my belly is happy now

i love, love that chicken alfredo. it is very yummy. and speaking of yummy...

our principal provided lunch for us today! he made brisket and the rest of us brought sides and desserts. i ate way too much, but it was so good. i love my principal!

i got a new student yesterday. i'm getting a new student tomorrow. i was definitely not expecting this yesterday morning when i got to work. the good thing is that it's early enough in the year that getting them caught up is definitely do-able. and they're cute. speaking of cute...

i have a very vivid memory of something that happened years ago. the first grade teacher at the time opened the door to the school office and exclaimed, "i love first grade!" that's how i feel now. every single day my kids do something to make me laugh. every day is different because i never know what's going to come out of their mouths. they're just so cute. don't get me wrong-they can be little stinkers too. but they're just so cute doing it.

today is my friend's birthday. happy birthday! i hope your husband took you out to some fancy restaurant. next time you come here, come see me. i miss you (oh, and i heard the veggie tales' song "his cheeseburger" and i thought of the class. ah, good times...).

i'm missing jeremy's soccer game. (correction: i'm missing jeremy's soccer game...at the base! i'm thinking my work could have waited. darn it.) i have this list of stuff that needs to get done TODAY and i have yet to get started on it. maybe i should quit procrastinating.

maybe i should quit drinking dr. pepper.

maybe i should just quit talking crazy.

um...

i was totally going to blog, but my pasta just came.

you're going to have to wait.

story or question?

first graders are fun. and funny. and they have about a million stories to tell you every day. we could be doing math, and someone's hand will shoot up so they can tell me about the time they went to the grocery store with their mom. if i listened to every story, i would never have time to teach. so now whenever someone raises their hand, i ask them, "story or question?" what's funny is that the past couple of days, i would just look at whoever would raise their hand and they would say, "oh never mind."

i realized tonight that i am way too much like my first graders. tonight cheli, kelli and i went to starbucks, and i wanted to tell a story for every topic we talked about. in fact, most of the time when i talk, i'm not even telling half of what i want to. there are so many things that run through my head that it is so ridiculous. but hey, i like to talk. is that really a surprise?

for some of you, i would be very careful how you answer that question. you know who you are.

lazy saturday mornings

this was the first saturday that i really got to sleep in since school started.i woke up at 10. it felt soooo good.

then i decided to get up and make breakfast (or is is brunch?). kelli and i had pancakes and bacon and orange juice/sprite. it was so very yummy.

i'm glad i slept in though. i've got a whole list of stuff to do. bleh.

this never stops

so today was picture day at school. i really liked that our photographer had set up outside by some greenery, especially since it was such a nice day today.

my kids were doing such a good job standing in line quietly without causing too much damage to each other. i should have known that it wouldn't last. sure enough, i heard one my girls yell,

"MISS HERNANDEZ! _____________ PUT RED MARKER ON HER LIPS!"

yes, one of my little darlings took her red marker and colored her lips.

i called her over, but i couldn't even say anything to her because i was in so much shock. there it was in all its glory. red, red lips. finally after about a minute of silence, she said, "do you want me to go wash it off?"

my brain kicked in and i replied, "yes! please go wash it off...now!"

oh my. oh my.

small groups

almost four years ago, lennon gave me and kelli an incredible opportunity-he gave us the chance to lead a small group. kelli led with her friend olivia, and i led with my friend kylah (whom i love so much!). anyway, since february of '05, i had taught a small group every semester until i student taught last year. i have great memories, but i have to be honest and tell you that my best memories involve that first semester. i would get to kylah's house earlier than everyone else and talk to her and delana. then i'd stay after everyone left and talk to her and delana. actually, now that i think about it, they were probably tired of me every tuesday night! sorry!

it's been over a year since i led a small group, and now my dad has given me a chance to once again do something that i enjoy so much. we're doing a fall campaign at church, nothing's too hard for God. there are small groups that go along with it, and kelli and i are leading the one for the young adults. i'm so excited about it, and i feel a little like i'm coming home to something familiar.

yay for small groups!

a little note on snacking

first of all, those chocolate-covered almonds i got from heb are delicious. i took the bag with me to work today because my aide and i always get sleepy around 1:30. i figured it would be a good way to stay awake. but then i got hungry around, oh, 7:30 (i didn't eat breakfast), and then i couldn't stop. i gave the rest to her and told her to just take them from me before i ate all of them. she said, "oh, i don't want to eat the rest of them." i looked over a little later and there was 1 left. i told her, "see?! they're addicting, aren't they?" they so totally are. i'm contemplating another trip to the store.

because kelli and i were feeling incredibly unhealthy last night, so in addition to our sweet snacks, we also bought ruffles with ranch dip. two words: never again.

i ate some when i got home (after eating half a bag of chocolate-covered almonds) and after i put the bag of chips away, i started feeling sick. now my stomach is not at its best (trust me, you don't want the details) and i can't help but feeling that if i could just throw up, i would feel a lot better.

tmi?

anyway, i guess that's a lesson for me to not be so unhealthy. we'll see how that goes.

why grocery shopping at night is fun

first of all, there aren't a lot of people in the store at 9:15 p.m. there were numerous parking spaces to choose from. so nice. then kelli and i got our chocolate fix. i'm happy to report to you that i got the chocolate-covered almonds that i wanted, not the sugar free stuff. sorry, dad, no almonds for you this time. also, i think that shopping at night makes me spend less money. i'm not sure what it is, but i spent about $20 less than i usually do. hmmm.....

i did have a major blonde moment though. we were in the drinks aisle, and i was looking for the 8 oz. cans of sprite. i don't normally drink sprite by itself, but i love it with orange juice so that's why i was wanting the small cans. i kept looking and looking, but i couldn't see them. finally kelli said, "they're right in front of you." i still couldn't find them. kelli came over and pointed to them while i said, "oh...." they really were right in front of me. literally right in front of me.

yeah. i was tired.

anyway, as we got ready to put the groceries away, we somehow managed to set of kelli's car alarm. i'm pretty sure the people on our block are saying some really nice things about us about now.

i'm ready for bed. good night.

seriously, people

of all the posts i've written that i thought i would get a lot of comments on, the one below wasn't it.

apparently there's a lot of comedians in my family-adopted or not. (jeremy, did i miss the whole adoption conversation? nobody gave me a vote. i'm just sayin'...)

i'm so glad you're all concerned for my welfare. now if you could just focus all that "concern" into something i could really use...LIKE DINNER!

love you guys.

last year at this time

last year at this time, mom went on the annual high school retreat. joey was still in high school, so he was with her. that left ryan and my dad at home all by their lonesome. even though i wasn't living at home, i felt that it was my responsibility to take care of my boys.

we went out to eat all four nights she was gone. dad paid.

today my mom left for the annual high school retreat.

daddy, call me.

getting old

i feel like i'm getting old. tonight at ihop i drank coffee instead of dr. pepper (kelli made fun of me). i didn't go to the girls' house afterward because it was too late for me. and the clincher that i'm getting old:

i have a retirement plan.

i feel old. like 28.

holy cow. holy stinkin' cow.

i just read the introduction to the first born advantage. it is way good. i feel like this guy knows me.

if you're a firstborn, go get this book. right now. go!

snap

i decided this morning not to go to ryan's cross country meet because i wasn't feeling well. my mom just called me to tell me that he came in 2nd.

i'm seriously mad at myself.

only a white chocolate mocha would make me feel better.

friday night fun

it's friday! woo hoo!

we had dinner chick-fil-a (always a good choice), and then my mom and i went to sams. let me tell you, if i had more money that i actually do, most of it would go to post-its and sharpies. i am so ridiculously addicted to those things. i didn't need any post-its (you should see my desk) but i bought some more anyway.

dad i hope you're not too attached to those post-its in your office. don't be surprised if those are missing soon. just a small fyi.

anyway, after that mom and i went to family christian. if you haven't been there in awhile, be forewarned. they've moved things around. i was so confused. however, i did find a couple of books, one of which is the first born advantage by kevin lehman. i read his book on birth order and it was pretty good. i think this one will be too.

anyway, it's been a nice, relaxing friday night. and i'm so ready for bed. i feel old.

completely out of the ordinary

lesson plans are due every friday. mine usually make an appearance in the box sometime after friday...except for the past two weeks! for the second week in a row, my lesson plans are completely finished and sitting on my desk at school, thus giving me time to sit on my bed tonight and look for the perfect blog background.

i haven't procrastinated for two weeks straight.

something must be seriously wrong with me.

whatcha think?

after many hours and hours of searching, i ended up on the same site that kylah got her background from.

go figure.

but i have succeeded! do you like it?

i AM married!

as i may have mentioned before, my students are a bit curious of my personal life (which, incidentally, has spilled over to the 2nd grade; now they want to know if i have a boyfriend and if he's hot. insert shocked expression here).

today one of the teachers was thanking some people for helping with a skit that her class had done, and she said, "and thanks to mr. hernandez for helping build the set." one of my boys turned to me and said, "so you ARE married, miss hernandez! that teacher just said mr. hernandez, so that's your husband."

i laughed and said, "uh, no, it doesn't really work that way, sweetie."

because you'd better believe my last name is going to change. oh, you'd better believe it.

buzz word

go find the game. and then call me because i want to play it again.

it is soooo much fun. and obviously i stayed up way too late playing it. but it was fun!

maybe i can teach 1st graders how to play it...

warning! warning!

kelli is very upset that no one has commented on the picture of her and roddick in their spurs shirts. she says it's "the cutest picture ever."

so please comment on it. please.

my sanity depends on it.

sorry, charlie

no funny stories today. unless you count the boy who tried to discuss my assigning of homework:

"you know, miss hernandez, monday isn't such a good day for homework. we're kind of tired on mondays and we have two things to do tonight."

it was at the end of the day while i was rushing everyone else out of the room. i was not amused.

change

since everybody seems to be harping about change lately, i've decided to jump on the bandwagon...and change my background.

problem is, i didn't realize how picky i was. it's taking me forever to find a background i really like. i found one, but the description is in spanish, and since i'm not too good with the espanol, i don't really know what i'm doing.

any suggestions?

two of my boys

they were playing sponge bob square pants.
kids.

they make me laugh

you know how kids repeat things they hear?

yeah, that happened to me.

my kids have this horrible habit of COMPLAINING when they don't like something. sorta reminds me of some people i know...like me. anyway, yesterday i told them to stand up so we could do some drills when they started in the latest of the complaints. one of the girls quieted everyone down and said, "guys! we're lucky to have a teacher like her. QUIT WHINING!"

the room was completely silent until the boy next to her turned and said, "nice speech."

this happened at approximately 8:30 in the morning. it was a good day.

the newest spurs fan

kelli and joey were bored tonight.

very bored.

i came back from my meeting to find this:

that's MY shirt! well, it was my shirt...



kelli and roddick...and joey in the background

two

two stories from the past couple of days:

#1 today my aide was helping a girl who likes to take her time doing her work. she said, "okay, let's work on your subtraction." the girl looked at her, threw up her hands and exclaimed, "wait, wait, wait! let me do this on my own, and then we'll see how i do." well, excuuuuuse me.

#2 yesterday as i was passing out papers, i walked by one girl's desk. the papers she had on her desk fell off, so i turned around to pick them up and said, "oh i'm sorry. did i make your papers fall?" the little boy behind her said, "no, it was just your wind." it's not what you think!

(by the way, it was the same boy who wrote his name in chinese.)

chinese

when i couldn't read one of my students' names on his music paper, i asked him why.

he replied, "that's because i wrote it in chinese!"

thank you, music teacher, for telling them they could write their name anyway they wanted to.

sweet boy

if you've been reading this blog for a few months, then you might remember me writing about a certain boy in my third grade class who made teaching fun and interesting. i have so many stories about him, and just because he isn't in my class anymore doesn't mean that the stories have stopped.

a couple of weeks ago i was outside with my class, waiting for their parents to pick them up. his class walked out and he stopped to talk to me. he asked me how first grade was going, and i told him, "oh it's good. kinda tiring, though." later he came back and told me, "miss hernandez, i thought i'd come give you a hug since you've had such a tiring day."

then yesterday he surprised me even more. thursday night, we sent letters home with all the kids that had some school information on it as well as the updated teachers' wish lists. friday morning i was working in my room before school started, and he came in. he had made a #1 out of legos, and handed it to me. he told me that he saw on my wish list that i wanted legos for my classroom, and that was all he had, but he wanted me to have it. he told me, "i'll check at home to see what else i have." i was so touched by his generosity. i told him that i appreciated it, and he responded, "well i know it's not a lot, but maybe it'll keep your kids occupied for a few moments."

what a mature 4th grader!

but it meant so much to me that he saw my wish list and gave me what he could. i talked to his mom (my principal, remember?) and she told me that he is intent on finding stuff for me, because it will help me out. can anyone ask for a sweeter boy?

cross country

if for any reason you thought the title of this post had anything to do with me, yeah right.

ryan's cross country season starts today. thus, the very early post on a saturday morning.

you know you're running late when...

...you plan to leave the house at 6:53 a.m. and by 6:45 the only thing you have accomplished is a shower and makeup. i'm not kidding. i still had to do my hair, get dressed, and make my lunch.

i got in my car at 7:08 and promptly drove my ridiculously late self over to starbucks.

priorities, people.

tomorrow is friday

and for that i give thanks.

nosy rosies...

a conversation i had with my first graders today:

kid #1: miss hernandez, do you live with your mom?

me: no, i don't

kid #1: well then who takes care of you?

***i began to ponder how to answer this question

kid #2 (to the kid next to her): i think she's married

me: i'm not married (with no bitterness at all in my voice...)

kids begin talking amongst themselves...why is she not married? is she going to have kids? who takes care of her? where does she live?

oh the mysterious life of a teacher...

things i'm excited about

• i had an absolutely wonderful day today. my kids were quiet, did their work, and were generally just cute all around. i love them.
• we got an actual sound booth built at the church! it's so great having a place just for me and kelli. now maybe we can talk with more subtlety! just kidding, dad...sorta. =)
• our fall campaign at church, nothing's too hard for God, starts later this month. september 24th, to be exact. it's going to be such a great thing for our church. see later post for an aspect that i'm REALLY excited about.
• only 3 more days this week! gotta love 4-day weeks.
• in about 15 minutes pizza hut will be knocking on my door delivering my oh-so-yummy chicken alfredo pasta. need i say more?
• happy tuesday!

NOT happy

i was having sweet dreams. i was sleeping blissfully with no plans to wake up soon.

roddick chose that moment to start barking furiously at the men who bgan mowing our lawn this morning. i can sleep through the sound of lawn mowers and weed eaters. i cannot sleep through his incredibly loud barks, even though he's such a big baby that he wouldn't actually do anything. he is literally all bark.

seriously? seriously, roddick? you couldn't give me just another half hour of sleep? augh........