Package from Germany

    This past weekend I took a course for professional development. It was about film scoring in the music classroom. I was excited to take it because I knew it would be interesting, but I was apprehensive because I knew it would all be new to me. The course was Friday night and all day Saturday. When I arrived home on Friday I was greeted with this by the kids:

(Not the ink- that was a gift to myself after I received this pen from a student who brought it from Italy to me!)

     The package was from a penpal, Christina in Germany. Her son Tobi writes to Timmy. They sent him a birthday gift and note from Tobi. David even got a nice book in German. (I can read most of it Christina. I will have to look up a few words, but I read better than I write my own ideas!) Then, in addition to my letter, she sent these treats for us:

     These taste like little crackers covered in chocolate. (Like puffed rice a little). Timmy thought they were pretty good and I liked the contrast of the sweet with the ... not sweet.

 Gummy snacks. Haven't tried yet.

 Tea. Can't wait to try the Roobois.

 Black licorice. Traditionally, I don't usually like black licorice, but I like the black licorice from The Netherlands WAY more than here in the US, so I'll probably at least give it a try.

 Chocolate pudding.

 Not quite sure what these are yet. It will be a surprise.

 "Kisses" with hazelnuts. Can't wait to try these too.

We have Werther's here too. Delicious.

 I treated myself to this chocolate bar. it was sweet but light. I liked it a lot. I liked the crunchy bits too.

Cute little erasers. I like the "decision eraser." It has answers like yes, no, maybe, later, etc. in German. I would put it on my desk at work but I know some student would "accidentally" take it.

      I loved being surprised by this sweet treat! Thanks Christina and family!

Fall "To Do" List

     I love autumn! The past 2 days have actually been chilly enough for me to 1) have a nice cup of tea in the morning instead of an iced coffee (apparently iced coffee all the time is a very New England thing), 2) put on warm, fuzzy socks and 3) wear a jacket on my way to work.

Family Fall "To Do" List

- Bake apple pie/ Apple crisp

- Make a leaf fort and jump in it

- Celebrate Tim's birthday (10/4)

- Celebrate my birthday (10/13)

- Go to look at the colors of the leaves ("leaf peeping")

- Have a fire pit and make s'mores

- Visit nana (My grandmother on the South Shore of MA)

- Visit Grammy and Papa (My parents in Maine)

- Visit Grammy and Grandpa (Matt's parents in Boston) 

- Snuggle in a cozy blanket

- Drink hot chocolate

- Find some yummy warm drink recipes

- Learn how to make shoo-fly pie

- Go apple picking

- Go hiking/ a walk

- Prepare for my "Thanksgiving tree" at school

- Celebrate Thanksgiving

- Decorate the house for fall

- Have a girls night

- Have a girls breakfast

-Hang out with the Davenports (friends of ours)

-Bring friends for a sundae at Putnam Pantry. 

- Go see a high school football game (and the band at halftime- woohoo!) 

- Make a meal in the crockpot

- Watch a football game on tv and eat snacks (AKA- eat snacks, blame football.. lol)

- Go to a fair/ autumn themed event

- Burn a candle/potpourri that smells like fall

- Enjoy a cup of tea on a chilly morning or evening

- Go trick or treating

- Eat a caramel apple (boys only. I don't like them)

-Watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"

-Meet my new niece (coming in October :) )

-Get a massage

-Camp for 1 night (Matt's idea.. SO cold. We'll see.) 

- Make a casserole for dinner.

- Eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast

 - Catch up on my letters

     What are some things your family likes to do in the fall? (Can you tell we like to eat and to cook?) Are there any traditions/events that take place in your area? 

     Speaking of different areas, I've been noticing some interesting visits to my blog lately. I had my first and only visitor from the Isle of Man today. I would love to hear from anyone who visits. Please feel free to comment or send me a message. I'm always interested to read how people got here. 

       Happy autumn! 

David's surprise baptism

    We had a baptism service at church this week. There were 4 people who were getting baptized, 2 whom I've worked with in the youth program before. I always enjoy the baptism services because we usually take a video telling the testimony of the people being baptized and are able to hear why they want to profess their faith in Christ. Today was extra special for me.
      When the pastor called people up to the baptismal tank, 1 by 1, I noticed that things were going slightly out of order than normally. It turns out that the church didn't make the testimony videos this time around, I'm not 100% sure why. However, when they were done baptizing the 4, he invited anyone who had not been baptized before, but would like to, to come up and be baptized right then.
      The kids had gone to kids church and then they brought all of them in to watch the baptisms. There was a 10 year old boy sitting by us (who didn't go to the kids church portion) who asked his mom and volunteered right away.  Then, David (from across the room) surprised us by asking to be baptized. He walked right up there to the front of the church, took his sweatshirt and sneakers off and jumped right in.  David is a bit of a shy kid, but when asked what role Jesus plays in his life, and why he wanted to be baptized, he said "Well, when I was 3, I was attacked by a rabid skunk. I think it was Jesus who protected me and kept me healthy." He said he wanted to know Jesus/God more. It was a pretty cool morning.

 

 

God is good!

Currently 9/17

Watching: 
     This autumn, Tim will be playing flag football for the first time. Today was his first scrimmage. It was alright. They won and he had a good time. I don't know the rules well enough to really enjoy watching it. It will be fun to watch him get better at the sport. 

Reading: 

 

      I just finished World Without End by Ken Follett. It is the second book of The Pillars of the Earth series.  I liked it a lot. It's over 1000 pages, but I stayed interested in the lives of all of the characters and of the town of Kingsbridge.

      I am currently reading The President is a Sick Man by Matthew Algeo. The book is a few years old but I won a signed copy on Goodreads. I am generally not a political person but I love biographies. I had not heard of this event before (President Cleveland basically disappeared for 5 days and nobody said where he was) so I thought it might be interesting. I'm also enjoying some of the facts about how life was in the 1890s. Perhaps it is appealing to the same part of me that enjoys penpalling. I enjoy seeing snippets of every day life in different time periods and places. Come to think of it, that's probably what I enjoyed about the Follett book as well.

Listening:
      Did I mention that I love to read? Or that my "to read bookshelf" is overflowing into a nicely stacked pile on my bedroom floor?   Or that I had to come up with some rules in fear that someday you may discover my body reading a book surrounded by a stack of "to read" books? So, the other day I walked into the teacher's room at school, I saw that the bookswap shelf had been updated. Yes! No! As I was about to run by it so I wouldn't be tempted, I noticed this placed on top:

    

    I have heard lots of good things about this book. I have wanted to read it for a long time. I have only listened to 1 or 2 audio books before so I decided I'd try it on my way to and from work. I'm loving it. My only 2 regrets are: 1) I'd love to see the spellings of all the names, etc because the author pronounces all of them correctly and 2) sometimes I don't want to get out of my car because I want to know what will happen next.

Making:

     I've been editing lesson plans and working hard at school. I feel like I have been making some of my teaching more effective. So far this year has been very enjoyable.

Feeling:

     Busy, yet happy. We just started our church community group. Tim has practice once a week for football, plus a practice before the game. I'm playing in a concert band and then Matt and I serve in church. When you add homework, relationships and life on, things get busy.

Planning:

     One of my goals at school is to be an encourager. I am already okay at this, but I'd like to increase my efforts- to students, families and staff. So far so good I think. I'm jotting down some notes for my Thanksgiving project, and I should probably start cutting out leaves and doing the artwork.

Loving:
      Today is the first day that it is feeling more like autumn. I despise being hot and my classroom is like a sauna. I love the cool breeze on my face while still being able to feel sunshine too. I like snuggling up in a blanket at the end of the day or having a nice cup of cocoa or hot chocolate. I'm looking forward to the next few months.


     I plan to write about our fall goals later in the week.