thankful...

 for this guy. he really is the best.

 for my job. i complain about it a lot, but i can say i really love these kids and teaching.

 and how can you not love them when they make faces like that?!

hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!

i can't wait for christmas!

what i'll miss

getting freshly picked flowers every morning from the sweetest little boy, so cute(he picked them on the way to school)

seeing smiles and getting hugs every morning and afternoon

the hilarious things they would write and say

playing with them at recess tuesday/thursday

fun friday's every friday- usually spent on the playground

cards, notes, gifts, and pictures galore

getting a weekly note from a few students on the back of their spelling tests

caring not only for their education but also caring for them in all other ways

getting asked the funniest questions

joking with them/them joking(this is after they literally soaked me at field day)

city council every morning

times when things just clicked, love that

their cute/fun personalities

i could not have asked for a better first year of teaching. i absolutely adored my students and had such a great year. we learned a lot and played a little less, but all around had an amazing year!

 collette and i at park day

last thursday(may 31), was the last day. we had a fun morning and then i gave them a little speech. i'm not usually very emotional but as i was talking to them one last time i got a little choked up. then i told them to come and and say goodbye and i had four girls start crying. well that brought out the tears in me. i hope they will look back on 3rd grade and have fond memories, i know i will.

disneyland letters

i'm telling you when my kids write letters, you end up with some pretty hilarious results. we wrote to our favorite character at disneyland because they write you back. here are just a few excerpts (keep in mind I kept everything the same:spelling, punctuation, etc.):

Dear Minnie,
Your my favorite character on Mickey Mouse Club house. I don't watch your show eney more, because I am 9 years old.

Dear Snow White,
What age are you? How did it fill to eat a poisoned apple? Does it fill weird? So what happened to the evil queen?

Dear Ariel,
Tell Rapunzel I said Hi! How are you? How's your daughter Melody? What age are you? Your awesome, funny, and weird in the movie The Little Mermaid. Your pretty. Is ursala still alive? If she is tell her she's mean.

Dear Sleeping Beauty,
I forgot do you have a husbend? When you were little did you go to princess school or some thing? How old are you? I'm gesing your a teenager.

Dear Mickey Mouse,
...O by the way minye kissed me when I was there last. I was just going to go get an autograph and then she kissed me and I blushed. (this is a boy)

Dear Ariel,
How are you do you like live on land? What do you like better land or water? Did you eat seaweed when you where a mermaid?

oh these kids are great. hope these gave you a laugh.

apology letters

couldn't help posting these...my class got in trouble in p.e. last week and had to write apology letters. these are their exact letters (except names), spelling errors and all. when nate and i read these we were laughing so hard. enjoy!

Dear ...
I am sory what hapend on friday i am very sorey. I was doing what I was sposto I was runing laps and everone started to play tage I was not playing tage. I was runing laps. I was doing what I was asposto. Love ...

Dear...
Sorry our class was dissorderly in Phys. Ed. We will be alot better next time okay, and have a good day. Sincerely ...

Dear...
IM REALY SORRY! HOW CAN I MAKE IT UP TO YOU? FROM ...

Dear...
I am sorry are class ruined your break hopefully are class will be behaved next time we come. And we could get a green card and you can go home and have a happy break no more yelling no more headches and no more lessons I am sorry and I am shere everyone is to. And next time we can get through everything faster and we can play fun games for awhile and i think that is funner than wasting are time.

Dear...
I am sorry we messed around last week. I promiss I will not join in on talking with them ever again, and I never did talk in P.E., I just said good job to my team. from ...

Dear...
I am sorry that we talked, played, goofed off and most of us ran laps. I promise that next time I will obey better. I should have done better. I am so so sorry. I wish I could go back in time and do what I should have. Next time I won't waste your time or mine. I hope you can forgive me. I really want to be able to have the privilege of P.E. I am so super sorry. Sincerely...

Dear...
Sorry ....about that. but I hope that your going to not make a fit and if i was you i will be nice. sincerely...

Dear...
I'm really sorry if I made you upset I'll try to make it up somehow. and I try to set good example everytim I come and I try to make you happy. Your freind...

Dear...
I am sorry the way I acted on friday. I will act beder this friday. I am sorry that I ruined your weekend. Next time I will act the best I can. I will choose to stay with the class and be good. I am sorry. From...

long overdue

i've thought countless times over the past little while to make a post; nonetheless, it hasn't happened. i don't have many pics, but i do have a few updates.

first of all halloween. i was dreading dressing up for work, mostly because i couldn't think of a costume. my awesome mil came in and saved the day with her suggestion. that's right, i was a baby. my students thought this was hilarious. it was definitely a hit with everyone. thanks to tay tay for the footie pajamas. haha

work is good. i love teaching, it is such a fulfilling job. i love my students, they are so cute. most of them give me a hug when they come and when they leave everyday. they also write me notes and draw me pictures. today i got halloween candy from them. ha they are just awesome. of course, some days are hard. mostly just exhausting, there is so much prep work that goes into teaching, it is ridiculous.

kids really say the craziest things. one of my students came in to class the other day and said, "Mrs. Quist I love Luke. (insert huge cheesy grin) He is just so cute!" one of my girls was crying in the back of the room and so i went out in the hall with her to see what was wrong. here was her response, "I told Shelly that I had a crush on Jack and Hayden told Jack!" i had to seriously contain myself from not bursting out with laughter. in the 3rd grade, we do rotations, this means i get to teach each 3rd grade class for 30 minutes on their assigned day. one day as I was teaching writing during rotations i told the class i needed all eyes on me. one boy shouted out as it was dead silent, "Tom said he's looking at your boobs." oh my gosh. i was shocked what had just come out of his mouth. the worst part is that i was wearing a pretty tight shirt. goodness. kids are great..or at least most of them. haha *all names have been changed.

nate took the LSAT to go to law school a month ago. he got his score back last week. he did amazing. i am so proud of him. it was crappy to have him study so much the last five months but it definitely paid off. it is hard not knowing where we will end up!

well i think that is all for now. hope everyone is doing awesome and i'll definitely get back to regular posting.

my classroom

here are the overdue pics of my classroom. it is a "city" theme.

this is the door in the hallway. everyone picked out their house that they wanted in our city. if you look closely there are castles, igloos, tents, skyscrapers, log cabins, mushroom houses, and traditional looking homes. the kids loved this. this is the back wall in the classroom. the skyline took a lot of time but i think it turned out pretty cool. road signs on the wall. my desk area. oh how i wish it still looked like this. haha this isn't very good lighting, but i needed something for my windows and i didn't want curtains. my mom and i saw this idea in a boutique in the riverbottoms. you cut strips of paper and then sew them together. this is me on my first day of school, so exhausted. i go home most days exhausted. so far teaching has been exhausting(of course), exciting, challenging, fulfilling, frustrating, fun, etc., etc. I could go on and on. ha I have some awesome kids and am so grateful for my job.