Road Trip with Andy

This past weekend we went down to Duncan (don't feel bad if you don't know where it is. If I didn't know people living there I wouldn't know either). I love long drives with Andy. It's nice to just spend time talking, laughing and just being goofy. No trip to Duncan would be complete without a stop at Burger House in Globe-Miami. We spent the night at Paul and Lacy's house where Andy had fun playing with one of our nephews and our niece and I went to a baby shower for my sister-in-law. All in all pretty good weekend!

Not a very good day...

If you are blessed enough to have kids...please do all you can to take the BEST care of them. There are so many kids out there that don't get the love that they deserve.

Little moments....

Being a teacher can be hard, frustrating, exhausting work. You are trying to give so much to these children that some days it takes all you have to give. Being a teacher can also be fun, rewarding and inspiring. Every time that light goes on...you just love seeing a child have that moment of success.
Another one of my favorite things about teaching is the small, innocent, adorable moments that come from being around children. Today at school was our Valentine's Day party. Any class party is an ordeal in and of itself. The kids come in buzzing and don't stop until they go home. For some reason the Valentine's party is like every other party times 10. Never mind just the cupcakes, cookies and juice boxes. There is also the cards and candy that needs to be passed out by each child and the little construction paper mailboxes that the students make. In the past, I've just been glad to get the Valentine's party over and done with. However, this year there were several little moments that just made me enjoy being there with the students.

#1 - Yesterday we were doing writing and I was having my kindergartners write 'I love my________' and then they were to fill in the blank with someone/something that they love. A little boy came up to me and very sweetly said, "Mrs. Ebert...I'm just not in a loving mood right now." I just smiled and asked, "Well don't you love your family. What about your mom and dad?" He looks up and very practically says, "I do love them. I'm just not feeling it right now. Maybe I will in a minute." I reassured him that that was fine and he could take a minute to think about it. It made me laugh. Kids are never afraid to be honest.

#2 - The boxes of chocolates given to me by my students
#3 - The sweet card given to be my a parent. It's nice to be appreciated.
#4 - I let the students come up individually and disperse the cards they had bought into the other students "mailboxes". I looked over and saw one of my little kindergartners putting card after card into the same box. I stopped her and asked why she was putting all the cards into the same box. She said, "It's my box. All these cards have my name on them." I suppressed a laugh and told her that those were the cards that were from her. The other kids names were on the other side. She turned the card over, looked and it and said very matter-of-factly, "Yeah, but I can't read this side."

#5 - It was almost the end of the day. All had survived expect for maybe one cupcake. The kids were cleaning up the trash and one of my 1st graders runs up to me and says, "Mrs. Ebert...I forgot to give you your present." He takes his hands from behind is back and hands me a can of Dr. Pepper. I said, "Oh thank you. Where did you get this from?" He said, "I got it from my house because I saw you drink it once and you like it." I just wanted to cry at the pure thoughtfulness of this little boy.

So bring on the chaos. Bring on the sugar comas.
Bring on the red dyed frosting smooshed into the carpet of my classroom.
If it results in these little moments...bring it on.

Good day...

For Christmas my parents converted all of our families home videos to DVD. They burned them and categorized them all. Basically spent countless hours putting this great gift together for us. When we got home from Flagstaff Andy put all the gifts away and that was that. A few days later I wanted to watch some of them so I asked Andy where they were. Long story short, they were no where to be found. We tore apart all the closets, shelves, and moved the beds. There were many tears and prayers. We searched everywhere and they were nowhere to be found. The only thing we could figure was the box that we had brought all the gifts home in had been converted into a trash box and was thrown out. Our best guess was that the DVDs were in there. I was crushed. All that hard work and a thoughtful gift just tossed away.

Well today Andy came upstairs and said, "I have a surprise for you." and lo and behold there were the DVDs!! I was SO excited! He had been putting away something in the cabinet under our TV and there they were. Now this cabinet had been searched through previously...but obviously not well enough. I am so glad he found them. It was a happy day!

This week I've been the fish....

Confusion!

Which one?!
So many choices!!!!
Plus...they all look the same!
Here's the kicker....they aren't!