'twas the night before school started

'twas the night before school started

when all through the town

the parents were cheering...

it was a riotous sound

 

by eight, kids were washed

and tucked into bed...

where memories of homework

filled them with dread

new pencils, new folders,

new notebooks, too

new teachers, new friends...

their anxiety grew

 

the parents just giggled

when they learned of this fright

and shouted upstairs

GO TO BED... IT'S A SCHOOL NIGHT

disclaimer: i read this online tonight and thought it was so cute, so i had to post it so i could remember it later :)

My week in numbers...

* this was supposed to post yesterday, but blogger was down...*

10... years ago today that I graduated from St. Cloud State University

150... days since my last blog post

19... number of times I have looked outside to see the brilliant green on the trees... and smiled!

14... days remaining in this school year

3... number of DVD slideshows I have to create for preschool graduations

2,583... pictures I have to sort through for said slideshows

78... temperature I loved yesterday

14... minutes it took to sunburn the part in my hair

23... number of students who couldn't wait to play outside

61... number of dandelions in the bouquet my students brought to me

29... hours until I experience my first Twins game at Target Field

127... number of pictures I hope to take at baseball game

1... days until I get to see my good friend from college!!

My Day in Numbers

7... preschool students in my classroom
6... water balloon ice balls we played with today
18... outside temperature in degrees Fahrenheit
23... minutes to get ready to go outside
0... "real feel" temperature with the wind blowing
17... minutes we played outside in the snow
134... things I need to get done this afternoon
1... tired teacher who had fun outside today

Summer's Here

It's been busy month since I last blogged. I guess that's to be expected with the end of the school year approaching. Now it's officially summer, and it's time to catch you up on the last month. My to-do list seemed to grow by the minute. You know... pictures to take, DVD slide shows to make, cakes to order, decorations to buy, kids' books to assemble, butterflies to release, parties to plan... the list could go on. There were many late nights (or rather, early mornings) just trying to squeeze everything in. I managed to finish everything on time and the parties were a lot of fun, although I was extremely exhausted at the end of the week.

Then when the dust settled, I was left with many happy memories of a great year. Yes, there were stressful times, but overall, we had a lot of fun. It was such a joy to see the excitement in the kids' eyes as they discovered a new toy or the pride in their smile as they showed me their latest art project or handwriting. And listening in on their conversations? Wow, I could probably write a book of cute kids' quotes!

I was showered with gifts at the end of the year, great reminders of the precious students I had this year. Several gift cards (who doesn't love those?), a yummy candle and much-needed CHOCOLATE, a brightly-decorated terra cotta flower pot which all the kids from my afternoon class signed, an adorable Caribou Coffee mug and tea set, yummy-smelling lotion and shower gel, a pretty butterfly stained-glass box, and gorgeous flowers flowers flowers! I just had to take pictures because they're so beautiful. Don't you agree?





Yes, summer's here, and even though I have things to do at school yet (moving to a new classroom, arranging furniture, dreaming of decorating possibilities), I am enjoying a break from hectic schedules and long working days.

Wordless Wednesday

(My type of art!)

Marshmallow Pops

I love the idea of MckMama's snow pops which were featured on her blog here. As Valentine's Day school parties were approaching, I briefly considered making these artistic delicacies, but time got away from me. Okay, to be honest here, I knew that my three, four, and five-year-old students would not appreciate the design, creativity, and simplistic beauty of these snow pops. So, putting my creative juices to work, I was inspired as I walked up and down the aisles of my local grocery store.

Almond bark. Hmmmm..... What could I do with almond bark? A few steps further down the aisle.... Marshmallows. BINGO! I grabbed a couple bags of each (having absolutely no idea how far the almond bark would go), red and pink sprinkles, and toothpicks and I was set to go.

So here's my adaptation of MckMama's snow pops. Please forgive my simplified version, but I still think they're adorable.

Strawberry heart-shaped marshmallows worked perfectly for this treat, since it's, um, Valentine's Day or some such holiday.

I stuck a marshmallow on the end of a round toothpick, being careful not to poke it all the way through. (Trial and error would prove that the marshmallow would slide down the toothpick if it were poked through.)



After melting vanilla flavored almond bark in a double boiler, I dipped the marshmallows into the hot, gooey yummy-ness. Then I, you know, tried one to make sure it was edible and was pleased to find out it was.

While the almond bark was still warm, I added red and pink sprinkles to the hearts. Ohhhh, they're so cute! (You know, if food really can be adorable.)

I found a 4-inch styrofoam ball and cut it in half, which I then covered with a pink napkin. Well, that wasn't the first thing I tried, and I'm not even going to tell you what I did try. Just believe me, it didn't work! After adding the sprinkles, I stuck the marshmallow-clad toothpicks into the ball to let them dry.

Marshmallow bouquet complete... put in refrigerator to harden.

Aren't they cute?

The only decision now? Which one to eat first!

Maybe someday I'll attempt the real thing, but for today, I'll just pop a marshmallow in my mouth and call it good.

Not Me Monday

After the things that did not happen to me last week, I'm not sure I have the courage to write this post today. This blog carnival was created by MckMama. Check out her blog to read some other not-happenings this week.

Last week we did an "ocean" day, because we were on letter "O" for the week. I had seen an adorable art project. Kids color a scene with crayons, pressing hard on the crayons. Then you color over the entire picture with watercolor paint, giving the effect of an underwater scene. Well, how much fun is it to have to dip your paintbrush in those paint sets that have 8 colors, and the color is barely visible. So, I did not go against my better judgment and use liquid watercolor paint. Non-washable liquid watercolor, mind you. Because we have carpet in my preschool room (not sure of the thought process for that decision), I was worried that the kids would spill the paint and it would drip on the floor. So, I stayed at the table and got more paint on the brushes when the kids needed it. The project went well, and they turned out very cute. Wow, I can't believe we didn't spill anything, I thought, as I was cleaning up. I set the small container of paint on the counter and started cleaning the brushes. One brush done.... As I reached for the second brush, I did not hit the end of the brush and completely tip over the entire container. Liquid watercolor all over the counter. Non-washable liquid watercolor. Thankfully, I had diluted it with some water, so it was relatively easy to clean up. Note to self: Be careful when using liquid watercolor. The kids Miss Heather might make a mess!

Along with our ocean week, I filled the water table with "ocean water," seashells, and ocean animals. Since there isn't a drain in the table, I had to scoop the water out with a bucket, but toward the end, it was difficult to get any water in the bucket. I did not pick up the table and endeavor to blindly dump the water into the small sink in my classroom. When I say small, I mean 10 x 12 inches, roughly the size of a sheet of paper. Well, you can imagine where I'm going with this. I definitely did not spill water all down the cupboards and onto the floor. Yet another mess I did not have to clean up.

After the paint and water incidents, I figured I was about done with messes for the week. WRONG! Being the nice teacher that I am, I gave my students candy after class one morning, with strict instructions NOT to eat it before lunch. Class done. Jar on my desk. Students gone. Eat lunch. Move box on desk. CRASH! I did not move the box and sweep the candy jar, the one that I had place there no longer than an hour before, onto the floor, shattering it into thousands of microscopic pieces. After rescuing the candy from a sea of crystal, now for the unfriendly task of cleaning up the tiny glass pieces that covered my desk. No problem, I thought. I'll just sweep them into the garbage can. For lack of a broom nearby, I did not use the closest thing nearby... my hand. Wrong decision! Tiny glass shards embedded themselves into my fingers before I realized that my fingers were in pain. And then came the tiny drops of blood on the fingers that had made contact with the glass. Oh, what was I thinking?

At no time during this week did I scream in horror as my beloved Mylo had a near-death experience as he plummeted from the heights of the counter to the floor below. No worries, folks. Mylo is recovering nicely and is resting comfortably as we speak read.

Yesterday I made my weekly daily trip to Wal-Mart before heading to a Superbowl party. School supplies... check. Snacks for party... check. Eye drops for tired eyes... check. I paid for my items, exited the store, walked to the car, attempted to unlock the car. Oops, wrong key. Tried again. What in the world? Glanced up to realize I was not attempting to unlock someone else's car! With all the salt and dirt on the side of the car, it looked just like mine. After looking down the row, I saw my car two parking spaces away, calmly walked over, unlocked the right car, stored my treasures inside, put my embarrassed self inside, and drove away to the Superbowl party.

Speaking of the Superbowl, as I was talking to my sister Erin during my Wal-Mart excursion, I did not ask her, "Who is playing in the Superbowl anyway?"

Thus proving my true feelings about football.

Ahhhh, when does baseball start?

Not Me Monday

Monday's here!!! It's time for Not Me Monday, a fun, creative idea started by MckMama. Check out her blog for more Not Me stories.

This past week, in an attempt to offer a delightful, squishy, not-your-typical-everyday kind of experience for my preschool students, I did not endeavor to cook ten plus pounds of noodles (we were learning letter "n"). I was not super excited about this week, since I did it last year and it was a definite hit. Well, trying to save time so I could move on to bigger and better things, I did not put five pounds of spaghetti noodles in one pot, hoping it would all fit. One pound... no problem. Two pounds... piece o' cake. Three pounds... getting full. Four pounds... can I fit one more in here? Five pounds... ahhhh, I made it!

Little did I realize that my frequent stirring would be insufficient. I did not begin to smell an unpleasant aroma. Probably something on the burner I thought. WRONG! Draining the pasta did not reveal nearly a pound of the noodles scorched on the bottom of the pan, stuck together where the spoon did not reach during stirring. Hmmmm. I hope four pounds will be enough!

After cooking three other varieties of pasta, a new complication presented itself. How do I transport all this pasta to school tomorrow? My brilliant plan? I did not grab an 18 gallon tote and dump all the pasta inside, slight burnt stench and all.

At school the next day? My students were not thrilled with the opportunity to play with "food," as you can see here. Of course I did not join them!

Three classes, seventeen grubby pairs of hands, and one tired teacher later, I decided the noodles had served their purpose and could happily be thrown away. Since they were still wet, I did not opt to leave them uncovered to dry out overnight, thinking clean-up would be easier. What greeted me Friday morning was not a child's sand table filled with slightly-dried, somewhat slimy, completely rancid noodles. I was not glad I had skipped breakfast that morning, because I probably could not have kept it down! I did not find rubber gloves and after lining the same tote with a huge garbage bag, I did not dump all the noodles inside and put the lid on, only to dispose of them after class.

Class done. Kids gone. Clean up. Friend called. Go to movie. Out to dinner. Home to PJs.... I did not completely forget to get rid of the stinking, rotten mess what was in my classroom!

So there's a look at my week, and if you really think about it, I'm sure you could come up with something great to write about, so why not give it a try! It's fun and it's cheap therapy also.

Wordless Wednesday

'nuff said......

Not Me Monday Tuesday

Wow, what a week it's been. In fact, it was so busy that I took the liberty of creating a Not Me Monday Tuesday post. Just couldn't get it all done yesterday! You can still visit MckMama's blog to see those who were not procrastinators like me.... they actually got their Not Me posts done on the right day. But the way I see it, I'm just spreading out the fun, right? Okay, I know I'm in my own little world, but you can just humor me.

Anyway, getting on the the point of this post....

On one of my many late nights at school this week, I got a taco. Softshell chicken taco to be exact. About half-way through, I did not chomp on a chicken bone and feel like I nearly broke a tooth. Hmmmm.... maybe I should call my sister Erin for tooth-gluing tips.

Friday night after school, I did not travel to Duluth (80 miles from home) with two friends to look at Christmas lights. Why didn't you look at lights in your own town? you might ask. Well, if we were honest here, I'd tell you that the real reason we went to Duluth was not to eat at the best place on earth--Olive Garden! While there, I absolutely did not order manicotti. And if the server accidentally placed such a hideous dish in front of me, there is definitely no way on Earth I would take a picture. No, that would be totally inappropriate in a nice restaurant!



After a scrumptious dinner, we layered on our warm clothing and headed to Bentleyville, an outdoor light display in downtown Duluth. We did not nearly freeze, since we were near Lake Superior and it was rather windy. Seeing the outdoor ice skating rink, literally thousands of lights, and snowmen and reindeer roaming about, I did not envision myself in a movie. With the cheery Christmas tunes from the likes of Bing Crosby and Gene Autry, Jenny, Rebecca, and I would never have embarassed ourselves by linking arms and skipping down the path, all the while singing. No way... not us!!! Here are a couple shots from our night.



After gallivanting around on Friday night, I did not sleep in on Saturday. And when I finally woke up in the land of the living, I did not have 5 purses to finish and get in the mail. With the hand-stitching completed, I did not have to rush to the post office to meet the deadline for mail pick-up. There were not 6 people ahead of me in line and when it was all said and done, I did not have only 3 minutes until the truck came to whisk away the packages mailed late by procrastinators such as myself all those other people ahead of me in line.



Because I'm not the cool teacher I am, I did not bake sugar cookies for my students. In case you have me confused with that other crazy teacher, I did not put a couple of spoonfuls of frosting on a plate and let the kids go to it. Even more exciting, some of the frosting even make it onto the cookies!


Okay, here's the Wal-Mart story I promised you...
Yesterday I went to the Wal-Mart photo center to print out 4 pictures I needed for a school project. 4 pictures, people! I looked at the Kodak machine and there was a message saying it was out of paper. Once I got the attention of the lab technician social chatterer, I mentioned that the printer was out of paper. He looked at me like I had an alien head and said, "Yeah, that machine isn't working right now." Fine, I'll go to the next machine. As I started to touch the screen, Mr. Helpful did not say to me, "That one doesn't work either."

Okay, Buddy, would it be easier for you to tell me what machine DOES work?

"Only the Fuji machines work right now."

Is that because you don't want to take the time to add more paper? Okay, now to find a Fuji machine.

All full. Of course they are. Okay, I'll wait.

Three hours fifteen minutes later, a machine opened up, so I started to upload 300+ pictures. Once I found the ones I wanted, I tried to order the specific size I needed. When I didn't see the mini prints, I hit another button for more sizes. BIG MISTAKE! The 300+ pictures were not gone from the screen, and I did not have to start over.

So starting over once again, this time the computer did not freeze at picture #26. For four minutes! Yeah, this isn't going so well.

Back to the counter to speak to Mr. Not-So-Helpful, I mentioned that the computer was frozen. He did not walk over, hit a button, speak not a word to me, and head back to whatever it was that was consuming his time.

Another four minutes pass... computer still is not on.

Waiting, waiting, waiting....

In the meantime, another computer opened up, so I moved to that machine, loaded pictures (all 300+ of them), and looked for the mini print option. When I couldn't find it, I decided once again to solicit the services of Mr. Not-So-Helpful. "Excuse me, how do you do the mini prints on this computer? You know, the ones that print 4 small prints on a standard 4 x 6 print?"

This was not his reply: "The Fuji machines don't have that option. The only machines that print the mini prints are the Kodak machines."

At this point, I was not trying to hold in a very rude comment. So I politely said, "Like Kodak as in the 4 machines that aren't working now?"

"Yes, that's right. Or you could do a collage print and print out an 8 x 10 size or larger."

Not really what I wanted, thank you. That's why I asked about "mini prints."

As I left the photo department completely defeated, I glanced at my watch. I did not waste 45 minutes and have absolutely nothing to show for it! My next step? I did not head to Target to print out my pictures... and I was not successful. Thank you, Target.



Do you have some moments you'd rather not claim? Try a not me post and see how therapeutic it can be!

Not Me Monday

When I saw that MckMama was skipping her Not Me Monday post, I was not tempted to do the same. However, since you are reading this, you will know that I was not successful in convincing Myself that I would ignore my blog today. Myself had a thousand things on the "To Do" list, and even though I told Myself to scratch the Not Me post, Myself won the argument. (Are you as confused as I am yet?)

Okay, enough of that rabbit trail.

I did not realize that it has been almost two weeks since I've paid any attention to my blog. TWO WEEKS! So for the many two people out there who actually read my blog, I hope you're glad to know I'm still alive.

Today I was practicing songs for my students to sing in our annual Christmas program--which is not coming too quickly, I might add--and I did not call my sister Erin, who happens to be very gifted musically, to beg for her assistance with some chords. I did not decide it would be easier/quicker to call her rather than try to figure them out myself. Thanks, Erin!

After playing the piano for 2 hours, my neck and shoulders were not entirely numb and throbbing.

I have never ever ever worked at school/church past 7:30 p.m., so you can rest assured that it was not me who left the building at 9:30 p.m. recently. Nope! Not me!

Have you ever had a "Better you than me" situation? Here is something that I would refuse to own up to... therefore you know it did not happen to me. Let's just say it happened to my friend H. Oh, she would be so embarassed if she knew I told this story, but she's not here, so don't rat me out, okay? While H was in the drive-thru recently, she did not reach for her drink with a gloved hand. Hmmmm... plastic cup + gloved hand = a bad combination. While the unsuspecting drive-thru worker was transferring the up, it did not slip from H's hand, to the point that it was completely upside-down. Thankfully, the girl had no let go yet and she was able to right the cup to the correct position and hand it to H, while the cover was completely drenched in root beer. What do you think was the next thing handed through the window? Not a pile of napkins. H gingerly wiped up the messy lid, gathered up the soggy napkins and her pride, and pulled away from the window, grateful she was in the semi-privacy of her vehicle and not inside the restaurant! Once again, this is our secret, right?

As if it wouldn't be bad enough to stretch out these events throughout a week, I have not just described my Monday. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, these things did not all happen TODAY!

Stop by MckMama's blog to read some more great stories, and maybe you'll be inspired to join the fun next week!

It's the Little Things...

... that I'm thankful for.

Let me explain. Tuesday in preschool we made ice cream. Oooooo, it was yummy! The process wasn't completely painless though, and I mean that literally! Each child had his/her own bag to make their own ice cream. Well, after about 4 shakes, they asked in a chorus, "Is mine ready now, Miss Heather?" Wait a minute, didn't something like this happen once to me before? Ahhhh, yes, I remember now. Does "butter" ring a bell? (If not, read here.)

Well, Miss Heather ended up shaking bags for four very adorable preschool students who suddenly developed weak muscles. By the time the liquid had thickened to ice cream consistency, my fingers were rather cold. At least I think they were. You see, they were so numb that I could hardly feel them.

As I considered what to do for class today, I knew ice cream was on the "menu," but to be honest, I wasn't looking forward too much to making their ice cream, too, especially since I have a total of 12 preschool students on Wednesday. I figured I wouldn't have any fingers left at all!

Stopping at Walmart on the way home, I picked up the few things I needed and while taking a detour through the housewares department on the way to my destination, my eye was immediately drawn to an end cap filled with... you guessed it! ICE CREAM MAKERS! I was not expecting to see them in the store, let alone buy one. But the "Clearance" sign piqued my interest. I didn't see a price, so in my mind I determined the maximum I would be willing to pay for it. When I found a sales associate to scan the price, imagine my utter surprise when the price same up $6.00. $6.00??? Are you kidding me? I should take two at that price!

So today in preschool, I was once again excited because there were no frozen fingers in my future. Just some absolutely yummy, extremely delicious ice cream that I didn't have to make by hand!

Thank you, Jesus!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At times, I'm amazed at God's timing, although I shouldn't be. On Monday, I received a call from a Cubbie leader saying she wouldn't be there Wednesday night. Not a major problem, since there are two leaders at most tables. Tuesday I had a similar message from another leader... I can't be there Wednesday night. Okay, no need for panic. We'll be fine. A while later, I heard from yet another leader that she had to be gone for a few minutes tonight to speak to another group. Okay, that's three leaders. I think I'll stop answering my phone now.

After school today when I was in my "Cubbie prep mode," I had a call from a friend of mine. Her first words?? "Do you need any help in Cubbies tonight?"

(Enter complete and utter shock here!)

Why, yes, I definitely do need help tonight!

She then proceeded to tell me that she'd felt a nagging today to call me. Coincidence? I don't think so! God knew exactly what help I would need tonight. Not that God "nags" us to do anything, but in His own sovereign way, He impressed upon Katie the need to call me to volunteer herself... AND her husband!

Exactly ten minutes later (yes, I checked the time on my phone), Cubbie leader #3 called to say her son has pink eye, so she wouldn't be coming tonight. Once again, God took care of my needs even before I knew what they were! As Cubbies started tonight, one parent asked, "Do you have anyone to replace the leader at the purple table? Do you want me to help?"

I had three leaders gone tonight, and three people randomly volunteered to help. Let me rephrase that... I don't think it was "random" at all. It was totally God taking care of my needs even before I knew I would have a need! Isn't God great?!?!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So today I'm thankful for the little things... things like ice cream makers and volunteers! What are you thankful for?

Not Me Monday

MckMama is back for Not Me Monday, so be sure to check out her blog for more Not Me fun!


Hmmmm..... what to write about. Let's see if I can find any blogworthy news that happened did not happen to me this week.

I did not thoroughly enjoy my 3-day week last week at preschool. Let's see... Monday was a day off. End of the quarter or something like that. Let's be honest here. It was not a hunting day here in Minnesota. Tuesday, three-year-olds. Wednesday, four-year-olds, Thursday, three-year-olds. Friday... I did not take the day off to spend the weekend at my sister Becky's house. On Friday night, Becky and Chris renewed their vows. We were planning to take pictures outside, but it was not raining most of the day, so we ended up doing all the pictures in the church. It was a beautiful evening with family and friends as Becky and Chris committed their marriage and children to God. Here are a few pictures from the event.









The rest of the weekend at my sister's house was not spent in watching movies, enjoying slumber parties with the girls, playing Farmville with Callie, plenty of tickles with Natalie, trying to keep up with Micah, and losing a game of Clue to my 7-year-old niece, Ashleigh. It was not a great weekend!

Back to reality and preschool. Since we're on letter "I" this week in preschool, I did not contemplate how easy it would be to simply make ice cubes for the students to play with. You see, I usually try to plan activities that reinforce the letter we're learning for the week. So, how easy would it have been to simply make ice cubes? Maybe add a little food coloring for something more exciting? Well, I did not opt to go all out and make something more exotic. Can you guess what it is? (Mom, you can't answer!)






After several incidents with Internet Explorer crashing, stalling, not responding, and generally annoying me to no end, I did not finally give in and download Mozilla Firefox on my laptop. I've used it before, and I must admit that I hated it. But, the hopes of writing a blog post without receiving an error message that IE has unexpectedly closed... well, it is not wonderful! And I am not a converted Forefox supporter!

I did not write this entire post with zero error messages! And the pictures did not upload very quickly! I love it!

Not Me Monday

On Friday night, I did not have 7 girls come over for a movie night. Knowing my past track record, I did not resist the urge to make manicotti. I did not make something else that was almost as delicious! Here it is: Garden Ranch Pizza

Want a closer look???

Friends, fun, fellowship, food... it was a great evening (well, evening into the morning), and once everyone had left, I did not fall asleep in the chair for several hours. When I finally became conscious, I did not look at the clock and see the numbers 4, 3, 0... I'll let you decide if this was the order I read them off the clock. And Saturday? I did not get up at 12:00 p.m.

Daylight Savings Time... how exciting to be given, free of charge, an extra hour of sleep. Okay, I know we have an hour stolen from us in the spring... but for now, it seems free! What did I do with my extra hour of sleep? I completely enjoyed it and took advantage of it. I definitely did not stay up an hour LATER than I should have. So my "free" hour of sleep ended up being NOTHING!

I'm always trying to come up with something interesting for my preschoolers to play with. Today was no exception. I did not find an ooey, gooey, sticky mess for their enjoyment today. I did not dump an entire box of corn starch into the water table, add water, and let the kids mix up the delightful concoction. How messy was it? you might ask. I did not have to stick a girl's pigtails under the faucet to wash out the starchy substance!

MckMama didn't post a Not Me Monday today, but you can check her blog for an update on her son Stellan. Keep praying!

My Week in Numbers

So my sister Erin did this post yesterday and it was really cute, so I thought I'd give it a try.

40—kids in Cubbies on Wednesday


100+—temperature in Cubbie room on Wednesday (might be exaggerating a tad)


117—preschool pictures I lost when my camera read "card error" and I'm unable to view pictures on that card


1—memory cards I've thrown away this week


3—days I've forgotten to wear my watch to school and been totally lost without it


2—days we've had frost this week


0—days I've worn socks to school this week


5—number of times my preschoolers shook the jar while making butter


7,597—number of times Miss Heather got to shake the jar to finish making butter


4—hours until I'll probably go to bed


19—hours until the weekend officially starts


0300—time I'll probably go to bed Friday night/Saturday morn


12—minutes I've wasted writing this post when I should have been sewing

Not Me Monday

Ready for some good clean fun? It's time for Not Me Monday again. MckMama ingeniously created this hilarious therapeutic blog idea, so check out her blog to read more.

Well, as I stated in my last Not Me post, I said I would try to post something before this week's not me post. I tried in vain to post yesterday, but something was messed up with blogger and I wasn't able to upload pictures. Therefore, to keep my "promise" from last week, I did not publish this post 10 minutes before I started to write my Not Me post. And I did not change the date so it looks like I posted it yesterday.

On the first night of Cubbies, I mentioned here that we did not have 37 kids. That's a lot of preschoolers in a small room! As I was dreading looking forward to this past Wednesday, I was not completely overwhelmed with the thought of that many kids again. Our final head count? Well, it was more than 37 and less than 41. But it most certainly was not 40. No, we definitely did not have 40 Cubbies in the same small microscopic room.

Because of the many bodies in the room, 48 in total, I did not feel the need to open the window so we could breathe in the suffocating heat of the room... all the while telling myself Remember to shut this window before you go home.

The evening went on and we survived, and I must say I was relieved when it was done. As I cleaned up, still sweating from the busy night, I decided to leave the window open a while longer. Note to self: Remember to shut this window before you go home. I was finally ready to leave 30 minutes later, gathered my stuff, and headed home.

Upon reflection of the evening... 40 kids, not enough leaders, loud preschool conversations, suffocating heat. Wait a minute! Suffocating heat? My mind ran in fast rewind. 40 kids, very hot, open window, Remember to shut this window before you go home. There is absolutely no chance on this earth that I would have exited the church without shutting the window. And if I did by chance forget to shut the window, there is no way I would have gotten in the car, left the parking lot, and driven ALL the way home before I remembered that the window was still open.

Knowing that I couldn't be responsible for any damage that would happen if any person or creature entered the window, I did not jump back in the car and drive all the way back to church. As I was driving, what was going through my head? Did I really forget to shut the window? Maybe I did shut it. Hmmmm. Well, I arrived at church and was not relieved to see that I did leave the window open. Well, I wouldn't want to be the person who thought the window was open and realize that I'd closed it. No, I wouldn't want to be that person.

After a long day at school on Friday, I for sure did not stay up WAY too late once again. This time, I for sure did not stay up until 3:00 a.m. And I absolutely, positively, most definitely did not stay in bed until 12:00 p.m. the following day! Nope, not me!

In preschool today, I did not have a messy painting project for the kids to do. I'm sure some of the parents probably think I'm crazy, but last year parents were thrilled that I did some of these activities, because they said their kids would never get to do anything like that at home. Anyway, have you ever heard of bubble painting? It's really fun. And for all those times that kids have been disappointed when told not to blow bubbles in their milk, today made up for it. Here's how it works:

Mix water and liquid watercolor paint in a bowl.
Add a few drops of liquid soap.
Protect table with tablecloth.
Use straw to blow bubbles in the paint mixture.
When bubbles spill over the edge of bowl, place white paper on bubbles.
Voila! A beautiful bubble print will emerge.

This activity was a huge hit with the kids, which resulted in many sheets of paint-soap-water-soaked paper strewn across the table. Since drying space and time was limited, I did not dry nearly 30 sheets of paper under the automatic hand dryer to speed up the process. Well, who says teachers aren't ingenious! :)

So that's a little glimpse of my week. Join the fun! I'd love to read what you have not done this week!

Not Me Monday

Ready for some hilarious, entertaining, all-around clean confession? Well, here it is. Be sure to check out MckMama's blog also (after you read mine).

After glancing at my last Not Me post, I did not realize that it's been a week since I last wrote. And at the end of my previous post, I was determined not to wait a whole week before I posted anything. Well, there you have it... it's been a week and no blog posts. Oh well, Maybe this week? Oh who am I kidding? It will probably be next Monday before I post anything. (If I say this now, you'll be surprised when I post something this week right?)

As I was leaving for school on Tuesday morning, I for sure did not hit a wheelbarrow that was taking up residence on the side of the driveway. Not a big problem, right? WRONG! The contents of said wheelbarrow? Definitely not rotting, rancid, soon-to-be-moonshine corn cobs that my parents had processed the day before. And me? I was almost late for school, so who got to pick them up? For sure not my mom! Thanks, Mom!

This past Wednesday was the first night of Cubbies at my church. Since I'm the director, I decided I better show up, but after my long day at preschool, I was tempted not to show up. Well, when 6:00 arrived, I must admit I was feeling fairly ready. The registration forms were photocopied, the tables arranged, crayons placed on the tables along with the paper. All we needed were kids. Boy, did we get them! In all my years as Cubbies director (I think this is my 8th year) I have never seen so many kids. They just kept coming out of the woodwork! When all was said and done and I did the final headcount, we did not, I repeat, we absolutely did NOT have 37 kids! And with 5 tables in the room, you can do the math to figure out how many each teacher was responsible for. Wow, what a night.

As I was working on my computer after Cubbies, I definitely did not fall asleep only to wake up a few hours later in the recliner. The time? It most certainly was not 3:00 a.m. Oh, it was hard going to bed knowing I had to be up in t 3 1/2 hours. Wow, what little children will do to take the energy out of you!

Last night after getting home from a Twins game, I did not remember that I had neglected to purchase a couple items that I needed in class today. My solution? I'll just get up early and stop at Wal-Mart on my way to school. Yep, that's what I decided to do, all right. Because it would be foolish to make a special trip to Wal-Mart when I could do it before school. Nope, I definitely did not drive to town at 10:00 p.m. to buy 6 apples, butter, and oatmeal, and then drive back home. I would never do something that dumb!

Well, that's about all for this week. I'll see you next week when I fill you in on what did not happen to me this week (unless I bless you with a surprise post sometime later this week!).

Not Me Monday

Wow, where did the week go? It's already time for Now Me Monday again?

This past week, being the first week back to school, I did not receive my full-time preschool initiation by having not one, but TWO, kids have potty accidents in the same day. On this same day, I did not also have a student with a bloody nose. Now if this nasal mishap had been the result of an injury, I would have to seriously consider what I was doing in the preschool classroom, but I assure you it was NOT (for real, people) injury-induced.

During class today, I did not hear a student say, "Miss Heather, K is stepping on something sticky." Upon taking a closer look, I did not see something that resembled dried apricot, yet a slimier, stickier, incredibly messier substance. What did I do? Cleaned it up right away, of course! What I did not do was fold the floor mat in half to cover the ooey, gooey mess while deciding to clean it up later. I did not consider the ramifications of this action. The ooey, gooey sticky mess was now on both sides of the mat, resulting in having twice the mess to clean up.

I had to go to the Post Office today to mail... um... something. *Details to follow soon.* Anyway, I was ready to seal the package and realized I was going to enclose a note. Hmmm... what can I write one. Any paper around here? After fumbling around for a minute, the only thing I could find was the art sample from class today. I did not tear off the part that didn't have writing and proceed to write my note. Who does that? Write a letter/note on a piece of paper you ripped (quite jaggedly, I might add) off a craft sample from your preschool class? Oh well, I hope she doesn't mind.

Well, that's a glimpse of what I did not do this week. Hopefully it won't be another week until I visit with you again, but we'll see. Life is getting busy with everything starting for fall schedule. While you wait on the edge of your seats for another appearance from me Instead of holding your breath for another post from me anytime soon, head over to MckMama's blog to see what others have not done.

The Night Before...

...going back to school. Ah, the memories. When I was growing up, I remember feelings of excitement, anxiety, and sadness on this night.

Excitement... seeing friends again.

Anxiety... What will this year be like?

Sadness... summer is over.

I think the feeling of excitement usually dominated and my sister Becky and I would talk late into the night about what the following day would bring. That is, after I bribed my sister Erin to let me sleep in her bed so Becky and I could talk. Since I was the oldest, I had my own room and Becky and Erin shared a room. I usually liked having my own room, but on going-back-to-school eve, I would try to convince Erin that it would be fun for her to sleep in my room, and this convincing usually required some small bribe. I can't remember what it would have been, but probably something extravagant like a piece of gum or maybe a quarter. She was usually fairly easy to please.

Becky and I would then talk about random things like classmates, teachers, school work, and probably a bunch of nonsense until Mom would tell us to go to bed because we had to get up early the next day. While our lips were silent, my brain would be in overdrive and usually took a while to slow down enough to fall asleep.

The next morning we would wake up with excitement... to see our friends, arrange our desk stuff, and best of all... break open the new school supplies!!!

I won't be talking to my sister "late" (as in 10:00 PM) into the night, but I do have a feeling of excitement and anticipation... for new students (currently at 16), new activities, and a new adventure of teaching preschool full-time. This year I won't be splitting my time with preschool and the junior/senior high class as I did last year. It feels a little weird that I won't be with the older kids, because I was their teacher for 5+ years, so it was with mixed emotions that I chose to do the preschool full-time this year. But I'm sure it will work out fine, and I'm excited to see what God will do this year!

Now I'm off to bed to "dream" about school!

Good Night!

Not Me! Monday

This is not going to be the shortest Not Me post in the history of such things.

I am not practicing the true meaning of the day... Labor Day. Nope, I'm not at school and I'm not wishing I was outside (well, to be honest, anywhere but here) to enjoy this last day of "freedom" before my crazy life otherwise known as "school" begins.

I did not stop and buy a Papa Murphy's pizza on the way here, knowing that I'd need something for lunch and dinner because that's probably how long I'll be here. Goodness, I'll probably need a midnight snack as well.

As much as I hate to admit that summer is over, I am not completely excited about my new adventure teaching preschool full time!

I am not avoiding working right now by writing a Not Me! post. Oh, I guess all good things must come to an end.

And there you have it... the shortest Not Me! post ever!

Check out MckMama's blog for other Not Me posts every most Mondays.

Happy Labor Day everyone!