belts

We don't do costumes at our school unless they're in kindergarten, so we told our kids they could wear one Halloween thing. 

Kid: Oh wow Ms. Ewing. What's that? (points to my waist)

Me: Um, a belt?

Kid: What's it for?

Me: For my dress?

Kid: But you're wearing witch tights. Why are you wearing a Halloween belt too?

Me: I'm confused. This is just a regular belt.

Kid:...Oh....wow....

foam fest 5k

Last weekend some friends and I ran in the Foam Fest 5k. It was a lot of fun! Larry, Lauren, Emily and I decided to camp the night before in the same park where the run was happening. I haven't been real camping, tent and all since my dad I went when I was a kid. I've been camping since then, but in a cabin. The first problem was the tent which wasn't too bad, even though we had some extra poles we didn't know what to do with. But it never fell down on us so we must have done it right. The next problem was a fire. We all know how to start a fire, but none of us knew how to make it bigger, or one to warm yourself with. It was big enough to cook our food, but it didn't help us stay warm as the temperatures dropped.

See what I mean? Our little fire is sad, but it was good enough. It was really weird waking up to all of the bouncy foam pits and slides being blown up around us. That morning Katie and Derrick met us down there for the run. It was hilly, ugh, and had a lot of obstacles throughout. Some muddy, some where we had to climb different things, including an 8 foot wall I couldn't make it over, and lots of foam pits. There were also several foam slip n slides, and the best was a HUGE blow up slide with a water pit at the end. After getting to the bottom all I wanted was to go back up!

Us at the starting line.

 Jumping down from 1 of the 3, 5 foot walls we had to climb.

One of the obstacles, called the lily pads, were basically a bunch of thick yoga mats on water that you had to sprint across and then jump off into shallow water to get back on the course. I was having a lot of fun running and falling and then running again, until I got to the end. I started falling over and was trying to catch myself and just as I was about to jump off, the mats flew to the left and I fell to the right into a big pile of rocks. My knee was immediately starting to swell and was crazy scratched up. I still did all of the rest of the obstacles, I think mostly on adrenaline, and finished strong by walking then running down a log over a mud pit, and going through the longest slip n slide of the race. 

My leg after I got home and washed it really well. It is crazy bruised all over my leg. My kids at school love looking at it and commenting how it changes every day.

 Finishers!

It was a super fun race! I would totally do it again, except next time I won't fall into rocks.

monkeys

While drawing together during Fun Friday:

Kid: Monkeys are really lucky.

Me: Why's that?

Kid: Because they have hands on their feet...I mean, they can hold a ton of things at once! That would be really cool.

ashley's shower and whoopee cushions

Ashley is getting married soon and I was in town the other weekend for her bridal shower. It was so much fun getting to spend time with some of my oldest friends! (Especially since I don't get to be with them all at once very often.)

That night we had our usual Saturday night BBQ. Starting in middle school my dad would BBQ every Saturday night, and it soon became a weekend ritual for my friends, and my sister and her friends. Everyone knew we would BBQ on Saturdays so my dad started making a bunch of food for anyone who would end up showing. Whenever my sister or I are in town my dad will grill and everyone knows to come over. Anyways, back to that night. Stephanie and Rob came over with Olivia, the cutest little kid next to Miles (and future wife of my nephew).

The whole time they were there Olivia and I became BFF's and kept going to my bedroom to find new things to play with and then run back to show Steph. The best toy of the night? Well...after sucking on the ice in my water.

 A whoopee cushion!

What can be better than farting? Obviously nothing. Don't worry Steph, I will make sure to get one for her birthday.

soup

As we were walking to lunch and passing the teacher's lounge:

Kid: What's that smell?

Me: The parents are making a lunch for the teachers today.

Kid: Can you eat it?

Me: Nope. It's pasta. But that's ok, I don't mind.

Kid: That's mean! Tell those parents to make you some soup so you can eat!

alli's about to pop!

About a month ago Alli had her baby shower. I realized when I got home that I didn't actually take any pictures of her...oops. Everything was super cute!

 Sara made the circular signs, so cute!

 One of the two favors they had for us as we left.

 Some of my for real friends!

 Larry looks like Randy from Pee Wee's Playhouse...except happy.

Congrats Alli!

fleeceball

In reading we have been working on what to do when you get to a word you can't read or don't know what it means. I had a small group with me when this conversation happened:

Kid 1: Ms. Ewing, I tried all my strategies, but I don't know what a fleeceball is. What is it?

Me: Well let's look at the words before and after the word to see if we can figure it out. (we read for a bit together) I think it's a made up word. I know this author makes up words sometimes, so what do you think this made up word means?

Kid 2: It's not a made up word Ms. Ewing. My brother called me a fleeceball one time. It's real.

Kid 1: No, I don't think you're right either. I think it's inside baseball. Yeah. Ms. Ewing, I'm going to write that. I think that's what fleeceball is. It's a real word. See?

half marathon, it's on!

I was in Houston this past weekend for a bridal shower for a good friend of mine when my dad was asking how my running was going. Because of my back I started getting back into running just over a month ago and am finally starting to run 4 miles on the weekend. Starting from scratch sucks. I feel like I can't run a mile without wanting to stop. 

Anyways, my dad was asking if I had signed up for the 3M again. I have been going back and forth on my decision to bite the bullet and sign up for it, and that's when my dad asked if he could run it with me. Say what?! My dad's knees bothered him so much he had to stop running awhile back. I had no idea he was running again. Of course I said yes because we had been talking about doing a race together when his knees started bothering him.

I guess this now means I have to get serious and actually start running. And sign up. I probably also need some new running clothes since the 20 pairs of Nike shorts I have aren't good enough. Having to start running crazy miles on the weekend will all be worth it when we cross the finish line together. I'm already planning our awesome finshers picture as we cross. Get ready dad!

grandma love

I often have parents/grandparents/aunts/etc. come and have lunch with their kids. It's super sweet. However, I have a grandma that has come twice and then hung out in the classroom for awhile after lunch. Just hanging out, watching me teach. I feel badly mostly because she doesn't want to go because it's so clear her grandson doesn't want her to go. Unfortunately...I had to put a stop to this today. Just an FYI, I had this conversation at the end of the day, not when grandma was in the room.

Me: I am SO happy that your grandma comes and has lunch with you! I wish I could have lunch with my grandma. But you need to say goodbye to her at the door so you won't be distracted with her in here. I bet she wants you to be the best learner you can be!

Immediately he started crying.

Me: What's wrong? Why are you so sad?

Student: I just love my grandma too much! I don't want to say goodbye to her ever!

Me: I understand. I feel the same way!

Student: (sobbing at this point) I don't want her to go! Can I just rest for a minute?

Me: Of course. I will set the timer for 2 minutes, and when it goes off you can get back to work.

Student: Ok....

Poor kid. I felt like the worst human ever. I'm nervous about how that conversation will be retold tonight and if I will be getting an email from mom. Or worse, grandma.