Tagged

I have, up to this point, failed to respond to any tags I've been given. Hopefully this makes up for all of those. A tag a year keeps the... tag ...monster ....away....or something.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was in my freshman year at college. But exactly 10 years ago I was with Jeff at the Shelley's just hanging out. (Thank you Journal.)

What was I doing 5 years ago?
Zack and I went up with the fam and we cut down our first Christmas tree.

What was I doing 1 year ago?
Zack, Danny, Rachel and I were at the hospital playing games with Jeff. That will probably be one of my most fond memories of Jeff in the hospital (if you can have a fond memory of your brother going through Chemo treatments). We played "Malarky", "Masterpiece", and "Family Feud" where Danny tried to cheat by using the made-up word "stupendous." Silly Danny. Everybody knows that "stupendous" isn't a real word.
We laughed so hard that we cried. It was nice to see the old Jeff again.

What was I doing yesterday?
Driving home from the cabin with Zack and the puppies and stopping by my parents for dinner. Mmmm Sunday roaast.

5 Snacks I enjoy
Craisins, sunflower seeds, Cache Valley string cheese (everything else is just CRAP), bananas, cookies. Cookies count as snacks!

5 things I would do if I had a million dollars
I'll let you know when it happens. But rest assured, I'm already thinking about that terrifying possibility.

5 Places I would run away to
The Cabin. Mom and Dad's house. Mike and Jodie's house. Kim's house. Danny and Rachel's house...I mean piece of land... They would all take care of me if I decided to run away. And then they'd call Zack to tell him where I was so he could come get me. What a sweetheart. :) (Don't worry, Zack. I'll never run away from you. Ever. I'm just a little too dependent on you.)

5 T.V. Shows I Like
The Office, Scrubs, King of Queens, Today's Special and The Polka-Dot Door.

5 Things I Hate Doing
Folding socks, staying up so late that my stomach hurts, washing walls, making people feel bad, going back to work after a long vacation.

5 biggest joys of the moment
Zack, My family, My friends, Zack, My family.

I'll tag (you knew it was coming didn't you?) Allie, D'Nell, Shannon, Sharlene, and Angie (if she feels like writing about herself instead of books. I'm okay either way. :) )

Creative Minds With Turkey Time

If you have a child who is or ever was in elementary school, inevitably you have some sort of home-made holiday decoration they made in school. I'd almost bet money that at least one of those decorations is made out of construction paper and glue. I'd bet even more money that one of those decorations is made out of a cut-out of your child's hand. Am I right?

As a first grade teacher, I feel it is my DUTY to carry on the holiday hand-decoration tradition. I'm even considering making a hand-decoration for every month of the school year, I'm THAT dedicated to the cause. Last month we made bats. This month.....

we made turkeys:

Aren't they just too cute? I pretty much just let my kids go with their own creative imaginations when it comes to doing art projects. I do give directions and I walk around and give help and ideas, but when I see a child doing something that isn't perfect I don't step in and change it for them. I think the way a child does artwork shows a lot about who they are and where they are in that stage of life. With these turkeys I did try and make sure they glued the hands (aka. feathers) on correctly. When we were all finished and the glue was dry, I realized I didn't quite get to all of them which is why a few turkeys looked like this:

Personally, I think this one is aaaaawesome.

This little guys is apparently using his feathers as some sort of hide-out.

And then there's always that one. I think I'll call this one "The Ghost of Thanksgiving Present".

Cat Food

Have you ever had one of those really good conversations with some people where everyone is excited and talking and happy and you're all talking about something interesting where everyone has something to say and everyone shares a common viewpoint and you just feel accepted and loved and like anything you say to these people will be accepted and loved as well? And in the middle of it all you feel like you can tell these people almost anything and they will understand you so you blurt out some comment like "Sometimes I eat cat food..."

...and they all stop talking and stare at you and you realize maaaaybe I should have kept that part of my life hidden, or better yet, maybe that's not something I should have been doing in the first place?

Well, I haven't. But one of my students had that moment yesterday.

Sometimes EVERYthing Is Funny

My classroom isn't the most quiet, most structured room in the school. I just don't like being the dictator that demands silence when the kids work (unless it's necessary). I don't like robot kids that only do what they're told (most of the time). That means sometimes my room is a little noisy. I think it's healthy for kids to talk while they work, as long as it doesn't keep them from DOING their work.
Today my kids were working on a sequencing activity. We were making pictures of the sequence of lunchtime. For those of you who have forgotten what grade school lunch is like, the sequencing went like this: First, we line up. Then, we get our trays and eat lunch. Last, we go outside to play.
My kids were busily illustrating the lunchroom scene. There was the usual amount of talking. One table in particular, however, was doing more than talking. They were practically in tears, laughing. Another group of kids noticed that table of kids laughing and one of them said, "What are you guys laughing at?" One of the laughing kids, amidst his laughter, said, "We're saying funny stuff!"

I moved a little closer so I could hear what was soooo funny.

Here's what I heard.

"Dr. Phillin!" (Waaaa ha ha ha!)
"Bolden black hair!" (More peals of laugher.)
"Brown armpits!" (AHHHH HA HA HA HA!!)
"Brown pears!" (They were practically on the floor.)
"Brown belly button!" (This one nearly sent them over the edge. I wasn't sure if they were going to make it.)
"Dr. Enwald!" (I apologize to any Dr. Enwald's out there. Apparently your name is hilarious.)

Ah, those were the days. When a single word could send you into fits of laughter. I'm glad those days aren't only reserved for 6 year olds.

As Long As It Has a Time Limit

Tonight I needed to mop the floor and do other various cleany things around my house. I'll admit, I'm a staller. If I can find a reasonable reason not to clean, I'll probably do it. (Reasonable reasons include "I don't have enough time to clean what I REALLY want to clean so I might as well not do anything", "we're taking the dogs up to the mountains and they'll get the house dirty so we might as well wait until we get back", "I'll do it on Saturday when I have all day", "I'm tired", and "I don't feel like it".)
But tonight I couldn't think of anything else to do. I really needed to give my floor another smell other than it's current smell of "I have two dogs". I didn't want to clean. I wanted to be lazy. So I had to resort to the method my mature self uses to get my lazy, immature self to do anything: I gave myself a time limit. I said, "I'll just clean everything I can for 20 minutes and then I can stop." When I do this I usually end up cleaning for at least an hour. I know this fact when I give myself the time limit. I just need a jump start. I need an out in case after 20 minutes I'm still not in the mood to clean.

Tonight worked like most other nights. I ended up cleaning until I HAD to stop and go to a family thing (Family night where my favorite quote of the night was: Dad: "And who gives us the gift of the Holy Ghost?" Answer from the almost two-year old: "ME!")

Why do I need a time limit? I think it has something to do with the bad thing having an end. As I was cleaning, I started thinking about other things I "endure" because I know there's a time limit. Being alone. Pulling weeds. Parent/Teacher Conferences. Uncomfortable parties where I don't know anyone. Missing family members. Cars broken down on the freeway (I honestly tell myself "This will be over a week from now. Somehow this will have all been taken care of a week from now...")

Come to think of it, a lot of my happiness is based on the hope that all bad things will eventually go away. And that has it's base in faith and trust- good companions when you're going through a tough time. Somehow they can even help us feel happiness in the midst of the unhappiness.

Spontaneous Crayon Propulsion

In high school, my brother and I thought it was funny to yell "spontaneous propulsion!" and then smack somebody. It's the act of something being propelled, spontaneously, against our will. Obviously. It was science. Who can control science?

I never knew that this theory would come back to haunt me years later.

The other day I had my class working on a project. As many projects in first grade do, this one involved crayons. During the project a student came up to me claiming that someone, we'll call him "Treven", threw a crayon at her. When I looked across the room at Treven he immediately said, "She's lying! I didn't do anything!". That's my favorite line. All I hear is "It was MEEE!"
His guilt was also compounded by the fact that three other students from his table were all pointing at him and saying things like "He threw it. " and "I saw him do it.".

When "Treven" continued to contest his innocence I humored him by asking, "If you really didn't do it, then how did that yellow crayon get clear over to the other table?" You know, he could have said something simple like, "I don't know" or something clever like "That's not my crayon." But no. The quick-thinking child said, "I was just sitting here, looking at those other guys (his malicious accusers), when a crayon just flew over my shoulder and hit her."

And there we have it. Who can argue with science? Spontaneous propulsion strikes again!

In My Dreams

Zack and I "talk" to each other at work via AIM Express. In other words, AOL. It's the only thing the school district's computer system will allow. It blocks every other form of instant messaging. MSN, Google Chat, you name it. But not AOL. That little demon somehow makes it's way onto every computer and then infests itself deep inside the recesses of the computer's mind, never to be deleted. Which is why we don't have AOL installed on our home computers. But demon virus-like software that allows me to communicate with my hubby is quite nice on my computer at work.

Anyway, that's how we communicate because I do not have a cell phone, nor do I have a phone in my classroom. (That's a whole 'nother issue.)

It's nice to chat with Zack when the kids are at recess, or when they're at computers or music or P. E. and such. It's also nice to type in messages at random times of the day, knowing Zack will get them the next time he's around his computer. It's also nice to get random messages from him while the kids are practicing their hand-writing or doing some other thing they can do without constant teacher surveillance (which is not much).

This afternoon, as I was getting ready to go home, I typed a message to Zack that went something like this:

"i'm going home now. i don't know what to have for dinner. my current thoughts are: strawberry and whipped cream crepes (in my dreams), breakfast for dinner, tuna casserole....um, i can't think of anything else. my mind is blank."

Then, after writing the traditional "kso kso's" I logged off and went home. Zack got home about 5 minutes after I did...with strawberries and whipped cream.

I really didn't expect him to go get that stuff for dinner. It was just wishful thinking.

What a sweetheart. In his words, "If I have the chance to make your dreams come true, I'm going to jump at it."

The crepes were delicious.

(By the way, this is not a really nutritious meal. If we had kids I'd totally throw a plate of broccoli in there...or something. )