Questions for Grandparents

In the past year or so on multiple occasions I have heard people talk about the importance of Family History work.  In D&C 2:2 it reads "And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the he hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers". This process happens through family history work.  When I think of Family History work as finding lost ancestors it seems like a daunting task.  When I think of family history work however as getting to know the history and stories of my parents and grandparents, it seems a lot less daunting.  I know that my parents and grandparents have stories and experiences that I could learn from and that my children someday can learn from.  All I have to do is ask them to share their experiences with me. 

I came up with a list of questions to ask my grandparents.  I have sent them the lists and look forward to hearing their responses.  I know that I will be able to learn from them and I hope that my own children will be able to be inspired by their great heritage and the stories of their  great grandparents one day. 

I thought I would share the list with you:

Questions for Grandparents

Tell me about your family growing up.

What types of things did you do for fun when you were growing up?

What was school like when you were growing up?

What was the latest and greatest technology when you were growing up?

What fads/fashions were popular when you were growing up?

What family traditions did you have growing up?

What is something that you learned from your parents?

Tell about meeting Nana/Papa.

Tell about your wedding and what life was like when you were first  married.

Tell me about my mom/dad.  What are some things that I might not know about her/him?

Tell about a hard time and how you got through it.

Tell about a lesson you have learned in life and how you came to learn it.

Tell me some funny stories.

What advice did you give to your kids?

What advice would you give to your grand kids and great grand kids?

What brings you the most joy in life?

Share some of your testimony with me.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Yesterday in school I celebrated Dr. Seuss's Birthday with my class!  We had a Read-a-Thon.  All the kids brought pillows, blankets, books, and snacks.  They all spread out on the floor and under tables and desks and read.  We took some breaks and I read some Dr. Seuss books to them which was great! I love reading Dr. Seuss.

Today, Saturday March 2nd, is actually Dr. Seuss's Birthday.  I have never eaten green eggs before and I thought it was about time.  Unfortunately I did not eat them in a train or a plane or a tree, I simply ate them in a house, but not with a mouse.

Here they are! Yum!

This is one of my all time favorite Dr. Seuss books!  I've had it since I was about 6 or 7, and the fact that it was a favorite as a kid, is probably why it is still a favorite.  If you haven't read it, you should.   I read it to my roommate this morning - it was great!

Here are some great quotes from Dr. Seuss:

"It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become."

 “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...” 

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” 

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

Videos are fun to bring back some childhood memories too : )  We watched this one with the Second Graders yesterday.  I love the message of this story.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss, and Happy Saturday to everyone else : )

  

Valentine's Day!

Last week my students had a homework assignment to write a story about the best Valentine's Day.  There were a few that I really liked.  I saved them so that I could share them with you.

The first one is simply precious:

"I love my Valentine.  She is awesome.  I love her.  I like her. My Valentine is Mom."

Valentines from a girl's perspective: (In Elementary School)

"All the boys in my class gave me Valentines!  And some were poems, or chocolates.  On Valentine's Day we all gave each other treats.  At home I ate lots of treats.  But not the ones I can't eat.  They were good.  We ate dinner.  I went to bed."

"The best Valentine's Day I ever had was when last year someone gave me a chocolate pack.  It was weird.  He gave it to Ryland too.  But they were so good.  that was the best Valentine's Day I ever had."

My personal favorite:

"The best Valentine's Day ever would be if I could have a bath in cheesecake pudding and drink it up with a straw!  Watch four movies.  Get 60 boxes of low fat chocolate caramels.  And last of all get lots of Valentines!"


Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope that these made you smile as much as they made me smile.  Kids are priceless.  They make me smile and laugh every day and are truly a blessing!

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

These are a few (or more than a few) of my favorite things.  Things that make me smile : )

My family

My friends.  These ones and all the other AMAZING friends I have.

Travelling!  I have travelled around the world with my family, and I hope that there will be much more travelling to come in the future.  Seeing the world is awesome!

This place.

Journals! This is a great one where you can just write a line or two a day every day for 5 years!

I have my amazing roommates last year to thank for this!

Change!  The book "The Christmas Jar" has inspired me to collect all the change I receive during the year in a jar.  At the end I will find a way to use it to help others!  Every time I buy something I get excited about putting my change in my jar!

Love notes!  Being a teacher I am fortunate enough to get quite a few of these.  They ALWAYS make my day!

Postcards!  I have collected postcards for years and years.  They just make me happy!  Especially when someone writes one o me.  I love letters too.  Who doesn't right?

  Pajamas! I love, love, love pajamas!  I am always tempted to buy more even though I have plenty : )

My Monster Sack!  This thing is the BEST, so comfortable!  This is also a picture of  a blanket! I LOVE blankets! You can never have too many to cuddle up with.

While cuddled up in those blankets there is nothing better than reading a good book!  I LOVE reading and when I get going on a good book, it is hard to pull me away.  My all time favorite is Pride and Prejudice.

My cute red car! I can't help but be happy when I see it and drive it : )

Pinteresting...yep that's a verb.  I find so many ideas for teaching, crafting, cooking and baking on Pinterest, that I love!

I am seriously hooked on this game right now.  Love it!



I have so many more favorites.  Among them are the scriptures, General Conference, freshly fallen snow, hot chocolate on a cold day, riding bikes, enjoying the outdoors, tubing, cute clothes, jewelry, movies, yummy homemade food, going out to breakfast, sleeping in, playing with kids, serving, laughing and making people laugh.....Basically, life is good.  And all of these things help to make my life a little bit sweeter each day : )

Fabulous St. George Get-Away

This weekend was a three day weekend!  Thank you so much Martin Luther King!  My class was pretty good this past week, but in the three weeks that we have been back from Christmas break they have only been able to go outside and play (this also means getting all their energy out) once.  It has either been too cold (below 20 degrees) or the air quality has been too bad.  You do the math.  Let's just say St. George for the weekend was PERFECT.

 This is the beautiful view from my grandparents house where we stayed : )

We played some fun games! Lots of good laughs!

I got addicted to this game....YIKES. I definitely do not have time to be addicted to a game right now. Who does right?

I got to go on a Sunday walk with mama!  I love talking with my mama!  Mom, Dad, and Delaney drove up from Vegas for the weekend so the whole fam was together.  It was great!

Here is the whole crew (minus the photographer: dad)!  Michael is in there too he is our honorary/adopted brother (Mitch's roommate). 

On the way back I sat in a giant rocking chair with Mitch!

All in all it was a GREAT weekend!  A much needed break with the people I love the most!  There is nothing better than quality time spent with my family.  I cherish every moment of it : )

52 Get to Know You Questions!

This past week there was a group of people coming over and I was in charge of the "get to know you" game.    I remembered that I had see something like this on Pinterest, where you write all over a ball and then you toss the ball around and whatever question your thumb lands on you have to answer.  I got a ball and filled it with "get to know you" questions.   I started out writing kind of smaller than I probably should have, so I ended up having to write a TON of questions.  Luckily my mom was able to help me come up with some of them.  I thought I would share the list.  They could be used for games, journal prompts in a classroom (there's the teacher in me), on a date, or just for fun with a boyfriend/girlfriend.

Here's the list!

1.  What is your favorite dessert?

2.  What is a song or album you have listened to recently?

3.  What do you want to be when you grow up?

4.  What is the hardest class you ever took?

5.  What did you do at recess as a kid?

6.  Tell something that not many people know about you.

7.  If you could have a pet in your apartment what would it be and why?

8.  What makes you mad?

9.  Tell about an experience with a childhood pet.

10. Where do you want to live when you grow up?

11. If you were a natural disaster what would you be and why?

12. If you could only eat one food for your whole life what would it be?

13. What is your favorite cereal?

14. What time do you wake up on a Saturday?

15. What is the best ward activity you have ever been to?

16. What is one of your favorite things to do in Provo?

17. What chore do you want the most?

18. What is your favorite restaurant?

19. Tell your favorite article of clothing.

20. What is the strangest food you have ever tried?

21. If you could have chosen your name what would you have chosen?

22. What is something that you currently want to buy?

23. How many places did you live growing up?

24. How many apartments/houses have you lived in during college?

25. What was your least favorite class in High School?

26. What makes you extremely happy?

27. If you could give someone advice what would it be?

28. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

29. What is your favorite way to waste time?

30. Tell about the best advice you have ever received?

31. What is your favorite physical characteristic about yourself?

32. What is your favorite food?

33. What is your preferred mode of transportation?

34. What is your favorite summer activity?

35. Where are you from?

36. What is your favorite sport to play?

37. If you could be an animal what would it be and why?

38. Tell about an injury you have had.

39. If you had a day to do whatever you wanted to do, what would you do?

40. Tell about the best date you have been on.

41. What makes you stressed?

42. What is your favorite class you have ever taken?

43. What is the best vacation you have been on?

44. Tell about something funny that has happened to you.

45. Tell about your family.

46. What is your pet peeve?

47. What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time?

48. If you were to be stranded somewhere, where would you hope to be stranded?

49. What is your favorite movie?

50. If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?

51. What is your favorite physical characteristic about yourself?

52. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

 Have fun getting to know someone better!

The All Powerful Miss Paul

Today there was a student who was giving me a hard time.  He wasn't listening and was almost never doing what he was supposed to be doing when he was supposed to be doing it.  As a result of this he lost his privilege to go to Art.  He stayed in the classroom with me and helped clean up.  We also talked about his behavior and about what he would do to do better.  When he heard second grade students in the hall returning to class he told me "I'm going to go sit at my desk in listening position facing the board."  This is what I expect the students to do when they come in.  He was sitting perfectly.  When other students tried to talk to him he didn't respond.  All the students were getting settled in their seats and I overheard a student in the back of the room say "What did Miss Paul do to him?".  I had to laugh.  Teachers have super powers.  That's a fact.