"Showered With Love" from my co-workers!

It is rare for a person to love going to work everyday. It is unique for a person to have coworkers that are like family. It is a privilege to work with people whom you can share the fun of teaching with and at the same time share life with. I am one who is blessed to work among such women. We enjoy a passion for teaching, children, and changing lives while at the same time on a personal level we enjoy talking about marriage, celebrating the births of our children, giving each other advice, going out for girls nights, and sharing the joys and struggles of teaching :)

Today, I was showered with love from my sweet co-workers. I also shared a shower with my great friend at school who is expecting twin girls in June! We both teach kindergarten and our 10 other kindergarten teacher friends hosted the shower for us. They did a beautiful job decorating the library and after school we enjoyed some yummy food and had fun opening lots of little girl gifts!! We both were wanting to purchase car seats and strollers (travel systems) for our little girls from Babies R Us and we were both blessed to receive many gift cards to be able to make such a big purchase! I also received some adorable gifts: onesies, monogrammed bib/paci clip/blanket/burp cloth, hats, gowns, bath products, handmade bracelet for Ansley, and many other cute things!

On a side note, ever since I've been pregnant both friends and strangers ask me the all familiar questions...."When are you due?" "Is it a boy or girl?" "How are you feeling?" and then comes the kicker..."So, are you going back to work after she is born?"I can almost sense the hesitation in their voice as they ask it. When I tell them "Yes, I will be going back in August when she is about four and half months old," it's interesting because it is more often than not met with a look of disapproval or as if this choice is "second best." Jon and I have made the decision that is best for our family, our vision, and our daughter. Yes, it will be hard at times to leave her but at the same time it would be just as hard and costly to ignore the calling I have to both minister inside and outside of our home. I am choosing to live out my mission and our family mission of "giving life by serving, loving, and impacting the next generation to influence the world for Christ Jesus." In this way, I will impact both my students lives AND Jon and Ansley's lives. Some people have even asked me, "So, why do you choose to minister in the workplace?" and this is why...Paul tells the Thessalonians that anyone who has an ability to work should do so (where the work happens does not matter to God...all "jobs" are equal...no matter if you work in an office, on Wall Street, in a hospital, a mission field, a home, etc.). It is God's mandate for every believer and is the place where we can best express the nature of God in everyday life. My work allows me to demonstrate integrity. My work allows me to provide for my family and others in need. My work allows me to often connect with non-believers. My work allows me to live out His calling upon my life. My work allows me to experience His power in the midst of daily challenges. My work can be a place of worship when I do it with a motive to glorify Him. My primary call is to know Jesus and serve Him. My secondary call is to influence the fields of family and education for His glory! Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the privilege of working everyday with my co-workers. Thank you all for your generosity today! I pray I'm as much of a blessing to you all as you are to me!

Attitude Adjustment Anyone?

These days I rarely watch television, but yesterday I tuned into Oprah and I am so glad I did. I met, Monica Jorge, a woman's whose strength, attitude, and perseverance are remarkable. I wept as I listened to her remarkable story.

Just after having a c-section and giving birth to her second daughter, Monica contracted a flesh-eating bacteria (streptococcus) that can literally dissolve inches of tissue and kill internal organs in minutes. A team of surgeons took her uterus, ovaries, gall bladder, and part of her colon knowing that she would probably not survive. Later, she had to have both her arms and legs amputated. Monica has endured 37 surgeries, lost four limbs, lost several organs,and could not even hold or feed her newborn daughter without help...YET...she CHOOSES to pursue life, joy, and perseveres in spite of her circumstances. Many newspapers and shows are following her story because unlike many people who lose all of their limbs and show early signs of depression and lack the urge to fight, Monica's doctors and the hospital staff who cared for her say that she never complained, said "why me", or doubted that she could fully recover.

To watch the footage of Monica going about her day caring for her two young daughters, using her prosthetic arms to lift her baby out of the crib, spending three hours writing checks and paying bills with her prosthetic hand, and even deciding to clean her own floors (a process her friend says takes her all day) is inspiring to say the least. Yes, Monica admits to having hard times and getting frustrated on occasion but it is truly incredible to hear her talk and know that on a daily (often minute by minute) basis she is choosing to be a warrior...to press on...to be her best.

I know there are other "Monica's" out there. However, I love this story. I needed to hear this story. I hope there is not a day that goes by that I don't think of Monica. When asked where her strength came from, Monica said she believes that there is a God but that her strength comes from her family and friends. A woman who I am guessing does not even know Jesus personally chooses to have this strength? Can you imagine the power we have on our side as believers in Jesus Christ? Incredible. So, when you get out of bed, cradle your newborn baby, brush your teeth, drive to work, scratch an itch, feed yourself, or walk your dog...remember what you can do instead of what you cannot do...remember the blessings in your life. I'm certainly trying to.

Baby Bump

Only 52 days (7 1/2 weeks) to go!!!

Happy Groundhog Day!

The fun thing about teaching kindergarten is getting to celebrate all the popular (and not so popular) holidays! So, yesterday we enjoyed celebrating Groundhog Day. Just in case you are wondering, according to the "official" report, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. So, six more weeks of winter it is!

Hopefully, Phil's prediction will prove incorrect and spring will make it's debut soon. I, for one, am really looking forward to springtime! I love the warm weather...bring on the pedicures, sandals, flip flops, dresses, breezy days, and blooming flowers!!!

Here are a few pictures of our fun day celebrating in kindergarten! In conjunction with Groundhog Day, we are doing a unit on shadows in Science. We were really looking forward to going outside and tracing our classmates' shadows with sidewalk chalk but it was raining! Instead, we played a fun "guess that shadow game", enjoyed making groundhog puppets, and learned how to use the internet to discover if Punxsutawney Phil had seen his shadow or not.

Hope your Groundhog Day was fabulous :) By the way, whenever I think about Groundhog Day, I always think about the movie. You know where the guy's day keeps happening over and over again? If you had one day to pick out of your life that would be your "Groundhog Day" what would it be? I think mine would be my wedding day! :) Please share yours with me by posting in the comments sections!!! I would love to find out!!

100th Day of Kindergarten

If you haven't visited a kindergarten classroom since you were in kindergarten let me just tell you....you are missing out!! Yes, kindergarten has indeed changed quite a bit since the 80's when I went to school. Yes, it is very focused on academics but at the same time you would not believe the fun, hands-on, exciting learning opportunities that take place everyday!

Today was one of my personal favorites. I always look forward to the 100th day of Kindergarten! Beginning on the first day of school, we start counting the days of school. Each day during math, we add a day to our number line and slowly watch it grow. Each week that goes by, the anticipation builds as we await the 100th day. The whole school anticipates the 100th day. For those of you who don't know...there are 180 days of school. But the 100th day is so much fun to celebrate! It's fun because it celebrates how far we have come and how close we are to becoming 1st graders! It's also an awesome time to practice a lot of exciting math, reading, and writing activities surrounding the number 100. It's also fun to celebrate how we have grown as a classroom "family" over the 100 days. We've spent a lot of quality time together...about 700 hours!

Today, the kids read books about the 100th day of school, practiced writing to 100, each wrote 100 words, drew a picture of what they think they will look like when they are 100 years old, counted by 1's, 5's and 10's to 100, brought in their collections of 100 items from home to share with the class and count, took 100 steps in the hallway and measured how far it took us to get to our destination, and then capped off the day by singing "Happy 100th Day" and enjoying a cookie cake! Yummy!

I look at these kiddos and see so much progress. My, how they have grown and changed in 100 days! I am just like a proud mommy when I ponder how far they have come. I just had to share them on my blog because they are a part of our family. They are a huge part of me. I love them deeply and I love my job. Jon and I pray for them daily. Yes, they have grown remarkably in 100 short days in all academic areas. They now read fluently, know about the world around them, enjoy exploration and experiments in science, have great social skills and manners, and are little mathematicians! But most importantly, I see how they have grown in character, stamina, determination, love, pride, and self confidence. Happy 100th Day! Only 80 days left...the count down is on!

Pamper Leslie Party

Last night, I went to a party for my dear friend, Leslie. She is pregnant with their fourth baby and her sister-in-law and another friend threw her a "Pamper Party"! We met at Logan's and enjoyed a yummy dinner and celebrated Leslie and the wonderful mommy she is. We each gave her gifts that will help her feel special as she awaits the birth of Jace and then recovers from her c-section. All of these women are amazing mommies and we all go to the same church which is neat. We all love you, Leslie! We cannot wait to meet little Jace in a few short weeks! Congratulations!!

Crib Arrives!

Ansley's crib arrived Friday night. We couldn't wait to put it together. Jon is GREAT with the furniture. It only took him about 30 minutes to get it together. I was so excited when the delivery truck pulled up outside....I just had to take a picture. We ordered it back in November! I know many of you have asked for pictures of the nursery and we are almost ready to take some and send them out. We still need to buy a chair and get the missing curtain from Restoration Hardware. I promise I will send pictures very soon :)