A Candy Monster Among True Candy Fiends (aka 4th graders)

Another epic Peggle battle....lost.  My wife has chosen the spoils of her victory--a new blog post written by yours truly.

I guess it's about time for me to poke my head out of the jungle of a 4th grade classroom (proof it's a jungle--check out my YMCA dance moves in our previous post) in order to write down intellectual and serious thoughts about life in general.

Or maybe I can just show you a music video planned, sung, and partially filmed by the 4th graders at my school.  Yeah, that sounds much more fun.

I love being a 4th grade teacher.

I can't even begin to describe how fun it is to drive to Cut and Shoot, Texas every morning, not quite knowing what kinds of knock-knock jokes, creativity, weird t-shirts, Minecraft stories, or 10 year old drama awaits!  I love that my kids are writing meaningful stories about their worlds and lives.  Their writing has blown me away this year.  One of the more touching pieces was an essay written recently by a student who lost one of his dogs.  I have spent a lot of time teaching my kids how writing is a window into our lives and a way for us to order the things (both good and bad) that we experience.  This boy took my advice to heart and wrote his essay about how his other dog began grieving like a human when he lost his best friend.  It was touching and a little heartbreaking.  Then I had a girl who wrote a story about the time she pranked her grandma by putting flour in her hairdryer.  Laughter and tears.  That's what 4th grade is all about.

Life outside of the classroom is busy and fun.  Emily and I found a pretty amazing nature reserve a mile from our apartment.  It's a good place for walking, talking, and sweating through my shirts (thank you, Texas).  It doesn't hold a candle to the beauty of camping in Wisconsin, but not much can. 

Speaking of camping in Wisconsin, my dad recently sent me some pictures of a father/son canoe trip we took a couple of years back.

Proof that I knew how to set up camp at one point in my life.  I'm hoping that Em and I will be able to test out my skills sometime in the near future!

We will be trying to update the blog more frequently in the future.  I know I will lose many more Peggle battles, since I'm pretty sure my wife has been hustling me!