Ready to Learn S'more!

This is my welcome to kindergarten wall that is just outside my front door of my classroom. Lex, Haden and Regan came to school with me one day to help get it put up. I think it turned out really cute. Regan was such a big help, someday that girl will become a world class organizer of some sort. She kept me on track all day and worked really hard! She had the cute idea of adding the cute little sayings to the signs and flags. The say Camp-Learn-A lot, Fishing for Knowledge, Ready to Learn Smore, and Happy Campers This Way!

I decided to keep with the camping/outdoors theme this year but added some new elements. I added some really cute owls. I got rid of the tent and playhouse and added the cute camping chairs with the giant leave canopy. We are going to be the Green Bears in the morning and the Blue Moose in the afternoon! I've found it so much easier to keep track of morning and afternoon stuff if I give each section a color.

All my hard work!

So my mom has been asking for some pictures of my room while it was still clean and organized. In other words, before the kiddos show up! So here it is the day before school starts and I'm finally getting some pictures posted! Every year we do a big bulletin board in the hallway for all of the kindergarten classes. I love the crayons! I think it turned out really cute! All the items on the shelf were gifts over the years from some fabulous teachers and friends!

Where has time gone!

Where has the time gone! I kinda had a slow start to the summer, with the bad weather and really not much planned at the start of the summer. But things have slowly gotten busier and busier and now I'm looking at the rest of the summer and wondering how I'll get everything in. Here are just some of the highlights...so far!

Cassidy was involved with Arise a Youth Spectacular! (or something like that) It was AMAZING! Of course I only had my phone and I don't even know if a camera could have captured the magnitude of the event. 3500 youth, 500 adults, and lots of money went into this project. It was a chills up the spine moment to see so many teenagers make a good choice and participate in this event.

Everyone came to support Cassidy at her event. Grandma and Grandpa Thomas, Grandma Smith, her aunts, uncle, cousins, and family. Even Sharla and Jeramiah came from Boise. The twins are getting so big and I love any moment we get to spend with them. Logan and I (at 6:00am in the morning) had a 20 minute argument about seeing Cassidy in the show. Because there was so many youth on the field it was really hard to spot Cassidy. So the twins never really "saw" her perform. They both kept on asking "where's Cassidy?" We would answer "she is coming, or she is in the dressing room, or she is over there." So when I said to Logan "did you like seeing Cassidy in the show?" he said "No, Cassidy wasn't in the show!" I said "Yes, she was! She was the angel!" He said, "No she wasn't, she was in the dressing room, and wouldn't come out!" Oh well, I know Cassidy was glad they came!

I went with my parents to Boise for a little vacation to start the summer. Sharla and her crew ran in a race and so we came to help out with the kids. We were happy that Taelor decided to come at the last minute. She is such a good kid! We ate at Rocky's in Boise. It was part of the show Man vs Food. I love that show! We didn't take the challenge like they did on the show, but the food was still really good!

Even Taelor ran in the race with the team. Logan and Lauren ran in the 1/2 mile race. It was so cute. They had an ice cream truck and all the kids chased it around the block. Lauren made it around the corner and something told me I should go check on Lauren. So I ran to meet them around the corner. There was Sharla holding Lauren as she cried! I took her so Sharla could go join the rest of the crew. I asked Lauren why she was crying and she said she didn't want to chase the truck, she just wanted to stay with her Kiki (that's me)! I love that girl! Logan and Taelor were amazing! They finished the 1/2 mile and then went right after to run the mile. Logan loved that people were cheering the little guy on!

I went to Logan with the crew to celebrate Rachel's birthday. We went up to USU to look around. It had been a VERY long time since I had been up there. Funny, it still looks the same. I don't have very good memories as a student at USU. But I still love it! We went in the Bookstore and found a killer deal on backpacks so I bought the lot of them new backpacks for school. It was so much fun to have Payson with us for the weekend. When I moved to Rexburg, Payson and I spent a lot of time together at Grandma Ree's house. We would have Carrie and Payson days and go do whatever he would choose. He has gotten so big and I don't get to see him as often but he is still the same old lovable Payson!

Karen and Ron took on the huge task of being a Ma and Pa for Trek this year. They had a lot of preparation to do and planning! Grandma LaRee and I stayed with the kids while they played Pioneer for the weekend. They hiked 28 miles in 2 days! They were pretty miserable when they came home. Blisters and dirt EVERYWHERE! But they had good stories to tell and you could tell they were proud they did it. I've read some of the emails and notes from the kids in their "family" and I was touched! They really made a difference in those kids lives and the made memories that they will have forever! Cassidy made it! I thought she was going to be a MESS but she did it! She didn't have the amazing experience that her parent had with her family, but she learned that she can do and deal with situations and things that she didn't think she could before.
The rest of the kids and I had a blast! Grandma cooked, and we played!

Ron, Lex, Regan, Haden, Greg, Kade, and I traveled to Pocatello to watch Garrett at the State High School Rodeo Finals. Garrett made it to state in EVERY event so he was a busy guy and I didn't get a picture of him. But Wyatt came up for a little bit and visited. I LOVE watching Haden with the Smith boys. He loves them so much and just wants to be just like them. It doesn't matter where or why but you can always find him next to Payson, Kade, Greg, Garrett or Wyatt. The poor thing just doesn't get a chance to be around "boys"!

Well, that is it for now! I can't believe I'm already thinking about back to school ideas! The way I've been going with this blog my next post will probably be about my new class! Wish me luck!

Happy Mother's Day!

I know...totally out of order and very late. But what can you do! We had a very interesting Mother's Day this year. We were all very excited about making gifts this year. But...my kids decided it would be a good week to fall apart! I have such a GOOD class but we were ALL having a off week. But we made it and the outcome was so cute! Each leaf had a word the kids would use to describe their mothers. They put words like owsm, kut, wundrfl, kind, and nis. Can you read kindergarten?

Bye! Bye! Butterfly!

At the end of April we became the proud parents of 13 caterpillars! We watched them grow and eat, and grow and eat some more! It was crazy how big they got and how quickly it all happened. We named some of the caterpillars. We had Dolf, Fuzzy, Caterfly, Creepy, Goldie, and some that I can't remember. It was an exciting day when all the caterpillars formed into a chrysalis. Then the real waiting began. It seemed like forever but suddenly one day they came out! They were so pretty and fun to watch. But I learned from experience (not a very pleasant one) that we can't keep them very long or they would die. So, we quickly released them out into the wild/playground! We are all sure they are flying to Mexico in hopes of some warmer weather!

Miss Rodeo Utah

It's not a secret that I LOVE rodeo! So my last unit in Kindergarten each year has been about cowboys/cowgirls and rodeo. The kids love it and so do I. This year I was lucky enough to come in contact with Miss Rodeo Utah Chris Wade. She agreed to come and talk to the kids about rodeo. She was fantastic. It is not a small task to entertain 150 kindergarten kids but she handled it like a pro. She brought a saddle, spurs, chaps, and a roping dummy for the kids to see. It was a fun day and hopefully she will help us get the next Miss Rodeo Utah to come next year!