The End

Yesterday was my official last day student teaching!! Wahoo!! I called Richie when I was driving home and he asked how I felt. I'll tell ya, it was kind of anti-climatic. I was expecting to be.... I don't know crying, yelling, grinning ear to ear. But instead it just felt good. :) It was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done, but one of the most worth-while. That's usually how it seems to go right? I may go back every once in a while to help with centers or to show off our baby though. We'll see. On Monday night after dinner, I wanted to eat something sweet (as usual) so I decided to make a cake, but not just any cake. A "Congratulations to me!" cake. I figured since that was the first time in ages I actually had time to do something like that, it was kind of a celebration. :) A really yummy celebration!

I thought I would post a picture of my unit that I did for student teaching. We were required to teach a unit and document it like crazy. I chose to do mine on the seasons since it went along so well with the reading program that theme. After analyzing the pre and post tests, I found that 50% of my students scored a 90% or higher on the test. The rest were not too far behind! So that's good. Each lesson was on a different season and I usually incorporated some type of writing project and some type of art project. Each art project went outside in the hallway on a gigantic tree I made with 4 branches, each dedicated to a season. So for spring we made flowers out of tissue paper, summer we learned different ways to color and made green leaves, fall we did leaf rubbings, and winter we made snowflakes. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. The kids sure seemed to enjoy it.
I'm really going to miss those kids and that age and their conversations.
"Do you know what it means to french kiss?",
"Let's pretend like I'm the teacher."
"Ok, and lets pretend like I'm the smartest kid in class"
"I love you 200 times"

Ultimate!

I know, I know...two posts in one day? Is she crazy??? It just so happens, I have the day off school today and am loving it. So, I get to blog a bit. For the past 3 or 4 years, Richie has played on an Ulimate frisbee team here at school every fall semester and loved it! He is really very good at it. I'm always impressed that I'm married to such a stud. Anyway, this semester was his last since he graduates in April! He's been on the Bruins every year and this year they made it to the playoffs! It was actually his cousin's team that they played. We lost, but it was a VERY close and intense game. And props to all the wives and I who stayed the entire game in 30 degree weather! Anyway, here's a picture to commemorate Ultimate frisbee. Richie's the one on the right doing the sexy bay-watch run. :)

Pregnant? Who me?

Richie and I took some pictures the other day to send to his family so they could photoshop us in for their Christmas card. I was looking through them and was hit with the reality that my belly is expanding at, what for me, is an unnatural rate! Go figure. So, here's some pics to update ya'll. Just in case you were wondering, we had to buy some tums and coconut cream stuff so help with some symptoms that are now accompanying my growing mid-section. :) Now, if we could only find something that cured swollen feet and ankles.....

Rolling Chair Ballet

Richie and some of his favorite roommates did this for ward talent show back before Richie's mission. He just talked to one of them, and found out the video was on youtube. Unfortunately I don't know how to post the video on our blog, so if you take this link, or go to youtube.com and type in rolling chair ballet, it's the first video that pops up. You will not be disappointed.

Brief Synopsis: A young girl on BYU-Idaho campus, goes to the DI to buy a new dress for an upcoming dance. All they seem to have is denim. Unfortunately President Bednar has spoken out against denim skirts, calling them "Jeans without a seam". They are definitely not formal enough. She is met by three young DI workers who struggle with her to find the perfect dress. In her moment of grief, they pull back the shroud of denim and uncover.......

Halloween vs Diabetes

I've been meaning to post so many things for so long now. I apologize. Time is just....short these days.
Well, I've been telling some people about the bats we made in my first grade class, so here are some pictures of how they turned out. The kids LOVED making them and they are so easy! A friend of mine gave me the link to find the instructions, but we did them a bit differently.

1. find an old, clean, black sock. Cut it off to make your bat however long you want.
2. Stuff the sock with batting and safety pin it closed at the end.
3. We used googley eyes for the eyes, and black and white felt for the mouth and wings in class. When Richie and I made them we used foam for the wings, which I liked better. I just made a pattern for the wings and mouth and had the kids cut them out. All these things are then hot glued on.
4. You only need 1 black pipe cleaner for one bat. Cut it in half, then cut the halves in thirds. Hot glue them on to the bottom and then curl them once they have dried.
Richie and I made them for FHE this week for Halloween and they turned out awesome. Even though it was a craft, I think Richie really liked doing it :) We watched Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and the old Headless Horseman with Bing Crosby as the narrator while we made them. fun fun fun.


So on Halloween, we had some really good friends of ours, Mike and Megan, invite us over to have a little Halloween shin-dig. There was another couple there and we all brought food, so between the 6 of us, there was a lot of food to be consumed. I did my fair share of helping 'dispose' of the plentiful food, especially the sweets. :) The next morning I woke up and realized I was going to the doctor's that day to be tested for gestational diabetes. Hmmm..."Not smart" I thought to myself, "to pig out on sugar the night before a diabetes test." But no worries. All is well, Halloween won and I don't have diabetes! Wahoo! He actually said my level was very low and that everything was progressing perfectly. Exactly what I wanted to hear. :) We're SO excited that it's almost painful!!
Hope everyone's Halloween was awesome!

I am weird

Six weird and random things about me:
The rules are:
* Link to the person who tagged you (Becca and Michelle)
* Post the rules on your blog
* Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself
* Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
* Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog
* Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

I think I've been tagged twice with this... I finally have a spare minute, so let's think.....

1. When I drink water, usually from a water bottle, I swish the water in my mouth once or twice before swallowing. (didn't realize I did this until I got married)

2. When I talk with my hands (which is often) or drink from a cup, or play piano or most other things my pinky is usually straight. Very refined I know. (Also didn't realize I did this till I got married)

3. I get a surge of energy right about 10-1030 every night. All of a sudden, I get very motivated to clean and do all sorts of other wonder woman things. This usually inconveniences Richie, who would have liked to be in bed about an hour ago. :) But let me just say what a sweetheart he is. The past 2 nights he's stayed up with my till after 12 to help me prepare materials for school the next day.

4. I hate people who mozy across crosswalks. It's even worse if you're a mozy-ing jaywalker. Sometimes I see how close I can get my car to the person just to freak them out a little cause I get so irritated. :) Bless their hearts.

5. If I like movie or certain episode of a show, I can watch it over and over and over again and still love it.

6. I talk to myself! Yup, I'm crazy. If I'm irritated and need to vent ,or want to replay a scenario in my head I usually find myself talking out loud and don't realize it until someone else walks in the room or I see myself in a mirror. And then I say, "Woah, I was just talking to myself." Funny, but I still don't stop after that usually.

I hereby tag:
Natalie
Jenn
Amanda
and...Anyone else that wants to!

Need a Laugh?

While maybe not totally appropriate, this comment made my day the other day, so if you need a laugh, hope this helps! Remember these are 6 and 7 year olds.
So in my class the other day, we had a science lesson on classifying different kinds of animals. We read through a big book that talked about mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish and insects. As we read new information, I recorded it on the board. After we got through the whole book, we reviewed what we had learned and I asked the children to share anything else they knew about that type of animal so we could add it to our list. When we got to mammals we reviewed the facts that mammals are covered with hair or fur and that they feed their babies milk. One little boy, who is very smart, raised his hand and said,
"Well, I know something else about mammals."
To which I replied, "Ok, tell us what you know."
Student: "Well about mammals feeding their babies milk... it comes from the boobies!"
.........
He said it so matter of factly that it was SO hard not to burst out laughing!! He kept a serious face until two little girls started giggling about it, then I quickly moved on so as not to have to give a sex-ed lesson the next day. :)

By the way..

HAPPY FALL! I think I can finally pin down Fall as my favorite season. And this year especially because our school gets a Fall break for these next 3 days. Hallelujah. So, i'll be doing some intense lesson planning since when we come back from Fall break, I'm in charge of the whole class. Anyone have any cheap, cute Halloween ideas to do with first graders??

I actually finished a book!

I started a fabulous book before school started and was almost finished. But since school, I have read about 50 pages in 1 month. A slow process to say the least. But I finally finished "Gods and Generals" by Jeff Shaara. It's a book that focuses on a few generals from the Civil War. It's very much a non-fiction book in the sense that it gives you the facts and the 'nitty-gritty' (as Nacho would say) details about the war, but it's also very fictional because Shaara uses those true details and weaves them into a personal story about the people leading the war so you know what they would supposedly have felt like or what their personal life was like. Here is my favorite review of the book.
"Shaara's beautifully sensitive novel delves deeply in the empathetic realm of psycho-history, where enemies do not exist- just mortal men forced to make crucial decisions and survive on the same battlefield...(He) succeeds with his historical novel through fully realized characters who were forced to decide their loyalties amid the horrors of their dividing nation"- San Fransisco Chronicle.
I wanted to read this book to somewhat increase my knowledge of the history of our country and it worked! I understand better now the process leading up to the civil war and understand that the leaders of the South or North were not strictly 'good' or 'bad'. They were decent, God-fearing men who were doing what they thought was best for our country. I hear it's a movie, so if you want to forgo the somewhat intense 500 pages, that may be an option! It also leaves you hanging at the end of the book right at the brink of the Battle of Gettysburg. Luckily Shaara's father wrote the sequel to the book called "Killer Angels" which I've heard is just amazing. FYI.

Alright, easiest, yummiest recipe in the world.
HOMEMADE OREOS
1 Devils Food Cake Mix
3/4 C shortening
2 Eggs
Roll into small balls, place on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake @ 350 for 8 minutes. Let cool on pan. Buy a container of vanilla frosting, spread between 2 small cookies!!
Lately, my favorite way to make cookies has just been to use any cake mix, leave out the water but put everything else in that is says and bake them as cookies. It makes so many, they are tasty, and it's SO easy!! Enjoy!!

Drumroll Please!

Alright, the results are in!! After a rushed and stressful doctor's visit, we finally come to a conclusion. We're having a BOY!!! Wahoo!!!! People had been telling me lately that they thought it would be a girl because apparently I'm "carrying high". So I'd almost convinced myself it would be a girl and was getting excited, but as soon as she pointed out to me that it was a boy, I was absolutely THRILLED!!! Good thing she could tell cause I had no idea what I was looking at. He was moving around so much, it took almost 30 minutes to get him to settle down enough to make a verdict! I would post the ultrasound picture like last time, but it's not nearly as cool and it looks kind of weird :) It was really cool to be able to see him move on the screen and feel it at the same time. WOW! So, for those of you who have any advice on how to raise boys, let me know!! :) I'd better start preparing! She said he's right on track, and actually growing quickly, so we may want to plan on having him early at this point.
Oh, and for those of you who are far away and don't have the 'opportunity' of watching my belly magically expand, here's an update. :) I'm wearing a tighter shirt so that you can't actually see the bump instead of the looser shirts that kind of hide it. And there you have it!

Doesn't he look excited?

His first day of school was actually this last Monday, but I haven't got around to posting it until now. Every semester I make him stand by the door with his backpack and everything so I can take his "first day of school" picture. :) I can't help it if I get such a kick out of it. I thought since all my brother's and sisters are posting pictures about their kids going to school, why should I be left out of that fun even if we don't have kids yet!? On Mon, Wed, and Fri Richie goes to work before school, so that's why he's got his grungy work clothes on. But then he changes out of them for school. He's got a big load on his plate this semester with 18 credits and trying to work. He also just got called to be our ward clerk! Yikes!
Student teaching is heating up for me as well. Starting this week, I'm taking over the entire mornings. I'm a little nervous since I'm not very familiar with the reading program. I also was just called to be the 1st counselor in the Relief Society.
Some more good news is neither Richie nor I are working at Western Wats anymore! Hooray!!! That was a terrible job and quite frankly we just couldn't handle it anymore. So I'm trying to get a job as a tutor and also I'll be grading papers for a high school teacher later in the Fall.
Sorry....this is sounding like a Christmas newsletter....The End. Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!