Friday, May 23, 2014
Green Beans in the Living Room
This Spring, Josh and I decided to plant a garden. You may be wondering how we'll do this in an apartment. Well, we saw an add for $10 plots in the community garden right around the corner from us! So we went to the store to get seeds and starter plants for our garden (that we hadn't purchased yet...). Our second stop was at the community center to buy a plot for the summer. Unfortunately this was in early April and we weren't allowed to plan until they had designated the plots this week. Therefore, we have green beans (rather large climbing plants!), squash, broccoli, carrots, spinach, lettuce, cilantro, basil, parsley, rosemary and corn growing in our living room. It's quite embarrassing when people come over. At first we tried moving all the planters into the bedroom when people came but it was too much moving around, so we just leave them out for visitors. Definitely a conversation piece! Last weekend we tilled up the garden (by shovel and rake!) and we're hoping to plant them this weekend. We weren't exactly sure how much to plant in a 10x10 plot so we did a little of everything. Maybe we should have researched some more before jumping into all of this! Anyway, I think we're going to have a ton of produce!! Let me know if you want any! :)
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
The Future Cowboy
The other day I was trying to inspire the kids to want to read and see a bigger purpose in reading. I was trying to explain that they need to read in everyday life. We started talking about the different jobs that they wanted to have when they grow up. Some students wanted to be a firefighter, so I explained that they would need to be able to read the street signs when they drive the fire truck. Some people wanted to be a cashier, so I explained that they would need to read the receipts. Some students wanted to be a teacher, so I explained that they would need to read books to the children. I was feeling quite proud that I'd gotten around to almost all the class and found a purpose for reading for every job. Then...I had to get extremely creative.
Me: "What would you like to be when you grow up?"
Student: "A COWBOY!!!"
Me: "Hmmmmmmm (hahahaha) well..............cowboys ride horses, so I guess you'd have to read a book about how to train a horse!
A bit far fetched on that one!
Me: "What would you like to be when you grow up?"
Student: "A COWBOY!!!"
Me: "Hmmmmmmm (hahahaha) well..............cowboys ride horses, so I guess you'd have to read a book about how to train a horse!
A bit far fetched on that one!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Missing Chunk of Hair
The other day I was at the round table with a small group of kids reading. The rest of the class were around the room at centers. I should have known not to let the kids work independently with scissors....
So, after the first rotation of centers, one of the girls shrieked, "He cut his hair!" I thought she was exaggerating, so I thought that I would take care of it after centers were finished. Well, I forgot. Until...we went to library and the librarian said, "Oh my, did you cut your own hair!?" I looked more closely and sure enough, a chunk of his hair in the front was missing! Oh no! What would the parents think??
Unfortunately, spring picture day was the next day! Hahaha his parents were genius and spiked his hair with gel and you couldn't even see the short spot! We talked about it at conferences and they informed me that it was not the first time that this had happened!! :)
I found out I get to keep my job next year! Same grade and same school! Yay! I'm already starting to plan out some of the things I will do differently next year. Hard to believe there are only a couple more months of the school year! I am looking for a summer job. Hopefully I will be able to babysit for a family full time. Alright, off to take a Sunday afternoon nap! :)
So, after the first rotation of centers, one of the girls shrieked, "He cut his hair!" I thought she was exaggerating, so I thought that I would take care of it after centers were finished. Well, I forgot. Until...we went to library and the librarian said, "Oh my, did you cut your own hair!?" I looked more closely and sure enough, a chunk of his hair in the front was missing! Oh no! What would the parents think??
Unfortunately, spring picture day was the next day! Hahaha his parents were genius and spiked his hair with gel and you couldn't even see the short spot! We talked about it at conferences and they informed me that it was not the first time that this had happened!! :)
I found out I get to keep my job next year! Same grade and same school! Yay! I'm already starting to plan out some of the things I will do differently next year. Hard to believe there are only a couple more months of the school year! I am looking for a summer job. Hopefully I will be able to babysit for a family full time. Alright, off to take a Sunday afternoon nap! :)
Thursday, February 27, 2014
The Stingray on my Porch
The other day in my class, we were talking about birds and nests. One kid said that one day a bird built it's nest in the tree by their front porch. The next thing ya know, one of the other kids said, "Oh, one time there was a stingray on my front porch!!" Hahaha, I said, "Are you sure it was a stingray because stingrays live in the ocean." All he said was, "Ohh....." Haha, I caught him fibbing ;) These days we're trying to distinguish the made up stories from real stories. Ties right into fiction vs. non-fiction! :)
I am constantly reminded of Danny and his kids when my students complain. Danny teaches his kids about the verse that says, "Do everything without grumbling or complaining." I'm tempted to use that verse in the classroom! Lots of complainers these days when they don't get their way. I kindly remind that sometimes we have to do things we don't like to do. They were amazed that even I have to do things I don't like to do. We can still choose to have a good attitude. We're still practicing our good attitudes! ;)
I am constantly reminded of Danny and his kids when my students complain. Danny teaches his kids about the verse that says, "Do everything without grumbling or complaining." I'm tempted to use that verse in the classroom! Lots of complainers these days when they don't get their way. I kindly remind that sometimes we have to do things we don't like to do. They were amazed that even I have to do things I don't like to do. We can still choose to have a good attitude. We're still practicing our good attitudes! ;)
Thursday, February 6, 2014
The Winter That Never Ends
Well the snow was nice for the wedding, but that was almost 2 months ago and I'm about done with it! I never remember a winter being this harsh! We've missed 6 days of school (which is kind of nice)! Even though it's been a harsh winter, life is good! :) Married life is fun! We've figured a lot out already and I can't wait to learn more about each other. It's been fun to hang out with married couples at church now (doesn't that make us sound old?). Right now we're doing a kickboxing class at church and it is kicking us! We were both sore this morning!
Things are going extremely well at school! My kids are learning so fast these days. They all know how to read now and are starting to write sentences. Kindergarten is the most rewarding job in the world! Everyday I go home excited because another student learned something cool that day. I thought I'd share this poem with you. It was passed down from Sylvia to my mom and then to me. VERY true:
Winter Boots
Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her
pupils put on his boots?
He asked for help and she could see why.
Even with her pulling, and him pushing,
the little boots still didn't want to go on.
By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat.
She almost cried when the little boy said,
'Teacher, they're on the wrong feet.'
She looked, and sure enough, they were.
Unfortunately, it wasn't any easier pulling the boots off,than it was putting them on.
She managed to keep her cool as, together, they worked to get the boots back on,this time on the correct feet.He then announced, 'These aren't my boots.'
She bit her tongue, rather than get right in his face and
scream, 'Why didn't you say so?'
like she wanted to.
Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting
boots off his little feet.
No sooner had they got the boots off when he said,
'They're my brother's boots. But my Mom made me wear 'em today.'
Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry.
But she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to
wrestle the boots BACK onto his feet again.
Helping him into his coat, she asked,
'Now, where are your mittens?'
He said, 'I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots.'
She'll be eligible for parole in three years.
Haha, this is what I do everyday!
Things are going extremely well at school! My kids are learning so fast these days. They all know how to read now and are starting to write sentences. Kindergarten is the most rewarding job in the world! Everyday I go home excited because another student learned something cool that day. I thought I'd share this poem with you. It was passed down from Sylvia to my mom and then to me. VERY true:
Winter Boots
Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her
pupils put on his boots?
He asked for help and she could see why.
Even with her pulling, and him pushing,
the little boots still didn't want to go on.
By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat.
She almost cried when the little boy said,
'Teacher, they're on the wrong feet.'
She looked, and sure enough, they were.
Unfortunately, it wasn't any easier pulling the boots off,than it was putting them on.
She managed to keep her cool as, together, they worked to get the boots back on,this time on the correct feet.He then announced, 'These aren't my boots.'
She bit her tongue, rather than get right in his face and
scream, 'Why didn't you say so?'
like she wanted to.
Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting
boots off his little feet.
No sooner had they got the boots off when he said,
'They're my brother's boots. But my Mom made me wear 'em today.'
Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry.
But she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to
wrestle the boots BACK onto his feet again.
Helping him into his coat, she asked,
'Now, where are your mittens?'
He said, 'I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots.'
She'll be eligible for parole in three years.
Haha, this is what I do everyday!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Life as Mrs. Andrews
Hello, my name is Sara Andrews. I'm married!!!! Oh boy, so much to blog about! December 14, 2013 was our wedding! I can't wait to share pictures! The day was beautiful. Everything went exactly the way that I had prayed it would (complete with 7 inches of snow! :0). The ceremony went smoothly, the reception went well and it was our perfect day! That night we headed up to Detroit to stay at the Renaissance Center on the river :) The next morning we headed off for FLORIDA! Even though there was so much snow the say before, the roads weren't too bad while we were driving. We stopped the first night in Knoxville, TN. The next day we finished our 10 hour drive in Daytona Beach, FL.
It was in the 60s the first few days and in the 80s the last few days! Much better than Michigan! We had a lot of cool experiences! We went to a lot of cool local restaurants and went parasailing (in which we saw a HUGE manta ray, sharks and dolphins below us. So neat (and a little scary!) We went to St. Augustine for a day trip, a couples massage and a few days on the beach. Pretty relaxing!
On the way home, we stopped in Newport, TN to visit Josh's "grandma" that wasn't able to come to the wedding because of the big snow. We finally got to the town at 7:00 at night, stomachs growling. To our surprise, there were no restaurants ( or at least open) in the whole town! So, dinner was cheese crackers from the local gas station...haha. Then the fun began...It had rained for the past two days so flooding had occurred, as well as trees fallen and there was a lot of fog. One small detail....Ruth (Josh's grandma) lives on top of a mountain. No joke, on top of a real mountain. So, here we drove up the winding roads with hair pin turns, with the flooding (which made small waterfalls in the mountains!), trees down on the side of the road and fog, and cliffs to the side. We inched along and finally made it there and back. Then we stayed at a nasty Comfort Inn (that was not actually all that comfortable). We were glad to get out of there and head back for Christmas Eve at our new home.
Christmas went well with both families but.....on the way home from family Christmas' we received a phone call from our apartment that there had been a "small" leak above us and that there were a few drops of water on our dining room table. Unfortunately by the time we got there, there was a whole lot more than a few drops. There was a flood in the apartment above and it had seeped down into our ceiling and was now coming down in a steady stream in multiple places. In came the clean up upholstery guys and they cut 9 holes in our ceiling to let all the water pour out. In the process, all of our stuff was getting wet! We quickly removed all of the wedding presents and eventually everything in the whole apartment in order to keep from ruining our things! The apartment complex gave us another apartment to house our things. My parents and a couple friends came over to help us move everything out within 5 hours. It was quite a night...I only cried once, when I emotionally thought we were homeless ;) Haha, turns out we have been SO blessed! Nothing was ruined! We are now in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 4 CLOSET apartment for only $50 more!! Just today we did our class bit of rearranging and decorating to make it our new home :) We love it! Even though it was a huge pain at the time, it turned out better for us in the end. Isn't that how things usually work out? ;) God's sure got His hand on us!
Picture of the wedding and new apartment to come...
It was in the 60s the first few days and in the 80s the last few days! Much better than Michigan! We had a lot of cool experiences! We went to a lot of cool local restaurants and went parasailing (in which we saw a HUGE manta ray, sharks and dolphins below us. So neat (and a little scary!) We went to St. Augustine for a day trip, a couples massage and a few days on the beach. Pretty relaxing!
On the way home, we stopped in Newport, TN to visit Josh's "grandma" that wasn't able to come to the wedding because of the big snow. We finally got to the town at 7:00 at night, stomachs growling. To our surprise, there were no restaurants ( or at least open) in the whole town! So, dinner was cheese crackers from the local gas station...haha. Then the fun began...It had rained for the past two days so flooding had occurred, as well as trees fallen and there was a lot of fog. One small detail....Ruth (Josh's grandma) lives on top of a mountain. No joke, on top of a real mountain. So, here we drove up the winding roads with hair pin turns, with the flooding (which made small waterfalls in the mountains!), trees down on the side of the road and fog, and cliffs to the side. We inched along and finally made it there and back. Then we stayed at a nasty Comfort Inn (that was not actually all that comfortable). We were glad to get out of there and head back for Christmas Eve at our new home.
Christmas went well with both families but.....on the way home from family Christmas' we received a phone call from our apartment that there had been a "small" leak above us and that there were a few drops of water on our dining room table. Unfortunately by the time we got there, there was a whole lot more than a few drops. There was a flood in the apartment above and it had seeped down into our ceiling and was now coming down in a steady stream in multiple places. In came the clean up upholstery guys and they cut 9 holes in our ceiling to let all the water pour out. In the process, all of our stuff was getting wet! We quickly removed all of the wedding presents and eventually everything in the whole apartment in order to keep from ruining our things! The apartment complex gave us another apartment to house our things. My parents and a couple friends came over to help us move everything out within 5 hours. It was quite a night...I only cried once, when I emotionally thought we were homeless ;) Haha, turns out we have been SO blessed! Nothing was ruined! We are now in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 4 CLOSET apartment for only $50 more!! Just today we did our class bit of rearranging and decorating to make it our new home :) We love it! Even though it was a huge pain at the time, it turned out better for us in the end. Isn't that how things usually work out? ;) God's sure got His hand on us!
Picture of the wedding and new apartment to come...
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