FREEEEDOM!

(this was a blog i meant to post a few weeks ago....)

why, hello, summer vacation. i thought i'd never see you.

school is officially out for summer and i am loving it! I am on day 3 of my vacation and it feels super! poor pete is still working hard..but soon we are going on a trip too! we found out that pete can go out of country for his four day weekends, so we are going to (drumroll) BORACAY, Philippines! woooooo! if you want to know more, google image "boracay" and be prepared to fall in love with what you see. we are hoping it will be rain free as it is their monsoon season, but even if it does rain we will still be on vacation! : )

here are a few little updates/stories i've been meaning to write down:

my students participated in an art gala showing off all of the artwork we have done this school year and famous artists we studied. my students were the "art curators" and were responsible for walking around the "art gallery" and offer insight about the work that was hung. they were dressed up and looked adorable. it was really cool to overhear my kiddos say, "this is a pichoo of a famous ahtist named georges seurat. his famous painting technique was pointillism." another favorite line my kiddos said was, "this is vincent van gogh. he only had one ear and he was a little bit crazy." love it.

peter placed first in the local golf tournament for Area IV of Korea! He won first place last year also, so the fact that he won two years in a row is pretty awesome. He was actually tied with another player and had to play some extra holes for a sudden death. Pete made an amazing chip and put and claimed victory. i'm very proud of him.

pete took me to a concert in seoul to see sara bareilles! it was awesome. we went to hongdae, which is a trendy college town. it was kind of crazy because we just went to seoul for the night of the concert and took a bus back to osan where we had been staying. javier dunn opened for her and was wonderful as well.

and here are some pics of us from the last few months.

i want to get better about posting...

hi friends!

i'm very sorry i've been such a slacker poster. well...a lot has happened since our last post.

1. Dash is here! Dash is pete's dad. He's in search of an English teaching position. We are enjoying our time together very much and it's been great to have family here.

2. Peter is no longer a lieutenant, but a captain! He is carrying on the Watt tradition of having a Captain in the family (his grandfather, uncle and now him!). I am very proud of him. Pete's dad was there at his promotion ceremony and I was able to pin on his new rank of Captain. I know he is doing a really awesome job and I am so thankful to God for how He has blessed us.

3. I went to Seattle for a week in April for my spring break! I was able to see my lovely sister, explore one of my favorite cities, eat, shop, eat, and eat some more. I will hopefully post some pics soon.... I am not one of those people who upload the photos from the trip they just returned from the day before. I'm more like one of those people who post some wedding photos online five years later....wha? (yep. i did that) anyway, the trip was amazing and was just a perfect little shot of americana that this homesick girl needed. i went to target, trader joes and hit all of my favorite little stores. my suitcase was packed full of good food and some cute tops. a successful trip.

we are still having a good time here in korea. spring has sprung. the azaleas are in full bloom and the trees are growing their new green. i feel as though this is one of the most challenging times i have had in my teaching career so seeing the beautiful changes around me is refreshing and reminding me of how God makes things new. He doesn't leave us in a place of darkness or emptiness. Sometimes it takes a little while, but eventually he leads us out where the ash around our feet turns into something lush and beautiful.

heeey!

hi friends.

it's been a long time. i feel like i am often commenting on how busy and crazy we've been and, well, busy and crazy we have been. : )

work has been challenging for both of us and it is also teaching us a great deal about ourselves. i'm learning a lot about how to be a good teacher and love my kids well. it's been somewhat of a draining process, but i have learned a lot! there have been a few teary-eyed drives home from work as i am trying to slowly peel away the heaviness of the day. i'm thankful that pete is such an excellent listener. he's been a big comfort and encouragement to me.

we're still really enjoying our time here. just so you all know, korea was not at all affected by the tsunami and earthquake in japan. let us not forget to lift that country up in prayers--for the people who have lost loved ones and the people who are working to rescue and find those who are still lost.

when watching the news of the earthquake and tsunami you are very quickly reminded of how small we all are. in an instant, we could be swept away, crushed, gone. it makes you feel a bit powerless. weather is one of those things we can't just wish away or pay money to avoid. it comes and goes as it pleases, disregarding your wishes for it to stay away for your outdoor party you've been planning for months. it's a reminder to us that sometimes we just have to surrender. in a world of control, this is hard to digest. we can gain control by buying just about anything we want: sex, we can change our gender, buy a new nose, flatten our stomach.... but even a billionaire can't pay to have a snowstorm delayed so he can fly out for his vacation. maybe God uses weather as a reminder to us that we cannot control everything, that there is a bigger picture outside of our agenda. i am not supposing the tsunami came because God was trying to teach someone a lesson, but i simply mean it is one of the remaining things in life that can't be avoided or turned off...it forces us to slow down, to take a look around and think about more important things in life. we see the bigger picture a bit better and it helps us to relax our clenched fists a bit.

we're still alive!

sorry i've been absent for so long....we are still here and alive!

i'll be posting more soon....

xoxo p&s

more classroom funnies

• one of my students spent a good 30 minutes on his journal entry to draw a very detailed picture and wrote at the bottom, " I am awesome." He proudly read his journal aloud to his classmates. Very shortly after journal time Mr. Awesome tripped on his shoelace and hit his head on a chair leg landing him a bruise shaped like a long, red line on his forehead.
• funny journal entries from my little guy Simon: "last summer i went to the most amazigst country in the whole universe." (when i asked him what country this was he said, "florida.") another entry from simon: "i went to taco bell and aeted a taco. it was the bestest thing i ever tasted in my whole life!" (can you tell he's an enthusiastic boy? i told his mom that if she took him to florida and fed him taco bell he may just keel over from an overload of euphoria)
• another one of my charming students has come to school the past 4 days wearing one glove. i asked him why and he just shrugs and says, "i dunno. i just got one glove." i guess one warm hand is better than none.

happy new year!

things i'm thankful for in 2010...

• my sweet husband has moved back to daegu! it's so great being able to say goodnight and good morning to each other without having to say goodbye for a while.
• we were able to pay off all of our debt this christmas. we are officially debt free!
• our trip to hawaii was pretty amazing. i will never forget it and i still dream of those beautiful waves and mountains. *sigh* hope to get back there again one day...
• all of the dear friends i've made or the friendships that have grown stronger this year
• my adorably cute students who kept me laughing every day and helped give me a good night's worth sleep during the week... : )
• skype! it's been such a great tool for staying connected with our dear family. it is almost as good as seeing you in person. : )

what blessings have you had this past year?

don't cry over spilled milk...

today was crazy. we had a jam packed day in first grade. santa was visiting us in the morning, we had our book exchange party, cake and ice cream, and on top of that, it was pajama day. here's a brief little look into what my day was like:

8:00am. kids roll in, exciting about showing off their jammies to each other. rolling on the ground, high fiving, giggling and laughing. kids are running up to me to hand me homebaked cookies to bring to santa, milk, their books for the gift exchange, and excitedly tell me stories about how they chose their outfits.

pretty soon i have one boy ask if he can go to the bathroom. he wants to go with his bookbag (never a good sign), but all of the high-fiving, giggling and somersaults distracts me from saying no to his weird request. we have to leave to go meet santa. we leave and i try to tote about 8 bags of groceries to meet santa. (it takes a lot to feed 18 first graders) : )

the kids line up to sit on santa's lap while i snap pictures of them. hyperactivity ensues.

i forget to grab plates and napkins and send my intern and a student to go back to get them and also realize my bookbag bathroom friend never returned so i send my intern to look for him. he's escaped to the bathroom (a bathroom in the high school wing), locked himself inside and was crying because he thought someone was making fun of his jammie slippers. my intern tries to coax him out, but to no avail. i have to leave my 17 hyperactive first graders to go out to find my runaway student (the parable of leaving the 99 sheep behind is so much more meaningful to me now). after about 8-9 minutes of coaxing, i get my runaway to follow me back to meet santa. when i return my kids are hyper, jumping around, milk is spilled on the ground (cue for me to start screaming or just cry). my teaching style then closely resembles a traffic directors, waving my arms here and there, guiding kids to grab napkins, etc. i'm saying things like, "Don't eat food off the floor!" , "Quiet!", "Stop running! Stop jumping! No tackling!"

when we returned to class i looked at the clock and said, "we've only been in school for 45 minutes?" :/ one of my students overhears my mumbling and replies, "woah! it feels like we just got here!" me: "honey, you have no idea."

You would think being so near Santa, their conscience, or rather their desire to receive gifts from the man himself, would have created more self-control. nope.

they did calm down eventually post-santa, post-cookiesugarhigh. *sigh* it's a good thing they are so cute.