1st grade Singin' their Spring Thing

I have loved teaching elementary music this year. Last year, when I began in February, I was stressed out from day one until the last day of school. But this year was totally different. I was glad to be able to start teaching at the beginning of the school year and instill my own ideas into the classroom, and create my own schedule of performances, and produce a plan to execute all the ideas and schedules.

I really get along with a lot of my students, but I admit that I especially loved my 1st grade students this year...they were so sweet! Last year, I loved teaching Kindergarten the best, and I thought it was because of their age, but this year I loved teaching the 1st graders the best, so I think it must just be this group of kids that I'm quite endeared with! ;)

The first program I conceptualized on my own last year was the 1st grade spring program. The lady who had the job before me had done the 5th and 4th grade plays, and she'd already begun work on the 2nd and 3rd grade musical programs when she quit. So, last year I created the 1st grade program and the Kindergarten Graduation on my own. This year, I just expanded on both of those ideas that I created last year.

During the winter months, I talked to the 1st graders about the different seasons, and I wanted them to write down their own thoughts about spring. I asked them 3 questions: What happens in spring?, What do you do in the spring?, and What's your favorite part about spring?

The kids all wrote their answers on individual pieces of paper, and I worked on creating a program based on their answers. I chose one answer from every student that they would say in the microphone during the program. Then I grouped the answers together into similar categories. For example, rain answers, bug answers, sunshine answers, etc. Then I found songs to go with those answers. For example "Rain Rain go away", "Butterfly song", "Mr. Golden Sun", etc. Then I found props to go with the song that the spotlighted children could hold during it. Then I put the whole program together in sequential order. I would ask some kind of a question at the beginning of each section that went with the different category of answers. For example, I would say: "What do we see in the spring" and then all the bug people would say their answers, then we would sing the bug song while that set of students held the bug prop during the song, and then I asked another question to go with the next category and the process repeated again.

I pride myself on being resourceful, and I didn't have to pay for one backdrop decoration I did this year for my musical productions. For the 1st grade backdrop, I found a cute font, and projected it on the wall to create large letters of the word "SPRING". Then I outlined the letters on white butcher paper and colored them in with black permanent marker. I cut the letters into indivudal squares to pin to the black accordian-fold set I borrowed. Then I draped pastel-colored scarves that are in my inventory over the letters. I cut out little flowers and attached them with ribbon to the ceiling alternating with pastel-colored plastic eggs. On the left side of the photo, you'll see a blue & white blanket also hanging from the ceiling (with strong fishing line). It's the back side of a comforter with mini clouds all over it. It was the backdrop for the prop-holders during the songs.

It took some time to get all the props together for the students this year. I did a few different songs than last year, so I had to obtain new items.  I laid them all out on tables behind the black accordian-fold set so that the audience couldn't see them. When the students were done speaking in the microphone at the front of the stage, they walked behind the black set to get their props and then most of them walked back out in front of the blue and white blanket to use their prop during the song. There were 10 songs, and 10 different sets of props. 1: sun & sunglasses, 2: rainclouds & umbrella, 3: watering cans & flower face cut-outs, 4: pinwheels, 5: bubbles & jumpropes, 6: sea animals & arm floaties, 7: insects & net, 8: farm animals, 9: easter baskets & bunny ears, 10: picnic basket & blanket. I had two 4th grade students help them get the right objects backstage during the performances, so the little papers taped to the blue paint are their instructions.

The 1st graders performed twice during the first week of April: once for other students in the school, and once for their parents. They did a fabulous job both times and I was so proud of them! It turned out really cute and I had a lot of positive feedback after their shows. The local newspaper has not been putting in all the photos and stories that I've submitted about my musical programs, which really frustrates me. The students put in so much work and did such a great job, that I felt like they deserved a moment in the spotlight. So, here's my photo (that would've/should've been printed):

P.S. Have I already said how much I love this group of kids?!!!

Rock On-Walk On

When Josh and I went to England 4 years ago, he fell in love with a walkway made out of rocks that we saw at a castle ruins site in Scotland. I remember him saying "someday, I'm going to build a rock walkway like this" as we walked over these ancient rock patterns set in the ground:

This winter, he set out to do just that, and created this rock walkway between the deck and the cement steps on the backside of the house:

(I blogged about it HERE --click link to read an older post)

Over spring break, the last week of March, he decided to make another, much longer rock walkway connecting the opposite side of the deck to the bridge on the far end of the yard. (There are two bridges that cross over the ditch that separates our yard from Grandma and Grandpa T.'s yard.) It took us 4 days to complete the project, and we all worked on it together as a family.

The boys all spent a day finding flat rocks around our driveway and the area surrounding the front side of our house and piling them up by the deck. Josh created the outline of the walkway on the first day. He measured the area (width and length), marked it with stakes and strings, and then spray-painted a line in the grass along the string.

On the second day, Josh brought home a sodcutter from work and cut the grass out of the inside of his designated lines. Then he cut the grass into shorter strips and set them outside the area. The boys brought over rakes and shovels, and began shoveling out excess dirt so that the walkway was flat and even.

Then Josh began the placement of the rocks. He put sand on the dirt, raked it even, then set in bigger rocks. The younger boys put smaller rocks in the gaps between some of the bigger rocks, and when an area was complete, Ammon scooped more sand over the top of the set rocks and swept it between all the cracks. At the end of the second day of the project, we had completed a 1/3 of the walkway.

The next two days were spent repeating that rock placement pattern, completing another 1/3 of the walkway each day. The boys also had to retrieve more rocks around the place, because we ran out of their previous supply on the 3rd day. This photo shows the four layers, from L-R: dirt, sand, rocks, more sand:

As Josh and the boys worked on the rock walkway, my job was to move those sod rolls and lay them out on areas in the yard that needed grass. The biggest area was next to the deck stairs adjacent to the north side of the house. When the foundation was prepared for our house two years ago, the area all around the house was left rocky and bumpy from the excavator. Last summer, we cleared out all the rocks on the north side of the house and leveled the dirt and planted bushes, but there was still an empty spot between where the grass ended and the decorative shrubbery began. As seen here:

So I raked the dirt, and removed rocks, and leveled the ground, then laid down each individual sod roll so that it fit in the space. It took me the last two days of our project to get that area filled. There was also another area in the yard between the Ash tree and the north side of the house that Josh had dug up last fall to put in a water spout, and I worked on doing the same thing for that spot, too (raking, removing rocks, leveling, and laying sod). The sod transplant has really taken well, and now the north side of the house looks like this:

Josh's rock walkway is truly a masterpiece. He did an outstanding job. It is so beautiful and impressive, and I love how he used local rocks surrounding our home to beautify and define the space in the backyard.

As seen from the deck:

As seen from the bridge:

Camp, Hike, Soak

Our first camping trip of 2012 was at the end of Spring Break week, which also coincided with General Conference. We watched/listened to the Saturday morning session and then drove the truck and trailer to Elk Bend. We camped at a little spot near Dug-Out Dick's caves. There were some fishermen around, but other than that, we had the place to ourselves! On Saturday afternoon, we took a hike into Goldbug Hot Springs. Josh hadn't been there for 15 years, and the kids and I had never been there. Now that Kanyon is 5, we knew we could make the trek together as a family.

The hike up to the hot springs took us about an hour and a half. The first half of the hike was fun and relaxed; the kids played in the creek that follows the trail, and they climbed rocks and trees when we took breaks.

The second half of the hike was steeper and more intense (for me, anyways) and I had to take more breaks than the boys, so I got further behind them. There was one part where you hike up a giant pile of shale rock, and a sign in the rocks said "Half-way there", and I just started crying. My legs were already hurting so much by then and I didn't think I could keep going the distance that I'd already come. But, since I knew the boys were ahead of me, I HAD to keep going. And thankfully, it was only 10 minutes later that I arrived at the hot springs site. When Josh saw the same sign, he said he laughed because he knew it was just a joke!!!

The hot springs are glorious and beautiful. There are multiple pools at different heights, and they are all connected by little waterfalls. Some of the pools are hot, some are warm, and some are cool. We soaked for one hour in 3 of the pools, and really enjoyed ourselves. It was so peaceful and soothing.

When the weather started turning cold, we decided it was time to leave. So we got dressed, and began our trek back down the mountain. I stopped to take a few photos of some of the naturally beautiful waterfalls, and I was left behind once again, but I eventually caught up. It took us 45 minutes to walk down and back to the place where we parked the truck.

It rained on and off that evening and through the night, but we were so happy to be camping, it really didn't damper our spirits. The boys explored spots around our campsite, and found some pretty shells by the river and gathered sticks to throw in the fire. I worked on a school project inside the trailer, and Josh tried a new dutch oven recipe. Then we roasted marshmallows over the campfire before going to bed.

We returned home on Sunday afternoon just in time to watch/listen to the last session of General Conference. We all had such a great time on our first camping trip of the season! And although my legs were stiff and sore for 4 days after the hike, it was well worth it and we look forward to going there again!

May 2012 on FB

May 3: i love sweet pork from costa vida. and i love french dip & swiss from arby's. and i love having the opportunity to eat out with my husband....it's so rare these days!

May 5: Just read "The Shoemaker's Wife" by Adriana Trigiani. Absolutely loved it! It's a historical fiction story about two people from Italy, and I want more...gonna have to go to the library tomorrow to get another one by her!

May 6: We do NOT like the crybaby red-head Rachel on Amazing Race. The boys and I are all sad that she made it to the final round!

May 7: planted the garden today! corn, potatoes, onions, carrots, and radishes! This is the first time we've planted a garden while still using and eating food from the previous year's crop. Usually by now, it's all gone. I just love new beginnings!!!

May 8: Beginning tomorrow, I'm going to attempt to teach the kindergartners sign language for the alphabet song for their upcoming graduation program. I am crossing my fingers that my attempt will be a success!

May 16: Thank you to everyone who voted in favor of the school levy yesterday! I'm so happy to be able to teach music to the students in this community for at least 2 more years!

May 18: I'm loving root beer floats this week!

May 23: I am devouring a bag of Lay's Classic BLT chips. They are WAY TOO GOOD for my own good!!!

May 25: Just finished the "Big Stone Gap" novel series by Adriana Trigiani. I just love her writing style. And now I have no more concrete plans for the day since I spent all morning reading, and it's raining outside.

May 28: watched "Avatar" for the first time yesterday with the family. I was in awe the whole movie, and so were the boys! It was SOOO good!

May 30: Kindergarten Graduation is today! I am in charge of the music program portion of it, and I was so nervous about today's performance for my students that I woke up at 2:00am...and now I can't sleep!

May 31: last day of school for me and the kids this year...i still can't believe it! I am looking forward to a summer full of lazyness, blogging, and kids' activities!!!

April 2012 on FB

Apr. 1: Hiked to the Gold Bug Hot Springs yesterday for the first time with my family. It was absolutely lovely! The kids did well on the hike, the natural springs were beautiful, and the weather was gorgeous. But today...my legs are KILLING me!!!

Apr. 2: love love love the sunshine!!!

Apr. 3: My first graders' spring musical performances are the next two days, and I'm so excited for them! They are such a wonderful group of students, and their final practice today was spectacular! It definitely made my heart proud!

Apr. 5: 20 student performances in 6 weeks: officially DONE!!! YAY!! I am soooo looking forward to this weekend: Family reunion in St. Anthony, Easter Sunday, and lots of happiness to be had!

Apr. 6: lovin my family reunion in St. Anthony!!! Happy Easter!

Apr. 7: all of my siblings play "words with friends" with each other on their phones, and they're addicts. I've never even heard of it until now! Am I missing out?

Apr. 13: workin in the soil outside on a sunny day fills me with happiness, despite the rough and dirty fingers it makes me have!

Apr. 14: our little garden patch by our house is now rototilled and rock-free. yay! I am dying to plant some raspberries!!

Apr. 17: I'm so excited to go to a music teacher's conference in Couer d'Alene tomorrow! I told my students today that they would have a substitute for their next class time. I haven't taken a full day off yet this year, and one of my students said "you don't need to go, you're already a good teacher". So sweet of them...but I'm excited for a chance to get away and learn something new!

Apr. 19: Day 1 of Idaho Music Educators Conference was fabulous!!! Had some awesome teachers and listened to some fantastic performers!

Apr. 24: I just love the new show Smash!!!

Apr. 26: today I learned from my first graders that peanuts grow under ground. I just assumed they were like the other nuts and grew on trees! Who knew?!

Apr. 27: What a happy day!!! Ammon got his personal best time for running the mile at the track meet of 6:32! Ammon also got a first place in the 4x400 relay today, beating 8th graders! And after months of frustration in learning, Micah finally tied his shoelaces for the first time today!!!

Apr. 29: I'm working inside on lesson plans for school this week, while the sun is shining outside, and I can't help but think about how many school days are left until summer's arrival. There are now less than the number of my fingers and toes: only 19 more school days!!!!

stuck in the mud

On the way to Jonah and Micah's last wrestling tournament in March, Josh said to me "I was thinking....about taking a different way home". We were headed to Mud Lake, a town that is a 2-hour drive straight down Highway 28 from Salmon. 

"Ummm....okay", I replied. Whenever Josh says "I was thinking..." and then pauses, I know it's either for something monetarily big (like wanting a new truck or purchasing a business) or for some kind of boyish adventure (like a motorcycle ride or 4-wheeling excursion). This was in the adventure category.

"I've always wanted to go on the road through Howe that leads to the Pahsimeroi Valley". The road is not technically "on the way" back to our home in Salmon, but it wasn't too far off, either.

Jonah and Micah's wrestling tournament didn't take a very long time, and by noon, we were done. So, we decided to take the detour route to head home. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed seeing new mountains and sage brush and ranches along the road that we'd never traversed before. Over halfway home, Josh needed to use the bathroom. There was a little campground out in the middle of nowhere with an outhouse that we could see from the road. He used the outhouse, then instead of u-turning and going right back to the road, he decided to continue to drive through the campground because it connected to the road on the opposite end. 

This is where disaster struck (AKA stuck).

Because we were driving on the dirt road in the spring, it was very wet with subwater. It didn't appear to be so from the naked eye, but as we were driving, the car started beeping because the tires were losing traction. In the rearview mirror, we could see our tracks in the road, and looking back proved that the road was indeed very muddy. Josh could see a puddle in the road ahead of us, and he knew we'd never make it through it, so he stopped the car and tried to turn it onto the hard ground next to the road. But the car just stopped, and didn't turn. He tried to just turn it around and head back the way we came, but we made it exactly 90 degrees before it would no longer turn.  

Keep in mind we were not in an adventure vehicle--not a truck, not an SUV, not a motorcycle. We were driving our silver car, the low-riding box car. We were now lodged and officially stuck. The length of our car was the same width of the road, and the car was sandwiched in. The road rim was steeper than the front and back bumpers were tall.

 

We walked around and found rocks to put in front of the front tires and behind the rear tires, and then Josh tried to reverse onto the road rim, and then tried to go forward onto the opposite side of the road rim. This just made the tires go deeper in the mud. Josh pushed the accelerator and drove, as I pushed from the outside of the car. We tried turning and going at an angle onto the rim. We tried jacking up the car and putting rocks under the tires, and then the same driving/pushing routine. But nothing worked. The car was only getting deeper and deeper in the mud. The mud on the campground road was clay, and it was so sticky and yucky and it got everywhere. Our feet were covered in it up to our ankles, and the mud was all over our clothes and hands and arms.

I saw a man drive past in his truck on the road 50 yards away, and I tried flagging him down but he wouldn't stop. If we'd had a shovel to dig with or a 4WD truck to pull us with, it would greatly help our situation. We were in a remote area without any cell phone service, so I couldn't call anyone for help, either. So, I sent Jonah and Micah out to the road, and told them to jump up and down when the next car came along. While they were waiting by the roadside, I started using rocks and my fingers to dig away at the rim of the road, and Josh jacked up the two front tires one at a time and put more rocks underneath the tires. 

After over an hour of being stuck in the mud and trying to break free of our calamity, we finally got the car out. After we drove up onto the hard ground surrounding the road, we walked over to the nearby stream and washed off our feet and hands.  We called to Jonah and Micah, and they came back (since no other car drove by) and then we proceeded to drive along on the grass to escape the campground, get to the road, and go home.

It was quite the adventure...Jonah and Micah said they prayed while they were waiting by the road for passers-by that we would be able to get out of there alive. They thought we would die there stranded!!! We all survived to tell about it, thankfully, and the car survived without injury, too. But the next time Josh says "I was thinking..." and the end of the sentence has to do with some kind of road adventure while we are in the silver car, I think I will remember this experience and say "Ummm....no".

Sport-astic!!!

I am a lover of the arts: theater, music, dancing, performing, painting, etc. I have tried and tried to pass this love of mine onto my boys. But none of them are into it like me. All four of my sons prefer to be involved in sports instead. {sigh}

I am proud of them for their continued successes in the varied sports that they play, but I never envisioned myself growing up as a person who would someday be interested in or be involved with sports! Motherhood is a magnificent thing that introduces you to a whole spectrum of activities and situations you never would have been a part of otherwise!!

The winter sports that the boys were involved in this year were basketball and wrestling. Wrestling is one sport I especially never thought my sons would do (and football too, but Ammon has played that for 2 years and continues to love it). I remember in high school watching the wrestlers starve on days they had meets, and I told myself that I would "NEVER" let my sons be wrestlers because it was so unhealthy and so physical!

Ammon was involved in Jamboree basketball for the 4th year. He really excelled at the sport this year, and it was so fun to watch him play! At his final game in December, he scored a whopping 20 points for his team! He was on fire! And it was so exciting to see him and to cheer for him as he played so well!

We signed up Jonah and Micah to be a part of the Little Savage wrestling team. None of our boys have ever wrestled before, nor had any member of Josh's or my immediate family. This was a whole new experience for all of us. I signed them up hoping that Micah's aggressive behavior could have a positive outlet, and the twins could learn some new ways to deal with their phsycial nature.  It turned out quite the opposite of what I had hoped.

Micah didn't like wrestling at all, and at each of the meets, he would give in to his opponent without a lot of fight, but he was always upset that he didn't get a medal.

Jonah didn't like wrestling either, but he gave it everything he had and at every meet he made it to the medal round. 

 
It was fun to go to their out-of-town tournaments and to see their different styles of wrestling. Thankfully, they never had to wrestle each other competitively, but there was a few times that they were both wrestling at the same time, and it was hard to watch both of them simultaneously!

All season long, they both said that they didn't want to do it again next year, but at their last tournament they competed in, they both earned a medal and they were both very happy about that, so perhaps they might change their minds.

Ammon, Jonah, and Micah all inherited athletic abilities, unfortunately none of which came from me! I am so proud of them for participating in sports and for being involved in activities that keep them physically active!

news and notes

I don't like to watch the news, read newspapers, or stay up-to-date on current events.

But my husband does. And he spends a lot of time devoted to it.

He reads the Post Register (Idaho Falls newspaper) daily, the Recorder Herald (the Salmon newspaper) weekly, he watches morning and evening and nightly news, and he gleams information from the internet on current affairs. So whenever I need to know something about the weather, or community events, or national news, or a world crisis, I just ask him. He likes to know factual information, and he remembers so much of what he reads and hears. 

I, on the other hand, like to stay current on what's happening in people's lives. I like meeting people, talking to people, and knowing people.

I read others' blogs daily, check up on my online friends through faceboook morning and night, and I text my local friends periodically. I like to know social information, and my brain is good at remembering people and faces and names and personal facts. So, when Josh wants to know something about someone, like where they're from or how many kids they have or where they work (etc.), he just asks me.

I like that Josh and I retain different information in our brains. His knowledge is of great use to me, and my memory is benefecial to him, too. Josh and I have a lot of differences, but I think that the things that make us different from each other actually make us work really well together.  

One of my Qwirks

I am board game addict. I have been ever since I was a teenager, when I played some games with the neighbors that our family didn't own.

Every time I go to D.I., I check out their board games, and I almost always come away with one or more. I like the idea of not paying full price for a game that I might not like (which happens, and I'm always giving away games to the schools that our whole family won't play together). Every year, I like to purchase at least one brand new game too, and I research different and new games that would be good for our whole family to play: adults and kids alike. Josh's brother Gideon knows how much I love games and how often we play them as a family, and every year for Christmas, he asks what game I would like that we DON'T own yet. This year, he gifted us the game of Qwirkle, and I absolutely love it!!! (thank you, Gideon!)

Qwirkle is easy to understand, and fun to play! It deals with shapes and colors, so kids can play (even Kanyon who was 4 when we got it), but there's diverse ways to add the tiles onto each other for bonus points, so it can be challenging for adults, too. It's similar in set-up to dominoes or scrabble. We have played it so many times in the last few months, and I haven't tired of it yet! Have you played "Qwirkle"? I highly recommend it!

green & mean

One of my goals for 2012 is to try one new recipe a month.

In January, I made a hamburger/lentil/vegetable/rice soup. It was delicious and I loved it!

In February, I made ham hocks with beans that I spiced with homemade salsa. It was filling, but the leftovers weren't so good.

In March, I sort of forgot to make a new recipe. But then I remembered that I DID try something NEW with a food that I've made before. On St. Patrick's Day, I made mashed potatoes and ham for dinner. And as I was cooking the potatoes, it occurred to me that I should add something green to the dinner menu to celebrate the holiday. Instead of just adding green beans to the meal, I decided to add green coloring to the mashed potatoes. So, after the potatoes were cooked, I put green dye in the milk before adding the milk to the potatoes. It worked beautifully! I was so proud of my quick-thinking, creative idea! It was a total surprise to everybody when I opened up the lid after everyone sat down for dinner. The boys were excited to see it; Josh was not (he doesn't like to try new foods). That night, he had a tummy ache and had to keep using the bathroom, and he blamed it all on the green food coloring that I put in the mashed potatoes! Which I thought was absurd...but he was just making sure that I realized his displeasure with the change I'd made with dinner that night! Silly old man...new tricks are just for kids {apparently}!!!