I received this in an email...

"What do Teachers Make"

The dinner guests were sitting around the table
discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to
explain the problem with education.

He argued, 'What's a kid going to learn from
someone who decided his best option in life
was to become a teacher?'

He reminded the other dinner guests what
they say about teachers:
'Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.'

To emphasize his point he said to another
guest; 'You're a teacher, Ned.
Be honest. What do you make?'

Ned, who had a reputation for honesty
and frankness replied,
'You want to know what I make?
(He paused for a second, then began...)

'Well, I make kids work harder than they
ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional
Medal of Honor.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class
time when their parents can't make them sit
for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?' (he paused
again and looked at each and every person at
the table.)

''I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take
responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make
them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math.
They use their God-given brain, not the
man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries
learn everything they need to know in
English while preserving their unique
cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all
my students feel safe.

I make my students stand, placing their
hand over their heart to say the Pledge
of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation
Under God, because we live in the
United States of America.

I make them understand that if they use the
gifts they were given, work hard, and follow
their hearts, they can succeed in life.'

(He paused one last time, then continued.)

'Then, when people try to judge me by what
I make, with me knowing money isn't
everything, I can hold my head up high and
pay no attention because they are ignorant...
You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
What do you make, Mr. CEO?'

His jaw dropped, he went silent.

Fall Smilebox

Here is a Smilebox creation I made for some of recent fall activities. Including a Halloween costume party we went to. Ryan was a bee keeper, I was his Queen Bee.

Make a Smilebox photobook

Enjoy!

~Lori

Wahoo!

I just applied for my teaching certificate! It's been approved and will be printed in a few days...then mailed TO ME! Can you tell that I'm excited?!?

I also have more good news....I have four endorsements! Basically I can teach the following:

• High School History
• Middle School Social Science
• Middle School Biology
• Middle School General Science

WOW! That opens a LOT of doors for me.

Hee hee!
~Lori

Sub Plans

Well, I survived this crazy week. Although it wasn't as crazy as last week. I feel like that is becoming the motto of my life..."I survived a crazy week". It's gotten to the point where I almost have to change my sub plans daily. There is always something that changes in the daily routine. It's nuts!!

But, Thank You Jesus for the Weekend! We still have a bunch of things planned. Things that we are looking forward to. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures for you all.

~Lori

Quizfest 2009

Another Quizfest has come and gone. This year I felt more involved than last year, much to my stress. I took Friday off because I knew Ryan would need me for the last minute details. It didn't help that Ryan was sick. He went to the doctor and was basically told that "he was allergic to October". (Thanks to Uncle Chet's recent message, we think it maybe our air ducts blowing allergens around the apartment. Something that we didn't have in our last apartment.)

Friday was the first of hours of registration, getting housing settled, and the "Old-Timers" quiz. Ryan has wanted an Old-Timers quiz for a long time and since he was in charge, he organized one. I was stuck at registration, but was relieved for a while so I could watch him quiz. There was the whole craziness of getting host families and quiz teams connected for the night. I made the executive decision NOT to sell lunch tickets while getting housing settled. I did not need that extra stress.

Saturday started at 7:00, finalizing registration, selling meal tickets (which I delegated to our quiz teams), and getting everyone settled for the day. I had to coach a team in the Novice (Rookie) division. I am definitely feeling more confident in my coaching "strategery". While I had my team to worry about, I was still having to deal with questions about the day (oh, the life of a wife of the Quizfest Director). I was really proud of my kids. On top of quizzing to an 8th place finish (our other team got 7th in the Experienced division), they did the 30 Hour Famine.

30 Hour Famine is a fundraiser done by youth groups and other Christian organizations to raise money and awareness of World Hunger. Sara and Scott felt that our kids needed food to quiz. So we gave them a poverty meal...they could only have water or juice and one peanut butter sandwich. They did it willingly although it was hard for them to smell the pizza that all the other quizzers were eating. And you could tell it effected their quizzing. They would get the jump and just draw a blank.

After all was said and done and the church was put back in order, we left at 6:30, just shy of 12 hours. We went out to eat with several of Ryan's quizzing friends, who are excepting me into their group. We discussed how the day went and of course swapped stories from quizzes past. Ryan and I got home at 8:30 and were in bed by 9:45. I didn't get up until almost 9:00 (and that was just to get the crockpot started), I went back to bed and slept for about another hour. So, yeah, Ryan and I slept for 12 hours. And have cat napped on and off all day. What a great day!

~Lori

Day by day by day by day...

Honestly, this is not a tribute to Meet the Parents (or DC Talk)...but how I'm living. I haven't blogged in quite a while. Just barely getting by, day by day. Here are some highlights of what has been going on:

• I've started swimming again, well attempting to get there when the pool is open.
• I coached a quiz team to THIRD PLACE! Well, they did most the work, as in any coaching/team situation. I am growing more confident in my coaching skills.
• I got to see my nephew this weekend. We celebrated his 4th birthday! He's a hoot, let me tell you.
• This weekend is Quizfest, the tournament that Ryan directs. So there has been a little add stress to our lives. But this year looks to be going a lot smoother that last year.

So, yeah...that's about it.
My life has boiled down to: What day is it? Which job do I go to now? What's going on this weekend? Can I go to sleep now?

Good news: I am thismuchcloser to getting my teaching certificate. And then one more chapter of my life will be closed. YAY!!!

~Lori

It was a WILD and CRAZY weekend!

So much so that I'm still recovering. Well...actually I think I'm getting sick.

Friday was the busiest I've been in a while. Last week was Homecoming at good ol' BBCHS. So Friday was "Boiler Pride" day, and the parade. But I was unable to watch the parade, I had to go to my other job.

At the daycare I was alone in the baby room with four babies. Well, 10 minutes after I got there one left, another left after 45 minutes. Then I was able to get the other two to take naps. So it was a pleasant afternoon.

Ryan then picked me up after work, and we rushed to U.S. Cellular Field for the White Sox game. They beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0! (Not that it matters anymore.) Here are some pictures.

After the game we went straight to Camp Manitoqua for Junior High Retreat. I was in the cabin with two other women with the Seventh Grade Girls. I wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The first night I didn't sleep much, but the second night I was out early and out for good. We went on the ropes course, played flamingo football (guys hopping on one foot vs girls on two feet), and of course, worshipped Jesus. "Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Lord send your Fire, Fire." Here are the pictures of the fun.

Thus this weekend was jam packed with activities and Jr. High drama. Don't get me wrong, it was all fun...I'm just glad it only comes around once a year!

~Lori

Hello, it's been a while

This is an awesome song we sung a Youth Group Wednesday. It seems that lately God has really been speaking to me through songs and Psalms. How awesome is He!

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Holy, holy is He
Sing a new song, to him who sits on
Heavens Mercy Seat.
Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come.
With all creation I sing,
Praise to the King of Kings.
You are my everything
And I will adore You!

Here is a link for you to listen to it.

Keep Ryan and I in your prayers, please. This weekend we are going to Jr. High Retreat. While I'm excited about it, I'm dreading the lack of sleep. Plus we will be in cabins. And it's supposed to rain this weekend. :-(

Anyhoo....

~Lori

Quizzing

So I realized that I never blogged about our quiz last Saturday. So...

• We had three teams of four. That means 12 teenagers went with us. Our team names were based off of Dr. Seus. Thus we had the Sneetches, the Truffula Trees, and the Green Eggs and Sam (guess the name of one of our quizzers ;-).
• There were 13 teams, the team I coaches (Truffula Trees) placed sixth, Green Eggs and Sam placed fifth, and the Sneetches placed second.
• A rookie placed second over all individually. She is also memorizing the whole thing.
• These kids amaze me. If a question is missed, the other teams get a chance at half point bonus. At the halfway point of our last round our only points were from bonuses. And at the end, they accounted for half of our points. While my kids had a hard time getting the jumps, they still knew the material to still get points.

All in all, it was a great day.

~Lori

And the winner is....

Well, you can obviously see which picture is the winner. I was totally shocked by the vote. I don't know why y'all think Ryan and I are a couple of city folk. Because we don't see it that way at all.

So maybe I'll make this a quarterly thing. Keep changing it up, keeping it fresh. For some reason I thought you all would pick the basketball one. That's more us.

Anyhoo...After I put the vote up there, I got to looking at the blog and realized, I liked it. But I will stay true to my word. I put the one that you all thought was the best. For now....

Sorry this took so long and that I seem to be rambling. It's been a long, stressful week. One that tested me, and Ryan. One that I stood on the promises of God, the lifter of my head. But that's another story.

So, in short thanks for your help.

~Lori