It's gonna be so good, I can almost taste it!

Well fellow blog readers I am officially D-O-N-E with school tomorrow! YES! That is definitely one of the many fabulous things about being a teacher....you still get a SUMMER VACATION! I am so ready for summer because of one major thing...

I GET TO SEE MY NEPHEW!

I can't tell you how excited I am to see Mr. Jack! I am leaving to visit the new Graham family next Saturday. I will be bringing some really good recipes, my cleaning gloves, and some strong arms to hold that baby all day long! I can't wait to get my hands on him! I have some more pictures of my precious nephew to share with you all. I know this blog is short...but when you have one thing on your mind...it's all you can blog about!

Baby Jack with his cute outfit on!

They told Jack that I was coming to visit and he just got so excited! Jack looking up at his sweet momma He loves the food! Daddy and son just sleeping away!

Pictures of Jack

To view pictures of Jack please just hit the link below!
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9SaMWbZuz_o

I'm an AUNT!

Jack Graham came into this world at 8:12 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs. 12 ounces

He was 22 inches long

Nichole was in labor for about 15 hours

I will post pictures as soon as I get them

Yay for Nichole, Greg and Jack Graham!

We love you, Auntie Mer, Uncle Waltie and Cousin Gracie

You played college softball?

Today I had one of my boys come into my room after school and ask me if I would go up to the baseball field with his team to "hit balls." Before I could get my response out, Mrs. Green (the kindergarten teacher) said, "Oh don't you know Mrs. Bass played in the Major Leagues? She was a professional!" "Really? I didn't know that," exclaimed Mr. Pielsticker. "Oh yea, I played for Baylor." "Wow!"
I totally thought he knew we were kidding.....I was wrong.
I gathered up my stuff, went and got a Diet Root Beer and went up to the baseball field. I of course, was greeted with, "MRS. BASS!" The boys were all so excited that I had showed up to watch them bat.
Then, I had the Coach... Mr. Pielsticker's dad come up to me and in front of ALL my parents say, "Mrs. Bass... grab a bat! We can't wait to play with you! You played college ball at Baylor.... I didn't know that! That's awesome!" I looked at him and said, "Coach Bill... you DO realize that whenever I played ANY sports I was the girl that was picked last." (No.. I am serious. In 7th grade we were required to play a sport and they had to come up with a "C" team for volleyball so that some of my friends and I could make up a dance routine and perform it at the "A" and "B" team games, because we were so bad.)
My little Pielsticker thought that we were being serious and that I had actually played softball for Baylor and even for the Major Leagues! Oh goodness how the sport profession would be so drastically changed if I actually HAD played softball. (Good thing mom only let me take dance and gymnastics.) Needless to say, I sat and watched the boys take turns batting and they were just as happy with that.

Our Sunday Ritual

Most families have a Sunday ritual....it might be that after church you go to the exact same restaurant, or it could be that you always do something outdoors on Sunday (weather permitting)...maybe it is going to the movies or it could even be getting caught up on laundry. It seems as though the ritual in the Bass household on Sunday is to get Walt packed and take him to the airport. Yes...our family ritual, quite bluntly.... sucks.

Walt is off to Washington again...but only until Thursday. He comes home until the Sunday after Memorial Day, June 1st, and then is off to Alaska. After the Alaskan audit he only has THREE more until he is DONE for good! He has one in July, one in September and one at the end of November through December. We can officially say we are on the homestretch!

(listen to the first song on my blog.. the new Jason Mraz CD is awesome..and I think he wrote this song just for me! thanks Katie for recommending it!)

Mom's the Word

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day to the two most devoted, unselfish caring mothers that Walt and I could ever ask for! We love you both so very much and we are so blessed to have such amazing moms! We know everyone says that their mothers are the best...but we hate to break it to you...ours take top award for being the Greatest Mothers EVER! We love you! ~Walt, Mer and Gracie Mae

Show Dog

One would think as obsessed as the Bass' are with their precious Gracie Mae, they would comment on her more.

On Tuesday I took Gracie to get a much needed haircut from Petsmart. She is always so happy to go to Petsmart, but the second we walk into the grooming salon, she is on to my trickery. They have to literally drag her on her leash to the back, because she will not leave me. As a mother of a dog, I of course, get all choked up everytime I leave her, and I feel that this is what it will be like when I drop my child off at day care for the 1st time or the 100th time for that matter.

I dropped Gracie off around 4 and I was told to pick her back up at 8. When I walked into the grooming salon to get her the groomer was cleaning up and Gracie was trotting around like she owned the place. The groomer told me she LOVES giving Gracie a haircut for two reasons:

1. She smiles. No, she really does... when she gets happy... she shows all her teeth and has the cutest smile ever.

2. She told me Gracie was like a show dog. When it was time for her to get groomed she just stood there so happy because she knows she is getting pretty. (well, prettier than what she already is.)

I walked away as a very proud parent. This lady had paid my dog a compliment and I would like to take credit for Gracie's great behavior. When the lady told me Gracie was like a show dog, I decided to take her home and see just how "showy" she was for the camera... here are her results after her shoot:

Here we have the standard full body shot. She is definitely working the camera here.

This was the "I need you to sit" pose. She was giving me the head tilt because I told her to act interested.

Another full body shot, just closer up.

And this is the "I'm sexy, look at me" pose.

Yep.. I think she is in fact, a show dog... takes after her daddy.

I know... I should start writing a book

I feel as if I bore people with my school stories, but considering the fact that my job is my life...I have tons of stories to tell!
Today we were reading Charlotte's Web, and we were reading the specific chapter where Templeton and Charlotte sneak into Wilbur's crate to accompany him to the County Fair. Well...when the "humans" walk over to the crate the geese tell Wilbur to "cheese it," so that no one knows anything is going on.
Of course I ask my students if they understand what "cheese it," means and everyone told me that they didn't.
So...I give the students a scenario
Suppose you are in your room with your friend and you and your friend are jumping on the bed...and you hear your mother come in so you sit down really fast. When you mother walks in you look at her with a big smile and say,"hey mom!" You were totally cheesing it because you didn't want your mother to know that you were doing something wrong.
I then have a student raise his hand and serious as all get out he says,
"Oh yes Mrs. Bass I understand, it was kind of like the time my mom walked into my room and I was kissing the pillow and making out with it, I threw it down really fast and started playing my Xbox.
I, of course, turned bright red and the entire class just starts dying laughing.....
Oh the things 3rd grade boys will say!

Will You Marry Me?

3 years ago on this exact date I was asked by the man of my dreams to be his wife! Besides my wedding day, this day was the greatest day I have ever lived. Thinking back on everything I should have known that Walt was going to ask me to marry him, but I was completely dumbfounded. The night before we had gone to a Mavericks playoff game and on the way to my house Walt asked me if he should wear the pink shirt to work tomorrow or the blue. He never really asked my opinion on work clothes, but I thought nothing of it and told him to wear the pink shirt. Because we got in so late from the game I decided that I I would just use a "jeans pass" and wear jeans to school. I threw my hair up in a ponytail, had no makeup on, and put on a shirt that I had gotten when I was in highschool. Yes, I looked like complete nastiness, but I knew my kids wouldn't care. I remember getting to school and all the teachers just laughing at me because I had on jeans. When I asked them "why they were laughing," they would respond with, "because you always look so cute to school, and today you decide to wear jeans." (Man do I still wish I was a little more prepared.) So my day was going great and then around 1:30 while my kids were doing accelerated reader my assistant principal came in to "observe." So, I threw together a lesson real fast because I didn't want her just watching them read silently. (Little did I know that my man was in the building!) Well, every Tuesday the 3rd graders had "Awesome Owl" where we present a special award to each third grader in every class. This specific week we had decided to do it in the cafeteria... it was teacher appreciation week, so my kids had come up with the great song and dance to do for me, and I THOUGHT it was going to be used on the announcements the next morning. We all file into the cafeteria and the other teachers give their "Awesome Owls." When my turn came, they set up the video camera... I just thought they wanted to tape my kids singing to me. I presented the "Awesome Owl," then all my kids got up on stage for their performance. They had choreographed a routine to "You Are My Sunshine." Of course, I am in the middle of all my kids just bawling, because the year is almost over and I am going to miss them so much. The second the song ends, they all sit down and stare at me. I am crying and clapping, everyone in the audience is clapping and then I see this guy walking toward me. (At first I initially thought I was receiving some kind of award) When I noticed it was Walt in his "pink" shirt I asked him, "What are you doing here?" He started telling me all this wonderful stuff, then he got down on his knee and asked me, "Will You Marry Me?" Of course I said, "YES!" and all my kiddos started clapping... I looked up to see all the teachers in there, along with the 3rd grade and Walt's family and my family! I was shocked! When we went back to my room it was decorated with confetti, bells and bubbles. That night Walt took both our families to eat at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. He truly surprised me! I know how completely blessed I am because of Walt and today I just wanted to let him know that "He is MY Sunshine!" One year and one month to the date we were married and I've been living in happily ever after since! I love you!!

Funny Friday Story

Student: Mrs. Bass do you spell venom V-E-N-O-M

Mrs. Bass: Y-E-S

Student goes and sits back down for about 30 seconds, then walks back up to me.

Student: You mean you spell venom V-E-N-O-M-Y-E-S?