Five for Friday 4.1

Happy Friday and Happy April!

Can you believe that we only have 33 days left of school?? It is crazy how the time flies!

I'm happy to be back from a restful Spring Break linking up with Kacey from

1. Last week, I took the week off to truly focus on relaxing during Spring Break. My mom and I did visit the teacher store but it was a blast and I was able to pick some things up for our time unit and some great books so we can start our author series.

 2. I was home for Easter and it was a great day to celebrate our RISEN SAVIOR and spend time with family. Here is the brother and me. We were missing the sister and bro-in-law but happy they got to celebrate with their church in ATL.

3.We finished up our flower unit with a fun craftivity, that I am sure I found on Pinterest at some point last year. It is a great labeling activity. We used cupcake liners for the petals, pipe cleaners, sunflower seeds and then colored the rest.

 4. We started our time unit this week and fell in love with this HUMAN CLOCK! All I had to do was draw up some numbers and the kids did all the rest. By the end of the week, they were begging to play and could even set up the game without my help. I gave them 'time cards' (which were just index cards) and had them write down at least 5 times using phrasing like 'half past 4:00 and 2 o'clock" and then they got to create their time. Their hands were the hour hand and their legs were the minute hands! Even though it's not a first grade standard, by the end of the week we were making time to the 5 and 15 minute marks.

5. My week has been non-stop this week because last week I started my Masters program! I have spent most of my free time reading these fun books. Who knew going back to school would be so hard! Happy Friday!

Rachel

              

Five for Friday!

Love this idea for a recap of my week! Linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching, a fabulous website for teachers!

1. I got to spend the weekend with some awesome family members. My dad's whole side(25 of us minus 2) came to spend Christmas in AL so the 3rd generation decided to create a family tree for our gift to my Grandmomma. We used all of our 'pinky' prints to make the leaves. I think it was a hit! What do you think?

2. I headed back to Auburn on Monday and got to spend the evening with some great friends from my Sunday School class. We played Mexican Train Dominos and had a blast. It's becoming one of my new favorite games!

3. I got my new planner(from Target)! Have I mentioned that I love getting a new planner and adding all of the birthdays in and special events?Because I do! I already have one wedding in there as well as all the birthdays!  My mom has had this one hidden in her Santa stash since October and I have waited very patiently to use it!

 4. I spent the day before work started strolling the aisles of Hobby Lobby and Home Depot and crafted this fun string and nail art cross! Check out my Etsy shop!

5. A funny school story!

The kids came back to school yesterday and we had a very fun day. Today we were having our Morning meeting and one little girl told me that for Christmas she got a BB gun. I casually asked "Oh, is it a Red Rider BB Gun?" She replied yes and two of my little boys almost in unison said:

"You'll shoot your eye out!" 

Ha! I love it, my firsties know A Christmas Story. 

Happy Friday!

~Rachel 

I'm Thankful

So...the other day I let you in on what my students were thankful for so I thought 

I would share what I'm thankful for. There are so many things that could be on this 

list but here are a few:

1. I am so thankful that my parents gave me the opportunity to attend a great university 

where I got a great education and fostered my love of teaching and where I met some amazing friends.

2. I am thankful for those friends who I lived with and who I was able to share so 

many memories with: wedding, cruises, agd, cooking dinners, night with The Nanny

3. I am thankful that God blessed me with the opportunity to go to Manila this summer 

and meet Angelica, who dreams of a great future of doing hair and knows that even though she does not have a biological father, that her Father in Heaven has a great future for her.

4. I am thankful with a great family on both my mom and my dad's side, I'm even thankful for our beach trips where all 30 of us cram into one house for a week!

5. I'm thankful for my mom and sister who are always up for a fun trip, where the main purpose is for us to spend time together: Chicago, NYC, Las Vegas, Atlanta

6. I am thankful for our freedom and what the brave members of the military do for 

us each day.

7. It may seem funny but I'm thankful for Disney World for helping me be imaginative in my childhood and sharing in so many of my childhood vacation trips! I still would love to be Belle one day!

8. Again I am thankful for PI because I got the chance to meet these 32 amazing students and spend time in their classroom laughing and learning. I am thankful that I have a job in the states that I get to teach a great group of kids and laugh everyday.

9. I'm thankful for a great family who has always been supportive in everything I do, and encouraged me to seek God in every part of life and to lean on His understand and His will. 

Take time today to thank God for all the blessings He has given us today. You may be overwhelmed with His love for us just like I am everyday. What a great blessing we have in the Lord.

Happy Turkey Day!

Rachel 

Catching up!

So I was thinking that I have not been blogging enough lately. I originally started this blog so I could document life and my teaching career and blogging 3-4 times a month is not enough. I will start trying to do better, I promise! Today I am catching up on lots of things around the house before I head North for a few days for Thanksgiving. It's also a great day to catch you up on what's been going on in my life!

1. I had to go to professional development two Mondays ago and one of the best parts was the CANDY! Major sweet tooth!

2. My students voted on Election day in our classroom, good news, I won! Look out, Romney and Obama.

3. I had a very busy weekend, last weekend. My Sunday School class had a bon-fire and it was a great time to catch up with everyone while enjoying the beauty of a bonfire. Good friends, good conversations, and SMORES, what could be better?

4. That same weekend my whole family came into town to tailgate for the AUvsGA game. We had a great time hanging out and going to the game together. My sister made these delicious pumpkin spice cookies that were a huge hit. 

That same weekend Jeff and his daughter Josie (Jeff's family started Kids International Ministries in PI) visited our church!!! Our whole group got to hang out with them and their friend Hannah on Monday so I made LB's cookies! They are  delicious!

In other news, NEWSIES was on Dancing with the Stars the other night, so I tuned in to watch them rock the stage. Oh, how I wish I could go back and see them again!!!

I hope everyone has a lovely Saturday!!!
~Rachel

NYC Landmarks

So I was thinking... that I am very blessed to live in the country that I do. On Friday we had our Veteran's Day program and we were all challenged to thank a Veteran and their family for the sacrifices they made. While in the Big City, we had the opportunity to visit the 9/11 memorial. It was a very memorable experience and and reminded me of the men and women who went off to war after this event to protect our country. My sister went to New York in December 2001 and saw the rubble of the 2 buildings; I went to NYC in February of 2007 and saw ground zero and the beginning of the construction, so seeing the almost finished product brought the whole experience full circle for us.

They are still working on the site, as it is an on-going process, but the progress was amazing. The Freedom Tower stands out against the NYC skyline just like the twin towers did and is a beautiful site to see. There are 2 pools marking the spots where the twin towers stood.

Each pool has names etched into the metal sides to honor those who lost their life in the towers, pentagon, and those on the airplanes, as well as the NYC firefighters and policemen who were first responders. Todd Beamer was on Flight 93 where a few men fought back against the attackers. His wife coined his last phrase "Let's Roll!"

After that moving experience we walked down to the edge of Manhattan and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and boy was it a LONG walk! The middle is very cool with great views of the city and Statue of Liberty. We finally made it to the other side and were able to enjoy some great pizza while we let our feet rest. Needless to say, we took the subway back to Times Square, before heading back to the hotel to catch a cab to the airport. This trip was such a great time to spend with my mom and sister. We were able to do a lot of fun things and take in some great historical sights. I love this fun city, can't wait to plan a trip sometime soon to catch the fun new plays coming out!

Remember to thank a Veteran and their family this week, as well as every day. 

~Rachel 

N-Y-C

It is crazy to think that I was in New York just 2 weeks ago, 2 weeks before Sandy hit the big city. My thoughts and prayers are with the families affected up North in the tri-state area.

If you are a reader of this blog, you might remember last Christmas (here), my mom surprised my sister and I with a trip to see NEWSIES on Broadway! Well almost 11 months after my mom, sister, and I hopped on an airplane and finally made our trip a reality. To be honest, I thought it might not happen, we all did. However, it was such a fun weekend to get away from the 'real' world and visit the Big Apple.

We flew up early Saturday morning and started the day taking in the sights of Broadway and times square. Saturday night was also the MAIN EVENT: NEWSIES! Let me tell you, I have been a fan of Newsies for a LONG time, I had the soundtrack from the movie years before the Broadway family picked it up, so my expectations were pretty high! There is one word to describe the play: FANTASTIC! It was such a fun show, a little different than the movie line, but the performance was absolutely amazing! Definitely worth the 11 month wait!

We also took in some local sights on our 3 day trip.

 This was my 3rd time visiting NYC, but it was my first time making the trip to Grand Central Station. It was gorgeous and so large, it is crazy to think that it was built so many years ago in such grandeur. I am so glad we saw it at night, because the lights gave it an even more picturesque setting.

Our hotel was in a great location about half way between Central Park South and Times Square, so we spent our first afternoon visiting the park.

The fall leaves and weather made for great pictures and a nice day for walking. We saw the carousel but opted out of the ride. We found many, many tunnels and bridges and took in the sights of the locals on a Saturday afternoon at Central Park. Of course we had to see Lady Liberty, we were lucky that she/he was hanging out at the park that day with a silver robot!

On Sunday morning, we lucked into finding the 7th avenue market around times square. It is pretty much like China town but with pop-up tents and Broadway theaters surrounding you.

LB and I picked up some fun 'Tory Burch' purses, plenty of fun scarves and Mom was able to pick up some fun glass pendants for herself and for us to send to our kids we sponsor in the Philippines. Fun Fact: During the day Times Square is now filled with your favorite movie characters. People now dress up in costumes (Minnie & Mickey, Buzz Lightgear, Hello Kitty, Spider Man, Batman, & Ironman, etc) and walk around Times Square waiting for you to take your picture with them, but wait they CHARGE you for it! It was so crazy because people were actually paying to take pictures with the people ha. 

Before we left on Monday we took the Behind the Scenes NBC tour and LB got to make her television meteorologist debut. We walked out of 30 Rock only to see the great Tina Fey and Tracey Morgan filming!

We couldn't visit the big city without eating some great food. We stopped by Little Italy for some Italian, the Shake Shack for a good burger and delicious peanut butter & marshmellow shake, and we made it to Juniors for some great cheesecake. (Fun Fact: the last scene of Sex in the City the Movie was filmed there!)

We also got to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and visit the 9/11 memorial, check back in next week for a post about those events, they were breath-taking!

~Happy Saturday!
Rachel

Filipino Fun... PI Pt. 3

So I was thinking...that my family and friends and I had such an amazing time in the Philippines this summer serving with KIM. We saw amazing things and were able to experience God's love in sooo many ways. Here are some of the recaps of an amazing trip.

Warning: Picture overload!

Family photo after church 

 We were able to experience soft drinks in glass bottles, which you had to pay a deposit on. If you didn't want to take the bottle with you, you could have a 'coke in a bag.' They would pour the drink directly into the bag and top it off with a straw!

 Two of our group members experienced a local delicacy, balut. 

Otherwise known as unborn duck eggs.   

Jeff's son commentated on a college league basketball game at the Mall of Asia arena while we were there, so we stopped by to experience a true Filipino basketball game! The drums were so loud!

Being from the South we couldn't resist finding a KRISPY KREME!!! Look at the amazing flavors we found at the Mall of Asia! Butterfinger, Oreo, Carmel Crunch... 

 The same day we went to feed at Tent City we stopped by a local spot: Daranak Falls

 A few of us swimming!

Amazed at God's glorious beauty. 

 After school I stopped by the Children's Home nursery where our team was creating a beautiful Noah's ark mural to brighten up their rooms. We painted each room a different animal, so we had a giraffe room, monkey room, elephant room, and lion room. 

 Finished ark minus the giraffes.  The main room had animals and flowers that covered all the walls as well as this ocean wall. 

At the grand opening of the nursery, ribbon cutting and all!

 Oh the Jeepneys! Public transportation is the main way to get around in Manila. These Jeepneys cram as many people as they can inside with blaring music and crazy driving. Fun and scary all at the same time! We did learn to always go with the ones that have the most designs on them, designs equal more experience!

 Loving on the babies in the nursery. 

 We were able to take the kids from the Children's Home to the mall for pizza and ice cream on two of the nights we were there. The boys loved the ice cream, here is my buddy JayPee. 

 There was also a great play place in the mall that the kids played in before dinner! 

Precious Zarinah and Angelica!

 My Filipino family! Aria, Gerald, JayPee, and Jessica

 KIM threw us a great BBQ on the last day we were there. Here are all of the kids 

from the Children's Home, Jaz Home, and the workers for the organization.

The Alabama team at the last devotion at the Children's Home! 

It was such an amazing time filled with fun, fellowship, and amazing works from our Creator!

~Rachel 

They've got that joy, joy, joy, joy...PI pt.1

So I was thinking...about all the joy I saw while I was in the Philippines. We were blessed with the opportunity to do many things while we were in Cainta: feedings, construction, painting a nursery, and teaching were just a few.

The feedings were a humbling experience. As soon as we got off the plane and to the center a small group of us went on our first feeding. K.I.M provides 2 feedings a day, 5 days a week, that serves 7 communities.

Dad and I carrying the meal to the community. 

The cooks at the center would cook this soup mixture that was full of rice, vegetables, & dehydrated meat. 1/2 a cup would provide the children with 11 grams of protein! We would drive to the community and then carry the meal in, while yelling 'feeding' the whole way. Children with bowls, mugs, tupperware, & plastic bags would come running to get their meal, smiling, wanting to take pictures & see themselves, & asking about us & where we were from. It was an eye-opening experience seeing their homes and living conditions. 

However, I never saw a child's face without a smile on it. They were always so excited to see us, that it was heart-wrenching when we would get to the end of the tubs of food, knowing that there would sometimes not be enough. Their bellies were full & my heart was touched by their smile. 

The 2009 tsunami hit communities in Manila and the government moved one of them to an area now known as tent city. The 1st Monday we were in PI we took the hour drive out to provide a feeding and receive more blessings from these people. This was by far the feeding where I saw the most people from the start.

 Waiting in line, to the left a few of our team members were treating 

some sick children & mothers

Z & our new CA friends dipping out the meal

We met some great people here and were able to sing 'Jesus Loves Me' and share some of the gospel. Another friend from CA and I were able to go into one of the homes, which was the size of my room at home. There was a small loft area where the 6 family members all slept, but they were able to share with us about their life and how they knew the Lord was with them. Their joy in the midst of what we would consider very, very little was incredible. 

Skyler and I helped this little girl take her                                                    Enjoying a hot meal 

meal to her home with her little sister

Holding a sweet little friend from the cutest family of siblings Maddie and I met 

Though they have little, they have joy. Joy that is prominent over there in the midst of little & eaisier to see than it is here in the land of the plenty. I hope we are all reminded of the many joys the Lord has given us and be thankful, I know it has changed my heart. 

"Joy is not in things; it is in us."

Richard Wagner

~Rachel 

Check back in for the next parts of my trip.