I love teaching first grade....I think...

Now that I am back to teaching the in land of the little people (first graders), I wonder about whether I like teaching first grade more than sixth grade. First graders are so much fun and they just want to please you constantly. I love ending the day with a kid saying "you are the bestest teacher ever" or "I am having so much fun". On the flip side, I have had a student that has been crying consistently every day for the past week. Not the cute little sobs, but the out loud crying and hyperventilating for over an hour sobs! I thought he would eventually stop out of exhaustion, but he is a tough cookie! He didn't cry yesterday, but now his favorite word is no. Oh the joy of a defiant student! Another positive of teaching first grade is having such naive students. We had a fire drill this past week and some of them were actually concerned that there was a fire on campus. It was kinda cute, but now that I think about it, maybe they were just hoping that they could go home early. However, first graders are not able to understand sarcasm and idioms. This doesn't work well for a teacher like me. For example, the first week of school I was trying to get them to be quiet in line while we were walking back to class. It was a billion degrees outside and I was losing patience fast. I stopped the line and told them that we are waiting until it's quiet to continue walking. This of course didn't work so I added "we are going to sweat to death out here if you don't stop talking". I actually heard one kid say "sweat to death?" in a very scared voice. I guess he had never sweated to death before.

So after teaching first grade for three weeks I have decided that I love teaching first grade. Even though they drive me batty and take every ounce of energy and patience that I have, I love first graders. Teaching first grade makes my heart happy! I always think of my first graders as my little butterflies. They are like caterpillars when they start first grade because they are just chewing through the new information (leaves) at a fast pace. Towards the middle of the year they like to relax and process all of the new information (growing in their chrysalis'). Then at the end of the year, most of them have grown so much both physically and mentally (butterflies) and then they fly away to the next grade. I have an awesome and amazing class this year and I can't wait to see them as butterflies.

Summer Lovin'

I love summer time! Last summer was devoted all to raising Banner and I cannot believe how much he has changed in a year. Don't get me wrong, he is still a monster dog! But those monster dog moments have  become less and less. He still loves to chew on things, drink from the bathtub faucet, sleep on the bed and couches and go crazy when we have company. But how can you get mad at a cute face like that? He makes up for it by being such a lover. He loves to cuddle, sleep right next to you, and wake you up every morning. I guess we will keep him!

Last week Kyle and I went to Branson, Missouri and we had so many fun adventures! Most people thought we were crazy to go to Missouri because really, who goes to Missouri? I was really starting to wonder if we were going to have an awful time. Thankfully we had a lot of fun and it was nice to get away for a whole week! This trip created some first for Kyle and I which I think is difficult to achieve when you have been dating/married for 11 years. Here's a little list:

Our Firsts in Missouri
1. Flying together on a long plane ride- I learned that Kyle likes the window seat
2. Renting a car- we had a cool Dodge Charger
3. Eating fried alligator tail (for me)- tastes like chicken
4.Taking Kyle to the E.R.- ticks are NOT cool

The only downside to the trip was that it was packed full of activities that I didn't get much relaxation time. I guess it's a good thing I'm still on summer break so I can recuperate :) Anyway, after going through the 700 pictures that Kyle took here is a recap of our Missouri trip in pictures.

 Our comfy condo with a kitchenette

We visited the Springfield National Cemetery to see some cool old tombstones and also the civil war graves. We had planned to visit a couple of Civil War battlefields so I thought it would be interesting to see the cemetery as well.

 It was really sad to see all of the little white tombstones that are of unknown Civil War soldiers.

The Wilson's Creek Battlefield in Springfield, MO.

The forest area to the right of this picture is where were first met Kyle's friend Wilson the Tick that I lovingly named after the beautiful battlefield. 

Wilson's Creek

 This is the house of the Ray family. Their property was used as battle grounds and they observed the soldiers fighting in their corn fields. 

 Jefferson Avenue Footbridge- Supposedly people walk on this bridge and wait for trains to pass underneath. It was pretty quiet when we went and since I'm not crazy about heights, I wasn't too excited about watching a moving train pass underneath while I was standing on it.

 Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, MO- This cavern was one of 3 that was visited and I thought it was the safest because we sat in a tram the entire time. The other two caverns had us climbing lots of wet, slippery steps and crouching down in tight areas as to not slice our heads open on rocks.

 Veterans Memorial Museum in Branson. If you ever go to Branson (ya right, I know) you HAVE to visit this museum! It had lots of interesting artifacts on almost every war.

 Toy Museum in Branson

 Scenic View of Branson

 Trout Fish Hatchery in Branson

  Here fishy, fishy, fishy....

 This park is extremely overpriced beautiful and not worth seeing! It is owned by the same person that owns the Bass Pro Shops. We waited three hours for a tram to take us through the park because the tram just left as we arrived. I guess we could have walked, but it was a hot 6 miles and we would have had to pay to walk too.

Indian burial caves that contained three bodies! Spooky!

 The waterfalls were beautiful, but I was a little upset to find out that they were man-made.

Here comes the scary/adventurous part of the tram ride.

 As we pull into this open area of animals, we see a group of elk. OK...no problem...until...











...they started charging the tram!!! I thought the guy driving the truck was going to back us up and get us the heck out of there. But instead he got out of the truck and grabbed a big bag of food and spread it all out next to the tram for the lovely charging elk to eat.

Luckily they were happy after that! Whew!

This guy horned his way in and the elk were not happy about that.

Same thing happened with the buffalo, but they move a LOT slower.

Baby buffalo!

 Then we start to see this horrible rain clouds. I told Kyle that it's going to start to rain and he said "Yeah right, it's not going to rain!" About 5 minutes later....

 we were covered in water! It was actually hailing and pouring rain with thunder and lighting that was striking the ground. Luckily the guy driving the truck busted out some ponchos and we hid underneath them. Of course, me being the California girl that I am, I am yelling "Look! Look! It's hailing!" I'm sure the other tram riders got a kick out of me!

 Last battlefield on the trip- Pea Ridge Battlefield in Arkansas.

On our last night in Branson we went on the Branson Scenic Railway. This was an hour a half train ride from Branson to Galena, MO. It was nice and relaxing, but not very scenic since we had done so much driving and saw pretty much the same thing that we did in the car. 

Now that I have experienced Missouri I am completely in love and I did NOT want to come home. Unfortunately, there are many creepy crawlies in Missouri that will keep me from moving there. Plus they get this white stuff in the winter time that makes it very cold. I guess (for now) this California girl will stay in California.

Update

So, it has been a little over a month since I last posted about my resolutions. So far, I haven't done much. I'm still a stress ball and I'm still working way more than I would like to. I have gotten a lot better at leaving work at work but sometimes the stress of the day follows me home. So today I signed up for a personal trainer and I am OH SO EXCITED about having a trainer! I can't wait to get in shape. I know that when I exercise I feel better about my body and the stress seems to disappear. I have had a personal trainer before and I didn't take it serious, so I didn't see results that I wanted. Now that I am freaking out about how much they cost, I know I will work my butt off to get what I want out of it. Who knew that personal trainers were so expensive?!

Next week I start obedience class with Banner which is way overdue! I am continually talking to the dog as if he understands me and I also try to reason with him like he is one of my students. This doesn't work (obviously) and just makes me frustrated while he is still going crazy. I think this obedience class is going to be good for the both of us. If this doesn't work I'm going to need the Dog Whisperer ASAP!

It's a New Year

I have never been the type of person to celebrate the new year in a big way. I know it may sound kinda silly to some people, but to me it's just another day. I think this feeling comes from being a teacher. I feel like the beginning of a school year is more of a celebration to me than the beginning of a calendar year. I have in the past made new years resolutions though, only to have them fizzle out around February. However, this year I have made a choice to make some new years resolutions and make them a permanent part of my life. I know what you are thinking: yeah yeah, that's what everyone says. I agree with you, but I'm serious! I really thought about resolutions this year and I want to make them part of my everyday life and not something that I want just right now and then stop doing after a month or two. So here is my long list

Resolution 1- Stress out and worry less- Lately I have been a worrier to the max! I worry about everything and then I tend to stress out because of it! Work = stress and then I end up working constantly and I end up a grumpy teacher. Therefore....

Resolution 2- Work smarter/ Not harder- Basically get stuff done that's needs to be done and get outta there (by 3:30 at the latest preferably).

Resolution 3- Exercise and eat healthy- I know this is a typical resolution for people but I really need this to become a part of my life. Exercise makes me cringe and I absolutely hate going to the gym, but it's good for you and it makes me have more energy. Eating healthy really sucks too but I am determined to be bikini ready by June so it's a must!

Resolution 4- Save more money- This is a really hard one because I looooove to shop. I also love to spend money, especially on Starbucks!

Resolution 5- Crafts- I love to get crafty and it's such a stress reliever so this is needed at least once a month if I want to stay sane from eating healthy food and saving money :) I also want to learn to crochet.

Resolution 6- Volunteer- I really want to start getting involved in the community and helping others. I think this will be difficult because I already feel stretched so thin among the other resolutions but even if I could volunteer somewhere just once I know I will love it.

Resolution 7- Think Positively- This one goes hand in hand with worrying and I need to change my negative thoughts to positive ones. Difficult but definitely do able.

Finally Resolution 8- Train Banner- Yes, i have an 9 month old puppy, and he is absolutely adorable, but is NOT trained. He will be trained though starting next month during obedience classes.

Well I think that's good enough for now. I'm sure my list is too long but I feel like I need to make these changes in my life. I probably should add blog more to my list since I have been a lazy blogger, but I'm hoping that improves along the way.