May Happenings

SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!!!  Yippee and Yea!  I’m planning on doing as much of nothing as possible.

We’ve had concerts galore these past weeks--Sam’s voice recital, orchestra concert (with a rock band), school chorus concerts (the Broadway show), PCC concert (in which some kid pulled the fire alarm and everyone had to exit the Mesa Arts Center for about 15 minutes).  They have all been great, but my rear end was very sick of sitting.  These concerts all involved Sam.  He has successfully completed his freshman year at Mountain View.  Now on to the PCC tour of Italy in two weeks.  I’m stressing out trying to make sure he packs everything he needs.

I had to say good-bye to some good friends at school.  I hate good-byes.  That’s one great thing about Facebook; I can stay in touch with friends.

This is April. I’m adding a paragraph to my parent’s newsletter. It’s a win-win situation for me and my mom. So we are getting into the swing of things with our sweet little Kate. She is a really good baby and is now regularly letting me get at least one 5-6 hour stretch of sleep at night, and then she goes right back to bed for at least another 3. She just started smiling and we all enjoy trying to get her to smile at us. Lily loves her little sister a whole lot and calls her “my baby”. Lily, Kate and I went to a cooking group that I have with a few ladies in my ward. We all make a food that goes with the theme of the month and sit and sample new foods and talk while the kids play. The other little kids were trying to look at Kate and take her blanket off of her and Lily’s big sister/mother hen instinct came out and she stayed by Kate’s side to make sure no one did anything to her little sister that she didn’t approve of. Sam has a camp-out for scouts coming up this weekend and then he has scout camp for a week in June. I’m pretty sure we are going to miss him very much around our house. Sam and I both celebrated birthdays this month. Kate was blessed on my birthday, which was awesome and we had a fun family dinner that night. For Sam’s birthday Sam, Kate and I went to P.F. Changs  for dinner while Lily played with Grandma. That’s about it for us...Have a happy and hopefully not too warm June. 

This is Steve. I recently finished an excellent book entitled Fast and Furious, by Katie Pavlich. In it, author Pavlich does an excellent job of laying out the evidence of misdeed and corruption in the Obama Justice Department. Everyone should read it to fully understand why Eric Holder needs to resign (or be impeached). In other news, I’m still here. And that is my update.

Chris is working, as always, but managed to go to Comic Con, some crazy comic book convention in Phoenix this week.  I think he got his picture taken with someone famous or maybe it was just his friends.  When Sam and April went out to dinner, Lily and I went to Panda Bear (Express) to get food.  She is pretty funny.  

It’s baseball season, so Gary is happy to see the Diamondbacks play once again.

Until next month. . .

The month of April

Meet Kate Vera Shelley.  She was born on May 6 and weighed 7 pounds and 6 ounces.  We all love her tons and tons!  Rakay was there to help with her birth which we were all very happy about!  Lily wasn’t too sure about the whole thing and wouldn’t let her mom out of her sight for a few days.  Now Lily is her mom’s biggest helper.  April finally got Lily to hold Kate a few days ago.  Kate actually let April sleep for 4 hours straight last night.  Ah, the joys of being a new mom!  I took a week off of school to help out.  That was pretty fun.  

This last week all of the kids had to take the AIMS (Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards) test which was not too fun.  Sam didn’t have to take the AIMS test this year.  The 9th grade took the Stanford Achievement test which he said was EASY.  We are coming upon the month of May which in some ways is busier than December.  Bring it on because then school will be out.  Sam performed in the PCC Gala which was a fund raiser for the choir so they got to sing for their supper (in a manner of speaking).  The Gala is PCC’s big fundraiser for the year.  I’m grateful to his voice teacher for hauling him over to Phoenix for all the rehearsals.  His next voice recital is May 5 which is the day before April’s birthday on May 6 which is the same day that Kate will be blessed.   She is wearing April’s blessing dress.

This weekend it has been HOT-- like 102 hot.  I am not looking forward to the long hot summer.  Sam and I went to a really great concert last night while Gary went to the ballgame.  We saw a group called, The Real Group.  They are a vocal jazz group.  He and I really enjoyed it.  It’s amazing to me how they make all the different cool sounds with just their voices.  Sam made the top two choirs at Mountain View for next year and he will only be a sophomore.  I know I am bragging, but I am truly amazed at the talent the Lord has given him.  It is pretty awesome. 

Our April Teachings for our Times lesson was Elder Holland’s talk, which I really liked a lot.  We have really great Relief Society teachers on our ward so Relief Society is a pleasure to attend.

Tax season is over.  I always wonder how Gary makes it with so little sleep and such long hours, but he does.  Now it is baseball season, so I guess that makes up for it.

Stephen and Chris are still working away.  Chris got his car fixed and new tires to boot.

Happy May.

Ending 2011

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As Christmas quickly approaches we are franticly trying to prepare for it’s arrival. This week will be spent doing some last minute Christmas shopping and will be very filled with baking for Carol and April. Every year they prepare plates full of numerous goodies for neighbors and friends.

Lily is VERY thrilled to have Santa come and visit her. She is certain he will bring her a princess for Christmas. We are also prepping her for sleeping over at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. She loves sleeping in her bed but anywhere else is questionable.

 Gary has been busy with tithing settlement and is all finished. He and Carol have also attended two parties for his work. One was a catered event at a museum and the other was held at a Brazilian restaurant. Carol had some very “exciting” things happen this month. She was called to be the Relief Society president in the ward. All of the information and duties are very intimidating at first but she will do awesome. She has some very good counselors and secretary to help her out as well.

Sam is counting down the days until he gets out of school for the Christmas Break. Only two more days full of finals left. Sam has been extremely busy with all of his singing and all of the concerts he’s been in (as have Gary and Carol). A big group of us got to attend one of his Phoenix Children’s Choir concerts, it was very enjoyable. He had another concert with school called the "Holiday dinners." They perform at a local vocational school where they have a culinary program. So Gary, Carol, Stephen, Chris, and April all went, ate dinner, and watched Sam sing. At the end the alumni get to join the students and sing two songs that they sing every year. So April went and stood by her “little” brother and sang with the choirs. He is also singing in church on Christmas.

 Stephen is still working hard. He is the one of the Gospel Doctrine teachers in his ward and is excited to be teaching about the Book of Mormon next year. He is also co-chair of the ward Home Evening Committee. The name of his ward was changed to the Mesa YSA 3rd Ward in anticipation of the forthcoming YSA stakes in Arizona. Lily loves to come over and find Stephen and then play with all of the stuff in his room--especially when they get to play with animal puppets.

 Chris has been pursuing a new hobby. He goes rock climbing with a friend about three times a week. He is getting pretty good at it and has been acquiring as much equipment as possible so he can do outdoor and indoor climbing.

Sam and April did not attend his work party since all it involved was riding a bus around Phoenix and bar hopping. Sam would like you all to know that The Dear Leader, Kim Jung Il passed away ascended into heaven escorted by a multitude of cranes today. Praise Allah. Anyway, yesterday Sam held his first "Operation First Class." He’s developing a way for the boys to get a lot of the basic requirements up to first class scout out of the way so they can work on more nitty gritty stuff. It went pretty well. April is relieved that she made it to the end of the year with enough teachers in primary and is excited to start the new year fresh with only one teacher short. She’s also excited to get the new babies room all cleaned out, organized, and eventually painted. Lily loves to tell stories, we understand some more than others and her newest word is “hypothesis”. She learned it from her new favorite show Dinosaur Train.

 Well that’s it for us. See you in 2012!!!

School--First week

So I made it though the first 3 days of school, but not before almost dying on Thursday because it was so humid. Yuck.

I am helping in a kindergarten class for the first two weeks of school. Very interesting experience. One little boy cried ALL day on the first day of school. Believe me, that takes effort. He would stop when something interesting was happening, then realize he wasn't crying and start wailing again. Then there's the poor little girl who speaks NO English. She doesn't have a clue about what is going on. And here's the thing. This little girl will be expected to perform as well as English speaking kids on tests at the end of the year. I ask you, is that fair? Talk about setting someone up for failure. Just my opinion.

Here's some things I took for granted working with first graders: they know which part of the paper is up, they know how to hold a pencil, they know that we read from left to right, they can follow directions, they have known how to write their names for a long time, they know what to do in the cafeteria, and they can listen for more than 3 minutes.

I really miss my teacher friends in first grade. I miss my friend Sheryl because I won't see her as much this year.

And yet, I came back because I love the kids and it is a pleasure to see them learn and grow.

I also decided that I needed to get up at 5:30 so I can exercise every morning because I am way too tired after school. So I go out to the swimming pool and do water aerobics. It is quite pleasant out there at that time of the morning. I just really don't like to get up so early, but since I do, my new bedtime is 9:00.

Sam started high school this year and so far he seems to enjoy it. He is at Phoenix Children's Chorus camp this weekend in Prescott. Lucky him. Gary and I took him up yesterday and it was so nice!!! Chris and I are going to pick him up tomorrow and listen to his choir sing. Lucky us!

Family Newsletter

Each month Gary's family all write newsletters that his mom puts together and mails to everyone. Here's ours.. .

Yesterday was the last day of school. All I have to say is “Yipee”. It was a hard year and I am so glad that it is finally over. On the success side, the first grade teachers (who are the best) met their academic goals for the kids in reading and math. I hope that I had some part in their success. There is nothing more satisfying than watching a child learn. I saw many learning successes this year.

Sam has had a wonderful May! He auditioned for the Phoenix Children’s Choir and made the highest choir. Next summer he will get to go to Italy with them. He was also on the honor role at school with a 4.0 grade point average. On Sunday he will be leaving for Washington D.C. on his Close Up tour sponsored by the school. He will get to see all the sights and learn a lot too. He is then going to help with Jumpstart which is the program at the junior high to help incoming 7th graders learn the ropes of junior high. In August he starts at Mountain View High School. Sam also had his voice recital on May 14. He sang “Across the Western Sea” (an art/classical song) and “Close Every Door” (from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat). I give a huge “thank you” to his voice teacher, Mrs. Lori Woods. She was a big part of his singing success this year. She is an awesome voice teacher. Sam has learned a lot from her. Grandma and Grandpa came to see him. He did an epic job and we all went to the Olive Garden to celebrate his birthday (only three months late).



We all met last night at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville for Sam Shelley’s birthday. He hit the big 30. Chris brought Lily a balloon shaped like a duck. She loved it. She was great as long as she had someone to carry her around and look at the sights. Her dad, Stephen and Chris got some exercise packing her around. She liked the food, but just didn’t appreciate sitting around.

I’m looking forward to finally finishing my home improvement projects, going to St. George to see the plays there, and a family reunion. Also, reading all the books I have time for. I had a busy May also with Relief Society, Sam’s concerts, Activity Days, and the biggest funeral luncheon I have ever seen.

Gary is busy with work and training our new bishopric members how to count tithing. The first weekend in June is the big law firm retreat. We are going to a very nice resort, Dove Mountain, near Tucson.

Weather wise May was a great month. Today the real heat begins and won’t end until October. Boo.

Busy Week

Some weeks are busier than others. I'm sure you've all had weeks where you just run from one thing to another. Last week was that week for me.

Tuesday was our ward's night Relief Society meeting. I was helping with the food and making 12 pounds of chicken salad. So with my trusty pressure cooker and my trusty Bosch, it was not a hard job. It was somewhat time consuming. I spent a lot of time Monday cooking chicken and also had to take Sam to voice lessons.

Tuesday after school, I made the chicken salad. Twelve pounds is a big pan of chicken salad. After dropping Sam off at violin lessons, he would be picked up by Sam Shelley, April and I headed to the church. So with the help of Karen Shiflet, we made 65 sandwiches. We also served salads and dessert. It was all very yummy and there wasn't very much left. After dinner, the balance of the meeting was discussing visiting teaching--a subject that always makes me feel a little guilty. Confession: if I went every month, I wouldn't feel that way.








Wednesday afternoon was Activity Day. Krista Lenhart and I have all the girls in our ward--8-12 years of age. They are fun, but they also have tons of energy. I found cute bracelet from Clare's Place and a cute Mother's Day card at Family Fun.com. Do you know that there is no where in Mesa (at least that I could find) that has big colored beads? Not Michaels, JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby. I was very disappointed. After leaving finding the beads until almost the last minute, because who knew I wouldn't be able to find them, I had to order them online and pay extra so they would get here on time. The girls had fun making the bracelets and the cards and were excited to give them to their mothers. I wanted to get pictures of all the girls and their creations, but they were very fast getting them done and wrapped.






Thursday, I had a much needed hair cut and color job. We also went out to dinner for April's birthday at the Cheesecake Factory, one of her favorite places.

Friday was her actual birthday. The poor girl had to make herself a cake, because I was too busy and too tired. Ah yes, I forgot last week was Dibels testing week at school. Dibels is a reading test that is given to every child K-6 and I am part of the testing team. So take my word for it, by the end everyone is rather brain dead after listening to kids read stories, retell said stories, read nonsense words, and break words down into their individual sounds. The first graders did an awesome job.

I had a great Mother's Day. We had steak, baked potatoes, corn and watermelon fixed by April and Gary. YUM. The whole family was here. Maybe the rest of May will be less busy. I sincerely doubt it though. With concerts, recitals, meetings and the end of school, it promises to be very busy indeed

The family newsletter

I don’t know that we’ve done much these past weeks. Of course, we all watched General Conference. My favorite talk was by Elder Bednar. Read it here . April and I always like to try new breakfast menus on Saturday and Sunday. Both were a gastronomical delight witnessed by the fact that nothing was left.

Sam took the AIMS (Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards or Big Test). He said he didn’t think it was too bad. The whole mutual went to see the Easter Pageant which was made even more fun by the addition of all the pizza they could eat. Sam has been working hard for his voice recital which will be in May. He and Gary aren’t going to the Father’s and Son’s campout for the first time ever (I think). Sam has a choir festival on that Friday and it won’t be over until evening. I didn’t see either one crying about it.

On Easter Sunday, Sam and I are singing in the choir, Stephen is speaking in his Sacrament Meeting and April has to sing for the Young Women in her ward. These events are all occurring at the same time so nobody gets to hear anybody else, well, Gary will hear Sam and I. We are going to Claye’s and Rakay’s for Easter dinner.

Thankfully the 15th (actually the 18th) of April has passed and Gary doesn’t have to spent every waking moment in his office doing taxes. It has been interesting this year with the new e-file law in effect.

Stephen was happy that the movie ATLAS SHRUGGED finally made it to the big screen. He finally got to see Dagny Taggart and the rest of the ATLAS SHRUGGED characters in living color.

Poor Lily was sick with the stomach flu from a Tuesday through Saturday. Both Lily and April were pretty miserable and I’m pretty sure that April was sick of getting thrown up on. Lily now has another cold, for the third time in about a month. Starting nursery has not been kind to her. She loves going, but always catches some disease while there.

I assume that Chris is okay. We can always keep track of where he is eating, because it gets posted on Facebook.

My work life has become pretty stressful this year, but so has everyone else’s at the school. I am immensely tired of listening to kids read because the kids all read the same story, so I get to hear it about 10 times a day. Unfortunately, practicing is the only way that kids get better at reading. We get out of school May 26 so the end is in sight. We are losing 4 teacher contracts at our school because of declining population which means there will also be less aides needed. I love the kids and I like helping them to succeed, but education is a stressful place to be these days. Schools can only do so much for kids when their home life stinks.

Have a wonderful Easter!

The Sad Saga of the Crossing Guard Shelter (or Government run Amok, again)

For the past 16 years, maybe even longer, there stood at the school crossing on 8th street a small crossing guard shelter located next to the sidewalk on the property of a church. It wasn't much--just enough for one or two people to stand under and a little bench to sit on. It sheltered the unfortunate crossing guard who happened to be there when the scorching Arizona sun shone down. People did like to cover the inside with graffiti, but the small church it stood next to would paint over everything from time to time.

Enter the city of Mesa. That shelter had no permit, and a bunch of other stuff that needed to be paid for. The total came to $4000 owed to the city of Mesa. The man on the case talked to his boss and they decided to wave all the fees except for the $100 for the original permit. So the small church raised the $100 for the city of Mesa.

But wait! The shelter was an accident just waiting to happen according to the wise people who work for the city of Mesa. Has there ever been an accident in the past 16 years? No! That fact didn't matter. Now the shelter is no more and those of us who happen to cross children there are at the mercy of the Arizona sun.

Another "Bernie" Story

Mrs. J. just reminded me of another Bernie story. . .Bernie goes to the trash can and pulls out a piece of paper. Written on the paper were these words. . ."Walter (one of Bernie's friends) has no friends." "Oh no!" he exclaims "Who could have written such a thing?" Being the excellent detectives that we are, Mrs. J and I started our investigation. Upon further examination of the paper, we find "Bernie's" name written on the other side with some school work he had done. Upon confronting the suspect, he said, "How did you know it was me?" "Silly boy, your name is on the paper." Needless to say, we all had a good laugh. There's never a dull moment in 1st grade.

School Musings

Confidence Man Strikes 1st grade--Holy Bernie Madoff

Conversation that took place a couple of Fridays ago. . .

E.--Mrs. J can I go to the bathroom?

Mrs. J. We just went, you'll have to pay me a grabber (the money of 1st grade).

E.--I don't have any.

Mrs. J. What happened to the five you get on Monday?

E.--I gave them all to "Bernie". He said he would buy me something from the 50 grabber box.

About 4 other kids exclaimed (none of them girls, I'm not sure what that means)--I gave my grabbers to "Bernie" also. He said he would get me something from the 50 grabber box.

Mrs. J.-- "Bernie" what's going on?

"Bernie"--I really was going to get them something.

Skeptical look from Mrs. J--No you weren't.

She questions the other kids as to how many grabbers they gave "Bernie." Turns out he made off with about 80 grabbers.

Mrs. J.--"Bernie" give them all back.

I'm sitting in the back of the room and mention, "Wow, you would go to jail if you were an adult."

"Bernie"--(in dismay) Why??

Mrs. J.--Well when you take people's money and tell them you are going to get them something for it and then don't do it, you go to jail.

WOW!

Too Cool to say Hello

When kids are in 1st, 2nd and even 3rd grade, they love you. You get hello's on campus and some hugs as well. Sometime after that things change. In 4th grade, they may grudgingly say hello to you as you pass them on campus. In 6th grade--well let me explain what happened the other day. I was walking through the library. Some 6th graders were there for their media center time. I said hello to a few of them. What did I get? Blank stares that's what! Apparently when you get to the 6th grade, saying hello isn't cool anymore.

Our Field Trip to the Science Center

A couple of weeks ago the first grade went to the Science center in Phoenix. First of all, it was under construction so some things had been taken off exhibit. Secondly, there were about a million other kids there. Thirdly, some parents should not be chaperons.

Some things were missing, however, the most favorite exhibit of all, the weather platform, was still there. What is a weather platform you ask? By standing on it with a bunch of other people, one gets to experience all kinds of weather--from hurricanes to earth quakes. This is all done by the magic of hot lights, blowing air, water, and a rumbling floor. As you can imagine, the kids love it and want to do it over and over and over again.

We saw buses from Show Low, Deer Valley, the Creighton School district and other Mesa School district buses. By the time our buses finally had their turn to pull up at the end of the day, we were about 20 minutes late. I'm also glad we didn't lose anyone (well, expect for one child, but his teacher found him) It was wall to wall kids.

You know, when a parent is sitting there and her child and one other child are at the top of a tree; I really have to wonder. . .

The Dreaded Dibbles Testing

Next week, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders will be tested. One of the most important parts of this test is how fast a child can read. Now I know that part of being a fluent reader is to be a fast reader along with accuracy and expression. I'm rather tired of listening to kids read the same thing over and over. Besides, some kids just talk slowly so they read slowly and getting them to read faster would require (I'm not exactly sure what that would be.) Anyway, I'll be glad when next week is over.

Which scissors do you want?

Yesterday Luis was having a bad day. I'm not sure why because he wouldn't talk to me, but I think it had something to do with a test. Anyway the tears were flowing. His tablemates were very concerned. They tried to get to the bottom of the problem, but Luis's head would not come up off his desk.

This situation is one of the great things about my job. Here was a real life 1st grade drama playing out right in front of me. I was watching Tanya because she is a very kind little girl and I was very interested in what she would do. At that moment, the assignment was to cut out the spelling word tiles for the week. She got two pair of scissors and put them on Luis's desk. Following that she put her hand on his forehead and pushed his head up off the desk. Then she said, "Which scissors do you want to cut your letters out with?" Luis, seeing that Tanya was not going to take no for an answer, picked up the scissors and started to cut. The crying stopped and the crisis was averted. When some other little boy started to tease Luis about crying, Tanya said, "Just ignore him."

Sometimes, I see the worst in kids, but I also get to see the best. Tanya's actions brightened my day. I'm grateful that there are little girls like her in the world.

The Death of Intervention

It's time to pay the piper, all good things must come to an end, or the chickens have come home to roost.

In case you hadn't heard, the state of Arizona has a HUGE budget deficit. Because of that deficit, Mesa Schools has a BIG deficit. Education has been and is going to take a BIG cut. At my school we are losing teachers, the basic skills person, the reading coach and the last certified interventionist.

I have been working in the intervention program for the last 4 years. Next year it will be gone. "No money," the district says. Now I admit when it first started, I hated the program. I didn't think it would work and it meant a whole lot more work for me. Sometimes I have felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall because nothing seemed to be soaking into kids' heads. Head banging is NOT my idea of a good time.

Other times however, when the light turns on and they start to get it, well that is one of the best feelings ever. At times, it has brought me to tears.

Next year the intervention program will be gone. I'm sad. I'm losing some friends to other schools and I wonder if some of the kids will do as well. Will I even have a job next year? Maybe I will have a job and I'll get to be in the classroom all day which I really enjoy. I really don't know, but I know the end of this school year will be heart rending for me.

The Personal Hygiene of 12 year old boys, (or lack thereof)

Today I cleaned my house. I realize this is not a big event for some, but for me sometimes it is. I was in Sam's bathroom. I must admit I haven't been there for awhile. I looked in his shower and what did I see--two little slivers of soap and no shampoo. So I ask myself, "How is he getting clean ?" He does take a shower everyday and he comes upstairs with with wet hair. I am mystified.

Like any good mother, I took a whole new bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo to his shower. I wonder if he will notice the difference.

It's a Miracle!

Some days we have a serious epidemic in first grade. The symptoms are headache, stomach ache, and the very popular, "I don't feel good" accompanied by a very sad look. Of course, like all good epidemics this involves a visit to the nurse.

I have decided to name this terrible disease "get" as in "I will get a cracker from the nurse, I will get a drink from the nurse, and I will get out of class and not have to do anything." The principle way we can tell if a child has "get" is when we look out the window and see the child skipping to the nurse's office.

Mrs. J., being the smart woman that she is, tried an experiment last Friday to see if she could stem this terrible epidemic. Just as the reading test was about to start about three people all of a sudden came down with "get." Mrs. J. tells these victims that they need to stay and take the test and then they can go to the nurse's office.

The test ended just before recess. She told them they could go to the nurse. (Cue gospel choir.) "We don't feel bad anymore." It's a miracle! Thanks to the power of recess, they are cured!

Will Work for Stickers

What would you do for a sticker? If you happen to be in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade, it turns out to be quite a lot. (Well, if you are most kids, there are exceptions.)

Me: "Okay boys and girls, listen and work hard in group (4-5 kids in reading) and I will give you a really cool sticker."

Kid 1, 2, 3 and 4: "All right! What kind!"

Kid 5: "Who cares?"

Well, most of them will work hard, especially when it may be a puffy sticker.

One half hour later:

Kid 1, 2, 3, and 4: "Wow, cool sticker!"

Kid 5 (who, by the way, has goofed off the entire time): "Where's my sticker?" I don't get one, why?

Me: "You weren't doing what you were supposed to."

Kid 5: "You're not fair."

Me: "Life isn't fair. Maybe you should pay attention next time."

Like I said, they all want stickers. But some kids think that paying attention and working is just way too much trouble.

Hack, Hack, Achoo

I'm pretty sure if the "common" cold was one of the plagues of Egypt, the Israelites would have gotten out of Egypt quicker. I should have seen a cold coming last week after about the 4th time I got coughed and sneezed on.

So I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday coughing and blowing my nose. Because after all, there was nothing like spending the weekend feeling like my head was going to expode any minute.

I didn't go to church so I thought I would read a little church history. I was in the perfect place in the book for my mood--Mormons, mobs, and Missouri.

Anyway, by the end of Sunday, I was sick of being sick. So I drug my cold addled brain out of bed this morning and went to school. Sure enough I got sneezed and coughed on today too. I hate to be the one to break it to the school nurse, but her lessons about where to cough and sneeze are having no effect.

Anyway, hopefully I won't run into any new germs for the rest of the year. Yeah right.

My life in the First Grade

The Case of the Lost Pencils--I have worked at the school now for five years. Almost each and every day from the beginning I would hear helpless VICTIMS cry, "I have no pencil. My pencil is lost. Someone took my pencil." The VICTIMS' pitiful cries would make my heart bleed. For the last 5 years I have been trying to solve this sad situation. I have interviewed many of these VICTIMS. "Where did you last see it?" I would question. "I just had it a minute ago, but it's not there anymore," sobbed the VICTIMS. After much investigating I have come to some conclusions.

1. The VICTIMS' desks eat pencils. I know that desks don't like to eat paper because some desks actually spit it out, but pencils, hmmmmm, maybe they taste better.

2. There are Pencil Eating Monsters (PEMs) who live at the school. They have yellow bodies and long dark teeth (from eating so much lead). They must, however, either come at night or be invisible.

3. A black hole has somehow mysteriously formed under the school and sucks up unsuspecting pencils.

Just today, I viewed some pencil survivors. Even that didn't help me narrow down the suspect. Some of these pencil survivors were very short. They didn't have a sharp point and their erasers were all gone. Who would do such a thing to an innocent pencil?

Could it be all my conjectures were totally wrong? Perhaps something more sinister is at work. Maybe the VICTIMS aren't really victims. . .

The Popsicle Stick--One morning at the beginning of the school year, Mrs. J.'s class was making puppets with some cut-out characters from the story of the week. These characters were being taped to craft sticks so each character could move and jump around. Something was really bothering E. He walked up to me with a very concerned look on his face and questioned, "Are these Popsicle sticks new or have they been used?"

The WOW factor--Every afternoon Mrs. J.'s class takes a timed math test. If they finish the test and get every one right, I write a big WOW across the page and they get their name announced in class as having passed their plus ones, plus twos and on up. They also get a sticker on their chart. These kids love getting WOW's! It's the greatest thing ever to them and they will work hard to get one. I wish we could find something like a WOW written across the page to get them to work that hard on everything!