Taste Test

Today in Science, we were learning about our sense of taste, so I thought it would be fun to do a taste test. As I am sure all you smart readers know, we have 4 different kinds of tastes - bitter, salty, sweet, sour. For our taste test, we tried Starburst candy, pretzels, and lemons. I counted our hot chocolate from Monday as our bitter experience :D

I wanted to capture their reaction to the sour lemons on video, and I defintely wasn't disappointed!

However, shortly after I "tortured" them with sour lemons, we had an ice cream party because our team (Kindergarten and 5-6th grade) won the Boxtop competition. As a team we had collected over 1,000 boxtops!

Our sweet treat quickly dissolved the sour taste of lemons in our mouths!

My Knight in Shining Armor Has Arrived!

Yes, well, it's not quite what you are thinking!

Something I have long been anticipating finally came today though...in a large brown box with the word DELL across it.

It would be my new laptop computer, in case you were wondering!!! And why would I call this piece of technology my "knight in shining armor" you might also wonder? Well, it is indeed rescuing this poor "damsel in distress" from the perils of the old, slow, loud, buzzing "dragon" - my dreaded desktop computer!

Okay, well, my desktop hasn't really been THAT bad, but it has definitely had its issues lately and I was getting tired of it! So needless to say, I was very happy to receive this package today. I didn't waste much time setting it up, and getting the Internet connected. :D It felt so strange to be sitting there on my bed and surfing the Internet! I am sure I shall get used to this luxury though.

However, I did discover that my "knight in shining armor" is not perfect. While I was doing something (still not sure what!) this screen came up telling me that there were all these viruses on my computer that could be extremely harmful. Now, you must understand, I am not exactly computer illiterate. I did have a class in high school AND in college about computers and how they work. However, my love for my "knight" took over my common sense for a moment. I wanted to protect him from harm! Something showed up that told me that I should click on this scan to make sure all the potential viruses were removed. I *almost* clicked it, but thankfully, my common sense made a quick recovery and I called for my OTHER knight in shining armor - my brother, Andy. He came to my rescue and helped slay the evil dragon "Virus" who was trying to attack my "Knight". So I learned a valuable lesson already with my new laptop. Don't click on anything unless you are sure of what it is!

So, my one friend asked me if I had a name picked out for him yet, and I hadn't at the time, but now I think I do.

Please let me introduce you to "Mr. Knightly." (All you Jane Austen fans can groan now! Apparently it is still in my system!) I figured "Mr. Knightly" is very fitting seeing how this laptop is indeed my "knight in shining armor"!

Okay, I realize this post may seem rather pathetic calling my laptop by such a name, but bear with me please. I'm just weird when I am excited!

Our Favorite Bible Verse Songs

This morning I let each child pick out one of their favorite Bible verses to sing while I recorded it on my camera. My kiddos LOVE watching videos of themselves on my camera! :D Every time I watched it throughout the day so I could edit some things, they would come bouncing over to my desk so they could see themselves and giggle. :)

The Bibles verses they picked are some of my favorites too! Great promises from God, aren't they?

Baker Drawings

Today we had some extra time in the afternoon, so I pulled out one of our "extra" Skills Development papers. The children were supposed to follow my step-by-step instructions on how to draw a baker.

Here is my finished baker on the chalkboard...

On their paper, they were given the beginning rectangle shape of the baker, and then they could go from there. They turned out so cute! :D

Stephen's baker

Abbi's baker

Joshua's baker

And just in case you ever have the overwhelming desire to draw a baker, here are the step-by-step instructions! :D

Favorite "Chick Flick" Polls

If you look on my sidebar, you will discover two polls. I discovered the "thrill" of adding polls last night when I was browsing around my blog looking for something to add. Because of a certain "chick flick talk" I was involved in at the beginning of the month on Abbi's blog, my mind has been swirling with Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell movies ever since! I thought it would be fun to see which Jane Austen and/or Elizabeth Gaskell movie are other's favorites. Obviously, I realize this is a tough decision for some (like me!), but think of it this way...

You are going on a long journey. You only have room in your suitcase for 2 movies (one Austen & one Gaskell!) Which would you choose?

There really is no point to this poll, but because I tend to be a curious creature, please indulge me and participate! I would also like to know WHY you like/dislike certain of these movies, so feel free to comment! I will let you know what my opinion is AFTER the poll is over, so as not to persuade any of you! :D (and no, that was not a hint!) Oh, and for you Mansfield Park fans, I am sorry I didn't add that to my Jane Austen movie list. Someone had already voted by the time I realized my error. If it happens to be your favorite, just comment here instead :)

Those of you who have never seen any of these movies (horror of horrors!) let me suggest that you either borrow them from my family's library...or if you happen to live in another state or overseas, let me reassure you that YouTube can become your best friend in this matter!

"Perfectly Chocolate" Hot Cocoa

Because of these wintry decorations in the back of our classroom...

...I was asked by my kiddos if we could make hot chocolate someday.

They were definitely excited to discover that today was the day!

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"Perfectly Chocolate" Hot Cocoa

-Microwave Single Serving-

2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
Dash salt
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in large mug.
2. Heat milk in microwave at HIGH - 1-1/2 minutes or until hot.
3. Gradually add milk to cocoa mixture; stir well. Stir in vanilla.

I find it rather humorous that this hot chocolate recipe is called "perfectly chocolate" hot cocoa. Apparently, my kiddos were a bit too generous with their cocoa measuring. I tried to oversee everything, but because every one was at different stages at different times, it was a little challenging to make sure their spoonfuls weren't too heaping! When one child tasted theirs, they said that they tasted something "nasty" in there. When I poured out the remainder of their hot chocolate later on, there were still some clumps of cocoa on the bottom. Yes, I guess that would taste rather nasty!

So if you ever decide to do this recipe with your kiddos, make sure that you aren't too generous with the cocoa measuring and that you mix the cocoa thoroughly before tasting it, or the name "perfectly chocolate" will not be an accurate description of your hot drink!

I just thought it would be more fun for them to use a single serving recipe so they would all have equal opportunities in the hot chocolate making process. It is the PROCESS and not the PRODUCT after all! (something that was grilled in my head during college) I think the part they enjoyed the most anyway was the handful of marshmallows that they got to put on the top of their hot chocolate...which didn't last too long, I might add! :D

Gotta love chocolate mustaches & goatees!

Cultural Awareness

On Friday, we officially completed our Social Studies curriculum for the school year!! We have learned a lot about how our country got started, and the important individuals in our country's history. I'll never forget how excited they all got when we learned about the American flag and the Statue of Liberty! I heard about that for quite some time, and I know parents did as well! :D

When we finished learning about the history of our country, we moved on to learning about children around the world. I had already done this curriculum last year with my students, but this year I seemed to learn a whole lot more. My kiddos LOVED learning about different countries and perhaps it was their questions and interest that helped me become more aware of what I was teaching them!

On the first page of our book was the map of the world, highlighting each country we were going to learn about. Nearly every class, they would take turns pointing to the different countries and telling me the name of the country and which child lived there.

The curriculum was laid out like a field trip of sorts. Sometimes, I had to remind them this was just for PRETEND, we were not actually going to go on a field trip to that country! We would be introduced to a child from that country, and that child would then give us a "tour". In our large picture book, we would get to see important landmarks, animals, and places in that particular country.

This past Friday as we finished up the curriculum, we reviewed what we had learned about each country. I was pleased to see how much they had all remembered!

We have learned about 10 countries in all. Let's see if I can remember what the children's names were that lived in each country....

Mexico - Pedro
Peru - Rosa
England - Edward
The Netherlands - Hans and Katrinka
Italy - Tony
Israel - Sara
Kenya - Johmo
China - Yushu
Japan - Miako
Australia - Albert

My kiddos learned a lot about these children. When we "visited" their country, they told us about the different customs they have, what they like to eat, and what games they like to play. I think it really gave my kiddos a "cultural awareness."

At the end of the curriculum, however, it brings it all back to the main thought: Although we are all different - our skin color, food selections, clothing styles, etc. - Jesus loves all of us the same. As a "closer" to our Social Studies class, we sang "Jesus Loves the Little Children" together. It was a special time! :) We were all a little sad to say good-bye to Social Studies, but I think the excitement to move on to Science officially outweighs the sadness of leaving Social Studies behind!

Speaking of cultural awareness though...tonight the singles at my church had an "International Progressive Dinner". We went to 4 different homes and had Asian, Hungarian, South American, European, and I am not sure what other types of food! It was definitely a STRETCHING night for me - an out-of-my-comfort-zone experience! I am not one to try new things, especially when it comes to food. Give me something I recognize, that I have already labeled as "yummy", and I will be fine! Give me something with a strange name and looks kinda on the strange side, and I am rather hesitant to try it.

However, tonight I did my best, and for the most part I actually liked the food that I put on my plate. Some was a bit spicy, and tasted...well...different...but altogether not bad. :D I am not sure I am ready to go live in China or Hungary quite yet and have this type of cuisine every single day, but I am getting there. Baby steps, baby steps...I've been told I need to "branch out" and try new things!

Although I must say, it was soooo nice to end the night with good ole' fashioned apple pie & ice cream! :D

Then and Now

Today my Mom found this photo in her box in the church office.

I honestly don't know when this picture was taken or what it was taken for, but I was excited to find a *new* photo of my family! I thought I had seen every picture ever taken of us together, so this was a special (embarrassing!) treat this afternoon.

I could comment on a lot of things such as my bad hair day or Alayna's lack of it, the plastic glasses look or our fashion styles, but I think the thing that amused both Mom and I the most was Andy. His little head is barely in this picture! :D Was my "lil' bro" really this short once upon a time?

Looking at this picture it is definitely hard to believe!

Awwwww...the memories :D

The Crayon Box

As I look at the crayons around the border of my blog's new decor, it reminds me of a song I used to sing when I was little. Does anyone else remember the Crayon Box song? When I found the lyrics, I knew I had to post them because they are really good, and they tie in with missions which is what my church is focusing on this month. So next time you see a child pull out a box of crayons (which in my case will be tomorrow!), think about this song and be reminded of all Christ has done for you!

When I was just a little child no higher than your knee,

My mother bought a box of crayons, just for me.

I picked them up and I opened them up and I looked way down inside,

And the colors there reminded me of Jesus when He died.

O...Red is the color of the blood that He shed,

Brown is for the crown of thorns they laid upon His head.

Blue is for royalty within Him did dwell;

And yellow is for the Christian who's afraid to tell.

I colored and I colored 'til the crayons were all gone,

And though I am much older now, the mem'ry lingers on.

And when I see a little child with crayon box in hand,

I tell them what they mean to me and hope they'll understand.

O...Red is the color of the blood that He shed,

Brown is for the crown of thorns they laid upon His head.

Blue is for royalty within Him did dwell;

And yellow is for the Christian who's afraid to tell.

Afraid to tell of a Saviour who died on Calvary,

He died for lowly sinners just like you and me;

And someday soon He's coming back to be our King,

And the colors of the crayon box we will sing!

O...Red is the color of the blood that He shed,

Brown is for the crown of thorns they laid upon His head.

Blue is for royalty within Him did dwell;

And yellow is for the Christian who's afraid to tell.

So, don't you be a Christian, who's afraid to tell!

GO TELL!

written by: William V. Mason

Valentine's Day Project - Step 5: Smile, Wrap, Tape...FINISHED!!

The Behind-the-Scenes Step :) - I took their "I love you!" papers that they had written, and scanned them into the computer. I then did my best to size both the photo and the words together to fit inside the frame. I printed them out, cut them to size, stuffed them in the frame and ta-da! It was done!

Valentine's Day Project - Step 4: Making the Card

Valentine's Day Project - Step 2 & 3: Decorating Frames and Writing "I Love You!"

Valentine's Day Project - Step 1: Posing with the Bear

Growing Up with Patch the Pirate

Patch the Pirate adventures are indeed part of my childhood. Every Christmas, my brother, sister and I knew that we would be getting the newest Patch the Pirate adventure tape as a present. We would then listen to it together as a family on our way to Grandma's house. It was tradition! As we have all gotten older, however, that "tradition" has officially been broken.

I have discovered that one of the privileges of being a Kindergarten teacher is that I get to enjoy Patch the Pirate all over again with my kiddos! Who says I am too old for Patch?! Twice a week, during rest time, my kiddos lay *quietly* on their mats and we listen to one of Patch the Pirate's adventures. Its exciting to see how these stories are affecting the next generation for Christ!

Today, we were listening to Down Under and that has always been one of my favorites. It is neat to go back and listen to them with "adult ears". There are some really great truths taught within these stories! Also, I am noticing all the little puns and jokes that I never really noticed when I was younger.

I was privileged to actually see Ron Hamilton (Patch) in person this summer during a Majesty Music conference. It was like meeting my childhood hero!!

One of the songs Ron Hamilton is best known for is "Rejoice in the Lord". I have heard this song countless times throughout my life, but the message of the song is so powerful. He wrote this song after a huge tragedy happened in his life. If you never heard how Ron Hamilton got the name Patch the Pirate, you can read his testimony here.

One day I was browsing through good ole' YouTube and I actually found a clip of Ron Hamilton singing the song!! I was so happy. Enjoy! :D

Am I Dreaming?

Dreams. They simply baffle my mind. Where do they come from? How in the world does our mind twist and turn in such a way that we can create such weird stories in our sleep? I know there has been lots of studies on it, but I don't think anyone has really figured out the mystery dreams hold.

Do you ever find yourself waking up in the morning, and literally breathing a sigh of relief because you realized that you were dreaming?

Or on the flip side, have you ever awakened in the morning with a feeling of great anticipation, only to realize...it was only a dream?

Sometimes, I have a hard time remembering what is real and what I actually dreamed about! Especially when it is about people in my life. Did that situation REALLY happen or did I dream it? Sometimes, my dreams are very close to reality and it takes me a minute or two to process whether or not it actually happened.

Does this only happen to me?

Anyway, this morning, I was having a dream. It was one of those weird dreams that involved a close friend (I won't say who cause it might scare them!) and at one point I had this object in my hand that was making this horrible beeping noise. I wasn't sure if it was a bomb or what it was. All I knew is that I wanted to get that horrible beeping noise to STOP! I can still visualize this weird object. It had all sorts of gadgets on it, but no matter what button I pressed, or how many times I threw this object on the ground, it would not stop beeping!

Next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes with a start. Here my alarm clock had been beeping for 6 minutes already! By this point, the beeping was REALLY loud (the sound increases each minute I think). I quickly reached over and turned the thing off. I have never slept through my alarm clock for that long! Normally, it makes one beeping sound and I subconsciously reach over and turn it off (whether I am awake or not!). This is often a bad thing, resulting in sleeping in too late. I have now gotten to the point of using 2 alarm clocks. One by my bed, and the other one (my cell phone) halfway across the room. This forces me to get up OUT of bed in order to turn it off. But anyway, I digress...back to the main point...whatever it may be...

I just found this very interesting how the weird beeping object in my dream was, in reality, my annoying beeping alarm clock!

There is another thing I ponder about dreams. Do you ever wonder what you look like when you are dreaming? I mean, in dreams you are walking, talking...and doing who knows what! Does your body and mouth actually move when you are dreaming about something? I know people talk and walk in their sleep, so I wonder if it is all related to what they are dreaming about? Hmmmm....

I had forgotten about this morning episode until now when I was chatting with my parents about it. My mind immediately leaped to...I have to write a blog entry about this! (I guess I was just getting desperate :))

So anyway, if you have any weird experiences with dreams, or perhaps some "inside info" about dreams, I'd love to hear about it! :D

Making Soft Pretzels

Yesterday afternoon my kiddos and I made soft pretzels. However, most of the credit goes to my wonderful Mom who brought this big box of ingredients and her bread machine to school! I would have made the dough ahead of time, but seeing it involved yeast, it really had to be a fresh batch.

My Mom set up her bread machine in the school office, added all the ingredients, and let the bread machine do its duty. There was no way we could have gotten this accomplished any other way. Thanks a bunch, Mom!!!!

Here is the original recipe. Obviously, if you have a bread machine, it is MUCH easier to use that instead! It will definitely save you time :D

Ingredients:

1-1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1-1/2 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. butter
Coarse salt

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yest in warm water. Add sugar and salt. Stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes (dough will be sticky). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide into six portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 14-in. rope; twist into a pretzel shape. Place on greased baking sheets. Brush with butter; sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Serve warm.

Yields: 6 pretzels (we only made 5 so they got pretty huge!)

Getting ready to make their pretzels

The dough was very soft and squishy, so rolling out this dough wasn't quite as easy as rolling out the play dough the other week!

We basically stretched out the dough like this to make it long enough to form the pretzel shape.

Making pretzel shapes was a little challenging, but they still tried!

Their finished pretzel shapes

I spread melted butter and sprinkled salt on top of them, then placed them in the oven.

They definitely got pretty huge when they were finally done baking! That black stuff would be the burnt butter that had dripped off the pretzels while baking. The kitchen was definitely filled with the burnt butter aroma...and so was my hair and clothes...but oh well! It was all worth it in the end :D

They were DELICIOUS!!

A Happy Moment

Yesterday we had a Numbers test. Even though I only have 3 kiddos, it is still rather rare for all 3 of them to get an A+ at the same time. When this occurs, it is definitely a happy (and noisy!) moment.

(Note: This was actually a posed shot, but the only difference between this reaction and their initial reaction is that they had been jumping up and down in the middle of the classroom instead in front of the chalkboard! That is really the only difference :D)

I am so proud of them!!!

Tell Me Why The Stars Do Shine...

Or in my case this morning at calendar time...

Tell me why the sun does not shine...

Joshua - The sun is having breakfast.

Abbi - The sun is still sleeping.

Stephen - The sun is sleeping and is going to wake up at night time and is going to shine at night time instead.

In Case You Were Wondering...

Silence is Golden!!!

I just had to capture this moment of my kiddos working quietly on their papers during seat work time this morning. In case I ever happen to forget, I'll have this video proof to remind me that they are indeed capable of being quiet! :D

Ahhhhhhh...blessed quietness!

I love this part of the morning.

Cotton Ball Snowmen

My kiddos had lots of fun making cotton ball snowmen. :) Enjoy the pictures of the step-by-step process of our art project!

Such cute cotton ball snowmen they turned out to be!