Gone Crafty

I was sitting down looking through my closet and under my bed one day and I realized that over the last year I have made quit a few crafts. With each one that I have made I have had to find a place to store it as well as a place to store the leftover materials that I used to make it in the first place. This would result in me trying to find space in my closet or under my bed for my latest craft. As it turns out, I have pretty much run out of room in either of those places.

As I was looking through them to find room I figured that I would share them with all of you. They were all pretty easy to make and I had a lot of fun making them in the process. Some took longer then others and I had a few adventures with a couple of them. Some produced burnt fingers, smashed thumbs, cut hands, and some frustration. All in all though,I have to say I that I had a good time with them, and I think they turned out pretty cute.

This is the first cake that I decorated with fondant (I made it for Brett's B-day)


Kendra's Birthday Cake


Sayings on wood boards


Yarn Balls
(I started making them for Operation Smile to take with them when they go to other countries as toys for the kids)


Jean Quilt



Easter Blocks


Plate


Scrapbooking (Yes, there are more pages then this)



Pumpkins out of Jars (Wendi showed me how to make these)


Advent Calendar (This one is my moms because I gave the one I made to Wendi for her birthday and I still have not finished my own yet)


Gingerbread House


Signs (This would be from the most recent craft night with Wendi)
Mine

Wendi's


And the current craft that I am working on is an Afghan. I think it will turn out pretty cute. After I am finished with this I will be moving on to pillows.


Let me know if you have any great ideas for crafts in the future. I would love to learn how to make them.

Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Most of you know that I am student teaching this year. I have been in the classroom since August and it has been very entertaining to say the least. I have loved certain days, liked most others, and only truly hated a few. Some of the things that make me like and love those days are students accomplishing their work, students listening the first time and not blurting out, students who struggle start to piece it together, and most of all hearing the things that they say.

If you ever really listen to kids you find that they say some of the darnedest things. Most of them are just weird, a lot of them are funny and make me smile, and some just down right make me laugh out load. Since I have gotten such a great laugh from the things my students tend to say I thought that i would share some of them with you so you could get a laugh as well. Just remember that they are all fifth graders and are just starting to become teenagers. Enjoy.

S: "Really Miss Walker, do I have to?"
Me: "Yes"
S: "Do I have to do it all Miss Walker?"
Me: "Yes"
S: "Holly Toledo Miss Walker! That's a lot."

S: "Miss Walker. I am mad at you."
Me: "Why?"
S: "Because I need to be mad at someone so I am picking you. ok"

S: Miss Walker, do you know CMP?
Me: Do I know what?
S: CMP. Do you know how to do it?
Me: What is CMP?
S: That thing where someone kisses someone else on the mouth a lot of times and pounds on there chest.
Me: I am not sure what you are talking about.
S: You know it Miss Walker. It is that thing you see people do in movies when someone is dead.
Me: Do you mean when someone has stopped breathing and someone else breaths into there mouth for them and pumps there heart by pushing on their chest?
S: I don't know. It always just looks like they are kissing.
Me: I think you mean CPR.
S: No, that's not it. It is CMP. Certified Mouthing and Punching, I am sure of it.


S1: Miss Walker, you're really good at art.
Me: Thank you
S2: You really are good Miss Walker
Me: Thank you to you as well
S1: You're really beautiful too
S2: Don't say things like that to the teacher.
S1: Why not. She is. You're skinny too Miss Walker. Have you seen yourself in a bikini?

S: Miss Walker do you have a boyfriend?
Me: No, I don't.
S: Why not Miss Walker?
Me: I just don't have one.
S: But I thought all grown ups had boyfriends or girlfriends.
Me: Some do and some don't
S: Well didn't anybody want you?
Me: Not at the moment
S: You should go get a boyfriend.
Me: I will work on it.
S: Good. You need a boyfriend. Just make sure to check him out first ok?

Those are just some of the many conversations that you can have a with a fifth grader. There are also many more things that they would love to tell you. Some include how to dance, what their greatest talent is, and even how to quote someone else. And if you let them, they will even preform for you in class. So if you ever need something to make your day better, go talk to one and see what they will say. Most days what they have to say will just make you laugh.

Things that make it worth it...

Do you ever have those days where you wonder to yourself if you are absolutely crazy? those day where you are sure that you have gone insane and that the world is out to get you? Or even those days where you just wish that you didn't care so that you could give up and stop trying? Well, I have. In fact, I have been having a whole week or two full of those kinds of days.

Lets just say that there are some things in life that drive me mad. And not in the angry way, but in the "I think I have just lost my mind" kind of way. There are some things that go on that make me wonder if I can just run away and never return. Some of these things involve my students beating each other up (yes, they really do)my students shouting out across the room all day long (even when they get recess taken away for it) people lying directly to my face (especially when I know that they are, people never taking responsibility for there own actions and then blaming then on others, people not doing what they have promised to do countless times, people who just tend to make life harder then it needs to be, and people who butt into others life(even when they have been asked countless times just to leave you the heck alone). The list could go on for awhile, but that is not the point of this post. So, sorry for that, but I just needed to vent a little.

So, with all of these things going on for the past little while, I realized that i have not been a very nice person or a very happy one to be around. I have been tired and irritated most days. And I don't think that I was the best company to anyone. I realized that I don't like this person that I have become. I am also realizing that in order to be the happy Brittney again, that I need to look for the things that make it worth while. I need to focus on the things that make me laugh more and the things that make me frown less. Listed below are some of the things that have made it worth while just over the last few weeks.

1)My mom, who makes me laugh and who will laugh with me
2)My students who give me hugs when i leave early (even if they do drive me nuts)
3)The sun shining through my window in the mornings
4)one of my professors tell me that i am awesome at what I do (even if i don't believe her)
5)Not having to scrape my car as much
6)Today being March 1st, which means I am that much closer to graduating
7)Learning that my friends are happy (it makes me happy to know that they are)
8)My friends who will give me reasons to laugh, even if it is at myself
9)My sister who will not only let me complain to her, but who will also complain right back with me
10)The fact that it is still light when i get out of class at night now and i don't have to walk across campus in complete darkness.

Those are just some of the things that make it worthwhile for me not to run away or to give up. I am still learning that life always seems worse when you let the bad drag you down. But, it will always seem better when you let life lift you up instead. So, as you go through your next few days, weeks, or months, try to remember that life is worth it. Try to find what makes you smile and focus on it. For that is what will make it worth while for you to live it.

Husbands for Sale

At the school I am student teaching at there are three fifth grade teachers and myself. My site teacher has been married for awhile. One of the other teachers just got married in November, and then the last teacher and myself are single.

Since the beginning of the year my students have loved to ask me about boyfriends and if I had one. They would also ask me when I was going get one because they wanted me to bring him into the classroom like another student teacher did (her boyfriend came and proposed to her in her classroom with the students, needless to say, now my students want someone to come to their classroom and do the same thing). But, it has gotten even funnier and worse since the other teacher got married.

Now my class, as well as the other single teachers class, is trying to find us husbands. At first they started with the usual questions of if we had boyfriends. Then, in the last couple of weeks it has gone on to things such as this:

Students 1: "Miss Walker, do you have a boyfriend yet?"

Me: "No. I still don't have one."

New Student: "Well, I am sure you can buy a boyfriend. Or even better, you should just buy a husband."

Next student: "You can't buy a husband. Duh. You have to go catch one."

First student: "Oh, ok. Then you need to go fishing Miss Walker and catch yourself one."

Another student: "She doesn't need to go fishing. She just needs to marry my cousin."

Next student: "I have uncle you could marry. He is a construction worker."

New student: "Yeah. Marry the construction worker. then he could build you a house, but he has to propose to you here in the classroom like that other guy did."

Whole Class: "Yeah, that would be cool."

And my personal favorite conversation:

Student 1: "Miss Walker. Did you see the science fair judges?"
Me: "Yeah. The ones from the high school?"
Student 2: "Yeah. Did you check them out?"
Me: "Mo, I didn't. Why?"
Student 1: "Miss Walker. You should have checked them out. They were soooooo cute!"
Student 2: "Yeah, Miss Walker. You would have liked them."
Me: "I don't think so. They are a bit to young for me ladies."
Student 3: "how old are you Miss Walker?"
Me: "22"
Student 3: "Oh. I guess your right. A 22 year old with a high school student wouldn't work out too well huh?"
Me: "Nope. I don't think it would. And they are bit old for any of you."
Students: "Fine, but they were really cute."

These comments are not only going on in my room, but in the other teachers classroom as well. It makes me laugh every time that I hear them. I even heard one student in the hall ask another where they could find husbands for sale. The student didn't know , but thought that they should go look it up in the phone book. I told them to let me know where they were for sale as soon as they found out. We will see if they come up with an answer.

And as funny as it is, and as much as it makes me laugh more everyday, you have to love them for trying right?

What People Say

Do you ever sit and wonder what people say about you? Or wonder what they have said about you before or to other people? Or maybe you have just wondered what people really think of you and who you are. I know I have.

I usually start wondering these things for a few different reasons. One - someone else has come up to me and started saying things about another person that I know and then it makes me wonder what they say about me. Two - when someone I don't know or just met comes up and starts saying things like "it's so nice to finely meet you" or "so, your brittney", these makes me wonder what someone has told them, because they have obviously heard of me. And three - when someone comes up to me and says something that I have a hard time agreeing with or something that makes me think about the image I put off to others. The most recent one of these things being number three.

One time that this happened was when i was painting chairs with my mom. We had been sanding, taping, and painting for awhile. At the time, my mom was asking me how my day had gone the day before. I told her that it was fun. I had gone and done a huge service project with my ward the day before. We went and painted houses, garages, and cleaned up a bunch of yards. I told her that i had had a lot of fun doing the work with the people that I did it with. I told her that I had a really good time. The next thing she asked me was "do you ever have a bad time doing anything?" My first response to this was "yeah, of course I do", Then she said "really?" that made me think about it for a second. And in all honestly I really couldn't think of a time when I had a really bad time doing something that I choose to do. This question definitely made me think about myself and what others have noticed about me.

Another time that I had to take a moment to think about how people saw me was when I was talking with my bishop. I had gone to tithing settlement and I had spent I few moments talking to the ward clerks and then to the second counselor. Then the bishop called me in to the office to talk to him and make sure that everything was in order. He asked me about tithing and we took care of all of that stuff. Then he said, "you know, one of the reason that I really like you is that you are fearless" My response was "oh no, I would not say that I am fearless by an means." His response was "oh. I think that you are" My next response "no, I am not fearless, there are plenty of things that I am scared of." then he looked at me and said, "Brittney, I am willing to bet that there are very few things that you truly fear. And that my friend, would make you fearless." That would be a statement that I have thought about ever since he said it. It made me wonder how other people see me. It made me wonder what kind of image I portray to others. But it also made me wonder if it was true. It made me wonder what I truly fear. And I have to say that there are only a few things that I truly fear. Granted, these things are pretty big, a lot of stuff falls under the main categorizes. But, all in all, there are only a few things that truly frighten me.

There are many more times where i have taken a step back and wondered what people think of me. There have been many times when i have wondered what people have said about me and what they have really thought of me. All in all though, I try not to wonder what they think. I figure that I am living my life and if they have a problem with it, well, they can keep it to themselves, or they can tell me. Either way though, I think I am just going to keep on living it.