Cool Brains!!!

This totally awesome brain scientist came to talk to the kids today and tell them all about brains! He brought a cat brain, a horse brain, and human brains to show the kids! The kids even got to touch the human brain at the end! It was AWESOME! By the end of his presentation, I had five kids in my class saying they want to be brain scientists when they grow up!

weird week

THREE DAYS TIL DISNEY!!! man this week is taking so long. and it's bizarre too. first...

Yesterday, we came into school and discovered there were no lights. Power, yes. Electricity, yes. Lights, no. And of course it was a dark, rainy day too so there was no way the kids could even see to read, even with the blinds open. Nobody knew why the lights wouldn't work. Then miraculously the lights just came on. So the kids were weird all day because of that.

Then today, they were LUNATICS, CRAZY, LOCO, NUTS. The whole building was insane. Just as an example of what today was like, we were reviewing perimeter, which we've been doing now for days. This is NOT a new concept, let me tell ya. So I said, "I want you to draw a rectangle that has a perimeter of 12." And one little girl raised her hand and said, "Miss Tice, what's a rectangle?"

That was all day long today. And that was a different kid than the kid who asked how to spell "the".

But the good news is I got my spanish test back in my spanish class and I FINALLY GOT 100% without counting extra credit on a spanish test!!!! I was so happy! I've been trying to get 100% since August, but I always miss something. WOO HOO!!

THREE DAYS TIL DISNEY!

no game :(

Tonight I had my first scheduled baseball game of the season but we ended up having to forfeit because we didn't have enough players. The other team stayed to practice though so Miguel and I practiced with them! It was Miguel's first time playing baseball so I was explaining all the rules to him. He couldn't catch with the glove on (without the glove, he can catch great) but he sure can throw well. He'd probably make a good pitcher actually. He's really accurate from really far away. I was hitting really well, I think because I got new batting gloves today. I haven't had batting gloves since high school and these gloves rock! It really helped me put all my power into swinging without worrying about stinging my hand. I love batting! I'm sad that we didn't get to play though because all of our games are on Thursday nights (unless it rains and then we play make-up games on Sundays, like today). And I have my Spanish class on Thursdays so unless the games are at 9:00, I can't go to them. So today is probably the only time I'm going to get to play until mid-May. I love baseball!

great game!!!

So tonight I went to watch two of my favorite people play soccer! They play for MHS and were competing against CHS. They started out the game thinking they were going to get crushed and everyone started to get disheartened when CHS pulled out to an early 3-0 lead. But then MHS held them there and pushed back the score to a tie 3-3 game in the second half! They went into DOUBLE overtime, still going strong. Right in the final minutes of the second overtime MHS kicked it towards the goal and the goalie missed it but as the ball was rolling into the goal, he pounced on the ball and the ref said it WAS NOT over the goal line. But he was back at midfield and couldn't really see and the goalie was completely covering the ball anyway. So anyway I personally think they won, but the game goes in the books as ending in a tie.

Zach and Ivan both play for MHS and I had a surprise when they announced the name of a kid for CHS that I knew too! I've known him since he was like 2! It was awesome seeing them play! I can't wait to see them again!

No, I am NOT in Florida...although I'd like to be

Just to satisfy many questions and curious minds, I am NOT IN FLORIDA. I am currently in my bedroom, in my house, in Virginia. I've been fielding questions, phone calls, and emails all afternoon and evening about why I'm in Florida right now...even though I'm NOT in Florida.

See...funny story...I wasn't at school today because I had a conference. So this kid in my class told everyone he saw that I was in Florida. So now kids and parents from every grade have been contacting me, asking why I'm in Florida. I'm not sure how he got to THAT many people in one day, but it's quite impressive if you ask me. The thing I'm confused about though is that I TOLD the kids in my class that I was going to a conference in Charlottesville today...so I'm not sure why NONE of them said to him, "Um no, actually you're wrong. Remember she said she was going to a conference today." Instead they all went along with it and it's now spread to the whole school. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA crazy kids....

So no, I'm here. Although in 11 days I'll be in Florida. Soon to be 10....

Easter 08

Here are a bunch of pictures from Easter! We had a great time, being together with the whole family! All my brothers, sisters, nephews, and niece were there! Miguel and Peter came too! We had an Easter egg hunt, Kathryn and baby Leland rode Chick the horse, we played soccer, ate dinner, and played with the kids!

Here is my mom feeding my niece baby Payton for the first time!

Baby Leland, my nephew, riding a horse with Kathryn.

My nephews Nolan and Ezra during the Easter egg hunt - Nolan's pointing out some more eggs to his little brother!

Miguel with a loaded basket of eggs after his first Easter egg hunt ever!

Me trying to fill Easter eggs with candy, but having a very hard time with the curious nose belonging to the little white puppy on my lap!

My brother Ryan and his new baby daughter Payton.

Cousins Leland and Payton with their arms around eachother!

Georgia the puppy dragging Uncle Baxter around the porch to get him to go where she wants him to! It was hilarious!

Miguel, me, and Peter after a fun day of hunting eggs and playing with puppies!

My favorite picture of my little nephew Ezra!

it's coming, it's coming, i can taste it!

12 school days until spring break! 12 school days until disney world! 12 school days until freedom! 12 school days until sunny, warm weather in florida.

so much power in the number 12.

Hosanna in the highest!

Let me preface this by saying the pictures have nothing to do with this post...they're just awesome pictures of Miguel's brother playing soccer on Saturday. He really is a GREAT player!

On Sunday at church, the message was about the Triumphal Entry for Palm Sunday. It was a really great message. Our pastor has a wonderful way of taking a topic/story we've heard many times and capturing a new aspect of it to make it really interesting.

So anyway, I was translating the message for Miguel and he thought it was really cool. At the end we sang Hosanna (can be found on the latest United Live cd and the latest Passion cd - God of this City). This is a song that Miguel knows well and often requests to hear in my car. It was one of the first songs he learned in English, but on Sunday it took on a whole new meaning as we learned what Hosanna really means and read the story of the Triumphal Entry where it says "Hosanna in the highest!". So during the second verse of the song, I leaned over and said to Miguel, "Imagine we're kids standing at the Eastern gate and we're holding our branches. We're waiting for Jesus. Listen! What's all that cheering?" He looked up at me and smiled and said, "Yeah!" Then I pointed and said, "Look! It's a donkey! It's Jesus!" And right then the song hit the chorus which goes "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!" And Miguel put on the biggest smile ever and for the first time ever, closed his eyes, spread his arms out wide, and shouted out the chorus, "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!"

Words can't describe how awesome it was to see a kid really worshiping, really understanding what the words mean for the first time!

Saturday at the Dogpark

KATHRYN'S HOME!!! Just in time to avoid the crazy tornadoes in Georgia! On Saturday I got to meet her puppy named Georgia for the first time! This puppy is SOOOOOO cute! She is such a good dog! Peter came with us. Miguel and his brother Ivan came too because they had soccer games that afternoon and the dogpark is at the soccer fields.

We saw tons of cute dogs there, like a chocolate lab puppy named MOOSE!!! There was also this gigantic mop of a dog named Heavy. He ran around trying to tackle everybody, in a nice way. Georgia and Moose were probably the cutest ones there!

Kathryn was all proud of the fact that her puppy was the only one running around and NOT panting. I guess that means...well...actually I don't know what that means. But Kathryn was awfully proud of it!

This picture here has to be the funniest picture of Kathryn I've ever seen. I guess she's predicting the imminent danger of being tackled and/or being sat on by the mop of a dog, Heavy. Look at Kathryn's face!

Little Beth and Kathryn pics

Look! It's me and that scrawny little sister of mine!
Kathryn and my dad feeding um...what are those? geese? ducks?

Little me.

My dad, me, and my cousins Laurie and Amy.

Zorro's Series of Unfortunate Events

My new pet fox, Zorro, had a rather unfortunate weekend. It all started on Friday when I dropped the boys off after playing basketball. It was very late and very dark and Zorro fell out of the car when the boys got out. Nobody saw him fall. So when I got home I looked everywhere for Zorro and I couldn't find him, of course. I thought maybe one of the boys carried him inside the house by mistake. So the next day I went to look for him. I went to Miguel's house and he said that his mom saw Zorro that morning when she was driving. She saw him on the side of the road (which is unfortunate because the side of the road is all muddy and it poured rain all night) and said, "Hey it's Zorro!" (cuz everybody knows Zorro).

So Miguel and I ran up the street to look for him. But we looked and looked and couldn't find him anywhere. Sadly, we went back to Miguel's house, very worried about little Zorrito. When we got there, Miguel's mom was standing

at the door and she called out, "I FOUND ZORRO!!!" We took off running to the door and she brought out a muddy, sopping wet fox.

Miguel, Brian, Ivan (Miguel's older brother), and I all gathered around the poor little fox and squeezed the water out of him. Then Miguel's mom tried to wash him in the sink, but it didn't work. Finally I took him home to give him a bath in the washing machine.

On Saturday, I was riding in the car with Zorro when my car slid all the way down the lane and crashed into another car. Zorro went flying through the car and slammed into the floor. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, just a little scared.

Then Miguel and I took him snowboarding on Sunday, thinking that would make him feel better after his awful weekend. Except the snow all stuck to his fur and he froze hard as a rock. We had to thaw him with the heaters in the car on the way back. At least he's a forgiving fox.

Fridays with Peter Pan

Lately I've been having some awesome Fridays! Miguel hangs out with me on Fridays because his mom and brother both have to work until midnight or later. Peter has been coming with me to hang out with Miguel and we take our other little friend, Brian, who was in my class last year. We go eat at Guadalajara, our favorite restaurant, because two of the servers there named Olga and Susana just LOVE Brian and Miguel. As soon as we go into the restaurant they motion to us and say, "Come sit in my section!" After a delicious mexican meal, we go play basketball or soccer or swimming. The boys call Peter "Peter Pan" and they think he's the coolest person EVER.

Well last night before going to eat, we went to Family Christian Store first. Both boys had never been there before and they LOVED seeing all the things about Jesus in the store. Peter Pan bought Brian a picture bible that is in comics and Brian didn't even wait to leave the store to read it. He just plopped right down on the floor of the store and began reading all about Samson. When we got to the car, Brian and Miguel read Genesis 1 and then prayed to God, saying "Thank you God for this great bible!"

When we got to Guadalajara, we all said a blessing and the boys prayed, "Thank you God that we're all here and please let Miss Tice and Peter Pan play with us every Friday because they're our best friends."

Then at last we went to play basketball. We played for about two hours until midnight. Brian took breaks every twenty minutes or so to go read his new bible! Finally the boys were wiped out (by midnight I would hope so!). Brian begged Peter Pan to give him a piggy back ride back to the car like he usually does, so he carried Brian out.

It's so awesome hanging out with kids who have so little, but who are so excited about God! I am so blessed to have so many great friends, from Peter Pan and the kids, Ann, Alicia, Katie, Niklas, my sister, Jenny, Jonathan, Kim, Sara, Diane, my grandparents, the Riley's, the Arispe's, the Smith's, the Adams', the Boggs', the Nachmanovitch's, the Marks' and all the families at school that support me, pray for me, and keep track of what's going on in my life! And I can't forget my favorite pets, Chaos, Calabaza, Tucker, Cody, and Zorro!

Wintergreen Field Trip

We went on a field trip to Wintergreen!!! The weather was perfect and the trip was close to perfect! The kids were so well-behaved! We went on a digital scavenger hunt and then spent the afternoon snowtubing! We have a new class pet, a fox named Zorro, and he came with us too! He got lost once when he fell out of one kid's tube, but then another teacher rescued him! Here's Zorro in his own tube. He loved snowtubing as much as all the kids did!

Good news...and bad news...

THE GOOD NEWS:

Apparently global warming isn't worth all the hype it's been getting. According to a news article from this past Monday, there is more snow cover right now than in any time since 1966. Also this past January had record cold temperatures and the average temperature was cooler than the entire 20th century average.

"And remember the Arctic Sea ice? The ice we were told so hysterically last fall had melted to its 'lowest levels on record'? Never mind that those records only date back as far as 1972 and that there is anthropological and geological evidence of much greater melts in the past.

The ice is back.

Gilles Langis, a senior forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa, says the Arctic winter has been so severe the ice has not only recovered, it is actually 10 to 20 cm thicker in many places than at this time last year.

OK, so one winter does not a climate make. It would be premature to claim an Ice Age is looming just because we have had one of our most brutal winters in decades.
But if environmentalists and environment reporters can run around shrieking about the manmade destruction of the natural order every time a robin shows up on the Georgian Bay two weeks early, then it is at least fair game to use this winter's weather stories to wonder whether the alarmists are being a tad premature."

Hahahahaha I thought that was hilarious!

THE BAD NEWS:

Scientists have just nailed down when the world will end. Apparently we're going to be absorbed into the sun after it becomes a red giant in 7.6 billion years. But don't worry. Scientists have figured out a strategy for saving us. They say if we can just tame an asteroid and have it swing by our planet every few thousand years, it will be enough to slowly nudge our orbit farther out into space and allow us to avoid getting absorbed by the sun. Good luck with that. Let me just say I'm glad I have a God to believe in instead of some scientists who are trying to tame an asteroid.

Funny Grandma

I have the funniest grandma ever! She has had quite a few funny quotes in the past but this past weekend she made me laugh SO hard! Even my grandpa couldn't stop laughing either! Here are three things she said:

1. "We put up new hurricane shutters to protect our house during volcano season." Of course she meant hurricane season but said the wrong word and the image of volcanoes in the flattest state in our country made my grandfather and I laugh and laugh. The next day my grandpa even said to my grandma laughing, "Dear, when does volcano season start again?"

2. "Dr. Morrow used to not accept new patients because he had too many. But now he's accepting new patients so I guess a bunch have been dying off."

3. After unloading the dishwasher, "Now we just fill it back up again with the dirty ones. It's a vicious circle."

HAHAHAHA what a funny little Grandma

Highlights from FL

I had such an awesome time in Florida...83 degrees...t-shirt weather...I could get used to that all winter long! I even went swimming in my grandparents' pool! I helped my grandparents do a bunch of things around the house so they wouldn't have to worry about it.

And my grandpa got a totally hot new car - the Cadillac CTS! It won the Motortrend Car of the Year 2008 award! It's AMAZING, has so many features I can't even begin to describe. I was sold on it when I saw it had a built-in iPod port right in the car! He let me drive it and it was so sweet... I wish I had taken a picture of it, but I didn't. I videotaped it though!

We went to Downtown Disney, the marketplace at Disney World, so I could get a few things for some kids. The world's biggest Lego store is there so I went to visit that and did not buy a single Lego! They had a couple of new big models built including the one in the picture at the top! It's a family walking a bunch of dogs!

Also at Downtown Disney I got to see a Rawlings guy making baseball bats! He could make a bat from a solid piece of wood in about 20 minutes! He apparently has made tons of bats in his lifetime, including 8 that are in the Hall of Fame!

Then when we were heading back home, I saw a Chic-Fil-A van!! It was awesome! I took some pictures of my grandparents too! I'll put those on later!

New Haircut

Okay so I got my hair cut tonight and every time I get it cut, I tell the hair stylists to experiment with it...just try stuff out...I'm not picky. I'm looking for a style that I like a lot and I haven't found it yet. Well every time, they get really excited about it and they're always like, "Oh my gosh, this looks amazing! You're going to love this!" And then other stylists sometimes even come over and say, "Yeah, that looks really good!" But when I look at it, I'm always like, "uh...yeah...it's um...great...." while thinking, "WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR???" Well tonight was the most excited they've ever been. I actually had hopes for it tonight... but when I saw it I still was like, REALLY? This is what you think is GREAT??? I don't think it looks like me at all. But it's happened so many times now, I'm curious about other people's opinions.

So anyone who reads this blog tell me your opinion honestly! Do you think it looks totally creepy?

Lunar Eclipse

YAY FOR FLORIDA! I'm in Florida right now, hanging out with my grandparents! It's typical winter right now, 70-80 degrees and sunny! How awesome is that! Last night I was talking to Kathryn and she was like, "GO LOOK AT THE LUNAR ECLIPSE!! IT'S SO RED!" So I went out to take a picture of it and...well...it wasn't red. Big? Yes. Beautiful? Of course. Bright? Absolutely. Red? No way. Kathryn didn't believe me, so I took pictures of it with my telephoto lens and Grandpa's tripod to prove it. Here are the pictures from last night! Definitely not red.

Liquid Nitrogen ROCKS!

Today one of the parents of a child in my class came in to show the kids what happens when you freeze stuff with liquid nitrogen! It was totally awesome and I think the kids are definitely picking up the message that SCIENCE IS COOL!!! Liquid nitrogen is -320 degrees Fahrenheit and we froze flowers and then watched them shatter like glass! We also froze bouncy balls, balloons filled with air, hot dogs, pipes, and tennis balls! The only one that didn't shatter was the balloon. It just condensed into a deflated balloon. Then as it warmed up, it expanded again to return to its original shape! The tennis ball was really cool because the rubber inside of it completely broke into tiny pieces when he hit it with a hammer! I took some video of it too, so when I have time to edit it, I'll post it so you can see! Here are some pictures of the flower shattering, the balloon condensing, and the tennis ball after it was hit with a hammer!

Sleepiest Weekend Ever

I think this was the sleepiest weekend ever...

I was SO tired because this past week was crazy with being really cold, then really warm, Valentine's Day, kids were nuts, you get the idea. On Friday, I took Miguel snowboarding right after school. He did great and he even went down a black diamond slope for the first time! We stayed until 8:00 and when we got back to Charlottesville, we went to the pool with another friend to go swimming. We were swimming until 11:00 and then we were all starving so we went to IHOP to eat pancakes! We finished and got home at 12:30 AM, just in time for his mom to pick him up after work.

I was wiped out. That night I slept and slept and didn't wake up until 2:00 PM on Saturday! I was still exhausted the rest of the day so I went back to sleep and didn't wake up until 9:30 AM this morning! Insane! I NEVER sleep that much! I picked up Miguel for church and after church I went BACK TO SLEEP and woke up at 5:00, just in time for youth group. Finally, FINALLY I wasn't tired anymore.

Youth group was great and afterwards Miguel and I danced and sang to a bunch of David Crowder songs, watched some snowboarders on TV while he played Club Penguin on the computer, and then we watched the movie Bridge to Terabithia - totally great movie by the way. Now it's 12:30 AM and I'm wide awake. I wonder why?