Tales of a Fourth Grade Speller

Gosh!! Wouldn't it be wonderful if English was actually spelled phonetically? You can hardly blame some of these kids for spelling these words the way they did! On the other hand, for some of them, I just thought, "What???"

For example:

Americans-- "amirkens" "amarasons" "amarasans" "amercans"

certain-- "sertain" "sertin" "serten" "sertien" "crtan" "certan" "surten" "certent"

built-- "bulit" "bilte" "bilt" "bult" "bledt" "bildt"

first-- "frist" "ferst"

animal-- "anamal" "anaml" "animale" "anamle" "anamil" "andmes" "anainll"

front-- "frunt" "frount" "forant"

always-- "allwayas" "alwas" "allwes" "awals"

together-- "toeter" "toghter"

several-- "sevrial" "sevral" "seval" "sevale"

I think I take for granted the fact that spelling is easy for me :)

Things I Got Done Today

1. Taught five small groups
2. Went to the doctor.
3. Found a BP gas station to use up our gift card.
4. Dropped off books at the library (some were...um...WAY late)
5. Dropped off paperwork at the District center.
6. Got a badge (FINALLY) at the District center.
7. Went to Sonic for happy hour, felt I deserved it after the doctor.
8. Got fingerprinted AGAIN for Idaho...grrrrrrrr. If I have to pay to get fingerprinted ONE MORE TIME...
9. Grocery shopping. A little bit. Did end up buying two of those huge bags of Hershey's assorted chocolate because they were HALF OFF! Can't get out of grocery shopping without chocolate!
10. Cooked tacos for dinner. Todd perfected the guacamole.
11. Did a few minutes of Spanish with Todd.
12. Watched American Idol from SLC!!!

NOW: Falling exhausted into bed, wondering how people get everything done.

Topeka Yummy (and not so yummy) Reviews

Dimple Donuts
(these are just pictures of donuts below)Todd and I had had a Dimple Donut at a ward activity, and Todd had one at school, and we were both feeling like donuts, so we thought we'd head over for a Friday afternoon date and check them out. YUMMY! We went to the one located near 21st and Gage and really enjoyed them. I love filling in my donuts, so I got blueberry filling, chocolate creme filling, and a boston kreme. SO GOOD! Todd enjoyed his glazed and Boston Creme donuts. So, if you ever have a donut craving...they are 69 cents each, and 3.99 for a half dozen.

Sheridan's Frozen Custard

Not only did we want donuts, but I had been craving custard all day, which is weird for me, so Todd decided we had better capitalize on that. We headed over to Sheridan's, which is on 29th near Wanamaker and order a Red Velvet Crush custard.
Oh. My. Gosh.
We LOOOOOVED it. We gobbled it down, enjoying custard mixed with fresh raspberries, cream cheese frosting, and chocolate sprinkles. And it was mixed well! In fact, it was so good, we headed BACK today! We got the Mt. Rushmore custard, which is custard mixed with hot fudge, marshmallow creme, and graham crackers.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Completely worth a bit of priciness, we highly recommend Sheridan's!

Daddy Cakes

Todd and I had heard about Daddy Cakes as well, and supposedly they had gotten some good publicity recently, so we headed over before Christmas to try them out. We tried the margarita flavored cupcake, which was yellow cake, with cranberry frosting. It was pretty good! We then tried the Retro...and it was a DISASTER! Our frosting was salty. I mean, REALLY salty. We couldn't finish it, and we were really disappointed. They were sold out of the daddy sized cupcakes, so it was just a regular cake, but we had paid 1.99 for a gross cupcake.

So, Todd went back in after Christmas break to talk to the manager and see if we could try it again or get our money back. We happened to go back a day they were offering free cupcakes, and it also happened to be a Retro again. They told Todd a manager would call him back about the cupcake (they never did) and we tried our Retros again. Mine was delicious, but Todd had none of the creme filling that the cupcake promised. Boo. So, go to Daddy Cakes at your own risk, and if you do go, go in the morning (11 am) when they open, because they are almost always sold out of most things by 5. We were sad to have a bad experience, and we have decided that a 2.50 cupcake is just not worth it...we hope your experience is/was better!

This Week's Sound Bites

I know these are funnier to me because of the context, and I know the kids, but I thought I would record them for memories sake.(names have been changed to protect the innocent and/or silly)

A: Mrs. T., our class fish birthed some babies! It was pregnant!

Me: D, what's wrong with you?
D: I heard gunshots outside my house last night, and the night before.

T: I saw on TV that they found Sasquatch! He's part ape, and part possum! (makes ick face)

Me: What number times 24 equals 356?
Various answers: 3! 1000! (Yes, we are way off. These are 4th graders, by the way.)

E: Hey, the answers spell B-E-O-C-H! BEOCH! (yep the kids thought he swore, too, but he really wasn't trying to, he was just excited he could "read" the letters)

One of my vocab words for my reading group this week was "dammed." Of course. So you can imagine how that went with immature fourth-graders.

Me (doing a compare and contrast activity): So, let's write "monkeys eat bananas."
L then breaks out into a Gwen Stefani version "B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!"

And of course, there were the smattering of conversations on Inauguration Day about how lucky the little Obama girls are. And they are. Most of these kids can only dream about J. Crew coats, private schools, and two parents.

Better rest up this weekend, a whole nother week is coming full of more interesting conversations with the fourth and fifth graders of Topeka!

I'm sorry, but Chris Matthews on MSNBC seriously just said "...a new president, as bright and fresh as the sunshine."

I thought the inauguration was fun to watch, but "as bright and fresh as the sunshine"????

Is that ALL you got, Chris Matthews?

I, too, am excited to see if Barack Obama will fix things as he's planned, but I can NOT wait for the news to get back to, well, the news (I mean, couldn't MSNBC stand for a LITTLE less absolute adoration of the new President? Has he done ANYTHING yet besides win the election? Did I miss something?).

That is all.

P.S. The ex-band geek inside of me is thinking that the parade would have been totally awesome to be in :)

For Dad, Granny and the Rodinos

Yay!!! A Super Bowl with a team I actually CARE about! Great game tonight Steelers...not to rub it in the face of all of my Maryland friends cheering for the Ravens...like we say at school, Too bad, so sad!

Sooo...I can be a little bit klutzy. I think sometimes my depth perception gets scadywompus, and so I run into things. So, for example, this morning, as I was getting out of bed, I hit my head on the windowsill. Luckily no goose eggs, but it's not the most pleasant way to say HELLO! to the day (especially a nice, relaxing Sunday morning).

I made it through the day fairly unscathed, although during one of the church prayers, Todd and I were standing outside in the foyer, and as soon as I closed my eyes I about fell over. Dizziness? Maybe. Being terrible at standing in heels? Quite possibly. Klutziness? Yeah, there was definitely some of that thrown in there. I had to listen to the prayer with my eyes open. Which is okay, because apparently LOTS of people do that.

So we got home and were cleaning up from dinner. I went to grab the oil, and my hands weren't even slippery or anything! But the bottle must have been, because it started to slip through my fingers. Luckily, I have quick reflexes or it would have been all over the floor. I grabbed and thought I was okay. I didn't plan for the backlash of oil, because as I grabbed, the oil splashed up...up...and ALL OVER ME. I am sad I didn't get photographic evidence but that was because I had oil soaking my shirt, dripping on the floor, dripping DOWN my neck and shirt, and covering my necklace. I yelled for backup (aka hubby) and he came running, probably thinking that I had cut myself with a knife because he thinks someday I will chop off my fingers, even though I have given him no reason to believe I would do that...

Anyway, moral of the story: Don't spill olive oil on yourself. It is slimy and gross. It will soak all over your clothes. It gets sticky. Don't give in to your inner klutz!

Thanks Tom Hanks...

...for damaging my respect for you.

Well, friends, it is getting cold here in Kansas. I can't say I'm too happy about subzero wind chills, but I can't choose the weather, can I? But walking outside at 7:20 am in 9 degrees is SOOO not my favorite. I like it temperate, like my Delaware and Boise weather!

The cold weather always turns me to comfort foods. Some of my favorites are:

1. Soup. I LOOOOVE soup. I will eat soup any time of year. I even like Ramen (a habit from college I just can't shake!) I especially like my soups creamy, and with STUFF in them. STUFF includes potatoes, corn, bacon, clams, etc. YUM!

2. I have recently discovered quiche. I don't usually eat breakfast-y stuff for dinner (or at all, for that matter), but I really like the omelet like concoction with a crust. Plus, its easy to make and really hard to mess up!

3. Popcorn. I eat it all the time. Like, 4 times a week. I love popcorn, combined with LOTS of butter and salt. I am an addict.

4. Garlic bread. Is that weird? If I don't have French bread, or the heat it up stuff you get at Wal-Mart, I'll just toast a piece of bread and put some butter and garlic salt on it. When we have it for dinner, I always eat twice as much as Todd.

5. For that matter, many a bread product is comfort food for me. Rolls, breadsticks, pretzels, croissants, etc.

6. Ice cream. Just kidding. Ice cream is NOT a comfort food for me. It seems to go on everyone else's lists though, so I wanted to fit in. But ice cream is coldddddd, and while definitely yummy, my tummy just cannot handle its dairy goodness. If I had a normal system, it would probably REALLY be on the list.

7. Any candy with peanut butter. I used to love peanut butter before PB and J's starting making me feel ick, so now I stick to Butterfingers and Peanut Butter Cups...it's so much better for me, right?

I am an absolute believer that one of our greatest blessings on this earth is the ability to EAT and ENJOY food. Some of my most "trying" times have been when I have had mouth issues that made eating uncomfortable--aka wisdom teeth removal and root canals, canker sores, and burning my mouth with a fork real bad making smores on the gas oven(I had fork tine-shaped burn marks on my lips for a week. Don't ask.). Amen!

How I Know We Are Living in a Video Game World

Me to a group of 4th graders: What does the word "hard" mean?

Kid 1: When you can't do something.
Kid 2: When you can't reach a certain level of RAW wrestling.

Me: What is that, a video game?
Kid 2: Yeah, its really hard! I can't do it!

Me: What are some other things in your life that are hard?
Kid 3: Like when I'm playing this one game, and I can't beat this guy.
Me: Anything else besides video games?
Kid 1: No, my video games are really hard!

I guess I was expecting some pretty brutally honest answers about a family member dying, or getting taken from their home, or seeing dad in jail, you know, the typical things these kids go though...so it was almost a happy accident that they all thought VIDEO GAMES were the hardest part of their life. Ah kids.

I am still pending on the Gettysburg post, but for now you get this:

The Thomason Top 10 of 2008
(in no particular order, I am not OCD enough for that)

1. Todd getting into law school! Yay!

2. Me graduating...Yay more!
3. The birth of our VERY FIRST nephew and niece, Ari Thomas McCabe, and Mckenzie Kay Peterson.
4. Our ski trip to Ogden Canyon...getting 12 inches of snow in one night
(yes, I fell. Yes, my pole is like 5 feet in front of me. When I fall, I go BIG! Usually I lose my skis too. Okay I only fall like once or twice a ski day)
5. Our spring break trip to the Grand Canyon, Zions National Park, St. George, Las Vegas, and Hoover Dam.
6. Our Christmas break trip to Pennsylvania and Maryland.

7. Our visit to Palmyra and Kirtland(in front of the Palmyra temple)

8. Our move to Topeka from Columbus, and our move from Boise to Columbus.(Old Man's Cave, in Lancaster, OH)

9. My job offer!

10. We celebrated our 2nd anniversary :)

Hershey

A trip to PA wouldn't be complete without a visit to Hershey's Chocolate World. Growing up, we'd go visit all the time, sometimes visiting the rollercoaster park as well. They give a free simulated tour of their chocolate factory, which is always fun, followed up by a free sample of a new product....Yum!

Oops, forget to flip this one. We are standing outside the factory.

Once the ride is over, they, of course, dump you out into the store, which is filled with Hershey's products. Everything is so tempting! We got the Hershey's chocolate pie...which was covered in the most delicious whipped cream I've ever had! Unfortunately, it all got thrown up that night. I get weird rebound sicknesses after I've been sick the first time, and I think my body just couldn't handle the richness!

On the ride. The singing cows were new!

Todd on the walkway down to the ride. Milton Hershey and his wife couldn't have children, so they donated part of their fortune (60 million) to a boarding school when they died. That school still runs today. Also part of Hershey is a medical school and some other enterprises. We also toured the Hershey lights, which took us almost an hour in the car! We had a great time with our 3-D glasses that made all the lights look like snowflakes. We especially enjoyed the fairy tale-themed section.
This is the only picture we have from tubing--on the way to Roundtop in the car. Jess, Joey, Jacob, Todd and I bundled up and loaded up into the car. It was so foggy we couldn't see five feet in front of the car, so it was an adventure traveling on those windy PA roads up the mountain! We had a fabulous time tubing, nearly getting knocked out and running over the tubing workers. We stayed for two hours and had a great time!

Christmas Morning

Our parents dog, Sally, got a chipmunk roadkill for Christmas. Which is kind of what Todd and I felt like Christmas morning. Around 10 am Christmas Eve morning, Todd got sick, and I followed with horrible stomach cramps about three hours later. We both lay miserable and sick for the rest of the day. I didn't start throwing up until that evening, which is really depressing, considering that I love Christmas Eve, and my mom usually cooks some yummy stuff. Suffice it to say, we groggily woke up Christmas morning, were up long enough to open presents, and then headed back to bed.

Todd received a James Bond Scene-It game, as well as Volume One of the James Bond movies. He grew up watching Bond, and so we'll have to see how much he knows! We are excited to take it to Idaho so he can play with his family. He also got some Nike pants, ,pajamas, a C.S. Lewis book, a book in Spanish/English (more on that later!), a shirt, and some tools.
Jess, Joey and Ari opening presents. My mom conveniently covered her face with the baby. We Rosses are not so photogenic.

Woo hoo! Popcorn popper! I am addicted to popcorn. I could eat it everyday, but I try not to cuz I dump ridiculous amounts of butter and salt on it, which isn't that great for you. I also got some Adidas gear (to encourage exercising!), pajamas, new Nike shoes, a fluffy blanket, lotion, and an Itunes gift card. We received a Nativity from my parents, which is perfect because we don't have one yet.

Jacob opening one of his presents. Those boys are so spoiled. Jacob got Guitar Hero, Ian got MarioKart and an Ipod Nano. We really enjoyed playing MarioKart together...my steering skills are rusty!

I was feeling well enough to go see Twilight Christmas Day with my mom and Jess. I have to say, I liked it! I wasn't such a big fan of the girl that played Bella, and Edward was almost creepy (but preeetttty) , but I really liked the rest of the cast. The Forks kids seemed like real high schoolers, Jacob and his dad were what I thought they would be, and I LOVED the rest of the Cullen family and wished I could have seen more of them. I was surprised by Jasper, his character made me laugh. I almost wish the movie could have been longer, because it felt like they went from learning Edward was a vampire to being madly in love realllllly fast. However, I could suspend my disbelief for a few hours, and we all had a lot of fun. I also enjoyed the music in the movie as well.

In the beginning...

Before we left for PA, I graduated. Yay! I graduated in spirit this time, because a trip back to Boise just to graduate was neither plausible nor desirable. Once is enough, right? Below are my 5th grade kiddos. We had a lot of fun, mixed together with a lot of confusion, hormones, and throwing of chairs...just what student teaching should be!

For our Topeka friends, Todd and I also celebrated the end of his first semester, and the end of my university career with dinner at Boss Hawg's. We had DELICIOUS barbecue...I highly recommend the chimichange with beef brisket...amazing! We also opened a few presents from Todd's parents...Thank you Sandra and Nicholas!

We then commenced on a two-day trip to PA. We were extremely grateful for great, if not ridiculously cold, weather. We finally warmed up in Ohio, just in time to wave at our old home of Columbus. The only snow we hit was high up on the PA Turnpike, but the roads weren't slick. It was almost enjoyable to have Todd in the car to myself for two days...sharing him with law school has been trying for me!

It was awesome being with my family. We visited them briefly in June two weeks after Ari was born, and he's grown a lot. We instantly fell in love with him. He is the cutest, happiest baby ever.

He and Todd share a "moment" here. The Thomason household likes naps, and it seems Ari does too!

He is six months old. I affectionately referred to him as "P.V." P.V. is short for "projectile vomiter." I got threw up on three times in two hours. You would think I would learn....

P.V. is also short for "pee-wee vampire." I had just seen Twilight with my mom and sister and I decided that Ari would enjoy taking a bite out of our shoulders.

See the drool? Yep, thats Peewee Vampire at work.

I said I was going to post about Christmas, and I am.

But I am just SO TIRED from work! It's not that work is necessarily hard (especially when I know I am earning money!), but I'm still adjusting to getting up early instead of sleeping in. I am a sleeping bum, I love sleeping in until 9 or 10 am, so 6:15 is quite the stretch for me. Hopefully I will be cured before I have children!

Anyway, I got pictures to facebook so that's a start!

Get Ready for the Deluge

Whew!! Todd and I made it safely back to Topeka, KS and we had a FABULOUS trip to my parents house in PA with a short side trip to my Granny's house in Ocean Pines, MD. We ate, we drank, we got food poisoning (YES! On Christmas Eve, no less!), we tubed, we Wii'ed, and ate some more.

More to come when I've got the pictures all loaded and ready to go!

Happy New Year!