Babies and Children, Children and Babies.

Being around children all the time has it's pros and cons. One of those cons is that small human beings love sharing germs. Sneezing on you, coughing on you, drooling everywhere, snot running down their face - you name it! Just about every single teacher at my school has had a sore throat, froggy voice, or cold this past month, just because our students are so darn good at sharing! Luckily, I got all three. Trying to teach all day when you can't hardly speak above a whisper - now that's a challenge. But we survived, and I'm almost back to normal.
A huge pro of working with children is the funny things they say. They have no filter, Sometimes at lunch, we just sit as teachers and laugh over what the kids said that day. Here are a few highlights as of late:

-A 2 year old who described shaving cream as "soft and lush". What two year old knows the word 'lush'?! I hardly ever use that word myself.

-"I know you are the teacher because you are old and rusty."

-Child #1 had missed several days of school in a row. Child #2 asks me, "Miss Sarah, how come you gave [Child #1] so many days off of school, and not the rest of us?" So, hey! If you are wanting days off of school, apparently I'm giving them out!

-"My brothers just call me a little devil, because I never leave them alone."

-"I can't move right now. I'm about to poop."

-Child #1 passes gas. Several times in a row. I try not to laugh, and remind him to say "excuse me". The area around him starts to stink. Like, really stink! Child #2 looks at him and says, "WHEW! [Child #1], what did you have for breakfast?!"

To sum it up, school is going wonderful :) When I was younger, I used to play school with my younger siblings and neighbor friends. I remember making simple math worksheets, and spelling tests, and how much I loved to pretend to be the teacher. Sometimes as I plan lessons now, it still feels like I'm just 'playing school'. That's how you know you have the right job. When it just feels like play!

While on the subject of small children, please enjoy these pictures of my cute little nephews, Carter and Owen.

I love watching babies suck their thumbs. Carter hasn't figured out how
to roll his fingers up, so he just squashes his whole nose down.

Owen makes the funniest faces in his sleep!

I love me a good baby burrito!

Remember to Laugh.

You often hear that laughter is the best medicine. While it obviously cannot cure all, I'm grateful for those little things in life that make me laugh. These past two months have been rough. Back in July, we found out that I had the Epstine Barr Virus (similar to mono). While the virus has passed, it can leave you feeling tired for a few months after. School started up again about a month ago, and I really love my job. But, sometimes it's hard. I wake up in the morning feeling awful (again, I'm not pregnant! We have already confirmed that), and I feel sick off and on throughout the day. Eating is a struggle, and I have to remember to eat, because I rarely feel hungry. I don't have as much energy as I would like, and I just want to sleep ALL THE TIME. It's frustrating, and sometimes I cry a little because I feel like I'll never feel completely well again. I wonder if there is something else wrong with me, but I'm waiting it out a little longer before I go back to the doctor. Because if I can avoid another blood test, life will be better for all of us :) But through it all, there have been those little things that consistently make me laugh. 

One of those things are my students. They say the funniest things! Like the boy who refused to move during class, because he was "about to poop". Or the girl who drew a picture of herself and said, "This is me when I was a martian." Sometimes I have to remind myself not to laugh out loud at them, because they are so serious when they make these comments. 

Another comic relief is Braden. Sometimes when we are going on a walk at night, he will just start running. So, I run to try and catch up with him. Then he will glance at me over his shoulder and yell, "Help! This crazy girl won't stop chasing me!" 

And sometimes at night he snores. This evidently wakes me up, but I have discovered that all I have to do is say, "Braden, you're snoring" and he will stop. The best part is, sometimes he talks back to me, and he won't remember any of it in the morning. The best responses I have gotten are:

No, I wasn't.

At least I wasn't snoring very loud.

You have a cute little finger.

That last one always makes me laugh. He seriously doesn't remember saying any of those to me. 

Marriage is a beautiful thing. Especially when it's forever. It's a blessing to know I will always get to be with Braden, and that whatever trials or adventures come our way, we get to take on together.