We're Famous!

Notice anything about the first couple on the left?? it's US!! hahaha!! Yep- we are on 2 billboards in Dallas right now.... basically our good friend is in charge of the billboards at church and needed a younger couple... so he asked us. and we were just being nice to him.

My 4 year olds at school do not understand how and why I'm on "that picture."
Ty's co-workers give him endless grief.
And I'm choosing to email everyone I know and post it on my blog.
The end.

What Next?

So yesterday I had a meltdown (lots of tears - I"m sure anyone who knows me well is not surprised. I deal with stress, anger, happiness, etc, all the same- tears)

I spoke with a couple of sweet friends and got some encouraging advice... to pray for God to show me ONE joy, just ONE blessing each day. That I would have eyes to see that ... and that would become my focus. And for the Lord to renew my passion for the ministry He's given me.

And actually that's just what has happened! The kids were better today (not perfect, but better). Maybe because I bribed them. I told them if they had no time outs and did not tattle then they could get a prize from my treasure chest. Of course, half of the class has failed. One little girl was tattling less than 5 minutes after the announcement. But it has been better.

And my JOY for today... about 30 minutes into nap time, one little girl came over and very sleepily looked at me and said, "Mrs. Sawyer, I love you." Oh... that was just what I needed to hear. So sweet. and honest. and out of no where. Love it!

But... on to the "what next?" part of the post...
I woke up this morning, walked into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and my eyes were swollen almost shut! Now, at 5:30 in the morning, this is not an uncommon sight. HOWEVER, today they were swollen shut due to red bumps!!

I quickly scanned my body- sure enough, my elbows, knees, and ankles were COVERED with red bumps! And when I got in the shower they started itching, badly!

I was mildly freaking out- what in the world is going on?? Most of them looked like they could be bug bites- but none of them had the little "hole" in the middle where you can see that the bug bit you. Also a few were LARGE and more like a patch rather than a bump.

Before I left for school, I woke up Ty and asked him to look at them and then also to see if he had any bumps. He had none, but he was a little worried about me.

So I came to school and went straight to the nurse. She told me she did not think bug bites for the same reason I explained, and she did not think shingles because those are normally only on 1 side of your body (I had no idea). She decided it looked like an allergic reaction, although I can't figure out what caused it by any means.

So - I took a benedryl. Yes, I just taught a whole day and stayed awake after taking a benedryl. I am quite sleepy. I have had an upset stomach and felt a little loopy for most of the day. But maybe that's why it was a better day, maybe I was just more laid back today.

I'm starting to itch a little again, but I have a soccer game tonight and want to play. So I'm going to try and wait until after my game to take another benedryl. But seriously... what next???

Feeling Bad

I'm feeling pretty bad about yesterday's post. I don't know if you read it the way I wrote it- but I am frustrated. I was venting. and I created this blog as a place to remember joyful and happy things. To help me focus on the positive.

Truthfully, it's been a rough week in class this week. The kids are talking MORE than usual and pooping/peeing, well, as much as usual. And it is making me tired. It is making me prideful, thinking "I deserve to be teaching something better than this."

Truth is... this is the hardest job I've ever had. It takes a special person to teach preschool kids. And I don't know if I'm that person. I KNOW I'm not on my own- only with God's help. So am I leaning on Him enough?

I'm going to try and think of 5 positive things about school this week... help me refocus... here goes

1. I get a lot of hugs.
2. They do say funny things, often.
3. Crafts are fun. And we get to do them everyday, sometimes I even get to.
4. I like getting to teach with Mindi. I like our friendship and time together
5. My classroom is pretty cute.

whew. that was actually pretty tough. here's to a new start!

The Thing About Poop

The thing about poop is that it just keeps coming. It happens to everybody- hopefully every day or so. I just don't like it when it happens in someone's pants. Here are a couple of my most recent poop stories (and my reason for not blogging much lately... i'm up to my ears in poop)

Story #1

Last week we took a bathroom break where the whole class went in and used the restroom. We return to class and less than 5 minutes later a little boy says, "Mrs. Sawyer, I need to use the bathroom." I, of course, said, "No. we just went." He ran to the door to leave. I reminded him, "I just said no. We just went, please sit down." He looks at me, then walks to his seat and sits without a word.

About 30 seconds later, he looks at me, "Mrs. Sawyer, I just pooped in my pants." Lovely. "Okay, let's go to the bathroom." So I grab my rubber gloves, a ziploc bag, baby wipes, and his clean clothes out of his back pack.

We walk into the bathroom (I am a regular in the boys bathroom now). He pulls his pants down, and suddenly it falls on the ground! I am staring at a baseball size round ball of poop. It is also green. And it looks kinda foamy. I am wondering if this is poop or a giant lint ball. I realize it must be poop and am sick to my stomach.

I tell him to sit on the toliet and try to finish pooping. As he climbs onto the toliet, I can see that the poop is now covering his legs and he is smearing it all over the toliet seat. I realize I am the lucky one who will get to clean it. And I think "how did I end up in this job? and what is God trying to teach me?"

As I watch him poop, he is telling me, "Mrs. Sawyer, do you know that boys have penises, but girls don't. That's what my mommy says. But I don't understand how they pee." I told him to ask his mommy.

He finishes and turns around for me to wipe him. I pick up the ball of foamy green poop and put it in the toliet and wipe his bottom and legs and the toliet. We return to class.

It is lunch time.
I try to eat my lunch.
I don't feel good.
I take a sick day the next day.
the end.

Story # 2

As we line up for PE, I start to smell poop. I ask if anyone had an accident. The reply was silence. Except for the little girl who says, " I didn't have an accident. But I did see the poop on the floor, so I squished it in with my shoes. See?"

Yes, her shoe is covered in poop. I put on gloves. I take her shoe. I get to clean it. I call housekeeping to clean my rug. NOBODY will admit to pooping in their pants. SOMEBODY is walking around with poopy undies and I can't find them. I send them all to PE.

The PE teacher brings the class to the bathrooms to check undies. I help in the boys bathroom (again, I'm a regular there). I don't force any boy to let me see their undies- and a few check their undies in the stalls- so there is no success in discovering the culprit.

I wash the shoe. Shoes have a LOT of little grooves. It stinks.

I walk into the classroom, and I can STILL smell poop. I walk around and see a HUGE smear of it. I call housekeeping back again. Now I think I know who the culprit is. I am right.

We go to the bathroom together. I tell him to check his undies again and let me see them. He tells me they just have pink juice. I tell him there is also poop. (What is pink juice in undies anyways?) I go get him clean undies, a ziploc, my rubber gloves.

Then he tells me he needs new pants, they have boo-boo on them. OH - NOW he wants to admit to having poop in there, after I have gone in and out of the boys bathroom about 4 times. LOVELY.



I apologize for so many stories about poop. but it is what i do. I realize that when i have my own children, this will happen and will be the norm. I understand that. That is what motherhood is. I will be ready for it. I did not go to college to clean poopy pants all day. It is NOT the same when it is some one else's child and you are the professional teacher in the classroom. It is very different.

Honestly, it's very humbling. I think God is trying to teach me humilty. I'm going to start praying that I am a fast learner. Please pray for me. I've had enough poop for the rest of the year. thank you and hopefully some of that actually made you laugh.

Some Things I Heard Today

"Mrs. Sawyer, I really have to go to the bathroom. The pee pee is coming out of my penis."

and a couple of hours later, a different boy was reaching down his pants, so I asked, "Are you okay?"

To which he responded, "Yeah, my twinkie just itches."

Welcome to Pre-K4.

Our New Fav

Southwestern Veggie Pizza - a recipe from a dear friend in Florida.

It's delicious!! I make it about every other week... ENJOY

Ingredients: pizza crust, bean dip, salsa, Monterrey jack cheese, garlic, zucchini, squash, and carrots.
You can really use any veggies. The real recipe calls for zucchini and carrots. I like to add squash, or red pepper, or onion. It's all yummy.

Technically you are supposed to use 2 minced garlic cloves, but I forgot to buy it, so I used the powder stuff. It's just fine.


First... slice the veggies! (or chop if you have red pepper and onion- which I ended up throwing in onion)

Saute in olive oil and garlic until crisp tender. I don't know what that means, so I just saute until I feel like it's enough. Oh- and the reason for TWO pans is because we love this so much, 1 pizza is never enough! so I ALWAYS make 2 at a time!

Here are those veggie looking good.

While the veggies saute, spread some bean dip on the crust. Now, I use pre-made crust because I tried making my own crust once and it was a lot of work and not any better than this one. So I use the pre-made. If you make your own, of course you need to pre-bake it some before spreading on the bean dip. I buy 1 jar and use half on each pizza. (I find this jar in the chip aisle. It's a bit spicy, but really good).

While all of this is happening, measure 1/2 cup of salsa and drain it. Just let it sit like this for a bit so the juice comes out. I forgot to do this once, and it really does make a difference.

Glob your drained salsa onto the pizza.

Spread it out really nice and even!

Add your veggies. Looking YUMMY and SMELLING GREAT!

Now, put it on into the oven. Based on my pre-made crust directions, I am supposed to cook it for 10 minutes. So I cook it for 5, pull it out, add the shredded Monterrey jack cheese, and then put it back in for 5 more minutes.

The finished product! AMAZING!

This pizza did not last the night.

We started the other one, and now we have 4 pieces left for lunch tomorrow! Can't wait!

Being Prepared

Last Thursday I was sitting on my couch working on my lesson plans when suddenly, I heard the tornado sirens. I ignored them at first, because that's what I normally do because it's normally a test. After a few minutes, I realized, this is not the usual time for a test, maybe I should check it out.

So what did I do??? I looked out the windows... each window in the house. I couldn't see a tornado, so I decided I was safe.

Then I decided it would be wise to turn on the TV. And sure enough, there was a tornado! Not close to me, but in Dallas. And it was on the move. They were saying it was heading North East- which technically could be towards me- depending on the HOW north and HOW east it went.

So I decided to get prepared.

First things first, I needed a bra. Because, let's face it, if I'm home alone and sitting on my couch, I'm not wearing one. TMI? Sorry. Well, I put one on.

Then I decided to put on socks and tennis shoes.

I paused after that and started thinking, "If the house blows away and I lose everything, what's the one thing I want?" I immediately thought of my wedding rings (yes I take them off when I get home- I don't like to cook, clean, or work out in them). So I put those on.

I started thinking "what if the roof blows off? I will get soaked." So, of course, I grabbed my rain jacket and placed it on the couch next to me so I could easily grab it.

Finally, I ran into the kitchen and made a bowl of cereal. It was, in fact, dinner time. And lunch was many many hours ago. And, again, if the roof blew off, who knows when I'll get food.

So- with my bra, socks, shoes, rings, rain jacket, and cereal- I finally felt ready. As I ate my cereal I watched the news and waited.

Turns out it was never coming near me. When I was for sure that I was totally safe, I quit watching the news and turned on the Bachelor Pad on my DVR.