I am woman - watch me accomplish

Yesterday was my day to get lots done and fill fulfilled. My day started at the standard hour of 4:40 am, but I didn't make it to the gym yesterday (or at all this week) because I have been grading papers until my brain hurts. I have discovered that my new mission starting in January is going to be to teach students the great functionality of a period. Apparently learning it every year since first grade hasn't been enough exposure.

My freshman classes are presenting theme parks (there have been several that have been simply amazing!) and I wrote up a poetry test for my creative writing class, watched some more presentations and headed home, deciding that if I read one more mystery I was going to start having aggravating results on my students grades. When I got home, I whipped up some sweet roll dough, set it in the oven to rise, took Ellie to dance, found some stocking stuffers and presents for Will and Ellie's school teachers, picked up Elllie, grabbed Papa Murphy's on the way home and ate dinner.

When I got home, Enoch, Will and Catie were watching Swiss Family Robinson for the firs time. Those of you who are familiar, know that when the pirates are attacking, the family runs up the hill and has various traps, etc. set up to stop the pirate's advances. Will watched with great anticipation and excitement, smiling and laughing out loud many times, but when the dad chopped the ropes holding the logs up, Will jumped up with his arms in the "touchdown" position and screamed "YES!!!" Oh, it was a great moment.

Enoch and I started making braided pastries after that - some for the six ladies I teach in the English department with and several for the families that Enoch has worked closely with throughout this last year. I got 14 of them made, some smaller than others, all glazed, covered and ready to be delivered today. In between here, I had tithing settlement (with the additionaly chit-chat and fun conversation), Enoch's parents came to look at some lights in our garage (because I'm married to a contractor without a shop and everything, therefore, must go in my garage), negotiated our plans for today (because our babysitter is taking her son to catch a flight to spend the holidays with his dad), got the kids in bed, cleaned up the kitchen and got to bed at about 11.

I love days like this, even when I feel exhausted, because of the great satisfaction of a day well spent. The thought that is slightly daunting is that I could probably have two to three more before Sunday, but that's why Diet Coke was created, right?

My list before Christmas

My sister-in-law Harmony was mentioning on her blog that she had made a list of stuff to do before Christmas, and I thought that I should probably do that too, so I decided to post it here - lucky you for getting to read my list :)

1. Finish Christmas shopping - I think I just have to take my kids to buy presents for each other and Enoch, try to find something for my mom (since I know her so well that I bought her the same thing as she bought herself for her one Christmas item this year) my mother-in-law, my sister's family and something for the parents in my sister-in-laws family.

2. Get all the And Then There Were None tests and 3-6 page mysteries graded, along with all the miscellaneous stuff (I really want to have all my grades caught up by the end of this week)

3. I would like to make some really fun Christmas cookies. Kraftfoods has some really fun ones this year that are shaped like candy canes, etc. and since I have a Ellie who LOVES to bake, I thought that it would be a good thing to do.

4. Finish fine tuning the Christmas program and practice the other three songs that I'm now doing for the other Christmas program (the dinner one, not the sacrament one)

5. Theoretically write a Christmas letter... we'll see how that one goes. I tend to write those but then forget to send them off...don't be at all surprised if that great Christmas letter ends up on this and the myfamily website.

6. Bake braided pastries to take around to neighbors, co-workers, etc.

7. Clean my dang bedroom!! That seems to be the last thing I get to on all my lists - probably because it is my least favorite thing.

8. Get kids pictures taken - Will got some with his first grade class, but they cost almost three times more than if I just take them to WalMart so I will just take all three kids...I may even decide to just take them myself.

9. Update my blog with all the fun things that took place this last weekend but my camera is at my house and it will probably take a couple of entries to get all the different aspects covered. Check back soon for those updates.

Well, that looks like my list of stuff to do before Christmas...over the Christmas break is a whole different idea, but I figure I'll just take it two weeks at a time. :)

Celebrating life

About noon today the air outside my classroom filled with my favorite aroma, second only to roses - that of rain. There is a storm moving through Cedar which should eventually turn to snow, but for now it is raining, and that always puts me in a good mood. So, since I'm in a great mood, I thought I'd share some of my favorite things :)

This is my favorite Catie - my adorable two year old who loves to smile for the camera, and give squishy hugs, snuggle with her blankie and watch Dora.

This is me playing with my fun loving quickly smiling Ellie who tells the best stories. I think if I ever get around to it, her stories would be great children's books.

Here is my favorite Will - the meticulous, studious, fun loving, energetic kid. (At the park this day Will and I were playing chase through the playground equipment - too much fun) And here is my great family - playing Holiday Yahtzee while I was making some home-made turkey soup. What a great bunch of people!

Yea, I know I'm incredibly biased - that's my job as a mom - in my mom contract, it says, "Pre-requisite - must be biased toward the children which will no doubt be incredibly adorable and a husband who is great, hard-working and helpful - especially when he runs to Subway because I can't break away for lunch because I have frantic freshmen in my classroom typing their little fingers to the bone to get their major writing assignment for the quarter in, without which they don't pass the class and therefore can't graduate from high school, and he knows that when I don't get lunch and a diet coke, I can become the reincarnation o f the wicked witch of the west on steroids. (WHEW! How was that for a description!) :)

So I hope whomever the very few people who are reading this may be, that there is the great smell of rain in your neighborhood and that you get a few seconds to celebrate life!!!

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Today started with me being wide awake at 6:30 am and thought it would be a good day to go get in a good workout before eating, but upon arriving at the gym, I found it dark and locked. So to make up for plans that fell through, I stopped at Maverick on the way home and bought a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I know, makes perfect sense, huh. Just another way that my justification is a bit askew.

The kids are watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade - I think the Rockettes will be on in a few minutes, which means I will have a four year old imitator all day (which I think is fine, and Enoch still can't believe that he has a dancer for a daughter) We will be sure to record the Packer's game before we leave as it is on during our drive to Redmond, UT (small town outside of Salina, which is a small town outside of Richfield) My mom's sister is hosting dinner today. I think I should have two sisters there and my little brother who is still in high school. This may be a two post day just to recapture the events (hopefully good eventful not bad eventful) :)

Having more fun than an English teacher should be allowed

We are currently reading And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie in my freshman English classes and for those of you who aren't familiar with the book, it starts with ten people on an island and then there were none. Since I only have a classroom set, with the exception of making copies of some of the chapters, we have been reading it in class. Today I was reading out loud and the students were following in their books. We have been averaging about two chapters a day, but had more time today. When I stopped reading, I asked if they wanted to stop or keep going and there was a resounding "Keep Reading!!!" Ah, comments like that are music to my ears. This is currently book three of three that I have had someone beg me to please not stop reading - the other two were Anthem by Ayn Rand and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Now if I could just get them as excited about writing, although with the assignment to write a mystery, there has been more interest.

In our creative writing class, we are currently learning about poetry and today they are going to read their poems based on an imagery practice and write celebrity slam poetry - it should be a great deal of fun.

Two more school days till Thanksgiving break - I'm just keeping class fun at this point and enjoying every minute.

Working out of perfectionist tendencies

I have in my mind this idea that if I'm going to post on my blog, it needs to be a well thought cleverly worded post full of wit and wisdom. But as I sit in the middle of a messy desk in my classroom, I realize that I've acknowledged the futility of perfectionism at all times, so why am I still holding on to the notion with something as simple and informal as a blog.

I have been having a blast with my kids lately. It seems that now that they are a little older (6, 4 and 2, I know, not a great deal older, but they don't require as much intense take care of time). We snuggle and talk and read books. Will has been practicing better now - if I can just get him in the habit, when the girls have the chance to learn how to play the piano, it will already be a family habit, which is always good.

Enoch's birthday is coming up on Monday, Nov 19 - we are going to see a play and out to dinner the weekend before to celebrate. Those of you who know Enoch know that when it comes to him choosing where we are going to eat, there isn't anything in this town that even comes close to the memphis dry rub ribs at Chili's. There may be times when he switches and adds a half rack of some other kind of rib only to find himself disappointed at the result. So that Friday night, I'm planning on eating at Chili's. I don't know what I'm getting yet, but know that the birthday boy will be happy, and that's what will be truly important.

Survival mode

There is a cartoon out there that shows the pattern of behavior that teachers go through, especially in their first year. At this point I'm in survival mode. Perhaps that is why the powers that be have three days in October when we don't have school to give all the teachers a chance to get their lives back together. I don't know what happened this year, but UEA weekend was held by different districts at different times, which seems strange because it is supposed to be a meeting for all the teachers in Utah to go to if they feel so inclined (I don't - don't think I ever will). After surviving my first quarter teaching my students that NTSSWTSW (that's No Two Sentences Start With The Same Word), sentences should never start with well, but, so or and and that the only time a paper can use the word you is in dialogue or when giving instructions, I'm spending my break once again tackling the monster of potty training, getting caught up on laundry and DEEP cleaning and writing the Christmas program for our ward.

Enoch and I broke down and splurged on our family and ordered Direct TV - we had been debating it for several months now, and seeing as Cable is not even in this "city" we call Enoch, satellite is the only hope for anything that doesn't completely fade out or suddenly switch channels. So far we are really enjoying the DVR feature - especially when we both want to watch a different show at the same time (pretty much only for a 1/2 hour on Thursdays and the occasional monday when the football game is of enough interest so we then record Heroes).

Speaking of football and Monday night, tonight is the great match between the Green Bay Packers (Enoch's favorite) and the Denver Broncos (my favorite). I'm thinking we need to make a wager of some sort - loser has to give a GOOD backrub to the winner each night for a week or something like that. Usually these events are accompanied by bets like serving breakfast in bed, but I'm up a good hour or two before Enoch nearly every day of the week and he really isn't a huge breakfast person, so I guess that really won't work. I guess that is what I can be thinking about when I'm scrubbing around toilets or have writers block for the Christmas program. :)

My Perfect Life

I have been trying to post on my blog for about two weeks now, and everytime that I sit down to do it, life happens.

I really feel l like I'm not as busy as I was before I started teaching, because I have my afternoons and evenings free, and with the schedules that we have had it has been a fabulous blessing. Will and Ellie have been playing soccer, and the nice thing is that their games are generally at the same location, just different fields, so that hasn't been as much of a conflict as I was originally concerned it would be. Will has really developed some great skills - he definetly leans toward being a better defensive player, but part of that is the learning curve, the fact that he isn't the fastest on his team, and that he doesn't have the drive to be offensive yet. Ellie is hilarious because everytime that she gets the ball, she gets laughing so hard at the other girls chasing after her that she can barely remember to run. It has been a great experience for my kids and while it is time consuming, they both love it. Will is constantly dribbling down the hall at our house and takes his soccer ball with him any chance he gets.

Ellie just started dance and she LOVES it - she getst to wear her cute skirt and fly like a butterfly. She is the girl who will always start dancing when the bands go by in a parade, loves loud music that she can sing and dance to - life will be a fun adventure with her. What is really cute about this situation is that Catie is following in Ellie's footsteps, and will be the same type of girl at least for a little while.

I have been working on helping Will practice the piano more - now that soccer is dying down we should have more of a free schedule I have plans to make that part of the evening regular schedule. He is getting to the point where he can practice a little more by himself without me having to sit right next to him, so it will be easier to have him do while I'm helping the girls with something else (like making cookies...). I'm convinced that once we get him to the point where he knows most of the notes, we can really get into a regular habit of practicing - the first part is absoluetly the hardest.

I'm loving teaching. Some things I'm still juggling a little, like cooking a decent dinner, staying caught up on laundry/dishes/cleaning but those are things that have never been my aptitude, so those who know me won't be astoundingly shocked. I truly feel like I'm a better mom in the afternoons because I have had the chance to do what is my passion during the day and I don't feel frustration toward my kids that they just don't stay quiet while I'm teaching piano. It was a job that served a great purpose when my kids were very little, but it wasn't ever something that was a true joy or passion for me - just something that made the money to buy things like clothes a diapers. I realize that there are many who hold true to the fact that mom's need to be home until their kids are in school, but I was really neglecting myself in doing that - frustrated that I was losing me. I know it's not for everyone, and I know that there are many who think I've chosen by putting myself above my kids, but the fact of the matter is that I'm happy, my kids are happy, my husband is happy (he actually gets some quality no mom around time with the kids every day and for two additional hours on Wednesday afternoons) and I really feel like I'm living my dream life. Being 100% honest with myself (and not counting the fact that I live in Enoch - hopefully this will be the last year that I live out there) I wouldn't change a single thing in my life.

It is PERFECT.