Tornado Outbreak

I have become slightly obsessed with watching the weather... I flip back and forth from channel 5, to 7, to 11, to 33... I have it up on my computer, and my iPhone is texting me updates. Just whatever will give me the latest info, I'm there!! I'm not even terrified of storms but they are so interesting to me. I must say though, the latest storms have been pretty scary!! The winds in Alma last night were so bad that it felt at times we were in the middle of a tornado! HUGE trees were uplifted from the ground and power lines were down. We didn't even have school today due to the roads being closed off. Thank God for all of those people working hard to get everything back up and running. We lost power power for about 12 hours. I will say, I have never seen so many kids out in their yards playing.. maybe "temporarily shutting the power off" would be a good thing for families every now and then! Anyway, I hope everyone gets their yards back in shape and didn't have too much damage. I know some people aren't scared of storms but there is a difference in not being scared and being stupid. When they say take cover.... you should probably take cover! Ignorance annoys me.  

My little weather watcher

My heart goes out to those families in Alabama and Joplin. The death toll in Joplin is up to 122 with more than 750 injured. That breaks my heart to think of all the people that have lost loved ones and their homes due to these storms. There are several places and websites taking donations for these victims.. Please find one and donate. This could very easily happen to us, but I pray it does not. I hope everyone watches the weather and stays safe!

http://www.redcrossnwa.org/general.asp?SN=7955&OP=8391&IDCapitulo=6Q69P0X17U

You can click on the link above to make a donation.

Until next time.... Have a blessed night!
Kristen

Weekend Wrap-Up...

Sunday night already?! Yuck! I get so sad when the weekends are over now... that means I have to go to work and leave this precious little boy all day! :(  Thank goodness my mom comes over and keeps him while we work or it would be extremely hard for me! I love spending all day with him!!! We had a great weekend.... Corey had to work so I loaded Christian up and went to the mall with Megan, Talon, and Brylee. The kiddos played in the play area while me, Meg, and Christian ate and watched. Christian is such a great baby... He's so laid back and relaxed! Seriously, this sweet baby hardly ever cries!! He only cries when he is SUPER upset about something. We have been so blessed with an easy baby... not sure we'll chance having another one! HA Anyway, we all had a really great time!

Bry & Christian's first date to Candy Craze.

The Dean's left for naptime so me and Christian went and did some shopping! He got some cute summer clothes and so did daddy. My how things change when you get married and have a baby... I find myself getting much more enjoyment buying them new clothes than myself!! After grocery shopping we headed home... We had been out and about for 5 hours so he immediately went to sleep when we got home and took a LONG nap.. he was pooped! I finally got some much needed cleaning and organizing done! I love the smell of a freshly cleaned house.. it makes me sleep great! I decided today would be a super lazy day. Christian went to town with Nana and Poppy and came home with all kinds of goodies (because he really wanted it all... He's 3 months old.. How did he tell you that?!) Oh well... he is already ridiculously spoiled! I did not get out of my gown until 8:30 tonight when Megan called and wanted to go to the track. (Which we did not even end up at.... Instead, we went to Wal-Mart and Sonic!) hahaha We had a great excuse though... it was lightening like crazy by the time we got around to going! Yikes! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend as well!! Watch out for the storms!

This little boy has my heart!!!

He's growing so fast!!

 Until next time.... have a great night! 
Kristen

Proud Moments

I have to brag..... my kids are the best... I mean I love all kids, but these 8th graders have my heart. This has been the best 1st year of teaching! I've always heard that your 1st year is the worst and some people don't want to come back... That is crazy to me. I guess I have been blessed with a wonderful group of kids because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job! Teaching is not easy and any of you teacher friends can back me up on this! We have over 100 lives in our hands for atleast 45 minutes each day.. and that doesn't count all the times they come to you in between classes, before school, and after school needing help with their homework (sometimes in a different class), because they are having personal problems, or just needing to talk. We have the ability to make a HUGE difference in their life! In these last few weeks I have realized how attached I really am to these kids. I am starting to get really sad thinking about letting them go in just a few weeks. They are off to high school, but I'm going to try my best to keep in touch. 

Anyway.. back to the point of this post.. The end of the year is crazy and there is a lot going on. Yesterday we had teacher appreciation day. Student Council and BETA Club puts this together every year so our Stuco and BETA kids teach our classes all day. Each student wrote their teacher a "thank you" note. Well, I had two boys teach for me and I sat in my room crying at the end of the day reading my thank you cards. As a teacher, you put all this work into trying to make each day exciting for them so that they really want to learn and sometimes you wonder if it pays off or if they realize how much work is put in it. Well, let me tell ya... they know! They see how much work goes into these lessons, they see how much time you spend up walking around helping them out instead of sitting at your desk, they see the extra time you put into extra curricular activities, and most of all they see how much you truly care. I've got some really sweet notes from some of my kids the past couple of weeks that I will keep forever. One of my co-workers handed me a paper a few days ago that one of my students wrote about me when asked to write about their favorite teacher. I would have NEVER guessed. I am so hard on this particular student, I have pushed and pushed everyday and worked one on one with him/her when I know they wish more than anything I would just disappear. It made my heart drop. I couldn't believe it. Earlier in the year, I was nominated as teacher of the month, by two students who also would have never imagined would nominate me for such a thing, much less write a speech and present it to the school on behalf of me. I'm a really strict teacher.. sometimes they even joke around and call me Sergeant Ivo, but we have fun and at the same time they know I have high expectations of every one of them so, it's times like these that make everyday a joy to get up and make a difference in their lives. It makes me love my job and love these kids so much. Sure, I want them to know how to write a chemical forumla or how to draw a pedigree.. but at the end of the day, I want them to know that they have someone who believes in them and truly cares about them and their future. That's what it's all about. 

I keep getting off track. I'm so passionate about my job and these kids that I could just go on writing forever, but now for the real reason of the post....  Today on the agenda trip, we took about 50 8th graders to Ben Geren park to ride go-carts, play putt putt, and have a picnic. Well, some of these kids didn't bring money to play.. Our kids took it upon themselves to get together and buy tickets for anyone who did not bring money. Everyone played and rode go-carts the entire time and instead of getting in their little groups (that we all know 8th graders have), they all played together as one group. Everyone was so kind to each other and it really just warmed my heart. This is a tough age for these kiddos and a very transitional period in their life, but when you get down to it, they all have really big hearts. I love each and every one of them and I'll be sad to see them go.. but I'm thankful to have had such a great group to welcome me in my 1st year of teaching!


Until next time... Goodnight! =)
Kristen

My Love-Hate Relationship with Jillian...

Well.... here goes Day 1 of the 30-Day Shred.... again. I will confess, I started the program and quit halfway through it. It is pretty intense to say the least!! First of all, I'm not highly motivated to work out, but I have realized that it's no longer an option. I'm sure you mommy's can agree that fitting in working out amongst working full time and having a baby, husband, house, and life is pretty tough!! It has been very easy for me to make excuses about not having time to work out. For me it's not even about looking good anymore, but about feeling good. That small time frame when I was working out and making smart eating choices was the best I had ever felt. The hardest challenge for me is giving up cokes. I am highly addicted. It's really sad that when I go a day without one, I get a horrible headache and have no energy. Has my body really got that dependent on cokes?! That's scary. Anyway, I'm going to try a lot harder to drink more water and cut out the fast food.... And I guess give Jillian one more chance. She just really annoys me. Her video is great, but I can't really stand to watch her or hear her talk. However, the work out is only 20 minutes and it kicks my butt! I will honestly try to make it the entire 30 days this time and hopefully see and feel results! Wish me luck!! :) 

I would highly recommend this if you are wanting a quick, intense work out!!

Until next time... Have a great night!
Kristen