It's been awhile. Let's see, what has happened in the interum. Well, the students did a fine job on their class play (the few mishaps that occured only added humor to it). Currently the students are decorating the classroom for Christmas. They are having a terrible time trying to get the lights to stay up and ended up blowing a fuse this afternoon.

The next major project that they have all procrastinated on is the travel agency that they are creating. It is due next Friday. They have had two weeks to work on it and just yesterday some one asked "so, what are we supposed to be doing?" to which I replied "have you looked at any of the guide sheets I handed out which outline step by step what you are supposed to do?" The answer..."well, no." Lets start there. I see tremendous potential in these kids if they would just follow directions.

So the refs did apologize, realizing they blew it, but I'm over that and looking forward to the future.

My favorite student just decided to shovel a gratuitous amount of jalapenos into his mouth. All of the students (especially Hannah who sits right in front of him) are nervously waiting to see what the result will be.

He finally got up to take a drink of water and the class is feeling a sense of relief.

We are continuing to work on the play. It will be nothing short of a miracle if they are able to get it all together.

Well, the Vikings blew it last night and the class let me know about it. Well, the Vikings didn't really blow it, Favre blew it. Well, Favre didn't really blow it, Childress blew it. Well, Childress didn't really blow it, the Refs blew it. They should send an apology to the Vikings for their poor performance on Sunday. The Vikings played a great game, and I am proud of them.

Yesterday I went into a petstore to find out some more information about Snake ownership. The person at PetCentral was very helpful. When I add it all up I think it will cost around $150 to get started and about $10/month for food. I think that we will probably add the snake to our classroom after the first quarter of the school year. That will give me some time to get everything ready.

Went to Little Farmer over the weekend with my Brother from Milwaukee's family. We had a good time and then stopped by Festival for some Carmel Apples (the line at Little Farmer was way too long).

I can't wait to see what the Vikings will do now that they have Randy Moss. I don't think that he is the answer, but I think he will help.

I got the cage for the snake last week. The students keep asking when I will be getting the snake. After doing some research on the cost of food, I've been having second thoughts. However, there are a number of people looking forward to the new addition to our classroom, so I feel I am obligated to oblige. I should probably have one in the next 3 weeks or so.

I felt a cold coming on yesterday. I guess being surrounded by all the new germs for a month has finally caught up to me. I quickly picked up some Zicam. It looks and smells good, like a little piece of taffy, but you need to keep it away from your tongue because it tastes nasty. I think it's helping because I haven't felt as crummy today. We'll see if it works in the long run.

Picture day today. The students all look very spiffy. I'm now going to write a bunch of letters very quickly to see how the students react (they think I'm Amped up on energy drinks right now);lkasjd;flkjsad; lkvjpoie;lkrm gf;am v;ijapoireg m ;lkadfnmg;vlajdvoijkrmg;elmr ngv;lk jchjv [l;lkas jdpoijqrewknmf ;lkxncpovij lkergt;kasdgpoiv jad flkgmfa ;sdkjnvo iuh jn;lqtmg;kjpoic n ;vlknaerfoijpodk;lkadns fgpouij


;laksdf;lkhaewirpgf;oadsnvknadspoigfpoiaj;fghnafodiughpokaa;slkdjf;lkjsda;sdlkjtr;lkewnf;lkn ;mn0lkjerht;oiueheknj

akjsd;iupotifej;lksdja mfoijwokenjf;lksdngfvpoihjaewr;kgf;laksdpouihjqewrnvfjknvpiuhywpuoifj;lekje3edf;lknasduvh puqiesrgkfhaspiudf;lmkwjnm[fpofjkae;dklfgvnpoiasdrjgopiaewrj

The students are all staring up in awe at me now. Pretty funny. Well that's all for now. Time to distribute the Social Studies tests.

We had our first service project last week. The students went to the Forest Athletic Club to recoat the chain-link fence with some metallic paint. Overall it went pretty well. After they were done painting they decided it was necessary to have arm-wrestling contests. I didn't test my skills against everyone, but I'm pretty sure I could have beat them all.

With testing week done, I now need to start focusing on the next big event...planning my costume for the fall festival.

Class Pet?

Our class is thinking about getting a pet for this year. I have always wanted a boa constrictor, but my wife refuses to allow such a creature into our home. As a result my only hope of ever having one is to make it into a classroom pet and keep it at school.

I have been researching Ball Pythons, and think that that is the way to go. They are docile and require limited commitments as far as care goes. First I need to get a cage. We shall see how this progresses.

We had T-bones this weekend provided by one of my students, Steven. They were delicious. That was the first time I had ever grilled T-bone steaks. They were maybe a bit charred, but that was because I wanted to give my wife some piece of mind that they were indeed "done".

The students are sad because the Vikings can't seem to get their act together. That just means that they will all be smarter due to the "extra" problems in math.

We started adding papers to our "Wall of Student Achievement" today. It is looking pretty full already. These are some bright students, however, some of them need to be pushed just a bit harder.

Oh, yeah...the computers in this school are driving me crazy.

Some of the students are having "issues" with their listening today, but it is getting resolved already.

We have been reading stories that the students wrote in 1-2nd grade. The other day we read "I spy a butterfly". Most students wrote something like "I spy a butterfly on a flower/or car" the two that stood out were entries from Zeb and Louis. Zeb wrote, "I spy a butterfly that got himself hit by a car." Louis wrote, "I spy a butterfly in the People's Republic of China."

Things haven't changed much since then.

I went to my first tractor pull this weekend at the request of one of my students, Steven. He was pulling with a Case IH and ended up taking 4th place. Katherine came with me and greatly enjoyed herself.

I also competed in the tri-county volleyball tournament this weekend. After 12 hours and undefeated play, our team secured the first place trophy (there actually wasn't a trophy, but we did take first place).

Now I just need to get our final 5 computers hooked up so we can get our new technology program fired-up.

I had an awesome time at my brother's wedding this weekend. The family and friends that were there made the weekend even more special. Katherine loved dancing with everyone. I was a little hampered on the dancefloor (rocking Chloe to sleep at the time), but had a good time. Later on in the evening they played Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus which got everyone going.

I'm very happy for my brother and his new bride. I hope they have fun on their honeymoon to Vegas.

The Weekend

I'm getting excited to travel to Minnesota this weekend for my brother's wedding. It will be great to have so many members of my family around. Bonus...I get a new suit out of the deal, so that just puts the icing on the cake. Speaking of cake Brian Lefeber brought in a delicious chocolate cake for his wife's birthday today. Oh, what magnificent frosting it was coated in.

New School Year

We started the new school year today and things are going great (except for the backed up septic system). I have a good group of kids who I look forward to teaching this year. Today we are learning a lot of procedures that will help us as we progress throughout the year. Little do they know what is in store for them.

So, I haven't posted for quite some time, but I have some frustrations to vent so here goes. Well, just one really. My computer hard drive is fried an all my files are gone. I feel like a first year teacher again. School is less than a month away and I have to recreate 5years worth of files. Let this be a lesson to the rest of you...back up your files. Well, I have some work to do.

The students have all caught the FARKLE bug and have been mentally calculating probabilty to achieve the highest score possible. Currently I have the Highest Score 14,800, Sorry Louis.

The students are making a trip to the Sheriff's office tomorrow for their ACE graduation. It should be a good time, a break from the norm.

We are also continuing to plan our field trip to Camp Phillip. It looks like we will be doing canoeing, archery, high ropes course, and a night hike. It should be a great experience for each of the students.

We are having another girl.

On an unrelated topic, March Madness starts this week. The students are busy filling out brackets to see who will be the champion of the Madness.

Tonight is also the Fellowship Dinner...students will be servers and coat checkers. All they have to remember is Ranch, French, Italian.

The Science Fair is also coming up this Friday. After three months to prepare, I have a feeling that half of the students are getting started on it this week. We'll have to see if the procrastination will pay off.

Today is the big day. Sarah and I get to find out what we are having (boy or girl). The students will be weighing in later in the day as to what they think we are having. I just pray that God would bless us with a happy and healthy baby.

Basketball Tournament

Well the boys pulled out a nail-bitter (20 traveling violations in the 4th quarter alone) to win the 3rd place game, and after a frustrating first round loss, the girls dominated their way to the consolation championship. Way to go Patriots.

Officer Dieke is bringing the "drunk goggles" to school today to demonstrate to the students how impaired people become who are under the influence of alcohol. I'll have some pictures and maybe even a video up later today on the website for your enjoyment.

Gym Floor

Wow, that was awesome after the games on Saturday when everyone stayed off of the gym floor! It was so nice to be free from the typical chaos that ensues after our home games. There were even some students who helped with the clean-up! Thank you students and parents so much for your cooperation with the latest board of ed policy.

I almost forgot to mention, we got a new class pet...Clarice the Coyote. He was a Christmas gift and is now a permanent fixture in our classroom.

Sorry, it has a while since my last posting. Christmas was great. The students did an excellent job with the service they presented on the 20th. The gym was packed to hear the message of the Gospel...how awesome.

The "B" teams came away with some hardware from the WASSAC tournament over the weekend. Girls = 2nd place and Boys= 4th place.

Mrs. Woldt has been filling in marvelously for Mrs. Loehr (she is recovering quite nicely from her surgery and we look forward to her return) in the 3-4th grade room.

The students are excited at the addition of 5 more computers (with flat panel monitors) to our classroom. The goal is to eventually turn our classroom into a computer lab which the whole school can use. Several more computers are expected by the end of the month due to a donation from a generous individual.