Reading Challenge Update #6

14. The Talking T-Rex by Ron Roy. I'm always trying to read different genres to my class of 1st and 2nd graders. This was a fun mystery! Some of my 2nd graders have already read others in this series so I picked one later in the series. We had fun talking about who we thought "did it" before they told us in the book.

15. GI Brides by Duncan Barrett. I noticed this one on my library's e-book website quite a while ago and finally was able to borrow it. I really enjoyed it! For some reason I tend to forget how much I like historical books. It was so interesting to read about the lives of these women who married GIs during WW2. Their stories were very different. Most of them were sad at times, but it was neat to read about how things worked out for them. I would definitely recommend this book.

I did it! I finished my reading challenge for 2015! Several of the books were ones I read to my class, but I'm ok with that. I'm excited to start another reading challenge for 2016. Now to decide how many books to try to read. I already have a few started. I'm going to aim for 20. A few more than last year. I love that I'm rediscovering my love for reading!

Just being real with you

       It's been a while since I've posted anything on here. My last post was when school started! Clearly things have been busy since then. Honestly not sure if I've had a weekend at home since school started.
       Not sure why I feel like writing right now, I don't have much to say. Just want to be honest and say that I'm feeling lonely today. Missing my family and friends back home and sad that things are changing around me right now. Some friends are moving away and another friendship has changed. I'm not a big fan of change. Wondering what the Lord has for me down the road.
       As I'm sitting here having a pity party for myself the Lord is reminding me "I am here. I am enough." It's so easy for me to get stuck in feeling sorry for myself and laying on my couch for a good cry. But I do need to reminder that God is enough. I don't want to waste my life sitting around waiting for something to happen, watching friends and wishing I had what they have. God is so much better than any dream I may have for the future. He is enough! So now I'm going to get up off the couch, get some work down around the house that I need to do, and thank the Lord for always being with me. (And also thank Him for talking me out of the pity party I was having!)

Happy New Year...Wait What?!

       It may sound weird to you others, but today starts a new year for me. No you don't have to stop and check your calendar it isn't January 1st. Tomorrow is the first day of school. I count today as a big day since the kids and parents can come in today and drop off stuff and meet the teachers. I've been working so hard at getting my classroom all put together for this year. Its my second year teaching this class of 1st and 2nd grade and I have a much better idea of what my room should look like (in my opinion) than I did last year. The beginning of last year is such a blur to me! But I'm loving the way I have my classroom set up this year!! Its completely different. I'm not one who really likes change, but for some reason I absolutely love changing up my classroom. :) Go figure.
       I got to school early this morning in hopes of getting a bunch done and I did. I got so much done that I felt I could sit down for a minute and take a breath before my staff meeting this morning. Grabbed my Bible and opened to the book of Psalms. I love the Psalms. This is the first thing I read:

Psalm 115:1
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

       I want this to be the theme of my year teaching this class. I want God to have all of the glory for what goes on in my classroom. I could find great ideas for teaching and my kiddos could grow a ton this year in my class, but it has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with God! I want God to do great and wonderful things in the lives of my 12 students this year. I'm so excited!!

Reading Challenge Update #5

10. Eragon - I really enjoyed reading this book! It was long, but I stuck with it. I think I started it by listening to the audiobook and then finished it with the actual book. I got so far with the audiobook and then it expired and I was going to have to wait for a long time to be able to get it again. So I ran to the library to get the actual book. I must have been at a really good part because I picked it up as soon as I could. :) I'm really looking forward to picking up the second book in the series.


11. The Willoughbys - I'm a really big fan of Lois Lowry because of The Giver series. I absolutely LOVE The Giver series. So when I saw this book I had high expectations. It was strange. I would not read it to my class no matter what the age. The kids in the story were disrespectful to their parents and then in the end when the parents died the kids didn't even care. It was weird. I won't be reading that one again.


12. Anne of Green Gables - I'm ashamed to say that it took me forever to read this book. But even though it took me forever I really loved reading it. I know, I'm a little strange. I'm totally going to pick up book two in the near future. I finished it while I was flying on an airplane and I had to work really hard at not crying through the last few chapters. Its one thing to cry openly at home, but on an airplane...not so much. I knew that Matthew was going to die, because I grew up watching the movie, but I still cried through that part. Very well written and, like most books that have been turned into movies, there was a lot more info in the book than in the movie.

Project Time

 A few months ago I found this wooden piece at the local goodwill. It had Santa painted on it. I went into the goodwill that day looking for potential project pieces. I'm so glad I bought it! It turned out so cute! The sides of the rim are navy. Now the question is do I keep it or try to sell it on my Etsy shop that I'm opening? It looks pretty good on my wall! 

Church Camping

       Just got back from my church camping trip.
       Last year when I moved to Wisconsin the church camping trip came at just the right time. I know that the Lord had it all worked out in advance. It was later in the summer last year and I was struggling some missing my family and adjusting to living with my grandparents. God used that camping trip to remind me that He is always with me and hears me when I cry out to Him.
       This year the camping trip was just as much of a blessing to me. There is something to wonderful about sitting on a small dock at the edge of a lake reading your Bible and praying. The sound of the water hitting the boats and the wind in the trees reminded me so much of how God loves me more than I can even imagine. His creation is so amazing and reminds me of how awesome He is. I'm just this puny little nothing in this world, but God chose me to be His child and He saved me from a terrible eternity. During our last kayaking outing on the lake this morning one of my friends pointed out the awesomeness of God and how cool it would be to kayak in the new heaven and new earth. He was so right. I thought that lake and its surroundings were so wonderful, but how wonderful will it be in the place that God is preparing for me!
       This morning as I was spending my quiet time with the Lord these are the verses that stuck out to me.

Psalm 111

Praise the Lord! 

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, 

in the company of the upright, in the congregation. 

Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. 

Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. 

He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; 

the Lord is gracious and merciful. 

He provides food for those who fear him; 

he remembers his covenant forever. 

He has shown his people the power of his works, 

in giving them the inheritance of the nations. 

The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; 

they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. 

He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. 

Holy and awesome is his name! 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a

ll those who practice it have a good understanding. 

His praise endures forever! 

Its been a while!

It has been a while since I've posted anything. Let's just say the last few months have been crazy busy. Since I've been home I've been itching to work on a craft project. The last one I did was while I was home last month. I tried my hand at nail/string art. I like how it turned out. A cute little bird and adds some pizzaz to my photo wall.
Instead of working on craft projects my time has been full of this. This is my garage. In case you can't tell, it is completely full of boxes. My grandma has a terrible habit of buying things and immediately putting it in the garage or basement. After living here for one year I've decided that I need to use the garage for the car. We had a mild winter and I parked my car in the driveway all winter. The ice that would accumulate overnight was crazy. So if this coming winter isn't mild the ice will be even worse. It would be so nice to have my car in the garage. I'll still have to warm it up, but I won't have to scrape ice off of it. So I've been spending about every other morning working in this garage. I've already made a dent and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my work. But working in the garage isn't something I can do all day long. It has been pretty hot here and I don't last super long in the hot garage. I also have to consider how much I can get rid of at a time. My buick only holds so many boxes to take to St. Vincent De Paul. So all that to say I have the entire afternoon to do something else.
As a pinterest-a-holic I have a lot of ideas of craft projects to work on. So I have to decide between the different types of craft projects I could choose. (This is so hard)

• quilting
• sewing
• painting
• wood work
• drawing
• lettering
• painting
• felt

How does a crafter make a choice?! Argh!! 

Hopefully I'll be posting soon what project I decided to do. 

Bittersweet time of year

       It's been a while since I've written a new post. It is definitely a busy time of year for me. There are only 3 weeks left of school, which is so crazy to me! But with those 3 weeks comes many events.
       The end of the school year is definitely bittersweet. I'm sad that half of my class will be moving on to a new class next year. They have grown to be so dear to me. Thankfully I'll still see them, but they won't me "my kids" anymore. Teaching at such a small school does have some perks though! The other half of my class will be staying with me for next year! I'm excited to have them for another year. We definitely have our ups and downs, but I'm looking forward to another year of training them and seeing them grow closer to the Lord and stronger in their education.
       The big sweet thing about this time of year is SUMMER!!! I'm super excited to be going home next month!! I'm so looking forward to some time with my family! Honestly don't know how my mom moved to California when she got married without the technology I have now. Even though I don't talk to them every day we are communicating in some way every day. And Skype is a huge help! It's nice to be able to see them every once in a while. I'm also looking forward to some fun time with friends. Apart from my family, I'm not the best at keeping in contact with people who are not living near me. But I'm super thankful for friends who understand that. I love that we can pick up right where we left off. I know things will be different when I get back but I'm just going to enjoy the time I have with them.
       I'm so thankful that the Lord made it possible for me to go home for a good chunk of the summer. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that next summer or not. Still haven't bought my ticket back to Wisconsin, and I honestly don't know what the rest of the summer, or 2015 for that matter, will hold for me. That is mostly because I'm not sure what my grandma will be doing. But even though I don't know what the future holds I do know who holds the future. My Lord and Savior has everything in His hand. And that everything includes me. I could look at the rest of 2015 with dread, fear and anxiety, but I don't have to do that. I'm sure there will be highs and lows, but in those times I can rest in the Lord and find peace in Him.

He is faithful!

Good Reminder

Tune my heart

       I've sung these words for my entire life and never realized what a great picture it gives! I've been learning how to play the guitar. With playing the guitar comes tuning it. If I don't tune the strings the sound that the guitar makes is not a pretty one. When you turn the knob to tune the strings of a guitar it cranks them tighter so they make the right note.
       What an interesting picture for our own lives. When saying the words "tune my heart to sing Thy grace" I'm asking God to pull me how He needs to so that I will see and sing all that He has done for me. Sometimes it is hard to see what God is doing in our lives. We need God to tune our hearts so that we can see how He is working.
       This is such a good reminder to me, not only to ask God to work on my heart to see how gracious He is to me. But also to take the time to read words of the songs I am singing in praise to Him and think more about what they mean.

Reading Challenge Update #4

9. The Goose Girl - This is a book by Shannon Hale. I read The Princess Academy a while back and really liked it so I thought I'd try another of her books. This is the first in her Bayern series. It was really good. Kinda predictable in parts, but I liked it over all. It's not a book I'd read to my class because there were some weird things in it here and there, but for myself it was ok. It reminded me a little of a Gail Carson Levine book (Ella Enchanted style). Looking forward to reading the next one in the series!

Feeling Thankful

Just feeling very blessed and thankful today.
God has done so many great things for me that I couldn't even name them all.

I know it sounds funny, but I'm actually thankful that I'm feeling thankful. I've been complaining a lot lately about things...mostly mice. But things could be far worse. And even an annoying thing like mice in my kitchen is something God is using to teach me something.

Do you ever have those weeks where it feels like you are complaining about everything? I've been frustrated by those kinds of people before and I DO NOT want to become one. I'd much rather have a heart of thankfulness than of complaining and griping.

How do we get out of the pit of complaining? (it sure is an easy pit to fall into!)

1. Keep Scripture close at hand. As a kid I went to Awana and memorized God's Word weekly. And actually I memorized it in school every week as well. But I was totally one of those kids that memorized it the night before it was due and forgot it by the time the test was over. I have to say it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized how important it is to have God's Word memorized. I do love using my verse cards, but it is much more convenient to have the verses memorized. I don't always have the cards with me. And when the verses are memorized God brings them to mind and just the right moment. 
2. Remember what you are thankful for. When you find yourself complaining stop yourself and name 2 things you are thankful for. This take a bit of time to become a habit, but keep at it and it will. There are times when I have to make myself do this. I let myself get into a terrible mood and it is hard to think of the things I am thankful for. But once I get my focus on the positive and what God is doing the bad mood starts to fade away. 
3. Pray about it. Ask God to help you stop complaining. It is easy to forget to bring a little thing like that before the Lord. We have to remember that when we are weak He is strong. 

These are all things I know, but sometimes I have to remind myself. 

Reading Challenge Update #3

8. The Unusual Suspects - This is the second book in the Sister's Grimm series. I really loved this first book in the series. This one wasn't as good, but it was still fun. I love books, movies, and tv shows about fairy tale characters. Its fun to see how the author uses the fairy tale characters in this series. I look forward to reading the third one and seeing which characters he uses next.

Reading Challenge Update #2

7. Mr. Popper's Penguins - I'm actually a little surprised that I had never read this book until just now. I saw the movie when it came out a few years ago, but the movie and the book are like night and day. I absolutely LOVED this book! I decided to read it to my class since we are working on penguin reports this month. My 1st and 2nd graders loved it. It was adorable hearing their giggles and "oh no!"s when something crazy would happen to Mr. Popper. We were all surprised by the ending. It was such a cute book!

Mice aren't Nice

I've  been really good at not watching TV while I'm trying to fall asleep over the last month. But tonight is a little different and I'm breaking my rule. The reason I'm breaking my rule you may ask? None other than the fact that there are mice in my house and while I was watching TV in the living roomI could hear them eating the poison bait I left out. (Shudder!) I'm trying to distract myself from the fact that there are mice in my house! Ugh!! So watching tv in bed is a must.
Hoping the poison does the trick and that they all die.

Good Night, Jamie the Mouse Killer

Reading Challenge Update #1

5. Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run - Finally a book I read for fun on my own! Yay! I was intrigued by this book when I saw it on the library website. I did enjoy it, but I wouldn't read it to my class. It was definitely for older kids. But even then I wouldn't want my older kids to read it either. There was some bad language which was disappointing to me. Other than that I really liked the book. It gave an interesting perspective on the Civil War.



6. Brave Emily - This was a very sweet American Girl book. My boys groaned at first when I said I was going to read it, but I think they actually enjoyed it. Although they would never admit it. What I liked best about this book is that is brought good conversations about WW2. Most of my students don't know anything about WW1 or WW2. So it was neat to explain some about the war to them. We talked a lot about what it would be like to leave your family and have to live somewhere else during a war.

Already working on a book at home and a new book at school too! Almost halfway done with my challenge!

God's Word

I'm super thankful for this packet of cards. They have seen me through a lot of stuff in my life. Every card is full of truth from God's Word. I made this ring of Scripture cards when I was in college, but I really started using it and adding more cards my first year of teaching. For a while I was in a good habit of carrying it around with me, but sometimes I fall out of that habit. Yesterday I came across them and decided I needed to try keeping them with me again. It is so helpful to have God's Word in my hands easily. I work at memorizing these verses and God brings them to mind at just the right time.  

Just last night I was praying through some 'what if's' I was struggling with. God brought to mind Psalm 118. I love that every other line is "His steadfast love endures forever." After some time praying and giving my 'what if's' to God I made a list of them and wrote this phrase after each one. What a relief to know I can say that phrase after every worry I can come up with. No matter what gets thrown my way God's steadfast love endures forever. Even if something is hard or makes me feel uncomfortable God's love is still there and it is better than anything I can think up. 

Yup I'm a Geek!

Grading papers and watching this one! Yay! 

Reading Challenge

       Is it cheating on my Goodreads reading challenge that the 4 books I've read this year are books I've read aloud to my students? I'm saying no. They are all books I have never read. So I'm counting them. It's my challenge I can read what I want to. (I'm totally singing that in my head now!)

       I've really been wanting to read a lot lately. I watch way too much tv and read way too little. So I've started reading when I go to bed at night instead of watching a show on my computer. I have to say, I've been sleeping a lot better because of it. And my desire to read has been growing.

       One thing that has made me really excited about reading is my local library. We have a cute little library in town. The first time I walked in, all of the ladies working there knew who I was. That was the moment when I realized I liked living in a small town. Anyway, not only have I liked checking out books for school, I've discovered that my library is connected with overdrive.com. I log on with my library card and can check out ebooks that will link to my kindle app on my ipad. It is wonderful!! Some of them I have to wait a while to get because they only have so many copies. But I'm loving it! I've created a long list of books on there that I plan on checking out. The only hard thing is that you only get the book for 7 days and you can renew it only once. I even use it for read aloud books at school. The kids think it's fun that I'm reading off of my ipad and I can still show them pictures when there are some.

Back to the reading challenge.
       The last few years I've majorly failed at my reading goal so this year I only put 15 books as my goal for 2015. I've already read 4. I think I've made a good start. And I'm almost done with the only I've been reading at home.

Here are the books I've read so far:

A Bear Called Paddington - I read this book to my class because the movie was coming out and I thought it would be fun in case they went to see it. I'm sure the movie is very different, but the kids really liked the book. There was a lot of giggling while I read this one.

 Attack at the Arena - The is an Adventures in Oddessy book. I checked it out from my library on my ipad. Woohoo! My class was really disappointed when this book was over. They wanted it to continue. It was a fun one.

 Who was Dr. Seuss? - Dr. Seuss' birthday is coming up so I figured it was a good idea to learn a little about it. This was a very interesting book. As I read it I also read Dr. Seuss books that were specifically talked about in the book. It was really fun. There was one part in the book though that was a little inappropriate for my class and I was really disappointed that the author felt it necessary to put it in a book written for kids.




 Who was George Washington? - Read this one to them right after President's day. It was a good one. It brought up good conversations about our country's history. Things that did not go into our history curriculum. Any time I picked up the book the boys in my class were really excited. It was great! I love that it gave my kids an excitement for history.

Blech

       I'll be honest. Today was a rough day. I'm still getting over a cold so I'm tired, which doesn't help. But I've been struggling with one of my coworkers yesterday and today complaining about a lot of things. I try to be encouraging to her, but today it was just so discouraging. Nothing seems to meet her standards and she even tells people how they should change things so they will be better for her.

       I tried really hard to brush it off today, but couldn't. It put me in a funk and I really struggled getting out of it this afternoon. I made myself go to the school basketball games tonight, which turned out to be a good thing. It was the perfect distraction to get me out of the mood I was in. That along with some funny pins on pinterest from a good friend.

       I'm hoping that a good nights sleep will help make tomorrow go better.

Time Flies!

Wow, it has been over a month since my last post!

This last month feels like a whirlwind. What is really blowing my mind right now is that we are sending out progress reports this week. That means that the 3rd quarter of school is half over! Good Grief! How is it that times seems to go faster as you get older? Have you ever noticed that? As a kid school lasted for-ev-er. Now as an adult it flies by! I don't get it. Not sure that I ever will.

I've already been offered a contract for the next school year. It's hard to believe that I'm thinking about the next school year. This year has gone nothing like I thought it would. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be living in my grandparent's house by myself I would have thought you were crazy. Honestly, it is going ok, but it is very strange to live here alone. I'm living here as if it's my home, but it looks nothing like me. There are so many changes I would make to this house. I have moved a few things though. I probably could get away with moving furniture, since I'm not sure when my grandma will be coming back, as long as I move it back before she comes. ha! But I think if I remodeled the bathroom she would notice. (not that I have the money to do that--don't worry mom)

On an extremely random note: whenever I hear Ellen Degeneres' voice I want to watch Finding Nemo.  It doesn't matter what she says I just think of Dory. K I'm done now. :D

A goal for 2015!

       Like most people I make goals for the New Year. I'm trying not to make too many goals because I actually want to accomplish them, and if I have too many goals it just isn't going to happen. One of my goals is to complete a project once a month. I love working on craft projects but I don't always make the time to do them. So here goes nothing! I'm looking through my gazillion pins and finding a project to do for the month of January.
       I've been in the mood to sew lately so this month I'm going to work on a quilt. I've got some really cute little girl fabric that I'll use. Not sure who will get it, but will be fun to do. Time to get cutting! I'm excited!