I found this on my cousin's blog (thanks Ang!) and found it to be quite fitting, so I thought I'd share it with you!
Already a Butterfly
by Cherie Call
June 01, 2009 Several weeks ago my little two-year-old daughter was playing with her toys and decided to strap on her butterfly wings. She was having a pretty good time for a while, when she got further down in the toy box and found her purple super hero cape. She wanted to put it on. When my husband tried to convince her to take of the wings, she refused. So he velcroed the cape on right over the wings. It was awkward. She yanked on it for a while to keep it from being so jagged, but she looked like a jagged purple hunchback. She tried to go with it for as long as she could, but pretty soon she flew back over to us and uttered a very profound truth. I only wish I could remember her exact toddler jargon for this. But essentially, she said, "No cape. Alrey butterfly." Think about it. You don't need a cape if you're already a butterfly! The moment I heard her say it, I knew it meant something. But it has taken a little bit of time for the meaning to unfold for me. Maybe it means something different to you. But for me, this is it. I spend a lot of time, too much time, really, trying to fit into a cape. I see my neighbor in a beautiful cape, making incredible gourmet dinners with vegetables from her backyard. It's usually on a day I hardly had time to pick up a pizza. I see songwriting friends writing songs I truly wish I had written, they're so good. I see their capes billowing in the wind. I go to the mall and try to find something that can make me look amazing, and I notice the ridiculous price tag. Capes I can't afford. I get discouraged. All the while I don't remember that I have wings! If I paid better attention, I might notice some of those super hero ladies admiring them, and wishing for them. I have my own set of gifts. My own list of things I do best. Is being a butterfly better than being a super hero? Not necessarily. But is a super hero better than a butterfly? I'd say not. Could butterflies do some of the same things that super heros can? Sometimes, maybe. If they practiced. But that's not the point. I'm already something pretty great. I'm a butterfly! I have to admit that most of the time I feel more like a caterpillar than a butterfly. But I'm starting to remember more often that I really do have wings. I want to use them to do what they're best at, and fill this world with the things that only I can give. I want to quit trying so hard to be someone else. Easier said than done, I know. I have lots of heroes in my life and I'm so grateful for them. I will always try to be more like them. But I'll try to do it in my own special butterfly way, because that's who I am. And I get the feeling that God loves butterflies quite a lot.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
1st day of summer vacation!
Today karma has kicked my butt! ;)
Travis came home for the weekend and when he left yesterday he took my car (cheaper on gas since he's coming home Tue. so we can go to Lake Powell). He neglected to leave a key to the truck for me! I didn't figure it out until I was trying to leave so I could be at my new school at 9 am! That was buckets of fun! My poor mother was a trooper when I called at 7:15 am and asked if I could borrow a car! (Thanks mom!!)
Luckily I wasn't late to the school & I didn't even get lost (and I even wavered from my mapquest directions!). I got to see my classroom! It is painted blue. Interesting, but much more fun than just white! Half my room was being used as storage for another teacher's stuff, but the fabulous custodian said he'd have my room ready for me to move into by Monday the 15th of June!! Amazing!! I got to meet my mentor teacher. She teaches 5th grade and she was super nice. My principal (Misti Young) gave me some books for reading (perfect timing since we're going to Powell this week!). I got the tour of the school. We have a cafeteria & a gym (unusual for an elementary school). The library is HUGE compared to the one I just came from! The school was built in 1955 and you can tell it's an older school, but it already feels like home (never did say that about the last one)! I'm so excited to be at this job and I've hit the ground running! I brought home a big box of curriculum books today so I can start getting a feel for things! Can't wait to meet my grade level cohorts!
My mom had asked me to stop at the JoAnn's fabric on Riverdale before I came home so I could pick up some ironing board material for a never ending project. Well, apparently I had a massive brainfart. I bought the wrong stuff (12 yds of the wrong stuff!). I tried calling mom 3 times while I was at JoAnn's to double check things with her and couldn't ever get her to answer. She finally answered when I got to Farr West! So, I sat in the Park & Ride in Farr West for 30 min. and waited for mom to show up so we could go BACK to Riverdale to trade the fabric! Luckily they had what she needed and they let us trade it all! Then I had mom detour up to my new school so I could show her my classroom. She agreed with me that I'm in the middle of the ghetto! I think all of Ogden is pretty much ghetto though!
Finally made it back to pick up the kids at 4:30 (so much for not being all day!). Then we went down to my mom's house because she said she went through all her clothes and found a bunch that didn't fit her any more that she thought might fit me. Let me just say, normally I hate shopping for clothes because I always have such a hard time finding stuff to fit because I am so long waisted! Well, not only did I find a bunch of clothes that fit, they were free AND they were several sizes smaller than what I've got at home! LOVE IT when that happens!
My mom let me leave Nash & Sam at her place so Caleb could take a nap and she even said she'd bring them home in a little bit so I don't have to drive down and get them. How fabulous is my mother today?! Thanks mom!!
Travis came home for the weekend and when he left yesterday he took my car (cheaper on gas since he's coming home Tue. so we can go to Lake Powell). He neglected to leave a key to the truck for me! I didn't figure it out until I was trying to leave so I could be at my new school at 9 am! That was buckets of fun! My poor mother was a trooper when I called at 7:15 am and asked if I could borrow a car! (Thanks mom!!)
Luckily I wasn't late to the school & I didn't even get lost (and I even wavered from my mapquest directions!). I got to see my classroom! It is painted blue. Interesting, but much more fun than just white! Half my room was being used as storage for another teacher's stuff, but the fabulous custodian said he'd have my room ready for me to move into by Monday the 15th of June!! Amazing!! I got to meet my mentor teacher. She teaches 5th grade and she was super nice. My principal (Misti Young) gave me some books for reading (perfect timing since we're going to Powell this week!). I got the tour of the school. We have a cafeteria & a gym (unusual for an elementary school). The library is HUGE compared to the one I just came from! The school was built in 1955 and you can tell it's an older school, but it already feels like home (never did say that about the last one)! I'm so excited to be at this job and I've hit the ground running! I brought home a big box of curriculum books today so I can start getting a feel for things! Can't wait to meet my grade level cohorts!
My mom had asked me to stop at the JoAnn's fabric on Riverdale before I came home so I could pick up some ironing board material for a never ending project. Well, apparently I had a massive brainfart. I bought the wrong stuff (12 yds of the wrong stuff!). I tried calling mom 3 times while I was at JoAnn's to double check things with her and couldn't ever get her to answer. She finally answered when I got to Farr West! So, I sat in the Park & Ride in Farr West for 30 min. and waited for mom to show up so we could go BACK to Riverdale to trade the fabric! Luckily they had what she needed and they let us trade it all! Then I had mom detour up to my new school so I could show her my classroom. She agreed with me that I'm in the middle of the ghetto! I think all of Ogden is pretty much ghetto though!
Finally made it back to pick up the kids at 4:30 (so much for not being all day!). Then we went down to my mom's house because she said she went through all her clothes and found a bunch that didn't fit her any more that she thought might fit me. Let me just say, normally I hate shopping for clothes because I always have such a hard time finding stuff to fit because I am so long waisted! Well, not only did I find a bunch of clothes that fit, they were free AND they were several sizes smaller than what I've got at home! LOVE IT when that happens!
My mom let me leave Nash & Sam at her place so Caleb could take a nap and she even said she'd bring them home in a little bit so I don't have to drive down and get them. How fabulous is my mother today?! Thanks mom!!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Job Interviews...
As many of you know, I've been in the process of job hunting since the end of April. Today I went and interviewed with a school named Thomas O. Smith Elementary. They are located in Ogden not too far (15 minutes east) from the school I'm at now. I felt like the job interview went really well and then headed home. I didn't even make it to Brigham before Ogden School District Human Resources called and offered me the job! I of course took the job! I will be teaching 6th grade in the fall. That is going to be a whole new experience for me but I am excited about it. It doesn't hurt that I'm getting somewhat of a pay raise and medical and dental benefits too!!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
What we do...
This is a SUPER, SUPER long post. Sorry! If you don't want to read it all, I understand completely!
It's kind of funny the things I find to do when Trav's not around...
Tonight I decided Charlotte was super shaggy & was due for a grooming. Mind you it's like $50 to take her to PetSmart. So, I dug out the shears and away I went. It took me about an hour to get her done and overall, she looks MUCH better. There are a few spots where the fur is shorter than the rest, but I think I did pretty good for my first dog haircut!
Every night for the last week I've gotten home & then rather than go right inside the house and do the stuff I know I should be doing, I've gone straight to a flowerbed & pulled weeds! The weather has just been SO nice & I knew that once I went inside I'd never get back out. So, Caleb has been a trooper while he's caged & the other two have played together pretty good...mostly. Now it's Friday & all my flowerbeds are weeded! Of course, I am starting to see a few weeds pop back up here and there, but that can wait a day or two.
I've also been watering the heck out of our "grass". Trav told me not to let the ground dry out and with the beautiful weather we've also had heat. Last night I finally got to where ALL the places that have grass (or some grass) was wet. So, tonight I gave our lawn mower a whirl. I was so excited. That's my first time mowing MY lawn with MY lawn mower! Isn't it funny the things we get excited about as we get older?
Samantha had her last day of boys and girls club today. They had a water day so she took her swimsuit to school and got to run in sprinklers and play water games after school. Oh to be young and carefree again!
Nash had his preschool graduation at the end of last week. I can't believe his first year of preschool is already over! They did a cute little program and his teacher and a dvd of all the pictures she's taken all year. Tuesday was his last day of school. I think he was bummed out because tonight he repeatedly told Sam, "I DIDN'T have school today." Guess I'll have to do some school like stuff with him more than I thought this summer!
Caleb has learned how to growl. No, I'm not kidding. He will be sitting and playing or just sitting watching you and all of the sudden he starts to growl. It's quite hilarious. I'm going to try and catch it on video tomorrow and post it. I don't remember either of the other two doing this! Maybe I've just forgotten. Either way, I stop and giggle every time he does it.
I still haven't found another job. On Wednesday I went to the Weber School District office and took a math and writing test with their Special Ed. dept. Weber district is looking for teachers that are willing to teach and get their SPED endorsement at the same time. I passed the math test with 93% (hey, I have to brag a bit here, it was algebra & I couldn't use a calculator. Do you KNOW how long it's been since I've done ALGEBRA?!). Anyway, I go and interview with them on June 1st. I figure that I can get my SPED endorsement or my Masters in the same amount of time and for almost exactly the same amount of money. I told Trav I think I'd be better off doing the SPED endorsement b/c then I think I'd pretty well have my pick of jobs. Whereas if I get my masters people will think I'm overqualified for the job and not want to hire me. I do have a TON of resumes out and I'm still actively applying, so I am staying optimistic. Keep your fingers crossed!
Tomorrow Trav's brother Chad and his girlfriend and their boys are coming out. Chad's going to till my tiny garden spot for me so I can get it planted. Seriously, I cannot even believe it's that time already. The kids will be excited to play together. They really haven't had the chance much lately b/c I'm never around to take them out to Trav's parents' house! I think I will be able to get a bunch of good pix tomorrow & post them then.
I just went back & looked at how long of a post this is. SORRY! I also realized I haven't posted about Nash's bday yet. Mother of the year award right here (again)! We just did cake & ice cream at our place. He had to have a Spider Man cake this year. He wanted one last year and I was able to talk him out of it but there was no such luck this year. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted (I'm thinking chocolate, yellow, etc.) responds with "Blue." He was like, "Duh mom. How do you not know that already?" So, I made a white cake & colored it blue and thus he had a blue Spider Man cake. He's big into Spider Man and Transformers this year. He's been telling me since October he wants a Bumblebee transformer like Carter. Well I looked for one to get him for Christmas to no avail. I told my mom about it and, being the awesome grandma that she is, she found one for him. Everything he got was either Spider Man or Transformers related or clothes. He was so funny to watch open presents. If it was clothes he grabbed them and held them up for all of 3 seconds and then threw them at me like, "Boring!". We had bought him a Spider Man bike
(a 16" bike like Sam's). He ended up seeing it about a week or so before his birthday & I had to lie to him and tell him it wasn't for him. Needless to say, he was devestated. So, Trav put the bike together and hid it in the trailer. We gave him all his other presents and then didn't bring out the bike. We both figured he'd start asking where his Spider Man bike was. Nope. Trav asked him if he got everything he wanted and Nash said yes and went into detail about one of his new toys. Travis had to trick him to get him out to the trailer and then opened it - to show Uncle Chad the new trailer - and Nash looked in and his eyes just got huge. He was so excited he did a little happy dance! That was it for him...he was on the bike and didn't want to go to bed without it! I can't believe how big he is. It seems like he was just born yesterday and now he's 4. I told a friend that just had a baby, "Don't blink b/c you'll turn around and she'll be 16." How true that is!
It's kind of funny the things I find to do when Trav's not around...
Tonight I decided Charlotte was super shaggy & was due for a grooming. Mind you it's like $50 to take her to PetSmart. So, I dug out the shears and away I went. It took me about an hour to get her done and overall, she looks MUCH better. There are a few spots where the fur is shorter than the rest, but I think I did pretty good for my first dog haircut!
Every night for the last week I've gotten home & then rather than go right inside the house and do the stuff I know I should be doing, I've gone straight to a flowerbed & pulled weeds! The weather has just been SO nice & I knew that once I went inside I'd never get back out. So, Caleb has been a trooper while he's caged & the other two have played together pretty good...mostly. Now it's Friday & all my flowerbeds are weeded! Of course, I am starting to see a few weeds pop back up here and there, but that can wait a day or two.
I've also been watering the heck out of our "grass". Trav told me not to let the ground dry out and with the beautiful weather we've also had heat. Last night I finally got to where ALL the places that have grass (or some grass) was wet. So, tonight I gave our lawn mower a whirl. I was so excited. That's my first time mowing MY lawn with MY lawn mower! Isn't it funny the things we get excited about as we get older?
Samantha had her last day of boys and girls club today. They had a water day so she took her swimsuit to school and got to run in sprinklers and play water games after school. Oh to be young and carefree again!
Nash had his preschool graduation at the end of last week. I can't believe his first year of preschool is already over! They did a cute little program and his teacher and a dvd of all the pictures she's taken all year. Tuesday was his last day of school. I think he was bummed out because tonight he repeatedly told Sam, "I DIDN'T have school today." Guess I'll have to do some school like stuff with him more than I thought this summer!
Caleb has learned how to growl. No, I'm not kidding. He will be sitting and playing or just sitting watching you and all of the sudden he starts to growl. It's quite hilarious. I'm going to try and catch it on video tomorrow and post it. I don't remember either of the other two doing this! Maybe I've just forgotten. Either way, I stop and giggle every time he does it.
I still haven't found another job. On Wednesday I went to the Weber School District office and took a math and writing test with their Special Ed. dept. Weber district is looking for teachers that are willing to teach and get their SPED endorsement at the same time. I passed the math test with 93% (hey, I have to brag a bit here, it was algebra & I couldn't use a calculator. Do you KNOW how long it's been since I've done ALGEBRA?!). Anyway, I go and interview with them on June 1st. I figure that I can get my SPED endorsement or my Masters in the same amount of time and for almost exactly the same amount of money. I told Trav I think I'd be better off doing the SPED endorsement b/c then I think I'd pretty well have my pick of jobs. Whereas if I get my masters people will think I'm overqualified for the job and not want to hire me. I do have a TON of resumes out and I'm still actively applying, so I am staying optimistic. Keep your fingers crossed!
Tomorrow Trav's brother Chad and his girlfriend and their boys are coming out. Chad's going to till my tiny garden spot for me so I can get it planted. Seriously, I cannot even believe it's that time already. The kids will be excited to play together. They really haven't had the chance much lately b/c I'm never around to take them out to Trav's parents' house! I think I will be able to get a bunch of good pix tomorrow & post them then.
I just went back & looked at how long of a post this is. SORRY! I also realized I haven't posted about Nash's bday yet. Mother of the year award right here (again)! We just did cake & ice cream at our place. He had to have a Spider Man cake this year. He wanted one last year and I was able to talk him out of it but there was no such luck this year. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted (I'm thinking chocolate, yellow, etc.) responds with "Blue." He was like, "Duh mom. How do you not know that already?" So, I made a white cake & colored it blue and thus he had a blue Spider Man cake. He's big into Spider Man and Transformers this year. He's been telling me since October he wants a Bumblebee transformer like Carter. Well I looked for one to get him for Christmas to no avail. I told my mom about it and, being the awesome grandma that she is, she found one for him. Everything he got was either Spider Man or Transformers related or clothes. He was so funny to watch open presents. If it was clothes he grabbed them and held them up for all of 3 seconds and then threw them at me like, "Boring!". We had bought him a Spider Man bike
(a 16" bike like Sam's). He ended up seeing it about a week or so before his birthday & I had to lie to him and tell him it wasn't for him. Needless to say, he was devestated. So, Trav put the bike together and hid it in the trailer. We gave him all his other presents and then didn't bring out the bike. We both figured he'd start asking where his Spider Man bike was. Nope. Trav asked him if he got everything he wanted and Nash said yes and went into detail about one of his new toys. Travis had to trick him to get him out to the trailer and then opened it - to show Uncle Chad the new trailer - and Nash looked in and his eyes just got huge. He was so excited he did a little happy dance! That was it for him...he was on the bike and didn't want to go to bed without it! I can't believe how big he is. It seems like he was just born yesterday and now he's 4. I told a friend that just had a baby, "Don't blink b/c you'll turn around and she'll be 16." How true that is!
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