Shower Shocked!

Today was a busy day. I had a lot to get done.  Dropped Alayna off at day care, went to the camp to clean, came home and finished cleaning, even got my car cleaned out.  Got Alayna from day care and came home to play.

After dinner it was bath time.  Bathed Alayna, got her dressed, left her to play with paw-paw and dee-dee, and went to take a shower of my own.  Got a hot shower going and climbed in to clean off and relax.

Too my surprise when i got out of the shower, 1/2 of my clothes were missing.  My shirt and my bra were gone.  Just gone.  And then i realized i left them near the bathroom door.  My daughter pulled my shirt and bra out of the bathroom by reaching her little fingers under the closed door and getting a hold of the fabric.  so now i'm standing at the door going "um... Denise?" lol.

Thank you Alayna! I love you and appreciate your "help".

So Much to be Thankful For!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, a time to thankful for what God has blessed us with.  I have been blessed greatly by God in the last couple of years

August 13th, 2009 5:52pm @ Meadville Medical Center, in Meadville, PA, My baby girl, Alayna, was born 7lbs 11oz, 21 1/4 inches long

In February of 2010 I learned that the man I'd always thought was my father, who left when i was 7 and I never heard from again until i was 21 may not be my father. 

In March of 2010 the DNA came back positive, Brent Caldwell, not Mark Weller was my biological father.  So many questions answered.

In May 2010 I got to meet my biological father and the rest of my family in Louisiana.

 In July 2010 I received a job offer to teach Kindergarten at a private christian school outside of Baton Rouge. 

Alayna and I moved to live near my father and so that I could to take the teaching job.  I love my job. And I found a church that feels as homey as the one I grew up in.

August 13th 2010, my angel turned 1 year old.

In September, I met someone.  Someone I all ready knew of, but didn't really know.  We met on facebook, and chemistry was felt immediately, on both side (i know he told me so).

Mike S. and I got to spend some time together recently when he came for a visit.  Yes, I moved from PA to LA and met a guy from my hometown who still lives in PA.

Spending time with him let me know that EVERYTHING i thought i felt I really feel.   I've never been so happy in my life.  I have so many wonderful blessing in my life, how can I be anything but happy?

Kid shows are teaching our kids wrong

Yesterday I heard two things on Sprout (the tv station for toddlers and preschoolers) that was straight up WRONG.

1.) On the sharing show  they said that they would share the apple by cutting it into 3 halves.

2.) On the goodnight show they were talking about insects and they asked some kids what their favorite insects were.  And of course the first answer was a Spider.  Now regardless of what i think of spiders.  Spiders are NOT insects.  They are Arthropods (a creature with a segmented body).  However and Insect is a creature with 3 body segments, 2 antenna, and 6 legs.  Those unnatural creatures we call spiders only have two segments and have 8 legs.  They are NOT insects.

No wonder American children are behind in math and science skills, we're teaching them wrong from the start and instead of advancing we spend their later years correcting all the things we taught them wrong in the first place.

Grandma no longer seems so odd for correcting the grammar on the news and on lamb chops sing along show (a show that was banned in our house for their inability to use proper grammar).

Randomness At It's Finest

I have 14 students in my Kindergarten class, 6 girls, 8 boys.  This past Thursday, one of the girls was absent.  Her grandmother also teaches at the school and informed me that the night before the little girl had had a high fever and all though she was feeling much better that morning she still had to keep her home for 24 hours before her returning to school.

Kindergartners are notoriously nosy, they need to know what is going on at all times with everyone they know. One student asked why the missing student wasn't at school that day.  I told them she had been sick the evening before, was feeling better, but had to stay home.  They then wanted to know why, if she was feeling better, that she still stayed home.

I explained that when you have a fever the doctor says you have to stay home 24 hours, a whole day.  To which one boy commented...

"That's just like my grandma's jello"

...
....



To which i responded, "What?

He replied, "Grandma said the jello has to be in the refrigerator fr 24 hours before we can eat it".

Random but OKAY

Stare... Don't Help

So after taking my daughter to the doctor i was heading to take my paper work in for child care assistance and saw a car in a field at the side of the road.  here's the thing. the field was after a deep drop off and climbing up the side of the embankment was a teenage boy about 17 years old.  clearly shaken up by whatever had just happened.  I turned around.  While making the turn around i watched many cars slow down and stare at the young man.  They craned their necks to see his car, but no one stopped to help.

The young man had fallen asleep at the wheel, hit a telephone pole, and went off the road and down the embankment.

What did the young man need?  He needed to borrow a cell phone to call his father.

I've thought about calling the number back that he called on my phone to see how he's doing, i had to get going, though i wish i had stayed til his father appeared.

I'm sickened by all the people who slowed and stared but never stopped to help.  What if he'd been seriously injured?  Why don't we help each other more?

My Day Off

I have decided that if this is how my days off are going to go... I never want another one of them.

I picked Alayna up from daycare yesterday and she had goop draining from her  ear.  So i called her doctors office to make an appointment for today.  I asked them about her 12 month shots that she is post due for.  I was told that if she had an ear infection that she had to wait 48 hours before she could have the shots.  I made the appointment and figured i could get her shot records for the daycare and the child care assistance program while i was there.

Issue 1, despite 2 faxes, one in august and one today, her doctor in PA had still not sent her medical records to her new doctor.  After a few phone calls i have them in hand.

Get them to the daycare find out they're not acceptable because she hasn't had her 12 month shots, told them what i was told they said she needed a note.  Called the doctor, found out that as long as she doesn't have a fever she could have gotten them.  Problem is now i can't afford them, Dad had to give me the money for the doctor visit since I'm still waiting on the children's medicaid program.  I'm making an appointment to get them for her this week (and the polio vaccine that wasn't given at her 6 month check up like it was suppose to be).  Hopefully the daycare will let her attend knowing it's pending because i can't take two or three days off work because they won't let her come with her shots being out of date.

Off to the Child Care Assistance office.  I'm applying because daycare is almost 1/2 of my monthly income and it's making things uber tight, like pay for gas with nickels tight (i have done that a couple of times in the past two months).  They routed my case to the wrong parish, it can still be processed but i have to drive to St. Tammany parish a 1/2 away to handle all the stuff, like today with my finger imaging.

and to top my day off, i got an email from Geico, my new car insurance company that my payment wasn't processed.  Turns out they made a typo and couln't find the account. 

It's almost all taken care of, but if this is how every day off is going to go for me, i dread the week long thanksgiving break.... scrap that...No i don't, someone very special to me is coming to visit the weekend before it, so i'm sure my next day off work will be 100x better.  But today was still awful, and yet still a great example of how God still works everything out.

Being a Mommy Doesn't Come With Directions

So yesterday I brought you all the story of the student who drew and anatomically correct picture of her father.  While typing that my daughter managed to get my just filled britta pitcher off of the counter which she dumped all over the floor as she's pulled it down.

Using my ShamWows that needed to be almost 5x bigger to handle her spill, i dried my floor and my yoga mat.

Today I got a letter back from the mother of my little artist.

The letter read;

"miss weller, 
thank you for making us aware of C.M's drawing yesterday.  We had a long talk with her about private parts and what is and isn't acceptable to talk about look at, or draw. She also told us that she doesn't know how to draw clothes on people but we said she doesn't have to draw what's under the clothes..."

I am know filling out report cards and can't help but chuckle as I read

Art
- Show originality

What will i put down for CM?  A resounding YES

Not My Typical Monday Morning

It started off like any other Monday morning.  I got up late, rushed to get ready, left my lunch at home, managed to get to work on time but still felt like i was rushing.  Got my students got back to the classroom and had them draw while i did lunch count and some individual testing for report cards.

And then my morning changed....

One little girl, i'll use her Initials C.M., came up to me and told me she drew a picture for her daddy.  I told her that was sweet.  She told me it was of her daddy getting out of the shower.

To which my response was, "What?"

C.M - "I drew a picture of my daddy getting out of the shower"

And on closer inspection I could see, yes that's exactly what she drew.  She drew her father naked.  And while it was closer to a Picasso than a DaVinci in that the testicles were placed next to the penis, all the anatomical body parts were present in her picture.

I took the picture, and told her I couldn't let her take it home with her that it wasn't appropriate to either be drawing at school or anywhere, or to be given to her father like she wants to do.  I told her she shouldn't draw naked people that those are private areas and to find something else to draw or color.  I did send a note home to her parents so that they are aware that she is noticing such things and that maybe they'll be more mindful of where she is when daddy gets out of the shower.

Needless to say, today was not my typical Monday.

Where Does Self Esteem Come From?

For a comedian he makes some very very good points....

watch this video, tell me what you think.

Ground Zero Mosque? The reality is less provacative

Yesterday I made a post that was all about how we shouldn't be allowing our differences of opinions hinder the remembrance of those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attack or those who have died fighting for our country so that we may retain the freedoms afforded to ALL AMERICANS by our nations founding fathers.

Lets have a history recap here will quick.

The founding fathers penned the Declaration of Independence, what at the time was an act of tyranny against the crown of England, siting multiple (27 i believe) Biblical Violations of the church of England (national and government supported establishment).

This could be why, when our Constitution and Bill of Rights was written the very first Right given to American Citizens was as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The government is not to hinder the establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof, they are not to hinder the right of the people to peacefully assemble (with in a building or outside of one).

On 9/11 America was attacked.  The means Christians, Atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and so on down the line of religions and religious establishments, were attack as well.  Those of Islamic faith here in America were as much effected by the turmoil and loss as were any other religious group in this nation.

If we are to not allow their freedoms afforded to them by our bill of rights because they happen to profess the same faith and the radical extremists who attacked us, then the terrorists have won.  They have made us stop being Americans, they have made us stop valuing the melting pot of people and cultures that formed this country. They have made us as intolerant as they are, and if we hinder the Rights of the Islamic Americans, than we are no better than they are and this then justifies their attack on us.  This is the very reason they claimed to have attacked us, they claim that we stand in their way, hinder them, and hate them, and for that reason they hate us and attacked us.  We are proving the terrorists right, and only giving them more fuel to the fire.


How could we in less than 10 years go from a united patriotic nation revert back to the same fractured and hateful country that we were before the civil rights movement?  All we've done is switch skin color for religion. And the terrorist win, they're imploding us upon ourselves.

Don't let the terrorist win, show them no matter what they do they will NEVER stop us from being AMERICANS.  Don't let the efforts of the soldiers fighting and dying for these freedoms for ALL Americans be in vain.


Also IT'S NOT A MOSQUE, and it's more than two blocks AWAY from ground zero.  At least the British can see past American Media crap and see it for what it is.  Please read

'Ground Zero mosque'? The reality is less provocative

9/11 - Florida Book Burning & WTC Mosque

Today marks the 9th Anniversary of the Terrorist attack in New York and DC.

I remember it as though it happened yesterday.  I was a senior at Cochranton Jr/Sr. High school in Cochranton Pennsylvania.  I had a 2nd period study hall, which i normally spent in the Library.  I was in the library, on the computer checking emails (yes i was a computer geek/addict back then - it has actually gotten better), and the Librarian came out of her office to say there had been a bombing at the World Trade Center.

Moments after she turned on the TV they announced that it was not a bomb but a commercial airline that had struck the building.  The bell rang and i raced across the hall to Mr. A's psych class.  We watched as the 2nd plane struck the North Tower.  We watched as CNN switched from NY to DC to announce that a 3rd plane had struck the pentagon.  Someone knocked on the classroom door, Mr. A got up to go answer it, and the whole class yelled at him "Mr. A the Tower is falling".  We watched as the towers fell.  By 3rd period we'd heard there had been a 4th plane and that it had gone down somewhere in Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, but that was the last we heard.  The districts superintendent wouldn't allow even the seniors to know what was going on. Teachers were given orders not to tell us anything.  We did later find out that it went down in Sommerset (about 20 minutes from where i attended college the following year).

Remembering the Tragedy of 9/11 should be about remembering the innocent lives of those on the high jacked airlines.  Remembering the heroes of Flight 93, who fought back and brought the plane down so that they were the only casualties of that flight.  We should be remembering the lives of the Police and Firefighters who were lost when they responded to the Emergency at the WTC.  And we should be remembering the soldiers who have given their lives to protect our freedoms in the resulting wars.

We should not be:

1.) Fighting over the building of a Mosque near the World Trade Center.

Those who attacked us are a part of a radical sect of their religion.  Majority of Muslims do not believe as these splinter groups believe.

America was colonized as a place of religious freedom.  Our First Amendment [Bill of Rights]  gives us the right to worship our God or gods in anyway that does not impede of the rights of others in which we wish.  While we were founded on Christian principles, not being a christian doesn't make you any less American.

The Bill of Rights also states that the Government can have no control or say in religious establishments. We should not stand in the way of this building being built.  I Believe that in allowing this building we would be saying to the world, that America will not respond in hate.  It would send a message to the world that we still respect religious freedom, that we still value freedom, and no amount of hate towards us will change who we are.  We will not bow to terrorism, but we will protect our own.

2.) Book Burnings weather the Koran or Harry Potter, is a really STUPID thing to do.

Everything that we do as Christians should show those who do not believe, the mercy, grace, and love of God.  If you do not agree with a person's theology, the way to introduce them to God is not to attack what they value.

I know it is not my place to judge a person's heart, that is left for God alone.  But anyone who could even think to act in a manner with so much hate towards a group of people, with no regard to how it will effect those of their own people could not have ever experienced the love of God in their own life.

There have been so many horrible things done in the "name of God"  that I am sure God would never have endorsed.  The life of Jesus gives us a good idea of what God would not approve of.  The Crusades, the Inquisition, The Salem Witch Trials, and any book burning are high up on that list.

Jesus came to "seek and save the lost" not to scream in their faces and burn what they value.  The sick, not the healthy need a doctor,  just as the sinner, not the righteous need Jesus.  But here is the thing.  We are ALL sinners. Not one of us is blameless on our own.

The difference between a Christian and a Non - Christian (be it any other faith or no faith at all) is that a Christian while a sinner has sought and accepted God's forgiveness, while the Non-Christian, also a sinner, has yet to take that step.  Sin is Sin to God, no one sin is any worse than any other, a murder and liar are on the same playing field when you remember that "the wages of sin is death".

Please Remember 9/11 and the tragedy it was, pray for the families still dealing with their losses, and for those who are still at war.  Please don't make another tragedy with in it by responding in hate towards people who have nothing to do with the act of terrorism that started it all.

Tolerance isn't about saying "it's okay if you're going to hell, do what you want", it's about saying "I care about you as a person even if i don't agree with your religion, or lifestyle".  Tolerance takes a nation farther than hate will any day.

And He's Safe!

As a teacher you should never..... 

Laugh when one of your students wipe out on the playground.

In my defense

1.) I was laughing at what my coworker said not actually at the wipe out

2.) It was a really awesome wipe out


Okay so one of my students was running across the playground.  His head got a head of his feet and he did a perfect on the belly slide into home plate like belly flop into the loose dirt on the playground, right in front of 3 of the 4 teachers on recess duty.

Without missing a beat, one of the pre-K 4 (year olds) teacher's goes "And he's safe".

Of course that left me laughing as i'm trying to see if my student is all right.   This is not helped by his proclamation not to worry about the dirt because its just "one spot", which extended from his collar to his socks.

After collecting myself, by sending him into wash his knee up on his own, so i could laugh and get it out of my system, and applying a bandaged to his scrapped knee...

All was well again and he went back out to the playground to play

I Think I Saw Santa Claus Today

I've been sick.  Not flue-ish sick but allergies sick.

After work, I picked up Alayna and we went to Wal-Mart to get me some allergy meds and her some more milk.

I'm pretty sure i saw Santa and Mrs. Claus at Wal-Mart today.

There was this fat guy with a white beard in jeans, a flannel shirt and suspenders. By his side was this little round white haired woman all dress in red.   I saw little kids gawking at the two of them and i'm pretty sure i heard one little boy ask his mom if he could go say hello to santa.

HAHA.... I so don't miss working at wal-mart.

Guess What?!?!?! -- Purple Polkadotted Penguins?

Kids are very perceptive.  For this reason it is very important that a teacher not react to a student in sarcasm ever.

So have this issue where when I get annoyed I get a little sarcastic (as anyone who ever read my wal-mart chronicles would know).

I have this little boy in my class, who is a very sweet, very talkative child. The most common phrase I hear from him is:

"Miss Weller, Guess what?, my brother and I, Guess what?..." and it goes on.  Every part of his sentences are interrupted with "Guess What?"

I can not remember a specific story of his, but lets pretend his dad took him on a Louisiana Swamp tour.  I'm sure the story would go like this...

"Miss Weller, Guess what?, My dad and I, Guess what?, well we went on a boat and guess what? it was in the swamp, and guess what? it made a lot of noise, and guess what? we saw an alligator and guess what it was swimming, and guess what? it was really big, and Guess what?...."

I have reach a point where I want to answer his "guess what" 's with random things like:

"purple polka-dotted penguins" or "oak trees"

It is an exercise in biting my tongue.  God is testing my patience. I hope I don't fail this particular test, but the more i hear, "guess what?" the more tempting the sarcasm gets.

So....

GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?

It's Monday!! Well Actually It's Tuesday Diguised as a Monday

Today is Tuesday. I know it is, the Calendar tells me so.  But it sure felt like a Monday today.

I woke up tired.  I got to school later than i like to.  My students didn't feel like listening.  I guess i have to crack the whip tomorrow.  No i'm not going to whip my students.  I will go over the rules and procedures of our classroom with them.  I will make them practice and repeat what they should be doing without thought or fan fare.

Their class room seats are going to get moved, as well as they are getting assigned seats in Chapel.

Today I had to make them lose some time at recess to finish up work they wouldn't stop playing around long enough to complete during class.  If they play during lessons, they'll do lessons during recess.    I may sound like the "mean" teacher.  But if they follow the rules and follow directions during class, they'll get recess before lunch, free time before rest time, and playtime while waiting for parents to pick them up. 

Now is tomorrow Tuesday or Wednesday? (please be Wednesday)

I Am Thankful Monday Only Comes Once A Week

My morning started out good.  I got up on time, Alayna didn't fight me when she was getting dressed this morning.  I actually remembered to take my lunch with me to school,  Alayna was at daycare by 7:15, I was at the school by 7:30.  Then I got busy working on some things and now I'm running late to pick up my students from chapel. And I can now see that this is definitely a MONDAY!

My students were extra chatty today, a few were cranky from the weekend, and their lack of a bedtime.  And one student surprised me most of all.

J.T. - "Miss Weller, I have something in my ear."

Me - "What's in your ear?"

J.T. - shrugs

Me - "Come here let me look.  Why did you put tissue paper in your ear? Come with me we'll see if Miss Kelly or Miss Nicole has something to get that out with, I know I don't"

Thankfully Miss Nicole has fingernails and it wasn't too far in (just far enough he couldn't get it back out himself).

Me (to the class) - "Do NOT stick random objects in your ears or nose, they could get stuck"

I know I shouldn't be surprised that I had to make this statement to my class of 5 year old's, but it still topped my Monday.

Lets hope Tuesday is a better day.  lol

I Can't Help But Be Happy

I really don't know how to even begin the joy that i have felt in the last two years.

In December of 2008 I found myself single and pregnant.  My then boyfriend's response to me telling him I was pregnant was to break up with me.  I was scared.  I wasn't sure I was ready to be a parent because I was still in college.  I was alone, or so I thought. And was terrified my family and church family up home would be upset with me.

I wasn't alone at all though.  My family and my church family welcomed me and my daughter with open arms.  They were supportive of me during my pregnancy and as well after her birth.  What at one point was the most frightening thing I ever faced, became the greatest blessing God has ever given me.  Seeing her happy and growing well makes every struggle and sacrifice worth it.

But God's blessing haven't stopped there.  In February I met my biological father (a longer story that I may one day share for those who don't all ready know it), a DNA test in March confirmed it, and in May we met in person officially.  My sister-in-law gave me a magazine where i found an add for enrolling students in a private school down here.

I sent them my resume, and am now teaching Kindergarten full time.  In July they contacted me, by August 1rst I was in Louisiana.

Today the last stone fell into place.  Within a week of being down here i found a church I felt comfortable in. Today I became a member of Faith Baptist Church.  I have my Daughter, the missing part of my family, a decent job in a field I've worked for years to get into, and a great church where I know i can grow and serve, as well as see my daughter grow up.  I hope that one day she will fully understand what I believe, and why it is so important to me. I hope that one day she will see how gracious the hand of God was to us before she was born and following her birth. 

A child should have both parents, but that doesn't always happen.  All I can do, is do my best, and let God take care of the rest.

They Get It.... Sort Of

I teach kindergarten at a private christian school just outside of Baton Rouge Louisiana.  My students are very advanced academically as well as very well behaved.  But being four, five, and six years old they still need to learn what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. 

 We have been learning that we keep our hands and feet to ourselves.  It isn't nice to hit, punch, kick, slap, or elbow another child (I said they were well behaved, not saints).

I realized today that they are sort of getting it.  We are doing a social studies unit on community helpers.  Today we discussed what a Pastor does.  As part of the curriculum you have the children brainstorm ways that they can help their pastor (ie. praying for him, helping keep the church clean, helping to welcome new members as well as being good listeners during service).

The first response i received when I asked my students how they can help their pastor, one little boy blurted out "DON'T PUNCH HIM".

Yeah, I guess that would help....