Mrs. Claus in Jail??? Creative Writing Gone Crazy!

Little did I know this morning that I would unleash an amazing avalanche of creative writing by my three writing classes. I have been wanting to use my Santa Pick-a-Story activity this year, but hadn't found a time to stick it in.

So...

I scheduled an entire writing period in each class for it. I wanted the students to have time to have fun with it. I was NOT disappointed. 

The students started by getting the Pre-writing organizer. I explained how to use it and then I took around my two containers with the Santa (characters) in one bin, and the Toy Bags (settings) in another. Each student chose one from each container. I learned from my Turkey Pick-a-Story freebie that students needed a place to write down the setting and character they drew.

Students then had to complete the organizer with a problem and resolution/solution. This led to a great reminder discussion of the important parts of a story!

Once students complete their pre-writing organizer, they were able to get a piece of writing stationary. Each of my three classes has an assigned class color. So you may see different colors in the different pictures. On the stationary, I had the students again write the character and setting from their drawn pieces, add the title in the box at the top, and then write their story on the lines. I didn't have the students, in this event, do a rough draft, I did it more as an extended quick write.

After students finished, they were able to share with the class if they choose to. I was excited by the number of students who shared. I must say that I had some pretty bizarre stories written. Ya know, like Mrs Santa being a 3 year war vet who ends up in jail for stealing Comet's car. Or, a war between the snowflakes and pine trees. Oh, and don't forget the story where Mrs. Claus is selling Santa's toys to make some cash on the side. I tell you, there were so many funny, crazy, and honestly FRIGHTENING stories. They were truly a joy to read over.

When everyone finished, they made an amazing bulletin board display that will be catching every student in the school's attention for the next few days! I must say, I have really enjoyed how much the kiddos enjoyed writing their stories and sharing them with each other.

What writing activities do YOU do for the holidays?

Cheers!

-MrHughes

(P.S. If you are interested in checking out this activity, you can click HERE to learn more. Below is also a picture of what you get in the kit.)

Deck the Halls (with Dodecahedrons!)

Greetings Dear Friends,

I wanted to share with you what my 6th graders have been up to the last couple of days. I love using dodecahedrons in my classroom. The students never tire of them and they are such an amazing mathematical wonder to look at.
The holidays seem to be a vacuum on my academic attempts. I really need  my students to do some reading, writing, art, and math in a fun holiday format, and not get bored with "writing" and "reading", etc.
I put my mind to work and tweaked a few of my Holiday projects and came up with something that I feel is pretty special.

Here are few picture of my kiddos working on the individual assignments.

The students do many various activities. Here a student is rough-drafting a letter to Santa. The students must use persuasive writing and follow a specific format for the letter. My 6th graders rolled their eyes when I said "Letter to Santa", but found the actual assignment was much more challenging than they expected! TAKE THAT 6th GRADERS! HA! Just kidding. I was glad to see them a little worried about making it work.

SHOPPING TRIP!

Students get to go on a shopping spree and buy gifts for their family and friends. They decide in advance the amount of money they have (reasonable or crazy amount) and then use actual catalogs and flyers to find gifts. The math and reading involved (not to mention all the non-fiction reading skills practiced) are lost on them, but NOT ME! WAHOO!

This is one of my favorite activities. Not only do my students GET to read a classic piece of literature, they then must summarize the story in 10 boxes exactly- USING PICTURES! Everyone thought this would be a piece of cake, but they quickly found that it was much more challenging than they expected. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! (I use A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore, but I made it possible to use ANY poem/story that I want to in the future. There is even a space for the title and author on the circle!

WISHING STRAIGHT AHEAD!

Students get to choose their Top 5 Wishes for Christmas. Some of my students did reasonable items and some took creative license and asked for some pretty outrageous things. I love the minds of 6th graders. They make life exciting everyday, and by exciting, I mean CRAZY! 

Here is the snow globe scene. I have been amazed at the creativity of my students. Of course, they never cease to amaze me. You can also see a finished dodecahedron in this picture. They are pretty amazing when they are done. I am so excited to get our finished up so I can hang them from the ceiling in the hallway and dazzle all the other students in the school.

Update: Here is a picture with some of the dodecahedrons hanging.

What fun activities do YOU do with your students?

Cheers!

-MrHughes

P.S.

If you want to try this activity, you can see a picture of the kit below.

Click HERE if you would like learn more.

Trimming the Tree (with Sight Words)

Greetings Dear Friends,
I hope that this finds you well and gearing up for the holiday season. Putting up the tree is one of my favorite activities. I love how the tree goes through different stages. The tree, then the lights.

 Then the topper (an angel in our house). This is my beautiful wife (the mastermind behind my Mystery Sight Word Pictures) adding some of the more delicate decorations.

 The the kids take over and go crazy hanging decorations like a whirlwind!

As my family put up the tree this year, it made me think about how much I loved decorating as a child. The wonder and awe of adding ornament after ornament to the tree until it was a glowing, eye-catching masterpiece. I wondered how I could capture even a tiny part of the "magic" in a sight word game for my 6th grader's reading buddies.

This is what I came up with:

It was the closest thing I could think up with out actually setting up a tree and having them hang decorations on it with sight words written on them (which DID cross my mind.. ha ha). In the game, up to four students have a tree mat with spaces that must be filled out. Then students take turns drawing a card. If they read the word correctly (it uses Fry's first 100 words), they put the picture on a matching space. If they draw a card that has a picture with spaces that are all covered, they just layer the card on top of a matching picture.
The goal? To "trim" the tree first.

After I made the game, I had my own kids play (5 years-12 years). I wasn't sure they were going to enjoy it. Boy was I WRONG!

I have to say, that even my kindergartener, who can't read all the words yet, LOVES this game. For the words he can't read, he SPELLS them. If he says all the letters correctly, he get to keep the card.

I feel that I have captured the fun and magic of "trimming" a tree while getting kids to practice their sight words.

Check it out for YOUR kiddos by clicking on the picture below.

Cheers!
-MrHughes

Ahhh......I love Christmas Break

      So, today(Thursday- this ended up being a two-day writing period for this post) has been a great day. Yesterday (Wednesday) I was frustrated with all the water from the rain running off the beautiful new road (for which I am SO excitedly thankful) so I called the city and asked to please have our load of gravel we had been promised delivered. An hour later...PRESTO! A full load of gravel appeared. It was pretty think and I was worried I wouldn't be able to get in or out of my driveway, but it all worked out. This morning I looked out my window and the city had a loader out there smoothing it all out. I appreciate all their help. After he left, I went out and called my dad. He came with his 4-wheeler with plow and helped me get it all smoothed out from edge to edge. I was excited to see that we had enough gravel to cover our driveway as well. We have wanted to do that for a long time. So we are graveled out.

     My sister who lives in Orangeville also came for a visit today(Thursday). She brought her son and daughters to visit. It was nice, but all to short. I felt like we just got started visiting and then it was time for her to leave. We stayed and chatted with my parents for a few more minutes before we headed home as well. My nephew came and stayed the night with my son. They stayed up late  playing Legos and who knows what else.

     I was typing this post and watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and then I don't remember much else. Until about 6:30 am this morning (Friday). I got up and snuggled in to the chair in our sitting room with my Praxis study guide and my iPod. I have been getting up to study while it is quiet and I can focus on actually studying and not answering 5 million questions. This morning didn't work out for me as I had anticipated. My 5 year-old was up with minutes for me sitting down and then not 5 minutes later my 3 year old was in my lap wanting a story (all of this BEFORE 7am!!!) Not too long after my daughter came wandering in and I knew it was a loss. My wife even came in- lol. Must be the Christmas magic in the air.

The kids are all giddy because we are heading over to the firehouse here in a minute or two to see Santa. We go early and wait for 45 minutes, rather than wait in line for two hours after! Phew.

I guess I best be off and going...we are going to be late! Updates to come (and pictures on this post- check back!)

Later...

Happy Break From School To All, and to All a Good Night

YEA!!!!
The break has begun. I am so excited I can't stand it. Today was a LOOONNNNGGGGG day to say the least. I have to give a great big thanks to Mrs. Fail. Without her willingness to help and support the student council, the activities today wouldn't have happened. I must say, that everything went really, really, well. I wish that I got to simply enjoy the activities like all the other teachers, but I am pleased to be able to serve my fellow faculty members at the same time. If we do it again next year, I think we will do about the same things. It was quite inexpensive, and fun!

I am saddened that my sisters won't be coming to visit tonight. We were all going to go and watch the boys and girls basketball games that were supposed to last all evening. But, due to a crap load of snow falling in Altamont and surrounding areas, the games were cancelled. My sister can't even get out of her driveway they have so much snow. All I can say is I AM GLAD WE HAD OUR TURN LAST YEAR!!!!!! We have had mild temperatures (high 40's) during the days and the nights are just making freezing. What a blessing. (Mostly for my wallet on the power and gas bills).

Well, I am going to go and get started on my vacation. I plan to read a book that I want to read- NOT COLLEGE or PRAXIS related. It is going to be great (re-read that last line with a lot of giddiness like I thought it). Oh, I did get one grade from one of my classes. That wonderful professor gave less than an "A". Now, granted it was still a good grade, but I no longer have a 4.0. I guess that is a bummer, but I will get my money from the district and that is all that really matters at this point! I can't wait to get my degree and be a teacher. AND, I am very thankful that I won't have to spend the whole break at the school trying to setup an office, learn all the 'ropes', split teaching duties with a 1/2 day teacher, and all the other issues WITH trying to get ready for the Praxis. Although, I have to say, that it won't matter. I just know, with my luck, that I will miss the passing mark by 1 or 2 points and have to take it again. lol. That is just how my life works.

Well, off to other things.

Later...

What a Wonderful Day (and a surprise situation)

I have to say that today was an exceptional day. I decided when my school meeting was cancelled last week, that I would take the day off anyways. A guest teacher was already arranged for my class, and I had a pile of things that needed to be done. I LOVED IT! I haven't taken a personal day since I worked in Alpine over 5 years ago. I just gave them up each year (2 days). I never take them because 1) I don't like missing school. I have so much to cover and don't like missing a day. 2) Writing lesson plans is just NOT fun! I HATE it so much. I like to make sure that my guest teacher has lots of direction and support since I do a lot of routines in my classroom.

I am glad that I got a good report on the class. My sister-in-law was my guest teacher today! She did a great job. (Thanks for being a brave toaster and subbing for me!). I went in this evening and graded papers and planned out tomorrow. I have faculty meeting in the morning so I won't have any before school time.

I guess this is were I get to tell the world that our school is currently looking for a 1/2 day administrator and that I have accepted the opportunity to interview for the position. My interview is on Thursday. Ms. D is also interviewing. I can't believe that this is happening. If I get the job, I will start on January 3rd! That is the day we return from Christmas break. It will be one wild ride if I do get the job. What with classes beginning the second week of January, the Praxis test is the second week of January, working with a new teacher in my classroom, and still planning out and teaching a 1/2 day, not to mention learn how to run a school, and work to ensure a smooth transition.

It will be exciting and crazy! Either way, life will change at the elementary school, and it will be in a good and positive way. Our town has needed two leaders for a while. One leader can not keep up with all the paperwork and other issues that go with that. Mr. Johnson did an awesome job for us at the elementary and he will be greatly missed there. He really worked to make us a better school.

Today was a success however as I was able to spend quality time with my two youngest boys. What cuties they are. Not only that, but my wife and I were able to get all our kids gifts wrapped! YEA! It only took 2 hours, but hey, it is done! There wasn't much for each person, just a lot of "persons".

I was also able to take the practice writing portion of my praxis test. Writing 7 essays in 100 minutes is quite the feat to say the least. But I finished with 10 minutes left to review and edit my responses. 10 minutes extra wasn't much, so that makes me a little nervous for the actual test- (well that and writing so that my writing is legible!).

I was also able to take the family and visit my parents this evening. We helped my dad tarp his boat and go over my writing test so we could discuss what we thought each of my answers my have scored based on the samples and rubrics in the study guide. I think I did fair, but not stellar. Again, something else to worry about!

My son spent the evening at the high school with my brother's family watching the girl's play San Juan in basketball tonight (I think it was San Juan). My son said that they won the varsity games! Yea. He also made 3 out of the four shots he paid for at half-time and brought home three 2-liter bottles of soda. What a crazy kid.

Well, I need to focus on my interview questions and sketch them out. So I am going to leave you here pondering on all the many adventures I had today.

Oh, one last thing. Our school finds out if we qualified to get our $50,000 grant tomorrow. I sure hope we do. That would be SO COOL to share with the community (the news, not the money- lol).

Oh, and our family qualified for heating assistance- YEA! That will be a huge help for our utility bills.

Ok, goodbye for real now...

Later...

A Little Christmas Humor...

A friend sent these to me and I thought I would share them here...

Enjoy!

...         __._,_.___                                Happy Holiday! Later...

Family Parties and Other Interesting Adventures

As I was opening my blog to post I noticed that this will be my 401st post! That isn't too bad. I wish I had the time to blog everyday (although truly there isn't always something worth blogging about!). Anyways YEA ME!

Yesterday was a very L-OONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN-GGGGGGG day, but a good one! Our little family left at 7:50ish to head to my sister's house in Magna for the Annual Art Hughes Family Christmas Get-Together. We stopped in Springville for a quick shopping adventure with the kids. They were supposed to pick out their gifts to each other, but because we were running behind schedule we postponed that until later in the evening AFTER the party. We made a stop at the Church distribution center for some items and to let my daughter pick out her baptism scriptures. She picked out the color of cover and a really nice scripture tote to go with them.

After that we went straight to my sister's house. We were the last ones to arrive, but that is okay. We got a lot done and the way up. My oldest sister brought some amazing jewelry to the party. Each girl there got to choose a ring, earrings, or a pendant. My wife got a few items (thanks mom) and my daughter got a matching pair of earrings and a pendant. I hope that those items can become heirlooms. They are very quality pieces.

After lunch and the jewelry fest, we all headed downstairs to play games and visit together. It was fun. My sister had some pretty fun games planned. We played Pictionary, guess what is in the stocking, how many boxes are wrapped inside, and guess the number of candies in the jars. Then Santa showed up and let the kids give their Christmas wishes. The adults even got a special envelope with money. My parents have a wonderful tradition. Each year they give each other children a set amount of money and then we all go to Sam's Club and buy food, cleaning supplies, etc. (and sometimes even a fun item or two for the kids and/or us). I love it! It is such a blessing to be able to buy vitamins, laundry detergent, etc. that will last well into the summer. Thanks mom and dad- that is such a special gift and it means more than you understand! (And yes, we do realize what a sacrifice it is for you. That makes it even more special.)

After Sam's we all went to Wendy's to eat dinner. While we were there one of the family members locked their keys in their car. That lead to an exciting adventure. However, thanks to the West Jordan Police force, it didn't take very long and we were on our way again. Next stop was the Wal-Mart across the parking lot from Wendy's. There we finished off ALL the rest of our Christmas Shopping. It is nice to be done. Now all that is left is to wrap our fingers off. The kids got some fun gifts for each other. It is going to be a great Christmas and because we actually budgeted money starting in January, we will have a relatively debt-free Christmas. I am very excited about that part.

I am getting a lot of crap from people about not knowing that we are currently expecting our 6th child! So,

HEY EVERYONE, WE ARE HAVING OUR 6th CHILD IN MAY!

There, now you all know- so leave me alone about it. There! I feel better. Now, we just have to find a middle van seat that will seat three. Right now we only have room for 7 in our van. But, because the Lord knew that this was to be, he guided us to a car that could seat 8. So, we are looking for the three single middle seats for a 2000 Venture van. If anyone out there knows where to find it, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help us out. If not, my oldest will just have to stay with Grandma anytime we go out of town. (I told him that and he was actually excited about it. He LOVES being with his grandma.)

Anyways, I took my third quiz for my law class, and thanks to lots of e-mails and a wonderfully helpful teacher, I only missed one question. I challenged her on the last quiz and earned one of my points back on that quiz as well. I am anxiously awaiting her grading of my paper (I SO hope that I do well on that paper- I check daily to see if it has been graded, but no luck yet). Tuesday is my last class session in both classes and I am SO ready to be done with this semester AND the program. This worry over the Praxis Test has me worried SICK. I don't think that I am ever meant to simply enjoy a holiday break anymore. Oh well. On Tuesday I gave my evaluation briefing for my paper. I did excellent on my paper, and hopefully I did really well on my presentation. I didn't go over time and I felt that I was thorough. Since it was peer graded, I can't begin to know what I got on the assignment. But, I guess we will see with in the next couple of weeks. Hope for the best. Just have to get a B or higher.

Well, speaking of my classes. I have one more quiz in my law class and then I have successfully attempted every assignment that I have been given this semester.  YEA! But I better get back to reading the chapters that I will be quizzed on.

Later...

My Mom Called ME a Slacker!

Okay, Okay!
So it has been 8 days since I last posted. It's not a crime ya know! Sheesh!

Christmas was AWESOME! The kids had a great time and Santa was really nice to me this year too! I got a new computer chair AND an iPod Touch! YEA! I am so stoked. That has been a lot of fun to play with! (Apps are fun to browse and download as well!)

It has been wonderful to be on break and just enjoy time with my family. I have been working on a major project- barcoding all the books in my school classroom library and entering them into my library check-out program. Thanks to my amazing wife we have quite the system going. In the last three days we have entered over 800 of my 5000 books into the program. It has been crazy and my eyes are going all crossed, but hey, it will be worth it in the end.

Today we went to Price so I could have my first physical in 15 years. I have to say that it wasn't my favorite. I am now on blood pressure medication and I have an appointment with a throat specialist next Friday to rule out throat cancer (which I highly doubt it is, but just to be safe...)

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and we really don't have a lot of plans. I am okay with that. Just being home with my family is wonderful!

Well, it is late and I need to run to the school to get more books!

Have a great night and an AWESOME NEW YEAR!

Later...

My, How Fast Time Flies

Wow! I can not believe that it has been an entire week since my last posting. I also can not believe that Christmas will be over a week from today! That is just crazy. My wife and I have been staying up late every night this week (okay, more like I fall asleep in the chair while she is working at her table working to finish all the Christmas gifts she is working on). The staying up late finally caught up with me this morning however. I woke up and thought Wow, it sure it light outside for being so early! Then it hit me. I quickly checked my watch. I had 15 minutes to be to school. Well, the whole house was up and running around like crazy. I did make it to school however, and it was only about 3 minutes after the bell rang. So not too bad. Good thing it was Friday today (1/2 day) and also thank goodness that I plan each day in advance. It was nice to walk into the room and simply know what I was going to be doing with my class.

You sure can tell that Christmas break is close. My wonderful students are all on the wild side! :)
I am sure enjoying teaching them. They are fun and crazy!

Today after school, planning for next week (easy-peazy: Monday full day, Tuesday 1/2 day) I came home and took our van to the car wash. Since the brilliant construction workers working on our road WATER the road all the time (dumb since it has snowed several times now) and the mud (which is like cement when it dries) had built up on the wheel wells until we couldn't even turn the tires completely, I needed to get it out. It took $6 and lots of patience to get all the mud and ice off the van. I was NOT impressed and I came away covered in mud and water. But at least it is off the van.

Well, tomorrow we are heading to the Annual Hughes Family Christmas Party (which is a good thing since my wife and I are in-charge). It should be a lot of fun. I look forward to sharing all about it when we return tomorrow.

I best be off. Lots of other things to do tonight.

Later...

Yup, I watched NEW MOON!

And I have to say that it was actually enjoyable (I can't believe that I am admitting that openly) but they did a great job. The acting was actually acting this time. I think the best part of the whole deal was that I was able to spend the entire afternoon and evening with my wife on a date. It has been a very long time since we have had a chance to spend time together. Some friends rode over the Junction with us. We left after school (1:3oish) and spent the afternoon shopping. We were able to get quite a bit of our Christmas shopping done. :) YEA!
At 6pm we meet my wife's sisters and husbands at Olive Garden for dinner. I had a great chicken dinner with mushroom covered mashed potatoes.
From there we headed out to the theater. We ended ip parking three lots away from the building. That was exciting. The next stinky part was when we got to our showing, there weren't any seats together so I had to sit by myself. It wasn't horrible, but I would have enjoyed it more had I been sitting by my wife.
We finally made it home around 12:30am, got our kids from my parents house (thanks mom and dad for watching the kids all afternoon and evening) and came home. Our 2 year was wide awake and wanted to watch AVATAR. So I remember waking up at 3:30am and turning off the DVD player, TV, lamp and going back to sleep- lol
Today was pretty poopy. I spent the entire day at the school getting everything done that I didn't finish yesterday. I got home around 6:30pm, had dinner with the family, watched a lot of Phineas and Ferb (love that show), and now I going to end this so I can play UNO with the two older kids who are still awake. I will fill you in on tomorrow, tomorrow on the LDS Point of View blog.
Later...

Come and Gone

Wow! I had realized that it has been almost 10 DAYS since I last posted. I can't believe that. Crazy stuff. Anyways, the family Christmas party was fun. My parents gave us quite the chunk of change (much more than I expected) to shop at Sam's Club. My wife and I were able to get the basics we use for about the next 4-6 months. That is such a blessing.

Monday and Tuesday were hard days for me. I know it is the Holidays, but I still wanted to do a LITTLE educational learning. The kids however, had a different goal in mind. So we did get quite as much done as I had hoped. In fact I was so frustrated with them, that I didn't even give them their gifts. Maybe when they get back...maybe.

The break. Ahhhh, the break. What a blessing it has been. I have loved staying up late, being lazy, and enjoying my family (When I am not being a big grouch- hey, that's me!)

Christmas was really fun. My sister was here. We had a family dinner on the 23rd. My sister and her family that lives on their other side of the county came and my brother and his family even joined us for the occasion. We had fun and the kids enjoyed being together.

Christmas Eve came all too fast. We had my parents and my sister from up North over for dinner (we make homemade pizzas every year), read stories, sang songs, and played games. The kids decorated cookies for Santa and then my sister and my parents left. My little family looked on google Earth to see where Santa was. When the kids saw that he was in Mexico, they ran for their beds and went to sleep. They didn't want to miss Santa. It was great.

Christmas day was a day of pure laziness. My sister and her husband left soon after the family breakfast. We came home and finished opening gifts. The kids played with their Santa stuff before we headed up to breakfast, and so we still had all the other gifts to open.

I was a good boy this year. I didn't even take down the Christmas decorations on Christmas day like every other year. I waited until the 26th. That was what we did. We also traded out the colored lights on the house for white ones.

Over the last week, we have had about 6-9 inches of snow. That has led to all-sorts of fun and excitement. We can hear a drip in our wall, but I can't do anything about it until the snow melts off my house as the entire roof is a sheet of ice. So that is driving me crazy. I know it is a leak in the roof. Oh well. Something for me to stress over during the holidays. Gotta have something.

Today, the 27th, has been lazy too. I almost went to the school to take down Christmas and put up January stuff, organize my room, do grades, figure out where I am in my curriculum, and see what I can do to feel more prepared for the 5th. But, instead, I have helped my parents, played POGO, and tried to do some back work for the Mailbox Magazine and an assignment for the District. I am also starting to get a headache. Crazy.

Well, I need to wrap this up so I can get my application completed (finally) and sent in to the U of U. Wahoo! That will be a GREAT day. Off to help my daughter get "Tinkerbell" playing on the DVD player.

Later...

P.S. The kids are stoked about going to "Walking With the Dinosuars: The Live Show" in January. I must say that I am excited as well.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Today was the first day in three days we haven't woke up to snow falling. I love snow. It is beautiful and pure. The kids were able to go out today and play as it has warmed up a little bit.

This is what they created:

I love it.

Here is a great picture of my two oldest cuties!

And next in the news is a most exciting development to say the least. Our baby has achieved a new status in our house. Here is the video as proof- the little stinker!

Well, it was bound to happen someday! :)

On a school note,

Time is simply a blur these days. School is going well. I have had my students do "Elf-ometry" where they followed directions to cut out geometric shapes and then glue them together to make Santa or an elf. It took much longer than I thought it would, and the kids really struggled with following the directions. It was almost frustrating.

I have also had them doing old-fashioned art projects. For example a 3-D picture of Santa, where it is a picture frame of housetops and Santa pops off the page. The kids liked it and most of the teachers at the school have commented on cool it was. I can't say that I am sorry there is a two week break coming up. The kids need a break, and I would like the time to get my room and curriculum back in order. We will have to hit math and science pretty hard when we get back from break. But I will worry about that later.

Tomorrow we have to leave early for my family Christmas party up North. We will be gone most of the day. Then it is home and back to the fray. Monday will be a adventure as we have Monday and 1/2 day Tuesday to live through until break.

My wife and I have a date. It is couples BUNKO night. Each year her BUNKO group does a couples night around Christmas. Fun stuff. :)

I better get back to Masters Applications, District Homework, and grading Christmas Writing Projects.

Later...

A Masters Degree- Is the Application Process Worth It?

Can I just say HOLY CRAP!

I been working through the application process for getting my Masters of Administration. Talk about a paperwork nightmare. I finally got the graduate school application completed (which required official transcripts from all three colleges I have attended and of course and application fee- because typing my name in to the automated system is pricey it would seem).
Now, I am working to get my department application completed and returned. This one is a bit more tricky. It requires proof that I am a current teacher (sent in the information I THINK they needed for that. Still waiting on the e-mail), 3+ letters of recommendation (using their form- and I do have 3 people that have said they have returned them- Hope they were nice and positive and stuff), the first application (Check- YES! Three of the four parts actually done!), and now, the nightmare part: 5, yes FIVE, darn ESSAYS! I know. It shouldn't seem that hard, but I am worried they won't be what they want and I won't be admitted to the program. That would be disastrous. I am actually taking a break from them right this very second. I needed a moment to share my overwhelemedness (Is that even a word? ha ha)So, a little on the stressed side, but managing.

On a different note, school has been a crazy zoo this week. I tell you what, 6th graders seem to be like first graders around the holiday season. I think I have the coolest class in the world, but they sure are hyped up for the holidays. I am really trying to go with the flow, but when you have LOTS o' Curriculum that needs to be taught, it is a might frustrating to see all the learning time dominated with comments like, "Please quite down" and "6th Grade, can we get back on task please?!?!". :) Good thing I love'em to pieces.

Well, I guess I should get back on task as well. These essays won't write themselves, unfortunately. I can do it...I can do it... I can do it...

Oh, and Heidi, I don't know- Did YOU egg Mr. McConkie's House? LOL

Later...

Scouts, Cheer Camp, Christmas, and Life

Can we say TOO LONG! I apologize for being out of the loop for so long. Life is amazing these days. The fact that it is December doesn't help. This past week FLEW! I am excited to add a couple videos for your viewing pleasure. The first of my parents yard. They have these cool trees where the lights are choreographed to music. So Enjoy! The pictures below are the other features of their yards. (Yes, yards. They own a double lot. So the do a nativity on one side and a winter wonderland on the other.) It looks really neat. In the picture of the deer, you can't really tell, but it really looks like a field of deer grazing. You won't want to miss the moose either! It's just really cool.

Then my daughter was in a Junior Cheer Camp. They had a week long after school practice, and then they preformed Wed. night at a home boy's basketball game. She was stinking CUTE! I don't know how well you can see her in the video, but when she shakes her butt in the song, it just cracks me up! What a cute girl my little princess is!

Ian also in the last few weeks has been attending cub scouts. We got to go to his first pack meeting. How fun to watch him get his first awards. Below is a picture of him with those awards.

What a cute kid he is! He is doing so well in school and in being a big brother. His mother and I are very proud of him!

My baby boy hasn't been feeling well. We found out today that he has double ear infections and eye infections. Here is a funny picture of him. He was trying to get in to his walker to play with the toys and somehow got a little turned around. He was grunting and whining, but I was working at the computer and didn't turn around for a while. What a patient little kid. I love the picture though!

That leaves my middle son. What a silly boy he is. Very feisty and sure of himself. He is such a sweetheart when he wants to be, but can also be a little mischief maker at times. We couldn't make it without our little bug though. He can always make us smile, and we are grateful for that. This picture is of him doing his air quotes when he asked for a bag of "cereal". Cracked me up!

Thursday was our ward Christmas party. The couple in charge did an awesome job. Everyone brought presents for a project our ward is doing (we are collecting gifts for the Native Americans in South-Eastern Utah), had quilts to tie (My 5 yr. old daughter really loved doing that), and a wonderful dinner. It was nice to visit with some of my students and other ward members and friends.

I can't believe that it is almost Christmas. School has been going really well. I have such a great class this year. We have had some trials, that's for sure, but overall, they are tops. They are always giving my high-fives and wanting hugs (no thank you!). I hope they continue to see how wonderful they are and what they are capable of doing.

I am going to sign off for now. My wife is doing a boutique tomorrow in Orem with her scrapped word and frames. If anyone reading is interested in something, let us know. I am trying to talk her into doing a website, but, as she said, and I agree, she doesn't want it to be her life. We have to leave really early and will get back pretty late. It should be a good day. I hope she does super well.

Anyways,

Later...