Our Fabulous Fall Festivities

* I racked my brains and searched forever to find a song to go with this post with no luck!

Fall always has been, and always will be my favorite time of year! So, I'm usually good on celebrating it.

First was Em's first school field trip to PumpkinLand, and boy did she have a blast! A lot of kids were missing that day, so it ended up being her and two other girls and five adults for her class! Lot's of one on one attention :)

Since I had gone earlier with the morning class and rode the bus, another fellow teacher and I thought to ask the bus driver if he minded if Em rode as long as I came along... (district policy is that kids that can't independently walk can only ride the bus with a wheelchair or other transit approved device... insurance has now denied us twice for a special needs stroller). He didn't see any reason why not, so sweet girl got to ride along with her friends :)

Em and her teacher Ms. Jamie

All three girls that made the trip from her class :) that's A and B, and by the way B is quite amazing! Never seen another kid with a trachea quite like her!

And that's Steve pushing Em (he joined us for the first part)

 Awww, aren't they cute??

Looks completely unimpressed ;)

Love her!

Picture with daddy before he had to head back to work

This goat kept chewing on Em's boot and she had the look on her face like, "why are you letting him do this to me??" As I was trying to get a picture, another one bit my side... all that and the smell, makes me grateful that we only go once a year!

 Light Alley

Love this picture!

 Em's PT Angeleen helping her go down the slide

And her favorite, the swings

That ended the field trip, but we got to go to another pumpkin patch the following week. One that was right near our new place, that had a sign up saying that they were going to offer free hayrides and hot chocolate... couldn't pass that up now could we ;)

On the hayride

Em thought all the bumping around was hilarious!

We thought this was pretty funny...

 Yes that is a very large, escaped pig... that our driver is desperately trying to corral back to her pin!

She was very accomplished at evading capture ;)

My favorite part was when he kept exclaiming that he didn't have any idea how she got out!! Well, when I saw the little metal crate that was blocking the door, it was easy to see how this pig that was easily 300+ pounds could get out ;)

Picking the perfect pumpkin takes a lot of concentration

 Loves her Halloween songs, just like her momma!

 She's so good at the actions!

P.S. Miss Em is standing on her own for this shot :D

We had so much fun! Thanks to a nice farmer and his family who really just wanted to give families a fun night without caring if they made money! We walked away only spending $5 on the 3 pumpkins we took home :) Made our week! 

And I wanted to do something different  with the pumpkins this year since we won't really be able to show them off with where our front door is. Plus, I really didn't feel like spending hours.. possibly days on carving them all (since I'm the only one who does)! So I set out to find an alternative, and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. 

 First we painted them

Em, was excited for all about 2 minutes! But, she had fun the next day...

 Examining which parts go where

So proud!

And the finished products

All supplies were purchased at Hobby Lobby for 40% off, so only $9 total!

Done.

Play song, "As I'm Leaving" with this post

Feels so weird to even be saying this out loud. But I am done teaching for now. Finished my last day on Friday (27th). And reality hasn't really set in yet... maybe due to this extraordinarily busy, fantastic weekend. But probably it won't hit until the new school year- When I start with my colleagues, and don't have a classroom to prepare, or a list of anxiously waiting parents, wondering if their child got in our program, to call. A stack of letters with blank name-tags, that I will later fill out with my students names, sign my name on the letters, along with a personal note about how I'm looking forward to the new year, all to send out to addresses all over Provo. No back to school night for me. Meeting those shy, yet excited faces, and trying to figure out what place this child will hold in my classroom... my heart. Will they be the trouble maker, the know-it-all, or the shy one? 

Maybe it's hit a little. I know it hit hard as I hugged those wonderful children goodbye on Wednesday.... as I told their parents how much I've enjoyed teaching their children. Some parents were sweet to thank me for all that I've done for their kids. One mom in particular really brought me to tears with her sweet words of what a difference I've made in her son. I'll tell ya, that he was not an easy kid when we started. But, at the end, he's grown so much, probably more than most. He's polite, a good listener, hard worker, and most importantly a good friend. This is what I'll miss most. Seeing my children progress into their capabilities. Seeing them accomplish things that we've all worked so hard on, and knowing that I had something to do with that. If only a small part, because my biggest accomplishment is teaching them independence, so that the credit for everything they achieve can go directly to them.

Another little girl, was a transfer into my class around November. She had to be moved to me because she was a behavior problem in a special ed class (we have a few Title Ones in select special education classrooms for different purposes. But if they're ever a problem, they have to go to a Title One class), things were beyond rough at first. But this is the goodbye note I wrote in her book:

I am so proud of the young lady you have become. Remember when you first came to my class, and I had to separate you from the other girls in the class? Remember how you couldn't participate in games with us because you got so upset if you didn't win? I almost can't remember this time, because it has now been so long since you've shown any signs of the little girl you use to be. 

All I see now, is a confident, sweet, helpful, happy young lady, that I am sure will go far in life. Thanks for learning with me my last year. I am going to miss you more than you will know. I hope you always remember how special and great you really are.

Love,

Ms. Alisha

Anyway, I won't go on anymore. Because this post was meant for something else as well. It was also Emarie's first year of preschool completed, and I'm so proud of how far my own girl has come. She may have been a little reserved in class, but that didn't mean that she didn't do a lot! And one thing, was her end of the year program. Here's some photos and video of the day :)

Em's class performing "I'm a Little Apple Tree" (their favorite song) for their program for the last day of preschool, May 25th 2011. And for the record, Em does all the actions on her own when she watches this, just wouldn't perform on the day ;) Funny story too, the first day they learned this song, Em did a real sneeze right at the perfect moment, made everyone in the class laugh (that's my girl!) Also, most of her good friends are sitting right near her, Neeka and Autumn in the back (Autumn is the one sitting in Ms. Kirsten's lap), and Addy next to Em, Grayson was the boy next to Addy, Em liked to chase him on the playground ;)

A few pictures too :)

Em after the program, so cute in her little outfit :)

And this was actually the next day, I took Em with me for moving day and let her watch Tangled a few thousand times on the promethean board (she loved it!) The only draw back is, I was only able to capture her with 2 of her teachers. But we got a picture of Em and Ms. Desiree at Deakon's Run :)

That's Ms. Kirsten holding Emarie (one of the assistants) and her teacher Ms. Jamie (we love them all!! And are hoping to wean Em off her afternoon naps so that she can be in their class next year!)

So long 2010/2011 school year!! We'll miss ya!

Just a quick post

Had to show off how adorable my almost 3 year old looked today! And that's right folks, she'll be 3 on Friday!! Although, don't tell her, we're trying to make her believe her birthday really is in January ;)

Em joined me at the preschool pajama party today. And I know her outfit isn't pajamas, but I couldn't resist letting her wear it, and getting as much wear out of it as possible!

 This outfit was courtesy of the Fisher family, who's daughter is affected with that same crazy 18q- as Em! (Click on Fisher to see their blog and their adorable Kenzie!)

 The booties we got at the Festival of Trees, to which 100% of all revenue went to Primary Children's Hospital

A closer look at the shirt *LOVE*

And here's a few of Em and I together (me in my pj's)

We had a lot of fun (Em even got to meet her future class come Jan. 3rd! And had her IEP today!!)

Now, we're checked in at good ole Primary for a sleep study. And now that Em is finally asleep, I get to blog about it. But just a few pictures, of this most cooperative, and funny little girl!

 Anyone else thinking this looks like a botched plastic surgery patient?! No? Just me then ;)

She just let them put it all in! Took forever too, but they all commented on how amazing she is..

And you know what?....

I already knew that!

You know you're a preschool teacher when.......

I have to say that a little comment from Steve inspired this post. Although I must admit that the thought has occurred to me in some obscure form just about every day.

So here they are, my life really, and the reason I can act like a four year old :)

You do the "potty dance" when you're really immersed in something great, but you really have to go!

On the flipside of the above, you call it "potty"

You find yourself stammering and stuttering excitedly when you're trying to explain something amazing

You think up silly little rhymes for everything, sometimes without even realizing it!

When your favorite song comes on, you sing loud and dance, and you just don't care what anyone thinks!

You get excited when a new Disney movie comes out, and you say you'll see it so that you can have something to talk about with the kids... but who are you kidding?! You love it!!

You love that it's socially acceptable for you to dress up at Halloween (but is it really?!) and you don't care what anyone thinks of that either!

You have silly names for holidays like "Turkey Day"

You still really want to believe and convince yourself that there really is a Santa

But you really do see all the magic in Christmas and feel like a kid in this time of year

The people who talk to you most are only 3 1/2 feet tall, but you love every second of it!

You can think of something funny, crazy and terrible that happened in a 6 hour period......

..... and yet, you want to go back and do it all again tomorrow!

well....

most of the time ;)

Last of all, you do things like this just because you know it will put a smile on all 38 of your kids faces :)

 Little Red Ridinghood (I was the mother)

Goldilocks and the Three Bears (I'm Goldie sleeping and trying not to laugh might I add!)

But even better, I'll be getting to bring my baby with me starting in January, and can't wait to take little sneak peeks at her throughout the day!

Provo Preschool Fall Carnival

So Friday was the Provo Preschool Program's "Fall Carnival"! All the teachers were implored to be there and be in charge of a booth. Mine was the "Leaf Rubbing" station, which I thought no one would want to come to, but boy was I wrong!! We had an amazing turnout of probably around 500 people, which was incredible!! 

One of my favorite things was the fact that we tend to continually have returning families, meaning siblings of former kids we've taught, because we invite the entire family to these kinds of events. I'm always SO happy to see former students, and even happier when they remember me and have a smile on their face when they see me. And it never ceases to amaze me how their names just 'pop' right to my mind when I see them, especially with my memory! I even saw students from my first year of teaching who are now in 4th grade!! I just can't believe that! And so wonderful to see how they've grown and changed, and a small part of me (very small mind you) thinks that I may have had a little to do with that. Ahh, being a teacher is the BEST!!

And my little sweetie got to join in the fun, and was a perfect little angel the whole time! It was exciting to see her at her first preschool event, especially since she is so close to joining the ranks of her fellow peers she was around, possibly may have met a few of her future classmates as well!

 Just taking it all in :)

Even held still to get her hand painted, didn't think the face would go over as well ;) 

You can also see the hint of her "prize" she won in one of the activities, it is a "disco ball" necklace!

Wish I had more pictures, but it was seriously CrAzY!! The ones I actually got were after 6 (which is when it was supposed to end), and we had run out of almost everything!

All in all, I'd say it was a success!