Surprise for Elder Hales

We are counting down the days until my brother Dan comes home from his mission in London, England. It doesn't quite seem like it has been 2 years, but I do feel like I haven't seen him in a while, and I can't wait to see him in just a couple weeks. He will be home in less than 3 weeks. As a family we have been discussing what we will do when he gets home. Where and what we will eat, when we can get the boat on the lake, how he will have changed, and other random things. Our time around the Sunday dinner table is centered around Dan.

My Dad is probably the most excited, to finally have his handy son home to help with the yard work and to even out the boy to girl ratio at home. My Dad bought some golf passes at an auction for different courses in the county. It will be fun for Dad, Dan, Brent, and Bob to all golf together this summer. Although Andrea and Brent got married while Dan was gone, Brent met Dan before he left, so he isn't too much of a surprise. My Mom actually is the most excited I bet, and it's not just because she got a brand new car this week so Dan can have her old car. In preparation for his arrival at the airport, I have been making a few posters for Bob and I to hold. I can't wait to see his reaction.

I think Bob will hold this poster:

And I will be holding this poster:

Do you think he will like them?

Spring Break 2012

I had such a wonderful/relaxing/lazy spring break, I slacked on the pictures. We left Friday after school, drove to Kanab. The next morning we drove to Mesa for Easter weekend and spent Monday-Friday in Rocky Point, Mexico. Here are some of the highlights. 

(Everyone laughs or doesn't believe me when I say that we drive to Mexico!!!)

- While driving to Kanab we talked the whole time. (Usually, I read.)

- Touring Uncle Ed and Aunt Carrie's new house, aka the Mansion.

- Seeing my Grandma and Grandpa Hales for the first time in 4 months. Sitting on the deck talking and enjoying the sun together. 

- Going to the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple, and hearing it in English. (Last year it was in Spanish) 

- Dying Easter Eggs with family even though the youngest in the crowd was 17.

- Eating a wonderful Easter meal with a Bunny Cake and playing games.

- Having a large shrimp cocktail when we arrived in Mexico.

- Sitting by the pool in the late afternoon feeling the sun on my face.

- Tacos, Tacos, and more Tacos (A girl in my class warned me not to eat any Tacos from the street. I told her I was sorry, but that is all we eat when we go.)

- Picking out breakfast pastries at the grocery store. 

- Reading by the pool all morning, every morning (I finished The Book Thief and loved it.)

- Watching both of my parents go down the slide (Our balcony was the one right above the slide)

- Spending time on the beach

- Searching for hot, fresh churros 

- Looking for a few trinkets to buy and take home, even though over the past 20 years we have already bought 1 of everything... haha

- Going to the fish market

- Eating a foot long burro (burrito that might have been my best meal)

- Searching for my Dad's missing tennis shoes

- Snacking on fresh coconut

- Drinking 2%, because it was 2% or whole

- Daily visits to the main lounge for wifi to email Bob

- Watching Nacho Libre while in Mexico

- Driving from Mexico to Orem in one day, just 14 hours

Teacher Appreciation

The week before Spring Break, my room mom emailed me about having some parents come in before Teacher Appreciation week. We figured out the best time was the Friday before the break, since the she needed things right after Spring Break. On that Friday one of the moms came in and said she would just need a few minutes to take pictures of the kids. I was going to work with some kids at the back table while she took them and I was surprised to find out she wanted me in the pictures too.

*Rewind to the night before. I hosted a girls night and was up late packing for my upcoming Mexico trip. I woke up late Friday morning, threw my hair in a messy bun, skipped the make up, and ran off to school. I was so happy that Spring Break was about to begin, to care what I looked like. (Also worth mentioning is the mountain of a zit growing on the side of my chin.)

I sat in a chair in front of my smartboard (a nice white backdrop) and one by one my students came and stood by me. Let's be honest I am not the best picture taker. I usually ruin the best family pictures with my squinty eyes. 30 pictures later, I was done. I could only imagine the horror of what the pictures would look like when they were developed. My kids on the other hand were having a ball teasing me during our pictures.

Here is one of my favorites. I feel like we are twins, although I am not missing a tooth.

Here is my cute door decorated. Even though I don't look great, it is so much fun to look at. My kids are darling and I have had a lot of laughs and good times this year. I also have to say that I have the best room mom and parents. They have spoiled me this year.

I needed that...

Teaching is a great job. I love love love working with kids, and my coworkers. I also love that I am able to take a summer break each year. But teaching is hard! Sometimes I feel like I am doing a lot more managing then teaching. This year I've had 31-32 kids all year. It can be crazy day in and day out. Sometimes I forget why I chose this career when it's been crazy and hard for a long time.

I've been working with a student all year with some issues and behaviors. I think we have both learned a lot this year, and it has been hard for both of us. Most of the progress I have seen, has been really small. A lot of the time I feel like this student hates me, because I am getting after him constantly. I never see any emotion from this child.

He has been working to earn a Star Wars sticker book that I bought for him at the book fair in January. When he had 15 positive days, he got the book. Today was the 15th day! He didn't know I had totaled the points and when I called for him to come see me at my desk, he came over and said, What? I told him he had done a good job and I was proud of him and that he would get to take his book home today. He looked at me and was shocked. Then he shocked me. I was sitting at my desk, and he came next to me and put his head on my shoulder. This might seem like nothing to you. But I honestly got tears in my eyes. Here was my little tough student who hasn't shown any emotion all year long. And I honestly felt like he hated me. Here he was giving me a little hug, letting me know how happy he was. I gave him a little pat on the shoulder and congratulated him.

It's moments like this, that make you remember why. I became a teacher, because I love working with kids, I love teaching them, and being a part of their lives. They may drive me crazy, and I go home everyday exhausted... but after today, I remembered how much I love my job.

baby showering

Last Saturday I was able to attend one of my good friends baby shower. As I was driving to the shower I thought that they might ask how everyone knew Brittany. I thought back to when we met at EFY and how we had been good friends since. And then I remembered that I went to EFY when I was 14 or 15, and now  we are 25. It is so crazy that we have known each other for over 10 years. That made me feel really old!

We gathered and ate yummy treats and talked. The game of the shower was "higher or lower" for baby items. There were 10 items with a price attached. (Diapers, wipes, outfits, toys, etc.) Each person had to write if they thought the real price was higher or lower than the price stated. I think I was 1 of 3 who don't have kids and I got 100%. I was pretty proud of my mad skills and was happy to bring  home a $10 Cold Stone gift card. Bob was even happier.

It was so good to see Brittany and her baby bump. She is one of those people who always looks good, even pregnant! I am sad that after the baby is born, they will be moving back to San Diego for Tristan to work. Brittany is soooo happy to go home, so I made her future baby a onesie so she would never forget Utah, and the good times here.

And because I know that their baby will be a future surfer, I made these two.

I can't wait to see and meet baby Perdue!!! Congrats Brittany and Tristan!

Pencil Hoarder

One morning one of my students was having a hard time finding his spelling words. This is not common, and sometimes just an excuse to get out of working. We went to check out his desk when I found a disaster. (I may have known it was building up, but just didn't know how bad.) When he wasn't willing to search, I tipped his desk over so we could find things a little more quickly.

Most of the papers/notebooks/junk fell out, but there was still some stuff left in his desk. I peaked in and saw a ton of pencils.

"Why do you have 100 pencils in your desk?" -- me
"It's not a 100" -- boy
"I'll count while you clean up this mess." (I said to myself)

I found 93 pencils in his desk. It was insane. Then I saw his pencil box and when I went through that my count was to 114. I was happy to tell him he had over 100 pencils in his desk.

He now has a very clean desk, and I have a lot of pencils. I will be keeping my eye out for future hoarding going on in class.

Luck of the Irish

On St. Patrick's day we attended The Luck Of the Irish 5k held at Vineyard. I recruited Bob, Andrea & Brent, and my Mom and Ayrika. Unlike last year, we were not able to convince my Dad to run. We met at 9 and went down to my school to check in. The best part of races in March, is that they start later, since it isn't too warm yet. It was windy, and no one wanted to wait outside for the race to start. My family hung out in the car, while I talked with my students and coworkers.

The weather ended up being perfect for the race. It was cool, but just cool enough that it was comfortable while running. I started out the race with Bob for the first mile. We ran together with a few of my students. Their strategy was to run as fast as they could to pass us, and then once they were 10 feet ahead, they would stop and walk. I tried to tell them to pace themselves, but they were bound and determined to beat me.

In my class I have Viking dollars for classroom management. I give them $10 a week to do their class jobs. Then they pay to get drinks or use the bathroom and I reward them for good behavior. At the end of the month we have a store. So to get my kids to run the race, I bribed them. I told them they could have $50 if they signed up and ran. Then if they beat Bob $100 and me, $200. I had 7 kids from my class attend the race.

After the first mile Bob and I said goodbye and I kept up with one of my students T. Now T was wearing a zip sweatshirt and jeans. His race bib was pinned in all 4 corners over the zipper. About 2 miles in, he told me he was getting hot, but he couldn't get his sweatshirt off. So I told him to just roll his sleeves up. He was running with a girl in our class a few feet ahead of me and told her, "Man I sure do have a wedgie!" She couldn't wait to tell me, and I told her that's what happens when you run in jeans!

For the last mile I ran with one of the 2nd grade teachers Steffanie Williams. The race went by so quickly having someone to talk to. Also seeing my kids and cheering them on during the race made it that much more fun! In the end, I cheered T on to beat me. I was so proud of him for finishing!

In the end, K a girl in my class came in 1st for all 3rd graders, then T, and then me. Just between them I gave out $700 Viking dollars. I had to go buy some more prizes for my class store this month!

After the race we had Menchies frozen yogurt, which I loved. And then we left.

On Monday when I went to class I was surprised to find out that I won the 19-25 age division. Luckily I barely made it into that division. My time was the worst time I've ever had in a 5k race, so I was VERY surprised that I won.  Brent won the 1st for the men.

I wore the medal in class and my kids kept applauding me, they were soooo cute!