Picnic in the Park

On Saturday, my dear friend Angie, her son Noah, and I took a picnic lunch to the park. We wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine for awhile. We packed ourselves a lunch, layed out a blanket and enjoyed our time together.

After we were done eating, we went and fed the ducks and the fish.

Mamma duck was very protective of her babies. She wouldn't let any of the big ducks come close. We had to spread the food out so they could all have some lunch!

There was a huge catfish that was really liking our bread.

We then watched Noah play on the equipment. He sure is growing up fast. He took his first slide ride all by himself. He was a little nervous going down, but then realized he liked it.

We had a great afternoon in the park. I wish we could have stayed longer, but I was anxious to get home as Jay was coming sometime in the afternoon!

Fun in 2nd Grade!

I've really been enjoying my time in the second grade classroom the past couple of weeks. I have a very active class, but that's great for me. I love to move fast and get a lot of material covered. They weren't used to such a fast pace from their old teacher, but we're starting to get on the same page. They are learning my way of teaching and I'm getting better at slowing down.

Here's a funny comment I got last Friday: I was in the middle of my math lesson. We were learning about the difference between 2D and 3D shapes. I was having fun with them, holding up different objects and having the students compare. They also had to name what I was holding up. I sometimes get goofy when doing things like this. I get so into my math lessons because I love the subject so much!! Anyway, we were almost done and I had a little girl raise her hand. She asked, "When are we going to do math?" I said this is math time. This is geometry and we are learning about shapes. Her response... "This is fun though. Math is boring." I then went on to explain that math doens't have to be boring. It can be fun if we make it! I finally convinced them that what we were doing was actually useful knowledge and not just play time. From my point of view, they completely understood what I was teaching. That's what was so great!! Moments like these make teaching so worth it!!!

Here are a few pictures of my little ones!

We went on a field trip last week. One of our stations was about fire safety. They all got to use a fire hose to put out a fire.

We also got to visit a petting zoo. They had some moose antlers there that the kids were trying to hold up.

Nuremburg Zoo

This weekend, I spent Mother's Day visiting the zoo with Elizabeth, Angie, and Noah. This was Angie's decision for her special day. The day was beautiful and we had tons of fun. I enjoyed looking at all the animals. I haven't seen so many of them that I was having a grand ol' time!!! Here are a few pictures from our great day!

Noah was so fun to watch. As soon as he found an animal, he would point out to it and smile.

A rhino... waiting to be fed.

Pink Flamingos and lots of them!

Angie and Noah riding a buffalo.

My wonderful friends!!!

A polar bear.... right before doing a belly flop on top of another bear.

This groundhog was trying to eat my lunch!! He definitely wasn't a shy lil' guy.

Swinging monkeys!

One fantastic mother and her handsome son!

Happy Mother's Day!

I want to wish all the wonderful moms out there a Happy Mother's Day!! Especially my own mother!! I can't even begin to imagine life without her!! Mom, you're the best!!! Thanks for everything you've done for me and continue to do for me!!

My mom and me!

Jay and Nancy

Back to the Books

I started an online class last week with Upper Iowa University. I am one class short of earning a Language Arts endorsement, which would allow me to teach middle school in this subject area. So I decided I might as well take the class and add something more to my license. At one time this school year, there was a chance there would be an opening for the middle school language arts position. I really wanted this endorsement so I would be eligible for hire. That isn't true anymore, but I'm still going to get it. It can only help me!



The class I am taking is American Literature, from the Civil War to now. YUCK!!! I hate reading and I don't like interpreting authors when I don't have a clue what they are saying!! The good thing about this class is that a lot of it is open discussion. We get participation points simply for posting. I'm good at throwing random thoughts up there and asking questions. I'm not worried about that 20% of my grade. But the rest of it... I guess I actually better read!

If nothing else, it helps time pass in the evenings as Jay is out in the field. My class gets down the end of June, so I'll be half over before Jay gets back home.

Girl's Night In

A group of us girls decided we needed to spend a night together because none of us have guys around. Our two lovely Club Beyond ladies Sara and Elizabeth, Angie (who's husband is in Iraq), and Crystal and me (who's husbands are in the field for the next month) spent the evening together enjoying each other's company, eating yummy food, and learning new tricks about eye shadow. After eating lasagna and garlic bread, Angie taught us some make-up tricks. Three out of the five of us never wear make-up, so it was fun to put it all on. I felt like a hooker, but they all said it looked good. After we were all done up, we walked down town for ice cream. Unfortunately, the cafe was closed, so we walked back and ate ice cream out of Angie's freezer. It was just as tasty.

I'm so glad God blessed me with such great girl friends over here. They make these days of being alone SO INCREDIBLY much easier! Thanks ladies! You're the best!!!!

Noah was feeling left out, so he decided to dig through the make-up bag and see what he could find! He liked opening the lip stick, but luckily managed to never get any on him.

Welcome Gunnar Max!

We want to welcome Gunnar Max to the world! Jay and I went to visit Gunnar, Beth, and Kyle tonight at the hospital. Everyone is doing well! Gunnar is a lil guy at only five pounds. Beth didn't have the easiest labor, but it was all worth it. Gunnar came out by a suction cup because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck three times! He was in there pretty tight! We're so thankful that everything worked out alright!

Jay said he's nervous that I'm going to get baby fever now. He said I'll be over it by the time he gets back from the field! With Gunnar around and Dan and Sandra having one in November, I'll just play with all of their babies!!