But that's cheating!

Every year I have a student or two or a whole class who are extremely a little type A. One of the things we are learning right now are fact families, where the three numbers are given 3, 8, and 11, then they have to come up with the different addition and subtraction problems for them. As I was explaining how to do fact families, a little girl raises her hand and said "Mrs. Jones, but that's cheating, it tells you all of the answers!"

I think I might need this...

I saw it at Gap the other day and it looks so comfortable and would be great for work. I love skirts!

Horray!

I have officially turned in my final project for my grad school class. What a great feeling! There will be no more complaining for a while (I know the boy is happy about that)!

I Wish This Came in a Different Color

I was playing on the internet today while taking a break from working on my final grad school project for this semester when I stumbled upon this chair from World Market. It is exactly what I want to drive the boy more crazy make my living room more cozy, EXCEPT I really don't like the color. Who in their right mind gets whitish furniture? It's a disaster waiting to happen or a never ending cleaning mess or just always dirty. Sorry to those of you who have whitish furniture, maybe you are cleaner than the boy me. It is also a good price, as is just about everyting in World Market. I love that store! However, it doesn't look like I will be buying a chair there anytime soon.

Good News

We found out today that with the original surgery my brother in law's cancer was removed. However, now they have to decide about the next surgery, how much should they remove to ensure that the cancer won't return. We are praying for wisdom that they will make the right choice.

ETA- There were some questionable lymph nodes and a full neck dissection will need to be done along with the surgery to remove the rest of the cancerous thyroid. They will be heading to see a specialist in Miami, hopefully soon.

It would've come out sometime...

Every school year I have a few lazy unmotivated students who would rather watch paint dry than do their work. Today one of these students, a little girl, ask the student sitting next to her to do her work for her. When I confronted the student about her actions she lied to me. It took me telling her that I knew the truth and threatening to pull the other little girl out and question her before I got the straight answer. At the end of the school day when I confronted mentioned the incident to the little girl's mother, the came back with "it would've come out sometime...." I immediately came back with "No, she needs to tell the truth the first time!" To that she had no response. I couldn't believe that this mom was making excuses for her daughter lying. If she gets away with lying now, what will she get away with as a teenager? What is this world coming to?!

Black and Whites

I was inspired by my friend Mrs. Burd to frame some of my photographs and hang them around the house. Here are the four I had enlarged and am going to go pick up tonight. I am hoping they turn out as good as I think they will. I am still trying to decide if they are going to go above my bed or above the couch in the living room. Decisions, decisions!

If Only I Had Known

As most girls do at some point when they have lived in one place for a while, I decided to move around the furniture. It gives the house a fresh look and in my case opened things up a bit in the living room. What I did not realize was that in my two years of marriage, I apparently have never moved the furniture in our house, until today. Therefore, a valuable lesson was learned; consult the boy before moving furniture or he might not react in a positive way. As of right now I have one week to let him get used to it and see if he grows to like it or it’s going back the way it was. I think I will start whispering in his ear while he is sleeping “you love the living room, you love the living room” then he might decide that he likes it.

I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!

Confession: I have owned a KitchenAid Stand Mixer for almost two years and never used it…until today! Now I am wondering what was I thinking letting it sit in a kitchen cabinet all this time? I pulled it out today thinking it might be easier to use it than my traditional hand mixer (which has gotten a lot of use over the last two years) to make the boy his birthday cake (which is in the oven right now) and I was able to mix the batter in less than 15 minutes! Usually I am the type that goes around the kitchen and pulls out all the ingredients for a recipe before starting to make it. Today, it mixed away while I walked around pulling things out and putting them away. I beat eggs while it mixed flour, etc. It was wonderful! I had no idea I was missing out. Hopefully he loves his chocolate pound cake as much as I love the mixer!

Weighing It All Out

I like to always have goals for myself, and one of my biggest goals is also something I often dread, grad school. In recent days, however, I have begun to wonder if it is really that important. I spend a lot of time working on projects and papers that I could be spending with the people that are important to me. There is that old saying that says something like no one on their death bed ever said I wish I had spent more time at work. Grad school for me ends up like working a second job on the weekends because as a teacher I don’t have the time or brain capacity during the week to put the amount of effort I need to, so it ends up taking up most of my weekend. So, is it really worth it, spending every weekend reading books and in front of my computer when I could be spending it with my family and friends? I just don’t know that it is. I guess that’s the 24,000 dollar question for me right now.

Cancer

We found out yesterday that my brother-in-law has cancer. Finding something like that out puts a different perspective on life and your loved ones.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Happy Birthday

The boy’s birthday is tomorrow…so I got him these sunglasses. We are going to the Ritz Carlton to their fun restaurant on the beach called Gumbo Limbo and I have no idea what I might wear. Now, I just hope that he doesn’t check my blog anytime in the next 24 hours or there won’t be any surprises!

Oh no, not playdough

If I never see playdough again I might be one very happy girl. In my rush to make all the batches of playdough the other day, I put them away while they were still warm, therefore, making lots of condensation in the containers. Unfortunately for me, condensation means really really sticky playdough, which equals a big huge mess. I wasted spent more time today trying to make my playdough behave than I want to think about. In the end, it worked out; however, everything before the end was extremely a little crazy.

What could be more fun than playdough?

This week my class will be making models of the earth out of playdough. So, my project for the day will be making about 6 batches of playdough. By the end of it my hands will be a tiedye of different colors thanks to the amazing amount of food coloring I will be using.

Traditional Play Dough

1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup salt
food coloring

Mix all ingredients. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan and knead until blended smooth. Then add the food coloring and knead some more.

Easter

Matthew 28:5-6 (NIV)
The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

It's Almost Summer!

Due to that fact, the boy needs these I think! He has owned the same two bathingsuits since I met him about three years ago and it just might be time for a change. JCrew...here I come!

This is what I will be staring at all day long...YUCK!

I have a paper for work to finish and the previously mentioned papers for my grad schoool class that are due on Easter. Needless to say, I will be spending the day, not at the beach, but staring at my computer screen praying that some words magically jump onto it. Thankfully, it is not beach weather for a Florida girl, as it is a freezing cool 70 degrees outside. Hopefully I will get lots done so I can do something more exciting tomorrow. Who wants to spend spring break writing papers? NOT me!

Two Dogs for a Day

For 24-hours the boy and I will be taking care of two Shelties (one that is just two months old). The boy is not very excited about this and has said that we won't be owning very many pets. I, of course, talked him into this great adventure. That means that if anything goes wrong it will be my fault. Having never owned a dog in my life, this truly will be a sight to behold. I will let you know on Thursday if the boy is still speaking to me!

Would that be a deal breaker?

Last week I made asked the boy to tell the man in charge of our trip to China that I was "late" and that we weren't sure if we should buy our China tickets yet. The man's response was "Would that be a deal breaker?", the boy was like "Well, definitely for her and probably for me as well." When I got home that night and the boy was retelling me the story, I was appalled shocked that the man even had to ask that. Of course I wouldn't be going to China 4 months pregnant. I love China, but it's dirty and polluted and I would be worried about all the awful things that might be hurting my baby. Needless to say one week and four pregnancy test later, I think I am 100% certain that I am not pregnant and we will be buying tickets this week. Hope the tests were right!

It's....

Spring Break! I will be sleeping in and at the beach all week. Don't be too jealous!

Everything is Better Fresh

A few weeks ago one of my students brought me some very ripe keylimes and told me that they make wonderful lemonade. Well, that opened a huge can of worms, because according to the boy, the fresher the better. So now the boy now refuses to buy juice, he wants it fresh squeezed! Therefore, what did we buy today at the farmers market? Not just lemons, but oranges too. I have to admit, I am feeling like the best wife in town today after not only making homemade lemonade, but also homemade orange juice. Here is what I did to make the lemonade:

6 large or 8 small lemons squeezed
1 cup sugar melted in 2 quarts of water
Mix it together and add ice

I have to admit, it is wonderful!

Why too much thinking, for a Saturday

As I sit and ponder all that I want and all that I have, I wonder why I want at all. Being content at times seems more difficult than it should be. I want God’s will for my life to be my will for my life, for the two to be the same. But that often doesn’t happen and instead of accepting it, I find myself upset or questioning why. I know in my heart that God’s plans are best and that obeying Him will bring blessings but my mind sometimes can’t wrap around that as much as I would like it too. My human nature says “Have your cake and eat it too.” For now, I am learning to be content.

Confirmation

We spent this past week at school taking a standardized test. This week is always stressful and it is often difficult to see students not think or struggle through the problems and get the wrong answer. However yesterday I found myself struggling not to laugh aloud as I saw one of my students bubble in the wrong answer to a question, because it confirmed what I had already thought about him, that he is one of the most self-centered children I have ever had in a class. The question went something like this: Johnny and Jimmy want to read the same book at the same time. How can they best solve their problem? Then there were three pictures to choose from. The first had Johnny reading the book and Jimmy just sitting there, the second had them sharing the book, and the third had them handing the book to a little girl. After walking around the classroom I realized that everyone in my class had the correct answer, except one, that little boy. He chose the first picture, which is obviously his idea of sharing! I was appalled and amused all at the same time, which isn't easily done.

April Fools

While picking up my students from the playground this morning the following scene happened:

Student: Mrs. Jones there's a fly on your head!

After hearing this I frantically brush off the top of my head not worrying that I am ruining my french twist, since I think flies are awful creatures. Then I finally realize that the whole class is laughing hysterically at me.....April Fools!