So Proud

Just a quick little post while my kids are at recess. Right before recess we had the opportunity to go out and welcome home some soldiers that have been gone fighting in Iraq for the last 8 months. There were about 12 men that are residents of Eagle Mountain that have been away from their families for this time. One of those dads is the father of my sweet Reuben in my class. He has been so excited all week for dad to come home, and thats all he talks about and writes about in class. When I was standing out on the playground with my class waving to the cars driving past, I felt so proud, I actually got choked up in front of my kids. I just was thinking about Reuben and his family, along with thousands of other families across the country.  To me Reuben is just as brave as his father. I know there have been times that have been really hard for him to have dad gone, but he never complains.   Thank you sweet Reuben for teaching me!!
When we got back into class, I had my kids just write for a total of 10 minutes about it. I didn't really direct them, I just said they could make of list of describing words, they could write a letter, they could tell a story, or draw a picture. The only rule was they had to be quiet so that they could think about it, and they had to be working. I am not kidding but you could hear a pin drop in here. It was really cool, and the kids loved it.