An Awesome Gift and Some Funny Kiddo Sayings

     Last Friday, at exactly 12:15, I was handed the best gift EVER! As soon as school ended and all my students were picked up by their parents, the freedom of having ten days off of school, plus three weekends thrown in to boot, made me jump for joy. And last night it felt so good to know I did not have to set out lunch bags, or prepare things ahead of time for meals this week. It is amazing how the simple things in life make us the happiest. I thank the Lord for all that He has provided for us and allowed us to have over the years, yet His free gifts are what I thank Him for the most:  salvation, talents, love, time together with family, my children, etc. The list goes on. Yes, this year has been a really, really hard year, and I look forward to seeing it come to an end, but God never left my side through all the trials and heartache this year held. He has been watching over my family and me, taking care of us, comforting us, and nudging me back when I felt I just wanted to run away. Oh, I need to share an answer to prayer that JJ prayed the other day. It is always exciting to me when I see the Lord respond so quickly to my children because they need to see and know that He is real to them, not just to their parents. Joe had taken JJ and Caleb down to Kiwi Spoon to meet some of their buddies for ice cream. While there Joe ran the battery down by leaving his lights on in the car and so when they tried to start it it would not even roll over for him. He called me to bring the truck down so he could jump start the Pilot, but I realized I did not have my set of truck keys...there had been some sort of mess up with our keys during that week and we could not find a set of car keys. I could not go anywhere and he was stuck. He hung up so he could try to figure out what he could do and then a little while later the phone rang. It was Joe again. He said, "JJ suggested something brillant!" 
"What's that?" I asked. 
"He suggested I pray and then for me to try starting the car one more time." 
"And?" I prodded. 
"The car started right up! We are coming home!"
It made my heart sing to hear that JJ wanted to go to the Lord for such a matter, and for the Lord to answer him, well, OH THE JOY! Thank You, Lord!

In closing, I want to put down some light-hearted comments made by the seven students in my kindergarten class. A while back I wrote about how you should watch what you pray for, and always be specific. I had asked for personality and I definitely received it this year - times seven! So, here are some funny quotes for the five year olds in my classroom:

Callie:  "Why do I have to pray every day? Praying is just not my thing!"

Paisley:  "This is tasty mac n cheese!" then she paused and thought for a minute, then added, "I don't like tasty!" 

Paisley:  "Stop doing that! You are breaking my heart!"

D'arcy:  "I miss my cousin Leah. My heart is missing her heart."

Callie:  After eating an ice cream sandwich from one of the teachers, she noticed all the other children were eating Popsicles. She threw her wrapper into the garbage, came up to me and said, "I changed my mind. I don't want an ice cream sandwich. I want a Popsicle instead!" 

I asked the children what they wanted to be when they grew up. The girls said they wanted to be a ballerina, a veterinarian, a princess, a nursery helper, and a babysitter. One of my boys looked at me and said, "I want to trick myself to be a scientist!" 

Zeke:  "I know where rocks come from! They come from outer space!"

Callie and Brihanna were fighting over an invisible bunny...Callie accused Bri of taking it and not giving it back. When I asked Brihanna why she didn't give it back, she looked at me funny and said, "Well, can't you see there are two of them?"

I had set up a fair theme on the bulletin board to earn "rides" for good behavior. Callie had earned some fun dollars to ride the roller coaster and informed me, "I won't get sick on it. I will eat some food. Food from McDonalds, and I won't get sick on it."

D'arcy:  "We are playing mermaids and we have garfish on us." I asked her what a garfish was. "Oh, something in Level One of Daddy's game."

The children were playing around calling me different names, like Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Nill, and Mrs. Darth Vadar. I did not respond to them as they goofed around, but then Brihanna said, "Don't worry, Mrs. Simmons. I won't call you those names. I still respect the laws." 

Brihanna:  "I saw your son climb up the swings to the top of the pole." 
"Which son?" I asked.
"The one with the sharp hair." (JJ)

We have this little game where I hide my toy chameleon Curly around the room and the kids have to find him. Paisley found Curly outside the door of our room and excitedly told the others she had found it. Then she went to her sister and said, "I found Curly so I am a genius!" Then with puzzled looks they both looked at me and asked, "What's a genius?"

Brhianna:  "I like to dance the tingle!" (Tango)

Callie:  When they children play together there is always two or three who like to be in charge. So the other day I heard Callie inform the other girls:  "I am the incharger!" 

D'arcy:  "I am allergic to cinnamon. If I eat it I get big things like baseballs on my face that go 'poof' and my skin gets swallowed up by them!"

Rylee and Brihanna have a game they like to play:  they will pretend they are performing a dance together, but every time I look at them they get embarrassed and run and hide. I love looking at them out of the corner of my eye and watch them go squealing into the corner of the room with big grins on their faces. They are too funny!