i invited my students to our wedding...

... and these are some of their responses. followed by my response.

"ms. nelson? can i bring my nintendo DS?" [no. if you think it's gonna be so boring you need your DS, just stay home]

"can i bring some friends?" [um, i suppose, but i don't think it would be very fun for them]

"if i can come, when the preacher says 'you may kiss the bride', i'm NOT gonna be looking!!" [haha!]

and then, because of our ongoing conversation about my name being different after i come back to school:

"ms. nelson, what should we call you that day?" [guys, it doesn't matter. i'm gonna be so happy that i'm not going to care what you call me!]

"can we call you ms. nelson?" [yes]

"mrs. alberts?" [yes]

"can we call you Lulu?" [no, that's absurd]

"can we call you mom?" [WHAT?! NO!!!!]

bday walk

i gotta brag on j. here. he's seriously awesome. he makes my life so so so special. here's how it went down:

when asked what i wanted to do for my bday, i said, "go to fairmount park" (which is the amazing park spreading through most of philly). j said, "okay, let's go the sunday before your bday"

i was thrilled and we had it planned until the friday before, when i realized that i really really really wanted to go outlet shopping the next day instead of doing all the school work i needed to get finished... when i talked to him about the idea, j thought for a moment and said "you should go outlet shopping. we can do work on sunday and then go to a different park that won't be an all-day outing. we'll go to fairmount in two weeks"

kazam!

love this guy. he took me to tyler state park, which is a place i've never been (double kazam!) here are some pics of our gorgeous/fun fall walk:

water fire

last weekend i got to attend the last water fire of the year.

it was so beautiful and relaxing. i loved spending time with mom, dad, and allen~

dear baby blog!

[ok, i took 2 pictures of my students on friday and somehow still have not posted them on here. my camera is only 13 steps up to my room but i'm just not motivated tonight...]

on another note-- i'm pretty sure i have blogged about dear baby before, but i need to rave a little bit. even though we're hopefully a good ways away from having a baby, this adorable/charming blog helps me to be excited about the possibility. dear baby makes motherhood, marriage, and family look so full of peace and laughter. and it paints a realistic picture of some challenges involved as well.

melissa covers everything from making your own baby food, to being married to a stay-at-home-dad, to buying a stroller on craigslist. i love her style and her darling baby girl everly is just too precious! please oh please read this blog and try to soak up all the joy and love that is their life~

fam weekend!

i headed to rumford this weekend to surprise allen for his 21st birthday. my parents had a nice little dinner party to celebrate his last few days as a child... haha.

it happens to be my birthday next week, so mom and dad let us both open our presents together after a fam lunch on saturday. (see that sweet flannel shirt i'm wearing? yep, bought it last week before oktoberfest. at target for 15 bucks. score!)

mom didn't want allen's childhood days to be gone without one last dose of silly string:

4th graders: lessons learned

1. they still think stickers are really fun. sometimes i give them out for staying on task or completing something quickly. they are now stuck all over their little name cards that hang above their coat hooks!
2. they can be really mean. talking about each other's moms, calling each other fat & ugly. i haven't figured out a good way of dealing with this but it's breaking my heart.
3. they tattle like 5 year olds. i seriously talk about tattling every single day. it drives me crazy!!! "miss nelson, he's working ahead!", "miss nelson, he said shut up", blah blah blah. ick. just be responsible for yourselves for once.
4. they can dance. and sing. like really well!
5. they love to have fun and laugh. fortunately, i do, too :)
6. they can be really kind to one another. every once in a while i ask one to do a favor for someone and they willingly do it.
7. they are hilarious!
8. math can be fun if you call out a problem and each student gets to write the answer on a mini white board and hold it up to be checked. my school has this as part of math class every day and my students love love love it.
9. they ask approximately 12 million questions. every single day.
10. i love them. so so much. they simultaneously drive me crazy and melt my heart 7 hours a day, 5 days a week.

my job rocks~

flannel= fall

i just decided i need a flannel shirt.

to wear tomorrow. to our 2nd annual oktoberfest.

now where to find the best one?! that's not outrageously expensive? that feels soft and comfy? that fits cute-ly, not like a box. ooooooooooh, the trials of life....