So I gotta apologize to everyone who has been receiving stupid flixter alerts and emails. They have been coming through my blog and annoying us all!! Talmage made sure to double check and delete accounts and cancel notifications....... So sorry for all the stupid stuff.

Burger King Performance

So this last Saturday, October 3rd, our choir and band kids had the opportunity to perform at the neighborhood Burger King for their "re-grand opening". We had so much fun there and the place was PACKED with parents, students, teacher, and unwitting hungry people! The Arts Director for the whole district was there and our principal rode the bus over with us. Our kids were so excited to go and they did so well with their performances.
I had 10 of my 19 kiddos that were able to come, so I admit that I was worried about our performance, but they stepped it up and sounded so beautiful. I have a great group of kids this year and they are trying so hard this year to do everything I ask them to. After our last song, the principal came up to us in tears to tell them how wonderful they sounded. What a neat experience!
The band performed as well and did an outstanding job. It was just so neat to see these kids that struggle with so many issues outside of school come together and bond as a group. I am so proud of my kiddos, and I expect many more great things from them. We have already been invited to perform at the local Whole Foods during the holiday season! So much fun!


On the home front, Talmage and I are doing great. We hit our one year mark the end of August, and have loved every minute of married life. Talmage is doing well in school, and loves his math class-which I think is sooooo weird! :) I have been sick for a while and finally got the diagnosis of walking pnemeunia so I was out of school almost a full week, but the rest was much needed. I am slowly recouperating and taking it easy whenever I get the chance.
Volleyball season has started, our first game is Monday. I don't expect much this first game, so hopefully that will kick their butts into gear for later. :)
I am taking a Thursday night class that is ORFF based (a music teaching method that is amazing!) I am having so much fun and learning so much that I use in the classroom on a daily basis. I also received a scholarship to the Rocky Mountain ORFF Association for this school year, which means that I get to attend 5 different clinics throughout the year all ORFF based. I am officially an ORFF nerd!!!
So all in all WE ARE GREAT!!!

The school year thus far

So both Talmage and I are enjoying our school years so far. I feel much more relaxed and confident in my ability and knowledge, plus my choir is ROCKIN! They are a small group (20), but it's amazing how much of a difference it makes when all the kids want to be there, woo hoo! Our schools music department has been invited to perform at the nieghborhood Burger King re-grand opening which the kids are excited about.......we'll see how that goes.
Talmage is rockin his classes. He likes them all, especially math, and is doing so well keeping up with work, school work, and me! hehe I am so proud of him and all his hard work, makes me want to go back to school. Other than that, it's life as normal.

Classroom 2009-2010

This is a preliminary view if my classroom for this year. The pic
includes my word wall, my solfege tree, and the awesome instrument
stands that my dad kindly made me! Im so excited for the upcoming year.

EDUCATION

So Talmage is officially enrolled in college classes!!! After applications, orientation, entrance exams, and a lengthy wait in the advisors office Talmage is signed up for 14 credit hours for the upcoming fall semester. I am so excited for him and what this will mean for us in the future :)

Truffles

So obviously I have time on my hands! These Oreo truffles were so
super easy and fun to make. Just thought i'ld share.

Cupcakes

So I posted this on Facebook but I was so tickled how these "corn on
the cob" cakes turned out so I had to put them up here too! So stinkin
cute!

Summer vacay and birthday

So I am about to start my third week of summer vacation, and I am truly enjoying my time off! The first week I was worried that I wouldn't have anything to do, and I was pretty bored:) But having started P90X and a few other projects I have filled up my days pretty easily.

So P90X is still kicking my butt, as I am only starting my third week. Results aren't quite visible, but I feel better and I make it through more of the video each time I do them. So I feel better. Hopefully I will be a hot mama by the time I go back to school.

I was absolutely spoiled for my birthday (so enjoyed it!) Joyce, Misha, and I went to Benihana for lunch and had such a fun time there- plus I ate some tofu (amazing, I know) but it was REALLY good! I'm tempted to call and ask them how they get it to taste that good, hehe.

Talmage spoiled me rotten with amazing gifts, flowers, and dinner at my favorite restaurant. The best gift ever was a sewing machine. I am already addicted to it and have made a dress and started a few other projects on it- I have so much fun with it!

I got to spend some time with my mom on Wednesday, which was so great. We have so much fun together and I loved being with her.

I have yet to touch anything school related, although I have thought about how much stuff I have to do to get ready for next year. I guess I'm just waiting for July to start that- give me a solid month with no school stuff- I deserve it!

Talmage and I are still madly in love and are just about at our 10 month mark- almost 1 year!! So crazy to think that it's already been that long- time flies when you are having fun and super busy!

We are trying to get Talmage enrolled for classes this fall at Metro State, which is so exciting. He's soon to be a college man- hehe.

Well, that's all the news and the projects and fun for now.

Happy Feet

So this is the last week of school and the kiddos are a little nuts! It's fun though. Today was Kinders and ECE continuation. I planned a big music program with the kinders and all but ran the entire thing- yay for incompetent kindergarten teachers! My kids did sooooooo good, I was so proud of them. Just imagine 75 little bodies on risers singing "This Little Light of Mine" (which f course I had made a candle with gold glitter for every kid to hold!) So precious¡

Tomorrow I get to go to the zoo with my third grade newcomer class- I am really looking forward to being with them. Most of them have never been to a real zoo before in their life. Although some of them are straight from Africa and saw these animals in the wild:)

So, today with my first graders we did a little freeze dance (their favorite) at the end of the class. I have a little boy, Leo, who has never really danced but bobbed so that it would be easier to freeze. When I put on a new song I guess he really liked it and he busted his move- I was lucky to get some of it on my camera. Hope you think he is as cute as I do!

Been A While

Si it's been two months almost to the day since I last posted and a lot has happened :)

My brother McKay came home from his mission in South Africa in April. After two years and three hours in the airport we were sooooooo excited to see him. Of course we shipped him right of to BYUI!

My last choir concert was May 12th, and after a LOT of freaking out and worrying about my ensemble they pulled through for me! There were 13 students who did not show up for our concert that evening (the little poops!) but my kids really did an outstanding job, being pre-teens and all, hehe. Joyce came and suffered through the choir and 3 bands in an auditorium with no air conditioning! THANKS!!!

Talmage has officially been accepted to Metro State and we are moving forward to get him enrolled for the fall semester. I am so excited for him. I think he's pretty nervous about diving back into school, but I know he'll be awesome at it!

We have one of Talmage's co-workers, Cal, living with us at the moment. He was not in a good living situation so T brought him home one day like a little puppy :) So we have a full house and very few moments alone together. It's good that he has a friend around though. I'll admit I'm a little jealous!

So here I am looking at the last week of school coming up. I can't believe that after this 3-day weekend I will have only four more days of teaching! I am almost officially done with my first year of teaching. WOO HOO!

I am looking forward to this summer and all the fun things and all the nothing I get to do! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Well, I think that's all the news as yet.

Counting Down

NINE WEEKS LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is weird to think that after this week (which is spring break) I will only have nine weeks of school left until summer break. I am excited to officially be done with my first year of teaching, but am also looking at my list of things I want to accomplish with my kids and wondering if I will be able to get it all done. I only get to see my kids 9-10 more times per class because of our four day rotation, so it will be difficult.

I look back at this year and think about how much I have grown as a teacher and hope that my kids have benefited from my presence. Of course there are a TON of things that I would do differently, but that is what next year is for. It really has gone so fast.

Sick, sick, sick

I just have to say that I HATE being sick....... I think that I've been sick all school year! I admit to a few good moments but more often than not I have had something wrong with me (other than the normal stuff :) ) Kids are so gross! I love em but they seriously have cooties and I keep catching them. I'm surprised that Talmage hasn't been sick more, lucky boy.
So that is my gripe for the day, hope everyone else is healthy.

Our new camera man

During Matt and Alicia's visit last week Wyatt discovered Talmage's
new tripod. He loved climbing on it and almost pulled it down a couple
of times!!! It seems we have a young photographer in the family :)

Middle Schoolers!!!

So middle schoolers are soooooooooooooooooooooo hard!! And yes all those extra "o"s are necessary :) Recently the principal at our school asked us to fill out "intent" forms for the next school year so that she could figure out staffing. They are not binding on either side, so that keeps one thinking.......... I circled "would like to stay at PBA", but after these last few days with y middle schoolers I'm not sure I'll be able to survive another year of them. I know that my students come from drastically different backgrounds and struggle with things I didn't even know about until college, but sheesh these kids are ruthless. They have no pity, and they attack like Purana's. Vicious little creatures. So I'm not quite sure what to do. Do I look for another position, or suffer another year to pad the resume?? 

Even though this post sounds gloomy I have to admit that some of these kids have really blossomed and been fun. The only problem is the good ones don't outweigh the bad ones.

We shall see how all this pans out.......................hopefully I survive!

Hi-larious!!!

As I was flipping through wedding pics (which are awesome!) I saw this
kissing one and noticed Grandma Neilson's face. I laughed out loud!!
Thought you might enjoy it too.

Back to School

Today is my first day back with kids after to AMAZING weeks of rest, relaxation, and family. It is amazing how much information kids lose in this short period of time! Behaviors, skills, and knowledge seem to fly out the window the moment they leave the school for break- which means I get to RE-TEACH my behavior expectations and do a ton of review before I can even start on the new stuff. SHEESH!!!!! I am glad to be back and excited for the rest of the year, but I wish we could pick up where we left off and not do so much back-tracking.

On the homefront, Talmage and I are really enjoying the married life. We had a great first holiday season together, and enjoyed our time with family. Plus I am now addicted to puzzles, after doing several with Joyce over Christmas :)