I Found My Prince!

Hmmm....I'm still waiting...?? Bah?? ~Ok, maybe not! He's still a green little frog! heehee!
The munchkins had a family project due using the pumpkins they collected from the pumpkin patch last week. They were to decorate their pumpkin to make it look like anything they wanted. The only rule was they could not carve the pumpkin. Some families were very creative and some not so creative and no effort was put into the project...boo!! It was obvious which parents actually sat with their child to work together on it, which is the point of all our Family projects, and those parents who just didn't care at all. Sad, sad, sad!! (No I didn't post pictures of those.)



Witches, Superheroes, and Pirates...Oh My!

Today was our costume dress up day!! Boy were they bonkers!!! It was fun but crazy too! This week was our Red Ribbon Week/Say No to Drugs and they combined their costume day to fit in with Red Ribbon Week.


There were so many cute costumes and we (the teachers) dressed up too. Our student teachers also dressed up and looked adorable! Last year we went all out and dressed as the Disney Princesses. This year as teachers we took it easy and were kitty cats! So comfy!!!.......prrrrrrrrr.......meow.

Why didn't anyone tell me I was sooooo tall???!!! haha! Yes it just hit me today! haha! Standing with the other teachers and taking pictures was no big deal until I looked at the pictures! ~Redo please!!! I need to make myself shrink! Holy Mole Guacamole!! I'm GIANORMOUS! ~Ok, I'm not that tall! They're all short! heehee It was very strange and for some reason very weird seeing me with these girls, they laughed and all agreed...they're short! haha! Whew!! 5'9" isn't gianormous...or is it??

When the munchkins are out of uniform boy do they act up! They also act up when the weather is about to change. Don't ask me how we know that one but it's sooooo true. Every time there is a change coming in weather the munchkins start acting up! They're like little barometers! Yesterday and today they've been horrible!! I had to let out the Exorcist Teacher...my head spins and I spit out split pea soup...perfect timing for Halloween..haha! j/k They really have been awful but it was nice to hear that the other teachers were having the same problem the last couple of days. It's probably due to a combination of things; being able to wear their costumes, the change of weather, and they know it's a short week! Thank goodness for a short week with the kids because I don't think I like being the Exorcist Teacher! Split Pea green is not a good color on me or all over the classroom! haha!

The day flew by today and it felt like we really didn't do much...maybe because we didn't! heehee! We took tons of pictures and made our own little Halloween movie based on the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? or version was Boo! What Do You See?

During the munckins P.E. time they got to see a real cow and how it gets milked. They were excited but bless poor Grace's heart for being out there all day. Grace is the name of the cow. Heehee! The poor cow was giving demonstrations all day long! She was hooked up to the milk sucking machine 7 times throughout the day (I'm sure it has a real name but I just kept thinking...ouch! Doesn't that hurt after awhile?) The munchkins loved hearing her mooooo!!! She was pretty loud and we (the teachers) kept saying she was probably saying ~take this thing OFF of me!


Tomorrow is a half day with the munchkins and pajama day!!! Yay! Another day of comfort!!! We'll see what pajamas they show up wearing! Then our inservices start for the next two days...ugh! Not sure how they'll go or what they have in store for us??? Stay tuned...

XOXO's

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and Pumpkins

Last week our main adventure was a field trip to the Mesilla Valley Maze and Pumpkin Patch! Yay! Woohoo! (jumping up and down) Yippie!!!

We had so much fun!!! If you have never been to a maze or pumpkin patch it should be a must!! Mesilla Valley has the best one, I think! Not only did the munchkins have fun, each teacher did as well.

This was the first trip on a school bus for many of them and probably the first trip outside of their own neighborhood. It was an hour ride and no potty accidents! Whew!!! They were so good and had fun looking around as we drove through El Paso to Las Cruces, NM.

We had a little drama when we loaded the buses in the morning with our sack lunches and milk. Let's just say some, ok...one janitor isn't much of a gentleman. Sheesh! I think chivalry is dead!! I won't get into the details because I may throw in some colorful language that may get your eyeballs to pop out! haha! Let's just say, I wanted to bop him one!

Back to the happy times!....

The munchkins took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch and got to pick out their own pumpkin. They had so much fun and there were so many in the huge field! We had talked about how pumpkins grow and read them a couple of books with pictures, but for them to get the actual experience was amazing. It was cute to hear them use the vocabulary they had learned in class. They scurried like little field mice as they searched for their perfect pumpkins. They would see one, grab it, look at it, then move on to the next one. Once they found "the one" they knew! Guess that's like the perfect man! haha Pick a few and throw some back..haha! Yes, that's a whole other blog! heehee


The pumpkin vines are pretty tough and some munchkins had a hard time pulling off their pumpkins. Once one or two got the twisting action down right, they went around helping the others. We wrote names on the bottom of their pumpkins so they knew which one was theirs at the end of the day. The stem was pretty prickly and I was just like the munchkins searching for my "perfect" pumpkin and pricked myself a couple of times...ouch!

It was a beautiful day to top it off! After the hayride we sat to eat lunch and time was flying! It's true time flies when you're having fun! Boy were we having fun!!! Decisions, decisions...do we do the corn maze or the huge slides??? We had about an hour left because it would take us another hour to get back to school. If we get lost in the maze who knows how long it will take us to get out and if a search party would need to be sent in after us. Hmmm??? If we just slide then we don't get the experience of walking in a corn maze!! ~ Ok decision made!...we're going into the maze...eek! I had to remember a few things...DO NOT lose a child was #1...haha! ~Keep counting, 17 students, 17 students! Then I had to remember...pay attention! If I don't, we'll be going forever in circles. ~Should I leave bread crumbs like Hansel and Gretel?? No wait, one of the munchkins might eat them!! In we go!!!! ~Wow, look how tall Ms. Buddé! Taller than you! Are we going to remember how to get out Ms. Buddé....I hope so!!! As we walked a bit into the maze the turns started to creep up on us...right or left??? ~Wait...there's a sign! Mini Maze??!! It was a poem and clues to follow in order to get out... a shorter way out for the little munchkins. ~Yay! Whew! Thank goodness because I was beginning to get worried! It was the cutest poem about bees and there were 10 clues to help us out! Guess it was my Hansel and Gretel way out! ~Woohoo...we made it out!!


Now it was time for the slides!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeee! There were about 5 HUGE slides that they were excited to get on. Some of their little faces just looked up at them with a little hesitation but I had them grab their potato sack and run up the hill before they thought about it too much! After the first time down the slide they LOVED it and kept going back. That was the best part of the trip for me to watch...they were laughing so much it was adorable. Of course I had to go down the slide myself...heehee! As myself and my other partner in crime waited at the top for our turn...all our kids were at the bottom chanting our names...Ms. Buddé, Ms. Buddé, Ms. Cabral, Ms. Cabral! Little munchkins from other schools kept cutting in front of us...~Hey! It's MY turn...I wanted to say...heehee! Finally....Wheeeeeeeeeeee! SPLAT! Ms. Cabral crashed into me...haha! The kids loved to see us make fools out of ourselves and so did we!



It was time to load the bus...wait!...potty break before another hour ride back! On the bus some of them fell asleep...funniest thing ever! Poor things slept or squished each other or against the windows...but they were quiet! Shhhh!!!!!! Ahhhhh...nice!


What a wonderful experience they got and I was lucky to share it with them! What a fun day we had!


This week is a short week...tomorrow is their costume dress up day, Wednesday is pajama day and half day early release, Thursday and Friday the kids are off but we have teacher inservices...ugh!
Stay tuned for more....
XOXO's

To Blog or Not To Blog...

To blog or not to blog was the question last week...I hope I'm not getting sick...pooped!

It was a short week last week due to the day off for Columbus day. Yay!

We had such a fun short week! As I mentioned in my last post...Yes I rushed to finish testing my munchkins. I then got 2 new students...arrrrgh! I was so happy with my "little" class of 16. In all my years of teaching (12) ~I know that's nothing compared to veteran teachers 20 years or more...I've never had such a small class. I've always had the max 22 and one year I had 24. Yikes! In Texas the max in K-3rd or 4th is 22 and numbers are higher in the upper grades. I was loving 16! But a few of them are making me feel like I have 30 munchkins! haha! Getting new students later in the year always poses many questions that run through teachers heads...~was he/she kicked out of their last school...~are they a behavior problem...~why did they move here...~do they know anything...~why, why, why?! Well, one of the boys ( ~yes two boys) looked like trouble and boy did I peg that one...yup! A bully! ~Well not in my class! The other little boy is darling! The great thing about both of them is they came in knowing a lot! Yay!!! I tested them and was very happy!!! They've blended in very well and the other munchkins have adjusted to them quite well. I still have more girls than boys...10 girls, 8 boys...it's almost equal but let's just leave it at 18.

We started discussing how pumpkins grow to get ready for our field trip to Mesilla Valley Maze and Pumpkin Patch this week! Yippie!!! With the discussion of pumpkins came the whirlwind statements about Halloween and what they wanted to be. I knew the perfect story to read them...The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. I started by telling them they couldn't handle me reading a scary story and boy they love when I do that to them...heehee! It's really not a scary story but they don't know that! haha! We had to turn out the lights of course then I had them sit closer as I whispered in my scary reading voice. I learned it from my 3yr old cousin. You know the one...as you're voice quivers...~Ooonnnnccce Uuupooon Aaaa Tiiiimme...they were silent as I read! As I continued to read it quietly and saw they were really into it...AHHH! I screamed!...heehee! Probably gave them a few mini coronary attacks, but they loved it and almost died laughing! Haha! I know, I know...~bad teacher! Love it!! :) Now we read most of our books in the dark and they want me to scare them...haha!


Well, I got a scare myself last week. I call them "drive by's" but they're what administration call Walk Throughs, in other words mini evaluations. EEK! We were discussing a new pattern sequence and they were making their own patterns using some fun Halloween thingies I bought. During the time they were working... the crazy teacher I am had them saying their pattern to me in their scary ghost voice. ~Aaaaaa Bbbbbeeeee Bbbbbeeeee, Aaaaa Bbbbeeee Bbbbeeee In a normal voice that would say ABB! As my munchkins started this in walks my assistant principal! Ahhhhhhhh! Crap! ~Ok boys and girls good job ok now back to finishing your pattern strip. It went in one ear and out the other...~Aaaaaa Bbbbbeeeee Bbbbbeeeee, Aaaaa Bbbbeeee Bbbbeeee they continued over and over! ~Crap what do I do to stop them...I can't yell...BE QUIET!! No, that won't work! My administrator was tapping away on her iPod Touch they use for our Walk Throughs as the little ghosts kept chanting ~Aaaaaa Bbbbbeeeee Bbbbbeeeee, Aaaaa Bbbbeeee Bbbbeeee Whah!!!! Can I cry now?!! ~Good job boys and girls, now who can be the quietest ghost??? Please let this work, please let this work...Yay! Silence!!! I giggled out loud but it was a nervous giggle and so did my administrator...whew!! She spoke to a few ghosts then left. Holy Moly Guacamole!! Things actually went ok, she posted later that afternoon my results and it was all good! Thank goodness! Some comments that were posted were "They were asked to demonstrate mastery and did so successfully.....Ms. Buddé incorporated highly motivating strategies in her lesson such as asking her students to respond to questioning using their ghost voices....learning was reinforced and students received positive feedback." Double Whew!!!


Friday was fun Friday! I got them dancing!! All those years in dance classes, Trooperettes, Poms, Saltatrix, and Golddiggers pays off! Heehee None of my munchkins who have had me leave without knowing how to dance. My last group were awesome swing dancers!!! I'll post a little video clip of last year's Christmas show and Talent Show. Yes, Brian Setzer songs for both. Believe me, we like to put on a show! Fun! They're not shy to dance or perform on stage at all. This was going to be the first time I got these new little munchkins up to do dance. Some of them would say they didn't want to or didn't know how. ~oh no, not in my classroom...we ALL dance! Haha! And that they did! We all had sooooo much fun! I have a few show offs too! A few little wanna be break dancers and a few who danced like Elaine from Seinfeld...haha! The Elaine dancing will change soon, I promise! This week for fun Friday we're going to practice our robot, moon walk, and fix all the Elaine's out there...haha

Wednesday we're off to the pumpkin patch, it's a VERY long dry...cross your fingers no potty accidents!...stay tuned for more ...XOXO's
Enjoy my past munchkins Christmas and May Talent Show video clips!!!

Bawling, Blood, Boogers, and Barf...Oh My!!!

Yes, we hit all last week in Munchkinville~Bawling, Blood, Boogers, and Barf!!

I told myself I would blog on Sunday...hmmm...well, today is Monday and I'm off for Columbus Day. Yay! A day off! Which also means a short week when we get back! Double Yay!!! Do teachers enjoy their time off??? Oh yes we do! Any little time off helps! In the classroom with little munchkins for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, deserves every hour of free time we can get!

Our week started out very nice and calm. The munchkins are doing great and moving along quite well. We started our "testing" window and boy did I forget how long it takes to administer the Kinder assessment. Drag!! The assessment checks their knowledge of rhyming words, letter names, letter sounds, initial and final sounds, story comprehension, blah, blah, blah, blah! I'm still not finished assessing because I have until the 16th and so in my mind that means ~Take your time, you have plenty of days left. Haha!! In reality I'll probably be scrambling to finish.

Our blood episode was our first for the year. You would think the way some of the kids reacted we had a scene from CSI happening in the classroom. These are the cute and funny moments for me because I forget they're itty bitty and to them it is a CSI episode!! The munchkins were sitting on the rug during their morning routine and then I hear a loud gasp and a child yells ~Ahhhh, she's bleeding! I looked and sure enough it was a little bloody nose...heehee I wish I had my camera ready to take the little girl's picture! She froze! Just her little eyeballs moved around but her body just froze still...haha! Poor thing! I didn't want to tell her to lean her head back because I remember when I was little you taste the blood in the back of your throat! Yuck!! One of the other munchkins raced to get her a tissue as I wrote her a nurses pass. She was on her way to the nurse and the dialogue was hilarious between the other munchkins. ~Wow, that was a lot of blood! ~She was picking her nose, huh? ~Did she lick it? ~My brother punched me once and my nose was bloody! I let them rant for a few minutes because I got a kick out of their conversation with one another then it started getting out of hand. ~Ok, enough already, it was just a bloody nose. I'm sure after I said that some were probably thinking ~what do you mean JUST a bloody nose!

From blood to boogers...my little "blue shoed" boy (the fisherman from previous posts...fishing for boogers that is) was at it again. He's been suffering from bad allergies and sneezing a lot. Well, how do I say this without grossing anyone out...hmmm...sorry don't know how to sugar coat it...just stop eating now if you're eating anything and if you're easily grossed out! haha EVERY TIME he sneezes...he sneezes out a full load of boogers that hang down to his chin!!! To top it off, he gets up and walks across the room to get a tissue and we're all watching like deer in head lights! YUCK!!! Why don't we turn away...I don't know!! I'm not easily grossed out but after the first couple of times it gets gross!!! Each and every time I tell him to cover up but he doesn't cover up! The boy who likes to fish for boogers at other times doesn't want to touch his own SNOT!!! Come on now! Well this time I was bad...I said ~YUCK! Cover your face! No one wants to see boogers hanging down your face and bouncing around as you walk! After I heard myself I had to laugh out loud and the other munchkins looked at me and started to laugh. Haha!! Even my little "blue shoe fisherman" laughed. Yucky!!!

Barf time!...If you grossed out at the booger story you may want to skip this part! haha
Well, Thursday was our first day having breakfast in the classroom. Our school was probably one of the last schools to implement it. I was a bit hesitant when I heard we were feeding all the kids in our classroom every day. I worried about the ants or the mice coming to visit and pull up for a snack! So far so good! ~Knock on wood! The cafeteria staff leaves two little nifty ice chests in front of our class and we wheel them in ready to go when the bell rings. We pick up the munchkins at the normal time 7:40 and once they settle I call them by their groups to come get their breakfast. They're pretty good and finish at 8:00. On that first day they had what looked liked a sealed Egg McMuffin. It was actually nice and warm and not too bad. ~Yes...I had one too. heehee! I'm not a breakfast person but it was ok. They throw one in for the teacher's and student teachers too. Most of the kids seemed to like it plus their milk and juice. I say most because that's when I hear ~My tummy hurts... It was a little girl who went home the day before from what I thought were bad allergies. As she entered the class I asked if she felt better and said mom gave her allergy medicine. Well...it all happened in slow motion. Things like this always seem to happen in s-l-ooooowwww motion! Somewhat like the scenes from the Matrix. Normally, I would brush it off and say ~You'll be fine or Go to the restroom. This time as I heard and looked over to her when she said ~My tummy hurts... I saw her mouth go closed, her lips turned white, the tummy starts to heave, the checks start to balloon out, then I knew she was ready to BLOW! ~Holy Moly guacamole! Where's the DARN trash can!!! I remember saying...~ooooo wait, wait, wait! as I scurried for that darn trash can! Just at the right moment (the slow motion moment of course) I grabbed the trashcan and turned around and saw the mass come up and out. I must have been Inspector Gadget or Stretch Armstrong because it seemed my arms reached from one end of the room to the other just in time to catch most of it. Yes, most of it...some of it landed on her backpack. It missed the little girl behind her by a few inches. The good thing about it was (not that there is anything good about barf but..) it was oatmeal consistency. Again, we all stare like deer in headlights and I remember hearing ~ewwww! The last thing I need is the domino effect and others begin to hurl! ~Look away! She's fine! I asked my student teacher to stay with the class as I walked her to the nurse, trash can and all. So much for breakfast! To make things worse...as I was walking her to the nurse...coming my way were about 6 people from Central Office who were there to oversee that our first day with breakfast went smoothly. ~Oh great!! I can't run and hide! Crap!! Just smile! Smile I did as they passed us and said ~Good morning! Our first casualty! ~smile, smile~ They just smiled and laughed. Whew!! All in all, breakfast has been running smoothly.


Bawling...this time it was me who wanted to bawl! I got the flu shot at school and man-o-man did it hurt. I never was and can now see that I'm not a leader but a follower. Well for being a follower that's what I get. I happened to be in the hallway when our counselor rushed by and said ~Come on! Get your flu shot! ~No way! I don't like needles and I don't want to get sick! Next thing I knew I was in line signing my life away! The entire moment was a blur! I stressed my self out! OUCH!! Before I got it I told my kids to listen if they heard me scream...heehee! After my shot my little ones were so concerned if I was ok. I didn't lie to them and said it hurt but I was fine. I wanted to cry! haha My arm was sore for 3 days and I couldn't sleep on it the first night. I know my doctor friends out there are probably saying ~You Wimp! Yes I am! haha!

I wasn't the only one who wanted to bawl, well actually, earlier in the week I had a little girl who started bawling first thing in the morning. She walked in right as the tardy bell went off and you could tell she was rushing to make it in. She stood there, took a breath like saying ~phew, I made it in! Then she looked at me and started bawling as she said ~My mommy got mad at me. Awww....she's my baby baby. She's probably my smallest girl and still sounds like she talks baby talk. She came with her little arms out at me and hugged her as she cried and cried. I asked her what happened and what I could understand was that mom told her to run and she didn't want too! Awww...bless her little heart. This moment and listening to her opened my eyes again... this is for many of them a safe haven to come to. I've always told my munchkins that they can feel safe here and come to me for anything. I haven't given this new set of munchkins that speech yet but I'm glad she came and felt safe enough to let it out.

Do I have a safe haven to run to...To cry when things go bad or when I feel I may not be reaching every child the way I need to? Maybe it's this blog that's turned into my haven or the bottle of wine! haha J/K I have to remember to give myself that ME time and to separate myself. It's my job and I love my munchkins and the growth they make with my guidance but it's not my life. Is that bad to say, feel or think? I can only do so much...but I wish I could save each munchkin that crosses my path, but I can't.
Stay tuned for more in munchkinville...it'll be a three day week this week..Woohoo!!
XOXO's

Boys Do Cry!

Sometimes I feel I should be the one crying!! Is it enough what I do?

Another week just flew by. We're already in October...yikes! Where does the time go?
We had a very productive week and I finally got to blogging about it. With Fall in full swing we started our Harvest lessons and activities. The munchkins had a fun time learning how an apple starts as a seed, gets from the orchards, to the store, and into their tummy's. They were able to weigh and measure their apples, as well as, a mini taste test to see which apple was liked the best. It was neck-n-neck between Red Delicious and Granny Smith...in the end, Red Delicious beat out Granny Smith. Personally I like Fuji or Granny...it has to have a yummy crunch to it. Yuck to smooshy apples! heehee

My munchkins are really progressing at a great pace. I do have about 4 that worry me. When I check their homework folders I do see that parents are working with them but some more than others and that's a big indicator for me. One of those 4 munchkins is a precious little girl who I already see making a huge growth of improvement. She is being raised by grandmother and grandma is doing a super job working with her. It was evident this week when she beamed to show me her name, she has a super long name and can finally write it all! Yay for her!! She was so proud of herself ~Look! I can write my name! Yes she did! She was super excited and her eyes lit up. This was another little moment to remind me why I love the little ones. Seeing their gains, which many may think are little accomplishments, but to my munchkins and myself, those little gains are like climbing Mt. Everst. Coming from not being able to hold a crayon or pencil to writing their name, neatly, and using correct letter formation is huge! Those students who already come into Kindergarten with that skill are a step ahead of those that don't. As a teacher, I praise those parents for helping their child!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Who says boys don't cry?? Well...I sure can make them cry!! Little boys that is...adults boys are a completely different blog! heehee Yes this is a "Jimmy" moment. The munchkins know that when they finish their work they can read their book from the library. "Jimmy" finished his work, ~go ahead and take out your book and read "Jimmy." ~normal tone if you were wondering. Some time passed and I noticed he was resting his head on his desk, ~"Jimmy" take out your book and read please. I went back to working with a different little munchkin. When I looked up again "Jimmy" was just sitting there. ~hmm...I know he heard me...is he being defiant...nah...hmmm??? At this moment I realized I need to treat him just like the other munchkins and not give him more opportunities than the others because he actually hasn't been evaluated or coded as anything. Just because I and the munchkins notice little differences I need to treat him the same. ~Ok, here goes...I go to his group..."Jimmy" please take out your book and read. He just sat there and looked at me. ~hmm...why is he just looking at me??...I know he understands me...ok one more time..."Jimmy" I've asked you more than once, please take out your library book or you'll change your card. He's still sitting and looking at me!! No emotion at all. ~Maybe if I walk away he'll do it....yeah that's it, I'll walk away. I started cutting out some apple patterns for an activity we were about to do and then that's when everyone heard...WHAAAH! ~to myself I thought Woah mama...what the fart was that??! (yes I said fart instead of...you know!) I looked and yes it was "Jimmy" bawling! I thought someone pinched him or something. He screamed bloody murder...yikes! I know he's very sensitive but other times he hides his face and you don't hear him cry. This time it was loud....WHAAAH! ~Holy guacamole...now what did I say?? I asked the little girl next to him what happened and she said ~I don't know, maybe he hit himself. She was as clueless as I was! haha I asked him what happened...~hello dumb teacher, he's not going to answer you!! Haven't you learned that already?!...hmmm...As he cried, I saw that he kept looking in his desk. ~ahhh I got it!! I bet he can't find his library book! Duh, Ms. Buddé!! It was like in the cartoons...my light bulb turned on. ~"Jimmy" where's your book? Did you check in your desk? The bawling eased up a bit as he said ~"Jimmy" can't find it. There's the third person still! ~tell me "I" can't find it. Nope, still answered in the third person. ~Look again in your desk, I'm sure it's there. The way these little ones look is by no means compared to a CSI Unit...~sheesh, move things! Wow, I just sounded like my parents! Eek! Haha! Then I asked the a little girl who sits next to him to help him find it. Wawlah! She found it in two seconds! Instantly he was fine after that. I have to admit that I felt a bit frustrated...do I have to walk on egg shells with everything that pertains to him or what I say to him?? Can I cry now??!

His mood completely changed because he started coming up to me for his hugs every 2 to 3 minutes. At one point we turned it into a game. Yes, "we" which means ME. haha! I was sitting at a table and he stood right next to me but would not say or do anything, just looked at me. I decided to do the same back to him. I'd look at him then turn back to what I was doing. He still stood there. I knew he wanted a hug but I want him to start asking or just come out and actually hug. Then it turned into a game because now when I would turn to look at him he would turn away like he was looking somewhere else. I tried to hold back a grin but couldn't. Again, I'd turn away and could tell he now was looking at me. I turned back to look at him, he turned away. We did this for a bit and without saying a word to each other my other munchkins started to giggle as they watched us. It was like an old silent film! I decided I better say something or we'd keep doing this all day. ~what do you need "Jimmy?", you need to go and sit down like everyone else. Nope, he didn't move...he gave me a little smirk and a little sound and tilted his head close to my shoulder which I knew meant he wanted a hug. ~do you want a hug "Jimmy?" He nodded his head yes. ~then tell me "I" want a hug. He smiled and said ~hug! and this time put his arms out. I hugged him but his little hugs are so stiff and robotic in a sense. As it was time to leave for lunch I asked him if he liked hugs and he nodded yes. Then I asked if mom gives him lots of hugs ~No ...wow I wondered if that could that be true...possibly. Then I asked if grandma gave him hugs and he answered ~bear ones. Well at least grandma gives him bear hugs!!

I wonder sometimes if I'm doing any good for him. I do see an improvement in a lot of areas. Better than some of the others. Could his "differences" just be learned behaviors or a lack of nurturing or is there really something more that makes him one of God's special angels? All I can do for now is continue to give him the tools he needs to make it through, if that means all the hugs he wants then that's the easiest task I've ever been given.

If you haven't hugged someone recently...do it!! Hugs can mean the world to someone and you may not even know it! Hugs to everyone!!! Stay tuned for more hugs....

XOXO's