Dishes

I can't wait for a dishwasher.

And yes, those are ALL of my corelle bowls and most of the other bowls.

Ridiculous. Can't wait for a dishwasher. It's gonna be awesome. :)

Adventures of a Substitute Teacher

After my Student Teaching, I was signed up to be a sub in the same district. I've only been hired by my school, but I think that was a good thing for me.

First, I subbed an afternoon for another 1st grade teacher. It was exciting. It's a tough class, so I was tired after that day. When other teachers saw me there, they realized I'm a sub for them, too!

I subbed Kindergarten all day. That was a crazy day. But it was tons of fun! I've learned that you can't really staple yarn to paper and expect it to stay. That needs tape, or a knot and then a staple.

There were two days when the teachers had grade collaboration, so they needed an entire half day off for it. I subbed all of the grades in three days except for kindergarten. It was fun! The hardest class was 4th grade. They are always hard, actually. They were my first half of the day and then, I had 3rd grade. The 3rd grade class earned a movie for the afternoon, so I got to watch Megamind. It was awesome. And I totally earned it with my experience with 4th grade. ;)

Then, I subbed in the same 1st grade class for an entire week. She had to be gone with her husband for medical reasons. So I subbed all week. I loved it! Day one, the hardest kid wasn't there. Day two, he was. He pushed me to my outer limits. At the end of the day, we talked about it and what we would change the next day. I told him I would be tougher and would follow through. I think he believed me. Throughout the week, I did end up sending him to the office, he threw the biggest tantrum I've ever seen, and he gave me a huge hug and said he liked me as a sub. Sometimes, kids make you crazy!!!

Then, I subbed in MY class last Thursday!!! I LOVED It!! We had a blast. Lots of fun! Good memories.

The other 3rd grade teacher asked me to sub for her on Friday and Monday. That was pretty neat because the principal suggested me because I could handle the kids. Turns out, they are REALLY tough. They gave 4th grade a run for their money!! On Friday, one of the kids struggled with me ALL day and at the end, told me he hated me. When J got home, I was moody and stuff, so I broke down and cried when I told him about this boy.

Monday, we learned how to deal with each other, so it went better, but we had an exciting day. Here's the note I got from the student who visited with the principal:

Sorry for saying that bad word that I wasn't supposed to say. I promise I will never say it again because I would get in real bad trouble if I said it at home. So I won't do it again because they would call my mom and I would get in trouble. You should never hear bad words.

Please forgive me, ______

Wow. Yep. I heard the F word. I couldn't believe it. Then, when I told the principal with him right beside me, he said he said "Frickin" hmmmm I could DEFINITELY tell the difference with this one. So she had him stay with her for the afternoon. Wow. I hate when kids get in trouble because I sent them out. I hate it. I feel so bad! but I know that he needed to go. He was trouble for me both days. I think he learned something from it!!

Stay tuned for adventures in PE tomorrow! School ends next week, so that'll be the end of the substitute stories for a while. :)

Easter!

I had a pretty exciting Easter this year! The Curtis family has a tradition they do every year for Easter. The conditions weren't ever right last year, so this was my first time.

1) Dye eggs-by the way, they need to be pretty cool. :)

I like Tyler's grenade egg. :) One of J's is a brain.
I made an orange one with swirls and then one I will show you in better detail soon.

2) Find a hill. Must be steep, smooth with a couple bumps, and easy enough to walk up and down it several times.

3) Climb to the top of said hill and roll eggs from top.

4) Go down and retrieve your egg NOTE: It helps if you watch your egg all the way down. I figured that out later. :)
5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 remembering your previous note. This is the point where they all start to look the same because they're shell-less now. Keep repeating until your egg turns into just the yolk and explodes everywhere.
Then, you can repeat for the other eggs you have! We each got two to roll. This is my second. I really liked making him. He was an angry egg on one side...
And a dead egg on the other (sorry it's blurry)
I loved how it looked when I got it after the first roll. :)

Here's its shell.
This is after losing its shell.
And then here's the yolk! I can't get my videos to work on my computer right now, but I did get a fairly decent video of the yolk exploding from what I could tell on the camera.
It was a fun Easter!

On more of the purpose behind the holiday, I love Easter. It's always a beautiful holiday. It always helps us remember the reason we are so blessed. I would be nothing without the love of my Savior, Jesus Christ. He atoned for me, died for me and was resurrected for me. He went to the lowest of lows so that he could rise above the highest and bring me with Him. I am eternally indebted to Him. Everything I have is because of Him. I know that He lives. I know that he loves me. I know that His gospel is true and if a person follows Him, they will live forever in His presence. He is my Lord.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

I tremble to know that for me he was crucified, that for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine, that he should extend his great love unto such as I, sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt! Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?

No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat, until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me!

Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

"I Hate You."

Worst words in the world.

Worst feeling ever.

The saddest three words anyone could say.

Linda's Birthday

It was my mother-in-law's birthday at the end of April, so we went over for the day. For the first half of the day, we weeded and organized the outdoors. In the afternoon, she went out to dinner with her hubby. While she was gone, J and his little brother went and played video games. I rocked out to disney music while I made an awesome cake!

Chocolate, chocolate frosting, and....
...homemade decorating icing!!
And then I made it in several different colors!
Linda took a decorating class in March, so I used her tools and book to help me figure out what to do. :)
I think I did a great job! I'm not thrilled with my writing, but I've never liked my writing-on paper, on a board, or anywhere...
She liked it. :)
She's such a beautiful woman. I'm so blessed to be a part of her family. She's so full of love and kindness. I know I can always come to her if I need help with something or just someone to talk to.