The Roomie's Bday

About a month ago we celebrated my roommate Sarah's birthday.  We had some friends over for lasagna, salad, and Inside Out birthday cake!  

Officially an Adult

I got my first ever vacuum a few weeks ago which I think officially makes me an adult.  It was so weird for me to buy a vacuum, but it was time.  I'm pretty sure one of the leading factors in my decision of which vacuum to get had to do more with cuteness and color than its actual function but what can I say, I'm an art teacher.  Aesthetics are more important ;)

This Kid

This is Ice.  Ice is one of my Grade 7 students this year who is in my art class and is also in my homeroom class every day.  He is one of those kids that is just always happy, always full of energy and fun.  He is kind to his peers and a great student.  And he makes me smile every day.  He is always up for an adventure, always willing to speak his mind, have fun, and bring life to the classroom.  I am so thankful I get to hang out with him this year.

As you can probably tell from the pictures, Ice is full of energy... and he's super small for his age.   One of his trademarks is getting to every class first - before all the other twenty-two Grade 7 students.  When we meet for flag in the morning he is always there.  And at the end of the day when it's time for homeroom, he is always the first in my classroom - usually by 3 minutes!  Some of the other boys try to beat him but I don't think he has lost once.  Eventually he started playing a trick on them and hiding when he came into my classroom so that when the other boys arrived they thought they had beat him and got all excited... and then Ice popped out of some hiding place to their great disappointment.  Almost every day in homeroom he plays this game - camouflaging himself in a heap of smocks, or curling up in a cabinet.  He has even contemplated hiding in the trash can and asked me to clear off shelves in advance for him to hid in the next day.  It's so funny to see this routine every day - him running in and hiding, the other boys coming in, at first in triumph, but now they know better and just try to figure out where he is that day.  It's truly the little things in life like this that put a smile on my face every day and I'm grateful for Ice and his fun antics :)

A Peek Into the Art Room

Grade 3 and their Starry Night inspired skies

Grade 4 Comparing and Contrasting the 

36 Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai

Grade 1 Drawing Trees in their own style... 

...because "Every Artist Is Unique!"

Grade 1 working on their Textured Pumpkins 

 Grade 2 learning how to mix colors and learning about all the color families!

Having lots of fun, learning lots of art, and filling our worlds with color! :)

More blog posts to come....!

God Always Provides

I just arrived at the airport in Tokyo, Japan waiting for my last flight to Bangkok.   I was just starting to feel a little sad and lonely and breathed a quick prayer to God.  Less than 30 seconds later I arrived at my gate and a man chuckled and said, “I just had to laugh at the Market Basket bag!”  The plastic Market Basket bag was a last minute packing decision that I’ve been toting around from airport to airport.  As Market Basket isn’t the most wide-spread grocery store chain I inquired as to where he was from.  I learned that this guy was from Kittery, Maine and had been gone for 2 months, so to randomly see a Market Basket bag all the way in Tokyo made him laugh.  It's funny how insignificant things like plastic bags can bring people together and be a source of comfort!  He learned I was from Ipswich and mentioned that he and his wife had been down to the Choate Bridge Pub for a burger and gotten some seafood in the area before as well.  This guy in Tokyo had been a mere mile away from my house!  Sometimes the world is so small! 

It wasn’t a long interaction, but it was just what I needed.  Right when I was starting to feel that I was so far away from anyone I knew, God provided this close connection to make me feel at home.  He is so good!!

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An update to this story: This guy was actually on his way back home to Boston -- both of our gates got changed a couple of hours ago so that his old gate that was going to Boston got changed and became my gate going to Bangkok.  He didn't find this out until just now, accounting for the fact that we both spent time in the same waiting area.  This information makes me even more sure that our meeting was an act of God!