Relief

After many weeks and endless hours of work, my paper is finally finished! I have never had the experience of “eating, breathing, and sleeping” something, but I have definitely done that with this stupid paper. I worked in a group with two other people, and we literally went to work, class, then met until about 10ish most nights, and then went to bed. I even dreamt about APA format, wondering if I left enough spaces or had the margins just right. It was the most annoying thing ever, but I can safely say it is finished, and all we have left to do is present after Thanksgiving, which will be a piece of cake.

I don’t know if I could have survived it without my wonderful husband, Tyler. He has really stepped up his role by helping me at school, keeping the house clean, doing laundry, shopping, cooking, and preparing meals/ snacks for my group… The list goes on forever. He has been an amazing helper, which makes me love him even more!

So, with all that out of the way, I am going to put my feet up this weekend, get a pedicure, and just relax…

Tip Junkie

Have you checked out Tip-Junkie? They have tons of giveaways everyday for 12 days.

ugh...

Sometimes I wonder if I am crazy or sane,
For taking a walk down master’s degree lane.
I’m starting to feel a great deal of stress,
From a paper – 30 pages, 20 sources, no less.
Not to mention finals and many a test,
To see if I am performing at my best.
The time spent reading book after book,
Is seriously killing my straight hair look.
I need more sleep, which means less time
For straightening my hair - what a crime!
Can I still be a great teacher to the little ones?
Oh yes, I am taking out the big guns –
Movies, games, and rewards galore,
Although it does mean more trips to the store…
I make them run to burn their energy away,
In order to teach them nicely all day.
I still love them, and they love me
Even through this trial of a master’s degree.
I often wonder if this stress will ever stop,
Because the other day I drank an entire pop…

*Disclaimer I have not had pop in over a year, so this was a big deal.

Fight for the right

Janae

15

Tyler

20

Basically if I ever get into a fight with my first graders, I better have Tyler fighting on my side!

Poem of the Week

The Witches

On a cold and spooky night,

Three young witches took flight.

They grabbed their brooms and their hats,

Completely ignoring their beloved cats.

Out the window, they did fly

Up into the darkened sky.

All the fun they had in mind,

Was hindered by what they saw behind.

Three black cats on broomsticks small,

Following behind them all.

Curious, but not willing to stop,

They found a home and perched atop.

Down the chimney, like Old St. Nick,

They jumped and ran through very quick.

The witches were fast, but the cats were quicker,

And with every step the witches felt sicker.

In the dark, they ran and crashed,

Couches and tables all got smashed.

They saw the cats behind them still,

Ran through the kitchen and cups did spill,

Down the hall and through the door,

Hoping to see those cats no more.

Across the street and into a school,

They saw more witches! Oh, how cool!

Now they had a perfect disguise,

A Halloween party, to the cats’ demise.

The cats left sadly, and began to squeal,

For all they wanted was a little meal…

BOO!

Well, I think I have finally regained my breath and strength from a crazy, and incredibly spooky, night last night. But, let’s not start there. Let’s start at the beginning…a very good place to start.

Monday: Went to first grade class, and then master’s class. Pretty uneventful.
Tuesday: Started off with a bang as I fried off part of my hair, for the third time, and realized I had to buy a new straightener (especially with school pictures coming the next day). I was really upset about this, mainly because the one I had was not cheap. I mostly blame Carmen Electra for making it look so wonderful. So to all of you hair straighteners out there…beware of the Kiyoseki. Luckily, I have the most wonderful husband ever, and he let me buy a new one that day. Along with a wonderful husband, I have a wonderful hair lady at the Cutting Corner in Rigby. She just so happened to have a new professional, amazing straightener in - the FHI Heat. It was 2/3 of the price of my Kiyoseki, and came with a guarantee – if I don’t like it, I can bring it back to her, no questions asked. Luckily, it was amazing, and made my hair feel so much healthier, which made me very happy! After all the drama of hair straighteners, I saw the most incredible, and cheesiest, movie ever. Yes, you guess it…High School Musical 3. I love those movies, I admit it. Once you get over the fact that they are incredibly cheesy, how can you not love them? Of course I bought the soundtrack the next day…don’t judge me.
Wednesday: Went to first grade class, and then master’s class. Pretty uneventful. Although, I did get my midterms back, and passed with flying

c o l o r s !
Thursday: Went to first grade class. Tyler was nice enough to come help. Spent hours getting ready for the Halloween party. Missed The Office…thank goodness for Internet.
Friday: Braced myself for a day of craziness. Very surprised by the calm, cool children who walked in my door. Halloween didn’t officially start until 12:20. I was very happy about that…they weren’t. Tyler helped all afternoon this day, too. Once the costumes were on and the children were transformed into the likes of Hannah Montana, Dragons, Werewolves, Brides, and more, the party began. These were my two favorites:

Little Devil

Cute Dragon

We started off with a classic game of freeze dance, while waiting for the parent helpers to arrive. When they arrived we broke off into five different activities, including…

Bean Bag Toss

Candy Walk

Ring Toss

Halloween Jingo (That's the game Tyler AKA Mr. Ricks is playing in the background)

Decorating Cookies

Then the games finished and the parade began. While we were all lined up ready to go, I decided I wanted a picture of everybody. But, in order to save time trying to get them in a picture group, I just videoed them. I realize I went a little fast, but after a few views, you can see them all. Notice the bratty bride in the middle and the many complaints of sweaty heads. Maybe now they’re grateful we didn’t wear costumes all day. Too hot. After listening to the video, I hope my voice doesn’t sound like that when I talk to adults. I’ll call it my first grade voice.

Funny Story: After the party, we were only left with about six kids, and then after the first bell, only two. Since they were two of my favorites, I let them decorate an extra cookie. Here’s how the conversation went:

Red Riding Hood (to Mr. Ricks): Give me the frosting!
Mr. Ricks (trying to instill some manners into this child): What do you say?
Red Riding Hood (refusing to give in): Give me the frosting!
Mr. Ricks (never giving up): We say, ”Give me the frosting ______”?
Dragon (feeling so smart and proud): /g/!
Apparently they weren’t saying the sound /g/ at the end of frosting…it was hilarious.

Finally the bell rang, and all the children left, giving Tyler and me time to clean up the mess. After 392 hours, my classroom is finally back to normal, leaving me exhausted, sweaty (my costume wasn’t much cooler than theirs), and ready to go home. Is Halloween over? You may wonder…but it is surely not. Some of you loyal readers may remember a long time ago when I said we were going to try to be more social by inviting people over at least once a month…? Well that never happened. But finally, I invited another teacher from our school, Georgia, and her husband, Wes, to have a spooktacular Halloween time with us. Not knowing what they were getting themselves into, they agreed. So we started off casually enjoying a Jack-O-Lantern Pizza (well, not so much Jack-O-Lanterny when you trade the pepperoni for ham, but oh well). After that, we all got up our nerve to go to the Haunted Mill (where Tyler and I had our first date). I guess I forgot how scary it actually was, because wow, was it scary. If I hadn’t gone before we left, I probably would have peed my pants with fear. They were pretty good at scaring us, and really good at annoying us. Sometimes the monsters wouldn’t let us pass, or would follow us for excessive amounts of time. Two times we got out of the mill, and thought we were free, but no, we had to go back in for another fearful experience. Finally we were free, and left. All of us coughing and sneezing from the excessive amounts of fog machines and dust. Luckily, we were all alive, and intact. Nostalgia aside, I don’t think we will ever go back. After being scared to death, we decided it would be great to stop being scared, and enjoy a little Mario Kart. That helped to restore my lungs, breath, etc. When they left, I got ready for bed, my head hit the pillow, and literally three seconds later, I was asleep. I couldn’t even finish one page of my book. Boo urns. Now, with Halloween finished, a serious sugar detox begins…