spiderman

aka: dante

this morning we tested the cutest little boy named dante. he's four and in pre-K at headstart. he came in sorta shy, but i knew he'd eventually warm up to me. we did all sorts of stuff like build gates with blocks, draw Hs and Xs and Ts, strung beads on a string and recited our colors [in english].

every time he completed a task, he glanced up to check my reaction. about halfway through the test i noticed his spiderman sneakers and asked him to count how many times spiderman's face was on them. he obliged. twenty minutes later, he looks at me all of a sudden and twists his fingers into a web-making position. "spiderman!!", he exclaims.

<3 oh, dante, you make me remember how much i adore little kids.

real life conversation

this afternoon i was having my ladies write about rainy days. they said answers like playing in puddles with kids, reading books, staying inside to relax, etc. etc.

one student, lucrecia, wrote about watching a movie with her husband when it rains. i corrected her grammar and then asked her a couple questions to follow-up.

me: i like to watch a movie, too. i love to sit under a blanket.
lucrecia: yes, me too. i like to cuddle with my husband!
me: [smiles and nods a little]
lucrecia: "ay, miss kelly! you don't have a husband."
me: [in my head] "bahhhh lucrecia, you're killing me!!!!"

way to rub it in.

thankful

basically the best birthday weekend i could possibly ask for.

friends, dutch blitz and a successful dinner [cooked by me] on friday night. thrift store extravaganza, lunch with linda and some amazing bargains on saturday. grocery store whirlwind tour with meliss. dinner and relax time with mom and dad on saturday night. making new japanese friends at tenth international fellowship sunday morning. delicious lunch and birthday dessert sunday afternoon. gifts, cards, phone calls and more all day sunday. THANKS, EVERYONE! <3

city of sisterly love

the birthday celebration has begun a week early. my fav sis-fan came to visit me for the weekend. we spent a day in the city, an afternoon adventuring a cathedral and another afternoon exploring the neighborhood of chestnut hill.










i think the photos speak for themselves. we had an absolute BLAST <3

19 years

it's understandable that i can't remember life before 19 years ago. i mean, i was a tiny tot at that point. but seriously, i can't remember a single bit about life before allen was born. supposedly i was a funny kid and did lots of memorable things. but i don't have the slightest recollection of myself without a brother.

yesterday celebrated 19 years of sibling-hood. 19 years of laughs, wrestling, fun, car rides, arguments, and joy.

happy 19th, al pal. i love you

2nd grade

my partner, iryna, always tells me hilarious stories about her kids. one day, when her son was in 2nd grade, she had a conference with his teacher. the teacher started the meeting by saying "your son is a little strange." when iryna asked what she meant, the teacher told this story...

the 2nd graders had been learning about u.s. holidays in social studies. they were then asked to write about what holiday they thought we should adopt, and why. iryna's son wrote that we should have kissing day. because how else are you going to know who you should marry unless you have kissing day every year?

haha i don't necessarily disagree with his theory.

engrish once more!

ohhhhhhhh, i'm so glad to have engrish again!!! it's one of my favorite things about this new job! it's not from the mouths of genki children, but still...

last week my teaching partner, iryna, called a student and left a message on her answering machine. a man called back and when my teacher asked about our student, the man said "i am his wife"!!! iryna and i both DIED. poor guy. he can't remember if he's a wife or a husband.

another highlight of my job is seeing this giant truck driven by one of our smaller students. it's bright red, has orange flames across the doors, and says "highway to hell" on each side. haha!