What would I do if you weren't here?

A student left the following letter on my desk:

Dear Mrs. Thornal,
Thank you for cheering me up when I was crying the other day. You are always there for me. Thats why you and Mrs. _________ are my favorite teachers. What would I do if you weren't here? I'd probably throw up thats what I'd do. God Bless you.
Love,
____________

Haha. . . Isn't that too cute?! I love that girl!

A Fourth Grader's Reasoning Skills

Today I was teaching my class how to fold and cut paper to make a book that does not require staples. While I was in the middle of explaining the instructions one of my students called out (with an attitude):

"Mrs. Thornal! Can't you please just be quiet so I can think!"

WHOA! If I had been quick on my feet I could have responded to the usually chatty girl with, "Can't you please just be quiet while I try to teach?" Good grief! When I talked to her about this later, she responded with, "Well at least I said please."

Looking back on the situation I can laugh, but at the time I didn't find it so funny.

My Kids Made the News

Today my fourth graders participated in a video conference with a local weatherman. In their eyes he's a celebrity. One of my students told me how nervous he was about meeting someone so famous. :)

The video conference went surprisingly well and the kids seemed to really enjoy it. After all, who doesn't like to learn about tornadoes and thunderstorms? The weatherman even spent 20 minutes answering questions that the students had prepared for him. One of the questions that the kids thought was most important to ask was "What do you do if a tornado is coming towards the news station?"

About ten minutes into the conference, the weatherman asked us to wait just a second while he listened to the information that was coming to him through his earpiece. He then announced that our county was just put under a tornado watch. It was serious, not just a part of his show, and the wide-eyed look on some of the kids' faces was priceless. How appropriate for a conference named Project Tornado!

At the end of the video conference a group picture was taken so it could be aired on the evening news tonight. Let me tell you, that's a pretty cool thing when you're in elementary school.

Here's a picture of the group, all 60 of them, holding up their weather booklets during the conference. Below the picture is a statement the weatherman put on his website in regards to our group. I must say that I am quite proud of them!

Super job! This was a well-prepared group of 4th graders. I am always impressed with students who come to the session so well prepared. Thank you so much for sharing these students with me. I have to get to the studio now and check on the latest updates on the weather system that is moving into our area. Kudos!

Uh-oh

I'm experiencing buyer's remorse :( This is normal, right? I'm so used to being able to take things back if I'm even the slightest bit doubtful. Returning a house isn't so easy. . . .

Quick Update

Not a whole lot has been going on, but I thought it was about time for an update:

Eric and I went to Houston for Valentine's weekend. It was so nice to get away! We saw Coraline in 3-D, hence the above picture. The movie was a bit on the strange side, but I still enjoyed it and Eric stayed awake the majority of the time. We also visited the Bodyworlds exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The exhibit featured numerous displays of plastinized cadavers. Romantic, I know! It was also on this weekend that I officially become a Banana Republic fan.

I received this lovely arrangement at school on Tuesday. It was from Eric just because he was thinking about me. :) By the way, he has a blog now. The more you comment, the more he'll write.

And finally, we are beginning to see progress on our new house. It was "released" today, whatever that means. We will be meeting with our builder next Friday for the first of several meetings that we will have throughout the building process. Yay!

What to do with a Wedding Dress. . .

Even though Eric and I have been married for a year and a half, we STILL haven't gotten all of our stuff moved out of our parents' houses. This summer when we move into our new home, I plan to finally get all of our belongings under one roof.

One thing that is still at my parents' house is my wedding dress. As soon as the wedding was over, it was zipped up in its bag and hasn't seen the light of day since then. I haven't even had it cleaned! That's awful, I know. . . .

Anyway, I've been thinking about what I should do with my dress, aside from getting it cleaned, of course. I hate for it to just take up closet space, but I don't think I can bear to part with it either. What have you done with your wedding dress? Or, what do you plan to do with it?

No biggie, there's just ice on the road.

Issued by The National Weather Service
Bell County, TX
5:31 am CST, Wed., Jan. 28, 2009

... SLICK AND ICY ROADS AND WALKWAYS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH LATE MORNING...

Did TISD delay school?

No.

I was counting on the ice for a couple extra hours of sleep. :(

Update:

Eric just went outside to see how much ice was on his truck. He can't even get his truck door open. Haha! I told him he should call his principal and tell her he'll be late. :)