Call me crazy...

...because I probably am. But I am so. in. love.

Meet my 3 new babies. They are Java Finches (also known as Java Rice Finches and Java Sparrows). And they are AWESOME. They make the coolest little noises (clicking, whirring, singing) and are so fun to watch! I *think* we have one male and two females -- but it is really hard to tell the gender, so I'm not positive. Regardless, these guys are fun ... and so, they are going in to school with me.

That's right people, we are going to have a class pet. 3 of them. And they are birds. Like I said, feel free to call me crazy.

I was never, ever a bird lover. I actually thought they were icky (all that poop!) and I was kind of scared of them. And then I got married to a cockatiel lover and this happened:

It didn't take long for Lulu to become my baby. She rides on my shoulder, my hand, chases our toes and sings to them (she's a little weird...), talks to us (she says actual words!), and is actually a lot of company. I adore her. She does poop a lot. And everywhere. But the poop doesn't stink and it wipes up easy. She does screech sometimes which gets annoying (especially when she gets excited because we have people over), but she usually just needs a little attention and she's good to go.

Now good things about the finches:
                  They will stay in their cage. Unlike Lulu, they are not "finger tamed" birds, so the kids won't handle them. Since they are for "watching only", their poop will be contained to their cage. Which is excellent.
                   Lulu throws her seed when she eats (she breaks seed with her beak and one half usually ends up on my floor. She also throws seed at you to get your attention. Seriously. My Javas? nooo seed throwing = less of a mess for me to sweep up constantly!
                   Java's are quiet. Their noises are adorable, but quiet. Nooo screeching. So, they shouldn't be *too* distracting once the kids get used to them being around.
                   They don't stink! Bird poop may be gross, but it doesn't stink. I will clean it frequently, but in between cleanings there won't be a smell which is a huge plus!
                    These particular birds are hardy. Not all birds are. But these guys can handle fairly warm and fairly cold temperatures, so they will be okay at school (even if the heat or air goes off for a few hours!) They, of course, will come home with me over long breaks, but not weekends!


DISCLAIMER:
    I know, know, know pets are a lot of work. I *tried and tried* to talk myself out of getting a class pet. Or at least waiting. But, these guys were such a good deal (50 for the three birds and their cage!). And they are so neat and unusual. And most of all, I firmly believe pets are essential for kids. I blame my mother for this part - she has always had a class pet (her current pets are fish and a chinchilla!). Kids need to interact with animals and learn how to respect them. It will give us a science lesson or 20, lots of things to write about, a geography lesson, the list goes on and on. AND (with guidance) the kids will learn responsibility when they help feed and water and even clean! Plus, class pets are just plain awesome - and I'm not the only person that thinks so! Read about them here!

Progress

My momma had the brilliant idea to turn this awkward space taking beam into my word wall :)

Remember these cute crate seats? They look even better in my room! ;)

I LOVE writers workshop. It is like my favorite thing EVER - so a writer's workstation is a must have.

Ignore the messy pile at bottom left - I still haven't gotten rid of all my extra books yet! But, thanks to my seester, my library looks AWESOME. And since our reading theme is "Shoot for the stars ... read!" I made a poster and hung the planets up (which are hard to see in the picture).

I love my desk ($50 yard sale find because there wasnt one in my room before), but I HAVE to find a way to make all the nasty cords look at least a little bit nicer...

Student computers - 10 in all.

cubbys and my lovely shelves (that empty space will soon be taken up, don't worry).

AAAAANNNNDDD since mom and I both needed a break from school, THIS is how we spent our evening:

Church Giggles

Sometimes I giggle in church. Oops. I sit there, all intent on listening to the sermon, and then the preacher-man says something that may or may not really be that funny, but it just catches me off guard and have to *try* to control my outburst. Horrible, I know. ;)

One of the things I love the very most about services at Oak Grove is that because we have no full time preacher I (we) get to hear a large variety of men speak. Some (like my daddy) have been preaching for years, and others (like my hubby) are just starting out. It is a wonderful opportunity and experience to listen to different men preach. It allows me to hear many different sermons, follow many different thought processes, and witness a lot of growth! I can't even tell you how much I absolutely love it! This past Sunday we heard two outstanding sermons: Josh's was titled "Bonfire in Ephesus" and Dustin's was titled "Run like a Kenyon". If those titles don't peak your interest, nothing will ... so go listen to them both here. Now either I was just doing an extra good job of paying attention, or these men were doing an extra good job of preaching, because I sure got a lot of good thoughts from their sermons! Annndd there were *giggle* moments for me in each sermon - that's part of what I love about hearing different people's perspectives! They probably each deserve their own blog post ... and they just might get it sometime...

Now, what made me giggle this Sunday? Josh was preaching Sunday morning - he is a really excellent speaker. Easy to listen to, lots of great ideas (and I'm not just saying that because he's my brother-in-law). Sometimes what I like to call his "coaching side" kicks in and he says thing in a very matter-of-fact way that I love. Towards the end of his sermon, he was recapping, and he said (and I quote) "If we have sin in our lives, we need to just quit-it". He said this like he might say to his basketball team, or I might say to my 4th graders who were doing something they shouldn't "you need to quit-it!". It was great! He went on to say "Seriously. If we have continuous sin in our lives, we need to make a decision to stop. We need to quit it". I KNOW that is not a funny statement - its actually very serious! But sometimes we forget to be so matter-of-fact with sin. Sometimes we try to make things more complicated than they are  -- because I think the phrase "it's complicated" makes us feel better. It's not complicated. We need to quit it. Quit sinning. And being that matter-of-fact made me giggle (in all fairness, he chuckled as he said it too. He knew it sounded awesome).

Now, obviously, I know we will never just *quit* altogether. We are human. We are surrounded by temptations. We will fall. We will mess up. We will sin. Probably again and again and again. But, each and every time we catch ourselves, we have to make a decision: continue in this sin, or quit it? And hopefully we will grow stronger and stronger as we keep making the decision to quit it. Just quit it.

One year

One year ago today  I had the cutest flower girl:

The best ring bearer:

The most awesome wedding party:

And my favorite guy in the world waiting for me at the end of the aisle.

I also had a huge number of family and friends around, the best daddy in the world to walk me down the aisle, and a great photographer. Bbbuuttt, if I put pictures of all that we'd be here all day -- so instead you'll just have to take my word for it that it was the most perfect day imaginable and it was wonderfully documented by the awesome photographer.

Our first year together has been the most perfect as well. It has flown by! Sure we've had "figuring this living together thing out" moments (we're still working on whether the toilet seat should be left up or down - ha!) Hes taken care of me when I was sick, put up with me when I was stressed through student teaching, and embraced my family. Being introduced as "wife" still sounds weird to me. Saying "my husband" is still strange. But its absolutely wonderful. We have had tons of fun together and I am so excited about our future. I know there are more challenges ahead - for one thing, he is about to see me as a first year teacher (which is going to be a huge adjustment for both of us time wise!). But I know we'll get through each new circumstance with love, dedication, and God! Here's to lots more years together.... :)

Saturday night fun

There is nothing more relaxing than this:

Nothing more exciting than this:

Nothing more hilarious than this:

Mom caught an awesome fish -- but it took her, Isaac, and Josh all to get in --  with lots of help from mom's squeals of course! :)

Nothing better.

We just won't talk too much about the biggest thing I caught....

I just left him on the hook and used  him as bait =)

H & J

Tomorrow is Heather and Josh's 3rd anniversary! I can't believe it :). Sometimes it feels like just last week Heather and I were visiting Josh in the hospital (because he had his gall bladder out) and talking about how cute he was. Sometimes it feels like he (and his family!) have been a part of our lives forever. I am sooo thankful that Heather found such an awesome guy! They are seriously one of the best couples ever - and two of my very favorite people :). You would be hard pressed to find two people who are more caring, more giving, more fun, more loving, more godly than these two ... and I am very blessed to know them!

Dear Josh,
        Thank you for coming into our family and loving us all - even when we call Heather 12 times a day :) Thank you for reminding me how fun it is to cheer at high school basketball games, for being a wonderful example of a Coach and teacher, and for playing basketball with Isaac. I love getting to know you better. I love hearing you preach and listen to you talk about the Bible. I love discussing things with you and appreciate how studied and earnest you when it comes to God. I LOVE that my sister has a godly, Christian man to be the head of her house. Thank you for always putting her first and making her smile. She is special to me, as are you. I am so glad you and Heather found each other so that you are part of our family. I love you!

Dear Heather,
        Thank you for being the best sister EVER. For always being a great example, a ton of fun, a partner in crime ... whatever I needed at the time! I am so glad you found someone to love unconditionally, so glad you found such a wonderfully godly man to spend your life with. While I never exactly pictured you running hospitality rooms and driving high school boys to shoot outs, you have taken that role and completely rocked it! I love watching you grow as a teacher, person, and wife. Thanks for being a wonderful example of a Christian woman and wife. Thanks for always being there for me, and for always being awesome. I love you so much!

*still* my favorite moment from their wedding day -- after the wedding, standing in the receiving line. Such a happy, sweet, emotional hug -- I felt like I was intruding on such a special moment! =).

I have the best sister and brother-in-law ever, and I love them so very much! Happy anniversary! :)

Beginnings

I can get in my classroom! yay! =)

I know I won't *always* be this excited about setting up a classroom, but this time around - I am thrilled. Thanks to help from my awesome mom and sister, I have my furniture arranged (except for the 4 extra desks I am going to have to get if all of my students want a place to sit down...), my closet cleaned out and organized, aanndd my classroom library ready to go.

Seriously, my mom and sister are awesome. Without them I would have spent MUCH more time standing in the middle of the room too busy being completely overwhelmed to even start. I was gifted a LOT of things (they were left in the room) which is a huge help since I haven't had time to accumulate much ... but it is also a LOT to go through. SO MANY BOOKS. oh my goodness. Heather kept saying "here's another stack of books ... here's another one...." we sorted through TONS of them! And it is DONE now. Well, except for this table:

I know Tina and Julie (the other Comm Arts teachers) will be super excited to hear that this pile is waiting for them to come look at! It's all books that either are a bit outdated, not in good shape, or I had 2 or 3 copies of and only kept one. I just want the other teachers to make sure I'm not getting ready to part with something I should really be keeping! That is a fraction of the books I started with. The rest are all prettily on shelves and organized -- I'll do pictures of that later!

Now, here comes the point in the blog post where I ask you to *try* not to make fun of me too much: I have a closet in my room (which is AWESOME), but it is not very big which means it needs to be very organized! Soo, probably my favorite accomplishment from the other day in my room was this:

Organized construction paper!

Don't Judge me. Toooo much anyway. 

Seriously, the construction paper was aaaalll over the closet - taking up WAY MORE than its share of shelf space. Now it is neatly placed in 3 lovely stacks and I can fit other things in the closet! It's okay if you cheer with me here... I was pretty excited!

We won't talk about the fact that I later realized my shelves are sagging and one of the lovely maintenance workers told me I need to flip my shelves over (which means pulling everything off, flipping the shelves, and then putting everything back on) .... I decided that could wait a few days.

Sooo, yes. I am incredibly excited to see my classroom coming together. And yes, my crate seats DO look awesome in my room. I promise more pictures later when I get a few more stacks of things put away!!