My Mom

I passed by this sign last week, and just died laughing. If you are any bit sarcastic like my family, then you will get the humor. Of course my mother's response was, "Well, look what I had to work with."

With all humor aside, my mother has truly done her best! She gives the greatest hugs, which always seem to take the trouble away, or be the encouragement that you needed. She has instilled in us a true sense of family, many times we were all each other had when moving every 2-3 years. She has such a giving heart, that it has spread to her children (well maybe the first one, but ran out before the other two). :) She has the greatest laugh that is contagious to all! She always has the strongest will. She has shown us that it's okay to be down for a little while, but that we always need to see the brighter side. She is such an amazing woman, that I hope to one day be like her.

Shoe Disaster, NO MORE!!!

I've always seemed to have a shoe conundrum. Every time I was trying to find a shoe in my closet, I would catch myself saying, "Where is this shoe's match?" or "I know that one pair of shoes was in that direction,now where are they?". So I started this project; I went to Dollar Tree one weekend and bought 20 boxes, thinking that would be more than enough. Sadly, I was back in the car less than 10 minutes later to buy 23 more. I put each pair into its own box, took pictures of each one, and taped it to the box. It's absolutely a dream! I no longer have to search for shoes, everything is organized, and it was relatively cheap!

It's sad how far back I had to stand from my closet, just to get all of the boxes in the picture.

P.S. Of course my husband freaked out when he saw how many pairs I had. Apparently, "Yes, but a bunch of them are just flip-flops, and I got them before we got married" doesn't seem to be a valid excuse to a guy.

Emotional Roller Coaster

This past week and weekend has been an emotional roller coaster, with family and work. Everyone got together this weekend for my grandparents' memorial, which of course had it's sad moments, but was heavily outweighed by the good ones. Unfortunately, my emotions don't get a break yet. This Tuesday and Wednesday, my students take the Math and Reading TAKS test. My nerves are shot, and I'm pretty sure that God is tired of hearing from me every 5 seconds. On a brighter note, I thought that I would share some pictures of my family from this weekend.

David and I, and all the other grandkids went to watch the youngest one win his first baseball game for this season. We always knew we were good luck!

All of the grandkids, including David and Taylor (who have married into family). Feel extremely sorry for them!

The Trower/Leach kiddos

I never realized before, how much we all have our mother's cheeks.

While we were gone, Daisy Mae stayed with David's parents. She must have been kept pretty spoiled all weekend, because this is how she's been all day!

Please keep my students in your prayers this week!

The Center of our World

Many people ask if I have children. I tell them, 'Yes, I have a four year old named Daisy Mae.' At this point many are looking at me crazy because who would name their child that. Unfortunately, they do not question how a young thing, such as myself, could have a four year old. I then continue to tell them that she is our dog, but very much like a child. She talks back, she pouts, she begs, she fills our day with joy, and loves us unconditionally! I absolutely love this dog, and we're so lucky that she was brought into our lives!!!
She is quite the Daddy's Girl, and always seems to get her way with David. Once again the order of our house in her eyes: David, Daisy Mae, and then myself.

I seem to be that mother that never stops asking questions or annoying her.

I make sure that she is properly dressed for every occasion/holiday. David wants nothing to do with this, and continually informs me that she may need counseling for this.

And we wouldn't pass up a moment to celebrate each year we get with her! It's been tradition, starting with Major, that they wear a birthday hat for at least one picture on their day. Unfortunately, she's too smart and fast, because she has learned how to start running for the hills the second she sees it coming her way. Kind of like a teenager seeing their parents in the mall or anywhere else, and sprinting in the other direction.

John 11: 25-26

Over this past week and weekend, my Granny and Papaw (Mom's parents) went home to be with God. I know that they both are thrilled to be with their many brothers and sisters, and parents again. Granny has probably started a cleaning crew to begin dusting the gates into heaven, while Papaw is partying 24/7. I know that they continue to live on in a better place, and I am grateful to God that they are no longer suffering.
So Granny and Papaw, enjoy the peace and quiet for a while, because one day the crazy crew will once again be with you!

Performance Based Pay

I fully believe that teachers should be held accountable for what goes on in our classroom, and the amount of learning our children gain in a year. We all understand that an easy way to be able to monitor a teacher's effectiveness is to have something that will give you simple data. The state/federal system is right, a multiple choice answer test will give you simple data. Although from a teacher's point-of-view, I fear the mention of performance based pay. Here are the reasons why.

Here's one thing that those higher up don't get. Reading/Social Studies teachers will no longer teach anything but how to read a passage, and then answer a question by picking and choosing one answer out of 4 given ones. Math/Science teachers will no longer teach through exploring and coming up with answers on your own, they will show you how to read a question and then pick and choose one answer out of 4 given ones. How do I know this? Because this is every teacher at least a month before their state assessment.

Here's a second thing that they don't get. This test is given and looked at based off of one day in my classroom. On any given day here are some of the things that my students might deal with: getting kicked out of their apartment because they couldn't pay rent, dad/mom (usually there is just a mom) didn't come home last night for whatever reason, I had to get my brother/sister up, breakfast eaten, and ready for school that's why I'm late and couldn't get myself ready, we didn't have any food in the house and I'm really hungry, gun shots woke me up last night (literally one of my student's experiences last year), my dad/mom was taken to jail yesterday now we live with person (another real life experience), and the list could continue. You can not judge my students nor myself based solely on one test. If you want to judge me and my students, give them a test at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year, and the end of the year and see how they grow. Those that make and administer these tests don't seem to take into account how these external factors can affect a student's situation.

Here's a third thing that they don't get. Are these student's college professors going to give them only muliple choice answer test? I can't even begin to tell you how many blue books I had to buy in college, and I had to be able to write a complete sentence. Are these student's job applications going to be multiple choice options? "Please choose out of the following answer choices as to why we should hire you." Are the situations that these students are likely to face in their careers going to consist of multiple choice answers? "I'm going to need for you to circle the correct answer choice for the following proposal by next Tuesday." If I try to do anything creative in my class, I get the deer in the headlights look for at least an hour. If I give my students a multiple choice answer test, it will be done within minutes. My students HATE me, because I make them answer all questions using complete sentences, and then I show them the multiple choice answers and have them match theirs up with the one given.

I fear our country will slowly begin to decline in advanced thinking. All due to the fact that our future leaders are not being challenged to be thinkers, they are being challenged to be test takers. Life does not present you with four clear choices to every problem.

Eleven more Mondays

I'm sad to see Spring Break end, it never seems like enough time. I joked with everyone that I believe God cut the hours in our day from 24 to 15. I'm quite serious, and continually talk to him about this. While on a good note, he's brought to my attention that I only have 11 more Mondays until summer.
My Spring Break started off with spending a great time with my parents and sister. The only thing that was missing was David and Paul. David had to stay and work. He says he has to work extra hard, and try to make enough money to support my spending habits while I'm off from work. I believe I saw a few posters with my picture and the headlines 'Don't Sell to this Girl for ANY Reason!' at a few Targets and Sonics. Daisy Mae went with me, and of course loved the spoiled time from her grandparents. Everything to them was so cute, we are still having to re-train her. David on the other hand was not used to how quiet the house is without us girls. In fact, I think he actually missed us and our noises (even the bitching).
I came back on Monday afternoon, to spend the next few days on our back porch reading books, daily attending Sonic's Happy Hour (What a rush that is! A large for .80$, can't get better than that.), having to go to Target daily, getting frozen yogurt with the greatest niece and nephew, all followed by more reading on the porch. I had the greatest time, and the best weather to enjoy it in.
On Friday, David and I dropped Daisy Mae off at her other grandparent's house and headed to the Hilton that is only 15 miles away. Although we were in the same town, it was so relaxing. We walked the trail around the hotel, actually had conversations that were not interupted, went to a nice dinner, sat in a hot tub, had dessert and champagne, and had breakfast the next morning. I would highly recommend this to anyone who feels like they need to get away from the hum-drum of everyday life.
This weekend, was filled with planting flowers, dinner with family, church with friends, more shopping, and just enjoying life. I'm so truly blessed to have had a wonderful Spring Break and am so grateful to everyone that helped me enjoy it! You all will never be able to know how much I needed it. So now here's to 11 more Mondays...