Welcome to the world of Kindergarten

There are duties I have taken on that I never imagined when I accepted the job as a Kindergarten teacher. I love them. I love every part of teaching. I get a good chuckle when I sit back and process through all the things I actually say or do on a daily basis. I'm sure my mother the preschool teacher can relate to most, if not all, of these.

* I apply an average of 3 band-aids per day
* I tie probably 14 shoe laces- double knotted- in any given day.
* I give LOTS of hugs.
* I receive even MORE hugs than I give and I love them!
* I get to say things like, "You may not chew on my clothes" or "You're right, eating the snow with sticks IS a bad idea". :)
* I talk to, laugh at, and take pictures of our classroom pet, Helen, the hamster. She truly is a "friend" that I look forward to seeing every morning.
* I get to do things like put puzzles together, build marble runs, and play hangman every day.
*So far, our toughest feat is conquering the difference between penny, nickel, and dime. We're still working on this.
* I am offered snacks with fingerprints melted into or slobbered onto them nearly every morning during snack time. I kindly decline each offer.
* My students love to present me with plates full of plastic watermelon, french fries, or pizza. These meals are usually accompanied by a 2 oz. cup of "coffee" because they know I love it.
* I received a rose from one of my little boys today. It is sitting in a vase on my desk.
* One of our favorite things to do is "alphasize", which includes invisible punching bags, running in place, invisible jump ropes and jumping jacks. We're always out of breath by the end of the song.
* I have endless opportunities to speak in accents and strange voices. This does not only happen during story time. Sometimes we practice the calendar date over and over in whichever character I throw to them. Some of our favorites include: pirates, Iron Man, Hanna Montana, Helen (the hamster), and Mr. Navratil, the principal.


I am exhausted at the end of each day. However, I'm beginning to think that Kindergarten really is where I belong! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement this year!

Snow day- take 2

Another snow day! Our district closed school already last night- so I went to bed with an extra skip in my step as I switched my alarm to OFF. :)

Today is filled with music, laundry, baking, tidying up.....all of the things I love about having a home.

Today we were supposed to have our Valentine's day party in Kindergarten. Thankfully, I brought Helen the hamster home last night. I didn't want to transport her in the snow and I knew we were getting some weather. She's happily here with me- snoozing the day away.

I'm off to the kitchen. My man will be home around 11 for lunch- and I want to have something warm and yummy waiting for him. Ciao!

25 years old!

My birthday was on the 30th. Nate and I took the day off from work and headed down to KC for a couple of days of shopping and being away from responsibilities here.

My husband is wonderful and woke me up with this:

Then when I got in the shower, I found THIS:

And when we got there, we stayed in this really fun hotel in the heart of downtown KC:

AND, there was an elephant waiting in our room. :)