I wasn't fast enough for the bathroom.

How would you respond if a little 4-5 year old boy said this to you? What kind of thoughts would be running through your mind? Well, since you seem interested in hearing what I was thinking, I'm going to tell you. When little boy said this to me, I thought what any inexperienced kindergarten supply teacher would think. I thought he peed his pants. So I proceeded to ask the ECE in the room, who is probably familiar with these types of situations, how I should go about it.

Me: Mrs. ECE, it seems that little boy has wet his pants. Do they have any extra clothes here?

ECE: Yes, check the top shelf of his locker.

Me: [proceeds out to look in locker, only to find that little boy only has extra pants, and no spare underwear] Mrs. ECE, he only has an extra pair of pants, and no spare undies.

ECE: Well, you'll just have to change his pants, and we'll call home. There's only about an hour left at school anyways.

Me: Ok, I can do that. [Then, thinking to myself, where am I supposed to do this? They don't have washrooms in the classroom, so we must use the bathrooms in the school. I can't go into the boy's washroom, because what if an intermediate boy comes in? That'd be so bad! Am I allowed to take him into the girl's washroom? Well, I suppose so, but what if older girls come in? Oh wait! There's a litle nook right by the staff bathroom that's not entirely enclosed, but it will provide some privacy. That's a good spot.]

Me: Ok little boy, let's get our extra pants, and head over to the little nook over there. You can change your pants and I'll put the wet ones in this baggie for you to take home.

Little boy: But I don't know how to change my pants. I need help.

Me: Ok, I'll be here to help.

Little boy starts to take off his pants, and I smell a little something like....poopey diarrhea. I take a look behind him, and sure enough, his underwear is droopy, and there's brownish-green running down the back of his leg. [Aiya!, and I'm trying my best not to gag at this point]

Me: (to little boy) You just hang tight here for a minute, and I'll be back. [goes back into classroom to find ECE for help] Mrs. ECE, it's worse than I thought. He's actually pooped his pants, so there's no way we can just put the clean pants on him.

ECE: Just give me a minute and I'll go take care of it. These girls need to be set up with the painting station.

Me: Oh, I can take over with that if you want. We can switch! [I was quite relieved at this point]

While Mrs. ECE locates a pair of clean underwear from another kid's locker who was away and gets the zippy bags and bum wipes, kids start coming up to me complaining of itchy eyes. I take a look at it and it seems to be the sudden onset of pink eye...goopey, crusty, red, and itchy. When Mrs. ECE comes back, she needs to call the parents of poopy pants boy, and the one who's undewear is now on the bum of a stranger. When she comes back from that, we discuss the two other kids with the goopey, crusty eyes, only to decide that yes it is in fact pink eye, and their parents need to be contacted right away.

What an exciting day in kindergarten. I must give props to those who do this for a living, as this was my experience in just one day. They must have tons of patience with the little ones (how many times to you have to tell and show them that you cannot put your snow pants on when your boots are on your feet??), and they must not be afraid of getting down and dirty with all the germs. So I've come to the conclusion that I am not meant to be an ECE or a kindergarden teacher. This was a great opportunity for me though!

And next time a little one says to you that they weren't fast enough for the bathroom, don't assume that it's as simple as pee pee in the pants!!!!

Baking Update!!!!

I finally had some time to upload some photos of cakes that I've made recently!
This first one was for some friends who were making a move halfway around the world. I thought this was a nice send off for them:




This mini project was for my nephew's birthday, who specifically asked for carrot cake. So, what do 4 year old boys like other than carrot cake?? THOMAS!! So of course, it had to be a Thomas themed cake. With some help from husband, this is what we came up with: (and yes, everything was edible except for Thomas, Percy, and the candle...and the toothpicks that helped the trees stand up incase a strong wind came through!)

News

old news: I didn't win any of the Chuck give-a-ways that were happeneing...but our Chuck shirts did come in time for us to wear it on the premiere!!

new news: Arty's been getting a work out this past week and a half!! I did some baking for a bake sale benefiting the United Way last week:



I made a red velvet cake with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting, and some maple cupcakes with maple frosting and marzipan leaves.


We were invited to a friend's house for Thanksgiving, and what better gift to bring than...cupcakes! I tried out a new recipe for Devil's Food Cupcakes, and they turned out pretty yummy (as I was told...)

Next up is a clothing exchange and dessert night at church. A bunch of women are bringing in clothes to swap or donate to the local women's shelter, and we are going to eat some desserts and mingle! I was convinced by husband to make some red velvet cupcakes with the white chocolate cream chees icing. I'm sure he only kept suggesting that so that he could have a taste!

That's all the baking that Arty has been up to, but we've also put him to work making pasta!! We made spinach pasta the other night with or mixer and pasta roller attachments. Things turned out well for the fresh batch, but note to self: do not store fresh pasta in refridgerator! Store in the freezer!!!

Lillian vs. the Half

So one of the things that has gotten me through a lot of my training is listening to Chuck vs. the Podcast. It's got 3 hosts that talk about really neat things regarding Chuck. What's even more awesome is that they have actually interviews with the cast, writers, and people involved with the show. I'm a bit behind now, since there newer ones have video to it, and I can't watch the video while I'm running! So I've got some catching up to do, but don't just take my word for it...check it out yourself! This is the most recent episode!!! (Oh, and the creator is Canadian too! Woot!)

New Happenings

I haven't had much time to write in a little bit -- I know, I said that I would try and do this more often...and then good things come along; like work! I am very thankful for some new opportunities that came up, including new tutoring students and a possible steady occasional teaching opportunity!!! So along with training for the half (which is, tomorrow morning...) I've been making time to re-watch season 2 of Chuck! Season 4 starts Monday, Sept. 20th at 8pm on NBC! I'm super excited, and it's going to be my treat for finishing the half!!! :)
And just a little teaser....

End of Summer....

already! I can't believe that it's gone by so fast. July went by very quickly since I was taking an online course, which was very condensed. Normally, it's a full semester course, so there was about 40 hours of course work a week.

School's are already opened, getting ready for the new school year. I'm out on Monday trying to get my name out to all the schools again. Hopefully I will be at some of the same schools as last year.

An exciting week -- old friends came for a short visit. I'm glad they had the chance to meet Simon Peter, who decided to show off and do many more tricks than I've seen before! Pictures to come! :)

Rediscovering...

the blogging world...
I think that blogging has something to do with me being in student mode. I stopped shortly after I finished post-secondary education, and now that I've been taking a course this summer, I have a sudden urge to blog....maybe it's a procrastination tool...maybe it's because when I'm in front of the computer for a long time, I need to start writing.
Since I've been supply teaching, tutoring, and baking, things have been so busy that there would be a string of days where I don't even turn the computer on! Hrm...anyways, we'll see how long this lasts.

Here are some pictures of cakes I've made recently:


This was a 2-tired cake with fondant roses


This was a Windsor Spitfires cake....thought my nephew-in-law would appreciate it

More Animal Sightings

Took a little trip over to Gatineau Park with some friends today, and while we were there, I saw un lapin francais!! We also saw 4 deer on the way home. The deer were so big...we thought they were horses at first!!! And since it is Springtime, the geese are everywhere, with their little gooslings following in tow. It is quite the sight to watch them grow and change their feathers over the Spring. Groundhogs are also out and about....the one that used to live under our deck is back...this time, living under our shed. I saw him the other day....moving quite slowly....probably because it is very fat. We also had our first hummingbird sighting!!! We're trying to plant flowers in the garden that attract hummingbirds, so now we're even more motivated to get the garden planted!!!! :)
I love Spring :)

More Animal Sightings

We saw 15 deer on our way to church yesterday morning!!!
FIFTEEN!!!!!!!!! In one spot!!!! :)
I love it. I love our drives down Eagleson on Sunday mornings :)

quadratic equations, baseballs, footballs, and soccer balls...

For the past few nights, I've been having trouble falling asleep due to all these math scenarios that my students are having problems with. Since its almost exam time, some of the students have been coming to see me more often than before, and we are going over some of the concepts they are having difficulty with. I think that quadratic equations are giving all my students the heebie geebies, since they get all nervous about them. I'm trying really hard to get them to visualize the ball that is being thrown/kicked, because that right there follows the path of a parabola. They seem to just want to know how to do the question though... (Just tell me how to do this question!!!) and I'm saying to them...visualize it! If your looking for the time when the ball hits the ground, thing about what the height will be at that point!
Anyways...everynight for the past week now I've been rethinking of our tutoring sessions and wondering if I was able to help them...wondering if I could come up with a better analogy or strategy that will help them through it.
I think that I'm more worried about them and their exams than they are.......

Animal Sightings

I saw 6 deer yesterday :) It made my day :)

Chestnuts Roasting...

in a toaster oven....
I remember when my mom used to make these, and they were just so delicious.
So the other day while we were grocery shopping at Farm Boy after church, I saw a big barrel of chestnuts and decided that I could roast (toast) them and make them for Danny.



This is how it all turned out:

























And this is our little toaster oven that did all the hard work :)

Finally!!! Ready for Winter!

Today, I was finally able to get some winter tires on Wesley. My brother found the rims for me in Toronto, so we picked them up last weekend. All this week, I've been in and out of Canadian Tire trying to get some snow tires on. The first time I went in, I was just looking, getting some prices and sizes down so that we could decide on which tires to get. The second time I went in, the wait was 5 hrs long, and I had to work that afternoon/evening, so I did not want to risk being late. Then, the next day, I called and I was on hold for 36 minutes before the cashier answered the phone to say that they would have to take down my name and number and call me back because the line up was going out the door. I then proceeded to ask her how long the wait was to get winter tires put on, and she said "like I said, the line is going out the door. It will be at least an 8 hr wait". Well then...good thing I didn't go in, since I had to work again that afternoon/evening.
So the plan for this morning was that I would get there right at 7am so that I could get my name in, and when I got there at 7, I saw a huge line going way out in the parking lot. I was thinking to myself...for real?? THAT many people need winter tires??? Luckily, that line was for all the door crasher deals they had going on today. The line in the automotive department was only 6 people long. So, at around 10:30am, I was on my way, with brand spankin' new winter tires :) So, overall, not too bad. I was told that the wait was going to be 3 hours (and they don't start working in the shop until 8am, so that's not bad). The funny thing was when they drove my car in, I was watching them do their thing, and the guy started taking the tires off of my regular rims. I already told them that I had other ones for the winter tires in the trunk...but maybe he didn't see that, or they didn't make a note of it. Anyways, I proceeded to the front counter to notify them of the issue, and there were about 8 people who were looking at me strangely (they probably thought that I was trying to cut in line or something....). Luckily, the guy from the shop came out, and I went to him and asked if he was working on my car. He said that the rims are only 14 inch, but the tires are supposed to be 15 inch. So I told him that the 15 inch rims were in the trunk. So, I got new valve stems for my regular tires now :) YAY!

Now I'm off to make some pulled pork and an apple torte for my lovely guests tonight.

Pulled Pork

While selecting items for our registry, Danny really wanted a slow cooker. I was a little bit hesitant because I've never used one before, but I also wanted to include his items on it as well (after all, it was our wedding registry).
He ended finding this great recipe from the metro, and it turned out so delicious! This is going into our meal rotation for sure! Here is our version, based on the one provided the metro.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pork loin (they suggested a 2 lb boneless pork shoulder roast with excess fat removed)
• 2 tbs prepared mustard
• 1/2 of an onion thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup maple barbecue sauce
• 4 buns

Dry Rub:

• 1 tbs each granulated sugar and paprika
• 1-1/2 tsp each brown sugar, ground cumin, and black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Spread mustard over pork
2. Make the dry rub by combining all the ingredients in a bowl, and then pat evenly over the pork
3. Put the pork loin in the slow cooker, top with onions, and cover with barbecue sauce
4. Cook, covered, on low for 7.5 hours or until very tender
5. Transfer the pork to a cutting board to cool slightly, and shred using two forks
6. Cool, then cover and put in refrigerator
7. Put the cooking liquid in a tall bowl and refrigerate so that the fat will solidify and float to the top
8. Remove the fat and transfer the liquid to a saucepan
9. Bring liquid to a boil and cook to thicken it
10. Add the meat to the sauce and stir until well blended
11. Serve on buns

Yummy!!!!!

Oh Martha...

Since I've taken on the role of head chef/baker in this household, I've been tuning into Martha Stewart every morning (well, almost every morning). Luckily, she has all the stuff on her website, so if I do miss an episode, I can always see what interesting things she did on that day. A few weeks ago, Emeril was on the show, and he made a duck and pumpkin risotto. I was inspired to make my own version of chicken risotto, and it turned out really nicely! Then, on today's show, they made pierogies. Now I want to go and make pierogies. Maybe I can add all those ingredients on the list so that I can pick them up when I go to pick up some fresh fish tomorrow...!!! We will see! Unfortunately, my camera is not with me, and I have let a many meals go without documenting them properly. Hopefully when I get it back, I'll be much better at presentation, and I'll be able to post up some pics!

GO VOTE!

Today is voting day - time to exercise my right as a Canadian citizen, and perform my duties!
So because of the move, I am not voting in a different riding than what I've been used to. Looking back at the past results, this is a Conservative dominated riding, but seeing what has (or has not) been done by Mr. Gordon O'Connor, I don't know if they will dominate again. Apparently, he won with 56% of the votes back in 2006. Well, here I go! Good thing they have so many polling stations. The one I'm going to is only a nice kilometer walk away. I'll probably be walking briskly, since it's so darn windy outside right now!!!!

No More White Rabbit Candy :(

So now there is yet another unsafe item to talk about. I am embarrassed for China for being so careless when it comes to the safety of their people. If you think about it, they are only hurting their own future, since a lot of these tainted food items are geared towards babies and kids. I just don't get it. They want to be the best in everything, yet they are hurting their own chances of growing by hurting the future generations. Also, all this bribery and such is not helping them one bit. Whoever is gaining from this is very greedy and selfish, and I hope that they will soon see the effects of their actions.

I L-O-V-E M-Y

C-H-I-P-M-U-N-K-S!!!
At first, there was only an Alvin.
Then came along a fat one I named Simon.
Today, there is officially a Theodore.
But maybe one of them is a Simone.....

So I did manage to check off almost every item on my short term to do list (still don't have that teaching contract yet..!!!), but I haven't had the time to update until now.
There was a training session at Oxford tonight, so I stayed and learned a lot about their program, the city, my colleagues, and how to deal with different situations. Not only was this informative, we also got these reusable cloth bags!! (Well, one bag.) Anyways, I've been thinking about getting some of these to use, since they are little more versatile than the bins, but I just have not decided which store I should buy them from. But now, I am content with my one Oxford branded bag. The other item that I was very excited to get tonight was an agenda! This was another item I was looking into buying, since I think I left mine behind in the midst of moving....but now, I don't have to go and buy one! I started using it tonight already! lol

short term to-do list

- get a teaching contract with the OCDSB
- join the team at Oxford Learning
- not die during the 5km Army Run happening in 12 days (I know 5km is not a lot, but I haven't been very disciplined in training - ie - I just ran 3km today, and I was tired by the end of it....)
- finish designing thank you cards
-learn a new song on the piano (which has indeed arrived today!!!!!)
- unpack and organize all my belongings