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.

My fabulous Ellie

I have a beautiful little four-year-old red head named Ellie. She is full of life, has very few inhibitions and showcases a personality that I always wished I had - carefree and full of love. I have visions in my head of Ellie needing to have a room at the opposite side of the house from Will, who is very much like me, because she hears a song that she loves and promptly pleads, "OH!!! I LOVE this song. Mom - TURN IT UP!!!" Yes, this is how she acts. Yes, she is four. Yes, she is taking dance starting in September which means that when she hears a song she just loves, she can sing and dance to it.

Here is the funniest thing - she has already decided on the type of music she likes, which is pop/rock. Her current favorite songs are Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne, Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani and Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T's. She is the funniest girl and I can't help but smile when I see her. She wants to be a princess all the time, dress up and what she is looking forward to most is dancing in parades. I can forsee that life with Ellie is going to be very active, trying and fun. I can't wait.

A Period of Change

I thought that it was appropriate to switch the template of my blog again as everything else is changing over the course of two weeks. I, again, changed the title of my blog and template because, well, sometimes I get bored with things being the same all the time. Just a few weeks ago Enoch and I rearranged our living room again because the TV was in a bad place in conjunction with the window, causing beautiful bright rectangles on the screen if the TV was on ever before 9:00 pm. And since the TV was in a bad place, we just decided to rearrange the whole room. I know, crazy, but that's how we work.

I have spent the better part of a week working through tediously long meetings and frantically trying to get my room organized. I just added To Kill a Mockingbird to my to read list because it is the novel that the English department would like all of the 9th graders to read and I LOVE the book, but thought it was a 10th grade novel. It is such an amazing book that I'm feeling a little bit of stress because I want to do it justice - I want my students to get it. Luckily, I'm not planning on that one until Feb after the first round of testing so I have tons of time to prepare.

Speaking of my to read list, I'm almost to the point of giving up on keeping track. I'm sure that you think this is insane, that an English teacher would want to give up on keeping a to read list, but let me explain. The reason that I want to terminate the exisitence of this list isn't because I think that reading is a bad idea, but because I have so many books recommended to me, so many books that I really want to read that I feel like the list is doubling daily but my time is not. I'm drowning in the sea of anticipated literature and the coast guard isn't anywhere in site.

I was lamenting this fact today to a co-English teacher and she laughed when I said that I felt like I wasn't very well read - I feel like I'm at a bit of a disadvantage. The mature women who teach in the all female English department have a leg up on my by sheer existence - they've been around longer than me and have had time to have their minds experience more literary pleasure. And of the two teachers who are just a year younger than me, neither of them are married, have children, soccer practices, dance practice, dinner for five, laundry for it feels like 20 and they can spend their evenings perusing whatever their literary heart desires. Hence, my disadvantage, but blessing too, because I get to do fun things with my family, but don't get the joy of reading nearly as often as I would like. I guess I just have to hope that I live with decent vision and comprehension for a long, long time.