Tadpole Hunting

So this weekend I was hanging out with my good friends, Juan and Marco. Every year about this time we go down to the pond near their house and catch tadpoles. Then I take the tadpoles to school (with perfect timing for our life cycles unit) and the kids get to watch the tadpoles turn into frogs. We release them into the wetland behind our school after they are frogs.

Well anyway every year we go for a walk down to the pond, forgetting about the tadpoles, and then we realize the tadpoles are there and we have nothing to use to catch them. We usually have to find discarded trash laying around to catch them. This year, however, we were NOT going to forget. We came prepared with buckets!

We were feeling very proud of ourselves for remembering the buckets, until we got to the pond and found that we were too late. There were no more tadpoles. They had already turned to frogs... We looked sadly at the clear water, void of little swimmy tadpoles. Quickly we decided to enjoy our time at the pond by throwing the buckets through a pipe to the person on the other time (which didn't work cuz the bucket got stuck in the middle). Then we threw a tennis ball at the bucket to get the bucket out (which didn't work cuz the ball got stick in the middle). So then we attempted to make a dam to build up the water pressure so the water would flow through the pipe and carry the bucket and the ball to us (which didn't work because we're not beavers and have no clue how to build a dam). It looks so easy when beavers do it. So finally we gave up on the pipe and spent the rest of the time doing flying side kicks and skateboard tricks off of this little bridge thing that covered the pipe.

So much for tadpole hunting...

Great game and angry sister

So...my sister's really angry at me... I don't know why...

I mean I went to watch her softball game at 8:00 tonight and I asked if I could play. Her team had enough players though so her coach just said "maybe". Well by the 3rd inning I still hadn't played and I noticed that the other team was down one player. So I asked her coach if I was on their line-up and he said no. I asked him I was going to get to play and he said "No, you're not on our roster."

Soooooo...I went over to the other team and asked them if they needed an extra player. So I played for them and they won. And apparently I was the reason they won. Not because I did something really heroic, but simply because I held a place in the batting order. See in this league you have to bat guy-girl-guy-girl... If you bat two guys in a row, you have to take an automatic out. And that's what was happening because they were missing one girl. So simply because I kept them from getting an automatic out, they were able to win by one run.

Life lesson: if you go to watch your sister play a sport and you happen to notice that the other team needs a player...DON'T PLAY. Or play and find humor in the situation because I think the whole thing is very funny! hahahahahahaha

Awesome Praise!

I have an awesome praise this week! This kid in my class who has been below grade level in reading since he started school in kindergarten has shown so much improvement this year! He has worked SO hard, trying to catch up. Finally for the first time ever, I can mark him "on-grade-level" because he just read the FOURTH GRADE passage on the reading assessment and totally nailed it! He breezed through the second grade one and rocked the third grade, which is enough to be considered on grade level. But I gave him the fourth grade passage just because I was curious and he passed that one too! Praise God for helping this beautiful little boy to be achieving at a level where he will be successful!

THANK YOU JESUS!

Exciting Thursday

Jesus Christ, you're my savior
and I will run after you!

I'm looking forward to this afternoon because we get to meet our new principal for next year. I've only heard amazingly positive things about her and that her school community is just as devastated that she is leaving as we were to find out that our principal is leaving. I can't wait to meet her!

And we're going to play probability games in math today! Science will be full of animal and plant life cycles and habitats and fun stuff like that! It's going to be a fun day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I spent Mother's Day with my mom and my sister yesterday! We went to visit my grandmother who is living with her sister in Nelson County.

When we got back home, Kathryn and I made chicken and vegetable kabobs on the grill for dinner! We tried to grill a strawberry to see what it would taste like, but Kathryn said it just tasted like a warm mushy strawberry. Dinner was delicious!

Happy Mother's Day, all the moms!!!

Your new favorite is WHAT????

On Saturday, like usual, I went to see a bunch of baseball and soccer games! One game was a teeball game with one of my favorite little guys ever, known as "Goo". I've known him since he was born and he is one of the smartest kids I know. Amazing vocabulary, began speaking in full sentences (in fact one of the first things I remember him saying, at about 12 months, was "I want to go outside and play basketball"). Anyway, he's really in to knights and castles and stuff. So when I saw him at the game I asked him if he still liked knights. He assured me he did, but that he had a new favorite now. I, of course being curious, asked him what that new favorite was. His answer:

"Well... it's kinda... coal mining."

I burst out laughing. "Coal mining, Goo? Your new favorite is COAL MINING????" He just smiled and said, "Yes, I'm really in to it."

Only him. He's the only six-year-old in the world that would be in to coal mining. I love that kid!

scissors just aren't working for me

You know my lawnmower? Well, I realize you don't know it PERSONALLY, but you know that I have one? Yeah well it's broken. It's name was Morris. And it's broken. Okay so this isn't really breaking news since it's been broken for quite some time. But it's just more noticeable now that my grass is growing 17 inches per day. See this picture? It's not actually of my yard, but it could be. So I happened to be working on some schoolwork this afternoon and as I was sitting at my computer, I thought, "What's that buzzing sound?" My brain immediately identified the sound to be that of a lawnmower. I ran to the window and looked to see where it was coming from. Guess what I saw! My lawnmower turning itself on and preparing to mow my yard! No. That's not it. It was Cavalier Lawn Service mowing the yard across the street. So I watched the guy with his GIGANTIC push mower - the biggest I've ever seen. With that big mower and our little tiny yards, he literally had to go up and down four times and the yard was done. As he packed his mower back on to his truck I raced across the street and came screeching to a stop right at his feet.

"How much do you charge for mowing yards?" I burst out.

"I can't mow it today," he replied.

"I understand. I'm just asking how much you charge." I explained to him that my mower was broken and my grass was up to my head and I could no longer see my car from my front door. He looked from me to my yard, back to me, back to the yard, and then he had a momentary look of pity on his face before he threw out, "Give me $25 and I'll do it right now."

I looked at him like he had just asked me to build a full-scale replica of Camden Yards out of saran wrap. I said, "With all due respect, sir, it will take 4 turn-arounds to mow that yard. I'll give you $20."

He said, "People pay me $35 to mow yards that size."

I was like, "Well then people can keep on paying you $35 then. It won't be me." So my grass is still on it's way to breaking some world record for tallest grass ever. I can't keep up with scissors. Annhead suggested a sickle thing - the thing with the curved blade that can cut grass - but that kinda creeps me out. I can't even look at one of those things ever since my sister stuck one through her leg when she was like 12 or something. Creepy.

Nic at Night

So at recess today, I saw one of my kids from last year (he's in third grade this year, obviously). Ben was really excited when he came running up and he told me he was acting in a play at church tonight and he asked if I could come. Of course I said yes, and I asked him what the play was about.

He said, "Well, I'm a pharisee and I even have lines!"

I said, "Ben, that's awesome!"

He said, "No, not really."

I said, "Why isn't that good?"

He said, "Because the pharisees didn't believe in Jesus. They didn't get it. But don't worry! I believe in the end of the play!"

The play was hilarious and it was about the story of Jesus and Nicodemus. It was called Nic at Night. There was this little girl with the "add more sound to the songs" group that was the loudest, most animated singer I've ever seen! She was so funny, just singing out the words to every song with the loudest voice possible (much louder than you would imagine from such a tiny body).

After the play, Ben and I went skateboarding at the skatepark and then I took him home. His sisters, Miranda and Kate, were there and we sat on the hood of my car talking about Jesus and heaven until 9:30. It was so cool talking to them about it and listening to the questions they have. I think a lot of times we assume kids understand things that we say, even simple things like "there's no evil in heaven", when really even that leaves them with a ton of questions. They are such neat kids, struggling, yet wanting desperately to understand.

4 to 0, Juan Serving Love

Okay so that was the most confusing thing I've ever watched in my life! I went to watch one of Juan's tennis matches this weekend. I've played around with tennis balls and tennis rackets on a tennis court before, but I've never actually played tennis. I spent the entire game being confused about the score and who was ahead in the match. It's pretty cool to watch Juan play though, because he has a very calm style. He doesn't get frustrated easily (or at least he doesn't SHOW it) and can therefore keep playing smoothly through the entire match.

From watching so many kids play sports, I've noticed how many kids get mad so easily. They hold themselves to a "near-perfect" standard (which is not inherently a bad thing), but then become so angry when they can't live up to it. Their playing then disintegrates over the remainder of the game. I wish there was a way for kids to hold themselves to such a high standard but then also have patience with themselves when they inevitably fail. Is that something you can teach? Do you have to just model it?

what matters most

This is a really cool picture, although I disagree with the message of it. It really should read "What matters most is how you see God". And then to imagine that even as a little defenseless kitten, God sees him as a beautiful majestic lion. Speaking of, isn't it a lion who is called "King of the Jungle"? Why are they called that when lions don't live in the jungle?

Hershey Bar Cake

Man, WOW, that is some amazing hershey bar cake! Don't you wish you had some? Mmmmm... Happy birthday, Riley!

The Kid Who Only Hit Homers

My favorite author when I was a kid was a guy named Matt Christopher. He wrote chapter books about kids playing sports. My favorite book (and one I read maybe a billion times) was a book called The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. When I was watching Little League games today, I saw a friend who reminded me of that book! Derek is a kid I've known since he was 4 years old. He's now 13 and an AMAZING ball player. He lives for baseball! Not only is he incredibly talented at playing the game, but he also has the attitude of a leader. He's a role model that other kids look up to. He is always smiling and laughing, even when he's having a bad game. He constantly supports his teammates by cheering them on and talking to them. He also regularly talks to kids on the other team and praises them if they hit well, caught well, pitched well, etc. He's a great kid to watch.

So he told me yesterday that he hit a homerun at his game last week. Then at his game today, his first time at bat, he had a HUGE hit, one that hit the top pole of the green fence 305 feet away in center field. And this fence is not a low fence. Picture the big green wall at Fenway Park. Picture the fence behind homeplate. It's like that, just out in the outfield. His second time up, he hit a ball over the fence and 100 feet into the cow pasture behind the field...but it was foul. His last time up, he finally did it! A soaring homerun straight over the center field fence! I think that boy can only hit homers!

sad, sad day

What a sad, sad day. So everything was going fine until the ice cream party for Brian. We ate delicious Edy's ice cream (Breyer's wasn't on sale). The kids were all excited and laughing. We invited Brian's best friend, Miguel, over to eat ice cream with us. Miguel is in another 2nd grade class and he has Asperger's. His only friend is Brian and they just adore eachother. Yesterday during math, Miguel said, "I'm so happy! Brian was lying and he's not really moving! I'm so excited because that means I still have my best friend!" Brian just sadly looked down at the floor. So today when we invited Miguel over, I think he finally started to get it that Brian's really moving. We put on the DVD now known as The Brian Movie. Brian was shocked that we had made it (he didn't know about it, and the rest of the class had been sworn to secrecy). He just stared at it, alternating between laughing and being on the verge of tears. Miguel had his arm around Brian the whole time. At the end, Brian said, "That was the most awesome thing I've ever seen!" Then the kids gave him cards they had made. That's when they started losing it. Tears just started pouring out.

When we came back inside from recess, Brian wrote thank you notes for everyone in the class, completely on his own. (This is why everyone loves him. He's everybody's best friend and every day is his favorite day. He just does things like this and always puts others before himself.) Then at the end of the day, he said, "Wait, wait, wait, everybody. I have an announcement to make." He got their attention and said quietly, "Goodbye guys. I'll miss you. And thank you for the cards."

After his bus was called, there were only a few kids left. One of them was his other best friend, Collin. Collin looked sad and he shook his head and said, "Well that's the last time I will see Brian until I sleep." I thought he was confused and said, "Until you sleep?"

Collin said, "Yes...because then I can dream about him."

Brian's Last Day

Today is Brian's last day of school. We're having an ice cream party and watching a short DVD I made on iMovie about Brian during this past year at school. He's such a happy, sweet child. I hope his next teacher can see who he is and who he can become. Today's gonna be a sad day. We'll miss you Brian! :(

More Disney

So I have officially decided that my favorite place on Earth is Disney World. We had so much fun there! This is Elias on the It's a Small World ride. He loved looking at all the children and animals from all over the world!

We rode on the carousel right at the end of the day! Almost every ride he went on, Elias said "Can we ride it again?" I even asked him at the end of the day what his favorite ride was. He said, "The race cars, the movie were stuff comes out, and ALL OF THEM!"

I saw a delightful duck sitting in some flowers, so I took a picture of him for Annhead. There you go, Annhead! He said his name was Kaluia, and that he'd love to meet you the next time you come to Disney.

Elias LOVED driving the race cars! He really got to drive the car too! Emily and I were driving in front of him so he kept speeding up and trying to crash in to us! Then he would laugh and laugh!

We finally ended the day with the Disney Electric Parade! That's my favorite time because everyone's tired and hot and sticky. They're sitting on the curb, waiting, just waiting. And just when you feel like you're at the end of your ability to wait another moment, all the lights go out and the thundering celebration music starts playing. Then the electic parade starts and you see kids faces just light up each time a new float comes around, sprinkled with thousands of tiny lights! When Mickey Mouse went by on his float, Elias had a big smile on his face and he said, "This is the best part!" Man, I love Disney.

Last Day :(

I wonder if I could work for Disney World for the summer. Like would I have to file state taxes in Virginia AND Florida? Because that would be annoying. Would I really have to file state taxes in Florida just for working here? Even if I didn't rent a house (just stayed with my grandparents)?

These are just some of the questions I've been thinking about on my last day in Florida. As I was discussing the answers to these questions (all of which were answered with "I have no idea" by all members of the council), two beautiful blue herons walked across the yard! They try to eat mole crickets in the ground and apparently they always travel in pairs. The discussion ended with "HEY THERE ARE BLUE HERONS! GO GET A PICTURE OF THEM QUICK!!!"

Later in the afternoon I went to some St. Cloud Little League ball games. The park is right next to my grandparents' house. The weird thing was this kid (the one in the picture - named Kyle) was standing next to me, waiting for his game to start, and when he started talking, he sounded just like this kid I know in C'ville named Brady. Brady is an AMAZING ball player - plays travel ball with the older league. So when I heard his voice, I was all confused and I was like, "Brady????" Except it wasn't Brady. It was Kyle. And when I watched him play, he throws like Brady, runs like Brady, etc. I think he's Brady's long-lost twin.

Well my flight leaves at 5 AM, so I'm going to pack... So sad. Maybe I can come back soon...

Grandma and Grandpa

I was able to spend a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa today, talking, telling stories, smelling flowers, writing a story on the computer, and hunting for Disney postcards (which apparently are only sold on Disney property in case you're ever looking for some).

Grandma's flowers are beautiful! Her gardens are so well taken care of and all the blooms are spectacular! We went on a trimming spree and started trimming everything in sight! Grandpa got tired of having to plug and unplug the weed whacker and hedge trimmer every time he moved another 20 feet around the house (the gardens surround the house), so the amazing inventor found an easier way to do it. At 85 years old, he attached an inverter to the tractor which allows him to plug the trimmers directly in to the tractor. Then he just drives the tractor around and trims with the weed whacker as he goes! He even attached a handle to it so he can hook the hedge trimmer to the tractor. Then he doesn't even have to carry it around the yard. AND he inserted a cigarette lighter in to the tractor so that if he ever needs to take an oxygen tank with him when he's mowing, he can plug it in to the tractor!

The funniest thing that happened today was when we drove by Sea World to take a picture of the sign. (Background info: the Sea World sign is located on a busy intersection with no place to stop. If you want a picture, you must take it as you drive by.) We however, did not want a drive-by picture. We wanted a "stand next to the sign and smile" picture. So what did we do? We stopped. We got out. Grandpa and I started taking a picture next to the sign. And Grandma took off in the car. (Background info: Grandma was not supposed to take off in the car. She was supposed to stay in the parked car and wait for us.) So as Grandma drives off into the distance, Grandpa and I are like, "Um, where is she going?" So we start "running" after her. Next we see her backing up back towards us. Then she starts going forward away from us. Then she backs up. Then she goes forward! Grandpa shouted, "DOT! What are you doing????" Finally she stopped and let us get in. We asked her what she was doing and she said she thought she was supposed to turn around to pick us up, but when she tried to turn around she saw it was a one-way road and she was going the wrong way, so she got freaked out and couldn't figure out what to do! I laughed and laughed! We managed to get some pictures though and nobody got hit by oncoming cars!

Disney Day!

Ahhhhh Florida! What a nice warm place in the middle of a crazy, cold spring in Virginia. And how much nicer Florida is with Disney World just minutes away! Today I went to the Magic Kingdom and guess who I saw there! LITTLE ELIAS! He came down for his first visit to Disney World to experience some Disney magic! We had a perfect day...perfect weather, perfect crowd... Elias was the most patient, happy four-year-old I've ever seen! He didn't whine or complain the entire day about lines, heat, sunlight, hunger, exhaustion, or not getting to buy a toy. He just happily waited in every line ALL day long, with no nap (made it all the way to 10:00) and talked about how much he loved all the rides. What a great kid. Well I'm going to sleep because I, for one, am exhausted. Here are some quick pictures... more to come later!

We're all Hokies

In light of what happened at Virginia Tech yesterday, there's an awesome verse that shows how much God cares:

"You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." Psalm 56:8

Every single tear - God's aware of it. There were a lot of tears that fell on pillows last night. It makes me so sad to think that every one of those kids was somebody's son or daughter, somebody's brother or sister, somebody's best friend. This verse always comes back to me...

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

I don't know anybody at Tech, but even if you don't know anyone, we're all Hokies this morning.

Hurricane Baseball

What a great night for a baseball game! Squishy wet fields... hurricane force winds... winter coat temperatures... darkening sky. That's my kind of weather! Except of course when I'm sick. And when I haven't packed yet for Florida tomorrow. And when I haven't written 3 days of sub plans. But except for that... Man what a great game!

I went to see a couple of my middle school kids play at Pen Park field. One I've known since he was in kindergarten. The other I've just known this year. They are great ball players! There was a controversial call at the plate where one of their teammates was called out... but I, of course, had photographed the event and showed everyone that he was clearly safe. Unfortunately the umpires didn't care. In fact if you click on the picture to the left, you can zoom in on the tag and see that the umpire was clearly mistaken. From his vantage point, it possibly, POSSIBLY (I'm not seein it) could have looked like he was tagged...

Their team won - although I can't remember the score. It was hard to see the scoreboard what with it blowing over and all. My hat only blew off 17 times leaving me to chase it through the swampy grass. It didn't seem to affect the kids' playing except for the foul balls that were hit to center field. Seriously. There were like balls popped up to center field that were foul by the time they hit the ground. If you don't know what I'm talking about, try playing baseball during a hurricane. You'll see...

Random Thoughts...Nyquil is making my thought process sketchy

I would like to bring your attention to a few things. First I have adopted a new pet tiger named Matthias. He's very friendly and he wags his tail a lot. If you would like to feed him, just click on the "MO" which is supposed to say "MORE" but the word wouldn't fit. Then a piece of magically delicious red meat pops up and you can take the meat to Matthias. He'll chase you for the meat though, so watch your fingers when you click.

Also did you know there is a festival in Japan which involves Japanese guys riding on a ten-ton fir tree down a steep slope? And there's one in Taiwan where they shoot fireworks INTO the crowd to experience the joy of being pelted with stinging specks of fire. How come America doesn't have awesome festivals like that????

At church today we were talking about what heaven would be like. It sounds really cool - majestic and glorious, exciting and adventurous, but with none of the problems. Do you think there will be a Disney World there? Like how cool would that be...an awesome place like Disney World but with no lines and no admission fees!

My mind is on Mickey Mouse because I'm going to Florida in TWO DAYS!!! I'm going to go to Disney World...hopefully. My financial advisor, a.k.a. the infamous Mr. Braintwain, has encouraged me to not spend any money that I would not have otherwise spent in Charlottesville. Which means, no Disney tickets. But you see, Elias is going to be there... It's his first time... And the cutest kid on Earth in the greatest place on Earth... I can't miss that!

Come join the sick. We have ice cream.

Yes I am sick. Again. I marked it on the calendar this time because for the past four months, I have gotten sick every month almost to the DAY. I can't find anything online about what could be causing monthly colds (other than random people's blogs complaining of the same thing). I know I'm a teacher and I'm surrounded by germs from kids all day long, but there's no other logical reason why I should be getting sick this often.

Vitamins? Check.

Enough sleep? Check.

Eat fruits and vegetables? Check.

Exercise? Check.

Wash hands/use hand sanitizer religiously? Check.

Keep hands away from face? Check.

I even wash the kids' desks off with disinfectant regularly. Who knows.... But if I get sick again in May around the 13th, I'm going to talk to the doctor about it. I'm just sad because I'm going to Florida on Tuesday night to visit my grandparents and I didn't want to be sick for the trip. For now I'm going to eat some ice cream to cool off my throat and my lungs, which feel like they're burning from coughing so much. There's enough ice cream to share, so come on over if you want some...

Bubble Celebration

We have a goal in our class: For everyone in the whole class to do their homework 10 days in a row! Seems simple, right? Um, no. We'd make it to 3 days in a row and then somebody would forget. The most we made it to was 5. We've been trying since BEFORE Christmas! Finally yesterday we hit our goal!!! The kids were so excited!



On Wednesday when we had reached 9 days in a row, Jake stood up and said, "Okay, everyone, you all know what the homework is tonight so there are NO EXCUSES! YOU ALL BETTER DO IT! Even if you're in the hospital, you can still take your homework with you!" I have a rule that there are only two excuses for not doing your homework: either you're in the hospital all night or you're dead. Jake was eliminating even the hospital excuse!



The excitement was building on Thursday as I was going around checking homework. Every few minutes another kid would ask, "Has everyone done it so far? .... How about now? ..... And now?" And then the announcement came, "WE MADE IT TO TEN!!!" Cheers erupted around the room! To celebrate I gave each child a bottle of bubbles and a Reese's peanut butter egg. We went outside on the playground to eat snack and blow bubbles! The kids found a puddle and tried to fill the whole thing with bubbles! It was a great way to celebrate!

All the Reasons to Like a Moose

I think everyone's favorite animal should be a moose for several reasons. First, a moose has the best name of any animal. And saying "mooses" just makes their name even better. Adam definitely was on a creative streak when he was naming the deer family... I can see him now with his arm around Eve pointing at the largest antlered animal on the planet and saying, "See that one, honey? That's a MOOSE. I thought of that one all by myself!"

Second, mooses are huge and powerful, but calm and humble at the same time. On Sunday, Andy Stanley said that power combined with humility is possibly the most powerful thing of all. What could be more powerful AND humble than a moose?

Third, their entire diet is twigs. What other animal eats twigs? They eat like 30 pounds of twigs a day, which calculates out to 3,000 bites of twigs every day. That could easily destroy a forest habitat by eating all the low branches off of trees and uprooting hundreds of populations of spiders, bugs, and worms that require branches, trees, and twigs for their habitat.

Fourth, mooses are brilliant. They DON'T destroy forest habitats because they know when to STOP eating and relocate to another part of the forest, giving the former section time to recover.

Finally, mooses can grow an entire set of exquisite antlers EVERY YEAR. I bet you can't do that. And neither can lions or stingrays or horses or manatees or cats or monkeys or any of your other favorite animals (unless your favorite animal is a deer or a caribou or an elk).

So as you can see, everyone should like a moose best of all. Little E has it right.

Hammy Houdini

Oh and Hammy escaped again today at school. He's averaging once per week now. And he never goes to the same place twice so I know where NOT to look. The kids found him today during word study and guess where he was! He was in a corner of the cubby room eating candy. I mean a TON of candy - like he had collected a whole pile of candy pieces and was sitting there snacking on them, one piece at a time. The kids laughed about it all afternoon saying, "It figures Hammy would be in the cubby room eating candy!" Crazy hamster.