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 It's all books that either are a bit outdated, not in good shape, or I had 2 or 3 copies of and only kept one.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!! 

Gospel News

If you haven't check out Oak Grove Church of Christ's website, stop your reading and do it now! :) Robbie has worked hard on this (it IS still a work in progress, so if you have a brilliant idea to make it better, let me know!) Oak Grove has made a lot of advances into the future lately: a new drop ceiling, new lights, ceiling fans, a sound system (which is awesome for the hard of hearing), and now a website! We are blessed to have lots of different men that do our preaching for us, and I am sooo excited to have all their wonderful sermon's recorded and up on the website where people can listen to them! So go listen to some! =)

Earlier this month we had an awesome gospel meeting. Mr. Rufus Clifford III came and presented several great lessons all about Walking With God. They were uplifting, toe stepping, and thought provoking. We had great attendance at the gospel meeting and enjoyed seeing everyone who made it out. Mr. Rufus and his wife Carry were both wonderful and we really enjoyed getting to know them! Hopefully it won't be to long before we can get them back this way -- or go visit them in Tennessee! Robbie recorded and video taped Rufus's lessons, so you should definitely check them out!

Robbie and I are so blessed to be members of the Church of Christ that meets at the Oak Grove church building - and we are so excited to see continued growth. Before the gospel meeting we spent time in the community surrounding the church building inviting people to come worship with us - and I loved spending time working to spread the gospel. Its our job - our responsibility - and I'm excited to work harder at it!

Mark 16:16 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every 

creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but

 he who does not believe will be condemned."

Just a smile

We went to Maramec Springs the last week of school. It was a hot day, the kids were tired and it was finally recess time.Near the end of recess I hear.....

him: "Mrs. Moreland!!!!"

me: "...yyeess?"

him: "look! look!"

me: "I see ... what are you doing?"

him: "I've been digging a whole to China! And I can almost fit!"

me: *laughing*

him: "take my picture!!!"

other students: "whoa! Can I put MY head in there?! I wanna ssseee!!!"

Yes, that is his entire head in the hole. Seriously, how can you not LOVE this kid?! 

...reason why I teach # 562 (or something...)

A beast of a post ...

I *always* decide that school will not get the best of me. It will not exhaust me to the point that I teach, come home and sit on the couch, order pizza, and do nothing else. It will not consume me. But lets face it, summer school is exhausting. Especially when its hot. Like walk outside for recess and 2 seconds later 5 kids have already asked you when it will be time to go inside kind of hot. It's really a no-win situation: take them outside, its hot. They sit in the shade and complain, teachers stand in the sun and wonder why we are all outside being hot. Stay inside: they get bored. Kids NEED outside time and trapping them inside is like ... well, trapping yourself inside a lion's den. Except instead of eating you, they pull at your clothes and say "teacher, teacher" and "can I? can I?" and "but HE did it..." eek! So today we compromised - morning recess outside, afternoon recess inside ... and I think we all survived! =)

In all actuality, I shouldn't complain. We have lucked out with 3 super awesome weather weeks for summer school - one week of being sweaty and slightly gross won't hurt me at all (maybe I will even sweat off a pound or two!)

Seriously. Life is a balancing act - and I'm working on it.

ALSO, I am proud to announce: summer school has NOT consumed me. Now, being sick over the weekend, that consumed me. But not school (feel free to cheer...). *regretfully* blogging has not been something I've done a lot of. But I have: walked (for exercise), and walked (for pleasure), studied my Bible a lot, cooked dinner (more than once), gone to countless baseball games, swam, taken a float trip, gone to a going away party,  spent time with friends and family, attended a *wonderful* gospel meeting (that I promise I will do a post on soon!), looked at a ton of houses online, made appointments to look at houses in person, done some crazy planning for school in the fall, made 5 batches of homemade ice cream (my husband is currently obsessed ... so we make it like all the time! Which may be making all my walking pointless...), aaannndd *tonight* I made THESE:

Seriously delicious! Of course, mine are not nearly as pretty as the ones I saw on pinterest (I've gotten used to that..) but I'll sacrifice looks for flavor any day. They are mini apple pies!

I took crescent rolls (you know, the frozen kind you buy in a tube and then peel open but they never open so you end up banging them on the counter till the bird squawks and your husband rushes in to see what you are possibly doing and then they finally pop and you squeal because even though you knew it would happen you somehow forgot to expect it ... woo!)

then put apple pie filling on the inside. just a teeny, weeny bit. Then folded it all up (excepet for the 1 or 2 that refused to fold up nicely, so they are more like apple pie boats...)

THEN roll in cinnamon and sugar and bake according to the directions on the crescent roll package (that you'll have to carefully piece back together to read after all that ripping you did earlier...).

You can thank me after you try them!!

Also, I saw a version where a person had done the exact same thing only putting Nutella inside instead of apple pie filling -- could be awesome :).

Daddy's Day

I have been blessed beyond belief with the best Daddy in the world. A daddy who ran a christian household and taught me all about God and the Bible. A daddy who was always there for me with a hug and a shoulder to lean on. A daddy who supported my interests and became as involved as I needed him to be - like being the president of band boosters throughout my high school career and coaching countless softball and basketball teams). A daddy who drove me anywhere I needed to go, taught me how to drive, and *still* takes care of my car. A daddy who I could always run home to - no matter what. He has taught me more than I can tell you. He has shown me many, many things. He loves my husband like he is his own son. He is the greatest.

I also have a splendid Grandfather -- he is strong, soft spoken, and wise. He taught me to ride a horse and bought me my first pony! He is the pillar of our family and because of he and my grandma I a wonderful mother, aunts, and uncles. He is one of the most godly men I know.

Then there are Uncle Jim and Uncle Bob - two wonderful great-uncles who have been like extra grandparents to me. I have spent many years playing on the floor with them, showing off for them, visiting with them, and watching them. They are amazing.

When I got married *almost* a year ago, I was blessed with a wonderful father-in-law. He is a great man who would do anything for Rob and I. He is fun to be around and an outstanding gardener! He keeps us in supply of fresh veggies - and that is the least of what he does for us! :)

Someday I know Robbie will make a great father too! But until then, I am thankful for the abundance of father figures I have in my life! :)

50th

Grandma and Grandpa's 50th anniversary party went awesomely! =) The decorations were absolutely be-u-ti-ful! My favorite two tables were this one:

It had a picture of G & G's wedding with a sign that said "All Because Two People Fell in Love" and then pictures of all their kids and grand kids weddings. 

I also loved this table:

Basically the "history" of their lives - written by my momma.

We also had an outstanding slideshow of pictures from throughout their life. :)




MOST importantly there was a great turn out of people! Family came from far and near, friends came from around the area, and tons of our church family were able to make it. It was fun to visit with people I hadn't seen in a while - and even more fun to see Grandma and Grandpa enjoying all the company and memories. Lots of fun was had by all. It was a great tribute to two awesomely inspiring people - really showed how loved they are!

Old-fashioned blogging

I was so excited to get a graduation/congrats on your job gift today from a couple people I think a lot of:

It's a super cute journal!

I don't know if they actually know this or are just lucky gift buyers, but I have a [not so minor] obsession with journals. I LOVE to write down my thoughts (hence the blogging...).

This particular journal is going to chronicle my first year of teaching. Hopefully I can be fairly consistent with writing in it despite the crazy business that I am sure to be experiencing next year. :). I think it will be fun to look back on years down the road! Plus, I function better when I take the time to reason through things in writing, so I'm pretty sure reflecting and writing a few times a week will help me be a better teacher. I can't wait to use it to "blog the old fashioned way" (as my sister put it)! ;)

Thanks a million Jim and Margret!!