Do What I Love and Love What I do !!!!

Howdy all!!!

Long time, no post! I must say that is has been a roller coaster of a ride these past few months. Since Christmas ended, I have been a busy bee, looking for work, getting a job for next year, and then landing a job till the end of this school year!!!!
I am now teaching fourth grade at Odyssey Charter Academy in American Fork, UT and I looooove it. This school is so awesome and amazing and I love my students and the faculty. Ben and Grant are going to be so lucky to be able to go there next year because of all the wonderful programs that it offers. The school is K-8 so they will be able to go there up through high school which makes me very happy. I always wanted to be able to have a profession that my kids can be a part of. They are excited that there mommy is a teacher and everytime they come into my classroom, they offer ideas and make suggestions as to what I should do. One of my favorite things is when I hear them make the comparisons to all the the things that I have that there teachers have too. I love it when they are with me. It makes me feel like I have been able to accomplish all the things that I have ever wanted to, but I don't have the guilt factor associated with wanting to have a career too.
Anway, I guess I should update everyone and let them know how this all came about. Back in January, I interviewed with Odyssey Charter School and was able to get offered a position for the next school year (2009-2010. Can you believe 2010? That seems surreal). I accepted, immediately without any hesitation because I had a a good feeling about the school. The curriculum is amazing. The school uses a program called "Core Knowledge." It is very progressive and stresses the importance of a well balanced background knowledge in History, Science, Art, Literature, Math, and Language Arts. It is truly like recieving a liberal arts education. The students all learn Latin starting in fourth grade and going up through 8th. Class sizes are small, which is very nice, and they are capped, meaning I won't ever have more then 27 students. Parental involvement is very strong and the kids all come very unique and diverse backgrounds. The school also hosts a lot of extra-curricular programs like chess club and drama club, choir... etc. I guess I could say that one of the things that I value the most is that the arts are valued quite highly and integrated all across the curricular board.Unfortunatly with NCLB you are seeing a rapid decline of the arts in public schools. The priamary focus is on Mathand Language Arts. Anyway, I could go on and on... but this is totaly not the point of my post.
I teach fourth grade. I love it. My students are awesome. They are a rowdy bunch;I am not going to lie,but they are so big hearted and really want to try their best. They call me Mrs. D. and some Fridays, when "Mr. D" is off work, he will come play football with them during P.E. The kids love Mr. D. and are always asking about him. It has been interesting because I am used to the sweet, litte, k-3 kids who are docile and teacher pleasers. Especially the little g irls. Something happens to kids when they go from third to fourth grade. My girls are such DRAMA Queens. It is actually quite funny sometimes to listen to them in the hallways and on the playground... My boys are rowdy and rambunctious but that I can handle. :) The girls, I am pretty clueless on. I finally understood why all my teachers sat student's boy, girl. My two most troublesome boys are seated right in the middle of the two most quitest, dainty, little girls. I think secretly, the boys love it. However, this is the age that Freud would called lattent. You don't see a lot of girl and boy interaction at this age. It is rather funny. This is the age of secret crushes and such. I think I had my first crush when I was in fourth grade, but I didn't dare tell the boy I liked. It is so funny how all that works.
Anyway, in taking over this class, I have enjoyed every second of it. I spend at least 15 hours a day in my room trying to organize, plan, and make it my own. Today, I will be up there inputting grades into the computer and adding some finishing touches. I will post some pictures of my progress. The boys will be up there to help me... so I will have company.
This weekend, we are having an Oscar pary at our house for the academy awards. Uncle Jake is coming (Tim's best friend, and football buddy since highschool). Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Sara ( Jakes brother and wife), and the Gross Family. (Mike Gross is another friend of Tim's from high school, who married a lovely girl named Heather. She has a little boy named Easton that my kids adore and he will be coming too.) All in all, it will be a busy weekend, so I better sign off. More later. :)

Christmas Warmth

I didn't know what to expect this year when my mother informed me that she would be comming in for Christmas this year. I was taken by suprise. "Mom, I have all ready invited Dad!" Knowing that my parents have been bitterly divorced for the past seventeen years I knew that inviting them to the same holiday would probably be a bad idea. Especially Christmas! Who wants all that disfunction during the one month of the year that is suppossed to be filled with laughter and mariment? "Oh." my mother said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"mom, you know that I would love to have you here, it's just I don't know how this can all work out with Dad and everything."
" Britt, this is the only time that I can get off work to come and see you, Tim, and the grandkids. Besides, I don't know when I will ever see your brother again."
Wes! She is right he is going to be around too. I couldn't think of the last time that I saw my brother. Had it been six months, a year? If it had been that long for me, then it must have been at least two years for my mom. As a mom, I couldn't go that long without seeing my own precious boys, so my heart began to swell and I knew that I needed to do something.
"I'll talk to Dad, maybe we can figure something out."
"Thanks, Britt!"
I wish I could go into great detail about all the events that had since transpired from that phone call in August, but it is Christmas, and I have a family downstairs waiting for me! Grant has tears in his eyes.
"mom, why does it have to end? Why can't this feeling last forever?"
His words touch me.
"Son, it never has to end! It can last forever, if you want it too."
I report with joy that a Christmas miricale has taken place in my life this Christmas! It is never too late to tell the people you love how much you love them. Never too late to tell the ones that you hurt or wronged that you are sorry. Or mend what is broken in your life.
I never thought it possible that I for a few precious moments of my lifetime have back what I lost when I was twelve years old . My torn family has grived. We have all had our trials, our hardships, our losses. My mother and father through their own problems were able to put their differences aside and my mom saw my brother and I got to be with those I love the most during the best part of the year. I got to share in the bliss of bringing my family together. The one that was tattered and torn. I got to share these great people in my life with my husband and children. My heart was filled this year. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas.
My love goes out to all of you! Let this time of year heal your heart. Tell the ones that you love how much they mean to you. Mend the relationships that have crumbled around you. Life is too short to shut out the ones that you love. If we can do it, so can all of you. Merry Christmas to all, and I hope that your heart can be filled with Christmas warmth and cheer.

Love What I do...

Sorry all my interested readers out there. (being facitious.) I know that I haven't posted anything in two months so... back by popular demand... Brittany's Blurbs! Here is what has been going on lately.

1. Student Teaching
2. Student Teaching
3. My 29th Birthday
4. Student Teaching
5. Writing Thesis
6. Student Teaching
7. Parenting
8. Home making
9. Student Teaching
10. Oh yeah, did I mention student teaching?

So as everyone can plainly see, I have been a very busy woman these past few weeks.
I looooooove teaching. It is the most rewarding career there is. I am doing my student teaching at Greenwood Elementary ,a school in the Alpine District, in American Fork, UT. I am in a second grade class with 21 students. My mentor teacher is an absolute saint and we get along perfectly. She is friendly, charismatic, and truly one of the best teacher's there is to learn from. She has taught me so much about how to be a great teacher. Every day in the classroom is a new adventure. I am in a second grade classroom. And I love it.
My students are wonderful. They have such eager minds and all of them mean so much to me. I love working with them and they truly work so very hard. They call me Mrs. D. and I love it. They are so special. Today, they threw me a suprise birthday party. They got me some balloons, and made me the most perfect little birthday cards. I am going to miss them dearly when I am done. We have grown so close.
On Tuesday, I will have full control of the class for the next four weeks. I am looking forward to it, but I know that it is going to be hard work as well. There will be lots of planing and I will be working long hours to keep everything running smoothly. However, I have some fun things planned as Halloween is right around the corner. I am excited.
I truly feel that I have picked the right profession. I don't think I could be happier doing anything else for a career. It is so rewarding to experience your student's learning from you. Being up there and teaching America's youth is something to be proud of. I love making a difference in these children's lives. Each one has a unique story. It is amazing how much these kids face in their day to day lives. Some come from very broken homes and hearning their stories makes me want to cry, but they are so tough and so resilient. I have all the faith in the world that if they continue to do what they are doing, then they will go far in life and my mentor teacher and I work hard to in still that confidence in them. In the end, that is what children are lacking these days, the ability to believe in themselves.
Anyway, I will try to be better about blogging more regularly to keep everyone updated on student teaching. Once again I feel sooo happy to be able to make a difference in the lives of children and feel sooo good about chosing this career route.

Some thoughts

Today was Sunday. We went to church. We have church from 1-4 and I really like it. It gives me more time. I am not a morning person. Especially when it comes to the weekends. It is really hard for me to pull myself out of bed early on a Sunday morning. I find that I am grumpy, scrambling around franticly to get myself ready, the children fed and ready, and all the other things that come with being a mother. I hate rushing. I also find that once I get to church I am not in a very "spiritual" mood which dampers the whole experience. Now it is really nice to just take my time and I do come to church more relaxed and calm.
Tim and I like are new ward. It is very down to earth and everyone has been very friendly and excepting to us. We have been hear a month now and the kids have all ready made lots of friends and have been invited to lots of social events. That is important to me that they make friends and feel comfortable in ward. I just got sustained to be on the personal home and enrichment commitee and I coulnd't be more elated. I ALWAYS GET CALLED TO BE IN PRIMARY and while I have loved every second of it,it is nice that I get to do something new and with the Relief Society sisters.
We had a very good gospel doctrine lesson on "Being a modern day Korihor (?)" which led into some great discussions.
For those of you who don't know, I have been struggling lately with my testimony. Most of my friends and family have known this and have been very supportive of me and we have talked many times about some of the things that I have been dealing with. I guess I have just become more skeptical and more questioning. What it boils down to is that I love some of the teachings of the church and others I don't. I used to love to go to the general relief society meetings every year and hear the relief society presidency talk, but after the last October general conference address, I just lost interest. What was said crushed me in so many ways and I begin to question my ties to this organization. Anyway, I have started to find my way back in some respects, not all, but most and I am starting to overcome. I would like to get back to the temple soon, I miss it. My strongest periods of growth and understanding came when I was regulary attending the temple. My problem isn't really with the chruch as a whole, but more with certain individuals who are members of the church, and until I can get over it, I feel the last place that I need to be is the temple. It is not that I am angry, just disappointed. Ashamed at the way people behave and the attitudes that are so common. Nobody has ever attacked me personaly (to my face) but I see it and hear it a lot and I am bothered by it. Case and point, nine years ago walking into a relief society room would send me into a near panic attack. Not that anyone was ever mean or cruel to me, its just that I was not the perfect LDS woman. I knew that. People were kind, but nobody went out of their way to be my friend. I was the girl that the mothers of the young women said "you don't want to end up like sister Donaldson." Fair is fair. I can understand the reservation, but today things are different. Now, all anybody wants to know is " what my husband does for a living, and if I give them the right answere, the one that warrants respect, I am in the in crowd. People want to be my friend. They want to get the kids together for play dates, they want to have the kids over for sleepovers and birthday parties. Tim will get a good "leadership" calling and all of a sudden, things will perfect in my LDS world. However, what of the girl who sits in the back row. You know the one. The one who doesn't have the cutest dress on. The one who's haircut is a little out to date and is so young, and sooo pregnant, but just newly wed? What of her? What is her life like in relief society? Who is her friend? Are people inviting her out for play dates and social activities? I cringe. Because I have seen this far to often in my nine years of being a member. Ward after ward, place after place. It has affected me for good and bad, and my ultimate question has become "are we turning into modern day Korihors." Are we being the ultimate Anti-Chirst in our behaviors to those who don't fit our mold of "perfection?" We aren't being christ like, that is for sure. It is a problem that has become rampent and I have heard such ugly, snide, things in my meetings, that I had to step back and think about what I was doing.
Anyway, things are better now. I have realized that I can extend a hand of friendship to all and I will. No longer will I be afraid to sit down next to the sister that everyone shuns for being imperfect, because I am imperfect too. And that is what it is about.

Summer time blues

Well... it is about time again. The end of summer and the start of a new school year. I have been trying to get the boys back on their nightly routine. So far... it has been kind of a challenge. Give them and inch, they go a mile!!! Our routine last year was... home from school, snack, one hour of free time, homework, dinner, bath/shower, brush teeth, lay out clothes, find backpack, and one hour of reading. 30 min with a parent, and 30 min alone. Reading was followed by family prayer and then lights out at 8:30. This summer, I wasn't so adment that they follow a rigorous routine and I eased up and let them kind of plan how they spent their time. However, cleaning rituals were still mandatory in my book.
I thought that getting them back on track wouldn't be so bad if we started at least two weeks before school started but these rascles are bucking the system. For instance, by some "mysterious cause" the nightly " Mom, I am thirsty, I need to get a drink" doesn't strike until gee whiz " lights out time." And the " I need to go to the bathroom "occurs maybe 10 or 15 minutes after they have had their drink. It is like they figured out the way the whole system works. " Maybe if I fill up real full and real fast... " So.. I have decided to throw a little curve ball at them. Instead of 8:30 bed time this year, I will give them an extra hour and I will add a slot in there somewhere when they can take care of their thirst needs. I have also added more time for dinner because it allows us more time together to talk and reflect about our day with one another. I am adament about the whole family dinner thing. We set the table and sit down together at the table every night. Grant sets the table, Ben clears the table and they alternate the wiping down of the table and counter tops. This year, they will also be doing dinner dishes. Grant said that he wanted to start doing them, so I will gladly step down and give him a permotion. Will see how long that lasts.
In other news, the boys and I went to register them for school today. It is a darling school! The school is called " Poney Express Elementary" and it is built like and old school house. It is so cute. I love it. The boys on the other hand were complaining that the name was way "too girlie," and they were not thrilled about that. We walked the four miles (two there and two back) and had a good time talking about the upcoming year. For being good sports, we stoped at the gas station on the way back and they got a drink and a snack. It was much needed because it was REALLY hot. By the way, I love to walk, so it was great to get some excersise. The boys and I were worn out when we got back.
Right now, it is cloudy and I think that we are going to have a thunderstorm. I was going to bbq tonight, but I should come up with a different plan. The weather shifts so fast out here. It was sunny earlier.

Breaking Dawn

So.. alot of my friends have been practicly begging me to start reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Mind you... I am very particular about what books I will read and will not read. Everywhere I go, I see people reading these books. Mainly women my age and a little older. I finally started reading Twlight back in June and I must confess that I wasn't able to put the darn book down!! Tim would tease me about it everyday because it would go with me eveywhere I went, the park, the pool, trips, car rides. I finished all three books in a week and each book is like 600 plus pages. Mind you, these books are for teenagers and they are easy to read, but I am person who doesn't like to breeze through. I like to take my time, absorb them. However, you can't do that with the Twilight books because they grab you and pull you in. So... needless to say, I was pretty bumed out when I finished the three books and I had to wait almost two months for Breaking Dawn. When Breaking Dawn finally did come out, I was thrilled. I am not one of those obsessive fans who like pre-ordered their book five months ago, but I must confess that I did get my copy of the book on its release date. I hadn't planed on going to any of the parties or anything but one thing led to another... and viola there I was standing in line in the Sandy Wal-mart at 12:15 at night.
It is really funny how these turn of events took place. We started the evening by picking up my father from his Salt Lake office ( he lives in LA but has to come to Utah a lot for business) and dropping him and the boys off at the airport to pick up my dad's rental car. Tim and I had a wedding reception to go to in Bountiful and we didn't want to take the children with us, so my dad opted to watch the boys for us and take them to a movie. Tim and I headed to the reception and getting to Bountiful an hour early, we had some time to kill. We went to Barnes and Noble and looked around for awhile. You could tell that they were getting ready for the big kick-off. I was kind of chuckling to myself a little bit because I thought it was a little funny how people were getting so hyped up about this book .They had red, and black balloones everywhere, cake, punch, and streamers. A women was sitting at a little table and people were swarming over to her to pre-order thier copy of Breaking Dawn. Anyway, life went foward and Tim and I left to head to the reception. In LDS culture, receptions typically don't last very long. You greet the bride and groom, comment on how cute they look, and grab some finger foods. Tim and I were in and out in 30 min. Sooo.. the question became "What do we do now?" We couldn't just go home and waste the free babysitting! That would be kind of lame. We had seen many of the movies that were out... we had all ready eaten earlier so dinner was out of the question, a lot of our friends were either out of town or doing the same thing we were, having a date night.... so we drove around brainstorming about what to do. Finally, we caved and I dragged him to see "Mama Mia" at Thanksgiving Point. My dad had a hotel room at the Marriot and he was going to take the boys back there to swim when there movie was done, so we figured that it would be easy to just pick them up there and head home after the movie. I guess fate had a different plan. When the film was over, my dad called and said that he would just keep the boys in his room for the night and that we could pick them up in the morning. Since it was all ready midnight and the kids were asleep, Tim and I agreed to that arangement and decided to head home. On the way to the car, Tim suggested that we go to Barnes and Noble and he would get me a copy of Breaking Dawn. I figured, why not, we are out... the kids are taken care of... lets do it! We pulled into the Sandy Barnes and Noble at about 12:30 thinking we could dash in and dash out!!! Wrong! It was mass pandamonium and choas. I looked at Tim and said " this isn't worth it to me, let's just go, I can get it another time." However, Tim being Tim said "No, we are here, we are going to do this, let's see what is happening at Wal-Mart."
"Good idea, I said, but if it is packed with people, we are going home." We get to Wal-mart at about 12:45 and people are streaming in and out with their plastic Wal-mart bags and through the plastic, you could see the familiar red and black colors of the book jacket. Obviously we were not original in our thinking. We dashed over to electronics were the sighns directed us to go and thinking that we would be waiting in line for an hour decided that we should just scope it out first. Lucky for us, we were in and out in 20 mins, and I had my copy of Breaking Dawn.
For all you Stephenie Meyer fans, it was worth it. This book is her best.

So much to say, so little time...

Okay, the blog thing is lagging a bit. What can I say, I have been busy having the time of my life with my wonderful boys and finding time to sit down at the computer has been pushed down low on the priority list. Sorry for all of you "so interested" readers out there.
Lots of things have been going on in "el casa Donaldson" of late. Some of you may not know that we had to leave are beloved Suncrest in early July. The owners asked us if we would be willling to move out a month early because they wanted to put the house on the market. Tim and I knew that the day would come. We had a crazy winter up there and while we loved it, we knew we needed to leave for practicle reassons. So what do we do??? Pack up and move to Eagle Mountain!!! So may say "How practicle is that?" Well, I must say, not much, but we LOVE our new home. It is PERFECT for our family. I have learned the value of the terms " custom built, with tons of upgrades!!!" Our other place was much too big for us. We had two vaccant bedrooms in the basement and we wanted something that was more accomodating to our family of four. Even though we downsized in space, the house is positivly perfect for us. I will post some pictures of it as soon as I find the memory cards for our camera.
For all of you golfers out there, we back right on to a golf course so "Y'all come on down!" The kids are adjusting very well. We thought that they would have a difficult time transitioning because they had a lot of good friends in Suncrest, but they are meeting TONS of new friends and they still keep in touch with their ole Suncrest pals. One of the neet things about living in "Highlands on the Green" (that is the name of our subdivision) is that we have our own private community pool . It is literally less then a block away and the kids and I go swimming almost everyday. They are little fish and I must say that my suntan is getting better everyday. A lot of the neighborhood moms come with their children and we have a good time talking and letting the kids play. I truly love it here.
In other news, Ben just turned eight on the first. My dad flew out and we had a family birthday party with my dad, and Marge and Douge. We had a lot of fun. Ben loves Indiana Jones and so he got a lot of Indian Jones stuff. Grandma Marge and Grandpa Doug got Ben an awesome Indianna Jones action figure, a really cool hummer thing that Indy rides in, and a new spidy swim suite. I got Ben Lego Starwars the complete Saga for Wii and the Lego Indian Jones Kingdom of the Crystal skull set. He loves legos!! Tim got Ben the Lego Indianna Jones game for Wii and five new chapter books. (Ben loves to read, especially chapter books) Gampy (my dad) bought Ben an awesome new scooter and helmet. Ben has a razor and is soooo good on it. He has now graduated to an Xcelerator which has a pedal on the back that propels you foward. Ben is doing awesome on it. Pretty soon he will be graduating to skate and surfboards... where does the time go??? Grant was a good sport about Ben's birthday. And the two of them have loved playing the new Will games and building the legos. Ben will be having his first "sleepover" party in a few weeks, and he will be getting baptized during the first part of September. We are really happy for him and he is very excited about it. He will also be starting scouts soon.
School is starting on the 18th and the boys and I have been busy getting ready for it. They have been working hard all summer on their Math and reading and I feel that they are going to go into the school year with a leg up. I start student teaching at the end of the month and I have been pretty nervous about it, but also very excited. I will be done in December and no more schooling unless I want to get my PHd, but that won't be anytime soon. I am going to slow down for a bit and enjoy my career.
Any who, that is all for now, I promised Tim I would watch 3 10 to Yuma with Tim since I drug him to Mama Mia on Friday!