Brandi + Symphony = Magic

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, my mom, sister, Christy and I went to see Brandi Carlile. (Christy was my teaching partner last year in Dual Language Kindergarten) If anybody knows Brandi Carlile, you know she is amazing. If you have seen her live, you know that she rocks! Words cannot express the concert we went to. Brandi performed with the Seattle Symphony and I was in heaven the whole night. The strings with her music were incredible! I wish everyone could have experienced it...but don't worry! She recorded the concert so I am guessing there will be a little live CD coming out one of these days.

(I look a little too excited)

Little did we know that the fun didn't end after the concert. While we were buying our shirts, we heard Brandi was going to come out and sign autographs. Oh, yeah...we met her. She signed our shirts and took a picture with us. She said we were cool people and asked us to hang out with her at The Tractor afterwards. Ok, maybe I was dreaming of the last part.

She said the yellow was a great place to sign her name so we agreed with her.

FYI: Brandi is on the Hotel Cafe Winter Songs CD I blogged about a few weeks ago.

(Track #2 - She opened the concert with this song)

Thanksgiving Marriage Proposal

I'm not good about writing down what cute things my students say. I did, however, come across a quote I saved in my files from 2005. This boy was kind of like my current try me boy but was a first grader at the time. Teachers got used to watching me drag him down the hall to sit in the office. The fun times were when he'd grab the desk and not leave the room. Man, he held on for dear life! Despite these moments, I really did love him and knew he had a good heart under all his layers. He said many funny things from time to time, but this one melted my heart. I believe we were just sitting around somewhere doing something (that's my memory for you) and he randomly said:

I’m going to marry you when I grow up so you can come to Thanksgiving dinner with us for a long time. But when I’m old enough to get married, you’ll be really old, like 100!

A great reminder to me of why I teach!

(Not the part of being really old, like 100!)

My Background Music...

What do I do when I'm majorly stressed? I start listening to Christmas music! My sister told me about this cd a few weeks ago and bought it right away on iTunes. I love this song and many others on the cd. This has been playing on repeat while I've been working on Masters stuff. Well, I haven't really been working on Masters stuff because I'm sharing this great song with you right now, but here I go...I'm off to try to be a good student.

What is stress...

“Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven't fallen asleep yet”.

I haven't slept at all.
I haven't really woken up.
I haven't stopped screaming inside.
This is the perfect quote for the Life of Fife.
I've entered a new level of stress that I have never experienced before.
I might be gone from blogging for awhile until the screaming quiets down.

City...U've got to be crazy!

After realizing my teaching certificate expires soon, I decided over the summer to go back to school this Fall to renew my certificate by getting my Professional Certification, which is mandatory by the state. I thought...while I'm at it, I'll get my Master's!! (Which isn't mandatory but it helps with a pay raise in two years) I asked around to find out about different programs in the area. I loved City University's program because you meet one weekend a month and then work independently between classes. That's the only way I see myself doing this and teaching full time.

Well. The time is here. This Saturday and Sunday I will be in class from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm each day. I am interested to see if I will survive. I'll let you know how the Life of Fife survives...

Arlet's Birthday Wishes

On a student's birthday, each class member write them a letter. This class has done a great job so far. Here are a couple letters to Arlet. She moved here from Mexico recently and doesn't speak a lot of English but she tries harder than anyone in the class.

Dear arlet, you ar a hard working student and Hope you haf a good live in the u.s.a. you ar good at math exalent at reading.

Happy Birthday Arlet I no that we dont git alog (along) But I no that we ar stel frends so good luck with yor present I HoP you lick yor prisints Happy Birthay Arlet!!! PS you ar my frind.

Dear Arlet, I think your name is absulutly perfect. and you shine in frunt of the hole class. and your as cuite as can be. (This one is from a 3rd grade boy...love it!)

Dear Arlet I wish you a good day. An your a good Birthday to. An your so funny an you run so fast thats cool. An I wish you good wishs for your Birthday.

Dear Arlet I hope you ahve a happy bathday and all your brthaday wises cum troo. Your like a princeses on a yunacorn. (unicorn)

I may have a lot of grammar lessons ahead of me...but these kids have good hearts.

Happy Day

Yesterday was my birthday. Over the last couple of years, I haven't expected much. Once you hit a certain age, there isn't as much excitement. I have been so busy I hadn't given my birthday much thought but it turned out to be a very nice day.

The kids at school were so excited and were pretty sweet all day. I got lots of hugs and homemade cards, even some flowers and a bag of oreos! I was touched when my "Try Me" boy and his mom ordered 5 pizzas for the whole class because he wanted to make it special for me. He also made me earrings. I opened the box and he was so excited to tell me he picked out the beads and his mom helped him put them together. I knew if I wore them it would make his day so I proceeded to try to get them in my ears in the back of the room. After several attempts, re-piercing my right ear and washing the blood off my fingers, it was worth seeing the smile on his face. The kids planned this pizza lunch at recess so two other kids brought in drinks and cookies which completed the party. I kept thinking all day, "They like me!! They really like me!" It was the first time I felt like I had made a real connection with them.

After school I went to dinner at Canyons with my sister and parents. We had a great time and enjoyed great food. Thanks for a great dinner, family!

My sister gave me this card. Inside it says: "Only sisters know the thin line between hug and strangle." So true!

We then had to reenact the moment...

My main gift was a blue tooth. I haven't spoken on the phone in the car since the new hands free law passed so this will hopefully keep me connected better. I also got the cutest little bottle of hair wax. I just love that little bottle! Vanessa got me a cute scarf and a "simplify" sign. I need this to be my new life motto so it will be a good reminder.
When I got home, my roommate surprised me with having friends over for cupcakes and ice cream. It was nice to have friends come and celebrate the day with me. We ended the night watching Pushing Daisies. If you haven't seen that show...watch it. It comes on on Wednesdays at 8:00. I love it!