KinderQuotes; Engagement edition

I got engaged over the weekend! It was magical and lovely and I'm still a bit in shocked surprise that it actually happened and I really get to marry this wonderful man. God is so good.
I wasn't really sure how my students would react. To them I'm a grown up and so I thought they may just take in it stride that of course grown ups should be married. But Monday morning when I told them they let it sink in a minute then were all squeals and excitement asking to see my ring and.... making hilarious comments.

'You're getting married?! To a boy?!!'

'... And then he asked me to marry him and gave me this ring!' - Me
'Did you know him before this?'

Student; 'What are you doing to name it?'
Me; 'what?'
Student; 'The baby'
Me; 'There is NO baby. Please don't go home and tell your parents there is!'
- I spent the rest of the day reiterating that there wouldn't be any babies until they were in at least 2nd grade.

'You're getting married!' - Student #1
'I know!' - me
'She told you the secret!!!' - Student #2
- secret's out, little one. I already know

Live and Learn; Horses

** I wrote this a few months back am only just now getting around to adding pictures and publishing, oops!**

This weekend I went on a road trip to one of my favorite places. Some friends hadn't been yet and I was happy to go again, even though I think this was my 8th time to visit in the past 3 years! This time, however, was a little different than other trips.
One friend really wanted to go horseback riding. I'd seen the horses before but never went with anyone interested in riding them. I have very found memories of riding in Colorado when I was 11 or 12. It was so much fun riding the big horses, gently bumping up and down. When I found out the price wasn't bad I decided to go along on the sunset ride through the canyons.

It turns out I'm not really a fan of horses. When I got it I started to read out that it was moving. Then when I pulled on the reigns to make him turn he didn't want to and throw his head back. Thankfully the kind guide held onto my horse for most of the time, especially when it started getting spooked by the ATVs driving close by.
The views were beautiful, it was a little bit fun, and over all I'm glad I did it but I'm also glad I've realized that I don't actually love horses and will try to remember this great lesson the next time someone asks 'Do you want to ride horses? It'll be fun!'. But who knows, I may try it again some day.

KinderQuotes pt 2

This week I found myself making up sentences with the Sight Word cards for my students to practice reading. I'd arrange the cards on the board and have them read the sentence. I must have been a little more enthusiastic than usual when I asked 'Are you ready for a new sentence?’. A student commented, ‘well at least I know you sure are!’

This reminded me of how funny my little ones are and how I haven't shared any quotes on here this year. We've been learning a lot and they've been talking about a lot of subjects. Here're so of their observations (all initials stand for names I've omitted);

On clothing;

-  “When I was on the stairs my shoes a little bit wanted to fall down” -N

- ‘Ok, put your hands in your pockets, if you have them’ - Me

• ‘I don’t have pockets’ - N
• ‘ You can use mine!’ - P

- 'What would you wear in a warm region?' - Me 'Short sleeve pants'- M

About our bodies;

- ‘If you eat lots and lots of slime you might die. And get sick. Dead and sick’ - N

-  ‘My nose is leaking’ - N

- ‘If you eat lots of chocolates your tummy will get really big and you’ll have a baby’ - N

About people;

- ‘C, it’s not nice to tell people to eat your best friend!’ - A

- ‘Teacher, If we are good persons can we go to the playroom?’ - M

- ‘Teacher, M is very smart. You should give him a hug’ - M

- ‘I hugged P and she liked it!’ - C

Miscs

- 'Actually a sponge is a type of animal'- me  ' yeah, like sponge bob' - N

- "I know! Green and red makes Portugal!" - L

Winter Thankfulness

This morning as I bundled up to head to church in the snow, I glanced in the mirror and realized how many people love me and take care of me. That might seem an odd thought but when I saw myself I saw the snow boots my grandparents gave me last Christmas, the winter coat my parents got me for my first winter in Turkey, the soft, warm gloves I received this Christmas from a sweet woman who prays for me often and kindly worries about me. I saw the earrings the school security-guard gave me for my birthday and the scarf I received from my principal when I met her at training the summer before I began my first teaching job.
I'm thankful for each of these reminders of the people who love and care for me and I'm reminded of what blessings they are to me.

Christmas Break is Here!

It's the first official morning of Christmas break and it's lovely. It's not yet 7am and I'm curled up with a book, coffee, and a snowman cookie left over from the 2nd grade class party yesterday. I woke before 6 from a dream where a student's mom had told me she was picking him up early and I'd forgotten and in a panic had to run around finding his take-home papers; a fitting dream for a teacher over the break. I lazily got out of bed and looked out the window. The world (or at least my neighborhood) is covered in a thin blanket of snow. It's probably only an inch or two but it's lovely and adds to the happy feeling that Christmas break is here.
My room is a bit of a mess with bags half-packed for my upcoming trip and I haven't a clue where I lost the other books I was reading but right now all seems to be still and at peace. I would try to show you a picture but it just doesn't do it justice and would probably upset the calm and quiet of Roomie reading on the couch and me quietly typing.
Happy Christmas!

Getting Home; Salzburg

We arrived in Salzburg and were able to quickly find a hotel for the night online using the train station's wifi. Unfortunately the hotel was a chain and had 4 locations throughout the city so after walking to the closest one we were told to take two buses to get to the one we'd reserved. After settling in we go back on the bus and went to explore the city, me singing Sound of Music songs all the time in my head.

The city is charming. We walked up to the castle, down by the water, and wandered through narrow streets of shops and houses. At one point, while looking out over the city from a raised street near the castle the hour struck and from all over the city church bells chimed. It was so lovely.

Towards nightfall we found a little hole-in-the-wall place to get some dinner which we ate on the street.

Getting Home; Munich

Because of recent events where I live I decided to extend my vacation and visit Europe before going home (typing that sounds ridiculous, who am I?!?!). I was able to change my flights for free (thanks you, AirCanada!!) and met up with Roomie in Munich. It was the most unplanned trip I've ever done but it was also lots of fun! It was also a great way to visit new places and also de-stress after the chaos of leaving family and figuring out if and when I could go home.
We landed a couple of hours apart in Munich and made our way to a hotel in the city. Since both of us had been to Munich before we skipped the touristy places and instead took a long walk through a park. It was so green and peaceful with a river and streams running through it. Many people were exercising on the trails or hanging out with friends at the beer gardens.

Unfortunately I didn't take any picture of the beautiful park in Munich but here's a picture of the tiniest plane I've ever been on!

For dinner we found an Afghani restaurant which was delicious. We walked back to the hotel in a light rain and I enjoyed a great night's sleep in a comfortable bed (I always appreciate a bed after trying to sleep on a plane). The next morning we made a game plan for the next 10 days and headed to the station to find a train to take us to Salzburg.