Kaitlyn likes to read to me!

Kaitlyn's new thing is reading books aloud to me or to herself. She will be in the car while we're driving and she'll start most of the sentences with either, "One Day..." or "Once there was a princess...". In this video she's reading the book "Zoe's Potty".

Animal Trauma at Preschool!

I'm enjoying teaching preschool two days a week. I am now teaching by myself. Today I was sitting with the kids on the carpet for "show and tell" when one of the boys says, "There's the mouse!" I proceeded to acknowledge him, knowing that there is a gerbil in a cage on the counter behind me. When he said it for a second time, though, I turned around to see the gerbil not in its cage, but running around on the floor!!!! I'm not an animal person. I've never had a pet (besides our goldfish growing up), never want a pet, never will have a pet. And rodents...I'll be honest, they scare me! With 25 minutes of preschool left to go, I thought about just going outside, shutting the door, and letting the kids play outside. But then I thought to myself--what if the gerbil hides somewhere and we can NEVER find it? I don't know if I'd be able to go in that room again not knowing where that little fella would be hiding ready to run under my feet at any moment.

I hoped that Pennie was home, so I ran into her house yelling her name, but she was gone. Then I called Steve on the phone for him to track her down for me. He told me I better calm down! I thought I kept my cool pretty well on the outside so the kids wouldn't panic, but on the inside I felt like I was having a heart attack! I couldn't believe how calm all these little kids were. One of the girls was a little scared, but I think the rest of them liked it!

I started opening cabinets to search for something that I could use as a trap. I found one with small holes in it and dumped whatever contents were in it out on the counter (all of course while I'm trying to keep track of where the gerbil is running). By this time I'm trying to get the children over to the table to do a craft project, while babysitting the gerbil on the other side of the room. This of course did not work very well! Kids are great at entertaining themselves, though. After chasing this fast little critter around for 10 or 15 minutes, it must have started to get used to me because it slowed down enough for me to throw the container over the top of it. I sighed in relief as this was a small miracle in my life, and then I found the heaviest object near (Michael's baby airplane saucer/chair) and put it on top of the container to make sure it couldn't get out. We managed to finish our craft project, get everyone's shoes on, backpacks on, and all papers passed out and I was only two minutes past ending time. My heart felt like I had run an extra 3 miles, though!

I called Pennie when I got home to tell her there was a little friend waiting for her in a plastic basket in the preschool room. I really hope that never happens again. I'm such a wimp!

Praying Mantis

We went outside today and found a praying mantis on the stairs of our deck! Aren't they usually green? Maybe this was albino or something 'cause it was completely white. I don't really know anything about these weird bugs, but I do know that Michael was totally fascinated with it. I was scared he was going to pick it up and put it right in his mouth. He didn't pick it up, but he sure didn't hesitate to pet the little creature! I guess that's what boys do!

Our Family Pictures...

We got our pictures back from Brandee Bird and she is amazing!! I'm so excited to get these printed and up on the wall soon!

Biggest Loser is Back!!

One of my most favorite shows is starting up again tonight--THE BIGGEST LOSER!! I loved seeing Ali lose 112 pounds last season and becoming the first woman winner! So watch NBC tonight at 7!

First Day of Preschool!

As I was getting Kaitlyn dressed to go to our first day of preschool this morning, our conversation went something like this:

Heidi: "Kaitlyn, are you so excited to go to preschool today?"
Kaitlyn (with her oversized Dora backpack on, looking me straight in the eyes): "Mom, will you come on the bus with me?"
Heidi: "Honey, we don't ride the bus to preschool."
Kaitlyn: "I want to ride the bus."
Heidi: "Kaitlyn, you don't get to ride the bus until you go to Kindergarten".
Kaitlyn (the entire way to preschool in the car): "Are we gonna ride the bus, mom?"

No, our little Kaitlyn is not old enough to go to preschool this year, but she is going to preschool a year early with me because I'm teaching a preschool class this year! The crazy thing is she's not that much younger than the rest of the 3 year olds in my class. Kaitlyn will be three in December. Anyway, I will be teaching a 3 year old preschool class this year that meets on Monday and Friday mornings at my sister-in-law, Pennie's . Pennie has taught for many years and asked me if I wanted to take her 3 year old class. I felt like it was the right thing to do, so now I'm a preschool teacher! I taught 4th grade for 3 years, taught 1st-6th graders music for one year, and student taught 3rd and 6th graders, but preschool is new for me. There are only 7 children in my class, Kate makes 8. They are all SO cute! It's going to be a lot of fun.

Duets

Kaitlyn and cousin Brooklyn played a duet and sang for us!