The most wonderful time of the year...

I love the holiday season (Thanksgiving and Christmas) for many reasons. One if those reasons is all the time spent with family. I love the spirit, smells, scenery, and all the excuses we make to be together. This weekend we had thanksgiving dinner with my dad's side of the family. There were people I met for the first time and those I haven't seen in over ten years. It truly was great! We also had Amy snap a few quick photos. That evening the girls were surprised by a visit from their besties. I picked them up and took them dinner. I was somewhat bored but the happiness, smiles, and giggles of my girls made it worth every minute and dollar. 

As for teaching, I can't say that I love it yet but I'm surprised at how much I card for all 28 of my students (yes, 28...that's a lot for a 4th grade class), even those who make class more challenging. I had my first unannounced observation abs it was beyond bad. It was the first day back from break, the room was extremely hot (as we were all sweating), and one if my students was "on one" that day. I had skipped lunch to prepare my videos and get the lesson set up, even though I dust know they were coming so everything was prepared but the environment. The kids were anxious to get to music, right after lunch and a day out if school, the room was a sauna, and a few were just full that day. Oh well, I guess it's a learning experienced or me and I can only improve. Later I found out one of my students was deliberately misbehaving. 

As for my precious little ones, they are good. All four of them are growing up so quickly and Ginny is becoming quite the little lady. She is beyond beautiful. The boys are still all boy and Aubree is still the most giving child I have. It seems daily, my children teach me more than I teach them. I can only hope that I am preparing them to make good choices and always feel loved. 

My middle two....

My sweet babies are growing up way too fast. Look how beautiful and handsome they are these days....

Fall break

Phew....I am quickly learning the life of a teacher is not at all what one thinks until they become a teacher. Morning are early avid evenings are long but my sweets have been troopers as Jake and I both adjust. There are many times as ikay in bed at night, a student crosses my mind it I try to think if a way to best teach.  Jake takes our sweets to school every morning and he and Ginny arrive at his school about an hour before school starts. Each afternoon, the three youngest are brought to me and they patiently wait for us to leave. The girls are great helpers. A couple of weeks ago, we surprised them with a daddy/daughter date to see the Phantom of the Opera. I think they enjoyed it. It was so cute to watch them dress up and eyes full of excitement. 

We spend the weekend with Sandra and are spending the rest of the week on home improvements (well mainly Jake).  October is probably one of my favorite months of the year, along with April, because the weather is perfect and the leaves are changing. It's an added bonus that we get to decorate for holidays back to back. 

Happy 10th Aubree

There are fewer things that bring joy into my lives than my children. Likewise, I know of no child with a better heart than our, Aubree. Today we celebrate 10 years with her in our lives. It was not enjoyable knowing that I was unable to carry (I had but the night before and send) her birthday treats and have lunch with her on her special day but it was still good for her. Nana came, checked her out of school early, took her to lunch, and went birthday shopping too all before school got out. After school we went to dinner and for ice cream. Here are a few of her favorite things right now: shrimp, unicorns, Lindor truffles, water, swimming, reading, monster high, and Ever After. Aubree is a very forgiving sweetheart and an example of thinking of others. We are blessed she is an interval part of our lives. Happy birthday sweet girl! 

First days of school for all

This was a year of lots of first for our little family as we all experienced a "first" day of school. Anxiety ran through my blood for many nights before my first official day with the students. I am teaching 4th grade at Shelby Oaks Elementary and still feel as if I have a lot to learn. Jake is in his first year at Elmore Park and seems to enjoy it, he did not feel much anxiety about the change this year. Ginny is a big 7th grader at Elmore Park with her dad. Aubree is excited to be in 5th grade and see what the year has in store for her. Jake (Will) is in 1st grade and Christopher is still in pre-K. As a family, we can officially say that we finished our first week of school. To celebrate our first week, we went to a movie and a Redbirds game that night. Family is what it is all about!

Last week of summer

School for teachers or actually in-service meetings start a little early for teachers. Teachers report the week before students. We were able to send the kids to my parents for a few days so they would not be home alone all day. They enjoyed it very much. Jake was asked to present to the entire city and received many praises for his presentation. He was the talk of the in-service according to many and someone even mentioned it to Michael. Michael said that he did not know Jake "was such a big deal". I know I am a little biased but he really is an incredible teacher and has chosen to continue to teach instead of leave the class room. I hope to one day reach his abilities and hope that I also gain a love for teaching as well.

Ginny's 1st talk in sacrament

Ginny gave her first talk in sacrament on July 27, 2014 and did a great job. She invited Papaw up and he drove up from Jackson; in addition, Becky, Charity, and Michael all came to listen. She is a loved little girl and quite the talented speaker. She is a natural born speaker. Ginny’s First Talk Education 7-27-14 Hi my name is Ginny Farrell and for my first talk I have been asked to speak on education. That’s a pretty broad topic. So I looked on lds.org for talks on education and I found this pretty amazing quote by Elder Craig A. Cardon of the seventy. He states. “In this increasingly complex world, education is one of the most important acquisitions of life,” he writes. “And while it is true that more education will generally lead to the opportunity for increased temporal rewards, the greater value of increased knowledge is the opportunity it affords us to be of greater influence in accomplishing the Lord’s purposes.” That’s huge. It is saying the more knowledge you gain the more influence you have accomplishing the Lord’s purposes. That’s reason enough to try to gain an increased understanding of the world around us, and the gospel. In my True To the Faith book it says the Lord has commanded us, “Seek learning, even by study and also by faith. That’s in D&C section 88:118. So the Lord has commanded us to get smarter and has provided us plenty of ways. Some of the things we have for history is: school, textbooks, teachers, and my personal favorites Google and TV. But that’s not the only he wanted us to learn about. In For the Strength of Youth it says, Education should include spiritual learning. You should continue throughout your life to learn about heavenly Father’s plan. This will help you find answers to your challenges and invite the Holy Ghost. Just so it is clear the more education you have the more answers you will find and the Holy Ghost is invited. That’s awesome and it is so easy. Just look at how many resources he has provided. For example: the scriptures, Church, General Conference, prayer, missionaries, and Stake Conference. So that’s a lot of resources just saying. So my book said you should also teach your hands to do things. It said you should do this so you can succeed in your chosen field. There are a lot of things you can teach your hands to do. You can teach them to crochet, hammer in a nail, change a tire, and to write. Most of these take time, but when you learn them. You can apply for more jobs and spend less money if you can do it yourself. There are so many blessings you receive just by learning. So I bear my testimony that I know that if we just educate ourselves so many blessing will come, and I know this church is true. I also know that we have a prophet today, and that we can always count on the Lord. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.