Babysitting Fun

Hello Everyone!  

Last weekend we had a great time hanging out with the Stucky family (Danielle, Bryan, Makenah & Logan)!!  We hosted their family for two nights, and had the privilege to babysit!  We had such a blast!  Aaron made an excellent lunch of PB&J with cheese sticks and grapes.  Yum!  

After lunch Logan went down for a nap and Makenah got our undivided attention.

This picture makes me smile so much!

Makenah and I got to take a short stroll around the block, water the plants in the front and back yard, and pick a bouquet of fall flowers!  Such a sweet, crafty girl.

School News!  It was fire safety week at school!  I sang a "Stop, Drop and Roll" song to the tune of Three Blind Mice, many times this week.  (I bet you're singing it in your head now...hehe)  We had the fire department do a little show for us and take a tour of the truck cab!  Many of the kids were terrified of the man breathing out of a scary tank.  Yikes!  Next week we're on to Fall apples and making applesauce!

Happy Weekend Ya'll!

-Maria

House news and the dog!

Hi folks!  We will officially be closing on our current duplex October 18th, and on our new house the same day!  We are both very excited to move and make it our own!  We are planning to start moving Monday the 14th, so that we can be completely out of the house by Friday.  I have a short Fall Break from work on October 17-18th, so it's perfect timing!

I thought you might enjoy seeing a few cute pictures of Casey!

Sometimes he humors us and runs up the ramp, but it's not really his favorite.

He is always in need of a good brushing...

..and he sure sheds a lot! 

I love hanging out with this guy on the weekends, especially with this beautiful Fall weather!

Such handsome men!  (Sporting the awesome CHEIFS!!)

Oh and sometimes there are other dogs at the park who like to pester Casey Boy.

He is very good at dealing with the young pups chasing him.

Here's to a busy next couple of weeks moving!  

I can't wait to post pictures when we are all moved in to the new house!!!!

-Maria

Work Happenings

This is what I have been working on for the last month or so in my down time. 

This deck is built at one my dad's rental properties in Hesston.

I was very happy with how everything came together!

Aaron

House Details!

Exciting news happening here in our house!  We have a sign in the front yard that is incorrect...it should read UNDER CONTRACT!  Yay!  After about four house viewings, one man from Kentucky made an offer on both sides of the duplex.  This coming week there will be an inspection on the place and hopefully soon we'll be able to finalize details!  About two blocks away we recently found a house for sale that we like!  It was built around 1900 and has a lot of character!  We are excited about the garage, nice backyard, and the many updates that the previous owner made.  We do have a few things that we'll want to update if all goes as planned!  Check it out here!  http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/224-S-Weaver-St-Hesston-KS-67062/1332803_zpid/

Our Saturday consisted of sleeping in, shopping, napping, and baking!  Oh and you can't forget college Football!  I really like to bake or cook something new on the weekends or make an oldie, but goodie, recipe from my mom :)

I also took a few shots from the classroom this week!  We used these math sorting mats to play a game called, "Give me....one, one more, etc."  We used cubes and then teddy grahams later in the week to go along with our bear theme for the week.  Yum!

This little cutie is putting together a very popular puzzle in our classroom!  

An alphabet train!  I would love to post a class picture, but for safety reasons I can't.  

Happy Weekend!!

Maria

Quick Update

Hi all! 

It's in the 60's here and feeling like Fall weather! I'm looking forward to apples, pumpkins, and wearing sweatshirts!  Aaron and I are doing great these days! Despite busy schedules, we seem to always find time to spend together, watch sports with friends, and enjoy our weekends!  I haven't taken many good pictures lately, so I hope you can accept a plain blog post.

This weekend has already been fun, and it's only Friday night!  On Thursday evening I piled in the car with some colleagues from work for a conference in Kansas City, MO.  The conference was called Handwriting Without Tears. Literally the goal of the program is to help children love to write, draw, and practice good grip control...without any tears!  The presenter was very energetic and reminded me so much of Bryan Stucky's mom, Debbie. (Billings/Stucky fam, does she happen to have a sister?).  We walked away from the conference with 2 full bags of supplies that could be implemented into my Pre-K classroom on Monday morning! How exciting!  And wouldn't you know it, Aaron and I crossed paths on the road home tonight. He was headed to a Royals game with his buddies, while I was headed home from KC.

We also have some exciting news happening with our house! News to come very soon! :)

PreK Classroom

Hi all!  It's been awhile since I've written.  It seems like all at once things got busy around here.  This post is devoted to my classroom!  Below is the bulletin board for all of the new district teachers, and I have added a close up of my picture.  Feeling welcomed already.

Classroom tour begins here!

Games Center.

Blocks Center. I have strategically turned around many of my shelves so that the kids are not overwhelmed with so many new and fun things to use.

My SmartBoard!  I also traded my shapes carpet for a bigger train carpet with letters.

Cubbies for completed work/art projects.  They have lockers in the hallway for their backpacks.

Front of the door with my afternoon class names.

Inside of the door with my morning kids names.  These cupcakes were reused from my 2nd grade class.  Mom do you recognize them?  :)

And below is my favorite part of the room!  The library nook!  When we had Open House night for the families it seemed that the kids went straight there before going anywhere else in the room!

Math and Writing center supplies

Science Center complete with many cool bones, discovery bottles, and magnifying glasses.

Some bugs in the Science center.

Sensory table.  Next week it will be filled with yellow play dough.

The colorful curtains made by my mother!  Everyone gives compliments on them when they come in!

A bulletin board ready for student work!

And finally my storage area over flowing with paper and projects.  To the right, behind the filing cabinet, is my desk.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! It's my first time in PreK so I'm sure some things will change as I see the kids learning and playing together.  Happy Labor Day!

Maria 

Hesston Farm Parade

On Saturday Aaron and I decided to take Casey to the Hesston dog park.  Bad idea.  It's been so rainy and the park still had wet grass and puddles all over.  Casey got a bit dirty playing with the frisbee!  Oh and he got tired fairly quickly. ha!  After our quick and fun excursion, we saw some big machinery taking their places on the road so we took a little walk up the street.

Whoa.  Big stuff.

Casey was such a good boy!  And some little kids were very interested in him :)

School work days have begun!  Classroom cuteness to come!

Maria