Christmas classroom

I love setting up my classroom for a little Christmas magic.  There are only 15 school days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and we have to embrace the season!

My students loved finding their names on the tree.  Some of them were surprised to be included.

They said things like, "My name is on there?"

A few of them timidly asked if they could take the names home.  I said, "Yes, right before Christmas.  They are part of your Christmas gift."

Eyes widened and they said, "Part?!?"

You will not find entitled children in a Title 1 school.  They are always grateful.  Always.

Since no one is home to enjoy the Christmas village, Anna set it up on the counter.  I was afraid it would be trouble to keep their hands off of it, but they were very good about just looking.

My favorite thing I was excited to show them was the little elf door.

Every day (sometimes twice a day) a different student's picture will be inside.  That student gets to put an ornament on the advent calendar.  The ornaments have numbers on them which are linked to treats or activities.  Yesterday they all got a Christmas eraser.  Which is more exciting than it sounds when you are 8. 

They (mostly the girls) wrote tiny notes for the elf and put them in the mailbox.  (The lid is removable.)

The elf responded with a note that was in 4 point font.  I for sure couldn't read it but those young whippersnappers with their youthful eyes could.

I read them Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree.  I love Christmas!

Home for the holidays

We packed a lot into a few days, evidenced by how much I was dragging on Saturday night.  It was a wonderful time though.

On Thanksgiving we prepared our feast and sat at a pretty table.

the little rosemary plant in our kitchen window is the gift that keeps on giving

Adam asked me to say the prayer and I said no.  He asked, "Because you'll cry?"

I said, "Yes."

So he said the prayer and I cried anyway.

In an extreme departure from the other women in my family, we did not have a ton of leftovers.  All the kids said that Thanksgiving leftovers are overrated, so I guess we all stood in the correct line in heaven.

In the late afternoon, we went to a movie. (King Richard, we all loved it!)

We came home for pie, which is always a good thing to come home for.

Friday, after doing my part for the economy on Amazon, we decorated for Christmas.  Those boys make quick work of carrying boxes. 

The highlight of decorating is opening the box of Christmas bears.  Anna sat in a chair and was bombarded with both stories about the bears and actual bears.

Each bear is loved and stories are told about them all.  It is the weirdest scrapbook in the world, but it's ours.

They put them in chronological order, Braeden at the helm

Adam and Mark set up the new big tree that is on wheels and lives in Adam's office closet.  It is slick and easy and when they were done, they commented that no one was even mad after the task.  Winning.  Adam and Braeden set up the other tree and no one got mad there either.  We're all growing up so nicely.

Mark has long been my sidekick decorator and he was up on a ladder and arranging things to my specifications and he said, "I think we need a third thing up here," and I couldn't have been more proud.  Emma and Anna helped with the arranging as well and we soon had the house looking festive.  We realized next year at this time, we will have a little one crawling around.  Hurray and also, that will change the decorating situation around here.

We watched the Great British Baking Show finale which had been highly anticipated by all of us (except Mark, he hasn't been watching, plus he said since he can't eat gluten, it's not fun to watch).  Mark hung out with his friends instead.

After, we had more pie and then watched A Mighty Wind.  Anna had never seen it and we all wanted her to watch.

Actually, I told her it wasn't a want, it was a need.

She complied like the sweet girl she is.

Saturday was another pack-a-lot-in sort of day.  I made cookies for pikkujoulu.  They were gluten free and also sort of unrecognizable as their former gluten selves.  Let's just say Paul would not have been handing out a handshake.  I still have lots of Christmases to figure out how to make them though.

We went to lunch and then to BYU for nostalgia for our BYU alumni kids.  Mark walked around in his Utah State sweatshirt which he was wearing coincidentally.  I told him I loved him anyway and I would love him even more if he would drop out of college and stay in my basement forever.

He said no.

When we got home, I folded mountains of laundry (dishes and laundry don't take vacations) and we sat around the fire pit briefly because it works now and it was a sputtering mess when Braeden and Anna were last here.  We brought in the couch cushions (the boys and Adam had moved all the deck furniture earlier in the day. And we decorated the big tree.  

Adam made clam chowder while we did that, because we were also going to have pikkujoulu.

The marathon continued.

We had a lovely meal, sans the bread bowls, but I think they weren't missed (plus I told Emma and Braeden that if anyone mentioned regret that we weren't having bread bowls, they wouldn't get Christmas presents).

The kids opened their new ornaments and Braeden and Anna opened a few presents and we sampled some treats (mostly gluten free, from Trader Joe's).   Everyone gamely ate the gluten free disasters I had made and told me they were delicious.

That's why they are all getting Christmas presents.

So happy together

Everyone together is my favorite.  

Mark and I picked Braeden and Anna up from the airport.  We stopped at WGU to see Emma and Adam, at their request/begging  (from Emma).  They didn't respond to our texts (they were, you know working) so we were stuck in the lobby, which is beautiful, but not the point.

We gave up and went and got breakfast.

Then we circled back and got to see them.  

Everyone except the workers went to my classroom and we decorated for Christmas.  I want my students to walk in and be sort of blown away by the Christmas decorations.  I haven't quite achieved that, but I think I am getting closer.

Emma and Adam came home a little early.  Anna took a nap (they'd been up since 3:30 AM) and I walked downstairs and saw this:

They are playing Mario Kart.  It's just about perfect, down to the messy boxes in the background.  I like our house lived in better than empty.

Anna has a little baby bump and it is adorable.  She cried when she saw Mark because she was so happy to see him.  She cheerfully wants to help with everything and anything and I couldn't love that girl more.

I made macaroni and cheese for dinner and a lot was riding on it.  That is one of Mark's favorite foods.  I selected the gluten free pasta that I thought would work best and I studied a few recipes to get the white sauce right with no flour.

It was good!

Mark was happy and I think I was happier.

After dinner, Adam and I went on a quest for pancetta, like you do.  After three stores, we finally found some.  When we got home, we were sitting at the kitchen table, reading different recipes in preparation for the big day.

Mark wanted us to go downstairs and play Quiplash.  He said, "What are you doing?"

I said, "Preparing.  Thanksgiving dinner doesn't make itself."

Mark said, "Hmmm.  That's always been my experience."

This morning I am the only one awake and I am enjoying the quiet until everyone bursts on the scene (actually Braeden is probably the only one who bursts scenes.  Everyone else will be more sleepy and slow moving).  I am planning some gluten free oatmeal apple muffins for breakfast and then that Thanksgiving dinner that doesn't make itself. (At least not for me.)

Mark

Mark spent the afternoon in my classroom yesterday.  I had the students who weren't finished with their essays work at my desk and Mark held court with the others.

He led them in playing with the marble run which is the role he was meant to play.  Building? Check.

I think they would have followed him anywhere.

I probably would too.

After they went home, I said, "Do you see why I come home tired?"

He said, "Yes, I'm exhausted."

Mark and I are about to head to airport to get our California kids.

There's no place like having my kids home for the holidays!

Getting the party started

Yesterday after school we had turkey bowling, a time honored tradition at our school.  I got a strike my first bowl, flinging a frozen turkey across the cafeteria floor.  Then I lost in the next round.  Since the prize was a (different) frozen turkey, I came to terms with the loss.  Only two of the male teachers were there and they, of course, got up to shenanigans.  All the female teachers, who are used to recalcitrant boys all day anyway, kept them in line.  Stop.  No, you can't shot put the frozen turkey.  Stop.

I was chatting with a second grade teacher and she told me her married daughter and her husband were coming for Thanksgiving and she was "giddy."

I know.

Last night, Adam got tickets to the suite at the Jazz game and Emma and her friend Omar went with us.  We had a good time.  I could get used to being whisked up to the VIP entrance and fed a fabulous meal.  The game was OK too.  During the game, Mark texted that his Tuesday classes were canceled.  Adam is leaving in a few minutes to go get him and then I'm hoping that kid will come to my class.  He'd better not scoot around on my wheeled chair and kick a soccer ball around the room.  That's what he usually does in my classroom.

I am so excited to see him! 

And then Braeden and Anna tomorrow!

My head is buzzing a bit from my late night, but maybe it's just that I'm like my friend Karla.  Giddy.

Weekend

We tackled the holiday grocery shopping.  We are having pikkujoulu next weekend in addition to Thanksgiving so it was an undertaking.  Also, Trader Joe's has gluten free peppermint Jo Jo's.  

Honestly, what more do you need in life?

Adam fit everything into the fridge and freezer and lectured me when I put the (gluten free) pasta on a random shelf in the pantry instead of in the designated spot.

I'm better at organizing the pantry than maintaining an organized pantry.

But don't worry, Adam is on the case....

Saturday, Adam and I were both given Covid booster shots.  I felt fine until the middle of the night when I got chills.  I woke up pretty achy and miserable yesterday morning, but it was short lived and worth it.

Saturday night, before I started feeling awful, Adam and I went to the Carlsons' for dinner.  Anna's parents moved to Utah this fall and they're only 30 minutes away in Herriman and that is wonderful!

They are our kind of people.  We immediately became friends when we met that first time and we truly love spending time with them.  It's fun to talk about our kids--particularly the ones we have in common.

We compared notes on our news from them and feel the exact same tension about wanting to give them everything and wanting to let them figure it out for themselves.

Adam told them all about the finer features of the strollers and carseats he's been researching.  We're going to share a granddaughter!  I'm so glad we're friends!

We talked to Braeden and Anna and Mark in a FaceTime call on Sunday afternoon and Mark was taking a walk around campus while we talked and Braeden was moving his phone all around their kitchen while he was getting his lunch ready and I told them to stop and hold still.

They didn't so I moved away and just listened.  I was getting carsick.

Later I was sitting across the room and Adam was holding the laptop.  I had my glasses off and I couldn't tell which boy was which.  They look a lot alike when they're blurry.

I love those boys even when they won't hold still (pretty much their whole lives)!  And my girls!  We'll all be together in a few days!

Last night we watched the latest installment of the Great British Baking Show, then I called Braeden and Anna to discuss because I had theories.

Braeden realized we'll all be together to watch the finale!  It's the little things that make life grand.

Grateful Friday

Dominating my gratitude today is thinking about next week when all my darlings will be under one roof! I am excited!  Everyone is!  I want everything to be perfect food-wise and I want the house to be in tip top shape, but then I think, "Who cares?"  We will be together and that matters most.  Also, these people have seen me at my worst so I don't need to maintain any charade of put togetherness.

I'm also grateful about small things like my heated steering wheel that makes me happy every morning.  I love that thing.

Speaking of warm hands, I have had morning traffic duty this week, before school.  I have spent the time chatting with one of my students from last year.  It's been cold this week and yesterday I took her out some gloves.  Just those cheap stretchy ones.  I told her she could have them and she threw her arms up in the air, exultant. 

She's probably lost them by now if she's anything like she was last year, but I love being able to help these sweet kids any way I can.  Their joy is mine and I'm grateful for the chance.

Yesterday we had the reward (finally, it was hard fought) of a fort party.

They could each bring one stuffed animal and one blanket.  I confiscated everything at the start of school and piled it on a top shelf they couldn't reach.  They all promised they wouldn't get distracted by their stuffed animals, but this is not actually my first rodeo.

At the appointed time, they made a tremendous mess in the classroom.  There were tears from students who didn't know where to make their fort.  There were boys running around throwing their stuffed animals at each other and there were students collaborating and creatively figuring out how to make forts.

This picture pretty much sums up the energy.

these smart girls enlisted some of my clips

And this, they are all tucked inside:

the reading books are heavy it turns out

It definitely left me with a never again feeling.

But...when they went home, I saw this.

It seriously takes so little to make them happy.  I'm grateful every day I get to be around such appreciative, rambunctious, creative little souls.

It depends on what I'm planning

I love a good plan.  It makes me anticipate happy things and it eases my anxiety about getting everything done.  My plans are enthusiastically specific. I know what day I'm taking the turkey out of the freezer and putting it in the fridge.  Plans soothe my soul.

My plans are all about the holidays.  I have my Thanksgiving weekend planned down to the list of things I'm having Mark repair in my classroom.  (Adam could do it, but Adam's busy and Mark and Braeden are going to go and hang up Christmas stuff for me anyway.)  

I am excited about my advent calendar for my students. I painted my elf door for my classroom.  

in spray painting progress...I'm going to attach magnets to it and have it stick to one of my walls

My gift spreadsheet is humming along. (The books I ordered from Scholastic for my class may not be here in time because of all the supply chain business.  I may give them Valentine books instead.)

I'm crossing things off my list.

I love every bit of it.

I was so excited about all the Christmas candy (for my class advent calendar) and gluten free stuff (for my favorite celiac kid) that I almost listened to Christmas music on the way home from the store.

Almost.

I may love being a precrastinator, but Christmas music must be saved until after Thanksgiving.

That's just science.

I'm less good at planning what's for dinner.

I make a loose plan, but it's a plan I don't really follow (or honestly even think I'll follow when I make the plan).

For example, there was a pound of frozen hamburger on the counter with the intention of shepherd's pie when Adam and Emma got home from work last night.  (Emma had some of her nasty not meat in the fridge to make her own version.

Emma and I both decided we weren't that hungry.  Adam had to go to the church for the evening.  I sat across from him and we ate some Triscuits and Havarti dill cheese and exchanged stories about the day before he left.  Later I had a bowl of raisin bran.  Also, I found some bean soup leftovers in the fridge that Adam made on Saturday.

"Hey, can I take that in my lunch?" I asked.  No one objected.

Sometimes I'm a ridiculous planner and sometimes I am happily surprised by bean soup.

I don't know.

Hurray!

I use up plenty of space on here writing about what is hard about my job.  Here are two things that happened yesterday that I am still smiling about.

They couldn't get logged into Lexia, which is a literacy computer program we use daily.  One of the boys asked, "Can you read to us?"

Reading to children is one of my favorite things in the world.  When they want me to read to them?  It feels like Christmas morning.

***

Every time I pick my class up from a specialty class, I ask the teacher how they did.  Usually they respond that they were "OK" or "Pretty good."

Yesterday, I picked them up from art and there was a sub, which isn't a winning combination for good behavior.

I asked, "How did they behave?"  

She said, "They were really good.  They were the best behaved class I've had all day."

Last year I would hear things like that all the time.  Last year, my class was angelic.  This year....

But yesterday!  I felt giddy.  I usually give them a letter toward the word we are spelling if I get a good report.  Yesterday I gave them two letters.

I was that happy.

Reaping what you sow

Yesterday I staked Jami out in the office because I wanted to talk about my evaluation before school started.  I said, "I don't want to be stressed about this any more."

He smiled and asked, "You're stressed?"

I told him what Mark had said about him taking the weekend to hire my replacement.  

Jami laughed and said, "What kind of son would say that?"

My son.

The whole apple not falling far from the tree is at play here though.  On Friday I asked Mark if he'd registered for next semester and he said that he had intended to, but forgot what day it was.

I said, "Maybe you aren't smart enough for college."

They got it from somewhere, those cheeky kids.

I got it from somewhere too.  I'll just leave that there.

My conversation with Jami went well.  He gave me good feedback and I want good feedback because ultimately I want to be better and the only way I can get better is if I get feedback.

Yay me for having a terrible lesson and getting lots of feedback!  Like I told Jami, it wasn't my worst lesson ever, but it was my worst lesson ever being observed during.

My mom told me her worst observation was when she was student teaching and her own son was misbehaving terribly during class.  If she had asked me which son, I would have said Tabor for sure, but it was Enoch.  And I guess it could have been either of them.  I remember them as teenagers....

At least my cheeky son wasn't in my class.

That's something.

The good news

 The good news is that I waited until I was driving home and on the phone with Adam before I started crying.

The bad news is that I had a pretty rotten day at school on Friday.  I had misbehavior from some students (I have a few that are SO hard to manage), I had a few interpersonal struggles (being a person is hard sometimes), and I had an observation that did not go well.

Jami was gone to a meeting after school so I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet.  Mark said he was probably taking the weekend to find my replacement. (Who says teenage sons aren't supportive?)

So I had my little pity party and then as the weekend progressed, I learned of other, bigger, harder things in the lives of people I love and adore.  Why can't I shield my people from sadness?

At our Relief Society presidency meeting on Sunday afternoon, we talked about heavy things concerning some of our ward members who are struggling.

And we talked about hope.

We talked about how knowledge of the Gospel and its principles is wonderful, especially when things are humming along nicely.

When things aren't so great, it is hope we cling to.  It is the reassurance from the Spirit that always comes eventually, sweetly.

That is the best news of all.

Grateful Friday

Yesterday some fifth grade girls came into my class with a small box and asked me if I wanted a poppy.

I said, "Did you make these?"

They smiled shyly and said, "Kind of...."

Fifth grade girls are cute and I appreciate whatever adult helped them and did the rest of the kind of.

I also loved my poppy pin.

I told my students about it.  Awhile ago, we had come across the word reckless and they thought it was the same as rebellious and I explained the differences.  I mentioned that it wasn't always bad to be rebellious.

One of my straight arrow rule following boys (I don't have enough of those!) was taken aback and asked, "When is it OK to be rebellious?"

That led to a talk about Rosa Parks and the Boston Tea Party. (3rd graders can get behind unfairness in all its forms and they were full of righteous indignation.)

We talked a little about the Revolutionary War.

Now, weeks later, I was telling them about World War I and World War II.  I explained whose side we were on.

One student said, "Wait!  Was this before or after the Revolutionary War?  Because why were we helping England?"

I explained it was after and we are friends with England now.  It was a great segue for a lesson on forgiveness and moving on (which is another skill they need at times) but we had math to get to.

The fact that we have school on Veteran's Day has always bugged me a bit.  Veteran's are worth remembering and appreciating and honoring.

Yesterday as I wore my poppy pin and talked to my students about wars and stood with them to say the pledge of allegiance, I thought maybe it's not so bad that we go to school on Veteran's Day.  It's not just a long weekend holiday.  It's an opportunity to talk about and remember.

I am grateful for veterans.  Our military takes risks and makes sacrifices that I can only imagine.  I'm grateful for their families too.  

When I think about the long list of freedoms I owe to soldiers who fought, I am grateful.

 

Sometime I pretend that I don't precrastinate

My friend Camie is one of the secretaries at school.  I love her!  

She was gone for a few days, but back yesterday.  I sat in the office and caught up with her about all the things.  I had plenty to do in my classroom.  Of course I did.  But I had missed Camie.

She told me that she had planned to start on Christmas shopping on her days off, but that didn't happen.

I chuckled along like I could relate.

I can't relate.

As you can see, I'm not very fastidious about gift wrapping.  I apply my normal amount of good enough and then tie a red ribbon on it (I tie all the red ribbons on at the end).  Also, I haven't swerved from my Christmas palette. The blue package is, of course, for Mark's birthday.   

Speaking of Mark, that's his shoe photo bombing on the side there.  He left it there when he was last home and I've left it there because it looks like he's going to come home soon and put that shoe on.

I miss him.

How are the kids?

Last night at Relief Society, one of my friends asked me how the kids are.  At first I thought she meant my own children and then I realized she meant my class.  She has subbed for me.  (The secret to survival this year with lots of teachers training and unfilled sub jobs is to recruit people in your ward.)  We chatted for a few minutes about my class.  They were naughty when I wasn't there.  They are naughty when I am there. This is by far my hardest class discipline-wise.  I asked her if she wanted to sub again next month when I have training again.  She said yes.

See?  You need people like this.

How are the kids though?  Not great.

Some of them have been absent so much that they are behind and frustrated.  Some of them can't read well enough to do a lot of the assignments.  Some of them have such hard home situations that they are struggling to be happy and seem to be on a quest to make everyone else unhappy.  Some of them can't speak English very well.

Yesterday I was in the work room, making copies and chatting with a few other teachers.  Emily newly has two of the hardest kids in the school at the same time now.  I asked, "How are you going to do that?"

She said that another teacher gave her the idea of putting their names on the prayer roll at the temple.

These are the kinds of teachers I work with.

She said, "I need help.  We need help."

The two little ones we were talking about are sweet and adorable and victims of bad parental decisions before they were even born.  They are also really really hard to manage.

I love thinking of enlisting help to pray for them.  I love thinking of help hovering about that dear little school, called down from heaven to assist us in loving and teaching these struggling children of a Heavenly Father who loves them.

There is a feeling in that school that other people notice too.  Maybe it is the prayers of the teachers.

Sunday we had a devotional all about helping us parent adult children.  It was fabulous.  I keep thinking about one thing that was said, "There are no finalities.  There is always a next step."

It applies to third graders too.

They aren't finished yet.

If the shoe fits

Emma pointed out that when Adam sets the table, he puts her plate across from him and when I set the table I put her plate across from me.

Adam said, "But when Mark was home, he sat across from you.  Emma should sit across from me."

I still set her across from me.

Adam said, "So you're the inflexible one."

Going on 27 years and he's just noticing that?

Uplifted

Saturday, Adam and I went to an exhibit of Vincent Van Gogh art called Beyond Van Gogh.  

It was amazing.

We were in a big room with Van Gogh's art projected on the walls.  Immersed in the colors and patterns and brushstrokes, we watched the paintings shift and just enjoyed it.

Adam snapped a selfie of us and I look like I'm balding and have a wart on my nose because of the light reflected on my head and face.  What can you do?

I wish the pictures did it justice.

I did a google search and found this from Salt Lake Magazine.

Source

After, we walked back to our car, uplifted and satiated by beauty.  

What a magnificent world full of creative and talented people!  When I see such stunning art, I am reminded of how much God loves His children.  Beauty is not strictly necessary for us, but such a wonderful addition to our lives.

Grateful Friday

This!

Braeden sent it yesterday.  She's a girl.  My granddaughter!  It sounds surreal to my ears but those are the facts!

Also, isn't she beautiful? (That little button nose!)

Also, I'm going to be that grandma.  When I saw Braeden's text after school, I immediately went and showed my friends.

There are so many hard things in life.  It can all feel heavy.

But when I look at the sky or a deep orange-red tree or the grainy but still distinct picture of my little granddaughter (!), I know that God is in His heaven.

I know that I don't live in the kingdom of Thelma.  I live in the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom is not in trouble and neither am I.

Lord of all to Thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.

Yesterday

During math, I was sitting next to a student and helping him.  He looked at my Nevada shaped necklace and said, "What's that?  Utah?"

I said, "You're killing me right now."

I have a big map on my wall and every time I point out a location we are reading about or talking about, I show them on the map.  I always point to Utah first and say, "OK, here's where we live, in Utah" and then I point to the other location.

Every time.

We went on a walking field trip to Orem Junior High to watch a play.  We were a long line of 3rd, 4th and 6th graders.  It was about 5 blocks and across a busy street (8th North).  I had an iron grip on one of my student's hand.  He didn't like it but I didn't care.  He's a runner.

I moved everyone in the theater so they could see.  I strategically sat by who I needed to.  I poked the 4th graders in front of me and told them to be quiet.

The director at the junior high sent us this "group selfie" that she took before the show.  Leave it to a drama teacher to be theatrical....

That picture about sums it up.

Back at the school, I saw Jami, the principal, and he asked me how it went.  I told him we came home with as many children as we left with.

He said, "Are you sure?  Did you try to leave some of them there?  Because they have detention there."

Tempting.

The kids were amped up all day and the boys play tag at recess and then they keep trying to play tag during class.  

A boy was weeping after recess because he had cut his finger.  Then he said he was in too much pain to do his work.  Some of them are a little more tender than others.

I didn't roll my eyes which seems like as big of an accomplishment as the bringing the children back from the field trip.

The school is completely out of white paper.  Did someone forget to order it or is it a supply chain situation?  We all accept supply chain situations like we never would have dreamed of several years ago.  

I stopped at the store for a salad to go with our dinner last night.  I texted Adam I accidentally bought some donuts too.

He texted back, "oops."

It was that kind of a day.

As Emma said, "There's something elegant about a simple glazed donut."  They seem especially nice in the autumn.  A glazed donut evokes a hayride and then someone hands you a donut and a cup of apple cider.

Ten things that delight me about third graders

The dumb jokes they tell me.

The way they laugh at my dumb jokes.

Hearing my student who only speaks Spanish laugh at my botched Spanish pronunciations.

Watching them press their faces against the window every morning and then yelling reassurances to each other, "She's here!"

Teaching them something they didn't know and are blown away by.

Reading them good stories.  I read Strega Nona to my literacy group yesterday and they sat with rapt attention.

Watching one my Spanish speakers and my Vietnamese speaker whisper to each other in their languages and then giggle.

When some of them refuse to go to recess until they are finished with their work.

The look on their faces when a math concept clicks and they are thrilled (and so am I).

Their shouts of "See you tomorrow!" as they run out the door when the bell rings.

The Monday after

Yesterday was quite a day.  

I got the most bizarre injury ever.  I was simultaneously eating lunch and talking to Braeden on the phone.  I was having lasagna from the night before and it wasn't exactly hard, but I was cutting into it with the side of my plastic fork and the handle broke in a jagged fashion and cut my finger.  I think I'm the first person in the world to get a plastic fork and lasagna injury.

I told Braeden, "I'm really multi-tasking here.  I'm bleeding and eating and talking to you."

He said, "Why don't you get a bandaid?"

I said, "I'm starving."

Priorities.

I eventually got a bandaid and I have one on the other hand too because I cut a finger cleaning the church on Saturday.  I don't know.  Imagine how it would be if I led an actually dangerous life.

In winter I always spring a lot of leaks because my skin gets so dry and thin and now I'm jumping the gun and struggling to type with all these bandaids.

My students were either sneaking candy or being sort of naughty all day.  One boy was downright defiant.  I didn't enter into a power struggle with him.  I'm hoping things will improve when he's not strung out on Halloween candy.  If they don't, I'll have to take my mom's advice that she gave me once concerning a certain unnamed offspring.  She said, "You need to take the day off and show them who's boss."

I may need to with this student.

Sigh.

My class wondered what happened to Dreamer, Box and Dan.  They asked if I took them home.  I said yes.  It seemed like a more acceptable answer than the truth; I'd stuffed them in a bin on the shelf.  Better they think they are happy at my house.

They want me to do an elf on a shelf for Christmas.  I have different plans with my little elf door I got from IKEA.  (Also I bought a tiny wreath for the door at Hobby Lobby on Saturday because elves have to decorate too.)

One of my cranky students who is the 3rd grade embodiment of Eeyore said, "We'd better not do the elf letter thing at Christmas time."

I said, "I don't know what that is."

He said, "Good.  Because I hate it."

Of course he does.  He hates everything.

After school, I went to the office and asked Jami, the principal, a question about an app where you can send messages in different languages to parents.  (I needed Vietnamese.)  He hadn't used it and said, "Maybe you can ask the other teachers at the faculty meeting."

I said, "When's the faculty meeting?"

He said, "I forgot to send the email!" and he ran out of the room.

The faculty meeting started about ten minutes later.

Mondays are hard.

People sometimes kindly, undeservedly, unknowingly tell me that I'm doing a good job as a teacher.  Then I grade assessments like I did after school.  It didn't go well.

I need to reteach and then reteach some more.

Mondays are hard.

I came home droopy and Adam told me 1) he would make dinner and 2) there was absolutely nothing I could do last night that would make a difference.

And he was right.

But I told him I'd make dinner.  He still had miles of work to do and we'd already established I wasn't going to make any difference last night.

So I made dinner.

And I'm ready to try again today.

Unrelated, but here are some pretty pictures.  Because the world is lovely.

On Sunday Adam and I took a walk on the hill behind our house.

Then we sat by the fire pit and talked to Braeden and Anna on the phone.  We didn't have a fire, but it was still pleasant in the golden sunshine, under the red tree.

How it went

First of all, I talked to my mom on Saturday.  I mentioned Emma had gone to New York and my mom said, "You didn't write that on your blog!"

So here it is.  Emma went to NYC.  She told us awhile ago she was planning to go because she and Heather (who is going to NYU law school) wanted to see the movie Dune together.

Adam said, "You know about Water Gardens, right?  Here in Pleasant Grove?  $5 Tuesday?

She knew about it; she still bought plane tickets.

I told her to send pictures.  Since she's Emma, she sent pictures that were both artsy:

And of art:

She sent a lot of pictures of art.  I asked her if she saw any school-aged children at the Met from Greenwich, Connecticut who had run away from home and were living there.

She didn't.  Adam said, "Of course not.  They're hiding."

My favorite picture she sent was this one.

I love those cute girls.

***

In other news, I survived Friday!  What a day! Most of my students came in with a sucker in their mouth.  Then one girl who was dressed as Santa handed out a candy cane to everyone.  

It was 8:00 AM.

We did a little bit of math, we read a story and answered questions about Dia de los Muertos.  They unscrambled Halloween words.  It all felt like a great accomplishment.  

We had a Halloween parade around the school, led by this group.

Riley, on the right, is the head custodian.  He is a little less excited about all of it than the rest of the administration.  He can be a little curmudgeonly, but he has lunch every day with a few boys who struggle and it is the highlight of their day.  There are students who have behavior plans with "help Riley" as their reward of choice.  He will also drop everything for a rock paper scissors match with any student who asks.  Often I see him out playing with kids at lunch recess.

How can you not love working with these people?

Here's the faculty before school started.

Our third grade team went for a theme.

Then we had to explain it all to our students.

Here is my class.

They add a lot of joy to my life, even though they exhaust me sometimes (like on the day we celebrate Halloween).

The fact that this guy was there all day helped keep order.

Not really.  There wasn't much order.  He's awfully cute though.