friend: hey! is that your teacher?
student: yeah
friend: aw man I wish MY teacher would come see me play. Your teacher is awesome! You're so lucky.
I looked back at my student and he was just beaming.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Reasons I love my job
This morning I went to see one of my students play in his football game. At the end of the game I was giving him a hug and telling him goodbye when one of his little friends standing nearby overheard us talking and walked over ...
friend: hey! is that your teacher?
student: yeah
friend: aw man I wish MY teacher would come see me play. Your teacher is awesome! You're so lucky.
I looked back at my student and he was just beaming.
friend: hey! is that your teacher?
student: yeah
friend: aw man I wish MY teacher would come see me play. Your teacher is awesome! You're so lucky.
I looked back at my student and he was just beaming.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Christmas Vacation
I am SO excited about Christmas break this year!
One of Tony's good friends, Kyle, and his wife Jacky, rented a super fancy RV to take a 2 week trip to Colorado over Christmas break (I'm talking multiple bedrooms, heated floors kinda fancy). The four of us went to the gun range yesterday, and then out to lunch afterwards. At lunch, Jacky and Kyle invited us to join them for a leg of their trip. So, I spent the evening coordinating with Jacky, and working out flight arrangements with my dad to make this possible
I was already going to be in Denver the 22-26th for Christmas. Now, instead of flying back on the 26th, Tony is going to fly up to Denver to join me (thanks Dad for getting my flight changed, and using the miles to get Tony to Denver instead!), and we are going to meet up with Jacky and Kyle in Breckenridge to spend a few days playing there then road trip back to Texas in the RV with them! I'm so excited! I get to see my family for Christmas and go snowboarding with them, AND I get to go on an awesome road trip with friends. I seriously cannot wait for Christmas break now! So much fun ahead! :)
One of Tony's good friends, Kyle, and his wife Jacky, rented a super fancy RV to take a 2 week trip to Colorado over Christmas break (I'm talking multiple bedrooms, heated floors kinda fancy). The four of us went to the gun range yesterday, and then out to lunch afterwards. At lunch, Jacky and Kyle invited us to join them for a leg of their trip. So, I spent the evening coordinating with Jacky, and working out flight arrangements with my dad to make this possible
I was already going to be in Denver the 22-26th for Christmas. Now, instead of flying back on the 26th, Tony is going to fly up to Denver to join me (thanks Dad for getting my flight changed, and using the miles to get Tony to Denver instead!), and we are going to meet up with Jacky and Kyle in Breckenridge to spend a few days playing there then road trip back to Texas in the RV with them! I'm so excited! I get to see my family for Christmas and go snowboarding with them, AND I get to go on an awesome road trip with friends. I seriously cannot wait for Christmas break now! So much fun ahead! :)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Dewberry Farm
Last week we took the kids on our annual field trip to Dewberry Farm (have I mentioned how much I LOVE that place?!? SO fun!!). The bus ride is actually pretty long for first grade standards. It takes about 40 minutes so by the time we get there the kids are usually getting pretty antsy. We were almost there when one of my cute little boys turns around and asks:
"Ms. McCormack, how much longer until we get there?"
"We're almost there D"
"*big sigh* I hate when people say almost!"
we then round the corner so we can see the farm
"Look D, we're here"
"Wow, that really was almost!!"
too cute!
We had a great day at the farm, just like last year. The kids had a blast even though it was FREEZING cold and incredibly windy!
"Ms. McCormack, how much longer until we get there?"
"We're almost there D"
"*big sigh* I hate when people say almost!"
we then round the corner so we can see the farm
"Look D, we're here"
"Wow, that really was almost!!"
too cute!
We had a great day at the farm, just like last year. The kids had a blast even though it was FREEZING cold and incredibly windy!
Tony's Halloween Costume
I know it's been a number of weeks since Halloween, but I just haven't been in the blogging mood so this hasn't made it up yet.
I came home from school one afternoon, a few weeks before Halloween, and Tony informed me he wanted to be dead Caesar for Halloween, and he wanted me to make his costume! I was not quite sure how well this was going to turn out given that I have never sewed any type of clothing before, but he assured me I could do a better job than what he could find at the store. We spent some time picking out fabric and researching what a Roman tunic should look like (I also whipped up a toga, but that was much simpler and didn't take any time at all). When it was finally time for me to get to work on it, I was SO nervous I was going to screw it up. Tony had such faith in me, and I had no confidence at all that this project was going to be a success. I am happy to report though, that the costume turned out great! I think it turned out better than I could have hoped actually. The whole thing just came together really nicely. Tony loved it, and everyone knew who he was right away, so I would consider it a success overall. I felt so proud of myself for actually making something that not only fit him, but also looked great. Here are a few pictures so you can see how it turned out:
I came home from school one afternoon, a few weeks before Halloween, and Tony informed me he wanted to be dead Caesar for Halloween, and he wanted me to make his costume! I was not quite sure how well this was going to turn out given that I have never sewed any type of clothing before, but he assured me I could do a better job than what he could find at the store. We spent some time picking out fabric and researching what a Roman tunic should look like (I also whipped up a toga, but that was much simpler and didn't take any time at all). When it was finally time for me to get to work on it, I was SO nervous I was going to screw it up. Tony had such faith in me, and I had no confidence at all that this project was going to be a success. I am happy to report though, that the costume turned out great! I think it turned out better than I could have hoped actually. The whole thing just came together really nicely. Tony loved it, and everyone knew who he was right away, so I would consider it a success overall. I felt so proud of myself for actually making something that not only fit him, but also looked great. Here are a few pictures so you can see how it turned out:
Mad Shooting Skills
Today we went out to the gun range with Jacky and Kyle so the boys could shoot their new guns and I pretty much put them all to shame.
We started at the pistol range and I shot my .22 a few times while the boys played with Kyle's .45 and Jacky shot Kyle's .22. The boys were shooting pretty well, every shot hitting the target, but sort of all over the place, when Kyle suggested I try shooting it. I was a little nervous because that is the biggest pistol I've been around. He put three bullets in and told me to give it a try anyway. I lined up my shot, and hit the bullseye first try. The boys were shocked. I turned back around, lined up my second shot, and quite literally shot straight through my first shot hole. Lined up the third shot, and hit the same exact spot again. I turned around and all three of them had their jaws dropped. Apparently I put boys to shame with my mad shooting skills. I was pretty impressed with myself! Turns out that is a fun, powerful, gun to shoot!
Later, we went down to the rifle range. I shot my .22 for awhile but got bored because I've shot so much at 50 yards that I can pretty much put a hole in the bullseye no matter how many shots I take now. Kyle got out his AR-15, and shot a good cluster a little high and right of the bullseye. He handed it over to me and told me to try it out. I put 10 shots in a 1 inch cluster on the right side of the bullseye. Kyle says I should quite my day job and become a sniper. haha.
I also got to spend some time shooting T's AK-47 and SKS. The more I shoot, the more I find I like shooting the bigger, more powerful, guns. Such a fun hobby! Who knew I'd be so good at it?!? :)
We started at the pistol range and I shot my .22 a few times while the boys played with Kyle's .45 and Jacky shot Kyle's .22. The boys were shooting pretty well, every shot hitting the target, but sort of all over the place, when Kyle suggested I try shooting it. I was a little nervous because that is the biggest pistol I've been around. He put three bullets in and told me to give it a try anyway. I lined up my shot, and hit the bullseye first try. The boys were shocked. I turned back around, lined up my second shot, and quite literally shot straight through my first shot hole. Lined up the third shot, and hit the same exact spot again. I turned around and all three of them had their jaws dropped. Apparently I put boys to shame with my mad shooting skills. I was pretty impressed with myself! Turns out that is a fun, powerful, gun to shoot!
Later, we went down to the rifle range. I shot my .22 for awhile but got bored because I've shot so much at 50 yards that I can pretty much put a hole in the bullseye no matter how many shots I take now. Kyle got out his AR-15, and shot a good cluster a little high and right of the bullseye. He handed it over to me and told me to try it out. I put 10 shots in a 1 inch cluster on the right side of the bullseye. Kyle says I should quite my day job and become a sniper. haha.
I also got to spend some time shooting T's AK-47 and SKS. The more I shoot, the more I find I like shooting the bigger, more powerful, guns. Such a fun hobby! Who knew I'd be so good at it?!? :)
Monday, October 17, 2011
Gun Show
On Saturday I went to my first gun show. My aunt texted me and asked me to compare and contrast gun show vs quilt show. Here was my response:
Quilt Show: MUCH bigger, more colorful, more women, but way more old people
Gun Show: more men, more tattoos, more scary people, more people walking around holding guns
The gun show was actually pretty cool. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was surprised by how many hundreds of guns there were laying out in one place. Tony bought a Russian WWII gun so overall the day was a success.
Of course after the gun show we had to go to the gun range to shoot haha. I was proud of myself for trying his new gun, though I MUCH prefer to stick to my .22 haha. His gun was big and scary. It went boom, and after only two shots my shoulder was sore because it kicks so much.
Tony already has a list of classic guns he wants to buy so I'm sure this won't be the last gun show I attend haha.
Quilt Show: MUCH bigger, more colorful, more women, but way more old people
Gun Show: more men, more tattoos, more scary people, more people walking around holding guns
The gun show was actually pretty cool. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was surprised by how many hundreds of guns there were laying out in one place. Tony bought a Russian WWII gun so overall the day was a success.
Of course after the gun show we had to go to the gun range to shoot haha. I was proud of myself for trying his new gun, though I MUCH prefer to stick to my .22 haha. His gun was big and scary. It went boom, and after only two shots my shoulder was sore because it kicks so much.
Tony already has a list of classic guns he wants to buy so I'm sure this won't be the last gun show I attend haha.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Phone Conference
Yesterday I had, hands down, the funniest phone call of my life ...
Yesterday was parent teacher conference day and I had a list of parents that requested phone conferences. I dialed the first number and the student's grandmother answered the phone. She didn't speak a word of english (they are middleastern so I didn't know a word of their language either).
Grandmother: hello??
Me: Hi this is Ms. McCormack calling from JSES. May I please speak to *Susie's mother or father?
Grandmother: hello
Me: um, this is Susie's teacher ....
Grandmother: TEACHER TEACHER TEACHER (screaming!)
Me: May I please speak to Susie's mother or father?
Grandma: TEACHER TEACHER TEACHER
the grandmother then pulls the phone slightly away from her mouth and starts screaming across the house in their home language. I can hear the mother screaming back. This goes on for a good 5 minutes back and forth. Finally, a new voice picks up:
Mother: hello
Me: Hi this is Ms. McCormack, Susie's teacher, calling from JSES
Mother: hello
Grandmother (still on the line): TEACHER TEACHER TEACHER
Me: Ma'am, can you hear me?
Mother: hello. hello. hello
Grandmother: TEACHER TEACHER TEACHER TEACHER
at this point I'm not sure what to do. Obviously there is a complete language barrier here but I can't just hang up the phone on them, yet I can't tell them goodbye either. Then, a third voice picks up the phone:
Susie: hello?
Me: Oh, hi Susie.
Susie: hi Ms. McCormack. I'm so sorry, but my mom doesn't know English. She doesn't know what you are saying.
Mother (still on the line): hello. hello.
Grandmother (also still on the line): TEACHER TEACHER
Me: That's okay Susie. Does your dad speak English?
Susie: Yes, but he's at work right now. He won't get home until about 5:00
Me: okay, thanks sweetie. I was just calling to tell your mom and dad what a great job you are doing in my class.
Susie: Thank's Ms. McCormack. I'll see you at school tomorrow.
Mother: hello hello
Grandmother: TEACHER
Me: see you tomorrow Susie. Have a great day.
When I hung up the phone I literally cried I was laughing so hard. This seriously could have been on the show punk'd hahaha! Thank goodness my student picked up. What an adorable girl she is and so smart!
*names have been changed
I'm still laughing when I think about how this phone call went. Completely ridiculous.
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