Mustaches..

I think I did an EXCELLENT job of copying Blaine's mustache!! HA! Just look at the side-by-side comparison...

Deployments bring with them many changes and adjustments to our lives. They also seem to make our husbands think that they look great with mustaches! Most of them grow mustaches, as it has become some sort of deployment tradition. These mustaches have been a topic of conversation among many of the wives at several events. We've even brought out the phones and cameras to pass around pictures of our husbands' newest looks. If only they knew we're not commenting on how handsome they look..instead, we're laughing hysterically! Maybe they do it for laughs, maybe it's because they actually think they look good..I'm not really sure of the real reason. What I DO know is that THEY know they should get it out of their systems while over there, since we're going to make them shave before getting off of that plane back home!

Last night, several of us got together at a friend's house and decided that our husbands needed a good laugh, too! So, what better than to dress in flightsuits and to draw, color, and cut out mustaches! Thanks to Katie's sweet daughter, Sophia, we had plenty of arts and crafts materials to go around and our mustaches turned out great! We had such a hard time keeping straight faces for these photos..which made it even funnier when our mustaches were falling off throughout the photo session!!

So, here's to our husbands' handsome mustaches..from your beautiful wives (who also have handsome mustaches)! We love you guys!!

This Little Piggy Went to Market...

This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home. This little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none. This little piggy cried wee, wee, wee, wee all the way home!

Why am I beginning this entry with something so silly? Well, this is what my students found on our weekly agenda board when they walked into class this week! Notice that there are five lines to this rhyme..just as there are five days of the week to fill with activities. Convenient, huh? Yes, it is pig dissection week. While somewhat insensitive of me to describe our weekly activities this way, most of my students got a good laugh out of it. I wasn't sure how excited I would be about this, but it has turned out to be okay. I remember dissecting animals in high school..I think I had to do a worm, a frog, a pig, and a cat! Apparently, my high school teachers liked cutting things up. I didn't particularly enjoy doing this back then..in fact, I remember having to go out and get fresh air throughout the process.

So, back to my class today! I have been teaching the human biology unit this semester, including the nervous system, circulatory system, respiratory system, excretory system, digestive system, and endocrine system. My cooperating teacher was nice enough to teach the reproductive system before I took over! Pig dissection serves to bring all of these concepts together so that the students can see where everything is in relation to one another and how they function as a whole in the organism. It has been amazing to see them make connections and understand things that I have taught them...they REALLY get it, which makes me feel as though I have done my job..successfully! I can almost see the light bulbs coming on above their heads!! It's great. Now I know what it feels like...that feeling of "wow, I'm a teacher and these kids are learning from ME"! This feeling makes everything else so worth it..and it's what I would explain to anyone who tells me that I've lost my mind when I tell them what I do.