Winter Wonderland

A little over a week ago, I felt like I was in the midwest.  I was teaching my first graders, and it was snowing outside.  It snowed all morning, but didn't start sticking until about 12:00.  This is the first time Rosamond has had snow like this in 20 years!!  My husband got to come home from work early, which was awesome, and we got to hang out all afternoon and evening.  It kept snowing and snowing... he checked about every 5 minutes to make sure :)  When all was said and done, we had about 4 inches of snow, and Palmdale had 10 or so inches!  Everything (more or less) closed down and we got to enjoy a winter wonderland.  I definitely took pictures to remember this potentially once in a lifetime occasion.

We went outside and took a walk in the snow and threw snowballs (mostly nathan).  I had to often remind him not to eat yellow snow.

Updating

I know it has been a long time again since I posted.  I happen to be at my parents where I have access to the internet, and I also have some pictures from recent happenings.  That hasn't happened recently so I thought that I would update you all :)  Back in the beginning of November, Nathan and I had our first experience camping!  We went to El Capitan (north of Santa Barbara) with our friends Brian and Jenna.  We had a great campsite with a really great view of the ocean.  We enjoyed some beautiful sunsets, some great games of uno and sequence, and some great food :)  Here are a few pictures from this adventure:

A Little Holiday Cheer

A Christmas Story for people having a bad day:

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.
Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.
When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.
Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.
Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.
Just then the doorbell rang, and irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

Christmas Concerts

Our Christmas Concerts are coming up this weekend. We are so excited about them! They should be great fun!!!

Sad but Funny

The sad part is Nathan stepped on a bolt in our church sanctuary. He was busy moving pews so that lights could be set for our christmas concerts. In the midst of that, he planted his foot down on a bolt which went through his shoe and into his foot. ouchie!! He's got about a 1/4 inch hole in his foot that is about an inch deep. thats enough info there :) Poor guy has been on crutches since saturday morning with a fair amount of discomfort. Last night, however, he upgraded. Sweet man at our church brought him an adjustable cane to use :) Just picture it... 25 year old using a cane. We had to run down to Wal-Mart for a few things and there were many instances where I nearly peed my pants laughing. If you can picture an old man walking around with his cane using it to point out everything he sees... then replace that old man with nathan. Hilarious. Then he called me a young whipper-snapper, and tried to hit my legs with his cane because I was walking too fast for him. Don't feel too bad for him though. It's just a hole and the dr. says it will heal up pretty fast :)

More Sub Stories

I'm not even going to talk about my class last week... they had definitely just come off a 1 week break. That is all that needs to be said. I suppose I could add that 1 of my students was suspended, and 2 were sent to the office with referrals. Good week :) This week though (even though its only monday) has had some funny things. The little boy who I posted about earlier with his "pinp car" gave me another reason to smile today. Before we go to lunch, I call all the children back to the sink to wash their hands. I called this particular boy, but he didn't come. I called him again and he came right over (he didn't hear me the first time). When he got over to the sink, he said "Mrs. F, do you know that when you sit criss cross apple sauce (indian style) and put your fingers together like this (as if you were meditating) it makes you close your eyes and hum?" I couldn't help but smile and say, "yes." He occasionally brings a brief moment of relief and joy into my heart during the school day.

Monopoly

I'm so behind on my posting. Life just seems so unrelenting right now. Let's see... Thanksgiving break was nice although it went by too fast. Before I knew it, I was back in my 1st grade class room dreading the next 3 weeks. But, I am almost over the halfway point, and am looking forward very much to Christmas Break.

Thanksgiving Day was so relaxing. Nathan and I spent the day with his Mom and Step Dad. The food was great, and the weather was so nice. It was great to just relax. As Nathan and I were at our apartment just hanging out after being with family, we decided to play a game. Its usually just the 2 of us, so we try to figure out some way to play our board games with just 2. For quite some time now, Nathan has wanted to play Monopoly. My last experience in Monopoly was MANY years ago with my family. My brother Nathan made the game drag on forever and ever and ever. Finally, we were all so fed up with it that I think we just stopped playing. I haven't played since then... but Nathan my husband has been wanting to play. So I finally gave in and told him I'd play. Bad idea :) The game lasted about 2 1/2 hours (at least). I don't know how you make Monopoly last that long with only 2 people but where there is a will... there is a way. To make a long drawn out story short, I finally said "NO MORE!" when I had to mortgage all my houses, and properties; the bank didn't have enough money to pay me for those things; and I didn't have enough money to pay Nathan for his multi-million dollar hotels on practically all his properties. He had nearly every last dollar that the game has. It was the most unfun game of monopoly i've ever played. So I'm very unthankful for monopoly, but I am very thankful for my husband. :)