First day

Well...sort of. My "official" first day of teaching was on Friday, but that was only half a day & it was mostly "fun", so I'm not sure that it counts. :) Today was our first full day, and to say that I'm tired would be an understatement. I can hardly keep my eyes open. I just got the kids in bed & now it's "okay, what do I HAVE to do before I go to sleep?". Not what do I want to do, or what needs to be done, but was has to be done in order to make it through tomorrow. That makes it sound like I'm barely surviving, which isn't true.

I felt like today went really well. I'm learning how to adjust, that I need more comfortable shoes, that Kindergartners need a lot of movement, that I can let go of some things, and that despite the work, I'm going to love this job.

I was a little nervous about rest time. I decided that instead of showing a movie (which honestly, would have been a wonderful break!), I would read a Thomas Burgess book. They are older books, and I needed to modify some of the wording, but I was amazed at how it captured the kids' attention. We read the first 3 chapters of The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk. They seemed to enjoy it & I was glad I had some beanie babies for visuals. I ran into one Mom just as I was leaving & she told me her son said his favorite part of the day was "story time". That the skunk story was so funny & he wanted to hear what happens tomorrow. That made my day.

I'm also learning that it pays to be organized. I'm okay at doing things impromptu, but not great. I need a plan. I'm anal that way. Now I just need to learn how to be flexible when what I've planned doesn't turn out exactly as I expected...

All right. Enough about school. If I'm going to survive my second day...I'd better get to bed, and soon!!

Catching up

I have wanted to post some recent pictures from our last trip, but I left my camera in Kentucky. It arrived in the mail this week, carefully padded with ghost shaped Halloween marshmallows. I laughed when I opened the box. Thank goodness for God's Pantry, free products, & a creative sister-in-law! :)

We were all running different directions during our week in KY. Philip was busy installing windows, I had fun helping in the kitchen, Abbie was a camper, and this posse roamed the camp.
They sure are a cute bunch, aren't they? :) Thanks to Ryan & Kris for supervising them at mealtime. They were very brave & gracious to put up with a table full of loud & rowdy kids 3 times a day!

I had fun getting to know Kris. It was one of those "I know we've never met, but I feel like I know you" kind of instant-friendships. I have no idea when we'll see each other again. Maybe at camp. Sometimes in bloggerville. For sure in heaven. But it was definitely fun to hang out & talk with someone I could relate to.We enjoy traveling as a family, and this trip we expanded our "family" to include Abbie's best friend, Jordyn. It was her first time away from home and her first time at camp. Her mom was very brave to send her off with us for the week, but we had fun with her along & hope she did too. At least she doesn't cringe as much when I hug her now. :)

It was a fun week away from the everyday. Now that I'm back in the thick of "reality" I wish I could go back. Maybe next year...