The Milking Parlor

One early early mornin' a few weeks back I helped a good friend milk cows. Let me start the story at the beginning! I had gone out for beer & wings the last day of school with a few teachers and some moms that I had developed great friendships with...you remember a previous post about our school closing? It was a great morale booster for me! Well, Ros picked Tracy and I up & we headed for CCI. Next thing ya know, we are having a ton of fun! Joking around, eating good food, drinkin' cold beer....did I say beer??? I meant pop!! (hehehehe!)

Anyway, Ros started saying she was short of help for the morning. I said that I'd LOVE to come help milk. Then we started teasing Tracy and Julie. "Hey, let's make a party of it...everyone meet at Ros's in the morning and we'll milk cows!" Well....let me tell you, 5:15am came awful quick! I got in the car and drove 5 minutes to Ros's dairy farm...I think she was shocked! She started laughing...don't know if it was the fact that I actually showed up...or the way I was dressed! Let me tell you, I was no beauty queen! I was pretty much a frump! Even Bart said. "you are going like THAT?" Well off to the barn she and I went. We saw a truck pull in and she thought it was her brother-in-law! Well lo and behold, who walks into the milking parlor?? Julie!! Ros and I just started laughing! Tracy never showed up...but one of these mornings we'll get her out there! So anyway---Ros took us out to get "the girls" and then proceeded to teach us how to milk! We had a lot of fun and we laughed a ton! I was the official utter massager! Julie was the button pusher, she pushed the buttons to release the cows.

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THE GIRLS

We got to meet the girls close and personal!

Ouch--I am glad that is not me!!

Waiting to be milked in the parlor!

PLEASE PLEASE Support your local dairy farmers! God Bless them for milking cows 2-3 times a day! I could not do it like they do, day in and day out!

The Spillway in Linesville PA!

My niece is here from Savannah, Georgia. She is staying with us for a few weeks. So Tuesday after my kids had drum & piano lessons we decided to take a ride to feed the fish at the Spillway in Linesville PA! Last year they put in a new observation area. It is really cool! We have been saving old bread for about 6 months for the fish! You bring bread to throw to the carp! If you have never been there, it is amazing! There are so many carp that it is called the place where the ducks walk on the fish! I posted some pics to share with you all!

Look at the massive amount of carp!

This one had some kind of growth on his nose and immediately caught the attention of my kids!

You throw bread in and they just all try to get it. They try to swim over each other and you can hear them slurping and sucking! It is actually kind of gross!

This is the new walkway they put in. There are geese, ducks and carp all trying to get the bread! Afterwards, we stopped at the Nature Center and went on the nature trail and then we stopped by the fish hatchery!

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If you are ever in Linesville, PA be sure to stop! It is worth it!

Farewell to Pierpont Elementary School

Farewell to Pierpont Elementary School. On Thursday, June 4th we said good-bye to Pierpont Elementary School as students roamed the halls for the last time. I took some awesome pics and want to share some with all of you!

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This is on the front of the school...

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Some of us went out and rang the very old bell out front as the children loaded the buses. This bell is from the original Pierpont School !
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Here the buses are lined up for the last time to pick up students at Pierpont. Next year, our students will be bussed up to Kingsville. Some students will also open enroll in surrounding school districts.

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We all waved Good-bye as the buses left. The bus drivers blew their horns. Many students were in tears. Many of us adults were in tears. After the buses left, there were many tears and hugs as we all comforted each other!

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Cody rang the bell just before we left the school.

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Now it is time for a new beginning. Our community will miss our small community school. I know I myself have made many wonderful friends through the school. People that do not live in a small rural community like ours do not have any idea at all how important our school was to our community. I know for me, it was the social center of our community. It was how I met everyone I know when we moved here. Many people, including my husband grew up here and knew each other. The school was a great opportunity for me to volunteer and get to know everyone! Thank you Pierpont Elementary School, you will always hold a very special place in my heart!

Gettin' ready for the end of school!

It is that time of year! Summer vacation! I must say that this year the last day is a very sad one. Our school district is closing the doors of our little community school for good. After tomorrow, Pierpont Elementary School will be only a memory. But I must add that it is a very good memory! I have been involved with the school for the last 10 years! I find it hard to believe that 10 years has passed! But in those 10 years, I have met some of the most awesome people that I know! I have made many great friendships with faculty and fellow parents! Our last day is tomorrow and we are all planning on it being a tear jerker! We do a "clap off" for the 6 graders moving up to the Jr. high every year. The other students line the hallway along with any parents that are there that day and when the busses pull up, the 6 graders come down the hall one at a time while the school cheers them on! I (along with other moms) cry even if we do not have 6th graders at the time! This year, we are doing a clap out for the entire school. The moms have already decided we need to have cases of tissues! (I am crying just writing this...I will be mess tomorrow!!)
Anyway, on a HAPPY NOTE, we have some awesome things planned for the last day! We usually do a field day with all kinds of sporting events. But this year, one of our totally awesome moms (Jessi) came up with the idea of a science theme! We have 12 stations to choose from and each student will attend 6 stations! Here are the stations:

• Bubbles
• CSI Pierpont - the students have to figure out who stole the cookie from the lunch lady's cookie jar!
• Paleontologist - they will sift through sand to find "dinasour" bones
• Volcanos
• Electricity
• Mad Scientist (Chemistry)
• Magnets
• Earth Science - this is my station!! I have so much planned! I will tell ya all about it later!
• Biology - they will learn all about frogs & tadpoles!
• Medical - they will learn about healthy eating, make fruit kabobs and check their pulse
• Moon walk
• Blast Off--Rockets!

Jessi did an awesome job coming up with such great ideas! We have all been so busy preparing our stations and lining up help! And of course there is always food involved, so we will be putting together a big picnic lunch for all the kids, faculty and volunteers!

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My station, Earth Science, is going to be so much fun! I have 1/2 hour with each group. I love insects and as a Master Gardener, I give alot of insect talks to kids! So I am using part of my insect program with them! For 10 minutes I am going to give them some really cool facts about bugs! Then we are making bug suckers (Don't ask, I'll post a photo tomorrow!) The kids will then look for any living things in the roped off area! I am so excited! I am bringing my bug collection to share, along with all my other cool insect related items! I think it will be really fun! I hope the kids enjoy it! I'll post more about tomorrow sometime this weekend!