Adventures of a 3rd grade teacher

Today was the 2nd day of school for the kids. Here are some of the highlights of the week so far & there's still one more day to go.

• boys bickering, tattling, & pecking-order-figuring like girls usually do (wow, didn't expect that one!) "He better quit looking at me or I'm goin get him." "He's messing with me." "He said a bad word." "I'm gonna fix him if he don't quit messin' with me." and that list goes on & on & on & on...... I swear I'm going to see them pee-ing on things next to mark their territory. Oh brother!!! And I usually prefer a classroom full of boys over girls for just that reason, but not this year I guess. :)
• knife brought to school
• my daughter volunteering today :)
• lots of whining and shouting of my name over & over & over from some kids

I kind of forget every year how much work goes into these first few weeks, how icky it can be some days, and how tired I am at the end of each day. Guess it's kind of like childbirth. :)

Ready or Not, Here I Go!

My room is ready & the desks await the children bright & early in the morning.

My library corner is looking good & thanks to some other teachers at school who shared, I have a well-stocked, wide-ranged set of books appropriate for my kids. :)

The B.E.E books are done!

I am more organized this year than I think I have ever been in 16.5 years of teaching. :) For sure, I am more organized than I have ever been here in N.C. I spent way too much time working on this room in the past month and gave up a lot of summertime to do it, but I feel better about myself as a human being tonight and am proud of my classroom, so I guess it was worth it.

It has really begun to sink in that I have left the world of Kinderkids & 1st graders. I know I will miss it at times, but this will be time for me to grow and learn as a teacher and have some fun with the big kids. :) And as I prepared to leave my room to go home at 6 PM tonight, I looked around and saw my EZ Grader, the grade book all prepared & ready for the first grades to be entered, and the kids' desks (never had those in my room before), and it hit me, "I am a 3rd grade teacher!" And you know what? I liked that thought. :)

Good night world! Hello 3rd grade!

And Father, please will You help me be something special to this group of kids & help me to help them be all that they were meant to be? Thanks!

Happy Anniversary Picnic

Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary! After he got out from his school, Rob came to my school and waited in my classroom, like the great guy he is, for my open house to end, then we came home, grabbed our picnic supper basket and headed to the park. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our special day.

Here we are 22 years later, hopefully a little wiser, and obviously a whole lot sillier!

Our yummy picnic supper basket & our meal: Greek salad w/ steak strips (Robert cooked the steak for us- DELICIOUS!!!), feta cheese, bread & pesto, and for dessert- grapes & cherries. Totally YUMMO!

Found these two trees- really neat! One's limb is growing across the trunk of another and it's trunk is growing around the limb. Cool!!!

my new classroom

22 years

Twenty-two years ago, on August 20th, 1988, I married my best friend, Rob Thomas. I was 17; he was 21. A lot of people said we wouldn't make it; probably a lot more thought it. But, with God's help here we are. :)

I could say so much, and have written about him and our marriage more than once. :) Tonight, I just want to share this video. I LOVE this song even though I'm not a country music fan.

Rob, I know you rarely come here, but I love you very, very much, and yes, I still do.

Rebekah :)

School is coming!

School is coming, school is coming, school is coming. :)

I would so like to be home this week- these are my last days of "freedom" for a long time, and I am spending them in my classroom. I hate that I have to do this, but I have to get the room finished before Open House. I am not really happy that open house is being held on Friday- not really leaving most of us any other choice but to come in on our "free" time and work.

My kids are so good to me to help me as much as they do!!! The boys spent Monday helping Rob move to his new room at his new/old school, then came over to my school to help move a couple things and ended up staying and hanging out and helping me with a few little things.

Barbara is giving me Tuesdays & Thursdays (her only days not in class) this year and she started today helping me in my room. We did a home visit with one of my kids from last year (what fun!!!), and we went to lunch with the world's BEST guest reader- Melissa Painter! :) We even stopped & got an ice cream cone on our way back to school after lunch. I can't even remember the last ice cream cone I ate- that was fun!

I have a HUGE list to accomplish before Friday afternoon. I know I will be working hard to get it all done, but hopefully my room will look nice and I will feel calm and READY- last year was a nightmare and I was bawling my eyes out 20 minutes before Open House.

I'm so, SO, SOOOOOO thankful for such supportive kids! I don't know what I'd have done without their help; they've moved me the past two summers from the K building to the 1st grade building and now on to the "big kids' building" and helped Rob and worked in my room TONS & TONS!!!!!!!!! I love my kids!

Oh, and before I go, I have to share this- our oldest son, Robert, worked his 1st day of his new job today!!! He worked with a contractor doing some service calls to several houses & apartments, and he is at least working the next two days as well! :) WooHoo!!!! He is keeping his restaurant job (five days a week) still, so he's going to be one tired guy by tomorrow night- working at least 12 hours. I am so proud of that young man!!! And so VERY, VERY thankful to God!!!!

Hope you are all having a great week!

P.S. I am really working hard on my exercise deal. Hope to share some accomplishments in maybe a month or so. :)

August Giveaway!

I had a lot of fun doing my first giveaway last month at BekaBoo Creations, so I am doing it again. :) This month I am going to give away some school-themed note cards. If you'd like to enter, you have lots of ways to earn multiple entries- check it out here.

It's going to be a fun, busy day tomorrow. And next week we go back to school- TONS to do. I will write soon & post photos next week of my new classroom- 3rd grade here I come! :)

last days of summer

A new school year is rapidly approaching. I am so thankful for jobs that allow us more time than most to be "off" and home with our family. I know that is something to not take for granted. I do wish this summer's "off" had been more "off" than "on," but in a couple years I'll be through grad school, the kids will head off someday, and Rob & I won't have to work odd jobs to help pay the bills. This summer's off time was not really a big break because of grad school, babysitting & tutoring, and moving to my new classroom. But there's always next summer to hope for, God willing. :)

In the meantime, we are grabbing a few last minute chances to spend some family time together. I have a list of things that didn't get done this summer or still need to get done but I am not sure it will all happen- well, actually I am sure it won't ALL happen. But I MUST get a haircut before Open House next week. Can't have families & kids seeing me like this. :) :) :) hahahahaha

Speaking of haircuts, Matthew gave himself another mohawk. :) Got to love that young man- he always wanted one when he was little, but for some reason I don't quite get now- I would never let him. So now he does it and I've mellowed enough to know it doesn't really matter. It's hair, it grows back, and I am more relaxed now about a lot of things then I used to be. Here is our goofy boy with our goofy dog, Samson (aka Sam/Sammy).Have a great end to your week!!!

Butterflies- God's object lesson in my backyard

Rach, I thought of you when we took these photos and wanted to share. Rob took the zebra swallowtail's pictures yesterday in our sunflower patch. SOOOO beautiful. You can even see where something has taken a chomp on him, but yet he's still here to grace our yard with his beauty.

After Rob came home from a bike ride the other day, this pretty butterfly came for a rest on his bike handles. I loved the beautiful blues in his wings.

Of all God's creatures, this is probably my favorite. I love their grace & beauty. I love how they love flowers. I love watching them unfurl their proboscis to drink and how gracefully they flutter their wings. Most of all I love their life cycle. It is so symbolic of what God does to us if we allow Him. We are in a growth process, from an egg to larvae to growing caterpillar (some of us prettier or uglier to the natural eyes than others- but God sees the beauty we will become, the beauty inside us even when others or ourselves don't). And then there's that whole metamorphosis process. A hard time of change & growth that produces something new & different than the creature that was. A bit of the old creature is retained, yet it is more beautiful than anything before and this creature brings beauty, grace, joy, and pleasure to others.

There have been some chrysalis moments in the past few months for me. Hard months with lessons to be learned, changing to be done in my heart & mind, growth and changing in who I am as a person. I hope I emerge from this time some kind of beautiful creation that pleases my heavenly Father, that brings love, joy and peace to those I am around, and that I become a more beautiful (not on the outward) person for the process.

I'm lovin' it! :)

I don't put too many photos of my cards on here because I have a blog for the card making business, and because I am nowhere nearly as good as Rachael who visits here sometimes! But I LOVED these and wanted to share them. They turned out really nice. The best thing about them was that I got this stamp & the little paper clips at Dollar Tree! Pretty cool! I haven't made myself any cards yet- just for others and to sell, but I think I might have to make some more of these. :)

thankful for TODAY

I don't usually take life for granted. My daddy died when I was 11- that was a hard way to learn that life is not a sure thing. I have seen my own children's lives be in question, been to enough funerals, and watched my momma struggle with the big C to know that life is fragile and precious and not to be taken lightly. But yesterday, I was once again reminded that we are not guaranteed tomorrow. Reminded that I should always be thankful for each day I am given.

Yesterday I watched the 12 year old son of a fellow teacher be buried. He was killed by gunfire Monday night as he hung out and played basketball with his friends right in front of his home. Last night I was sitting in my kitchen making some cards as a sort of self-prescribed "therapy," and I was just about to finish when I heard a gunshot from the road behind us. There was a shootout between two men right there on the other side of the field that separates our home from Groometown Road. With the school's field and playground between us and the scene of the shooting Rob & I were a bit concerned about our family's safety so we were up late trying to find out what was going on.

This happened around the time we normally go pick up kids from work and Robert had just gotten home from work right before this happened. We could have been there. Thank God Robert got off a bit early and Barbara worked a bit late tonight, or we might have. It is a busy road, I'm surprised no one else was hurt or caught in the crossfire. Thank God no one else was hurt!!!!

God, thank You for keeping us safe from the violence that happened just behind our home, that no one else was hurt on this busy road, that my kids were in safe places. I don't understand why Nesrine's son was killed or why a lot of bad things happen in this world. Why do kids have to die and people who commit such evil things on this earth get to live? Why do some families get torn apart and others get to go on with their happy lives? I am angry about it God. It's not fair God. It stinks God. But I know I need to trust in You no matter what happens.

Thank You for letting me question things, even question You without feeling Your wrath.

Thank You for understanding that my mind wants to understand and sometimes gets frustrated like a little kid because I want all the answers right now, and I don't always get to have my way.

Thank You for Your love and for being born to the parents I was born to.

Thank You for today. Let me make You proud of today.

Where can I go from Your spirit?

Today I sat in a place I would never have pictured myself. It was a difficult day, but I am honored to be able to be present to show my love and support for a fellow teacher and mom. I know there is nothing I can do to ease her pain or burden, but I know that I am obligated from love to be there to love her, pray for her, and walk beside her in anyway I can.

Today, my daughter & I went to a mosque to attend the funeral services for the twelve year old son of a teacher at our school. He was killed in a shooting incident in front of his home Monday night. His name was Ali, and he would have been in the eighth grade this year. My heart is broken for this family and especially for his mom.

As a Christ-follower, I wanted to not in any way offend the family and friends of my coworker. I have tried to love my colleague and show respect to her always. I have not hidden who I am as she has not from me. In fact, she & I have supported each other & prayed for each other for a couple years now. Today, I wanted to be a good representative of God. So Barbara and I put on long sleeves and covered our heads with scarves and baked in the heat along with many others to show our love to our friend.

And though I was in the house of Allah, the place of worship of another god, I felt the presence of the GOD, the maker of the universe. I felt the love of the ONE who died for every man. I was reminded of this verse, Psalm 139: 7-8- Where can I go from Your spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there. If I make my bed in the depths of Sheol (Hell), you are there.

God, please be with this family and this dear mom. Please, Father, comfort them like no one else can, lift their hearts from the blackness, hurt, and despair. Help them to find the strength to walk through the days, weeks, months, and years to come. Fill their hearts with love and a peace that none other can give.

prayer request

Please pray for a teacher at my school and her family. Her son was killed last night; he was only 12 years old.

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!