Nae’s Heart

Pastor Davidson preached an amazing message this evening on always rejoicing.  It made me think, “Am I rejoicing all the time?”  I mean am I really rejoicing for the trial that I am going through or am I only pretending to rejoice because I don’t want others to think less of my walk with the Lord?  I want to truly rejoice in the good times and the bad times!  I want to have joy unspeakable.  I want my life to reflect my heart.  I don’t want to just pretend to be glad for the things that I am going through.  I want to be able to be so happy that the world looks at me and thinks I am crazy for being happy about things that they wouldn’t wish on their enemy.  I am not saying that I want that either, what I am saying is that I want to rejoice in whatever the Lord walks me through.  I know the Lord is by my side and will always be there.  I want to rejoice evermore, all the time.  I want the world to know that the Lord is my strength and He is the only one who will see me through everything, every time.

So when I was at work on Monday we did 2 art projects in the K-4 class!  The first one was really easy.  All they had to do was cut on the thick black line that went down the center of the page and then I taped the two pieces together.  It was the poem “One, two, buckle my shoe.”  The next one was a little more difficult.  the had to cut out 2 circles and then we glued them on a placemat that had everything else for a place setting.  The big circle they cut out was the plate and the little circle was the cup.  They did a good job and enjoyed the 2 projects!  

We also had another conversation about my sister.  Jeremy asked, “Does your sister go to school?” I was thinking this school or a school where she lives.  So I asked him, “Does she go to this school?  or Does she go to school where she is?”  He said, “Where she is.”  I said, “No, she works at a library.”  ”Oh,”  he said, “My sister works at a library too.”  He said, “I go there and look at books.”  It was so cute!  They seem very interested in what my sister does and lives and they have only seen a pic of her.  I miss them since I have been sick and it has only been 2 days!  I am looking forward to be back hopefully tomorrow!  I will put pics up as soon as I upload them!  It may be a few days!

So on Monday night i went to bed with a really bad sore throat.  It was so bad that I could hardly swallow!  ON Tuesday morning I took James to school and told them I would not be working and came home and went to bed!  Around 10:00 am I called my Allergist to see if he could see me and got an appointment for 11:15 am.  I got up and got dressed and headed to see Dr. Lin.  He took one look at my throat and said, “You are starting to get Strep.  Let me give you an antibiotic and you should be feeling better in a few days!”  So I got an antibiotic and came home and went back to bed!  Last evening I was feeling worse.  I couldn’t keep anything down and had a pounding headache.  Around 9:30 pm I was able to keep all of the medicine I took down and went to bed!  I am feeling a little better today, but still not 100% so I stayed home from work again.  I will hopefully being going back tomorrow, only if James will allow me too!

So today after I got the K-4 kids up from their nap time we started to get ready to go outside for recess.  As we were waiting to line up one of the kids told me I was pretty.  I said, “Really?”  And they all answered, “Yes”  I was touched.  then one of the boys said, “I like your red hair.”  I was thinking I don’t have red hair.  I told them, “No, I don’t have red hair!  My sister does!”  So I pulled out my computer to show them a pic of Rebekah.  The first one that I came to was a pic from my wedding.  So I showed them my sister’s red hair and they all agreed that I didn’t have red hair, but Jason said, “Look, Mrs. Ashton is a princess!”  I said, “I am”  He said, “Yes, you have a crown!”  It was so cute!  All of the kids started to tell me that I was a princess!  I kind of didn’t know what to say.  How do you convince K-4 kids that it was your wedding day and you aren’t a princess!  The rest of the day they kept asking me how it felt to be a princess.  Jeremy also asked where my sister lived.  When I told him Delaware he said, “oh”  and then I said, “you don’t know where that is do you?”  And he said, “No.”  It was to hard to explain that it is on the other side of the US.  Then Denise asked if she watched movies and I knew that they had no idea how big the United States really was.  We also got to play “Duck, Duck, Goose” today.  They thought it was hilarious that I couldn’t catch them.  

I posted pics of the class.  check them out on the photos tab!

So this is going to be a little interesting.  Because most of the K-4 children are Asian they have a hard time with English sometimes.  They know that I am Mrs. Ashton but getting them to say that is sometimes very difficult.  They have a tendency to say Mr. Ashton.  So I ask them “What is my name?” And they usually get it right the second time!  It is very cute.  Also the other day we were talking about friends in class and Derrick, one of the twins, all the sudden says “You are pretty!”  I was confused about what that had to do with being friends but it was cute!  I love spending time with them.  Allesandra has started to respond and listen to me.  She is really a smart girl!  Johnston is just cute, no matter what.  Today they played with Legos and Puzzles!  Some of them did really good and some of them tried their best.  Two of the boys made airplanes with the Legos and were flying them around.  I got some pics of them at lunch and on the playground today.  I will try to post them as soon as I can.  I really enjoying working with them.

So I think that art projects should be pre-prepped for k-4 kids!  Today they were supposed to cut out 3 pink circles.  1 of them had a face on it, 1 of them looked like a pig snout, and the last one was plain pink.  The object was to cut them out, glue the medium circle on the big one, and the small nose on the medium one.  Rigggggghhhhtttt!  Try giving 4 year olds scissor and tell them to  cut out the thick black circles.  I honestly think that some of them had never even held scissors before in their life!  It was really cute because non of the circles were well circles.  :)  So we finally got the pieces glued together properly and they actually looked fairly good.  They made “Circle Pigs”.  They aren’t allowed to use the glue, I do that for them.  One of the girls, Denise, kept telling me that she cute her finger!  She didn’t, the scissors weren’t sharp enough.  Allesanrda just likes to use scissors and cuts all the white background into little pieces.  

I love it.  They are all so proud when they finally finish cutting and I come and put glue on their paper.  It makes all of the little problems worth it.  I love working with the K-4 kids!

Sooo, James and I drove down to San Diego to watch the Giants play the Padres.  It was a lot of fun!  The Giants shut out the Padres 7-0.  It was an awesome game.  The Giants led it off with 2 runs in the first inning.  They ended the game with 3 runs in the top of the 9th inning.  We really enjoyed the time together.  It was one of the best games.  Tim Lincecum pitched the whole game.  Benji Molina hit a homerun in the first inning. Hope you enjoy the pictures that are up on the Photo page!

So life as a K-4 teacher is great!  I have been having fun working with the kids every day!  I will post pics as soon as I take some.  Let me try to introduce you to my class through words!  I have 11 kids (sometimes 12) from 1:30-3:30.

 Jason has to be one of the biggest 4 year olds I know!  He is very sweet, but doesn’t always pay attention.

Jeremy reminds me a little bit of Jeremy Nepomuceno, He sometimes repeats what I saw to the other kids and has to be reminded who the teacher is.  

Denise is always telling me about things she has done.  She is forever talking and has a really hard time being quiet!  

Allesandra hardly speaks at all.  She is a really shy little girl who has a hard time understanding English.

Damien is on of the twins.  They are identical so if they are dressed exactly the same I can’t tell them apart on the playground.  They are mischievous little boys who back each other up! 

Derrick is the other twin and he likes to bother Damien or whoever is around him.  He is very active and enjoys making noise.

Vivian likes to help out.  She is fairly quiet and listens well.  

Kyle is very attentive and enjoys learning.  He will raise his hand for questions even when you say “Girl’s only”

Alan is a quiet boy who enjoys playing with the other boys.  He tends to have a great time playing in the sand with them.

Charis is Jon Moffit’s daughter, she is very sweet, but enjoys being a little mother to all the other kids!  

And last but not least is Johnston, He is a little cutie.  He enjoys playing with the twins.  When he is told to stop talking he puts his hand over his mouth and kind of laughs.  His sister is in James’ 5th grade class so his mom is getting to know both of us.  He is the littlest in the class and trys my patience because he is not quite ready for K-4

If I have 12 kids my last child would be Garret. He is the teachers son and usually goes home before I get in there.  

I hope this has given you some insight…pictures are coming!

I really enjoy working with them and am looking forward to seeing their progress through the year.

Well, James and I have survived the first day of school!  It was a good day.  I am working with K-4.  They are really cute.  I only have 12 kids so it is not too much work!  James enjoyed his first day.  We are both tired but happy with the accomplishments  of the day!