If only...

So today I was reminding my students that I would be gone next week because my cousin is getting married. One of my students proceeded to say, "everyone in your family is getting married Ms. Jones. Too bad you aren't."
I had no response for that, but luckily one of my sweet little girls saved me. She said, "It is okay Ms. Jones. How about we pick someone for you to marry. You should marry Jesse McCartney so that you can get us into his concerts for free."
Other suggestions were Barack Obama so we can see the white house, a millionaire so I don't have to teach anymore, and the i pod maker so that we could all get free ipods.
Then came the line that made my heart melt, "She can't marry any of those guys because Ms. Jones is going to marry her prince charming so he can treat her like a princess."

These kids just know the right things to say to make my heart melt and make me chuckle a little too!

My Family is a big deal!

So today we had a couple minutes to spare at the end of the day so I decided to show my students a couple of the family blogs with pictures on them. These cute kids had a comment for everyone in our family so I thought I would share. They wanted to know everyone's age so while I was thinking of the age, they would slide in their comments.
Ann-This is my sister in law and she is...two boys look up and say, "pretty!"
Brendon-This is my brother and he..."looks nothing like you."
Mary Deane-This is my niece and she is almost one. I showed them the video of her driving and they said, "did she get her learner's permit first?"
Trevor-This is my little brother..."your little brother? Yeah right, he is huge!"
Katie-I showed her picture and they all go, "Is that your twin?"
And last, but not least. My favorite quote of the day. I show the picture of mom and dad on dad's blog and tell the kids that they are 51 and 49. "No way. Your parents do not look their age. Yeah they look like they are in their 20's!"

Then I went to tutoring and I was giving the girl her sight words and she comes up with sentences for the word. The word was prism and her sentence was, "My grandma visits the prism every Thursday to see my uncle." I said, "No honey that is prison, not prism."

I love my jobs!

Dear Fourth Graders,

Well we made it through our first week together! We had fun learning about variables this week in math and learning about immigrants in reading. We made class mascots in art and played kick ball in p.e. We learned a lot about each other.

You made me laugh when you told me that I was probably the youngest teacher that Crescent elementary has ever had. You also made me want to rip my hair out when you kept talking while I was talking.

For the most part though, I think we are a perfect fit. You are a great class and I am excited to be your teacher. Here is to a great year together!

Love,
Ms. Jones

I never forget!

So my family knows that I have a freak memory for numbers. I remember everyone's birthdays and anniversaries and all that fun stuff. I once helped my uncle set up our extended family website and I knew his own kids' birthdays better than he did. ;) Knowing this, my family should know that I would not forget my parent's 27th anniversary. There was just so excitement about me getting my first teaching job on the same day that my mind was elsewhere. So here is the blog just for them.
Yay for 27 years and here is to 27 more! Wow we are old. ;)

Dear Heavenly Father,

I could not bring myself to lay my sleepy head upon my pillow until I expressed some of the things that I am feeling. I did not know that one heart could feel so much gratitude. You and I had a heartfelt chat last night where I begged, if it be thy will, that I get this job. As I left my interview today, I just had a feeling that I got the job, but I knew that it was because of you and not me. I had done all that I could and you did the rest.
Feeling like I was as humbled as I could be, I started to call my family and friends. Wow was that a wake up call. Every person that I talked to on the phone told me that this was an answer to THEIR prayers. Other people besides me had been praying, probably more fervently than me, for this blessing to come into my life. I have never felt so much love and support from those around me.
Prayer works and I am never alone on this earth. With my renewed humility and confidence at the same time, I am ready to meet those 4th graders head on!
Thank you so much for teaching me so many lessons through this experience and allowing me to become a better person.

Love,
Ms. Jones ;)

You learn something new everyday!

So today I learned two lessons from my student that I will remember for the rest of my life. The first one happened while we were working on his problem with reversing letters. He specifically struggles with reversing the b's and d's so I was helping him come up with ways to remember the way that they go. He turned to me and said, "hey for the b I can just think of my teacher because she is pregnant!" I was very confused at this point and he continued to explain, "When she looks sideways, she looks like a b!" I wasn't about to tell him that if she turned the other way, she could look like a d too. I just had to chuckle to myself.

Then later in the lesson we heard a noise outside and he asked what it was. I told him that it was someone cutting the grass with a lawn mower outside. With great concern he turned to me and asked, "Doesn't that hurt the grass? Plants are living things too you know?"

It is amazing how quickly children can humble you!

More Faith Needed!

So I definitely went into Saturday's game just thinking that I would watch a good football game and that it would help us get ready for the season. I never expected us to win. I definitely need to have more faith in my cougs, especially the defense. They were on fire. We are now ranked #9! That will change next week, but let's life for the moment!

In the newspaper yesterday there was an article about how there were a ton of people that met the team at the Provo airport when they arrived home and 2am Sunday morning. Provo is crazy right now with excitement. So my faith is restored and hopefully it will help the cougars play another incredible game on Saturday.

1st and 10, do it again!

Mal and I have been craving IHOP for a long time so last night was the night. I got the football shaped stuffed french toast to support my cougars and all other great football teams that are going to entertain me these next four to five months. I love football and I love stuffed french toast so it was great!

Oh to be a child again

Today I was tutoring this boy and he was just full of life and stories. Everything we would read or do he had a story for me. It was quite entertaining. My favorite part was when he was reading a sentence and came across the word, "festival" and said funeral instead. When I corrected him he said, "I am always getting those two mixed up." Jokingly, I replied, "I hate it when I forget that a funeral is not a festival." He looked back at me and seriously and a little excited replied, "Me too. I am glad it happens to someone else besides me!"

To be naive and worry free like a child again would be amazing. They are so close to the Savior because they are so like the Savior. They can just love others for who they are and what they have to offer the world. This is why I chose to be near them everyday of my life. I want to be more like that.

"Zac Efron is so H-O-T!"

So I am teaching one of my students the writing process and how to spell certain words. I say the word and she writes it on the board and then makes up a sentence. For the word hot the sentence she came up with is the title of this post.

We are now working on our first draft of our story. This student and I are the main characters and, surprise, surprise, so is Zac Efron. I am happy to report that he chooses me over Brittany Spears, Miley Cyrus, and even his current girlfriend, Vanessa Hudgens. Am I a lucky girl or what? ;)