Happy Birthday Ann!

I am so happy that we now have a special day in January! Ann has been a great addition to our family in more ways than one. It has been fun watching her become a mother and take a little bit of notes! I hope that you have a great day Ann and know that I am thinking of you and love you! Happy birthday!

Christ Like Love

So this is going to be another one of those "journal" blogs so you can skip over it if you don't like reading about feelings! So tonight my self esteem was heightened quite a bit. We had our 3rd grade patriotic program and so the parents came and watched. Afterwards, I was swarmed with kids who wanted me to meet their families. Every single mother pulled me aside and thanked me for the difference I was making in their child's life. They all told me that their child talks about me at home and absolutely loves me. That was really great to hear because I really do put my heart and soul into what I do and so it is nice to see the rewards of that.

I have also been thinking lately and trying to figure out why I am so happy all of a sudden. I realized tonight that it is because of those kids. They make me feel important and wanted and even needed. They love me no matter what. They truly are showing me a small glimpse of how the Savior feels about me. I love being around these kids, who I sometimes slip up and call my kids, because I know who I am around them. I love who I am around them and I want to be better around them!

Anyway, enough of the emotions, here are a couple more funny quotes of the day...
Gavin said to one of his classmates, "I wish that I could live in an old people home...they get to play all sorts of games!"
Savannah said, "I wish our parents would treat us different...they treat us like we are kids!"
After the program I told my students that their homework was to go home and be proud to be free and proud to be an American. A girl looked at me and asked, "is that due tomorrow?"
You have to love the sense of humor of the little ones!

3rd grade isms!

So I laughed so hard today that I cried and I wanted to share some of the cute things my students say. I always tell myself that I will write them down and I forget to so here are some. So this morning I had a student teaching seminar so I walked into the classroom at the end of lunch after having been gone for 4 hours and Karsten turns to me and says, "Ms. Jones! You are back! Do you remember who I am?"

Then a little later we were all opening fortune cookies for Chinese New Year and mine said, "you have a life of happiness ahead of you!" So Gavin turned to me and said, "Ms. Jones, that means you are getting married!" He then told everyone in the class that I was getting married. Then on the way to the assembly, Gavin, Mike, and Griffin started planning my life with my future husband. They said that we will, "make milkshakes together and sit by the fireplace and drink them. Then we can make each other chocolate and eat it together." I thought I was going to have to edit the conversation, but they are so cute and innocent that it turned into marriage advice instead. So boys out there...I am making milkshakes tonight!

Another quirk!

So I realized this morning that I have this weird relationship with my alarm clock. I would rather set it earlier and push snooze a bunch of times then just set it later and get up right away. For some reason I feel like I am getting more sleep when I push snooze more times. Then I just end up sleeping later than if I would have just set it for later and got up when it went off. Confusing, I know...just my observation of the day!

Go Jazz!

The team warming up...notice how close we are!

All of the food we got!


So I must be living right because my friend Ben took me to the Jazz game last night. It was amazing! We sat in row 10. Yeah that is right...I could hear the players getting angry and I got to sit next to the angry hard core fans! So here are some pictures from my fun night!

Scary!

So I just wanted to share with you something that I realized today...I am teaching the graduating class of 2018! Now that is creepy and scary to think where I will be when they graduate high school. Okay end of scary realization!

It is official!

So I am officially a part of the Jordan school district and I get to wear this badge around my neck for security purposes, but I am now official! It makes me so happy to be a student teacher because I don't have to do everything, but I get to do a lot. I am at Draper Elementary in the 3rd grade with a really great teacher. The students have been so cute and so welcoming. One boy asked me if I had a boyfriend and when I said no he asked if he could be my boyfriend. Then another boy put his hand on my leg while I was helping him and said, "Ms. Jones, you are so beautiful!" I really think that this is why Christ called all the children to bless them because they all know what charity is and they love everyone no matter what. I love working with children and I am excited for the post in about 8 months where I can say that I am the official teacher!

Christmas fun!

So we did a little iceskating the day after Christmas after we had all recovered from the stomach flu. Christmas Eve was miserable in our house because everyone except Brendon and Ann were sick. So the day after Christmas we decided to go iceskating. So grandma and grandpa Jones took the baby and Brendon, Ann, Katie and I hit the rink which I think is older than dinosaurs, but it was still fun. Here are some pictures. Ann made us all look bad as she whizzed around us and Brendon was trying to pretend like he knew what he was doing. And sweet Katie made it a total of 2 times around the rink holding onto the wall the whole time, but Ann helped her a lot.
I also went on the Youth Pioneer Trek and had a great time. We walked a lot and ate a little so I think I lost a little weight while out there. It was a lot more spiritual this time than it was when I was 15. I was better able to appreciate the sacrifices that the pioneers made! I don't have any pictures yet but I will see what I can do.