You're a Graduate...Get a Job!

Ray graduated from Stetson this past Saturday, December 16th. One of the lines that the graduation speaker said was, "You're a graduate now...go get a job." Well, speaking of jobs...Ray was hired on Friday (the day before graduation) at Ormond Beach Middle School. Ray starts January 8th as an 8th grade math teacher.

Graduation

Us after graduation

Ray's family

This is the little guy that was in Ray's graduation cake. One of the youth in our church decided to make it the "real Ray," beard and all...

Do you know what's behind YOUR walls?

We recently made, lets say, mind blowing discovery. While cleaning his feet in the shower last week, Ray slipped and his foot went right through the wall in our shower. He knocked out 12 shower tiles with his foot. We later discovered, first by smell...and second by knocking out the whole wall...that behind the tiles, our insulation and drywall had been overcome by mold.




Two good things are coming out of this....no more mold smell AND I get a new shower!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Paul & Sara on their recent engagement!

Kids Spin Their Wheels for Science

Last Thursday, Nov. 16th, the 5th graders at my school had the oppurtunity to partcipate in the annual Soapbox Derby. The fifth grade teachers, with the help of the school, parents, and the PTO, give the fifth grade students the oppurtunity to learn about simple machines, forces of motion, and other aspects of science through building and racing their own cars.

The Daytona News Journal came out to watch the even and write about it. Click here to see the article. If, for some reason, the link will not open, following is the article.

Kids Spin Their Wheels for Science

By NICOLE SERVICE Staff Writer

DELTONA -- The crowd roared as the little yellow taxi cab made its way down a ramp.

"Brooke, Brooke," they shouted as the car coasted for more than 100 yards.

The car's driver, Brooke Wallis, 11, and her partner, Amirah Hill, 10, grinned for each and every one of those yards.

"I think we are in third place," Amirah said to Brooke, her friend since second grade. "We did good."

They were among about 40 Sunrise Elementary School pupils racing in 20 homemade cars in the school's annual Sunrise Derby.

Each year fifth-graders are given the challenge to build a car they can sit in and steer, then compete to see whose car can coast the farthest down a ramp or to see who can push and steer the fastest.

And they get to do it all in front of about 100 cheering, and in some cases, laughing parents, classmates and teachers.

"The derby helps students study force and motion and the concept behind simple machines," said fifth-grade teacher Laura Bernstein. "It's truly a good way to learn science."
The movie "Taxi" inspired Brooke and Amirah's little yellow cab, complete with taxi sign and numbers.

"I thought why couldn't we do that," Brooke said. "It would be something different."
She said it took her and Amirah, with some help from Brooke's father, two weeks to build the car.

Jordan Lewis and his partner, Marcus Polite, both 11, added a more personal touch to their camouflage car. Painted on the back was a black cross with the words -- In memory of Tony.

"Who is Tony?" the crowd kept shouting.

At first Marcus would just shrug and walk away, not answering his classmates' question, but eventually he explained that Tony was his father who recently passed away.

"I thought it would be a nice way to honor him," he said.

The two weren't too happy with their car's performance, though.

"I thought it would be faster," Marcus said. "But it's not about winning. It's about learning, competing and being a good sport."

"Yeah," Jordan added. "This was the most fun I had in school all year."

Regena Koning and her 10-year-old daughter Cheyenne were new to the whole soapbox derby event.

They were pretty happy with the performance of Cheyenne's powder-blue car, but admit they were amateurs.

"They had parents here who just reused old cars," Regena Koning joked. "They had kids in this before so they learned from the year before what they did wrong and how to tweak the cars to go faster. They were some pros."

It's the second year for Brooke's mom, Suzan Wallis.

Last year, she was there to cheer on her son. This year she stood by the finish line, cheering on her daughter and Amirah, with camera in hand.

Bernstein said parents and students have come to value the event.

She said one year, they actually thought about not doing the derby.

"You would have thought we canceled their sweet sixteen," Bernstein joked. "They were so upset. This is now part of the school's tradition."

Lifetime...

It has been a while since I have posted. Unfortunatly, my only excuse is that life is busy. We truly have had a lot going on and I always tell myself to slow down and take time for other things, but it is often hard for me to do that. Those that really know me, know that I never slow down. Life is always busy and my plate is always full. And even when I think I have no more room for anything...I seem to find the time to add one more thing to my plate. I guess that's why I was born with the last name Wonder.

Well, things are getting busy. I am almost through my second nine weeks of teaching, which means I am almost 1/2 way through my first year. Ray is getting ready to graduate in December. He is already beginning to look for a job. He loves the school that he is at, so we are praying for great favor there for a position to open for him. On top of that...believe it or not...we are both going back to school in May. I have applied for the graduate program at Stetson University. I will know in a few weeks if I have been accepted. My plan is to get my Master's in Reading Education. Ray is going back to school for a second Bachelor's. This one is going to be in Civil Engineering, from Embry Riddle University. He has found a new love, aside from teaching and that is the engineering field. So why not?! We will both be lifetime students.

11 Hour Days

Well, after almost two months...I am back to post!

Two months.
Maryland for April and John's wedding.
Pre-planning for my first week/year of teaching.
Ray's grandfather passed away - Ray off to Maryland again.
1st week of school - a success.
2nd week of school - another success.
Eric Mobley graduated from boot camp with the Marine's -Paris Island, SC.
3rd week of school - again...success.
Ray's first week of his Senior Internship.
4th week of school - YIPPEE!
My poor husband....sickee!

School has gone great. I am teaching at Sunrise Elementary in Deltona, FL. I have 23 students. 16 boys, 7 girls. My poor, poor girls. That many boys makes for a very active classroom. It's up and down, here and there, and up and down some more. I have been pulling 11 hour days:
5am -Wake up
5:45am - Leave the house
6:30am - Arrive at school
7:53am - First bell for the beginning of the day
7:53am - 2:05pm - Six hours with my kiddos
2:05pm-4pm or 5pm or 6pm - Clean up after students, prepare for the next day, paper work (oh yes, teaching is NOT all coloring and gluing...there's lots of paperwork)
4pm or 5pm or 6pm - Head home

Ray is such a blessing....he cleans, cooks, and maintains the house when I am so exhausted. He has long days too right now. He started his Senior Internship at Hinson Middle School. He's teaching 7th grade Algebra. He loves it. The teacher he is interning with has been teacher of the year a few times and has many great accolades. Ray is learning a lot.

Ray was sick this past week with what we think was the flu. He's all better now and I keep thanking God that I am healthy. For me to get sick and be out of the classroom is more work than being there.

We both love the teaching. I love my kids, I love the school that I am working at. God really opened the door for me to be in a great, encouraging, uplifting work environment where the teachers are really there for the kids.

The kids at our school have big hearts and they want to learn. There are many of them that have sad stories and rough backgrounds. I have students who refuse to do any work becuase they feel it's a waste and it's not going to get them anywhere. I have one student who knows no English.

My days are very interesting and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

Off,Off & Away

We are off to Maryland tonight. We are driving through the night and will arrive in the DC area tomorrow afternoon sometime. It's finally here...time for Miss April Berry to marry Mr. John Tomassoni. The BIG day is on Friday. Just having our wedding, I know how crazy the week before the wedding is. So, we are going up early to help out and spend time with the bride and groom in all of the pre-wedding festivities. Ray also has family in Annapolis, so we are going to spend a few days with them. It'll be a busy, busy week. We will be home on the 22nd.

Life picks up from here. As soon as we get back I begin my week-long teacher induction program, followed by a week of pre-planning, followed by my FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL...as a teacher anyhow. I think I am going to be more nervous than my students. There's a whirlwind of emotions that are surfacing with the start of my teaching career. I will write more at a later date. Ray also starts is Internship (last semester!!) in a 7th grade Math class.

Well...it's off to church, and then to Maryland. Have a wonderful week. Stay tuned for more wedding pictures coming SOON!

Owe Me Nothing...

"Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, "You owe Me." Look what happens with a love like that, It lights the whole sky." ~Unknown

Reception Pictures

Here are some of our Reception pictures. There will be more to come.

There are wedding ceremony pictures posted as well. If you click on July 2006 (under Archives on the left side of the page) you will find them.

Father-daughter dance...Isn't my dad handsome!? 

Mother-Son dance... 

and he danced with his grandmother. 

My Great Grandmother danced with Ray during our dollar dance. 

Sweet Heart table. 

My Maid of Honor & Ray's Best Man...giving our toast. 

My mom & my Aunt Merrie...Bet you couldn't guess they are sisters?! 

My great grandmother. She'll be 105 years old in November. She's an amazing woman! 

$$$$ - Counting the money from our dollar dance. I made more than Ray! 

Christie caught the flowers... 

He got it! 

Dancing the night away (I think we were both pretty tired at this point). 

My girlfriends from the ATL days...Celeste, Me, Erica, & Melissa. 

The Cha-Cha Slide... 

Ray decided to join us, but he had no idea what he was doing. 

How low can you go?! (Ray basically just squated...) 

Out beautiful cake... 

Time to cut the cake. 

We promised we'd be nice...Sorry, many were disappointed. 

We threw roses petals. I never realized that people could really pelt you with rose petals, some of them hurt.