Surviving the first week...

Ok. I survived.
It's been the longest, hardest, first week of school - ever.
But, we made it.

I was going to have pictures of my cute classroom when it's all clean and nice - I ran out of time.

My brain seems to only be functioning in short sentences.
That may not connect.
Or be complete.
Kind of like 5th graders at the beginning of the year.
Who can't remember how to make a cursive Q - and their name starts with Q.

Who can't quite get the concept of "First and last name, and date, on your paper every time!"
I get 'TR'. Literally, 2 letters. I know whose paper it is - but seriously is it so hard to write the 5 letters in your last name, and the date?? You could have a name like Musa Abdirahman, then your problem would be needing a second paper to get it all in.

I forget how much training it takes to get a classroom running smoothly, and with an AM and PM class (oh the complications of a split - we can't even afford a .5 teacher!!!) things have been difficult.

But I managed to get 33 students to spell Abdirahman and Claire, Clara, and Claira with the appropriate accompanying last names. We successfully played with mealworms (which I may kill over the weekend, as I am just now remembering they need a fresh piece of apple - this is why I have no class pet - except for Mo (who is a child)). We danced the Lethargian dance, and my new boy actually said "can we do it again?!" (new kids don't understand the William Penn way means we DANCE)

I learned the name of 80 5th graders and 20 4th graders - except those 3 or 4 refugees who have the most complicated names that start with K, but the first sound is a "b" sound - ???? - and they won't speak, can't speak in English - still struggling on those names.

So, we made it. And I'm not complaining - it was a good week. I'm proud we survived, but it was long and exhausting. But I can't complain about that either, I just sent Art out the door for his 12th straight day of working - he's already worked 60 hours this week, and will end it with 78. But he just keeps getting up and going, grateful for work, now THAT is surviving.

10 Things I've Learned....

1. Don't complain about long boring summers, or they disappear.
2. OCD organization can suck your life into a pit of labels and writing tiny numbers.
   
3. 15 year old boys don't have appropriate labeling handwriting - but they're very good at sorting, whether they like it or not.
   
4. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies don't freeze solid, and therefore defrost very quickly - in case of emergency
5. It's difficult to tastefully pack your crayons, markers, and coloring to get you through a 5 hour faculty meeting
6. Don't put names on things until the last possible second, the lists never stop changing!
7. Sometimes To-Do lists become To-Do novels.
8. Post-it sticky tabs are very expensive.
9. Penny deals are worth it.
10. I've worked 50-60 hours in the last 2 weeks getting ready to go back. I get paid starting today - classrooms don't come together in 12 hours - seriously people!

Vacation...Finally

This week we returned from our fabulous vacation to Glacier National Park. We stayed in an amazing barn in Kalispell, complete with indoor trampoline, swinging ropes, ping-pong, foos ball, horses, fishing, deer sightings from the kitchen window, down comforters, and a slightly precarious bathroom door. It was gorgeous! We spent 3 days driving and hiking (at a 3 year old pace) our way through Glacier. It was fun to hike some trails and get out of the crowds, also nice to ride the shuttle and not have to park! We took a day to go to Two Medicine and had a good foot soak, picnic, and fishing. It was 360 degrees of beauty - so much so that I have 417 pictures...hmm, hard to get all those posted. I am working on a movie, that should make it easier.

Summer Projects...

Summer is all about projects around my house - ways to keep myself busy, (I really ought to just get a summer job!) Anyhow, I've had some good projects this year... my favorite has been a weekly visit to the temple. After our amazing experience with the Temple Celebration, and the blessings that came from that event I felt my service was due. Besides, it's summer, I have hours to fill and there is no better place - and no excuse. So that's been fun, I've been to 4 different temples, headed to Bountiful next week and been able to go with my dad, Art, and Jamie - good times.

ALSO FUN.... has been my summer bread project, which has spiraled into a summer cookie project, balanced with a bit of healthy cooking...a bit.
I wanted to learn to make really good homemade bread; wheat, white and french - after several batches a week and much patience and tweeking - I'm finally feeling confident in my bread.

It's a great summer project because you need rising time, perfect to coordinate with walking dogs or going to the temple. And it makes the house smell so good....


The problem is... I've also had this little cookie issue. I found this website (see earlier reference) to "the best cookie recipes". Well, what am I supposed to do, trust some strangers opinion? What if they're wrong? What is cakey is better than chewy? The ONLY way to truly find out, is to make a lot of cookies.Fortunately I have become a dough freezer, so I only cook as needed. That also makes it possible for me to share fresh cookies with various expert cookie tasters. I think I have found my preferred favorite recipe - it received HIGH marks from the tasters. The final challenge will be taking it to Sunday dinner for the vast opinion and, of course, Bud.
So we did do some healthy cooking - we made gazpacho - so yummy!














So that's not too much cooking right? ...well, except for that day that I had 5 desserts in the house at once. oops.









Ahhh summer - 2 more weeks. Bring on the butter...

Mulling around in the brain...

I've been writing a lot of blog posts lately, but I haven't actually gotten them from my brain to the computer. I am one of those people who narrate my life as I go about my daily chores, and often those narrations are in the form of what I plan on writing here. So in attempt to make note of my thoughts I decided I should probably really write...
(not that I have impressive or profound thoughts prepared)
We've had our share of challenges, especially this year. Loss, dog and child; lay-offs; frustrating house sell; not moving; losing funding for the dream job; and the list goes on... I have to say that in a lot of these moments I felt like we were at the bottom of the barrel - things couldn't get worse - "what have we done to deserve this?" But, I have a quote that resounds through my life and keeps rearing it's head in these moments of lowness... "You can't regret anything, it's all part of the experience."...It's not all that profound, nor do we have things we could regret, but moreso.. It's all part of the experience. As I look back over the events of my year, my life, I can see that these low times have been the most important. Doors have opened and closed at what seemed like horrible timing, but in retrospect I can see that opportunities missed or taken have been so very important.
For example, we wanted to move to Logan but the job lost funding. I was bummed, it was a dream job at an amazing school. I felt the need to change schools, and applied at a charter school in Daybreak. The interview went really well, I had all the right qualifications, but they were taking forever to decide. During these long days waiting for a decision I pondered the thought of leaving William Penn and came to realize how much I loved the school and my team. I was having the hardest time trying to figure out what to do if I got the job, it was stressing me out. I went to church and heard a talk about "praying for doors to open and close to help me know what to do." It made sense. I got home and there was an email that I didn't get the job. I knew I was where I was supposed to be. Going through something hard, helped me to know what was right.
I feel like my life has been blessed with these little opportunities so often. Moments when I think things are so bad, I stop and look at the whole picture and it's really perfect timing, or the best thing for us. I'm so grateful for the trials and challenges that make us who we are. Truly I feel blessed to have the life I do, though it may not be perfect, we may be poor, my husband may work 50-60 hours a week, our house may not be selling - but each of those things are a blessing in my life. We're poor - but Art's working a lot of overtime... our house may not be selling, but we don't NEED to move. The bad really isn't bad.
Take a step back and look at the whole picture - perhaps things are going well after all.

The Woes...

So we've been trying to sell our house for several months now. I know, it's a bad market, a terrible time to sell, the wrong economy - but the right time for us (we think). We wanted to go to Logan, but that didn't happen, so we were hoping to sell our home and rent or live somewhere cheap for a while so we can send Art to school. BUT, it seems that's not going so well.
We had the big realtor tour today where they come and visit and then leave comments. Pretty much the same thing over and over "curb appeal is not so good, but the inside is gorgeous!" As if I didn't know that! I know just how I would fix the curb appeal, if I had the money - do you see the problem here?? We would love to pour a new driveway, build a garage, put on new siding, and sparkle up the outside, but that's a pretty extensive, and expensive, project. If we could sell the house we would have money for that, but wait...that doesn't quite work....
So here I sit, eating entirely too many leftover delicious cookies taking out my real-estate frustrations on my blog. Stupid realtors.
(On top of that, I have Pandora on "funk" and the song "Freak-a-zoid" is playing - there is something wrong with this day!)

Lazy Summer Days...

I try to avoid lazy summer days. I really despise lazy summer days, but there is no way to fill every second of my day with chores. So, I try to get caught up on my reading during the summer (I fall horribly behind during the school year as I can not keep my eyes open!)
I began my summer reading with a Harry Potty rereading (that's what he's called in our house, it makes Roxy and Erik giggle). There is a movie coming out and I need to get the facts fresh in my head so I can give an accurate critical judgement of the movie - so why not reread the series. Harry Potty is great, that's just all there is to it! (and I'm so glad she put the romance in at the end, I do love the idea of Ginny and Harry having adorable genius wizard children....)

Next I discovered the 3rd book in the City of Ember series (Yes, there are 4 books total, but one is a really stupid prequel). It was an interesting story that kept me going with some pretty good twists and turns, but the details and explanation were just not as intriguing as The City of Ember. I am a fan of the series, I like the idea, and it's a great connection to our study of Electricity, (and I love getting kids hooked in a series because then they just keep reading!!) I also like kids to read this before they read The Giver, which can be fairly intense if you are not prepared - the City of Ember is a light warm-up to the idea.

Somewhere in here I read a couple of REALLY STUPID romance novels, jeez, seriously - how do people tolerate such nonsense... (sorry if you love a romance novel, maybe I just pick terrible ones, but they are always so empty - I'll stick to kids books)

Next up, a lighthearted, easy Mormon reader. It's a cute book that Jamie sent me to read on a day "when you don't want to think". It is the story of a year in high school as told by various characters. They come from a variety of groups and find themselves intertwined in peculiar ways. It is a great book when you don't feel like thinking.

Last, but certainly not least, Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. This story is based on the life of the authors Great-Grandmother. It is a rivetting tale of life on the Montana prairies, and paints such beautiful pictures of nature, and the relationships within. The main character is a cross between Anne of Green Gables, Laura Ingalls, and Sarah Plain and Tall - she's quite the character. I was most taken by the voice in this novel which truly puts you in the story and fills you with emotion. A fantastic read!

Next up, going to try some adult books (adult - as in they don't come from the children's section of the library. Grown-up books are so hard for me - cut the rambling details and get to the point!)... As well as eat away at the pile of books that are "must reads" from my students. So many books, so little time. (And yes, there is so little time, because when I start reading I usually fall asleep so my reading usually occurs in tiny bursts.)