Brubaker on the Mind

I laughed at myself yesterday when reviewing something I had typed up quickly for the classroom.
Instead of typing February, I had absentmindedly written
F-e-b-r-u-b-a-k-e-r.
Apparently, my mind automatically fills in the rest of the letters for my last name when I see b-r-u on the screen.

I never saw that coming.

Today is Monday

...which means I only have four days left of my precious kindergarteners.

Man, I'm going to miss them.

Who wouldn't?!?

Today was our first day back from Easter Break.  Every single one of them hugged me and told me how much they missed me last week.  I love that!  They are so sweet, so unafraid to share their feelings. 

So stinkin' cute.

Today I received a form from the vision screening company that came to check out the kids' eyes two weeks ago.  It was addressed to Mrs. Bluebaker.  Turns out, they didn't know what my name was, so they asked one of the kids!!!  It was funny to see that in print :)

A classroom full of toothless grins, shoes full of sand, pockets carrying "pet" bugs, children small enough to fit inside the backpacks they carry into the room, hands anxious to write, laces knotted from trying to learn to be tied, bodies that love dancing, hands that love clapping, hearts that love singing.

It's a joyous place.  I love it.

The kindergarten children are confident in spirit, infinite in resources,

and eager to learn. Everything is still possible.

~Robert Fulghum

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief fro
m serious learning.

But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.

~Fred Rogers

Most of what I really need to know about how to live,

what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten.

Wisdom did not lie at the top of the graduate school mountain,

but there in a kindergarten classroom.

~Robert Fulghum

Chicken Marsala

This is a Jesse and Bethany Brubaker family favorite :)  We had it last night, and I realized the recipe wasn't up here!  Let me know if you try it...it's yummy!

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 stick of butter
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup marsala wine
1 cup sliced mushrooms

In a large skillet, melt butter.
while butter is melting, combine flour, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Cut chicken into long strips.
Dip each piece of chicken in milk first, then dredge in flour and add to skillet.
Sauté chicken in butter over medium heat until browned.  Add more butter as needed (no one said this recipe is healthy!)
Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm on a plate..
Add mushrooms to skillet and sauté until cooked.
Add marsala, stirring to get brown bits off sides of pan.
Stir frequently until sauce has thickened.
Return chicken to pan, mix, and serve atop linguine.

Priscilla's Prediction

This happened about a month ago, but I was never able to put the picture up, so I didn't both writing about it.  Now that I have a new computer, I can!  Please don't get sick of my posts as I play catch up :)
(I found the camera cord, by the way, in case you didn't figure that out!  Jesse's car is an excellent black hole for all of your lost item needs...)


On the way to a field trip to see the play "Miss Nelson is Missing," I sat next to little Priscilla, one of my kindergarteners.

"Mrs. Brubaker, do you have kids?"
"Nope."
"Well, do you want kids?" She persisted.
When I answered "someday," she asked to see my hand.
She looked at it carefully for a few minutes, tracing the lines and studying every curve.

"Two girls...and a boy," She said matter of factly.
"Two girls and a boy?" I repeated.
"Yup, that's what I think you're gonna have."
I looked at her surprised.  She looked back at me with a question:
"Can you tell me if I'm right?"

Chicken Marsala

This is a Jesse and Bethany Brubaker family favorite :)  We had it last night, and I realized the recipe wasn't up here!  Let me know if you try it...it's yummy!

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 stick of butter
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup marsala wine
1 cup sliced mushrooms

In a large skillet, melt butter.
while butter is melting, combine flour, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Cut chicken into long strips.
Dip each piece of chicken in milk first, then dredge in flour and add to skillet.
Sauté chicken in butter over medium heat until browned.  Add more butter as needed (no one said this recipe is healthy!)
Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm on a plate..
Add mushrooms to skillet and sauté until cooked.
Add marsala, stirring to get brown bits off sides of pan.
Stir frequently until sauce has thickened.
Return chicken to pan, mix, and serve atop linguine.

Kindergarten Testimonies

Last week, I had the kindergarteners decorate paper crosses with colored tissue paper to put up on the bulletin board right outside the classroom door.  After they decorated their crosses, I had them each write "This cross reminds me..." and fill in the blank.  Here is what they wrote!

"This cross remind me JESUS did for me."

--Kevin

(remember that Kindergarteners spell phonetically, and you have to be pretty creative to sound things out as they would!)

"This cross reminds me Jesus died on the cross."

--Vincent

"This cross reminds me JESUS dit on the cross."

--Jeffrey

"This cross reminds me wen Jesus died, he ros ugen."

--Charlie

"This Cross reminds me Jesus diot and I can go to Heven."

--Jacob

"This cross reminds me Jesus did on the CROSS."

--Lucas

"This cross reminds me Jesus saved me."

--Reine

"This cross reminds me uv Jesus on thi cross."

--Priscilla

"This cross reminds me ov win Jesus did for R sins."

--Lauren

 Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

Matthew 11:25

Doing a Happy Dance

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!
I will definitely be blogging about ours later, but I had to share my exciting news!  I received a wonderful and very unexpected gift on Easter--a new laptop!

My poor old laptop was four years old and was at the point where it would overheat and crash every few minutes.  It was so frustrating that I basically gave up on using it, so blogging had to wait until Jesse was home from work with his computer (when I wanted to be spending time with him instead of the computer!).  Needless to say, it's taken a dive.

Jesse and I participated in a Murder Mystery Dinner at church last weekend where we both acted parts to make a play for the congregation.  Mom made me a beautiful gown for the event, and Ami (my dad's mom) has been asking my mom when I would be sending them pictures from the night.  Mom had to explain to Ami that my computer was too old and was really making me unable to put pictures on it these days. 

I'm not exactly sure what all transpired after that, but yesterday when I went to visit Ami, she gave me a box with a beautiful brand new HP Pavilion!

I was so surprised by such an incredible gift that I didn't know what to say.  My sweet oldfashioned Ami (the one who doesn't know how to check her voicemail or turn on the computer Papa used) smiled brightly and said she knew how important a good computer is.  Especially if--Lord willing--I have a teaching job in the fall.  Bless her!

I'm so thankful.  It's silly how much people depend on computers these days, but it's true that it's really difficult to get by without one.  The computer is so beautiful--and so high tech compared to what I was using!

I'll be gone pretty much all of this week (Easter break!), and of course, the one day I am here, I don't have the camera cord to upload pictures from all of our recent doings! 

I'm looking forward to playing catch-up, though :)