next year!  How wonderful to know that "The Arts-a Way to Learn, a WAy to Live" is a believe held by many.

I feel very blessed that Katie gets to attend such a great school. 

Golden Rules for Living

I have read this before, but came across it again today, and I wanted to share.  I am going to print this up and hang in the house where we can all see it.

Golden Rules for Living
If you open it, close it.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you unlock it, lock it up.
If you break it, admit it.
If you can't fix it, call in someone who can.
If you borrow it, return it.
If you value it, take care of it.
If you make a mess, clean it up.
If you move it, put it back.
If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.
If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone.
If it's none of your business, don't ask questions.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If it will brighten someone's day, say it.
If it will tarnish someone's reputation, keep it to yourself.

Author Unknown                                       

What a morning!!!

So this morning started out as the usual Monday morning at the Oppenheim house.  Katie is hard to get out of bed and pokey about getting dressed and ready to leave.  I was in the Kitchen packing the kids' lunches when Katie come out and tells me that Alex flooded my bathroom.  OF COURSE!!  Yep, he tells me with tears in his eyes, "Mom, I used too much toilet paper and I couldn't get it to go down and then water started coming out and there is water everywhere." His pants and underwear that he left on the floor are soaked and there is a HUGE puddle of water on the floor.  *sigh*  Of course he chose to use my bathroom and not his.

So, I went out to the garage and grabbed a few towels to start cleaning up the mess.  Then I called Don to figure out how to get the wet/dry vacuum to be a wet vacuum.  I was on the phone, in the garage getting the vacuum together, and of course the kids were out there with me.  Just as I had the vacuum ready Katie tried to open the door.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  The door back into the house was LOCKED!  Luckily we had a spare set of keys to the front door in the garage and I was able to get in (after opening all 3 locks on the front door).  Niether kid will admit to locking the garage door. 

Once I finally got in with the vacuum I was able to get most of the water up, throw a few more towels on the floor and take the kids to school.  I only wish I was calm with the kids and not a yelling maniac. Katie was only a little bit late.  By the time I got home after taking Alex to school, I could almost laugh about the morning.  When I got home, there was only a little mess left to clean, the towels I had left on the floor had absorbed the rest of the water.  So, now I'm sitting here retelling my story and all the towels and bathmats are in the washing maching. 

Let's hope the rest of the day goes better than our morning.