Gobble, Gobble!

This is my favorite project we have done so far. Each child got a feather to paint.



Then we put them together to make this turkey! I love how great it looks!
And notice the hand turkey's around them? I am not huge on "crafts" but this was too cute to miss!

We also put these turkey's on our Thanksgiving Cookbooks. First, Mrs. Clark sat down with each student and asked them what their favorite Thanksgiving food is. She then asked them how to make it and to draw a picture of it. We used these very creative recipes to create the cookbooks. We made a copy for each child and the cover of their book has their name and their handprint on it. Here are a few samples:

CHEESE PIZZA
Mix together bread stuff with yellow stuff in a pan. Then you put it in the oven on 1 degree for 4 hours. When it is done you top it with marshmallows and chocolate candy. Then you eat it!

TURKEY
Catch the turkey and put m&m candy and Spongebob Squarepants fruit snacks on it. Then you put it in the microwave on high temperature for 6 minutes. Then you eat it!

CORN
Mix yellow paint and that is it. Put it in a pan and cook it on the stove on medium heat for 10 minutes. Then you eat it!

YELLOW JELLO
Mix together yellow mashed potatoes, yellow bananas, sugar and flour. Stir it together and cook it in the microwave on high heat for 50 minutes. When it is done put pizza on top and eat it!

I will be doing this project every year. It is so much fun!

In our life: we have moved into our home. We signed our life away on our mortage and it is officially our home now. We have been there for two weeks now. We had great friends that helped us move and even had a slumber party that first night.

Teaching

Today was a good day. Let me tell you why.


It was "free centers". This is a time that I allow them to choose what activity they do. (I would let them do this most of the day, but our school has certain requirements that do not allow this). They can move around the room as the please. Of course, as long as they are being safe and kind to their friends. I watched as they were all engaged. Everyone of them was working on a task that they enjoy. Those are the days that I LOVE my job. I watched them work, play and laugh together. I watched them being creative and incredibly focused on their work. They were smiling and enjoying themselves.


Had my principal walked in, she probably would have thought they were simply "playing". Oh no! They were learning so much in this time. This age group learns best through play, I wish more peopled could see this.


She is learning to express herself through art, to concentrate on a task and what happens when colors mix together.
She is learning her alphabet through a puzzle. She is learning the order of the alphabet and how to solve problems.

She is learning to have confidence in herself. She said to me, "Mrs. Meryhew, I did it!"

They are learning to work together, what happens when you stack too many blocks up and a little bit about gravity and balancing things.


And he is learning that he is loved by someone. Sometimes, that is the most important thing I can teach.

I am in love with my job in my classroom. I love these kids and helping them learn to read, write, think, solve problems, make good decisions, understand math, computers and science. But I loathe the politics that run through this school. We are on pins and needles about what we say and who we say it to. Some people will run and tattle at the smallest, unimportant thing. This staff doesn't trust each other because we don't want to get written up for simply venting about our day or making a silly joke to the wrong person.

My ability to be a great teacher and love these kids is stifled because I am not given all the information. I had a student in the hospital and one with family issues. Both were gone from school and I simply thought they were sick. I found out the details through the grapevine two days later. I should be told as soon as it is known to the administration so that I can support them and love on them.

Even my time teaching is taken away by things like paperwork and required programs that I don't believe are developmentally appropriate for my kids. Our counselor is required to have 1.5 hours of lunch duty everyday because it is just more helpful to have more hands in the cafeteria. Forget that she has other responsibilities!

I wish that I could simply focus on my job rather than everything else thrown in. I wonder if it is like this at every school?

Almost....

There it is! Our almost finished house. I will post inside pictures when it has our things in. All we have left is our final walk through tomorrow. We will walk through with the builder and point out things that we think need to be fixed. Then they fix them and then we close! It is so soon!

Life has been pretty good lately. We got to spend last weekend in Tahlequah for NSU's homecoming. It was nice to catch up with Bob and Deb, Danielle and Mike, other students from the BCM and our old church family. The best part was enjoying our favorite food places. I will never find a pizza place as fantastic as Sam and Ella's!

Jake's birthday was last Friday. We just went out to eat together and spent time with family over the weekend. We went to Hallowzooween with Trysten and the family. It wasn't fantastic. It was just us wandering around in the dark for candy. I was sad that all the buildings were closed and we couldn't see any animals.

Teacher is fantastic. It of course has it's days (like today) but I really enjoy it. Pre-k is a lot of fun. We spent the last two weeks on pumpkins and Halloween. We did all kinds of things with pumpkins. We measured them, touched them, played with them, drew on them, cut them open, smelled and touched the inside, ate the seeds and carved pumpkins. It was a blast. In fact this week seems a little boring compared to all that fun.

I am not feeling so hot lately. I hope I am not coming down with anything. I hope you are well!

House Update

I have had several requests for updated home photos. I am sorry it has taken so long. We don't have a camera so we have to borrow. That is trickier than we thought it would be.

The front of our house. The shutters on that front window will be painted a deep red.

The south side of our house.

The North side of our house.

The east side of our house (the back).

A look at our front porch. The door will be painted a deep red.

Our front porch light. Just installed today :)

This is our doorbell! I rang it for the first time today!

Our front door and entry way.The window and light above our entry way. I love this part :)

The left of our kitchen/dining from the living room. That is an island in the center.

The right of our kitchen/dining room from the living. Our table will go in that big, empty space.

A close up on the left side. Look at all those cabinets! And that door is a pantry.

Closer view. The fridge will go in that big empty space (the didn't have any in stock for us).

A close up of the island. That is the dishwasher to the right of the sink.

My living room from the kitchen. The door on the left is our master bedroom.

A look at all the pretty windows in our living room. They are east facing. So, the hot sun will not be in our living room all day! A close-up of the fireplace. It is gas and wood burning. Laundry room. That is a sink in the right corner.

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom. The door closest to the tub is our closet. The open door is the private toilet. There is another door for the linen closet and I am just realizing that I did not take a picture of the shower.

Vanity in master bathroom. That is two sinks and plenty of drawers. :)
My bathtub. Jake says this is the only reason I wanted to build this house. :)

Private toilet in master bath.
Linen clost in the master bath.

The LEFT side of the master closet. (There is more on the left of this picture that I couldn't fit in.)

The RIGHT side of the master closet.

Other bathroom for guests and way future children.

Bed Room #1. This will be our office for awhile until we need a 3rd bedroom.
Bedroom #1 closet

Bed Room #2. We will just close this one up until we need a second bedroom :)

(A couple of years still!)

Bed room #2 closet
Garage: Standard two car garage.

That's all folks!

Wow!

Man, it has been a long time since I actually updated everyone. What have I been up to?

Teaching is going fantastically! Well, most days anyway. Yesterday was a bad day. I had a little girl just have a complete melt down. The other teacher had to take her for awhile just to give me a break. But she had a good day today. I have most of my routine and procedures in place, it is just figuring out what to teach and how. Then what to assess and how. I have learned that it is very easy to just let them play without really helping them learn. I have had to stop myself a few times and remember to put their best interest at heart. I have also learned that this job is not always rewarding but when the thank yous and hugs come, it is all worth it. And, I love to see them trying their hardest and engaged in a learning task.

I joined a bible study last week. It is called Bible Study Foundations (BSF). This is an international, nondenominational group with bible studies in 30 countries, including China, Japan and Uganda. It is a very in depth study. All the groups in the world are all studying the chapter of John this school year. I think it is going to challenge me and I am excited about that!

My house looks like a house! I need to take another picture for you guys. The outside is almost finished. I have walls, plumbing and a fireplace. The further it goes, the more excited I get. I can't wait to move in and make it my own!

I got to go to an OSU game last weekend with my mom. I used to go all the time with old friends of mine. It was nice to be back there. I forgot how much fun it is to be a part of a crowd and cheering for the same goal. It was not fun that it rained and we lost, but still it was a great experience! Not to mention, it was great to spend the day with my mom. I was surprised at how much she knows about football.

That's about all I have to say. I will try to update sooner next time. :)

HELP FUND MY CLASSROOM!

YOU SIP AND KIDS LEARN!

Here's the deal! You go to Sonic and buy any size drink, anytime of the day (even happy hour). Enjoy your drink and then take the code from the cup and click the above link to vote for my classroom project. If I get enough votes, Sonic will fund my classroom project. And if you are feeling EXTRA generous, you can help fund my classroom by donating a few dollars of your own.
So, go enjoy a Sonic drink! You know you want to!

I am a REAL Teacher!

So, my first day with my kids was on Monday. The day went much better than I thought it would. I only had 2 criers! It was much harder to get them to sit and listen than I thought it would be. I also blanked several times throughout the day and would completely forget to do certain activities or not explain something well. It is definitely a learning process. I am still trying to get my classroom in a working order that works for my students, assistant and me.

I have already fallen in love with my kids! I have a few handfuls. C likes to think the schedule should go as she wants it. She will cry and pout if she can't have a turn on the computer or it isn't her day to be the leader. D is something else. I am pretty sure he has ADHD. He won't sit still for more than 1.5 minutes. No joke! And I am not trying to making them sit for long or anything crazy like that. I just want him to listen to one picture book or sit long enough to finish his snack! He definitely keeps me on my toes. S is a special little girl. She had brain trauma as a baby and is definitely behind. She is such a sweet heart though. This week has been a lot of playing games, singing songs and doing free centers (blocks, pretend center, puzzles, etc.) We will start with the heavy stuff next week. Hopefully we will have procedures down a lot better by then.

I never really realized just how hard this job is. Especially when you are just trying to get them to walk in a line! How in the world do you teach that? I just thought everyone was born knowing it. LOL. Oh the fun I am having. I am enjoying it and if it stays this crazy, I will lose some weight. I haven't had time to finish my meal all week.

In other news: I went to a Hillsong concert last night with Sierra. Jake knew we wanted to go and entered to win us tickets on Air 1 (a national Christian radio station). And he won! That was a major blessing. We wanted to go but the tickets were $45. We had such a great time. I was fantastic to be in a room of believers all singing to Dad! I enjoyed just watching the raised hands and people praising with all their hearts! Not to mention how great it felt to be in true worship again. It is hard for me to feel that in my Sunday services here. Sierra and I talked about how we didn't realize how great the BCM worship was until we didn't have it anymore. We were "lost in worship" as Sierra put it.

Sorry it took me so long to update. My life seems so crazy these days. To close here are a few pics of my kids

Lies!

So, in my quest to have a relationship with Dad again, The Enemy is at his usual antics. In the back of my head I can hear things like:

• This is only going to last a few weeks and then you will quit again, so why even try?
• You haven't even done the right thing to get back to Dad yet anyway. So why are you wasting your time?
• But that other book you are reading is so much more interesting.
• Going to sleep instead of reading the Word would make you feel better.
• Is learning about Him really going to help you?

Now, I know all of the answers and replies to these things. I know that they aren't true and they are silly tries to bring me down. But I just wish they would go away. My thoughts are that they are proof of how childlike my relationship is at this point. I think that as I continue you in that those will go away. Of course, then his attempts might get worse. But Dad won't give me any more than I can handle!

Trying to Get Back

First, let me show you some pictures of how our house building is going...

I took these yesterday. It looks like they are about to pour the foundation. Here is the front.

Here it is close up. I can only tell you a little about what is going on. The wood is the frame for the concrete. The white you see is a tarp that is covering lots of dirt. The black lines that make a grid are cables that help make sure the foundation is good and sturdy. And the black things standing up are the pipes for plumbing and electrical.

This is our backyard. It dips off into a creek.

Last week we went and picked out things for our home. We picked out: carpet color, stained concrete color, the brick (black and reds), the siding color (a light yellow), the front door color (red), cabinets style and color, and indoor paint and trim. All we have left is lighting and appliances. Picking out things for a house is very tricky. You have to pick it out so fast and you are hoping the whole time that it all goes together. I never realized how many choices there are in building a home! I can't wait to see it all done.

The school year is fast approaching. I only have one week left of daycamp and then I have a week free until I have to report to the school. I will spend that free week, working on my classroom and getting as much done as I can to make it look nice, organized and functional. I am getting nervous and excited all at once. We have our first faculty meeting tomorrow from 9-2pm. It will be nice to see everyone again and plan for the year. I hope I am a good pre-k teacher!

Ok, down to business. Since, I have graduated and left the BCM and supportive Bob and Deb behind, I have been finding myself drifting from God. Not in any horrible way, I was still going to church and making the major decisions that I should. But not the little decisions, like truly trying to learn from the service and our Sunday school lessons, or spending time with him daily, or showing His love to others in as many ways as possible. (Ok, so those are horrible things to miss.) I was in what you call a 'rut'. It was starting to show in my attitude and in my marriage. Again, not in any major way, just little things. I have been quick to think of myself first, be snappy towards him, and just not feel so close to my husband. Before we got married, I never realized how much my relationship with God would reflect in my marriage. Our marriage is at its best when we are putting God first. I have known for awhile that I needed to get back on my feet but I was waiting. Waiting for what you ask? I dunno, some major break down or sign from God, some major problem in my life to bring me spiraling back to him, some great speaker or song that snaps me back in place. But after some prodding from God and watching my best friend get back on her feet, I realized that all I was waiting on was myself. I needed to make a decision to live for God on a daily basis because I want to and for no other reason. As I type this, I realize how simple that all is. Why did it take me so long?

So, in short, please pray that I will begin to live for God as an adult married woman, not some college girl with people to make sure she is doing her quiet times.

Jaclyn: I hope you enjoy your time with him. :)

Darla: I am glad you are settling in well. I hope you figure out the bus systems soon. You are so brave for traveling in a foreign place like that.

Wicked

Wicked was amazing! We had great seats, 10 rows from the stage. It felt like we were right there with them. It had great music and was just funny! 

I got all dolled up, after Jake questioned why it was taking so long, then we went downtown to eat. We ate at a little mexican restaurant, El Guapos, it was very tasty. Then headed to the show. I was worried that Jake wouldn't like it. But he thought it was "brilliant." I think this was a good show to introduce him to musicals. Hopefully, he will take me to more of them! We also ran into Cody and Breanna there. They also enjoyed it. 

I have spent the week at a workshop called Great Expectations. It's for teachers. It was good, a little boring at times, but good information to know. 

Anticipation...

For my birthday and our anniversary, Jake bought us tickets to see the Broadway Musical Wicked. The musical tells the story of what happened before Dorothy dropped in. It is the tale of what made the Wicked Witch so wicked. It was originally a novel by Gregory McGuire and they took it and made a musical. I have read the book and heard the soundtrack. I am super excited to go and see this. I LOVE all performing arts, especially musicals. Our seats are fantastic! Seven rows from the orchestra.

And for this special occasion, I got a new dress...

And shoes....
This is the first time that I have wanted to get so dressed up since our wedding. It is really nice to have a special occasion to look forward to. I hope we get more of these opportunities in the future.

Jake's Foot

So, I realized that I never posted about Jake's foot. Let me tell you a little story:

Mabe and Toni had come over to visit on a Friday evening. We wanted to do something. It was between ice cream and bowling. Mabe and I wanted ice cream and Toni and Jake wanted to go bowling. Eventually, Mabe and I caved and we went bowling at Andy B's in Jenks. We got our shoes and programed our names in and started bowling. As Jake threw the ball for the first time, he sort of twisted his left foot onto the side but kept bowling. After two more frames he began to talk about how much the top of his foot was hurting, he even said that he might have to go to the hospital. Well, needless to say, I was skeptical. Jake is kind of a big baby when it comes to these things, and it often turns out to not be so bad in the end. I told him to see how it felt in a little bit, and to quit bowling and elevate his foot. So the rest of us finished our game and headed home. By this time he wasn't able to put weight on his foot. I told him to ice it and we would see how it felt in the morning.

Ok, before you think I am a horrible person, let me explain myself to you. Once, when we were still dating, I got a phone call from Jake at 4:30 in the morning. He had been getting sick all evening and was convinced that he needed to go to the ER. Being the sweet girlfriend I was, I took him. After three hours and one missed class later, the doctor told him his stomach was just empty and the acid in his stomach was giving him cramps. He gave him an antacid and told him to go to bed and try to eat something after a few hours. Ever since, I have been skeptical of his need to go to the ER often. Not only was I thinking it wasn't so bad, I was also worried about money. I didn't want to have to pay hundreds of dollars for the doctor to tell us it was a sprained muscle.

Back to the story: It wasn't feeling better the next day, so he called in and we decided to wait it out a little longer. He iced it and kept taking ibuprofen. At this point, it was only hurting him when he put weight on it. After there had been no progress on Saturday night, we decided we would go to urgent care on Sunday morning. The doctor did an x-ray and sure enough, the bone leading to his pinky toe was fractured. They put him in a boot and told him not to work.

So, he went 6 weeks without working. He got very bored but enjoyed his time off. Except of course, the fact that he wasn't getting paide. He finally went back to the doctor this past Thursday and he said it was healing fine, that he could go back to a shoe and return to work. Needless to say, this was a big relief for us to get him back working and having something to do during the day!

Praise God that we are just now having a crunch with our money. But Jake will get paid in two weeks and it will all be back to normal. I love how God will provide in times like this.

As You Wish...

Sorry I haven't been updating much. It was easier during the school year when I got online everyday. 

My last update tells you that we were thinking of building a home. Well, after looking at what houses were on the market and finding nothing at all close to what we want, we went for it. We signed a contract to build a home. We are building a three bedroom, two bath, two care garage,  1700 square feet home. With a nice sized yard, jacuzzi bath tub and private toilet in the master bathroom.  I am a little nervous, a house is a lot of money and a big commitment. But very excited! The nice thing is, that if something were to happen and we needed out of the contract, they would let us get out. That is only because we are building in a housing addition and they will always be able to sell it to someone else. The builder has been super helpful, given us great deals and kept us up to date on everything.

Here is a picture of us in front of our sold sign. (Even though we actually haven't paid anything yet)

Here is what our lot looks like. Without the house of course :)

I am spending my days working at the Daycamp at FBC Tulsa. I work with the kindergarten class. They keep me busy. It is a lot less structured than school, so that was hard to get used to. We go to the pool and the park twice a week and a special trip once a week. So, we are out of the building everyday. 

I have been busy making things for my classroom. I know it will be a crazy year, so the more I get done now, the better I think it will be. I am very excited and nervous. (There seem to be a lot of things in my life to be nervous about these days, lol.) 

I have also been reading a lot. Lately, it's been the Harry Potter Series. I am on book 6 out of 7 these days. I have been reading a book and then watching the movie. I wanted to get ready for the new movie. Next, it will be The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Wicked. That is to get ready to musical Wicked (super excited about this). 

Jake and I celebrated our one year anniversary and we are still making it! 

Big Kid Decisions

So, I am going to dump a lot of stuff in here. I need to process this and writing helps me do it!

A few weeks ago Jake and I started looking at houses for sale. We don't plan to actually move until Novemeber/December but is way fun to look. (We are looking for a forever home. A house we can raise our kids in.) In the process Jerad and Sierra told us of this housing addition in Sand Springs. You pick a plot, a floor plan and build! We began to check out floor plans and toy with the idea. Then we went last Saturday just to talk to see a model home and get some questions answered.

Man did that get our minds working! This is a virtual tour of close to what we like.

There are great advantages to building:

• Everything is new.
• Everything is how you want it. There is little changing stuff to what you like (Which costs more money.)
• No dealing with inspections.
• You can design the home and then pay for it when it is finished. Nice! That would be perfect timing for us. (It takes 4-5 months to build). You close on the house when it is completely built.

Then there are advantages to buying a home:

• It is cheaper.
• You can slowly change things as you can afford them.

We see that both options can be good. But here's the issue. The government is doing this great thing and is giving first-time home buyers $8,000 when they buy a home. We don't want to pass that up. The deadline for this is December 1, 2008. You have to have closed on the house on December 1st! If we want to build, we need to start soon in order to close on the house by that day. BUT there is always the chance that our perfect home is waiting for us to buy it for cheaper than it would cost us to build.

Scenario: We go look at the houses on the market to decide now whether to build or buy. Ok, we find our perfect home for cheaper. So, we decide not to build and wait to get this house. We wait until we are ready to purchase the house (4-5 months from now). But we find out the house is no longer on the market. So, we look for another house. No perfect houses and we have missed the chance to build in time to get the $8,000.

Boo!

Being a big kid is way harder than I thought it would be!

Congratuations Danielle B!

I don't have the internet at my apartment so I hadn't checked since school on Friday. But I just got on facebook and saw a few congrats on your facebook and I started flipping out. When I got to your blogspot and saw that you had her, I started to cry right in the library. I am so happy for you. For as long as I have known you, I knew you would be a great mom. I was heart broken for you everytime you lost a baby, knowing that God created you to be a mom. I am so excited that you finally get your chance! I am praying that everything went well and that you heal quickly. I hope you post more information soon. Like how was your labor and how did Jacob react to her? And pictures, I want to see pictures. Enjoy your little blessing!

WooHoo!

Two days ago, my principal, a teachers assistant and the pre-k teacher leaving interviewed me for the pre-k job opening up at Jane Addams next year. After the interview, the principal told me she would let me know by the end of the week. The gossip around the school is that they didn't like the only other girl they interviewed. Teachers everywhere were whispering to me in the halls, "I told Mrs. Armstrong (the principal) that I really like you." It felt like I was being campaigned for! It was nice to have the approval of my peers.

I was waiting in major anticipation! This morning Mrs. Armstrong asked to talk to me on my plan period. I was sad, because my plan is at the end of the day. More waiting! About twenty minutes ago, I stepped into the hall to hang student work just as she passed by. She turned around, came to me and said, "Get ready for pre-k, you are the new teacher."

I HAVE A JOB! At a school that I know, with teachers and administration I know! Praise God! I am soooo excited! Not to mention, relieved.

Buh!

So, for science we are learning about space for the rest of the year. I just started the unit today. I want to cover every aspect we can. Well, today was the first day. We talked about the universe. Of course, the question is, who created the universe? I wanted to talk about the different views of my students and the world. I presented it in an even way, not showing my beliefs. We talked about how we don't know the actual truth and how people have different views and that is ok. Then we took a poll of the class and made a pie chart of the smartboard. Just as I am wrapping it up, my principal walks in and just checks my class out. So, she didn't get to see how I was very politically correct and did it an a good way, she just sees that I am talking about how most people in the classroom believed the universe was created by one God. So, I don't know if she is thinking I am trying to be crazy and teach religion to my students or if she knows I wouldn't do that. I want a job from her or at least a reccomendation! I am going crazy! I need to talk to her on my plan.

In His Hands

On Thursday, the Cypress String Quartet from San Francisco invited all the elementary schools to see them play. Jane Addams loaded their 2nd-5th graders onto buses to go. My principal, Sheila Armstrong, sat down behind me and started chatting up with the other teachers and I. She then turns to me and asks if I want an interview for her school. I, of course, say yes. So, she started to interview me right there on the bus! She says she may have a pre-k position opening. That was encouraging.

Today I went to a job fair for Tulsa Public Schools. They had principals from every school there taking resumes and giving short interviews. I went hoping to find a job or get several interviews lined up at least. So, I made my rounds. School after school was not hiring, didn't know what positions were opening up or were having to cut several teachers already. However, lots of them took my resume telling me they always seem to need someone in the summer. Needless to say, it was not very encouraging.

I feel that I have done just about everything I can in order to get myself a job. Now, I am handing it to God. I honestly don't believe that after 16 years of giving me an immense passion and desire to be a teacher, He would put me in any other occupation. I know without a doubt that I am meant to teach young children. I hope He is holding out for the perfect job in a wonderful and supporting school. But there is always the chance He is holding out for the perfect job in a school torn apart from drama and an nonsupporting administration. Either way, I know he has a plan for me. My prayer is that I only get an offer from His perfectly selected school. That way, I don't have to deal with making a decision. I hate decisions!

I JUST WANT A JOB!

Blessings!

In my last post I rambled on about being a sub and how the job is not so fun. Previous to the random sub jobs I was complaining about, I had the privilege to sub for a woman on maternity at Jane Addams Elementary in west Tulsa. It was fantastic to get to spend 8 weeks with the same kids, getting to know them and the faculty. I was very said when she returned and I had to hand the class back over. Well, after only two weeks of random subbing, Jane Addams told me that the other 5th grade teacher has left and wanted to know if I wanted the job for the rest of the year. Without hesitation I agreed! I was ecstatic to go back to my kids. So, here we are in the computer lab. I am trying to keep these stinkers quiet and focused on their task, not so easy! I have decided that if I can handle these crazy 5th graders, I can handle anything!

I just spent the entire weekend with family. We spent Friday night with Jake's family. Now, we are over there at least twice a week. Jake has two other brothers. One with a wife and a totally cute almost two year old boy, Trysten. The focus of everyone while at Papa's and Mimi's is this little boy. On Friday, we decided to fly the fish kite that Trysten got for Easter. It was hilarious watching all the boys try to get the kite in the air. They were running up and down the street with everyone yelling commands "run faster" "watch out for the tree" "let out the string". Trysten decided that since everyone else was yelling, he should too. He would just yell and scream, no real words just making noise. I guess he thought that yelling was part of kite flying.

On Saturday we went to my mom's and played a good 'ol game of Life. (Time out for biographical tidbit - My mom has a girlfriend named Christa. They have been together for 10 years. Christa's family has become a part of my family, it's just a part of my life.) Well, on Sunday, we went to the zoo for Christa's niece's birthday. Apparently she had to make sure that Jake was going to be there. Not me, whom she has known since birth, but my husband of less of one year. Needless to say we had a blast. Even though we were the only couple without kids, we ended up carrying kids more often than not. It's fun to be able to enjoy them for the day and then hand them back over!

Five More Months

Despite my dislike of these subbing jobs, I must admit it is a good experience for me. I now know the importance of leaving lesson plans, descriptions of classroom procedures, information on which kid is the one to watch out for. I also have learned that you should be absent as seldom as possible. These kids learn little and play a lot when there is a sub. No matter how well behaved they are for their teacher, they will inevitably 'act a fool' for another adult. It is also good for me to see all the different things that these teachers use in the classroom. It helps me get great ideas of what to do and not to do.

But I am so ready for my own classroom. I know it will be hard and trying my first year, but darnit, I have earned the right to teach my own classroom! I have wanted and worked to be a teacher since kindergarten. That is 16 years of dreaming, learning, working, brainstorming and gaining experiences to be the best teacher possible.

I guess five more months won't hurt me too much.

Tricia Needs

Haha I am bored on lunch. Here is a fun thing I found on Valerie's blog. You put "your name and needs" in google and look what it says. Here are my results.

1. "Tricia needs more prayers please!!" - Haha who doesn't?

2. "Well, my friend Tricia needs major help! Her dad drinks all the time." - I won't even comment on this one!

3. "Tricia needs a captain with ferry, so she can.. get across that pond of hers without getting her feet wet when going to that Bushy Park of hers!" - what?

4. Tricia needs to burn those tarot cards. They are very evil and will guide her the wrong way.

5. Tricia needs to get a lawyer and see how much she can get from the old man.

6. Tricia needs your final payment by Monday. - Ha yes give me your money!

7. Tricia needs your help as she is planning for her year as President.

8. Tricia needs to turn 53 more or gain 1323 more Werewolf points to reach the next level: Savage Werewolf! Tricia should get out there and bite some people! ...

9. Tricia needs help, needs therapy, not the electric chair.

This made for a good laugh. My kids are being pretty crazy today. Man, I miss my age group!

Random

I went to visit my grandma in Okmulgee. She wanted to take me to lunch. We ended up at Lil Peso's. I forgot how much I loved the white sauce :)

Sometimes I get frustrated with my friends. I feel like I give more than they do.

Then, with some people, I know they give more than me.

I have felt like crying all day. I'm not really sure why.

I have been with Jake's family all evening. Man, I love my nephew. Of course Jake spent the night in the bedroom watching basketball.

It's getting close to hiring time for all the schools. I am anxious and ready to hear from someone. I am a little nervous with the budget cuts all across the state.

I miss my Tahlequah friends, especially Danielle :(

I went to San Antonio and went to Sea World and Fiesta Texas. I got to see Shamu! Praise God for the majestic creatures He created!

I think I need some God time.

She is Here!

Here is Katelynn Elizabeth Clark. She was born at 11:38 pm on Saturday, March 7th. She was 7lbs and some ounces. Perfect and health! Mother is doing fine as well. Sierra and I went to visit them just a few minutes ago. It was so sweet to see them. Chris just stared at Katelynn and smiled the entire time. They looked terrible from everything but they had this wonderful glow! I am very excited for them.