Take your Child to Work Day

Camryn was THRILLED when I proposed the idea of her joining me for 'Take your Child to Work Day' 2010. Until this year, I had never considered it, but taking into account her recent love of anything school-related, and her intrigue with my job and the kids I work with, I figured now was my chance. So this morning, she got all ready, filled her backpack with markers and activity books, packed a lunch in her monkey lunchbox and was SO excited to be a "big kid" for a day.

We started off with a stop for doughnuts for the class...a surefire winner! When we arrived at school, the office staff helped prepare her a special visitor's badge to wear, and then we headed to the classroom to set up her desk. We made sure she had her needed supplies on hand, and she wrote her own name tag too. :)

During the day, she did many things: participated in Music class, watched "How To" demonstrations by the kids (a big hit!), had laptop time (check out her serious concentration here), enjoyed recess, and colored, colored, colored. She also got to have lunch in the staff room, play with some of her friends (who are daughters of my coworkers and were there for the same reason), hold several class pets, (including a frog) and even attend first grade for a whole hour (thank you, Felicia!), while the 5th graders had their DARE class.





By the end of the day, she was ecstatic but EXHAUSTED. She was having so much fun with her friends though, that I didn't think anything of letting her have some more playground time after school. Turns out, we should have quit while we were ahead...

Literally two minutes before the end of my work day, as I was walking down the porch to retrieve her from the play structure, she collapsed into a heap at the bottom of the climbing rope (pictured above), screaming. bloody. murder. It was several minutes before I could even get out of her where it hurt, let alone what happened.

Long story short, she fell from the climbing rope, and the swelling that quickly ensued urged me to take her to the doctor. I carried her from my classroom to the office, then to my car, and upstairs in the doctor's office, since she wouldn't put any weight on her right foot, and it was getting bigger by the minute.

After an exam, Dr. D. sent her to get X-rays to make sure it wasn't broken. Luckily, it was determined that she had a "pretty impressive sprain," rather than a fracture (Whew!) Unfortunately, this now means several days off of her feet, lots of ice, and NO SOCCER. Which also means that now Brian is coaching a team of elementary schoolers that his daughter doesn't even play on. (But that's another blog for another day.) I think next time I take my child to work, we'll just leave after the buses and go out for ice cream!

Wigs and Go-Go boots

Anyone who knows my teaching team knows that we don't mind making fools of ourselves. As long as it's all in good fun, we're enjoying each others company, it makes the kids laugh, and isn't destructive, we love a good joke. Well today, we were the joke. To help raise money for our school, we offered up a Disco Roller Skating party at the school auction. This meant that families could pay for their students to join us at a local roller rink, and watch their four 5th grade teachers make complete and utter fools of themselves, all while dressed in Disco gear. Sounds like a fun way to spend a Saturday, right?

Luckily, one of the Fab 4's family has quite the collection of costumes and accessories that they graciously shared. This also meant that as I tried on pieces and chose my costume, Camryn and Aubrey got in on a little bit of the fun, which was hilarious!

Carol Brady meets the Doodle-Bops!

Elton John is in the house!

I settled on a red wig, polyester dress, and white Go-Go boots.
Several of my students did not recognize me when I arrived (mission accomplished!)

The Fab Four in all our glory!

Did you ever have any teachers that looked like this?

A serious pose. (Yeah, right!)

We ended up having a lot of fun with the kids, who laughed and laughed at our get-ups. I just hope this doesn't come back to haunt me later...

More mammals

So the mammal study has continued at preschool, where Aubrey (having turned two) has now joined the "big kid" class. Yesterday, each child drew a picture of his/her favorite mammal to share at circle time. When it came to be Aubrey's turn, she proudly showed her drawing, and when prompted by the teacher who asked, "What's your favorite mammal, Aubrey?" She responded proudly by exclaiming, "Pizza!"

Tulip Festival 2010

For six years now, since Camryn was a brand new baby, we have taken our girls to the tulip festival in Woodburn. Every year, the event has grown and changed (they now charge for parking, and have vendors, games, rides, etc.), but we still go for the beautiful photo backdrop and fresh springtime air.

Aunt Lacey and Uncle Dan joined us this year, and both Brian and Dan spent tons of time playing with their new cameras, adjusting settings, color, lighting, and taking close ups. The result was some fantastic photos of people AND flowers. On top of that, Aubrey discovered a new-found love for corndogs. Hers was about as big as her forearm, and she ate nearly the entire thing. Fresh air and sunshine, fresh cut flowers, and a fresh corndog. Could life get any better on a Sunday afternoon?

Happy Easter!

It's so fun to have Aubrey finally at that age where she is starting to grasp the holidays and traditions we celebrate. With enough talk from her sister lately, she knew this whole Easter thing was bound to be important, and when I went in to get her from her bed this morning she greeted me with, "Mommy, Eassa Bunny coming TOday!" (BIG emphasis on the TO-!)

It was hilarious, and she was so excited to get downstairs and race around with her sister, collecting eggs. After breakfast, and a mid-morning nap, we got took some family pictures before heading to brunch with my family, and before the rain hit. Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

I can actually see the resemblance to her Daddy here!

Mom and C

She can be so sweet when she wants to...

Goofy girls!

Easter calls for Mary Janes

Ticklish

Just the girls

All my sillies! Happy Easter!

The Easter bunny came!

Waiting at the top of the stairs until Daddy gets up!

Opening eggs...

Chocolate before breakfast???

Cheeseballs!

A little dazed by all the sugar...

Eek! Got a sour one!


HAPPY EASTER!

Coach B is back!

Most of you know that when Brian decided to take the leap into school administration, he had to give up one of his great loves...coaching baseball. It's generally considered a conflict of interests in the Education world, and though it's been strange not having baseball be as much a part of our daily lives as it once was, we're all really enjoying having Daddy home this spring, and he is happy with the choice he made to further his career.

So when we recently signed Camryn up to play indoor soccer, we envisioned family Saturday outings to cheer her on and watch her play. We looked forward to sharing this with the Masons, our friends who have a daughter on the same team, and a younger one about Aubrey's age as well.

Little did we know however, that we'd show up to the first practice to find out that NO ONE had stepped up to volunteer to coach the team. The director met us at our first practice and laid it out on the line: either a parent steps up, or the team is canceled. We looked around, avoiding eye contact with the director, but all the other parents just gave us the same blank stare. None of them were about to volunteer. Not a chance. So Brian "took one for the team" (literally), and roped Matt in with him, and they are now the proud coaches of the Kinder/1st grade soccer team, "The Lightning!"

Nothing like a spur of the moment, major commitment to jump start your weekend! As the guys quickly scanned the coaching packet the director handed them on his way out, and tried to run a practice with a bunch of over-active 5, 6, and 7 year olds, Felicia and I scrambled through the rest of the paperwork, collecting email addresses, creating a snack schedule, and talking jerseys, trophies, and end-of-season parties. We are now the team moms!

Although this is not what we envisioned for our spring, we are looking forward to watching Camryn learn and grow in her athletic skills, and try new things. Wish us luck!

Coach Brian and Coach Matt checking out their cheat sheets as the kids run free

Finally got the kids into a line...

Team huddle. It's going to be a great season!