stuff my kids said this week [1/27]

An original song:

I'm so awesome - everybody likes me!

Thoughts on the book I read them about astronauts:

Ughhhhh, I hate space!

A moon with lipstick?  Whaatttt?

Thoughts on having your own bed:

Sleeping with nobody is actually pretty fun!

Coloring:

I wish I could marry purple.

This is a sunburnt color.

This crayon is... naked.  (The wrapper had fallen off)  

Coloring all day wears me out! 

Chewing gum:

Miss Anna, you have the same gum as yesterday!  You never like to eat gum in the summer?

Affection:

Can I sit in your lap?  But I LOVE you!

(I asked a boy for a purple dinosaur he was playing with:) No! You're not my girlfriend!

I like you longtime. 

A natural conclusion:

You little BABY! (Hon, she's older than you.) Well... then I'm going to put marker on her face.

Travel stories:

When I went to Hong Kong, I got the last balloon.

I asked a little girl if she would want the same shoes as Hello Kitty:

But they're Hello Kitty's!  (What if she gave them to you?) She's not in the world, you goober!

Snack time:

They're yummy and crummy.  Rhymes.  I just did a rhyme!

Matters of height:

You know what?  My daddy drinks alcohol, and that's why he's tall!

A little boy walks out of the restroom before pulling up his pants, and one little girl remarks:

I never like seeing that.  Ever.

Two girls have moms that are both tall and dark-haired, one boy remarked:

Sophie and Brianna kinda have the same mom.

A little girl sniffs a My Little Pony:

It smells like my dinner.

Reality:

Star Wars is real life.  Because I saw it on TV.  They're REAL PEOPLE.  With real sticks! (Lightsabers)

Expressions:

You're running like a chicken with your eye off!

Truth:

Cake will make it better! 

stuff my kids said last week

A student greets me as I enter:

Do you have long arms?

One boy gets excited for his weekend at the condo:

They even have a hot tub! And I'm going in it!  There are strong jets, and lights, and three fountains.  And I like the blood! (???)  Red lights!  It even goes on big jets - STRONG jets!

Thoughts on superheroes:

Batman is a nice guy.

I turned into a thunder eagle.

I'm trying to be Secret Agent Coyote.

Snack time:

Miss Anna, I didn't want my snack today, so I choose to eat YOU!

Do you want to see my fake choking?

Santa remains a Big Brother figure in the kids' minds:

If you be bad one more time... Santa told me you're bad.

Size matters:

Because we're bigger than you guys... by a little bit.  But YOU'RE (pointing at me) way bigger than all of us!

Do you wanna try to touch the ceiling? (A father walked in... who was nearly seven feet tall.)

The orange safety goggles were a hit:

Hey!  Orange me!  Now let me orange you!

Interesting pronunciation:

Come on!  We have to trap the Paris-a-mantis! (Praying mantis)

With confidence:

I have the beautista...ful... one.

Art lessons:

You're not supposed to draw purple eyes.  Because they're supposed to be brown.

Endearing:

Miss Anna, I missed you when I was at my condo.

You make my tummy funny.  My tummy told me to hug you. 

One girl forgot to wear a belt with her over-large pants, and when they fell down:

What!  Are you SERIOUS, man??

Playing outside:

Ahh!  Did you send that sun into my eyes??

I wanna KILL that rainbow.

Ethics:

Make a choice to be good.  Make a good choice.  And don't do anything not good.

Obedience:

My baby dinosaur doesn't know how to listen. 

not big enough

Sometimes
God isn't BIG enough
in my perception

I reduce Him to ink on a page
words of Christ in red

I love Him like I love
Percy
Darcy
Carton
an adorable, romantic, brooding Figure

Is He more than that to me?

Have I trained my brain to be wooed
by a mere Man
of stories
of the past
of fiction?

I read of His terrible wrath
His patient loving-kindness
His sacrifice
for the ones He loves
as a story

A beautiful, touching, inspiring story

Is my God a living One
that is the same today as He was walking with Enoch
snatching up Elijah
protecting David
weeping at Lazarus' death
overturning tables in the temple
accepting the humble worship of sinners?

Have I the faith to praise a present God?
To live as if He's alive?

Or is my heart just warmed by the story?

Just ink on a page
words of Christ in red

I fear
God isn't BIG enough
in my perception

[1/6] stuff my kids said today

 One of my girls explains how a maze works:

If you get trapped by a ghost, you're lost.

One of my kids had finished a connect-the-dots picture of a birthday cake.  I "pretended" to want to eat it.  My kid responds:

Don't you get it, Miss Anna?  It's just a dot-to-dot!  Do NOT eat it!  It's just coloring!

One boy comments on another's choice in hats:

Mason!  You're half-pirate, Mason!

One girl explains why I sometimes have trouble with them misbehaving:

 Well... we don't listen to you when you're here, but we do listen when Miss Stacey's (the main teacher) here... because we don't want to get in trouble.  (You'll still get in trouble if you don't listen to me, though.) Oooohhhhhhhhh....

Every day when we transition from outside to inside, we pretend to be secret agents (a better way of saying, let's all be insanely quiet as we walk to our classroom).  One boy decides:

I'm secret Batman!

As one girl plays with the kitchen set, I overhear the following:

Shake stuff is medicine, sometimes.

Uhmmm... who put the bacon on me?  (response from another little girl: "The teacher.") 

I think he should go to elementary school, never be here again.  So he won't disturb you anymore.

One little boy is obsessed with all things fireman-related.  He wears a fireman helmet everyday (or did for the majority of the fall "semester"), and plays with the Rescue Heroes constantly.  I overhear him talking on the walkie-talkie:

Come in!  This is Fireman Siff!  Come in!  ...New coffee, thanks!

I was having trouble figuring out what a girl's drawing was... she explained it rather nicely:

This is a lovely piano... and lovely shoes... and hearts... and a lovely pink tongue!

One boy and I have a scar on the same place over our left eyebrows.  I pointed this out to him, and the other kids overheard.  So, for the next ten minutes, they chanted:

You lost an eyebrow!  You lost an eyebrow!

As we lined up to go inside, one boy asserted:

I hate... I hate the MOON!  (Why, hon?) I hate the moon because the moon kind of chases my home.  And I don't like that!

Another says (no explanation necessary):

I want a pet eagle!

One boy drew a picture of a really fat man.  There were features of the man I could identify, but beneath the belly button, I saw something that seemed a bit strange.  It looked like three parallel lines to the side of the stomach.  I spent the next half-hour trying to get the boy to tell me what it was.  These are some of my favorite lines from that conversation:

I don't wanna tell... it's kind of secret.  (Lots of giggles.)

Only boys have 'em - right here (He points to his chest, and one little girl who is eavesdropping says: BOOBIES! I reply, No... boys don't have boobies.  He responds, with a huge smile on his face:) My daddy does!

 I don't wanna tell you... because you might tell the other kids and... it might freak you out.

Ok, I'll give you a hint... (Writes the letters O-T-S on his paper) What's that spell?  (I said, Ots.  At this point, he busts up laughing - slapping his knees - and says:) I tricked you!  That's not a clue!

Here's a REAL clue:  it kinda rhymes with 'three'.  (The eavesdropping girl shouts in response: TURTLES!)

Once I finally got him to whisper it in my ear, because I was thoroughly intrigued and confused, he said:

It's... a three-pack!  You know?  Part of your muscles!  I'll probably have them when I'm six.

[1/3] stuff my kids said today

There were a lot of good one-liners today.  Enjoy!

These next few have no (and need no) context:

We have to be beautiful - it's so rainy!

And Pocahontas can climb trees really fast... and... and she can paint with the wind.  That's impossible.  To paint with the wind.

Everyone can fly - even dinosaurs!  But not people.

Hippo starts with H.  (What else starts with H? I was trying to get the little girl to recognize her own name starts with that letter) Hug? (Yes, what else?) Nug? ...Snowflake?

No, they're not bunnies - they're a STAR.  And you said 'pissles.'

I love wind.  It makes me so fast. 

Yeah... I don't understand words.

You can be invited to my birthday, if you like.  Then... I don't have bad luck!  (When?) when I grow up to be four! 

I read them a book, and a character was named Mrs Plum.  I asked if anyone knew what a plum was:

Oh!  It's... a... purple circle. 

Goals for 2012

Is it that time already?  

Here are the things I'd like to accomplish in 2012.
  

Some of them were not quite finished (or started...shhh) in 2011, so they've rolled over onto this list.  I also figure that 18 is much more manageable than 30.  

At 6 mos. I'll check back and let you know how I'm doing!

1) Learn German (my friend Faith and I have a pact to learn it together - hopefully this coming summer!)

2) Read through the complete works of Shakespeare.

3) Go hiking/camping on a mountain with Kevin.

4) See sunrise on said mountain.

5) Use the paint supplies I have acquired.

6) Use the Pilates DVD and mat I bought myself for Christmas.

7) Write a letter to a friend a week.

8) Journal weekly.

9) Read through the collected works of Milton.

10) Read through the collected works of Lewis.

11) Read through The Making of a Sonnet, and attempt one a month.

12) Work harder than absolutely necessary.

13) Develop relationships with the girls in the youth group at church.

14) Sing out.

15) Develop better posture.
16) Finish the application process and become a certified teacher in the state of Colorado.
17) Learn more about pre-K education.
18) Collect and read as many of my childhood-favorite books as I possibly can!

I think that's a decent enough list.  We'll see how this goes!  What are YOU going to do with 2012?

al fine: goals for 2011

2011 is over.  Officially.  Care to see how I did on my goals for this year?

1) journal weekly (in my journal, not my blog)
2) teach like I mean it—student teaching was rough, but I can say with confidence that I started each day as if it were on purpose! And now that I'm working at Evergreen Academy, many more opportunities!!
3) graduate PBU (get certified, succeed as a teacher, all that jazz)
4) see an obscene number of friends get married!—and still so many coming up!
5) move away (pref. to Colorado!)--we're here!!  
6) twice a month, write a letter to a different dear (if distant) friend—yes!  I've gotten better at this one since the half-way mark!  I love love writing (and receiving!) letters of encouragement! 
7) get a piano—an electric piano counts.  I guess.
8) learn 5 new pieces by Chopin—I've *begun* learning two.  Shoot, I'll work on this one!
9) read (and appreciate!) a Russian novel--I read Crime and Punishment this summer.  "Read"-check.  "Appreciate"-...I'll let you know.
10) finish reading the works of Shakespeare in its entirety!--Will have to finish next year....
11) write something worth reading--this is up for debate.  
12) go hiking & camping with Kevin on a mountain--hiking, yes.  Camping, no.  
13) see sunset and sunrise on said mountain
14) learn to knit and/or crochet
15) research Trivits heritage
16) learn German… begin learning German--I downloaded a podcast that was supposed to teach you German.  I didn't make it far, but I made an effort!

17) learn to cook - not really Julie & Julia style, but kinda
18) give people the benefit of the doubt, every time
19) learn and play a number of different card games
20) acquire painting supplies, use said supplies

21) learn to love Kevin more than I love myself; support him; dream with him (aka be an awesome wife!)—definite improvements!

22) learn when and how to be a follower rather than a leader (and vice versa)—definite improvements!
23) read through the Bible again—Yes!  In just about six months!
24) have Kevin teach me Greek—in progress!
25) sing somewhere--every Saturday night, I get to help lead worship at my church!
26) grow a garden (even an herb garden, come on!)
27) learn to exercise (& do it regularly!)--Next year.
28) remember to not be too serious

29) study up on world religions
30) …get a new and decent job.


22/30... is a solid C.