Unexpected opportunity

This afternoon I braved the freezing temperatures and finished the photo shoot with Kyle and his son Connor outside of their home. What a different experience! It was so much fun taking pictures of them playing in the snow and the cold did not deter Connor from showing off his best smile. I haven't had a chance to edit their photos yet, but as soon as I do I'll post them here.

One surprising and exciting thing did happen while I was photographing Kyle and Connor: Kyle's landlord asked and paid me to take pictures of his friend and his wife in front of the house. Hooray for unexpected opportunities and networking! Since I am not acquainted with these people, I decided to edit their photos first. One of the pictures was by far the best, so I played with it and came up with these different options for them. Hopefully they like at least one of them and it leads to more "business" in the future.

Now I want to think up a name and have a business logo and card designed. Plus I want to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop. Ambitious? Good!

Happy New Year!

Love having friends with cute kids...

Wednesday I got to spend a wonderfully relaxing day with Lyndie and the kids. I love hanging out with Lyndie for so many reasons. Some of them, in no particular order, are:

1. I just all around love her.

2. We can just sit around and talk, play with the kids, and watch a movie and it is enough for us.

3. We have amazing (yet kind of ridiculous) ideas - such as having a cupcake business together this summer.

4. We then sit around and brainstorm cupcake flavors (and I write them down because we both know we'll never remember).

5. We share our lives with each other.

6. We love to eat.

7. And she lets me stick my camera in her children's faces in order for me to practice my photography skills.

The only problem is that I go back to work next week (yes I realize I'm complaining after having 2 weeks off...boo-hoo, poor me, yada-yada) and will not be able to come up on a random Wednesday, bring my friend coffee, and just have decompressing hang out time. Oh well. Looks like I'll have to plan a day off to play. :)

P.S. There are no pictures of Olivia this time because she was too busy running around the house playing with her new doll house. The inability to sit still MAY have been due to the four pancakes she had before I came and then the chocolate milk and chocolate donut that I brought her. But...that's only an educated guess.

First Photo Shoot Part 1

Yesterday I had my first photo shoot! It was of a father and son at City Park. I spent a couple of days thinking about it, coming up with ideas that I thought would be amazing and cute. Envisioned how awesome it would be, how awesome I would be. And then life happened and I was reminded that 4 year olds, no matter how cute and sweet they normally are, can be fickle and decide suddenly that they do not want a strange lady with a husky to take their picture. Ah, the joys of children. Haha. But what can you do, right? It was a beautiful, sunny day in Colorado. The kind of 55 degree December day that makes most of the rest of the country wish they lived in Colorado. So instead of trying to push formal pictures that would certainly not happen, I sat back and snapped pictures as we went. I think I got some great ones and we are going to try again at a playground on Friday. That way they can just play and relax while I try and do my thing.

Oh and after yesterday I fell in love with iPhoto. I'm trying to play with Picasa 3 to try and get over the fact that I do not own a Mac. I'm trying, but as of right now I'm pining for a Mac.

Time flies when you're busy as hell

I can't believe it is almost 2011. I have been so busy finishing the first three chapters of my thesis and finding my way through the first half of my first year of teaching that I haven't had time to update about how the semester ended.

It was a whirlwind first half of the year...and I absolutely loved it. Amanda and I's class is wonderful. Cute, smart, loving, annoying, chatty, funny, etc. etc. I couldn't be luckier to have the job that I have. I love my grade level peers and the awesomeness spills over to the entire staff. It's not often a person gets to say that. It has been a joy and a privilege to see the progress our class has made. The first week of school I couldn't imagine how we would ever get some of those kids from point A to point B. We still aren't there yet, but we are well on our way. They make me smile, they make me laugh, and they drive me crazy. What more could a first year teacher ask for?

Trip to the soccer field

This afternoon Amanda and I went to the last soccer game of two of our students. Luckily for us the girls were playing each other's teams so we were able to cheer on both of them. Colorado did not disappoint today and bought us near 80 degree whether to enjoy while watching both girls play their hardest. Every time one of the girls did something good they would look straight at Amanda and I to see if we had been watching. It's the little extra things we do as teachers that mean the world to these kids and parents. Plus, we had a great time!

Rose and Raven

If you haven't discovered the world of Etsy yet, then you need to. You can find some of the best finds there; handmade, unique, and much of it affordable. Like this amazing necklace I bought from Rose and Raven (www.roseandraven.etsy.com).

Take a tour around. I bet you will be able to find some one-of-a-kind Christmas presents.

The second saddest thing...

The saddest thing other than crying your eyes out all day over a broken heart is listening to your puppy howl along with you.

Someone is always watching

This week I have been sitting back and watching my students. It is amazing to see how much they have already grown in the first month of school. They are starting to get what this first grade thing is all about. The first week of school all I kept thinking was "How on earth are we going to get from where we are now to where we need to be?" As a teacher you tend to look back at your class last year and see how well they were doing and forget that they started out just as clueless.

One thing I've really become aware of is that someone is watching me at all times. I don't think we give children enough credit. They are so observant, so perceptive. Any mother of a toddler can attest to that. You have to be careful what you say around them because you never know what they will repeat. But more than that, the last couple of school days I have been watching and noticing what my students have picked up on. They are starting to use the teacher language we have been using. Starting to try and help out their friends by reminding each other what they are suppose to be doing. My favorite example of this has been watching one of my students, one that drove me nuts the first couple of weeks of school by the way, interact with our nonverbal special ed kiddo. While my co-teacher and I do not know a lot of sign language, we use a little with this student. My co got my attention one day and pointed out how this girl was trying to sign to our special ed boy that he needed to tie his shoe. I have also watched as she has tried to do the sign for "stop" or "line up" to him as well. It makes me smile and giggle, but most importantly it warms my heart. They are watching. They are listening. They are learning. And at the end of the day, it is the very reason why I do what I do.

These are some pictures from our most recent "Fun Friday." We finished our rocks unit and for Fun Friday they got to paint "pet rocks."

In an instance

In an instance. That's how quickly life changes. That's how fast the perfect weekend can turn into the worst. That's how quickly my heart can go from happy to devastated. And what do you do when the person that made you cry is the person you usually turn to to help you stop?

Introducing....

...Wendell!

Wendell is the newest addition to Amanda and I's first grade classroom. I picked up this cute little guy last night at Petsmart. I know what you are thinking, fish, especially Betta fish, are boring. Here is my reasoning behind it: 1) I got the idea after the rest of the first grade team and I planned our oceans habitat unit; 2) If he dies, heaven forbid, I won't be too sad, well maybe a little; and 3) I will not be feeding anything live to any animal which rules out lizards, frogs, etc.

Wendell is an incredible hit in our classroom. The kids were so excited. Here are my two favorite parts about the Wendell/class interactions today:

1) At calendar time we went over the rules for Wendell. Like: don't tap on the aquarium, only Miss L. feeds Wendell for now, and then most importantly don't try and touch Wendell. After that I asked if there were any quick questions about Wendell. The last question came from one of my boys who is known for thinking out of the box and not necessarily always in the "I'm behaving" kind of way. Here was his question: "WHY can't we touch Wendell?" Seeing the glint in his eye this was my immediate response: "Because he will instantly die. So (insert student's name here) are we going to touch Wendell?" Student: "Noooooooo." :)

2) At snack later in the afternoon I was sitting at my desk talking to Miss Rosie and checking email. There is one table of students that is right in front of my desk. They started talking to me about Wendell and I told them that I thought I should put up some kind of sign and they completely agreed with me. I told them to talk together and think of something for me to write. Then one little boy from the table blurted out that I should write "Never touch the fish!" Hahaha. I guess I got through to all of them about not trying to touch the fish.

Lastly, maybe you are asking yourself "Self, why did Kim name her fish Wendell?" Well, I wanted a very non-fish name and Wendell just kind of came to mind. Also, just look at the picture of the fish and call him Wendell. You can't help but smile and laugh. Which is exactly what I wanted.

Weekend away

This weekend Juno and I drove up to Craig, CO to see Matt for the first time in 3 weeks. It was a long drive, but so worth it! Not only because it meant the family was all back together, but because it was relaxing and refreshing. Which after the first 2 weeks of school was definitely needed.

Saturday morning we went out to breakfast at a really good mom and pop place, went fishing, and Matt took us to the ranch to show us around. Juno was hilarious around the horses. It was his first time being that close to an animal so much bigger than him. He'd be in the corral with Matt and I, nose-to-nose with one horse and another would sneak up behind him to check him out. Juno would jump and turn and then back out just far enough so they weren't too close. And then there was the darn goat that thought he was a horse. Since he was smaller Juno OF COURSE decided that this would be a good playmate. Juno should thank his lucky stars that he was faster than the goat because at one point the goat started charging Juno. Let's just say that my puppy is not always aware when he is pissing something off. Oh! And Juno is not a water dog. Matt carried him to the middle of the river when we were fishing and made Juno swim back. That dog is not graceful in the water. Good thing we live in snow country and not on the coast.

Like always the weekend ended quickly and after hanging out at the ranch for a couple of hours on Sunday Juno and I headed back home. We miss Matt, but are looking forward to hopefully seeing him in 2 weekends.