What a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood....

Ahhhh.......flowers are out, the sun is shining and it's supposed to get to 82 degrees here today in sunny Nothern Virginia....

What a beautiful, beautiful day!

Appreciated

Last week was full of little treats for the teachers. Well, some of them were little, others were huge, but all of them were very welcomed (and deserved :-) Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. Monday we were blessed with a HUGE breakfast in the teacher's lounge, all donated by the parents. I brought back a plate of food to the classroom, and all of the kids were complaining that I was eating in front of them. One told me that they should have Student Appreciation Day and all of the teachers should bring in food for the kids. I responded with the fact that they are appreciated EVERYDAY and should just be quiet. 2 of my kids had to go to the office to deliver the lunch count, and they came back with, "Ms. Peffer, did you know that there's a BUFFET in the teacher's lounge! There is soooo much food!"

(More on this later...the bell just rang----off to a fieldtrip to the WW2 Memorial and Holacaust Museum, then to lighten the mood, we're bowling! Some of them think they are going to beat me, but they haven't seen the skills of this 4-H trained professional bowler.....)

Spider Man

I just got shot by Spider Man's web. It was a sneak attack this time, but lucky for me, I've had a web dispenser inserted into my wrist and was able to spray him back. Spider Man goes to my school, did you know that? Yep, he attends the 3 year old preschool classroom and enjoys eating snack and reading books with my 5th graders. He has decided to take up fighting off the bad guys in preschool. There is no cutting, pushing or fighting over toys when HE's around. He'll get ya.

Beware.

This is the remains of the Oesterlings house. Please continue to pray for them as they are going back to school today. It'll be a hard day for them, filled with hugs and tears and not a lot of concentration. I love you girls!!

How much we each REALLY have and how much we REALLY don't NEED

Please pray for my friends, the Oesterlings. They were awakened by their smoke alarm at 3am this morning, finding out that their house was on fire. They grabbed what they could and what was important to them (a stuffed animal for Christin :-) and stood outside, watching their house and all of their belongings disappear. They are staying at a fully furnished cabin across the street for the time being.
Dad and I headed out to Giant Eagle this morning @ 8 to get all the things we take for granted-toilet paper, fruit, napkins, lunch meat, soup, paper towels, kleenex, sugar, flour, dinosaur shaped macaroni and cheese, bread, milk etc. I added my own little touch and added goldfish crackers, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes with a TON of frosting on them, and a bouquet of flowers. They needed a little cheering up and I thought that would do it. Christin, the youngest girl was so excited that I brought PB and J.
They are in good spirits but are teary when loved ones come and visit and when they get hugs (my specialty). No one was hurt and they are surrounded by amazing family and our church family is showering them with love. It just reminded me as to how much I have and how much I don't NEED. We saw God today. The mom usually keeps her purse in the kitchen. Last night, for some reason, she took her purse into the family room. The family room was either very close to the door and they got to it before the fire or there was no fire in that room. They had 2 keys for their car---one key had a melted chip and is useless, and the other key----was in her purse. Their other car was saved too, only losing the dad's truck. I'm sure they'll be filled with more God sightings as they go through this process of rebuilding.

Please pray for them and please, the next time you think you NEED something, just stop and think about people, all over the world, who have nothing. They might not have any earthly possessions left, but with God, faith and their salvation, they will never be without hope or the things that are most important.

Ex-Marching Band Kids

This is for all of my band friends who know this would be them and who find themselves getting in step with those walking beside you. It's okay. We all do it.

Location, Location, Location!

I just got personally introduced to a very very good looking man who was the guest speaker in 2nd Grade for their weather unit. He happens to be a soldier, who was here in a suit, and works with a staff member's husband. I might just have to put in a weather unit in our science curriculum...... :-)

It pays to be where soldiers are..... :-)

Oh the Times are a Changin...

This week our spelling list was of occupations. We had words like manager, pharmacist, physician,etc. Then, we had words like salesclerk and druggist. The kids had no clue what a druggist was and didn't know what the Rx symbol meant. They also thought that they shouldn't be learning the word druggist, being a Christian school and all and drugs being a bad thing. THEN, we come to the word homemaker. No one really knew what that was. I explained, "a homemaker is someone, usually a woman, whose job it is to stay at home and take care of the kids and clean the house and make meals, taking care of the family." These are some of the sentences I got.
"A homemaker stays at home and cooks."
"A homemaker is someone who stays at home and does chores."
"My homemaker is kind and helps me with my homework."
"Back in the old days there were homemakers."

I chose not to include in the definition "your mom!" because A LOT of moms here in DC aren't homemakers. They would have been confused. Obviously, me NOT including mom has also caused confusion. The one sentences makes it sounds like a homemaker is a maid!

I hope to bring you more thoughts of 5th Graders. Stay tuned!

Comments welcomed!

Hey friends! I changed a setting on the computer so that anyone and everyone can comment on postings. FYI.

Spelling Bee

The infamous Spelling Bee. Made famous after Aklia and the Bee made its debut. I really like the movie, by the way. Anyhow, at our school, we do multiple rounds in your classroom and then pick the best two to represent you at the Spelling Bee. Some children are nervous and really want to do well, others could care less and spell words wrong so they don't have to go. Yesterday, we had our schoolwide one. I was puzzled as to how it was run, seeing that we have only 2 5th graders and I didn't think they'd have a spell off in front of everyone for those 2 kids. I could do that in my room. It happened to be that it was K and 1st, then 2nd and 3rd, then 4th and 5th. So, my students were asked 4th grade words yesterday. They had studied the 5th grade words because they are in 5th grade. (duh.) So, they both got out really fast yesterday.
AND TODAY IT JUST GETS WORSE. My Spelling Bee participants come in at the end of the day and announce to the whole class, "you gave us the wrong list to study from. It was last year's words." Whaaatttt..... I got really REALLY frustrated and almost rushed out of my room to reem out the secretary who gave me that wrong list. When she gave me the list I noticed and was told that it was last year's list. I didn't think anything of it because who in their right mind would give the REAL list to students to study from? Apparently the other kids at other schools had the right list. Even some of our middle schoolers had the right list (or so I heard.) I AM SO MAD!!!!!!!!!!! I let them down. I made them study day and night for that spelling bee and it didn't even matter. I led them astray. I want a rematch! Now the blame is pushed to me as to why the kids didn't do well. I know the parents are upset. I'd be upset if I were a parent. Gosh darn it, I'm their teacher! I'm a little more than upset, I'm livid!!!!!!!!


Praise the Lord it's the weekend and I'll have time to cool off.....and enjoy Virginia Beach. :-)

Ahhhh....Middle Schoolers.....

I've been working with the Middle School girls as their P.E. teacher this year. I can't believe I'm doing this. I thought Mrs. Wise and Doc Brown were crazy when making us take Teaching PE, telling us that we may have to use it one day. Us? Elementary Teachers? Use PE? Well, here in Christian school land, they sometimes hire people who aren't necessarily qualified to teach the subject they are teaching. We have a PE teacher also teaching 6th Grade English and we have me, a 5th grade teacher also teaching PE. The REAL PE teacher can't teach my PE class, he's a guy and they are girls.
All that to say, I don't really know all of what I'm doing. Praise the Lord for giving me brothers and for giving me the desire to play recreational sports and to pay attention in gym class throughout my years. It's amazing at how many things I can remember from Gym, the rules to games, and my experiences with those games. I wouldn't EVER consider myself an athlete, but more often than not, I have this longing, deep inside me, to play basketball or to be the first one to volunteer to play volleyball.
What I DON'T know how to do is deal with middle school girls' attitudes. The eye rolling, the talking back, the talking while I'm talking. It's very hard to get a gym quiet with 26 girls in a big open space. I'm really trying to demand respect, but it's hard. It's hard because I care what they think of me. I care that they like me. I know, I know. In the world of teaching, I SHOULDN'T care, but I do. I want them to come to me for advice and to ask questions. I tend to see the wrong actions of one particular person, and call her out on it all the time. She tells me that everyone else was doing the same exact thing. I KNOW she knows better. I know both of her parents fairly well. I know she can do better. AND, when I go about correcting her, I KNOW she knows how to respond. But...she doesn't. How do I go about correcting in love when the attitude I receive in speech is less than honorable? I know the things I say to her now she'll remember. I remember what my teachers said to me. My words are chisels, working to construct a beautiful child of God. It all depends on where I put that chisel and how hard I throw the hammer and if I am going to add to the beauty or destroy God's work of art.

The Weekend in Chesapeake

This past weekend was spent hanging out with "my friend Emily" in Chesapeake, VA. We've lived in the same state for 6 months, so I figured I'd make the 3 hour journey to see her. It was time WELL spent.

The drive was beautiful! I was getting sleepy and searched aimlessly for a Starbucks, but couldn't find one! I thought Starbucks were everywhere! Well, Mr. Starbucks, how about planting some down 95 past Fredricksburg?

I was greeted with big kisses from her two dogs, which by the way, are very cute. They became my pals over the weekend and were very sad to see me go. Seriously, droopy eyes, hanging tail, the works.

On Saturday night we went to church for a gathering, which happened to be a fondue and board game gathering. I was dipping all different things into chocolate. Who knew that pineapple tasted great in chocolate??? We then played a 3 hour game of Phase 10 and gave up because we were getting silly and really bored. Sunday night we went shopping at Kohls. We were there for 3 HOURS! Our buggy was so full we couldn't get through the aisles. I totaled the ticketed prices. $490. I spent $81. Savings=$310. WOOHOOOOOO!

Our morning started very early on Monday, as Emily, her friend Katrina, and I ventured off to a taping of the 700 Club. Yep....you read right. The 700 Club. BUT the reason we were there was because MercyMe was going to be on the show and it was a live taping! So, we got to enjoy good old Pat Robertson and MercyMe!! They only did one song, which was a bummer, but we got to enjoy pictures and autographs afterwards. Em was bummed that she didn't dress as a "groupie" in her MercyMe shirt and get it signed. Maybe next time, Em! Keep looking for those ads in the paper!

I think my favorite time of the WHOLE weekend was when Em and I jammed, like old times. I brought my guitar with me and we spent about 1/2 hour just praising God and singing together. Em was the one who made me fall in love with playing the guitar and we've been singing together for awhile now. Every time we were home from college together, Em and I did special music at church. We would sit in our rooms in Carter's Bottom and just strum and sing our hearts out. We have our favorites--ones we've sang together every time we are together. Ones we've mastered the harmonies on. Your Love is Life to Me by Avalon is our utmost favorite. Best friends shouldn't have to live so far apart or spend so much time away from each other. But, best friends also have the ability to find where they belong in each others' lives, no matter how much things change. Em, Salad Shooter, Aaron---I love you. I love you with all of my heart. Thank you so much.

Content Watch: The Thorn in my Flesh

It's Friday and school is out! I was only at school 3 days this week, seeing that the flu was trying to wake me up and urge me to the bathroom Tuesday morning around 5:15am. I argued with the flu for about 20 mins. I WILL not throw up. I WILL not throw up. I lost that argument and was sick for the next 16 hours. Wednesday was spent recovering, trying to convince my stomach that food was NOT evil and that it was okay to keep things there. I returned to school Thursday, feeling as if I did sit-ups for 2 days straight while missing school. I hurt that bad.

I come back to school to see that the level of filtering on websites has been increased on our computers, which prevented me from using ANYTHING worthwhile for my class. It's SOO frustrating. It has really become the thorn in my flesh. I don't have internet at home, so school is the only place that I can check my email. It won't even let me in to Google or Yahoo. I can't change my settings on this blog because it says there is "Adult/Mature" content on that page and it wants to protect me. WHAT?!??!?!! How in the WORLD is there Adult content on the SETTINGS tab???

Every picture I wanted for my reading chapters, any news websites, any videos for making my classroom "come alive" are blocked! There was even a blocking on the United Streaming Website which the school subscribes to for us to use! It just really makes me frustrated. I know, protecting the kids. I know, I know. We have computer gerus at this school and we haven't figured out that we need to make the kids log in when working on the computer???


Grrrr......

And your name will be written in the Book of Life...

Today, as I look through blurry eyes and as tears roll down my cheeks, I praise the Lord. I praise Him from the highest mountain. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord GOD Almighty!!!!!! I praise Him for He has given us grace and mercy and love that we don't deserve. I praise Him for the unfairness He lays before us. It is not fair that we get to have salvation. It is unfair that He chose ME to be one of His children. He chose me.

He also chose Alivia, Shardae and Hannah, three girls in my 5th Grade class. I was just bombarded with the news. I came back from my PE class, and Alivia yells to me, "MS. PEFFER, I GOT SAVED!!!!!!" Shock filled my face and I couldn't believe it. I gave her a hug and told her how excited I was. Behind her, Shardae said, SO DID I!! Another hug, another look of amazement. Shardae's a reserved girl, not one to fill me in on news. This was big. Then I hear from somebody else that Hannah got saved too! Everyone was talking about it, telling me the news of what had happened. 3 new children of God. 3 precious young babes in Christ, wanting to proclaim the news.

It wasn't just an invitation at the end of Bible class. They were talking about fears and about Jehosopaht. After Bible was over, the 3 asked Ann if they could talk about it. They voluntarily missed RECESS to talk to Ann about salvation. You know it's real if a 5th grader wants to miss recess to assure their salvation. She kept giving them choices, letting it be their decision, not her pushing. Children love to please and will do what you ask. Even say a prayer for salvation. I feel that these girls are genuine. I can't wait to see the changes He is going to do in their lives over the next 5 months.

Please praise God for their salvation. Please pray that they will flee Satan's temptation. Pray that their homes will be a place they can grow. I don't think any of them have believers as parents. Pray that we will be great guides and help as much as we can. Pray that they will tell people and that they will choose to be baptized next Wednesday in front of the whole elementary school.

Oh Lord, you are so good. Thank you for calling them to You. Thank you. Thank you.

HOORAY!!!!!!!!

SALLY'S HOME! Praise the Lord! It has been a hard road...(haha...road, car... get it?) but I'm on the other side of it now. They only had to fix the first thing and if it doesn't act up again, then I'm home free! Everything's not perfect on it, there is still hesitation when I step on the gas and Jay says I should take it in, but the last thing I want to do is put my car in the garage AGAIN.
I told my kids about the good news and they all clapped and praised God with me. It was priceless. A mom even wrote me an email, telling me that her daughter told her I had a rough day and that she was thinking about me. I found out a couple other parents heard of my distress too.....oh kids...