Karma and Mystery Mail

So wouldn't you know, two days after I write a post about wedding shoes - I have a kid take off both his shoes and throw them at my head. Yes, that is correct. A five-year-old. He threw a chair and as I was approaching to discipline the chair throwing, two little shoes came hurling toward me. Just goes to show you never know what you'll get in kindergarten.

Last week we had another shoe-related incident. One of my little girls decided to untie her shoes at rest time. She put her legs straight up in the air at a 90 degree angle, took all four shoelace ends and placed them in her mouth. She then proceeded to play them like a guitar singing loudly (in an otherwise calm, quiet, serene environment) like a banjo. Awesome.

Today we received a surprise package in the mail! ("We" being, of course, my classroom. Poor Christopher isn't my "we" anymore...) My future sister-in-law decided to "adopt" our class and each month will send us a book. The kids were THRILLED to get mail and we spent a good five minutes trying to guess what was in the flat cardboard package. First guess - motorcycle. Then a correction - "no, no - a BLACK motorcycle." Next guess, "your hair looks like my mom's." Needless to say, In the Small Small Pond was not provided as an option. We all LOVED it and it was a fantastic surprise! THANK YOU KATHY, Matt, Maddie and Molly! :-)

I got a super fun piece of mail at home today - MY BRIDAL SHOWER INVITE. I am totally jazzed. I'll have to scan it in and post it in the next few days (sans details of course), but it is too beautiful not to show off. HOORAY! Something non-school-related to look forward to! I'm so glad the girls decided not to wait until February!!

Back to work! :)

Rain and Websites

I've been looking for wedding shoes and came across these on Nordstrom.com today. I think they are the perfect alternative in case it rains April 9th. I have found that safety is a number one concern in wet weather and you can always rely on Sperry to keep you from biting it and making a fool out of yourself. And they are green. And pink. And madras. And they are SPERRY. Come on - I totally need them. If not for the wedding, than definitely for the after party.

So I finally have the wedding website up and running. I'll be adding to it as we get closer to the big day, but at least we have accommodations and a few other details listed. I am sad that my crazy work schedule has left little time for wedding planning. I had so much fun doing things over the summer and it has all come to a sudden halt. Balance is a difficult thing in life... ANYHOW - here's the website address. Enjoy!

www.weddingwire.com/chrisandkristi

It's a Beautiful Day for a Wedding

Today, Christopher and I are headed down south to Nelson County to attend his good friend Becca's wedding. It is an outdoor affair and the bride must be the happiest woman in the world because the weather is GORGEOUS. I can only pray and dream and hope that seven months from now when we get married, God gives us a day like today.

It's been a super hard week for me at work. Last night I came home at 7:30 and went to bed. Christopher got back from work around 11:30 and I got up, ate dinner (cereal), and back to bed. I'm finally starting to really get to know my kids which is amazing. Two told me yesterday that they didn't want to go home, they wanted to stay at school all night (and they come from good homes!) Those comments make my day a little brighter, especially because so many nights are filled with tears of frustration. Teaching is a very lonely job.

But today - it's off to a wedding! Who knows what I'll wear (my gown perhaps?) but I know we'll have a great time. :)

Backseat Blogger

My very first student-created gift.
A super sweet pencil holder. :-) I like how my name wouldn't fit around the barrel!

Like all the other things in my life, blogging has taken a backseat to work. I have been working 12-14 hour days and trying to teach five-year-olds how to sneeze into their elbows so I don't get sick. It was another hectic week - one fabulous day followed by one in which I wanted to quit, back to one great day, and then we bottom out again. It truly is a roller coaster.

Yesterday I was very frustrated when I left work. I have never before in my life felt like an ineffective teacher and I couldn't get even get five words out without all crap breaking loose. I called my dad and he told me that I need to focus on the accomplishments the kids have made - no matter how teeny tiny they are. I have a little boy from Burma who just got out of a refugee camp less than 2 months ago. He speaks zero English and I can not imagine how foreign American schools must feel to him. We use a lot of sign language in the room because of language barriers and I have one child who is deaf. Yesterday my little refugee signed bathroom and said, clear as day, "bathroom." I almost starting sobbing. It's funny - you never think you'll get emotional when someone says bathroom. The kid probably thought I was a freak - jumping up and down screaming, YES! BATHROOM! BATHROOM!!! Uh...lady - can I just pee already? Today he said yellow. :-D This is the type of success I see in my room and I need to remember these kids aren't Ivy League college students - they are five-year-olds.

Some funny moments from this week. One of my happy Hispanic children, K, decided to answer the question, "What is the month?" with "Michael Jackson dead." Z. woke up from nap today and told me I looked like a monkey. Q. told me that she had a hard time listening yesterday because she was tired. "My daddy made me stay up all night watching television and I just wanted to go to sleep. Why my daddy be trickin me???" Her mother told me she is in bed each night by 8:00 and her father works the evening shift. My favorite part of today was when O., another Hispanic student, pointed to my stomach and said, "I like the baby in your belly." She was sorely disappointed when I informed her I was, in fact, NOT pregnant - just fat. We had one girl take her belt off in P.E. yesterday and swing it around her head like a lasso. I wrote the parents asking them to send in one SMALL blanket or towel for rest time and all of a sudden our room has turned into the freaking Hampton Inn. We've got pillows, huge fleece blankets, rest mats, stuffed creatures... I shipped them all back home today. Some of those kids looked like they were going to topple over because their backpacks were so full. Lesson to be learned: don't bring sleeping gear that weighs more than you do.

It has been a week since my girls left for Israel. Both Christopher and I miss them so much it's ridiculous. Half of our four-"person/being" family is gone and it's lonely here. Christopher wouldn't turn the fan on for me last night because it reminds him of Rosie (she used to sit in front of the fan in our room when she got anxious). He is very concerned that she may not have a fan in Israel.

The house is extra lonely because Christopher and I do not get to see each other. I leave for work by 7:30 every morning and when I get home I can barely shower and pack my lunch before I crash. He doesn't get home until 11ish and by that point I'm waaaaay past being ready for bed. But since I never see him I try to stay awake and then I end up exhausted the next morning. Bleck. This work stuff is for the birds!

My apologies for the lack of "wedding" substance on my "wedding blog" but nothing has happened in the past few weeks. Well, besides AK calling and reminding me for the 80th time to send in a particular contract. Bleck. Oh well - one thing at a time!!!

Completed classroom library. :-)