Anniversary, year 2

We celebrated our 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY on Monday. Well, actually we celebrated all weekend by going out for dinner, a movie, trying new recipes, taking Monday off of work, watching our wedding video, and working on our "never ending puzzle" :) Here are a few snapshots of our weekend...and to all of you that continue to pray for us and help us grow as a couple, THANK YOU! We're excited to see what God has in store for the year ahead.

Out for dinner at Red Oak

Our free anniversary dessert--yum!

We tried a new recipe for chicken fried rice
We also tried a new quiche recipe for breakfast
Out for lunch at one of our favorite places....Chipotle!

Almost done with the puzzle....

Quotes from the kiddos

Alas, the kids never let me down with their quirky comments. Here are a few highlights from the past couple weeks....

"Why do they call Dr. Seuss a Dr.? He doesn't help people feel better...."
(They don't miss a thing!)


I was having a conversation with a little girl who is both a piano student, and a student in my First Grade class while she was at her piano lesson.
Me: "I'll have to do that when I get to work tomorrow."
Student: "You don't work!"
Me: "What do you think I do at school all day?"
Student: "You don't work.....you teach!"
Well.....at least I have HER fooled!


While reading a book about George Washington (to celebrate Pres. Day), one of my students inquired.... "Man, he was born a long time ago...who was the FIRST person ever born?" Another student quickly replied, "Obviously God, and then Santa!"

Student:"What do you smell like?"
Me:"Is it my perfume?" (as I wave the scarf I was wearing in front of his nose.)
Student:"Yeah. I don't like it. It smells bad."

Just a few chuckles that keep me pluggin' through each day! :)

5 Day Challenge

Our church has been pushing us to go deeper in our compassion and action through the Micah 6:8 Project. Micah 6:8 says "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."


On Monday we began our (short) journey into living on less than $2 of food per day. To do this we decreased our portion sizes to 8 oz. (1 cup). We ate 3 meals a day of beans, rice, tortillas, lentils, or a few bits of fish or chicken, and tap water. We had many different thoughts during these few days. "This is harder than we thought it would be." "We are SO much more blessed that we realize." "We have so much variety available to us." "We've experienced this....now what? What can we do?" "At the end of these 5 days, we can go back to our grocery store or restaurants and eat 'like normal' again.....for most of the world, rice and beans is it." "I can't even eat these foods 'plain'. I've added brown sugar, or butter, or seasonings." There were many more thoughts and conversations throughout the week, but I guess one of my friends said it best... "Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours." I hope and pray that this doesn't end here. That my awareness leads to an action of some sort. What that is...I'm not exactly sure.......
It's an interesting challenge, and I would recommend it (to those physically able), for even just a day or two. :)

Valentine's Day through the eyes of my kiddos...

Well, today was one of the rare moments where I was able to step back a little bit and observe my kiddos as they celebrated Valentine's Day together. First, we wrote about what "love" means to us. Here are a few things they wrote...
LOVE IS...

• considerate of others
• letting go of your anger
• family and friends, hugs and kisses
• not hurting your animals
• colorless (yes, one of them came up with that on their own!)
• giving presents to people and being nice

Another cute moment today was during Math. I had given the kids each a box of "sweethearts" to sort and graph. I was just walking around the kids letting them do their own thing when I overheard them whispering...

"These hearts are inappropriate for school!"
"Yeah, this one says 'FIRST KISS'!"
"Oh yeah?!? Well, mine says 'HEY BABY'!"

hehe--I guess the kids are still innocent about some things ;)

Kid Stories

Well, it has been a rough couple of weeks, but there are always a few moments that keep you laughing, and keep you going. Here are three from this week...

A group of students were reading a book about an opera singer getting kidnapped. It was a tricky book for them, so I wanted to stop part way through and check their understanding. As we paused, I asked someone to summarize what had happened in the story so far, and one little girl stated (in a very frantic, concerned voice)..."Mrs. Hardie, they kidnapped OPRAH!!!" HA! Guess we need to do a little lesson on the differences between opera and Oprah.

We were working on writing what OUR dreams were for the world, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. One little sweetheart's dream was.... "My dream is for everyone to be treated nice, no matter what color their shirts or their skins are." hehe--too cute ;)

Also this week, a co-worker of mine knew I needed a laugh so she came into my room one morning and told me the following story.... One of her little girls came into her First Grade room wearing a beautiful, pink velvety sweatsuit. She was watching this little girl unload her backpack, and as she bent over, the pants slid down to reveal a THONG! Seriously?!!?? She's 7!!!!! Do they even make them in that size???

I'll keep you posted as more stories come... ;)

Florida with the fam

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Quotes from the kiddos...

WOW! It has been a LONG time since I've posted! I didn't even realize it....yikes! As stated at the beginning of the school year, this year has maybe been a little more intense than funny, but there are always a few laughs that sneak into each day. Here are a few from our field trip on Friday...

1. The kids were supposed to get dressed up, and one of my little kiddos came in strutting his stuff right away. He marched right up to me and said "Look at my handsome shoes!"

2. On the bus ride I put my sunglasses on (both for the sun AND to escape into my own little world away from the chaos) and one little boy said "Mrs. Hardie! You look stylish in your sunglasses!"

3. Talking about the play on the way home...."That princess was adorable!"

4. Tattling on a little boy: "Mrs. Hardie....he keeps talking about his peanut!" (Seriously?!?!)

We learn a new "Way Cool Word" every week to increase authentic vocabulary instruction, and are always trying to get the kids to use them (correctly!). Here were some of the sentences the kids used with our Way Cool Words while on the field trip....
"There is a commotion in the play!" (the actors were running around into the audience)
"How long 'til we're there?" "Is it innumerable minutes?"
"Mrs. Hardie, the play was similar to the books we read!"
(So proud of my little kiddos for learning, and using their new words!)

Just a few, but hopefully it gives you a little chuckle!