Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

It's snowing like crazy out there today. 

Which means both Nate and I got a snow day. Yea! I just love those. It's still snowing at our house, although it's raining in Mount Vernon. Weird. 

But the forecast is for more snow and freezing temperatures so that should make the roads nice and slick for tomorrow.

 Maybe no school again?

Doesn't hurt my feelings. 

Christmas Carols

We sang "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" today at church. Love that song. They lyrics are so worshipful and I just get lost in the gorgeous music and beautiful tradition. 

Isn't it amazing the the Lord of creation chose to come to earth to save us from the muckiness that we've made? And that he chose to come as a baby in such a dumpy place? I mean really, a stable??

Since I've had Jack it makes me think about all of these things with a fresh mind. How must have Mary felt? Can you imagine watching the Savior of the world learn to crawl? And putting him to sleep each night? It's so humbling. He chose to become helpless to help me.

Wow. There really are no words. I hope you all have time to reflect on this incredible season. Joy to all!

Thankful

I've got so much to be thankful for. Really. Here are just a few:

• Husband: He's truly the best. He works hard everyday, comes home and loves on us, and even puts up with my weenie-whining. He's my rock and my BFF. (He'd hate it if he knew I said it like that!)
  
• Baby boy: This kid brings me so much joy. He's so happy, and lovey. When Nate and I walk into the room, his face just lights up. It's nice to be so loved.
• Home: I love our little dump. It's not perfect, but it's got personality and it's ours.
• Family: If you don't know our families, you should. They're great.
• Jobs: With so many people out of work these days, I'm more and more thankful that we have good jobs. And we even enjoy them!
• Third graders: They completely drive me crazy sometimes but I love them. One of them thanked me for "being the best teacher in the whole school" the other day. Can you say, "Aaaawwwww"?
• Friends: I don't get to see most of them very often but they are some of my best blessings. 
• Sleeping baby: Did I mention he put himself to sleep tonight? Love that!
• Me-time: I actually had time to paint my toenails!
• Savior: None of the above would be possible without His grace and love. He gives me so much more than I deserve and loves me as no one else can.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you're looking forward to a blessing-filled Christmas. I know I am!

Growing up

Here are some recent pictures of the darling boy. I was telling my friend Beth today that he's becoming more and more fun. Not that I didn't like him before, but you know. He's learned how to give kisses and is very insistent when he wants to give them. Hmm...not going to take rejection well? He also has developed quite the sense of humor. He thinks Nate is hysterical. I just love this kid.

His first bath with toys. So fun!

Rocking the faux-hawk.

He's learned how to stand up in his crib. Luckily he still can't pull himself up very well.

At the pumpkin patch. He was so tired and wouldn't give us a good smile, but I just love this picture anyway.

Be impressed

I'll admit it; I'm kind of a dork. (and all God's people said "Amen!") I really like the show Jeopardy and would gladly watch it for hours. Unfortunately, it's only on for half an hour each night and that half an hour happens to be the same time Jack likes to go to bed. Since I'm a good mama I choose the kid over the silly trivia game show.

But the other night, the little darling had gone to bed early and I got to watch it. Remember how I said I was a dork? Well, it gets worse here. Right before final Jeopardy (you know, the part with the song) they show the final Jeopardy category. For funsies my family likes to guess what the answer will be just based on the category; the question hasn't been shown yet. They showed the category and it was "Award Namesakes." I could really only think of a few off the top of my head: Nobel, Pulitzer, Caldecott, Newberry, etc. So I guessed Newberry and Nate guessed Pulitzer.

Y'know what? I was right! The question was something like "the author of such and such book published in 17-something or other, this award is given to the best children's book every year." I got it. I won. Be impressed

Hiking Dangers

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while, but things have been crazy. And I wanted to be able to give you the end of the story. So here it is: the family hiking drama.

A few weeks ago Nate's dad, Rocky, went hiking on Three Fingers mountain with three of his friends. He'd been on this hike many, many times, as had his friend Larry. His two other friends, Gary and John had never been. They left on Friday morning, with plans to hike to the top on Saturday and return home on Sunday. That didn't happen.

They did, indeed, leave on Friday and start hiking up to the top on Saturday. Three Fingers has several ice fields that you have to cross in order to get to the top. (Ice fields are exactly what they sound like: fields of ice and snow). Obviously, they are very slippery and you have be very careful crossing them. Just in case someone does slip, it's wise to carry an ice-pick type tool that you can stick into the ice to stop yourself from sliding down the ice field into the rocks.

Now, this always seemed a little strange to me. If you're sliding down the side of the mountain, are you really going to be able to stop yourself safely with a pick? I had asked this question before and everyone always assured me that it works well. Hmmm...

So, on Saturday about noon, the four of them were hiking across an ice field and John started to slip. For some reason, Rocky started to catch him. Not a good idea. He ended up slipping himself and started sliding down the mountain toward the rocks. He tried to get his pick in the ice but couldn't. He slid down feet first about 200 feet and when he hit the rocks, he did a somersault and landed on his back between some rocks. Luckily, he had on an old-school backpack with the metal frame and that saved him from hitting as hard as he could  have.

Needless to say, he couldn't hike out. He knew he injured his leg somehow. He thought it was his knee but it turns out it was a severe break right below his knee. His friends eventually got down to him. Gary and John were sent to get help at the ranger's station and Larry stayed with Rocky. Because Gary and John weren't as experienced and it was already late in the day, they didn't get off the mountain before dark. So they had to stop and sleep on the trail in the cold and wet. Rocky and Larry thought they'd be able to make it off the mountain before dark and so were very worried the next morning when no one came to rescue them. They thought something had happened to the other two. It turns out that they were fine and they made it to the ranger's station.

For some reason, it took forever for the rescue team to get organized and get up on the mountain. They finally got up there Sunday afternoon and were considering a helicopter rescue. But of course since this is western Washington, it was cloudy and rainy so they couldn't do that. The other plan was to carry him off the mountain. They sent about 50 guys up there and they were going to carry him on a stretcher, taking turns. By the time they decided to do that, it was too late in the day so they were going to do it on Monday.

So, he'd already been stuck in the rocks since Saturday without being able to move. Luckily, he was dry due to a tent they'd set up and he had food and water. Monday turned out to be a better day weather-wise so they attempted another helicopter rescue. First, they had to haul him out of the rocks and up the mountain a ways to a place where the helicopter could land. When it dropped down, they had to quickly shove him on board and send him away on his own.

They took him to the hospital in Everett where he was inspected and given a room. He had to have surgery to repair the break and he won't be able to put any weight on it for 12 weeks. That's three months! Anyone who knows him knows that his may be harder for him than landing on the rocks.

He's back home now recovering. He's pretty tired and I'm sure he'll be getting bored pretty quickly. But honestly, we're just lucky he's still here. He could have easily landed a different way and seriously, or fatally, hurt himself. We truly have a God who watches out for us and protects us.

As for the rest of us, we're doing alright. Due to poor communication, we didn't get much information until he was off the mountain. Because of that, we thought that it was just a minor injury. Maybe a broken ankle that prevented him from walking. Wrong. I'm actually kind of glad we didn't know. I think it made it easier. 

So if you think about it, shoot up a little prayer for Rocky. Pray his healing...and his sanity.

My Life As a Novel

Introduction

Be forewarned. I haven't posted in a re-heally long time. And lots has been going on in the (sometimes) interesting life of Giordi Yunge. Since this is the case, I've decided that instead of writing a bunch of little blogs, I'd write one big kahuna. I apologize in advance for the teacher/political talk and the general mundane-ness of my life. Enjoy anyway.

Chapter One: The Home Front

First things first: Jack has two teeth. And he rolls around as if his clothes are on fire. And we haven't even taught him the whole "stop, drop, and roll" thing. Must be a genius. He's also getting to be a lot more fun. Not that I didn't really like him before, he's just way fun now. He laughs and spits, and makes these funny little conversation noises as if he's got something important to say. I love it!

With the economy slowing down, now is not a great time to be in the construction industry. Unfortunately, Nate is an electrician. Things are getting really slow around here and his company is starting to lay-off some people. I'm not too worried about Nate yet because he's a great employee and his bosses love him. But it's still a little scary. 

Since everything is slowing down, they've decided to move Nate to Bellingham to work. Previously, he had been working down south, sometimes as far south as Bothell or as far east as Duvall. Which meant that he was late getting home some nights. Not fun. When Cheryl (Nate's mom) watches Jack on Mondays and Tuesdays, it's particularly hard for me because I don't get to see Jack from 6:00 in the morning until almost 6:00 at night. Torture! But now that they're moving him to Bellingham, Nate can't take Jack to his parents. We thought we'd have to send Jack to the babysitter five days a week but since Cheryl's so wonderful and she likes Jack so much, she agreed to come up to our house on Mondays and Tuesdays to watch him. This is a huge blessing. It means that Jack will get to be home more and I'll get to see him earlier on those days, Nate will get to be home earlier since Bellingham is closer to our house, we won't have to pay for as much gas because Nate will be driving the company vehicle again instead of his truck, and Cheryl still gets to spend time with him. Wonderful! God's pretty great, huh?

Chapter Two: Silly School Story

I teach third grade this year. Have I told you that? It's way different than fourth grade (really, it is!) but I'll get to that later. Every year the third graders go on a field trip to the local newspaper and the grocery store. The second week of school. Oh, and it's a walking field trip. So yeah, we take about 60 eight-year-olds walking on city streets the second week of school. Are we crazy, you ask? Yep, pretty much

So the basic field trip went pretty well. Kids were well-behaved and interested. It was a beautiful day. We didn't lose anyone. The problem came as we were walking back and were a little bit late. It was a warm day (not hot, mind you), many kids forgot water, and we were trying to hurry them along so that we made it back to school in time for lunch. And I had this conversation with one kid. (Names have been changed to protect the innocent. Or not-so-innocent. Whatever).

Me: Come on, Francisco! We need to hurry so we make it back in time.

Francisco: It's so hot! I'm going to die!

Me doing a mental eye-roll: You're not going to die. We'll all make it.

Francisco very adamantly: Yes I am! And when I do, it's going to be all your fault!

I wanted to say, "Y'know? I'm willing to risk it." But I didn't. I didn't even laugh in his face.

Chapter Three: School Crap (I thought about using another word, purely for the great alliteration, but I refrained)

As I said before, I teach third grade this year. I've always taught fourth grade and I like it that way. At the end of last year, the powers that be decided that there were only going to be two fourth grade classes this year and since I'm the low one on the figurative totem pole, I had to move. One of our third grade teachers was taking a year leave so I decided I could do that for a year. The idea is that I'll loop with this same class next year back up to fourth grade.

I have a few friends who teach third grade and love it so I was getting excited about it. And then the little darlings walked in the door. They're so little. And they don't listen the first time. Or sit still. And as soon as I start talking, they raise their hands with a question. Don't they think that I might answer it if they just wait and listen? No, they don't. So I'm kind of having a hard time with the adjustment. It doesn't help that I'd rather be home with Jack. I never thought I'd be that mom. I always thought I'd want to work. I was wrong. I miss him.

Anyway, a new first grade teacher was also hired which means that there are five first grade classes and they have about 15 or 16 kids. Glorious! It's so nice for them to have small classes. However, the fourth grade classes have over 30 kids each. Not so glorious. Anyone could have called that at the end of last year (and many did). So the fourth grade classes are at trigger, which basically means that they have more kids than they should and the teachers have to be compensated. Most teachers would just rather have a smaller class.

So to fix the fourth grade problem, the administration has decided to move the new first grade teacher to fourth grade three weeks into the school year. This means that her current first graders will be divided between two of the other first grade classes (the other two are dual language and can't take any more kids) and will have to learn a new teacher, classroom, routines and meet new friends. This is a big deal for first graders. They're only six years old, for heaven's sake! It also means that the new first grade teacher who has been preparing for first grade has to suddenly switch gears, learn fourth grade curriculum,  and get to know new kids all after starting a new school just three weeks ago. Of course this also means that 10 kids from each of the fourth grade classes will be up-rooted and put in a new fourth grade class. So stupid.

 And it gets worse. I shouldn't have had to move to third grade. I want to teach fourth grade. And now this poor girl who doesn't want to move to fourth grade has to. There'd be no point in moving me to fourth grade now because it would just disturb more kids. But I shouldn't have had to move in the first  place.

Laurie, one of the fourth grade teachers, came up with an idea that I thought was great. She suggested just leaving the first grade alone and hiring a half-time fourth grade teacher for the afternoon. The new teacher could have taught science, social studies, and writing. We level school-wide for reading so we wouldn't need a new reading teacher and they could have just stayed in the original classes for math. I would have loved this job! It would be fourth grade and part time. I already know the curriculum and it might have been hard to find someone else who would be willing to work part time. But they said no. Budget issues or some stupid excuse. So now I'm stuck at third grade and the first and fourth grades are going to be turned upside down. Poor kids.

Epilogue

So there it is, my friends. My life. If you stuck it out this far, you must be really interested in my life. Or really bored. Either way, thanks for reading.