The Gittins' Reunion

My Mother-in-law's side of the family has a reunion pic-nic near the end of Augustat Mack Park in Smithfield, Utah. My newlywed niece, Brittany and her new hubby, Daniel stopped in on their way home to Oregon. They had been on a honeymoon trip to Glacier NP, Yellowstone and a few other places. The boys enjoyed playing in the sand and playground at Mack Park. Troy enjoyed leaving right as family news started so I could be the spokesman for the family. I enjoyed the food and company. This reunion reminds me of the Freestone reunions that Mom used to drag us to. I've found these to be more enjoyable because I actually make an effort to visit with people and get to know them instead of whining in the corner that everything was boring (sorry, Mom). Kira liked sucking on Brittany's shoulder. This is their first meeting!
The Honeymooners in Smithfield. Welcome to the family, Dan!
T.J. enjoys climbing playground equipment.
Douglas enjoys climbing the dirt hill behind the playground and sliding back down.
Why did I buy him white shorts?

Survival of the Kindergarten Teacher

Well, I officially survived my first week of teaching Kindergarten. Even though it's my 11th year of doing it, the first days never get easier! I really do have some terrific kids, and think it will be a great year. I always have a few funny first day stories to share.

BUS
I was talking to the kids about being safe on the bus, sitting in your seat, face forward, etc. A little girl asked me if there were seatbelts on the bus. I told her there weren't any seatbelts. She looked at me questioningly and asked, "Hmmmm, do buses get pulled over??".

Playground Manners
After our first recess, I discussed some things with my students about what I liked seeing and hearing. I said, "I saw kids taking turns going on the slide, and I even heard someone say excuse me when they needed to get by". I then had a little girl raise her hand and say, "That would be me" with a darling, precocious attitude. So funny!

Tattling on Mom
I was reading a story called "The Night Before Kindergarten" where the kids come to school, and were so brave, but the parents wouldn't leave and were sad. One girl told me that her mom bawled the whole way to school before dropping her off. Poor mommy.

Swearing
I had a little guy climbing on the playground chains who got nervous when the chains stared shaking/wiggling. He exclaimed, "Oh Sh*^%, Oh Sh%$#, several times before I walked over and pulled him aside for a little chat about a different word he could choose since we don't say that word at school. It is so hard not to crack up when Kindergartners swear.

Should be a fun adventure this year!

Fabulous 4th Grade

Here is T.J. on his unofficial first day of fourth grade. They took 9 kids from each class to create another 4th grade class. He was happy that he was able to stay with his same teacher, Mrs. L. Anderson.

T.J. also created some lists of the best and worst things about 4th Grade at Mountainside Elementary.

TOP TEN THINGS ABOUT MY NEW SCHOOL:

1. We get "Cool Cash" and get to spend it at a 4th grade "mall" in the gym.

2. We use mechanical pencils.

3. Mountainside has an extremely cool playground that we finally get to play on (fast slide, rock wall, monkey bars, and a swingy doo-hickey).

4. Four Square at recess.

5. Nice big classrooms that are cool looking.

6. Our teacher picks a "Teacher's Pet" for the day.

7. We have a student of the week.

8. We have class meetings.

9. The name of our school is cool.

10. Automatic lights, toilets, sinks and papertowels.

BOTTOM TEN THINGS ABOUT MY NEW SCHOOL

1. I have to make new friends.

2. I have to walk to guitar lessons.

3. I miss the teachers at Lincoln.

4. We get in trouble for putting our feet up on chairs.

5. We have tables instead of desks.

6. The Kindergarten hall is hard to find.

7. The lunchroom is the same place as the gym. They drop a curtain down for lunchtime to divide the room, and then the gym is smaller than the lunchroom. The gym should be the bigger part.

8. The library isn't done yet, and I want to check out books.

9. There aren't any bike racks, yet. The bikes just have to lean against the wall and a bike fell on me once.

10. I miss baby Kira all day.

I enjoyed sitting with TJ to create these lists. It was fun to see what he noticed and cared about. I can definitely agree with #10 on the Bottom ten list.

First Day of First Grade

Douglas was excited for the 1st day at his brand new school. Here he is in my classroom before school started (notice I still have a few boxes left). Kindergarten will start next week. Thank goodness I still have a few days to finish getting ready. The kids got to eat sack lunches in the hallway so the gym floor could cure for a few more days. The playground wasn't ready so the principal bought a bunch of jumpropes and balls. Douglas said he practiced jumproping every recess. The school is looking good and almost all the way complete. Douglas enjoyed his first day.
Here is Douglas with his new teacher, Mrs. White. She met with the kids one-on-one before school started to visit with them and check skills. She asked Douglas if he had any allergies and he shared, "I'm allergic to salad." I really had no idea this was the case! We have a 15 minute commute home. Douglas was out in 5.
I'll have to share TJ's first day of school later. He missed the official 1st day because his dad kidnapped him and took him to Arizona to see Tom Petty in concert. Can you believe a teacher's son sluffed the first day of school? I saw TJ's class touring the school without him on the 1st day. The line went on and on and on (34 kids!). Our school district recently approved another teacher addition, and hired another 4th grade teacher. Yeah for smaller classes! The new teacher will start on Tuesday. We're not sure if TJ will be shifted or not.

The Pooping Chair

Kira loves her bouncy chair. She enjoys batting and grabbing the dangling toys, but her favorite thing to do in the bouncy chair is to poop. Nearly everytime I put her in the bouncy chair, she does it. Because of the angle she sits at, it is nearly impossible to keep the poop in the diaper due to pressure and force of the BM. This often creates a lovely mess. I don't normally take pictures of this sort of thing, but I just wanted you to understand the full scope of the pooping chair.

Kira also went in for her 4 month check-up and got her shots. She weighs 14 pounds and is 25 and a half inches long. She is in the 85th percentile for height and weight. She still has a little head, though. Her head circumference is only in the 12th percentile. Don't you love her little fat rolls? She did okay with the shots. The only adverse effects happened the next day - she cried unconsolable for about an hour.

Cool in the Pool

Here are a few pictures of the boys enjoying their last dip in the pool during summer break. I wanted to squeeze in a pool day before school started. They didn't want to take swimming lessons this year- they said they could practice and teach themselves-ha, ha (Should I make them try lessons again next year?). TJ is getting better and can swim underwater pretty well. Douglas likes to jump off the side and do "tricks" in the water. He also likes to hang out in the hot tub. He refused to look at the camera for a picture, but I still got an okay profile shot.

School Countdown

I am going to be teaching at a brand new school this year- so new that I couldn't move in until yesterday. Back-to-school night is on Tuesday... so I only have 4 days (I'm not counting Sunday) to get my boxes unpacked, my classroom organized, get packets ready for back-to-school night, and get ready to actually do something with 45 kids who have never been to school before! I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment. Troy and the boys are gone to Oregon for my niece's wedding. I'm sad I had to miss it. I'm already missing them, but it is nice to not have to worry about them while I'm concentrating on preparing for school. It's one of my 4 most stressful weeks of my life each year (#1-Starting school, #2-Parent conferences in the Fall, #3-Parent conferences in the Spring, #4-Ending school). The school doesn't really look ready, yet. They were just paving the road to get to the school today. The lunchroom, gym and front office aren't even close. I'm still missing some baseboards and shelves. I'm really starting to like my classroom, though. My dad pointed out the amazing view of the Wellsville Mountains from my window. I'll have to post a picture later. It is going to be a new and exciting adventure for all of us. I just hope I'm ready in time. Ready or not... here they come!

Plum Tree for Sale

Every summer the boys have an annoying chore to do... cleaning up the plums that have fallen from the plum tree. These plums are soooo messy! The tree is too high to pick from, the plums aren't that great to eat (sour and mushy), and people have to dodge their way around the fallen plums to get to our door. Last night, we had a wind storm so we had lots of plums to pick up this morning.
Douglas likes this chore, especially when we get to hose off the porch after picking them up. He also found out that the white van looks pretty cool with smashed plums on it. Guess who got to clean the van, too?

Kira is 4 months old!

Think my 4 month old is sitting up on her own? Nah, but she likes to try. I'm holding her hand off camera. What a little flirt!
Kira is such a happy baby, and loves her new voice. She loves to yell and scream (happily) now- especially in public places. Lately she has made every effort to make herself known at the library, the bank, and best of all... church. I pretty much spent church in the hallway. I wasn't prepared for the squeals and screams. My boys didn't come with that. This is typical Kira. She sucks her two fingers while signing "I love you". She traded the binky for her fingers when she was about 2 months old. I love that she puts herself to sleep this way. Hopefully it won't become a public habit that I'll have to break in a few years.

Silly Douglas

Douglas is hilarious as most of you know. I don't know how he fits all that personality into one little body. The picture above is a typical Douglas face- complete with a mysterious smear on his cheek. I often saw him at school with something smeared there in the afternoon. I really do teach him how to use a napkin. Douglas is silly, playful, strong-willed, and snuggly. I wanted to make a little section of this blog dedicated to Douglas stories.

CHOCOLATE MILK:

Douglas was excited about his new Nike outfit that we got for him when the weather warmed up this past spring. I was eating lunch with his teacher in his kindergarten room, when Douglas is marched in by a teacher assistant. He was in trouble for spitting milk on a little girl. This was suprising because Douglas usually is sweet on the girls, and pretty nice. He had to miss recess, and I had a little chat with him. I tried not to crack up after his explanation: "I was drinking my milk and started choking on it. I had to cough, but I didn't want to get chocolate milk on my new Nike shirt, so I turned my head and Alyssa was just there." Poor Alyssa.

KIRA CAN STAND UP NOW:

Douglas loves his baby sister. Even after 4 months, he is still thrilled with holding her and playing with her. When she was about 2 months old, he was talking to her in the other room and I heard her let out a wail. I came running in, and Douglas looked so confused. He said, "I tried to stand her up". I was soooo mad and started ranting about being careful.. she's just little... blah, blah, blah. Then he said, "Well, if she can't stand up, why is she wearing shoes?"

Do you have any funny Douglas stories? Feel free to comment. Watch for more in the near future. I've got to start blogging all of them before I forget.

Preston Rodeo

My boys look forward to the Preston Rodeo each year. The funny thing is, we never go to the actual rodeo. We just enjoy the events surrounding it. For three nights, they have a little parade filled with tractors, horses, trucks, and best of all... CANDY! Everyone in the parade throws candy. TJ enjoys the thrill of getting as much candy as possible. This year we filled up two grocery sacks full. I typically end up using most of it for my classroom. We also go to the carnival at least one night. TJ and I rode on the Ferris Wheel. Douglas rode the dragon coaster. Troy and TJ helped move in and take our parade spot. We like to take over the cross-walk after they close off Main Street.
Douglas was a picky parade participant. He only picked up the candy he liked, and then he ate it straight away. No bag for him.
Troy's family enjoys watching our kids dive for candy more than watching the parade itself. Seated behind us were Ashley (my neice), Michelle (Troy's sister), Sue (Troy's sister) and my mother-in-law.

Kira didn't really get excited about the parade. She did have fun licking the waterbottle as demonstrated on her shirt. Also demonstrated above is the face she likes to make most of the time. She likes to play with her tongue and often has it hanging out like that. Funny duck.