Thankful Thursday.

 As I reflect back on 2020, I am truly thankful for some of the gifts Covid has given me:

• Being put on furlough at the Y not only allowed me to clean my house, but I was able to spend hours playing in the dirt and the mulch outside.  For that I am thankful.
• Not being able to work at Sand Creek allowed me some quality time with my bike.  I loved it - and I am thankful.
• Having my classes cut back at the Y forced me to look for different work.  I love my new job, my new co-workers, my new supervisor - and I love working with kids!  For all of that, I am thankful!
• I finished our "family book".  Many years ago, we were encouraged at Church of the Open Door, to write our stories on a rock so we could always remember what God had done in our lives.  Our "rock" is on the hard-drive and backed up.  I am so thankful for the journeys God has taken us on and the faithfulness He has shown us.    
• I'm also thankful, that thus far, Covid has not been in our home.
  

The Gift.

We had friends come over yesterday AND bring us lunch!  This friendship began B.S. (before Sam!) and has continued on throughout the years!  The wife walked in with a small gift she had made:

My brain said, "Oh, my gosh, what is it?"

My thoughts were, "My kids made things like this in kindergarten!"

My heart said, "I love it!  Thank you!"  

Because, you see, the wife has early on-set Alzheimers and I'm just so grateful she remembers me!
 

Kudos to New Life . . .

While waiting for cars to come this afternoon, we had snippets of time to chat with our fellow volunteers.  Somewhere in there I shared that we were a New Life Family and even showed pictures of our family with Allison's (the kids' birth mom).  

At one point, when things were quiet and I was standing alone, one of the ladies came over to me and said, "I'm a New Life mom, too, only my story is a bit different from yours."  

With New Life, she chose to give life and keep the baby who is now thirty-two and the mother of twins.

We shared the joy of two families blessed with the love and knowledge and support of just one agency . . .   

Farmers to Families!

That's Sam in the Berean parking lot this afternoon as we distributed food to those in the community.  We had a most delightful time with our fellow volunteers passing out a box of food and a gallon of milk to every group of four!

The Christmas Candle

Sam and I just finished watching "The Christmas Candle".  Here's the link if you'd like to watch it, too:

 

Max Lucado’s THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE: A Family Movie of Hope, Prayer, and Miracles Brought to you by RevelationMedia Thank you for registering to watch Max Lucado’s THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE. Below is your viewing link to watch the film. We hope you enjoy this heartwarming Christmas movie. Be sure and share the free link with friends & family!

Global Mercy Construction Update

Merry Christmas!

 After Christmas dinner and before Christmas football, we played Christmas scrabble!

I can proudly post this because I took them all down!  Merry Christmas!

Thankful Thursday!

On this Christmas Eve, I am thankful for . . .

• Text messaging and the ability to connect with so many friends and family;
• The chance to worship with fellow believers; 
• The opportunity to celebrate the birthday of the King!  
  

Cutest Video Ever!

 

From the mouths of our niece's babes - "we need snow!"

Micah's Cakes Bring . . .

JOY!

Farmers to Families

 Berean is again partnering with CityServe International and Farmers to Families to help and reach people during COVID-19 by providing boxes of free dairy and fresh produce. 

Hundreds of families are expected to be served during the distribution. Sam, Micah and I will be distributing the pre-packaged food next Thursday from 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. Guests will drive through the parking lot and will never have to leave their car as we bring everything right to them to provide a safe and low-touch service.

Wanting to make sure we didn't have a dull moment, I let our school social worker know and she's spreading the word!  

If you, or someone you know could use this service, please direct them to come to our distribution time:

• Tuesday, 12/29 from 2:00 - 6:00 pm

CHRISTMAS BREAK . . .

 . . . Officially began for me at 2:40 p.m. yesterday.  I'm looking forward to time away from WebEx and Google Meet and screens in general.  Word is out that the lower primary students will return to school two weeks before the upper primary students.  Not sure what that means for me since I've been placed in an upper primary grade level, but I'm definitely not even putting it on my radar until January 4! 

59 Minutes with the IRS

In spite of the Covid deferred extensions, we decided to give our best to the government this year and we paid our taxes on-line on April 10.  Then we sent in our paperwork.

We got our first letter from the IRS on September 24, saying we had not paid our taxes for 2019.  They were past due with interest.

We got our second and third letters - this time both Sam and I got one - yesterday saying we had not paid our taxes for 2019.  This time, not only were they past due, we had accrued additional interest.  

I volunteered to call the IRS today - on my first day of Christmas break.  Forty-seven minutes after initially placing the call, Mr. Devage (that's a French name, in case you're wondering!) came on the line.  It took him twelve minutes to explain what had happened and to transfer our payment.  

 I did the taxes.  I was the primary.  Sam paid the taxes.  He was the secondary.  The payment went to his account, not our account, which makes little sense.  Now the payment is in our account.  The late fees are dropped.  We are in good standing with the IRS once.

 

Those Poppers!

On Thursday, my supervisor told me that when she had decorated our principal's office for his fiftieth birthday, she decided to pop a couple of the gold poppers that I had donated to the cause.

The first popper popped with a spark that hit the toilet paper and started a bit bigger spark.  Mo was able to stop the fire before . . . 

Yup, our school still stands!

The Hairnet Challenge

Due to COVID-19, Feed My Starving Children, one of our favorite organizations, has turned to machines to help safely pack meals.  Here are their "4 Steps to Hairnet Fame . . . "

1.  Wear the hairnet!  Take a selfie . . .  DONE.

2.  Share on social media . . . DONE.

3.  Care by donating . . .DONE.

4.  Challenge your friends and community to help feed the most vulnerable children on the planet . . .

I'm challenging YOU!  DONE.   

Thankful Thursday!

What a great day to be thankful!

• Thankful that neighbor Alice stopped by with a cookie order for Micah;
• Thankful that Micah was able to grab some extra hours at Cub over her Christmas break;
• Thankful that I found out that my 1:30 p.m. WebEx was not going to show up at noon so I could go home, have lunch and finish my day from home;
• Thankful for the time I was able to spend with one of the fifth grade boys today talking about church;
• Thankful that neighbor Jana had the crafts supplies I needed and I didn't need to run to the store, 
• Thankful that I could drop cookies off at neighbor Bob's - to see if they're the kind he really, really likes!
  

 

". . . Give thanks in all circumstances . . ."

1 Thess. 5:18  

WebEx Phy Ed!

I have to have the best job in the whole world!  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jen and I have a group of four fourth graders and six fifth graders we are responsible for.  After lunch today, we had two fifth graders go to math in another room, three fifth graders meeting with their special ed teacher, and one fifth grader left in our room with four fourth graders doing phy ed!  We had to kick the fifth grader out so that our fourth graders could do squats and sit ups and planks and lunges while we laughed hysterically (and silently!) . . .  

Almost Caught!

When M.W. Savage closed last spring, Sam got some amazing gifts - a laminator, an electric pencil sharpener, gift cards - and some pretty interesting gifts -  50 gold party poppers and a long gold circle chain.  Sam wanted to toss the last two items, but I said, "No way!  You never know when they might come in handy."

Today, our principal turned fifty.  Yesterday, I dropped off 50 gold party poppers and a long gold chain in my supervisor's office.  As we were walking out, chatting about the upcoming redecorating of the  principal's office, who should come around the corner but said forty-nine year old man.  I promptly said, "Thanks, Mo, for helping me out with that!  I appreciate it!  I'll see you tomorrow!"  And ran . . .

I hear his office looked just lovely today!

 

  

A Smile Day

When your first student shows up at their 8:30 a.m. WebEx meeting ten minutes early and then asks to stay late so he can finish reading a chapter to you, you text the teacher, tell her why you'll both be late for morning meeting, and smile.

When your next WebEx says, after you've finished math, "I'm all done."  You respond with a smile, "Great, let's go into Razz Kids and read." 

When the third WebEx of the day finishes math and tries to leave, you help them get into Razz Kids to read out loud to you and you smile.

A laughter filled staff meeting full of smiles comes just before lunch.

Then it's the 12:30 WebEx and the 12:50 WebEx who both get a chance to go into Razz Kids and read.  More smiles.

The 1:10 WebEx has no Razz Kids code and gets to leave early.  The 1:30 WebEx just has to do math.  They're so pleasant, you just have to smile.

The last WebEx of the day is at 2 p.m.  "Mrs. Zupke, can I practice read this out loud to you before I have to read it for Mrs. Bakke?"  "Of course", I say, with a smile.

It's a definite smile day when every student shows up, reads and/or works, and experiences success doing it.

 

Thankful Thursday!

Laugh all you want!  Today, I am thankful for my brand new bath towel!  You see, back in January, my towel started to develop mysterious holes in each corner.  

We had bought four bath towels at the same time.  Sam and I had the same color.  Mine got holes.  No one elses did.  My towel was used the least because I'd shower at the Y two to three days a week.  Didn't make any sense. 

In March, we bought brand new bath towels for everyone.  Once again, my towel started to develop mysterious holes in each corner.  Seriously, only my towel.  It wasn't even a year old. 

Today, I am so thankful that tomorrow, I do NOT have to use this towel: 

 

And The Winner is!

Micah follows two Christian bakers on Instagram.  They held a world-wide give-a-way this month because they had both reached 1000 followers.  To Micah's great joy and delight, when they held the drawing tonight - SHE WON!

This is NOT a scam!  She'll be received a $50.00 Amazon gift card, a $25.00 gift card to Sweet-apolita, and a $25.00 gift card to Fancy Sprinkles.

Perfect ending to final's week!  

Hacked!

Sam's e-mail was hacked today.  We so appreciate everyone who sent us texts and e-mails alerting us to the scam.  My favorites were those who said, "We didn't think it was Sam.  He's a teacher.  His punctuation should be better than that!"  

Berean Worship - Light Of The World (Lyric Video)

Now on-line!

Micah's bakery,

Uniquely Me Bakery

has officially gone on-line!

Check it out at:

https://www.uniquelymebakery.com

I LOVE working from home!

While we're distance learning, I get to work from home on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays!  I love it!  

I met with a student this morning who was down in Florida with his family.  It was awesome!  I met with a student who's favorite Thanksgiving food was canned cranberries.  I met with students who's families bucked Thanksgiving tradition - one family had shrimp salad and the other had chocolate pie! 

There were kids who needed more time, kids who needed less time, kids who got it, and kids who didn't.  And it was my pleasure to be Jesus with skin on in their lives.

Mr. Zupke Goes to Oak Hills Elementary!

Just like Mr. Smith took Washington by storm in that old Jimmy Stewart movie, Mr. Zupke spent yesterday at Oak Hills Elementary - while he was working at Wm. Byrne!

His first visit came when we were told that our Level 3 fourth and fifth students who are coming on Tuesdays and Thursdays would be housed in a first grade classroom.  I raised my hand and said, "Excuse me, I'm speaking on behalf of my husband here.  His concern would be how are fourth and fifth graders going to fit into first grade desks?"  They got moved to the fifth grade wing.  

His second visit came when someone asked why students were using parent phones for their class meetings rather than using the district provided iPads.  I shared his answer.  "The family is obviously traveling somewhere and that's the only way they can get internet access.  It's happens to Sam a lot."

His final visit came when we were sent an e-mail regarding security.  Some classrooms were being hacked by older students who were being inappropriate.  Sure enough - "Sam had an older sibling come into a movie (yesterday) with foul language."  Fortunately, the culprit was caught and consequenced. 

And to think, he works at Oak Hills for free!

Euclidean Division!?!

Our supervisor asked yesterday if any of the tutors would be able to teach Sonday 2 to a group of students at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  None of us really felt comfortable with the Sonday program so she said, "Would someone be willing to take my fourth grade math at that time and I'll teach Sonday?" 

Shoot! I tutored differential equations in college (good ol' diffy Q!) so I said, "Sure."  So now I'm teaching Euclidean Division in story problems.  To fourth graders.  I think I'm going to cry. 

Thankful Thursday!

Sometimes, it's just the smallest thing that makes me ever-so-thankful.  

A few years ago, after completing the Bible study, "Steadfast Love", by Lauren Chandler, I decided to get an anchor shaped earring for the top hole on my left ear as a tangible reminder that Jesus is my anchor. 

Over a month ago, while pulling off my face mask so I could go outside for recess duty, my anchor earring popped out.  I looked for it everywhere in the school entry way to no avail.  I was so disappointed that it was gone.

Today, while cleaning the floor in our hall closet, I found it!  Suprised!?! Elated!  Thankful.