My Brother, My Hero

 

I just have to take a few minutes to "brag" about my wonderful brother (who is currently throwing pens at me for writing this blog ). He’s just being humble about it  . Last night, I had to do a presentation for Bible Insitute. I had worked long and hard on this power point presentation, and about 30 minutes before class started, I thought I would just look over my power point in my mom’s office to double check for any errors or whatever. However, I COULD NOT open my power point no matter what I tried.  Here I had just saved the shortcut…not the actual power point presentation *sigh* Ooops… Anyway, I quickly chatted Andy at home…not sure why I just didn’t call him  Anywhoooo…I was in a panic because it was now 15 minutes before class started and there was NO WAY I was doing this presentation without this power point. So Andy very kindly sent me the power point over email, and walked me patiently through the steps of saving it on a CD. And of course, because of his amazing computer knowledge ….IT WORKED!! I then told my brother that a big hug and kiss would soon be coming his way…hmmmm…I wonder if that is why he ran out of the room when I got home later???

 

So that was last night…..Today after school, Carina and I went to the library. On the way there, I noticed the van was doing some weird flashing and jerking on the dashboard. We had just had issues with the van last week and ended up getting a new battery, so I was kind of concerned when I saw this happening. After Carina and I spent some quality time reading books, we got back into the van again. I can’t explain it, but somehow I just knew the van wasn’t going to start….and I was correct. *sigh* Of course, I am "cellphone-less" so I had to go back inside the library and ask to use their phone. *Sigh* Poor Carina was really scared thinking that we were stuck at the library forever. However, I reassured her this was not the case . Anne couldn’t find my Mom at school, so she offered to come pick us up. However, as we were leaving the library in Anne’s car, there comes Mom zooming up the driveway. My brother, my hero, quickly gets out of the car, pops open the hood, and with a few twists to tighten some loose wires (or something like that ) had the van started!! And then, because I have no desire to be alone in this evil van by myself, I begged my brother to drive home with me. Although he reassures me that nothing is really wrong, he stays with me just in case.  So although, he is still giving me the "evil eye" for writing this blog, I just couldn’t help boasting a bit about my amazingly gifted and kind-hearted brother.

 

So in honor of this blog, I posted some more senior pictures of my lil’ bro. This time he has some actual cap and gown poses.  Mom took some pictures at Kalmbach park but then ‘Yours Truly’ decided to go "snap happy" yet again and take some more at the park across the street from our house. 

 

  

An Update

 

Well, it has been awhile since I updated people on stuff going on…like a whole week or so…horror of horrors!  I am slacking off in this very important part of my life…blogging . Anywhooooooooo…I have a bunch of pictures to add but I need to briefly explain them so you all know what has been happening!

 

Last week we started our Science book, God’s World, and our first lesson was learning about our five senses. So in honor of our sense of taste, I decided to have a taste test the next day for snack. We had lemons for sour, donut holes for sweet, and peanut butter pretzels for salty. I was thinking about using coffee for bitter, but I didn’t want my children too get addicted to that stuff at age 5 or 6 . Some of their reactions are pretty cute…especially after tasting the lemon

 

Last Tuesday, we had a special visitor in our classroom…..a snake.  Ben Anger brought him in for my children to "enjoy" for the day. They were all captivated by this snake and drew pictures of it on the chalkboard and then later on another paper. They all had special names for this snake…Fred, Chris, and Python Snake. Not sure how they came up with these names, but anywho…like I said, Mr. Whats-his-name was just a visitor…thankfully

 

Its official!! Our caterpillars are caterpillars no longer!! They are now in their "chrysalis" stage…better know to me as the cocoon stage.  It was neat seeing these caterpillars crawling to the top of their container, hanging upside down, and this hardened shell forming over them. Now we are breathless with anticipation…waiting for the butterflies to emerge!

 

This afternoon, Mrs. Pierfy and Jackie Gable brought in their pets – Peanut the puppy and Sushi the beta fish – for the elementary class to see. Unfortunately, kindergarten only had a half day of school today, so most of my kids didn’t get to see Peanut and Sushi, but Carina did.  The children really enjoyed their visit…and I went "snap happy" with my camera…as usual!!

 

So make sure you check out the pictures!!

 

 

Caterpillar Update

 

Our caterpillars keep growing, growing…GROWING!! I came in today and was shocked at how much they have grown over the weekend. They are definitely rather large and hideous now.  The children have shown such an interest in these little creatures. Emaline can’t wait until they get inside their "canoes."  They should be getting into their canoes…I mean cocoons…I mean chrysalises… rather soon. Maybe even these week!!  Then Miss Follett will have to *gulp* safely transport them to their new home. We shall see how that goes!! Here’s an updated picture of these "adorable" little creatures.

 

Our Picnic Field Trip

 

The children have been looking forward to this field trip for over a month now…thanks to Miss Follett who "spilled the beans" MUCH too soon.  We made a Field Trip Countdown poster, which has helped them realize how many days were left till the field trip. Well, today was FINALLY the day!!! We couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was GORGEOUS, warm and sunny.  The children had been praying every day that we would have a sunny day for our field trip….well, God definitely answered their prayers! The first thing we did when we got to the park was go on a nature hike in the woods. That was a lot of fun, but I had to keep saying, "Slow down, please!!" The children were zooming down the path, and the two mommies and I were trying hard to keep up!  Thankfully, there weren’t any major injuries…just a few stumbles and trips.  These children were ready for adventure, that’s for sure! I felt like I was being super paranoid with my…."Oh, be careful!…Stay on the path!!…Careful of the branches!!…..Watch out for the rocks in the pathway!!…etc." These kids were real dare devils, or maybe, like I said, I was just being super paranoid!!  When we were done with our hike, we had a picnic lunch at the pavilion. They were, of course, anxious to go play at the playground, but I told them they had to finish their lunch before they could play…such a mean teacher, I know.  They enjoyed the slide and climbing up and down the "jungle gym" for a little bit, but they soon discovered the sandbox. A whole playground filled with swings, slides and the works, and what do they do? They find long sticks and have fun making designs in the sand. They also said they were "making corn" and who knows what else ….active imaginations, I’m telling you! Yesterday I purchased a foam baseball bat and ball just in case they would be interested in playing baseball in a REAL baseball field. Well, that certainly turned out to be a big hit! They all did pretty good at hitting the ball, and by the end, they finally figured out how to run around the bases.  Of course, they had the "experts" teaching them…Jordan’s mom as catcher, Carina’s mom in the outfield, and Miss Follett as the pitcher.  I kept hearing "Miss Follett, that was TOO HIGH…Miss Follett, that was TOO LOW…Miss Follett, could you throw it in the middle?" *Sigh* Hey, what can I say? I did my best  They were pooping me out!! After we were done playing baseball, we then left for the "highlight" of the field trip….going to Miss Follett’s house for brownies and iceream!!   They had lots of fun exploring my house, and of course, they enjoyed seeing my room  After yummy brownies and chocolate peanut butter ice cream, they all went back downstairs to my room. We have a big box of toys downstairs we use when our family teaches junior church, and they sure came in handy today! They had a blast playing with them in my room, while the grownups relaxed for a few minutes . We then headed back to school just in time for dismissal. Wow…it was definitely a busy, fun-filled day!!  I feel tired just writing all of this and uploading all the pictures….I am sure everyone will sleep good tonight!!

Come and Explore Kindergarten!

 

Today we had a "Come and Explore Kindergarten" day for potential Kindergarten students for next year. Three children and their parents showed up, and they all seemed to enjoy themselves. They were basically "observing" today, and got to see our phonics and numbers class. Afterwards, each of my students found a "buddy" and took them on an "exploration" of the classroom. They all found stuff to do, with the train set being the biggest hit.  After they played for about 30 minutes, we had story time. They all had their own carpet squares to sit on, and they definitely were loving that! All together, I think it was a successful "exploration." I think that Joshua, Stephen and Abigail are definitely looking forward to starting Kindergaten!  

Creativity in Action

 

Official definition of a slide: plaything consisting of a sloping chute down which children can slide

 

Kindergarten definition of a slide: a fort – made of blankets, pillows and chairs – where I can freely look at books either by sitting on top of it or inside of it

 

The Fort Designers

              

 

Carina enjoying her book on the top of the "fort"

 

Jordan enjoying his book from inside the "fort"

 

C is for Caterpillar

 

Our "cute" little caterpillars have arrived!! Over the next couple of days they are supposedly going to grow larger and no doubt more hideous.  I am looking forward to seeing this neat process!! I’ll keep you all posted with updated pictures.  

 

A Fun Friday

 

IT’S FRIDAY!! I survived my first week back at school after a nice long week of spring break! No, it wasn’t that bad at all.  Its good to be back to a normal routine again. Today we had lots of fun with "Green" Show & Share day, learning about China in Social Studies, make "April Shower" art projects, and of course, reading group is always fun. In Social Studies, we learned that the Chinese like to play ping-pong, so we attempted to play ping-pong downstairs. Well, that was rather humerous, and rather dangerous as you had to quickly dodge flying ping pong balls.  Then, we learned that Chinese children also like to jump rope, so we all attempted to jump rope. Yep, that was also fun to watch! Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera downstairs for that, but it would have been hard to capture the full effect anyway.  When we got back to the classroom, the children got to write one of the Chinese characters, and then they made their very own Chinese fan. Once the frustrating moments of folding the fan were over, they enjoyed the cool breezes the fans brought forth.  They then colored ducks, cut out an umbrella and rain drops, and created their own "April Showers" picture. After school, my creative juices started to flow a bit, and I figured out a way to display them on the wall outside our room. So, be sure to check out the pictures!