Middle Schoolers are Fun!

Teaching middle school is full of challenges. The students will try your patience. They will be forgetful. They will not have homework when it is asked for. They get temperamental and moody. They have a new boyfriend and new best friend every week. Drama abounds.

I still love teaching middle school. The kids are pretty open for the most part. You know rather quickly whether they love you, tolerate you, or downright hate you. I enjoy hearing, “Mrs. Lumley! You are my favorite teacher!” It is cute when they randomly yell in the hall or cafeteria, “Mrs. Lumley! I love you!” Those things can really brighten one’s day.

This past week was a difficult one for me, and the kids could tell. They didn’t really know why, but they knew I “wasn’t right”. One afternoon, I had one student bring me a Hershey bar. Very sweet. (No pun intended). One morning, I had a student show up with a gorgeous, freshly picked flower, because I might like it. I had the students do an assignment where they made a little booklet to explain a concept. There were two blank pages left at the back. One student decided to use these for a purpose other than leaving it blank. Here is what was written:

Mrs. Lumley Jokes

Mrs. Lumley sucked the poison from a rattle snake and poisoned the rattle snake with it.

Prior to contrary belief, Mrs. Lumley told the master sense what to do.

Mrs. Lumley died as a child, death just hasn’t built up the courage to tell her yet.

Mrs. Lumley once ran a marathon backwards just to see what second place looked like.

Some magicians can walk on water, Mrs. Lumley can swim through land.

Mrs. Lumley has already been to Mars, that’s why there are no signs of life.

Mrs. Lumley can cut through a knife with hot butter.

Mrs Lumley won American Idol using sign language.

Ghosts sit around the campfire and tell Mrs. Lumley stories.

Mrs. Lumley uses grizzly bears for pillow pets.

When Mrs. Lumley wants ice cream, she eats Antarctica. Fear if spiders is Arachnophobia, Fear of tight spaces is Claustrophobia. Fear of Mrs. Lumley is called logic…

Vengeance is...

not mine. I was shocked last night to hear the news that Bin Laden had finally been captured. Not only captured, but, killed. Ten years is a long time to be on a manhunt. (I certainly wouldn’t have been on a manhunt for a husband that long!)

I struggled a lot last night with my feelings over his death. There was at first a sense of shock. I can’t believe they finally did it. Then, there was relief. It was finally over. Then, there was sadness. My Daddy would have loved to hear that. There is also a new fear. What will they try to do now?

The biggest struggle for me has been how thrilled so many people are to see a man dead. The Bible tells us that one sinner returned to the Lord causes heaven to rejoice. It also tells us what awaits those who do not turn to the Lord before death. Are we really so thrilled to think of him suffering for all eternity?

Do I believe he deserved justice? Absolutely. I think it was the right thing to do for the military to go in, pursue him, and give him the option to surrender and receive his fair trial. He refused to surrender. His death was justified. Upon his death, he answers to only One. I, for one, would not want to be standing before the Lord and answering for the things he has done.

Romans 12:19 says: Dearly Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay.” Says the Lord. I do not believe in vengeance. It is unhealthy. It causes bitterness and anger. The desire for vengeance can turn into an obsession. It is not the place of any human, particularly Christians, to seek vengeance, that is the Lord’s job.

However, God gave us guidelines, just, righteous guidelines to follow and we must follow them. Bin Laden did not follow God’s guidelines and was brought to justice, which God permits by commanding us to obey the law of the land and those who rule over us. The order was given and implemented and a man is dead. May God have mercy on his soul.

I Like My Son

I know that sometimes, my kids can drive me NUTS! Especially, the older two! They are in that goofy, hormone-filled, dumb as a brick but I know more than Mom stage! More than once I have wanted to scream and tear my hair out! Anyway, Nathan touched my heart by writing an essay on someone he admires. I got a copy of it from his teacher because she loved it. It felt good to get it. I am going to copy it here, word for word.

" Some of my mom's friends know her well but not like I do. My mom is a teacher at Boone. People would think she is a regular Science teacher, but, she makes kids laugh by freaking others out. She will sneak up behind other students that are doing wrong like having their feet on the desk and smack a yardstick on the desk and scare them. She is also a good cook, but she uses ingredients and food that shouldn't go together, but the taste good. She can also read with the TV on. Even with her favorite show playing, her nose can be right in the book. Also, she is on facebook a lot. She will be on her laptop and 99 percent of the time she will be on facebook. She also likes to use the fireplace a lot. She will burn through fourteen logs a day and can get one started in to time at all, well five minutes. So my mom isn't ordinary."

I just had to share because I thought this was too cute. I hope you enjoyed it. I know I did :)

Pranks

I spent part of last week and all of the past weekend really sick. I had multiple infections, fever, etc. I was so exhausted, I didn't feel like doing much of anything. I slept a lot and ate very little. I had people asking me every day if I were feeling better. Then they stopped. Why did they stop? Because they saw my facebook statuses.

Those statuses were about my use of a gorilla mask. We have one from a couple of years ago that Nathan wore for Halloween. It is huge and black and hairy. I used the mask several different times over the course of a couple of days to mess with the boys. I popped up right in front of Benjamin while he was playing the Wii. I waited for him and for Matthew outside the bathroom when they took showers. I popped out and scared Nathan. I waited in Matt's bed with the mask on for him to get in the bed. ALL of those occasions got GREAT results!

I have been a prankster for a long time. When I was younger, I LOVED to put fake spiders and such in my mother's bed and would lay in mine waiting for the scream. It was always awesome. I would lay in my bed laughing and laughing. Later, in college, I pulled a few good ones, too. One that sticks out to me now is when a friend was visiting and I snuck away from a bonfire to scare her. Little did I know she would completely collapse into a heap at my feet! I thought I had killed her! Luckily, I noticed her shaking with laughter! Of course, I did the usual handful of shaving cream type pranks, too. Those are always classics.

Will I pay for it? Probably. Do I care? No. Are my kids turning into pranksters? Absolutely. However, they do need to be aware that Mama is always thinking of another way to get them. Nathan and Matt have been pulling pranks since they were tiny. They loved to trick people and hide in unusual places. It seems they come by it naturally...

Five Minutes in the Mind of Benjamin

Well, I woke up this morning with the "Benjimonster" in my bed, again. This is nothing unusual. He is a cuddler. He LOVES to wake up and hug and roll in the bed with us. This morning was particularly fun.

Chris woke about the same time I did. We were both just looking at Benjamin and I mentioned how his profile this morning looked very much like his ultrasound pictures. Then, Chris started talking about his features and how his nose was turned up like mine at the end and how he had my lips. We were REALLY looking to see what he had inherited from his Daddy. It was a fun conversation. Chris finally declared that Benjamin was my son and not his.

Benjamin woke up, wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. I told him what his Daddy had said and asked if it were correct. He said, "Yes! I'm YOUR son." He then proceeded to roll over, look at Chris and yell that there was a "stranger" in the bed. He yelled again, "STRANGER!" and "Get out of my bed!"

Well, of course, I thought this was funny! Who wouldn't? I mean he is seven years old and making up that kind of stuff! Then, Chris proceeded to tell him that if he were a stranger, Benjamin wouldn't be allowed to get in his bed any more because he didn't allow strangers in his bed. So, Benjamin said, "Then why are YOU here?" The boy is comical! AND quick!

Right now, he is watching Tom & Jerry. Of course, Tom is chasing Jerry and making a mess. Benjamin says, "Why are you destroying the house, Tom?! A perfectly good house!" I just LOVE the way his mind works!

Anniversaries

I have lots of "anniversaries" in my life. Birthdays are a kind of anniversary. There's the anniversary for graduations, for major events, even for deaths. Of course, the first thing people think of when one says anniversary is that yearly one with your spouse. Well this is lucky number 13 and it has been the most different of all.

First of all, we are in a totally different state! When we met, Chris said he never thought he would leave Georgia. Well, I cured him of that by causing him to move to Tennessee so he could be with me while I finished college. Then, there was the whole never leaving the mountains thing for me. Yeah, that's kind of out the window, too.

Secondly, it is on a Sunday. I really don't like to celebrate things on a Sunday if possible. I like to maintain that one day for family. We hang out together after church. I fix a big meal that cooks while we are gone, we eat as soon as we get home, then there's NAP TIME, for me, anyway. The kids just don't seem to need naps any more. So, while today IS our anniversary, for the most part, it has felt like any other Sunday, and I am ok with that. Actually, there is one difference. This is the first time I EVER remember it snowing on our anniversary :)

I saw something earlier that made me think. A person said, nobody uses the "F word" anymore...forever. 13 years feels like forever. Chris and I have been together nearly a third of my life. It doesn't seem that long ago that I kept asking my bridesmaids if he was "out there" and if they could see him. Chris and I decided before we ever got married that the "D word" (divorce) would never enter our conversations. Not even jokingly. If we make it so easy to get away from each other and even joke about it, why would we bother with the "F word"?

I AM a Science Teacher

Most of you already know this fact about me. That's usually one of the first things people find out about any person. "So, what do you do?" People always seem so impressed that I teach science. Oh, they think I have to be smart to do that. Do I? I dunno. I work hard to make sure I know about what I am teaching the kids. I can't stand to make a mistake, but, I love for them to learn.

Part of teaching science is doing labs. I love to do labs. My philosophy is kids can't learn science unless they do science. Learning science means getting their hands in there and getting them dirty. Getting into whatever they are doing and not caring if it creates a mess. Who cares? Learning is happening!

I have had students call me Miss Frizzle. I think that's awesome! I love that they feel like I am excited and they must think my methods are interesting to make the comparison! I wish I really did have a magic school bus! That would be so cool!

I have had kids call me "Mama" because they want to, not as a mistake (of course, that has happened, too). It's really funny when a 6'3", 300 pound seventh grader from the ghetto comes up, leans his head down on top of yours and says, "Good morning, Mother." It is also pretty special. It lets you know you have done something to earn respect.

I enjoy what I do and I love to make my kids laugh. They always try to "get me", but, usually lose. I admit I have a really quick wit and sometimes have to catch my own tongue before my quick with gets me into trouble. Some kids aren't quite ready for some of the things that come to my mind!

A couple of days ago, I had a first. I have had labs that didn't go as planned before, that's no big deal. You adjust and go on. However, when the entire room fills with smoke, sugar starts burning, and the room starts smelling like a campfire with marshmallows, I would say that is a lab REALLY not going as planned! The kids loved it! They have talked about it for days! The later classes were very upset that they didn't get to do the same thing. Sorry, nearly setting off the fire alarms once is more than enough for me. Custodial had to come in and bring a huge fan, we had to open the window and doors in 30 degree weather, and it took FOREVER to get the smell and smoke out. Oh well, at least they now know how to super saturate water with sugar!