Perspective

I find myself reflecting a lot lately and trying to find some perspective in my own life. I find it so easy to allow myself to be impacted by things that are out of my control. Our school is going through a down staffing due to enrollment which has turned everyone's world upside down. Do we get to stay? Will we have to change schools? Not only does it create tension among the most amazing teachers I have ever met, it makes it really hard to focus on what is the most important...our kids.

I have faith. Lots of faith. I believe challenges are presented to people to teach them something valuable. I also believe that when you are in the midst of life's obstacles, if you pay attention, you find answers to help you understand.
I'm currently reading a book, mentioned here, called The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. As I was reading the other night before bed, I read this part:

"At the age of three and a half, my family including all the other relatives decided it to move to Thailand," wrote Lia's sister May in an autobiography she was assigned in her eighth-grade Language Arts class at Merced's Hoover Junior High School.

On our way to Thailand was something my parent will never forget. It was one of the scariest time of my life, and maybe my parents. We had to walked by feet. Some of family, however, leave their kids behind, kill, or beat them. For example, one of the relatives has tried to kill one of his kid, but luckily he didn't died. And manage to come along with the group. Today, he's in America carrying a scar on his forehead.
My parents had to carried me and two of my younger sisters, True and Yer. My mom could only carried me, and my dad could only my sister, True with many other things which they have to carry such as, rices (food), clothing, and blankets for overnight. My parents pay one of the relative to carry Yer. One of my sister who died in Thailand was so tire of walking saying that she can't go on any longer. But she dragged along and made it to Thailand.
There was gun shot going on and soldier were close to every where. If there was a gun shot, we were to look for a place to hide. On our trip to Thailand, there were many gun shots and instead of looking for a place to hide, my parents would dragged our hands or put us on their back and run for their lifes. When it gets too heavy, my parents would tossed some of their stuff away. Some of the things they and throw away are valuable to them, but our lives were more important to them than the stuffs.

"You have had an exciting life!" wrote the teacher at the end of the essay. "Please watch verbs in the past tense."

Perspective. I immediately started crying during the first sentence. And the last sentence ripped my heart out. I shouted at that teacher with more anger than I have ever felt. And said out loud, as if I were talking to this student right in front of me, that I only wish I could write the way she did in this essay. I said myself that I get it. It's not about me. It's all about them, period.

I honestly thought that was the biggest sign I needed to put my problems in order. But apparently God thought I needed another subtle nudge. Tonight as I was checking out other blogs, I came across this post by Kayla Amiee called I'm going to title this "The one where I get some perspective" An absolute must read!

Perspective. I realized it doesn't matter where I teach. It just matters that I have a job doing what I love to do and praising God for the many blessings in my life. The stress over it, really doesn't matter. I found understanding and peace that it's out of my control and everything will work out just fine.

Only my child

I've decided to start capturing every place Katilyn falls asleep because it never seems to be in her bed.



I would have another one to add to this from yesterday but I didn't get a picture of it. She fell asleep in the recliner, in a position that couldn't have been very comfortable. I guess when you're tired, you're tired and it doesn't matter where you land.

We're back

Our spring break week is packed with trips and lots of fun! We just got back today from our trip to Sandusky, OH where we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. The girls had such a good time. We opted for the suite with a kids cabin built in so the girls had their own space with a TV, bunk beds, and a day bed. Most of our time was spent in the water park, which was such a blast. I was afraid that because Kaitlyn is so small that she wouldn't be able to do some of the slides and such. The life guards were great with letting the kids do and experience everything. Kaitlyn was willing to do all of the big slides except the biggest one that you had to go down on a raft. We tried to get her to go on it several times, but she wouldn't. Kinsey, however, wanted to go on it every single time. She loved it! Here are some pictures from our trip!

Kinsey and Kaitlyn in their kids cabin (which they referred to as their "cabinet" the whole time)


Kaitlyn getting ready to swim


Kinsey getting ready to swim


Some bear the girls found and wanted to sit on for a photo


This is how Kaitlyn looked the whole time...frozen.


The huge bucket of water would fall about every five minutes. Everyone would race to the middle to get wet when it started.


The lazy river


View of the kids pool and the swimming pool with water basketball


From the balcony overlooking the splash zone. You could climb to the top, with plenty of opportunities to get wet, and come down on one of two huge water slides.


Two water slides and way at the top, the big yellow one, is one of two slides you go down using the big rafts. They were awesome...and fast!


View of the whole park from the front


Kinsey getting ready for one of the shows in the great room


View of the show in the lobby...this is also where they have story time each night. it's a big hit. We took the girls and they were the only ones not in their pjs. We also fed them ice cream cones during it too. We must have looked like #1 parents :)


Having fun at the huge arcade in the hotel that was by the water park. The girls won almost every single trinket they had to offer with their tickets. They came out of there with handfuls of stuff each time we went.


Have a great Easter!

I am Michael Scott

So much has happened since my last blog post. Trying to find the time to sit down and write it all seems an overwhelming task sometimes.

Last week I finally made it to the doctor for some dry skin I had on my foot and elbows. I thought it was winter eczema because my skin always gets very, very dry in the winter. However, it is actually psoriasis. The doc gave me a new cream to put on it and told me it would best if I could wrap my foot with saran wrap at night after I put the cream on. Naturally, my first thought goes to The Office when Michael Scott burns his foot on his foreman grill because he likes to wake up to the smell of bacon. Of course he wraps his foot in bubble wrap. That's what I thought it would look like so I decided to just stick with the cream and not go all Michael Scott (sorry doc). The good news is that it is starting to heal and looks so much better. While I was there I also talked with my doctor about the horrible headaches I've been having for the past three months. They are worse than migraines and they make me sick. Of course they start as soon as I leave school and begin my hour commute back home with the sun blaring in my eyes and a chatty five year old in the back seat (Note: bright light and noise do not help migraines). The doctor found that my blood pressure was way too high and he was very concerned about it and started me on a medication for it. I went to school the next day and had the nurse check my BP and it was still too high. She and my principal sent me home to rest. I'm not sure which is worse: stressing at school or stressing at home because I'm not at school. Either way, I found it hard to rest. Day three of the medicine was like the clouds parting because for the first time in a very long time, I felt good and headache free.

In related news, Jason and I joined the Y. We have needed to get our butts in gear for a long time. The issues with high BP only pushed us harder to change our lifestyle. We have been going almost every night to work out. The girls have been taking full advantage of the open swim times, swim classes, and kids play area. It is so nice because it's something that Jason and I get to do together and support each other on. We took the girls to the aquatic easter egg hunt yesterday. They got to find eggs in the pool and practice their swimming. They had so much fun! They are like little fish.

Last weekend we bought a new kitchen table. There is an Ashley Furniture that is going out of business near us so we went to the show room and took advantage of the sale. The table we found matches everything perfect. The regular price was just over $900. The sale ticket had it for $404 and we talked them down to $300. We have black appliances and dark cherry cabinets. The table is black with dark cherry wood. It couldn't be more perfect. Jason and I put the table and all the chairs together last Monday and felt a real sense of accomplishment.



For my birthday Jason got me a Garmin GPS (which I use even when I'm going to the store because I love it) and three shelves that I've been wanting for our living room. I finally put the shelves up but didn't have anything to put on them. Yesterday, the girls and I went to Hobby Lobby in Carmel and they were having a huge sale. Almost everything was 50% off. I found these little monogram frames that fit perfect on my shelves. I'm still debating on whether or not I should take the ribbon off of them.


Well, we are off on vacation tomorrow for spring break so the next post will be of all the fun we had. Enjoy your week everyone!

A tough task

Today I was asked a simple question.

What do you remember your teachers saying or commenting on about your writing?

You would think that it would have a simple answer. It was asked at a workshop I attended today as something we were supposed to think about quickly and jot down a list of responses. Only, I didn't have a list of responses. I didn't have any responses. It is very odd for me to not have a response to something because that's what I do. I respond to things. Everything. Now here I am almost six hours after the workshop is over still trying to think about responses to complete my list in my writer's notebook.
The only thing I can come up with is that once when I was in second grade, my teacher told me that I spelled the word 'whistle' wrong in a sentence in front of the whole class. Although, it was a problem because it was one of our spelling words that week. Clearly, I didn't learn my studying skills until after second grade.
All of those years of school and that is the only memory I have of a teacher responding to my writing. Which is a problem for a few reasons: 1) I don't ever remember writing as a child (or the memory was so bad I blocked it out...which I'm not ruling out. I had an incident in second grade when I wore some kind of strapless bra under my shirt. I don't know why I did that or where I even got it. I'm 100% sure it was my moms. Of course we had to change clothes for gym and it came off without me knowing because I didn't have the necessities to fill it out at the time. Needless to say someone other than me found it. It's a miracle after that I remember anything from second grade.) 2) It makes me understand what I need to do as a teacher of writing
As a teacher, I couldn't possible begin to understand student writing until I myself became a writer. It's not that I was never a writer (although sometimes my second grade memories tell me different). I was just never discovered. No one ever tapped into that part of me as a child. And man, would I love to hear what I had to say back then!
See, that's what Katherine Bomer does when you go to one of her workshops. She, who has been one of my most valued mentors for teaching writing for the past four years, makes you think. I don't ever remember writing for myself, or others, until she started coaching me, coming all the way from Texas and spending time in my classroom modeling with my students. Through that and attending her workshops, I began to understand the process and understand what it means to be a writer...that feeling deep within your soul that urges you to constantly see the world though different eyes and forces you to respond...respond to everything like your life depends on it.

Professional books by Katherine I recommend:
Writing a Life: Teaching Memoir to Sharpen Insight, Shape Meaning--and Triumph Over Tests


Hidden Gems: Naming and Teaching from the Brilliance in Every Student's Writing (I am so excited to get this book..It comes out on March 25th)

My must have book selections

I wanted to share two books with everyone that I absolutely love. Not a kind of love that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. A kind of love that makes you think and reflect on your own life. I read these two books in college and have just learned to appreciate them for what they are. I could reread either of these books several times, and each time find something new...like hidden gems buried in the within the words.
Book #1: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

This is a beautiful book about a Hmong family who has immigrated to the United States and the struggles they face in dealing with a child that has, what American society calls, epilepsy. It is a true "collision of cultures" as the Hmong family believes it is their child looking for her lost soul and therefore, they don't agree with american methods of treatment. Ideals of each culture get lost in translation as neither speak a language that either can understand.

Book 2: Reading Lolita in Tehran

This is an incredible memoir about the danger of reading forbidden books and the role of women in society in Tehran. A professor meets with several of her students and we begin to see the women of Tehran for who they really are vs. who they are forced to be by the government.

Recent Happenings

#1 Happy President's Day and all that
#2 Congratulations to my best friend Sarah Ryan and Phil for getting engaged this weekend! Love you both so much and I'm so excited for you two :)
#3 Congratulations to Adam and Nanci Custer on their new baby girl..I can't wait to meet her.
#4 Congratulations to Megan and Joel Lucky on their news of expecting their first baby :)
#5 Happy Valentine's Day a little late. We celebrated Valentine's Day as a family and spent Friday night and Saturday together. On Saturday afternoon I received this wonderful gift Most of the strawberries were chocolate dipped and delicious!
Late Saturday evening my mom came to visit for a few days. It has been so busy with everything going on that we really haven't spent much time with our families from Fort Wayne so it was nice to see my mom this weekend. The last Valentine's gift I got was a wickless candle, which I have been burning the Sticky Buns scent all day and it smells amazing! I got the one called Zeus and it matches my kitchen perfectly. These things are amazing and you can find them here or if you want to host a party, I know a consultant.
#6 My baby Kaitlyn is now 4 years old..FOUR! I know it's cliche but I can't believe how fast the time goes. We celebrated with our family and friends by going to Pizza Hut (Kaitlyn's choice) and then taking everyone to build-a-bear. Everyone had a great time and said how much they enjoyed it.



#5 Kaitlyn received a gift card for Old Navy for her birthday. I took her there and let her pick out whatever she wanted with her "credit card." She did a pretty good job. She picked out this whole outfit and the cow!
#7 Last semester my students finally finished their Social Studies projects on Medieval Times. I created a webquest (Click here to check it out) for them and incorporated it into writing. Students work independently and in groups to create newspapers. Each student had to write three articles. We stressed paper by putting it in a tea bath (the students LOVED doing this!) to make it look old. When all of their articles were finished, they had to decorate their newspapers. Here are a few of the finished projects:




#8 Have a great week everyone!