First Day of School

Well, I can't believe I am actaully typing this!  This is my 8th first day of teaching picture!  It is hard for me to believe that I have been teaching for that long but every year it is so amazing.  I love my job and there is nothing that I would rather do!  It is so much fun and the best part is that every year I get to start over again.  I get a new group of kiddos and build relationships that are unforgettable.  I am so blessed.  I have had over 200 kiddos who have impacted my life in more ways that they will ever know.  It is just a rewarding job to say the least.  Difficult...at times.  Hard...very.  Fun....always!  This year is going to be a little different because I will be taking some time off to stay home with my own babies, but I will think about this new group of kiddos every day!

Here is a picture of me on my first day of school.  Thanks for the outfit mom!  I love it!

I had to include Bret too!

Back to School!

Well, the 2013-2014 school year is underway!  Here is just a sneak peak into my classroom.  I decided to go with the black and white theme this year and add a little bit of color.  Mostly bright colors.  I really like my classroom and the lay out of it this year.  Being almost 8 months pregnant at the beginning of the year I am finding that I am sitting a lot on a rolling chair and my classroom arrangement is easy for me to maneuver in and out of areas.  This board below is my jolly phonics board.  The students will learn all these sounds by the end of October.  It is amazing how much they reference these throughout the year for both reading and writing.  Under the jolly phonics are their mailboxes where they keep their binder and important papers and to the right of the mail boxes are math manipulatives for math workshop!  It is a great way for students to access supplies instantly and in an organized fashion.

 This next picture is from the back of my classroom looking at the front of the classroom.  My desk is to the left and the smart board is directly in front.  I have 23 amazing little kiddos and I think this is going to be a great year.  We have only been in school for 3 days so far but so far so good!  I hope it continues to improve and everyone jells together!  Table numbers and colors are hanging down from the ceiling.  This is something that I added this year to give the classroom a "fun" feel!

 

The colored boxes of yellow, pink, green, and blue are their book boxes for readers workshop and above them is the word wall that will contain all their kindergarten sight words.

Calendar area....it is not yet  complete because as we introduce numbers and shapes, I will add those things to this area.

Below are a few pictures of Bret's classroom!  We went in on Saturday before school started and did some decorating.  He is sharing a classroom this year with a math teacher.  Government and math don't really go together but they are doing a great job at sharing,  Bret has the back of the classroom.

 

 

                                    

 

I decorated the bulletin board below.  He had a TON of stuff he wanted to put on this bulletin board and I tried to organize it in an organized fashion that made sense.  I think I did a good job!

 

Well that sums up Back to School 2013.  I will post first day of school pictures soon!  This year is going to be filled with a lot of changes.  Me being one not to take much time off of work will take 8 plus weeks off to stay home with the babies starting in October.  Bret changed school districts so that has been another huge adjustment for our family and when the babies are born, our entire world will turn upside down once again.  However, we are embracing the changes and know that this will be the best thing for our family.  Thank you for your continued support and prayers!  They are heard every day! We are so blessed by God's love and grace! 

Making Jam

One evening while Bret and I were still in Washington, we decided that we should make some strawberry jam.  Mom was making spaghetti for dinner and Grant and Taryn happened to stop by.  We invited them to stay for dinner and then convinced them to make some strawberry jam with us.  I think we ended up making 6 batches of jam and got about 40 jars.  Bret loves jam and we shared it with my family as well.  We brought the majority of it back with us to Kansas City.  There is nothing that tastes better than fresh strawberry freezer jam!  Thanks to Clark's Berry Farm for the best strawberries in the Pacific Northwest!

We had a great system going.  Grant, Bret, and Taryn were mixing the strawberries and the sugar.  Mom was cooking the pectin on the stove and when the sugar/berry mix was ready, they would yell out "Pectin Me"  The first few batches went really well and then things started to get a little crazy.

We had a MESS but it was TONS of fun!  I was filling the jars with the jam and then Taryn was adding the lids and rings and cleaning up the mess!  Thanks Taryn!

My silly brother!  This is when things started to get a little crazy, but oh so fun!  I hope we can do this next year with babies running around our feet!

Bret and Mom

 

And the final product!  Yummy strawberry jam!  I think I am craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich right now!  We followed the recipe in the pectin box and it always turns out perfectly.  Thanks for all the help and fun memories!

Family

When we go to Washington in the summer, we spend a lot of time with my mom's side of the family.  Here are some random pictures of different events.  Believe me, these are not ALL the cousins.  There are still TONS of them missing!

Me and Grandma and Grandpa

Amanda and sweet Oliver

Kennedy, Taryn, Jacqueline, Aubree, and Maddie

Saying good-bye at Silver Lake Scouts

Going "Home"

Going to Washington in the summer has always been something I look forward to!  I love my family more than anything and I enjoy being able to spend some quality time with each of them.  The memories, chats, events, and spontaneous adventures is something that I will cherish forever and I hope that the babies look forward to it just as much as I do.  I love spending time with my family, but I especially love spending time with these two cuties!  Jackson and Jessi are a slice of heaven and I am so blessed to have them as my nephew and niece.  They are sweet, fun, goofy, silly, crazy, and all around the best kiddos in the world. 

Jackson and his doggy Max

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Jackson is a pro riding his gator.  I can't believe how well he can navigate it and he is not even 3 yet!  He will be driving farm tractors soon!

Jackson playing in his sand box with Indy.  They became instant friends!

I got to watch Jessi over night while Melissa and Carl spent the night away for her birthday.  I went to check on Jessi and this is what I found!  She is so sweet and precious.  Sleeping beauty for sure!

Jessi eyeing the cupcakes!  She at several of them, or at least the frosting.

Melissa and Jessi doing a dance. 

Kristie and her favorite little man!

Jessi and Jackson.... best friends forever!

Colorado Trip-Memorial Day

On Memorial day weekend, Bret, his mom, Glenna, and I decided we better take one more road trip before our little family of 2  becomes a big family of 4.  Bret's Uncle Gary, Glenna's brother, lives in Boulder, Colorado.  It is about an 8 hour drive from our house so we left on Saturday morning.  Everything was going great until we hit a nasty, and I mean NASTY, hail storm just as we entered Colorado.  I have never seen anything like it before.  My car now has about 30 plus dents on it and I had a few tears, ok maybe more than a few, but I eventually got over it and we made the best out of the trip.  Besides, it is just a car and it can always be fixed.

We had a great time even though it was short.  Bret went to a brewery with his uncle and it was fun to hang out with them and chat.  Colorado is beautiful and we hope to get back there again someday and do some hiking!

Gender Reveal-Washington

On June 8th, I flew to Washington with Bret following closely behind, to share the news with my family!  I am SO blessed with the most amazing, supportive family a girl could ask for.  Even though I have lived away from "home" for about 7 years (I can't believe its been that long) they still treat me as if I have never moved away!  They are amazing and I am so blessed!  It was VERY difficult for me not to share the most exciting news with my family when I arrived on Saturday evening but I knew that Sunday was going to be a great day!  All of my mom's side of the family was there along with a few of my friends and it was the BEST!  My favorite cousin Katie made the most DELICIOUS cupcakes and she filled them with PINK and BLUE frosting.  It was perfect. 

My amazing family in my mom's new house!  It is a beauty!  She has worked so hard on her house and made it to be such a warm, welcoming, inviting HOME!

My amazing sister Melissa and my sweet niece Jessi

We had a wonderful taco dinner!  Thanks to everyone for bringing something to enjoy!

All the pregnant "Wagter" girls.  Kristie Due November 8, Taryn due December 1 and I am due October 25.  Kristie is waiting to find out her genders but Taryn is having a little girl.

Jessi LOVED the cupcakes!

Everyone wrote down their gender guesses. 

What a cutie!

The BEST cupcakes in the world!  Thanks Katie!  Everyone LOVED them!