Saying Goodbye

This sounds so final but I promise this post is not as final as it sounds. I just couldn't think of something more clever.

This week I had the opportunity to say goodbye to one of my students. Not goodbye as in they are leaving the school but goodbye from special education. This doesn't happen that much, especially in elementary school. I thoroughly enjoy being able to call parents in for these meetings. This one was especially wonderful. The mother has been wonderful and although we do not have the ability to simply speak to each other, as she speaks Spanish and I do not... we have been able to communicate throughout my three years teaching him.

Now on to my wonderful student. He is in 5th grade but he is the smallest 5th grader in the group. He doesn't let this get in his way. I have watched him learn to speak up for himself and learn how to make sure he is heard. Although he struggles to focus at times, he is able to get his work completed. I love that my friend has learned to stand up for himself and advocate for himself. That is what I have always wanted for him.

I have always wanted to be honest with my students and I was honest this year with my friend that "exited". I told him about 2 weeks ago that I wouldn't be picking him up any more and that he didn't need my help. This didn't mean he was never going to see me or couldn't ask me questions, it just meant that he didn't need me anymore. At first, he was mad that I wasn't going to pick him up. He just looked at me and said "But I still need you." This is one thing that has made it really hard for me this week. But as I sat there in the meeting with his mom, which I let him sit in on (he did his homework at another table), I realized that he would be okay. My friend was going to make it in the real world and didn't need me to hold his hand. He was growing up and had learned the strategies that I had set out to teach him.

This is what special education is about. Being able to look at a 5th grade student who has been in the program since Pre-K and seeing that they now have the skills to make it on their own.

So, with that said, I had to say goodbye to a dear friend this week. It was difficult but it made my job worth it.

Five Favorite Fall Things

It's time for some fabulous fall things that I love.

1. Fall mugs and beverages. This is one of my favorite mugs, it is a pumpkin that my Godmother gave to me when I was in college. I also love hot apple cider and pumpkin coffee in any way, shape or form.

2. Fall cooking. I love roasting vegetables. This includes squash of all kinds.

3. Fall baking. I suppose I could put this in with number 2 but it is really it's own category. I mean, pumpkin muffing, pumpkin cheesecake, apple crisp, apple or pumpkin anything... for example, Apple Dumplings.

4. The clothes. I love wearing sweaters and boots and scarves, etc.

5. Leaves changing. This is one of my all time favorite things. I love when the leaves change colors and the drive to work is so much prettier when the leaves are bright red, orange or yellow. 

http://gardentherapy.ca/the-fall-foliage-of-vermonts-green-mountains/

What are your favorite things about fall?

Been Busy

Lately, the Hubs and I have been busy welcoming our newest nephew into the world. He was born on September 3 and is already SO much bigger. It has been so wonderful to spend a few weekends with this little guy and his two siblings. New babies just seem so wonderful :)  Enjoy these pictures of the aunt and uncle and the little bundle of joy!

Migraines...

Well, the past two days I have had a massive migraine, the kind that my meds don't help and put me on the couch for two days. I realized that I am an awful blogger. Between school starting and classes for grad school starting and a new nephew, I am tired.

Alright, I have a new nephew! I can't wait to see him later this week. He is the hubby's sister's 3rd babe. I am so blessed to have been part of their life so far and cannot wait to be part of this little guys life too.

So the only thing that has been helping with this migraine is a cold pack... The other thing is a really hot shower with water beating on my neck but that isn't always possible and I have not had the energy for that. Hopefully this migraine goes away tonight while I sleep so I can have some relief.

There are some more things to come, more posts, I promise.

Visiting My Elementary School

One of the most fun experiences yet has been being able to visit former teachers of mine. This is partly because my parents still live in the same house I grew up in but also because I know how much it must mean to former teachers of mine to know they have made a difference. There is something to be said about being a teacher and I have a greater appreciation for just how much these people who were like another set of parents really did for me. They cared so deeply about me as a person and saw that I could turn into something. My teachers impacted me so much.

One of the most influential people was my first grade teacher. Walking into her room today, although different in many ways, not much has changed and it was like stepping back into time. She touched me and brought out my love for reading. Stepping into her room, I was transfered back to learning to read and all of the fun things we did. She truly loved me. Not just loved as a student in her class but loved as the person I was and would become.

While being home, I have found old school projects and remembered completing them while in her class. We completed this "All About Me" book. It was a HUGE undertaking. We spent the entire year working on it and growing with the book. I now appreciate just how much effort something like that can take from a teachers perspective. You have to really be organized and invested in your students. I was blessed to have her as a teacher of mine.

Another thing that my 1st grade teacher did was to give out books throughout the year. We got books at Christmas and for birthdays, and I'm sure for other reasons, but we were given books of our own to take home and have. She still does that today.

This teacher cared so deeply enough that she made sure my sister and I made it safely out of the building and to the car and waved as we drove off. She was just so thrilled that we had come back to visit.  I guess the whole point is, what little way could you touch a teacher that you had or someone who influenced you and just let them know what a difference in your life they made? I think if we did more of that, the world would be a much better place.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Last night, after I got back to my parents after hanging out with my best friend, I decided to go through a box of memories I had been keeping and just stashed away for some odd reason. Perhaps so of the best moments were when I found notes written back and forth between myself and a boy in 6th grade... Those were some funny notes, "Why do you like me?" kinds of things filled my memory.

I was also came across a paper that my two best friends and I at the time had made. It said, "We promise to be best friends forever" followed by our signatures. This made me chuckle at how much life has changed since I was 12.

One of the best parts of this excursion was that I found letters the hubs had written to me when we were engaged and I was living at home. These made me smile and I kinda fell in love with the hubs all over again. It's funny how certain things just spur memories and bring back the feelings you had with them.

One of the bloggers I follow (Crafty Healthy Mommy), just posted a letter to her 21 year old self. After reading the random letters I had, I thought that one of these days it might be fun to write a letter to my 12 or 15 or 17 year old self. Perhaps even a letter to my 22, right before I got married self. It doesn't seem like it has been too long but life has really been showing me a lot lately. I have grown up and have moments where this whole 'adult' thing doesn't seem so bad now. I mean, really are we ever fully 'adults'? What does that even mean!?!?!?!

All of this to simply say, memories and moments in life do help shape who we are and make up the thread that holds us together as cloth, but we are not limited or confined to our memories. I am thankful after re-reading those letters when I was 12 that I am not forever stuck as my 12 year old self. That would have been awful!

Another thing that I have done since being at my parents, is kinda look at some old bikes that were in the garage. I had thought that maybe one or two would be salvageable to bring home so the hubs and I could ride off into the sunset together... I mean ride around town for fun, but the bikes may be more work than they are worth and it might be better just to save up for a new one. Well, that's what the guy at the bike shop said. Anyone want to buy some old, need some TLC, bikes?

Today I will leave you with this:

Family

With the end of the school year only days away, I have been able to enjoy much more time with family. I married into a great family and a few decided to move closer to us. It works out well, as we see each other fairly regularly. Memorial day was one of those days.

We decided after we ate to take the kids to the park. There is a park pretty close to our apartment and it is a decent size so it is perfect to keep the kids busy. While at the park, we were watching the kids play, and talking to each other. While standing and watching the kids, a little boy came up to me. He started to grab at the camera I had. I bent down and showed him how to take a picture. His parents came over and were very apologetic, not that I cared, and he left. A few minutes later, he came running back. It was really cute. Again his parents were apologetic.

Later that evening, the hubs made a comment to me that got me thinking. He said, "What did that kid want? He must have just known you love kids."

The reason this got me thinking was because that is really what I want people to see. I want people to see my passion for kids and my passion for them to learn something. I hope that is something that is always visible to others. Here are some pictures from that day.

Discovering Honeysuckles with mom :)

Playing baseball. He LOVES baseball.

The picture my new friend took.

The End of the Year

Things have been SO crazy lately. I have been neglecting the blog, sorry all. I'll share some highs and lows for the week.


Highs:

1. My mom sent me a box of cereal. This has turned out to be one of the best gifts for right now. It is comfort food...
2. My 6th graders are practicing for GRADUATION! So exciting. They are so sweet lately.
3. My final meeting for the department for the year is tomorrow and they will FEED us!


Lows:
1. The hubs is working a lot, which is kinda a high because more work = more $$
2. I've had a headache off and on, since Sunday... creeping into a migraine...

Incredibly Blessed

This past Friday we had what our church is calling 3rd Friday (creative as it is the third Friday of every month). What 3rd Friday is, is a get together of the young adults at church. We socialize, play some trivia-esque games, worship together and discuss a topic. Lately, we've been going through the book of Acts. It has been wonderful.

This past 3rd Friday I walked in and realized a few things:

1. I have made friends and am building relationships (no longer do I feel totally out of place with these people)
2. People there genuinely care about us
3. We have been blessed with an amazing church family
4. God has put us right where we need to be right now
5. There are people who are more of an encouragement to me than they will ever know

You see, this past week has been incredibly taxing. Really, these past few weeks and months have been taxing. I have been begging and praying that God will provide the hubs with a full time job he loves. It has not happened and I have been very broken lately. I think that God realized how incredibly broken I have felt lately.

This past week I was able to meet up with a young woman from church and have coffee. It really was just what I needed. I feel that sometimes it has been difficult to find other young, newly married, not ready for kids yet, couples. I had coffee with a woman who has been married about a year, and has been having a difficult time finding friends as well. Our God is SO good. He knew what I needed.

Also, Friday night, Bradley was handed an envelope. He told me to open it and read the note. I was expecting just some words of encouragement. But, God had something else in store. In the card was incredible encouragement. There was not only word of encouragement, which was just what I needed to hear, but a gift card for us to go out to dinner. Somehow, God knew that this gift card would be such an encouragement. This meant that someone saw that the hubs and I needed to do something special for us.

Life has been so hectic lately that even date night can be difficult some weeks. It can be hard to stop life from     getting in the way of our marriage. If we are not careful, our marriage will suffer. I am so thankful for this gift that I almost started crying. Sometimes, it doesn't take much to bless others.

This got me thinking. How can I bless someone? What can I do to be just a small bit of encouragement? There is so much to be thankful for. God is good!

They're Getting It...

Well I think they are...

So Friday my 4th grade boys and I started to work on our Science Fair Display Boards. I'll have to upload pictures of the final things... it should look really nice. I say this because I typed everything up for them and cut it out. What my students have to do is glue it onto colored construction paper, cut it out from that leaving a nice border, and glue it onto the display board. Sounds easy, right?

Perhaps the best part was being able to listen in on their conversation during the gluing process. It's almost like they forget I'm even in the room, even though I am sitting right there. They started talking about how they thought they were going to fail the science fair project and then one of my boys chimes in and say, "We wont fail, we have Ms. Favazza!" Like I'm a super-hero or something! Get that!?! They think I actually help them! It was an encouragement.  For the most part, my boys are fairly eager to learn, as long as I make it on their level.

It's so fun to be part of their conversations. Things have come up like, "Do you go to church?", "I think that soccer is awesome!" and even, "My dad is in Salvador, things at school went downhill for me when he left. I hope he comes back on Monday."

My boys bring me smiles on a daily basis. One of the brightest spots for Friday though? On of my students from last year (who is almost in the 8th grade!) stopped by and told me that he made the honor roll! I was SO proud of him. He didn't want to tell too many people but I was so happy! He must be working so hard and that is wonderful.


There are many brights spots...and some ink blots in my day. What's your bright spot for the day?

Today...

Today's post is a quick one, but in the interest of trying to post something every day.... I was going to post about last nights dinner fiasco where I tried to give my husband food poisoning, but that will have to wait...

Today I am thankful for...

1. Date night with the hubs
2. Coffee dates with new friends
3. The smiles on the faces of my 4th grade boys :)
4. Plans for the summer coming together
5. A night where I do not have to worry about dinner (the hubs said so)

What are you thankful for? 
Leave it in the comments below...

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