Sullivan Harvey

It's about time I write another post. Despite all of the craziness going on with finals and such, I just want to share with all of you the very furry, very obnoxious love of our lives:

Sullivan Harvey.

Enough Said.I'm happy to report (but not really) that even after losing his manhood a week ago, Sully is still going strong and climbs, chews, knocks over, or licks EVERYTHING. People might think we're crazy for taking on a 15-20 year commitment within the first few months of marriage, but hey, it's a lot better than getting pregnant! Our parents and friends keep asking, "So, you still go that cat?" And we sigh and nod, with the surety that as much as our furniture wishes we'd kick him to the curb, he's a part of our family now and always will be. Here's to you, Sully, and all of the hair elastics you'll continue to steal off the bathroom counter. 

The Blessing of Family

So my family is going to read this and thing, "Psh, yeah right! Karli doesn't feel that way!" But believe me you guys, I do. 

 

                 

I love my family and my in-laws!

This week I've seen and heard some pretty horrific things.

At the school where I teach, I was walking in early in the morning and a student was being dropped off early by his dad. This student isn't in my class, but he does have some physical disabilities that require him to walk with arm braces. As he was getting out of the car, his father (I'm assuming) started yelling at him about missing some homework paper .... and I mean YELLING. The boy fell to the cold ground, sitting in the street, and started to cry. Then the father called him some very very mean choice words. I didn't approach the scene, but now I wish I would have. As I walked inside the school, I totally started crying. It just upset me so much that a parent (or guardian) could treat a child that way! He's only about 8 years old! Sadly, there's just not much anyone can or will do about it. Biological parents have WAY too many rights in my opinion and there are some cases where children should and need to find better homes. Anyway, I talked to the student later that day and he didn't have much to say other than, "Things are hard at my house right now."

PARENTS!!! LOVE YOUR CHILDREN! 

I work with some of the cutest, sweetest, most difficult kids that there are. And I love each of them with my whole heart and soul. I said to Ryan when I got home, "I just want to take that little boy home and show him what it's like to be loved!"

In other news, too many people are getting divorced. You always hear, "Yeah...they're getting a divorce." As if it was just this decision they made or something. If they were able to get along to make a decision together, they probably wouldn't be getting a divorce. Be honest. Have integrity. Write love notes. Pray together. Read the scriptures together. Go make out. Seriously, choose to stay together by doing things that make you want to stay together.

If you can't tell, I'm in a very, "Save the family - Save the world!" kind of mood.

Choose to love your family. That's all I have to say.

Love,

Kar

"1, 2, 3! Eyes on me!"

I love teaching Special Education. It is a privilege to be around the most adorable, well-behaved and loving kids all day. Now if that last description was always true, there wouldn't be 100% job placement in this field. Realistically it is a privilege to be around the loudest, most disruptive and hilarious kids all day. And I actually prefer that even more. This semester I'm finishing up my degree and am student teaching in an elementary school. Every day is filled with surprises like you wouldn't believe! Students running away, biting, screaming, potty accidents - you name it, we've got it. And I wouldn't trade these kids for the world. I cried the other day when I realized the semester is 1/2 way over already and I'll have to say goodbye! To help manage the classroom and student's behavior, I made these cute little picture schedule trackers.

They earn a "sticker" or an "X" for each activity depending on their behavior. Each schedule is color-coded and has the student's name and picture on the front. I wish I could post that picture because then you could see how absolutely adorable they all are. But that's a breach in confidentiality... so just imagine a whole bunch of cute little 5, 6 and 7-year old faces on the front.

Now, for a story . . . On Friday I was working with a student who likes to complain and say, "This is too hard! Miss Karli this is way too hard!" Every time he'd say this, I turn away and ignore him and say, "When you're ready to work on your numbers, you can sit up and say, 'I'm ready to try my numbers now Miss Karli.' " This worked well and he got all of his work done and earned his sticker. When he was finished, I tried to have a little heart-to-heart and explain that it will always be hard if he complains and says it's going to be hard. While I was explaining this, he looked at me, pulling out the skin on his face and said, "Our cheeks is made of skin!" I tried to hold it together but just burst out laughing and said, "Yes, yes they are." I love my job. I wouldn't want to be doing anything different!

~ Karli Harvey

The Toilet Paper of Love

Hello blog-reading world!

Ryan and I are loving being married, as well as our always-creative Family Home Evenings. A lot of people probably are thinking, "Family? You are barely a family!" Contrary to popular belief, there are four of us.Ryan, Karli, Hissy and Sullivan (Sully). For FHE last night, I planned the activity and treats, Ryan did the song and spiritual thought. We sang "Because I Have Been Given Much" which was really moving since we really have been given SO much! I couldn't be more grateful for our little family. And then, it was time for the activity. I got the idea out of this great book:Family Home Evening for Newlyweds by: Deborah Pace Rowley (Deseret Book).
Page 43: "TP Trails: Take the roll of toilet paper off of the holder in the bathroom, then sit on the floor. Start by taking the roll and beginning to unroll it. While you are unrolling, complete this statement: "I am glad to be married to you because..." You can't stop listing the reasons until the tissue is completely unrolled! The more toilet paper on the roll, the more reasons you need to come up with. When you are finished, hand the empty roll to your spouse. He/she will then roll the toilet paper back onto the roll while giving reasons why he/she is glad to be married to you. After this lesson you can put the lumpy roll back in the bathroom, and all week you will remember the things that were said."

This was such a great activity! We came up with things like, "I love being married to you because you let me buy that butt ugly lamp at the DI" and "I love the way you look at me when you wake up." Needless to say, we fell more in love during this activity. I would highly recommend it for anyone, newlywed or not!

'til next time,

Karli Harvey

Welp, this is it!

I figure now that we've been married about 2 and 1/2 months, I better follow the crowd and get one of these here blogs.

Since ya know, I have all the time in the world.

A little intro into Ryan and mine's day-to-day lives...

Right now I'm teaching Special Education at an elementary school. The students are the loves of my life and then some! They brighten my day and give me the greatest joy. I'm always learning from them and surprised by their hilarious antics! Ryan is going to school full time and is entering the Aerospace Engineering program (crazy, huh? he is fantastic at math, if anyone needs a tutor). We go to school all day and then come home to our pet snake, Hissy and our furball friend, Sullivan (Sully). He is constantly entertaining and never leaves our side! His current mission in life includes growing and climbing things. Everything. Oh how we love him so.

Ryan and I pretty much spend our time dancing to music in our livingroom, driving to the mountains for scenic hikes and

doing massive amounts of homework.

Well, there ya go. That's us! The Harvey's.