utter disappointment/ Ten Things Thursday

We were completing our calendar time when one of my little girls got so excited and said, "The Miley Cyrus concert is coming soon!" I looked at her and as gently as possible explained that the concert was last week. She then broke out into a sobbing mess! I'm not talking a couple of tears, I mean uncontrollably sobbing where I had to threaten to call her mom because she was so loud. Is there another concert around here soon that she could be going to? Or did I just shatter her little heart?

P.S. I just had a little boy ask, "Mrs. Jerkins what the "h" are you doing?!"




Ok, so moving away from the classroom....




Ten Things Thursday

10. Family Nights at FBCHW are so fun…if you're not coming then you should... even when it’s a chilly night for a tailgate party.

9. Saturdays are underrated. There's just nothing like football, family, and crafts fairs... and thanks to B new clothes! We need more Saturdays.

8. Sunday afternoon naps are a must after a good lunch. It blows my mind that not everyone participates in this ritual.

7. P90x is a great workout created by a man who wants to torture our bodies. There is never any doubt if you got a good workout though.

6. Plyometrics is not my friend.

5. One of the sweetest times of the week is our Tuesday night bible studies.

4. Physical therapy is down to one day a week. I know it’s helpful, but I’m ready to be done. The stretching is killing me. I’m almost back to full range of motion so I guess it's worth it.

3. We had a tailgate party with our youth last night. Jeremy was our guest speaker. He brought a great message to our kids (and leaders!) Thanks Jer Bear.

2. I really do love rainy days.

1. Tonight we’re having a t-shirt decorating party for our Race for the Cure team at our house… after our P90x workout of course.

P90x

Oh good gracious. Some friends and I started p90x yesterday. Boy am I sore today. I have muscles in my back that ache that I didn't even know I had. Yesterday's workout was arms, back, and the ab ripper. And you better believe I am feeling it today. I am encouraged by the aching though. It makes me feel like I at least did something to better my body.

Let me back up and explain why I started p90x. Last week we had our K4 field trip to Tom's Farm. On these special days, we get to wear pants. Well, the night before as I was trying to figure out what pants to wear I discovered that I could not fit into most of them! That was the wake-up call that I needed. So dear friends... this rear end is getting into shape.

One thing that is especially annoying about the dvd is the instructor. He is so annoying... as in his voice, but also he is a strange looking character. So hopefully I can get passed all of that and focus on working out and not the weird distraction that he is.



He may look harmless, but he is a weird character that works your tail off!

rough start

You know it's going to be a rough day when...

a) You walk downstairs in the morning and realize you left a candle burning on your stove all night long.

b) You realize you only shaved one leg. I mean really?! How does that happen?

"This is the day the Lord has made. I WILL rejoice and be GLAD in it."....
Regardless of how the day started.



On a good note, I found my favorite holiday coffee creamers at the grocery store! (pumpkin spice, gingerbread, peppermint mocha!!!!!) Yay for the holidays! This made my day! It doesn't take much to please me... however it did turn my rough morning into a much more pleasant one.


Here are some pictures of our camping trip that I promised to post. Sorry it took so long.


2 of our manliest men


My Danielle


The Stud with the ladies


If you play in the fire, you will get burned....



Part of the group


Staying warm by the fire.


Yea right... she chickened out.


The ladies.


Our tent bright and early... Susan I can't believe you wouldn't go warm the toilet seat for me!








It was cold!

Ten Things Thursday:

10. Our camping trip was a blast. However, the girls and I will probably spend the night at our house next time.

9. Christmas in the Valley was fun and I look forward to going back next year. Even though my sister allowed no time for me to shower first... after just arriving home from our camping trip. (I did at least change clothes, put on deodorant, and body spray)

8. There was great honesty and sincerity in our girls' discipleship group. Captivating is a great book!

7. Sweet fellowship with friends (and Huddy) over coffee and burnt muffins.

6. I am constantly amazed how each Beth Moore bible study fits exactly what I need at that particular time in my life.

5. Life changing statement: "We tend to wait on things in our life: weddings, babies, etc... His timing is perfect. Don't wait on things... wait upon Him. Waiting on things is exhausting... waiting on Him strengthens us."

4. I am constantly reminded how blessed I am to have a husband who is so passionate for Christ. Each week he presents a God given message to our youth (and leaders) that if applied will transform our lives.

3. Our Battle of the Sexes game was hilarious. Next time girls, I will definitely make the boys questions harder! I agree D's questions were ridiculous. Of course a girl doesn't know which golf club has a higher loft!

2. I am blessed to have the best job in the world. P.S. field trips are the best.

1. This list is a great reminder of how good God is.

I have officially turned into my mother...

Today, we took 31 K4-ers to Tom's Farm. I had never been there before, but had heard great things from friends who had been. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was a great fall day to be outside. Our kids played on Tom's playground, saw the animals, played in the corn box, (oh yes... instead of sand, it's corn) swung on the rope swing, found fall treasures, went on a hayride, and picked some pumpkins. It was such a fun day!

I have noticed over the years the things I say and how I react to things seem similar to my mom. Well, after today, it's official.... I have turned into my mother. If you don't know my mom then I will gladly explain. She has anything and everything imaginable stored in her 50 lb. purse.... today, my Vera Bradley backpack was close to 50 lbs. and contained tissue, wipes, bandaids, and hand sanitizer (on top of everything else I already had in it.) My mom has become a germaphob and pulls out the hand sanitizer frequently...today, after each station my hand sanitizer was out and I was squirting little hands generously. My mom tends to freak out or be ready to jump and save easily when a situation arises that could in anyway become dangerous... today, while on the hayride, my kids decided they wanted to lay at the front of the wagon and stick their heads out. The whole time I'm picturing them falling out and getting run over. So I was on the edge of my hay, constantly telling them to scoot back or to stay on their bottoms. So it's official...

So mom, thanks for making me the over cautious, on the edge of my seat, prepared woman that I am. I do love you so much and I am so grateful that God made me your daughter!

I'm a girl... I'll admit it

Last night we took our youth camping. A few months ago when planning our October youth activities, we decided that D would go camping with the guys and I would bring the girls to our house to spend the night. After announcing the plans, our girls voiced that they desperately wanted to camp. After much discussion, we decided to make our guy/girl night an everybody camping trip.

We met at 6:00 at the church, loaded up and headed to Chickasaw. D and some of our male leaders had gone earlier in the day to set up our campsite. We arrived a few minutes after dark, chose our tents, and made a fire. (of course I had nothing to do with the making of the fire, but you better believe I enjoyed it!) We explored, played games, ate some smores, heard an excellent devotion about having true joy, and enjoyed great company!

Although, we did have a great time, I was reminded of how much of a girl I am. Let me back up and explain that this realization first occurred as we packed for the night. I told D what I was packing and he said, "And that's why you don't take girls camping..." (I heard this several times throughout the packing...)As we played flash light tag, I discovered that I avoided areas that would get my cute leopard boots muddy. I enjoyed the fire, but didn't like how it made me stink of smoke. I loved eating smores, but I hated how I had sticky marshmellow residue on my fingers after the goodness was gone. Our "heated" bathroom was not in fact heated and that annoyed me. We had only one working toilet and it was freeeeeeeeeeeeeezing, my sleeping mat that my sweet hubs bought me just wasn't as fluffy as I had hoped. Oh how I longed for my wonderful bed and fancy electric blanket! (and my hubs to snuggle with of course!)

The idea of camping is so glamorous... especially when your husband claims to be Bear Grylls, but the actual camping thing... not so much. It was cold, we stunk, we were tired, but I wouldn't trade that experience for anything! It was a sweet time as a student ministry to come together in an unusual way. We got to fellowship with one another, eat some good snacks, hear a good devotion, huddle together in the cold, help each other in our silly games, and make memories to last a lifetime!

If I've never mentioned before, we love our students! God has truly blessed us to have the opportunity to work with such a great group of students and leaders. Even in the cold, these guys and girls are keepers!

So I may be a girl, but I am a very blessed one!



(Here are some of our students braving the elements.....More pictures to come!)

oh sister

My sister was quick to correct me last night. One of the most exciting things that I did this week was to go with her as she picked THE wedding dress. Or gown rather.... she has corrected me several times. The gown is gorgeous! I can't wait for everyone to see her in it. It's elegant, glamorous, flattering and she is simply breath-taking in it! So sister.... you're right... I had in deed forgotten the most exciting thing from my week.... it didn't make it on the original 10 Things Thursday, but now it's a post of its own!

P.S. You will be the most beautiful bride of all time!

Ten Things Thursday:

A friend of mine, Laurin, began this Ten Things Thursday idea. These 10 things are just random things that happen during our week. I may even turn it into 10 Things Tuesdays... We’ll see.

Ten Things Thursdays:

-I got to wear pants to school on Monday. I normally have to wear skirts so this was huge!

-I discovered the most comfortable pants in the world and will definitely be buying every color. Thank you Target!

-Beth Moore continues to blow me away. Our study Tuesday night was on Fear. God is using her mightily!

-We have officially brought out the Secret Sister 2009-2010 gift celebration at work.

-I had a Muddy’s choc. Chip cookie w/ melt in you mouth icing… I am now craving one.

-D and I decided to hire someone to tear down the wallpaper in our guest bathroom and paint it. It’s complete… now to finish decorating it.

-We’re contemplating buying a new TV and entertainment center.

-Football parties are underrated. I like hosting so a new TV is a must.

-I’m building new friendships and love it.

-Tomorrow we’re taking our youth camping. And I’m thrilled about it!

Davis and Goliath

Don't worry, I know that it's really David and Goliath. My students however are choosing to believe that it's Davis and Goliath. One of the little boys in my class is named Davis... therefore giving them reason to believe that the story includes our Davis and not David. We have a song that we sing about this story. It's called, "Only a Boy Named David." Can you guess how they sing it? Oh yes, "Only a boy named Davis." What a brave boy our Davis must have been fighting off lions and bears to protect his sheep!

crock-pot

What a fantastic invention! You throw some stuff in it, turn it on, and when you come home from work you have a delicious hot meal ready to eat. In fact, one of D's favorite meals is my roast.... thank you Bellevue cookbook! Needless to say I printed off an embarrassing amount of crock pot recipes during nap time today. (dinners, breakfasts, and desserts) Thank goodness I don't have a picky eating husband because, Sweets, the crock-pot is coming out for awhile!

a couple more...

You step over a puddle of pee as if it were water.


You tell other people’s children at Chik-fil-a not to climb up the slide.


Thanks, Sara!

You Know You're A K4 Teacher When...

Your instinct is to discipline unruly children.

You’re talking to a group of adults and you say, “ok, sweet friends…”

You don’t think it’s weird to talk about the poop and pee accidents of the day… even at the dinner table.

You have a million silly stories to tell.

When giving advice to friends, you end it with “yes, ma’am?!”

You can eat your lunch in 2 minutes flat.

You can go almost all day w/out going to the bathroom.

You automatically look forward to 12:15 (nap time) no matter what day of the week it is out of habit.

You see food on other people’s clothes and don’t think a thing about it.

You see snot hanging out of noses and it no longer shocks you.

You can identify each child’s paper based on the “name” they write. When in all reality there are few letters and more squiggles and shapes.

You can identify each child’s cry or whine without seeing their face.

You choose comfortable shoes to wear to work rather than stylish.

You get silly songs stuck in your head frequently.

You tell the hubs and/or friends that you have to go “potty.”

You refer to yourself as “Mrs. Jerkins” around family and friends.

You talk to normal people in your kindergarten teacher voice.

You find yourself either asking or thinking when anyone comes out of the bathroom, “Did you flush and wash your hands?”

You get patted on your rear repeatedly because someone needs your attention and you think nothing of it.

By the end of the day, you are tired of hearing your own name.

You hear, "I love you, Mrs. Jerkins!"... and it never gets old.

Marriage from the perspective of a 4 yr. old

A proclaims to me that she is going to marry C. I said, "Oh really." She goes on to explain that C is her boyfriend and one day they will be getting married. I said, "Does C know this?" She said, "No." As if that were normal. She said, "Mrs. Jerkins do you know what he'll do to me when we get married?" Scared to hear her response, I reluctantly said, "No, baby, what will he do?" She said very matter of factly, "He will kiss my hand." :)

Disney World

One of my mom's emailed me to explain that her daughter wouldn't be at school the rest of the week because they were taking their girls on a surprise trip to Disney. They were going to find out when they got home from school yesterday by a reading a poem. This is too cute not to share:

Dear E and A,


Hi girls! It’s Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
We want you to come to Disney World to see our big house.

We know you’ve been wanting to come for such a long time.
So keep reading this poem and read each rhyme.

Cinderella’s waiting for you in her big castle.
Everything is packed so there will be no hassle.

For the next 6 days, you will not go to school.
You will ride rides, see shows, and play in the pool.

Make sure you wear the shirts that we have sent for you.
For you will see Snow White, Ariel, and Goofy too!

So, go get in the car so you can fly on a plane tonight.
For Disneyworld awaits you, it will be quite a sight!


Hugs and Kisses,
Mickey and Minnie Mouse

pee

One of the downfalls of my job is that we have to deal with quite a few accidents throughout the year. I am sad to admit that this is the year of pee-ers in my room. Let me remind you that we've been in school 6 weeks now and my kids have had at least 6 accidents already. Because our campus was a church at one time, the classrooms are.... oh yes, carpeted. The 3 yr. old rooms were beginning to smell like a zoo so we had a local carpet cleaning company come and clean our rooms yesterday. This was perfect because my kids had 2 accidents at nap yesterday that left trails of pee all the way to the bathroom. Perfect timing you might say for the carpet cleaners to come. I was so excited to come into my clean classroom this morning. Well, nap time quickly approached and what do you think happened? Oh yes, pee. All over my freshly cleaned carpet. His excuse was that I wasn't in the room and he had to go. I slipped out for a moment... talk about frustrating. Yea, pee is not my friend.

coffee

There's nothing I love more than I cool, crisp morning with a good cup of coffee in my hand. Not just black coffee though...heavens no... coffee with almost as much coffee creamer. I am not a fan of the powder creamer. I like the real stuff. The creamy liquid creamer. My current favorite is Hazelnut. For some reason, only around the holidays do they sell really good flavors. (my two favorite from last Christmas were white choc. raspberry and mint chocolate..... so yummy!)

Everyone clearly has their own coffee drinking habits. My dad takes his black. My mom adds one splenda. My mother-in-law literally puts half a cup of choc. milk in hers every morning. I'm intrigued as to how everyone drinks their coffee. How do you drink your coffee? And do you know of some very delicious creamers that I have yet to find?

Can you tell I'm addicted to finding cute blog backgrounds?! I think this is officially my fall background... unless of course I find a cuter one. :)

Victory!

Back in March I had an allergic reaction to fire ant bites. I felt my face and throat swelling which then turned into a huge panic attack. With lots of Benedryl and supervision from the school nurse, I was back to normal soon after. Since then from time to time that panic has risen. Before I realized these were panic attacks, I went to the doctor. (I was panicking to the point of blacking out.) We figured out then that these were in fact fear induced panic attacks. I was thinking what normal 24 yr. old has panic attacks?! I know I'm not a psycho! But these episodes were none the less very scary. As time passed, and these episodes continued I realized that there was a mental battle going on. I was not eating anything unusual or had any weird bites yet the panic attacks continued. One day it hit me. This had become a spiritual battle. My thoughts were fearful. That day I claimed that I would no longer live in fear. I had victory in Jesus and was claiming that!

Why did I tell you all of this? Today in my bible study we discussed psychological battles. She explained, ..."because Satan has limited leash where believers are concerned, his most powerful tactics are psychological. Though he can not possess our minds, he profoundly and destructively influences our thoughts." Many women get trapped in mental torment over worry, weight, jobs, am I a good enough mother, wife, etc....The enemy loves nothing more than to see us forfeit our joy. Today was a great reminder that this in fact is psychological warfare. "We must catch the enemy in the act, call it what it is, and keep him from what he wants." So today let's not forfeit our joy for the enemy's lies, but live in the victory that we have in Christ alone!

Esther

I am currently doing the Esther bible study by Beth Moore. It is incredible. The subtitle is It's Tough Being a Woman. In our Tuesday night videos she makes some incredible points. This week's topic was meanness. Some of the highlights: It's tough being a woman in a mean world.

1.) Meanness always has a history.
*What started it? Forgive... Give it to Jesus and get over it.

2.) Meanness perceives a threat.
What are you threatened by? Humble yourself before the Lord- put it to rest.
*Insecurity is at the heart of every rivalry.

3.) Meanness catches like a virus.
*Coming in contact with a mean girl raises up your own mean girl.

4.) Meanness is curable.
*Immerse yourself in God's word and prayer. And surround yourself with people who will encourage you and lift you up.


I don't know about you guys, but I am perfect and never struggle with any of this. Wrong! My prayer is that we would all humble ourselves before the Lord. Realizing that we're not perfect, and ask Him to take away the meanness that so desperately wants to come out (especially that time of the month or when we're stuck in traffic or when people are rude to us etc....) because I don't know about you but I am tired of being a woman in a mean world!