Do you ever wonder?

Do you ever stop to ponder how much our dialect effects our speaking, writing, and reading skills? As the year progresses and my students become more independent writers, these things rise to the surface more and more.
I have this little boy and he is certain that there is such a word as AV. Yep just an A and a V. AV....You know...I av a new horse. When you go sledding you av a sled. Makes total sense. Right? WRONG. Every. day. I remind him that there is no AV...but HAVE H-A-V-E. Today I punctuated every letter by tapping my finger on my desk. Tomorrow I might tap my finger on him:)
And then there is the most faithful of all words...SOL!
Oh how I love this word. I ask a student to write what he/she did this weekend. Well, I sol a deer, it was running across the field. OR I sol my brother play ball. What a wonderful word that SOL is!
How about hafta? Ever use that word? To be a police officer, you hafta go to a special school. My mom said before I could go play, you hafta clean your room.
We never realize how our dialect and how we speak is perceived until we read 19 1st grade writing journals a day.
Today I had them write about one thing they don't know how to do, but would like to learn. Most kids wrote about cooking to help mom, riding some contraption, or doing something coveted like a flip on the trampoline. Not one girl...nope...she's going to skip all that malarkey and learn how to make a forchun (fortune). Yep, she's got a bright fuchure (future)!
Moral to this story?
If you need a good laugh or even just a strong giggle....have your 6 year old write something:!!

Our Weekend

After working for 2 weeks solid...or it seemed like it, we enjoyed our weekend. Vance and Colby got up and drove our horse to Canton to be broke. I worked until noon. Emma went shopping with Grandma. After that, we headed to Kahoka and went roller skating. The first time for our kids. They were super excited.

Then realized how tricky it was going to be.

Emma was slow and careful and only fell twice.

Colby was like a ticking bomb, falling over 50 times, but he finally got the hang of it and was pretty good at the end.

Lauren, Lance, and Emily met us there too. We didn't think we were quite good enough to play dodgeball on skates, so we were the bench warmers!

Today, I taught Sunday School to 3 pretty girls:)

Witnessed 3 baptisms!

Headed to Mom's for lunch. These are new clothes that she bought!

Then we came home and Vance and the kids took a steer to the locker. The kids also played outside. Emma didn't think she had gotten muddy. At. All.

Colby and Vance tried their hand at fishing and ended up catching our supper.

I finished the laundry and vacuumed all three bedrooms. Also watched bedding and lots of dirty, muddy coats.

Gearing up for a week of visitations and funerals...keeping 2 good friends in my prayers.

An Epidemic....

There is a loose tooth epidemic at our house! It started last week. Emma had a wiggly tooth. Her first every! She was so excited to turn 5 because she thought that automatically gave her loose teeth. Well, a year later here we are. Sooooo...her tooth was wiggled and wiggled and was pretty loose and Wednesday night Erin and Trenton both tried to pull it out. No luck, just lots of tears. So we wiggled and talked and wiggled some more. Finally on Friday night I told her it was coming out. She was crying before I even touched it, but I got it out! She was BIG then! All excited and couldn't wait for the tooth fairy.

She brought her a silver dollar!

And an authentic letter sealed in gold dust:)

So then this week at school I pulled a tooth on Monday. The poor girl...it was hanging on by a thread. She really wanted it out but couldn't make herself pull it. Then again today, I had a little boy that had a loose tooth. Not really loose, just kind of. He was determined to get it out. I told him it would hurt and he said he didn't care. I yanked and yanked on it and got it out! He was so pleased!

Then Colby comes rushing into my classroom. He has a loose tooth! His first ever. So we cheered and clapped and he went on his way. If you remember this post you know this is a big deal. Well, I'm sure a whole lot of learning did not take place today, because all he could think about what this loose tooth. He wiggled all day.

At Awana if finally came out. It's hard to see in this picture, but there is a gap.


He says it is as big as 1cm. When he called my mom he asked her if she knew what that was...like on a ruler, grandma. Poor grandma, she needs it spelled out for her. So now to play tooth fairy for the 2nd time in a week and he is laying ON. TOP. of that tooth so that he can catch the tooth fairy in action.

I can't wait to take a picture of my gappy smiled kids!!

Awkward

Let me set the scene.
Long day of 7 year olds.
Finally got them on the bus.
Waiting in line for the bathroom.
Making idle chit chat.
Really gotta pee.
The bathroom frees up and you start to head that direction.
The person you was talking with continues to talk...kind of following you.
You are stuck...to finish the conversation (which is pointless anyway) or go to the bathroom.
So you finally step into the restroom and shut the door in the other person's face.
Hit the lock.
They continue to talk.
So now you are talking and taking care of business...through a door.
Awkward?
Yes.
Have we all been there?
Anyone who teaches at Schuyler has!
Can you tell I've been at Kindergarten screening all night...fought with the computer all night...and I'm ready for bed?
Yep, me too!

Sneak Peak

**This new camera is crap and will be going back to the store.**

Tonight was Parent Watch Night at dance. Miss Melody has them twice a year fall and spring. The rest of the time, she takes the dancers and the parents don't go with. As a teacher, I totally understand why. Kids are just different without mom and dad around. I missed the fall watch night because Colby was sick, but got to go tonight.
Here are a few sneak peak pictures before the big recital!

This is ballet. All the dancers are putting on their long dangly earrings, big diamond necklace, and sour glass of milk on their head to maintain the proper posture.

During tumbling...

Also during tumbling...I think this is Emma's favorite.

She is also tap dancing to You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog....too cute!

Her recital is Friday, April 30th.

At 6:00

At The Crossing.

She will perform 2nd and then twice more after intermission, so if you come be prepared to be there for the WHOLE THING.

It costs $5.00 to get in.

Please do not feel obligated to come, just don't want anyone to feel left out.

Can't wait to see my star shine!!

Answer Me This....

Do you have a side of the bed?
Do you ever switch?
Vance and I do...
It's so strange.
We've almost been married for 11 years and every 2 or 3 years we switch sides. Both times I was pregnant we did a swap.
Just in the last two nights I've been sleeping on his side of the bed. I just thought it looked more comfy.
He always said my side was bigger, so we'll see what he thinks now:)
While we're on the subject of spouses, I have a question for some of you wives out there. I've been watching the Duggers and their oldest Anna and Josh have been married for a while now. All of a sudden, on the show, Anna is calling Josh...Joshua. Why is that? I have some friends that do that too. We all call their husband by their nickname, but they always say the full name. I'm confused. What should I say? Just a curiosity thing...if anyone can shine some light for me that would be great!

Pictures

Hello Family!
I will be ordering Emma's pictures at the end of this week. Please email me or leave a comment here of what you want. Thanks
Go here to view the pictures again.

OucH!

Colby was wrestling with some of his friends on Saturday morning. I heard screeching and crying, but was just relieved to know it was my child and not one of the two friends that were staying over. The wresting resulted in a head first encounter with his huge, wooden shed his dad made him. The shed won. Poor kid.

EgGs

March 2nd was Dr. Seuss' birthday....so what does 1st grade do? Make green eggs and ham of course!
Our story the week before was If You Give a Pig a Pancake...so we also made pancakes. Every kids cracked an egg and we all mixed and stirred.

In Kindergarten, the letter of the week was O. Jenn's babysitter gave Emma on ostrich egg. I showed it to my class. They thought it was awesome!

Emma loved this egg. She put it in a stroller, wrapped in blankets, and just sat and read to it. She was sure she would hatch it....until... it started to smell. Now it's on the porch! What a great experience!

DISTRICT CHAMPS!

Ram Basketball wins the District Title for the first time in 28 years!

It was a hard fought game. Going into OT.

Cheerleaders kept the crowd going ALL. NIGHT.

We won by a 3 pt. shot at the buzzer!!

A well deserved Victory!

Two little girls who got a pretty special picture!

What I've noticed...

I've recently figured something out...I know, I know...big deal right?
Wrong!
I've always been annoyed by naughty kids.
The kind that run around continually, interrupt, and proceed to whine and scream at their parents.
I always wondered what was wrong with that kid?
Why is he/she so bad?
Then it dawns on me....
There is really no bad kid, just bad parenting.
I know some of you have probably figured this out...and I think that sometimes there is that rare child that is VERY hard to control no matter how consistent the parenting, but....
Usually how a child is acting is usually the product of how he/she has been raised.
For example: Parent says, "Son, put on your coat, we're leaving."
Child: Gives mom a totally obnoxious look and continues to play.
All the while I'm trying to still listen to the parent's conversation, while really I want to shake that child and yell..."PUT ON YOUR COAT!"
Kids are my business.
I can usually make them toe the line.
I truly get distracted from a conversation b/c of how a child is acting.
Does this happen to any of you?
Is it a professional downfall?
I have friends that can ignore A. LOT. more than me...and they're not teachers.
I guess every job has it's downfall.
This is mine.
I'm a ticking time bomb.
Waiting to blow.
It's really quite scary!
Can you tell I just came from Awana Parent Watch Night?:)