Erin's Birthday and other gifts! AKA, longest blog post ever

Whoops looks like I forgot to make a post in the last month or so... But we have been very busy! Would you like to know what we have been up to? Ok, here it is:

The weekend before my birthday we went to Spokane. I was a sub in Pullman on Friday so we got a bit of a late start hitting the road. When we finally got to Spokane we went straight to Prospectors where we had dinner with my parents and Grandma. It was really good food and my mom gave me bunches of cute decorations for Halloween! On Saturday, we got up and went to Green Bluff with some of Dusty's family. As always, Dusty had a good time harassing his cousins and juggling apples. Yes, actually juggling, this is not a metaphor. Then we went back to the farm and had lunch and I got to open some more presents. I got some neat supplies for stamping (cards/scrapbooks) and other great cooking goodies. Last but certainly not least, Dusty and I helped out with his parents Fall Hay Ride and Bonfire. It got a bit soggy with all the rain, but I think everyone still had fun. Sunday we had a relaxing morning and then went back to Pullman. Here are a few picture from the weekend.

Now the real craziness begins! Even though my actual birthday was on Tuesday, we decided to go out to dinner Monday. We went to Sangria in Moscow. I thought it was amazing, unfortunatley Dusty really didn't... but it was my birthday dinner after all. Our friends CJ and Libby went with us too. Libby surprised me with a present of more scrapbook goodies and some of the cutest papers I have ever seen. She knows my taste very well, and I can't wait to use them. Tuesday I spent the whole day fine-tuning my lesson plans. These were not just ordinary lesson plans. I had to have them perfect for a working interview. They turned out great. I was very pleased with them even if they made it so I didn't get to do anything super on my birthday. That brings us Wednesday. This was the day of my interview, eeek! (For those of you that I didn't already tell, I applied for a long term sub job starting in November and going to the end of the year.) The day itself was very stressful. I worked in the morning. I started with a working interview, which I taught a lesson in front of 25 little second graders and the interview committee. Next, I went and worked on a 30 minute timed write. Last, I had a formal interview with committee. Then I waited. ... oh and Dusty got me an ice cream cake to eat with our small group.

On Friday morning I found out that that I was picked for the job!!!!!!!! Dusty and I both did happy dances all over our apartment. I am pretty sure we woke up our neighbors with our squeals of joy. This means a couple of really good things for us. First off, I have a job for the rest of the year. I have a contract, which will help me get a permanent job someday. And financially we feel really blessed because this will help us get closer to having a house sometime in the future. Monday, I started observing the class and meeting parents at conferences. It was great to have time with Kelly to see how she worked with the kids, and understand different routines the class has had.

In addition to going to class during the day, Dusty and I were feverishly getting ready for our Halloween party. Now, to give you a bit a perspective I want to remind everyone that when we planned our party I had absolutley nothing else to do or get ready. So, suddenly we were crazy busy between preparing for the party and spending long hours at school. In the week prior to Halloween (I have lost track of days at this point) we made carmel corn, muddy buddies, sugar cookies, cupcakes, dirt and worms, Jello jigglers, pumpkin spice cake, two kinds of chili, three kinds of punch/drinks, and hung spooky decorations all over our apartment. Oh, and we carved pumpkins with our Pullman friends. Dusty was a huge help in all of the preparations. In the end our party was a blast. We ate a ton, had a costume contest and a scavenger hunt too. Check out the pictures below to see some of the silliness.

Now, I have just finished my first full week with my very own class of second graders. It was a great time and they are a bunch of adorable kids. Here are some highlights from my first week. There was no hitting or biting and only a few tears. Somebody barfed in class. Thankfully it was in a garbage can. Throughout the week, the class has noticed some of my facial clues which tend to let students know if they are on task. You would think this is a good thing, but I will tell you it is really hard to keep a straight face when someone pipes up over the chatter “SHHH you guys she is making the ‘I am waaaiiiting’ face again!” I was told by a seven year old "Mrs. Walsh you look like a bat! Ya know your shirt looks like you have wings" And no that was not on Halloween.. When I informed the class that their previous teacher had delivered her baby, one of the little boys actually jumped up out of his chair and yelled "Praise God!" It was really cute to see how excited they all were. Last but certainly not least, I had two different kids tell me it was their birthday this week and it wasn't. I should have known when they did not bring in any goodies. It appears as though they might be testing me. All in all, it was a great week and I look forward to many more.

That is about it for us right now. Now here is hoping that it won't be a whole month before we do another blog post. Maybe if Dusty is not too sick of writing, I will see if he wants to type up the next one.