Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!
It has been a regular old uneventful Saturday here, but I thought I should at least write a special blog post for the occasion. And not only did I think it, but I remembered to do it!

I must say, I haven't had much cause to wish for a valentine of my own this February.

I shall tell you why.

These 8 oh-so-deceptively cute boys all brought me chocolate.
YAY!
And I was practically killed with hugs and kisses out on the playground Thursday.
It had been a tough morning. I needed it.
I've been recovering by eating fudge ever since.

And that is why Miss Caitlin wasn't in Dreadful Need of a boyfriend for Valentine's Day.

All this is not to say that I don't need any guys in my life.
The little ones are great, but I'm awfully thankful for the bigger ones, too.
Firstly, I'm thankful to my Daddy for providing for me, and bringing me up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." And to my brothers for... helping me practice being patient and kind over and over. ... I'm still working on that one. **scowl at self** But really, Nicholas and Joey and Ben do surprise me with their thoughtfulness sometimes.

And now, if you don't mind, I shall list some of the other guys to which I am grateful.
Some of you guys I don't actually talk to (ha!), and some of you I haven't known long, but I'm still thankful for you, and you shall see why:

Stu - Thanks for the ice cream. And the other fun random times.
Danny - Thanks for listening to my frustrated rants and offering help and pizza stories.
Keith -Thanks for the many emails. I never know quite what to expect from you.
Paul -Thanks for the peppermints and yahoo emoticon wars from ages ago.
John - Thanks for the Zac Efron stories and being so fun to hang out with.
Joe -Thanks for the gum-wrapper flowers and the deadly sarcasm.
Grayson - Thanks for deciding what I should eat at Taco Bell. And for being a great guy.
Matt - Thanks for the many rides, and the breakfast on Sundays that nobody eats.
Janson - Thanks for doing Youth Choir and for being encouraging.
Jeremy - Thanks for the many times you've offered to pray for us. I appreciate that.
Ryan - Thanks for being you? Some people are just fun to be around.
Zack - Thanks for the stimulating conversations.
Isaac - Thanks for the jokes about calico hair, and whatever else we talked of back then.
Daniel - Thanks for the random humor. You're kind of a celebrity around here.

And there you have it folks!
Wasn't that nice...

I watched Fireproof again last night. It reminded me that lessons about love aren't just for married people. God loved us sacrificially, and we are supposed to show His love to everyone. Even when they don't deserve it. Even when they don't notice.
And it's hard.

"I will love you like God because of God, mighted by the power of God. I will stop expecting your love, demanding your love, trading for your love, gaming for your love. I will simply love. I am giving myself to you, and tomorrow I will do it again. I suppose the clock itself will wear thin its time before I am ended at this altar of dying and dying again.

God risked Himself on me. I will risk myself on you. And together, we will learn to love, and perhaps then, and only then, understand this gravity that drew Him unto us."

-Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz)

What a beautiful picture of learning to love.

Speaking of Fireproof, I should like to bring your attention to a super-awesome song
from that movie. While I'm Waiting - John Waller.
For the sake of the length of this post, I'm not going to post the lyrics here. The link above has the video from the movie, plus lyrics. Click the link! It's worth it.

I purchased that song on iTunes today.
It's sort of what the theme of my life is and has been for the past two years or so.
Waiting on the Lord, and trying to live for Him as I wait.
Wait for problems to be worked out.
Wait for plans to be revealed.
Wait for people to change. (myself included)
Wait for Prince Chaaaarmiiiing....
(hey, it's Valentine's Day. Cut me some slack)
Waiting eagerly but not impatiently.

So, there's my little compilation of thoughts for the day! It was longer than I thought it would be.
Hey! I realized I still haven't listened to this week's episode of the Boundless Show! And it's bound to be great since it's about the Valentine's Day.
I think I shall leave you now.
I hope you have some chocolate to bring you solace in my absense.
lol
Love y'all!!

Caitlin

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school! I was so excited. Really, I was! And I'm still excited.
And all the other teachers think I'm nuts. But I love teaching, and I love little kids, so... Of course, some of the love and excitement wears off by the end of the school year, when you're sick of saying "don't climb the slide!" and chasing barefooted kids, germy (and prohibited) crocs in hand.

Anyways, where was I? Right. First day of school, in a cute clean room, with cute little boys.

There's my door, with all our names on it. Nifty, isn't it?






Here's my room as seen from the door! This photo turned out really blurry. Hm. Oh well.

I really enjoyed preparation week... playing with sticky tack, construction paper, and foam pieces... Painting my tree on a bulletin board was really fun. I laminated it so that I can put different art projects up for the different seasons. Jessica liked it so much, she had me paint one for her room.
I got her to cover my extra board with yellow paper in return. I still haven't decided what to put on that one... Any ideas?


I also brought in my bean bag chair, a fluffy dog, and lots of pillows from my room that I never use. Makes a super cute and comfy little reading/music corner. No success reading today, though. We're gonna have to work on our circle-time skills... But they're only 2. We have time.





I asked Mrs. Dawn to hunt down all the trucks for me. As you can see, we have no shortage of wheeled vehicles. And for good reason, too - all of them were employed today.

I used sticky foam letters to put the boys' names on their cubbies. I really like the way it turned out. ... Only, Nathan isn't coming. lol

I had his name on a couple of things already, and then Mrs. Nancy told me Tuesday that plans changed. It's ok. I can handle six boys, but five is just fine, too. :D

Well, I was going to go ahead and post pics of the little guys, too, but I've got to get off the computer now. Ah well. It was a good day, and I'm ready for bed.

I leave you with a picture of one of the cutest moments of the day.

-Miss Caitlin

Hallo again!

It's been over a week since I posted!

I've been busy.
Crocheting, going places, doing things... I had to drive somewhere almost every day last week. I think I listed all of the things I had to do in my last post. They all got accomplished, and they all worked out well.
Even the orthodontist visit. Although that isn't to say it wasn't miserable and painful and all that sort of thing. And then there's the fact that I still have to have these braces for two more years. Blegh. But I'm grateful, so there.

Hey, look! It's me when I first got my braces.
(I just felt like I needed some pictures in this post.)

Our movie night was a blast. It was so fun to see Beth and Katie again. Katie's gone off to college now... But she said we should have another movie night without her, in her honor. I agree.

I like talking about my friends in my posts so that I can tag them on facebook.

It's always fun when you see yourself in someone else's blog... if they're saying nice things about you. Or at least it is for me. lol I have other friends that would probably get mentioned more if they had facebooks so that I could tag them. Like Katey.

With that random little spiel over with, I would like to say that I'm glad to be back at work. This week is preparation time. Woo hoo! I've thrown away all sorts of clutter, and got my cabinets organized and neat. I decorated my door, and got started on a bulletin board. Other than that, I have nothing accomplished. I've got some idea books lying in my room that I've been meaning to look through... Got to get a lesson plan together, you know. I'm pretty good at flying by the seat of my pants (what an odd expression - that's the first time I've used that one, too, I think), but I doubt Mrs. Nancy would appreciate that. :D

I'm looking foward to actually starting with the kids there. I've only got two days a week, and a quarter of what I earn is paying for gas money to get there and back. Lest you think I'm exaggerating, ... well, I'm not. I put gas in the van today, so I know how much it takes, and if it's not a whole fourth of what I earn, it's more. Aaaanyways, I'm obviously not working for the money. I'm working because I love to! And guess what? ....
...
guess again.

My whole class is little boys!! Is that awesome or what?! I'm so excited. I'll have 6 two year old boys. It will be scary, but fun. Mrs. Nancy has labeled my class "Caitlin and the Boys." lol

And because I don't have any pictures of them yet, here's a favorite from the beginning of last year. It's my Rhett-Monkey!! I love that kid so much. He's grown a lot since that pic. I can't wait to see how much he's grown over the summer. Maybe his mom will need me to babysit... lol

Oh, yeah, I think where I was originally going with saying that I'm only working two days a week, was to say that it leaves me free to do other stuff during the week. Like maybe pick up a few babysitting jobs. ;-) And keep my nice little shop running.

It's been running well so far. As a matter of fact,
it's actually been picking up some speed lately. I'm currently working out another trade with Miss Helen from ShereDesign. This time it's for these great little bird earrings.
Her work is so cute!

Okay, I'm done now. I'll be back again someday.
"Hallo" and "love ya!" to all my friends. Enjoy your week. :)
-Miss Caitlin
P.S. I'm reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis in my spare time. It's amazing good. Check it out.

From babysitting the Buckley boys

"When I grow up, I'm goin to six flags the day after we're married. We're going to ride that big roller coaster that goes really fast, and up and down, the ones that little kids fall out of when they go on it. I haven't got to ride that one before." -Bradley

That sounds like a fun honeymoon. I totally wasn't expecting the "day after we're married" part.

Bradley: "I love pepperonis. You know why I love them? They're so good for you."
Me: "Really?"
Bradley: "Yeah! full of all the right vitamins you need! that's why I love them."

I make THE BEST corn dogs and pancakes. You should know that. Bradley says so.

My favorite recurring conversation of the week:

Bennett: Caaaaaitlin!
Me (uninterested): Yeah?
Bennett: I looooooove you!

Go, Speed Racer, go Speed Racer, go Speed Racer, gooo!

"Laura, what's your name?" -Benny

Brayden could walk around smiling "hey!" to you all day.
Laura taught him to say "so looong! farewell!"