The Diary of Anne Frank

So...I love Anne Frank.

I love my eighth graders right now who like to make comments about how things seem to them.

I love my eighth graders reading The Diary of Anne Frank (the play).

We finished reading the play last class period and then today we did some activities to help us think about what we read. I also read some excerpts from her actual diary to them and we talked about the similarities and differences between the play and her diary.

They love her, connect with her, and want to read her book. (Can I just tell you how gratifying it is to me that they want to continue learning about her and read her story?)

I love the power and influence her life...her very short life...has on my 13-14 year-olds.

They cannot believe that she died.

I also read a few excerpts from Miep Gies' book about the moment when Otto Frank returned to Holland, then, when a few months later, he received the letter that told him his daughters were dead, and then when she decided to give the diary that she had been saving for Anne to Anne's father.

Let's just say that I have never read Miep's experiences and I LOST IT while reading to my students.

I am so grateful for Anne Frank's story, her insights, and the courage of her father to publish her innermost thoughts.

ALL THE WORLD IS A STAGE!!!!

Yes...I realize that the title is screaming a quote at you. We are feeling consumed. Rehearsals are ending late every day and our spare time is spent planning, pondering, creating, buying, etc. any little aspect of the spring production.

As with everything else we do here, the kids make it all worth it. (They better...they are the only reason we put so much time into this!)

The set isn't so much put up yet but it will be next Monday. We are cutting it a little closer than we wanted but things should be okay...we hope.


And, yes, the stage is in the gym making for incredible sound! We like to create added entertainment to the theater experience. My favorite aspect of the stage is the lighting that is controlled through the breaker box. When the principal fifteen years ago decided a theater program was a waste of time, he had all of the wires cut to the dimmer switches. When lights fade...oh wait...they don't...ever.

Daddy's Girl

Ever since I have been small I have loved being with my dad. Perhaps it started when I was little and he would take us into town on Saturday mornings to run errands and get a treat. If he worked on cars, I liked to hold the lamp and find tools for him. If he was building something, I tried to help him find the screws and hold the washers in place, and he made me feel useful because my fingers were smaller than his and I could reach into tricky spaces. He has always had skills that I admired and I always kind of wanted to learn them from him but I never did. For some reason I didn't want to be too much of a girly girl, even though I totally am.
My dad didn't really teach me his skills because I hardly stuck around to learn. He would sometimes get impatient with me or with his project and that was my cue to leave. (Along with basic skills, my vocabulary was stocked with four letter words!) I still find huge satisfaction doing projects with him. In fact, a couple of months ago I even helped him install speakers in his jeep and I felt so proud.

Well, now I am the "technical director" of our spring production. I am basically just making sure the kids don't chop off a finger with a saw, but I have also been trying to get involved and help them build stuff (except that I have NO desire to even touch a saw). The other day they were putting together a small staircase and I thought I would pick up a power tool and help them along. Bad idea! I couldn't, for the life of me, control the cordless drill. I have even used drills before! The kids shook their heads and gently took the tool away from me. I decided then and there that I am okay with the inability to build a staircase! I guess I should have stuck around my dad a little longer and just embraced a new vocabulary. (I'm all about vocabulary...right? I AM an English teacher.)

We Are Approved...

This past week we received the news that we are now certified to become adoptive parents. The approval process itself was an ordeal as we faced a family emergency with our caseworker, a cancelled approval meeting, a message that said that we could not be approved until May, another message that said that we could be approved with a letter from the State Board of Education, us calling everyone and their dog trying to get that letter, finally getting that letter, and then, on Wednesday, us finally getting the approval pending a background check that clears in late Apr/early May. Needless to say Shawn and I are very excited about this news. In fact, we want baby shopping this week in search of a crib, a travel system (car seat/stroller/hand warmer/phone all in one easy fold up package), and even some outfits and home decor. We also were able to watch conference with our family and hang out with our friends.

Happy Easter!

Last week was our Spring Break and we had the opportunity to go to Moab for a few days with my dad. We went to Arches National Park and hiked to Delicate Arch. It was amazingly perfect weather and it was so neat to see the beautiful miracles of nature!

We attended the 42nd Annual Easter Jeep Safari where my dad's new jeep took her "maiden voyage". I went to Moab every year for ten years before I went on my mission and it was so fun to share this tradition with Shawn. I think I love to go so much because my dad's eyes light up and he is in the mecca of things that are "cool" to him. I personally love to be out in nature and see the incredible landscape. This was a fun adventure to experience this year with my husband and my step mom who are both new to "jeeping" and Moab.

One of our dear friends offered to take our picture for our adoption collage, profile, and this blog. Here are some of them.

I am trying to act nonchalante about the fact that I am falling off of the fence!

These would be our oh so matching Lady Mustangs sweatshirts!

I am grateful for friends!

"Devil Books"

My husband affectionately calls any book that I pick up to read a "Devil Book". In the beginning, it made sense. I had started reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and it was a page-turner. (Vampires, werewolves, etc. all fall under my "scary" category and are therefore appropriately linked to the Devil who is also "scary") However, in the past few weeks, that title has been given to a series of other books. Perhaps it is due to my intensity. I have a hard time starting a book and then picking at it here and there. I would rather devour the book, even if it meant rereading for full comprehension, thus resulting in a lack of attention towards my husband. I have read five books in the past five weeks and I am embarrassed to say that I have loved every minute of it. I am not ashamed of reading (I am an English teacher :), but I feel extremely guilty for not using my time more wisely doing something else. Emily Dickinson once wrote "There is no frigate like a book to take you lands away, nor any coursers like a page of prancing poetry." I heartily agree with her. I have needed to escape reality or internally combust and, thanks to a few books, I am here, happier, and hopefully more sane. Yes...reading is therapeutic. I had forgotten that fact as a college student.
I am on this young adult lit kick and have read a couple of books by Eva Ibbotsen and a couple by Shannon Hale. The book that I just finished reading was not the best book of the several that I have just read, but it was one of those that made me laugh out loud. It was Austenland by Shannon Hale and it had all of these funny references to Jane Austen stories, characters, and actors who have portrayed Austen characters. Bless Jane Austen's guts for creating such wonderful stories that girls fantacize about, English students analyze in their critical methods courses, and authors allude to or just outright reference. I love it!