Dancing girl

Avery Kate had her first dance recital a couple of weeks ago. She has taken gymnastics since she was two and a half, but his was her first class that combined ballet, tap and gymnastics. It was so much fun to watch her and the other girls. I took the majority of pictures and all the video at the dress rehearsal because I was able to get much closer and didn't have to run back and forth between backstage and the auditorium.

                                                        hanging out in the dressing room

                                                                 ready to go!

                                                                    all done!

                                                                       over it ;)

                                                                  way to go Avery!

                                                 all the girls (and a few boys) during finale

Making a change!

For the past 7 years I have taught ESL pre-k. It's been fun, tiresome, stressful and humbling. However, I have been wanting to make a change and begin teaching a higher grade level. Even more important to me, I wanted to be able to teach at the school Avery would be attending. With several elementary schools in our district, I wasn't sure if I would be able to. After lots of prayer, worry and wondering, 2 wonderful opportunities presented themselves to me. To make a long story short, I found out just a couple of weeks ago that I will be teaching Burley Primary school, the new dual-language campus Avery will be attending! Even better....I will be teaching second grade! It will be new territory for me, but I am so excited. I know lots of things have changed in education since I was in school, but second grade was my FAVORITE grade, and I honestly remember so much of my year in that class. Mostly because I had the absolute best teacher, Mrs. Rhonda Menefee. Her name is Mrs. McElhaney now, but I still catch myself referring to her as Mrs. Menefee :) I stay in touch with her to this day, and she is still just the sweetest! She is the reason I have such wonderful memories of that school year, and why I wanted to become a teacher myself. I used to play school A LOT at home, and I remember searching all over the school supply aisle at the store for the same type of pens that Mrs. M used to grade our papers with. I think I was a little obsessed, haha!  If she is reading this--Thank you so much for your love of education, and your dedication and love to your students--it HAS made a difference!
August will be the beginning of a new and exciting year for both Avery and I!

Ears

Several months ago we started a kindness jar with Avery. Every time she did something kind or helpful without being asked, she earned a marble. It also worked the opposite way...there were many times she lost marbles too :) We told her that when she filled up her jar, we would take her to get her ears pierced. For a couple of weeks we all sort of forgot about the jar and it didn't get filled much. Oops! After getting back on track with it, she had it full in no time! She couldn't wait to get those ears pierced!  The first weekend of summer we were meeting my mom in Tyler to pick up Maitland, so we decided to do it there. I tried to explain how they had to put tiny holes in her ear without scaring her, but she seemed just fine with it and had no anxiety. When we arrived at Claire's she hopped up in the chair and was ready! She barely flinched when they put the holes in. We haven't had any problems with them so far, and she can't wait to pick out a new pair to wear. I need her to stop growing so fast!

 All done!

                                                sister thought she needed to hold her hand

Summer!

I wrapped up my 7th year of teaching on May 31. We've had a busy summer so far, and I hope to get more detailed posts up about what we've been up to! Here are some pictures from the first week of summer '13.

        I bought this chair my first year of teaching for only $20 at Staples. I wasn't sure how long it would hold up but I bought it because it was pink. It has held my butt up for 7 years, including 2 pregnancies, ha! It's moving with me to my new campus....

      Avery with Ms. Cemanthia and Mrs. Keil. She's been in this class for 2 years and has loved it!    Now she's on her way to a new campus!

                                celebrating the last day of school with Orange Leaf yogurt

                                                  who let Maitland in the drivers seat?!?

                    Shaun was taking a nap on the couch and the girls decided to throw him a surprise party. He is buried in his "presents"

                                                        Avery had her first dance recital!

                                                   we visited a yummy little bakery downtown

                                                          on our way to the splash park!