School Teacher Update

I thought blending families would be the most difficult part of my marriage to David.  It hasn't been.  The only difficult result of my marriage has been teaching in Idaho.  As most of my readers know, I have taught in many schools.  I've taught in Hawaii, Malaysia and 2 districts in Utah.  Altogether I have taught in 8 elementary schools.  Each school has had great things happening and some had room for tweaking.  In this district in Idaho, the employees brag that "it is the best district in the state".  I feel like I have taken a time machine back to 2000.  There are so many areas in need of improvement and progress.  Positive behavior modification guidelines and school-wide systems of expectation along with professional learning communities are difficult to identify.  It's been depressing.

Nevertheless, I love my students and my classroom.  It is a warm, safe place where students encourage each other and monitor each other for success.  We have fully implemented the 7 Habits in my classroom.  The learners are talkers and workers and forgivers.

Today we had a pancake party because my 2nd graders had earned enough synergy points before the end of the month.  It was held during our math block, so I had the students work to figure out how many cups of mix and water we would need to make 48 pancakes instead of just 6 like the recipe produced.  They did so much thinking to convert 2 cups and 1 1/3 cups into the huge recipe.  There were debates, model drawing, full pictures, toolboxes full of manipulatives.  I didn't offer any help at all as they struggled and taught themselves all the while hungry for pancakes.

When there was agreement at the whiteboard in several colors of dry erase markers, I was ready to mix.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring measuring cups (doh!).  I didn't tell them that though.  They had put so much time and effort into the exact number of cups needed of mix and water, I would not disappoint them.  SO, I announced that it was math game time.  While they excitedly grabbed materials for card, dice or domino top-it, I snuck into the back of the room for pancake creating.  I just dumped the whole box of mix and then added water until it arrived at the right consistency.  Voila!!

After that, I assigned two apple experts to segment the apples, one hot chocolate specialist to monitor the huge thermos of cocoa and 2 pancake cookers.  The party was a huge 20 minute success.  We cleaned up and then I arranged for another 30 minute session of math learning while my principal observed the kids for my formal observation.

Later in the day, seven of the students taught science lessons that they had prepared because they were ahead of the rest of the class.  Those seven scientist did an amazing job--they have better management skills than many of the college interns that have worked in my classroom.  One 8 year old taught about the solar system and had a total choreographed performance of people as planets spinning and moving as other people as stars stood fixed.  Another 8 year old had the class members make musical stringed instruments out of different widths of rubber bands and box lids to discuss sound waves.  One 7 year old taught the phases of the moon better than I ever could.  He checked to make sure every learner understood that the moon DOES NOT produce its own light.  He was really intense ;-).  Watching those young teachers, I realized what a privilege it is to teach.  Regardless of the system or the district.  I love my students and I'm grateful to create a safe, positive learning space for them. I'm really going to miss these little friends during Thanksgiving break.

"Mom, you STILL have a huge crush on David"--Emerson

David and I had our 1 year anniversary on June 22nd.  His kids were away that Saturday, so we got a babysitter for a couple of hours for my girls.  We rode our bikes all over and had a picnic lunch near a small branch of the Snake River.  While we were dating, we both wanted to have active nature dates. We both felt like you get to know someone better when you're doing stuff instead of simply spending money and calling it a date. Both of us came from former marriages where our spouses liked and expected restaurant and a movie or a hotel get-away kind of date.  We don't.  We had a blast.

(Written the end of July) This last weekend, David's kids were away and mine were away with their dad and his family at a resort, so we had Thursday evening until Monday morning to ourselves.  We missed our kids a bunch, but we had a wonderful time together.  Originally, David wanted to go overnight camping. Yep.  He wanted to backpack and survive in the wilderness.  We negotiated.  We ended up camping one night in the back country of the Cache National Forest with cows, snakes, sheep and wild chickens and then we reconnected with civilization.  The Utah Opera Festival was going on in Logan so we stayed at the most budget-friendly motel for 2 nights and saw Fiddler on the Roof.  We ate mostly the fruits and vegetables that we brought from our home and garden, but we did go to Tandoori Oven.  It was delicious!  Another meal we ate tacos from a street vendor.  Also really good.  We hit the Pepperidge Farm factory store to stock up on fishy crackers for the kids.  After visiting a congregation on Sunday, we packed up and went to Tony Grove in Logan Canyon.  It was gorgeous!  We inflated the rowboats and paddled around the small mountain lake.

I had quite a dopamine rush there on the quiet lake.  We were the only ones using the lake for the first hour and I heard only the sounds of nature.  David had paddled far enough away to do some scientist kind of observing.  I pulled my paddles into the boat and laid back.  I felt a powerful sense of God's love for us and for our family.  I felt peace there as every other lake experience we've had this summer has been filled with kids and I am the ever Lifeguard on Duty.  Now I only had to keep myself from drowning and I had the chance to just think and breathe deeply.  After a couple of hours of clear skies, dark clouds quickly took over.  We paddled to our shore as fast as we could and hiked up to our campsite.  We beat the rain and David covered our tent.  While it rained, we cuddled in the van and listened to the book To Kill A Mockingbird.

The Taco Bus

My girls and I hoped on this bus.  It comes with the Mexican Soap Opera Channel.

The tacos are deliciously authentic.  

I only ordered one drink.  Emerson and Kamryn shared it.  Emerson doesn't like my spit anymore because I kiss David so much and kissing is gross.

Brushing Teeth is Like Exercise--Am I a kid or a grown-up?

I exercised regularly in high school, but in college, I got out of the habit.  I would exercise on and off but not regularly and not intensely.  If I did exercise intensely or regularly it would only be to lose 10 pounds and then I would get lazy again.

For the past 4 years, I have been pretty regular in my exercise.  The past 2 years I have consistently met my running goals and weightloss goals.  There have been periods of time though I have skipped workouts.  This past week it happened to me.  I got less sleep, felt fatigued and unmotivated.  After a several days in a row without intense exercise, I did 3 workouts today and feel fabulous.  It amazes me what at least 30 minutes of getting my heart rate to peak does for me emotionally and physically.  The exercise-induced high makes me smile for hours after and infuses me with energy that carries on for over 24 hours.  I also sleep much better.

I want to compare this need for exercise to our need for brushing our teeth.  As an adult, we all want to brush our teeth first thing in the morning and we can’t sleep with dirty teeth.   We love the feeling of clean teeth and we recognize the benefits of preventative care over time.

 Kids have to be reminded to brush their teeth morning and night.  They don’t even seem to notice the layers building up on the enamel until each tooth is wearing a tiny little sweater made of plague.  Some second graders have confessed that they even take the time to turn on the bathroom faucet and make sounds that come with teeth brushing, but without letting the brush touch the mouth.  Parents hear the sounds of dental hygiene, so they believe the child is obeying and the dental bills will stay low.  All the while the little cherub is deceiving the gullible grown-up.

Why can kids bear to wear tooth sweaters?

Why can I bear to go several days between workouts?

I CAN’T!  It doesn’t feel good and if I don’t make time for exercise every day NOW, then I will have to make time for illness later.

Kids will be kids, but I am a grown-up and I expect more of myself.

The "Love You" Student

I love my husband so completely that my face muscles ache from smiling too much when I think of him for more than 3 minutes at a time.  So, I'm here ready to go up to bed with the words "Love You" on my eyelids.  I'm thinking back about a year.  Last September, as I was falling in love with David, he was still dating other ladies.  One, in particular, made me a bit competitive.   She was 5 years younger than me with no children AND she was a college student.  She was not in any of David's physics classes, but she was a student nonetheless so obviously the scene from Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Arc) kept popping into my head.

This college student attended Professor Indiana Jones's Archaeology 101 class in 1936. As one of Jones's female admirers at Marshall College, she expressed her sentiment by writing "LOVE YOU" across her eyelids. During Doctor Jones' lecture, the student flashed the words at him when their eyes momentarily met, causing the teacher to lose his focus and speech to stammer when the bell rang to indicate the end of the class, and the student exited with her peers.

So anyway, a year later, I still think of this scene from the movie.  He has assured me that if I ever take one of his classes, I may not love him as much as I do now.  He's pretty tough and doesn't have the female admirers that my imagination has given him.  Physics would not be my choice of class to take.  I finally confessed to him that I only knew that vectors have direction and magnitude because I have watched Despicable Me a few times and the young skinny villain names himself Vector and defines the term.

Biking is the hardest part for me.

Summer Photos and Fall Greetings

Fall Greetings from a dining room table for 9 in Idaho!!!


My girls and I are doing well here at our new home with our new family.  School has been in session for us for the past 3 weeks and David starts teaching again at the university tomorrow.  He'll still be the stay - at - home parent, but will teach college classes while Kamryn is at her afternoon kindergarten class.  He's home with her and with his youngest (18 months) during the morning and lunch time.  He's also home when Kamryn and Emerson get home from school.  He has been such a blessing for them both.  I am still the recipient of the greatest blessings of David in my life, although I think my girls would argue with me on that.


Here's a bunch of photos from summer time that I never made time to blog about.

 Our Day-After-the-Wedding hike to my childhood favorite waterfall with the family.

Under the falls

 Riding scooters on the wooden sidewalks in Jackson WY.

 Our youngest daughters danced with the Indonesian hand clapping dancers during the International Festival.

 Climbing trees is always a summer activity for my little monkeys.

 Enjoying the Botanical Gardens on campus near our house.

 Swimming lessons for the 4 middle kids.

 Camping and Fishing with Daddy David

 Spulunking in the Minnetonka Cave with my parents.  We spotted this moose bottom feeding at a nearby pond.  This is on the border of Idaho and Utah.

 On the Mountain Summit between Idaho and Wyoming.

Jackson WY.
We're excited for fall.  We plan on a week long visit to Utah the first week in October and then to harvest the pumpkins and sell them before Halloween.


I have a sprint triathalon on October 27th on campus. In November I'll complete the Lazyman Ironman.  I'll have the whole entire month to complete 26 miles of running, 112 miles of biking and 2.7 miles of swimming.   It will all be tracked in the Fitness Gym on campus and I should be able to finish in less than 2 weeks.

My big triathalon is December 1st.  So all my fall training will go towards this big day!!  I'm excited!  I can get all of my training done before work and after my girls go to bed except on Saturdays for 3 hours and Wednesday nights for 1 hour of strength training.  One of the thousands of reasons that I love being married to David is that I get a Spouse card to use all the university exercise facilities, classes and pool for FREE!!  I didn't even know this when he proposed last year.  Happy Fall to You ALL!!