2015 is gone and 2016 is here!

I haven't been on my blog in a very long time. I decided to log in tonight scroll through past blog posts. I miss blogging! I miss having somewhere to jot down my thoughts. I think I need to get back to documenting the little things that happen in my life. Here is an incredibly brief catch up of 2015.

I left Texas. I was there for 2 years and am grateful for the experiences I had there BUT it was time for me to come home. I wasn't doing well there. I brought all of my personal things and classroom back with me which filled up a U-Haul. I have way too much stuff.

My brother Clint flew out to help us pack and help drive the moving truck so Ken wasn't driving the entire time.

Goodbye Beetle Nut Lane!

Ahhhh.... you have no idea how much I missed my Utah mountains while I lived in Texas. This picture was taken from the playground where I teach. Gorgeous!

Ken lives in Teas and I live in Utah. It works. We text, talk, and FaceTime. Not every day, but enough.

Did I tell you how much I missed my mountains?

My older brother Clint got married in July. He married a girl named Olea and we absolutely ADORE her!

Clint has two sons and two daughters and Olea has three sons. Presto! A family of nine. Holy cow, nine! I gained three new nephews who I love!

I got a new washer and dryer this summer. Seriously, it was a highlight! I've never owned a new washer or a new dryer. New appliances are always fun!

I was beyond blessed to be able to return to my former district and beloved elementary school that I taught at prior to moving to Texas. My new adventure this year was taking on teaching 6th grade. I've taught 1st and 3rd and was pretty apprehensive to teach 6th. I am loving it!

This blurry picture is my 6th grade team on Halloween. I truly love these ladies!

I had my first car accident on my way to school on the 2nd day. What a way to begin the school year. It was a scary experience, I won't lie. The little green car plowed through the intersection and ran a red light, totaling both of our cars. Her fault, not mine.

One of my students, whose parent had seen the accident, made me a "crash cake." I thought it was adorable! She even got the car colors right. It was cute and delicious!

I loved my Toyota Camry that was totaled. I still miss that car. I replaced it with a new 2015 Toyota Avalon. It's a really nice car, but I'm not in love with it yet. I'll get there, I'm sure.

2015 was a big year with my dad. He went downhill at an incredible speed and we moved him to a care center in September. It's not what any of us wanted and many, many tears have been shed - and still continue to be shed. My rock-solid dad is quickly deteriorating and I am afraid that 2016 will bring many more tears. On the upside, it has taken away some big time stress for my mom to not have him at home. She doesn't have to worry about certain things and she is actually able to sleep.

Since my dad is completely immobile he wasn't able to come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. He was sad and upset but understands the situation. We brought the party to him. Here is a family picture with everyone from December.

Little Tank turned 16 years old in 2015 - I took this picture of him today. He is deaf, blind, and walks in circles a lot. He is old but his little body still works as good as ever (kidneys, heart, etc.) and he isn't in any pain so he and I are continually adjusting to his needs. I just can't put him down right now. I need my furry little guy more than ever!

And those mountains!!

2015 was a year with a lot of change. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't handle change well. I'm still getting through things day by day and am so happy to be back in Utah, at my school, and with my family. I am grateful for the blessings I have and a Heavenly Father who is very mindful of what is going on in my life.

Baby Shower Centerpiece...

The school that I teach at does quarterly baby showers for teachers and staff. This week we're having a joint baby shower for 5 teachers, one of which is on my team. We all pitch in for a gift and each grade level is in charge of a centerpiece for the mother-to-be that they teach with. My team asked me to make the one for our coworker. Not having a clue what to make, I got online and searched for ideas. Diaper cakes scare the heck out of me - there's something I find creepy about rolling up diapers to make a "cake". I ruled that out and found this idea instead...

A baby onesie and washcloth bouquet. This picture gave me my idea so off to the store I went.

I ended up purchasing 9 onesies, 6 baby washcloths, ribbons, floral tape, wooden dowels, tape, rubber bands, etc. Yep. My blank canvas.

Ken even joined me for a while and rolled the onesies and washcloths onto dowels.

After they were rubber banded (to help them not unroll) I went over them with floral tape - it doesn't leave any sticky residue.

 I decided they needed some "foliage" so I added layers of ribbon to each one and taped that on as well.

I bought 2 different shades of green for contrast. 

I was going to put my bouquet in a large flower pot but I was able to get this basket for $5.00 - much less expensive than the pots I had been looking at. I found styrofoam that fit inside of it perfectly. Bonus!

I added green shredded crinkle paper (thank goodness Easter stuff is in the stores already) over the top of the styrofoam and started shoving the "flowers" into the basket. I also added some painted cut outs that I just taped onto dowels and added yellow ribbon to.

It's kind of a strange centerpiece but it's all completely useable. Hopefully it will work out for the baby shower. Not too shabby for my first attempt!

Parenting Saturday...

We were able to have my student Miss S. again this weekend. Her grandma sent me a text on Friday afternoon asking if we would like to have her again. I happily said yes. This time her brother, Mr. E., came too. Miss S. is 8 years old. Her brother is 7 years old. He is a quite a bit more hyper than she is. He talks a mile a minute and has one volume - loud. He and I have a lot in common. Ha ha! 

Miss S. wasn't exactly thrilled that her bother spent the day with us. Before we left their house, she asked her grandma why Mr. E's teacher couldn't come and take him for the day rather than come with us. I tried to make the day special for her and assured her that Mr. E was coming with us to make it more fun. I'm not sure she bought it.

They got along great and I'm glad that grandma allowed us to have them from 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. After I picked them up we came back to the house. They found our DVD of Disney's Tangled and wanted to watch it. I'm not a fan of kids sitting in front of a t.v. as entertainment but it did give me a chance to get a little cleaning done and fix them some lunch.

I don't have kids. I spend all day with other people's children but I'm not in charge of feeding them. Last time I made Miss S. a broiled ham and cheese on a bagel (best sandwich I know how to make) and she didn't touch it. This time? Grilled cheese, Cheetos, and some pieces of apple. They put blankets on the floor and had a picnic with each other. It was cute. They both ranted about my sandwich telling me it was better than what grandma makes and that the cheese was better than McDonald's cheese - not sure if that's a compliment or not. They munched the apples and neither of them ate their Cheetos, which I thought was interesting.

 

We went down to the lake and fed the ducks. Can you see all of the bread floating in the water? Miss S. and Mr. E. just started throwing in entire pieces of bread. The lake looked terrible when we left. Oh well.Hopefully the ducks got their fill.

 We went to the park in the neighborhood just a few streets over. It was a beautiful, warm day. Mr. E found an new monkey toy in Tank's toy basket and fell in love with it. He wouldn't put it down and it went everywhere with us. Whatever he did at the park, the monkey did too. It went on the swings...

and glided across the playground on the slider.

Later in the afternoon we took them to an indoor bounce house place. It is basically a big warehouse with a ton of different bounce houses in it. Cheap and fun.

A few of the inflatables were a little bit frightening, I'm not going to lie.

Would you like a hat? $10.00. What about a t-shrit? That's right... shrit. A shrit will cost you $15.00. Shrits are hard to come by!

After the bounce houses, the kids chose to go to Golden Corral for dinner. We had a fun visit during dinner and before we knew it, it was time to go home. We drove them back into Fort Worth. I was exhausted but what a fun day for those two kids. I'm grateful to be able to spend some time with them.

Thankful Thursday...

I've decided I need to start something new and add a post every Thursday. I have several friends who do "throwback Thursday", which is fun. Today was just one of those days where I felt so much gratitude for my life. Here's to 'Thankful Thursdays'.

Tonight it was my turn to volunteer at a community night held at my school. It was fun to have all of the kids and their parents come for a free night of science experiments and food. I teach within a community that is at and below the poverty level. The people are real, hard working, considerate, endearing, and proud of the things they have. I often get rocks, small used toys, bouquets of dandelions, and leftover apples from lunch as gifts from my students. They are genuinely excited to give me anything they have, and I accept it all with enthusiasm, excitement, and hugs.

Tonight as I was wandering around the activity watching the kids it made me think of the opportunities that these kids most likely will not have in their lives. I hope they all fight to graduate from high school. I hope advantages will come along for them that help them along their way. I hope they will find a way to attend college. I hope they will be able to find good employment and be able to support a family. I hope their lives are easier than the lives of their parents. A lot of the parents in the community work 2, 3, 4 minimum wage jobs, barely scraping by. They have no advantages, aren't cut any breaks, and go without necessities. Life isn't fair. Most of us are a product of our environment. Sometimes we can rise above it.

I am beyond thankful for the advantages that I have had throughout my life, and continue to have. There are many! I am thankful for the parents who raised me and provided not only advantages but countless opportunities for me to succeed. I am thankful that I have an education and a career in which I can be involved in the lives of these kids who need extra encouragement and love. They are just as capable as any other child in this world!

Sometimes I just need to remind myself that even though I wonder what in the world I'm doing with my life, I sure am thankful for where I'm at. I'm one lucky girl.

Midweek Day Off...

Last Monday I opened the garage door to head to work and saw Ken's car covered in ice. We haven't really had a lot of ice or snow here in Texas. We did have a big ice storm in December that shut everything down for 5 days. It was kind of nice being trapped in a warm house... in my pj's... eating junk food... taking naps... you get the drift.

I went to work and it snowed a little bit. These pictures were taken from my school - the parking lot and a field. "Treacherous", I know. Being from Utah, I giggle at the reactions that Texans have to a few flurries. I've figured out that people can't drive in the stuff AND ice is just plain scary anyway.

Due to the massive storm (insert eye rolling here) I was sent home from work at 1:30 p.m. Yup. They had a paraprofessional cover my class so I could brave the elements and head home. The freeway was completely dry. I felt guilty. In fact, I felt so guilty that as soon as I got home Ken and I went out to lunch.

Our neighbor's fountain did freeze, which was kind of pretty.

I got a text Monday night that our superintendent had cancelled school for Tuesday. Day off for me. It was great because I was able to run a few errands - the roads were completely dry. I don't know... it may have been an overreaction. 

But seriously,

this is how it is.

I'll take an "ice day" off anytime!

Saving the world...

I'm trying to save the world.

Well, one person's world.

I save a student, Miss "S", who I just love. Without going into detail on a public domain, I've become quite invested in this little one. I've been "checking in" with her family several times a week to try and take her for a day each weekend. We were able to have her with us a few weeks ago on a Saturday.

She LOVES to draw and color. She had a lot of fun at our house!

I took her to the nearby lake in our development to feed the ducks. She loved it!

Ken and I also took her to see Frozen. We all loved it! 

Now I'm obsessed with THIS LINK.

The best part is that she still calls me Mrs. Adams in class (thank goodness) but she loves to write my name on her spelling tests.

 

Crasteena? Well, it's phonetically correct I suppose.