Video!

Here is my first attempt at embedding a YouTube video. Hopefully it won't take two hours every time!



This is a short clip of Olivia and Sylvia in the midst of dress-up time. They love it so much and they always look so cute! What a pair!

High Water and High Honors

What a crazy week it has been. Severe weather has taken its toll on our area. One of the worst tornadoes in Iowa history devastated Parkersburg, another tornado struck Attica, and heavy rains have caused record flooding here in Ames (yes, worse than 1993!) and surrounding areas. You can read the complete stories, see pictures, and watch videos of the aftermath here or here. Our prayers are with those whom have been affected by these disasters. May the Lord be with all of them as they work to recover.

Friday was my last day of school and the floods tried to keep me away! There was a patch of Hwy 65 south of Collins that had a small river flowing over it. The trooper there was turning traffic away. If you are not familiar with this particular area of Iowa there are not many paved roads that take you south so I was limited to some very soggy gravel roads. All was well however and I made it to school just fine.

We had a blast with our talent show and 4th quarter award presentations. We dismissed at 11:00 and there were a lot of sad kids (and teachers too). That evening we had our 8th grade promotion ceremony. Students are recognized for their involvement in activities and their accomplishments. I always enjoy this night because it's nice to see the kids all dressed up and have their special time.

It was also a special night because I was honored with the Teacher of the Year Award. I have been blessed to be a part of so many of these kids' lives. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to help these kids. The ceremony was followed with MANY hugs from students (both current and former) and many handshakes and congratulations from parents who thanked me for everything I've done for their kids. What a special feeling. I still can't believe that I call this a "job." It's really a pleasure. I pray for the success of our 8th graders as they turn the page and move on to high school. As a special incentive (and a biased one at that) I have a standing offer with any of my students that if they end up attending ISU after high school, I will take them out for pizza their first day of school! I hope they take me up on it.

Teacher of the Year

Last night was Matt's big night. He was the proud recipient of the coveted Teacher of the Year Award!! He and his teacher buddies refer to it as TOTY, [tod-ee]. It was overwhelming to hear a whole class of 8th graders hoot and holler, woo-woo, cheer, and applaud as Mr.Ruden received his placard. I know he was holding back tears as his principal commended his efforts and success in the middle school. My tears couldn't be stopped as I joined in the crowd's enthusiastic accolade. Way to go sweetie! Matt truly does make a difference and I couldn't be more proud to call him mine.

Well, it's Wednesday.

1st picture is Sylvia today, 2nd one is Olivia at about the same age-roughly a year and half ago. How time flies! I was struck, as I snapped the pic, by how similar she looked to her big sister. They are our precious babies and I get choked up reminiscing about the joy they've brought us.

We've recovered from a whirlwind trip half way across Iowa, into Minnesota, then back home again. The girls fared pretty well in the car-movies during motor vehicle travel is a wonderful invention!! Also, living far away from our family is a blessing in that the long road trips give Matt and I a chance to "catch up".

While visiting Grandma Lola, we had a successful garage sale and got in some chill time with Laura, Brandon, and their boys. Olivia loved hanging with the "big boys" and playing "chase". Her giggles are priceless! Mom put in so much work for the sale, she was not surprisingly a bit disappointed in her mere $40 profit:( Hey Mom, at least someone bought the rubber purse-hee hee!!

When we finally arrived at the lake, we were greeted by a cheerful crowd. Papa and G-ma, Nick and Julie, Courtney and Jesse, Drew, Logan, Lucas, and Gracie all met us in the driveway with a big sigh of relief that everyone was finally there:) We enjoyed sun, sand, water, and of course great food! Olivia took an unexpected plunge into the drink right off the end of the dock. Lesson learned: always make your child wear his or her life-vest near the water, even if they don't like it! Yes, she was wearing hers and was easily plucked from the 60 degree water after only a few seconds. Needless to say, she was pretty cold and frightened after that swimming lesson. Slowly but surely, she warmed back up to the beach and got some good sand-play in with the other kids. Other highlights included a refreshing walk with Matt and Mom R, and another gardening project for the kids. Olivia picked out a purple petunia to put her "dragon-fly" by. This was profound to me because Olivia shares her middle name with her Grandpa Keith and his favorite flower was the purple petunia...my heart smiles.

On the way back home, we got to have lunch with Great Grandma Evelyn and Aunt LeeAnn and Lonnie. Nothing like dropping in unannounced right at lunchtime:) They were gracious with a meal and were genuinely happy to see us. The girls behaved themselves and all was good.

What a wonderful weekend!! Hope yours was great too.

Just One of Those Days...

Have you ever had "just one of those days?" I know what you're thinking, one of those days where nothing goes right. Naw, I mean one of those days where nothing goes wrong. Not like a day when all kinds of exciting things happen. Not like a day when nothing bad happens. Like a day when everything seems right. A day that seems like you're just watching it and enjoying it like a good movie. Today was like that.

I think what turns any ordinary day into a day like this are the little things. There are times when we can get so caught up in the things that we don't have, won't have, never had, didn't get, didn't get done, need to get done, won't get done, can't get done that we miss what is happening.

I'm certainly no exception. It is always this time of year when I am feeling especially reminiscent. It is the end of the school year. The last weeks that I always wish would last forever, even though I have spent most of the year wishing they would get here. I look back on that and realize how foolish that sounds. I remember the long months of winter when the students had the worst case of cabin fever imaginable and it showed in their behavior. I can look back and smile about that now. I guess that's what makes it good, that I'm looking back on it.

But that's the point. How many things in your life can you look back on and smile about, or even have a laugh over? Things that you thought were awful, torturous, stressful, or annoying. Probably alot. Wouldn't it be nice if you could smile about them while they were happening? Or how many moments in life are truly blessings, but we manage to overlook them because our minds were somewhere else? Wouldn't it be nice if we could notice all of those moments? For me, today was one of those days.

I became aware of all the blessings I have. Not that I didn't know of them, I was just more aware of them today. I guess it was conscious enjoyment of them. I had such a blast with my students all day. I still can't believe that what I do everyday is called a job. Even though the 8th graders where a little too rowdy at lunch today and I had to have a "Mr. Ruden Talk" with them, which usually begins with: "Let me say this slow and loud so you all understand...", every last one of those kids has a special place in my heart.

After a nice supper, we were able to enjoy the nice weather as a family. The girls were having a blast on their new "playground" as Olivia calls it. Sylvia is walking more and more. Every giggle was a reminder of exactly how lucky I am. Olivia cracks me up with her sense of humor and her blooming imagination. Sylvia never ceases to make me proud with every new accomplishment. A career that I enjoy, a wonderful wife, two beautiful little girls...what did I do to deserve all of this? Nothing. I guess it was just one of those days.

You're Our Hero

Thursday started off like any other day. A typical school day. I arrive at school early as usual. I start my work and finish some business from the previous day. There were a few things that I had to take to our secretary so I head down the hall to her office. I meet her outside her office and I try to hand her the papers that I had for her but she didn't seem interested in taking them. "You need to go to the basement!" She shouts at me. I was thoroughly confused. "What? Why?" I asked. "There's a fire down there!" She responds. I dropped the papers and immediately headed to the basement. Once I got there I saw all of the smoke, it filled the hallway. I arrive at the room where it was coming from, the Home Ec room (Family and Consumer Science for all you "new age" people). One of the members of our staff was there already. Someone had placed a large Rubbermaid container on one of the stoves. They didn't realize one of the burners was on. The container had melted and the contents of it, (towels, paper plates, cooking oil), were igniting. The staff member took the container off the burner and moved it to a nearby table and left the room. However, the contents were still burning! By now the room was filled with smoke and the pungent smell of burnt plastic. The fire alarms were sounding and I was hoping that all the students were out of the building. I managed to carry all of the smoldering/flaming items to a sink and hose them off. Once everything was safely saturated I was able to open windows and start searching for fans. Once that was all taken care of I was able to go outside and get some fresh air. It was at this time the fire department decided to show up! They made sure everything was safe and vented all of the smoke out of the building. My classroom is near the room where the fire was so I had quite a bit of smoke to content with. So knowing my students as I do, I knew they would never be able to focus after such an event like this, let alone with the distracting smell of burnt plastic and smoke lingering in my room. So I made an executive decision to hold class outside all day, and instead of math we were going to study softball with the PE classes! So a near disaster turned into a day of fun with the kids. (In case you are wondering, my math kids went 6-1 against the PE classes. Go Mathletes!) I did pay the price however, I managed to get a tad sunburned :( It made it all worth it when some students of mine made me a poster in recognition of my efforts that morning. It read: You're Our Hero.

Matt

Choose Your Attitude

I came across a few words of inspiration that I like to keep in my "back pocket" about attitude:

"Losers talk about what they're going through, winners talk about what they're going to."

"In regard to a painful past: Don't nurse it, curse it, or rehearse it."

"It's the set of the sail, not the gale, that determines where you go."

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21

Have a great day!
Matt