Weekend

Adam and I were both beyond tired on Friday night.  He was even more tired than I was and went to bed earlier than me which has only happened a handful of times.  Sometimes life just takes it out of us!  We also wanted to go to bed early because we knew we'd have a full day on Saturday.

Saturday we left first thing for Nevada.  We had a few little tasks to do around our house there and some things to pick up (including our pressure washer so we could deal with the mess the insane robin has left on our windows).

My mom was gone--as were both sisters--but we visited my dad for a while and borrowed a level for one of our projects.

I did a little weeding outside and it was an extravagantly beautiful day.

Sunday we sang "How Great Thou Art" at church and the second verse sums up how I feel in the yard there.

When through the woods and forest glades I wander, 
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, 
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, 
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

There isn't exactly a forest glade, but there are certainly birds in the trees, a view across the valley, a brook and a gentle breeze.  It is a lovely spot.

All the animal kingdom seems to agree and want a piece of it.

A hawk is very perturbed when we are there and lets us know.  Birds made nests in the sagging boards under the porch roof and then there are the mice.

My dad has been trapping them and we didn't see any when we were there and I'm very grateful to my dad! 

One of our projects was the porch ceiling.  We cleared out all the nesting materials (happily there was no bird actively nesting there) and I pushed the boards up ineffectively with a broom handle and Adam, atop a ladder, drilled screws to put them back into place.

It feels like a grand adventure.  We could be home doing things like laundry, or I don't know...resting...but instead we go there and work together and talk a lot and listen to podcasts while we drive.  We try our hands at many things we don't exactly know how to do and we dream big dreams.

On the drive home, I had a notebook and we made a list of everything we want and need to do there.  

It is such a long list.

We are having fun in the striving.  There's no one I'd rather do it all with.

Grateful Friday

I revamp our reading groups at school all the time, looking for the right fit.

I think I've found it.  We read silently (me too!) and the kids love it and so do I.  I call a small group back to my table, we read for ten minutes and then talk for about five minutes about what we're reading, then I call back another group.  I have an aide that does the same thing at a different table.  They can read whatever they want.  Yesterday I had a few kids reading graphic novels, one was reading a big book about space, one was reading her second book about fairies, one was snickering over a book of knock knock jokes and one was reading a book about how to write jokes.

It's a magical time and I'm grateful for it.

I'm grateful that my watch is working.  I took my silver Tommy Hilfiger watch that I've had for about 20 years to get the battery changed.  Several times when I have done that, the guy will tell me that it is not the battery, but the watch.  They've told me that it won't work much longer.

This time, the guy said, "The battery still has a lot of life left.  I think the watch isn't working."

Low key panic.  

I had him put a new battery in anyway and the watch is working.  If it's only running on love at this point, I'll take it.

I'm also grateful for students-bringing-me-flowers-from-recess season.  I have little vases in my classroom for just this thing.

I'm grateful for this picture my dad texted me, my grandma's daffodils from our house in Nevada:

He included two of the most beautiful words in the English language:  no mice.

Ever since our horrifying mice weekend, my dad has been checking the traps daily and I appreciate him (and the fact that we seem to be at the end of them).

For now.

It isn't for the faint of heart.

(And I have a faint heart.)

I am grateful for no mice!

The sunny side

I had recess duty yesterday and recess duty when it is sunny and warm is divine.  I have a bucket of sidewalk chalk I brought outside and two of my girls were drawing on the sidewalk.  They said, "Teacher, we're doing math!"  I felt so proud that my students loved math that much.

One of them came to get me later to admire their work.

She said, "See!  I did 10 X a million."

She had written 10 x 1000 = 1100.

I crouched down and showed her the actual answer and reminded her of how to multiply times ten.

The first rule of teaching is don't get too cocky.  They may not actually have retained anything....

It was such a beautiful day, I didn't let it get me down though.  The snowy mountain practically glowed in the bright light and there wasn't a cloud in the blue sky.

The second graders go in from recess 5 minutes before the third graders do.  I help wrangle the 2nd graders and they had already gone in and there was a little guy sitting on the slide.  I knew he wasn't a third grader, but I wasn't sure he was a second grader either.

I said, "Hi I'm Mrs. Davis, what's your name?"  I thought he said Jack.

I said, "Hi, Jack, what grade are you in?"

He looked at me derisively, "My name isn't Jack."

I bent over so I could hear him better.  His name was Shep.

I said, "OK Shep, what grade are you in?."

He looked at me angrily and said, "I'm not in a grade!"

I said, "How old are you?"

He said, "Six!"

Was he homeschooled?  He seemed too young to be there on his own.  I said, "Where's your mom?"

He said, "She picks me up later!"  He was annoyed with my line of questioning.

I said, "Who is your teacher?"

He said, "Mrs. Astorga."  She is a kindergarten teacher and he said it like I was the biggest idiot around for not already knowing that information.

I said, "Let's go inside and back to class."

He was not having that.  I started talking to him about his favorite colors, all the while nudging him along toward the building.  He was happy to chat about colors and order them by preference.  He forgot about being mad and we went into the office and the vice principal said, "Shep!  What are you doing out of class?"

I left him in her capable hands.  (And when an administrator knows a kid right off the bat like that, they are office frequent fliers!)

The whole exchange kind of delighted me because it reminded me of something Ramona would do.  I told my class and it delighted them too.  It's fun to be a grown up 3rd grader and look fondly at those kindergartners, so young and naive!

This week we've read stories about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.  As a capstone I showed them the clip of Sister Suffragette from Mary Poppins.  Of course I did.

Then I had the lyrics in my head all day:  though we adore men individually, we agree that as a group, they're rather stupid.

Those lyrics are a very low-key revenge for centuries of oppression, but I'm here for it.

Tragedy struck during lunch recess in the form of a lost toy dragon.  One of my girls was sobbing and had looked everywhere and asked everyone.  All the girls in my class were worked up into a frenzy of sympathy, huddled around her, hugging her and offering suggestions.  One of them, who has been the distraught owner of something lost a few times, said, "Don't worry.  I found my squishy and my earring.  Teacher helped me."

So, no pressure....

To try to stem the tide of disaster in the air, I sat down right then I sent an email to all the teachers.  I got a careful description and read it back for approval.  They had a few clarifications to improve my description.

After that, they seemed satisfied that it would be found.

I was not so sure.  There are some sticky fingers around there.  I told them that Finders Keepers wasn't so great when you lost something so if you find something you shouldn't just keep it, but try to find the owner.

After school, I got an email from the head lunch lady.  She had the dragon!  It had been left in the cafeteria!

My reputation as the finder of lost things remains intact!

Yesterday I just had a really good day at school.  I realized towards the end of the day that it could be related to the fact that I had six kids absent.  Even when you love everyone, it is just easier when you aren't so vastly outnumbered.

And I do love everyone.  I told Adam, "I feel so sad to have this school year end.  I love my class!"

He said, "Well that's good."

Except that I feel sad to have my class move on.  There are no guarantees for next year; some classes are just hard.

I'll enjoy these sunny days while I have them!

I get by with a little help from my friends

Our 3rd grade culture program is next Monday.  We would appreciate your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time....

Miriam's class is performing an African drum dance and the "drums" are yoga balls in baskets.  They needed to be inflated.

I agreed to help her after school.  We got the two air pumps the school owns.  One is old and the other is roughly from the Civil War era (I'm guessing).  I grabbed electric tape in my classroom because I have a little bit of everything in there.  I tried to patch up all the holes in the hose but it blew air on one side and kept falling out on the other side.  It took me 10 minutes to do one ball and we needed 23.

I drove home to get our little air compressor.  I figured it would be worth the time it took me to go fetch it.  As I was driving, it occurred to me that I had only ever used it on car tires and I didn't know what I needed to do to use it on balls.

I called Adam.

I called Mark.

I called Braeden.

None of them answered.  So I called my dad.

He explained what kind of attachment I needed.  I said, "OK, so where is it in my garage?"

Happily there was a little compartment on top of the air compressor with attachments.  I wasn't strong enough to open the little door but it was see through so I knew I had what I needed.  

I called my dad with the good news. 

He said, "Do you have a wrench to change the attachment?"

I said, "Do I need one?"

He said, "Yes."

I had already left home and I had already left Miriam alone with 23 yoga balls to inflate.  I figured somewhere in that school there was a wrench.

Walking into the school I saw Ethan, who is a custodian about Mark's age.  I asked his help.  He popped the little door open like someone who doesn't have arthritis in his hands.  I said, "Do you know how to attach this?  He looked at it for a few seconds and said yes and did it.  He didn't need a wrench, so apparently this air compressor is different than my dad's.  

I went to the gym and Miriam was merrily filling balls.  My air compressor was about twice as fast as hers so I think it was worth the trip.  

Emily came and talked to both of us about special ed. referrals while we worked.  She had her laptop balanced on her knees and was sitting on the steps while we all projected our voices over the sounds of two little engines that could.

One way or another, we get things done.

Eclipsed

So we have an insane robin.  

It first showed up a week ago and slammed itself against our window repeatedly.  Like for two hours!  I googled it, like you do, and read that sometimes robins see themselves reflected in a window and try to scare themselves (?) away to eliminate the competition.

I banged on the window and told the robin to go away and he did, but he has come back every day.  Our window is a mess.  Is it blood?  Is it snot from the robin's nose/beak?  I don't know.  But it's gross.

Adam put blue painter's tape on the window as an indicator, "Hey bird brain, this is a window."

Sunday morning I watched the bird aim for the middle of the x.

Yesterday morning it was smacking into the window again.  It was early enough that there was no reflection because it was barely light at all.  I told it, as I have several times, that it was dumb and should go away.

I texted my family the bird report (because this is the kind of riveting content you are promised when you are in fam-a-lam.)

Braeden texted this:

He's the same kid who used to take spiders out carefully on a piece of paper rather than squash them.

We had an assembly at school and a man named Tom Ballard (not the same Tom Ballard I grew up with) was the presenter.  Before the assembly started and I was observing him interact with students, he struck me as the happiest person I had seen in a long time.  

He talked to us all about his rocks.  He cuts rocks into slices and then into hearts and then he gives them away.  He had one for every student and teacher in our building.

He said that giving them away makes him happy.

His very demeanor changed my day.  I sent this text:

The heart rock guy eclipsed my insane robin angst.

And that wasn't the only eclipse that happened.

My joy at seeing my students eclipsed the groan I felt in every cell of my body when my alarm went off at 5:45 AM.

During the actual eclipse, I had 6 pairs of glasses for my students to share, and share them they did.  They would exclaim in excitement and then pass the glasses on to the next kid.  I'm almost always just so proud of those kids!  They are kind and patient and understanding of lack.  They get it.  There are only 6 pairs:  we can work with this.

Adam conducted a funeral yesterday and here is part of his talk.

His wise words and the way they make me feel eclipse everything:

“At this moment, light is quite literally coming back into the world. While we have been in here, others have been outside staring at the solar eclipse. During an eclipse, the sun is emitting as much light as it ever has. It is only our ability to see the light that is temporarily diminished.

"Perhaps as we sit here or as we have sat with our thoughts over the past week, we feel like light has gone out of our life. We need not confuse recognition with resignation. We can recognize that the light has dimmed, at least temporarily, but we are not resigned to the idea that it will never be restored.

"Jesus Christ is the light and life of the world.”

Weekend

It felt like an extra long weekend because we were home Friday, which was nice.  We shopped with Mark and did a lot of the Saturday things.

Friday evening we had dinner with Shannon and Chris.  It is fun getting together with them.  We have some pretty fundamental differences of opinion about some things and I think it is good for all of us to get together and talk and say, "But I disagree," and then talk about why.

It is very easy to get in echo chambers and only converse with people who agree with you, so this is good for our brains.

Plus we really like Shannon and Chris.  

We don't just talk about things we disagree on.  We also give each other TV show and movie and book and travel recommendations and laugh a lot and Chris gets Adam's analysis on the latest Supreme Court happenings.

Dinner with friends:  one more great thing about being empty nesters.

Friday evening, Braeden called from Chicago.  I wanted to hear all about his presentations and he wanted to tell me all about the art museum which he had been to twice (he got free admission as part of the conference).  He told me he'd "get to" his presentations and proceeded with the art.  He shared his screen with me and I admired all the pieces he had seen.  I have set my sights on going to Chicago!  At the conclusion of my art tour via Braeden's phone, he said, "Thank you for teaching me about art."

I mostly wanted to teach my children about the Gospel, then reading, and art was third so that made me happy.  

I was also glad to hear about the political science/networking side of his trip.  That boy is hustling to make a career for himself and it is good to watch.  I've always been a card carrying member (the founder in fact) of his fan club, so if he needs a letter of recommendation, I am ready.

Saturday Mark came over (Emma was feeling under the weather so watched conference at home) and we enjoyed him.

I felt humbled and also inspired by watching general conference.  There are so many ways I could do better.  It is good to be reminded and also encouraged.

I always like a good project and on Saturday I worked on making crayon initials for my students.  I had brought home all the broken crayons in my classroom and Adam and Mark helped me some to peel off the wrappers and break them.  I bought a silicone mold from Amazon and experimented with different methods and temperatures.  None of them turned out exactly how I was planning, but I still like them.

(I guess that could be a metaphor for life....)

I had more crayon pieces than I needed so I made extra letters.  Maybe this will be my new thing:  Christmas ornaments for them in October conference and crayon initials in April conference.

Adam and I took a windy walk by the Lindon temple between the second and third sessions of conference.  It is coming right along!

Sunday was more enjoying conference.  Emma came and did a puzzle while she watched which feels like all is right with the world.

I really loved conference.  The message I want to remember is that God loves me and wants me back.  He has provided many ways for me to draw nearer to Him and make covenants.  It's up to me to decide how much I want to participate and enjoy those blessings.

As soon as it was over, I said, "Who wants to make an appointment to go to the temple?"

Mark said, "The website will crash."

He was not wrong.  This was for the Mt. Timpanogos Temple:

I will try again.

We had all the kids over for dinner.  There were ten of us and I didn't take a picture of the table, but I cut daffodils from the front yard so it was pretty.  We got to meet Clarissa's new fiancé, Matthew, and we were happy to meet him. 

I'm always happy to have those kids around.

Now it is back to school.  Monday after spring break is not for the faint of heart.  They either traveled and are exhausted and their sleep schedule is messed up or more likely they were home and played video games and watched YouTube endlessly and their sleep schedule is messed up.

In either instance, they are not ready to learn.

May the odds be forever in our favor.

Grateful Friday

I am grateful to be home, even though my to do list stretches in front of me.

I am grateful for conference weekend.  I love it!  I am looking forward to being fed by the good word of God.

I am grateful we had our trip.  It was a good time.  I loved the beauty and sunshine and variety.  It is a beautiful world we live in!

It's nice that Southern California is there for Utah County to relocate to every fall and spring break.  The Veenkers were on our flight (he is in our stake presidency and is the one who asked me to speak in stake conference and I've forgiven him so it was fun to see them).  They told us about two other families in the stake they'd run into and we told them about our PG friends we'd hung out with there.  

I'm grateful for pictures Braeden has sent from the Art Institute of Chicago.  He is in Chicago presenting at a conference (when did he get to be such a grown up boy?!?) and I love that he 1) went to the art museum and 2) sent me pictures.  Having children that appreciate art makes me happy.

The thing I'm most grateful for today is Adam.

I am fortunate to have that guy.  He quietly figures out ways to get the first class seats on the flight for a great deal and strategically uses vouchers from his frequent Marriott stays to get us amazing beach front hotel rooms.  Nyla was amazed by how kind he was and I just take it for granted.  He'd drop us off and pick us up and make everything easy for us.  He is also the first one to swerve to see something interesting.  There is no way to quantify the amount of experiences I have had because I hitched my wagon to his star.