November 2018 Randoms

At school, my team teacher and I taught a unit on nature, and did a "nature walk" at the end of it, where we brought items into the classroom at the beginning of November for students to see, touch, and learn more about. My collection isn't near quite as extensive as Mrs. Sawicki's, but I enjoyed seeing the kids' curiosity about certain items as they looked and touched. Josh even helped me with this project: I asked him to cut off a deer's leg as he was processing the meat after it had been hunted, and he sure did. I wrapped up the leg in paper towels, and stored it in the fridge for a couple of weeks, waiting for this event to happen. If you'd come to my house and opened the fridge, you would've been in for a fur fun surprise!!! It's funny to consider how teaching has changed me...once upon a time I would've NEVER cut a leg off a deer, let alone touch it or store it in my refrigerator!! And now I'm not even phased by it!

See the deer leg on the left?! I also showed

the kids the velvety antler that the deer had

left behind in my hammock. I mostly had nests,

antlers, sea shells, alpaca fur, and a couple of 

snake skins.

Mrs. Sawicki's collection is impressive!

I get rather anal about tree trimming around our place. I actually enjoy trimming trees myself, but once the thickness of branches surpasses the abilities that hand-held trimmers can do, I'm at the mercy of Josh's help. You see...I have never run a chainsaw--although I want to learn how to! The Cherry tree right next to our deck had been bugging me for months, and I'd determined it only needed 6 cuts to re-shape it's tall deformities, but I was unable to cut them due to the branches' thickness and height. The first weekend in November when I got home after being gone to work all week, I noticed that Josh had brought home the long-arm extension chainsaw from his work. I was delighted, because he'd remembered on his own to bring it home, knowing that he'd have a little extra time that weekend to make the cuts for me. Bless that man! It made me so happy to know that he'd thought of me, and wanted to make me happy by finishing a project that had been on my mind for months. On Sunday afternoon, we tackled the project. I pointed out the exact cuts, and the whole job was done in about 15 minutes' time! 

The twins helped me trim this large apple tree in the spring--a job required annually.

I loved how the leaves were al different colors on the tree, surrounded by the 

giant Maple leaves all over the ground. It seems like the essence of Fall in this photo.

Micah had a regional choir clinic on the first Monday in November in Rexburg. Josh was able to drive bus for it, which was nice. I drove over to Rexburg that evening to watch the performance in the Rexburg Tabernacle, and got to eat dinner with Josh and John before the concert, too. The choirs sounded fantastic--much better than last year. I liked the venue, but there were some noisy, distracting people in the audience which really irritated me! Micah looked so handsome, and he sang nicely! I was so proud of him!

He's on the far right in the center. 

The West Jefferson High School put on a production of "The Music Man", and I went to two showings of it, since they had a double cast. I really enjoyed it! It took me back to when I was a junior in high school, performing in the same play myself, in the capacity of one of the "Pick-a-Little" Ladies. I absolutely love going to the theater! I am so full of life when I get to see students performing in theatrical productions; it just brings me so much joy!

When Josh went to Moscow for Dad's Weekend with Ammon, I stayed in Salmon with the other 3 boys. Jonah and Micah had their final driving test on Saturday morning. They took turns driving our suburban with the driving test administrator while I waited at the church, and whoever wasn't driving waited with me. They each only missed two things--the exact same two things! They turned into a turning line a little too early, and forgot to put on the e-brake while parking at the grocery store (which I wouldn't have done either considering it's not a sloped parking lot and the suburban is an automatic). They passed! Yay! On Sunday, Kanyon participated in his last primary program, since he's 11 years old. He was so glad to not ever have to do one again!

We savor nice, expensive cookies, and Cookie

Butter Cookies from Trader Joe's are one of 

our favorites. We each get one after church on

Sunday if we've been good! Kanyon got to have

2 on this particular Sunday for doing something

extra special good!

My students performed in the Veterans Day concert on the 8th of November (the 11th was on a Sunday). They all dressed in red, white, and blue, and looked so patriotic! The concert is an all-school music assembly, and they honor all members of the armed forces during it, which I really appreciate. We even had a veteran come visit our classroom on Monday the 12th this year, which was super awesome!

When they sing the anthem for each branch of the armed forces, the veterans

who served in that capacity stand for their song. It's so cool!

Jonah and Micah became official drivers on Tuesday the 13th! Their test was on Saturday the 10th, but Monday was an observed holiday for Veteran's Day, so they had to wait. Josh took them up to the courthouse during lunch to get their licenses. They're the first ones in their grade in Salmon to have their licenses, which is SUPER cool in teenage boy status!

My friend Gina helped me bake a chocolate cake from scratch for my friend Tanis' birthday. It was the first time I've ever attempted such a thing, and I didn't get around to making it until Sunday, and realized that I didn't have some of the ingredients, and couldn't understand all the instructions since I'd never baked a cake from scratch before. I had a meltdown and freaked out, then tried again, and had a big panic attack. Gina came to my rescue. She came over and convinced me that we should go to her house which had all the ingredients and equipment. I packed up the ingredients I had, and Josh dragged me to her house, although at that point I was so hysterical that I didn't want to go anywhere and I'd decided I'd just buy some cupcakes for Tanis, even though she's wanted a homemade chocolate cake her whole life. I was mad at Josh and Gina at the time for making me do it, but by the end of the night, I was extremely grateful for their persistence and patience in making sure that I got it done. I couldn't have done it without Gina's help: it was a lot harder than I thought it would be! I gave it to Tanis the following Tuesday (I put it in my fridge until then) and she absolutely loved it! I was glad that I'd been able to give her what she had secretly wanted for years--although I knew it was only thanks to Gina and Josh that she received it!

My students performed at the Mud Lake Museum's Festival of Trees the week after Thanksgiving. They acted out a little reader's theater, several students told holiday jokes, and the entire 2nd grade sang a few holiday songs, including Jingle Bells with finger bells. It was such an awesome experience and I was so proud of my students! A man from the community told about his mother's first Christmas in the area nearly 100 years ago, and she had made a Christmas tree out of a sagebrush. The museum decorated a sagebrush in her honor: it was beautiful! The students then did a scavenger hunt of finding items on different trees. It was a fun mini field trip! It was the first time I've ever gone to a Festival of Trees before: I definitely want it to be an annual occurrence!

This was the tree that the library brought, using

paper ornaments that the students had created. 

When I upload photos from our different sources to add to this blog, I pull them from my camera's SD card, from Josh's cell phone pics, and my cell phone pics. It's always interesting when Josh and I both take a photo on the exact same day with our cell phones. I like seeing where we both were at one moment in time. It gives me an idea of how different our surroundings each day are; the contrast in our worlds is so evident. These two photos were both taken on November 29, and they were both taken at our jobs: mine is indoors; his is outside. I like where I'm at, but I LOVE his views!!