The Corgi is not for sale

I am clearly too busy for my own good if I haven't blogged in a whole week. Haha! School was good this week. I can't think of anything out of the ordinary that happened. The kids are getting better at Centers every day and I just love spending time with them. Beth came to school on Friday and we painted ducks. It was a ton of fun and I think Beth really liked the little ones :)

The highlights of my week were going to watch Laura play volleyball on Monday night. Go Mayo! I'm going to go to Northfield to watch her play this Monday. I'm pretty much excited about it.

I got my first pay check on Friday. That was uber exciting :)

Ooh, and also on Friday... The K-Team went out to the Macaroni Grill for lunch. We always go out to lunch on Fridays, but yesterday was Laurie's birthday, so we went somewhere extra special. Oh, good times!

Fall TV kicked off this week. Heroes, Grey's, CSI, Ugly Betty, and Private Practice did not disappoint!

We also spent a lot of time this week setting up for our garage sale, which was this morning. We got rid of all of the big stuff, including a washer, dryer, two TVs, and some VCRs and DVD players. We made just under $300, so Beth and I are pumped to go shopping later! Haha :D

Countdown to the Best Weekend Ever: 5 days!

And now for some Twins updates... I would totally give up on this, but I feel like I need a complete tally at the end of the season :) So here goes...

Monday's Score: 2-0 (Yay!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Carlos Silva

He pitched 7 1/3 shut out innings. Impressive...

Tuesday's Score: 0-8 (Yikes!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Michael Cuddyer

Cuddles was 2 for 2 with 2 walks. He was trying to help us out!

Wednesday's Score: 4-9 (Ouch!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Justin Morneau

The Fiance was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run.

Thursday's Score: 5-4 (Yay!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Bartlett

Jason Pear was 3 for 5 with 2 runs.

Friday's Score: 2-5 (No bueno...)
Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Kubel

Kubel Khan seemed to be the only one who could really hit off their pitcher...

Only two more games of the season folks. I know some of you are relieved :)

I'm shy; I'm like a turtle

Yesterday was a great day. Since I already included my morning at church, I'll pick up at the Twins game...

Lucy's parents were nice enough to give me free Twins tickets! Beth, Matt, and I got to go to the last home game of the season. It was super fun! First of all, the game was great. We were on fire! Slowey pitched a gem and we had some great offense going on. It is also possible that it was Torii's last home game as a Twin. The atmosphere was electric. When he left the field for the last time, I couldn't hold back the tears. I can't even express how if felt to be in the Dome today. But I am very grateful to Lucy's parents for giving me the chance to be there! (Our seats rocked too! 4th row, by the bull pen, baby!)

Okay, I have to back up a minute...

Saturday's Score: 8-3 (Ouch!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Kubel

Kubel Khan hit a two run homer! Woot woot :D

Sunday's Score: 1-7 (Heck yes!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Michael Cuddyer

I really could have chosen any number of players today. They had a truly great game. But I have to go with Cuddles. He was 2 for 4 with 4 (yes, you heard me right!) RBIs!

After the game, my mom made me come over for dinner. It was nice to sit (on the floor because we have their couch now!) and eat burgers with Beth and the rents. I don't take enough time to hang-out with my family anymore, so it was good.

Next up, back to school. Haha! I got a lot done and was able to have a really good talk with Jamie, one of the first grade teachers. And Lucy called while I was there. I love talking to Lucy. Our conversations keep getting longer and longer. Ha! We're now under two weeks until I get to go to Moorhead and see her! Yay! I'm so excited; I can't wait!

The other exciting thing that happened was that Laura called me... finally :P I think we talked for about 45 minutes. I have definitely missed talking to her. And that's about all I've got because now it's time for school! :)

Loud and Clear...

I honestly don't even know where to begin with this one folks. It absolutely blows my mind how God works. Really. Truly. It does. When he wants me to get something, He makes darn sure that I hear it. This was one of those weekends...

(How's that for a teaser to keep y'all reading?)

I woke up on Saturday morning and went to school. After spending about 5 hours there re-doing all of my lesson plans, I finally left for the cities. Sarah is pretty much the best ever. We'll just say that :)

We went to the Aaron Shust and Michael W. Smith concert at Grace in Eden Prairie. I have seen MWS on many occasions, but I've never had a night quite like last night. We got to talk to Mary, Abby, & Josh during the intermission and it was wonderful to see them! I could go on and on and on about the randomness or the funny things that happened, but I'm going to skip that due to how much I have to say.

I really can't even find the words to explain what I felt last night. But I sat there in tears and with chills for a good portion of the night. Aaron Shust is an incredible artist. "My Savior, My God" is still one of my all-time favorites and singing it a capella last night with thousands of other people just lifting their voices to God was amazing. Having said that, the song that hit me the most last night during his performance was one of his new ones. It's called "Watch Over Me." Here's the beginning of the song:

I was lonely
You came waltzing over to me
And Your eyes saw right through me
And You heard each one of my cries for help
And You came to rescue me
I was broken
Every prayer that I had spoken
Reached Your ears and all my tears weren't cried in vain
You carried all my pain
And put me back together again
You watch over me in the darkest valleys
You watch over me when the night seems long
You help me to see the way before me
You watch over me; You watch over me

I absolutely broke down. Tears streamed down my face and I sat there in awe of God. How comforting is it to know that HE is ALWAYS watching over us?! Oh man, just amazing.

MWS's big revelation for the night was that he wanted us all to know that we are children of God. And that His love for us is so vast we can't even comprehend it. He said that when he's having a bad day, he reads Psalm 139. The part he recited for us were verses 17 and 18, which say, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you."

I left the concert feeling wonderful. I felt loved and special and I don't even know. Sarah and I were super hungry, so we drove up to Southdale and had dinner at Maggiano's (sp?). We finally left the restaurant a tad before midnight. Niice!

Fast forward a few hours... Sarah and I get up and go to her church this morning, which I loved, by the way! They're doing a series on Connections. So, connecting with God, with others, etc. Today was about connecting with ourselves, in essence, "loving ourselves." The pastor said that instead of asking ourselves, "Who am I?" we should ask, "Whose am I?" And the scripture, Psalm 139.

Whoa! Okay, God, I get it. I am Yours. I was created in your image and You are happy with me. I was created for a purpose, and that purpose is good.

I was back at school tonight, and as I was leaving I started telling another teacher about my weekend. As soon as I said that I felt like God was telling me I was here for a reason, she stopped me. She looked me right in the eye and said, "Janet, you know what that purpose is now, right?" And I started crying again. Yes, I do know what that purpose is now. It has become blatantly clear to me in the last month.

I was meant to be a teacher, it's just that simple. I spend hours and hours at school, but I'm always happy. Even after a tough day, I'm smiling. I love going to work every day. I love writing lesson plans and thinking of my kids and how they're going to do it. I finally feel like I'm doing what I'm suppose to do; like God has always planned for his to be happening right now. I am so thrilled with where I am and I'm so excited about all that is in store.

So again, to those of you who helped me reach this point, I thank you. I really do. I feel like I can't stop smiling; like I'm glowing. I am so thankful for a wonderful weekend full of friends and faith and I'm thankful that God has been watching over me this whole time, and has brought me to this place. Our God is truly an awesome God!

I take pig second to school.

I am going to warn you right now... This is going to be a long one :) I had a simply brilliant week! Here's a very abbreviated recap.

Monday: I had a good day at work. My CAP student, Laura, started. She's amazing and I already love her. It's going to be a good semester. I also had all 16 of my kidlets there, so I got to take some class pictures. I worked pretty late and then went to crochet club with Jessica, Jessica, and some other people that actually went to Century back in the day.

Tuesday: The highlight of Tuesday was that I came home early and relaxed! Yay!

Wednesday: This was a good day... Janet invited me over to her house for dinner. She made Bobby Flay's macaroni and cheese recipe. It was really, really good. And it was so nice to get away from school and have a home-cooked meal. Her family is amazing, not that I should be surprised by that. It was a really fun night. I did have to go back to school after dinner to finish up my sub plans. While I was there, I got to talk to Lucy. So that always makes my day better.

Thursday: I had training, so my kids had their first sub. The sub loved them and told me they were really good, so that totally made my day! After school, Kelly and I went to the Century/Mayo swim meet. It was a really good meet and it was SUPER fantastic to see friends I haven't seen in FOREVER! Mayo won, so congrats to all of my friends who are Spartans! I made Kelly come with me to school after the meet. I had to correct some things and make sure I was ready for Friday. We found some journal entries incredibly amusing. And Kelly made a sign for Laura's basket. Yay Kelly!

Friday: And that brings us to today... My kids were a little crazy today, but that's okay. I still like them a lot :) Matt came to school and helped me set the DVD player. He laughed at all of our toys. Next up, the Century football game. It was probably the most fun I've ever had at a football game. First, it was a really exciting game. We were down by 10 with less than 5 minutes left, I think. We scored, then Owatonna fumbled, then we scored again and WON! Yay Panthers! The second reason I had so much fun was that we laughed... A LOT. I was with my brother and we sat with Pete and Mary Heyrman. The Pittner's were behind us, and Kelly, darling came and met us. Yay for two nights of seeing Kelly in a row! I also met, okay more like just talked to for the first time because I'd actually met them last year when I subbed for Connie, Carlie and Amanda and had a blast with them. It was a good night. I can't wait until our next football game :) After the game, I talked to lots of cool choir folks and I got to see Megan and Ashleigh again. I can't stop smiling.

This was simply a FANTASTIC week! I'm sure I'm leaving loads of stuff out, so it's your job to add them in the comments! I'm really looking forward to this weekend because I have all sorts of fun stuff planned. Rock on! More on the flip side :)

Twins Update:

Monday's Score: 4-5 (We win!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Michael Cuddyer

Cuddles was 2 for 3 with 1 run and 1 RBI!

Tuesday's Score: 2-4 (We win again!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Kubel

Kubel Khan was 3 for 4 with 3 runs!

Wednesday's Score: 2-4 (We sweep the Rangers!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Michael Cuddyer

Cuddles was 2 for 4 with 1 run and 1 RBI!

Friday's Score: 6-4 (Santana is SLUMPING!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Joe Mauer

Finally! He was 3 for 5 with 1 run and 1 RBI. Also... Mad props to Prancer and Tiny Superhero for absolutely STELLAR defensive plays!

Grilled PB&J

Really, truly... I have the best friends in the entire world! This weekend was filled with some great memories with some of my closest friends. I already told you all about my adventures with Sarah from Friday, and more fun times followed...

Let's start at the beginning. I slept in a little bit this morning and then headed over to feed Lucy's cats. I then spent the next six hours at school. Yes... you heard me right. I graded all the baseline reading tests, I e-mailed some parents, and then I sat down to write my lesson plans. In three hours, I only got three days worth written. Oy vey! It's okay though. I do feel ready to start my week. I'll just stay after school tomorrow and finish up the plans.

After school, I got to go over to Kelly, darling's house for a "fancy" dinner :) She and Aaron Bauer slaved over it for hours (I'm sure!) In all seriousness, it was so nice to have someone cook for me just because they wanted to. The dinner was great, the birthday cake that Kelly made for Aaron was delicious, and we definitely shared some good laughs. After dinner, we colored. I learned Kelly's highly complicated coloring technique and colored her a picture of Eeyore and Roo. We took some very lovely pictures, listened to some music, and then had to part ways. It was a wonderful night. I love Kelly and Aaron more than they possibly know!

I got home and watched the Emmy's with Beth. I was not impressed this year :( The people I wanted to win totally got shafted. Well, for the most part. And honestly, it wasn't even all that funny. Oh well.

The other highlight of my night was an incredibly nice e-mail I got from Lucy's mom. I cried. I know, it's shocking. She said some very kind things and, well, I don't know. I just needed to hear it, I think. So yeah, it was exciting. And also really exciting... I get to go to the last home Twins game of the season on Sunday. YAY!!!

Speaking of the Twins... We lost again today :( The score was 6 to 4. Oh well. Here's to next year being better!

Boyfriend of the Day: Nick Punto

Tiny Superhero (the player, not the fish :P) was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run. What the frick frack is going on?!

Take me out to the zoo!

Friday was a really good day at school. My class got complimented by a bus driver (during our bus evacuation drill), the library teachers, and a teacher in the hallway when we were walking back to class. I guess my high expectations might actually be paying off!

Today was a tad chaotic. We had our bus evacuation drill, it was our library day, and we had to watch a bus safety video. So we didn't get much done academically, but that's alright. We did get our class constitution written and that was my main focus for the day.

After school I went to Lucy's house to feed the cats. I love her cats, so that made me smile. I ran home to check my e-mail, and then I headed up to the cities. Sarah and I got to go to a dinner at the zoo. I don't think I've been to the zoo since I was in high school. I had so much fun!

Sarah kept making me crawl through the little kid things. It was quite entertaining. Sometime she'll post pictures, hopefully they're amusing :P We also walked the Minnesota Trail even though it was closed. While there, a coyote scared the crap out of us and we almost got locked in. Good times were definitely had by all!

We went back to her house and stayed up way too late talking. I felt bad because she had to work a 12-hour shift starting at 8 o'clock on Saturday morning. Whoops.

I got up and came home. I fed the cats and then I went to school for four hours. I taught swim school in the afternoon, and then we went out to the castle for a taco dinner. We didn't end up eating until about 9 because Matt shot his first buck. His name is/was Joe. Joe is dead. Joe's head will be mounted on the wall someday. Haha! Congrats to my favorite baby brother :)

I'm now heading back to school. I'll probably be there all afternoon. Then, Kelly and Aaron are making me dinner tonight. I'm uber excited!

The Twins have been losing this weekend. Oh well.

Friday's Score: 4-2
Boyfriend of the Day: Justin Morneau

The Fiance had both of our RBIs because he hit a two-run homer.

I've heard that Hunter's ejection is pretty priceless, but I still have to see it.

Saturday's Score: 4-3
Boyfriend of the Day: Nick Punto

Tiny Superhero was 2 for 3 with 2 runs. What the heck is going on?!

This rain hurts!

Today was a crazy day. I couldn't do much instructionally because I had anywhere from 3 to 8 students gone at all times. They were finishing up my Baseline Reading tests. So it was hard to work around that. However, we managed.

The highlight (although I wasn't overly entertained by it at the time) was after school. I got my kids ready to go out to the buses and noticed that it had started to rain. As we got out to the sidewalk, it was pouring. By the time we got to the buses, I was totally drenched. Very few of my kids had coats because it hadn't been raining when they came to school. A few buses were there already, so I put the kids right on (normally they wait in lines until all the kids get out there).

I had three little ones who still didn't have a bus there, so we ran back inside for a few minutes. I walked one of my kids to the foyer to meet his dad and then went back to my busers. This time when we went outside, it was hailing. One little girl looked up at me and said, "This rain hurts, Miss Youngers. Why does it hurt?" Oh man, it was too precious.

I got my last three on their buses and headed back inside. I was so wet I had to wring out my dress before I went inside. The other teachers, the ones who had stayed inside, laughed at those of us who were wet. I immediately thought of Lucy and how much she enjoys laughing at me. I knew she would have laughed at me and that made me laugh at myself. I think it's a pretty fun story, really.

About 10 minutes later, it stopped and the sun came out. Nice timing. Haha! I decided I better run home and change. My original plan was to go right from work to Owatonna. Oh well, that's life. I had dinner at Applebee's and then had my Council meeting. It was so wonderful to see friends. Oh man, it was good.

On the way home, Brandon, Ben, and I rocked out to Stalin and the Shah and then called Lucy and left her a very lovely message :P Then we had a Disney sing-a-long. It was a good time. Not gonna lie. Then, I come home and find out that Kelly and Aaron are cooking me dinner on Sunday night. I'm so excited. Words cannot even describe how much I'm looking forward to it!

That's all for now, folks.

You ripped off the puff-ball!

I'd say today was better than yesterday. The scariest moment of the day was when the assistant principal walked in. Totally freaked me out. He was looking for a student, but the student wasn't in my class. Weird. So he left. I was relieved :P

We did our centers again today. I think they went better. I still have the kids who constantly ask me what job they're suppose to do next. But we'll get better. And I only had one kid totally screw up one of his jobs. I have these self-portrait books. Each month the kidlets will write their name and draw a self-portrait. One of my kids was drawing in December before I stopped him. I threw that book away and we started over, only drawing on the September page.

Red Job = Self-Portraits Book
Green Job = Snack
Blue Job = Reading Corner
Purple Job = Make construction paper stoplight

Math was interesting. I got to display my wonderful artistic abilities. HAHA! We also e-mailed Mrs. Fink today and asked her questions about the baby.

We're trying to get our Baseline reading tests done this week. All the other teachers have been done, and I'm the last one. One para and one of the reading teachers started on my kids today. I think they got 4 done. But I tried to send one little girl with the para (who's a guy) and she started bawling! After school, I told her mom about it. Hopefully she'll go with the reading teacher tomorrow. Other than that, NO CRYING TODAY! YAY!

After school, I sat and talked to Roxie for quite a while. I got a little work done and then I left. I was in my car by 6:00. I know, I know. It's quite impressive :P I drove past the Rec. Center and realized that my mom was there. So I stopped and talked to her (since I haven't seen her in FOREVER!) I also got to talk to some of my favorite swimming parents, so that was nice. Everyone was super supportive, so I left feeling really happy.

Tonight I finished watching the first season of "Heroes." I'm pretty sure that I watched all 23 episodes in 6 days. Haha! Seriously, if you haven't watched this show... WATCH IT! It's totally amazing. I can't wait for season two to start!

The Twins lost today. But all was not lost. Good ol' Matthew LeCroy came in for Morneau in the 7th. Woot woot!

Boyfriend of the Day: Matthew LeCroy

He was 1 for 2 with a run! And watching him run... PRICELESS :D

What sound does a giraffe make?

Today was another LONG day. I got home from school a little after 10. Yay? I feel a little more organized though, at least with my assessment stuff.

School was a little rough today. They did pretty well with painting their buses. We had some trouble with our book pages for "The Seals on the Bus." I gave up and started over about half way through it. And Centers was once again a struggle. I really need to give them more work they can do on their own, and less that I need to supervise. Although, starting next week, I'll have a CAP student at least some of the time. I'm thinking that will help. Maybe she can supervise my art projects. Ha!

Today when we passed Oink around our circle, we talked about friends. Then we wrote a letter to Lucy. It's pretty sweet, not gonna lie. We talked all about how to write a letter and then we worked together to decide what to tell her. It was really fun. Then, for one of their centers, they got to sign their name. I took it to the post office on my way home, so hopefully she gets it tomorrow or Thursday.

We had a brief Kindergarten team meeting after school to discuss assessments and goal setting conferences (only a month away - yikes!) At that point, Jessica and I went to run some errands and to Target to buy stuff to get us organized, and stuff she needed for her classroom. While we were at Target, we realized that we both needed things for tomorrow's Kindergarten Team Meeting/Pot-Luck. I talked to Lucy for a few minutes while I was weaving all over the place following Jessica while she bought ingredients for her Taco Dip.

When we checked out, we had a very nasty lady behind us. She was incredibly impatient and RUDE! Yeah, it took us a while because of the way we have to pay for things for the district, but come on! Jessica apologized to her (more than once and very politely) and she wouldn't even respond. She needs to change her attitude for sure!

On the way back to school, we picked up dinner from McDonald's. We ate our dinner, made a billion copies for our assessment binders, organized our assessment binders, and then I worked in my classroom. We finally left around 9:40. Good times to be had by all parties involved :P

Tomorrow, we're going to draw self-portraits. Yay! I'm also hoping for a day with no tears. I had one boy crying today when he got stung by a bee on the playground and then two more boys just bawling today before we got on the buses to go home. I don't think they like the bus very much :( But I told them to sit next to each other, so I'm hoping that helped. It makes me so sad.

Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten: Ticky-tack does not stick to painted walls when it's humid. Everything keeps falling down in our room. It's incredibly frustrating! I also learned that most kids songs can be played on the guitar with the chords C, G, and F. Now I just need to try to remember how to play F and I'll be good to go!

The Twins won again last night. Yay for a two game winning streak?

Boyfriend of the Day: Justin Morneau

He was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs.

Hello, Neighbor

I feel like I live at school. I think I kind of do. But when I'm there, time flies. And I love all the aspects of my job so far. I obviously love the time when the kids are there. But I also like preparing projects, thinking of activities, and planning my lessons.

This week is Bus Safety week. Today we painted buses. I was nervous because I knew I had to model the project. I am TERRIBLE at art and I just wasn't sure how my bus would turn out. But it's not horrible. Thank goodness! The kids' buses are super cute. I totally love them! I'm excited to hang them up in the hall/classroom after we finish them.

I was on my way to my parents' house after school. It was a little before 7, I think. And my phone rang. It was the one and only Kelly Castle. So I went to Noodles and had dinner with her and Amanda. Well, Amanda and I ate, Kelly watched us. It made me really happy to see them again. Second night in a row, baby! But it makes me sad to see Kelly so sad :( So Kelly, I LOVE YOU!!!

I was at my parents' for a little while laminating things for school. I laminated three class book covers, name tags, names for the Word Wall, and color cards for my centers. It was a good time :P Then, I got home and had a letter from Nate. It made me smile really big :) Yay for mail!

Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten: Do not leave out materials or supplies that the kids don't need to use. I gave them the seemingly simple task of writing their name, in pencil, on their page for our first class book. I had two write in marker and one color around their picture in marker. Oy vey!

Saturday's Score: 7-8 (I'm sick of losing!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Jose Morales

He went 3 for 3 in his Major League debut. Now THAT is impressive! Too bad he got hurt and will be out for the rest of the season. THAT is no bueno!

Sunday's Score: 5-2 (WE WIN!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Kubel

Kubel Khan went 2 for 4 with 1 run and 4 RBIs. Yay! His three-run homer definitely helped :)

Lord Waldorf

My second day of school was good. I'd have to say better than the first day. The kidlets are starting to get into the routines already and I love that. Plus, I made sure I had time to take them outside to play, and I think they really enjoyed that. Brooke showed up at the very end of the day. She said my face was priceless. Whoops. I just didn't expect to see her and it was right when I was trying to get my kids lined-up to go outside to the bus. It's a little crazy.

From school, I went to Albert Lea to the visitation for Sarah's grandma. I think it was the happiest visitation I've ever been to. Which is a good thing and goes to show how beautiful (sorry to steal Sarah's line here) death can be. It was nice to see and talk to Sarah, Jennie, Chris, and Sue. I was glad I could make it down.

After that, Emmalee and I began our trek to Forest City, Iowa. It really wasn't that far from Albert Lea. We found it without any problems and Matt flagged us down on the street outside his dorm :P We saw his room, met his roommate, and went and said hello to Maggie. Their dorm rooms are TINY and incredibly dark. I was surprised. Next up, Matt gave us a tour of campus. It's a smaller school than I expected, but the campus is really pretty. I liked it.

We drove around Forest City, tried to find the Cow Palace (which we eventually did), and ended up at A&W. I haven't laughed that hard in a while. It hurt so bad. But oh man, was it ever fun! We had some great one-liners, but of course, I don't remember them now. When they kicked us out, about 15 minutes after closing, whoops, we talked in the car until we had to leave. It was a wonderful night with some really good friends and I wouldn't have traded it for anything!

Then, my night got even better because I got home and had a letter from Laura. An actual, in the mail, letter. It was one of the nicest letters I have ever received. I was bawling, but that's not all that surprising.

So yeah, it was a good night.

Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten: It's all about being creative. Enough said.

The Twins lost again. But for once, it wasn't for lack of offense! I'm kind of frustrated with the coaches. I cannot for the life of me figure out why they didn't take DePaula out after he gave up 2 runs. That probably could have saved the game. Grr.

Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Bartlett

Jason Pear has just been really stepping his game up lately. Especially his offense. He was 3 for 7 with two runs.

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of Kindergarten. I got up this morning and got to go down to HR to sign my contract. It feels so good to have that all done and settled! I even got a new ID badge that says I teach at Bamber instead of having a sub one. It's quite exciting for me :)

Today flew by. We had a bus that was way late, so we lost about 15 minutes of our 150 minutes. That's 10%, that's a big number! Here's what we did today:

1:15 to 1:40 - Opening Routine

During our Opening today, I modeled what the Helper each day will do. The helper will have to take the milk count to the office every day, so we all walked down and met Lisa. Good times!

1:40 to 1:50 - Reviewed rules, learned the "Potty Sign," etc.
1:50 to 2:00 - Sing songs! Yay!
2:00 to 2:10 - Pass Oink Time

Oink is a stuffed pig that we named today as a class. We pass him around the circle and get to share something about ourselves. Only the person who's holding Oink is allowed to talk. Today we shared something we're excited about in Kindergarten!

2:10 to 2:20 - Story Time: "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn
2:20 to 2:50 - Center Time

We had two assignments today during center time. They had to make a mini book that went with the story and we did an art project with our hand prints.

2:50 to 3:05 - Snack Time!
3:05 to 3:10 - Math Activity (I was a little rushed!)
3:10 to 3:20 - Pack up our things and get ready to go home
3:20 to 3:30 - Brave the crazyness that is bus lines. Ick!
3:30 to 8:16 - Ms. Youngers stays at school and WORKS!
8:16 to 8:24 - Drive to Whistle Binkies and talk to LUCY!!!
8:24 to 9:45 - Dinner (and drinks) with two other new teachers!
9:45 - Finally head home for the day!

Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten: Kids are flipping funny! One of the most adorable little girls ever wanted to take her milk home after snack. She drank about half of it, and normally I just have the kids dump it out and throw the carton away. I tried to tell her that it might spill in her backpack or get yucky, but she insisted that her mom told her to take it home and started crying. I found her a baggie and let her put it in her backpack. I e-mailed her mom tonight and she responded. She wants me to keep a record of my funny stories because she's sure I'll have plenty of them with my 16 five year-olds running around. I think she's probably right.

The Twins lost again last night. Grr.

Boyfriend of the Day: Torii Hunter

He was 2 for 3 with an RBI...

Inappropriate Hair Height

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I went to school in the morning to help Janet put some last minute stuff up (birthdays, tags for the coat hooks, names on the cubbies, etc.) Becky came down and congratulated me. I stared blankly and she realized that HR hadn't called me yet. She told me that I hadn't heard anything from her ;)

Janet's kids came at 9:30, so I left to come home. I ran a few errands and then went back to school at 11. I went to Applebee's for lunch with all of the other Kindergarten teachers except Janet (she had plans with her niece for lunch) and Heidi, who used to teach there but is now Jessica's GIP supervisor. Then the fun really began...

I had my kids for an hour and a half. 10 of them were suppose to come, but only 8 did. I showed them their coat hooks and we hung-up their backpacks. We went into the room and did a little "getting to know you" activity. We sang my two welcome songs that I want to do every day, read a story, went on a tour of the school, had snack, read another story, played a little inside, sang our end of the day song, and then played outside. My kids are amazing! The sure like to tell stories, but that I can deal with :)

After school, the assistant principal told me that they were offering me the job, even though he wasn't suppose to tell me that. He said HR should be calling. So I went home in a very good mood! A little before 5, HR did call and offered it to me officially. I'm going in tomorrow morning to sign my contract. Woot woot! I'm just a tad bit excited, can we tell?

To celebrate, Beth and I went to "Hairspray" again. We went to the late show, hoping no one else would be there and we could sing. Unfortunately, one couple came in :( Oh well, it was still fun!

I'm going to start something new at the end of my blogs. It will replace the B.O.D. when the Twins season ends. For now I will put it on some blogs, maybe all, I don't know yet. So here you go...

Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten: Kindergarteners don't know how to open milk cartons yet. I get to teach them that :P

You didn't think I wouldn't remember about my beloved, although terrible right now, Twins.

Monday's Score: 5-0 (shut-out by the Tribe. Ick!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Alexi Casilla

4 for 4! Are you kidding me?!? Whoa!

Tuesday's Score: 7-5 (This one hurt!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Justin Morneau

I haven't been able to give it to the Fiance recently because he's been sucking so bad. But today he was 3 for 5 with a bases clearing double! Woot woot! 3 RBIs, baby!

Little J-Rod had a good day too!

Ex-Boyfriend of the Day: Joe Nathan

Seriously! We had a lead until he blew-it. Then we lost in extra innings. Oh, painful!

I guess I'm feeling brave...

I wasn't sure if I really wanted to blog about this or not, but apparently I'm feeling brave this morning. I have to get to school, so I'm going to try and make this quick. Hopefully it'll all make sense. I hope this doesn't come off as conceited or anything like that, because that's not at all what I mean. Well... Here goes...

I went to bed early last night and was reading from a book called "Ripples of Joy" by Cheryl Kirking. I've been reading this book off and on for a few years now. It's a collection of stories and song lyrics and things. It's really good, and I'd highly recommend it. Anyway, she ends each story with a quote or Bible verse that goes along with the story. One of the stories I read yesterday ended with a quote that really touched me. It's a Norwegian Proverb that translates to, "That which is loved is always beautiful."

I paused for a moment and then tears just started streaming down my face. Those of you who know me well will probably get this right away. I guess in that moment, I just felt beautiful. I don't know if this makes any sense. I feel so incredibly loved. By God, by my family and of course by my friends. And I have known that they see beauty in me that I just can't ever see myself.

I've been a lot better about this this summer. I actually had several times where I felt good about myself. And I'm hoping those times happen more and more. This quote showed me that I should have the confidence to feel beautiful and a part of that is because I am so loved.

I really have to run now, but hopefully you got the gist of that. Thanks again to all of my amazing friends who have been so patient with me over the years (or months) that we've been friends.

Warm Fuzzies

So I'm in a weird and rather sentimental mood. I kind of think that I have been all week, really. So here's how this one goes...

I was in the car today and I was listening to the "Hairspray" soundtrack. Now, this is nothing new. I listen to it non-stop most days, but I was listening pretty carefully to the lyrics to the song "Come So Far (Got So Far To Go)." It definitely got me thinking about some things. So here's the part that really got to me.

Hey old friend, together
Side by side and year by year
The road was filled with twists and turns
Oh, but that's the road that got us here.
Let's move past the bad times
But before those memories fade
Let's forgive, but not forget
And learn from all the mistakes we made.

I love it! What I really love is that even though the roads we take aren't always the easiest. And they are sometimes totally filled with twists and turns and bumps and detours. They are still the roads that lead to where we are today. Oh goodness, I just feel like that's so true!

And now for the sentimental part...

To those of you who've stuck by me through all of my changing and growing, especially over this past year, or even past few months. Thank you.

To those of you have have helped me become the person that I am today. Thank you.

And to those of you who have loved me, supported me, and encouraged me through the twists and turns. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

I don't get to see most of you very often. But know that I miss you, that I'm thinking about you and praying for you often. And, most importantly, know how much I love you!

Who wants to name a fish?

Today I got to head up to St. Cloud with the family. We left town a little after noon and went straight to Matt's new apartment when we got to campus. It's teeny tiny! There are four guys living there and they all have their own rooms. You can SO tell that guys live there. It even smelled like boy.

We headed over to the park for Matt's swim team picnic. Beth and I just ate quick and then we took Howie over to the dog park. We love this dog park. He made some new friends (a Min Pin named Jack and some sort of Schnauzer/terrier mix named Einstein) and played in the river. Yes, Howie, the dog who hates to swim, swam in the river. At first he'd just wade around, but then he actually swam out a little ways. He even swam up the river and got out outside of the fence. We had to chase him down and bring him back. His other favorite activity of the day was chasing Jack around in circles.

So Matt has a fish now. His name is Turtle. He's pretty cute. It made Beth and I both want another fish. Our first plan was to just get one, but we decided we better get two. I think we're both going to get Betas and keep one in the kitchen and one in the living room. We went to Wal-Mart tonight, but all of their fish looked sickly. We decided to buy the bowls and stuff, but we'll go to PetSmart tomorrow for the fish. I'm uber excited!

HELP NEEDED!

I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to name my fish, even though Beth DOES NOT approve. But I'm open to suggestions. So leave me comments as to what you think I should name my fish. I'll be sure to post pictures and let you all know what I went with tomorrow :)

And finally, a Twins update. Today's game wasn't pretty. I don't even want to talk about it.

Boyfriend of the Day: Garrett Jones

GJ was 3 for 3. At least someone could hit today!

Ex-Boyfriend of the Day: Boof Bonser

Boof only pitched 1 and 2/3 innings (the shortest outing of his CAREER!) It was so bad. Oh my gosh!

Everybody loves a good jazz square!

Yesterday was a crazy and emotional day. If you want to know more about it, you're welcome to ask me. I should have some official news about the job on Tuesday, but I'm feeling pretty confident at this point.

Today was long, busy, and fun. We spent most of the day doing yard work with Mom and Dad. We weeded, hauled pavers around, cut down a grape vine and hauled it out of our yard, and put mulch EVERYWHERE. Haha! You should come check it out sometime ;)

Tonight was excited because we got to see friends. Sarah and her fiance, Matt, live in DC. The last time we saw them was at Christmastime. They're back in town doing some wedding planning and they were able to come over tonight. Our friend, Tim, also came over for the fun! It was nice to catch up with everyone and to make fun of Tim for the fact that he's on the 7 year plan to get his under-grad. Haha! We're going to throw a HUGE party when he finally finishes in the spring of 2009 (yeah, he graduated from HS with Beth in 2002).

We introduced them to the wonders of "Yo Gabba Gabba," we watched some "I Love the 80s" and then we watched the last hour of "The Hitcher." What a classic thriller from 1986. Haha! I hate scary movies, but this one only creeped me out a little. Probably because it's from 1986. I won't spoil it for anyone, but I'm still totally shocked by part of it. I'm actually tempted to see the remake now. The last thing we did was watch the last hour of "X-Men: The Last Stand." It was interesting because Matt is quite the X-Men expert. It was funny to listen to him talk about how much different and better the comics are.

And on the baseball front... Time for an update :) The Twins played three games in less than 24 hours. Yay? We won two of the three, so I can't complain about that.

Friday Game 1's Score: 9-4 (ouch!)
Boyfriend of the Day: Jason Tyner

This one was really tough because no one did anything great. JJ is one of my favorite players though and I rarely give him the nod. He was 1 for 4 with an RBI and a walk. His RBI came on 2 outs, so yay for him!

Friday Game 2's Score: 0-5
Boyfriend of the Day: Scott Baker

Holy smokes, Nutty was outstanding tonight! He was pitching a perfect game into the ninth inning. Unfortunately, he gave up a walk and then a hit, but he still pitched a complete game shut-out, and that's nothing to take lightly. In the game, he had 9 strikeouts. I am so, way impressed!

Saturday's Score: 4-6
Boyfriend of the Day: Luis Rodriguez

Little J-Rod's back! Woot woot! He was 2 for 4 today with a run and a 2-out RBI. Yay!

Top 5 Boyfriends of the Day:
1 - The Fiance (14)
2 - Cuddles (12)
3 - Jason Pear (11)
4 - Tiny Superhero (10)
5 - Kubel Khan (7)