Memory Lane Monday... Third Grade

Third grade is the year that holds the WORST memories for me in all of my school years. In fact I hated 3rd grade so much I can't even put a picture of ANYTHING on this post! LOL


Anyway...here goes reliving the worst year of my school years... here goes nothing!

• I disliked my teacher SO much. Ms. Galey. She was so mean! She wasn't even capable of smiling I swear! I remembering kids in the class (including me) calling her "Miss Gay twad"... nice huh!?
• I got hit in the face with a swing on the playground and chipped my front tooth up. Miss Galey told me to get over it. She was so not compassionate. I was devastated and mortified I had to sit in class with a chipped tooth.
• I got picked on for my weight horribly. I just wanted to be one of the "cool" kids that got invited to the "cool" hotel birthday's. But nope!
• We had to do a "body shape" assignment for math and a girl turned around and told me, you're nothing but a big fat circle. I told the teacher and of course she again, didn't care.
• I had a HUGE obsession with New Kids on the Block! HUGE! My aunt bought me the "Hangin' Tough" concert VHS for Christmas. I had sheets (my parents still have them in the camper! LOL), a blanket, t-shirts and posters!
• I remember we learned cursive this year. I liked cursive.
• We also did a lot with multiplication tables.
• We did this super cool project that was a trip to Washington DC on paper. We plotted out the map and did daily "journals" of where we drove to/through, what hotels we stayed out, how much everything cost..etc. It was a SUPER COOL project! My partner was the other "Kristen" in the class.

Yep...that's about all I can remember from the year of hell. Seriously, I think I block most of it out... I HATED third grade!

Memory Lane Monday...2nd grade

image found at:
 http://northcarolinatheatre.blogspot.com

I'm sitting her racking my brain trying to think of 2nd grade and for whatever reason I'm having a hard time thinking of much! Usually when I start it all just starts to multiply from one memory to the "OMG, I SO FORGOT" next! So here goes nothing.... 2nd grade.

• I had Mrs. Dolmage for a teacher. She was quiet, nice and sweet. BUT you didn't want to get her mad! :)
• I remember my dad taught truck driving at Hawkeye Community College and he brought in a truck and trailer one day and let everyone climb in and on and around on it.
• I remember a farm kid in my class brought in a piglet that was born with like 2 heads and extra legs and all kinds of weirdness. It was not alive, it was mounted in a glass case kind of thing, but it was still rather creepy...cool, but creepy! :P
• I tried out for the High School Musical "Sound of Music" after being invited by the director to do so. I landed the part of Marta, the 2nd to the youngest VonTrapp kiddo. "I'm Marta, I'll be 7 on Tuesday, and I'd like a pink parasol!" I remember all the long practices, doing like coloring books and activities until it was my turn. It was so much work but so much fun. I LOVED IT! The High School kids were SO nice to me. The girl that played Maria even gave us all little gifts with personal cards at the end. I may even still have that card?! The thing I remember most was all the costume changes! OOOOH MY! All the fittings and stuff that went in to that were ridiculous, too!
• I was sick on my birthday this year. I actually got up and went to school (you're NOT supposed to be SICK on your BIRTHDAY, right?!) and right in the middle of "I pledge allegiance to the flaaaaaaaaa.............gggggggggggggggg..........bbbbbbbbbbbbbblah! Yep threw up all over myself, my desk and probably half the kids around me. WHOOPS!
• My Grandparents arrived that night I was sick. I was still lying on the floor in the living room. They had traveled into town to come watch "The Sound of Music".
• My "family" birthday party was the final night of the musical. My mom made a star cake and had cupcakes with  "MARTA" on them around the top... Hmm... I THINK that was for was my birthday, or maybe just to celebrate the musical since EVERYONE came from out of state and everything to watch!...??! Either way, it was all around the same time....
• I also threw up one other time when I was forced to eat sauerkraut. Still won't touch them! I remember throwing up in the lunch line where you had to go clear your tray.
• I'm not sure if this was EXACTLY 2nd grade or not, but around this age I remember listening to the truckers on the CB at my parent's Christmas Tree lot because it was out near interstate. I remember one time getting on the CB and trying to "strum up" tree business. I said, "Hey! Wanna buy a Christmas tree?" And some trucker replied, "Get off the radio little girl!" all mean like. I was PETRIFIED! (I think I had been given strict instructions to stay OFF the radio anyway! LOL Oops!)

Hmm... I'll have to think more about 2nd grade and perhaps add more later?! It must have been a pretty content year if I don't remember anything horrible or embarassing!? LOL

Memory Lane Monday (delayed)

Speaking of school memories...
here are Haven's beginning writings July 2008 <3

First Grade Memories... I'm trying to think of what comes to mind. I had a WONDERFUL teacher and a really GOOD year. Some of the things I remember most:

• I remember taking old Ties from our dad's to make a "Turkey" and all of his feathers for a Thanksgiving bulletin board.
• I remember having like 5th or 6th grade "reading friends" that would come once a week to read us books. My reading friend was Melissa, but all of her friends called her "Bud". LOL She made me a Christmas tree ornament (those like smelly cinnamon-y applesauce kind?) Well last I checked, it was still hanging on my Mom & Dad's Christmas tree! :)
• My teacher's name was "Mrs. Nelson" so we always read the books "Miss Nelson is Missing" (among the other 2 or 3 in the 'series'. It was so COOL our "teacher" was in a book! :)
• I remember a grandmother of a classmate came in every week for quite some time and worked with us to create oil paintings for our parents for Christmas. It was a covered bridge and snow and a log and trees. It was really beautiful... ours weren't QUITE so beautiful, however... my parents still have the one I painted them! I remember the coolest part of it was getting to pick out a kitty cat sticker to put on the log when we finished our picture! :)
• I remember that we got to "write" our first "books". They were hard-covered books that the outsides had cool designs on them. They were all in black and white so we got to color the outside with sharpies AND write a story or stories to go inside! It was SO COOL!
• I remember making a dainty angel out of pastas. I think this was Christmas gift material, too. It still hangs on MY Christmas tree to this day! :)
• I was such a nerd. I wrote a whole presentation on trees because my parents sold Christmas trees at the time. It was NOT a school project... just something I did with my Mom for "fun"! LOL I presented it to my class. And then later I got called to the Principal's office.... for an Academic Award! LOL
• Our Principal was named "Mrs. Hand"... my dad always called her "Mrs. Foot". She always wore noisy high heels and click clacked through the halls! She had big hair too! LOL
• For Saint Patrick's day... the "leprechauns" visited our room. The classroom was TRASHED (which resulted in an all day clean up/tidy up!!! :))! All of our desks were tipped over and everything. There was a trail of green and gold glitter up and out the window! :)
• I was a really good speller and always on the highest level of the class!

Yep I think those are the best memories I have of 1st grade! :) 

Memory Lane Monday... Earliest Memories: Pre-School/ Kindergarten

Discussing important "First Day" stuff! :)

How fitting that today is Haven's first day of preschool! I'm not exactly sure who was most excited today: Haven...who has been counting down the days until his "FIRST DAY!", Hudson...who got to wear his "new backpack" just to walk Haven to school, or Mom...who can't believe she is old enough to walk back through HER old school's doors...as a PARENT! It feels so funny to fill out HLV School papers and sign on the "Parent/Guardian" line! As we walked down to the (new, fancy, smancy) offices I see my old 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Nelson. I have fond memories of her...and her class! She looks at me, smiles and says, "Well, Hello! You can't possibly have a child old enough to be here!" Alas, I do! Impossible as it seems... it IS possible! Today is that big day!

 Haven was so excited to go meet new friends, learn new things, and be at the "big school"! So excited, in fact, that he forgot to say goodbye! (Hudson was really bummed about this!) He called me at work when he got home to tell me all about his day. He didn't even say "Hello", just dove into conversation about playing with play dough, finding shells in the sand, having teddy grahams and cereal for snack, and helping with the "really great rules" that he somehow couldn't remember by the time he called me! *lol* All the while, Hudson is in the background...VERY EXCITED that his big brother is home again! Mid-sentence Haven stops and whispers very loudly, "SHHHH... BE QUIET I'm TALKING to MOM!" After work, Haven was trying to remember some of the finer details about his day to share. Things like: "Mom did you know those little boxes where we put our folders are called CUBBIES?" To which I reply, "Yes, they are!" Haven stops and stares at me in disbelief for just a moment and says, "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?" When I go on to explain that I once had cubbies for MY folders he stares at me in disbelief. I guess it's hard to think of our parents as being KIDS! :) He already brought home "Home" work in his "Home" folder. We had to fill out a questionnaire about him. I asked and he answered Here is his 4 year old insight... I love it:

I would like to learn about... "Animals, How things Grow, How things Work" {... Seriously?! I was figuring this would be super heroes, or dinosaurs. Nope... my FOUR YEAR OLD fills out a PRESCHOOL QUESTIONNAIRE with "I want to learn how things work!"}

I can: ______ all by myself... "write my name, and turn things on and off"...... {he goes on to say he's now tall enough to reach light switches and stuff since he's BIG... love it!}

I know ______ at preschool... "how to listen!" ... {I hope he intends to listen at preschool as well as he fills in his questionnaire questions! LOL}

Anyway, it was an adorably adorable first day of "big school" pre-school!

As for my own "memories".... MEMORY LANE MONDAY First Memories Preschool/Kindergarten Edition begins...... NOW! :)

The only preschool I went to was Wednesday School. It was a one day a week preschool out south of town at the Lutheran church. I L.O.V.E.D. Wednesday school!
I remember:

• getting fun little name tags in different shapes and you had to match your name tag to the group/table to find your group.
• the "Birthday cake" that had Christmas light "Candles" you got to light 
• the "Birthday machine"... you got to put in a quarter... turn a knob...etc. etc... (HAVEN STILL GOT TO DO THIS SAME EXACT MACHINE last year at his Wednesday School Birthday!!!!)
• the monkey puppet that sang to you
• the "offering bucket" which was an ice cream bucket with a hole in the lid. It was passed around during song time each week.
• the murals on the walls of Bible stories
• music time... we had instruments made of sand paper on wooden blocks, ice cream buckets (man these must be a valuable resource! LOL), some triangles, etc.
• WEDNESDAY SCHOOL GRADUATION! It was the BEST. We got to wear "graduation caps" made of construction paper with yarn tassels. ADORABLE!
• carpools! There were SO MANY kids that went we car pooled. It was HUGE back in the day. Now there is only 7 or 8 ish to a class! :(
• denim bags made especially for us... they were dark blue denim tote-style bags with red initial letters sewn on the front! I wish I still had mine!!!

Yes... Wednesday school was DEFINITELY full of fond memories! <3 I was THRILLED to learn it was still going on and that Haven could experience it as well!!!

Kindergarten Memories:

• I remember Homecoming Week in Kindergarten. They made A HUGE HUGE deal of us because we were the "Class of 2000!!!" Can you believe it?! They made buttons for us that declared that too! (In fact, I saw one hanging on the wall in the offices today! Brought back great memories!) I also remember making Indian headbands with a feather (we were the Warriors) which probably is totally NOT politically correct anymore! :) We also made signs by cutting big red and black letters out to spell HLV. I remember a classmate being photographed holding hers upside down! lol
• I remember Mr. Tibben in music class. I really liked going to music class with him.
• I remember making clay "pots" (*HAHA* that term is totally used loosely!) in art class, and painting with those brick style watercolors!
• I remember having the big bulletin board that showed "The Helpers" such as line leader, etc.
• I remember Mrs. Roe's big sign on the wall that showed "right" and "left" hand prints in red and green with the words printed below them.
• I remember my new shoes and how excited I was about them. They were HIGH TOPS! The coolest of all cool! :)
• I remember wearing a horridly bright colored button down shirt with toucans on them. YES!! It's as ugly as it sounds! Not only was it ugly but it had tuxedo like TAILS on the back! O.M.G. The 80's! I remember my Daddy dropping me off at school and telling me not to get my "tails" stuck in the door. And I worried all day!
• I remember it being SO COOL that there were 3 KRISTI(E)Ns in my grade. We were infinitely bound to using our initials. (Kristin S.)
• I remember the little sticker charts we used as incentive to learn to tie our shoes!
• I remember making locker tags in December that were Santa's head. And each day we glued a cotton ball onto his beard until it was full in time for Christmas!
• I remember using rag rugs for nap time, and NEVER really wanting to take a nap! LOL
• I remember being completely and TOTALLY envious of the OTHER class having an (almost) life-sized horse to climb on and sit on during free play! Their room was SOOOO cool. That teacher still teaches in the SAME room...but I didn't see the horse today! I'll have to look closer next time! ;)

I'm sure there are other things that will creep back into my ol' memory back now that I've got the juices a goin'! ;) But actually I'm happy and surprised I came up with so much! I'll definitely have to start thinking of the coolness that was "1st grade" for next week! :)

~Behold, Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward...

Psalm 127:3