State Assessments

Yesterday and today were filled with state testing.  Yesterday was horrible, but today was better.  My job was oral administration for 7th grade Math yesterday and 7th grade Reading today.  This testing season has been the most stressful.  I don't think I've been this stressed about testing since I was in the classroom full time.  What non-educators do not understand is that we have very strict rules to follow.  If we do not, we can be written up or lose our teaching certification.  As an educator and adult, I can control what I do and say, and I follow the rules very closely.  However, I cannot control what a child decides to do.  We can say (all we want and until we are blue in the face) that there is no talking, at all, period, but that doesn't mean the child will keep his/her mouth shut and not do everything possible to signal to or disturb others.  We can move them, remind them, cue them, whatever, but in the end, I cannot control what another human being actually does.  Because of this, testing is extremely stressful.

Girl Scout Leadership Appreciation Day

I am so grateful for my BFF and Girl Scout Co-leader.  We started our troop 6 years ago to give her daughter and my niece a wonderful Girl Scouting experience.  It hasn't been perfect, but each year we do our best.  I am so thankful she is always there, for her ideas and experiences, and for her support.  I couldn't do it without her.

Do you have an amazing Girl Scout leader or experience? 

Happy Easter

He is risen!  And I'm so grateful!

How did you spend your Easter?

We began with the kids looking at their Easter baskets, grabbing breakfast, and then heading to church.  I am so glad my niece and nephew were able to go to service with me and hear the Easter story.

Mom took the kids back, so I did laundry, made tea, swept the kitchen, cleaned out the dishwasher, changed the kitty litter, took out the trash and recycling, worked on something for work, and watched a Tyler Perry movie marathon.

I have been receiving pics from Mom and my sister-in-law from their afternoon/evening.  Here are a few.

My niece made dessert to go with dinner.  It sure looks yummy!

Attacking one another and Gram with Cascarones.

A Day of Fun

When I heard my niece and nephew were coming, I asked them what they wanted to do.  They sent me their list of places to go and foods to eat.  Since we only have a short time, I had to figure out how to make the most of their time and squeeze in as much as possible.

8:00 am--Breakfast at McDonald's
9:00 am--Dallas Zoo
We have passes, so we hit the specific places they want to see when we have limited time.  We covered one whole area of the zoo, and then we went to 3 specific places on the other side.  They both touched snakes, saw what they wanted, and had a great time.
12:00 pm--Lunch at Subway
Since we were downtown and didn't have too far to go, we had to find somewhere they wanted to go and in our location.
1:30 pm--Perot Museum
We visited every floor, seeing what they wanted, spending time where they wanted, and had a blast.  The museum did a great job covering all the tested materials for 5th and 8th grades, so I pointed out what they will both need.  :-)  Always the educator!
4:45 pm--Walmart
5:30 pm--Church Small Group Pot Luck
When the kids are with me, I do and plan what they want to do, and I focus all my time and energy on them.  My church small group had a pot luck/gathering planned for today, so I asked my niece and nephew if they wanted to go or do something else.  I gave them all the details so they could make a good decision.  Not only did they agree they wanted to go, they were going to get to see my BFF's children too, children they love to see/play with.  We had a great time visiting, and by the end, all of the children were in the hot tub or pool--fully clothed.  My niece and nephew had the best time, and it makes me so happy.  We had tasty pulled pork, homemade mac and cheese, fruits, vegetables, potato salads, coleslaws, and desserts.
8:30/9:00 pm--Taco Casa
Yes, we ate at the pot luck, but we had planned to have dinner at Taco Casa (before we decided t go to the pot luck), and my niece didn't forget, so we went and got a "snack."
10:00/10:30 pm--The kids passed out for the night.

I was so blessed today!  I absolutely love those two darlings, and I love watching them learn and have fun. Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful day!

Elephants

 Lioness

Monorail

Alligator Encounter 

Touching a snake 

Learning about rocks

Life Science floor

 Swimming in April

Dying Eggs

One of my favorite things about Easter is dying eggs.  We did ours tonight b/c we will be busy tomorrow night. This year, they were more into writing on them and coloring them with Sharpies than actually putting them in the dye.

Blitz 2014--Day 2

Today, we had to go to school as a snow day make-up day, so we planned our Blitz Day today.  7th grade did Reading and Math lessons all day, and 8th grade did Math and U.S. History lessons all day.  If classes had both 7th and 8th graders, they did Reading with a History twist.  While it was a crazy day with students making weird choices, it was a good day for reviewing.  I so greatly appreciate our teachers taking a risk and teaching something out of their comfort zone.

Good Friday

This morning, when emailing my BFFs, I wrote, "Happy Good Friday!"  That is kind of weird.  It is an amazing thing what happened so long ago.  Jesus dying on the cross for us is, in a sense, a good thing. What Jesus went through that day is horrible.

Can you imagine what happened and what it must have been like?  Jesus being treated like that, having to carry His own cross, being whipped, wearing the crown of thorns, being nailed to the cross, and then hanging from the cross?  The pain?

I started thinking . . . nothing I ever feel or go through will be like what He endured that day.  I need to keep that in mind when I am down and low.

I am so grateful for Jesus for dying on the cross for us!