There's a First for Everything...

First Day of my First Year of teaching...

Kid runs away...out the front door of the building...

Lost a kid at dismissal...found her about 30 min. later...

I could go on and on...it was definitely a "first year" experience.:)

Second Year, First Day of School...

Kid poops all over my rugs and pillows in the reading stations...

A screaming mama runs into my room screaming in Espanol and takes her kid out of my class and runs out the door...

Kid cries (screaming cry) until after lunch...(annoying!)

Third Year, First Day of School...

17 of my 22 students don't speak English...(and don't get me wrong...I loved them, but...nuf said...)

Fourth Year, First Day of School...

I better not disclose this one due to confidentiality issues, but lets just say I lost almost twenty pounds the first few weeks of school...most of you who know me know the whole story.:)

Fifth Year, First Day of School...

8:02- Kid pukes...

8:05- Kid pees EVERYWHERE!

10:00ish- fire alarm goes off...smoke in the kitchen...we evacuate...

10:3oish- kid has allergic reaction to the grass we are standing on...carry her to the neighborhood and hang out in the street...

An hour or so later... we eat lunch in our room because the cafe is out of commission...Yippee!

3:00ish...kid pees everywhere AGAIN! ( And I promise we take LOTS of bathroom breaks.:))

My Assistant Principal and I lift the children over the pee puddle so that they can get out the door for dismissal.

This year...

No pukers, pee-ers, poopers, runners...

No fires, allergic reactions or naked children...

Now, don't get me wrong, I still went to bed at 7:30, but it was a pretty uneventful day.:)

There's a first for everything...

Here's to a good year!

Done!

I normally wouldn't put pictures of my classroom on my blog, but I have had THREE people ask me to. So...since I am such a people pleaser...enjoy.:)

Those of you teachers who are reading may be able to relate to me on this...

The other day, my sweet friend Jill, told me about this store that was going out of business (Jill, thanks so much and I had fun at lunch!). I bought this "book display turner thingie" (that is the technical term) and I am absolutely in love. Pitiful, I know... It doesn't take much to get us teachers excited.:) Maybe fewer of my books will go to the book doctor, book heaven (or hell), etc. now that I have a better place for my kiddos to store them.

And this picture has a story behind it...

My sweet dad came at the end of the year and was helping me hang fabric on my walls for this year. I left for a few minutes and came back to this...

This is Kellie...Kellie walked into my room to ask me something and when I wasn't there, he decided to recruit her to help him hang fabric. When I returned, I was a little surprised at the sight and decided to introduce my dad to Kellie, my principal.:) Luckily, she is very helpful and would have probably volunteered to do this had she known I needed help, but I just thought it was funny.:)

Happy Friday!

HELP!

OK, now that I have your attention, I have a few questions for you.

1. Karson and I are looking for a used elliptical to purchase for those days where there is just not enough time for a gym trip. If you have one or if you know someone who has one, please let me know!

2. We are planning a Europe trip for next summer. Usually, when we plan a trip, I just bug all of my friends for their advice. Now that we have a blog, I thought this might be a little more efficient. :) We will be gone for about a month and would like to visit Great Britain, Ireland and maybe a few places in Northern or Eastern Europe. For those of you who have been, do you have any helpful tips or "must sees" to recommend? Also, would you recommend Prague or Amsterdam? I think we will have time for one of those, but not both, so I would love any suggestions.:) Thanks in advance!

Alaska: Part Deux

To begin...

One of the first things that we did was go fishing. It was my birthday present from my dad. It was me and five guys on a boat and lots of bloody fish. I can't find the pictures of me with my fish, but I caught the two biggest salmon. The boys were jealous!

On our fishing boat...

Once the cruise began, our first stop was Juneau. We went on an amazing bike ride around the lake and visited Mendenhall Glacier. It was awesome!

Our second stop was Skagway. We went on a helicopter ride and dogsled adventure there. It was probably one of the most, if not the most, spectacular things that I have ever done. I would highly recommend it!

View from the helicopter... At camp...

Action shot...

The dog camp...

We got to spend time with the dogs...

and their new puppies...

Approaching Hubbard Glacier...

And this...

My friends...

Is called "calving"...

We didn't get very good pictures of it except for at the very beginning because I was busy bothering Karson asking him if we were going to die when the glacier hit us...
By the time we left the Hubbard Glacier, it had lost this whole section. It was an unbelievably loud sound...like the loudest thunder that you have ever heard. Our captain was actually talking to us when it happened and he got really excited and said it was the biggest one that he had ever seen.

Lucky us...and you will be glad to know that we didn't die when the glacier hit us...

They were playing in the wake of our cruise ship...

Meanwhile, back on the ship...

Don't ask...


These our our Australian friends that we sat with every night. We had so much fun getting to know them. They invited us to come stay with them in Australia. Maybe that will be our next trip!

Mystery Dinner Night...

And this is at a port in Alaska known for its' ziplines. This is the view starting out the longest and the fastest of the ziplines...

And this is what happens when your glove gets completely wrapped inside the wheel of the pulley and your pulley comes off the cable and you go from about 40-60 mph to 0 mph in about half a second...Once I realized that I hadn't died, but was merely hanging 200 ft. off of the ground by my safety latch (Thank God for those) they came and rescued me. Whew!
Once we docked, we stayed a few days in Canada. The pictures aren't loading. Argh!

But, we did get to spend our last night in the honeymoon suite of the Hyatt. Free upgrades are great! Happy Fifth anniversary honey! I know...longest blog entry ever...

Home Again, Home Again...

OK, so you'll have to indulge me for a few minutes as I take you on a little blast from the past.:) Karson and I just got back from a little trip to Alaska. One of the things that I was looking forward to the most was seeing where I used to live in Alaska.

Then...

Yes, that's me in the corner of the picture...
The blue station wagon in the corner of the picture is the car that I drove in high school. Yikes!

Now...
We decided to "fly" down the hill like in the good old days...cheesy, I know...

The family who currently lives in the house that my parents built let us tour the inside and outside of the house. It was lots of fun. I even got to see my favorite hiding place in my old bedroom. It brought back a few fun memories!

We even ate breakfast at the McDonald's where I had my third birthday.

I know Karson was thrilled beyond measure.:)

I promise that the "real" Alaska blog will come soon. Thanks for indulging me for a few moments!