Kindergarten

I have now started the last year of my Masters in Education at Radford University. I am not only taking a few classes, but I'm also in an elementary classroom every day. What an experience! I have enjoyed every (tiring) minute of it! I have such a new respect for teachers of the younger grades, especially kindergarten! I didn't realize how much work it really is, especially with the kiddos that may have never been in a classroom setting before. Even though I come home exhausted, I love each and every student so much and cannot wait to have my own classroom someday. I get so many hugs, "I love yous" and even a couple unexpected cheek kisses. They are so fun!

I've heard that kindergarten is especially rewarding because you get to see SOO much progress especially in reading and language. I wish I got to stay with them all year so I could really see it! I will be in the kindergarten room this semester and then switch to an upper elementary grade next semester for my student teaching.

Any advice for a new teacher? :-)

Business trip

I mentioned that I took a quick business trip to California. Thought I'd give you a photo of my dad and I taking Nanny (my dad's mom) out to eat:


When I got back from the trip, things were in full swing. That week started back-to-school stuff for me and (continues) Bryce's paper publishing/dissertation organizing/Ph.D. stuff.

There have been a couple days of cooler weather, which got me excited for leaves changing, warm drinks, sweaters, boots, FOOTBALL (next week! yay!) and all things Fall.

Beach week

I've been MIA for a little while for a few reasons:
1. We went to the beach for a week with my family!
2. I went on a last minute business trip to California and got to see Nanny!
3. I started the school year in a crazy kindergarten class!

First, let me tell you about the beach.

Growing up, my mom's side of the family went to the Outer Banks for a week every summer for 10+ years. We had so much fun with all the cousins. We stopped going awhile back for reasons that I don't remember but I've always wanted to start it back up with family at any beach, really. Going to the beach for a week with family is so fun and brings back a lot of good memories.


A couple weeks ago, my family went to Ocean Isle beach. We love North Carolina beaches.

We took turns cooking meals for everyone. We read on the beach, spent a lot of time swimming in the ocean despite the fact that it was "shark week" the previous week, the boys went fishing and golfing, and we played with Abby and Aaron a lot.




Having nieces and nephews to play with is such a joy! We love them so much.

And with my determination (which was probably a little annoying to everyone), we took staged family photos on the beach that ended up being pretty cute. I hope we start doing this every year. I love looking back at annual family phots and seeing how we've all changed or grown.



The day we got back, we realized that marked the end of our summer fun-in-the-sun.