Long story really short: I needed something for one of my "projects" and had to run to Joann's and Kai wanted to come. We grabbed what I needed and passed the tie dye and minutes later walked out with it. Hmmm, not sure what happened there. Anyway, we did tie dye as a whole family yesterday. Yes, it was wild. Yes, it was MESSY. Yes, it was fun. The kids are so proud of their shirts!
Those of you who know me well know that I have a really hard time when school gets out for the summer and I suddenly don't have to work for 3 months. It's a big change for me. I don't know what to do when I don't have to be accountable for much. Anyway, I find myself doing "projects". I haven't updated my classroom much in the last 2 years due to different things, mostly lack of resources to update with and I was not sure what I was going to be working with last summer. I have done small things like borders and posters, but nothing BIG.
Throughout this school year I was shocked to find that parents actually buy book orders from the Scholastic magazines I send home and I soon began to rack in the teacher points for selling. And when I say buy, I don't mean like a $25 order here and there, like I was used to in Idaho. I mean I was putting in orders of over $200 for each magazine I would send home. Those points are USEFUL! I accumulated a lot of books this year. I actually have what I could call a decent classroom library now. To go along with that you need to have a place to put those books and I have always dreamed of a cute little library corner. This has become my project this summer.
When we moved into this house we no longer had a second family room and thought we would just put the older couch in the bedroom we are using for the toy/family area, but we misjudged the room in there and the fact that the couch won't fit through the door so it was either take it the dump, put it on the lawn with a free sign, or Alicia gets a couch in the classroom. I began thinking of what I could do with this trashy looking, not in great shape couch to make it presentable for the classroom, not to mention less attracted to all those germs. I started looking for ideas and soon found that someone had covered a couch in crazy duct tape and then placed it in the classroom. My mind went WILD! Duct tape...there's mustache duct tape. MUSTACHE people! We all know that I LOVE my mustache decor in the classroom. That's not changing anytime soon. SO I began to think I could easily cover this couch in duct tape and then it would be easy to wash and be ADORABLE and somewhat trashy, but not too trashy. But what would I do with the throw pillows that cover the back of the couch? I decided to just make large pillowcases (I can sew well enough for that) and I would have the perfect seating for my new library.
I have been dealing with some personal health issues for quite some time now, and nothing we have tried in the past years has helped so I went to see a specialist in Rapid City this last week. The kids were excited to go because that meant they got to go to Storybook Island and Dinosaur Park for the first time this summer. They even got ice cream at Storybook Island this time!
Tyrell has been waiting for years to buy himself a truck. We haven't ever been able to afford it. Finally about a week before this last move, there was a sale in which they would give you a certain amount for your trade no matter the condition. The Trailblazer had been declining fast and we were starting to worry it wouldn't make even as far as the school I work at just outside of town. Tyrell saw it as his chance and sure enough it all worked out! His new to him truck has already been put to the test (we were not able to find a moving truck the size we needed or close even a month before the move). It has done several loads and even driven a good distance to pick up a dresser for the boys. He still has to look out the window to see if he is dreaming, but he really did get a truck! I am glad that we could finally make that dream a reality for him!
Since our new journey to WY we have lived in 3 places (yes, that says 3). We haven't even hit our year yet (close,though). I won't go into details of why we have moved so much because I don't think that's really important. I do believe the home we are in now will be long term since we are finally working with owners and they too want long term.
Since we found out that Havyn needed Jr. Kindergarten we were a little leary about what to do this coming year as Kael was supposed to enter Kindergarten as well. We had decided that he if he didn't get into Jr. Kindergarten he would stay in daycare another year so they wouldn't be in the same grade. We also didn't feel like his maturity was where it needed to be for Kindergarten. He's a smart stinker so we were unsure of what would happen. Luckily he made Jr. Kindergarten and he and Havyn will attend the same school in the fall, but not the same grade. He didn't score nearly as low as she did, but his maturity is definitely going to be where I hope to see growth. I kind of feel bad for his teacher. He's a little spit fire, that's for sure!
When Kael was screened for Kindergarten he failed his eye test so we took him to the eye doctor who confirmed that he needed glasses. After several attempts to find the "right" pair we finally ordered some orange miraflex ones. He was bound and determined to have orange glasses and was NOT going to change his mind. Of course, the eye doctor didn't have any in stock and as we were watching him try some others on we feared for the glasses. He was not kind or careful and wouldn't not lend to advice given to him. Miraflex are not easily breakable and are made of a flexible material that lend really well to kids. We looked through catalogs and hardly found any orange, but happened upon one pair that was the right color and size and we prayed. When they came in I was a little scared to take him in to get them. He has worn them with not much prompting or fighting! I was shocked! His first response when he had them on was that rocks look cool with glasses. I don't know that he really knew what rocks looked like before. Poor guy!
Koen and Kai rode a horse! I know I was beyond shocked. Yes, it took quite a while to convince them, but they loved it. The horses belong to the SPED teacher for 3rd/4th grade at my school. She is such a nice person and I have come to really adore her and her friendship over the year.
We were blessed to be able to go to Idaho and visit family for spring break. We did a lot of fun things with both families. We began by having an Easter picnic and egg hunt at Tyrell's sister's house. Then we spent a couple of days with Grandma Teeter (who had just had surgery on her foot so needed our help). It snowed! I was mad! But we did get to hang out with Grandma Teeter longer because of the snow. I don't know that she had too much fun with all the kid movies she had to endure those few days, but we sure liked the conversations and pushing her wheelchair to the bathroom.
Before heading to see my family I went to Jerome to visit with a special friend and her boys. The kids were so excited and got to play at the park for close to 4 hours then have Burger King with their friends. She and I visited and decided it wasn't fair that we only had one afternoon and evening. Hopefully this summer we can go for some more time. The girls went to Target (its coveted, I don't get to go often). We probably had a little more fun than we should have, but it was worth it!
Koen began his fourth grade year and Kai began his first grade year. Havyn was supposed to begin her kindergarten year, but as we all know she was not quite up to par on academics largely because of her premature birth. They did the screening and she scored extremely low and qualified for a Jr. Kindergarten program they have here. We could still choose to put her in Kindergarten, but we knew she would struggle. I think the BEST thing we did for her was say Jr. Kindergarten will work. We told her she qualified for a special class because she is such a smart girl and she didn't know any different. She formed friendships and learned so much! She had such a great teacher and is now beyond ready for Kindergarten. She scored very high on the screener this time. She knows how to write her name, the alphabet, numbers, simple addition, concepts of print, and much more.
