Have You Prayed?

A couple of weeks ago, a lady at my church sent my Mom a Youtube clip of a song that she thought my Mom would like to sing for special music. My Mom searched for the music but couldn't find it anywhere. Listening to the Youtube clip over and over, she began to figure out the notes on the piano. My sister, Alayna, started helping her figure out the notes, added some chords and together they figured out the song arrangement. My Mom sang it this past Sunday. It has really great words, and it has reminded me quite often lately of the importance of prayer.

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So many times I often find I struggle with decisions.
I don’t know which path is best for me.
So I begin to worry then someone will ask that question.
The one that always brings me to my knees.

Have you prayed?
Have you asked the one who knows what’s best?
Have you prayed?
Have you knelt before His throne with your request?
When your path is hid in darkness and you cannot find your way.
It’s time to ask the question.
Have you prayed?

I see you smile and all the while I know your heart is fretting.
Friend I know just what you’re going through.
Doubts of dread fill your head and your future seems uncertain.
Hope is gone now what can you do?

Have you prayed?
Have you asked the one who knows what’s best?
Have you prayed?
Have you knelt before His throne with your request?
When your path is hid in darkness and you cannot find your way.
It’s time to ask the question.
Have you prayed?

Why do we refuse to see until things fall apart?
One final try one humble cry is where we need to start.

Have you prayed?
Have you asked the one who knows what’s best?
Have you prayed?
Have you knelt before His throne with your request?
When you path is hid in darkness and you cannot find your way.
It’s time to ask the question.
Have you prayed?
God’s knows your heart.
It’s time to pray.

{Here's the Youtube clip that acted as "inspiration" :-)}

Ahhhh, Memories...

There is a whole collection of games on the shelf in the Kindergarten classroom. Many of which are either from my childhood or from one of my siblings' childhood. I brought many of the games to the classroom during my first year teaching. It was either that, or they would just collect dust on a shelf somewhere in my house! It has been so neat seeing all my kiddos enjoying the same games that I enjoyed playing as a child.

I try to find time to play a game with my kiddos right before lunch each day. Sometimes it doesn't happen, but for the majority of the time it works out. Every week someone is selected to be the "Game Picker." It is definitely one of the favorite "jobs" of the classroom! Although every game has been played at least 3 times during the course of the school year, there are definitely a few favorites.

Today the Memory board game was picked. I had to smile. I always smile when that game is picked. You see, that was one of my favorites as a child! I am not sure how young I was when I started playing that game, but it definitely was played many, many, MANY times.

A brief overview: Every one starts on a certain spot. All around the board are pictures of various objects. In the middle of the board, the same pictures are on cards, but the cards are flipped over. The object of the game is to find each of the pictures around the board, finally getting back to the spot on which you started. Every one eventually has to find all the picture cards, but it will be at various times depending on where you started on the board.

Oh yes, I played this game so many times as a child that I ended up memorizing the colors of each of the objects! And now, almost 2 decades later, I still remember which color each one is on. When my kiddos ask, "Miss Follett, which color is the bird on?" Orange! "Which color are the scissors?" Blue! etc...

But do you know what? My kiddos have started playing this game so much that my "color services" are not needed as much as before. They are starting to remember the colors of all the objects!

Oh yes, I love when this game is pulled off the shelf for game time. It's like reliving a piece of my childhood all over again! The game box may be falling apart, and the pieces may be worn, but it doesn't mean that it can't still be enjoyed!

Valentine's Day Art Project

For Valentine's Day, my kiddos worked on a special project for their parents. On Friday (as you saw earlier) they were painting something red, pink and white. My kiddos were all excited to be doing something "secretive" for their parents. Every year that I have taught Kindergarten I have done a similar project with my kiddos for Valentine's Day. It's a picture frame, which they can paint and then decorate. Inside the picture frame, is a picture of the student holding a Valentine's Bear. They then write the words "I Love You!" either next to the picture or underneath it.

So today was Step #2 of our project - Adding the decorations!

They each got a bag of flower and heart stickers with which to decorate their frame (which I had divided up evenly earlier by color, size etc...partly for their benefit, mostly for OCD me! :-))

The finished products!!!

(P.S. I had to chuckle when I saw the chalkboard in the top corner of this picture. It was from a handwriting assignment earlier, but by the end of today, it should have read, "Miss Follett needs a nap! :-))

Because the pictures are so small in the above picture, I wanted to show you more of a "zoomed-in" look of the picture inside each of their frames. Aren't my kiddos adorable!? :-)

Strawberry Jell-O Hearts

In honor of Valentine's Day today, my kiddos and I made strawberry Jell-O hearts. This morning they helped to stir the Jell-O mix and water together in a bowl, and then they each got to scoop the Jell-O into their little individual pans. They were rather meticulous, making sure they each got a FULL scoop of Jell-O into both of their pans! :-)

After letting the Jell-O cool and harden in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, we got out the heart cookie cutters (I seriously have collected about 20 heart cookie cutters of various sizes!). They each chose the size of the heart they wanted to put in their Jell-O. As a result, some got more hearts, less scraps, and others got more scraps, less hearts! But all together, they each had an equal amount of strawberry Jell-O to enjoy this afternoon. Quite important in this Kindergarten classroom, you know! :-)

Birthday Girl

Juliana got to wear a princess crown all day because she was the Princess Birthday Girl. She loved that!

I think she was enjoying her birthday!

(Posing with the sunglasses she got in the prize box)

Red, Pink, and White

My kiddos were painting with red, pink and white today...



Oh, you'll just have to wait and see what the finished product will be!

(and yes, I know I rhymed!)