Is it the weekend yet?

So far this school year has been way more difficult than last school year.  Each day seems to drag and each week even more so.  I pretty much continually am ready for the weekend.  Even ON the weekend I find myself looking forward to the next weekend.  

I'm sure things will settle in soon enough and the school year will feel more comfortable.  Probably not until November though unfortunately.  I pretty confidently remember October being a crazy rough and stressful month (from all of my past two years experience).  So I'm not looking forward to October... but November is sounding rather nice.  Too bad it's still September lol!

Besides school I've been rewatching Parks and Rec.  A few weeks ago I was thinking about how the new (and last, right?) season would be starting soon and decided to remember where exactly everything started.  I think I'm enjoying it all more this second round than I did the first!  Especially knowing where some story lines end up -it's been entertaining to see it all unfold again.  Cody keeps asking me how many more old episodes I' going to watch;  I don't think he's realized yet I intend to rewatch all of them. 

I know this is a short post and far from enthralling, but I am off to bed.  Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!  It would be super nice though if it were Saturday instead.  

Goodbye Summer

I am officially kicking back into school-mode.

Summer. 

Is. 

Over.

I know I shouldn't really complain, since basically all other jobs don't even have a summer break to begin with.  But I still can't help feeling that summer went by way to quickly.

Something I am excited for this year though is music in my classroom.  I wanted to try music for transitions and other things last year but didn't really find a way that seemed easy and doable enough at first, and then once the year started there never seems to be any time for something extra.  So I decided to get all prepared for music this year before school started again.

My plan is nothing fancy and obviously still all theoretical since school hasn't started yet.  I'm hoping if I have my plan for what I want to do, then once school starts I can slowly implement it from day 1.  First off I want songs for transitions.  Last year my class transitions were extremely better than the previous year, and most of them were pretty good, but a couple still seemed too hectic.  Songs seem like fun and easy way (once the procedures are learned hopefully) to improve transition time (lining up, cleaning up, etc).  I am excited about this because 1) I think music is fun!  I feel like it will liven up the class and create an upbeat atmosphere.  2)  Songs are a specific length - and most of them I'm going to shorten to be exactly what length I want.  So transitions will now have a set time to be completed by, instead of just however-sort-of-long the kids decide to take that go round.  3)  Ideally the system will become routine and I won't have to even say anything; the class will just know what to do with each particular song.  4)  Fun music makes me happy!  I hope it will help me lighten up some and just enjoy myself throughout the day more at school.  Also a happier teacher usually creates a happier classroom - so me being happy during the day is a plus for the kiddos as well.

In addition to the transitions with songs, I plan on using music in the background during the day while my class is working.  I've heard from other teachers that this can help keep the general noise level down slightly during work time and also help students know different times of being focused.

With the exception of wanting a couple more songs, I feel pretty ready to go with music starting at the beginning of the year. I plan on using my iPhone with the playlist I've created for my classroom as well as the app Songza that a good friend introduced me to.  I've starred several stations in Songza that I've tested and seem awesome for school.  With some cheapish bluetooth portable speakers that Cody helped me find, the whole class will be able to hear the music pretty well.  If I have time at some point when I have all transitions planned, I hope to burn a CD of the songs for whenever there is a substitute.  Hopefully that should be easy enough if all the songs are on a CD and labeled for each transition.

Here's what I've got so far, but again, I still need a few more, and there's one that I'm not loving right now.

Walking on Sunshine - morning routine, unpacking, starting the day.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Time - line up for lunch

The Final Countdown - end of the day, clean up, pack up

Mission Impossible Theme - considering this one for lining up for everything except lunch

Not a transition - but I also have the theme from Jeopardy that I plan on using for different quick-think times

Anyways... still working on final decisions with some of these and looking maybe for a couple more.

Here are some pics from my classroom this week.  I worked on it every day but Thursday and somehow still feel like there's a dozens things to do!

This was the first picture I took of my room this year after already moving around a lot of the furniture.

All big furniture moved and bulletin boards (mostly) up.

This was how I left it before our teacher work week starts on Monday. 

My side bulletin boards are a Mystery Wall and my math board.  My Mystery Wall is new this year and so far includes a Boggle board and a Thinking Backwards board where I will put up an answer and students can write on sticky notes what they think the question could be.

The front of the room seems pretty busy to me in this picture, but it didn't feel that way in the room.

Our Meet the Teacher night is next Thursday, so everything will have to be ready to go by then!

  

Am I tan yet?!

Obviously the main reason I love teaching is the kids.  And moments where you see them for the innocent-ridiculous-goofy kids that they truly are, always brighten my day.  This short story happened recently and I seriously needed it.  Just a good laugh and a moment to remember they are little kiddos and not actually people bound and determined to break all the rules in my classroom and drive me up a wall.  They don't mean to (always...).  They just can't help themselves yet.

Anyways.  To the funniness...

So as everyone is aware, winter isn't really feeling much like winter anymore.  At least not currently.  The kids at school are running around in t-shirts at recess and complaining it's already too hot.  So the other day at recess, I saw one of my boys laying on the ground in the play area.  -Part of our playground where the equipment is has the ground covered in gravel.  So he was basically laying in the rocks.  I thought he was hurt - had fallen and was crying or something.  So I go over to him and ask "What happened? Are you alright?"  He replies that he's fine and says something that I couldn't really hear.  So I ask what he's doing - if he's playing.  Again he replies with something I don't really understand.  So now I'm confused and still not sure what's going on.  I mean really -no other kid is laying in the rocks anywhere else that I can see, and it isn't THAT often that you see this at recess.  So I lean over and he definitely seems fine. He is smiling.  I ask him one more time "If you're not hurt and not playing, what are you doing?"  He starts laughing (he has tried to answer me three times and I just haven't heard or understood him) and says more loudly "I'm tanning!"  And as he touches his hand to his cheek he adds "Getting the sun!" A huge smile immediately spread across my face and I quickly walked off as I started laughing.  He -a 7 year old 2nd grader- was tanning, in February, by laying in the rocks fully clothed at recess. - Right in the middle of where all the other kids are running and they have to avoid him. 

The even better part of this story is that this boy has proceeded to tan EVERY day at recess this week!  I think it is amazing and it just cheers me up at the end of the day outside when I see him doing this.  Same spot on the rocks.  Same smile on his face.  Laying there - getting the sun.  

Today when our class was lining up at the end of recess, I overhead him ask another boy, one of his friends in our class, if his cheeks were tan yet. 

The kids are seriously the best part of my job.  I hope by the time I'm done teaching one day that I remember these stories just as much -if not more, than the more common ones about problem kids and classroom issues and disruptions and the extreme bad situations that instantly ruin not just your day but your entire week at school.  These stories about things like tanning are much nicer to think about.  I hope I have more like these to remember and that they eventually drown out the other ones.

Highlights

I feel so blessed this year.  Even with the last two weeks probably being the most stressful and busy feeling weeks of the year so far (seriously, something just kicks in during the month of October... it's apparently a weird but fairly universal happening in the realm of teaching), I still am loving how this school year is going.

My class for the most part is really just a bunch of sweet, funny, and helpful kiddos.  I mean, they're not perfect... we have some "whoa" moments -but they have been few and far between... and even the worst of those yet this year, is not even a fraction of things from last school year.  They love earning tickets... I pull those out, and almost everyone is as close to perfect as they can get.  They're like tiny (dirty lol) magic cards.  I haven't even needed to bust out my "Super Tickets" yet, while last year, even a super ticket would only half do the trick.

Here are a few new things that I am really enjoying this year:

• VIP Folders -thanks to my suitemate for the idea! -I 'steal' a lot from her : )  They seriously have kept me up-to-date with grading each week and getting work corrected and returned.  SO much better than the system I used last year.  

• Friday Journals -this was suggested by our 2nd grade team leader and I'm really enjoying doing them!  Each Friday during our writing time the kids write a letter in a "Friday Journal" to their mom/dad/someone telling all about what we've done and learned this week.  Then over the weekend the parents write a short reply.  The kids really enjoy writing these letters each week.  It's awesome to hear what they remember and to see some things they write about.

• Calendar Time and Number Talks -while this might be boring to others, I absolutely am in love with this short time of the day.  We started both of these on day 1 this year and it is firmly built into our daily routine.  After lunch and recess we come in, sit on the carpet, go over our calendar for the day and then do a number talk.  I guess I don't know if I'm technically doing the number talks 'correctly' or not... but the kids get into it, and it really seems to be extremely beneficial so far.  It is probably one of the most quiet and focused times that I can even ask questions in a whisper and the kids answer with one.

• My team! : )  They are awesome. 

And now some random highlights of kid moments that I just feel like sharing:

• We recently did a short play over Christopher Columbus... and by 'play' I mean two groups took turns standing at the front of the room and reading the script to the rest of the class, definitely not a big ordeal.  But still, the kids had SO much fun and I had fun watching them.  They practiced reading their lines together, helped each other with their lines, and were so excited to 'perform' for the rest of us!  During one of our performances, I had two boys reveal their natural instincts to act.  Well, one more than the other, but they were hilarious to watch!  It was awesome.  Student X would say his lines with dramatic pauses, while everyone else was standing still and shy at the front, he was strutting across the room and would occasionally throw up some hand and arm gestures that matched his voice fluctuations.  Student Y, who had already said his one line, was behind him, and was also moving in smaller ways and attempting to "get into" the play lol.  Seriously... I don't think I can describe what it was like, but I was at the back of the room trying not to just crack up! At one point I literally held up the script I had in front of my face.  There were still other kids though that could see me and some comments I got were "Mrs. Henderson, your face is all red!" Along with, "Why are your eyes so watery?"  I love moments that are so funny I have to try and hold back my own laughter!

• Today I had a girl come up to me and give me a little coupon looking thing that said "You Did an AWESOME Job!"  She said, "Mrs. Henderson, this is for you.  I already have enough compliments for myself, so I thought you should have this one."  It was really sweet.  I hung it on my wall with other pictures and things from kids.

• I have just a few small pictures of me and Cody at my desk area, and once a student came up to me while I was putting our attendance and lunch count in the computer, and he started to ask a question, then stopped mid sentence, reached out and patted my arm and said (in an extremely giddy voice which added to the moment) "Mrs. Henderson, you look beautiful in this picture!"  He seriously melted me in that moment lol.  He was SO genuine and just smiled, and was pointing like he wanted me to see how beautiful I looked in the tiny picture on my filing cabinet. 

• One afternoon when we were going to the library for our turn to check out books, I had a boy holding the door for all of us.  It was his job, he was our door holder for the week, so he was doing his job nicely.  Usually though after the last student I take the door and have the door holder walk in before me to wherever we are going.  But this time, I went to take the door and told him thank you and he could go on in, he didn't move and he said, "No Mrs. Henderson, ladies first.  I'll go after you."  

• At the beginning of the year when I was telling my class all about me, I showed some pictures of Cody and me and said I was married and all of that jazz.  A few weeks after that, I mentioned again at some point that I was married, and half of my class had reactions and comments like they were shocked beyond belief (obviously the info I shared about myself wasn't interesting enough to remember lol) and I had one girl say in a seriously confused voice "When did you have time to get married?  How did that happen?"  The way she asked and her puzzled face was really cute.

• On a similar note to the above, and again with the pictures by my desk, I had a boy again come up to me and stopped to look at the pictures.  He pointed to one of me and Cody and asked "Who is that man with you?"  I replied he was my husband, and then the boy points at a wedding picture and exclaims "Ohh, so you were with the man and got married!"

• And last but not least, farts.  Yup -farts.  They CRACK me up!  Especially when we're on the carpet for a lesson, so we're all fairly close together and it's quiet, and well -there's no denying what we all just heard.  Half of my students are good about acting like it's no big deal and some of them even say things like "We all do it", but the other half are sitting there making ridiculous faces and trying to figure out who it was.  And oh my goodness, I always do my best to just help everyone keep moving on and doing what we're doing... but sometimes I just want to crack up because 1) it was SO loud or 2) just who the kid was that did it or 3) the face of the kid who did it is always priceless with a deer caught in the headlights look and 4) the reactions from other students are always entertaining.

Alright.  Sorry for probably the world's longest post about school... I guess that's it for now.  Yay for the weekend : )
   

It's Been One Week...

(Before I even start my real post about school... I have to say that I am working hard right now to refrain from posting the lyrics to the Barenaked Ladies song.  Rarely can I think or say the words "one" and "week" together without getting that song stuck in my head!)

So.  It's been one week -since school started!  Week one is officially done with the kiddos... what is it? -35 (ish) weeks to go now??

Actually, so far (I realize since it is only the end of the very first week, this might now mean much, but still...) I am LOVING this year.  Seriously!  I didn't die last year -I think I had a decent first year.  Honestly probably note great, but definitely not awful either.  It was okay.  But even just comparing the start to last year with the start to this year... the difference is amazing!  There are multiple factors that are a part of the difference... but I think a big one is simply the fact that as this is now year 2, I have at least somewhat of an idea about what's going on.  Turns out not being clueless about everything makes a big difference!  I am definitely more confident and I'm doing a million things differently with my classroom management than I did to start the year last go-around, and overall instead of feeling like I'm trying not to drown throughout week one, I actually enjoyed it!

I already love my class of kiddos this year too.  They are sweet, funny, and for the most part a fairly polite group! -At least so far.  Hopefully none of them (or at least not too many) are holding off to reveal their true colors in the weeks to come.

This whole week wasn't just sunshine though.  I am extremely exhausted and did hit a few points of feeling way stressed and overwhelmed already.  But it is so nice to have the actual school day with the kids be mostly enjoyable so far, and for all that extra stress and non-stop busyness to not set in until after dismissal.

Overall I am extremely excited for this year!  I am feeling beyond blessed with how this year is starting and I truly think it has the potential to be amazing.  (-If something changes and it becomes awful I'm definitely setting myself up to regret this post!)  I am loving my group of kids so far and am so excited about some new things I'm doing in my room this year.  Hopefully I'll be able to post every now-and-then throughout the year about how it's going.  I have lots of small goals this year to be able to maintain things in my life outside of school (imagine that!) -like cooking dinners, seeing my husband during the week, blogging, doing things with friends, and just having time to relax after each (or most) school days.

I guess we'll have to wait and see how this year unfolds... but as for right now, I don't think I could have wished for a much better week one.   : )

H I R E D !!!

Even though nobody reads this anymore since I had to make it private... I am still excited to share that I am f-i-n-a-l-l-y hired!!!  Last time I posted, I had 2 interviews back-to-back.  I was offered a job from the second interview that day for a 2nd grade position at a school in NEISD! I was (and still am) thrilled!  Second grade is a grade level that I would have chosen myself and I was hoping to end up in North East, so it was truly ideal.  God absolutely blessed us with this teaching position and the timing was amazing.  With Cody quitting teaching to go back to school... we were really praying hard for me to get offered a job, and not only did I get one -I got a position I am truly excited about.  We are beyond grateful for God's provision and plan.

So. Since all of that news... I have been officially setting up my first classroom this week!!! I had a new teacher orientation this past Tuesday, and the last two days have been working to start setting up and organizing my room -and I will be up there all day tomorrow as well. But I'm enjoying it and am so glad to be there! -Despite the heat! Ugh.  The school's AC is off until next week, so everyone that is up there is practically melting while we work.  And Cody has been wonderful : )  He has been up there with me helping to move stuff, setting up my computers/technology stuff, and being extremely helpful and excited for me.

Other than all of the above excitingness... Cody still has a few weeks before his grad school starts.  He is excited to start -but definitely enjoying his last weeks off.

Interviews

So tomorrow is a big morning and I am officially super nervous!  I have two interviews scheduled.  The first is at 9:15 for a Kindergarten position at the school where I had the long-term sub job.  The second is at a different school -but also in NEISD- for a 2nd grade position at 11:30.  I think it's a combo of two interviews within almost just two hours and the fact that I feel like this will be the hardest one to not get, if I don't get offered the job from where I had the long term sub position.  I'm not going to say much about it because, like I said, I am crazy nervous already and I don't want to talk anything up too much... as I've recently (and in the past) learned that no matter how well an interview seems to go... it doesn't mean I'll end up getting offered anything.  So.  That's it. I have two interviews, both tomorrow morning. I am excited and extremely glad for the opportunities, and I would greatly appreciate prayers for calm nerves and confidence and enthusiasm for both interviews!

Oh my goodness... I think I'm starting to like this.

I've got to share this realization.  I posted recently about some of the positive things that have happened with this long-term sub job, but today something bigger than those incidents hit me.  At the very end of the day, after the kids were gone, after a faculty meeting... I was back in my room getting organized and such when I walked over to my dry erase board to change our "Days of School Left" countdown. As I was erasing the number and getting ready to write the new one, I actually had the thought and feeling that I was going to miss these kids.  Then I did this... "wait, what?!"  I surprised myself. I honestly had the thought and feeling of realizing that I will miss these kids -at least a little.

Today wasn't even awesome for me to have felt this way.  We had moments where I was ready to smash something and could almost just have started laughing from the chaos that refused to settle down. There are only so many times you can yell "I'm waiting!" or "So-and-So, sit down!" before it's almost laughable. Fortunately I don't laugh -usually. Today, however, I did. My seriously ADHD girl did not take her medicine... and was off the walls alllllll day long. At the end of the day -I do NOT know where she kept getting glue bottles from. For the life of me. Earlier in the day I got fed up and picked them all up and put them up high. I do not know where she kept getting them. She wanted it to be art class all day. I took an uncountable number of glue bottles, scissors, and paper away from her from 8 this morning until 3 this afternoon. During a reading lesson this afternoon, the class was fairly focused and we were talking about poetry... I was in the middle of reading a fun poem to the class, when I look up and see this girl with a pair of paper cut-out sunglasses TAPED to her forehead and eyes. I was beyond frustrated with her -but even so... the girl sitting next to her is an excellent student who focuses and pays attention, and when I saw that she was struggling to focus and not laugh, I started cracking up myself. All day long. Where did she keep finding glue to use?! How on earth is she able to continue making these things when I keep taking EVERYTHING away from her?! The paper sunglasses taped to her face just did me in -and I laughed out loud. It was both infuriating and entertaining. Something can be both at once, right?

Also today, three boys in my room who have all been extremely talkative, reluctant to follow directions (that's putting it nicely), disrespectful, among numerous other things... all had an AWESOME afternoon. They were working so hard to be on task, quiet, in their seats, and following directions. It made me very proud and excited to see them doing so well.  After the bell as we were walking to the car-riders section, one of these boys said something that made me extremely happy. He told me he knew he had been having bad behavior -and he actually said "I kinda think I regret my behavior."  And he was genuine and had an apologetic tone and told me he wanted to do better from now on. It was a great walk with him talking about his behavior from our room to the front of the building.

This week we've also started talking about poetry -and I love poetry and I told the kids that. I think it made them more excited about it too. They listen and enjoy hearing me read them fun poems and today I heard some of them say "I like poetry" and "poetry is fun!"  Seriously. Isn't that awesome?!

I came home in a good mood today. And I'm actually -get this- excited for tomorrow!  I'm excited to see (hopefully) these three boys have another good day. I'm excited to continue talking about poetry. And I'm excited for our Social Studies project tomorrow afternoon. The kids made products to "sell" to each other and the last two days they've made signs/posters in class to advertise their product. It'll be our whole afternoon with the other 3rd grade classes, selling to each other and taking turns buying. It might be chaotic... but it should be fun as well!


8 days left!
 

Bittersweet... 13 days and counting!

I've had an "End of the School Year" countdown on my dry-erase board for a couple of weeks now... and I think I'm more excited about it than the kids!  As exciting as it is to be approaching the end of the school year, it is really bittersweet... and the bitterness is starting to grow as I become aware of how quickly everything is approaching!  I know you all know the definition of bittersweet -but let me break it down for you with our situation.  While I am super glad (and I hope it's okay to feel a little be accomplished) to almost have finished out the school year in this long-term sub position, I am also getting more and more nervous and stressed because at the same time, that means I'm about to be unemployed!  And I can't be unemployed.  I need a job for after June 2nd -well ASAP.  And I am so confused about what to do.  Teaching sounds unlikely to be hired but that is what I'm qualified for and all my experience is in.  I have mentioned applying for jobs with Child Protective Services, which I still am, but haven't heard anything again... and so I am not counting on anything.  And now that leaves me with no idea of what to do!  I have no clue (aside from teaching) what I am qualified to do... or what I would like to do.  At this point honestly I'd take almost any job if something was offered.  Ideally I'd hope to find something that can support us financially and that I can enjoy and be successful at.  I just have no idea what that might be!  Just randomly looking around I have applied for several various jobs that I've been interested in and feel like I'd be qualified for and could do well.  I am trusting that God has something out there for me and that He will provide for us.  I'm just not good at this waiting and not knowing time!  If anyone out there has heard of anything, knows anyone or anything, or has any general suggestions for a job/career I could look into outside of teaching, please let me know! I'm open to most suggestions and any and all help/advise would be welcome : )  Just throwing that out there!

You just got TOLD by a teacher!

I want to take this opportunity (of me being in a good mood) to write some of the positive things to note about this long-term sub position.  Surprisingly I have been in an excellent mood today... in spite of it not being a great day.  While I have mostly had feelings of ... oh my gosh, seriously? Followed by... God help me, I want to run away and quit...There have also been some enjoyable moments -such as these:

Today, one of my seriously ADHD kids took her medicine at home, came up to me this morning, smiled, and said "Mrs. Henderson, I took my medicine today! I'm going to have a good day!"  And she did!  She was on task, focused, working hard, and following directions all day and it made me happy for her (and my sanity).  Also at the end of the day... because no matter WHAT ON EARTH I TRY, my room looks like a tornado hit, this same girl ran back into our classroom and started picking up papers off the floor and said "Mrs. Henderson, I want to clean up so you can go home and have time with your family today."  And it was sweet in how genuine she was being in wanting to help me out. Unfortunately we were late (like always) for dismissal... so I did spend forever cleaning up my room... but it was super sweet how she wanted to help and I loved what she said.

On these positive notes... last Friday was probably the best day I've had with my class so far!  (At least for the first half of the day... but hey, that's progress!)  The class as a whole was focused, on task, and following directions... SO much so, that guess what? -We had 3 minutes of extra recess! Count them... 1, 2, 3 whole extra minutes of time.  That's a big deal. Seriously. As normally we are late and have a shorter recess due to not following directions, on Friday, we were so on task, we got done with 3 extra minutes, and the kids and I loved it!  That was a wonderful morning : )

Also on Friday... this was later in the day (not during our awesome time) when I was beyond frustrated and they would not stop talking, moving, or doing just whatever they wanted to do. It finally got to the point where the class was starting to quiet and settle down... then someone would say something... then they'd settle down -then someone would say something... I think you get picture of the endless cycle. Well within all that, one girl made some comment -and another girl quickly replied back "Hush up, you old lady you!"  And oh my goodness. I immediately lost my serious, straight face.  It was just too much.  I started laughing and couldn't stop.  The way the girl said it and the timing was just... priceless.  In the middle of a super frustrating time trying to manage the class, she said this totally unexpected, random comment... and I couldn't stop laughing.  Of course then the kids started laughing as well and one of them says, "Finally!  Mrs. Henderson you're having fun at school!"  -And that comment made me realize I need to try and have some fun with them and be a little more lighthearted occasionally.  I mean really.  Sometimes it's hard to remember they're just kids when they are so disrespectful, disobedient, and manipulative... but when you see them running around at recess pretending to be birds and dinosaurs and such, it reminds me they are still just little kids.

My last positive comment to mention that is something small that I love... the title of this post.  I guess this is their current kid saying.  "You just got TOLD by a teacher!"  It's the best!  I try to hide my smile every time I hear it.  This saying comes around when some student is not following directions and usually talking back, then I make a comment back to them... I guess putting them in their place and/or catching them up in something they said... and then another student goes "Ooh!  You just got TOLD by a teacher!"  And the problem kid quiets down because... I won.  Lol... that is something small that I truly love.

So all this to say there are some things I really am enjoying about this teaching experience!  There are still a majority of moments that I do want to tell them 'adios' and literally walk out the door to never see them again lol... but sometimes I remember they are kids and we are able to have fun together, and it makes it a wonderful and enjoyable day.  Only 17 more school days left! Whoop!  Hopefully we'll have more of these positive days than negative ones to wrap up my time with these kiddos.

Heel, toe, push... repeat.

Today I had my first Physical Therapy session.  Well, actually it wasn't a first "real" session (that'll be Monday, which I am still nervous for), it was more of an intro, paperwork, and evaluation day.  But nonetheless, I'm on the road to recovery with PT.  I'm working with a lady named Angel... who right up until the very end of the evaluation, seemed 100% indifferent about the pain she was causing.  I don't much like her yet, although it's nothing personal.  She did all sorts of stuff, and had me try to do all sorts of stuff, to my leg in trying to evaluate where I'm at.  Today she showed me and had me try several different exercises that I am now suppose to do at home everyday.  Also, she showed me and had me start practicing walking more normally (or as close as I can get right now) with my right leg.  So now whenever I am up and walking/moving around with the crutches, I have to practice moving my leg as normally as possible and focusing on my foot going through the correct movements of placing down my heel, then moving to my toes, and then pushing off my toes.  Hence, 'heel, toe, push'.  If you're walking next to me any time soon, you may hear me mumbling those words under my breath as I try to focus on correcting these movements with my step.  I'm simultaneously suppose to try and put as much pressure/weight on my foot/leg during each step as I can with the motions.  It's weird having to focus so hard on just trying to take a correct step.  And it's annoying!  Seriously.  I am now the slowest person walking ever.  If you thought I was slow before with the crutches (which I was anyways), you can now triple that slow speed as I have to walk with all this focus and practice.  I know it's for the best... that just doesn't change the fact that it's annoying lol.  So.  That's basically my update for now.  Oh I also had another INR test yesterday and was high (4.0) so this week my dosage is lower to try and bring my level back down.  I don't know how many people care about my weekly (hopefully soon it'll only be monthly) INR report... but this is my (our, although let's face it, Cody does not take much part in this-and that's okay) blog, and so I feel like I can share if I want to!

Now, onto the topic of teaching and school.  I won't share too much except to say that Cody is really, really struggling right now.  He is ridiculously stressed with everything with school and just completely overwhelmed feeling.  Please be praying for him.  Pray for relief from stress, strength to make it through each week, and the efficiency and organizational skills to be able to get prepared each day as quickly/easily as possible.  (And of course anything else you feel like throwing into your prayer.)  Fortunately Thanksgiving isn't that far off... so we are counting down the weeks for that much needed break.  Thank you all for your prayers.

Tomorrow morning we start the looong drive to Longview for Cody's friend, Stuart's, wedding.  We're hoping I can handle that long of a time in the car okay with my leg.  I guess I'll have to; I don't really want to stay home all weekend without my husband.  We're excited for the weekend and the wedding!  I hope I don't look too ridiculous in my dress and shoes with my crutches still!  Cody has already stated that I will be the worst dance partner ever at this wedding.  (Not that I have ever been a great dance partner... I'm more of a "I only dance by myself at home when nobody can see me" type of person. Oh well.) 

I'll share about how the wedding weekend goes sometime next week probably.  Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Morning's Interview

Over the weekend I got an unexpected (but very welcomed) phone call for an interview.  Right at the time I was really getting down about not being hired and accepting the fact that I would sub all year, God provided me encouragement with this possibility.  It was this morning at a middle school in Northside for a 6th and 8th grade Reading position.  While I am still trusting that the Lord has a plan and will provide me the right teaching position in His timing, I'm excited to say at least that it went really well this morning!  I have felt like previous interviews have gone really well... with nothing coming from them.  But then obviously those weren't the jobs God has prepared for me.  I guess I won't know if this one is or isn't for a of couple days ... until I either do get a phone call, or accept that I won't.  It did go really well and I felt like they liked me.  Everyone at the school that I encountered was extremely friendly, even on such a dreary day.  They said they would make a decision within a couple days, and even if this doesn't turn out to be where I end up, at least I am grateful to know that I did my best and to have gotten the opportunity to interview.  That in itself was encouraging at this point.  So.  Thank you all for prayers and support with my seemingly-endless job search!  I'll keep everyone updated with whatever develops through all of this.


PS -Sorry the last post was crazy long!  I didn't realize how lengthy it got until I had published it.  Thanks for sticking with me if you read it to the end!

Nerf Guns & Yahtzee

Well week 2 of school is coming to a close.  Cody is extremely excited for the 3 day weekend!  (I am too; I feel like I haven't seen him all week.)  I think so far (granted this is me judging from how he acts and what he says... not actually being in his head and truly knowing) school is going well for Cody.  There were a couple stressful points this week, but they were dealt with and the small situations improved.  Definitely compared to last year, these two weeks have been good! I know that at least.  It's amazing what just having that first year under your belt does I guess.  While yes he's still working a crazy amount, he's not as constantly stressed or overwhelmed as last year.  He's more confident going into each lesson and each day.  I'm so proud of my husband!  He's doing a wonderful job! -and some of his students have even been telling him that he's a good teacher.  I guess we'll see what week three brings, but for now, it's all going well, and we're both very thankful.

As you can probably guess since I'm writing this new post mid-morning today, I did not get a sub job as I was hoping.  I really hoped that I would today... now that two weeks of school are almost done, and it's a Friday, I thought something would come up. Nope. I did get a call for an afternoon job -but it was bilingual and I had to speak Spanish... and well, I don't.  However, I was slightly encouraged yesterday.  This week a couple days I went out to some schools and put my sub card in lots of teacher mailboxes and then yesterday I compiled lists of teachers from other schools and sent them a brief email introducing myself and saying I'm available as a sub and telling them my qualifications/certifications and such.  I got a call yesterday evening for a sub job next Wednesday from a teacher who read my email; one of the schools is having an in-service day then.  And I got a call later last night, and a call at 6:30 this morning from teachers from the same school asking about the same in-service day.  If only I could sub multiple jobs on the same day!  Oh well.  I was encouraged that I know at least 3 teachers read my email and were willing to use me!  ...I am hoping more than just those three will call eventually lol.  Anyways.  I don't know if that really counts as an update... nothing really new, but that's what's going on with subbing.

Oh, very briefly, a while ago I mentioned I had started working out (haha) and said I hoped sharing it on our blog would keep me motivated to continue... well, it did for about 2 weeks.  And I haven't since.  My 2 week kick was ended during our South Padre trip, and for the sake of honesty and since I did mention it before, I thought I'd just share that, well, it didn't last.  I'm not broken up about it.

-Cooking Experiment: Success or Failure-
While I'm sure this isn't anything new to most people, it was new to me.  This week I made chicken with an Italian Dressing flavoring (thank you to Kari for that idea a while back!).  And it was amazing! -If I do say so myself, actually, Cody said so too!  I didn't cook the chicken in any different way than usual, I just smothered it in Italian Dressing as it cooked, and it turned out awesome. I will absolutely use that to flavor chicken a lot more often.  (I do tend to make chicken a lot.)  This was hands down a success.

I also within the last week made my first double layered round cake (actually I made two back-to-back, but I'm only gonna talk about one, cause the second one didn't get icing).  I know that's probably nothing new or special to most other people as well, but again, it was the first time I'd tried it.  The double layered and round parts were easy enough, however the icing was another story.  First off, I hardly ever make cakes because Cody doesn't really like cake.  Secondly, whenever I do make cake, I don't ice it because he also doesn't like icing.  So.  Needless to say, I'm far from an expert as icing even a regular sheet cake.  This double layered round cake was unexpectedly quite difficult!  Seriously.  I felt ridiculous getting icing everywhere and all over me... I couldn't figure out why it wasn't spreading smoothly as I wanted it to.  I ran out of icing; there were bare patches all over lol.  It was probably the funniest/worst looking cake you'd ever see!  I will say it tasted wonderful though!  Not a show cake by any means, but still delicious.  Unfortunately I'm claiming that as a failure, because I've made cakes before, that was no big deal.  My goal was a pretty and perfect iced double layered round cake... and I failed at making it pretty like I wanted!  That was my main goal with that attempt, and I definitely failed.  I will try again at some point.  I need another birthday for someone who appreciates cake!

Now... to the title of this post.  Recently Cody and I have been on a game kick again.  We go through phases of finding a game we like, playing it every chance we get, and then burning ourselves out on it and not wanting to play that again for a year.  But for now we're still in the 'play every chance we get' phase.  And yes, believe it or not, we're playing Yahtzee!  Also Ultimate Yahtzee, which I'd never heard of before.  It does make the game much more strategic and exciting.  I will also say, the dice absolutely like me better than Cody.  I posted on Facebook a while back that I finally found something I'm better at than him! Sadly it's just a non-skill board game!  We're having lots of fun with it though.  It was a random purchase one day that I forced Cody to go with me to HEB.  Of course it was him, not me, that saw it and grabbed it to add to our mass game collection.  But we are enjoying it a lot, so I'm not really complaining about the impulse buy.

And now to the Nerf guns, which is probably way more exciting to read about than Yahtzee!  This was something we did A LOT last summer, and played again for the first time in a long time this week.  Hopefully (I have a feeling we will) we will start to play this again more often.  So, last summer we bought two Nerf guns at Target, and we said it was the best buy all summer that we made!  Anyways.  Our Nerf gun fights have several varieties of style that we go through.  We do duals, ranging from a full barrel of bullets to just one.  We do minimal forts... where we have only a chair and toss pillow as protection.  And we do fortified forts, which includes the basic chair and pillow, but then adds a bar stool, more pillows, possibly the bench and some couch cushions, and various other things we find and add to our barricades.  Let me tell you, we highly recommend this activity if you your spouse (or just friend I guess) are bored and either happen to have Nerf guns, or have like $10 to go buy some.  After building our forts we proceed to count off and start our fight.  The first person to successfully shoot and hit the other one 5 times wins.  A head (we don't aim for the face though it still accidentally happens) shot counts as 2 hits.  Our rules are that you don't have to stay behind your fort, if you want to charge the other person's fort you can... it's just very risky.  Unless they happen to be out of bullets, and you know it, which then makes it an easy and swift victory.  Anyways!  That's something we really enjoy and have recently rediscovered!  Again, we highly recommend it to other couples who find themselves bored mid-afternoon or are just looking for something fun to do together.  Seriously.  It's way fun.  You should go buy Nerf guns and try it out.

I guess that's it!  I'm off to go eat breakfast/lunch and start being productive for the day.  Thanks for reading!

And thus, school begins again

Week 1 of school: check!  Second Monday of school: check!  Who's already looking forward to the long Labor Day weekend? -My husband is.  (I'm sure along with most other teachers.)

So Cody's starting year two of teaching, and I think his first week went pretty well.  Thank you Lord : )   He did start to get exhausted and stressed towards the end of the week and over the weekend, I guess as to be expected.  This year he has 3 preps instead of 2.  He's teaching (I think I've already shared this with yall... but oh well) regular Geometry, Pre-AP Geometry, and Pre-AP Algebra II.  He has some students again from last year... not repeats, just they had him for Algebra I and now for Geometry.  He doesn't feel as prepared for this second week as the first week.  I'm hoping and praying that he'll be able to stay organized and on top of grading and such throughout the year so that these 3 preps don't make it all too stressful.  So far his favorite class is the Pre-AP Algebra II.  I think he's really enjoying the ability to have real discussions with those classes and getting their brains thinking and sharing about it all.  Hopefully that will continue.

I haven't had a sub job yet.  I guess teachers make a real effort to not be absent at the beginning of the school year (-I guess it's understandable).  Today I went to a couple schools (and if I don't have jobs during the rest of this week, I plan to continue) and dropped off some business cards with my contact info and certification areas in lots of teachers' mailboxes.  Hopefully some of them will give me a call to sub for them.  And then hopefully they like me and use me again, and share my name with other teachers, and I get very familiar with a couple schools, and then if either a long-term sub job opens up, or a full-time teaching position, the principal will consider me.  Hopefully.  I guess that's the new goal.

Filling some of my spare time at the moment, I've become a bit of a blog addict.  I currently have four.  This one (that obviously I don't need to tell you about) and a private blog that acts as my journal-thing, (I don't really like to say that I journal for some reason...) I've had for a while now.  But after lunch with some friends from church on Sunday (yesterday), I decided to start two new ones... and that process kept me up later than I have been in quite a while.  But I love it.  I half feel bad because I'm sharing this... but I'm not going to tell you what/where they are.  Sorry!  One is under a different name so that I have anonymity to be completely open and honest and express myself through the outlet of blogging, and another was a suggestion of my friends at lunch... a writing blog.  That one is also private (I might open it up later, not sure yet) and the focus there will be for me to have motivation to actually write something every now and then.  I love writing and have a secret (guess it's not secret anymore) dream of being a writer -although I honestly don't think I have the talent to, it's still something I enjoy.  So... sorry I tend to ramble.  These two new blogs are sort of experiments.  We'll see if they continue to develop and last for long.  I hope they do... but you never know.  Four blogs might just be too much!

Anyways.  Gotta go help Cody grade some papers and figure out dinner plans.  I had a new meal to try tonight that I was excited about... but another dumb headache that is very quickly worsening will probably get in the way of that.  Maybe another night this week.  We'll see.

PS - Happy birthday to my Dad!  I'm glad you have leftover chocolate cake to enjoy today!

Mighty To Save

So I hated leaving our blog on such a negative note.  Yes, we were really disappointed that I didn't get the position from my interview last week, but we know that the Lord will provide a job for me.  Last night at The Gathering and today after lunch with a friend I am feeling encouraged and comforted, just trusting that God has a plan, even though as to what it is I am clueless.  For now unless something comes up last minute, my plan is to start subbing as soon as school starts, and hope that will provide an opportunity.  Please just continue to pray with us for a teaching position to be provided as soon as possible, and for us to continue to have peace in waiting.  Thank you to everyone who has been praying about this for so long now : ) We really appreciate it.

Today was Cody's first official day back at work!  He looked at me on Saturday and was like "Well, summer is officially over.  This is now just another weekend before work."  He's not stressed at all (yet!)  as this week he's expecting to be fairly easy and relaxed as he just prepares for school to kick off.  I'm sure he could use prayer once this week starts to end and the reality hits for students arriving next Monday.  This year he'll be teaching 3 courses at Alamo Heights: Geometry, Pre-AP Geometry, and Pre-AP Algebra II.  It'll be a totally different year going from low-level classes to dealing with Pre-AP students and parents!  Hopefully it'll be a change he enjoys.

I wanted to share my favorite worship song with everyone.  We played it last night at The Gathering, and every time I hear it, it just reminds me that God is in control, and that it'll be okay -no matter what is ever going on at the time.  And it reminds me to be thankful for everything I have and everyone I love.  I truly love the lyrics to this song... I just wanted to share.

Everyone needs compassion.

Love that's never failing;

Let mercy fall on me.

Everyone needs forgiveness.

The kindness of a Saviour;

The Hope of nations.

Saviour, He can move the mountains.

My God is Mighty to save,

He is Mighty to save.

Forever, Author of salvation.

He rose and conquered the grave,

Jesus conquered the grave.

So take me as You find me.

All my fears and failures,

Fill my life again.

I give my life to follow.

Everything I believe in,

Now I surrender.

Saviour, He can move the mountains.

My God is Mighty to save,

He is Mighty to save.

Forever, Author of salvation.

He rose and conquered the grave,

Jesus conquered the grave.

Shine your light and let the whole world see,

We're singing for the glory of the risen King, Jesus.

Shine your light and let the whole world see,

We're singing for the glory of the risen King, Jesus.

My Saviour, He can move the mountains.

My God is Mighty to save,

He is Mighty to save.

Forever, Author of salvation.

He rose and conquered the grave,

Jesus conquered the grave.

Mighty To Save -By Hillsong

honestly disappointed

This past Tuesday I had an interview at an elementary school in Southside ISD for a 1st grade position.  Today I got the official phone call that I was not the applicant chosen.  I feel like I've been doing good staying positive and hopeful and confident... but if I'm being honest, this was really disappointing and I'm having a hard time not getting discouraged.  For this past interview, I was the most excited, the most confident, the most prepared I had been for ANY other interview.  It was my A+ game plus some.  I thought I was going to get a happier phone call.  I would really appreciate prayers to stay enthusiastic and confident.  It's hard feeling like that interview was better than I've done so far all summer... and therefore my best wasn't enough.  I keep trying to remind myself that the Lord has a plan... we just really need for me to have a full-time teaching position this year, and well school starts in a week.  Please pray for the position that God has in store for me to open up and to be made know soon.  Pray for me to stop feeling down and being so negative with myself.  Really any and all prayers with my non-job situation are welcomed!  I just wanted to keep everyone up-to-date since I've been posting about the interviews and such as they come.  Hopefully something else will come up quickly and hopefully I will be able to trust and remember that the Lord will provide, even if it's not in the timing we would choose. 

Monday Funday!

Yesterday Cody and I enjoyed the day at Sea World!  I hadn't ever been before, and he'd been wanting us to go all summer.  We really enjoyed it... minus the heat and blazing sun.  Speaking of... while I did thoroughly enjoy our day, it was horrible timing.  I was still sunburned from South Padre and I KNEW being in the sun would be a bad idea -but we couldn't think of another day that would work (as we're hoping I'll be hired soon).  About half way through the day, I rubbed my arm and it felt funny.  I looked down, and my arms are covered in these tiny clear blisters.  And the hypochondriac that I am (according to Cody) started freaking out.  Cody calmed me down, saying he'd had that when he was little from a bad sunburn, and since they were odd but didn't hurt, I tried to enjoy our ride on the Steele Eel.  Anyways, besides freaking out whenever Cody accidentally touched my arms the rest of the day, I was fine -and after sleeping and rolling around on them, I woke up to just peely skin and hardly any blisters left.  So besides the sunblisters, we watched both the Shamu show and the Sea Lions show, feed Sea Lions and Dolphins (which I touched for the first time!), saw the aquarium, watched the Pirates in 4-D show, and rode both rollercoasters twice! There were NO lines, and it was amazing.  We rode each ride once in the middle-ish and then the second time in the very front.  We had a lovely date day together.

My Sunblisters!  They looked like water droplets.

On a seperate note, today I had an interview at an elementary school in Southside at 4 o'clock, and it went really well!  I think they really liked me; my only concern is that they may want someone with experience in the younger grades (it's for a 1st Grade position).  So please pray that they like me and decide I would be good for 1st Grade!

(PS - I know I still haven't finished sharing about South Padre... I will!  It takes forever for me to go through my pictures.)

Goodness, it’s hard to workout when your younger brothers are there mocking your exercises!

We're currently in South Padre enjoying a nice beach trip with my family -minus Ryan... but we all wish he was here!  So if anyone cares, here's my new workout update: I've been good doing it everyday from last Monday when I started through this Sunday, and I took my first day off yesterday due to already being extremely sore from the paddle boards.  However, I will say... Sean and Aaron have not let me hear the end of how "weak" my Kickboxing video workouts are!  They have half-mocked-half-pretended to do it seriously with me a couple times.  It normally ends with one of them laughing and asking me "Are you seriously out of breath from that?"  I guess at least I have provided them with daily entertainment! 

Cody bungee jumped for the second time!  I think he's now addicted to that adrenaline rush because he's saying he may do it AGAIN here this week to record a video of it to possibly use in his classroom.  It was nothing compared to his first jump at Victoria Falls... but it was a bungee jump nonetheless.  I may try to convince him to share about it on here later. 

This morning I had a phone interview with a middle school in Judson ISD for an ESL teaching position.  They called me on Sunday and asked me to come in today, and I'm grateful that upon telling them I was on a vacation with my family here, they were perfectly willing to do a phone interview.  While it was very short -only 5 questions and 10 minutes long- I think it went really well.  We'll see if anything comes from it.  It's now August and I can't help being really nervous that I'm not hired yet.  Please keep praying for a job!

Anyways.  We're enjoying the sun and beach... and our new condo!  We stayed Thursday to half of Sunday in one place that my parents weren't pleased with, and after talking to the manager, we moved to a new, clean, pretty nifty place for the rest of Sunday through Thursday.  Cody and I are definitely not complaining about now getting our own room without the boys!

More to come along with pictures of our South Padre trip once we're back home!  Hope everyone's having a lovely week!

Lately...

Well to start, two weeks ago I had 2 more interviews at elementary schools, on the 12th and 16th. The first didn't go so well, but the second one did -however, nothing (at least so far) has come from it. So, on the job front note, still waiting and hoping for more calls. As it's pretty much almost August... I'm starting to get more and more nervous about not being hired yet. I'm still trying to remember to trust that the Lord will provide something, just this waiting and not knowing isn't very easy or comfortable to do. Any continuous prayers for a teaching opportunity are still very welcomed!

-Cooking Experiment: Success or Failure-
On a different note, the past month I've kinda taken off cooking our dinners -not intentionally... with the Ohio trip and stuff randomly coming up, it just sort of happened. So the past week I've made a mental note to make an effort to buy groceries and cook for us again. So far we've enjoyed a couple new meals this week as I felt in the mood to experiment some. I made a cream of chicken dish that was fairly good, and then chicken with egg fried rice which was definitely a cooking experiment success! I was excited to find something new that was easy and quick but still enjoyable. I also recently made no bake cookies that my dad said he used to make as a kid and hadn't had in 35 years. They weren't bad, just not what I was expecting. I may make them again, but definitely not often... maybe as a gift for my dad (here's hoping he wasn't lying that he liked them!).

Last Thursday Cody and I had a fun date day at Fiesta Texas (thanks to Sue and Steve for the tickets... and sorry again we weren't able to use them with yall earlier this year). Fortunately it wasn't super crowded and we got to ride everything we wanted by the time we were ready to leave. The first ride we did was the (fairly) new Goliath roller coaster. I don't know if it's because it's been three years since I've ridden a roller coaster, or because I'm constantly becoming more weak and wimp-like, or because it was just an intense ride... but nonetheless, half the ride my eyes were squished shut and the other half I was screaming -after having decided I was too adult to scream on rides any more. We got off and I nearly fell over trying to walk. A ride has never made me so dizzy and light-headed before. Maybe I don't handle roller coasters as well as I used to! Anyways. Aside from the Rattler (which I already knew I hated since it's a wooden ride -and only rode so Cody wouldn't ride alone), the other roller coasters were much less intense. We very much enjoyed the day out together doing something different.

Today was the first day of Cody's AP conference. That's what he'll be doing all this week, getting the necessary hours and training to teach his Pre-AP courses for this coming school year. At least from this first day he's said it's been some good, useful, and interesting stuff they've talked about. I'm sure by day four he'll be ready to be done. As for me, being home alone today forced me to face the mess we've been accumulating. Two loads of laundry and some dishes later I decided to leave the rest to split up between tomorrow and Wednesday. –Sadly I am NOT a naturally domestic wife in the sense of keeping our apartment clean and tidy! It’s something I’m working on. Thursday is the last day of Cody's conference, and is the day I'm leaving with my parents and brothers for South Padre to enjoy a nice beach trip. The plan as of now is for Cody to drive up Thursday evening after he gets out for his last day... we'll see if he's up to it, otherwise he'll join us on Friday.

Goodness... there was more to write about than I thought. The last thing for now is that as of today I started "working out." I say "working out" because with my asthma, after 3 minutes of anything I can’t breathe... therefore running and most things are not an option for me; I just do things to tone up and such. Usually my motivation to work out lasts for about 1-2 weeks tops and then I quite for 3-4 months before trying again for another measly week. So, I'm hoping that sharing this in our blog will help motivate me to keep it up. I'm doing workouts from a Kickboxing exercise video... I did two 10 minute videos today, and the soreness is starting to kick in! Hopefully though I'll keep it up. I'll share whether it does continue or whether it turns out to have been a one day fluke. We'll see!

Interview

Tomorrow I have an interview at an elementary school in Edgewood ISD at 1:30. I just got the call this evening, and am excited and encouraged to at least have gotten another call out of the blue! Please say a prayer for me that it goes well, and even if it's not where I'm suppose to end up, that I leave feeling confident. Of course, if it could be where I'm suppose to end up, that would be superb! Anyways, that's it. Just wanted to share the update and ask for prayers that it goes well.