Journalings of a Primary Teacher {5-12-13}

This Sunday was not the best of Sundays. Whenever holidays come around, all the kids seem to get antsy and twitchy and chattery and reeeeeeally hard to calm down. My only comfort is in seeing all the other classes acting just as bad as mine when we sit down in primary {sorry presidency....you've got it tough}.

My partner was out sick, so I snatched Chris to come sit in on my class. And man am I glad I had a second person there, because they were all. over. the. place.

If there is one thing I have learned from teaching Primary so far, its that you really can't base your teaching skills or self-esteem off of how your class is acting some weeks. Because honestly, they are going to be naughty. They are going to throw paper airplanes at each other. They are going to look at you with that know-it-all face and tell you exactly why they don't have to do something. They will tell you you're a bad teacher. They will threaten to tattle on your bad teaching skills to their mothers. They will loudly whine in sharing time because you didn't let them color.  

They will be kids. 

And sometimes I frantically bust out of church like I haven't breathed fresh air in years. Sometimes I just have to let out a big ole' sigh because I'm pretty sure they didn't absorb an iota of the lesson I just taught. But that's primary. That's learning to be a teacher. And the funny moments always overshadow the bad ones.

Like during a discussion on the bishop's storehouse when one boy pipes up and says, "I bet I could do some calculations to figure out the amounts!" 

And the girl next to him sassily says, "You're not old enough to calculate!"

Or when the sharing time leader asks if anyone has a mom who follows the commandments, and one boy stands up and anxiously says, "My mom is obedient! But she didn't want to raise her hand so I had to tell you." His mother, also his teacher, turned bright red.

Like the times when you tell one girl who has the hiccups to hold her breath to get rid of them, and it turns into a traffic jam in the hallway because all the other girls stop and want to hold their breath too.

{who knew it was so much fun?}

Or when you ask them to explain what 'enduring to the end' means, and one girl compares it to having to re-build her lego castle multiple times. "I just kept having to re-do it because it would break, but I never gave up! And that's like enduring to the end."

I'm learning to be {extraordinarily} patient. I'm learning to say no and not worry about how upset a child may be because they will promptly get over it in the next 5 minutes. I'm learning how to find the humor in everything. And I'm learning how to tie lego castles into teaching the gospel.

And I love it. 

Journalings of a Primary Teacher {5-5-13}

I know that my primary posts can seem sort of random at times, but honestly, they're mostly for me. I want to remember how funny and cute and sweet all my kids are, and how much I adore them!

As we were sitting in class, chatting with the kids who were there and waiting for the others to show up, one boy, out of the blue, shouts, "SOMEONE SAID SOMETHING!!!" 

My partner, while I was trying to stifle my laughter, teasingly asked, "Was it me? I say a lot of things." 

Sadly, we never figured out who it was that said something {bahaha!}. 

He wouldn't specify.

Our lesson was on the gold plates, and my partner was teaching. After explaining that Moroni hid them in the ground to keep them safe, she let the kids make their own 'gold plates' by using a popsicle stick to write on tin foil-wrapped cardboard. Then, we went outside to hide them, just like Moroni did.

You kinda had to see it for yourself, but just try and imagine the excitement....

One boy immediately runs over to a flower bed and starts digging a gigantic hole. Dirt flying everywhere. Another boy is repeatedly chucking his 'plates' at a tree, trying to get them to stick in the branches. One of the girls is trying to drag me along by the hand while begging to let her hide my plates too because she knows the best place. The other girl quickly runs off to hide hers, but upon returning, comes up to me with a panicked look and says, "I can't remember where I hid mine!" 

It was one seriously funny scene.

For the second hour I actually got to sit in on my husband's class. He introduced me as his wife, Sister Diepeveen. One girl quickly raises her hand and begins chattering on about how much she loves me. "I think Sister Diepeveen is the best! I am so glad she's here; I like her more than you!"

My husband, meaning to tease her about sucking up, replied, "I think you've got a little brown on your nose!"

Confused, she started rubbing her nose. "Really?"

A friend of hers quickly came to the rescue, standing up and putting her hands on her hips while loudly scolding us: "That's because she has freckles!!!"

Awww, primary love.

Easy & Adorable DIY Fabric Flowers

A couple weeks ago, I helped put together a baby shower for my sister-in-law. I picked the invitations and decorations, because she was having a little girl. And who doesn't want to decorate for a little girl??

These are the invitations I created:

I was pretty proud. I think they turned out so cute!

For decorations, I needed something simple, but still adorable. After searching pinterest for a couple hours a little bit, I found a really easy fabric flower garland. 

Here are the instructions:

First, gather up all your extra scraps of fabric, your scissors, and your hot glue gun.

Then, grab something to use as the base for your flowers. I used a combo of some old interfacing and some blue felt. Trace a small circle {smaller than you want your flower} and cut it out.

Be smart like I wasn't, and layer up your fabric from the very beginning to cut out several at once.

Then, layer up your flower fabric and cut out a slightly larger circle.

Take one circle and fold it in half, then in half again.

Do this to four circles, then glue them to your base circle like so:

Fold two more circles into quarters. You need a total of six folded circles to make each flower.

Glue the last two circles right in the very center of your flower.

If you want, you can clip the tips before you glue so they sit a little flatter.

Repeat this process six million times. I recommend having a good tv show {or several} to watch.

I ended up making two different sizes of flowers, along with this fabric-scrap letter. You can find instructions on how to make one yourself here.

If you are making a garland with your flowers, simply hot glue them to a piece of twine or string. I used twine, and used big lace bows to string it up. I can't believe I forgot to get a picture, but there you go. 

Here are a couple pictures of the table:

I thought the flowers were a cute little touch. And, if the other little children at the shower don't try to eat them, you can re-use them. {maybe some DIY hair clips or headbands!}

I would love to try my hand at making some different styles of fabric flowers, maybe to use as home decor. Or maybe just for fun because they are so pretty.

Just look how gorgeous!

{you can find all these on my pinterest account.}

Easy & Delicious Avocado Egg Salad

I must tell you, this recipe is delicious.

And with summer coming {one day} {i'm hoping} easy sandwich recipes are my favorite for hot days when I don't feel like cooking. I tested this one out a few weeks ago for a road trip to Price. 

Have you ever been to Price? Its.....small. And I really don't want to live there. 

But on the bonus side of things, we had delicious sandwiches to eat while we drove!

Ingredients {makes 2 sandwiches}:

4 hard boiled eggs, diced

6 {or more} strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 avocado, mashed

1 green onion, chopped

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

pinch of cayenne pepper

pinch of salt


Directions:

Take everything and mix it all together. Swipe a taste and adjust ingredients as needed--I added a little more Dijon and a little more bacon {who can resist adding more bacon??}

Lightly {lightly} toast 4 pieces of bread. Spoon egg salad over toasted bread, and top with some fresh lettuce.

Yummmmmm.

Journalings of a Primary Teacher {4-14-13}

I love hearing kids pray. They have no fear, no expectations, and no filter. Plus, they almost always say something completely adorable.

In primary today, the girl who got up to say the closing prayer just made me giggle. She started off with, "Heavenly Father, thank you for letting us be in primary today...." and then said, "Please bless us not to be rude. Bless us that we will be nice. Please bless us not to be rude..."

And then, realizing she'd just repeated herself, quickly stuttered out, "...ah....to our parents! Nameofjesuschristamen." 

And one of my most other favorite things in the world is when they mention us  in their prayers. 

Hearing, "Thank you that Sister Diepeveen and Sister Passey are our primary teachers" kinda just melts my heart.

Primary class for me really is just a giant circle of melting heart, saying 'no' to the same question ten times, pulling kids back into their chairs, and stifled giggling. This week I had a word search as part of my lesson, and it just cracked me up listening to them do it {because in our classroom, word searches are very loud}. 

From the two girls next to each other trying to secretively glance at each other's papers: 

"I found 'principle!'" 

"Well I found it too!" 

"I found 'gospel!'" 

"I FOUND 'GOSPEL!' ....where was it?"

From the boys: "I found the word 'ham.'"

"Look....it says TV!"

"'POO!' I found 'POO!'"

We are just so good at staying on topic.

And over in my husband's class, they are the kings and queens of metaphors. You might remember the "Joseph Smith had pedals" metaphor gone wrong from this post. This week, Chris decided to emphasize that Heavenly Father keeps His promises by saying, "For example, if Heavenly Father told you that if you jumped on your left leg 25 times He would give you a red Ferrari, do you think it would happen?"

This promptly caused excited left-leg jumping all over the classroom.

{Primary teacher high five!}

 

DIY Spring Pencil Skirt

Springtime = bright colors! I love it!

Materials Needed

1 yard knit fabric

matching thread

fabric paint

elastic {for the waistband}

Go To It

First, fold your fabric so that it's doubled up. Then, grab a pencil skirt you like the shape of and lay it out on your fabric. Trace around your skirt, leaving about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch for seam allowance.

Take the width of your elastic {mine was 2"} and times it by two {4" for me}. Make the top of your outline a rectangle:  the length of your waist measurement  x your elastic times 2 {length x width}.

Your outline will look something like this:

See how the top of the outline is squared? That's so that when you fold the elastic down you'll get a nice, clean fold.

Next, cut out your two pieces. Sew them together using the seam allowance you provided.

Cut the elastic to fit your waist / the top of your skirt. Sew together to two ends of your elastic to form a circle. With the skirt inside-out, sew the elastic to the top of your skirt using a zig-zag stitch.

{like my pictures?}

Next, turn the skirt right-side out. Fold the elastic down inside the skirt twice so that it's covered, and use a stretch stitch to sew it down.

Hem the bottom also using a stretch stitch {so the hem will allow stretching as you walk}, and you're done with the sewing part!

For the painted flowers {or painted whatever-you-want}, lay the skirt out flat and place a piece of cardboard underneath the front layer. 

Using a fabric pen or fabric chalk {something that will wash out}, draw your design. Then, use a small paintbrush to slowly and carefully paint over your drawing. You could also make a freezer-paper stencil.

DONE.

Pair your cute spring pencil skirt with something bright and fun, like blue stripes and a DIY scarf {i ended up sewing the ends of mine together to make an infinity scarf}.

Enjoy the stretchy, comfy fabric, the cuteness, and hopefully the warm weather!