How to torture your teacher...

So one of the wonderful aspects of being a teacher, is that you get to make Scholastic Book orders for your students. This means that you get bonus points for the money they spend. With these bonus points you get to buy books for your students to enjoy, but don't have to use your own hard earned money to buy them. Yipeee right? It's great until one of your students tries to torture you by handing you 10 bucks in only 4 quarters, lots of dimes and nickles and even more pennies!
I got to learn some really cool things about the bank due to the student who loves me so much. I went to the bank thinking that the poor lady would have to sit there and count all this money out to make sure that it was exactly 10 bucks. Well, thanks to technology, the lovely bank personnel get to dump the coins into a machine that counts it for you! Talk about a cushy job! HA!

Kute Kitties

O.K. I'm gonna be the crazy cat lady and share pictures of our cats,because well, I think they are adorable when they look like this. They are not adorable when they sit on your head when you are trying to sleep, or start pulling your hair or meowing constantly to get you out of bed so they can be fed breakfast. Yeah, the cute black on, Wesley, is the crier and the orange and white on, O.C. is the head sitter and hair puller.
Despite this blemishes in character, flaws if you have Clint's point of view, they do provide a lot of entertainment and comfort. For example, Wes is sitting on the couch with me while I write this blog. :) They also are hilarious when they do wacky things like jump and touch the wall about half way up. So they are lots of fun and you get to see our new cool bedspread that Clint's grandma got us for Christmas!

D.A.R.E.

So over the course of the last two months or so, one of our Riley County Police Officers has been coming to our school and teaching our 6th graders about our D.A.R.E. program. Officer Gambel cam out and had a lot of fun with our 6th graders. This last week we had our D.A.R.E. graduation. During the graduation the kids got to be handcuffed, and put on these goggles that make you have double vision. The officers had our students do the same tests they do when they pull over a person they suspect of driving under the influence. They got to walk a in a straight line and try not to sway or fall over. It was hilarious. I can't show you the videos of the kids, but I can show you the pictures of us! Eric, the other 6th grade teacher, and I volunteered to be handcuffed. Hurt a lot more then I thought it would! We also put on the goofy goggles and did the "test" the officers give drunk people. We had to stand on one foot and count to 30 (one thousand one, one thousand two, and so on). Then we had to walk the line by putting one foot in front of the other 9 times, pivot around on one foot and walk back. Of course I forgot the directions about 1/2 the way through, which is one of the signs of being intoxicated. The best part was the one of Eric's students said, "Mrs. Wayland must have had a lot of practice being drunk, because she did a lot better than you!" Little does he know how much his teacher likes to party! We even played a game of kick ball of the teachers against the officers. Teachers kicked their butts!

Recycle

So one of the fun things about owning a dog is that you get to make him do really fun things like recycle! Yes, Reiner can recycle. He recycles paper, plastics, you name it, he recycles it. Here are some examples of his "work."

How to get your husband to clean the stove...

1. Tell husband what a wonderful cook he is. Best in the world...CHECK!

2. Ask wonderful husband to make bread rolls for dinner...CHECK!

3. Distract husband by having him look up specks/youtube videos on a totally awesome car you want...CHECK!

4. In the process of trying to make the bread rise and watch awesome videos of an FJ Cruiser go up some gnarly hills, he puts the plastic bowl with dough in it, into the the oven "just for a few seconds"...CHECK!

5. Husband smells burn plastic to only realize that the bowl is a melted blob making a mess in your oven, and bread that is partially baked...CHECK!

6. Husband now has to clean oven while you make the bread... CHECK!

7. Thank goodness we were so lazy in last few years and haven't cleaned the oven, because otherwise the plastic wouldn't have come off so easily. There was a nice coating of grease and grime that kept the plastic from attaching to any parts of the husband.

8. Last but not least, watch husband break a knife trying to clean the plastic from the oven racks.

This is also a great way to see how much electricity you can waste because you have to open doors and windows to keep from dying from toxic fume inhalation while it is 10 degrees but feels like negative 2 outside. What fun!

Funny thing is, that we were trying to make Challah, special Jewish Sabbath Day bread. So much for not having to work on the Sabbath!

Being Thankful!

So this year, Clint and I hosted Thanksgiving, and it was the first that we didn't parental supervision. I know, how sad. :( While we missed our family A TON, we still had a great time with the friends that came over. What I think is funny is that ever since I can remember my family gets together right before we eat. We say the Lord's prayer then we all go around in a circle, and state what we are thankful for. What I think is funny is that after everyone left and Clint and I were driving to the vet school so that he could take care of his surgery dog, Clint said, "We forgot to say what we were thankful for!" I had realized it too and felt sad because I think it is a great tradition that my family does and gives us all an opportunity to state what we are thankful for.
So with that being said, I want to state how thankful I am for the blessings I have in my life. I have a WONDERFUL, AWESOME, husband who is an master cook and deep fried two turkeys and made other delicious treats for dinner (I'm spoiled by him). I also have a loving, caring, crazy family, who I love very much :) a comfortable house that keeps us warm or cool despite how much air seeps in and out through gaps in door frames and leaky windows, cute cats that make us laugh daily and that are very cuddly, and truly wonderful friends who I don't know what I would do with out. These are just a few of the blessings I have, but all the great things I have in my life would take more then just this blog to explain. Although we all have challenges in our lives, it is great to live in an age that history is being made before our eyes and we get to have a part in it!
Thanks for reading and all of you that read my blog are either my loving family or wonderful friends who I love very much and I don't know what I would do with out you guys!

Twilight

So as many of you know I am a huge fan of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Series. I have read all of the books and loved all, but the first and third I loved the most. :) I went with some friends to see the movie, which I have attached the trailer for. It is funny that most everyone I have talked to that has read the books has pictured Edward as with dark hair. Also for me, I pictured the tall, dark, strong and handsome. Not this sissy, wimpy looking boy. Granted it was "strong" but only by default. You know, the whole vampire thing...
My other problem was that Bella and Edward hardly smiled. How can a couple that are in love, hardly smile?
I think that part of my disappointment is that I am a big Edward friend. Most of my friends have been Jacob fans. After talking to one of my friends, they feel that maybe they like Jacob more because their spouses are like Jacob and Clint is more of an Edward. Of course all of this is making more sense if you have read the books, but Edward is a dominate, protective, sometimes over-reactive person. I definitely think that Clint is very strong and protective. So I am thankful to have my "Edward" in my life already! :)
Despite that fact that I was disappointed with Edward's character, I did enjoy the movie and think EVERYONE should go see it. Clint actually seemed interested after watching the trailer for the movie.