Fun Friday

Whew, I am done with another semester of grad school! :) :) :) I submitted my final exam Wednesday night and my course portfolio this morning. I am so relieved to be done with this class and to have a couple week's off of grad school before going back, especially with the start of school coming and a new grade to learn and prepare for.

This weekend I hope to work on school stuff and card making. Barbara and I went to Hobby Lobby today and I bought paper. LOVE their 50% off sales; I try to only buy my paper when it is on sale if I can. We also went to Wallyworld tonight and I spent money we truly don't have. I feel bad, but I'm "justifying" it to myself- this is the least I've ever spent on supplies! Maybe teaching 3rd grade will be easier on my checkbook. Seriously! I didn't have to stock up on glue sticks- a first in my teaching career!

I'm going to do these organizational binders I've seen online from lots of teachers. I'd been toying with the idea for a while now but with all that went on last year, it just didn't happen. So when I found out another third grade teacher at our school uses them and likes them, I was so excited! I'm going to do "B.E.E Books." The B.E.E stands for Bring Everything Everyday. I will have to post photos after Barbara and I get them all assembled. And that daughter of mine is so sweet!!! Here she is trying to save for college textbooks this semester and for a vehicle at some point, and she bought some of the stuff I needed for the binders as it was kind of expensive and I was going to have to leave some things out. I love that daughter of ours!!!!

So now we are playing on computers and watching one of our favorite movies- "Sense & Sensibility"- while the guys are all at their workplaces tonight. I sure do love "mommy time" as Barbara Rose calls it!!! I love my kids and the unique relationship I have with each one! I am blessed- so very, very blessed!

FUNDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WooHoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a HUGE fan of Donors Choose!!!! Why? Because it has been the source of many, many blessings to my classroom in the two years since I stretched my wings and tried something new. It was two summers ago that I nervously submitted my first proposal. And as of the wee hours of this morning, I have received full funding for 24 grant proposals!!!!! WOOHOO!!!

You might remember I wrote a while back about stretching myself and trying to get some technology into my classroom. I was nervous about finding donors for such big-ticket items! High-cost items don't get funded as well. But, I tried anyway.

Folks, I will now be getting ALL of that shortly after school resumes!!!! The short version of how that happened is that "somehow" :) two different times now I've ended up on some complete stranger's giveback/challenge page and people from all over have given to my kids and me. This last one for the mimio pieces, was a HUGE price tag. But once my grant landed on the challenge page, I received the final $886 in funding within just TWELVE hours!!!! I had people give to me from Dublin & London and across our nation. The comments some of them wrote to me were so kind and truly thoughtful. I can't wait to read them to my new students!!!!

And then, as if that weren't HUGE in itself, Duke Energy chose another of my projects to do 1/2 funding for on Friday!!!! That dropped the amount I needed for it to a very reasonable amount, and a parent of one of last year's kinders helped me spread the word and when I woke up this morning it was funded!

I know God can do a lot of things, but it never ceases to humble and amaze me when my heavenly Father takes time out of what He has to do and oversee and drops a blessing in my lap. I always end up crying when He does that. :) I am excited to start school and start learning with my kids. This is definitely going to be a learning year for me- a new grade, new curriculum, grad school (still), and new tech tools... Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? :)

Love to you all!

Bekaboo :)

P.S. I wanted to share some of my hubby's & coworkers' grant requests. If you can give even just $1, they'll be thankful and appreciative. If you feel like you'd like to share their links and pass the info on to your friends/family I know they would say "thank you!" I am no big, famous person, but I can't not share the good things other teachers do too!!!

Rob Thomas (best friend, wonderful husband, devoted father, and teacher extraordinaire!)

Help Me Read in History

Videos for America

Show Me OUR History!!!

Allen Jay Elementary (my school, not a perfect school or even one of those "good" schools, but it is a place filled with kids I ADORE and teachers who work hard to help them learn & grow)

Another Homeownership Adventure :)

Yesterday was going to be a quiet day at our house. I got up and was working on homework and looking forward to relaxing, doing college, reading, spending time with my family. Rob had plans to do some things with the kids.

What's that saying about the best laid plans ???? I'm so bad with sayings.

At 10:30 A.M. there was a HUGE noise and our power went out quite abruptly. We ran out to see our house damaged in the back and wires down. Rob & I took off for the school lot beside our neighbors where there is a lot of work going on as they are putting in a parking lot. What a sight we found!!!!

This dump truck lifted his bed to empty rock and drove into the electrical wires with such speed that it splintered three power poles from that lot and down. The guy working this blue equipment (whatever it is called) :) had to jump out while it was moving to avoid being electrocuted. He did take a jolt and got cut up trying to escape. The backhoe below was in the right place and saved another worker's life as it took the hit from the pole. One of the company's owners told Rob & I that if it hadn't been there that man would have been crushed by the pole.

The pole in our backyards was damaged and came down causing damage to our neighbor's house & ours. God protected our neighbors & our family as none of us were out in the yard when it happened. The neighbors had just moved the location of one of their dogs in the backyard two days ago. If they hadn't, it would probably have been killed.

It took an hour for the power to be shut off and until then that blue bulldozer-thingy (Barbara-ease) :) ran in reverse held in place by the dump truck. The dump truck driver couldn't get out because of the live wires.

There was some commotion and confusion and "issues" about who was responsible and who would fix what- school district land & project, contracted out to a paving company, subcontracted out to the dump truck company who was bringing in the gravel. But it got all sorted out.

Now talk about God taking care of us- besides the obvious keeping us safe & no house fire from all this... the owner of the home next to us (Brandon) rents it out. His renters called him and he showed up to see what was going on. We didn't know it, but he is a general contractor. While the representative of the paving company was skirting around whether they were going to pay for the repairs and telling us it was our responsibility... Brandon told Rob & I that he'd take care of us and help us get the house fixed and just send the company the bill and not us. He told us not to worry he'd make sure we got power back and the house fixed. Here we are in N.C. with no family or support network, still "baby" homeowners not sure what to do, who to call, what the next step was, no clue who we would have called to come if we'd had to... and God provides us with the help we needed!!! God is awesome that way!

The power pole that broke in the neighbor's backyard right at our fence. The transformer stayed attached to the wires all tangled up in them and the wire got caught up in the roof of the neighbor's shed. This poor tree took a major hit! :(

Our house from the back of the yard

The power/service box at the back of the house was ripped off the house, leaving about a foot-long hole in our house. It was still hanging by frayed, live electrical wires. The power company guys told us if that transformer hadn't hit the ground when it did or had gotten snagged up in the trees it would have completely ripped the fuse box and everything completely out of the house and done significant structural damage (hole in the wall). God sure was looking out for us. Thank God Robert (our oldest) thought to flip the main off as soon as it happened while Rob & I were heading down the street to find out what happened.It was QUITE hot & humid and I am not sure what happened to the photo but am wondering if it was the humidity????

It was really interesting to watch the crews take out the old damaged pole & transformer & put in new and get the wires replaced & connected.

This is the power pole that was at the fence line in our neighbor's back yard & held the transformer that powered our two homes. It splintered into four pieces and hardware went everywhere in our two backyards.

As the first shift Duke crews were leaving, their trucks got caught in the tree up front and it tore out some limbs. So the 2nd shift crew cut the hanging limbs down before they left. Oh, and it was sunny & hot all day. Just as the work was nearing its end and the house was getting really, really hot a storm came up and cooled things down. I was grateful for the cooling rain. Rob, Barbara & I stood out on the deck in the rain and talked with the Duke guys as they worked to finish connecting us to power. It was kind of fun. :)

So we are back on temporary power, needing to limit our use of the "big" stuff, waiting on some part to come in. We think the house will be fixed tomorrow and the city inspector will be back to inspect us and then, once we pass that inspection, we'll get our full, normal power back on. :)

Our day finally ended at 11:30 P.M. when the last crews for the cable company finally finished their work and pulled out their last trucks from our yard. It was quite the day! :)

I am so thankful for God's protection and provision. Reminded, again, to not take things for granted! I am blessed!

Business Adventures...

About a year ago, I started trying to make cards to sell. Our hope was that I could do something that I like doing, learn to do it better, and make a little profit while doing it to help us financially (eventually). Rob has been super supportive of this adventure.

So one year later, I can see a lot of improvement in what I am making from where I was last year!!! And I have a decent amount of sales under my belt for something that is so start-up and not my first job. I also continue to set goals for myself- learn something new (techniques, tools, ideas) each month, slowly purchase stamps and tools, read & research new ideas & learn from other card makers, and learning how to grow a business... So today I am stepping out a little more and taking another step in trying to grow my business. I am hosting my first giveaway on Facebook. I created a "fan page" and am doing a drawing for a small set of notecards & mini notepads. The cards are cute & colorful! I would love it if you'd pop in on me and see them and enter if you'd like to. I'd love to have you in my Facebook "friends" list. If you feel comfortable with it, please help me spread the word. I really want to help our family financially, and need to start taking this up a notch to do so.

Thanks a bunch! Happy Sunday to you all! my BekaBoo Creations blog (my Facebook fan page is linked at the top of my blog site)

It is an honor & a privilege to be a teacher.

I got to go see my student at Brenner's Hospital today. I was so happy to see him and hear that he is doing better today. Barbara Rose went with me today and gave him our little bag of gifts. Poor guy he was scared to play because both his hands have iv's in them and his fingers are all bandaged up from being pricked & poked. :(

We got to take him to the playroom while his parents talked to the dietitian and play for a bit and visit with him and his sweet parents; it doesn't take long to see where he gets his great attitude, joy, and smile. He has the most beautiful smile in the world! It really is a sweet one, though I could tell he didn't feel well because I had to work a bit to get my smiles today, and I don't usually have to do that. I think the thing that meant so much to me and shows how kind-hearted this little guy is was when he told me very sweetly, "Mrs. Thomas, you can sit down by me." and he patted his bed by his feet for me to sit there. He also invited me to stay and watch a movie with him. Such a sweetheart!!!!!!!!!!!!! We stayed much longer than I ever intended to stay, and I was afraid we'd "wear out our welcome," plus I needed to get back home, but promised him I'd come back tomorrow to see him again.

Moments like these remind me what an honor and privilege it is to be a child's teacher. You get to be there in the good times and the fun times- playing on the playground, laughing together at lunch, finding joy in the children's accomplishments, being there to celebrate when they learn something new... but you know what else? It is just as much an honor to be there in the hard times too. When a child has a bad day, is hurt, is heartbroken. When their parent dies or a loved one or a pet. When they are sick and in the hospital. And I can't help but think of times in my life when I needed the love of someone and could have used someone to walk alongside me. I hope I am that someone for lots of kids and families.

It is an honor when a family allows you to join in their suffering, allows you to come for a few minutes to encourage and love on them and their child. Though these times are hard, I am blessed to be able to be a part of "my kids' " lives in the good and the bad. I have been to many hospitals, visitations and funerals, homes, and even jail once, but I hope and pray I always remember in those harder parts of my job that I am privileged to be allowed to have touched a life, to known a child, to love a family. Thank you Father for this job that blesses me more than I can ever be a blessing.

Please Pray

One of my wonderful kinderkids from last year is on his way to Brenner's Children's Hospital. He is very, very sick. Please pray for Matthew.

God, please be near Matthew and his family right now. Please help Matthew to feel You walking beside him and not be afraid. Please give comfort to his family.

Dog Days of Summer or something like that :)

I never really understood that saying, "the dog days of summer." One of those things on my list of things to look up sometime. :)

Not much really going on here outside of the normal crazy life. It's July & it's HOT! The news media acts like this is news; imagine that - hot weather in July- I am shocked!!! :) I always get a kick out of the weather news here. It's always shocking, whatever our weather is.

I am down to just one grad class now for the rest of the month, and it is a killer! Nice prof, heavy workload and hard-to-wrap-my-mind-around-it kind of work. I have to admit I've wanted to throw my computer more than once this past month (not to mention school year!).

I'm babysitting three kids at the moment. Two kids are coming twice a week for "Mrs. T time" as their mom puts it. :) I do a little school time each day with the kids when they're here and we play. Yesterday Rob & I were playing Nerf gun battle with one of the kids; he had fun shooting us with the foam darts! :)

I have to start working in my new room sometime; I am dreading that, but know that when I get done it will be a nice place to be. I am nervous and excited about that change! Third grade!!! Wow, those will be big kids to me after 16 1/2 years with little ones! I'll post photos of my new room once I get it unpacked and organized. Right now it's an absolute WRECK of boxes and stuff everywhere. I am still doing lots of research and looking at photos of other 3rd grade rooms to see how other people arrange their room. I'm thinking about trying a kind of U shape for my student's desks. We'll see how it goes.

Okay, I better get going on some homework time until Kid #1 arrives. :) Busy day today- I will have them all three for a short time and will be babysitting until 8 PM and then back to the books I go.

Have a great day!

Freedom

Freedom

According to Webster's, freedom is being exempt or released usually from something onerous.
Jesus gave us the ultimate freedom. I want to be free from:

• my own sin
• caring about what others think
• trying to be perfect and beating myself up when I can't reach it.

I'm so thankful that someday I will be finally free. Thank you God for the freedom You give, a freedom much greater than anything man can give.

Happy 4th of July

Happy Birthday America!
I am:

• thankful for our freedoms.
• thankful for those who have served in the military to keep us safe.
• thankful for the people who have sacrificed their lives, their able bodies, their families for our nation, including my daddy & my cousin's husband, Phillip, and their whole family- Regina and kids.
• proud of my daddy who served in Vietnam.
• proud of my pop who served in the Air Force for 20 years.

For me, this is a day of remembering. I will always love the fireworks, but ingrained in my memory is a little girl who wanted to do fireworks and whose daddy finally let her one year. I remember that Momma said he paced inside while I played outside and watched and "oohed" & "aahhed" at all the pretty colors. He let me do something that caused him painful memories. And the next year he was gone.

Each year at 4th of July, I always whisper a quiet "Thank you Daddy" while I watch the fireworks.

So, "Thank you Daddy. For everything."

Monday, Monday

• grad school
• packing up my classroom (tomorrow should see it finished finally!)
• cooking dinner with matthew (oven baked, blackened salmon w/ lemon juice, wild rice, and salad)
• planning tutoring lessons
• working on grad school
• facebooking & blog reading
• going to bed

tuesday's plan includes:

• finishing my classroom
• online grad class (we are supposed to do three to four hours a day)
• babysitting & tutoring
• cooking something yummy for my crew and my two little pals :)
• reading for my grad class

Hope you all have a wonderful week!!!

My young people are home!

It's Sunday night, and the kids just got home from their youth group beach trip. I made it through the long weekend. I had time with Rob yesterday before he went to work, and we had a wonderful day together today- a quiet day. :) That quiet is now gone with three young adult people home, but I'm okay with that. The dog & cat are happy to see the kids too, and Rob and I have been listening to them all talk about Myrtle Beach. :) The day is coming soon when they'll be gone, but I'm not ready for it yet.

Thanks Momma for texting me and calling me and helping me understand that there is life after children & that those feelings are normal. :)

I made cards :), did grad school homework, watched a couple movies on Netflix, did laundry & hung it up outside (love to do that!), cooked myself something yummy, ate pico de gallo. Rob found a show on Netflix that we LOVE; it is an old BBC show, "As Time Goes By." We have been watching episodes today while we did work. Really enjoying it!

Have a great week!!!

My pretty coneflower was being enjoyed by the bees as well.

Rach, I figured out something to make those cards look better; they were too plain. I am much happier with these now.

This one is my favorite- I love that verse!!!

Weekend Alone

My kids left today for Myrtle Beach with Robert's church youth group (Robert's 2nd family). They are all our kids' youth leader, and I could go on & on about the three leaders and their love for our children. They were a God-send to us here in N.C. - truly the only church family we have here. I am so thankful for them!!!

Rob is still in school through part of next week and working this home stretch at the ballpark, plus he has a band gig this weekend, so I will be spending most of the next days alone. This will be the longest stretch of my life that I've ever been without family (except for Girl Scout camp that one year). I clung to Momma after Daddy died, and I got married at 17 and started our family at 19. The kids have never all three been gone for this long at the same time, and Rob & I have never gone on vacation or left them anywhere more than a night with my parents.

I am a family person, so I don't really like this much, but perhaps it will be good for me to "practice" being post-kids as that day is looming in the near future. So while I am practicing how to function without my children :), here are my plans:

• relax a bit (watch a movie or two, read, sleep in a little if my body will let me)
• do my homework for Monday's class- a MUST
• make cards (This is one I made up with Rob's help to draw a template. It's kind of simple, but hopefully people will like it. It flips open on the side for more writing space.)



• cook something that I want- now to figure out what that is :) (I did make myself a huge bowl of pico de gallo this afternoon and have been eating it tonight! YUM!)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! What do you have planned?

BekaBoo :)

garden goodness

We planted a small garden in the yard this year hoping to get some food to help our summer budget. We are amateurs for sure, and we didn't have a tiller so there's a bit more grass in the plot than we'd like but we will keep working on it & learning. I hope to freeze up some vegies later this summer. The food is starting to come in. Thank you God for fresh vegies grown by our hands and blessed by You!

our second picking of green beans

The tomatoes are coming in; soon we'll have a bunch. I can taste pico de gallo already! :)

grape tomatoes for our salads

romas for pico & homemade spaghetti sauce that Robert is going to cook for me :)

the "big boys" for just eating- I plan to eat a bunch & fry some green ones up too; it's making my mouth water just thinking of their juicy, yummy goodness.

my prairie flower to remind me of home- Echinacia- Oh how I miss home!

Our yellow squash & zucchini are blooming like crazy!

peaches!!!

My poor little peach tree is so full, I am not sure the branches can hold it all. We keep thinning them out so the tree doesn't fall over, but I hate to pitch the peaches... Hoping they are edible. :) Going to make a peach cobbler if they are good and plan to sit outside and eat some fresh ones too.

Rob & his Fathers' Day surprise

The kids and I went in together to get Rob this bike he's been eyeing and wanting since last September. He seemed very surprised when we gave it to him yesterday. He is enjoying it and getting some good exercise in too. :)

Happy Fathers' Day

This day is a little hard for me as Mothers' Day & Fathers' Days are for a lot of people.

But I wanted to say Happy Fathers' Day to my wonderful Pop who took on the challenge of helping to finish raising two girls who were not even his own. He didn't have to do it. He could have just treated us girls as his stepdaughters, but he loved us as his own and he is our much loved Pop/Dad. He is the only grandfather my children have ever had or ever will. He is a dad to Rob. He has been there for my sister & I when our other family couldn't or just wasn't. He has been there for Rob & I when other family couldn't/wouldn't be. I am thankful for him- more than I can express through a few words.

Happy Fathers' Day to my best friend & hubby. Rob, you've been a wonderful father to our children, and I am so grateful for the children God blessed us with and the joys and laughter you've added to our lives. I am blessed to have you as my husband and the kids are blessed more than they know yet to have you as their Dad/Daddy. You have supported me as a mom, a wife, a daughter, a teacher, a student... You have stood by me and your family through the hard & ugly times. You are loved Rob!!!

God, please tell my Daddy Happy Fathers' Day for me. I know You don't have these kinds of holidays in heaven (or I guess you probably don't), but please let him know that I have not forgotten him, his love for his family, his laughter or ornery smile, how he taught me to fish, pushed me to do/be my best, and the example of seeing him in church, worshipping with his guitar and voice, working to help build the church building, struggling to quit smoking and letting God help him. I have so many good memories of him, and God though it hurts to think much about him, I am thankful you let us have him for a short time. Please tell him for me.

And God, please be with my cousins who also lost their dads. Today is just a hard day when you've lost a loved one. Be with those who are mourning today or who are remembering loved ones with tears in their eyes or sorrow in their hearts.
Beka :)

Please Help Me Help My Kids

I wrote here a while back about trying to get some technology for my classroom- an LCD projector. I am totally thrilled to report that I received FULL FUNDING for this project a couple weeks ago. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so thankful to God for blessing me and for all the family, friends, and strangers that helped me!!!! If you were one of those, please accept my deepest thanks!

I have written another grant for some tech hardware that will turn my classroom whiteboard into a giant mousepad- interactive with my personal laptop through this new LCD projector. I can do some pretty neat stuff with it- make my lessons more interactive, create lessons for students to work on while I teach in another part of the room, and more stuff I have to learn about as I get going here on my adventure into technology in the classroom! I am super, super excited!!!

The price tag is a bit hefty, but if I can get 231 people to each give $5 I can get this baby funded and into my classroom. I am trying to find donors that can help me have this wonderful tool so that I can start the school year ready to roll and get my new kids pumped up about technology and learning.

Can you help me spread the word? If you know anyone who might give anything - even $1- would you pass this info/link on? If you know anyone who would be willing to email this note or pass my info/link on to their friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, bosses, businesses, etc. would you pass it on to them? WITH MY THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Friday! I hope you all have a great weekend!

BekaBoo/Rebekah :)

My "Smart Board" proposal can be found here.

My DonorsChoose webpage with all my proposals is located here.

a great day & summer cleaning

I am having a wonderful day with my young people. :) We went to Biscuitville together for breakfast and then went to get Rob's gift for Fathers' Day. It was so nice as the kids and I are going in on something nice together- something Rob wants, but I can't say more now, not yet. :) Barbara wanted to look for a swimming suit and the boys didn't want to wait on her to try them on, so she & I went back to Walmart for some "mommy time" as she calls it. Hit the post office & bank in there too. We had lunch together at home and then have all been working on deep cleaning together.

Matthew helped me move EVERYTHING out of my kitchen & bathroom except the table so I could deep clean the floors. I know this might sound silly, but I love the smell of Pine-Sol. :) And I LOVE having tile floor so I can just dump soapy water on and scrub. Barbara is tackling the laundry pile and the laundry room. Robert scrubbed down all the downstairs doors and the walls & baseboards in the bathroom and kitchen. I still need to rinse the floor- the water was awfully soapy, but boy is it going to look great (for a day- hahaha), and then Matthew will have to help me put everything back.

We are doing a little bit each day, and in about a week my house is going to look 100% awesome again! I don't know about any other teachers, but spring cleaning always seems to get put off here until it's a summer cleaning.

Well, it's time for my little friends to arrive for babysitting and tutoring time. I better get going. Hope the floor is ready to rinse soon. I'm getting a bit high on the smell of Pine-Sol. :) hahahaha

Hope wherever you are, it is a wonderful summer day for you too!
BekaBoo :)

Summer Day 1

Today was my 1st day of summer vacation; my summer school job fell through due to the state budget crunch. So this summer, I am working from home- babysitting, tutoring & working on my card business. Today I:

• slept in until 8:30- aaahhhh, how awesome that was!
• did a grocery run for the rest of the month's food with Barbara & Matthew
• went to Walmart and picked up some cloth & thread- found a simple pattern for smocked sundresses- going to try to make one and see if I can do it well enough to sell some to help our family's summer budget
• babysat & tutored my two buddies- oh what fun! We walked to the neighborhood playground and Robert, Barbara, & Matthew went with us too :), had our "school time," made a card for the kids' dad, and after all that the two little ones & I played with Mr. Potato Head & his friends and then we made a tent for them to play in.

Tomorrow I need to work on homework BIG TIME! We are also going to go pick out Rob's Father's Day gift. Though I needed the job, I am thankful for the time I also truly need to rest and relax. My body had hit its limit this year! God knows what we need more than we do! :) So glad He sees it all even when I don't!

The year is over.

Thanks to my two youngest children, Barbara & Matthew, I am done! They helped me pack my room up, clean, pitch and move everything to one corner as we're supposed to do every summer. I was able to walk out today and won't have to go back until I am ready to start reorganizing and moving to wherever I am going next, once that is decided.

I had many moments this year when I didn't think I would get to this point, but God helped me get through it all. Now I can reflect on the year, figure out what I am going to do next year, rest, exercise & take better care of me, and focus on being a wife & mom, babysitting & tutoring, and my grad studies.

Thank you Father for helping me get to this point. I am so grateful.

backyard party

Rob & I hosted a backyard party yesterday for my coworkers. We wanted to do something fun for everyone after the long, hard year it's been. I think everyone had fun! I prayed for good weather, and God blessed that. The party was from 12-3, and the storm clouds rolled in at 3PM just as everyone was leaving.

lots of talking :)

Momma, this is Mary, one of our ESL teachers (the one who teaches my kids & one of my favorite people at our school!!!) Mary's little one loved our dog; he crawled all around the yard following Samson. It was so sweet!

We turned on the sprinkler for the kids.

Some of the kids found a ball and played basketball on our driveway.

It was a good day!