Thursday, March 20, 2014

I hope...

Happy spring! (Maybe for real this time...?  The calendar says so, at least.)

I've been mulling over pieces of this post for some time and decided today is the day to share it.  Happy reading!


I hope...

...God continues to provide discernment and guidance in all I do...and in all you do, too!  ☺

...I won't forget half the flour next time I double my chocolate chip cookie recipe.

...my future children (God-willing) enjoy playing in the sandbox, building with Legos, baking "creations," playing with Play-Doh, coloring, playing "house," building blanket forts, exploring, etc.

...those of you seeking truth and meaning in your life find it...no matter how/when/where.

...there are always patches/yards/fields of green grass in which to walk barefoot.

...my fear of change never gets in the way of my excitement about what the future holds.

...Charlie doesn't fall off the fridge while trying to get into the empty crock pot box sitting on top (though I kind-of do hope it happens...it almost has on a few occasions...).

...I am able to continually show/remind friends and loved ones, near and far, how much I love and appreciate them.

...my students use their assignment notebooks when they're practicing at home...and that they practice, period.

...we never cease to be amazed by the beauty of nature and the everyday miracles God reveals to us.

...no one ever pays full price for anything at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Seriously - if you find yourself making a purchase at that store without a coupon, call me...immediately.  Even after chock-full wedding seasons over the past few years, we have enough at the coop to last a while...quite a while. (Full disclosure: I had originally typed those as "awhile," but decided to look up the difference between "awhile" and "a while," and now I'm realizing how strange "while" seems by itself...and how I rarely type it without the article "a" in front of it...(though it could be used in this type of sentence "I wait while he pulls the car around.")...and how similar it is to "whale"...which makes me think of "Finding Nemo"...and this clip...and how long it's been since I watched that movie...  Hope you enjoyed your ride on my train of thought. ☺)

...this post blesses you in some way.

What do you hope for?


Student story:
A little while ago, during one of my Asian student's lessons (she is in first grade and speaking more and more fluent English every day!), I was introducing a piece called "Copy Cat." Shortly after reading/hearing the title, she started copying my instructions to her.  It only took me a few seconds to catch on, and when I gave her a look, she gave me a knowing grin and continued to copy me.  I started laughing at the fact that she was intentionally being a copycat because of the title of the song, and she started belly laughing like I've never seen/heard her laugh before.  All this from the girl who said maybe 5 words during each of her first few lessons.  ☺

Enjoy the day and upcoming weekend, everyone!  Thanks for reading.  ☺

Hopefully,
Kensy


Favorites of the day:
audio books (just finished listening to Divergent and am looking forward to seeing the movie this weekend!)
Special K Pastry Crisps
sunshine (Charlie would probably agree with that one...)

Friday, March 14, 2014

Spring Break 2014

Happy spring (almost)!!

You all know how I feel about skirts and flip-flops...so, you can imagine how I feel about switching out my wardrobe in the near future.  ☺

I feel so spoiled to even be writing a post with this title, much less be able to say I had a break from work for almost an entire week.  Praise the Lord for working around the school schedule and setting my own hours (and being able to answer emails remotely).

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few highlights from my week with you all!

The break kicked off with my favorite guy and I visiting my aunt, uncle, and cousins.  We all prepared and enjoyed a delicious supper together, followed by a couple rousing games of Sequence.
Salad with homemade ginger dressing, spring rolls, and Pad Thai! Not pictured: Mango Pudding
So delicious!
These were on the dresser in the room I stayed.
Gotta love fresh flowers...and super thoughtful family members. ☺
This little guy greeted me on Monday morning. ♥
That same favorite guy and I made supper for my parents Monday afternoon/evening.  The menu included "Fried" Pickles, Cheese and Bacon Potato Rounds, Pan-Seared Steak, fruit salad, and Monster Cookie Dough Cupcakes.  What a perfect way to spend time together. ☺

Tuesday was spent in with my BFF in her first grade classroom.  I got to help the kiddos with a special math project that day: Two Dimensional Shape Creatures!
Her awesome example.
I actually got to be a part of this project with her class last year, too, and made a sign to hang in the hallway with their finished creatures.  Conveniently, I was back this year in time to amend the sign to include her new last name.  ☺
Before...
...after!
Not pictured:
shopping/browsing trip
Chick-Fil-A
painted toenails

Wednesday morning was spent on the road to Wichita to see my favorite brother.  We met for lunch at Spear's Restaurant and Pie Shop and enjoyed some good-down-home-cookin'...and pie, of course.  ☺

This is what greeted me at my quarters for the day/evening.
Q lives with some thoughtful and talented guys. ☺
An evening of pizza-making and cake-decorating was preceded by a (very welcome) quiet afternoon on the couch with ample time to catch up on emails (work and otherwise), Facebook, and Pinterest.
Homemade supreme pizza...yum!!
Q was asked to make a friend's wedding cake in a few months.  This was his practice cake.
It tasted as great as it looks!
After meeting Q at work and getting a tour of his office and the plant (so cool!), I stopped in to see some family in Lindsborg before completing my loop back to Lincoln.

I'm so very thankful to have had the time to see and spend quality time with so many important people in my life...and the week isn't over!  Looking forward to a productive day at work before heading to a good friend's house-warming/St. Patrick's Day party!

In other news, my students filled out teachers evaluations a few weeks ago.  There were many kind words, lots of positive feedback, and some funny comments.  Thought I'd share one of them:
You are a great teacher and you're teaching me so well that my mom can't play whatever I can now.

Enjoy the weekend, dear readers!

-Kensy

P.S. Happy Pi Day!

Favorites of the day:
warm sunshine
having time to unpack and settle back in
audio books
wake-up calls ☺