notes, farts, and does.

notes:

yesterday one of my sweet little guys walked up to the back table where i was sitting and grabbed a little slip of paper.

he looked at me while he was doing it like, "you did not just see me take that.  don't ask what i am going to do with it.  just pretend you didn't see me."

so of course i asked him, "what do you need that for?"

"i need to write a note."

"to who?" [thinking it would be to one of his friends--we will have a time for letters and right before math isn't the time.]

"to you."

"okay, well hurray up it's time for math."  [how much could he write--the slip was like 1/2 a small post-it note.]

then i started singing 

"everybody find a seat, 

find a seat, find a seat. 

everybody find a seat right on the floor." 

[to the tune of "shortnin' bread"]

and he dropped that off to me.

and i read it and almost cried.

"dear miss kendrick

thank you for being a nice teacher to us and we like you"

[this is the same sweet boy that wrote the journal entry with boy's name is my friend! and girl's name too!...etc. see here.]

farts:

yes.  sometimes these little chunkers fart.

it is hilarious.  and i almost die but i have to look down and keep going.  it's not acceptable. but it is so funny.

so today the kids were working on their centers [which means it is quiet time] and my funny boy let one rip.  and i almost lost it but i just looked up and said {name} we don't do that in the classroom. and then i put my head down before he could see me burst out laughing.  he's so cute!

then i had my facilitator/mentor teacher [aka my "boss", not the principal boss] come in and model a lesson for me.  so the class is all sitting on the carpet quietly and attentively and then another boy let one rip.  i was sitting in a chair at the back of the carpet and i seriously was biting my tongue like there was no tomorrow.

oh kids.

does:

it's been awhile since i've seen a deer prancing around. maybe because i haven't been running often or far enough to the normal spot i see them.

and i'm not at byu walking up the hill where missy and i saw the pregnant one like everyday munching on leaves.

it was quite a pleasant surprise to see this doe just prancing through the street close to my apartment.  taking her sweet, precious time.  which is why i snapped a photo.

i'm just loving life.

em and dana and claire bear are allllllmost here. like they should have been 10 minutes ago.

yeah!

pumpkin

one of my number one favorite things about fall is PUMPKIN.


pumpkin in my oatmeal? yum, it is good [if you do it right, like i do].
pumpkin whole wheat pancakes?  you bet, baby. homemade.
pumpkin bread? um, yes.
pumpkin chocolate chip cookies? i'll take 3.
pumpkin pie golden spoon? every night! [not really. like once a week.]
pumpkin pie? give me a fat slice hiding in fresh whipped cream, please.

 but pumpkin cupcakes? ew, no. 

I HATE CAKE, which means cupcakes, too.

i like one cake: carrot cake. because it has the consistency of a moist bread. because it is more a bread than cake.

and i LOVE pumpkin bread. [please, don't even think about giving me any of this yummy goodness.  as much as i love pumpkin and all of the goodness of it, you know i don't like eating dessert except for holidays and special family gatherings or other special occasions, unless it is golden spoon. always down.]

so today i came home from school [work] and there was this cute little chinese takeout box on my table tied with a tiffany's blue satin bow.

and then katie said, "oh tedi left those on our door for us!  now, i KNOW you hate cupcakes, but heidi.  this is the pumpkin chocolate chip cupcake with cream cheese frosting she was telling about.  IT IS SO GOOD! Just try it."

um, pumpkin?  yes. yes, i will try.

so i opened it up.  "girl, this is like PUMPKIN BREAD."

"yeah, it tastes like pumpkin chocolate chip bread!"

i cut it open the mini-size cupcake.

consistency of pumpkin bread.

IT WAS PUMPKIN BREAD!

with an identity crisis: cupcake.

thank goodness it wasn't!  it was SO GOOD!

and normally i HATE frosting, but cream cheese frosting was so good.

SO thank you tedi!  i love you! and thank you SWEET TOOTH FAIRY for making a cupcake that is not a cupcake.

bath time for james.

yeah, he may look stealth.

BUT SOMETIMES HE IS NOT.

pretty much he is hilarious.  he has this little travel cage so i can walk him through the halls outside and he won't leak on the floor.

he tries to get out.  he puts both of his arms on the sides by a corner and hoists himself out! so i have to shut the lid, but i leave the little trap door thing on top open.  okay, well yesterday he somehow got his arms ALL the way up there and i looked up and he was like hanging from it.  and i said, oh james.

it was hilarious.  this little guy is quite a crack up.

and at the same time so frustrating.

his tank has been getting pretty nasty pretty quick.

a) i don't think he has been eating his food. so it dissolves and makes the water gross.

b) the filter is malfunctioning.  [that word reminds me of when this super smart kid in my 7th grade class said his printer was malfunctioning and all of us were like "huh? what? malfunky?"]

c) i had to use my credit card rewards amazon.com gift card that i was going to buy shoes with to buy a new filter.  okay, i still bought 2 pairs of shoes, i just couldn't get 3.

d) 7 minute break is over.  BED TIME.

scorpion hunting and autumn

from my little Sheriff in class during our lunch together (he was the king)


"what's your favorite activity?"


"well, this may sound crazy, but it's scorpion hunting!!!!!! it's awesoooome!!"


{see here}


this is the same kid that wrote on his thank you card to erin (because they both had the same birthday and he was absolutely ecstatic about that, especially when erin said she loved cookies and he said "me too!" so erin said "yes! we can have a cookie birthday party!")


his card to erin said (amongst other things): [boy's name] (me) due Jan. 23. Erin (you) due Jan. 23.  cooooooooookies!!




tomorrow i will have a substitute. literacy training for me. woo hoo.


the kids will be working on a little fall activity for their favorite things about fall.

{we're here now...still green grass, but leaves are changing!}

here are my autumn top 10 favorites:


1.  cooler weather (but not snowy or unbearable)
2.  crisp, fresh air.
3.  crunchy leaves covering the ground.
4.  color! love love love the colors of the leaves all over the mountains (and ground).
5.  boots [and tights]. boots with skirts, boots with dresses, boots with jeans.
6.  General Conference.
7.  BIRTHDAY!!!
8.  THANKSGIVING!!!! which means...
9.  pumpkin pie!
10.christmas music [ella wishes you a swingin' christmas. starts after turkey day, sometimes even earlier...]


happy autumn!

happy ice cream cone day.

{one}

 happy ice cream cone day! 1903 the first ice cream cone was patented in the u.s. thank you italo marchiony. not only are you italian (i'm a quarter), but you invented the ice cream cone, the holder of my favorite treat (okay, it's a tie between ice cream, frozen yogurt, and pie [hello pumpkin pie season...]).

to celebrate, the kiddies and i colored ice cream scoops and voted for our favorite--vanilla, chocolatey, chunky, fruity, and minty flavors.  i voted moose tracks (chunky) and mint n' chip--white kind, dreyers (minty). yum!


proof:

{vienna. june '06. and yes, this is gelato, way too sugary for me but still deserves a yum. k, don't laugh. long, hot, humid day {ahem, hair and smile}.}

{two}

i play music during writer's workshop. usually it's disney songs from the ultimate disney collection discs or songs from hairspray and high school musical and jack johnson's curious george soundtrack.  the past 2 days it's been enya.

{three}

i put a glade plug-in in my classroom and in my bedroom-- cashmere woods.  limited edition for fall.  i am going to stock up at walmart this weekend. go buy some. [p.s. i had a dog named cashmere.  she was a female bucky.  soul siblings, i'm sure.]

{four}

i went to walmart 4 times last week.  i don't want to talk about it.  i have a love/hate relationship with that.  although, we'll save that one for another day. [good news is: i haven't had to go this week!]

{five}

i bought a TON of fruit from sunflower market today. peaches, plums, nectarines. LOVE, love love.

{five and a half}

after a rocky first few weeks of school--getting into the groove of things--i am finally exercising 5-6 days a week again.  and i have been doing some yoga, pilates [can we say abs of steel?], intense interval training [see peak 8 training here], and lifting, which i love and had taken a loooong hiatus from due to the lack of gym pass and marathon training. over now.  [get in the best shape of your life: see here [exercise] and here [nutrition/health]--i love this man for his practices, nutrition, wellness, chlorella, and now exercise. subscribe and read away.]

{six}

butterfly life cycle tomorrow/fun project--good thing you aren't here for it, erin.

{seven}

erin is coming in 4ish weeks.

{eight}

fall break is in 3 weeks.

{nine}

conference is in 1.5 weeks.

{ten}

em and dana are coming in 7 days.

{eleven}

tomorrow is the first day of autumn!  probably my favorite of my favorite seasons. [favorite seasons: autumn, summer, spring.]

{p.s.}

i'm back to trying to write as regularly as possible.

a) i love to write and this is a quick easy way to do it all the while sharing my life and thoughts and craziness with mi familia y mis amigos [ok, or just for the 3 or 7 people that look at this].

b) i think you ought to know how much i love my life, the Gospel, my family, my friends, my second graders, and everything else

today we learned that verbs describe an action.  first i had kids describe me: 

brown hair

glasses (got 'em on today)

nice (aw, thanks)

and then my diva says with an i-want-something smile "beautiful"

(well, thank you!)

then i told them that i think i am funny too.  and i wanted to die laughing after i said that because really, it was funny.

***

one of my favorite things is journals.

sometimes i make the prompt, things like

"if i were president for a day..."

"if i could fly..."

"let me tell you about my teacher..."

or something we learned about or did, like the fun run.

one of my girls writes the BEST journals.  her spelling is fantastic (see #5 here)

and her stories are just great.

today a different girl had a fabulous journal.

she wrote:

I like (girl's name).

I like (girl's name).

I like (girl's name).

I love Miss Kendrick.

I like (girl's name).

i got an "I love?"  The only one?  Must be doing something right!

I got an "I love" and "nice" and "beautiful" all before lunchtime!

another boy's journal is hilarious, too.  he likes to write. this is what it said today:

"(Boy's name) is my friend! (Boy's name) is my friend too!  And (Boy's name) too! And (Boy's name) too!  And (Girl's name) too!  And (Girl's name) too!  And (Girl's name) too!"

And i am pretty darn sure that if he had another 5 minutes he would have finished writing everyone in the class.

love, love, love.

em and dana--just wait til you see 'em!

erin.  come again.

mike, they want more of your stories.

katie, bring in the guitar asap.  oh you and our new roomie lindy can together!

any other cool talents to come in!?

gmail, fill my inbox, please.

i'm loving today's monday.
fresh start, new week.
sundays are my favorite day of the week, naturally pushing monday to #2 [but then there's saturday then friday, so basically monday can't be better than my #4].

one of my favorite sister pictures.

[hello, i need to go to disneyland ASAP! i went for a short time in february but really, it's been since this picture the day before thanksgiving in 2008!!! almost 2 years. take me, please.]

saturdays i usually have a freak out because i have SO much to do that i never get done because i want to have somewhat of a weekend.  [does going to walmart on saturday night for the 4th time in a week count as a weekend?  what if it was with friends--they love me--and we also stopped at petsmart to buy james danger food and even went to golden spoon after?  now does it count?  please say yes, just to appease me.] onward. so i never get anything finished on saturday which leaves it for sunday.  and i hate that. so much. very very rarely do i do any work on sunday.  well, this year i would probably have to cut out gym and social life completely to have sundays completely off.  i do the bare minimum on sundays.  instead, i just weak up at 5.30 am and get to school at 7am on mondays. 


this is getting long, i apologize.


last night, i wrote my family [+mr. santiago] asking for some prayers in my behalf. i need my family.  and as much as i hate it, they aren't here to help me.  the best they can do is listen to my 100s of stories and woes and give me support.  and most importantly, their prayers.

this will forever be one of my favorite family photos.

sometime before recess, i received an email from my mom.  i love her.  i just love her.  she is the most extraordinary woman.

and this one.

then i received an email from my very best friend, erin.  [emily and dana you are my very best friends, too.]  hers made me even more emotional, maybe because i had already felt so much love from my mom's and then erin also said she "shed some tears" for me because she wants to be here to help me.  {girl, you can come up ANYTIME and just spend the weekend with me playing and getting some stuff done in the classroom--James Danger enjoys the company.}

and i will always love this one.

then, i got an email from my aunt.  my mom had sent her my email and she said she prayed for me too and gave me some advice and shared how she has been there--nursing school, single mom with 3 boys, 4 or 5 hours of sleep.  k, i am getting at least 5 hours a night.


i just have the best family in the world.


so gmail, please continue to fill my inbox.

and this baby.

sometimes erin sends me funny pictures.  i like those, too.  especially when i get things during school. my lessons turn out better because i just felt loved or read something funny or saw a funny picture.


and i also got to go for a quick run and then yoga with miss tedi.  and then i made a scrumptious dinner and THEN my bishop's wife just brought me a big bag of fresh peaches.  they look like the ones from my tree at home.


monday is so good today.


and my new roommate and i are bonding. movie and classroom projects.

the sunday post, 41st ed.

i wrote something.

then i deleted it.

i wrote something else.

then deleted that.

then i decided it's a picture/story sunday.

katie has this list of things that people should know about her.  and she adds to it when she thinks of or does something unique to her.  i am thinking i need to have one, too.  so i present it with random pictures that are on my computer [i'm too lazy to pull out the external hd].

munich.

i am a horrible storyteller, especially if it's a funny one.  i laugh too hard and then it isn't funny to anyone but me.  [how does that relate to this picture?  the picture right before this of jenna and i posing with her looking all rich and prissy saying, "that reminds me..." in a richy prissy voice, and me saying, "let me tell you..."  I always said that and would tell a story / not really because i would just laugh.  and jenna apparently has a really good memory.]

you will find this hung in my apartment.

taken in a little town with cobblestone streets [looove, looooove, loooooove!] en route to salzburg.

i secretly wish i were a photographer.  but i don't have a good camera, so i'm not.

also, i secretly wish that i were photogenic.  yes, yes. us kendrick girls are pretty big hams.  but you know how there are some people that always look good in pictures?  yeah, not me. not so photogenic.

dana--please, please, please bring your fancy cam when you come up in 2 weeks.

lyndi, i still love this picture.

[i'm pretty sure it's been on here before.]

i hate milk.

but i love ice cream.

if you ever want to buy my ice cream [or frozen yogurt], please just take me out.  i can't have ice cream in the house.  i have never bought a tub of ice cream. ever. well, erin and i used to have ice cream socials and so we did then, but i mean a tub for myself.  i will eat it in like 2 sittings. NO BUENO. so please, just don't buy it for me.

benihana.

yum!!

sushi? not so much.  stir fry? YUM!  i love benihana.

short? no.

fun size? yes.

i tell everyone i'm 5' 2".  really, it's more like 5' 1 3/4", but my mom and katie say they are the same and they are both actually a teensy weensy bit taller than me, so i may be 5' 1/2".  i still claim 5' 2". [and i wish i had blue eyes so i could pretend that dean martin's song "5 foot 2, eyes of blue" is about me.  but instead i have eyes you can get lost in. hazel. ha. haha.

awwww.

when i was 5 i had a green tooth.

[not in this picture though.]

i wish this wasn't taken on my phone, because i love this picture!

i can put down more food than anyone in my family.

and i hate that i can.  because now i have this reputation in my family.

and i hate it!

i'm changing it. starting now.  it's really only at family gatherings/holidays. not like home by myself in my apartment.  this holiday season, i'm just going to eat like i normally do.  who says you have to stuff that little stomach full?

i love this picture for a few reasons.

1. it's all of us cousins together.

2. my cousins are hilarious! and they told g.ma that this would be a really cool picture with a cool pose. i love it.

3. so much has changed: denae had little luke in her in this picture and now has a little girl in her; rob married kathy [love her]; emily has short hair; erin and dana look a little different; mike is a marine; and me? well, that was pre-byu/pre-miss kendrick.

4. erin and i are holding hands. aw.

my family is the funniest family.

remember this?

yeah...i look atrocious, but i ran a marathon. 1/2 in the rain.

and katie bought me flowers.

i ran a marathon.

and i am obsessed with flowers.

buy me some and i will love you forever and for always.

just like i love katie forever and for always because of those flowers.

and i think that's why i love buying flowers for other people.

my mom's motto growing up was "no fun til the work is done." i.e., piano, chores, and hw done before we could go play outside.  well.  that became so ingrained in me that as a high school and college student and even still, i feel guilty if i do something fun during the week or before i finish all of my work.  you ruined me mom. but i love you for it.  i've loosened up a lot this past year. because you also taught me to have balance.

i think buckman is a little bit human. especially when he gets his summer shave.

and can we talk about "fall dog"? now that's a favorite.

and i think james dangers is a little bit human, too.

[and clearly, by this picture, i wish he were a frog that i could kiss and turn into my prince charming. still waiting. come on, james danger!]

that's all i have time for right now.

my head hurts.