ace of cakes, san angelo style

in case you haven't heard yet, the food network's ace of cakes is my new favorite show. i absolutely love it. i am completely glued to the television when it comes on (new episodes every thursday at 9 p.m. don't call me at that time-i won't answer). i not-so-secretly wanted him to do my graduation cake, but there are a couple of minor problem...his bakery is based in maryland, and i have a hunch that it's pretty pricey.

darn it.

but have you seen his cakes? oh my word-there is no way i could describe it on here. you just need to watch if you've never seen it. the cakes are amazing.

but tonight, my cousin edward just gave me my graduation gift early-the lady who did his and theresa's wedding cake is going to do my graduation cake. WONDERFUL!!!!!!! her cakes are gorgeous and very, very good. i'm so excited! she is excellent, and i can't wait to see how my cake turns out.

did i mention that you're invited?!

thanks, edward and theresa, for a great gift! i love ya'll!

my adyson

her top says "born to shop"-she is definitely my cousin

adyson with her big sister hannah-beauty obviously runs in the family

pretty pretty

her daddy makes her laugh

the joys of teaching

i know i've said this before, but i am so blessed to be where i am. today i heard some stories from other student teachers who do NOT have it as good as i do. both the teachers that i've had are doing everything they can to help me out. i told kelli the other day that if it wasn't for the encouragement that i get from my university supervisor, the principal and my teachers, i would feel like student teaching was kicking my butt. i'm still a little overwhelmed, especially with making the jump from kindergarten to 4th grade, but i feel like i can do it. i have confidence in myself because my superiors have confidence in me.

and it hit me the other day that this is why i want to be a teacher. i want my students to be confident to try anything and to do anything because ms. hernandez really believes that they can.

i was feeling sorry for myself a few weeks ago because i'm not as involved in ch. 1 as i would like to be. i really miss being able to talk to everyone and plan fun stuff like we did all summer long. i felt like wasn't even making a difference in anyone's life. but then i saw the faces of 21 kindergarteners and 21 fourth graders who depend on me to teach them, to be their mentor, to be their encouragement.

this is teaching.

pray for me.

4th graders

are awesome. i love the class i'm in. the teacher is great. the students are sweet. and THEY CAN DO STUFF ON THEIR OWN!

don't get me wrong, i still love my kindergarteners. and i miss them so very much. i saw them in the hall today, and i just wanted to cry. i love how when they see me, they act like they haven't seen me in years. the reality was that they saw me in the hall the day before, but who am i to take their joy away?

but what i love about 4th grade is all the reading that they do. it sounds nerdy, i know. but i just know that i'm going to have so much fun with them for the next few weeks.

yes, they have already mentioned my lack of height. like i didn't know that was coming.

and i was also informed that i look like i'm a teenager-19 to be exact. so how on earth could i be old enough to teach 4th grade?

4th graders...

before and after student teaching

before:
-i got plenty of sleep almost every night. if i didn't get enough sleep, i took a nap the next day.
-i never woke up before 8:00 a.m.
-i blogged every day, sometimes twice a day
-i talked to my friends on a daily basis
-i made plans every weekend, whether is was family or friends
-i was 75% sure that i wanted to be a teacher

after:
-i haven't gotten a decent night's sleep since the night of august 26th. not one.
-my alarm is set for 5 a.m. not that i get up at that time, but it's still set nonetheless
-the last time i blogged was sunday, and that doesn't really count. i still haven't updated you on the fun trip to san antonio.
-i'm doing good if i talk to my friends twice a week. this is killing me.
-my plans for every weekend (except this past one) include lesson plans and sleep. that is all.
-i am no longer 75% sure that i want to be a teacher. it's 100%.

it was...

-great
-wonderful
-fun
-amazing
-relaxing

and now i'm sick.

lovely.

go spurs go

not that i've been great at keeping up with blogging, especially since my internet went down at home, but i will NOT be available this weekend.

I'M GOING TO SAN ANTONIO!!!!!

i am going to a spurs game with some friends, and i absolutely cannot wait. CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!

i love san antonio.

i love the spurs.

i love dr. pepper.

(hey, how'd that one sneak in?)

it's over

my 7 1/2 week stint with kindergarten is over.

i think i'm about to cry.

i had a great day, the best yet of student teaching. because it was my last day, a mom baked cupcakes for the class (confetti...yummmmmm). then all of them made me a card. it was funny watching them try to write my incredibly long name (thanks, mom and dad). i love love love those kids. they wanted to make them special for me. one little boy came up to me and told me he wasn't finished with my card because he couldn't find enough heart stickers to put on it. it just melts my heart.

so on monday-fourth grade.

i wonder if they like singing silly songs on the carpet.

and for the record

my internet is still down.

blah.

chivalry at its best

today i took some library books back that needed to be checked in. i was probably carrying about 10-12 books, which were a little heavy. when i walked into the back building, i had to go through two sets of double doors. the first one was kinda heavy. as i reached for the second one, i noticed an arm sticking out to open the door for me. when i turned, i saw a cute little 3rd grade boy. apparently when i opened the first door, he saw me struggling so he opened the second door for me. i wanted to tell him, "don't ever stop doing that! you will have lots of girls around you if you keep a gentleman!"

but i didn't want him to think that i was a weirdie, so i didn't. i just smiled and thanked him and went on my merry way. doesn't that just warm your heart?

i love student teaching.

this is it

my last week in kindergarten. i didn't think it would go so fast, but it did. i only hope that the next 7 weeks are just as great...and go just as fast =)

this morning, my teacher announced to the kids that i would be going to another class next week. one sweet girl looked at me and stuck out her lower lip. i'm with you on that one, babe.

i can't believe how much i've grown to love these cute little ones. they are, quite literally at this time, my world. they are constantly coming up with ways to make me laugh. the other day as they were writing stories about their dad, one told me, "i'm gonna draw a picture of my mom and my dad wrestling!"

um...okay =) maybe they really were wrestling (yeah right)

little kindergarteners-gotta love 'em.

losing control

today i lost it.

absolutely, incontrollably, pee-in-your-pants lost it.

right in front of the kids.

when we came in from recess after lunch, the kids went to the carpet so we could do some math stuff. i was about to open my mouth to tell them we were going to start when someone (a little boy of course) let one go. i mean, really let it go. there was no hiding it. when i looked at him, his eyes were huge. poor guy-i think he was really embarrassed and he thought i was going to say something. so the whole time i'm looking at him, i'm trying my hardest not to laugh or even crack a smile. his expression was just adorable and trust me, it was a HUGE internal fight not to laugh. i finally had myself under control when the girl next to him looked at him and said,

"EW, THAT WAS A WET ONE!"

oh my stars-there was no holding back. i just couldn't help myself. when the kids saw me laughing, they started laughing too. and that cute little boy just laughed along. he wasn't embarrassed anymore once he saw that he got a laugh out of everyone, including the teacher.

so it took me a good 2-3 minutes to get control of the class again, but it was worth it.

if this happens again, i'm in trouble. they know what to do to get ms. hernandez laughing now.

beth=add

i'm sitting in a quiet computer lab doing lesson plans. i figured i would get less distracted here than at my parents house (still no internet at home....grrrr).

ha.

the plan was to do five lesson plans, and i've been here since 4. it is now 5:23, and i have 2 completed.

i'm going home.

i'm adopting this boy

yesterday in school, we made a list of words that start with the letter "t." the kids were calling them out and i was listing them on the board. one boy called out, "tall!" and then looked straight at me.

i thought to myself, "oh no, here it comes..."

i was in for a surprise. he followed that with, "ms. hernandez, you're tall!" a couple of other kids chimed in and agreed with him. i heard, "yeah, she's tall" and "she's really tall."

God bless those little kindergarteners.

but really-the two other adults in the room did NOT have to laugh. let me have my moment.

to the right, to the left.....

for the past four weeks, the kindergarten classes have been preparing a musical performance. they had two today, one for their parents and again for the whole school. it was stinkin' cute. they sang a song, played recorders and bells, and then danced.

oh my goodness.

the shyest kid in the class sure can dance! i just sat there in amazement as this sweet boy who hardly talks in class danced his little heart out. it was so much fun watching him and the others as they performed for everyone. the coolest thing was seeing the whole school clap and cheer loudly for the kindergartners.

i love it.

thank you

words can't even express the gratitude i feel right now.

this past sunday at church, i asked for prayer because i knew that this was going to be a hard week for me.

boy, does prayer work.

-i expected to be completely stressed out and high-strung, but i'm not.
-despite getting less than 6 hours of sleep every night this week, i'm not totally worn out. that in itself is a miracle.
-i've been having great days. the kids, while they aren't perfect, are at least trying to behave. well, 19 out of 21 isn't bad.
-in the weeks that i've been student teaching, i've never felt better. that is in no way an exaggeration.

i should be tired. i should be cranky. i should be ready to kill for a dr. pepper right now. but i'm not. well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

so to my amazing church family, thank you for praying for me this week! i'm going into the weekend knowing that i have had an amazingly productive week, and i know that it's because of your prayers. ya'll are awesome!

one more thing: could you keep praying for me? i just need it overall. (i know you know that, but still-at least act surprised.)

happy (belated) birthday, mac!

this past sunday was my good friend mac's birthday. that's not really her name, but i wasn't sure if she wanted her name on here on not.

i had planned to write this really nice blog about her but, well, you know what happened.

so here's the short version:

mac is incredible. we finally got to see each other a couple of months ago for the first time in about 3 years. it was so great to see her. and we saw each other 2 weekends in a row! woo hoo!

we've known each other since we were in the 2nd grade, and she has always been amazingly self-disciplined. she told me what time she gets up so she can be at work early (holy cow! super early!), and i just know that when her alarm clock goes off, she actually gets out of bed. i, on the other hand, turn my alarm off, contemplate the necessity of my involvement in the day, and then roll out of bed.

back to mac.

she's has been a great encourager to me. in high school, i could always talk to her knowing that she would support me no matter what. she was my rock in 10th grade. (remember that tumultuous year, mac?)

so, mac, happy belated birthday! i'm so happy that everything is going well in yours and josh's life. thanks for being a great friend to me, even if we don't get to see each other all the time. i love you.

i'm still alive!

oh my gosh.

i hate not having the internet at my house. really, really hate it.

i finally couldn't take it anymore. i'm sitting in a computer lab at asu with...freshmen. haha! just kidding. i have no clue who's a freshmen in here or not. but whatever. i can blog to my heart's content.

quick update on my life: nothing.

i'm serious. nothing incredibly new has happened. i'm still student teaching. still loving it. still exhausted.

see what i mean?

so i'm sorry, all you blog readers, that i haven't had anything new or exciting happen to me. not only has the past week not been blog-worthy, i'm super busy. i probably wouldn't even had time to blog even if i did have the internet at home.

but here's hoping the next few weeks are better.