pump it up

i was this close to getting through august without pushing anyone on the swings!!


at least i'm only on shoe duty once a week.. ha  the trampoline came for christmas last year, so we only had half a year of it last year.  now i get 10 months!!  one day no one jumps, one day my class jumps, and one day heather's kids jump.  i've never loved velcro more! : )

AND i love that, apparently, they love muffin man so much that they're singing it at home : )

dying

i've only taken the time to pay tribute to my afternoon job.  the one i have less hours and days at, actually...  don't worry, i still work every morning at monticello.  while i've been singing, smiling, and herding my preschool days away, let's not forget the high points at my other job:

in the first week of school i honed my butcher paper tearing skills and tore several beautiful lines off the rack.  perpendicular?  no, most probably weren't.  but beautifully straight?  absolutely!

i've also had a few opportunities to answer a co worker's questions about my faith and membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.



............................  i'm running out of points ...................


i've been dying a slow and painful DIBELS death!!!!!  we're in the second week of pulling kids individually to administer these standardized reading tests.  it's the same. thing. over. and. over. again.  you do the test, then score it.  it's not hard.  it's just extremely boring.  and i'm dying.

the good news: 4th is done, 3rd is done, 2nd is done, and 1st should have been finished this afternoon (with the exception of absences).  only kindergarten to go!!!!  (right??)


i'd rather be singing muffin man with my little friends, i guess.


or something else..

the best 4 years

let's talk about how cute we were 4 years ago today!

in case that wasn't enough...

now here's a semi recent one of us:

and we're only getting cuter.... : )

woof woof

the "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" version on the playlist that we use is long.  it must repeat about 6 times.  i was only trying to spice it up a bit for myself when i reached over and tapped my neighbor's toes one of the times today.  i like to think (though it's taken me hours to figure it out) that that toe touching is what prompted this comment from jaida:

'you're like my dog.'


bahahahahahaha.  i had no idea what she was talking about at the time and tried to keep singing the next song without laughing too much.  it seemed totally random because she said it after the song was over... a good repeat or two later.  heather and i just about died.  she told me later she thought she probably just meant that i was 'nice and sweet.'

if neither of those ideas are correct..... i have no idea......  regardless, compliment or not? ha

just in case

apparently i've forgotten a lot over the last year!    let's take note this time around.

i wish i wore sandals and light shorts or a skirt.  august pre-k's are 10 months younger than may pre-k's.  they can't sit still.  they can't sit down at all for very long.  they don't know/remember how to raise their hand.  they want to talk when they want to talk, and they'll just do it.  attention spans are under 30 seconds, easily.  some cry, some scream.  they'll be honest (i am SO SICK of this house! hahahahahaha).  one kid says it, they all say it (i have a mommy too!).  they don't know routines.  they don't know songs.  they don't know your name, and likely none or few of the other names.  they just want snacks and toys.  it's sweaty hot here in august.  parents come in and want to take pictures.  team teaching requires lots of communication about everything.  rainbow time: keep it simple, stupid.  they don't care if you can't sing that high.  if there's a fly in the room, nothing can get done (let's call him buddy!........ or...... i'm going to call him miss marsha.  hahahahahaha).  you might hear tmi.  start them with a small snack, they don't want it all.  until they know the songs you'll feel silly by yourself.  you'll sweat no matter what.  some are still 3.  it's going to be loud and stressful.

they're cute.  they're sweet.  they don't know any different when things don't go according to ideal world plan.  they'll warm up to you quickly.  things will get better each day.  it's fun.


missed kylie, aida, hayden, kyler, carson, and sukhman a little bit today.... my life was so easy back in may...




pray i don't need these reminders a year from now..

shout out

over the last several days i have gotten back in touch with an old college friend.  the correspondence has come as a pleasant surprise.  now i know why i've been thinking of her and thinking i should write to her!

the strength and support i've gained through this renewed friendship came in time for a particularly tough last few days.  nothing short of a tender mercy of the Lord.

here is part of Elder David A. Bednar's talk, The Tender Mercies of the Lord, given in april 2005:

Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15).

Some may count this experience as simply a nice coincidence, but I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence.




i am grateful for this tender mercy in my life.  i am grateful for the hope that we can have through our Savior, Jesus Christ.  and i'm grateful to be back in contact with this girl : )

silver lining

while many posts have been indirectly about our infertility, i will now be more candid... at least this once... : )

this is a list of blessings that have come to one or both of us as a result of having no kids.  i don't think i can list them all here, but it's a work in progress that we've been mentally and verbally compiling together for quite some time.

please understand that we would trade away any of these blessings, day or night, to have kids, but for now, we are trying to focus on the many blessings that we DO have.

we can sleep in on the weekends.

we can sleep through the night.

we can eat whatever we want, whenever we want.

i can be in the shower as long as i want to.

our house is relatively quiet.

we get to pick the movies, music, etc.

we can have deep discussions during family home evening, in the car, etc.

we can listen pretty well in church.

we can easily hop in the car and go somewhere.

we can go to the temple frequently.  easily.

we only have two people's worth of laundry.

we only do laundry every two weeks.
our car is relatively clean.

we have a very close relationship, as we've been a family of two for almost four years!

eating out is "affordable".

we're both tall enough for all the rides.  every time : )

see kids during the day, have my me time in the evening and on weekends.

road trips are a breeze.

i can wear a dress any sunday (or day) i want.

we can take naps.  anytime.

we can put onion, tomato, pepper, mushrooms, etc into anything we want.

we have bonus income.

we can volunteer and go to events to serve others easily.

two tickets/entry fees aren't as much as two+.

i can spend lots of uninterrupted time reading and pondering.

we can walk fast.

date night is relatively easy and frequent.

we can observe and learn from kids and parents around us.
we only run the dishwasher, on average, twice a week.
we can put whatever we want on whichever shelf we want.  or even the floor.