Kids Say the Darndest Things

Working in 3rd grade each day, I get to hear and read some of the most hilarious things.

Here is an example from sharing today:

Girl 1: My dog is getting fixed today and I am soooo sad she has to get stitches.

Girl 2: Getting fixed for what?

Girl 1: Getting fixed so she can't have babies. You know...like get married and stuff.

I also get to decipher some hilarious-looking words when they write. See if you can discover what all of these phrases mean:

"ounts a pona"

"woncapon"

"oncaponatime"

"once a pona"

"wance apoun atime"

"onece upon"

"ones a panda"

"ones a ponda"

I hope that writing doesn't reflect poorly on my teaching skills.....

And on a much sweeter note...I have the students do a journal writing each day when they came in. Today the board said "Do you like Christmas? Why or why not?" (I know, I'm really creative with their writing prompts).

Well, each student wrote all about their Christmas traditions and presents galore.

But one sweet little girl in my class wrote-

"I like Christmas be cus it is Jesos is Bday. And I love Jesos He is my brother and He died for us and I love him vary much and it is not all about the presins it is abot Jeses."

I was not expecting anyone to write anything so heartwarming.

If that doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit right there, I don't know what will!

Thanksgiving

Steve and I were able to take off 2 days of work and end up with an extra long Thanksgiving vacation.

We have a list of places to go in the U.S. and at the top of the list was NYC.

We figured now was the perfect time to go, considering he has 2 brothers that live out there, we don't have any kids, etc. etc.

So...we took the red eye out to NY the week before Thanksgiving.

It was a perfect trip.

There was just enough sightseeing and family time/relaxing while we were there.

If we had it Beaver's way, there would have been a lot more sightseeing. And if we had it my way, there would have been a lot more relaxing. But we got a lot in.

Here are some pics from the trip:

Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour

9/11 Memorial

Central Park

The MET

Tour of the Yankee Stadium

And to top off that fun 3 day trip, we took a nonstop 7 hour bus ride to DC to spend Thanksgiving with my family.

We had a blast eating, sleeping, and watching movies.

We spent Thanksgiving with my cousins, the Fairholms.

Let's just say, after such a great vacation, it was hard to go back to work on Monday.

This is How We Do Halloween

After hearing our first trick-or-treater ring the doorbell...

and after an extremely long hectic Halloween at school...

we decided to disable the doorbell for tonight:)

You may call me the "Grinch" of Halloween...but how many of you have had to deal with Halloween parades, parties, and parents all day long?

Fall Break

About a week ago, I got to enjoy the perks of being a teacher.

Fall Break.

It was wonderful. I got to finally do some projects around the house that I've been meaning to do and enjoy my two days off of school.

The first day of fall break, I decided to finally use my sewing machine that I got for graduation in April. I've done basic mending projects and worked on a dress with my mother-in-law, but I haven't yet tried to follow a simple pattern on my own. So, I drove over to Wal-Mart, picked up an apron pattern and $2 fabric, and after sewing all day long, I finished my first real creation!!!

I had a blast! It was SOO much fun and I can't wait to make some more stuff realllly soon.

Other fun happenings last weekend include carving our pumpkins. We pulled our kitchen table into the middle of the family room to watch a movie while we carved. And yes, we normally do look like this on weekend nights when we don't go out.

I used previous pumpkin carving experiences to decide that I would only carve a teeny pumpkin this year. I get bored in about 3 minutes, so this is what I ended up with:

Steve, on the other hand, could do this for hours. Here he is about an hour after I'm done still working on his stormtrooper pumpkin.

It took him so long he had to wake up the next morning and carve for another hour.

After the long and relaxing fall break, I couldn't wait to get back to school.

I have realized this past week that I LOVE my job.

I am starting to get excited to go to work in the morning, and I am not stressed out at all.

I love the 16 little kids I get to work with every day. Not a day goes by that they don't crack me up and remind me why I love teaching so much.

If you saw me last year, this is very exciting news. Last year was probably the most stressful year of my life. And having conquered it, I am so excited to see that I actually do love what I get to do each day.

A Grand Getaway

Steve spoiled me rotten for our anniversary this year.

We decided to celebrate on Friday night because we both had work Thursday and Friday.

But on our actual anniversary, Steve sent me flowers at work!

I think the kids were just as excited about them as I was:)

Our real fun began Friday after work though.

We made reservations to stay at the Grand America in Salt Lake where we stayed on our honeymoon last year.

We ate dinner that night at The Roof at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. This was fun and nostalgic because we had our reception there. I loved looking out over the temple as we ate.

After we checked in to the Grand America, we learned we would be staying on the 23rd floor (the hotel has 24 floors total). So our favorite part of the hotel was the view of Salt Lake from up so high. Steve kept the huge window open most of the night so we could look out over Salt Lake, and he continued to enjoy the view the next morning.

To continue the nostalgia, on Saturday we took a walk around Temple Square and reminisced about our wedding day. It was fun to talk about memories and watch the other brides and grooms take pictures around the temple.

Overall, it was definitely a grand weekend!

One year ago...

I married this guy.

In this temple.

And I couldn't be happier:)

And the Festivities Begin...

October is by far my favorite month. It was always up there with December, but ever since last October (when we got married), it has pulled ahead.

This past weekend, Steve's family had their annual Wind-O-Ween party with the extended family. Last year, Steve's sister-in-law Tiffany, his brother Greg, and both of us dressed up as the ninja turtles.

This year, Steve and I didn't have as much planning time, so I just decided to go with the old witch costume. As we frantically looked in our closet 15 minutes before it was time to leave for the party, we needed to figure out Steve's costume! But all we saw were girl clothes and more girl clothes. So we thought it would be hilarious if maybe we dressed up as each other. So Steve stretched out one of my dresses dress and a pair of shoes, but for obvious reasons, we decided against the cross dressing and went with this:

I'm still not sure what Steve's costume is. Perhaps a nerdy grandpa?

Well I just love October and am so happy it has begun. In school my students and I are enjoying:

-a daily Halloween children's book or two

-coloring cute Halloween pages

-listening to the Halloween party mix on Pandora

I think my students already know how happy I am that it's October:)

A Post on Pinterest

Today I made two delicious things I found on pinterest, just thought I would share.

1. Potato soup. It was yummy and so so easy. Steve put it in the crockpot this morning and wah-la! It was ready to eat tonight when we both got home.

http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/2011/03/outback-aint-got-nothin-on-me.html

2. Sugar cookies. These sugar cookies turned out amazing and oh so delicious. I halved the recipe because I just wanted to try them out. I would definitely recommend them to anyone. They turned out just like the picture--beautiful cookies!


http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/05/30/soft-lofthouse-style-frosted-cookies/

In other news, Steve found a job working for a company that manages HOAs in Utah and Salt Lake Counties. Conveniently enough, he works in our neighborhood! He walks about one minute to work and saves more on gas than I could have ever hoped.

The Joys of Unemployment

Over the past few weeks, Steve has been trying to find a job. However, I am reaping the benefits of jobless Beaver.

-I can text him last minute when I need help at work, and he can come running to my aid. He's gotten hours of work done for me so I don't have to stay late at school.

-He brought me a diet coke at school today, ate lunch with me, and then played kickball with my students for recess.

-He can get dinner started in the crockpot so that when I come home for work the apartment is smelling delicious.

-He vacuumed the whole apartment AND cleaned my bathtub on Saturday.

-He packs my lunches.

-He pretty much makes dinner every night.

I can't decide which is better, a stay-at-home husband or a husband with a job.

Love you Beaver, just wanted to brag about you<3

Disclaimer: Steve has a part-time tutoring job and is looking for something more full time at the moment.

Proud to be a Wrangler

So my first week of school is officially over.

I have forgotten how tiring and stressful the beginning of the year is. I just got finished teaching almost 6th graders and am now teaching graduated 2nd graders. It's a huge difference in age.

My students are seriously the most social and talkative you can ever imagine. At first I was super stressed out by this, but now I am "training" them and getting really attached to their cute little personalities.

Let me just give you a rundown of my school/neighborhood:

-A kid in my class is named after a gun

-8 year old girls in my class know what the difference between just a bullet shell and an actual bullet

-Writing prompts include hunting deer

-Favorite kids activities include shooting animals

-You can hear horses naying inside my classroom

-There are goats that wander aimlessly on the street my school is on.

To say the least, it is definitely different than good ol' Provo was. But I LOVE it. Everyone I work with is so great, and I love the small town feel.

Here's a tour of my classroom (Mom):

My door on the first day of school:

This is my calendar and job chart--right above my desk.

Bulletin board where students can thumbtack everywhere their books take place.

Book recommendations board:

Behavior board:

Writing board:

Literacy bulletin board and book boxes:

Nice view from my window of a barn and where the horses are:

Our class pet and 3 year old gold fish: Seashark. My students just renamed him today.

View of my classroom from my desk:

I know it is SUPER colorful, but the teacher before me had it all gray and the walls are gray, so I needed something different and fun!

Crowder Fam Vacation

Steve and I just got back from an amazing fun-filled vacation! We flew out early Friday morning a couple of weeks ago to my home in Virginia. That night, we were lucky enough to see Wicked. This was my first time and definitely not my last. It was amazing! I think I smiled the whole time. These pictures are from the roof of the Kennedy Center in DC where we saw it.

Very early the next morning, my family took off to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the week. My mom's side of the family was having a family reunion, so it was fun to be with them and have Steve meet everyone.

Every year my family goes to the beach and just relaxes. However, Steve doesn't know HOW to relax. As you can see, he kept himself busy:

skim boarding

throwing the football

building sandcastles

and digging holes.

He did this all while I read, talked to family, and slept on the beach.

After our super fun trip at the beach, Steve and I left a day earlier than the rest of the family to go to Williamsburg, Virginia. It'd been since elementary school that either of us had been there, so we thought it'd be fun to check it out.

Some highlights of the trip include:

taking an awesome tour of the governor's palace. Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson both lived there at one point. The whole thing was decorated with swords and guns.

the gardens behind the palace

eating at a tavern (house made into restaurant) right in Williamsburg. It was like going back to the 1700's. Our waitress was decked out in colonial clothes and even the food was colonial. Like my creeper shot of her?

and touring the capitol.

We had such a fun week, thanks mom and dad!!!