Monday, August 27, 2007

PreSchool Road Trip

Here are the pictures of my room! While the 4-5 yrs. old teacher worked on her room everyday last week, I threw mine together in about 2 days. I think it came out very well. (Thank you to Sara, my favorite cousin, for coming to help on Friday!) After rearranging the entire room at least 3 times, I was finally ready to decorate. Our theme this year is "Road Trip." All three classrooms are decorated using this theme.

Let's begin the tour!

This is a shot of my room from the doorway. I have 2 small kidney-shaped tables, one in each half of the room. My logic: divide and conquer!! I believe this will be the best strategy when there are 16-18 three yr. olds and only 2 adults!


This is a shot to the left of the previous one. I have one bulletin board mounted and one free-standing. Hopefully the free-standing board will survive!


This is the mounted bulletin board. My grandfather, who saves everything, had all of these old license plates in his garage. This will be our "Road Crew" board. The road crew is our weekly helpers (line leader, caboose, lights, etc).
Instead of covering the cork board with paper, I bought some really cute car fabric and covered the board with that! It looks great in up close! (Actually, I covered every bulletin board with fabric!) I found the cars for $2 a yard at Wal-Mart and the black fabric was $1 a yard! And it lasts much longer than paper, if you get a neutral color.

In the back corner we have "Kids at Work!" Sara helped me to cover the walls with maps (lots of maps). She made the great road where each child has a car with their name on it!


And finally, my reading center. I used the play house, carpet squares, and the book shelf to create a little corner where 2-3 children can discover, I hope, a love of "reading."

If you are in the building/area stop by sometime and check out the preschool rooms. I think they look great and I'm really excited to get my students into a routine (which will take a few weeks thanks to the fair break!)

Keep us in your prayers!

Sunday, August 26, 2007

I survived my preschool Open House!! I'll post pictures of my room tomorrow! I'm pooped!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

First Day of School

Braden started third grade on Wednesday. (Boy do I feel old!) He had a great day and seems to really like his teacher, Mrs. Hohman. Naturally, we were running a bit late that morning, so I had to take his picture quickly when he got home that afternoon. By that time he was sweaty, somewhat disheveled from P.E., and dying to change clothes.

Mom made him wear a collared shirt and khaki shorts. But he loved wearing his new shoes, finally!

That night, he was so tired he didn't even wake up when I turned on his light and took his picture. Even the flash in his face didn't stir him!

You'll notice he hadn't been too tired to get out of bed and put on a necklace and bracelet.


Pet Update

I had a few pictures of the hot dog-o's that I thought I would share:

Raider is now 1 yr. old! He had is first birthday on Tuesday. It wasn't really a good birthday given that it is too hot outside for him to enjoy life! The humidity this week has been horrible!

Oh, Dallas! Quit hiding and play with Raider!


Doesn't she look depressed? Dallas is not a fan of the humid weather either.


And this is the result of, "Hey Mom! Take our picture!" (I'm not sure what look he was going for)



Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Good Morning!

Well, tomorrow's the big day! Back to school for Braden!!! I'm sooooooooooo excited!

Today is Raider's 1st birthday. Feel free to send him best wishes. :)

Since I haven't taken any pictures recently, I thought I'd share my favorite praise song! They sang it in church on Sunday. Also very exciting!

These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the Word of the Lord
And these are the days of your servant Moses

Righteousness being restored

And though these are days of great trials
Of famine and darkness and sword
Still we are the voice in the desert crying

Prepare ye the way of the Lord!

Behold He comes! Riding on the clouds!
Shining like the sun! At the trumpet call!
Lift your voice! It's the year of Jubilee!
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes!

And these are the days of Ezekiel
The dry bones becoming as flesh
And these are the days of your servant David

Rebuilding a temple of praise
And these are the days of the harvest

The fields are as white in the world
And we are the labourers in your vineyard

Declaring the word of the Lord!

Behold He comes! Riding on the clouds!
Shining like the sun! At the trumpet call!
Lift your voice! It's the year of Jubilee!
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes!

There's no God like Jehovah!
There's no God like Jehovah!
There's no God like Jehovah!
There's no God like Jehovah! (Repeat 3 times)


Behold He comes! Riding on the clouds!
Shining like the sun! At the trumpet call!
Lift your voice! It's the year of Jubilee!
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes!

Behold He comes! Riding on the clouds!
Shining like the sun! At the trumpet call!
Lift your voice! It's the year of Jubilee!
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes!
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes!
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

That's Mrs. Van Cleave to you!

So, I had my first teachers' meeting yesterday. I saw my room & already feel the urge to rearrange. (I'll do that next week after Bray starts school!) It was a bit too cluttered for me. We went over lots of things and I brought home my curriculum. Also, I was given my class lists. WOW! While I would prefer smaller classes, I have LARGE classes and a full-time aide. Personally, give me classes of 12 and no aide, rather than two classes of 16-18 kids.
Three year olds!!
So I'm feeling more and more overwhelmed. And I'm not overly thrilled with the curriculum. So if anyone has some web sites, please send them to me. I'm looking for ideas online this week/weekend to supplement. PLEASE!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

My Little Buttercup

(The title is one of the songs from The Three Amigos. Brady watched it last week and was singing the song. He thinks its pretty funny.)

Here's my little reader! He was reading A Dog Called Kitty. It was a really good book. We'd recommend it to any dog lover between the ages of 8 and 88.

Is he not the cutest kid you ever saw!


Saturday night Daddy had a softball tournament in Wren. Braden offered to treat me to dinner if I bought dessert. OK!
He opted for the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. After we ate our dinner, I had a single scoop of strawberry ice cream. And Brady had this:


He had a double scoop. On the bottom: Roadrunner Raspberry. On top: PLAYDOH!!!!
The picture really doesn't do it justice! It was bright yellow, just like real playdoh. Mixed throughout were bright blue and pink sugar cookie dough pieces. It REALLY looked like Playdoh! He enjoyed it.

Pets?

Here are a few pictures I took last week of our other kids. Sometimes I wonder whether they realize they are pets.

Here's Dallas looking out the window one lonely day. She looks so sad!

And here she is sitting up like a big girl! (She did need the pillow to make her tall enough to reach the armrest)


No, he's not stretching. He's sound asleep like this!


He then stretched and rolled over, still asleep, into this position.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Ps. 92:1

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
and sing praises to Your Name, O Most High.


Guess what? I have a job! Beginning later this month, I will be teaching two 3 yr. old preschool classes, Tuesday through Friday. Amazing, I know. The pay isn't great, but it's a steady job. I get to work/play with little kids. I get to read lots and lots of children's' books!!!!! (Very cool!) And lots of other kid-things.
Keep me in your prayers, and the kids. This is my first "teaching" job.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Baby Boutique

I just thought I'd share this web site with any moms, moms-to-be, future moms, or anyone needing a baby gift ever. My friend, Krista, has her own business. She started it back in February, so I'm not sure where I was that I'm just now finding this all out. Anyway check it out when you have a minute. It's too cute!

Pool Party

Finally! The rest of the pictures from last Sunday. In addition to eating lunch at my aunt's, we also had a pool party/cook-out with our Sunday School class, and an open house at Brady's dance school. We were really busy!

Here are the pictures from the pool party.
Braden and Carter riding the waves.

Javen, Josh, and Braden. Josh was getting yelled at by either Javen's mom, Krista, who you will see with me later, or his wife, Nikki. (They're sisters)


Not to be deterred, Josh continued to wrestle with the boys.


It took a little effort, but he managed to throw Brady over his head and onto the raft.

Why is he stretched out and looking a bit full?

Because I needed him to try the dessert we brought. I'd never made it before and wanted him to test it before everyone else. It was a peanut butter cookie with icing, M&Ms, and marshmallows.


Can you see the waves the grown boys are making in the water?
(BTW, Thad and Laura had a little mishap when trying to fix their pool the day before. Instead of buying plain baking soda and pouring that in the pool. They accidentally bought baking soda laundry detergent! Thus the foamy appearance of the waves. But everyone was squeaky clean after they finished swimming!)

Corn Hole/Bag-o

While the kids were swimming, the adults played corn hole/bag-o. (Jon says it's corn hole, but Thad said he found the game online by searching "bag-o")
This was my first time to play, and while I did sink two in a row, Laura and I were slaughtered by Krista and Aubri. Mostly because AFTER we started Krista mentioned that she pitched in high school. She followed my 2 in a row with 3 in a row. Effectively stealing my joy! (That's her behind me in the picture)

Jon perfecting his technique before he and Thad were also beaten by Krista.


You know you're in trouble when the shirt comes off.


The kids took a pool break and played a game as well. Here are Braden (and his belly) and Lauren.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Lunch

The day after the wedding, we gathered for lunch at my Aunt Elsa's house. Many of the family members that came in for the wedding were leaving later that afternoon. We went out for about an hour before leaving for the 2nd of 3 functions we had that afternoon.
(You can never say no to good Mexican food!)

Here I am putting salsa over Jon's food for him. Now he can never say I never got him anything at a family event.

Don't these look disgusting! Bacon wrapped peppers on the grill!


Braden sitting in a row of family enjoying their lunch outside.


And the rest of the family, sitting at one end of the food table.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Mr. and Mrs. Jared Owens

Finally! Wedding pictures from Saturday!

Poor Tyler! Once the wedding party was seated, they quickly discovered that Tyler's glass was filled with Mountain Dew and not beer. That's what happens when you're underage! Sara and Uncle Bill dancing.
Obviously, the bride looked beautiful. But did you notice that Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary looked stunning as well. (They really should dress up more often!)
You know, Dear, sitting there at the edge of the dance floor like that.....
You're just asking for Rachel to come along and make you go dance with her! Chicken dance, that is!

Ryan, Issa, and Mariana flew back from the Texas-Mexico border for the wedding. Mariana had the honor of being the too cute flower girl. After the wedding, pictures, and dinner, it was time for cake!

I love this face Mariana made as she scooped up icing with her finger.

Looks liked it tasted good too!


Later: the poor flower girl had no one to dance with.


Luckily, she has a great older cousin who agreed to dance with her. Danced = spinning around in circles on the dance floor. And it only cost me $1, which he then gave to Sara during the hat race (below).


And later, Silly danced solo.

Hat Race

Instead of having a dollar dance, (where people pay $$ to dance with the bride or groom for part of a song, thus providing the newlyweds with spending money for their honeymoon) Sara and Jared opted to have a hat race. As you can see, they each wore a stylish hat and raced around the hall collecting money from people. They placed a small bet before they began.

The winner: Sara
Her prize: back rubs for a week


As you can see, Sara grabbed and stuffed money anywhere she could.