Grateful Edition: April 2012

A beautiful day. A tortilla press. Leslie. Rice bags. Warm sweaters. Talking with Micah. M's growth. Challenges to be loving. Micah. Jon. Micah being flexible. Seeing Brother Ben. Time to relax. Ben. Cutting his beard. Watching Ben be an uncle. LaVon. Reflecting on our fast. M's excitement for soccer. Conversation with L.E. Another beautiful day. Going to bed early. Students. Sweet potato fries & black bean cakes. A good evaluation. Brother Ben. Pancakes. Hunger Games. Date with Little M. Instagram. Job flexibility. Jon. M's laughter. Voicemail from Ivan. Chatting with Cassandra. Email from Melissa. Watching the sun rise. Coming home. Sandy. Sleep. Micah to help parent M. Sleeping in. Breakfast in bed. Remembering where I've come from and what I've been brought out of. Cuddle time with M. Patio time. Email from Melissa. Eating outside. The warmth of the sun. SCES girls. Reading to M and his Pre-K buddies. What Jon is doing. Running. Melissa. Letter from Jill. Running with my family. An afternoon nap. Asian noodle soup. Jon. Seeing M play.

Run Josh Run

We spent some of our day at the track running laps for the race the Jon helped organize. We had an enjoyable time and were impressed that the little man was able to go 4 miles! He was pretty proud of himself as well.

Check out the video!

4th Grade Life Lessons

 

Visited with this young lady today. I had planned for us to discuss travels to space, maybe watch a few videos of a space shuttle taking off..... 

She had different plans.

An image of the earth from space got her asking questions and talking of her home country.

A girl who has sat silent most of the year suddenly began sharing.

I closed up the books I brought and slid them off to the side giving her my full attention.

I refrained from asking more questions and just listened and that's when I began to learn.

Skippyjon Jones Goes to School

Polar Bears.....Rrrrr

Best Job for Olympics

Saw this. Loved it. Cried. Probably silly, I know.

His New Obsession

The little man loves wearing his shin guards and playing soccer every moment he is not sleeping....

Why Saturdays Can Be So Great

Getting to sleep in and then waking up to a lovely breakfast made by the men in my life.

Spending some time cuddled up with this guy while we enjoy  reading books.

4th Grade Life Lessons

Received the best message ever today. One of my former students (who I adore to pieces) called and left me a message. He wanted to let me know that he read a 5th grade book (he is in 4th grade) and received 100% on his comprehension test. He just wanted to let me know. :)

Love this kid and am so proud of all the hard work he continues to put into school. He inspires me to be better at my job.

It is moments like this that remind me why I am teaching and I will forever be grateful that he called to "just let me know". 

What We Watch After M Goes to Bed

Sundance LOVES her bunny and spends most of the evening carrying it around the house and then occasionally laying on her back giving it a good hug. 

Captain America

Pondering

“Community is only and always what people are: 

beautiful, broken and utterly redeemable.”

Happy Easter!

We headed to Rapid City for the weekend and had a lot of mini adventures (traveling with Sundance, checking out the new outdoor classroom, decorating Easter eggs, driving a fork lift, treasure hunting....)

Probably the best part of our very quick trip was seeing my kid brother for the first time in several years. I can't tell you how happy I was to run and tackle him with a big bear hug. I have been waiting for that moment for a LONG time, and I only had to bite the insides of my cheeks a little bit so I wouldn't cry! My little brother (despite the extra inches he has on me and the fact that he is almost 30) takes up a pretty big place in my heart. We have endured a lot together and I have so many memories of us as kids, some good and others... well others remind me how crazy our childhood was at times. However, we share those memories, the same birthday and that same nose and huge forehead.

We were able to see him every day that we were in town and it was wonderful. My heart swelled with joy each time I was able to talk with him on the phone, visit with him in person, see him love on the little man. I love my big little brother and hope we get to share more life together in the coming years.

Pondering

Through the eyes of our children we read our own souls.

(hope it isn't as ugly as it can seem to be at times) 

Kool-aid Eggs

Spent the evening coloring eggs with kool-aid. 
He had a blast and the house smelled very fruity!