Nurtured By Nature

Yesterday was a really nice day at school. It started when 2 of my students brought flowers to me. While this was "recommended" in a letter sent by the PTO for Teacher Appreciation week, it was still really sweet. I also received some assorted picked flowers earlier in the week. I love how kids gravitate toward dandelions. There is always an abundance of them, and they're bright and cheerful. (They don't know that they're weeds and someday when they own a house they will be their lawn's enemy.)

I love that the boy who brought these tulips to me put them in this Ragu jar. There was still some remnants of the sauce on the jar. He also told me that he couldn't give me the orange one he had because his mom thought it was too pretty and kept it for herself. So cute.

In the afternoon, we headed over to the woods that are right behind our school. Whenever I go there, I realize that we need to get over there more often. I mean, how lucky are we to have woods with a trail right behind our school? The trip was part of the reward system that I have in my class. The kids have to earn enough points (by behaving properly) in order to be able to participate in the special activity planned each week. I have to admit, for this outing, it was nice not to have the rough boys to worry about (they didn't earn enough points to go). There were only 13 kids with me, and they were good about staying with the group and helping me find our way through the woods.

Last night Stein and I went out with my friends from school. We went bowling. Since the league that some of them belong to is over, we decided that all of us would bowl. Stein and my friend Katie opted out, and judging from the results of my games, I should've too!

After bowling, we went over to one of the bowler's house for a bonfire. It was a beautiful night for a bonfire. Clear, and barely no wind to blow the smoke into people's faces. It was so nice to be sitting around the fire, telling stories and laughing. We also got to try a potato gun, powered by ether. Seriously, it was pretty entertaining. I mean, when do you get to shoot potato pieces into the air and hear them hit the ground yards away?

Have I told you how happy I am to have spring here? Oh yes, I am.