Better late then never

About 2 weeks ago, our school hosted a book fair. The theme was Luau and my co teacher and I had tons of fun doing all sorts of Hawaiian crafts and ideas. I took a picture of one the crafts I did and I meant to post it a long time ago. But of course time has gotten the best of me.

Anyway here are the palm trees I made with the kids hand print. Well my attempt anyway. I came up with the idea on my own, but I'm not sure if I like the end result. Does it look like a palm tree to you?

Wordless Wednesday: Park adventure

Beautiful sunny outdoor weather

What a wonderful weekend it was. The sun was out, which led to more outdoor activities. Lots of people walking, jogging, biking, and playing. I personally love the outdoors, even when it's a little rainy and cold, but the sun is definitely a good motivator to get outside. I spent my Saturday watching my sister play softball over at Crystal Lake sports field. Which just happens to be right across the street from me.

She did really good and of course she had fun playing. Afterwards Bailee, Braylon and I walked to my house and headed for the park. On our way you stopped to have a little adventure at the pond by my apartment complex. We saw baby nutria that I will admit were kind of cute. And they let us get really close to them which really surprised me.

Overall it was good weekend. I was even able to convince Tyrel to go on a walk with me. Finally have someone to go with me. Yeah!

Preschool fun

I figured it would be fun to use my blog to share my ideas, crafts and planning I do with my kids at work, so that way other people can use them. Or if anymore else has any fun ideas, feel free to share them!

This week was bug and insect week. I had so much fun planning for it and loved exploring outside for all sorts of bugs you find outside. We also did a lot of fun art and crafts. Of course at the time we made them I didn't think to take a picture of them so I had to go online and look for a replica. Our assistant teacher came up with caterpillar hand prints. Basically this is how they turned out.

Of course the ones that she made, came out tons cuter :) On Wednesday I came up with the idea of making hand print spiders:

I like doing a lot of projects with hand prints because it makes the project more unique to each individual child. Every child's hand is different so each spider came out looking different and super cute.

Another thing I did with the kids is make a cup-o-worms. No, not real dirt and worms, but a yummy treat made to look like the real thing! This is something I made as a kid and thought it was was a fun idea. The kids of course loved it, although at first they were a little worried that I was going to be feeding them real dirt and worms. It's super easy to make. I just used the instant Jell-O pudding mix, that takes 5 minutes to prep and you can have the kids help you make it.


You will need:

• Chocolate pudding
• Gummy worms
• Cocoa powder (or hot chocolate mix)
• Chocolate sprinkles (also called chocolate Jimmies) - optional.
• Clear plastic cups.

 Put the pudding in first, have them pick some worms and then some chocolate sprinkles to put on top to make it look like dirt. I used graham crackers to change it up a bit. The best thing about this project is having the kids eat their creation, or save it in the fridge for later.

Well that's it for now. I will try and keep up regular post from now on!

My home away from home

I've been meaning to make this post for a long time. About 3 weeks ago me, my boss, and coworker came in on a Saturday to work on the classroom. This may sound crazy but when the old teachers left the school, I was left with the piles of stuff that was collected over the years that had never been gone through. There have been in service days but I was always by myself because at the time I was either working by myself or my co worker was sick.

I'm happy to say that I now have a clean and functional classroom! Of course we weren't able to go through all of it, but it was definably a jump start in the right direction. I was able to take some pictures and I'm happy to show off my new and improved classroom!

Look at those cute octopus!

Table all set up for snack

Our art center

The science and sensory center

The loft

The cubbies. With our new coat hangers!

Under the loft

On top of the loft

The nap cubbies

The carpet area

Fine motor and manipulatives

Look at all the art supplies!

I love the look of my new classroom and I look forward to continue to work on it!

Picture perfect

Stole this picture from my mom. Such a great picture that I had to share
I love my life! <3

Guest Post: Dog drama

I have a friend who is going through a difficult situation right now. A couple of months ago she had found a dog wondering the streets as a stray. Being the animal lover that she is, she took in the dog, took care of it, called the humane society and attempted to find the dog's owners. 30 days later she claimed the dog as her and was really a happy. Until an unfortunate event when the supposedly owners saw her walking "their" dog and called the police on her. The cop then forced her to give the dog back to them.

After all she did for that dog, there was no "thank you," no explanation as to where they have been for the past month, and no pay back for the vet fees my friend had to pay. I for one, don't think the officer was in the right to force her to give back the dog. I mean, the people didn't really have proof that it was their dog, just going by word of mouth. That's almost as bad as a child at my school claiming that a toy is theirs all because it looks like a toy they have at home. Ridiculous honestly. Tell me what you think

"So, Easter Sunday Frank & I decided to take Spock out for a walk in the local park. As we got there this family who barely spoke any English, making conversation difficult, claimed that he was their lost dog. They had a photo of a white lab puppy on their phone, but because I licensed Spock in my name, I told them that I was sorry, but he is my dog.

When we got home from our long and stressful walk we got a phone call from a sheriff asking us to meet him at the park w/Spock. We did & he forced us to give Spock to the family. He gave me two choices 1) Give him to the family, or 2) He would arrest me and take Spock by physical force and give him to the family. So I gave them the dog.

Once home Frank & I started researching what was going on, and the legality of it all. I want Spock back! We found that the officer was in the wrong. According to our research, dogs are considered property, property disputes are to be handled in small claims, and an officer should not enforce the transfer of property from one person to another unless ordered by a judge. Secondly, according to ORS 98.025 we should have been paid for the cost of care we gave to him BEFORE the property was transferred.

I did lots of research and called a few places. Talked with another sheriff from the county, who was standing by his officer saying he did everything right, so we are now waiting on a friend to get us the phone number for a civil lawyer who specializes in animal cases. We will be filing a complaint against the officer who treated us terribly and who we believe way over-stepped his bounds.

After the consultation with the lawyer, we are going to be going to the family to give them 2 options.
1) We will offer to purchase Spock from them, both for the price they paid originally, and if they can prove w/receipts they put money into vet bills for puppy-shots, we will pay that as well.
OR
2) If they are not willing to sell him to us, we are going to request that they pay us for the vet bills & food expense we put into him. That is supported by ORS 98.025 where we should be reimbursed for the care of found property. The general example I found about property, is that if you found some one's bike, and had to pay to store it, they would be required to pay you the fees you incurred while it was in your care. That is supposed to happen before they get the property back. This didn't happen in our case, but that's not the family's fault, that's the officer's.

If they totally refuse we will be taking them to court, and requesting the court demand they not only pay us for his care but for our legal fees as well.

The sheriff I spoke with on the phone told me that for Spock to have legally been ours we would have had to follow ORS 98.005. It isn't obviously stated ANYWHERE in the found-dog section of the county or shelter website that I needed to do any of that. But it states that there's basically just a few things we would have to do:
We would have had to submit in writing that we found him to the county clerk. Post an ad with description and my name, address, and the final date for some one to claim him in the newspaper 1ce a week for two weeks. If no one claimed him after 3 months from the written submission date, he would have been legally assigned as my property.

So a heads up to every one out there, just because a dog is licensed in your name, does not mean they are legally yours"

Credit: Dog Drama By Christiane

Wordless Wednesday: Easter eggs

Yeah we are mature... lol

Lighting MacQueen!

Green eggs and ham!

Happy Saturday!

I consider this day to be a very relaxing, lazy, and unaccomplished. And I'm perfectly fine with that. Sometimes you need those days. A day when you sleep in until 11, wear pajamas all days, and just sit at home playing video games or watching movies. And the best part about it was getting to spend time with Tyrel, which seems to be happening less these days with work keeping me so busy.

But what better way to end your day then color Easter eggs with your family!

All colors of the rainbow!

It was a whole family event

I only did two, but I had fun watching other people and enjoyed some of the creativity that runs in my family

These next set of photos need to be explained a little. My brother in law worked hard on this egg for probably about 10 to 15 minutes. And the end result was a funny comic!

The egg is walking up the stairs...

He trips while walking up the stairs...

He falls down the stairs...

And he cracks his head!

Overall it was a fun family experience. I love the bonding that happens between my family. And I wouldn't trade them for the world!