Bleh

For the past couple of nights, I've been crashing on the sofa ridiculously early. We're talking like grandma early like around 8:00pm if not sooner. My hubster was asking why. I've finally thought about it and I think I know why. Today, I realized how emotionally invested I am with my kiddos. Of course, I knew I would be, but I didn't think it was going to be this much.

I get to experience the joys of their days with them like when they hear something funny in a story we're reading. I get to watch them become more confident as they realize that they can read without my help. With all these highs, there comes lows. Today, I had to be the crutch for one kiddo because their foot, which was just taken out of a cast, got bumped by someone. When someone is treating them unfairly or they feel left out, they come and tell me.

Recently, my teacher put three kiddos who are facing some challenges right next to me, so I could provide immediate assistance at any given time. Providing such a large amount of support so constantly is really draining. As I'm writing this, I can feel my body telling me that a nap would sounds perfect right about now. I haven't even had dinner nor have I even got to spend much time with my hubster. I don't know what I'm going to do because it's really starting to affect the quality of time that my hubster and I spend together.

Realistically, I'll probably end up just maintaining the amount of dedication I have to the kiddos and just hope that they become more independent. o_0

Red Panda

We saw a red panda last weekend at the zoo. It was just about as cute as the black-footed cat, but we couldn't get a picture of it. Here's one from Cuteoverload:

My Name isn't Nanny

Over this past weekend, we watched Nanny Diaries. I had been looking forward to watching it, especially since they casted Scarlett Johanson in the lead role. I loved Scarlett in the Island and Girl with a Pearl Earring. I also read the book a couple of summers ago and fell in love with little Greyer. Was I disappointed? Most definitely. I thought that there was too much focus on the relationship between Nanny and Harvard Hottie. Greyer wasn't as adorable as I had envisioned it. It just wasn't anywhere close to being as endearing as the book. Despite its shortcomings, I do have a favorite part:

Scene: Nanny and Greyer sitting on the beach in Nantucket.

Greyer: I want to be rich like my daddy.
Nanny: Grove, remember money can't buy you love.
Greyer: Yes it can. Mommy pays you and I love you.

Post Secret (Sun, Jan 27)

Lately, I've been reading Post Secret pretty consistently. The secrets range from being beautifully sentimental, hilarious, and utterly tragic. These are my favorite post cards from this week:

Happy Birthday Carlos!

Yesterday, we had a wonderfully fun-filled day. Carlos and Donna came down to celebrate Carlos' birthday, which was really on Friday. They came late Friday night, so we all played my hubster's Rock Band game on PS2. We also sung him happy birthday and ate a yummy German chocolate cake that my hubster made:

Yep, that's a castle cake with candles in the tower. We used a castle mold that we got for our wedding (Thanks Joseph and Allison). We decided not to put the frosting on it because the outside looked so cool!

On Saturday, we decided to go in search of snow on the pass. It had snowed on Wednesday when we got hit with the heaviest part of the winter storm. You could see snow all over the mountains as you drove on the freeway. Unfortunately, most of the snow was gone when we got up there. We did see the snow and the back mountains.




We were bummed about the snow. As you can tell, we were totally decked out and ready for it. Since we were already up at the pass, we decided to go see Painted Cave with a bunch of Chumash paintings. Apparently, the Indian who painted in the cave stole from the stagecoaches that rolled through.

The interior of the cave.

The exterior of the cave.

My hubster near the moss on outside of the cave.

Since it was close to lunch time, we decided to take Carlos and Donna to Via Vai, where we had a total feast. For starters, we had the bruschetta and the butter lettuce salad. For our entrees, we had Margarita pizza, pizza with proscuitto, mushrooms, and artichokes, and linguine with clams.

Then, we had them bring out a little birthday treat for Carlos. It was the yummiest tiramisu that we had in a LONG time. Our waitress was super sweet and helped with the surprise birthday treat and taking photos. We were all delightfully full. Carlos had a major food coma afterwards. Next stop was the zoo.

Black-Footed Cat
The cutest little guy with a big roar.

Lions
Tabby often has the same facial expression as the male lion.

Giraffes
We couldn't feed the giraffes because they had their back to us the WHOLE time.


Humboldt Penguins
They're making their territorial "OORK" sound.


Blue Iguana
He's seriously blue.


Monitor
He's one of my favorites. He's got a quiet grace about him.

Overall, it was a awesome day even though we didn't go hiking, see the snow, or feed the giraffes.

Tears & Boogers

Today was a somewhat rough day for us and the kiddos. It didn't rain nearly as badly as it did on Wednesday, so we got some exercise and fresh air. However, we had to deal with a couple of meltdowns. Meltdowns have to be one of the hardest aspects of dealing with the kiddos. Your heart goes out to them, but it can be so hard to try to appease them. Between all the tears and drippy boogers, you just don't know what to do or what to say sometimes. They also don't really know how to process all of their feelings, so it gets complicated. Luckily, I was able to help with the meltdowns. After some coaxing and a walk near the big ol' eucalyptus tree, the tears went away. Yay!

Rainy Day - Day 2

Today was day 2 of this yucky storm. We've been stuck inside the classroom for two days straight! I think we're all getting a bit cranky and a slight case of cabin fever. Actually, the kiddos are doing pretty well. They're awfully jiggly wiggly, but still decently well behaved. I wish we could have rain days like they have snow days in the midwest and east coast. Then, we could stay home and be all snuggly. It's definitely a case that should be made. For instance, a bunch of roads were flooded. I didn't even bother to pick up my dry cleaning because I figured that the roads were probably flooded in that area. I'm so pooped out that I can barely type. Tomorrow is going to be another rainy day and more rain on Friday. Oy! Please think sunny thoughts. We could use 'em.

Taco Bell

I heart my hubster. Last night, we went out on an adventurous run for gas. My hubster's tank was on E, but he still decided to take me anyway. Anywho, what does all of this have to do with Taco Bell? As we were leaving the gas station, Allen turned to me and said, "I'm craving Taco Bell." I turned to him and said, "Me too! I didn't want to tell you because I thought you might laugh at me." Instead of going home, we turned right back around to the Taco Bell right next to the gas station. We ended up taking a bunch of gorditas.

Sidenote: Gorditas aren't as good as supreme tacos. The shell gets soggy and the tortilla is entirely too filling.

Octopus' Garden - Beatles

For spring, each class has to do a musical. My kiddos are part of sea-themed production. We open the show by singing Octopus' Garden, so that's the first song that they've started practicing. It's a really cute song by the Beatles. When they heard that they would be singing a Beatles' song, they were ecstatic. I've been driving my hubster crazy by singing the two verses all weekend. If I'm expected to help the kiddos, I have to know it too. ^_^ Here's a Sesame Street rendition of Octopus' Garden.

"On Noncomformity" (1963)

"This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. Dangerous passions of pride, hatred and selfishness are enthroned in our lives; truth lies prostrate on the rugged hills of nameless Cavalries. The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Happy MLK Jr. Day!

Happy MLK Jr. Day! Like any good elementary class, my kiddos have learned all about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Whenever someone at school says Martin Luther King Jr, they quickly remind that person that it's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, which I find absolutely adorable. It takes time to earn a PhD and I'm happy that they give him the respect he deserves.

I must admit that over the years I have become a little disenchanted with MLK Jr day; however, watching the kiddos experience Martin Luther King Jr and his dream has been a great eye opener for me. MLK Jr was an amazing individual who more than deserves a day dedicated to his honor. He reminds us the importance of equality. More importantly, he reminds us of the importance of our dreams. I would like to leave off with two of my favorite dreams that the kiddos shared:

Miss. IS: I have a dream that everyone even homeless people will have love and respect.
Mr. AB: I have a dream that the Iraq war would end.

Chasing Pavements - Adele

I love this music video, particularly the pavement dance sequences. It's kind of creepy endearing like Love Me if You Dare.

This is How I Feel Right Now

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Taken in (See more photos here)

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Taken in (See more photos here)

from flickr

I've been feeling particularly round lately. I'm up a couple pounds from my regular high school/early college weight. Surprisingly, my doctor still said I was too teeny and need to eat more. lol. When I told my hubster that he said, "How much more can you eat?" He's not saying I'm an oinky. Rather, he's saying that I have a nice normal appetite. I'm not quite sure how to interpret what my doctor said. I would like to think I could gain positive weight like a little more muscle since muscle weighs more than fat. Instead of gaining weight, I would be getting tone. Ah, that sounds so nice.

Nothing

I'm re-reading Charlotte's Web for the umpteenth time for this project that I'm working on. I just came across this HILARIOUS section and had to share it.

Set up: Wilbur is terribly lonely. He wants someone to play with, so he tries asking this lamb.

"Will you please play with me?" [Wilbur] asked.
"Certainly not, " said the lamb. "In the first place, I cannot get into your pen, as I am not old enough to jump over the fence. In the second place, I am not interested in pigs. Pigs mean less than nothing to me."
"What do you mean, less than nothing?" replied Wilbur. "I don't think there is any such thing as less than nothing. Nothing is absolutely the limit of nothingness. It's the lowest you can go. It's the end of the line. How can something be less than nothing? If there were something that was less than nothing, then nothing would not be nothing, it would be something--even though it's just a very little bit of something. But if nothing is nothing, then nothing has nothing that is less than it is."
"Oh, be quiet!" said the lamb. "Go play by yourself! I don't play with pigs."

That's pretty good for a little pig, right? You don't even know how many times I have heard such a discussion. Normally, it's my hubster challenging the concreteness of a concept then someone else (with less savvy) becoming increasingly frustrated who responds with a lame response.

Breakable - Ingride Michaelson (Homemade Vid)

I didn't make this video, but it's one of the few homemade music videos on youtube that I actually enjoy. I think the creator used images from Getty Images, which is pretty cool.

Not Always Egocentric

This week has been a particularly long week. 0_0 Thank God there was three-day weekend lying ahead. Otherwise, I don't know if I could have made it. Yesterday, I was trudging along through the afternoon, anxiously watching the clock like the kiddos. Then, I had this endearing conversation with Mr. MH.

Me: (walking about stamping ABC books with a way cool penguin stamp.)
Mr. MH: Mrs. T---?
Me: (readies stamp, assuming that's what he needs) Yes, Mr. MH?
Mr. MH: Where did you go for first grade? (still working on his assignment)
Me: Oh. (completely surprised) Well, I'm from San Diego, so I went to an elementary school called Sandburg Elementary. My first grade teacher was Mrs. Trosper.
Mr. MH: Oh. (seemingly satisfied with the response)

Normally, most of the kids around this age are still pretty egocentric. However, a lot of my kids are intellectually mature, so their surpassing this developmental level already. Mr. MH's question was definitely a nice late afternoon pick me up. He's just one of those sensitive inquisitive kids. It's pretty awesome. :)

Have You Ever Heard of a Zebdonk?

Mad-Lib-Rainbow-Goldfish Picnic

from flickr

Every Thursday, we have a lunch bunch date with the kiddos. Each teacher and assistant has a group of students who we have lunch with. We have 1 or 2 students from each grade level, which allows us to get to know all the kids. (It's definitely a luxury of working at a teeny school.) Well, my lunch bunch kids have been requesting a picnic for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, it's been so soggy that we couldn't have it on the lawn. Finally, we had our first picnic together today! They were so excited. (Honestly, I think they just wanted to make the other kids jealous.) I wanted it to be a really special event, so I got them rainbow goldfish to munch on. In addition to the goldfish, I also printed out a mad lib to do together. I'm a big fan of mad libs. (I even had some at our wedding. lol) I think they're a great way to sneak in learning grammar. Back to the story, the mad lib was a HUGE hit! I had only one mad lib printed out because I wasn't sure how much they were going to like it. After we did it first time, they all said in unison "Can we do that again?" 0_0 I was so bummed out that I had to tell them that I didn't have another one. Then the sweet second grader Mr. AO said, "Can you just erase the answers and we'll do it again?" And we did! They enjoyed it even more the second time. How cute are these kids?

Continuation

In my former blog life, I had a blog at Xanga. They gave me some fancy template options but then they started to post ads on my blog unless I purchased the upgraded option. Boo! So, I fled to blogger. This blog is a continuation and possible upgrade to my previous blogging. Hope you enjoy it!