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.