1st Grade

Homestead update first: last night we got most of the deer fence put up and some seedlings planted. It was busy at work, so G got home later than expected. I had tried to get things in place for us (setting the posts where they would be pounded in, bringing out the supplies, etc.), but it still took a while. 

He had the idea to put chicken wire around the bottom 18" of the fence to keep mice out. That's something that will need to be added later since we didn't have any at home. We had trouble with the fencer too; the wire wrapped around the ground sparked every tick of the fencer. So, our fence is up but it is not electrified. 

By the time that wrapped up, it was late and dark. We wanted to capitalize on the rain coming in the next few days, so we strapped on headlamps to plant our veggies: cabbage, celery, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi, kale, romaine lettuce, and carrots. All but the carrots are seedlings. I hope the deer don't try our fence until we finish it!

Penelope's home moved outside. I pulled the dog house out from the goat shed and stuck her fluffy bed inside along with food. She sniffed the food and water and then enjoyed walking around the property. Before we went to bed, we found her curled up on some insulation I had tossed out of the goat fence (it had been between the dog house and the goat shed wall). So much for her fancy house. Maybe the chickens would like it for a nesting box?

School was pretty good. It was a much different day than the 5th graders... The student teacher did all the teaching except religion, so I was able to get a lot of computer work done today, and even some of a book read! I did do some things with the students: I taught religion (Ruth and Boaz), supervised kids in the gym, helped stuck kids with math and English assignments, and tied lots of shoe laces. 

I was impressed with how many procedures were in place for their classroom. Lots of songs to get them from place to place, or rhymes/chants to get them to quiet down/move to their desks/walk quiet in the hall, etc. Even with all of that, the kids had trouble focusing and following instructions. From listening to the student teachers' conversations, it seems like a normal thing for these 1st graders. 

Their day is chunked into many small parts. It seemed to last forever! Maybe that's because there wasn't much for me to do. Or maybe it's because I read the clock wrong and thought there was another hour of the day left. One fun thing from today was that a lot of the 1st graders have siblings in 5th grade. At least six of them! And separate from that, I know parents of another three of them! 

Germination Chamber

SFA put on a germination chamber and succession planting workshop. It was on a farm 30 minutes from Mankato, and I was free, so I went! Only two others besides me attended, so we got a lot of one-on-one time and finished early. Even though most of the information is for gardening on a massive scale, I took a lot of notes and can apply most to our homestead.

This is a seeder for a 128 plug tray. Dan, the farmer giving the talk, made it himself. There are two plexiglass layers with holes that line up perfectly over the plug spaces (bottom is stationary, top is moveable). You move the top layer so the holes aren't lined up, dump your seed on top, shake the tray so a seed goes in the hole, and then move the top layer to line up the holes. The seed drops perfectly into the tray saving tons of time seeding. (He also made a block with tiny pieces of dowels glued on to press holes into the soil in the plugs. Once the seeds are in the holes, he dumps some soil on top and smooths it out with his hand.)

This is the outside of the germination chamber. We got a handout with instructions on how to build one, and it doesn't seem that hard. Get an old fridge or freezer that still works. Buy a temperature timer and a humidity timer. Install them on the outside of the unit. Drill a hole to feed the cords/probe through. 

Inside the chamber, put in two crockpots filled with water. The one with the lid on gets hooked up to the temperature gauge, the one without the lid gets hooked up to the humidity gauge. The gauges turn the crockpots on/off depending what the internal temp is. If it gets too hot, the gauge will turn the fridge on. He has his trays stacked on top of each other in order of which seeds germinate first. So he only needs to check the top tray. Once just one seed 'pops', he moves the tray out to be under grow lights in his shop or to a greenhouse. The rest won't be far behind. Then he watches the next tray.

Here is his growing setup, all materials from Home Depot or Menards.

This is the lettuce washing station. Lettuce goes in the orange buckets, it gets set inside the barrel, he turns on the spin cycle and away it goes!

This is where the lettuce goes to dry afterwards. The table surface is plastic mesh. Three box fans sit in a wooden box to blow air to dry it.

Outside, I saw a nifty way to trellis raspberries. 

Here's his main grow tunnel. The plants on the left have been growing a while and will be ready to harvest at the end of May. The rows on the right have been planted to be ready in June or July. The center is left open for plants to be mature later in the summer (succession planting).

This lettuce is all the same variety and will be ready to harvest this week!

G and I plan to make our deer fence like his. It's called a psychological deer fence because it messes with the deer's minds. The small outer fence is an electric wire 18" off the ground. Behind that about three feet is a taller fence with three electric wires, each 18" apart. The deer can't tell how far they have to jump to clear the second fence, and they don't want their legs to get tangled up, so they leave it alone. Dan said he hasn't had any deer problems with this fence. I hope the same will be true for us!

Back on our homestead, I remembered the pieces of seed potatoes I had 'curing' in the garage. I had read that you cut a seed potato so that two eyes are on each piece. Let them dry for a day or two so they don't rot, then plant. These had sat for a few days and started shriveling up. So, even though it was getting dark, I wanted to plant them. We got most of them in their trench before it got too dark. Then, the moon and the lights on our house were bright enough for us to see what we were doing as we covered them up. Here's G making mounds for them. 

Hopefully they grow!

Taking it Easy on a Half Day

Yesterday, a fly buzzed around the classroom annoying everyone. The students spent the day trying to swat it. One boy (my rapper student), whispered to me that Mrs. M had promised whoever killed the fly a piece of candy... but apparently not many of them had paid attention or heard that announcement, because he and one other boy were the only ones who remembered. He wanted me to keep it a secret so that he'd have a higher chance of getting the candy. Well, it worked. He was the one to kill the fly. He wanted his candy right away, but I told him he'd have to wait for Mrs. M. I wrote her a note on the sub plans. She told me today that she had forgotten she'd made that promise, so it was a good thing she was able to find a piece of candy for him!

My day today was super easy. This morning I caught up on a few items that have been on my to-do list for way too long: hemming a pair of pants for a friend, sewing holes shut on a few beanbags I used with the 5th graders back in February, finishing framing a piece of art to hang in our bedroom, making the guest room beds. 

Since I made all our lunches for the week back on Monday, when it was time to go to school, I shoved my salad in my bag and headed out the door. I arrived just in time to take the 5th graders to lunch. 

Our schedule for the afternoon:

• Devotion
• Spelling worksheet (I did read-aloud while they worked... that choose your own adventure book)
• Silent Reading
• Hymn Quiz
• Reading their class reading book Mr. Lemoncello's Library
• Reading the reading book with Mrs. M's class
• Track and Field Practice
• Dismissal

Track and Field practice was wild... the 5-6th graders all practiced at the same time, which is roughly 60 kids. Mr. Z had stations set up and the students rotated between them depending which events they participate in. It was amazing to watch. A complete hive of activity. Boys' and girls' shotput, discus, sprinting, long distance running, long jump. Most impressive? 5th graders doing hurdles! Most ridiculous? How often I had to open the door for kids to get drinks or go to the bathroom!

Tomorrow I am subbing in 1st grade. I was a little nervous about it, but their teacher came over to me and shared that she has a student teacher, so I will only need to teach religion. The rest of the day will be supervising. She said I could bring things to work on. Maybe I'll bring some craft projects to do...

Back in 5th Grade

It's Mrs. M's original due date today. 

She took the day off and I subbed. It was nice to be back at Mt. Olive, especially on a Wednesday for chapel. The kids were pretty chatty all day (not just my class, seemed like most other classes). They were definitely excited to see me, and excited to hear that I will be back tomorrow afternoon (for Mr. N).

Funny moment from today: I overheard two little girls in the bathroom discussing a club they were starting:
"When do you think we should have it?"
"I don't know."
"Probably a Saturday or Sunday. Well, Saturday is cleaning day, so maybe Sunday. We can play and eat peanut butter sandwiches!"

Even though it's the end of the year with mixed up schedules because of testing/track and field practice/field trips, Mrs. M managed to craft a normal day. We did all the usual things, although we substituted handwriting for morning PE since track and field practice happens three days a week at the end of the day (every day but Wednesday and Friday). 

Her class is reading aloud Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I read quite a few chapters of that today. I haven't read the book since middle school, and it kind of sucked me in... I might have to pull out my copy at home and finish it...

Mr. N's class didn't have a new read-aloud book, which Mrs. M had mentioned, so I brought a Choose Your Own Adventure book and an Encyclopedia Brown. We did Encyclopedia Brown today and will do the CYOA tomorrow. They had fun trying to guess how Encyclopedia solved the crime.

In homestead news, I purchased supplies to make goat tie-outs, so we can tether our goats to the lawn without a pasture fence. Since they haven't been tethered before, I want to start on a day I can keep an eye on them so they don't get tangled up. Tomorrow might be the day.

There's rain in the forecast for Friday and no more cold weather after Monday, so G and I want to get our garden in to take advantage. However, we need a fence before we expose our seedlings to the wild. Since I'm just teaching a half day tomorrow, our plan is to install the fence in the morning before I have to go in, and then plant after both of us are finished with work for the day. Hopefully the fence won't take super long. It's T posts and electric wire, so I'm optimistic! Although, projects always seem to take longer than anticipated... I guess we'll see!

Sourdough Experiments

It all started from a video recipe my sister sent me... strawberry sourdough cinnamon rolls. G and I had friends staying with us for the weekend, the rolls looked delicious, I have sourdough starter in my fridge... why not make some? 

My starter has been staying alive in the fridge, but it wasn't strong enough to cook with right away. The author of the recipe I wanted to make had other articles on her website with detailed instructions on how to recharge sourdough/check if yours is ready to cook with. I tried two different methods of regrowing mine. One was to make a levain, which is a mix of starter, flour, water, and sugar. And the other was to make a 1:1:1 ratio mix with starter, flour, and water (that ratio can make it grow faster). 

The levain won out, so that's what I used to make the sourdough cinnamon rolls. I used the other starter to make these dinner rolls. The yeast likes 78-80 degrees to rise... Our house is normally between 63-65. One suggestion was to put them in the oven with the oven light on. That worked great! Eventually I needed the oven, so I tested out the next suggestion from the website...

Yes, you are seeing that correctly; it is a heating pad (my sister gave me one for Christmas; the inaugural use!). They also suggested making a 'greenhouse' with a tub. I used a clear one so I could see what was happening without lifting the lid. We had a spare house thermostat, so I stuck that inside to easily see what temp it was. With the heat mat on high, it got in the high 80s! Medium was mid 80s, and low was high 70s. Worked like a charm.

The finished products. Not super light and fluffy, but definitely delicious! I had to tweak the rise times a bit to fit our weekend schedule, so I'm sure they will turn out even better next time!

Belle Plaine

Last night, I got a text message around 9:30pm (from the MLC graduate who was going to be the long-term sub for Mrs. M before we knew she would be back) asking if I was free to sub in a 5-6th grade classroom at Trinity in Belle Plaine. She was subbing somewhere else and the school had exhausted all other options and were desperate. 

My plan had been to spend the day tidying our house to prep for hosting our church small group (like a bible study, but we talk about Pastor's sermon and then pray for each other), but I can do that after school, plus G could tidy before going to work, so, I said yes. 

Thankfully the principal was still awake and responded quickly to my texts. Arrive at school at 7:30, students arrive at 8, school ends at 3:10. Okie dokie. 

It was a very early morning... It's a 50min drive, and I left home at 6:30am to make sure I was on time. When I arrived at 7:20, the door was locked as I had suspected. I found out later the principal had arranged for another teacher to keep an eye out for me at 7:30, but since I was early she wasn't watching. Thankfully a student saw me and let me in. The school isn't very big, so I found the 5-6th grade room fairly quickly. 

No sub plans on the desk. There was a pile of student worksheets for the day, and after further examination of the room I found their assignment board filled out and the order of subjects written on the board. I figured I could teach based off that. I poked around for the teacher's manuals to familiarize myself with their curriculum. 

A few other teachers popped in to say hello. The kindergarten teacher recognized my last name... her son is the 5-6th grade teacher at Risen Savior, the school attached to our church! The principal found me too; he had additional plans with detailed notes for the day from the 5-6th grade teacher. Nice. That definitely made the day smoother. 

The kids have been good today. I made sure to crack down on anything sketchy right away. A few tried to be sneaky with games on their computers during worktime. There were lots of quizzes, worktime on projects, and studying for upcoming tests. I basically only taught catechism and 6th grade math. 

One cool thing this teacher has is an economic system. He has a set aside class for it on Friday. Along with that, he pays his students 'salaries' for doing their class jobs for the week. They can earn 'money' for doing jobs and write checks to him and to other classmates for various things. One girl sold her classmates Oreos for class cash. And if they misbehave or are irresponsible with items, they receive a fine. At the end of the year they can use their remaining money to buy actual stuff. Pretty neat! It definitely helps them learn money usage!

Penelope

Spring is popping up all over the place! I planted a few more bulbs down where Bekhor is buried, along with an arborvitae shrub that survived the pot over the winter (that was from one of G's garden center rejects we'd planned to feed the goat, but they maxed out their coniferous greenery eating, so we let it sit). As I dug, I noticed a few feet away this little guy poking through. 

Last fall, I had planted a bunch of bulbs, not sure if they would grow or survive the deer. This one did! I haven't seen any others yet. I wonder what it will be?

The swans are back. I caught them taking their morning bath. We had a very stormy/rainy day yesterday and they weathered the storm in our pond. Maybe they will stay and make their nests?

The biggest excitement from Monday happened while I cut up seed potatoes in the garage. I turned around and found a cat! Not Mopsy and not Flopsy. She seemed tame, so I tried to pet her. She let me. She was all skin and bones, so G and I put her by our cat food in the goat shed. Mopsy didn't like that, but she was too scared to defend her territory. I decided to name this one Penelope. With the storm coming the next day, we didn't want Mopsy kicked out of her own home, so we made a different shelter for Penelope. See below. 😀

We had food and water for her (both of which she appreciated) and some logs to block the rain. G saw her inside right away in the morning when he left for work, but when I checked in the afternoon, she was nowhere to be found. We haven't seen her since. I hope she comes back, but even if she doesn't, at least we could give her a meal and some water.

The Other 5th Graders

After almost a full week off, I was back at Mt. Olive today, this time in the other 5th grade classroom. It was roughly the same schedule, but also very different routines and flavor to the day. The kids were all super pumped to see me. One girl actually ran down the hall to the classroom when her friends told her I was their sub. In Mrs. M's room, I got a lot of hugs (some from students I didn't expect). 

Mr. N arrived at school the same time I did. I was a bit surprised to see him since he had the day off, but he was only there to print his lesson plans for me and make sure I knew where everything was. Mrs. M stopped by to give me a stack of cards her students made for me. There is some great art on the fronts and some sweet words on the insides. My favorites are below:

The rapper student... His made me laugh out loud.

The card in the top right has one line of text inside. The artist said it took him like three hours to do the front, so I'm guessing that's why. 😆

The art on the left side was just like we did in an art project earlier in the year. 

Look at that shading!

My favorite parts of the day... Reading class, we read a few chapters of their class book, Mr. Lemoncello's Library. Mrs. M's class wanted to have students read the dialogue, so we divvied up parts. I was the narrator. It was actually pretty fun and it helped them recognized who/when people were talking in the story (kind of tricky at times since there are many characters). They're hoping Mr. N will let them continue that next week. 

In Mr. N's room in the afternoon, we finally had time for the read-aloud book I started before I left, Slugfest by Gordon Korman. We read during art and library time, went outside for a brief extra recess (the girls invited me to play four square with them), and then they wanted me to read for the last ten minutes of the day before they got picked up. So we did. We are SO close to finishing! We have 1.5 chapters left! That's less than 20 pages! 

I arranged with Mr. N to let me come in on Monday to finish... I'm on the books to come in for Mrs. M next Tuesday to read that class's read-aloud. I'm hoping I can finish that book Tuesday, but if not, I'll come in Wednesday. 

Holzhueter Eclipse Extravaganza!

In 2017, I convinced my college friend L to go with me to see the total eclipse. We found a campsite in the path of totality down along the border between Nebraska and Iowa. It was cloudy, but we still experienced the darkness, complete calm (it had been a windy day), and utter silence when the moon covered the sun. 

Even with that disappointment, I still loved the experience and made a goal to see another eclipse without clouds. Fast-forward a few years. Eclipse 2024. One again, Emily gets a crazy idea in her head and drags G along with it... 

G was skeptical if the trip would be worth it... 9+ hours of driving one way for less than five minutes of an experience? But, I really wanted to do it so he went along with my scheming. (Isn't he a great husband?)

He couldn't take more than a day off work, so this past Sunday after church we took off for Springfield, Illinois, with the intention to stay there one night, drive about 2.5h further south Monday morning, see the eclipse, drive all the way home. First half of the plan went off without a hitch! The drive didn't even seem that long. We arrived around supper time and poked around the city a bit before ended up at our hotel. 

The rest of the plan was to get up early Monday morning, visit Lincoln's home, and eventually work our way south after checking the radar to make sure we ended up somewhere sunny. G had called a few wineries in the path of totality to see if they would be open. "Yes, we are, and we have a table with your name on it!" one waitress told us. It was on a first-come-first-serve basis, but we figured there would be plenty of places to choose from if one winery was full when we got there.

At the hotel before checking in, we parked behind a car with MN plates. As I waited for G to take care of things, lo and behold, a couple I recognized from Mankato came out to the van in front of us. They are members at Good Shepherd in North Mankato and actually had their kids play basketball at Immanuel for a few years back in the day. Small world! 

Monday morning we made it down to breakfast around 7am. Lots of people, all of them talking about going south to watch the eclipse. We got nervous about getting a spot, so we decided to forego Lincoln's home. It's a good thing we left when we did because traffic got heavy the further south we went. I'm not sure we would've made it to our destination in time if we hadn't left when we did!

We ended up at a peaceful little winery out in the country near Clarksdale, Illinois. Very idyllic and hardly a cloud in sight.

After a bit of scrounging, we found a picnic table we shared with a couple from Iowa City (Maggie and Greg). We joked that we'd check in with each other at the next eclipse in 2044... but we actually did get their phone numbers/emails. 😆

It took about 45min or so for the moon to work its way in front of the sun. I tried to take a picture of it with my phone with my eclipse glasses in front. It kind of worked. You can see a bite taken out of the sun in the picture below.

It slowly got darker and darker the more the moon covered the sun. 

It even looked a bit like sunset.

G took the pictures below with his phone during totality. The moon was completely covering the sun! You can only see a little bit of that in the picture. 

It got very cold. Before the eclipse, it had been 75 degrees and I was in short-sleeves, shorts, and flip-flops. During totality, I wrapped up in the car blanket. Like the other eclipse, the wind died down. The birds didn't quit chirping though.

The total eclipse/totality lasted 4min 9sec where we were. It was beautiful. And worth the drive. Even G agrees.

 The next total eclipse is March 30th, 2033, in Alaska. The next one after that is in 2044 and will be visible in the Dakotas. Road trip anyone? 

Homestead Updates

The weather is glorious. 70 degrees and sunny. That makes me antsy to get some work done outside! 

We have a goat pasture blend on order for the backyard. I found a few bags of grass seed in the garage, given to me last fall by a friend, intended for the Nicollet house, but I never got around to seeding it. So, the Mankato house gets it! I broadcast the seed by hand around the front yard since we're not sure if we'll turn that section into a permanent pasture. It might as well get seeded with a heartier grass so if we do a temporary pasture, the goats will have something more to eat than flimsy lawn grass. I found a few seed packets of a wildflower mix, a butterfly mix, and a pollinator mix, so I spread those around too. No clue if any of them will take. Time will tell! 

Other updates:

Two pairs of swans will land in our pond every once in a while. One pair was back! Can you spot them in the picture?

Our rhubarb has unfurled quite a bit. No other progress in the garden. My big task today is to put up portable fencing around the garden so that if/when things do emerge, the deer won't eat them.

The goats are happy. The grass in their pen hasn't greened up much, but they keep browsing. We want them to eat everything down to the nub so that when we do seed the pasture, it won't have as much competition from the existing grass. Last night we decided we want a permanent fence around our second paddock in the backyard. That will give us more freedom (and less worry about them getting out). Other pasture plans are to add two natural ponds, one in each pasture, for our future ducks. I want the weather to warm up some more before we add to our menagerie, so no new animals on deck for now.

Mopsy, our adopted stray kitten, is doing great. We caught her up in a tree one morning, surveying the backyard. She stalks bugs and plays with Gerda (the baby goat). Yesterday, a bird smashed into one of our windows and died. G and I found it on the ground and gave it to Mopsy to see what she'd do with it. She played with it for a while and then ate it. She'll be a hunter before we know it!

Mystery Plant

 Can you guess what this is?

Here's a hint: G and I walked through our pre-planted garden to see if anything had come up yet and discovered this. My shoe in the corner for a reference. 😅

We had seen animal tracks around the area, so at first I thought it was animal. But no. Rhubarb! I hadn't ever seen it coming up so tiny! 

For the record, this is something I had put there, not a volunteer. G's mom originally planted it on the side of the garage when she moved in. It was too shady there, so this fall I transplanted it to this patch of bare dirt. It had already gone dormant when I moved it, and I don't have much experience with moving existing plants, so I wasn't sure how well it would come up. So far so good!

The only other thing we detected in our garden were two little lines of garlic emerging, another experiment planted this fall. I had brought two garlic heads back from a garlic festival in Oregon (while on my annual summer vacation with my college friend L). They sat in a paper bag in my Nicollet house from early August through November, sometime in there getting moved to Mankato and hung in the closet under the stairs. Eventually I remembered them, probably mid-November. The heads weren't looking too good, all shriveled and dry, but there was enough life there that I decided to plant them anyway. 

After supper tonight G and I added two trees to our orchard: Honeycrisp apple to the west and Reliance peach to the east. We also decided to move a non-fruit tree we planted last summer from the side of the driveway to the side yard (to replace a dead tree also planted last summer). This will leave room for 2-3 more fruit trees along that side of the driveway. An apricot tree is our top choice. What else should we plant? 

A Few Final Words

 Mrs. M had some gems to share at our meeting... 

A favorite nugget... the day she and her husband came to talk to the class about their daughter's birth, even though he only witnessed me 'being teacher' for a minute or two, her husband said to her as they left, "I can tell Mrs. H is a good teacher. She has a strong presence." 

Another gem, this one from a student to her at church (the rapper, a son of the other pastor)... "Mrs. M, I'm glad you're coming back, but you should reconsider how you teach us religion. I like how Mrs. H does it. We are actually learning stuff." 😬 

She questioned him further and he said, "We actually read the bible! And then we talk about it; we don't have to write stuff down." 

To provide further explanation, when she taught, she would read the bible with them a few verses at a time and go through the Christlight curriculum packet in sections, as it's mapped out to do. That's what I had done too in the beginning. However, I've found that you can keep a better picture in your head of what's happening in the stories if you read bigger chunks at once. So we did that, reading the entire story, and then went through the packet all at once. There are a lot of good details to add as you read, plus maps to draw, plus diagrams to demonstrate concepts, all of which generate questions, which leads to great discussions. And not much writing. So towards the end of my time, we abandoned the packets and just read the bible. So that's what we think he meant. 😅

Back for More

My actual last day in 5th grade. 

The kids were surprised. Most were confused. When I explained they said they were sad G was feeling sick and our trip was canceled, but they were happy that I could be with them one more day. It was a good day and a quick day. Chapel, math test, social studies test, recess/birthday treats from a student, and read aloud time sprinkled among it all. Dismiss at 11:15. 

After the students had gone, Mrs. M came to get reacquainted with the classroom and where we left off in the lessons. Mrs. L brought lunch and we had a very enjoyable couple of hours chatting. 

It's interesting that Mrs. M and I have only met twice. Once for about 30 seconds when I subbed earlier in the year for the teacher next door, and the other when she and her husband visited the class to let them ask questions. So, we really don't know each other at all, even though we feel like we do. It's a strange bond between us, the tragedies we've both experienced. We did spend some time talking about our own losses. Journaling has helped her process much of her grief. Later she messaged me thanking me for the journal I had given her in the teacher care basket from Mt. Olive. It has been one of her favorites. Another favorite was one given to her from the Thrivent grant for grieving parents (G and I had written them about that opportunity; we were grateful for it ourselves). 

It's a blend of emotions talking about these things... sad but healing, happy to talk about our children and share our stories... happy to have another person who understands. 

Mrs. M sent me another message after our meeting; she has such a way with words. I won't share all of what she said, but she ended with, "I will also be praying for you this week. I imagine Easter will be joyous, yet so hard for both of us." So, so true.  

It's ironic; every time I think everyone has heard about Bekhor, someone new pops up and asks how my pregnancy is going. It's been long enough and hasn't happened recently so my guard is down. But later this afternoon an old college friend sent me a message checking in. Such a sweet message. Still a stab of pain. Still a chance to tell about his birth, his baptism, his resting in heaven whole and perfect with Jesus. And who can be sad about that? Especially in the midst of Holy Week. 

Job said it best in chapter one verse 21, "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be praised." 💖

Just Kidding!

Today didn't go as expected... 

G and I had the alarm set for 6am to prep/get on the road to pick up plants in Michigan. But he woke up in the middle of the night with the same thing I had on Sunday. No fun for him for the rest of the night. He was knocked out on the couch for the whole day. That also means no Michigan for us. 

I thought about texting the powers that be at school to see if they'd want me to come in to teach today and tomorrow. However, right around that time, school was called off for the day. Mrs. L and I came up with a plan to help the kids study for their tests at home so they can successfully take their tests tomorrow and still wrap up the classroom in a nice, neat bow for Mrs. M. 

Mrs. L has a pretty tight Wednesday schedule in her normal routine. When I was planning to be gone, they were going to have the principal step in and monitor the class for the last two hours of the day. Another blessing of me being around... I will go in to teach for the half day tomorrow! It will be a huge surprise! I can't wait! 

Tomorrow is an early release day, so we'll have chapel, a math test, a social studies test, and then go home at 11:15. After school, I'll get to be a part of the meeting with Mrs. M and Mrs. L. Added bonus: Mrs. L volunteered to bring us all lunch. 

So, I'm bummed that G and I aren't road tripping this week, but I'm happy we don't have to drive on yucky roads and that I get to be at school to wrap up this quarter and my time in 5th grade.

Last Day

I almost thought I wouldn't make my last day of school. 

The weather cooperated for the most part. We had a two-hour delay. The streets were fine for me. We had snow last night which turned to rain, but it was about 37 degrees, so it stayed wet. Word on the street the temp will drop tonight and we'll have a big, icy mess in the morning. Hmm. Time will tell. 

Yesterday, I caught a stomach bug. I was parked on the couch from after church through suppertime, throwing up every hour. I wasn't sure if I should go to school today, but I hadn't thrown up overnight and it was my last day, so I powered through. I sure am ready to go home though!

We had to adjust our morning schedule since school started at 10am. I did math, then religion, then a little bit of recess. The girls, even the ones who hadn't been getting along, all played volleyball together. I mustered up enough energy to play too. Regular afternoon for 5th grade. I got all my social studies teaching in plus a little bit more read-aloud. Mr. N's class is just getting to the good part in their book. I'll be sad to miss the rest...

Since I had time before school, I washed my hair and let it air dry. No bun. It really threw off my kids! They kept commenting how long it was. One girl asked how I put it up in a bun, so I showed them the twist method. They were enthralled. 😅

A few fun things from today: A note from a student (one of the TEAM girls), peppermint tea from another student, and a 3D printed Christmas ornament from still another student. He said, "I know it's a little past the season, but I wanted to give you this." It was in that pretty Christmas tin. What a sweet thing to make a teacher!

A parent emailed me about something else and ended with this... "And this was not my son unfortunately, but one of your students left the book fair very quickly. I said 'what's the rush? ' The boy said ' I love HX class and I don't want to miss it'. Good to see kids excited to learn...  even if it is not mine "

Another student whirled around the classroom at the end of the day, sweeping, shutting the extra mood lights off, etc. So "you can just go home right after school! You won't need to do anything else!"

I brought a present to school for the 8th grader who played piano for us for Grandparents Day. I know she likes to bake, so I gave her a cake pan. G thought that was a weird present, but I disagree. Well, maybe it's weird, but I know she'll love it. Her mom is a teacher and eats lunch with me and she said her daughter was thrilled. 😁

Grandparents Day Take Two!

Kids were a little crazier today, the day went a little more slowly (probably because of the craziness), but the program went a little more quickly! 

We played two different Kahoots with grandparents, both from previous units of social studies, one on the Reformation and one on the Elizabethan Era. It seemed like they had a good time. The kids sure did!

There's a lot going on in this picture below. First is a note given to me by a student (the one I had the heart to heart with yesterday). Not pictured is the cup of mint tea given in addition to the note. In the background you might notice a card signed by both 5th grade classes, a bouquet of flowers, a gift bag, and a giant box.

The gift bag has a bunch of snacks: cashews, goldfish crackers, Junior mints, and a small bag of potato chips. (A parent had asked what my top five favorite snacks are... my favorites are pretzels, pringles, cashews, goldfish, and anything mint, so they did pretty well!) All presents from the 5th grade class. The big box in the background is a gift from Mrs. M (wine, chocolate, coffee, a candle, and a gift card to The Tav, G and my favorite restaurant in town, although my guess is that's a total coincidence!).

Bad weather is in the forecast for Sunday into Monday and there are doubts about whether we'll have school Monday... so they gave me the class presents today just in case. 

Normally I'm all for a snow day, but this time it would be so sad if school is cancelled. No chance to say goodbye. Another teacher gone without a by your leave. Not to mention throwing the let's-get-everything-wrapped-up-before-Mrs. M-comes-back lesson plans into chaos. But I've dealt with that before. I'm already mentally working through things to adjust for that and I have a solid plan. 

Now we wait and see what Minnesota throws at us!

Grandparents Day Take One!

It's only been a half day of school, but wow, it's been packed. I am already pooped. Thankfully all the kids are picked up and I can head home whenever I want. 

We started the day with chapel with grandparents. About half my students sat with their grandparents. It was nice to sing the liturgy again. After that, we had a normal math class. Most other classrooms just did a math themed game or something since grandparents are allowed to take their students to the book fair whenever they want. Most of my kids stayed for class (I don't think they wanted homework). 

After that we needed to do a social studies lesson to catch up to the other class (and so we can have our test before Easter break next week). I was the most nervous about that since it's on a topic I'm not super familiar with (the Russian czar Peter the Great) and I'm always worried I'll say the wrong thing and an adult who knows more will correct me. Thankfully that didn't happen. Two grandparents expressed later that they really enjoyed my class. 

At 10am, grandparents went to the sanctuary for the entertainment portion of the morning. Classes were called to perform via walkie-talkie. We made sure we were on deck with plenty of time to spare, lined up from tallest to shortest, bathroom-breaked, and pleasant expressions on faces. Mr. N led us in; I followed and grabbed the music stand while he lined them up. There wasn't a microphone to announce the class, but my voice carries in church, so I just projected. They sang well! "Reformation Song" and "May the Peace (Benediction)".

We scurried back to our classrooms where we had to kill an hour before they could leave. Someone gave an anonymous donation of $15 for the book fair for a student, so everyone put their name on a piece of paper in my winter hat and I drew one. I thought only one student hadn't put any books on his wish-list, but it turns out there were two. And the name I drew was one of them (rapper kid). Sigh. If I had known, I would've redrawn or said a different kid's name, but it was too late. I had announced it before classmates complained. He said he would use it to get a book and not just junky toys, so I let him keep it. 

After that we did silent reading until it was time to pack-up. These kids have burned through my books! We're getting to the point where they don't have anything to read anymore, and they've already read the ones they want from my stash. Only my problem for two more days... 

The classroom cleared out pretty quickly. I had a nice heart-to-heart with the last student who was waiting for her mom to finish door duty. She's the oldest and complained about her sisters. 

A different student (before she left for the day), gave me this. Yesterday as we waited for last names to be called for pickup, I noticed she sat in the desk closest to mine with her drawing notebook. The book was angled away from me and she kept looking back and forth between us. I had guessed she was drawing me. She captured me pretty well!

I:55

Book Fair preview day! This book fair is from a company I'm unfamiliar with. It's called I:55, referring to Isaiah 55, and it's a Christian company. I've used Scholastic and Usborne in the past. Definitely cons to both of them. Scholastic had a lot of books inappropriate for Lutheran schools. Usborne had great books for littles, but not many for middle grades. This one had a good selection for all ages and a wide variety of mainstream books alongside God-themed books. I saw a few that were on my to-read list, already read favorites, and some on my books-to-buy list!

The kids each got a book wish list slip to fill out. We had fifteen minutes to peruse and write down titles. I had a few slips to fill out for classroom wish list items. No problem filling that out. 😉

My students were on my case about coming back next year to be their part-time teacher. 

"You just explain things so well. Like, I actually understand stuff when you explain it. And you're so kind and never yell." 

"Yeah, you should follow us to 6th grade. If you have a baby, maybe you can bring it to school with you and teach us with your baby!"

"Yeah, we had a different teacher who did that!"

Somehow, I doubt that.

There's a 5th grade boy into Christian rappers. Obsessed, I'd venture to say. He wants to be a rapper when he grows up and is actually writing his own raps. He did one after school waiting for his parents to pick him up. He said it was from his Greek Album. The song was about going to get a Big Mac. He's pretty talented actually. It sounded like a rap, but I could understand everything he said. A kid from the other class stopped in to drop off an assignment for me and he stopped to listen. Apparently, this song has been a work in progress because this other kid wanted to hear the latest version. Rapper boy said, "Okay, but I'll start here, since you've already heard this part. This is the new part." Very cool.

I told him so. 

Pretty sure his classmates think he's weird, including the girls. They seem to tease him or make fun of him, always in a subtle way that gives off that 'making fun of' feeling but is never mean enough for a teacher to call them out about it. Right before I complemented him on his rapping, it seemed like the ringleader of the girls was going to say something, but she stopped herself when I commented. The look on her face makes me wonder if I gave her something to think about with my praise of his ability. 🤔

A+ Teacher

Today's journal prompt was, "Should teachers be graded by students?" Boy, that got these guys going.

Snippets of conversation I overheard...

"Oh yeah, definitely!"

"And if they yell at us for no reason, they should go to the Principal!"

"Ooo, I would give Mrs. H an A, no an A+!"

"Yeah, she'd get an A+ for sure."

(yelling across the room) "Mrs. H! You are an A+ teacher!"

"What would Mrs. M get?"

"I'd give her a... B+."

"Why that?"

"Because she left us without telling us! She definitely gets a B+ for that."

I chimed in at that point. "Hey, that's not fair. She shouldn't get a bad grade for something she couldn't control!"

They moved on soon after that. I'll have to actually read their journal entries to see what else they had to say...

Eagles Eggs

PE was great today. Not something I've said too often, haha. 

We played a game from my childhood, learned in 5th grade from Mrs. Wilde, Eagles Eggs. I didn't like PE as a kid, but this game was okay. I had fun playing it. My students did too!

Quick rundown for those who haven't played: capture the flag, but with a set playing field, two teams, each with a nest with two balls in it. The nests are in opposite corners of the field. If players are caught on their way to the other team's nest, they get frozen and need a rescue from a teammate. Players get free backs and have to return to their side before they can do another action (like go for an egg or rescue another teammate).

Mrs. M's class was so strategic about it. They would time it just right so that a few of the fast kids would distract one way, and a bunch of others would sneak in from the side. One team ended up with a bunch of kids tagged at the nest because there wasn't room for them in the nest! 

It's funny because the team that won all four games had complained at the beginning that the teams were unfair and we should re-draw. Ha. Goes to show it's not always the fastest kids that win the game. 

Monday night G and I had surprise visitors for supper. Dad and my brother E were passing through, so they swung by our house to eat. My sister E came over too! We had spaghetti squash with spaghetti sauce, shredded pork, and homemade mac and cheese sauce on noodles. Very tasty if I do say so myself!

Soil Conference

Day two of the conference was jam packed with speakers and opportunities to ask questions. I took full advantage of those times to ask the experts my questions. 

The big takeaway from Day 1 was to always keep your ground covered to protect the soil/build quality and health. Question one for me was how do I do that with a garden? Question two was how do I get the cover off without chemicals or equipment?

Answers: Plant a blend of seeds (don't have my list handy) to overwinter. Then in the spring when the seeds have grown and are flowering (about May when you want to plant), use a crimper to squish the plants down. If they don't die from that, put black plastic over them to heat them enough to kill them. Then take the plastic off and plant seeds directly in the dry plant matter. I got a different list of seeds to mix and plant in the spring (since I didn't plant any cover crop in the fall). 

The guy who answered my questions said his brother did that in his 1/10th of an acre garden and only had to pull about six weeds all summer. Wow. Sign me up! He also said his brother invented a self-propelled planter for one row in the garden. He took the blades off a rototiller and installed one planter bin from an old planter on the machine instead. Now it takes him about an hour to plant the garden, an hour to crimp it in May, and he's good to go for the summer.

I also talked to Forever Green, an initiative to help farmers keep their ground covered. They directed me to Albert Lea Seeds to buy my seed mixture. I talked to another organization that has native prairie plants/seeds about how to convert my lawn into a pasture for my goats. The guy I spoke with didn't have any direct information, but he said that topic was actually niggling at his brain for a while, so I gave him the necessary boost to actually research it and find an answer. So he'll get back to me once he knows more. 

Next on my list, buy seed!

Buttering Me Up

The 5th graders were glad to have me back today. Somehow we got on the topic of how long I would be teaching them. Hard to believe I've been with them almost a complete quarter of the school year! 

They had mixed emotions when they found out it's only about a week. Some responses: 

"Yay! Mrs. M will be back! We won't miss her anymore. But, aww, then we'll miss you!"

"We're used to you teaching; it's going to be hard to go back to how Mrs. M does things!"

"Since our class is so big, we'll need another 6th grade teacher next year. You should come back and be our teacher!"

"If Mrs. M is gone again, will you teach for her again?" 

"My birthday is next week. I'm going to bring treats and you can have all the extras! Whatever you like! Whatever you want! Donuts, cookies..."

Today was another mixed up schedule day. Normally I only switch to the other 5th grade class in the morning, but we needed one more Junior Achievement day, so Mr. N graciously agreed to skip his art class so we could wrap up. Normally Mrs. M's class goes first, but library time fell during JA time. So our guest speaker wouldn't have to deal with the disruption of kids going in and out, we swapped that time with Mr. N too; his class would have JA first, then mine. 

I heard from Mrs. L that my kids had been BAD yesterday for our guest. Wednesday, the kids had asked if they could go outside for Junior Achievement and the guest speaker said maybe Thursday. Either it was the weather or being outside, but one of those things made them go crazy Thursday. Mrs. L said it was impossible to keep them focused. Thankfully, they were much better today. Maybe it was the lecture Mrs. L gave them yesterday... or the one I gave them today...

Because school was cancelled last Thursday and Friday for influenza, Mrs. L hadn't finished the art project she had started with the 5th grader when I was gone. She did that this afternoon (so we skipped our normal Scholastic News time). This was a multistep project involving: drawing an easter basket on a grassy landscape in pencil, tracing those with permanent marker, painting said items, stamping easter eggs with potato stamps, cutting out the eggs, gluing them on the landscape. Today, the kids made potato stamps by cutting designs in potatoes with plastic knives. They painted paint on the stamps, then stamped them on a piece of cardstock. Once that's dry, they will trace the eggs/the pattern on the eggs with a permanent marker, then do the last two steps. It was a bit chaotic, but not as bad as it could've been. Paint only ended up on the floor just a little bit.

I got all my correcting done during JA and the art class. Woo! No homework! Or, limited homework. I need to look over social studies for next week. It's a unit on early Russia, which I never studied in all my years of history class, so I need to brush up!

This weekend will be a busy one: G's men's church volleyball team plays in a tournament this Saturday, Sunday after church we are going to a confirmation party of a former student of mine followed by a puzzle contest with my small group bible study ladies followed by volleyball practice for my church ladies' volleyball team. Whew!

Teacher Has an Early Out

Half day of school for me. Before I took the long-term sub position, Dad, G and I signed up for a day and a half Soil Health Seminar sponsored by the Sustainable Farming Association. I decided to keep my registration since the things we'd learn could be applied to our homestead. 

I forgot to tell Mrs. M's class that I'd be gone in the afternoon. Wonder how that went... haha. I told Mr. N's class I wouldn't be back in the afternoon. Of course they wanted to know where I was going. 

"A soil conference with my dad."

"That sounds boring. You should skip it."

"I'm sure I'll learn all sorts of cool stuff."

"But why are you going? Can't he go by himself?"

"Well, I need to learn stuff to make my farm better for my goats. And my garden."

"YOU HAVE GOATS????" 

Cue the goat stories from other kids who know people with goats (fainting), asking me to bring my goat to school for pet day/show and tell/etc. Pictures were all I promised.

Day one of the conference was very good. All three of us had takeaways we plan to apply to our farms. Conference snacks were tasty (always a plus) and they had herbal tea as an alternative to coffee. I had thought ahead and brought a thermos of my own. But it's nice to know I have refill options for tomorrow!

Junior Achievement

The kids were excited I was back to teaching them. I fell back into our routine without too much trouble.

The weather was so nice today (70 degrees!) that we had a little extra recess in the afternoon. It was good incentive for them to finish their handwriting quickly. ;) Hopefully it's not too messy.

I had a very easy afternoon... a student's mom came for the last hour and a half of the day to teach Junior Achievement to my class followed by the other 5th grade class. I used my time to correct English papers. Got 'em done and in the gradebook! This will be the schedule for the rest of the week, so it's looking like I won't have too much homework!

That's a good thing because I have a bunch of things I want to catch up on at home. We need to finish painting. After that, our house could use a deep cleaning since our remodel is done! Well, I think one doorway needs a transition piece, but that's it! I can get caught up on my baking. Maybe start some seeds for our garden (only grass is coming up so far). Or maybe I should read one of the library books that has been waiting for me for months!

Arizona

Our 10 days in AZ flew by. The weather was sunny but cool, so I didn't wear most of the shorts I had packed. My one pair of jeans was well-worn by the end of the trip. 

G and I spent a few days in Sedona visiting his aunt. She spends about a month there around the time of the International Film Festival. G and I happened to be there during the festival, and we saw one film. "Coldwater Kitchen" is a documentary about a prison program in Michigan that teaches inmates to cook. When they're finished, they have skills to work in a professional kitchen (and many of them do... one guy even started his own business!). Very interesting look at prison life and beyond. The movie had a short film prior to its start. That one was almost more fascinating than the film we went to see! 

I can't remember what it was called, but it was about DNA transfer at crime scenes. There was a man with a prior record who had been thrown in prison for a murder because his DNA was under the victims fingernails. He repeatedly denied committing it, but allowed that he had been blackout drunk, so maybe he forgot he did? His lawyer eventually found record that her client had been in the hospital continually supervised the night of the murder, so there was no way he could've done it. They found out later the same paramedic team that had gotten him to the hospital had gone to the murder scene after him to help. That's how his DNA accidentally got there. Gigantic oops. Technology has advanced so much that no longer is DNA at a crime scene an open and shut case. Thankfully it seems like the powers that be have learned from this case. The poor guy got released from prison six months later. No "sorry about making everyone think you're a murderer". No restitution. 

Another fun thing G and I did was a hot air balloon ride! I'll attach pictures later. G scheduled it for our first day in Sedona, just in case it would be cancelled. Good thing he did. It was cancelled Tuesday, rescheduled for Wednesday. Too much wind. Then it was cancelled Wednesday, rescheduled for Thursday. Again, too much wind. We really hoped the weather would cooperate Thursday! That was the last chance we had! Thankfully, it was the perfect day. Almost too calm. 

Our pilot had been flying for 40 years. He said he learned to fly balloons to impress a girl. He was a hoot! In his 40 years he's witnessed six people drop their electronic devices. We did not add to that number on our flight. There were 14 people in our basket. Two other balloons went up with us. We floated for around an hour and a half and then they tried to land us on the road. Our pilot succeeded! The owner of the balloon company got caught in a wind that blew him around the mountain/hill a ways away. Oops. We finished the excursion with a champagne toast, a tradition of balloon rides that started back with the first guys who flew. The first balloonists were from France. To keep the farmers in their fields from thinking they were aliens or invaders, the first pilots brought French champagne with them to share with the locals to prove they were also from France (and to build goodwill).

The rest of our time in AZ was spent hiking, morning dips in the hot tub, and enjoying time with G's family. Our flight back was delayed an hour, but aside from that it was uneventful. We hung out in the Cities with some college friends of ours. I got to go with my friend L for her wedding dress fitting and then helped move her fiancé into their future townhome. While I had all that fun, G went to a church conference all day. Now it's back to good-old regular life in Mankato!

Tough Start

Rough start to my morning... 

I brought home a bunch of papers to correct last night and only had a few of them finished. So I corrected the rest over breakfast this morning. Then I fell into the, "Just one more thing!" habit and left a few minutes later than I wanted to. Of course that was the day the key wasn't in the car in the garage. 

Back into the house I went. Maybe it was in G's backpack. It took a couple tries, but I located it and sped back to the garage. 

My drive to school is seven minutes on average. It can be down to five if I hit the lights right. Of course today I hit the lights wrong and it was closer to seven minutes. I got to school right at 7:30 (when teacher devotions begin). And that's when I realized I wore a different jacket to school than normal. So my fob to the school doors were at home. 

The school doesn't unlock until 7:45am on the dot. I went to the office door, thinking the secretary could buzz me in. She wasn't at her desk. No one else was in sight. I texted Mrs. L and asked her to let me in. Before she could respond, one of the pastors saw me and let me in. Whew! 

I sped to my classroom thinking if I walked quickly, I could make it in time for at least part of the devotions... My classroom door was locked. I still don't have a key for it, so I'm at the mercy of others. Giving up, I dumped my stuff at the door, whipped off my coat, and went down to devotions. 

After that my day was much calmer. A different aid let me into my room, and I had a few moments to gather myself before the kids came in. I had brought a new bunch of graphic novels and book requests from my home library to school. We created a mini Mrs. H lending library in the corner of the classroom (a crate on its side on top of the paper holder). The kids LOVE going over to look through the books. Unfortunately, they now think I have any book they might possibly want to read. I told them I brought so many to tide them over until I get back in two weeks. 

They were glad I was coming back. The other class of 5th graders had some fun parting words for me: "Bring me back a souvenir!" one girl commented. Another said, "Don't touch any cacti!" 

My day ended by finishing our class read-aloud book and starting the next one. It's another short book I hope to finish in the month before Mrs. M comes back (she is hopeful about coming back after Easter/Spring Break the beginning of April). 

After the kids left, Mrs. L and I went over classroom stuff to prepare her for taking over for two weeks. Boy, that's a lot for a brain to handle. Making sure my stuff is wrapped up, leaving stuff for her to pick up where I left off, trying to think of everything that might go wrong or that she would need to know NOW just in case I'm not available to answer her questions in the moment... I'm sure it will be fine. My "be prepared" nature is just coming to light.

It was a quick turnaround after school. We worked until shortly before 4pm, I dashed off to a quick chiropractor appointment, hustled back to school for more instructions, then headed home around 5pm so G and I could go to a friend's "new job launch party" in New Ulm. After an hour we drove back to Mankato to catch the second half of an MSU hockey game (a different friend gave G free tickets). Whew! Fun night, just a lot to orchestrate. 

Now to rest up/finish up loose ends before we head to AZ on Monday!