Halloween Weekend

It all started on Friday. I dressed up as a lifeguard for school. It was the best costume idea I have ever had. Mainly because I was comfortable all day, and had all of the materials at home. (I was lacking a rescue tube and fanny pack, but it's ok.)

1. I loved it because I wore a sweatshirt and shorts
2. I wore my hair in a wet bun, because that's what lifeguards do
3. I was able to blow my whistle at running kids in the hall
4. I used some white paint at school to put on some "sunscreen"

I was told by a student from last year that my costume last year was better.... but I am all about comfort now. haha.

That night we went and had a Halloween dinner with Matthew, Emily, and Max. This is a favorite tradition of mine. We had dinner in a pumpkin, which was awesome! We made pumpkins out of rice krispy treats, had pumpkin trivia, played games, and ooogled over how cute little Max was in his monkey costume.

(Bob wasn't thrilled about dressing up, I convinced him to do something and he wore his bald cap, that he had from a class where he pretended to be Dr. Phil....)

We had a record number of trick or treaters on Saturday night. 5 to be exact and that was 2 doorbell rings. We left at 7:30 to play games with our neighbors. It was a nice and relaxing weekend!

My Brother, Elder Hales

Yesterday as we were sitting down eating dessert at my parents house, the phone rang. It was for my Mom and when she came back to the table she was sobbing. We all started asking, "Are you ok?" And she finally broke through the sobs that it was a happy cry. We all laughed and waited for her to tell us why she was crying.

She told us that a lady from Orem had just gotten home from a Geneology trip to England. And while she was there, she met Dan in the Harlow ward where he was serving at the time. She had called to tell us what a great missionary he was. While she was there she also told him to write my mom a letter and she would mail it to her when she got back to Utah. He didn't.... My mom was laughing by this point. It was so neat to hear that he is doing well.

This morning we got this email from Dan, and it made this story even more special.
".....Im so glad that you got the phone call. Randomly one Sunday these three older ladies came to church. they were touring England. I came to find out that one of them was the author of the pioneer story. "tell my story too." The two other sisters were the younger sisters of Sister Hinkley, yes Gorden B. Hinkleys wife. so That was cool. she said she wanted to call you and tell you I'm doing alright."

Weekly ramble....

Teaching a bone unit to my class and the other 3rd graders. I always learn while teaching my class what to do and what not to do with the other 2 classes. I was teaching them the names of the bones and came upon the Pelvis. One students was like Ewwww the pelvis. I then said we need our pelvis to move around, moving side to side, using your hips... blah blah blah. Then said Remember Pelvis because it rhymes with Elvis and you dance to his songs. Later we were singing a Halloween song and a girl in my class stood up and told the class to start moving their Pelvis like Elvis. --I laughed.

The past few weeks have been so busy and filled with one thing after another. I am ready for life to slow down. It seems like most days I am home at 8 or 9, get in bed and sometimes see Bob before the next morning. I am taking a class to learn how to use my smartboard and once that is over I hope life will be more calm.

I am making pumpkin cookies. I love them, and am so glad my friend taught me the speedy way to make them. 1 spice cake mix, 1 small can of pumpkin puree and a bag of chocolate chips. 350, 15-17 minutes. On my way home from class last night I decided to buy the ingredients so I could make them right when I got home today. (to take out visiting teaching) I left the bag on the table. I guess it's still warm, because 1/2 of my bag of chocolate chips were melted when I opened them today.

I've decided to start eating healthy AGAIN and going to the gym or running everyday. (I will try to only eat one pumpkin cookie mentioned above.) I just decided today, so I will let you know how that goes. My motivation this time is in my next 5k. One of the teachers at my school is the aunt of l Rachel and her mom worked at our school last year. She played Volleyball for Mountain View and is an awesome girl. (Or so I've heard.) For more info, you can read about her experiences on her blog. SteeleStrong There will be a 5k for her through the Make a Wish Foundation on November 5th at Lakeridge Jr. High. I am planning on running that. I am also going to make a goal for myself this time. Not just finish, but get a good time. (For me that is under 30 minutes)

I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday!!!!

Marriage!

I'm so excited for my sister Andrea and her fiance Brent. They got engaged on Sunday night. (Andrea's birthday) She is following the pattern of getting married when you are 22, and to a guy who's name starts with a B. (We have told Ayrika that she must follow in our footsteps.) They are getting married in Salt Lake on December 17th! Welcome to the family Brent!

to Do Well or to Finish...?

On Sunday when I got to Relief Society, I realized that I was this weeks spotlight. I had filled out the slip with my information a few months ago, and had forgotten all about it. As I read one of the middle lines... "She is currently training for a 10k", I laughed.

Once upon a time I ran a 10k, and trained. And then my good friend Mary convinced me to sign up for another one right before school started. It wasn't until October so I figured I had enough time to prepare.

Fast forward to last Saturday, I had not run once since school had started and I was at Thanksgiving point, about to start my 2nd 10k. The first 3 miles were fine, we were on flat ground and Mary and I were running at a 9:30 pace. And then we entered Thanksgiving Point Gardens and it all went down hill. (Well actually up hill.... but you get my point.) Most of miles 3-4.5 were up hill, a few flat segments, and an occasional decline. Mary and I parted at mile 3, because I didn't want to slow her down. Every once in a while on the switch backs up to the waterfall, I would see her and wave to let her know I was still alive.

As I ran towards the finish, (even the last flat mile was hard after all of the previous hills) I was SO tired. I saw Mary's husband and her two boys, and sadly he hadn't seen Mary when she finished. They gave me enough strength to finish the race out. Surprisingly my time was 1 hour and 9 minutes. I felt like I had been gone for at least an hour and a half.

My 1st 10k was completed in 1 hour 2 minutes, so only adding 7 minutes and having no training I felt good about it..... Until I woke up on Sunday morning. No more races unless proper training has been done. I felt like I was 80. Today I am 70.

Pre run picture in the Car:
Post run picture:
Yes I actually finished:
My biggest fan (he didn't know it though):

to Do Well or to Finish...?

baptism talk at the back table

Today I was giving spelling tests to a few kids at the back table. I gave them a bonus word- queen, and used the sentence: My brother living in London hopes to meet the queen. This is the conversation that followed:

Girl 1 asks, "Why is your brother in England?"

Me "He is on a mission."

Girl 2 says, "Oh my brother is on his mission in Chile and he is learning Spanish and baptizing a lot of people."

Boy 1 "Oh Mrs. Barber, I am so excited to go do Baptisms for the dead!

Boy 2 sadly says "Mrs. Barber, I'm not baptized."

Me "Oh that's ok, you don't have to be baptized."

Boy 3 turns to Boy 2 and says "Oh don't worry, that's what Baptism for the dead is for!"

Girl 1 "Mrs. Barber, are you baptized?"

Me "Go back to your seats!"

Letter from a student

Dear miss barber you bene the nisise techre in the all grlis you are budife like a anjole you are cool
love
m.

This is a note I got from my student. It was written in the exact colors above. If you don't have teacher eyes, it says this...

Dear Miss Barber,
You been the nicest teacher in the all girls
You are beautiful like a angel
You are cool
Love M