The Lumberjack's Wife

I snapped this photo of a firstie last Friday because it was, in fact, hilarious.

I call it

“A Friday Afternoon After A Week of First Grade”

For this gal’s free choice time she chose computers, which is fine, but look at that hair, Man.  There are headphones in there somewhere.

Let’s move on.

I feel the need to tell you all that my knee feels phenomenal.  And I think the reason it feels so great is because I was approved for so much extra physical therapy compared to the previous surgeries and recoveries.  I think it is because it is a workman’s comp claim?  I don’t know.  But I am still going twice a week and it hasn’t felt this good in over ten years and I no longer need to ice it daily.  Usually, I am only in therapy long enough to work on bending and extending it.  Now I am working on strength, and let me tell you, strength is good.

We went to the river for what was probably our last time “camping.”  David and the children might still use it for hunting season.

We are all loving the river property and feel so thankful for it.

We had some sad news from Alex, David’s brother, the other day.

Remember Alex?

You might say, “Taylor! What is going on in this picture?”

Well.  We Maliblahblahs fancied grabbing some ice cream one hot summer day, as Maliblahblahs are wont to do.  Alex was refused entry because he was shirtless, as we had been floating the river.  Which we are also wont to do.

Anyways, things can get crazy with Alex.  I think he raided our SUV and found Hadley’s Old Navy Girls Size Medium Puffy vest.

Alex puts the vest on-hijinks ensue-and he triumphantly walks out with his ice cream cone.

Back to the sad news.

You may recall we took his dog, Cali, in for 2 1/2 years during a time when he could not keep her.  I will admit that I had a sour-ish attitude at times about keeping Cali for so long.  But when he was able to take her back again, he was so thankful and texted us pictures of her and told us how much he appreciated it.  And so I didn’t feel so sour anymore.

Cali got sick and he had to put her down recently.  Isn’t that just the saddest news?  He sure loved that dog.  He had a year with her in the end.

Those pets.  They sure do sneak into our hearts.

Let’s talk about first graders, shall we?

First off, our school is the most bestest school in the nation and we have our very own dog on staff.

I submit that there is no better way to start your day than with a hug from our school dog.

I was reading “Interrupting Chicken” the other day.  Have you read this book?  You should.  Especially if you are a first grader.

Anyways, it is a jolly tale about interrupting and as I was reading it, we were ironically interrupted by a staff member.  She was feeling fussy with a couple of my boys because they had taken their bags of Wheat Thins at lunch and were tossing them around.  Which is naughty, of course.  So, she was stopping in to remind them how to properly handle their Wheat Thin Bags.

And then-my most hilarious student interrupted her.

Hilarious Student:  I did not throw my Wheat Thins, but I did take the crackers and used them like a spoon to dip into my strawberry yogurt, and I must tell everyone, it was DELICIOUS.

So then I had to try and not laugh during the serious Wheat Thins discussion.  And let’s be impressed by how many times people were interrupting each other during the lesson about interrupting.

Hilarious student is like a 40 year old man in the body of a six year old.  We should probably give him a name.  He will most likely be making several appearances in this blog.

Let’s call him “Hal.”

Hal was my kiddo was was very moved emotionally after learning about the Pledge of Allegiance.  And he is the one who whisper-shouts “YES!” and does an air fist pump when it is time to recite the Pledge.

During Social Studies this week, we learned about an American Veteran who had lost his arm in a war.

Me:  Class, this is why we say the Pledge each day.  We need to honor and remember what people have sacrificed for our country.

And then Hal, completely on his own, turned to the flag, put his hand on his heart and whisper mouthed the Pledge to himself.  And is that not the most precious thing?

For reasons I will never understand, I call my students, “Friends.”

“Good Morning, Friend!”

“Hi, Friend.  Can you come and do your lunch choice?”

“Friend, can you stop beat boxing while I am trying to teach you?”

I have never had a student call me “Friend.”

Until yesterday.

I was standing in the hall as they were leaving for the day, wishing them goodbye and farewell and good day.

Student, who is always unbearably loud, “Bye Mrs. M!”

And he started off down the hall.

And then he stopped, turned around, gave me a giant hug and said-shouted:

“Bye, FRIEND!”

So, in summary and summation, I have the best job in the world.

Kate came home this weekend for a quick visit.

The girls and I went to lunch and did some shopping.

We had a large family gathering and I cooked beef from a cow whose life was ended by my own husband.  May the Lord bless me and keep me.

We visited.  We caught up on the things.  We took a walk with the dogs.

Isn’t it lovely?  You can see the lake in the background.  This is less than two miles from home.

And then, Kate got on a plane and went back to school.

She will return around Thanksgiving.

Happy Monday!

Last weekend when we were camping, I came out to our “living room” and saw David and Hadley in the recliner chairs enjoying pumpkin pie with whipped cream at 7 in the morning. Poor Hadley.  Her mouth is hurting even worse now.  Anyways, it was cute and they had the fire going and this is what the puppy brothers looked like:

Yes.  Our camper has a living room.  It is nicer than our house.

We were planning a road trip to go and see Kate, but we ran into a few problems regarding leaving the farm and the dogs. We had already planned on bringing Niko to see her, and we weren’t super excited about the 8 hour trip, plus Niko, plus 5 people, but these are the things you do for family.  Anyways, we were having trouble finding help with Norman and Charlie and David said this actual sentence:

“I think we should just take all three dogs on the trip.”

So, I booked Kate a flight home instead!  Genius!

She got in last night.  David and I were completely asleep, naturally.  I was able to wake up and visit.  The best part of it all was that LD had bathed the dogs so they would be clean and lovely for her visit, and when she arrived, HD went and let her dog out of his kennel right away so she could visit him.  So that was a nice, harmonic time for my children as siblings that I shan’t soon forget.  She and Hadley are off flitting about town visiting all of her old stomping grounds.  And I am at home dealing with:

The Great Dog Cow Poop Pig Gut Pile Aftermath 2021.

I love David.  I really do.  I think he is swell and I have cherished our time together as man and wife.

But, the gut pile.

We need a new plan with the gut pile, reader.  Perhaps you could tell me how you all handle your gut pile quandaries at your home?  I kid.  I jest.

But, the gut pile.

Our dogs do not go to the bathroom in their kennels.  But poor Norman got sick after snacking on the gut pile and made a big poo in his kennel and LD almost puked about 7 times while trying to help clean it up.

It is not a normal smelling poo, Reader.  It is pig gut poo.  And it is nasty-wrong.

And then they go outside and they know how to open the doors and they come in if we forget to deadbolt the doors and then they jump around and get muddy paw prints all over the place.  And I say muddy paw prints but we all know it is cow poop.

So, today.  Today I am cleaning.  And feeling downtrodden about my situation here, if I am being honest.  I am also hopeful the girls will buy some pretty nail polish while they are flitting about town and come make my toesies look pretty.  Because I think cleaning up after dogs who smell like pig guts would be an all around better experience if I had this color on my toes.

Yes.  I took a picture on my computer.  I was lying to myself about getting caught up on some grading and Facebook made me want this nail polish instead.  But I have to spend all the dollars if I order it from those peeps, so I am hoping the girls will find a happy compromise.

And then there’s the boys.

Last night, HD was very kind and offered to start a load of laundry for me.  I was folding it this morning and noticed that there were bleach spots on the clothes.  So I asked HD to show me what he put in the washing machine and he put in bleach instead of detergent.  Because he thought it was detergent.

HD:  Ok, ok, but Mom.  Where do I put the conditioner?

Me:  What?

HD:  I always forget where the conditioner goes.

Me:  Conditioner is for YOUR SHOWER.

HD:  I am confused.

He meant softener.  Bless his heart.  And then this morning the boys went to go and sort cows even though no one told them to, and LD chose to wore shorts and Crocs.  So he came into the house, after kindly taking the Crocs off, but because Crocs have holes in them, he had cow poop mud on his toes, and he also had it all over his legs.  Plus he was bleeding a little.

?

Me:  Nope.  You cannot come in like that.

LD:  But I took my shoes off!

Me:  You have poop on your feet.

So he left for what I foolishly assumed was a shower and then I saw him 10 minutes later walking around like he owned the place with clean toesies but poop/blood still on his legs.  He had the audacity to argue with me in my own living room about the necessity of also washing his legs because,

“Gosh, Mom.  It is not like my legs are touching anything.”

So.  Here’s to hoping that the girls find that nail polish.

In other news, Charlie is two years old today.

Here’s a picture of her the day we got her-

And a recent picture of her “reading” with me.  She jumps up with me if David isn’t home and I give her the “ok.”

You may ask, “Taylor? Should you own light, cream-colored bedding?  Given your lifestyle and how prone your home is to random cow poop and gut pile attacks?”

No.  No, I should not.  Yet, here we are.  And guess what is in my washing machine right now? (Without bleach) (Also without conditioner)

So the dogs are banished outside again for the day.  They need another bath before they can come in.  And then we need to clean the tub.  And then we will have to do it again tomorrow.

Let’s move on.

I have this first grade student who thinks he is Mr. Cool.  Oh, he struts around and cracks jokes at in-opportune times.

He sometimes will start beat-boxing during read alouds.

Poor little beat boxer got sent back to his table for awhile.  Because, consequences.

Anyways, I was reading some story and there was a hunter with a hunting rifle, and Mr. Cool shouts, “Cool!  Do those guys have AK-47s?

And I was like, No.  No, they do not, child.

I was telling the kids about Mr. Maliblahblah and they were like, who is Mr. Maliblahblah, and I was like he is my husband.

Student:  But YOU are Mr. Maliblahblah.

Me:  No.  I am MRS. Maliblahblah.

Student:  You have the same name as him!  That is so weird!

And the whole class erupted into uncontrollable laughter.  I wonder if Mr. Cool was jealous that my husband’s name got more laughs than his story-interrupting-beat-boxing event.

I hope so.

Haircut Lisa gave me a clipping of her plant several months ago.  Wandering Jew.  It is going bananas!  I just keep cutting it and planting another pot and it is so fun.

Doesn’t it look nice?

It almost makes me forget about my pig gut pile problems.

Well.

Almost.

Poor Hadley had her wisdom teeth out on Friday and she was sort of acting like a zombie.

Us:  Hadley.  Do you want to stay home or go to the river?

Hadley:  Mehhhhhhhhhhh.

*one hour later*

Us:  Hadley?  River or home?

Hadley:  Mehhhhhhhhhhh.

*one hour later*

Us:  Hadley?  How are you feeling?  Stay home or go to the river?

Hadley (with a thumbs up):  Mehhhhhhhh-verrrrrrrrrrrr.

So we took her to the river.  And she was a party and a half.

The river was absolutely beautiful, but we all already knew this.

We are trying to squeeze out any remaining getaways we can before we haul the trailer home and call it a year.

I just wish David would figure out some way to build us some sort of a cabin that could withstand the yearly floodwaters so we could go there for all the time.

But we need him at home for several projects, including converting our shop into an apartment so Auntie DateNut can move here to be closer to family.  And that is just plum kind of him, isn’t it?

It is.  He is a gem.

The dudes and their cousins enjoy kayaking and/or wading across the river a bit to a little peninsula, or so I am choosing to call it, and are having a grand time removing sticks to create a nice soft beach in the area.

The dogs usually sit on the shore and cry for the sadness of being too scared to join their human pals.  HD was excited to get them to join him.  And, sadly, Charlie still doesn’t know how to properly swim.

Poor Walter.  He is my niece’s dog, and a pro-champion swimmer.  He was tied up at this moment and very much wishing he could join in on the fun.

It was nice to go the river.  Friday was a weird day at school.

While I was having a lovely day with my firsties taste testing apples, collecting and graphing data, and making our own applesauce, all heck was breaking loose in our community regarding covid 19 precautions and the possibility of requiring masks.

The world just seems really loud right now.

Everyone has all the opinions and strongly feel that their opinions are the truth.  And I don’t know what the right answer or the right opinion is at all.

But I strongly feel like it is best for the kids to be in school and for us to not shut down, if at all possible.  The kids really have gone through a lot with this pandemic.  Teaching at eSchool was a wonderful experience, but those kids were lonely and wanted to be with their teachers and peers.  And it is hard!  It is hard for the littles to learn remotely.  It is hard to teach them remotely.

It is just all so much.  It is hard to think and make decisions when it feels like everyone is yelling about something different.

And that is why it was nice to run away and escape to the river for a night.

David walked in the other night and it was after 6pm and I was sitting upright with my eyes open.

David:  Wow!  You’re alert!

So. I guess you could say I am getting the hang of being back at school.

Exciting things are happening, such as, our hens are finally laying eggs.

Sadly, I have no blue or green eggs, so that is a bummer and a half.  The dogs probably ate THOSE chickens.

I like to randomly remind you of how weird my life is.  Because so many people strangely seem jealous of this life?  And for why?

So here is something I, Taylor, experienced within the past week.

David was butchering pigs.  I could see him from the window as I was folding laundry, even though I try very hard not to look at such atrocities.  And it might be hard to believe, but David does have hobbies other than butchering animals.  And I have hobbies other than laundry.  But not many.

Anyways.  Chickens are omnivores.  And they are also nasty mean to each other.  David was randomly tossing bits of pig flesh into the chicken yard.  As people do.

One chicken would grab it and proudly race around the yard while all the other chickens would go after her and peck at her for the prized pig flesh.  And it went on and on and on.  And they would fight and beat each other up over a morsel of pig flesh.

So.  Farm Life.

LD put his breakfast in the toaster the other morning and then went out to get the eggs.  When he returned, he had a few poo/feathered covered eggs in his hands and dumped them on the counter.  Because my kids are special and cannot put the eggs in the egg basket.  I was busy and watching him out of the corner of my eye.  He went to open the cabinet to get a plate for his breakfast, and literal FEATHERS were falling from his hands.

Me:  Dude!  Wash your hands!

LD:  Why?

Me:  YOUR HANDS HAVE FEATHERS ON THEM.  AND CHICKEN POOP GERMS.

LD:  But my food is just going to touch my plate and I am going to use a fork and knife?  So my hands won’t touch my food?

And he grew another 1/4 inch and I have to stare up at him and scold him.  He is like a four year old in the body of a grown man.  May the Lord bless me and keep me.

Let’s talk about first grade.

At the beginning of the year, I like to read a book about The Pledge of Allegiance to try and help the kids understand what it is, why we say it, and what those words mean.  Words like, “allegiance” and “indivisible,” and so on and so forth.

Anyways, after I read it, my most hilarious student was all moved and touched.

Student:  Wow, Mrs. M.  I did not know that.  I loved that!

Me:  Well, good.

Student:  I want to say that all the time!  Like every time I see a flag!  That is so special.

Me:  It is.

And now, every time I tell the kids to stand for the pledge, Most Hilarious Student whispers shouts “yes”  and does a fist pump. And his whole day is made.

I am loving being back at school.  I really enjoyed last year at eSchool, but I really missed being with kids and being with my teacher friends.  I have been reuinted with two former partner teachers who I have always been close with.  We call ourselves The Dream Team-

Yet, our administrator only permitted us to teach the same grade level together for one year.  Perhaps, we weren’t as dreamy as we had imagined?

Nevertheless.  It is fun to see them every day.

Let’s call them Tiffany and Erika.

Happy Tuesday!

Sunday was cow sorting day.  A day where we all pledge to not call one another an idiot when a cow gets past us, and then we risk our lives to seperate mamas and babies, and tag babies and castrate the boy babies.  It is good, wholesome, family fun.

The most frustrating part is trying to get all the cows into the corral.  Ideally, our herding dogs would do this for us, but they don’t know how to, so we must do it and we are not swell at it.  We do, however, put our hearts into it, and that counts for something.

When we finally got everyone into the corral, our friend, who is also our farrier, came to help us.  He brought with him his favorite horse, “Scott” and I think that is a great name for a good horse.

Scott and Farrier Friend were very helpful, especially when it came time to rope and hold down the calves.  These calves were a bit more on the older side, so the job was trickier because they were so much bigger.

David and FF did most of the dangerous work.  The kids and I helped by holding ropes tight and opening gates and looking horrified when it was time to castrate.

Just kidding.  Only I am horrified.  My kids grew up as farm kids.  I did not.

You cannot see very well, but HD was standing on the other side of the corral panels holding a rope tight to tie down the calf’s front legs and then FF’s very well-behaved horse stood holding the other rope somehow.

Anyways.  My job is the most pleasant job.  And when I am feeling all grossed out and anxious because giant calf legs are going everywhere and trying to kick my loved ones, I look at my pretty cow notebook where I keep all the records.

You may ask, ‘Taylor?!  Is your cute cow notebook sitting on random piles of cow and horse poopoo?”

And I will say, “Yes!  Yes, it surely is.”

Anyways, I am in charge of records and numbers, but I don’t like watching the castration part.  And who would, really?  And normally when David does this without FF he just tosses the calf’s former manhood into the wind.

FF fancied taking some home for a snack.

I could talk to you about the size of them, but I don’t want to.  It is all too much for me.

Then David wanted FF’s opinion on cows that don’t look too hearty and was thinking of sorting some off to maybe slaughter and I was like, “Can they all just live happy lives and die of natural causes?”  And I am getting the impression that I would make a terrible cattle rancher.

We all love FF.  He really enjoys our kids and they enjoy him.  He let the kids ride Scott and told us stories of him and Scott.  He has had Scott for over 20 years.

FF joined us for dinner.  Like a good cattle rancher’s wife, I had prepared a beef roast.  And yes, while at the table, there must be conversation as to whether or not the meat we are eating came from our lands.  Like normal people do.

Meanwhile, back in first grade . . .

This week, I am having to try and complete lengthy one on one assessments with each student.  If it was just me and the child in a quiet room with no disruptions or distractions, I would guess it would take me 5-8 minutes per child.  Which doesn’t sound too terrible, yet, it is, because there is just me and 23 of them.  And there are disruptions and distractions.

Such as this fun tattle I got –

“Mrs. M.  Two kids in our class were peeing in the same toilet at the same time in the bathroom.”

Which was a new one for me.

So, I have to try and monitor the children and make sure they are behaving and all that jazz while pulling kids for their assessments.

I am working with a student.

Me:  Let’s talk about rhyming words.

Student:  Oh, I totally can do that.

Me:  Ok, so you I am going to say a word and you tell me a word that rhymes with it.  So if I said, “cat,” you could say “bat” or “rat” or “sat.”

Student:  Got it.

Me:  Ok.  Tell me a word that rhymes with “tap.”

Student (proudly):  Mouse.

Me:  Ok.

Student (pointing to a book across the room):  I knew that was the answer because there is a mouse on that book.

?

Me:  Ok!  Now I am going to say some sounds and I want you to smoosh them into a word.  So if I said, C-a-t, you blend it into “cat.”

Student:  Got it!

Me:  Ok!  p-ai-d

Student:  Easy.  Painting.

?

Meanwhile, I smell urine and have to go track that down, find the culprit, culprit denies having an accident, yet the smell is strong and then later student admits to accident and apologizes for former denial.

I was relaying some of this to LD last night.

LD:  Wait.  Did this all happen on the same day?

Me:  What do you mean?

LD:  Like, the two kids peeing in the same toilet AND the kid that had an accident?  That all happened on the same day?

Me:  Yes.

LD:  That’s crazy.

Me:  No.  No, son.  That’s first grade.

Happy Wednesday!

Hadley texted me last night.

Hadley:  What are we doing tonight?

Me:  We are recovering from teaching first graders for FOUR DAYS IN A ROW.

*World’s Most Exciting Mom*

But I feel the need to toodle my own horn for a bit here.  Because not only did I teach first graders for FOUR CONSECUTIVE days, but I also accomplished the following:

*Signed all the ridiculous back to school paper work for my own children and got it returned on time.  #winning

*Went to Costco one night and the grocery store a whole different night

*Got HD’s new glasses picked up and all squared away from our favorite Optician, Bob, who will always be our hero

*Went to physical therapy before school at 7am IN THE MORNING (just one day, because, that’s ridiculous)

*Changed out of clothes before falling asleep 3/4 nights

*Made dinner 3/4 nights

Let’s talk about dinner.

Ugh.  I am so over it.  Mostly because I don’t have a plan and I get home and I am so tired from all the things and then I have to think of a meal, prepare the meal, and then clean up after the meal.  It is a lot to ask of me.

So my goal for this weekend, after I write this post and drink my coffee, of course, is to prep and plan dinners for the week AND change my front porch decor from summer to fall.  Because I am 40 now, and that’s what 40 year olds do.  I bought two pumpkins and two mums and I am so hopeful David will take note of our new festive fall porch and I can say to him,

“Mum’s the word.”

And confuse him.  It will be great!

(He won’t notice)

Let’s talk about teaching first grade.

I love it!  But this we knew.  I was trying to think of a way to convey to David just why it is so exhausting the first few days.  And I think it is because there is one of me and 23 six years old in one room and I am in charge.  And the first few days are so exhausting because they don’t know what end is up, not sure which classroom is mine, cannot remember where their lockers are, and so on and so forth.  They roll on into the room and with each one I am so friendly and chatty and helpful and I have to show them where their locker is and check their backpack because if I say,

“Did you bring a lunch from home?”

They will say

“I don’t know.”

So, I have to physically look and show them what that all means and then we have to go and make the lunch choice.  And because the universe is against us, our lunch room offers three different choices daily.  And I get to try and explain the choices and help each one make their choice.

Sometimes life is great, and I can say:

Would you like chicken nuggets, cheeseburger, or veggie tray?

And they kind of get that one.

But then sometimes, the main dish is something like

“Rippers”

I don’t even know what a ripper is?  So I guess!  I guess and I hope for the best.  Oh!  And fun fact.  Veggie tray has neither a tray or one veggie, so riddle me that. It is, in fact, a bag with crackers, cheese, and yogurt.

Poor, confused children.

Anyways, by the time I get all the backpacks and lunch choices figured out, I am already late to start the morning and then two kids walk in with breakfast because they are hungry and late and Mrs. M, can you please open my milk?   Oh, the humanity.

Some kids are reading and some kids cannot recognize their own name.  Some know how they get home after school, but most are surely confused.  Half brought a refillable water bottle and half did not and because I wasn’t at a brick and mortar school last year, I am not up to speed on the Covid changes and the custodian put my drinking fountain in jail so I had to call for help and have someone bring me a bunch of red solo cups for the poor non water bottle children.  And then I have to remember to message parents and remind them to please send water bottles.  I also have to remember to remind the children to take home the water bottles so their loving parents can clean them.  Because I don’t want to.  I will be in charge of my own water bottle, and that’s it.

Then it is time for lunch.  A few hours have passed, so now we have to all remember what we ordered for lunch, because it is just plain rude to order something and tell the lunch lady you are getting something else and then a poor fifth grader who thought they were getting a Ripper has to eat a veggie tray, which is really just some dairy products in a bag.

I am really good at this part, Friends.  Because I line them up in the order of what they ordered so they cannot change their order.  Also, they have to take a fruit or veggie or they cannot leave the lunch line, I guess it is the law, so I do a lot of this:

Me: You need to pick one!

Kid:  I don’t like any of those.

Me:  Gotta take one!

Kid:  I won’t eat it.

Me:  Ok.  Well here is peach.  Enjoy!

And then the peach is bigger than their head and when I place it on their tray they almost drop it.  Because they are six years old.  And I love them.

I also try to tell David about the funny things they say.  And here is the difference between me telling David something, and me telling my teacher comrades something.

To Teacher People-

Ok!  Funny kid story.  I was doing the whole, you know, “our words hurt people” lesson-

Teacher Friends-Oh, yeah.  With the book Chrysanthemum and the big paper heart and the bandaids?

Me-Yup

(because, Pinterest)

To David-

Ok!  Funny kid story.  I was doing a lesson on-hmmm.  Ok, well at the beginning of the year, I do a lot of community and relationship building, so we talk about how things we say can hurt people’s hearts and how even if we say we are sorry, which we should, that person’s heart was still hurt and we need to think about the things we say to people and how they feel.

David:

Me:  It is like a whole thing.  I do it every year.

David:  Do they tell you that you have to do this?  Like in your contract?

Me:  I don’t think so, but I do it.  And everyone else does it.  Because it is just the smart way to start the year.

David:

Me:  Anyways!  This little boy starts telling us about how once his sister said something that hurt him, and he got all choked up and had to stop talking because he was about to cry.  AND THEN, he did the most precious thing!  He turned and looked around the room and said, “Don’t worry, everyone.  If I do cry, they will be happy tears.”  And I just love these kids!

David:

Let’s move on.

I had a text-versation with a middle school teacher friend, and this is how it went:

Friend:  I will take the hearts for sure!

Me:  Ok.  There will be five of them do you want anything else?

Friend:  If it isn’t too much trouble, a lung or two would be awesome.

Me:  So, 5 hearts and 1-2 lungs?

Friend:  That would be great, thank you.

Me:  Weirdest message thread ever.

Friend:  For reals.

So, yes.  It is Saturday, and on Saturdays, David sometimes butchers animals.  It is all very pleasant and not at all horrific and I am sure it is completely normal to listen to saws sawing things I don’t want to think about and dogs protesting being locked inside all morning.

Like so.

They would really prefer to be outside with David.  In case you couldn’t tell.

Because I am a lucky duck, four of my eSchool first graders from last year are at the building I am teaching now.  One of them snuck this into my classroom this week-

Happy Weekend!

How early is too early to go to bed?  Because I am thinking I can stay up until 6pm on school nights now, tops.  I am only blogging right now because I just want to go to sleep, but it is only 5pm, and that seems like a bit too early, yes?

My brain is jello.  Its because I have to think so much and my brain isn’t used to it.  I need to build up my thinking stamina.  I am exhausted.  I have a very sweet class and I feel very lucky.  I have a couple of tricky ones and a couple of kids who have never been to school before.  The new-to-school kids are just funny and wacky and aren’t really sure what to do with this whole school routine, but they will routine it up soon.

Boy:  I wasn’t sure if I was going to have a good first day of school.

Me:  Oh yeah?

Boy:  Yeah.  It took me awhile to get used to my kindergarten teacher.  Like 1-2 days.  And I didn’t now how long it would take to get used to you.

Me:  Oh?  How is it going?

Boy:  Pretty good.  I think I am used to you now.  It only took a couple of hours.  I think it is a good day.

***

Boy:  Is your eraser MAGNETIC?

Me:  Yes!  I have to have a magnetic one so it will stick to my whiteboard.  Otherwise I will lose and spend all day looking for it and lose my mind.

Boy:  Oh, that’s ok.  Our kindergarten teacher lost her mind all the time.  We are used to it.

***

My own children started school.

Left-right

HD: 9th

HIGH SCHOOL!?!

Hadley, 12th

LD, 8th

How is it possible that HD is a high schooler?  I ask you?

Also, let us take a moment to be sad and look at Hadley’s first day of kindergarten picture-

And now her first day of senior year-

I am really, really, really tired.  My burned knee skin is giving me fits.

I am going to try and cook dinner.

And clean up dinner.

And eat dinner.

And then I will go to bed.