End of the School Year Thoughts

It doesn't feel like it should be the end of the school year. We only have a week and a half left of school and it just doesn't seem like it to me. Maybe I'm in denial. I'm actually really sad to let my 2nd graders move up to 3rd grade. They have been the sweetest class. But at least I'll have my 1st graders for another year. That is the silver lining. God has been so good to me this year. I love my kiddos. Sure we've had ups and downs, but overall they are such a good group. Between the 2 grades I have 3 sets of siblings which in some cases would cause problems. Not with this group!
What I'm most looking forward once school is out is my parents coming for a month. I'm in desperate need of some family time. I've been missing my family a lot lately. I need a hug from my mom and to curl up next to my dad on the couch watching a movie.

I heart Saturdays!

What a great day! 

Woke up this morning without an alarm clock. And actually slept in till 7! 

Enjoyed my coffee and vegged for a while. 

Baked cookies (from a package, not from scratch...but they were still tastey). 

Started dinner in my crockpot.

Organized a Mother/Son kickball game which completely stressed me out until it started. Then it was fantastic! The kids and their moms had a great time. It is going to become an annual thing for our school. 

Ate lunch and a couple of cookies. 

And now I'm watching a movie and working on special gifts for some friends back home. 

A baby quilt in the works.
I want to get this one done before I work on my new niece's quilt. 

This is my second cutting board gift for a wedding present.
I love how it turned out! Simple yet classy. 

I love Saturdays like this. I'm feeling so relaxed and the sun is shining outside! 

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of this day! 

(and my crockpot meal is smelling really good right now!) 

May Goals

I've been feeling inspired by my friend Jen over at The Accidental Domestic. Every month she posts what her goals are for the month and recaps on her goals from the previous month. I have issues following through with my goals, but maybe posting about them monthly will help me keep them fresh in my mind. So here goes nothing!

Health I've been following the Whole30 food plan since April 11th. I've adjusted it some because it is hard to follow it when I at someone else's house. But when I am on my own and can control it I'm following the Whole30. I want to make it through the month of May.

Financial Not long ago I mentioned that I'm saving money for a trip to Europe. Following a budget is something I struggle with big time! I make a budget and follow it for a few weeks and then forget about it (not sure if the forgetting is intentional or not). I want to follow my budget for the entire month. No ifs, ands, or buts.

School Plain and simple I want to be consist in grading papers. I teach 1st and 2nd grade and only have 11 students. It shouldn't take me that long to correct one day's worth of papers. But I save them all to the end of the week to correct which leaves me with a mountain of papers. If I spend 20-30 minutes a day before I leave school I could have almost all (if not all) of it done by Friday.

Home "Exceptional Housekeeper" is a title I could NEVER be given. Baby steps people. This month I'd like to go to bed with no dirty dishes in the sink. Like I said, baby steps. Don't worry I'll be cleaning my house still, but trying to build good cleaning habits.

Me Less tv time. I watch way too much tv. Half the time I'm just searching for something to watch and settle on something I don't really care about. Talk about a waste of time! This month I'm going to take away the channel surfing and only watch the shows I know I want to watch. And in the time I'm not watching tv I have projects to work on, books to read, and tons of music to listen to while I do it!

Reading Challenge Update #2

It's been a while since I've posted. And I've been having fun reading! I'm kinda going half and half between books I'm reading at school and ones I'm reading on my own.

3. What is the Statue of Liberty? by Joan Holub
I read this "bobble-head" book (as my friend Jen so affectionately calls them) to my class last month. I'm always surprised by how engaged my students are with non-fiction books. I don't know why I underestimate them. I had to explain things as I read this book to them. But they really liked it. After each chapter we talked about and wrote down information we learned. These books are so fun. I'm going to read another one with them sometime this year. Probably one about a president.
4. Sparky byBeverly Gherman
I've been wanting to read this book for a while. When I taught in California my favorite field trip was to take my class to the Schulz museum. It was fun to live in the same town where Charles Schulz lived. I love driving around my home town and seeing random Snoopys and Charlie Browns. So all that to say, when this book was available to borrow as a Ebook I jumped at it. I'm pretty sure it is a children's biography, but I don't care. I still liked it.
5. Meet Addy by Connie Rose Porter
I actually had this book set as a kid. Unfortunately I didn't like reading as a kid. How sad is that?! I missed out on a lot of reading as a kid. Anyway, I just finished reading this book to my class. This book brought on some fantastic discussions with my 1st and 2nd graders! Addy is a slave who is planning on running away to go North with her mother. As we read the book my class and I had several talks about slavery and how people were treated, are treated, and should be treated. They wanted to me to continue in the series they liked this book that much. I really hope I can instill in my students a love for reading that I didn't have at their age.
6. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
This is the book after The Goose Girl. I really liked this one. It took me a while to read this one because my Ebook had expired and I had to wait for a few people to be done with it first. I finally just checked out the actual book at the library. I think I'll look for the next one in the series in the near future.

I'm excited that I've already finished 6 books on my reading challenge for 2016! And I'm already half way through with my next book! Yay for reading!

Oh the Possibilities of 2016

Found myself day dreaming this morning about 2016.
       Before moving to Wisconsin when I'd think about the year ahead it was pretty predictable. Sure things would come up to change the norm, but all in all it was predictable. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing. In one sense I really liked it because like most people I'm not a huge fan of change. But on the other hand it wasn't so good because I would get comfortable and just enjoy my time in my bubble.
       Since my move in 2014 I feel like everything down the road is up in the air and could change at the drop of a hat. And honestly the 2014-15 school year was pretty much like that. Nothing happened like I thought it was going to happen. Now I have NO idea of what 2016 will look like.
       I'm actually looking forward to the end of it so I can look back and see how God orchestrated it all. There are just so many unknowns right now.

• I'm not sure how things are going to go with my job after this school year is over. 
• Since moving here God has provided me with two great friends who've encouraged me so much. In October one moved 2 hours away and the other friend will probably move away this summer. So I'm not sure what my friendships will look like by the end of the year. 
• My church is looking for a new pastor right now. I've really struggled with the person who has stepped into leadership while we've been looking for a new pastor. I do think his heart is in the right place. He wants our church to grow and prosper, but he has legalistic tendencies and often says things that I don't agree with. And he is leading the pastor search so that makes me nervous about the pastor that will come in next. Will I agree with him? Will he be legalistic? Will I need to find a new church? 

See what I mean? A year of unknowns.
As I was day dreaming/worrying about all of this this morning I was reminded of the Psalm we went over in prayer group this week.

Psalm 16
Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you."
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows on those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me;
because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

       I could sit around and imagine the possibilities of 2016, but that's all they are possibilities. Instead I need to lean on the only one who has everything in His hand. He will preserve me. He will keep me safe. I only need to trust Him. I really like verses 8-9.
"I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure."
       He is always with me. I have confidence that God will always be at my right hand to hold me secure no matter what comes my way.

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!!

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.

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!

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.

Christmas Traditions in the Classroom

This has become a Christmas tradition in my classroom. I love to see how it turns out every year.  My kiddos did a fantastic job coloring each section this year! I bought this Andy Warhol inspired Christmas Tree mural several years ago. There are a bunch more murals on the site. I might have to buy another one sometime. 

{Day 10 - Something you hate}

Chalk is totally comes with my job. When I first started teaching I loved chalk! Now... I can't stand it. I'll only use I if I absolutely have to. This is all of the chalk I have in my classroom, and after I took this picture I threw it away. Ha!

Here are my top 3 reasons why I greatly dislike (aka hate) chalk:

1. It gets everywhere - gotta love it when you realize that you have chalk dust on your pants and you don't know how long it has been there! 
2. It dries out your hands - I want to wash my hands every time I touch the stuff! 
3. I lose my voice when I use it on a regular basis - true story! When I first started teaching I would lose my voice by the end of each week. It took me a long time to realize that it wasn't from talking too much. It was from the chalk! The year they put a white board in my room I didn't lose my voice once. Crazy! 

In my current classroom I have a white board as well as chalkboards. Instead of using chalk I use chalk pens. True it takes me longer to clean it off, but it is SO worth it! 

Eric Carle, Flags, and Pete the Cat

 I love doing projects with my class! I'm thankful that we have an art teacher at our school, but I can't help but plan other art projects throughout the month. There are so many amazing ideas. The first couple weeks of school I read a bunch of Eric Carle books so my class. My 1st and 2nd graders loved them. They especially loved the amazing artwork that Mr. Carle creates for his books. So I just HAD to come up with an art project with painting tissue paper! It took us quite a while to get it finished because I only had a few kids paint at a time. But they painted large pieces of tissue paper red and blue. After they painted they used a popsicle stick to add lines or swirls to their paper. It turned out really well! I was so excited at how well my students did on this. Deep down I was afraid it was going to be a disaster. But they took their time and were very careful. 

I chose to have them make flags since we read about flags in history during the first couple of lessons. They had to remember how many red stripes to put on and how many "stars" (we just painted dots) to paint of the blue. 

When they were finished I let them use the scraps to make whatever they wanted. 

I made Pete the Cat rocking in his school shoes. :) 

1st Day of School

A couple pics from the 1st day of school! 

Walked to school! It doesn't even take an entire song to play on my itunes for me to get to school. I live really close! 

Oops accidentally cut off the 'f'

I guess thats what happens when you are taking a selfie with a chalkboard! Ha! 

Flowers from my family. :) Such a wonderful surprise! 

The 1st day of school was fantastic!! 

My Classroom

Well, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of events. The biggest thing has been school starting. The first week went really well. I'm still getting used to the school and the crazy schedule of teaching a combo class on my own, but it is coming along.
Here are some pics of my classroom. Still not a huge fan of the green room (mainly the green part of it) but I guess I'll just have to live with it. :)

I love this board! 

I love the number line above the whiteboard! I put it up there and use it almost every day. 

Look how clean my desk is!! Wish it stayed like that. :) 

It turns out I'm not using this area exactly as I thought, but it is still useful. My kids are using those desks for "Word Work" in our Daily 5. 

This is my favorite part of the room. But to me that is no surprise since teaching reading is my favorite part of the day. Working on collecting more books. 

Oh Wow!

I wish I could have kept it this clean while I was teaching in there! 

It was a very strange feeling to look at my cleaned out classroom as I left to turn in my keys. I've been teaching in this classroom for the past 4 years. There have been some fantastic memories in this classroom. I'm so thankful for the time God gave me to teach at RVC. I always knew I wanted to teach there. In my senior yearbook (from RVC) I had to tell where I'd be in the next 10 years and I said, "go to a Christian college, get married, and teach at RVC." Two out of three! :) RVC is like home to me. The teachers, especially the elementary teachers, are like family. Over the last 6 years I knew that I could go to any one of them and talk about anything. We shared a lot of laughter and tears over the last few years. I know that God put each of them in my life for a reason. Not only were they look friends and peers, but they were all amazing godly examples. Whenever I came to them with a struggle they pointed me right to Christ. God is so good! 

It is hard to say goodbye, but at the same time I'm excited to see what God has in store for me down the road. 

The packing has begun

Well, school is out. My grades and end of the year paperwork is all turned in. Now for the huge job of packing. Starting with my classroom and then will start on my house next week after a quick trip to Seattle to visit Lindsay and her family.
I didn't realize I had SO much stuff in my classroom! Obviously there are a lot of things that aren't mine in my classroom, but I bought a lot out of my own pocket. Books, books, books. I have at least 5 boxes of books that are mine. Not huge boxes, but still it is a lot of books. And I totally have more books at home. What can I say, I love books! There are a lot of things I'm not shipping to Wisconsin right now since I know I won't need them for teaching 1st and 2nd grade. I figure I can keep them in storage for a while. I'm honestly not sure how long I'll be in Wisconsin. A year for sure, but beyond that I have no idea. Just want to follow what God has planned.

I was able to get in contact with one of my new coworkers and she sent me a few pictures of the classroom I'm going to be using. I needed a little idea of how much space I have. It turns out that I have two rooms. Both are on the small size, but I'll take what I can get! It is fun to start thinking about how I'm going to set it up. The bright green walls in the extra room are a little shocking. I'll have to figure out how to tone that down a little. :)
If you think of me, please pray. Pray that I'll be able to get everything done that I need to do and that I won't get overwhelmed by all of it. I'm excited for this new adventure. (just trying not to think about the sad part of leaving yet)

Take refuge in Him!

It is hard to not let people steal your joy! 

Only hours after deciding to not let my joy be stolen I heard from that same mom again at school. I was completely deflated. I'm so thankful for those who are praying for me and encouraging me through this. I need to leave it in God's hands. It is so easy to try to take care of it on my own, but that has obviously failed so now I need to give it to the Lord. 

Psalm 5:11-12But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;    let them ever sing for joy,and spread your protection over them,    that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord;    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Keeping scripture close at hand today!  

Don't steal my joy!

Was struggling this morning with a parent of one of my students. It seems like I get an upset email from her at least once a week, and lately more than once a week. There doesn't seem to be a way to please her when it comes to her child. The sad thing is that this situation is causing me to want school to finish sooner. I don't want my last few weeks at RVC to be like that! I want to enjoy my students and coworkers while I can! So my prayer right now is that I won't lose site of the joy I have in being here at RVC.

Lord,
     Protect my heart. Satan is trying to bring me down. Help me to focus on the truth and your love. I pray that I will be able to stay focused on finishing well at RVC and that you will be glorified. Please soften the heart of this mom and give me and the school's administrators wisdom as we work with her. I pray that I will find joy in everything I do here at school for the next few weeks. Thank you for the blessing of teaching here and the wonderful students you have given to me.
                       In Jesus Name, Amen.

A Big Change

My grandma and I making pie last summer. 

       It is hard to believe that there are only 2 full weeks left of school! (I'm totally not counting the last week of school -- it consists of a big party on one day and a half day) Usually at this time I'm super excited about summer coming. This year I am excited about summer, but at the same time I'm feeling sad. This last day of school this year will be my last day teaching at RVCS. I've been teaching at RVCS for 6 years and it has been so much fun! Leaving is hard for me to do, but at the same time I'm excited about what the future holds.
       Where am I going? Wisconsin! I've accepted a job at a small Christian school around the corner from my grandparent's house. For the last few years I've thought about moving there to help them out. They are in their early 90s and probably shouldn't be living on their own anymore. I thought about going out there last year, but a teaching job wasn't open anywhere around and I need to work. I prayed about it and the door just seemed to be closed.
       Apparently that closed door was only temporary. This January the door flew open. I wasn't expecting it. It is neat when you can look back and see how God is working in your life. His plan is so much better than mine. I was asked by my grandparent's pastor to consider the 1st/2nd grade teaching position at their school. I prayed a lot about it and applied. I figured I'd apply and see what would happen. I continued to pray for the Lord's leading and peace. In February, or March...can't remember which month it was, I heard from the school about a phone interview. After the phone interview I flew out there during my spring break, touring the school, and had another interview. 2 days later they offered me the teaching position. Whoa!! More praying!
       So many thoughts were going through my head. As I went into that tour and interview I prayed for lightning from the Lord. Lightning didn't come though. There was no absolute clear sign of what I should do. My friends and family asked me how it went and what I was thinking about doing. I didn't know how to respond. So I kept praying. About a week after my trip to Wi I felt an incredible peace about teaching in Wi. It was such an amazing feeling.
       Needless to say, my grandparents are thrilled. I told them I'd be moving out there in July and they wondered why I was waiting so long! Ha! I'm so excited to be able to spend time with them and hopefully be a blessing to them. But at the same time I'm sad to leave my parents, sister, Danika, friends, and school.
       Ca is definitely home for me. This move to Wisconsin is going to be shocking I'm sure. I wonder how this California girl is going to do at shoveling snow for several months out of the year?!

Sad

It's sad when you hold your breath every time you check your school email because there might be an email from the parent you can't seem to please. 

But praise the Lord, God is in control. I know I can rely on Him!