Adios Woodin

Today I am MUY TRISTE (very sad). The day eventually came where I had to say goodbye to my students in the Dual Language Kindergarten at Woodin Elementary. Since the real teacher's return date kept getting extended, I didn't think this day would come, nor did I want it to. Of course in the beginning when it was pure craziness, I had different feelings! What was supposed to be 2 months turned into 5 and I only wish it was longer.

The parents planned a good-bye party for me on Thursday afternoon (Friday was a teacher work day) and I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the parents. I knew I was supposed to save "the last 30 minutes of the day" but I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I didn't know that almost EVERY parent would be coming in to say thank you and wish me good luck. At first I was completely overwhelmed having all the kids and parents in the room, but it was wonderful to say goodbye to everyone in person.

I have grown to love all of my 24 ninos and am struggling with the thought they are not mine anymore. I had the kids write/draw about their feelings and most were very conflicted. They were happy to have Mrs. Williams back, but they were very sad I was leaving. I do have to say that I am extremely happy that they are excited to have Mrs. Williams back or else it would have been harder to leave.

Not only did I have to say goodbye to all my students and families, I had to say goodbye to a school and faculty that I admire and love so much. They are an amazing staff and have been so strong with the school closure proposal. I have felt very connected to them as we have been at meeting after board meeting after meeting together figuring out how to save our school. I hope I will be on a staff like Woodin's next year. They have been extremely supportive and friendly since the day I started in November.

One of the hardest people I had to say goodbye to is my new amiga Christy. She is the other Dual Language Kindergarten teacher. Our rooms are kind of connected so we see each other all the time which I loved. She has been so much fun to work with! I know it had to be hard working with a teacher who didn't speak Spanish and couldn't give feedback to what we should teach and always having to translate things for me. Despite her extra work load that was added when I arrived, she was only super supportive and went the extra mile to help. I only wish I could learn Spanish over the summer to have a chance to work with her again. We've shared many memories together and I will have to post the song she wrote me later. It makes me smile every time I read it.

Here's a few pictures of the party.

Bienvenidos Jefe!

Today was a GRANDE DIA for me! I became solely responsible for a living creature. I am MUY FELIZ! We have been teaching an Animals 2 by 2 science unit in Kindergarten and our first couple of weeks we had fish in our classroom. I found myself becoming very close with the fish and talking to them once the kids left. I might be UN POCO LOCO, but they made me FELIZ. This week we got ugly snails that make me sick to look at and made me miss our PEZ.

I have been extremely stressed (understatement) with getting report cards done in two languages by the 21st, preparing for the Dual Language Kindergarten teacher to come back on the 24th, mentally getting ready for starting at a new school on the 24th, meeting new kids and new staff, saying goodbye to the community I have learned to LOVE over the past five months, trying to figure out where to apply next year and get my applications and all that goes with it out, figuring out what I am to do this summer to financially survive since this year I am not on a year contract, etc. etc. etc. I know it will all work out because this year has been a blessing and something great will happen. It's just hard not knowing what that will be.

ANYWAYS, my point to being extremely stressed is that Jefe couldn't have come at a better time. He makes me smile. He is a funny little guy. The pictures don't show it, but he has a big frowny mouth. He reminds me of my Grandpa Cole who passed away last year. When I was in Mexico with my sister and my grandparents for my college graduation, everyone in Mazatlan called him "Jefe" which means boss in Spanish. The name is PERFECTO! I wanted to call my fish a Spanish name to remind me of my time at LA ESCUELA DE WOODIN.

Here's a little footage of me and Jefe. I tried to add UN POCO ESPANOL into my commentary. I should know more from CINCO months of being in a Dual Language classroom. I would AMOR to learn someday. For now, enjoy my Spanglish.

Unexpected Trip to Utah

I got a call that my Grandpa Case passed away on March 4th. We knew his health wasn't great, but his passing was sudden. My Grandma (Mimi) passed away when I was 5 and my grandpa was never the same. He loved her so much. I learned at the funeral that my grandpa died on what would have been their 54th wedding anniversary. I loved hearing this and knowing they would be together on a special day.

My grandpa lived by himself out in a small - seriously in the middle of nowhere - town called Roosevelt, Utah. Vanessa and I arrived Thursday night and stayed with my brother and his family in Heber...an hour and a half away from Roosevelt. We spent all day Friday cleaning out my grandpa's house which was mentally and physically exhausting. After our long day, our parents took us to a fun local steak restaurant. What a fun experience this was! Saturday was the funeral back in Roosevelt. There were a lot of family members from my Grandpa's side I had never met so it was nice seeing them. There was a nice spirit during the funeral.

This was such a quick and busy trip, but the biggest reward was seeing my niece Gabrielle for a little while. She is honestly the cutest girl and I am excited to spend more time with her over our Spring Break.

Gabrielle like to give "high 5's" and then "pounds it".

My little bro, Justin.

At the town steak house. It is foggy because of all the smoke from cooking the steaks.

We may have enjoyed looking at the decorations and Moose, but the town folk definitely enjoyed themselves staring at us!!! We felt like all eyes were on us. We must have been the city slickers they have seen on TV.

After waiting for a table for 6, we were escorted upstairs to their "banquet room". We felt like we weren't allowed to be with the city folk and got banished from the people. We had a great time here and had delicious meals.

It was great having the whole family together.

Welcome to the Jungle!

I went to a baby shower today for LeeAnn (Pelton) Krohn. She had the little guy 5 days ago and it was fun to have him there with us. I forgot how tiny newborns are! Their baby room has a jungle theme so that carried over for the theme of the party. I have to give major props to Jody Ellis for the awesome cake and "diaper cake". It was the first time I have seen a diaper cake and can't wait to make one someday. What a great idea. I couldn't get enough pictures of it.

Welcome to the Jungle Tatum!

Who is that?

I got my hair done today which I was very excited about! I went in thinking I would get the usual highlights, but I quickly decided to change the plan once I sat in the chair. Vanessa and I went shopping afterwards and every time I saw myself in the mirror, I got spooked. It will take a little while for me to recognize myself with dark hair again. I can't wait to see how my Kindergartners will react on Monday.

Trying to do a serious pose...

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!

Saturday was my dad's 60th birthday. Vanessa and I drove down to Vancouver to spend the weekend with him. After our slow 5 hour drive getting there, we enjoyed our time away. Saturday was full of activity! Maybe too much for a 60 year old, but dad seemed to handle all the excitement better than us. Our first stop was to Big Al's to go bowling and play a few video games while we were waiting.

Vanessa and dad really enjoyed Ms. Pac-man.
Action shot!
This is by far my favorite video game...BIG BUCK HUNTER. I did pretty good, except I hit a couple cows who were hiding in the trees. They shouldn't have been hiding!

Vanessa laughed at me the whole time because I was doing so well. As you can see here, I got a "double bull". We had to leave in the middle of my game so we wouldn't be late for our movie. Oh, how I wish we could have stayed longer.

After the movie, we went to Joe's Crab Shack for a little birthday dinner celebration.

There is nothing better than King crab dipped in butter. Yum!

After our long day, we still had to come home and have cake and open dad's present. By this time, we were all extremely tired, but were excited to have dad open his big gift.

The kids put together a "60 Memories of You" book. We each wrote 15 different memories we had of our dad and put it together with pictures and poems. It turned out really nice and it was fun watching dad read each of the memories. Happy Birthday Dad!

Mamma Mia!

One of my favorite Broadway shows is coming to theaters this summer. I CAN'T WAIT!!! Mama Mia is coming to the Paramount in March and Vanessa and I are hoping to get tickets. That would make it our third time seeing it. It's an awesome show. Enjoy a little sneak peak...