Blending words

At school we "blend" words by writing them sound by sound and then having the kids read them. The next step is for me to give clues about words and then have the kids guess which word I am thinking of. Sometimes, I have the kids make up a sentence about the chosen word.
On Friday, I wrote about 25 words on the board. I gave a clue for one of them and after the kids guessed it, I stupidly asked for a sentence. I thought even as I asked for it, that I could be in trouble, but hoped that maybe they would give a sentence about ants or grasshoppers, because that is the context of the word.
What was I thinking?!?!?


"Mrs. Behrend has been mating with Marki Poo."

Thanksgiving

Well, as the time approaches for families to gather and eat more than they should, it occurs to me that I need to take stock of those things for which I am grateful. In no particular order:
First, I am grateful to have been born into this time of the world's history. Sometimes it is really hard, but I don't think I would have wanted to walk everywhere. I'm glad to have technology like a washing machine, an electric oven and indoor plumbing. I am glad to be a member of the church, and to have had it in my home my whole life. I am glad to be married to the fabulous Marki Poo. I am grateful that he loves me back. I am so happy to have the priesthood so accessible to me by him and my friends. I am thankful for the possibility of an eternal family. I am grateful for the prophet. I love him. I am grateful for the leaders and teachers in my ward and stake.
I am grateful for my family. I get no greater joy than being with them, and no greater sadness than when I see their sorrow. I am even grateful for the challenges I have in my family because when things are not challenging I know they are really great. I am thankful for grandkids. They really make life worth living.
I am grateful for friends. I have good friends. They are supportive and kind. I have friends who I feel are like sisters to me.
I am grateful for my sisters. They are my best friends.
I am grateful for the way I was raised by my parents. They live simply but greatly. They are the best people. They love us all unconditionally, but expect us to be the best we can.
I am grateful that my grandparents are still alive and able to influence my life. I am so thankful for every day we still have them, and that my kids and grandkids know them.
I am grateful that I have a healthy body. I am grateful to be able to hear, to see, to taste, to touch and to smell. I am grateful to be getting stronger. I am thankful to be gaining physical strength.
I am so glad and grateful to be blessed to have a job I love. I am grateful that I have the "world's best class." I am grateful that the kids trust me and that they are willing to risk and try new things, even if they sometimes seem silly. I AM serious about education!
I am thankful to have a family at work as well as at home. I am grateful to be able to rub shoulders with teachers who care so much for what they do, and parents to would do anything to help their kids succeed.
I am thankful that I have a sense of humor. Life would be hard if I didn't find humor in almost everything. I am grateful to have learned how to laugh inside myself when my students or grandkids say something REALLY funny.
I am grateful that I was able to teach the Sunbeams for so long.
I am grateful that I live in a country where I could write a blog like this and not be afraid of negative repurcussions. I am grateful for the slow pace of Blackfoot, Idaho. I am grateful that most of the people I love live within two or three hours of Blackfoot, Idaho.
I am grateful that I have learned things in my life.
I am grateful that when I go to bed, it will be in a bed and will be warm.
I am grateful that I will be able to meet with my extended family on Thursday, and many more times during the holiday season, and that only a few of these meetings will be because of the holiday. Most of the meeting will be for more eternal reasons.
I am grateful that I can walk.
I am grateful that if I want to eat chocolate, I can. I am grateful that I have 18 little voices telling me that if I do, I will ruin my diet.
I AM grateful.

Conference Weekend

This weekend we had our traditional conference fun. We were lucky because Jeremy was able to come with his kids for a visit this time. They arrived very late on Friday night, so they weren't much fun for this grandma, except to say that they were deliriously happy to be here, emphasis on the delirious.
The next morning we woke up and some really heavy snow had fallen. Jer's kids live where snow is a rare commodity so they were so excited to see it. This snow happened to be perfect for building snowmen so they got right at it. Since I left my camera at school and since I don't know how to post pics, I am forced to keep in the photo album of my mind the picture of my three oldest grandkids, Mark, and Jeremy building the snowman with the snow coming down hard on their heads. It was almost six feet tall, had sticks for arms, a carrot nose, briquette eyes and buttons--and pink bow for its mouth--which gave it a decidedly feminine allure. The kids liked making it so much that they spent the rest of the morning rolling snow balls, which of course were too heavy for them to lift. When they were done, there was a collection that we have affectionately named "Snowhenge." They came in and had hot chocolate with marshmallow creme and then begged to go back out "to finish." When they had finished, there were more than 15 snowballs around the yard.
We were able to watch about 45 minutes of the first session before the power went out. I was so sad, I love conference. The power came back on just before the second session, so we got to watch that one.
Sunday morning is when we really have all the tradition. We had a fun breakfast, biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, eggs, muffins, and fruit. All of my family was here. It was great, and I loved the talks. Can I just say, I love President Hinckley? Well, I do.
Afterwards, we went to my grandmas and sang Happy Birthday to her. Just before Sunday's second session we came home and made sandwiches and more good food. Our conference party is better than Super Bowl Sunday.
I was just so happy! The whole weekend was awesome!

Show and Tell

I think if parents knew what goes on at show and tell, they would keep their kids home that day. One time a little girl passed out hankies and with a sob in her throat shared that "last week, we found a girl on the side of the road." She forgot some of the story, like that the girl was looking with her parents for her lost dog. I have had kids tell us about new babies coming to their family, sometimes a true story, sometimes not. Once a kid told the class that he was so excited cuz his dad was getting out of jail. Of course he was. Yesterday I had a good one. A student brought bait and told the class how to bait a hook. Yes, she brought the hook. Luckily, she didn't really do it, but she did say, "and you have to put it right here...just behind the dark part of the head."
This is probably why, when we began reading Charlotte's Web and we were discussing that sometimes farmers really do have to get rid of their runts, and I asked the class, "What do you think Fern might do if her dad does say he will kill the baby pig," (and I was expecting that since they have all seen both movies--that the response might be that she won't let him, and that the pig will grow up and become famous and make friends with a spider) ...that I was so tickled when a girl said matter of factly, "they will eat it." Yes, another reason I love second graders.

School

The first "week" of school is officially done. It has been fun, but I am SO tired. I came home on Wednesday and passed out with my head on the newspaper.
I have such a cute bunch of kiddos. They really are awesome, and I wouldn't just say it. They are kind, sweet, and they must think I am the queen or something because they hang on every word that comes out of my mouth. However, when I was teaching a reading lesson yesterday, I looked at them and they (OK, some of them) were literally face down on their desks. As a trained pro, I couldn't really laugh, even though I found it incredibly funny.
Also, I have told them that they never want to make me upset enough to use...the TEACHER FACE or TEACHER VOICE. I don't yell in class, or really ever even raise my voice, but sometimes I will get agitated. On those occasions, I always say, "If you think that was bad, you should see the real teacher face, or voice." In all my years of teaching, that has always been enough to make them mind their manners, but these kids want to see it. I even went and brought some of my kids from last year to tell them about it. Of course, they still didn't believe it, of course those students really didn't see it either.
I just thought of something, getting up at 5--OK, 5:28 and eating, then going walking could be making me tired. I was going to say scripture study, but my scripture study right now is consisting of "Discussions on the Book of Mormon." It is quite informative.

My summer vacation

Here is a brief report of girls camp and all the other fun events of the summer.
We took our 14 young women to Paris Springs campground the last week of July. This had been, up to that date one of the hottest, dryest summers in the history of Idaho. The trip down was uneventful. We stopped the the Paris Tabernacle to connect with our pioneer heritage and to have lunch. I think that we were among the first tours our guide had performed. He was doing his best to tell us all the historic features of the building, like that the ceiling was designed and built like an inverted ships hull. It was fascinating. Our favorite story was about the beautiful Indian princess Mountain Fawn. It happened that good ole Peg leg mangaged to get in good with the local tribes, so much so that he won the hand of our fair maiden. They lived happily ever after, right up until Peg Leg was given a second wife by another tribe. The two women didn't like each other much, seems like Peg was quite the catch, and wife number two killed the beautiful princess. Her tribe buried her in the mountains with her horse, her dog and two bags of gold. The tour guide said that no one has been able to find that gold.
After the tour we went to find the campground. We worked hard and got the tents set up and it started to rain, and it rained like in Noah's day. It wouldn't have taken 40 days to flood the earth if it rained like our first day of camp. The second day it rained. We were able to go to Bear Lake, and even though it was freezing, the girls managed to find fun. On the way back, it rained. It stopped eventually and we had fun around the campfire singing songs and telling stories. The next morning it looked like it might rain, but it didn't until after we moved camps. Yes, we moved camps. I won't get into it, but I maintain that if your email verification says you are in camps 1,2 and 3, you can assume that is where you are to camp. But no, says Mister Forest Service Guy, I actually paid for the camp they call 12. And no, says MFSG, we cannot stay, other campers will be arriving soon for camps 1, 2, and 3. So we moved everthing up the road to another, more beautiful camp. Thankfully, there was only minimal complaining, I tried not to, but . . . After we made new camp, it rained. Then the moose came, then it rained. We decided not to go back to Bear Lake, but to try Minnitonka cave instead. It was delightful. Cold, but fun and slightly claustrophobic for a girl like me. But the inquisitive mind I have was soon engaged in the interesting sights DEEP inside the cavern. I did not have a good feeling when they showed the fault line that runs through that area. Then, we went back to camp where we had a fabulous dinner and testimony meeting, and then, it rained.
The one good thing about camp is that it made some memories. I just hope they were good ones.
**The Parties**
Last Monday we hosted a party for our former bishop who is moving to Helena to be a social worker. They are taking a huge leap of faith in moving. I don't know if I could do it. Anyway, it was a potluck dinner, that is my version of a leap of faith. About 5 pm I started getting nervous that we would have 20 desserts and 0 main dish casseroles. It was close, but it worked out OK. I believe that a good time was had by all, and Rozla got 50.00 for not crying.
Saturday and Sunday was my little Oram reunion. Almost everyone from our family was there, and it was so much fun. It was laid back and we mostly just visited and ate, but it was more about just being together. My grandparents were so pleased that so many made the effort to come. I called my cousin Cody to do a few photos of the whole group, he did so much more. Almost every family had potraits done and he did the group thing. One of the favorite parts was when we had to call the neighbors to come and help with the 14 or 15 cameras family had brought. One of my neighbors was trying to figure out 3 cameras at once. I wish I had a picture of that.
And tonight we had our yearly block party. I just love my neighbors. They are such good people, we just barely got in the house from visiting with some of them. I feel so blessed to live here.

The walking has been fun, but just in passing, I need to say that the most disturbing thing happened at the greenbelt on Saturday morning when I was walking alone. An elderly man, who we see pretty often, was walking his dog. He stopped on the track just in front of me so I asked him if he was OK. He says 'huh' so I get in closer and ask him again, and he acts like he is going to shake my hand, but he patted me on the butt. My first reaction, after making a hasty retreat was, "He's just an old guy, he probably didn't mean it." But after I walked about another mile, and I could still feel his nasty hand on my bottom, I said to myself, "Self, he totally knew what he was doing." I have been receiving advice to report him, carry pepper spray or that I should have gone back and smacked him. The kind of disturbing thing is that a man who was at our block party tonight, and who is a grounds keeper at the golf course, described the violater of my personal space.

I have been going to the school many days a week, and I fear that summer is almost over. I am actually glad, I am so ready for fall. The cooler days, school, colorful leaves, warm soup, sweaters, the fair, shorter days. . . I wax wistful.

Summer Vacation

I have discovered the miracle of sweat. I love it. I have been walking with a friend for the last few weeks. In the early days, I thought it might kill me, but I am now up to 5 miles a day. I regret that when school starts I will have to cut back. Anyway, after my shins stop throbbing and I get "in the zone" I could walk forever. I don't actually love sweat, it is actually kind of gross, but I love how my body feels when it is sweating. This is so personal.

Next week is girls camp. I am kind of excited. We have such great things planned for the girls, and I hope they like it as much as I plan on liking it. The lack of a shower is kind of distressing, but I guess that will be ok, too.

After that is a reunion I am planning for my family. I hope everyone can come. It means A LOT to my grandparents, they call pretty regularly to see how things are coming. Hopefully everyone can come.

Then, yea!!!! Time to get ready for school. I am so excited for this school year, I don't even know why. I am excited to meet the kids, their parents and plan fun things to do. I just love the whole educational process! I love to learn and to teach. It's only about 1 month, I can't wait.

Yes, that is the rest of my summer vacation. There is a little weeding, a block party, a few trips to Utah and maybe camping, but that's it.