Mowing the Lawn with Grampah

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Brother's Meet Brielle

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And Then There Were 8

We are so excited and proud to welcome sweet little Brielle to our family. Kyle and Chrissy now have a baby GIRL! She was born 5 weeks early, but she is strong and healthy. She weighs 4 lbs 9.7 oz and is 17 1/4 inches long. She is beautiful and heaven sent! We are so thankful and we count our blessing!!! Congrats to Kyle and Chrissy and the "boys."

And this is love!... There is a small video of the birth... if you are sqimish... click forward past it. It really is beautiful... such a miracle... if you decide to watch it.
Hugs to all! Jackie

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BackYard Swim at Gram's Summer 09

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Zeke's BathTime

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GRAND Kids!

These pic's were taken on Father's Day!

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ROAD TRIP!

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A Dinosaur Story

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Life's GuidePosts Prs. Monson

Whatever your future pathway may be, may I suggest to you today four guideposts to assist in your respective journeys through school and through life itself.

First: Glance backward.
Second: Look heavenward.
Third: Reach outward.
Fourth: Press onward.
Thomas S Monson

Self CPR

Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed to be in order.

Without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint,has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.

However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously.

A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.

A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.

Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm.

In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.

72 HR KIT

Some general (Home) 72-hour kit ideas:
Ø Pack as light as possible- you can’t predict whether you’ll be able to drive, or whether you’ll be walking across fields or what.
Ø Some people like to use the backpacks that have wheels so that they can either carry their pack, wear it on their back, or pull it behind them.
Ø Remember water! Water purification materials are good, too. You may want a drink right after you reach your destination. A Water bottle is handy. It can be refilled with whatever liquid refreshment you can later find so it becomes a drink, or a way to cleanse a wound, plus a useful container.
Ø Pack food for 72 hours. Granola is nice, but some folk like MREs because they keep so long. I have picky kids, so I’ve packed the kids' Spaghettios in the grown-up packs--some cans have easy open lids now! It makes for a heavy pack, though. However, in my kid’s packs, I’ve gone with protein bars which are teeny/light-weight and help slow hunger and metabolize for several hours...plus, there are lots of different types of protein bars out there with nifty flavors like: Chocolate Chunk Brownie, Banana Nut, Chocolate Cookie Dough, Apple Crisp, etc. Other ideas are: hard candy, fruit snacks, mini-cans of fruit and Vienna sausages.
Ø First Aid stuff is a must!
Ø Light (candles, flashlight w/ batteries)
Ø Heat (see sporting good stores for ideas) Matches are an easy thing to pack, by the way.
Ø Blanket
Ø Clothing (Just think: What if you're out in the hot tub when an earthquake hits? How will you dig through the rubble of your house for a pair of shoes?)
Ø Pack “Something to do” (ie: cards, a book, little toys for little kids, etc. Loralee and Deanne will likely pack their crocheting--which could probably be considered both "something to do" and clothing!))
Ø Notebook with pencil or pen; and some duct tape rolled onto a popsicle stick makes a useful roll of tape. (You may want to take notes in some emergency situation, or you may want to tape up a sign for someone at some point...Remember the "message boards" we saw in the news after the tsunami?)
Ø Radio and batteries
Ø Miscellaneous Camping-type supplies
Ø If you've got a little left over space in your pack: I packed an inflatable swimming pool mattress in my kids’ packs because I want them to be comfortable wherever we wind up. Floors or ground can be hard for 72 hours.
Ø Something for shelter. (Tent or Tarp & rope, etc.)
Ø 72 hour supplies for any pets you’ll take with you (ie: leash, carrier, water dish, food) Don't forget Fido!!!
Ø Any medicine that you might need. (ie: prescription meds, allergy meds, aspirin, etc.)

Just a few final tips:
1. I always update my 72-hour-kits in September because it seems as though we always have many reminders around that time; and because it's also handy to change over clothing for kids packs when the back-to-school sales are going.
2. There are excellent government websites out there that can provide you with more complete information on preparing an emergency kit. Go do a little research and be even better prepared!
3. On average, we Americans spend hours and hours preparing to go on fun overnight camping trips with our family. This is only 72 hours of time we're talking about...so, can't we spend a couple of hours to prepare for this very important "trip"?

On that same theme:
You should have an EMERGENCY KIT IN YOUR DESK AT WORK.

In your work emergency kit, food and water for only 2 - 4 hours is necessary - not 72 hours. Keep food and water in a sealed plastic container where you can grab it quickly during a Shelter In Place situation. If you have medicine that you must have, please remember that, too.
In this same kit, you should have a little card with the following information:
*Nearest relative and their phone number
*Local contacts/phone numbers (friends, neighbors, etc)
*Out of State contact/phone number (ie: family)
*Day Care and School phone numbers

* Stolen My Heart

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A sent these cute grandparent thoughts:

Grandparents and Grandchildren

She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter as she'd done many times before. After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!"

My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, "62." He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"

After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"

My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo while I asked, "No, how are we alike?" "You're both old," he replied.

I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At last she headed for the door, saying sagely, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!"

When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use, Grandpa. The mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."

A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."

Children's Logic: "Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a teacher. One of the small boys wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant." The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked. "Sure," said the young boy confidently. "It means carrying a child."

A nursery school teacher was delivering a station wagon full of kids home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child."No," said another, "he's just for good luck."A third child brought the argument to a close. "They use the dogs,"she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants...

* Archuleta Mini Concert!

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* ReAL SLC Soccer

Yeah! School is out for the Summer!

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* School Pinch Me Moments

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I absolutely love my kinder-bug kids this year! I came home each and every day exhausted, but loved! They were the hardest group of kids I have ever had. Emotional with a capital "E." There were so many growing moments, I don't know if I can remember them all. I will share just a few of the "Pinch me Moments..."
I'll never forget "Tallest in the Class Rocky", who needed to go to the bathroom. It was at the very moment that we were preparing to go home for the day. I asked, "Can you hold it til you get home?" Rocky just lived a couple of houses away from the school. He said, "Ok." The next thing I know, Rocky is missing. I buzzed for the office to help. Just as they answered my call, another teacher called the office saying they saw a kindergarten boy climb the fence and run toward housing. Within a couple of minutes we were on the phone with the security police to report a "run away kindergarten boy, when another phone line rang in the office. It was Rocky's mom calling to ask why "Rocky had walked home before school was out? " Rocky was brought back to school by his dad. It seems Rocky misunderstood, thinking I'd told him he could "go home at that moment and use the bathroom." Rocky, our Super Hero!
And, then there was Simone. Tiny Simone. She cried almost daily for months. I couldn't get her to talk, with tears or without tears. I was beginning to wonder if she could talk, her family assured me that she talks at home. So, I had patience. One day at the end of January the children came running in from recess. "Mrs. Probert," they chorusedc "Simone can talk!" Surprised, I looked for Simone. She came right up to me and stood as big as her tiny body could stand, looked up into my eyes and said, "I talk now!" The children picked her up and carried her around the room with joyful cheers of congratulations! And, she talked everyday after that. The tears didn't stop, because she had a difficult time verbalizing her needs, but she 'talks now." She holds a special place in my heart.
Ethan, oh Ethan! He came to school not knowing what a letter was. It wasn't long however, before Ethan was reading! We call him "Sponge Ethan," because every lesson went inside his head and came out in an amazing aura of knowledge. It wasn't long before Ethan got board, and he decided he was going to do "what he wanted" to do each day. Listening to his teacher the first time was not one of those things he wanted to do. We tried lots of behavior plans, but Ethan was tough to crack. As the end of school came, Ethan was working on his very own behavior chart. Ethan was sitting on the floor along with all of his peers. I reached up to the chart, and I said, "Ethan, I don't think you need to behavior chart anymore." "I think you are done with this!" I took the chart, tore it in half and put it in the trash. He looked so surprised, and so very pleased with himself. The cutest thing happened next. It was one of those "pinch me moments." As I dropped the torn behavior chart into the trash, Ethan's classmates clapped, and gave their best kindergarten whistle as they congradulated their little friend. Ethan smiled almost every minute of the day from that moment on.
There are just so many moments like this. Moments of "the light bulb turned on..." and moments of "we are a community of friends." I teach for these moments. I teach for "pinch me moments," the little everyday ones, and those that will remain in my head forever!
Thanks for letting me share, thanks for reading!!! I'm sure I will record more of these moments in the days ahead.... so that when my head doesn't work anymore I can read and remember!
The photos in the smilebox below were taken during the last week of school, and the last part of the slide show includes pictures from our Kindergarten Advancement Program.

*Samantha's Garden

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Mr. Clark, you are amazing! Thank you for your gift, the flowers are beautiful. Thank you for talking with the children about car safety. And, thank you for teaching them about sod, soil, annuals, perenials, plant names, turning the soil, and turkey manure! Thank you for teaching them about friendship. Thank you for your example, and for taking time to plan and purchase this garden. Have an amazing summer Mr. Clark, and we will see you in the fall.

* Dax's 2nd Grade Field Trip

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* Dax Field Day

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* Samantha You Changed My World

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Words sent to me from a special friend:

Jackie,
I have only looked at this magical piece of art work for a few moments. I know that I am going to want to really spend some time looking, smiling, and crying at some of the pages you have created. OH MY GOSH!! I just went to my grand daughter's kindergarten program and it was darling, but I have had to listen to my son moan and groan the entire year about situations. I smile and keep the positive attitude that I should. I should have been thinking about having her in your class and I didn't even THINK!!!!! You are truly amazing!! Your parents and students should certainly feel connected and loved. You are an amazing woman and educator Jackie. I love what you have done!!!! Thank you, thank you for sharing!!
Dory

Zeke's Blessing Day

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