Time for some stress relief....

I haven't said much as to what's been going on in life. Honestly, it's been SO busy lately with school, and right now, at the peak of my stress, I feel like maybe it can help me to share some of the silliness and the cuteness that I have experienced as a learning teacher, and also as a learning wife. :D

First things first:

The kids.

They're adorable!

These little second graders are seriously so cute--even when they're tattle telling on another student. I love helping them learn (though I'll admit that it's harder than it looks to actually teach them suffixes, to teach them about the American Revolution, etc.).

Just today, I came in and on the desk, left from yesterday, was a compliment from one of the kids who quite honestly gets on my nerves sometimes. His name is Jackson, and he's just the funniest kid sometimes, but other times, he's purposefully trying to be funny and it's at the wrong time. Basically, he's a little boy! :D But he wrote me a sweet little note saying, "I compliment Mrs. Peterson for being sweet."

My heart just melted! All day today, even when he was being boyish, I had to just think to myself, he told me I'm sweet, I can handle this. It was really a pretty funny thought process to have, like a mini battle in my mind.

A few other little things: today I attempted Power Teaching. For those of you who aren't aware of this method of teaching, here's a link with tons of great and FREE information:

http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/

On the website is a quote by Ben Franklin that I have had on my mind quite often since yesterday:

" Tell me and I forget, teach me and I will remember, involve me and I will learn."

Whole brain teaching (power teaching) just involves the kids in so many ways! I taught suffixes--spellings and meanings today, so much faster than I have in the last two weeks I've taught grammar. Much more effective and much more engaging.

I LOVE this idea! And the kids today loved it too! I asked the kids if they wanted me to keep doing it and they said yes! Since we're going on fall break starting tomorrow, I guess that means I get to reteach this all starting in a week. But that's teaching! Chris Biffle said that if you don't like repeating yourself, then don't go into teaching! Makes sense right?

Secondly, my lovely husband. :D

A few nights ago, when we went to sleep, Danny turned to me and said that I had stolen the covers a lot the night before. He told me, "If you try and steal my covers tonight, I'm gonna steal them back, and then I'm going to push you off the bed and yell, 'I'm the king of the bed!'"   Cracked me up!

This same night, he had also run around the house, chasing our poor kitty with a pillow, telling him, "Run kitty run! Get your exercise!"  The pathetic cat was yowling around the house, trying to escape, and failing miserably. I could hardly stop laughing!

I love my husband. :D

Now I just need to go laugh some more. Tomorrow is the start of Fall Break and I understand why teacher's look forward to breaks more than students! Time to NOT think about school for the rest of the night!

See ya!

Home Decor and Improvement: Project 1...

 

Crafting is something I LOVE to do. The problem, however, is that I tend to try to bite off more than I can chew. What I mean by this is that I start one project, and then have another project idea, and then try to do both at once. Usually, this doesn't work too well with my busy schedule. I've spent the last six months working on one or another of the projects you see below. Some took a couple weeks to finish, others a month, and some only took a day or two. Most of them I probably would have been able to finish in a weekend if I had made myself lol. Most of my ideas came from pinterest, so I'll attach the link to those pages and also include my own tips for making them. For today, I'm just gonna talk about my first project:

 

Project #1:

 

3x3 Scrapbook array

 

I had a giant wall to fill in our master bedroom and decided an array of square scrapbook pages I'd seen on pinterest was the answer. This is the link to the blog: http://jensidea.blogspot.com/2011/06/easy-art-blocks.html

 

My total cost for this project was about $20 bucks for scrapbook paper, wood, modge modge, and black paint.

 

I made a few adjustments to the intstructions she gives. Here's my tips: 

 

1. Get thicker shelving board (mine was only 1/4 in thick and I had to gorilla glue small pieces on the back to drill holes into for hanging the pictures over a nail)

 

2. Scrapbook paper--just head to the nearest Walmart and look through their paper section. I found a coordinated packet of TONS of paper there for $5. Saweet!

 

3. Use a glossy modge-podge if you want a more dressy appearance. Our bedroom is all silver, blue, and black. Shimmery seemed to fit best.

 

4. Paint the edges of the wood before you do the paper unless you want to play Picaso like I did: I glued paper down first, and then went to paint the edges black. Suffice it to say that my artistic skills weren't that amazing when I needed to fix a mess-up. I like how it looks now, but I wouldn't have had to add to the edges around the paper had I painted the edges of the wood before I glued down paper.

 

5. If you want your artwork to hang flat, then just drill a small hole, angled up into the wood, so that you can hook it over a nail. If you want to add dimension to your masterpiece, then add a few extra slivers of the shelving wood to the back before drilling. I just gorrilla glued, but wood glue wood prob work too. When you hang it up, be sure to measure out where each block will go so you don't fill your wall with holes. ;)

 

6. Have fun arranging the paper and don't be afraid to mix it up to be more random than I did!

 

Along with making the array, I decided to add a little green to my kitchen. I found the scrap book paper at Hobby Lobby and just followed the same steps as I did above.

 

 

 

This last picture is near our kitchen. I found sticky white-board block pages at Michaels and decided I could do something similar. I got thicker wood this time (about 1/2in thick) and just painted around with black like I did before. The nice thing was I didn't have to wait for glue to dry--it was kinda like whiteboard vinyl. :D

 

 

Anyways, this project is totally finished. I love how the arrays both small and large help to give the kitchen and the master a little personality. I hope you enjoy making this if you decide to try it! Don't be afraid to go smaller if you don't have wall space to fit one this big. :D I'll be posting another blog about my latest sewing project...the one that's still not finished lol.

Starting school...

This last week, I've started my student teaching for ASU at an elementary school in the GPS district. My little second graders are all adorable! I've been in there 3 days with the kiddos and I'm pretty sure I have all their first names down; last names, that's an entirely different story. I absolutely love being with the kids, and I can't wait till I get to teach in my own classroom.

A few plans for my future classroom...

I hope to do an overall hooter owl theme around the room.

This is a big canvas owl bag I made to keep my teacher stuff. :D

Ideas for bulletin boards include:

--- "Who are you?" to share all about me posters
--- "Who's ready to help?"
--- "Learning is a HOOT!" for a learning tree that changes every quarter or holiday with leaves on construction paper that display what the kids have learned
--- The "Owlphabet"--this was Danny's idea :)

So far that's all I've got, but I'm sure I'll figure out some more. Mostly, I just want to have little owls everywhere. And maybe a little "talking owl" for when we have circle time.

I've decided (officially) that pinterest is my addiction when it comes to teaching ideas. There are SOO many great crafts and lesson plans available out there!

Quick idea I saw on FB:



These last few days, there's been one little boy who, without fail has come up to give me a big hug every morning, at lunch, and after school. He's such a sweetie! I love teaching!

When reality hits you

This morning, I woke up to a quick kiss from Danny. We said a prayer together and then he left for work. I spent a few moments trying to decide whether I'd wake up or go back to sleep and decided to get moving for the day. Imagine my shock at finding the news about the Colorado shootings. Perhaps you felt it yourself.

For those of you who haven't heard, there was a brutal shooting in Aurora, CO at the midnight premiere of the new Batman movie. I've literally spent all morning obsessing over the news story, and trying to come to terms with the fact that this could easily have happened to any of us, anywhere in the world.

There's a part of me that wants to panic, to never attend a midnight showing ever again, and to refuse to even go see the new movie, no matter how good I've heard it is. It brings to mind speeches and talks I've heard of where violent movies/video games were discussed as a potential cause of violent behavior later in life.

We all make choices in life. It's up to us to accept the consequences for those choices. But I find it hard to see why it is that other people's bad choices have to affect us directly or indirectly in such negative ways.

I've found a few answers to these questions and confusing feelings as I've thought about the events of last night: just basic gospel principals (for those of you who don't know, I am a Mormon):

1. God knows each of us here on Earth by name. He knows our deepest thoughts, fears, and desires. He also knows what we are capable of handling by way of trials in our lives. It is up to us to meet the refiner's fire, no matter how hot or heart-wrenching it feels, and live our lives the best we can, relying on our Savior every minute of every day.

2. It is not our place to judge. No matter how terrified, how sad, and how confused I, or any of you, feel about the man's actions in Colorado, it is not for us to decide if he will be saved or not. It is our obligation to obey the commandments of God, and forgiveness is one of them:  

"Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." 

Doctrine and Covenants 64: 9-10

3. We are all Sons and Daughters of our Heavenly Father. Our Spirits "grew up" together before we chose to come to Earth. Whatever relief I feel that this terrifying event didn't take place in a theater near me, that it didn't happen to me or my family, I find myself realizing that at some point in my pre-mortal life, it is likely that I knew some or all of the people involved--they are a part of my family: my spiritual family. My heart goes out to them. 

I pray with all of my heart that the families involved will find comfort they seek. I know that there is life after death. In the words of Albus Dumbledore, "death is just the beginning." Whatever the world says, death is NOT the end. Our Spirits and our bodies will be reunited one day in total perfection, to prepare to meet our God and our Savior. We ALL will live again, will have the chance to be reunited with lost loved ones, and will have the opportunity to meet those ancestors who passed away well before we were alive. Christ will come again and we will be judged according to our actions here on Earth. I know each of these truths without a doubt.

Oh what do you do in the summer time...

It's summer time, and in AZ, for those of you who don't live here, this means MONSOON season! Yeesh. It's July and officially MONSOON season. 

Our backyard is royally flooded. Pretty sweet huh? Wrong! We do NOT want our house flooded! :P

Danny's first instinct? "Let's make paper boats!" 

So, we did. Correction: Danny did. :D

His hands are moving so fast here you can't even see his fingers!

It. Was. Awesome.

Epically awesome. 

Oh, and the cat joined in too!

Here's a link to the page where he found instructions for anyone who wants to try making these nifty boats:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Paper-Boat 

 

THE MAIDEN VOYAGE

 

The rain was battering down pretty hard.

Currently, the sailing is going well...

Crashed on shore. Testing, failed. Next time, we'll build a bigger one! 

Despite the warning not to leave the house, Danny and I are off to Famous Dave's with Don and Debbie Hubbs. Food + Rainy day = Very good. 

Tah-tah for now! Enjoy the rain and stay safe!

 

A family reunion and a trip to the lake

Imagine a tarantula. Now add a hard shell and evil looking claws. The spidery legs just keep wiggling, squirming, almost touching your fingers. Snappish is what you could call those claws.

Despite the miniature size of the crawdads our nieces and nephews pulled out of Big Lake, AZ, I still managed to scream when the one I was holding wriggled all over the place (most likely in the middle of its death throws).  It. Was. Nasty.

This was RIGHT before I screamed because the legs looked like they were going to get me.

Other activities included being rained on in the tent (no rain actually in the tent, but it sure sounded like it wanted to come in...), reading, because Danny and I LOVE the books we're reading, and of course, fishing around Big Lake--at least watching fishing take place. It was really neat to meet more members of my new family.

Don't I look like a little librarian? A very tan librarian lol.

One of the neatest experiences I had the whole family reunion was hearing stories about the Donaldson ancestors. Obviously, I couldn't have known most of them, but a few of them were Danny's great aunts and uncles. It's incredible the memories their sons and daughters still have of them. I only hope that they'll preserve them in writing some how, if they haven't already.

Speaking of family stories, I'd like to share a story my sister-in-law shared with me when Danny and I first arrived. I hope Sarah doesn't mind: their son, my nephew, got feeling pretty sick early on at the reunion. He was running a fever, feeling pretty low. Sarah was thinking they might need to take him into town and have him checked out. Their son's reply was that he didn't need a doctor, he just needed his Grandpa Don and uncle to give him a blessing. His Dad was at the lake with the other kids, or else in town picking up medicine (Sarah, I don't remember which). Don and I think it was Billy gave him a priesthood blessing. In the blessing Don basically told my nephew Sam that if he had faith, that he would recover from his illness. It was only a matter of hours before Sam was up and about, wreaking havoc in the campsite with the other cousins. Even though I wasn't there, I know exactly what Sam was feeling before and after he was given a blessing.

There have been many times that I asked my Dad for a blessing because I was sick, and times I've asked Danny to exercise the priesthood (the authority to act in God's name) to give me a blessing of healing or of comfort. I know my Heavenly Father was listening and according to my faith, those blessings have been fulfilled. I'm so thankful for the priesthood in my home and in my family.

Danny and I also had the opportunity to go to Saguaro Lake with my family this weekend. These are just a few pictures.

The angle of the photo just makes Danny's arm look tiny. He really is a normal-looking person. :P Love you Danny!

Would you believe me if I said this is a picture taken with a cell phone camera? I know, pretty sweet huh.

The highlights of the lake trip:

-- Danny getting up on the wakeboard for a little bit, and then totally eating it. I wish I'd taken a video. lol He hadn't wakeboarded in 15 years! I think he did pretty awesome!

-- My brother Cameron doing crazy jumps over the wake, sometimes landing them, and other times....well, just kinda smacking around into the water.

-- My sister Brooklyn slalom-skiing. I must say, she's pretty dang good at it.

-- Tubing with Danny. Cameron was driving the boat. Never letting him do that again. We got thrown so hard, my stomach hurts again just thinking about it! :P

-- Watching Jenna and Evan tube behind the boat. They're so tiny in that giant thing!

-- My Mom jumping into the lake with Evan to go to our neighbor's boat and eat food (he was hungry.)

-- Being on my Dad's newly reupholstered boat. Red, white, and blue inside and out. It was definitely awesome. 

I'm SO grateful to have a wonderful family to spend time with. We had a blast at the lake, and I look forward to spending more time there with them. Off to more work this week? I think yes.

Coundown of early mornings left this summer: FIVE. :D

Random Funnies

So since pictures aren't up from the recent family reunion, I have a funny story from about....11 minutes ago.

Danny and I are watching a TV show, no big right? But then, suddenly, I have to PEE. I run to the bathroom, go to sit down, and SPLAT!

I fall down on the inner rim of the toilet seat, nearly splashing my bum in the cold water. Thankfully, I hadn't started tinkling yet.

"Danny!" I screamed. "What!?" he called back. "Don't leave the toilet seat up!"

This was his reply: "But then I wouldn't be able to laugh at you!"

:P

Husbands...gotta love 'em. :D