Wonderful Songs

My last post wasn't very uplifting to say the least, I have been kind of down in the dumps the past couple of weeks. To be right truthful this week hasn't been any better. It was our first full week of school in forever because of all the snow days. My little critters were tired and had emotional breakdown after breakdown this week. I mean kids that have never cried before were crying at the drop of a hat, and I was about their with them. It was an emotional week in Kindergarten and I felt defeated....and it seemed like the week just wouldn't end. I felt real crappy Friday and came home early from work, which I have never ever done before and it was really weird leaving before my kids. But I needed it, I wasn't sure what was wrong with me but I came home and slept from 3:15 till 6:30ish. This is not like me at all so whatever it was I guess I just needed to sleep off. Anyways, this week I have been relying on music to lift my heart up. These are just a few songs that I have been loving on lately and have been on my heart. The consensus is God is so so good even in the low times, he is my crutch and heart.

Kari Jobe- Revelation Song and My Beloved (two of my favs)

And just for laughs Relient K's Mood Ring (I dedicate this to one of my besties Carrie!)

 I also have been getting some great craft ideas and decided to make this wreath I found on Tatertots and Jello. (One of my new favorite blogs) I needed a wreath for in between holiday's. I couldn't figure out how I wanted to arrange the rosettes so one of my friends that is super crafty helped, thanks Molly. I am very pleased with how it turned out....this is the wreath that inspired me.  I put it up outside my classroom for now. I thought it would be nice and cheery for Parent-Teacher Conferences soon. 

  

Conflicts of the Heart

Decisions, Decisions...This past week I have felt overwhelmed with life and making hard choices. As the week progressed my heart grew more and more heavy and I was distracted more then usual. I fully went into a particular situation having everything all planned out and in my mind set in stone. Well that all came to screeching halt when I started hearing this voice in the back of my head telling me this isn't how it's supposed to go. I felt God trying to steer me in another direction, it's hard when your plans and God's plans don't really match up. I really want to do it my way...but I know that making this big decision should be done with a prayerful heart and turning to him for guidance (even if he tells me No, and that he did). I feel like I'm closing a door that I've being trying to keep open because I'm scared of what's through the new door. (I really just need to put my big girl pants on and do it...it's always harder following through right?)

This past year I have worked really hard on letting God lead my life not only on the big & hard stuff, but including him in everything that I do. Last summer God was stretching and molding my heart for him in a way that I hadn't felt in awhile. It was a beautiful Love affair.... (I know it sounds cheesy but it was) I was able to spend quiet time with the Lord and Rest in him....something that I hadn't put much effort into prior. It wasn't that I didn't want to spend time with God....life just happened. I got busy with school/work/family/friends (the list of excuses goes on and on)  and taking a chunk of time out of my day to hang out with God wasn't on the top of my To Do List. It is so easy to get caught up in all the "Things" of this world. We all have a specific "Thing" that comes to mind....for me it's choosing to watch the newest Tv show or getting caught up and useless drama. If I spent half the amount of time I do watching Tv, hanging out with God we'd be a lot closer.

Normally when I get into a funk I might pick up the latest self-help book or inspirational story. They may be good reads but honestly what have they done for me so far....not a whole lot sadly. So why not dive into the greatest self-help book of all time...the bible. I don't know why I'm so surprised every time I turn back to the basics and seek him out. I'm never disappointed in the results I get...

So the week ahead, I am going to give my mind and heart a mini-makeover, refocus and get out of this funk. I want to fall in love with God all over again and get back to that restful place. (I mean Valentines Day is coming up ya know, ha ha)

My Verse of the Week:

"Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning. For in You I do trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift my soul to You."       Psalms 143:8

Glee

I have anxiously been awaiting the mail to arrive today, because I am waiting for the third disc of Season 1 of Glee to arrive!!! I know it's kind of pathetic, I'll admit it.  I added it to my Netflix....I was rather sad they didn't have Season 1 available to watch instantly. Nevertheless I am waiting patiently for the snail mail to arrive. I know that I could find it on some website and watch it on my computer, but I'm trying to make this season last.

I'm going to be honest have a slight addiction to Tv on DVD....it all started Freshmen year of college with the O.C. I spent countless nights saying to myself, "Just one more episode....I can do it!" Trying to convince myself staying up till 2 a.m. when you have an 8 a.m. class is a perfectly normal / great idea. My patterns and ways have gotten a tad bit better over the years, but I have put my foot down on this one. I am limiting my viewing of Glee....I love it btw and have thoroughly enjoyed watching it! I'm obsessed with The Sing Off, and it got me itching for a singing show so naturally Glee popped into my mind. The show is way more cheesy then most shows that I watch, but I get real excited for their musical numbers! On the cheesy scale I would say that it's one step above Make It Or Break It...haha (Love this show). They sound great, sometimes I have to look away because their mouths don't match up with the song. (Sometimes I feel like I'm watching a Chinese film, you know the ones I'm talking about.)  Minor details though right? Any of ya'll loving Glee too? I know I'm a little behind jumping on the Glee train. 

"God is always present, we're the ones that show up."

This.....and That (From A Long Time Ago)

I went through my pictures on my camera and finally uploaded some long overdue shots. I'm pretty sure that they date back to Thanksgiving and before Christmas break. So will start at the beginning... Thanksgiving. My whole family got together for Thanksgiving this year, sometimes it seems like a big puzzle getting everyone together. Some years it's only two families, sometimes one and then if it's a good year we all get to spend the holiday together. The parents all decided that we needed to take every type of group shot possible. We did cousins only, grandchildren & grandparents, parents and kids, each family and grandparents....this list goes on and on. So here are some shots of our family photo shoot.

 I was very very excited about decorating for Christmas this year, it took everything I had not to starting putting up Christmas decor before Thanksgiving. I would have thrown the kids for a loop if the Christmas tree was up before Turkey day! As soon as we returned from break I was ready and in the Christmas spirit, I played Christmas music all the time and the kids were loving it! Tiffany (my other half at work) and I were geared up and decided that our hallway needed to be just as festive. She did an amazing job constructing this fireplace and with the help of my friend Corbin we had some sweet flames to go with it! The stockings added a lot to the fireplace and I think the Kindergarten hallway looked stinkin cute! I'm kind of partial though! :) At the beginning of the year I decided to make a Giving Tree outside my classroom. The leaves on the tree have different materials we would love to have, that parents can donate. I was quite bummed that our school didn't have a snowflake dye-cut...my original idea was to change out the items on the tree by season. I think I'm going to change the leaves to green once spring time comes.

This past week in Kindergarten we have been talking about maps and towns. We started this unit by reading, Me on the Map. This is a great book that starts off in a kids bedroom and then they draw a map of their bedroom. Then it moves onto their house, house and street, street and town....till it gets to a picture of the world. It's hard for the little critters to comprehend the whole looking at a map....when we looked at a map of the world a boy in my class thought all we needed to do was zip-line to Indonesia from Kansas. I had to turn my head because I found it quite funny. So needless to say starting small is definitely necessary in Kindergarten. Once we looked at our town on googlemap and talked about what types of resources go into a community we decided to make our own town. I sent notes home and asked for any and all boxes, milk jugs....really anything that we could make into a building. This past Friday was construction day in my room. We brainstormed the types of stores and buildings we needed and constructed a map of the town. Each student was assigned a specific building and was able to pick the size of box they needed and decorated it. These are some pictures of the construction process, we  all had a really good time doing this activity. The kids were super excited to work on a building and design it themselves, I really think this allowed them to feel like they had some ownership to the project. We are going to continue adding to the town on Tuesday when we return to school.

 That was a lot for one post....but I am now up to speed!!

 

Snow Day!!

It snowed!! It snowed a lot....and I am lucky enough to be in the right profession to pray for snow days, and my prayers were answered twice! Monday and Tuesday were extra special because I got to be lazy/hang out with some great friends! Monday I went sledding with some great girls (check out Molly's page for pictures). It was such a great time, seeing the little girls faces having a blast made it all worth it! 

I have decided I want to learn how to do a bump/poof in my hair.  I feel like whenever I put my hair up in a ponytail I look tired and just totally not cute. I always see this girls that look peppy and cute with ponytails....but they always have a cute little bump going. My friend Molly found a great video on how to do the perfect bump/poof and we tried it yesterday. I went and bought the supplies and we went to town teasing our hair. We didn't get all Snooki or anything with our poofs, but I feel like we had a good first run on trying it. I think I just need to practice....my hair is so thick and slick that teasing usually doesn't last to long. Updates to come :)

We are now back to school and today was a little hard getting back into the groove of things. My kids thought that they could talk whenever they wanted to today, specifically when I was teaching. I was not the happiest person when this happened, and decided I had to lay down the law. So needless to say I had some moments today where I was probably "The Mean Teacher". Will try again tomorrow! I'm confident that will have a great day!

Youth Group tonight....gotta go!

New Inspiration

So I was somewhat organizing my bookshelf tonight and came across some old textbooks. I pushed aside the Educational Psychology book for obvious reasons, but found a novel I read in one of my education classes that I absolutely loved! 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny by Phillip Done....If your a teacher you definitely should read it, it's a real fast read. When I was in college and read this book it always got me SO excited to actually have a classroom and be a teacher. Now that I am a teacher and have little squirts of my own it means that much more....I can actually relate to what this guy says. I'm going to share the intro because it's great!

I am a Teacher....
     I read Charlotte's Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory every year, and every year when Charlie finds the golden ticket and Charlotte dies, I cry.
     I take silvers out of fingers and bad sports out of steal the bacon. I know when a child has gum in his mouth even when he is not chewing it. I have sung "Happy Birthday" 657 times. ( I'm only at 7)
     I hand over scissors with the handles up. My copies of The Velveteen Rabbit and Treasure Island are falling apart. I can listen to one child talk about his birthday party and another talk about her sleepover and another talk about getting his stomach pumped last night- all at the same time.
     I fix staplers that won't staple and zippers that won't zip, and I poke pins in the orange caps of glue bottles that will not pour. I hand out papers and pencils and stickers and envelopes for newly pulled teeth. I know the difference between Austria and Australia.
     I plan lessons while shaving, showering, driving, eating, and sleeping. I plan lessons five minutes before the bell rings. I know what time it is when the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on the nine. I say the r in library. I do not say the w in sword.
     I put on Band-Aids and winter coats and school plays. I know that they will not understand the difference between your and you're. I know they will write to when it should be too. I say "Cover your mouth," after they have coughed on me.
I am a teacher.
     I examine new braces and new blisters and holes in mouths where teeth have just fallen out. I can spell vacuum. I know the magic word.
     I wear four-leafed clovers and dandelions in my shirt pocket that have just been picked with love at recess. I pray for snow days. I pray for Stephen to be absent.
    I spend Thanksgiving vacation writing report cards, Christmas vacation cleaning my classroom, and summer vacation taking classes on how to relax. I know the difference between a comma and an apostrophe. I can say "apostrophe".
    I buy books about cats and dogs and sharks and volcanoes and horses and dinosaurs. I turn jump ropes and am base in tag. I am glad you can only get chicken pox once.
    I correct pencil grips and spelling mistakes and bad manners. I push in chairs all the way, push swings higher, and push sleeves up while children are painting. I can touch the paper cutters.
    I own one suit, two pairs of shoes, and eight boxes of graham crackers. I have every teacher mug that Hallmark ever made and ever Save the Children tie too. I say, "Use two hands!" when they carry their lunch trays. I say, "Accidents happen," after they did not use two hands.
    I wear green on St. Patrick's Day, red on Valentine's Day, and my bathrobe on Pajama Day. I poke straws into juice boxes and untwist thermos lids that are too tight. I unpeel oranges that are too tight too.
    I sign library passes and yearbooks and new casts. I attend soccer games and Little League championships and funerals for guinea pigs. I answer to both "Mom" and "Dad."
I am a teacher.
     I hope April Fool's Day is on a Saturday. I blow up balloons that will not blow up. I always blow the whistle too early at recess.
     I can borrow and carry very fast. I give them more time to answer six times eight than two times three. I never end a sentence with a preposition. I know what a preposition is.
     I draw stars and smiley faces. I say, "Take over," in four square games when I was not looking. Once I forgot eight plus seven.
     I know when to say "can" and when to say "may." I have worn green marker, red paint, yellow chalk dust, glue stick, and glitter all in the same day. I hate glitter.
     I always begin a sentence with a capital and end with a period. I always walk in line. I always loose at arm wrestling.
     I leave "shuger" and "vilets" misspelled on their valentines. I know all my continents and all my oceans. I tape pages back into books. I can find the end of a new roll of Scotch tape. I call on children whose hands are not raised.
    I know that colonel is a really hard word to read, and so is doubt and so is gauge. I know that kids will read started, when it says stared. I have spelled out because and beautiful and friend six million times.
I am a teacher.
    I look both ways before crossing the street. I save balls stuck in basketball hoops. I have given 842 spelling tests and written "Have a Good Summer!" that many times too.

    I can make a telescope out of a toilet paper roll and a totem pole out of oatmeal boxes. I can make snowflakes out of coffee filters and a space shuttle out of a Pringles can too.
    I know my notes because "Every Good Boy Does Fine." I know my directions because I "Never Eat Slimy Worms." I know all my planets because "My Very Elegant Mother Just Sat Upon Nine Pickles." And I can only say my ABC's if I sing them.
    I fix watchbands, repair eyeglasses, and search for lost milk money after freeze tag. I know when their fists will make a rock and when they will make scissors.
    I know when a child does not understand. I know when a child is not telling the truth. I know when a child was up too late last night. I know when a child needs help finding a friend.
I am a teacher.


I know I've only been teaching for a short while but that first part of the book gets me every time. The first time I read it I cried a bit....but I am kind of an emotional person so I'm not sure if that says much. I cry and the most ridiculous things....my sister usually laughs and I just say she is heartless (because she rarely cries during these types of things).  Anyways, if you haven't read this book you definitely should!!! As I read it now, it makes me smile because I picture the little faces I see everyday doing the exact same things he talks about in his book. I may complain from time to time about things that happen at school....but I love what I do, my kids and my job!! Finding this book as I was cleaning gave me new inspiration and has definitely lifted my spirits....just what I needed!


"Do Beautiful things for God, and in the process you will become Beautiful."

They're Coming Back

Tomorrow is the day.....The kids are coming back to school after 2 wonderful weeks away! The break was much needed and fabulous, but I have a feelings it's going to be like the first day of school ALL over again. It's 2 weeks that all of the hard work getting them into a routine and setting rules up the whole first half of the year fly out the window (so I've been told by veteran teachers). This (long deep breath in, and out)...This is something I am not looking forward to. Then I think of the first couple weeks of the school year I remember practicing lining up without talking 6 times before we could even leave the classroom. Is this really necessary??? I think Not...but we did it alright. I was the mean teacher that if one person decided to talk in line, everyone sat back down and we tried again. Even though I'm not thrilled to go back to work...I am excited to see my kids and listen to all the stories they are going to be itching to tell. Good thing I have recess duty tomorrow (a lot of their stories I usually tell them to wait and tell me at recess...we'd be listening to stories all day if I didn't put a limit to them in class.) Getting back into a normal routine is going to be extremely nice, I will finally feel productive again! 


Today we had an inservice, so we had meetings in the morning and work day in the afternoon. The work day part was AMAZING! I usually end up staying after school till super late trying to get extra stuff done, so this day to make activities was awesome. I laminated SO much stuff.... lamination makes me REAL happy (cutting out part not so much). Luckily I have a wonderful grandma that will take some of that cutting off my hands for me, she's a life saver!! I spent the entire day trying to make new literacy centers that my kids can do independently while I take a guided reading group. Working independently can be rather difficult for my kindergartners, not sure if anyone else runs into the problem of constantly being asked questions... usually ones that they can figure out by themselves.  I'm crossing my fingers that tomorrow goes better than I'm anticipating!


"In the midst of chaos, if you have peace in the Lord you will be in a restful place."
 (This is what got me through the day!)
 

New Year, New Challenge!

2010 brought some new and exciting changes in my life! I spent half my summer working at Camp Barnabas, which is one of my all time favorite places in the world. It's a camp for kids and adults with special needs. We've been taking our youth group for the past 4 years and I had the opportunity to be on staff over the summer. God taught me a lot about myself in the short month I was there and I came back looking at life differently. Camp is a place you where you can be selfless and serve for a week or however long you're there. The campers come through the gates and it's so exciting because you have the chance to make it the best week ever for them! I was at camp for 4 sessions and that meant I had 4 cabin families, some amazing girls that taught me more about myself then I ever could. The experience was overwhelming and it was scary being out of my comfort zone, but I found this quote that speaks so true to my time at camp.

" The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."

 I finally finished up student teaching and started applying for big girl jobs. I was confident at the beginning of the summer that I would find a teaching position, but as the summer went on and I wasn't hearing back from any schools I started thinking maybe God had a different plan. I had a hard time accepting that maybe my plan wasn't necessarily God's plan for my life. I just trusted that whatever God's plans was it would be great and I would follow the doors that he opened for me. I got a phone call 2 days before school started and now I am teaching Kindergarten, and I love it! I have my days where I honestly don't know what I was thinking, but then one of my kids says something or finally the light bulb turns on for one of them and it's all worth it. It's been so amazing getting to the point where all 17 of us work together as a unit, I know them and they know me...and it works. 

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

2011.....What will it bring?? I'm excited to see how I grow and change over this year! I'm sure I will have my share of challenges and maybe heartache this year, but I look forward to the laughs, smiles, friendships, family and fellowship I get to experience with the people around me. I have a great family that is always present and wonderful. My friends who are my family also are amazing, each one of them I love so dearly and couldn't imagine my life without them in it! So 2011, my challenge to myself this year...I don't want to call it a resolution cause I feel like New Year's Resolutions always end up failing come February...and I don't plan to fail. 

- I want to be more patient with myself, others and God. (I always want to speed up the life process, so this year I want to continue enjoying it. Not wishing I was 10 steps ahead.)

- I want to love more.....not like find a man (although I wouldn't mind that if it was the right thing) What I mean is....I want to love my friends, my family, God and my life more. Life is too short not to let people know you care and love them. 

- I know this is cliche, but I want to run....I want to exercise more and run an actual race! I know everyone gets amped and is excited about exercising after the new year (after eating all that freaking holiday food), but I really mean it. I'm going to sign up for a race and stink'n do it!

- I had a challenge last year to read the bible in a year....I got to February and then fell off the wagon.  So it's going to continue to be my challenge this year. I started at the beginning of December (trying to get a head start on the routine) reading my one year bible & Purpose Driven Life. So far I'm doing good...I just need to push through February!

Will see how I do with these challenges as the year goes on...I'm excited though! God is good!

"I am your greatest encourager."

2 Thessalonians 2:16