Happy Birthday Nathan!

Can you believe it? It was one year ago we were flitting around Israel, pretending we were just BFF's. In fact, exactly one year ago I was faced with the same dilemma. A crazy day with every last minute scheduled, and no good way to celebrate you. In a desperate attempt to make you feel special, I asked everyone to find random things through out our tours and give them to you. I believe you got sea shells, bones, a rock that we told you fell off a roman statue (sorry, but it really didn't) and from me, a half empty bottle of vodka. Oh the things you can find on a tour of holy sites! I remember sneaking off with only one other person(a sin when you are supposed to be in 3's), to try and find you a gift in Nazareth. All I could find were postcards of Mary. Oh! and that little bakery where we convinced the men to make us jelly filled donuts. I may have started with intentions of getting you one but I don't believe it ever made it out of my field of vision until it entered my mouth. Now that I think back on it, your birthday was one of my favorite days in Israel (and not just because of that jelly filled donut).
I wish I could say we were somewhere fabulous this year and I could do something spontaneous and thoughtful for you,but this post and your super practical gift this weekend will have to do for now.
So Happy Birthday Nathan. To the only boy that can say that I chose over an adventure (oh the stories living in Vegas could have made). I wish I could be with you on this celebration of your birth. I really want to crack a joke about you being adopted but I save it for a day that isn't your birthday. XOXOxxoOxo

Thank you for putting up with me. Even letting me put Victorias Secret lip plumping Lip gloss on you

And letting me obsess over strange things like your ears and chin. (Don't worry, he didn't pose for this picture. I snapped it and set it as the wallpaper on my computer)

And being just a little bit less ornery than me.
(I hate peeling oranges because then my hands smell like oranges so I would always make him peel mine. Some days he decided he would only sort of peel it)

Sick Day

I am taking my first sick day. Last week of school and I am taking a sick day for a job I don't even get paid for so I don't feel one bit bad. I spent the weekend in Rexburg taking the last of my test to become a full blown, certified teacher. I couch surfed at Emma's place this weekend. It turned out quite perfectly. She had a date Friday night, and I had a date with my text book. I studied for a couple of hours, took a break to grab a hot cocoa at my favorite place in Rexburg...The Cocoa Bean, and then hit the books again. I read a 70 page chapter from an old text book that I heard was helpful for the Special Ed. portion of my testing. Best thing I could have done! It helped me SO much. At the end of the night my friend Craig came over to visit. Sitting and chatting with him reminded me why I loved going to school in Rexburg. The people. Sure, there isn't much to do in the little town, but doing not much of anything is better than doing a whole lot of something if you are in good company.
I took my tests the next morning (7:30 am-1:30 pm) and then headed back to Emma's place to decompress from all the stress and anxiety standardized tests give me. The rest of the day was filled with friends, Craigos pizza, playing sardines at the school, and games at a new found friends place. I can't think of a batter way to end my time in Rexburg than by having a very typical night in Rexburg. That town sure was good to me. I am not going to say that I never questioned my existence there, but if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't change a thing.

Three thing are amazing about this photo: 1. No snow 2. I took it from the hood of my car. Timer button, run, smile, check the photo. 3. I Actually took this on my way home from Idaho. Thank you emergengy turn arounds
Last night I stayed up most of the night with the Three Musketeers playing sword fight in my stomach. About the time my alarm was going off this morning is when I decided I wouldn't be a very good teacher today anyway, so i might as well call in sick. Boy am I glad I did! I have had time to sit in silence and just be happy. I am excited to get home and gear up for the holidays and Christmas with the whole fam damily! I can't wait to kiss of chubby toddler cheeks and torment the nieces and nephews that are now teenagers. I discovered (much later than just about every other blogger) the Pioneer Woman's blog. I am in love. I have almost read her entire love story of how she met her husband. She was an adventurous city girl, on her way to do big things when a cowboys swept her off her feet and carried her out to the country in a diesel truck. Can you hear my heart pitter pattering? Sorry Nathan, but when wranglers and a diesel truck are involved I get a little carried away. So let's have three cheers for cowboys, two cheers for Ramen Noodles, and one half hearted cheer for sick days.

I did it!

Well, I did it. I passed my work sample review (which turned out to be a breeze). I recieved my third and final letter of recommendation from my student teaching experience. I have almost finished teaching a full week all by my lonesome. Yep, this is coming to a close and the wind of change are blowing my way. Hopefully for the richer.
Now I am on my way to Rexburg to take my Praxis and say my farewells. Wish me luck!
Now, you have to check out my sisters FABULOUS gifts on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/scarycute
Too Cute!

The things that keep me going...

I am tired. Yes, very tired. But I love what I do. And days where I think I am screwing it all up I get a cute surprise from one of my students

I complimented him on a little turkey he drew in his planner the other day, so he showed up to school with this for me. It reminds me that the things I say to my students really do matter and they take it pretty seriously. It makes me love them even more!
And what about this cutey! I could kiss him until his cheeks fell off! Is he not the cutest!

You know what else keeps me going? The wonderment of kids. I know I shouldn't have been teaching them to poke that sick mouse. But look how interested they are!

And of course, delicious food. There is a woman who works at our school who is from India. I invited myself over with some of the other teachers to learn how to cook Indian food. It turned out to be more like standing around and talking while Neela cooked for us and let us eat. It was SO yummy!


SO, to sum it up, hand me a baby or a bowl full of food. These are the things that keep me fat and happy

In case you didn't know...

Teaching is hard. Yes, and as I type those words I keep thinking how I really should be typing lesson plans instead, but those will still be there in five minutes and these profound (ha ha) thoughts may not. I finished up my "time" in Resource and now am in third grade. Everyday in resource I would think "Just a little while longer and I will get a break in third grade." Ha! Was I wrong or what! Resource was difficult, as in your brain gets so overloaded with multitasking and walking on legal egg shells. I love resources and I could really tell if I was making a difference or not, if I was doing a good job, and if the children were learning. Enter the world of regular education. It is a whole new kind of multitasking and egg shells. Now I have to keep tight control of 24 little kiddos at the same time as teaching them, and thinking about what I will be doing in five minutes. And egg shells- mostly dealing, I mean, cooperating constructively with other teachers...and bulletin boards. The person who decided to put those up in school surely is burning in hell. Just one more way for Artistic people to be better than me.
So what makes teaching worth it? Kids say the darnedest things. Like my student who I swear is a shrunken down version of Reese Witherspoon. Today as we walked to class she told me, "Miss Webb, I know why you wear brown everyday, because your hair is brown." I look down at myself and see a brown sweater paired with brown pants. I realize she is very right and am suddenly angry with myself because I vowed to myself months ago I would wear less brown. So I turn back to her and tell her "Shhh. We are silent in the hall." Now that it is many hours later and I am in my PJ's and can't help but laugh at just how right she is.
And then there is one little boy in my class who is so thoughtful and such a hard worker. Things might take him a little longer but he works very hard and gets it done right. He reminds me a lot of my nephew Noah. As I walked the kids out to the door when school ended, I gave them high fives and some of the girls always give hugs. I turned the corner to walk back to the classroom and he came flying around. I put my hand out to give him a high five but he ignored it and gave me a big hug. I love those hugs!
So even when i doubt that I am doing a good job or feel like I am jipping the students from their real teacher, I remember this is a learning process for me to and they seem to like me anyway.
Now, if only I could get paid to do this...

Help For JJ

Tug ont the heart strings- These a relatives of some close family friends of mine. Please pass this along
I just wanted to pass on an opportunity to help for anyone that is interested. JJ was born with the liver out of his body in like a bubble or sac. They were unable to fix it until this summer, when he was able to go to Seattle and have it put back inside. He has recently turned three, and you can imagine how hard it has been for them to keep him from falling on or hurting his tummy for the last 3 years. Amy has had to stay home with him, and has been unable to work because he needs constant care. He can not go to a sitter or day care because his immune system is horrible and an cold or flu usually puts him into the hospital, not to mention the typical wrestling of a child could kill him because of the placement of his liver. They really struggled to get enough money to do the 1st surgery, but thanks to many friends and family they were able to raise the funds to go and have the procedure done. Unfortunately they found out that they would still need another surgery. JJ's has hernias that were not able to be fixed then, but need to be now. The hernias mean that he has a hole in the abdominal wall that causes his intestines to fall out into his scrotum, making it about the size of a small grapefruit.. as you can imagine, this is very painful for him. Since the surgery his liver is still protruding alot in his belly since they couldnt close the muscle wall all the way around it.. every day he has constant tummy aches and has not been able to gain ANY weight since the surgery, but now they need to check things out and decide if maybe he needs a permanent feeding tube surgically placed. They are supposed to go up to Seattle in November for the surgery, however they are having a hard time raising the funds to get there and get it done. They were at first denied Medicaid, but after an appeal Medicaid agreed to pay part of it. As you can imagine, this kind of surgery is an expensive ordeal. Poor Amy has said that she is so humiliated to have to beg for help, but that for the sake of her child she will do whatever it takes to make him well. I can not imagine how hard it must be. She must come up with the rest of the money by the end of the month (yes- the end of this week) or the hospital will postpone it until next spring when the flu season is over. As a family we like to try to find someone in need at Christmas and help them out. If they do not get enough $ to do the surgery now, they will be that much further ahead in the spring. I thought I would pass along the information in case anyone else is looking for someone to help and has not found that someone yet. If you want to read some more about JJ or look at the pictures (found at the bottom of his blog) his blog is http://teamhelpjj.blogspot.com . Amy was thinking about starting a business before he was born, and had invested in some materials to make bows and watch bands. She is so tired of just asking for help that she would like encourage people to donate and she will send them one of the items, or you can buy some from her ( I think her bows are really cute). If you are interested take a look.

Skype-aholic

It is true, I have joined the ranks of the proud who love the web cam. I never thought I would say it, but I love a good web cam conversation.
My history with web cams has been one of disgust and confusion. I was first introduced into the world of video chatting my freshman year of college. On of my roommates had a dangerous love with her computer and taking pictures of herself with her web cam. My thoughts were, "Whoopty freakin doo! A picture of you sitting in your room!" (I guess I can't really rant too much because the picture above is from my web cam of my roommates and me in the library) I preferred getting out and interacting with people I could actually see, feel, touch, smell, and if I was lucky, taste. Just kidding! I never quite understood what the big deal was about web cams.
Fast forward to this year. My big brother Andrew flew off to the Middle East to supply out war heroes with tanks and airplane rides. And his good looks of course. I was at his house when he Skyped his wife. It was so much fun to hear AND see him and for him to be able to see his kids. My heart began to soften.
Last week I downloaded Skype and am now able to video chat with Nathan instead of our nightly phone calls. It is SO much more fun to talk to him when I can see his mannerisms and what he is really doing when I talk to him. Yep, I'm a Skype-Junkie!