Perfect Timing!

So today was one of the worst days of my teaching career thus far. It was just one of those days where you thought nothing else could go wrong and it did. Then we had a long meeting this afternoon and I come back to find this on my door for teacher appreciation week next week. I just had to stand there and cry and thank the Lord for this tender mercy in my life. I am making a difference and I can do this! I love what I do and I am so grateful that I was given the talent of teaching.
P.S. each of the flowers has the name of one of my students on it. My amazing room mom did this for me.

More picture of the house

Scipio!

Pronounced Skipio to some people in our family. It is beautiful down there. I always said that you can't see the whole town from the freeway, but that is it. It is so small and so big at the same time. We went hiking and four wheeling and rock climbing and just enjoyed being out doors. It was so calm and peaceful and the perfect temperature for all of our activities. We took the dog out and let her hunt for bunnies while we walked. It was fun to have my own personal tour guide too because he knows all about the history of the town and the areas so I got a history lesson everywhere we went.

My favorite part of the whole weekend was when we climbed up these rocks and then back down a little onto this ledge and we just sat there and looked out at it all. It was incredible. We also hiked up to this beautiful waterfall and that is what I am standing next to in the picture. It was hard to come back to the city and back to life!

Half way there!

So the tops are off! The bottoms come off in less than a month and I love the way they feel. More importantly, I love the way I feel. Most people I talk to say that I didn't need them, but I wanted them for my own self confidence and it has helped so much. I love to smile more than I did before and I am not worried when people look at my teeth because I know that I think they look great!

Happy 50th birthday and 200th post!

So this is cool that it is my 200th post and my mom's 50th birthday! I picked this picture because my mom truly is an American Idol! First of all I have always loved her voice even though I give her a hard time for singing along to my favorite pop songs. She has always worked hard to teach me valuable life long lessons that I will use as an adult.

I had a pretty tough weekend with my health and the only person I wanted near me was my mom. I knew that she would stay up late and let me lay my head in her lap on the bathroom floor between throwing up. I also knew that she would run her fingers through my hair to help me forget the pain of my head and the rest of my body. She has always been so great at making me feel better.

Happy Birthday mom! I love you!

It makes me ridiculously happy when...

..."my kids," meaning my students, laugh at something like they don't have a care in the world. If you know me well, you know that I LOVE to laugh and I do it often. Some people in my life have thought that I fake laugh sometimes, but it is always sincere. I was just blessed with a sense of humor that allows me to think that everything is funny. So when "my kids" laugh like that it makes my heart feel like it is going to jump out of my chest. I love to see them happy.

P.S. One of my kids is reading to himself right now and chuckling while reading "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and that also makes me happy.

Sneak peak of the new casa!

Okay so I know I have taken forever to do this, but it has taken me forever to get things organized in MY new place! I just love saying MY new place because it is truly MINE! Anyway here is a picture of the new bed set I bought to put on the air mattress in the guest room. (I love saying I have a guest room because it makes me feel like I am a big deal) Then we have a picture of the living room and my favorite part, the piano by the window looking out towards the beautiful mountains. I will get pictures of the kitchen and master bedroom soon. P.S. the blinds are up in my room finally thanks to Reuben!

The best thing since sliced bread!

This is how my students feel about Trevor! They absolutely adore him. He came into my class yesterday and they were all showing off for him. Then we did an activity where they kids had to draw and they were all up at the table asking Trevor to draw parts of their pictures for him. I had him draw a picture too and they all oohed and aahed when I showed it to them.

When they walked in this morning they all smiled at me until they say that Trevor wasn't here. Good thing he is coming back tomorrow or they might go into deep depression ;)

Funny Fourth Graders!

So these quotes are not from my particular 4th graders, but they are hilarious so I thought I would share. So this watervan came this week and taught the kids about the water cycle. It was actually really cool. One of the presenters was trying to get condensation out of the kids and was hinting at what it started with. One of the girls confidently raised her hand and said, "Is it constipation?" The presenter did a good job of keeping a straight face and moving on.

The next one happened when they were showing the kids some animals that live in Utah. She was telling the kids that the salamander can live 2-7 years. One of the kids raised his hand and asked, "Is that in dog years or human years?"

They are so funny and keep my life interesting.

Michael Buble

So one of my friends had the brilliant idea to buy tickets to the Michael Buble concert. The only problem was that we bought our tickets so long ago that the wait was excruciating. The wait was worth it! He is better live than he is on cd. He is funny and so very attractive. We were on the floor too so when he came down the aisle we reached out our hands and touched him! All in all it was a really fun night.

Easter Basket

So the Easter bunny stopped by my house this weekend and I got an amazing Easter basket! It had all the things I like. Lots of chocolate, good smelling candles, a Disney Princess kite, a stuffed dog, and water guns. I have already tested out the water guns and they work great! Now I am just waiting for a windy day to test out my kite. I sure am glad that I have such an amazing Easter bunny!