Mike and Sarah

    Today marked a special, and quite welcomed day... it was our first snow day in our house. And it was a doosie  of a storm too! After the incredibly weak winter we had last year I really think most people were pretty excited to see a real snow storm grace central Iowa this year. We even found out last night that school was cancelled today which is always appreciated because that means we can go to bed without setting an alarm ( ahh the bliss of going to sleep without setting an alarm, am I right or am I right? ). We did, however, hit one snag. While we were able to wake up on our own and it felt positively wonderful we also realized things were quite quiet and we were quite cold. Our power was out. Immediately your mind starts to race just a bit as you go through all the things that may go wrong due to lack of power. Luckily, we didn't really have to worry about food spoiling because the temperature in our house was only slightly above the temperature in the fri...

I know the best way to begin rebuilding after something as horrific as the Sandy Hook tragedy is the return of routine and normalcy. I heard a segment on the news reassuring families that the safest time to be in schools was today (Monday) because everyone across the country is on heightened alert. It's true. My principal called a meeting with building leadership today to review our crisis/safety plan with a fine toothed comb. We found the holes, inserted new necessary precautions, and got rid of procedures that used to keep kids safe but now may or may not put them in more danger. It's no longer enough to simply lock doors and turn off lights, we actually mapped out areas around our building where students could be hidden and completely out of sight. We worked diligently and when we presented it to the staff no one said a word, we all understood why changes were needed. I can only hope every school worked in some way today to do the same. Today, probably more than I ever hav...

Whoops. Apparently almost a whole month has gone by without a trace of action on the blog. I'm not sure what happened and I really don't know how to explain this pattern of absence over the past few months. It's interesting to me though, writing on the blog is something I really enjoy doing which further confuses things. Without further ado and unnecessary dwelling, I shall pick up where I left off, giving thanks. Before I do however, I must pause for a second to share my condolences for yesterdays tragedy in Connecticut.   Of course any situation involving innocent lives being taken is tragic but when it involves young children there's something very hollow and bitter that comes over you. The sadness seems to run deeper; whether it's appropriate to say that or not I'm not sure but for me, the sadness runs much deeper. When I think about the children I've cared for and taught over the years I simply can't imagine feeling anything...