How Would You Feel?

Let's play pretend....

Imagine you've been working as a teacher in an elementary school for 6 years. You taught your first year in Title 1, followed up that summer by interning with your principal for many hours, where you wrote the master schedule for the whole school, correlated SOL scores, and did other things trying to better the school. You then starteded teaching 3rd grade with 2 ladies who quickly became your best friend. You planned the 7th grade trip to Washington, DC for the next 3 years, even though it had nothing to do with your assignment in 3rd grade. You continued helping your principal with the master schedule and class lists for each grade during each summer. You served as your school representative on the county calendar committee for 2 years. Then you served for a year as your school representative on the county PAC (advisory) committee. You served on the math committee, climate committee, building plans committee, academic fair committee, and was the "next in charge" for a couple of years when your principal was out, even serving as a full term "next in line" in the office for a week while your principal's wife had their second baby. Your students always had over 90% passing on their SOL tests - most recently earning 100% on most every test. You did 4 VGLA assessments which all passed advanced, one even getting rave reviews as being the best one ever done in the county. You represented your school and county on the state committee of reviewing and rewriting the Math Standards of Learning to be implemented during the 2011-2012 school year.

Are you still with me? Close your eyes if it helps.

Pretend you're a feisty one who is passionate about children showing respect and being treated with respect. You have parents go to the principal about you almost yearly, but about 99% of them sing your praises after giving you a chance to show that high expectations really do produce more successful students. You bust your tail to make learning fun, and you spend over $1,000 easily each year to do so. You buy your own paper to make copies for your students. You make them DVDs at the end of the year to remember you buy, and you usually end up paying for quite a few of their end of the year shirts because their parents can't or won't buy them one. You make them breakfast before their SOL tests, and you hug them when their grandparents die. The principal's daughter frequents your room, and you even spend some time helping her with things she's struggling with. You cry in the principal's office more time than you can count because of something that you are passionate about. You realize he's not quite as passionate about kids as you are.

Then your husband gets a job in North Carolina and you have the chance to stay at home with your sweet baby girl. Your principal won't tell you where to send your letter of resignation. So you send it to the School Board office. Your principal gives you a one-line IM about how you'll be missed a few months before the end of school.

The last day of school comes and you have bus duty. Yeah, bad dream I know! You cry a lot and give a million hugs that day. You hug your two best friends and lots of other close friends. Your principal passes your room and you in the hall several times, but won't speak to you. Then you go to the after-school faculty meeting, where your principal is offering up some free ice cream (but not to you). You sit through grueling lies from everybody about how great the school is. You watch a video talking about how your school is a place where kids come first that was made by someone who doesn't really believe that or show it. Then he tells everyone to go home. Not a word about you leaving (nevermind that they usually have a dinner for that!) When someone reminds him that there are gifts to the 2 people who are leaving, he walks over, picks them up, hands them to you without so much as a word.

How would you feel?

Australia

I want to move to Australia. If you've ever read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day then you know that I must have a had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Thanks to my friend Lisa for the analogy.

Today was bad. It started with a note from a parent accusing me of giving her kid a test on something I never taught. Apparently doing a lesson on fact/opinion that involves 19 kids giving me a fact and an opinion on a given topic and discussing them 19 TIMES isn't enough. So that just put me in a sour mood.

Until I got The Email. Same parent. I realize this isn't the most professional blog I've ever written, so I at least won't blast on the world wide web all of the things that were brought up, but suffice it to say that I'm the sole reason her kid hates school, I'm not actually teaching anything but rather sending it home to all be done for homework, I'm the reason she fights with her kid, they do 2 hours of homework each night, and of course - the classic - she's talked to other parents and they "all" feel the same way and NO other teachers at ANY other school makes their kids work as hard as I do. Right.

After speaking with several other parents who all made me feel better, I just can't shake this on-the-verge-of-tears feeling I've had since reading that email. I love teaching but I don't want to be a teacher right now. But, I'm trying my hardest to be the best teacher I can for this group of kids regardless - and that involves setting high expectations and challenging them. To hear someone tell you that their child hates school because of you hurts. And I've learned a lot about the kind of parent I want to be when Brenna is old enough to be in school and have teachers.

So, if you have kids in school - take a minute to say thank you to their teacher. Even if you don't love him or her, I can almost guarantee they are taking time out from their families to invest in your child. And if you do love him or her, encourage him/her with a note or email.

I want to move to Australia.

I'd Rather...

Today I spent my day hugging other people's kids.
I'd rather be at home hugging my own.

Today I spent my day worrying about who ordered pizza and who ordered salad.
I'd rather be at home making baby food for my baby.

Today I cheered when my 3rd graders all got a 100 on their multiplication quiz.
I'd rather be at home cheering on my almost-crawling baby.

Today I read Freckle Juice with a bunch of inattentive third graders.
I'd rather be at home reading Dr. Seuss books with my girl.

Today I bandaged up other people's kid's boo-boos.
I'd rather be at home with my teething baby, even when she's screaming.

Today I told 3rd graders all about the SOL tests.
I'd rather not have to worry about those tests for 8 years - when Brenna is a 3rd grader.

Today I drove as fast as I could on 460East to get home to my girl.
I'd rather be frolicking around town with my baby in tow.

Today I researched math games and activities about odd and even numbers.
I'd rather be at home researching baby toys and exercises.

Today I spent time with 2 of my best friends, but we were all ill.
I'd rather be able to enjoy their company without the stress of a job we don't love right now.

Today I felt jealous of my friends who get to stay home with their babies.
I'd rather be emailing or calling them to ask advice about being a stay at home mama.

Today I had to find a quiet room with no windows in a school full of kids to pump.
I'd rather be at home snuggling and nursing my Brenna.

Today I had to listen to kids complain and not follow directions 99% of the time.
I'd rather be looking at a baby who smiles at me and reaches for me and never complains (yet!).

It's my blog.....and I'll cry if I want to.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

I was more than blessed to have so much time off with Brenna after she was born. She was born on March 4 and I went back to work on May 3 - but only for 6 weeks. I got to be home with her again from June 15 until August 22. That's today. That means tomorrow is time for me to go back to work officially for a whole school year. That's 9.5 months. That's a long time. To say I dread it and am totally panicky would be the understatement of the year. Every day for the past 2 weeks or so I've gotten increasingly more nervous about it. Will we lose our bond? Will she reach for Kate instead of me? Will she think I've abandoned her? Will she wonder why Liam's mommy stays with him but I leave her? Will she nap well? Will she crawl or walk or talk or the first time Will she get on a good schedule again? What about the 3 or 4 hours of school work I used to bring home every night? So many questions - and yes I realize some might be more ridiculous than others. I'm going to miss her something fierce. I love my job and I hear I have a great class this year, but none of that matters when I look in that baby's face. I'm her mama and I was made to do that job. I've done the math. It's nowhere near possible for me to stay home this year - but I will have one of my student loans paid off this year, so I have hope for a year or two down the road.

Our neighbor who is going to keep her will be great. Her little boy who is nine months, Liam, is absolutely adorable and happy and will be a great playmate for Brenna (when they figure out not to pull each other's hair/scrath each other's face). And we don't even have to drive her anywhere in the mornings. But, she's not me. She gets to spend 9 hours a day with my baby than I only get maybe 4 with. But, as Jonathan reminded me, neither of us resent our parents for sending us to babysitters, and chances are slim that Brenna will resent us (for that - of course she'll resent us for stuff later - isn't that what the teenager years are all about?) I'm gonna miss her. She's my best friend, my buddy, and my little shadow. But, we will make it through this and I hear it gets easier by the day.

I get what my friends told me about leaving their babies now. It just doesn't feel right. But, I'm thankful for a job I love and great friends who make me smile at work. I guess it'll make seeing Brenna every afternoon even more special. I anticipate some speeding tickets on my way home to get her! It's been a great 5 1/2 months!

Mama Susan

*This is my 100th post! So exciting!*

Tomorrow my baby will be 5 months old! There will be the usual "monthly" post tomorrow so you can all keep up with how she's growing and changing. But tomorrow is also a really sad day for me. Tomorrow will mark one year since my beloved co-worker, mentor, and friend, Susan Kirkpatrick, lost her battle with cancer. I wanted to take a chance, mainly for my own good, to reflect on what she meant to me and how much I miss her.

Susan taught third grade with me since I first started at Macy. She was the resident math teacher, and when our schedules changed and we needed one more person to teach math, I got the pleasure (ha!) of taking over math for half of third grade. Susan was always willing to help me out and give me her copies (usually multiple times - I have a tendency to lose things!) and explain the best way to do things. But the coolest thing was, she learned from me, too. She had taught for WAY more years than I had (and trust me, we never let her forget that!) but she still valued my opinions and strategies. Sheri, Lisa, and I taught her a lot about technology. I can still hear her yelling for Sheri to come help her with her computer, or see the IMs she used to send me to come fix her DVD drive or her SMART board. We loved to tease her about it, but in reality it was amazing how hard she worked at getting "up-to-date" on things that most people her age would just ignore. That's what made her such a good teacher - she was always learning and never became complacent.

Susan was also a great friend. She was always willing to listen when something wasn't right, and she was always so excited for any of us when we had great news to share. I'll never forget the morning after Jonathan proposed to me. She was standing in a chair in the hallway (she couldn't even reach the cork strip in the hall - such a shortie!) hanging papers. I didn't say anything. I just walked up to her and put my hand up for her to see. She was screaming and almost fell off the chair. She was so excited for us and it was fun to share the joy of wedding planning with her. This was the same school year that she was diagnosed with breast cancer - and that summer she went out west with her husband to prove that she could do anything she set her mind to. Thus, she missed our wedding. But it was so fun to share pictures of the wedding with her afterward.

Speaking of pictures. Last summer Susan told me that her cancer had come back in her liver. The doctors told her that she had a maximum of 6 months to live. But she never told us that. She just kept fighting - even going in to her classroom to set it up less than a week before she died. The last time I saw Susan (besides the night before she died) I got to show her the pictures of Brenna (Baby Sprout at the time) and share our joy with her. She had been there through our miscarriage, and she was so excited that we were pregnant again with a healthy baby. Little did I know that she would never get to meet Brenna on this side of heaven. I've never been so thankful for ultrasound pictures in my life. While we were at the beach last summer, Susan got very sick very fast. I spoke to her on Thursday, July 30 after she had worked in her classroom. She told me she was really tired and having a bad day and that she would call me back the next day. She never had the chance. By the end of that weekend she was in the hospital. All my work friends and I had planned to go see her in the hospital on Tuesday, but Sheri's cousin Patti (who worked at the hospital) saw her and told Sheri we probably should come on Monday if we wanted to see her. So we all met there and had a great cry in the parking lot before putting on our strong faces and facing our "Mama Susan" for the last time. I am convinced she knew who we were and that we were there, but she couldn't carry on much of a conversation. The only thing that really evoked a comment was when April A. told her she was engaged. She got all excited, smiled, and said something about being happy. The only other thing I remember her saying is "this is terrible" referring to her pain and being in the hospital. I knew then that her fight was almost over. I told her I loved her before we left and I knew that would be the last time I'd see her.

She died early Tuesday morning, August 4. I couldn't sleep most of the night, but finally fell asleep about 5:00 AM. Gail called about 8 and I knew what she was going to say. I had to pass the news on to Sheri and Lisa and then I called Jonathan. Even then I missed her but knew that her pain and her fight was finally over. And that's still how I feel today. I miss her so much. I want to be able to see her hold Brenna, and to have her to help me teach math instead of her binders she organized and left for me, and to team up with me against Sheri in the fight to be self-contained (just kidding, Sheri - KINDA!). I miss how she called Norma "Normer" - and I think about her every time I hear a New York accent. I loved making fun of the local Giles County people with her - especially how they call the tanning bed the "tanner". I wish she could have celebrated Sheri and Lisa's engagements. I missed her at Sheri's wedding last weekend and we'll miss her this Saturday at Lisa's wedding. But I'm glad she isn't defined by her cancer anymore. I'm glad we can remember the good times. And I'm glad that I got to learn from such a great teacher. I know that as school starts again and I walk into HER classroom every morning (yep, it'll always be hers, I just live there now) it will be hard all over again. And it will get easier. That's hard sometimes - it doesn't seem like it should get easier without her. But that's how life is. So I'll tell stories and remember the good times and never let her memory die. She'll always be our "Mama Susan".

Halloween 2007

Halloween 2008

*Apparently we only took pictures together on Halloween. Maybe I have more at school and I know I have a few more that Jared took during school functions that are hanging up at school.*

Peyton

I'm at the beach, so an update will have to wait. I have an urgent prayer request for you all though. One of my students from this past year, Peyton, was in a bad car wreck Monday night. According to her uncle's girlfriend, who was our family preservation counselor this year, they weren't sure she was going to make it Monday night. But she did. She has a broken back in 3 places and is in ICU in Roanoke. Her mom has a broken ankle/foot, broken ribs, and some other serious injuries. Please pray for Peyton as she in much pain, but thank God isn't paralyzed and has even started walking a little bit. She should be leaving ICU in the next day or two is what I understand. Please pray for her mom, Amy, and her dad, Scott. I just found out yesterday, and honestly, I'm glad I didn't know on Monday night when it was so much more grim looking. I'm thankful she is already making progress and is stable.

The End...and the Beginning

Today I cried. It was the last day of school - the day I've been looking forward to since Brenna was born. But, for some reason, I cried when I was telling them our final goodbyes. They are a super sweet group and I really am telling the truth when I say I will miss them terribly. Of course I'm excited to spend my days with Brenna. But I will miss them nonetheless. I wonder if being a Mommy is to blame for my over-emotional goodbye. I think that's probably the culprit!

Jonathan brought Brenna to Field Day today. It was a blast. The kids couldn't get enough of her - and they didn't even care about the movie on the big screen TV in our room. All they wanted was some baby time. I can't blame them there.

We had Awards Day this morning where we celebrated some of their accomplishments this year. Then I showed them a DVD I made them with all our pictures from this year. So fun! I even gave them each a copy of it to keep! Then they gave me a gorgeous Silpada necklace and a sweet card and we gifted Mrs. Anderson, too!

Then Field Day!! We played lots of fun games - foot races, cone races with soccer balls, hula hoop contests, shoe-flinging contest, water balloon fights, and bobbing for apples. They had a blast! We also ate some food from different countries to go along with our "Exploring Diversity" theme. We had nachos, Indian Naan bread, ravioli, apple enchiladas, rice, and fortune cookies. It was all so yummy!

So, the end of the year has happened. Thirty minute faculty meeting tomorrrow and I'm done (not including 2 math conferences for the next 2 Mondays....bummer!). The summer is beginning. Brenna and I are joining a new gym tomorrow that has free childcare. Beach body, here I come!

Sad day. Happy day. Oh, how being a mommy changes things!

Something Positive about my Job

I feel like I've been really negative about my job lately. It's not that I hate it, I really don't. I just hate that it tears me away from Brenna. I know millions of women do it, but I just hate missing time with her. However, I do love my job. I love my students (a lot this year, not always the case...), I love the girls I work with (seriously, who gets lucky enough to work with their best friends?), I have a good, supportive boss who understands how hard teaching 3rd grade is, and I have the most helpful assistants on earth (seriously, people, I sometimes pump 3 times a day - that's a lot of other people teaching my class while I'm busy - so awesome!) Here is a list (you're welcome, Erin) of things I'm totally excited about - which is a great feeling at the most stressful time of the year...
*100% of my online SS test kids passed their SOL. That's 11 out of 11. Three took paper/pencil version - so I'll get those scores back this summer. And 2 of them passed it last year when they were in my class. 91% of them (10 of the 11) got pass advanced. 54% of them (6 out of 11) got a perfect score!!! I'm so proud. Granted, this is the easiest of the 4 tests. They have their hardest one next (reading) and then math and science, too. But, what a good way to start out the testing season!
*I turned in my VGLA yesterday - yay! I won't have the score back for awhile, but I'm just glad it's done! If you don't know about a VGLA - here's a brief summary. It's done in lieu of an SOL test for special ed. students. It's a portfolio of work to prove they've mastered all SOLs. Not bad, unless you teach 3rd grade. We have to provide evidence of all 3rd grade SOLs, but also for 2nd, 1st, and Kindergarten SOLs. And math is the worst, which is what I have done the past 2 years. There are 90 SOLs and most have bullets under them. It's a beast - seriously. However, it saves them rom taking the SOL and gives them a chance for success. I love that. It's totally worth it to me.
*One of my kids brought me the most gorgeous HUGE bouquet of pink flowers yesterday. In a milk gallon jug. Priceless. The sad part of the story? I forgot to bring them home.
*I've received several emails from parents telling me they are glad I'm back from maternity leave. What? Parents that like me? Novel idea.
*I got another email last night from a parent thanking me for everything I did to prepare them for the SOL. It's so nice to be appreciated.
*Everyone at school that I shared my scores with were genuinely as excited as I was. It's so nice to be around people who care as much as I do.
*It's 13.5 days until summer. Yep, I love my job. But I love time with Brenna more. Thank you, Lord, for giving me a job that gives me summers and breaks with her. It's the next best thing to being at home with her all the time.

My Favorite Things

Yesterday was a day filled with my favorite things - Jonathan and Brenna, the Basham family, my students, and baseball! My kiddos participated in a reading program for the Salem Red Sox, and yesterday their reward was to go see a game! Jonathan, Brenna, and I met them there, along with April, Jeremy, and London. The kids looked so cute!

Chillin' at the game!

Baseball face!

I got brave and let all my kiddos hold Brenna. They adore her!! She was very patient with them and hardly fussed at all. I miss them so much, but dread leaving Brenna on Monday morning to head back to work. Here's the pictures...I know that's what you came to see!

Mugsy holding Brenna and Daddy making sure he didn't steal or drop her!

Week 2 - Success!

Well, we've finished up our 2nd full week as parents, and it's been great! I must admit that I'm not sure what I would have done if Jonathan hadn't been home with us for these first two weeks. I'm DEFINITELY dreading him going back to work on Monday - we're going to miss him and I'm going to miss all his help! It's been so fun being a new little family together - doing everything together was lots of fun and a lot easier! Brenna had lots more "firsts" this week...

*She met her great paw-paw for the first time. He was sick when they came to the hospital, so he stayed in the car.
*She went to her first sit-down restaurant - Ruby Tuesdays - which is where I went into labor a few days earlier! Oh wait, she went to the Crown Buffet Mongolian Grill before that - but I'm not sure I'd call that a "sit-down restaurant". It's pretty ghetto - but delicious!
*She went to the mall for the first time - she loved the Gap Outlet!

*She had her first photo shoot with "Uncle Muscles" - AKA Jeff, who is the most awesome photographer I know and is going to be Brenna's future uncle-in-law! (He's London's uncle!)

*She went on her first walk to the Huckleberry - and cried most of the time. :( We'll keep trying though, it's one of our favorite things!

*She visited mommy's school for the first time today. It was SO fun! We got there while my kiddos were at lunch, so I visited with my teacher friends for awhile. Then I took her to meet my class, and they were beside themselves with excitement. The first thing I hear when I walk in the room is, "Your belly is flat!" from my little Jacob. Oh, Jacob, you're my favorite just for saying that! They begged to hold her, but I had to say no - little germy monsters! Maybe they can when we visit again in a few weeks! Then my little Devin came down the hall while Sheri was holding Brenna. She said, "Do you want to see Mrs. Halsey's baby?" He just looked at my stomach and was super confused. It was too much! Anyway, Brenna got to meet most of mommy's favorite people at Macy and got lots of love and hugs from bunches of people!

Tomorrow is going to be our first BIG outing. Brenna and I are going to Roanoke with Sheri and her other bridesmaids to look at bridesmaids dresses for her wedding. Let's pray she doesn't cry the whole time - it's a good thing that the carseat seems to be a sleep machine! :)

Here's to the second half of Brenna's first month - may it be just as wonderful and rewarding as the first half has been!

Getting Ready....

This baby's arrival is getting closer and closer! The one big thing that I had to get ready (other than, you know, getting everything a baby needs, creating a nursery, and growing her inside me) was 8 weeks of substitute plans for my class. I only found out last week who my sub was going to be, so I went ahead and did very detailed lessons just in case. I actually have 10 weeks worth of plans ready in case she comes early (or I just can't take it anymore!) My sub is a very nice lady who graduated last year and did her student teaching in 2nd grade, which means she already knows some of my kiddos. They are thrilled about her being their teacher, which makes it a little easier to leave them!

She has quite a lot to teach - especially since I'll only be back for about 2 weeks before SOL tests start! The big thing right now is to get everything I want to have covered so she can start where my plans start. This means snow days are NOT my friend right now - and we haven't had one during the past 2 weeks, shew! I still have to cover fractions, decimals, and money in math. I still have to cover ancient Mali, ancient Egypt, and ancient China in SS. Reading is pretty spiraled, so I'm not too worried about that. I am, however, worried that they still can't rhyme. I'm hoping she has some magic for those little basic skills.

I am happy to report that we now know who our current president is, the name of our state and our country and the capital of each, our 7 continents and 5 oceans, and what a synonym is. We've made huge strides I tell you!

Things I've Learned in the Past 6 Weeks..

Okay, so my class this year is really sweet. They are really polite. I really enjoy my days with them. But, oh my gosh, they remember nothing from kindergarten, first, or second grade. I'm talking laugh out loud ridiculously sad answers. We do five Daily History questions each morning that they have to answer without multiple choice answers to pick from. I thought you might want to know some things that you may have forgotten since your days in the third grade...

*George Bush invented the water clock.

*The Nile River is in China.

*No wait, it's in Virginia.

*The James River, on the other hand, was the most famous river in Ancient China.

*Our current president is Abraham Obama. Yes, I'm serious.

*Who helped women get the right to vote? Why, it was "heven". Yep, heaven. I have no clue.

*Helen Keller and Susan B. Anthony helped the slaves on the Underground Railroad.

*Abraham Lincoln was a woman.

*Nevermind, he was our first president.

*We live on the north coast of America.

*Rome and Pompey are states in America.

*Michigan is the country that is under our country.

*The first six words of the Pledge are "United States of America".

*The capital of Virginia is George Washington.

That's all I can remember for now, but I'll be sure to update later when I remember some others. My kids and I had a "come to Jesus" meeting yesterday about their ridiculous answers. And yes, I did tell them that when they didn't pay attention it made me want to cry, and crying was bad for the baby. So sue me. ;)

Check out the Classroom!

So my email/blog buddy Merritt suggested that I post pictures of my classroom, so I decided that would be fun. Apparently my life is so boring that I have nothing else to write about. Actually I have a lot to write, but just not the energy. So instead look at my new classroom - I really love it! I happened upon this room because of the death of my coworker and great friend Susan (Mama Susan as we called her). It was super hard to walk in every day at first, but it gets easier every day. I'm not sure how I feel about it getting easier....it doesn't feel right for it to be "normal" for her to not be there. But I guess that is the way it always is with a loss. I would teach in a 4 ft. by 4 ft. room to have her back.....but I'm thankful for the extra space and especially for the in-room bathroom.

Celebrating my Students

Ok, one last SOL post and then you won't hear mention of them for a good 8 or 9 months. We got the rest of our scores back this week and I'm so proud of them. In case you care, here ya go!

S.S. - All 19 of my kids who took it passed (17 pass advanced, 9 perfect) and my 1 VGLA passed advanced, too!

Math - All 19 of my kids passed (16 pass advanced, 3 perfect)....All 19 of Sheri's that I taught passed, too! (11 pass advanced, 3 perfect) And my 1 VGLA passed advanced!

Reading - 17 of the 19 that I taught passed (8 pass advanced, 5 perfect) - and of the other two, one was by ONE QUESTION! SO CLOSE!

Science - All 19 of my kids who took it online passed (12 pass advanced, 4 perfect) - Sheri teaches them!

I'm going to miss those kids - they started out really weak in some areas and came SO, SO far!! They are going to kick some booty in 4th grade!!

Run of the Mill

Not much is new here, but I still thought I'd update! I'm sick (again) with some serious chest congestion and coughing. Trying to Mucinex it out of me, so hopefully I'm on the upswing! We've been busy working on some real estate stuff this week, so time is of the essence! Hopefully I'll have good news on that front soon! (However, the dream house in Blacksburg sold, sad!)

6 1/2 days left of school. Geez, I'm gonna miss these kiddos. They are by far the best group I've ever had, and I just adore them! I'm super ready for some R&R, but I definitely will miss them. I'm probably in for it next year after having such a great group this year. Up and down, up and down. We've got a Mega Party, Awards Assembly, Field Day, and 3rd grade movie day left - so it's definitely almost over. Oh, summer!

This past weekend we enjoyed some fun fellowship with Jonathan's church family at Angie's wedding. Angie grew up with Jonathan and their families are very, very close. She had a gorgeous wedding by the river in Jefferson, NC....followed by a reception with delicious BBQ and other yummy food. My mother-in-law designed their cake (same flavor as ours - yummmmo) and I helped her finish it up when we got there Saturday. She does a great job! We then headed to Bristol to visit with my family for the day on Sunday, before heading back to our day off on Monday to look at houses and such. Below are some pictures of the wedding weekend:

This weekend we're headed to Grayson for Darin and Lyndsie's engagement party. VERY sadly, we won't be at their wedding, because it's the same day as my sister's. So, we can't wait to celebrate with them on Saturday - we miss them being here in VA with us! I'm also considering running a 3K in Salem before we leave on Saturday - we'll see how the chest congestion clears up. I figure it's a good lead-up to my 5K with Kelley in 2 weeks - EEK! I need to be running more!

I'll leave you with a great 3rd grade quote from today:
Anonymous 3rd grader with hand raised: What's a chicken sink?
Me: A WHAT?
3rd Grader: A chicken sink....pointing at a question on his screen.
Me: Honey, that says kitchen sink.
3rd Grader: Ohhhhh!
Do you get laughs like that at YOUR job? ;)

And just for you baby lovers, check out Baby Jacob, born 2 months ago to my teacher friend Kim. He's the first boy to be invited to our girls' night ever!

3 Day Weekend

I am so, so excited about this three day weekend. We don't have a lot planned - but it will just be nice to have an extra day away from school. The weeks after SOL testing are always rough, because the kids seem to think school is over. I'm trying to do some last-minute units to wrap things up and get them ready for fourth grade. Anyway, 13 more days (not counting the one last personal day I plan on taking sometime!). Speaking of school, ALL of my kids did pass their History SOL test. Yep, 100%. Super awesome - never happens at my school and it happened in 3 of the 4 third grade classes this year! Wahoo!!

In other, more exciting, news - we put our house on the market last night. We are listing it for about $14,000 more than Jonathan paid 3 years ago....which is more than most have sold for. But, it is 9,000 - 13,000 less than the other two listed in our neighborhood right now. We'll see what happens. We did go look at that house in Blacksburg and we loved it as much in person as in the pictures we had seen. We're researching some comps in the neighborhood and history of the property to see what the best offer would be. The only problem, of course, is that we have to sell one to be able to buy one. This house is definitely perfect for our family - and is exactly what we want, though. It has a very nice, flat yard, a guest bedroom AND guest full bath on the lower level, a family room with a fireplace, a nice patio and deck, and 3 bedrooms on the upper floor. Should bode well for the 5 kids we're planning on! ;) Oh, I hope this is the one!

Tonight I will cook Indian food for the 2nd time in my life. Granted I use kits to make it, but still! April and Jeremy (and Tad) are coming to enjoy it with us. Yay for good friends! :)

And, today I'll leave you with the only 3 pictures taken during the Lower Girls Reunion on Wednesday. Ironically they are all of me and Baby Cara. I don't really mind....

Stick a fork in me....

SOL tests are OVER! VGLAs are finished, signed, and turned in. Kids have officially shut down. All of these things mean one thing - I am officially a babysitter. No, that's not true. Since we have FOUR WEEKS left (why 4 weeks after tests? Darnit, I don't know!) I have units planned. We'll see how that works out. Here's what we have planned. A novel study on Charlotte's Web. A SS unit on Jamestown. Math units on multiplication, lapsed time, and possibly GCF and LCM. I'm sure you don't care. I just needed to let you know that we are done proving ourselves to the Department of Education in Richmond. Now, they just have to answer to me! Enjoy your weekend.

Worried...

Ok, so I'm officially worried about SOL tests this year. These kids are SO unredictable... especially my 2nd afternoon math class. I really shouldn't have graded math tests on the first day of our (crappy 4 day) Easter break. But, I did. These kiddos can't bubble in answers on a bubble sheet - and we've been doing it for 4 months now! They'll just skip 2, 3, 5, 10 questions and not even try to bubble them in. DRIVE ME CRAZY!!!!! Not to mention the fact that they won't read questions OR work problems out. Oh, and did I mention that they can't rhyme or recognize beginning/middle/ending sounds of words. Oh, they can make inferences, draw conclusions, and pick out paragraph-specific answers for reading all day. But find a word with the same beginning sound as toast? Nope. We've practiced. I've bribed, begged, pleaded, and threatened. Oh, and taught. Yes, I've taught rhyming in 3rd grade. We've bingoed, drawn, sang, and rapped. We still can't rhyme. Oh please let the reading SOL test be heavy on comprehension and light on skills. Wow, never thought I'd say that! Oh, and did you know Columbus was our first president? This is going to be the longest, shortest month of my life.

In other news, my husband is finally home! He was in Raleigh all week - with the computer! I missed the computer, but I really missed him. Now, it's off to his parents' house for Easter. Let the yummy eating begin.