1st Day of School

Josh and Ashley went back to school on Tuesday. Its hard to believe they are 2nd and 5th Graders. They both had a good day. Ashley got glasses over the summer and was a bit nervous about going back to school with them for the first time. Josh starts band and orchestra this year so that will keep him busy.

Josh and Ashley 2nd grade and 5th grade.

Josh Read to go.

Notice the boots...I'm suprised she takes them off to to go sleep.

Jason didn't take my picture my first day of school...but that could be because he was still in bed when I left for work. I have 5 students. 4 girls and 1 boy. It should be a fun group. I have 2 quiet girls, 2 not so quiet girls, and my boy is right in the middle. All 5 seem to be quite sharp so we should be able to do some fun activities. Jason gives me a hard time about working in a rural school. When I got up at 5:30 to get to work he asked if I was going to gather the eggs before I left. Earlier he asked if I was going to learn to speak "Rancher". Spanish did come in handy those 2 years at Meadowlark...maybe this is when I get to use the Agroecology and Soils class I took.

Waiting by the phone

We are cat sitting this week while Jed and Joyce are off exploring the world. We have had their new kitten for about a week now and I guess he is lonely and waiting for Jed to call and tell him how much he missed him.

Its been a long wait...he couldn't take it anymore.

The weeks events

I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who reads this blog...but that's OK.
Tuesday I found out I have been accepted into Western Kentucky University's graduate program. I will begin working on my Gifted and Talented Endorsement in August. Its 3 classes and a practicum so not to bad. It do get to spend 2 weeks in Bowling Green next June...Jason said he and the kids would go with me, not sure what you do in Bowling Green for 2 weeks...we will see what happens come next spring.

I am busy typing lesson plans and getting ready for summer school. Our principal wants all our lesson plans by the first day. I don't work well that way, I like to go a week at a time. I figure I'll turn them in, and then change them as needed once I get in the classroom and realize that what I planned wasn't anything that the kids needed to work on. They are pretty general and vague and I hope they pass inspection. We will find out in 11 days I guess.

I have had a couple of job interviews this past week or so. One from the 25th I still haven't heard back from, but it was just a preliminary interview and I was told I wouldn't hear anything til after the 4th. I had another one on Tuesday and on Wednesday I was offered a job as a Kindergarten teacher at Recluse Elementary. Yes, I took the job. Its a part time position so I will work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My principal told me that I will have 5 students this year. They only do Kindergarten 3 days a week, so I have my own classroom and won't be team teaching. The other two days I can stay home, catch up on planning and all the lovely classes that come with being a first year teacher. I will have a 35 mile drive every day...so Jason is busy scanning the car lot for a car that gets better gas mileage than the Explorer. We will still keep it and trade in the truck just cause it is Wyoming and it does have a tendency to snow once and a while.

Josh had a good birthday. We went to the Great Wall for dinner...I was surprised at his pick...but both kids love the noodles and I was grateful not to have to eat a Big Mac. When we got done we went to K-mart and found a drum kit for the PlayStation on clearance. Josh and Jason play together every night...Josh on the guitar, Jason on the drums. Jason doesn't like the guitar from guitar hero so much...guess its cause its not one of his hanging in the basement and doesn't play real music. But they are both happy so it was $17 well spent!

Ashley just finished Summer Enrichment. She had a great time and had to show off some of her skills from her Camp out Cooking class when we went camping last weekend. Josh goes to his session the 13th.

Jason is busy at work....although I don't think he is too busy today since he just called to ask me to "Name that Tune". You just never know over there.

Well that's us!

Camping Trip

Josh decided he wanted to go camping for his birthday. We went to Cook Lake up by Devils Tower. They have a stocked pond with bluegill and Catfish. Everyone caught something. The kids caught quite a few because they have bait stealers right by the shore that will nibble on anything. They had a lot of fun. And lucky me...I got to take them all off the hooks and throw them back in.

What I did at school today.

This is what I got paid to do today!

Going up the ladder. The easy part

Walking across the pole...turning around is DEFINATELY the hardest part of that.

This is me propellin down.

This isn't me...but it gives you an idea of how high it was...you can just barely see the 12 ft ladder off to the side...so it was at least 24 ft off the ground.

Bet you didn't know teachers should get hazzard pay. Today I went with my 6th grade class on a Ropes Course. Yes they got me up on the element! It was quite the adventure.

And the winner is....

Young Author Winners!
Josh won 1st Place in Poetry...we are still waiting for the resuts of the State Competition

Ashley got 4th Place for Fiction - again no smile.

Ashley got Honorable Mention for Poetry - she would not smile for anything!

Josh got Special Effects on his Poetry. Thats for pictures and how the book looks.

What we did over Spring Break

On Saturday we painted Josh's room. Its New York Jets Green and White. Not sure where he came up with being a Jets fan...but no one can accuse him of being a bandwagon fan!

Wall above his bed.

Here is Josh's wall. Its NY Jets Green - the actual color...you can get team colors at Home Depot

Here is the closet...NY Jets White...with NY Jets green behind

The Window. I took pictures of the NY Jets curtain...but it wouldn't flash with the light and was really dark.

This is the wall before we moved in the furnature.

More fun in the snow

Here is even more fun we had in the snowJosh's fort
The front of the explorer - we did get it out
digging out the explorer
Sledding down the back hill
Back Alley facing the main street

View from the top
Behind the neighbors house
Digging out
Sledding hill

Sledding hill

The Blizzard of '09

We have a nice new landscape to our yard thanks to the storm Sunday night until Tuesday morning. Here is a peak.Behind the truck

Ashley in a fort

the side yard

Side of the house

Our street

Sledding hill...yes that used to be 2 tiers.

Street - thats our explorer in the street

The Explorer

Beside the truck - the driveway

Beside the House - yes those are the kids hiding in the drift

In front of the driveway

I can see the end!

This week I finish up my student teaching. I'm not teaching full time anymore, I have given the reins back to my host teacher. I am splitting my time between 1st and 6th grade now. Quite a difference in classrooms, I know! Our 6th grade teacher is expecting a baby the end of April, and I will be her long term sub when she goes on maternity leave, so I am getting to know her routine and her kids - hopefully it will make it easire on all 28 of us (24 kids, 2 teachers, and 2 aides!).
I turned in my portfolio this week and recieved a 4 out of 4 on it. If you want to wade through it I can send you the link...but I wrote the papers in it and I don't ever want to read it again, but if a 6 page paper on contextual factors is your idea of a good time I can forward it along. Or just take my word...its done and got a perfect score. I need to print off the important stuff and get something together for when I interview now. My roommate in college was an Elementary Ed major and I always remember our floor being covered with papers, binders, stickers, and whatnot the last week or so before finals. She lives here in Gillette now and I asked if I could come over and we could relive old times. Not sure if she is going to go for it or if I want to haul all my junk across town.
Thats our news...I should graduate in a few weeks, then get to apply for my Utah license - then have the joy of dealing with WY. Having already done that to some extent I'm not looking forward to that part...but hopefully by the end of summer I will have both licenses and a job.

sad events

This week has been quite full of emotions. On Tuesday my principal told me that a kindergartner at Josh and Ashley's school had been killed in bus accident. He told me that as a parent I should be aware of it. At that time I thought - how awful. Then in the next sentence he said something that would change the rest of my week - even the rest of my life. "Mrs. Skinner (My sister in laws mother) said the child was in Odessa's Sunday School class." Right then I knew I KNEW this child! Well somehow I made it through the next hour, trying to teach a math lesson...and not a very good one at that. I was then able to call Jason to find out what happened. He then told me who it was...a boy up the street...he rode Josh and Ashley's bus. I thought "OK...He gets on before Ashley so she's all right - she wouldn't have seen anything." (Josh was already at school because of chior practice) Jason then went on to tell me that the boy had missed the bus and his dad had drove him to a latter stop. It didn't really register, and maybe I was still in too much shock, until the kids Principal called me at school to let me know that yes, Ashley was on the bus when the accident happened. She spent most of the day Wednesday, along with the other 6 kids on the bus, with counselors and student leaders. She is doing ok. Luckily she never saw the boy so that made this easier. He was a year behind her in school...but in her Sunday School Class at church. The family goes to our church. We know them personally. Right now in my church I am the Primary President. This means I am over all the kids age 0-11. I never knew one event could impact so may parts of my life. My kids school, my kid bus, my daugher being involved directly in the accident, my church calling...its been so much to take in. The following I steal from my sister in law Odessa's blog - "My heart is so full this week. I went to the funeral Thursday and even though it was the saddest funeral I have ever attended, I learned many things and my testimony was strengthened so much in that hour. http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/articles/2009/02/13/news/wednesday/news01.txt read the article because it will make sense as I go on. His dad read his eulogy at the funeral and what a man of faith and love he is. Next, I witnessed the most Christ-like example I have ever seen. The bus driver walked in with the family behind the casket and she and her daughter sat next to the parents of the little boy. The dad talked about how they loved the bus driver and no matter what the media portrays, they are going to continue and embrace this woman with their love. He also said that we need to tell our children EVERYDAY how much we love them, not hold grudges, and forgive."

The first thing the bus driver did when I saw her on Thursday was ask how Ashley was doing.

We have had quite a few discussions about death and Josh (the boy in the accident - not our Josh) lately. Tuesday night we pretty much let Ashley vent and talk and do what she needed to work this out. She would just randomly say things as she processed the days events...and at the table she said, "Heaven must be boring." so we asked...why do you say that? to which she responded, "Cause Josh was a funny kid and Heavenly Father must have needed him to make it more fun in Heaven." I couldn't have agreed more with her. As I shared that with his dad Wednesday at the viewing he also agreed with Ashley. Keep this family in your prayers, as well as the bus driver. My kids think she is wonderful, and after speaking to her and seeing her unselfish concern for Ashley I agree.

Ashley's Birthday

Ashley is now 7 years old. One more year til the big 8 and her baptism. Jason and I aren't sure how we got so old so fast. She got to spend her real birthday watching Josh play basketball and then at a Cub Scout meeting...she did get to pick where we ate in between, so her birthday dinner was a Wendy's Kids Meal.

Friday she had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Jensens, Odessa and Bridger.

Saturday we had lunch at Godfathers and invited her class. We had 6 kids come and she had a good time with her friends. Here are some pics from the party. We now have more My Littlest Pet Shop animals that is legal in most states...but she loves em. She also got a Gumball machine from the Sanders that she really enjoys...she already thinks she needs more gum...good thing she got some money for her birthday! We are waiting for the snow to melt so she can ride her new scooter. She is also sleeping much better now that she has a new CD player - her old one bit the dust. He got lots of earing from Grandma and Grandpa Morrill and a new stand to put them all on.

She had a great Birthday and had a great weekend spending it with friends and family!

Our vacation for 2009

We decided this year to get our vacation for 2009 out of the way early...so January 1 and 2 we spent some time in Denver...we are in the clear til 2010 now! We went to the Denver Zoo and saw the Zoo Lights, Dave and Busters, the Aquarium, and Casa Bonita...although the highlight was the Park Meadows Mall escalator. We really do need to get our kids out more!

A red panda
Ashley by the zebras

Josh and an Elephant

The kids by the elephants

We couldn't have asked for better weather...high 60's in January...it was better than Hawaii!