apology letter

i have a student who reminds a whole lot of...kelli.

yes, that's true. i can't escape from her!

about a month ago, this girl said something sarcastic to me. it got back to her mom (ok, her mom is my friend), and her mom made her write me an apology letter. i have it here for your entertainment!

dear ms. hernandez,
i am sorry for my attitude toward you. i will try my best not to do it again and i will also do my seatwork neatly. i will be obedient toward you and i will be respectful toward you. i will definitely stop the talking in line and in class. i will also pay attention and i will stop turning around in class. i'll stop talking in the bathroom. i will also listen to what you say.

in case you were wondering, yes-she did talk that much! but ever since i got the letter, she has been golden. her momma made sure of that!

new thing

as it turns out, third graders don't really say as many funny things as first graders do.

they write them.

there are a few things that they've written that just crack me up. i'll post them as they come so you can enjoy them too. =)

(right after i do homework.)

so, how are the kids?

one of the things that i am so grateful for about my childhood was that i grew up with all my cousins. i have so many good memories of all of them.

a game that we all liked to play was "grown-up." cheli, clarissa, and i would sit around a table (kelli was left out quite often), sipping our imaginary tea, and discussing issues we thought adults would discuss. we always started out with the question, "so, how are the kids?" then we would carry on conversations on how our "families" were doing.

flash forward 2o years: my cousin, cheli, got married this week. it hardly seems possible that all of us are even adults now (yes, even kelli!), let alone old enough to get married. but here we are. the first of the cousins have gotten married. and although not all of us live in the same city anymore, i will always carry those sweet, precious memories with me.

congrats to cheli and aaron!!

something to think about

for those of you who don't me (i'm not quite sure who that would be), i have a younger brother named ryan. most think he's quiet and shy. we, his family, know the truth. i've never met a more sarcastic 14 year old. S-A-R-C-A-S-T-I-C.

anyway, in sunday school a couple of weeks ago, he had to write his own obituary. here's what he wrote:

ryan hernandez went to be with the Lord on june 22, 2083. He was 89 years old. a loving man, the 50th president of the united states was arguably the best and most loved president in america's young history. he is survived by his wife, selena gomez hernandez, his three children, piper, track, and willow, his dog palin and his cousins hannah, a supreme court justice, and seth, the world's shortest man. he was preceded in death by his father a former preacher, his mother a music teacher, his sister bethany founder of the world-famous hernandez reading center in san antonio, his other sister kelli who was a missionary to africa, his brother josiah kane who directed the broadway play "floss" and his two dogs rhapsody who had "issues" and roddick. ryan will always be rmembered and wiill never be forgotten. he was arguably the mjost important man of the 21st century.

where to start? there are so many places...

hello old friends

yes, i know-it's been awhile.

no, i have not fallen off the face of the earth.

yes, i'm overwhelmed.

no, the rumors are not true. i will not be joining the circus this year. next year, maybe. but not this year.

need a good cry?

try reading this story and attempting not to break out in sobs in the asu library.

amazing story. it still warms my heart.

the thing about third graders

some stories to pass the time:

• one sweet boy made me a cute sign-"beast teacher ever". my question is...what? seriously, how could he spell teacher right, but not best? or did he really mean beast? ah man...
• i got a gift on monday! guess what it was? it was a pillow. yes, that's right, a pillow! granted it is really small (more like a mini pillow), but it was a big deal because my student made it. she actually made me a pillow. thread, fabric, and all. i was in awe.
• i overheard one boy ask his friend, "hey, how do you get on skillet.com?" i had to stop myself from laughing at loud. oh, so cute.
• one girl told me last week, "miss hernandez, i got to stay up until 9 o'clock last night!" she's a daredevil, that one.
• one of the students called me mrs. anderson last week. when i asked him what my name was, he replied, "um...i don't know." did i mention that was during the 5th week of school???

and that's all i have for now. my brain refuses to remember any more. enjoy the rest of the week!

pool party

solid rock church had a wonderful time at our pool party yesterday. it's so much hanging out with your church family visiting, and of course eating! i just posted pictures to facebook, so click here to check them out.

everything

third graders notice everything.

EVERYTHING.

two weeks ago i got myself a hershey's bar with almonds to eat at some point during the day. when my kids went to music, i scarfed it down in .5 seconds and threw the wrapper away. later, when my little darlings came back to class, one of the girls came to my desk for help with her work. on the way back to her desk, she abruptly turned around, looked at me accusingly and said, "YOU HAD A HERSHEY'S WITH ALMONDS!! I LOVE HERSHEY'S WITH ALMONDS!"

um....when did my third graders start checking my trash???? and what made her think that i would have shared my chocolate had i known that she "loved hershey's with almonds!"?

on a different day, as we were walking into the classroom together, another girl said to me, "miss hernandez, why do you wear something black every day?" i had to stop myself from saying, "duh!"

but really...duh.

dear poor, neglected, pitiful blog

i feel like i've failed you.

here you sit, waiting patiently for me to update the world through you.

"people need to know!" you say. "they count on your funny school stories to get them through the week, " you whisper.

but alas, you are neglected. there are no words to describe the sorrow i feel at your lack of posts. some people seem to think that i can handle whatever they throw at me, because there is no way i could possibly have a life outside of school. why i just sit around on my hands waiting for them to give me more work. and then there's this matter of graduate school. who made this decision to work full time as a teacher AND take college courses on the side? who can we blame for this?

what? what's that you say? ME? i made this decision? i chose to become a teacher and go to school at the same time?

sheesh-talk about wounds from a friend.

here it goes

so i got the official word today: i've been accepted to graduate school at asu. i am so excited-and very nervous-to start! when i finish, i will be a reading specialist, something that has been my goal since i started my education classes.

considering that i am completely exhausted right now, i have no clue how i'm going to make this happen. but since dad's sermon this past sunday, i have been relying on God's strength and not my own. why should anything change now that my schedule has gotten a little bit easier?

(ironically, monday morning i prayed that i would rely on God and not be plugged into myself. an hour later i found out i had a new student starting that day. so, so ironic.)

anyway, i'm ready. bring it on.

right after my nap.

and so it begins

here come the stories...

a friend of mine who works at the school also has her 3 girls there. today while we were all eating lunch in the cafeteria, her youngest (who is 4 yrs old) announced to her table that she wasn't wearing any underwear. her mom heard her, her sister heard her, and who knows what her teacher said when she heard her! because i have seen this little girl in action, it is totally believable. of course her older sister, who is in my class, ran right over to tell me. later on her mom came to tell me, but i told her, "too late. your older daughter already told me!"

my poor friend. but it sure did make for a funny monday.

first day

today was the first day of school, and boy was i tired!! i don't have a whole lot of first days to compare today to (like...1), but i think today went really well.

because i'm in the same room that i was in last year, i had to keep reminding myself that i was teaching 3rd grade this year, not 1st grade. maybe i'll do better tomorrow.

however, i have a really sweet class. they are funny (one managed to make me laugh before the first day of school) and one even gave me a "first day of school" gift. i LOVE it!

so...that's pretty much all i have for right now. shocker, huh? i'm just tired. have a wonderful rest of the week!

what might be the saddest day of the year

it's the last day of summer-my summer is officially over. tomorrow i start in-service at school. while the beginning of a new school year is always exciting, the end of summer is not exactly high up on my list of favorite things.

ah well. i'll get over it.

but really, getting up early is not my thing. it seems i'm taking the extra large mug of coffee to work tomorrow.

it's true. i'm a slacker.

just right now my dad asked me, "are you ever going to blog again? ever?" such a funny man. this is for you, dad.

i haven't been better about blogging this summer at all. i think it's because i don't have any cute kids to write about it, and let's face it: ryan grew out of his cute stage about 8 years ago. sorry, little brother. so far june and july have been horrible blogging months. i would promise to do better in august, but we all know how that will end up.

i did realize that i haven't put pictures up of our trip to corpus yet. i can't post pictures now because i'm on joey's new laptop and all the pictures are on my laptop at home. maybe tomorrow (ha). the corpus trip ended up being completely different than the way we wanted it to be. we didn't get to go to joe cotten's (still bummed about that) and we didn't get to see my godparents because they were out of town. however, they were driving through san angelo last week so i still go to see them! it was nice. and even though our trip didn't turn out the way we planned, it was fun. we rested, went to the beach, spent time with family, and ate like nobody's business! gotta love vacation.

also, believe it or not, i've actually been busy. not in the this-is-vacation-i'm-just-going-to-be-busy-doing-nothing busy. i, bethany hernandez, started working on my classroom. it's not even the week before school starts! it's pretty darn close, but i still started with plenty of time to get my classroom ready. i went every day this past week and worked for about an hour each day. (ok, so working for an hour every day isn't exactly busy. whatever.) when i finish, i'll move on to lesson plans. ah, the exciting life of a teacher. don't you wish you were me?

speaking of teaching, there has been a recent change. i'm back to teaching 3rd grade. i dug out all of my 3rd grade stuff from 2 years ago and realized that i don't have a whole lot of stuff. i guess that what happens when you've only taught 3rd grade for half a year.

we've had some family drama. you can read about it on my dad's blog. talk about God's protection.

that's all i have for now. tune in next time, whenever that will be.

a new video

ryan made a video, mostly of himself, for all of us to enjoy. he titled it "a little bit of everything."

i titled it "ryan is bored and needs something productive to do."

click here and enjoy!

great anticipation, bitter disappointment

we're in corpus! the trip that i've been wanting to take for so long is actually happening. there were two major reasons i wanted to come here:

1) my godparents live here. since we moved from corpus when i was 1, obviously i'm not as close to them as i would like to be. but i try to make the most of any chance i get to visit. i heart them!

2) joe cotten's. nestled in what could easily be described as a very scary city (robstown), joe cotten's has been serving up the best barbeque i've ever eaten. EVER. and no, i'm not exaggerating. like i said before, i'm a big fan of the sauce. in fact, if i could bottle it up and bring it home, i would.

well, as you can imagine, i was pretty excited about this trip. when we drove into town, we immediately headed to robstown to chow down on some serious barbeque. however, it was not meant to be. the completely empty parking was clue #1. the sign on the door that read "closed until july 7th" was clue #2. we come back home on the 6th. oh, the mourning and wailing that ensued. ok, not really, but we were all extremely bummed about this finding. not cool, man. not cool.

we have decided not to let it ruin our trip (but really, july 7th? come on...). tonight we had delicious seafood at a placed called waterstreet seafood restaurant. afterward we went driving around town while mom and dad showed us places they were familiar with while they lived here. it was actually pretty neat seeing where they met (del mar college) and where they lived (actually that was downright scary). we even drove by the hospital where i was born. i suggested a tour of that historical place, but sadly my idea was vetoed. whatever. we are planning a trip to the beach, and of course, at least a meal with my godparents and family. i would prefer more time with them, but we'll see how that goes. since the heart-breaking news about joe cotten's, i'm not holding out much hope for me getting my way.

i know, i know, i'm dramatic. however, i'm still happy to be here! pictures will be coming!

(don't hold your breath though. we all know i'm on my own timetable when it comes to posting pictures.)

an update...of sorts

yes, it's bullets

• i took the gre on june 20th. i'm not gonna lie-it was hard. i know part of my score, but not what i made on the analytical writing part. surprisingly, i'm not all that nervous about what i got. i studied, i did my best, and now i'm trusting that whatever happens next is God's will.
• God has been teaching me a whole lot this summer. it's not pretty. in fact, there have been many tears. but really, does it help to fight what God is trying to do in my life? i think not.
  
• our family goes to corpus christi on thursday for vacation. i can't wait! i was born in corpus, so i love going back. and my godparents live there, which makes the trip so much more fun. of course we will go to the beach, but i am also looking forward to eating at THE BEST barbeque restaurant, joe cotton's. i'm not kidding-it's ridiculously good. and their barbeque sauce, well, don't even get me started. let's just say that i like a little bit of brisket with my sauce.
• um...that's about it. corpus christi here we come! (and i'll try to do better about blogging in july. not making any promises, though.)
  

this is what happens when you can't sleep

you change your blog background.

on a completely different note, i miss my kids.

a lot.

gardening with roddick

he's on the left (i know, it's hard to see him)


he decided kelli's hand tasted better


digging up the rose bush. bad roddick!

past and present

the day we brought roddick home, 2006

roddick now

they grow so quickly, don't they?

geez

i really wish that i could say that i've been so busy studying for the gre that i haven't had time to blog. unfortunately, that would be a lie.

without any planning, this past week has been all about catching up on my sleep. well, that and a ridiculous number of trips to target.

so that's it...me + sleeping = a great week

but now the vacation is over. blah.

i heart summer

because of summer, i have stayed up late and slept in. I LOVE IT!

i think one of the things that i miss the most about my life before teaching was that i had time to go out to lunch with my friends. eating with first graders just doesn't cut it. today, however, i got to meet some friends at kozy kitchen for lunch and it was wonderful. trust me, i plan to do this all summer long! (ok, on pay day.)

long live summer!

sad sad sad

i think last month was the least i had blogged since..well...ever. i didn't even get to double digits!

anyway, now that school's out hopefully i'll have more time to blog. and can you believe it's june already? sheesh, this year has already flown by.

i really don't know what to say now. sorry.

i'm free!!!!

yesterday was our last day of school, and i celebrated with some serious sleeping in this morning!

it's so hard to believe that i just finished up my first full year of teaching. i thought i would cry when my kids left, but it was such a crazy busy day that i didn't even have time to think.

next on my list is finish cleaning up my classroom, and then continue to study for the gre. it seems as though the higher education bug has bit me, and i'm hoping to start graduate school in the fall. scary!

He did it

God answered my prayers, and i am so overwhelmingly grateful. thank you, Jesus.

it hurts

being a first grade teacher hurts. not because it's a bad job, but because my darlings are so brutally honest.

i've told you about the boy who has said he will buy me a husband (haven't i?) and i've told you about the boy who has predicted that i will get married in 2010. (actually it's the same kid.)

well last week our school had their spring concert, and i helped keep them in line, both literally and figuratively, before it started. now earlier that day it had been super hot. i was so hot when i got home that i immediately changed into something cooler and put my hair in a ponytail. my hair was still up when i went to the concert, and one of my girls said to me, "miss hernandez, you look better with your hair up."

relationship advice from a first grader. hair tips from a first grader. what's next? legal advice from a first grader?

as promised

remember when i used to be really good at blogging on a regular basis?

i don't either.

anyway, here are some of the pictures from our weekend at erin's lake house (two weekends ago. sorry).

our home for the weekend...so nice!


the sand-y area where we chilled out (no lie-it was cloudy)


kelli and pauline right before kelli went tubing


i know it's kind of blurry but i love her expression in this picture


this adorable dog belongs to erin's aunt and uncle. his name is charlie and i wanted to bring him home. unfortunately both he and pauline wouldn't fit in the back seat.


tucker the horse. he tried to eat kelli.


friends

102

it is currently 102 degrees outside.

102.

obviously i don't need to explain how i'm feeling now, do i?

first grade conversations

like i've said, there are many things that i love about 1st graders. i think one of the funniest things about them is their conversations, especially when they don't think anyone is listening. today, i heard a story about two 1st graders next door to my class.

there's one boy who's recently been diagnosed with dyslexia. he was explaining to a classmate about what that means.

boy #1: i can't read that because i have dyslexia.

boy #2: (in a really high, squeaky voice) WHAT?

boy #1: i have dyslexia!

boy #2: SEXLET? YOU HAVE SEXLET?

boy#1: (already fully exasperated) no! dyslexia! i have dyslexia!

boy #2: SEXLET? YOU HAVE SEXLET?

boy #1: IT'S DYSLEXIA!!!

thank goodness at that point they were told to stop talking and keep working, or who knows how long that conversation could have lasted.

i'm back!!!

we came back from an overnight weekend at erin's lake house and it was amazing. i'll be posting pictures later today (aka, after my nap).

have a great sunday, everyone!

again

remember this post? i can't seem to get away from these funny kids.

i have this cute little girl in my class who's so prim and proper. she always says yes ma'am and no ma'am, thank you and please, and is basically adorable. earlier this year, we found out-the hard way-that she has stomach issues. yes, that.

anyway, on thursday while my students were working at their desks, we suddenly heard someone let one go. i'm not gonna lie to you-it was big. my aide glanced at this girl, thinking it was her, but when she did that, the girl was already shaking her head.

with eyes as round as saucers and hair swinging back and forth as she shook her head, she exclaimed, "that wasn't me! i take tablets for that..."

at that point i put my head on my desk because i was laughing so hard that i couldn't breathe. ah, these first graders...

garden tea party

today we had a garden tea party for the women in our church. we met at the butler's pantry, had some tea party-ish food and heard from some amazing women of God.

of course, the words "tea party" bring to mind certain notions, such as cucumber sandwiches, graceful ladies, and superb manners. the problem is that for all of our trying, kelli and i didn't make it through without hilarious moments.

our meal consisted of chicken and broccoli crepes topped with cheese and cold cucumber soup. i had never had either, so it was fun to try. the soup was served in a glass, and kelli, betty and i joked about drinking the soup rather than eating it with a soup. about a minute later as i reached for my tea, i was shocked when cold cucumber slid down my throat rather than tea. ewwwwwww. cucumber soup is not a good beverage. to make matters worse, i announced it to everyone at my table even though nobody else had seen it. geez.

it was a wonderful time with the ladies in our church and i'm so grateful for angela who put this all together. as i heard woman after woman talk about God's faithfulness through their rough days, my prayer was that i would be a strong christian woman like those of my church family. they were no strangers to feelings of loneliness, depression, hurt and pain, but they allowed God to guide them through. i left with a new respect for these ladies and a new resolve to keep Christ number one in my life.

it's not that i don't WANT to blog...

it's just that i have nothing of interest to blog about. seriously, i'm one boring person. i get up, go to work, come home, eat supper, then go to bed.

so weird.

they love each other

you can't tell from this picture that they fight all day, can you?

easter '09

the hernandez family had a great easter this year. it started yesterday with the work day at church. while we were cleaning and working away, i started to get excited about sunday. not that i'm never excited about easter, but i just knew that God had special things planned for today. i even woke up before my alarm (never happens) and spent some time praying, thanking God for the sacrifice He made for me.

we had a wonderful service-complete with an easter egg hunt after church. it was nice to actuall have one outdoors instead of being forced to hold it inside because of bad weather. another thing that was really nice was that we took individual pictures of the children during children's church and printed them out for their parents. i got to see some of them and they looked so nice. of course after church families started lining up to have their picture taken too.

after church was a delicious lunch that my mom made-so yummy. i could eat her cooking every day. oh wait...i already do. then, to top off a great service and lunch-a nap.

la familia hernandez (or, the hernandez family)


joey and ryan
(ryan's cheesin' it because he gets braces tomorrow!)

carrying on the family tradition

my cousin micah is a terrific basketball player. and i'm not saying that because he's my cousin.

promise.

but it seems as though some others are starting to agree with him. he was named to the all-star basketball team, and when he went to the all-star game, he was also named the mvp of the all-stars.

it's because he's awesome, just like his cousins. (all of them, cheli. all of them.)

handsome hernandez genes. like i said, it runs in the family.

splash zone

last week, i was getting my class ready to do a skit for the rest of elementary. i was talking to a group of kids when the boy in front of everyone looked up and said, "miss hernandez?" when i looked at him and asked him what was wrong, he said,

"when you talk, you spit on me."

i couldn't stop laughing.

the best week EVER

have i mentioned that we're only in school 3 days this week? no? oh, well......we only have three days of school this week!!! and since i'm just now getting around to blogging about it, we only have one day left. i am so happy!

due to a combination of bad weather days and good friday, we have thursday, friday, and next monday off. there are no words to describe how excited i am. and my kids are pretty thrilled too. the first thing one of my boys said to me yesterday was,

"miss hernandez! is it true that we have thursday friday monday off?"

"yes it is! isn't that exciting?"

"YES! THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!!"

i concur.

roughing it

i'm back from camping with the girls. my friend bekah's birthday is on monday, and since she wanted to go camping for her birthday, camping we went.

i won't lie-i'm not a camper. i'm more of a temperature-controlled room kinda person. but i'm so glad i went. i had a great time, got to know a couple of other girls a little better, and came back refreshed (albeit a little smelly). who knew?!

happy birthday, bekah!

next year is "the" year

there are so many things that i love about first graders. the way they concentrate over a new concept. the way they sit when they want to get noticed for behaving. the way they help each other out like the sweet kids they are (lasts about 5 minutes, but i take what i can get). but i think that one of my favorite things is their quirky sense of humor. today i was having a conversations with one of my boys when out of the blue he changed the subject.

"miss hernandez?"

"yes?"

"i think that you're going to get married in 2010."

"really? why 2010?"

"just because."

"but what about 2009? doesn't 2009 sound good? it does to me."

"nah. 2010 just sounds like a better year."

it took all of my willpower not to drop everything and yell TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW NOW!

but seriously, little-boy-who-for-some-reason-is-obsessed-with-my-not-so-love life, tell me what you know. because i know where you live.

the big game, part 1

here are some of the pictures from the spurs game we went to. my dad took some more pictures, but i have to wait to get his memory card. (dad, give me your memory card!)

crowd waiting to get in


kelli, ryan, and dad. the triplets.


the view from our seat. we sat on the 17th row. so stinkin' amazing.


our seats even came with cup holders. high rollin'


bruce bowen. the king of defense. and yes, that's drew gooden behind him.


tony parker. i heart him.


oberto and george hill


retired jerseys. david robinson and avery johnson. classic. (and yes, bekah, george gervin too)


minnesota head coach. hall of famer. played with the boston celtics back in the day.


really the only thing that mattered (besides the cotton candy i had).
spurs win!

yes, i know that there are no pictures of manu ginobili or tim duncan. they were injured. booooo. but i did get to see them all dressed up in their fancy suits. ah well, you take what you can get.

and just so you know, one of these days i will be able to afford season tickets. i should start saving now for the 2050 season.

thank you, uncle noe, for getting us amazing seats! it was a wonderful experience!

the actual day

it took me exactly one week and three days to realize that i never blogged about my actual birthday. i know that you've been anxiously awaiting this post. don't lie.

my birthday fell on a sunday this year, and i was absolutely sure that dad would let me skip church on my birthday. no such luck. i did, however, get starbucks before i went to church, courtesy of my mom's gift card. then my mom made some biscuits for me since those are my favorite (and since i refuse to ever make biscuits again. i'm serious).

after church (which was good), we went to eat at red lobster. it was delicious, of course. a sweet family from our church happened to be there too, so they sent over an oh-so-delicious dessert of a chocolate chip cookie with fudge in the middle and topped with ice cream. we all had some. then after we ate, my mom and dad took me to get my birthday present from them: a director's chair for my classroom! i've been wanting one since i started teaching last year, and i could never find one. turns out pier one here in san angelo has had them all along. i love it! it's a dark wood with green cloth. the cool thing is that i can change out the cloth whenever i want.

isn't it beautiful? i love it.

after we got it, kelli, ryan, and i went to the school to set it up, then i went home for a nap. the evening service was wonderful because we had a guest speaker, mario escobedo. he's been at solid rock church before and we all loved him, so it was nice to have him and his wife back at src. after the service, we went to another pastor's house to eat supper and visit. it was such a great idea to do that because we ended up visiting a long time...until midnight! there's something special about being with other pastors and their families. fun times.

so there it is-my birthday in a nutshell. as i was writing thank you notes for all of my gifts, i realized just how blessed that i am. i have had a wonderful 25 years. thank you, God, for all these blessings.

b stands for...

kelli gave me a very useful and fabulous gift for my birthday: a pink and green koozie (if that's how you spell it) with my initial on it. she knows me. i've used it every day at school since. all three days.

anyway, today i was getting the kids ready for lunch, and i had my lunch bag in one hand and my koozie in the other. someone asked why it had a b on it, and before i could answer, one of the girls took care of it for me.

"it's because her name is bethany!"

then i heard a boy say under his breath, "or maybe it's because she likes beer."

if i hadn't been so shocked, i would have laughed. i'm laughing now, though.

birthday celebration #2 - the school

i know i've mentioned that i have the most wonderful aide, but i feel like it's worth mentioning again. she knows exactly how i think, so i feel completely comfortable when she has to take over for me (remember the fire episode? yeah...)

anyway, she was the one who put together my surprise birthday party for school. when i walked into my room, this was on my board.

it was a birthday banner signed by all the first graders (some of my kids wanted to write on the board too. it's kind of a big deal)

then, after lunch, one of the room moms brought cupcakes and juice for the first grade classes. that's where i got my next gift:

that's right-dublin dr. pepper!

when i walked back to my room after lunch, there was a way cute jar on my round table.

inside the jar was a plethora (i like that word) of gift cards to my favorite places. they were all from my students. the zebra box had another gift card to sunset mall from the other teacher and aides. the silver bag had the dublin dr. pepper in it, and the flowers were from my principal.

my students were besides themselves with excitment about giving me my cards. i got cards to chick-fil-a, sonic, starbucks, cinemark, subway, hastings, and red lobster. one of student's mom is a photographer, and she gave me a certificate for a free studio session. i'm so excited!

apparently the theme of my party was "gift cards to miss hernandez's favorite places." it was an amazing day and i left school that day feeling so blessed. thank you, Jesus.

birthday celebration #1

on thursday, march 12, my sister and friends managed to surprise me for my birthday. pauline called to tell me that she was "craving ichiban" so she wanted us to go. i have to admit that it crossed my mind that my friends might surprise me, but then kelli told me she had other plans, so then i figured i was wrong.

bekah has the pictures from ichiban, but i got some picture of the cake we had at her house.

my "princess" cake


modeling the cake in front of the chalkboard that has my birthdate on it


one of my gifts from pauline and diamond


25 cans of dr. pepper!!!


dr. pepper where it belongs...in my fridge

my girls from left to right (back row): erin, bekah, kelli, sarah, me, diamond, and pauline. (megan was there too but she was kind enough to take the picture)

all in all, it was a wonderful night. i have some great friends who made my birthday special. thank you, girls, for being so fantastic!

ryan's birthday

(i'm quite aware that this blog is more than 3 months late. my apologies, ryan.)

on december 16, 1994, my parents graced me with another little brother: ryan marc. i remember very vividly what that day was like. it was the day that were getting out for christmas break and we got leave school even earlier than planned. we waited about 2 hours before ryan was born, and suddenly there was my dad in the nursery window, holding a little furball. i'm serious-he was HAIRY! but he was also cute and i fell in love immediately. now he's a 14-year old eighth grader. my, how time flies.

ryan with his birthday present from my parents: an ipod touch. did i mention that he's also really spoiled?!

it's coming! it's coming!

the mega blogs about my birthday and the san antonio trip that we are currently on (go spurs go) is coming.

but right now i have to go shopping and eat lunch at pappasitos.

duty calls. sorry.

(not really)

why i love them

my students' creative spelling just cracks me up. it's one of the many things i love about them.

joey's birthday

okay, so joey didn't get quite the party that mom got. i guess that what happens when your mom turns 50 the year you turn 19. but we did celebrate his birthday at ichiban that night.

i'm so proud of my little brother. he works hard at whatever he does, and i know that God will continue to bless him. i love you, joey!

happy tummies, happy siblings

mom's birthday

mom turned 50 this year!!!

since we always go out to eat as a family on friday nights, i figured it wouldn't be too hard to throw a surprise party on a friday night. boy, was i wrong. mom and her friend decided to throw a baby shower that day, and then ryan's coach added another game that night too. after talking to some of my mom's friends, we decided to go ahead with dinner, even though it would be a little late.

my aunt and uncle from dallas came in for the celebration. my aunt even helped me get my mom's birthday present. we were actually able to pull off the surprise, and mom was definitely shocked! here she is opening presents:

pretty jewelry

coffee!


bathroom accessories to match the bathroom they're remodeling


opening the big present. since we didn't get a picture of the present after we opened it, i'll just tell you. kelli, joey, and i went in together and got her a keurig coffee brewer. it brews gourmet coffee one cup at a time. we even got the model that can make iced tea. i'm enjoying it (and i'm sure my mom is too!).

behind

i'm so ridiculously behind on blogging that it's not even funny. i've taken tons of pictures to put on here, but then i've either completely forgotten or didn't have time to put the pictures on my computer. but with the start of spring break, i now have more time on my hands! i'm hoping over the next couple of days i'll be able to post everything i've been wanting.

so grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy!

it has begun

my birthday celebrations have begun!!!!!

this morning my mom showed up with chocolate covered strawberries and blueberry muffins (two of my all-time favorites) in honor of my birhday. then tonight i was surprised by my wonderful friends. we had dinner at ichiban and chocolate cake at bekah's house. i have pictures, and bekah has pictures, but it is way past my bedtime so i'm going to bed and hopefully i'll have time to post tomorrow.

yes, i know i've said that before...but i mean it this time!

i'm so proud

my kids have been quoting nacho libre all week.

i couldn't be more proud.

patience. ha.

God's sense of humor is not lost on me. i just don't find it funny all the time.

we are in the middle of a series at church called people. we've talked about being grateful for the people in your life, praying for the people in your life, and then yesterday was being patient with the people in your life. they've been great sermons (and no, i'm not saying that because my dad's the pastor. if it gets me a free meal, so be it). i knew what yesterday's sermon would be about because 1) i twitter (and you should too!) and 2) i do the bulletin for church so i see the announcements early.

as i was formatting the text box that held the announcement about being patient with the people in your life, the two people who require the most patience in my life walked in the door: kelli and roddick. kelli walked in talking (rather loudly, but that might have been just my headache) and of course roddick bounded in with his usual energy and started sniffing around me just in case i had some food that i hadn't surrendered to him yet.

i was not amused.

and then i thought about it and started laughing. unfortunately, the irony occurred to me during church, which made for a very uncomfortable five minutes while i attempted to calm myself.

sorry, daddy. thanks for listening to your own sermon.

in exactly one week

in exactly one week, i will be doing something, anything, except getting ready for bed!!!!! i'm so excited that spring break is coming for two reasons:

• no school
• MY BIRTHDAY! (it's exactly one week from today. don't forget!)
  

now i have a couple of family members who were not aware that my birthday was coming up, which i think is just pitiful. so to make things easier for them i will be sending a daily text to remind them of the most important day of the year. if you too would like a daily reminder, i will be happy to add your name to the list.

you're welcome.

breakfast, anyone?

i'm not gonna lie-this has been a rough week. i think some evil person told my whole class that since it's so close to spring break, they don't have to work or behave. in fact, they can just be downright rude and disrespectful and fight with each other and give miss hernandez gray hairs (plural-gray hairs).

but today one of my students gave me a reason to laugh. oh, hallelujah.

we've been learning how to write creative stories, which has been...um....interesting. for today's language lesson, they had to write four things they like to eat for breakfast. then they had to write two sentences about what they like to eat for breakfast. then, on the bottom of the page, they had to draw a picture of-you guessed it-what they like to eat for breakfast. i had some really good papers. i had some average papers. i had some not-so-good-what-the-heck-is-breakfast papers. but my favorite was one boy's paper. at the top of the page, two of the four things he wrote were eggs and bacon.

his first sentence was "wakey, wakey, eggs and bacey."

i actually didn't see his paper first; my aide did and she was laughing so hard that she couldn't stop to tell me what was so funny. every time she opened her mouth she would start laughing again, and when she finally read it to me, i couldn't stop laughing. i called the boy who wrote that to my desk, and we asked him if that's what his mom told him. he got embarrassed until we said that we thought it was cute. then he grinned and said that yes, sometimes his mother told him that when she was trying to wake him up. so cute. so stinkin' cute.

the sweetest thing

yesterday i had the opportunity to see something that just melted my heart.

after school was over, we were standing outside waiting for the parents to come get their kids. there was one cute kindergarten girl who was sitting close to me, her arm wrapped around a pole as she stared off into space. i noticed a lady walking up to her, a camera aimed at her the whole time. it took me a while, but i finally figured out that the lady was this girl's mother. the whole time she had her camera on her daughter, and finally she called her name to get her attention. the little girls looked up, and behind her mother she saw her father-her father who is in the military and has been gone for a while. her face lit up and she ran to him and jumped in his arms while yelling, "DADDY! DADDY!" she put her head on his shoulder while he rocked her back and forth, obviously thrilled to be holding his daughter again.

i got teary-eyed. my aide got chills. and one cute little girl was happy to see her daddy again.

i almost forgot...

THIS IS MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!

like betty, march is the month when the world was graced with my presence. i'm ready to start celebrating. who's with me?!

what i am doing right this second

eating dinner. toast, to be exact. is that weird?

today when i got home, i decided to start cleaning out my closet (singular) and drawers (plural-2 of them. only 2. keep that in mind). seeing as how i don't have a whole lot of space, i obviously can't have a whole lot of clothes.

wrong.

it took me 2 hours to clean everything out and organize it. two hours!! i found clothes that i didn't even remember having, like the dress that i wore to graduation...high school graduation. yeah, there were tons of high school clothes in there. not cool. so two hours later, i had filled up a box and three bags of clothes. by the time i was finished, my right knee was hurting (still is) and i was tired-too tired to eat. now i'm hungry and sleepy.

yep, definitely time for bed. buenos nachos, i mean noches.

(i'm still hungry.)

update

first of all, thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers the past few days. everyone has been really sweet and understanding, especially my own students. yesterday one of my girls gave me a "get well soon" card and a king size bag of m&ms. heeellllo.

my eyelashes are still short (i thought maybe miraculously they would grow back in two days. darn.) and my skin is very flaky and dry. my lips are no longer botox-sized, and my nose is healing nicely, if not a little painfully. that's because my nose is peeling, so the skin around it very tight and...well...painful.

i look like rudolph.

excuse me while i go wipe away this excess moisture that seems to be flowing out of my eyes and down my face.

*sniff*

do eyelashes grow back?

oh boy, do i have a story for you.

before i start with that, let me just say that we had a wonderful time celebrating joey's birthday on monday. it's hard to believe that he's already nineteen. i still remember my initial shock when he was born and he looked...um....very white. i still don't know why that is. oh well. i'll post pictures from dinner later.

now back to last night's drama.

last night was the first night that i was going to have free, so i had lots of plans for myself. i was going to clean out my closet, type up the syllabus for our small groups that started tonight (of which i'm obviously not at), and bake biscuits for this morning so that i would have breakfast.

none of that happened.

i had made the dough for the biscuits and was going to start on the rest of the stuff while they were baking. i turned on the oven and bent over to light it, and when i did that the fire flamed up and singed my face.

yes, my face. and my hair. and my right arm.

turns out i don't know how to turn on the oven the right way. i turned away from the flames as fast as i could, but the damage was already done. i have a first degree burn on my arm and my face. even the tip of my right ear is red. i ran my arm under cold water, which already feels better. but what the hurt the most were my lips. i was in excruciating pain; nothing has EVER hurt like that. i wet a washcloth and placed that over my lips, but even that wasn't giving me much relief. my dad talked to my doctor, and he called in some pain medicine for me, which has worked wonders. i'm not in so much pain anymore, but my lips are definitely swollen. that's not such a great thing when you already have big lips. so today i stayed home from school since the pain medicine knocked me out, and my dad took care of my small group for me. i'm so glad that i have people that i can depend on when i'm not feeling 100%.

things could have been so much worse, though. the burns could have been more severe, and if my hair hadn't been in a ponytail, it could have caught on fire and burned my face even more. right now my lips hurt, but i know that the swelling will go down. my face feels like i have a sunburn on it, but that will go away. my eyelashes will grow back (right?) and my hair won't have that singed look anymore. i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God protected me last night. i am beyond grateful that it wasn't more serious.

back home

i'm back home! i have so much to blog about, especially about my mom's birthday. but it's 11 minutes past my bedtime and i still have stuff to get ready for tomorrow. speaking of tomorrow, it will be joey's 19th birthday! holy cow. holy stinkin' cow.

mommy!

today is my mommy's birthday!!!!!

no sense

there are times when i really, really miss my old car, scooter. i don't why, especially since the car now i have is nicer and such a blessing. but sometimes i just want my old car back.

am i weird? do i need medication?

oh, that reminds me, i need to take my medicine...

lunch with friends

a very rare thing happened today. two of my friends and i were off of work, so we were able to go out to lunch. it's always fun to do that, and we had a good time talking and laughing about silly stuff. there was even mention of my birthday (which details i'm not allowed to know), so now i'm intrigued!!!!!

i've decided that one of my favorite things is lunch with my friends. i'll take that any day.

how i spent my first day off

in a nutshell: sleep.

that's it. that's all i did. i hadn't been feeling well all week, so when i came home from school, i slept for about an hour. when i woke up, i had to run an errand, but then came home and slept again from 6:30 to 8:30.

6:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m.

i'm not kidding. except for a few interruptions (phone call, texts, and the random waking at 1:49 in the morning), i slept straight through. i don't think i've ever done that. the good news is that when i woke up i felt much, much better. my throat still hurt a little, but i think it had more to do with the fact that i slept with my mouth open since i couldn't breathe through my nose.

i even slept the rest of the day. i just dozed off and on and watched t.v. in between. such a lazy day.

this has been such an "off" week for our family and church though. on tuesday we found out that my grandmother has cancer. my mom drove to be with her on wednesday. a family in our church lost their granddaughter on tuesday. dad had to leave on wednesday for san antonio for work, and at the same time help with the funeral plans. and somehow the rest of us are supposed to stay here and keep life as normal as possible.

i think i'll just go back to sleep now.

teacher: bethany

during this time of year, our students at school take part in jump rope for heart. it's a program that raises money for heart health awareness. the students spend a good month, month and a half practicing during p.e., then on a certain day each grade takes a turn and jumps for 45 minutes.

anyway, some of my students have already turned in their fundraising packets, and i got a huge kick out one of my girl's packet. she had filled out all of her information, and when she got to the part that asked the teacher's name, she put bethany. not miss hernandez. bethany.

so...what does that mean exactly?!

busy bee

i wish i could blog about something really exciting that happened to me, but alas, i'm a boring person. i spent saturday running errands, and of course today was church. throughout the whole weekend my throat felt as though it were on fire. not fun.

funny thing is that my throat is the only thing that hurts. i don't ache or hurt anywhere else, and i haven't had a fever at all. i told my mom that it's like my body is trying to get sick but it hasn't happened yet.

the good news is that i have a 4-day week this week (and next week too!) so this it should be great. yay for 4-day weeks!

they should not be friends

without really planning to, i've started exercising. every other day, we (some teachers and i) do a salsa dance/exercise/torture video. on the off days, we walk.

the salsa dancing video, while really cool, is HARD. so basically any dreams i ever had about becoming a salsa dancer have died this week. sad, sad, sad.

anyway, i decided that exercising is really the smart way to go. you see, at this point in time, my thighs are really good friends. and they should definitely NOT be friends.

so i exercise.

they know

somehow, my students read my blog. that's the only way i can explain this.

one of my sweet girls drew something for me today. it was a picture of a girl. when i asked her who it was, she laughed and said, "miss hernandez, it's you!" she made me very pretty, complete with blonde hair and blue eyes.

so, so weird.

you have nothing better to do. admit it.

actually you, unlike me, are probably a good steward of your time. and most of the time i am too.

but tonight, to celebrate that i finished my lesson plans earlier than they are due (third week in a row, i'm on a roll!) i decided to fill out the whole 25-random-things-about-me-that-you-probably don't-care-about-but-i want-to-blog-more-so-this-is-what-you're-getting thingie.

enjoy!

1. i'm seriously addicted to dr. pepper. i know that's obvious, but totally worth repeating.

2. i have naturally curly hair, but i straighten it every day. something about getting teased about it all through school tends to have an effect on you. (ok, i'm not really still hurt about it, but i do prefer it straight rather than curly.)

3. i could eat french style green beans every day. can't really explain it, but i sure do love 'em.

4. if i ever met greg popovich, david robinson, avery johnson, tim duncan, manu ginobili, or tony parker, i would literally scream with excitement. then faint.

5. i love the spurs. duh.

6. when i was younger (and by younger i mean up to the day i started college), i wanted to be a singer. no, not an opera singer. but thanks for asking.

7. i gag every time i brush my teeth. every single time. sorry for the visual.

8. i am absolutely, 100% in love with musicals. the current one is wicked, and i haven't even seen it yet! but i listen to the soundtrack in my car and sing along with it at the top of my lungs. bet you wish you could hear me, huh?

9. i love basketball just as much as i love musicals. my favorite teams to watch? let's see: texas longhorns, arizona wildcats (more on that later), san antonio spurs, and the cornerstone lions/lady lions. hey, i gotta support my family.

10. back to the arizona wildcats: when i was 7th grade, they won the ncaa championship. i fell in love with mike bibby and miles simon. they reminded me of me and my friend who played basketball together (you know, because as 7th graders we were as good as they were). after they left arizona, my love was transferred to luke walton. but now he plays for [shudder] the lakers. boo.

11. when i turned 12, my parents started this amazing tradition of taking me to a spurs game for my birthday. i've missed a few years in between, but now i'm bringing it back. it's the best trip of the year!

12. i count my birthday as a national holiday. you should too. it's kind of a big deal.

13. i get ridiculously hyper when i'm exhausted. a high school friend has footage of me in an exhausted state of mind. no, you may not have his name or his number. sorry.

14. i turned 18 on my senior trip - an amazing cruise. how cool is that?

15. when i was younger, i wanted to have blonde hair and blue eyes. guess i didn't realize that's pretty impossible when you're mexican. at least naturally.

16. i laugh at everything. even if it's not funny.

17. kelli and i can't sit next to each other in church because we laugh too much. probably not a good thing that i do the sound and she does the computer. did i mention that the sound board and computer are right next to each other?

18. i love that i come from a big family! and i love my family too...

19. if i had to pick only one way to exercise for the rest of my life, it would be swimming. i used to swim in high school (obviously not at cornerstone) and i loved it. too bad i can't stand the sight of myself in a bathing suit anymore. i should probably do something about that.

20. i used to want to be a pastor's wife. (probably at the same time i wanted to be a singer. now that would have been weird)

21. when i cry, more tears come out of my right eye than my left. it drives me insane.

22. i could watch the cosby show, ace of cakes, and john and kate plus eight all day long.

23. i hate, absolutely hate putting gas in my car and getting the oil changed. if i could afford to pay someone to do it for me, i totally would.

24. i wake up mad in the mornings. it's because i'm not a morning person AT ALL. but don't worry, it doesn't last. i'm over it by the time i get to school (good news for my students!)

25. i love chick-fil-a. (you really didn't think i was going to forget that, did you?)

no words

words cannot express how incredibly blessed i feel, especially at work. today i talked with another teacher, one i don't really see during the day a whole lot. she came in my room while my kids were at p.e. and we chatted about our lives and the different decisions we were facing. as it turns out, the circumstances are somewhat similar.

after it was time to get back to work, i realized that i work with an amazing group of women (and men, but i hardly ever see them). these are women who are incredibly gifted in other areas, but have chosen to become teachers and share their lives with others.

the only bad thing about today: i never found any chocolate. the person i usually get it from has turned healthy on me. sad day. =(

twittered

i think i'm obsessed with twitter.

that's all.

in the know

i am and continue to be fascinated by all the [legal] ways that you can stalk people these days. i mean blogging is fantastic. i read blogs of people i don't even know (it's okay to say that, right?!). then there's facebook (and as one of my friends said, "i'm glad he didn't make his profile private so we can see all his information!" i laughed for days). or you could just do a plain old google search.

you may now add twitter to the list. i had heard of twitter from mark batterson's blog, but my ultra cool and hip dad showed me how to use it. i love it! you can now follow me on twitter and hear all the fascinating details of every single day of my life. all you need to do is click on 'follow me on twitter' on the sidebar and you'll get texts with updates from yours truly.

aren't you excited?

follow me...i need friends!

was it the dark circles under my eyes that gave it away?

i have had way too many people tell me that i look tired this week. monday as i was walking into the building, one of the teachers stopped me and said, "bethany! you look so tired!" not a good sign.

this morning, another teacher that i haven't really seen all week asked, "so how have you been? you look tired."

then today as i was giving a test, one of my students stopped me and asked, "miss hernandez, are you tired?" when i asked if they could tell, the entire class responded with a resounding "YES!" giggle, giggle, giggle. (first graders giggle a lot.)

maybe the fact that i closed my eyes and put my head down tipped them off. i guess i'll never know.




p.s. for those of you on the edge of your seat waiting to see if my kids earned cupcakes tomorrow, the answer is ...yes. but mostly because i want a cupcake too.

keep 'em coming

i wasn't about to post another whiney blog, but i thought of something today that i really wanted to share.

about 2 years ago, some of us chi alphans went to kentucky for the first world missions summit. it was an amazing trip, and i still remember the missionaries we met and the way that God moved during those days. the first service took place in the evening, and before it even started, we got there early to get good seats. we were sitting in the second row (right behind thomas trask, i might add) and i decided to use the time to pray for the summit. i began to pray that God would use me how He wanted to use me. i didn't hear an audible voice, but i did feel that God was calling me to work with chi alpha. sounds silly, especially since i was already doing that, at least to a certain extent. but this was different. God was calling me to take a more active approach in the ministry. the next morning, our group had gotten some drinks from the starbucks inside the convention center (isn't God good?) and then sat to plan our day. as we were looking at the different classes that were offered, lennon mentioned in an offhanded way, "if any of you heathens (he really does love us) want to work with chi alpha, go to this class."

i sat there for awhile, and then asked, "are you serious?" when he said yes, i told him about my experience the night before. that jump started my involvement in chi alpha. i was already involved, but after that, i was even more involved.

then student teaching and teaching happened. i had to quit my job to focus on student teaching, which was very necessary. but since then, i feel like i've lost part of my identity. i loved everything i was doing in chi alpha. and then it stopped, partly because i became a teacher.

i will never regret my choice to be a teacher. and i will never sacrifice my students' education because i'm having an identity crisis. but the past few days, i have wondered about my calling. did God forget about me? is this what He wants for me now? did i just imagine being called into the ministry?

in the midst of this wondering, i came across an incredible post by mark batterson, "released from and called to". (click here if you want to read it, but you gotta scroll down some. for some reason i couldn't link just that post.) it was so freeing. i believe with all my heart that right now i am to be a teacher. i love what i do. i love my students. i have lots of cute stories because of it. =) and if this is what God has for me, then i'm happy. but if i end up being more involved in the ministry, then it will happen in God's timing. and He will make me aware of that, especially through my circumstances. i can rest knowing that God has it all taken care of.

revelation

at this point in time, i have questions in pretty much every area of my life. some of it is a little personal to share on a blog for everyone to read, but i know that many of you have been there, done that, blah blah blah.

the thing is that i don't think i could ever put into words exactly what i'm feeling. oh, i've tried with some friends, but the conversations ended with me feeling like i didn't really get across what i was trying to say.

suffice it to say that i am completely lost. tonight as i drove to my parents, revelation by third day came on the radio. this song embodies every feeling, every thought, everything relative to what has been on my mind. i especially love that the lyrics are right on the screen for you to see. i think the one that i identify with the most is "i haven't got a clue." oh yeah...

fantastic

fantastic. that is my word for the day. pretty much because i had the most fantastic day today. it wasn't just any one thing, but many things that united to make a happy, happy bethany today.

the day actually started out a little rough, but something happened to my little darlings right after lunch/recess because they were the most angelic kids i have ever seen. i was explaining their work to them, and i noticed that all eyes were on me (rarely happens) with no one talking (never happens). some even had their hands folded on their desks. such angels. i told them that if they could stay still and not talk, even during our other activities for the day, then they would all get something from the treasure box. one girl raised her hand and asked, "so basically, you want us to be perfect?" i nodded my head, to which she emphatically replied, "okay!" okay...

they were actually full of questions, such as what if everyone except for one person is quiet? what if we whisper? what if we stay quiet the whole week? do we get an even bigger prize?

i told them we should take it one day at a time. trust me, a whole week is a little ambitious. but yes, they do get a surprise if they stay quiet the whole week. haha.

anyhoo, right after school i had an appointment to get my nails done. they look fantastic! i love getting them done; makes me feel like the princess that i am. =) after my appointment, i headed over to my wita's house to have dinner, then cake and ice cream for my little cousin Lexie's birthday. today she turned the big 6. that's right, folks, 6. of course, spending any amount of time with my family is always fun. crazy, but fun.

now i blog. the dishes are washed, the coffee is set for tomorrow, and i am getting sleepy. an early bedtime would be the fantastic ending to a fantastic day.

junior high humor

today we ended out the week with another friday night basketball night. ryan, hannah, and micah all had games, and of course i love to watch. i had invited pauline, since we hadn't seen each other in awhile. but i was pleasantly surprised when i looked up and saw two other friends walk through the door. i was so happy to see them! like pauline, i hadn't seen them in about two weeks, and i was really needing some girl time.

well we definitely got girl time tonight! as a matter of fact, i missed most of the game because i was talking. (yes, i know-that gets on people's nerves). we were talking and laughing and pretty much acting like a group of jr. high girls. then we went to eat at logans where the jr. high humor continued. i can't talk about it though. i've been sworn to secrecy.

now my bed is calling my name. sweet dreams. =)

the thing about first graders

they pick their nose. a lot. and no, it's not just the boys.

gross.

"today i am reminded of my shortcomings"

i've mentioned before that one of my goals this year is to read through the Bible. i should probably be farther along than i am, but lately i've put more effort to be consistent. anyway, today i read something that really had me thinking.

i was reading in genesis 41, where pharaoh has some disturbing dreams that no one could interpret. the cupbearer realizes that he forgot all about joseph, the one who had interpreted his own dream while he and the baker were in prison. the cupbearer talks with pharoah, and begins with,

"today i am reminded of my shortcomings." (genesis 41:9)

i literally stopped reading right there because something clicked. there are so many things that remind me of my own sins. i disobey God. i find ways to get out of doing what i should. i take the easy way out at work sometimes. i get mad easily. i sin.

today was not a great day. it wasn't even a good day. my kids frustrated the life out of me. they didn't listen. they ran around the room. they ran into each other. they yelled at each other. they were disrespecful. and as i stood in front of them, getting ready to blast them for their behavior, i heard in my head:

"today i am reminded of my shortcomings."

how am i any different from my first graders? i know how to act; i know how i should live. but i don't. i sin. i throw God's commands back at Him as if to say, "i don't care what i should do. i want to do things my way." then, like my first graders, i cry, whine and complain when things blow up in my face and God disciplines me. why? i bring this on myself.

"today i am reminded of my shortcomings."

i think that being reminded of my shortcomings is good for me. it reminds me that there is no way that i could ever be in control of my own life. the only way to truly live my life is to depend on God for his direction and guidance. but it also reminds me that God can turn my shortcomings into something beautiful, something to be used for His glory. what could be better?

i'll keep them one more day

there are days that i feel like teaching is just one big emotional roller coaster. the past two weeks have been crazier than ever. last week was such a bad week, but this week has been so much better.

today, though, i decided i would keep my kids for one more day.

i was handing out some work when my kids asked when they were going to music. i told them that it was canceled for the day so they wouldn't be able to go. of course, i braced myself for the shock and horror on their faces.

"what?!"
"why?"
"what happened?"
"what are we gonna do?"

in the midst of their ongoing tirade, one cute little boy looks at me, raises his arms, and says with a big grin, "yay! more miss hernandez time!"

he gets candy for the rest of the year.