When I have more to say than is socially acceptable to put on a Facebook status....

MY LIFE! It's wonderful, crazy, stressful, insane, and my favorite all at once!!!

This weekend I feel like I have had a ton of HUGE life changes hit me.  A lot of them have been in the works for a while, but they're all just coming together.  Let me tell you about them. (Really I think it's just me telling my future self so I remember, but whatevs.)

1. I finally finished my minor!!!!!!!!!!!! This minor has been the bane of my existence for soooooo long!!! All the classes were really late at night and I hated going to them, but I did. Then the last class I decided to take in the summer. Then I decided that was a horrible idea and decided to post-pone it until the fall.  Then I decided to faint right before one of the major deadlines, so I got it pushed back till winter, and it has just been a long, painful process. (Except for the coordinating teacher- she was wonderful and so helpful!!!) But on Saturday, I FINALLY had my exit interview and I am DONEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ah. It feels so good. I can't even tell you.


2. My teacher work sample is DONE!!! This is like the final project of my internship that I've been working on the whole year.  Granted our district does a revised TWS, so it's not as bad as other districts. However, it still was a lot of work (being a teacher is just work. period. ) So I just submitted my final assignment, and finished my last 2 observations this last week and it feels sooooooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!! I am so excited!! But it's also a lot of work to pull a wedding together. However, last week I bought my wedding dress, decided what the little girls are going to wear, AND took engagement pictures!! So fun! However, the only thing I want to do these days is be with Tyler.  Which isn't very conducive to teaching school everyday and working. Sigh. I also feel inactive in my ward because I haven't been in like a month.  I'm totally like the cliche engaged girl- get engaged and disappear from the world. Oh well. I love it :) And him. I definitely love him. : D

What's not to love???

"I love you like a chocolate kid loves fat!" Tyler

He mixes up phrases like this all the time, but sometimes they really strike our funny bones :) 

4. Schoolio. Well this has been hitting me for a long time now. But I have gotten 2 new students in the past month, which is kind of hard.  But I am really enjoying this point in the year. It's fun to see the trust and relationship with my students start to pay off and see the progress they've made over the year. I love my class!! They are just so cute and fun!! I am really going to miss them. Good thing I'll have a husband to distract me from missing them too much :) BTW my class is almost as excited as I am that I'm getting married! It's pretty dang cute :)

Might as well throw in some good quote from my kiddos while I'm here right?

"Aw man. There's more girls than boys!" K 

"No, there's 2 boys and 2 girls" Me

" Well I was counting you..."K

"I'm not a girl.  I am a woman." Me

"Yeah, well soon you're going to be a Guy!" K

*Laughing really really hard*

"Can I tell the whole class??" K

"sure!" Me 

"Ms. Erekson- the word heal actually has 3 homophones. Heel like your shoe, heal like get better, and 'heel' like I'm going down the "heel"." 

Random kid crying in the hallway- "I'm just so nervous to go to chess club!!" 

"My arm is hurting.  I think my new skin is coming in." 

Oh they make me smile :D

Well, that's all folks. Hope you enjoyed the ride.

Just some cuteness

I try to write down at least one thing that my students say every day that made me smile or laugh. I just thought I'd share some of the recent ones. Just for a little laugh :)

"Man. My mom packed me some carrots. She thought I would want nutrition but I didn't want any nutrition!"

"We're a big fan of Pepsi and the Denver Broncos."

(Who are some heroes in our community?) "Vultures. If we didn't have them there would be dead animals everywhere!" 

"I know who Martin Luther King is. He was a good guy til white guys shot him"

(Talking about the Earth mantle) That stuff is HOT! If you get that stuff in your mouth it's gonna be HO-OT!" 

Walking outside after school randomly...."You're welcome for lighting up your life Ms. Erekson. Get it? Lighting Up!" Me-"Uh....I don't get it..." "Ugh...."

"This movies so happy I've got a happy look on my face!" 

Until next time.....

Try not to be jealous you don't teach second grade 

:) 

There's more than one way to get out of school...

So I had an eventful week this week, and I just wanted to get it written down while it's still fresh :)

So Monday and Tuesday I woke up feeling kind of nauseous, but Monday I woke up and got ready and I felt fine the rest of the day, just a little tired. However, Tuesday I woke up and threw up. I think I might have blacked out for a minute after throwing up, but I was half asleep so I'm not sure. So I took a shower, and slept for an hour then woke up and got ready to go to school to get some sub plans/activities ready and talk to Teresa (my facilitator). I got to school and went into the copy room and started making copies and cutting papers, when all of a sudden I felt REALLY nauseous and light headed so I stopped cutting and shut my eyes for a second. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground and the other two teachers in the workroom were next to me.
"are you ok?!"
"yeah, yeah I'm fine!"
"Uh...you just passed out!"
"Oh! Ok"
"Are you hurt at all?"
"No, I'm ok!"
"Uh, your head is bleeding!"
"Oh! Ok!"

(the head wound) 

I was a little out of it. Hahahaha. But I was aware of everything going on just a little shaken. When I fell, apparently I took out a shelf and cut my head open. I also think I hit my elbow pretty hard because it's still hurting. Someone called 911, and the EMTs came in and started checking my vitals. Everything was good except my blood sugar was a little low so they brought me some apple juice. They told me I should probably go to the ER and they could take me or I could have someone else drive me. I asked if someone could drive me (so I wouldn't have to pay for an ambulance. hahahaha) So they wrapped my head in gauze and walked me out to the car. One of the school secretaries, Verna, took me to the ER with her to get checked out. While we were driving there, I texted Tyler and asked him if he could pick me up from the ER and drive me home.  At the ER, they put me in a chair and the nurse took my vitals again and sent the doctor in. While the doctor was talking to me, I started to feel like I did earlier so I asked for some apple juice. The doctor went to go get it, and Verna went and got me a barf bag. Right as Verna came in, she watched me roll off the chair and onto the floor. At that point they helped me walk to another room with a bed with rails so I couldn't fall out if I blacked out again. Then they hooked me up to an IV and took some blood samples. Then they did a CAT scan, an EKG, and took a urine sample. Lots of firsts there :)

My entourage :) 

ALL of the tests came back normal, my white blood cell count was a little low which the doctor said could be a little virus or from stress. So once they knew everything was normal, they got to the cut in my head. They gave me a tetnus shot , and put two staples in my head. At first I was like, NO WAY do I want staples!! But for stitches, they have to cut some hair, and numb the head and it takes longer. With staples, they just staple it and you're done! No numbing and it hurts less (apparently...) So I went with the staples...Just before I left my Relief Society President came by to check on my (word travels fast up here...) To make sure I was ok, I had to walk around the halls with a little bit with a nurse and not passed out. And I passed :) So after 4 hours, they let me go and Tyler took me home. He went and picked up some anti-nausea medicine and my car and stuck around with me for the rest of the night to make sure I didn't pass out again.

My IV- Those suckers hurt! :( 

I stayed home the next day to fully recover and went back to school on Thursday. I've been feeling just fine since then, so I have NO idea where that came from! I've never passed out before this and I hope I never do again! It's a really bizzare experience!!! But there are so many things I am grateful for about this experience!! I am so glad that I passed out before school and in the work room so my kids didn't see anything!! I'm so grateful that there were two other teachers in there to help me out when I fell! I'm especially grateful for all the support and love I received from my friends and family in Heber and around the country! I got flowers, cards, visits, and lovely texts!! One of my students came to my house to check on me, another student sent me an email,  four sisters from my relief society came over to check on me. my mom and Teresa sent me flowers, Tyler bought me a card and balloon, the other intern had his class make me a card, and my class all made me cards. SO many blessings in my life!!! Things like this sure make me grateful for "normal" days and for good health!!

(My two staples)

(The hospital bracelet) 

That big white board is the shelf I knocked over when I fell and those boxes over there fell on my head

(All the lovin I got from friends and family) 

 There have been a lot of jokes and puns from this event such as, "Kate, there are better ways to get out of bus evacuation drills" "Jeez Kate, stop trying to get so much attention!" (since I don't get enough as a teacher ;) ) "Ms. Erekson, you can't go in the copy room by yourself!!! We're coming in with you to catch you!" After getting my head wrapped -"Kate you're a little early for Halloween!"

So that's my story :) 

I can see why people do this....

I guess teaching is like everything else in life. Lots of highs and lows. You just get the highs and lows of 25 little people for 6 hours every day, so I think it feels a little more intense at times. But yesterday and today have been near the high's of those days. Granted highs still include students ignoring me refusing to come out of the bathroom and crying, but it's still just really great. I thoroughly enjoy my students. I love seeing how their minds work and trying to make things exciting for them! I love having little moments with kids one on one where I get a smile out of them or they tell me something they're really excited about! I have already spent a lot of time with these kids and I'll be spending a lot more time with them and I'm already attached! So when the times get tough, I just want to remember that there are days where I do like it and where all the work and stress is totally worth it!

Keep calm and carry on!

When life gets tough, cry?

So today was just one of those days that should be recorded. I just had one student who couldn't handle anything we were doing. Every day is a battle to keep them in their seat and quiet. If he's actually doing what he's supposed to, extra 500 points. But he might be one of my favorites. He just needs a lot of one on one attention that I can't give him.
Anyways. Today. We started off the day with a spelling pretest.  I wrote the correct spelling on the board and he kept yelling out that he couldn't look at the board. I asked why not and he said "because my dad said I can't or I'll be grounded for the rest of my life!" Start the whining and crying. Luckily my facilitator was there and she took him out in the hall and gave him the test one on one. Then before lunch he accidentally hit a girl in the face so I asked if he would say sorry. He told me he already did. I said she didn't hear you so could you just apologize again please?
 "I don't ever say sorry two times!"
"Ok, well you need to say sorry before we go to lunch"
*cries and lays on a desk*
To avoid the whole class waiting for lunch I decided to leave. At the cafeteria...
"You need to say sorry before you come in"
"WHAT?? Now I don't get lunch!??" Sinks to the floor crying.
"No, just say sorry! It takes two seconds!"
"I already did!!!"
"Ok. Say it again!"
"NO!"
I finally got him to say sorry and then he was happy as a clam.

THEN

After lunch, he threw a fit because another boy threw the frisbee "jackpot dead" instead of "jackpot alive" so he refused to come inside.The principal was standing there watching and she told me to just leave him outside. So I did. He came in eventually.

THEN

During math he asks if he got any sad faces (bad behavior) on his chart today and I said Oh yeah. He proceeded to cry. For an hour.

That boy. He may be the end of me.

When he's good, he's great. When he's bad, he's horrid.


Welcome to my life.

Second time in Second grade

So I thought I would show the transition in decorating my classroom. Just give you a taste of what I do :) 

Here's my bulletin board...step 1

 step 2

 step 3

 Step 4- I added gold medals with the kids' names but I don't have a picture

 Here's what my room looked like when I started

 And the set up begins....

The finished product!! I already moved the desks and made some other changes, but this is how it looks more or less :) 

Picture from the first day of school 

So this is where I spend most of my waking hours these days with 25 of the most adorable second graders in Utah. So far it's been one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. But I enjoy it at the same time. And I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life so many times since moving here that I know this is where I'm supposed to be even though it's really hard. I'll try and update with exciting things, but here goes my exciting adventure in second grade! 

The Greatest of Them All

This is a little delayed, but I just wanted to say some things about my incredible mother! I feel like in my life, she is one of my biggest blessings!! She is my biggest cheerleader, an incredible role model, and truly one of my dearest friends! I feel so incredibly blessed to be sealed to her for all eternity as my mommy dear! One of the things I love most about my Mom is her love of words! (Mostly because I think she passed it on to me :) ) So in honor of Mother's Day I thought I would right down some of my Mom's words. Just some of her favorite phrases that I can hear her saying in my head :)

 

The words of my mother 

"It will all be alright in the end. So if it's not all right, it's not the end!"

"Think twice, cut once!"

"I should have been a librarian!"

"I was born in the wrong generation!"

"Math will always be the same! 4 times 6 was 24 when my Dad went to school, when I went to school, and will always be 24!" (I may have had math fact issues growing up:) )

"You'll miss me when I'm gone!"

"The best days of my life have been the births of my children"

"The best gift I've given you was marrying your Daddy/ You would have had a very boring life if I didn't marry your Daddy!"

"Home again home again jiggity jog!"

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"

"If you're thinking then what you're thinking now..."

"I wish I had learned to love the scriptures sooner!"

"The sooner you sleep, the sooner you wake. Tomorrow we'll go to the fair!"

"I've always wanted to be a chicken" (One of our proud moments as quoting children :) )

"You're going to have a trial of a mother who never dies. You're going to say one day, OK Mom, you can die now..." (Not true....)

"Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven./ Sacrifice sanctifies" 

" Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal"

"I'm so lucky to have such an angel daughter!"

"Never get as buried in junk as we are. Start organizing when you are young!"

"Space abhors a vacuum"

"Planned time is more time!"

"I love the scriptures!/ I love the temple!" 

"___ is a gift you give yourself"

"I can't wait for the day when I get to be in the temple with all of my children!"

"If you've only learned ONE thing from me....."

Mom- I have learned far more than one thing from you! I have learned how to love people so completely, how to cherish motherhood, how to love the gospel with all my heart might mind and strength, how to cherish the scriptures, how to love the temple, how to respect and honor the priesthood, how to love words, how to study hard, how to cook, and how to be the best me I can be. I can't begin to express my thanks for all your hard work and sacrifice for our family, but I am truly grateful and hope to be a mother as great as you one day! I live you the most :) 

Happy Mother's Day my angel Mother!!! 

<3 <3 <3 <3