Saturday, April 24, 2010

mario bros. wii


We have been borrowing the Mario Bros. Wii game for a few weeks now from Alfredo's cousin. The girls and many of their friends have had fun playing it (and me too!) But what is cute is the title. It is spelled "Mario Bros." and so Michelle calls it the Mario Bros (braw-ss) game. I've told her a couple times that bros. is an abbreviation for brothers, but the other pronunciation is sticking. It makes me smile each time I hear it.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

bathing beauty

She's nearly too old to include any more bathtime photos, so had to take just a few more.

Couple of cute things about her. Gabrielle loves to jump. She now loves to stand on the second or third stair from the bottom and jump into my arms (waiting a stair below).

She is talking up a storm. Our babysitter Aly commented yesterday that she says thank you a lot...nearly any time you do something for her. She imitates and echoes so much of what we say. Also, as I've mentioned, she loves her big sisters "Chele" and "Ella". I guess today, while Ella was at preschool, she was walking around Aly's house saying "Ella... Ella... Ella."

She loves to fold her arms and say "Amen" at the end of prayers. On Sunday at church, after the opening prayer, she folded her arms and then said Amen enthusiastically after the prayer ended. Then, perhaps because everyone else didn't share her enthusiasm, she repeated Amen about 4 more times. She wasn't so loud that I needed to leave, but loud enough for several pews to hear her and for us to get many smiles.



She loves baths. She loves to lay on her tummy and splash around. She loves to get a cup and pour water over her sisters' heads or even her own head. And the last 3 days, she has begun copying Michelle. Michelle loves to stretch out on her back and put her arms out. Gabrielle is still a little small to do this, but she sure does her best. Makes me both laugh and watch her very carefully in order to help her when she, from time to time, goes under a bit. But that doesn't stop her from laying right back down on her back. This has helped bath time go more smoothly though. The girls usually bathe together, and they all want to sit up front by the tap. But since Gabrielle has learned the joys of laying down, she happily goes to the back and only Ella and Michelle are racing to get in the front of the tub.


And my favorite thing? Having her give kisses "Mwah" and hugging you while she pats her back and hearing her say, "I wuv you." (She doesn't say this on her own yet. You have to ask her to say it, but it is still the sweetest thing to hear her say, "I wuv you gwandma." or "I wuv you Chele." or so on.)

Bees

Alfredo pulled in at the same time as me on Monday evening and said, "Let's go." My question, of course, was: "Where are we going?" His company had given him 4 tickets to the Bees (baseball) game and so off we headed. This was our first time going. It was a lot of fun. Our seats were right behind the first base, five rows up. They were great seats. I am not a baseball fan, but I must admit being right there for the game was a lot of fun. It was especially fun to see my kids enjoying themselves. They loved the mascot Bumble. And Michelle got an autograph. There was a nice old man two rows up that was there by himself and he talked to my kids and I. Gabrielle loved the airplane flying around with a banner announcing that night's game. There was also a little choo-choo that she loved watching. The bigger girls loved it when Bumble rode an ATV around the field after the third inning. We didn't stay for the whole game since it was a school night, but I'm glad we were able to go. It was so much fun!







Hooray!

Just got my blog printed for 2007-2008 by blogs2books and it came in the mail today. It's been so fun to look through it and remember some of the fun things my kids have said and done. So excited!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Just a bit more about teaching

Have a few more thoughts rambling around in my brain and wanted to get them down:

First, I want to say that I firmly believe in the importance of reading. (And math too!) I am passionate about literacy and spent several years as the literacy coordinator of my school. I used to regularly read reading research for pleasure...not so much now with 3 young kids, but I care deeply about literacy. And I feel that it is critical for kids to learn to read and learn to do math. That is their hope for the future. I hope that my post about testing did not in any way discount the need for quality teaching.

Second, I just want to make clear that I don't think that middle class white kids are somehow better than minorities or those in poverty. I just think that in many cases they are given more or different opportunities. I also think that their parents know how to advocate for them and know what is expected of them in school and therefore are better able to set them up for success.

Third, it is a tough job to be a teacher. I think that is particularly true in low income neighborhoods, although I must admit that other than one of my student teaching experiences, I have no experience in schools that are not low income. I think that many of the people who are so critical of public education and of teachers couldn't last a year (maybe not a month) in a classroom and that maybe before they are so quick to call us failures they ought to see how difficult it is. On the other hand, I don't really think that experiment should be done with real children so I guess I take that back.

Fourth, I don't really hate tests. Some tests are beneficial. If the assessment can help me figure out what my students know and don't know and can help me to #1 change my instruction to better meet their needs and #2 to get those struggling additional help, then the assessment is valuable. I'm not even entirely opposed to standardized tests...just to having so much tied to them. The value of a human being is so much greater than their test score.

Finally, despite the challenges and the disappointments and the negative feedback we so often get, my students are making progress. It is not always in the timetable given based on standards and test scores. But at the beginning of the year, many of my students could barely write a paragraph and most couldn't subtract with regrouping. Now they are writing 2-4 paragraphs with a little support and can add, subtract and multiply not to mention a host of other things. I do believe in my heart that I am making a difference. I hope that at least for some of them, they will look back when they are older and remember that they had a teacher (or many!) that cared and that helped them. I'm sure I won't be that teacher for all of them, but I think/hope/believe I am for some of them.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Amazing giveaway

My dear friend Sonja shared this amazing giveaway and great website for LDS families, especially those who homeschool (which is not me, but is many of my friends). The site is great whether you homeschool or not, and this is a lovely giveaway.Check it out.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

love this age

I love 18 months to two years. It is so fun to see their little personalities emerge. I love watching as their language blossoms from just a handful of words to phrases and sentences. I love seeing how much Gabrielle looks up to and loves her big sisters. I love watching her run. I love seeing her curled up, bum sticking in the air, as she sleeps. I just love this age!!!!

**By the way, I'm feeling better after all of my ranting and rambling yesterday. The previous post is long and it's fine if you skip it.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

testing

It is that lovely time of year again...the time when high stakes standardized testing begins. Can I just say that I hate this time of year. For the past 3 nights, I have not been able to fall asleep. I lay down and suddenly begin thinking of things I still want to teach and reteach before the tests begin. It is so stressful. I am hoping that by typing out all of my thoughts, maybe I can get some rest.

No Child Left Behind was begun to help ensure that all children were getting a quality education. We know that children from impoverished homes and from minority backgrounds often underperform in comparison with their peers. Therefore, logic says, our schools are failing these kids. So therefore they passed laws that would help reduce this achievement gap or even eliminate it. I think/hope that they were passed with the best interests of kids at heart, but the implementation has been so faulty. Here are a few of my concerns about standardized testing and the effect it has had on public education. Because, sadly, I think No Child Left Behind has hurt education overall and done little to help it.

First, it is very difficult to quantify human learning. While it is true that nearly all kids who pass the test contain the basic knowledge and skills needed at that given age, it is not necessarily true that kids who don't pass the test don't have the basic knowledge. Passing does show basic understanding; failure does not always equal lack of understanding. A person with A's on their report card, as I"m sure many of you can attest, does not necessarily have to be smarter or know more than a kid with C's. But the child with A's has learned to play the game. And decides to play. I was an A student, and I loved school, and I totally played the game. But I had a friend in high school that I know was smarter than me in many ways whose grades weren't as good because he just didn't care about getting A's like I did. But he did fine and he just recently defended his doctoral thesis. Another friend of mine told me last week that he scored a 17 on the ACT because he "wanted to show it to the man" and just didn't care. He said he took a nap during part of the test. Anyway, my point is that lower grades or test scores don't necessarily mean a child doesn't know the subject matter.

Secondly, many of the tests are culturally biased. For example on the Iowa test, given about the 3rd week of 3rd grade, one of the questions shows a picture of a bridge and asks what bridge it is...it is the Golden Gate bridge. Now, if your family travels a lot and you have been to that bridge, you recognize it. If your family reads a lot, perhaps you have seen pictures of it and you recognize it. If you live in San Francisco, you recognize it. Otherwise, you have no clue...I mean why is that important to an 8 year old? That is just one example but there are countless examples of questions that favor the middle class white child over the poorer minority child. That is a fact. (And by the way, if a teacher knows a question will be on the test and teaches a concept specifically because it will be on the test,that is unethical and could result in serious problems, including loss of job. And questions change from year to year so it would be difficult to know what exactly is on the test anyway.)

Third, we are dealing with human beings. I understand that in most occupations, bonuses and other perks are based on results. But this is so much harder to do when working with human beings. Children don't come to school equally ready to learn. Some kids are like little sponges, and others have a much harder time learning. Much of this is based on their home environment (although other challenges such as learning disabilities also play a role). Kids who are read to, who have books in their home, come to school with a tremendous advantage over kids who have not been read to. When we are concerned about a child's progress and are considering testing for special education, we give a parent survey. This survey asks a lot of questions about the family's background, history, etc. So often when I give this survey, the parents tell me that they only finished 3rd grade or 7th grade themselves. They will explain that they are barely literate in their native language (or not at all) and that they are not literate in English. They will explain that they don't have a family doctor...they go to a clinic if they have to. They work two jobs and aren't home when their child comes home from school. They have suffered abuse. Or maybe their child has behavior problems and they don't know what to do. They are raising their child like they were raised and it just isn't working well and they have no way to access help to learn how to be a better parent. Their lives are hard. They can't help with homework, because they don't have the skills. I am not making excuses. These parents, most of them, love their children and desperately want their children to succeed. They want their kids to have a better life. They know that education is important. But they don't have the requisite skills to assist their children with their schooling. How is a child like that supposed to compete with kids whose parents are doctors or accountants or other educated professionals? Families that read together, discuss things together, take trips together, visit museums together and do a million other things that are educational, often without even planning for it to be "educational".

Also, I fear, no, I know it to be true. We are focussing so much money and energy on getting kids to pass tests, that we are neglecting many important things. Many teachers have stopped teaching history/social studies because it is not tested. In a democratic republic like ours, that is a scary thing to me. If children/teenagers are not taught how our government works and they are not taught about the lessons from history, we are in for a very frightening future in my opinion. In addition, there is little time or money for "extras" such as PE, music, dance, technology, art, etc. Kids are lucky if they get 30-40 minutes per week in each of these (and probably not in all of these.) This is sad, because we are not allowing children to explore areas where they might find success even if they aren't great in math or reading. Every child comes to this earth with gifts (we know that from research and from scripture) and we are not giving them the opportunity to find out what those gifts are. Some will argue that is the parents' job to help them discover this and at some level it is true. But there again, you are going to hurt most the kids who may need this outlet the most. It is more likely that white middle class parents are going to sign their kids up for music or dance lessons, or put them in an art class, or give them access to a computer. Passing a test does not necessarily mean that you can think creatively either. Do we want our future to have kids that can answer a multiple choice test or to have kids that can "think outside the box" and discover cures for cancer, invent new things, and do a million other creative things?

Also, way too much TIME is used on testing. Between standardized testing and other required tests, I am sure we give up at least 2 or 3 full weeks of instructional time. Wouldn't most of that time be better used actually teaching kids?

With this push for higher test scores, there is much less trust of teachers. More and more schools are buying "research based" (or so called...not always true) programs that are supposed to raise test scores. There is less and less trust that teachers know their kids and what they need to do to help their kids learn. Some programs are even touted as "teacher proof" meaning that kids will do well even if the teacher is a bad one.

A group of teachers and I were talking yesterday after school. We'd had a meeting in which we'd discussed/recorded strategies we use to help kids who are struggling. We had an amazing list, but the experience troubled many of us. With a new reading program (which has both pros and cons) and a 2 year old math program, many of us felt like many of the things on the list were all the great things we used to do. There just isn't time enough to do it all. And as we were talking, I realized something sad. I am so busy trying to "cover the core" (basic skills) and teach from the math and reading programs, that I don't enjoy my students as much anymore. I don't feel like I know them as human beings. I mean I know exactly where they are in reading and math. But I don't really know what they are good at or what they love or where their talents lie. And I don't feel as close to this class as I usually do. I think in many ways, testing is taking much of the joy and passion out of teaching. Some times my class has this glazed over look in their eyes, and I think to myself, "NO wonder... This is boring." I do try to find ways to make it engaging, but usually when I do it is when I'm deviating from what the programs say I am "supposed" to do. And yet, we know kids don't learn if they aren't engaged and paying attention. I think testing is hurting human relationships, and in many ways, I think they are more important than academic skills.

Also, when a child doesn't get breakfast, or doesn't have a bed to sleep in, or his/her mom was just put in jail, or he/she is in yet another foster care home, or his parents are splitting up, or his dad beat him, or probably another 100 bad things happened that morning before they even made it to school, they just simply don't care about a test. It doesn't have any real consequences for them. And survival is what they are working on. When that is where your mind and heart are, you aren't ready to learn or retain information. You aren't able to focus on a test or a lesson. You are in fight or flight mode. And I'm not making those situations up. I've had all of them happen in the past 2 or 3 years, probably all of them happen this year alone and I just don't know about some of it. These kids are tough and they experience some rough things. No wonder that 6 x 7 doesn't always seem that important to them!

Of course, there are problems in public education. There are some bad teachers out there (although I think they are a lot fewer than most people believe). And I am concerned that minority students and impoverished students are performing at a lower level. But I don't think high stakes testing is the answer.

The media often talks about how we compare to other nations. I don't know that I like the idea of this to begin with, because really, we don't want to be other nations. But let me just mention a few facts that are not often talked about. First, few nations have the numbers of second language learners that we have. We are a very multilingual nation. And the expectation here in Utah is that if a child walks in the door before October of a school year from anywhere, including a foreign county, then that child will take the on level standardized test and is expected to perform on grade level with his/her peers. Even though we know that it takes 5-7 years to become academically proficient in a second language. So I'm wondering how many of you could move to Japan this week and in one year from now, could pass a sixth grade level standardized test in Japanese. (And I'm being nice because really you should be taking a college level test if you are one of my readers.) I don't think I could. But that is what is expected of our children.

Another tidbit. Most Asian countries outscore us in math and science. Did you know that on average they go to school for about 40-60 more days of school than we do? (That's about an extra 1/3 of a school year). They also often have longer hours. Also, most Asian languages are more math friendly and the kids are ahead of their American peers by age four (before they have even entered school) because of these language differences. If this is interesting to you, you should read the book Outliers.

And here in America, one of the things that IS working is to lengthen the school day and the school year. Now as a parent of a middle class white child who is rather successful, I don't really want that to happen. I want my child home with me in the summer (I feel like I am already missing out on too much time!). But for children who will be going home to an empty home, for teenagers who are likely to join gangs or get pregnant or use drugs, this is a real solution and it is changing kids' lives in a positive way. Why can't some of our funding be used to extend the school day and year in high risk neighborhoods instead of throwing more tests at these kids? We know that full day kindergarten has made a world of difference. This is what I think is going to save our kids. Not another test.

Well, if anyone actually read this entire post, I am impressed. I know it was very long. But I had to get all of this off my chest so I can hopefully sleep. (At least I hope so! I get to go teach 23 children tomorrow and hope that I can make a difference in their lives.)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Salads

(This post is partly for you,Shannon. I never responded to your query on your blog about favorite salads.)

I love February and March because asparagus is in season and you can find it for a good price. That is when I am most likely to make our absolutely favorite salad (which came from the Better Homes and Gardens Salad cookbook):

Ingredients:
1 pound asparagus spears
1/2 cup poppy sead or lite Italian salad dressing
1 tsp. finely grated orange peel
2 tablespoons orange juice
4-6 cups torn spinach or romaine lettuce or green leaf lettuce
1 cup sliced strawberries or blueberries
1/2 cup pecan halves or walnuts

IF DESIRED: Add 1 cup cooked, diced chicken.

Directions:
Snap off and discard the woody bases of the asparagus. Cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces. Cook asparagus covered in boiling water for 4-8 min. until crisp-tender. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Let stand in cold water. Drain again.

Mix salad dressing, orange peel and orange juice.

In salad bowl, combine spinach or lettuce, strawberries, and asparagus. Add chicken, if you want. Divide onto 2-4 plates. Drizzle dressing over each salad. Sprinkle with pecans or walnuts.

We LOVE this. I add chicken and it is our entire meal for dinner. (Although my kids prefer it separated, not mixed up.)

Alfredo's favorite salad consists of the following: iceberg lettuce shredded, tomatoes sliced, sliced radishes, sliced cucumbers, sliced onions, and a little dressing.

Yesterday I went to a friend's house and she made me the yummiest salad ever. And it had some items I would never have thought to add to a salad. I wanted to record what it had so I wouldn't forget and so I can recreate it:

Mixed greens
chopped cherry tomatoes
chopped red and orange peppers
sliced artichoke hearts (marinated in oil)
black olives sliced
sunflower seeds
garbanzo beans (chickpeas)--rinsed and drained
topped with balsamic vinaigrette

I wasn't sure about the artichoke hearts, but they added such a yummy flavor to this salad. It was SOOO good.

I have lately grown to love salads! Usually, I just take romaine or green leaf lettuce, add cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, and carrots to it and add a little dressing. But I am going to try to add more variety. After tasting Nikki's yummy salad yesterday, I will be a little more adventurous.

Friday, April 9, 2010

New nickname

Michelle has a new nickname. Gabrielle calls her "chelle" (shell). She can't quite say Michelle but she says "Chelle" and "Ella" all day long. Too cute! She adores her big sisters...and she is absolutely convinced that she is as big as they are and can do anything they try to do.


Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The benefit of chewing gum

I've decided gum is my new best friend. :) Ella noticed that one of her teeth was wiggly about a week ago. On Sunday, she asked if she could have a little bit of bubble gum from the bubble tape that the Easter bunny gave her. She started chewing and a minute later came running into the kitchen. "Momma," she yelled, "I just lost my tooth." The gum had pulled it right out. There was no blood, no crying and no yanking of the tooth by daddy. No drama like with all of Michelle's lost teeth so far. (Which, is quite shocking, I must add because usually Ella is our drama queen.) Just a tooth and a little hole where the tooth once was. Ella was thrilled...to have lost a tooth, to have the tooth fairy come, and to be so BIG!

(I'll also add that the original photos of the lost tooth were deleted along with all the other photos, so I made Ella re-pose for these and she was being a tad silly.)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

January, February and March 2010 Reads

Altar of Eden (EXCELLENT!)
Attila by William Napier (historical fiction about Attila the Hun, interesting...but warning...ancient Rome was not a nice place...this book has some graphic part)
Battle for Skandia (Ranger's Apprentice #4)
Erak's Ransom (Ranger's Apprentice #7)
Fablehaven (read this to Michelle...we both liked it
Hourglass Door
Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Maisie Dobbs
Murder by the Book
Mysterious Benedict Society (GREAT!!)
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Ranger's Apprentice #5
Siege of Macindaw (Ranger's Apprentice #6)
Silhouette
Someone Named Eva (excellent, sad but excellent. Historical fiction about WWII)
Strength to Endure by Tristi Pinkston (another WWII...Also great.)
Ten Cow Wives Club by Joni Hilton (cute, funny)
The Case of the Missing Servant (okay)
Woman Strangled, News at Ten (only so so)

Easter

Well, as I mentioned, all of my Easter photos were erased. So use your imagination to picture my darling daughters doing the following:

On Saturday:

An indoor Easter egg hunt. During said event, Gabrielle would shout, "Found one" in her adorable toddler voice every time she found one. And we had more candy than eggs, so some of the candy was just sprinkled around on the floor. Interestingly, the girls had collected all the eggs (which were hidden) and I had to tell them to pick up the candy that was not hidden.

Coloring Easter eggs: This was Gabrielle's first time. She only did two, and she dyed her hands more than the eggs, but she giggled and thought it was so fun.

Making a bunny shaped cake: The kids got to decorate it and did their best to make eyes, mouth, whiskers, etc. The eyes were a little lopsided, but it was darling. And yummy!!

On Sunday:
Opening their gifts from the Easter bunny. Our Easter bunny was pretty health-conscious this year and only brought them one chocolate bunny each. But they got bunny masks, so cute, especially on Gabby's chubby cheeks. (I may have to make them put these on again to get this picture.... too cute to miss.) They also got new toothbrushes and toothpaste, rolls of bubble gum tape, bubbles, and sidewalk chalk. Michelle and Ella headed out in between sessions of conference to draw on the sidewalk with their chalk. Michelle made this amazing picture of a bunny and also a picture of a walrus. They were great. I took photos to share, because they really were good. But of course, the photos are gone and thanks to the spring rain and snow, the drawings are too. But at least they had fun.

It was wonderful to remember our Savior and to be able to watch conference on Easter weekend. I didn't print out packets this time, but Michelle had me write down words to listen for and she did a great job making tally marks each time she heard the words. And we read about the signs of the Savior's death in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi. I guess maybe we hadn't read that before and the girls were really touched by what happened after his death. It really was a wonderful weekend.

U of U field trip

Last Wednesday, I was able to go with Michelle's classes on a field trip to the University of Utah. I don't usually get to go on field trips but this one was held during my spring break, so I was able to attend. Michelle's partner was her best friend Liliana. They giggled and talked and did hand clapping rhymes on the bus. Then we arrived at the U and headed to the chemistry department.

(Sadly, I do not have pictures of the field trip... my sweet Ella decided to delete about 100 pictures taken over the past week, including all of our Easter pics and the field trip.:( Oh well!)

Three chemistry students and their professor showed the kids some experiments. They showed "elephant's toothpaste" that bubbled and expanded. They showed how the air in a balloon would expand and contract based on the amount of heat in the air. They also had dry ice and showed that you can freeze flowers and apples and since they both contain water, they will break once frozen. The kids oohed and aahed. (Picture Michelle with an expression of amazement, on her tiptoes in order to see over the other children's heads.)

Then each child got some playdough and put on safety goggles (picture Michelle with bright red and yellow safety goggles) and built a mini-volcano. They have been studying earthquakes and volcanoes, and Michelle has been telling me all about vulcanologists for the past two weeks. Then the chemistry students came around and added baking soda, a couple of drops of dish soap and then about a Tablespoon of vinegar. And the kids watched their volcanoes erupt, learning about chemical reactions. (Picture Michelle's eyes widening as her volcano bubbles and erupts.) The chemistry students explained that many different things make chemical reactions and that it is really interesting to see the effects, but that you shouldn't mix chemicals at home because some reactions are dangerous.

Then we walked across campus to a geography/geology classroom. They talked about what geography means and why geography is important and useful. Then the geography grad students talked about what UT is like and had a map on the board. Then each child used dough to make a relief map of Utah. They used green dough to make the mountains (shaped like little triangles) and they told the students about both the Wasatch mountains, which are part of the Rocky Mountains, and the Oquirrh mountains, the only east-west mountain range in the US. (I didn't know that. Cool!) Then the students used blue dough to make the Great Salt Lake. Red dough to make the red desert of southern Utah and to make an arch. And more blue dough to make a river. The maps were great. (Picture Michelle rolling and shaping dough to make each part, concentrating so it will look just right.) Then each grad student told a little about what they were studying... one studies snow to predict and learn more about avalanches. One is studying traffic and bike patterns in Salt Lake. One is studying climate change. I can't remember what the fourth was studying exactly, but they were all studying different things and it was very interesting. The kids were impressed, and were all so excited to go to college. Then lunch was provided (as part of the grant for Adelante which pays for these field trips and pays for college students to spend considerable amounts of time each week tutoring at Michelle's school and provides other activities.) The professor that heads up Adelante came and spoke to them, welcoming them to the University and saying that the University president welcomed them and wanted to be there but was unable to make it. He talked about the importance of going to college and how they each could do it. He had them each raise their hand to pledge that they would go on to the university. It was a great field trip, and it is so cool to hear little six and seven year olds talking about "when I go to University, I will...."

Anyway, it was a great day. I'm so glad I was able to go with Michelle.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

cute quotes (March 2009)

Somehow I never published this last year, so here it is now.

3/22: This meat (carnitas for tacos)

3/15: We were talking about jobs Michelle wants to have when she grows up. Alfredo asked Ella what she wanted to be. Ella responded enthusiastically, "I want to be a banana."

2/15: I love this streusel cake Mommy. This is my twoth. (meaning second)... this was funny because I've heard her say second many times before, but she obviously overgeneralized the rule for ordinal numbers...fourth, fifth, sixth, why not twoth?.....
2/10: Michelle's new song (which I guess the credit actually goes to a boy in her class at school): We will, we will rock you. Sock you. Push you in the toilet. Hope you enjoy it." (followed by giggles.)