God's Gifts for June 24, 2009

• Breakfast with mom and dad
• Good chats in the car with Chante
• Grilled chicken at KFC
• Spending the day with Carrie and Chante
• Finding a pattern for scrubs for Chante
• Finding the games Rush Hour and Square by Square
• Books and a DVD are ready at the library
• Incentive charts for 75 cents

Taking particular note of God's daily gifts

In church on Sunday we were challenged to take particular note that God is right alongside of us by noticing his daily gifts to us (no matter how small). We need to see God's footprints and know that He is all around us. We then had to think of one gift that God had given us within the last 24 hours no matter how small. While doing this it reminded me of several friends who are keeping track of grace in the small things moments. I like the idea of paying special attention to the daily gifts of God no matter how small. So, here are gifts from God that were noticed for yesterday and today!

• My home church visit was encouraging! I missed hearing the sermon solely in English and was quite surprised at how quickly my pastor spoke. People were excited to speak with me and that blessed my heart!
• Precious time spent in laughter and stories with family. Reminding my father that he is loved!
• Carrie's dad maybe didn't have another heart attack and will have more tests to help figure out what is going on.
• Grandpa Wiggins is getting the treatment he needs for pneumonia.
• A comfy bed to sleep on at my brother's house.
• Some funny dogs to play with and make me laugh out loud.
• A relaxing evening spent with my sister in law!
• Helping my dad fix problems with a car.
• Chats with my mom
• Macaroni and cheese with peas
• A cat to pet

Hello Friends!

Carrie and I are safely in Colorado! We are excited to see all of you at our coffee/dessert evenings where we will tell you about our ministry in Vienna! Look at your inbox soon for an official invitation. We are so thankful for each and everyone of you and hope to visit with you before we head back to Vienna on August 10th!

49 Kilometers

So, I've been wanting to ride my bike down the Donauinsel.  It looks beautiful and my curiosity of what it looks like and how long it really is finally got the best of me.  So, today, Carrie, Cindi and I went down the entire Donauinsel on our bikes.  It was fun and hard.  By the time I arrived back home on my bike I had ridden 49 Kilometers (30 miles)!  It is amazing.  I didn't think that something like that was ever possible for me!  Here is a picture of the odometer on my bike to prove the correct mileage!!!

A Sunday of Churches...

I've been wanting to hear the Vienna Boy's Choir sing.  I read about it in a book and researched it and then headed out.  It was amazing.  You couldn't see them at all but you could certainly hear them!  After listening to them I went to my own church.  So it seems as though it was a day of churches.  Here are some pictures and a video of my Sunday visits.                                                                 My home church here in Vienna

 (the second picture is the German symbol for the YMCA which our church meets in.)

Vienna Boy's Choir

A Bloggable moment

So, my friend, Melissa M., is a very good blog account updater.  Every once in a while I see her taking pictures and I just understand that you never know when something could be a "bloggable moment." Today I actually had a bloggable moment and when it happened I thought of Melissa.  Unfortunately she was not there to witness this amazing moment so I will recount it here for her and all of you.  

My birthday is tomorrow (Monday).  My friend Cindi's birthday was Saturday.  So, since we both know the same people here we decided to celebrate our birthdays together.  We had a get together at her house on Saturday.  One of the people who attended the birthday party also attends our church.  He decided to stand up during announcement time and share with the entire congregation that we celebrated our birthdays yesterday and proceeded to say that Cindi and I should stand up so everyone can sing to us.  I seriously wanted to disappear.  I thought about not standing up but then I realized, quite quickly mind you, that I would be pulled to my feet if I decided to revolt.  So I stood up and was serenaded by some beautiful voices from many different countries all singing to me and Cindi to honor us for our birthdays.  It was interesting, fun, and quite embarrassing.  I can honestly say that I have never had the entire congregation sing happy birthday to me before.  I figured that this counts as a bloggable moment.  Sorry I don't have any pictures to share it was quite a quick, impromptu moment!  Blessings!

A Football Expert??!!

So, this is my week for recess duty. I like recess duty because the kids crack me up and I love playing with them. Today a group of 5th graders brought out an American football to play with at recess. I was amazed by this because I haven't seen an actual American football in a long time. I was also curious by this simply because I wanted to see if the kids knew what to do with it. Well, they got the general concept. Throw the ball, try to catch the ball, and then try to kick the ball. I did notice that they needed a little guidance with technique so I went up to help them. I taught them how to hold the ball correctly to throw it, and then how to catch it without getting seriously hurt, and finally how to hold the ball so someone else can kick it. While I was walking away to check on another group of kids one of the 5th grade football players said, "Wow, Miss Brunker, you're like a football expert!" I literally laughed out loud when I heard this but I guess it is good that I have 5 brothers who taught me football. Thank you brothers!!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Hey All! I just wanted to let you all know that we have our plane tickets and will be flying into Colorado (DIA) on June 15. Our return flight to Vienna is August 10. We are excited to see you all and tell you about our ministry here at VCS. If you would like to get together with us please send us an e-mail and let us know!!! Thank you for all of your support and prayers. We appreciate you more than you know!

The Tuesday Times...

Sometimes I love to just sit back and listen to my students chat while they are doing their seat work.  As long as they are seriously working I don't mind if they chat quietly.  By doing this I also get a good insight into how they are doing socially not to mention I hear some pretty funny comments!  Here are a few:

• "Miss Brunker, guess what?!!  There are twelve students in this class.  That is the same as the 12 disciples.  So we are the 12 disciples and you are Jesus!"
• "My parents laugh a lot.  (a bit of a pause here) I think they are getting to old."  This was stated very matter-of-factly!
• "Frau Deisenberger, you are lying to us.  You are not a mother so that means that you are lying to us.  Okay, maybe you are just joking."  Apparently mothers do not lie!
• "Chocolate eggs, yuck!"  "Don't you like chocolate?" "Yes, I love chocolate.  I don't like eggs mixed with chocolate."  "Oh, well, a chocolate egg is just chocolate shaped like an egg not eggs and chocolate mixed together."  "Oh, then I think I would like a chocolate egg because it sounds like a chocolate bunny."  I'm not quite sure how she understood what a chocolate bunny was but not a chocolate egg!!

You smell like a swimming pool...

So today was a Monday in every sense of the word!  Without a doubt we had our funny moments though.  Here are three such instances...

• As one of my students was walking out of the room to get his lunch he says, "Miss Brunker, you smell like a swimming pool!"  I said, "Huh, um, what?"  So he repeated it!  I then asked him if that is a good thing or a bad thing.  He said he didn't know but all of the other kids who heard him instinctively sniffed me as they left the classroom!
• Today was a very windy day.  One of my kiddos said, "Miss Brunker, do you think that the wind could blow us away like the nannies were blown away in Marry Poppins?"  I said, " I don't think so."  Then the wind decided to just about  prove me wrong!!!
• We were learning about pictographs in math today and one of my students, when asked about how many people lived in Alabama (according to the pictograph) said, "I have no idea but why are they all purple there?"  The little pictures on the graph were all purple people and that is what this student got stuck on!  It was cute but interesting to think that he thought all of the people in Alabama are purple because of the graph!  

Tulips to remind me I am loved

These are beautiful purple tulips that a friend (Leslie) brought me to remind me that I am loved and to simply brighten my day!  I love tulips and purple is one of my favorite colors! So this is perfect and also reminds me that spring is certainly on its way!  I am thankful for God's small blessings and reminders. 

Book Character Costume Day

So, this month is Book month at our school. This is fantastic! I love all of the activities that we are doing. Each class in grades Primary - 3rd grade are having a reading race to see which class can read the most number of minutes during the month of March. 1st grade is currently in the lead but 3rd grade vows to overtake them! We'll see what actually happens!

Yesterday was Book Character Costume Day. This is where each child in grades Primary - 5th grade had to choose a character from a book and dress like that character. These kids were so creative! It was amazing. The teachers even participated. I was The Cat in the Hat and Carrie was Miss Viola Swamp from Miss Nelson is Missing! We had so much fun!

Jack and Annie from the Magic Treehouse books!

The Cat in the Hat!

The bat from Stellaluna.

Two Pippi Longstockings

The cast of Charlotte's Web: Charlotte, Fern, and Wilber!

Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, Please shine down on me!

The sun came out today.  We were ALL excited.  It was a glorious day for the sun to grace us with its presence.  I hope this means that spring is well on its way!  I am ready for it.  =)

I am finished!!

For those of you who do not know, I (Amanda) have been taking an intensive class for the renewal process on my Colorado teaching license. This is the first of two classes I have to take. Well, I am happy to report that I have finished the course with flying colors!! I received a 98% to be exact!! I am so proud of myself. The final paper was a killer. It ended up being 28 pages and I received 49 points out of 50!! Wow! Thanks to the "Diagnosis and Remediation of Reading Difficulties" class, I am now a better reading teacher, well, we hope!! That is the ultimate goal, isn't it??!!

In Bosnia with Operation Christmas Child

Over Energy Break I was selected to be a sponsor for the VCS mission trip to Bosnia.  I was quite surprised that I was chosen as I teach elementary school and all of the students going were high schoolers.  Well, I prayed and packed my bags.  While we were in Bosnia we handed out over 2,200 Operation Christmas Child boxes.  It was amazing!  I have now been involved in all areas of this program and I can say that it has definitely blessed me! 

Here are some things I've learned while on the trip to Bosnia:

• High School students are not scary!!  I truly enjoyed myself while ministering with this group of High School students.  They blew me away with their deep desire to allow God to work within their lives.  Their continual faith amazed me from praying for a simple thing like a fire to start to praying for the OM Bosnia team to encourage them.  It was amazing to me that these kids gave up their break to minister to the hurting.  They are quite talented and have a heart to impact the world and see God move!
  
• Due to the war the Bosnians are hurting emotionally and physically.  We were able to light a match for Jesus in this area.  We were giving hope and trust back to these people. Hopefully this fire will grow and many lives will be changed as a result.
  
•  It was amazing to hear and see the shrieks of joy from children who received the packages.  We were definitely able to give them joy for the moment.  Every child in Krupa, Bosnia received a package.  That is amazing!  Lives were touched.  The joy and sparkle returned to many of these children's eyes.  The laughter that bubbled from their hearts helped us all to realize that we were truly impacting lives!  Some kids were so excited to receive their package they unloaded all of the boxes from the truck themselves! 
  

I am so proud of these students!

So, every year I bite off more than I can chew when it comes to having my kiddos memorize Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12).  Every year we barely make it but we eventually make it!  This year we seemed to slide into it.  It was great!  My kids did so well and they learned it so fast.  I joke with them and tell them that they have incredibly large brains.  We put the motions to the verse on Monday and presented it on Thursday!  They are amazing.  Enjoy the video and know I am smiling with happiness for my Kinder!

A cute kid with a big brain....

This is one of the two students I tutor.  He showed up to tutoring the other day with this cute hat.  I just had to take a picture.  He is a great kid!  He always makes me smile and he always tries his hardest for me.

The things I overhear!

So, today when I was picking up my kiddos from music one of them was telling another student, "This room smells good. It smells like music." When this was said the entire class sniffed to try and figure out what a music smelling room smells like!! I thought this was hilarious so I had to tell you about it! Cute!

While my students were writing their pen pal letters I overheard this conversation:
My new student: "I am from Hungary."
The student who sits next to him: "I know"
My new student: "My mom is Hungarian."
The student who sits next to him: "I don't think my mom is hungry. She probably ate lunch."
This conversation still makes me giggle! I hope it made you smile!

Mustard making . . .

So, to keep my mind busy while waiting for my mom's surgery to finish, Carrie, Cindi and I made mustard last night.  I've never realized how easy it is or how fun it could be!  It worked to keep my mind busy and I laughed a lot while we were doing it.  It was fun knocking on our friend's doors at 11:00 at night just to ask them if they had glass jars we could have!  They were surprised we were knocking on their door asking for a jar!  Most of them were awake (not all mind you!) but they will enjoy it when we distribute our gifts of mustard (Dad's mustard!)

Stirring it!

Sterilizing the jars

The final product!

The Kinder learned to cross the street today. . .

Apparently children (Kinder) in 1st and 3rd grade need to be taught (or maybe reminded) how to cross the street.  So, the police officer came in today to show us how!  It was amazingly fun and he did really well with the kiddos.  My Kinder made me laugh at their questions and answers to his questions but he took it all in stride (with a smile mind you!).  I was quite surprised that he was so good with the kids and he smiled quite frequently.   How could you not smile with my Kinder around you.  They crack everyone up!

The kids were amazed that the cars actually stopped for them.  He said that they had to because if they did not he gets pretty angry at them!  My kids said, "Ohh!" and I laughed!