Rendezvous, Thanksgiving AND Black Friday

What a fun week! It all started Tuesday with our Rendezvous at school. We learn a lot of Utah History in Fourth Grade, and what a better way to let the students understand more about Rendezvous than to have one! It was a blast. We all dressed up as either Native Americans or Mountain Men. The kids loved it. We made "possible bags" to put their "beaver bucks" in. They earned "beaver bucks" and exchanged them for goods that the kids brought from home. (They brought everything from toys to baked goods). It was a lot of work putting it all together, but it turned out to be really fun!



We had a blast on Thanksgiving Day. We ate lots of food, played cards, and I went for a ride on the zip line at the Graves'. It was so much fun! After Thanksgiving dinner, we got in the car and we shopped 'til we dropped. I witnessed a chick-fight at Wal-Mart, which was priceless. Here is a little bit of how it went...(Let me warn you, it is a little PG-13)

5:03 A.M. Wal-Mart, Orem, Utah

Lady #1(about 40 years old): "Would you please hurry up!"
Lady #2(about 30 years old): "You are being a really big ______ right now"
Lady #1:"Just hurry the H up!"(and hits Lady #2 in the back of the head with a box)
Lady #2: Turns around and hits her with her box, then keeps walking
Lady #1: Throws her stuff down and runs up behind Lady #2 and starts punching her in the back
Lady #2: Turns around, throws punches, and starts pulling hair
Peace Maker Lady: "Ladies, you are better than that! Knock if off"
Lady #2: Storms off, cussing the entire time
Lady #1: Looks at Peace Maker Lady and says in a crying voice, "I didn't even do anything wrong, you don't understand"
ME: I walk away laughing my butt off at how ridiculous people are.

P.S. The picture above with myself, Hadly, and Jena, is at 3:00 A.M. on our way to Old Navy, please excuse our hair and no-make-up faces...This what you look like after too much turkey and red bull.

The Best Birthday Ever!

So, I have to say that turning 24 was AWESOME!! I think that it is fate that my birthday fell on the day that New Moon came out. (the time leading up to new moon anyway) I went with Joelle and Rachel to Chili's (thanks for an awesome dinner guys!) And of course, had chocolate molten cake for dessert. We then waited in line with Rachel's Aunt, Mom and Sis and experienced a really awesome showing of New Moon. Thanks guys!!If anybody knows me, they know that I celebrate my birthday for a at least a week. So, today Hadly and Rylan went to New Moon with me AGAIN, and then on Sunday we will have family dinner.

I also got some really great presents...Rylan knows that Ed Hardy is my fav and he bought me the cutest things. I am so spoiled.

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday so awesome.

Aunt Lana

So, this weekend my mom had this crazy idea to go to Wendover. She had already told my brother that she would watch his kids. So of course, Friday night at 7:00 p.m. she called and asked if I could watch the kids for her so she could go to Wendover. I told her I would. I like it when she can go and have fun, so I agreed. I started to put the kids down at 9:00 for bed. At 11:15 I finally had both of them asleep. Trey was teething a little bit, so we gave him some Tylenol (he is six months old) Braylon, who is four, fights his head when going to sleep. When he starts to fall asleep he wakes right back up in fear that he may miss out on something really interesting. I didn't care that it took that long to get them to bed, because I love them more than anything and I have so much fun with them. Trey decides to wake up at 3 a.m.....After four restless hours of me sleeping, I wake up instantly as he whines for his binki. Just because I went to sleep at 11:15 with the kids, doesn't mean I slept good. I don't know if anyone has ever slept with a four year old, but for some reason they think that they need to move around ALL NIGHT. He totally thought that the bottom of the bed was right in my side, because that is where his feet were all night long. So my sister-in-law told me that Trey might wake up, but just give him his binki and he will go back to sleep.
Right........How can I resist not picking up the cutest little boy ever! He was so happy when he woke up, just talking, making noises, and laughing. I picked him up, went into the other room and played peek-a-boo and sang to him until 3:30. I couldn't resist! Too much fun.....Anyways, after laying him back down he woke up at 6:00 for a bottle. I threw him in bed with me and fed him. He then fell asleep and both of them woke up about 7:30. I got them dressed, took them to Chick's to get a pancake (I fed Trey his baby food there, and he was such a good boy) and then we came home and took a nap! I have to say that I was really tired the next day, but it was all totally worth it! Besides hanging around in my pajamas and not even worrying about doing my hair or putting make-up on (as you can see in the pictures) I had fun!

I Love My Job!

I came back to school just in time for red-ribbon week. We had red day, crazy hair day, and ROCKSTAR day. Then, on Friday we went on a Field Trip to Wasatch Mountain State Park. I have been taking it pretty easy this week,I just didn't want to run myself down..So I did a couple half-days and when we went on the field trip I didn't go on the hike. I really wanted to, but they said it was going to be a long one. I just have to say that I love my job....and as you can see I love the three other fourth grade teachers. We are best friends. :-) On rockstar day I played music ALL DAY. We sang and danced everywhere we went. Of course, we did sign autographs for each other too. I had one little boy tell me I was the "coolest teacher ever!" Thank goodness for my students, they keep me thinking I am cool....who cares if they are 9!

Surgery and Recovery

The last month I have had the worst pains of my life. It actually has been going on for a year and a half, but for some reason the doctor would just give me prevacid and send me home. A few weeks ago, I had the worst stomach pains ever. They lasted for five days straight. I decided to go to the doctor and see if everything was OK. After a lot of tests were ran (numerous blood tests) They couldn't figure out what was wrong. My stomach was HUGE! It had started to swell underneath my ribs. It looked like I had golfballs all over on my stomach. This caused my lower stomach to swell too. It was very uncomfortable. So they decided to send me to Utah Valley Regional Hospital to get checked out. They performed a HIDA SCAN on me. That was very painful. They gave me some dye in an IV to see how I would react and the pain was so bad. I was crying so hard. I kept thinking to myself how big of a baby I was, but I couldn't handle it. I got a call from my doctor explaining that my gallbladder was not functioning properly. He then told me to go see a surgeon. I decided to get a surgeon who had done cancer surgeries on my grandma and my aunt. He also took out my cousin Jena's gallbladder. So, I made an appointment with him. He saw me on a Monday, and wanted me to come back the next morning because it was so swollen. The first doctor I had went to in the beginning had told me that my stomach was infected. Dr. Anderson (the surgeon) was very worried about the inflamation in my stomach and said that the bacteria had spread everywhere. He wanted to do surgery ASAP. I thought to myself, "Seriously? Tomorrow? What about my students? Getting a substitute? Parent-Teacher Conferences are this week!" I was very stressed. I was able to compromise with him and schedule for the next week. He decided that would probably be OK. I was in SO MUCH pain the week before. Parent-Teacher conferences weren't so fun. So last Monday night (October 12) The nurse called and told me to be at the hospital at 6:00 AM Tuesday morning.
I didn't sleep well the night before. The pain was getting worse and worse. My mom wanted to take me at 3:00 because I couldn't sleep. I decided that wasn't a good idea, all I wanted to do was lay there. So we headed toward Salt Lake at 5:00 AM, Tuesday October 13. When I get there they call me "1.1" because I am the first surgery of the day. I thought that was kind of funny. My mom was a little nervous, she wouldn't sit still. They put me in the hospital bed and put an IV in me. It really hurt...I HATE needles. The nurse couldn't find my vein so it was quite the ordeal. After she had injected me with the electrolytes she had me lay there while she prepped me for surgery. at approx. 8:00 AM the hospital had a "parade" is what the nurses called it. There were 16 patients headed upstairs to the surgery suites. They started rolling us down the hall and to the elevators. Once we got up to the surgery floor they just leave you in the hall until the doctor comes in. Another nurse comes and puts these leg things on my legs. The doctor then tells me in 20 seconds I will feel tired. They roll me into the surgery room and it was very cold. The room starts spinning..............and then BAM!!! I wake up and don't know what is going on. There is a nurse next to me on the phone saying, "I have patient 1.1 and she is starting to wake up, however one of her four incisions is bleeding more than usual.." I had no idea what was going on! I started crying instantly because of the pain I was feeling in my right side. She immediatly had the doctor come and they injected me with some hard core meds.
As I lay there crying, the nurses are all watching me...I felt really akward. I wanted to leave. They wouldn't let me. I had to stay there for a longer time because of the bleeding, but once they got it undercontrol they took me to another recovery room.
That's when all the fun began....I was very sick to my stomach, in pain, tired, and didn't have a clue what was going on. I kept telling everyone to just take me home, that I wanted to go home, but they wouldn't let me go! My brother Ty came in and visited me..He wasn't much help. He was checking out the nurses the entire time! He would make comments like, "You look like I do when I have a hangover.." "Do you feel drunk?"....SERIOUSLY TY!! I just had surgery :-)
After much debate, pain meds, crying, sickness, and dizziness I was released to come home. A couple days after coming home from the hospital I got really sick. I was throwing up and I felt weak and dizzy. I decided right then and there I was giving up. I was done! I don't know how I was going to do it, but I wanted to quit the recovery process. I have to say that today is DAY 6 of recovery. Still on pain meds, still taking stomach pills and haven't moved around much. All I want to do is feel 100% better and I want to feel it NOW!

Everyone has been great to help me! I appreciate all of the people in my life for loving me ALL the time. Even when I am entirely helpless.

My Life the Last Month

September has been a crazy month! I am sure October will be just as crazy too! But, I decided to take time to blog. I took some pictures of the final results of my classroom last week when I put up the fall decorations. I really like to decorate. That doesn't mean I am good at it, I just like to do it. Here is a picture of the corral that is in my classroom. My kids love it! They think it is so fun to go in the corral to read and get a book. They LOVE opening the gate and closing it. I decided that whatever makes them want to go get a book---I am for it! However, they see the corral as a reward, I see it as a pen that holds animals (haha) because that is what the kids act like sometimes :-) As long as they keep wanting to read, I will keep the corral in my classroom!

First Day Jitters

I know many people don't "blog" in the summer. (or maybe I am just using that as a lame excuse because I only get one comment on each post...) However, I still try to keep up because this is my journal. I don't write in a journal, and I probably should, but I figure this is good enough... So here goes another journal entry!
As I read this book to my class, First Day Jitters, I realized that something must be wrong with me. I don't know if it is because I am so used to taking a new class under my wing and putting all of the responsibility on myself, or what! All I know is that this was the easiest first day of school! Although I never got to any "core" instruction, my class can line up (even in lunch line order) They can sit quietly, walk down the halls, and listen to me when I speak. What happened to the days when teachers didn't have to review the rules because students were just expected to KNOW the rules and abide by them? A lot has changed over the years (since I have gone to school anyway) But all-in-all I feel pretty good about my first day of school. For some reason I slept all night, I wasn't frantic or stressed when the bell rang, and I didn't even get butterflies in my stomach! I wonder if something is wrong with me? Maybe I just feel like one of the kids (haha). Last night I heard a student tell his mom, "Mom? Is she really our teacher? She doesn't look old enough!" OLD ENOUGH!! Excuse me, I am 24 Years old :-)
All I know is that I LOVE my job. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else right now but this, so here is to an awesome year! Thanks to all of you who have helped me get ready all summer...My classroom looks awesome! I will post the final pictures sometime this week (OK, maybe next!)

Fun in Philly!!

So I had the best oppurtunity ever to go to philadelphia for a teacher conference. We were there for five days and we had a blast! I am so lucky to be part of a great faculty. The people are awesome and we had so much fun. We learned some really great things while we were there... (like when you eat 3 philly cheese steaks in one day you will probably gain ten pounds, which I did!) But we learned lots of great ideas to use this year in the classroom. It was very motivating to go there and hear all of the ideas. I can't wait to start using them! Here are some pictures of some of the fun things that we did! We did some touring around Philly to some of the most interesting American History sites. We went to Ben Franklin's house, Independence Hall, and we were able to see where the Declaration of Independence was signed! We were rudely interuppted one of the nights by the New England Patriots. Apparantly, they are a big deal or something. We were just walking down the street minding our own business when the cops stopped us. I thought we had committed a crime! They made us stay clear of the road and stop and let the football players off the bus. (that explains the random pictures of football players that you see) Anyways, after the "important people" got in their hotel, we were on out way to a great Italian restraunt to celebrate Mr. Campbell's birthday! It was a four-course meal that was AMAZING!!! We also took a night tour on the buses that are two levels (way fun!) we spent a lot of time eating cheesesteaks. We took a taxi to another side of town just to eat at GENO's.. the best cheesesteaks around! We spent a lot of time also at the Reading Market. It was so fun! They had all kinds of food and CANDY!! We visted lots of parks (to give our feet a rest) and did TONZ of shopping! Coming home was kind of stressfull.. The subway broke down and we had to wait an extra half hour for another one to come and get us. (we were already running late for our flight) But after lots of sweat, tears, and no make-up.. we made it to the airport and caught our flight home!

I need your help!!

So, I have decided to go with a wild west theme for my classroom this year. In fourth grade, a lot of Utah history and social studies is taught, so I figured with a "cowboy"-type theme I could tie it in to the pioneers,indians, and the people that settled the west. I have a few different ideas, but if any of you have cute suggestions/decorations let me know! I have come up with a few.. but I need lots more! I am going to have "chuckwagon choices" for their choice in hot or cold lunch for the day. (which will be posted on a bulliten board in the front of the room) I am working on making a corral for the back of the room that surrounds my classroom library. I think I will call it the "reading ranch" or something like that... I also have a border that I will put around the walls on the ceilings of my room...What I really need help with is decorating the outside of my door..I want it to be very catchy and cute! PLEASE HELP WITH ANY IDEAS THAT YOU HAVE!! Thanks guys!

Havin' Some Fun!

July has been pretty fun... We have a BBQ at grandma's every Sunday. That is ALWAYS fun! All of the grandkids like to play horse-shoes and sometimes we like to play baseball. On this particular day, my cousin Demi was my BEST FRIEND. Now, this usually never happens. Demi doesn't like anyone to talk to her or sit by her or anything when we are at grandma's. For some reason, this day was different. She LOVED me! She kept wanting to take pictures and hang out with me. She kept calling me "Mary-Kate" and she was "Ashley" from the Olsen twins. She is such a cute girl and I love hanging out with her! The very next day we went on a trail ride! This is a picture of me and my horse by the pond, it was a very pretty ride! My grandma goes every Monday with my Aunt Susan and Shirley...This was the first Monday I was able to go... My grandma is awesome! She got off her horse like it was no big deal after our 4 hour ride....I however couldn't even get off my horse because I was so sore. Something is wrong with that! She is 70 and I am 23!! I hope I can do the things that she does when I am her age :-)