Where did summer go?

I may have missed a few weeks of blogs.  Summer seems to be flying by!

Kayla and Brandon will be here on the 16th and we have the wedding open house on August 21.  Marisa flies back from Mexico on August 20.  It will be a crazy week but excited to have us all together again!!!

Alayna had her sports physical this week and found out she gets her braces off on Oct 5!  Whoohoo!  She also participated in a super fun YW activity called the color walk.

Tyler passed all the assessments for BATC and is on a waiting list.  In the meantime, he is working as a night stalker stocker at Hyvee.

I finally got some things up at home.  They were a lot smaller than I thought.  Oh well, its the thought that counts, right?

We have been making brushetta with our gorgeous tomatoes and fried potatoes and potato pancakes with our garden potatoes! The watermelon should be ready soon

Sister Thorn’s family came to visit.  I have become best friends with her mom, and I knew her dad in high school. She served here in our ward for about 6 months last year.  Such a small world!

I was domestic a little:

We got Kayla her car= 2005 Honda Accord

I have been super busy with the library.  I was hoping not to do anything til right before school started.  However, I was asked to be part of the 6th grade orientations and there was a TON to do.  I have been working there a couple of hours a week trying to get it to where I can function.  It was very cluttery and I cant function in that.  I am trying not to overdue, but…

Hart Reunion

Heading Home

Hal, Corey, and Abigail drove back with us to Iowa.  They held teen week here this week with Alayna and Abigail.  Tomorrow they wil all head to Nauvoo to meet the rest of the Wilkinsons and see Jared perform.  Then Alayna will go to Missouri with them to attend Youth Conference with Abigail.  Busy Summer!

The girls got shark glasses in their kids meal for shark week!

For the service project they came to the library to help me out for the morning!  We got a ton done!

We also went to see “BFG” which i thought was an interesting and intriguing movie.  The girls didn't seem to love it, but maybe that's because it was a slower pace? I thought it was super sweet!

And we went out to Olive Garden- Abigail had never been before- what?!

Saying Goodbye to Tyler

Tyler is moving to Utah.  These next 6 weeks Jonathan and Diana were kind enough to let him come stay with him while he gets everything set up to attend the Vet Tech school in Logan.  We were able to visit with all the Riberas on Saturday.  It was fun to see everyone even if it was very quick.  We hung out, ate pizza, went on a fun hike, and got to see the fireworks!

Even got to drive the amazing Stingray Corvette!

Look at this incredible view by the Bountiful temple!

Charlie (now named Lola) seems to be flourishing with Joe and family.  We are so happy she will get all the attention she needs!

Park City

After the conference, I flew out to Utah to join the Hart reunion already in progress.  It was a very long travel as both flights were delayed and my poor parents had to pick me up at 1:30 AM from the airport.  But the view from the plane was incredible!!

My parents drove me up to Park City where the Hart reunion was.  We were able to have lunch with them at “5 guys” and enjoy some time with them before they headed back to St. George

We went up to some fun bike trails. Although us girls didnt get very far, Bob and Brandon had a great time riding to the top and down the hill on some fun ramps.

We took the gondola up to the shopping area.  Such a beautiful area!

 

Iowa Reading Conference

I attended a 2 day reading conference in Ames.  Once again, It was well worth my time.  Not only do I get a renewal credit for my teaching license, but I meet so many wonderful people and get so excited about new ideas for the school year.  It was exhausting but invigorating!

The speaker I heard was the author Trent Reedy.  I have read several of his books and was very inspired by his presentation.  I cried when he shared his experiences as a soldier in Afghanistan.  I cant wait to share it with my new students next year!  He accepted my request to be friends on facebook and we have chatted several times since.  He is a great guy!!

My absolute favorite address of the conference was by Dr. Steven Lange, entitled “Confessions of a Reading Arsonist”. I laughed and cried.

I wanted to tell Dr. Lange how much I loved his 2 presentations I attended and how it was just like my presentation last year.  So, I wrote him and said:

Hello Dr. Layne,

I attended two of your presentations at the Iowa Reading Conference and absolutely loved every minute!! Especially since last year at the same conference, I presented and it was called “Igniting the love of reading from within.” Your presentation cemented everything I said. I also recently wrote as a guest blogger on the IRRC (Iowa Reading Research) on the same topic! I had no idea there was a book out there with mini lessons to support what I have been trying to share with teachers for years! You Totally rock!!! Anyway, I just wanted to share my blog with you (in case you ever have a free minute lol). Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and your obvious love for learning. Your excitement is contagious and I am ever so grateful I was able to hear you present. Thank you!!!

Kris Hart

http://ihartbooks2.blogspot.com/

 

Well, apparently he shared my blog with all his people because I had 150 hits off my blog that day and not only received this response from him:

Kristina,

Yay, you!  Great blog – and it is so often true that many passionate minds are thinking and experiencing similar things throughout the world.  I never assume “it is all and only me” who has these things to say.  I take heart though, and so should you, in reminding myself that we are uniquely gifted to say and to share things the way WE say and share them!

Blessings,

Steven Layne

But this response from a famous author !!!

Kristina,

I saw your post "Ignite the Love of Reading from Within" and was moved and anger about the young reader who wanted to check out my Dog Tags series, but couldn't because of leveling.

If you have a way to contact that child over the summer, or if they're back in the school year, I'd love to gift them with a signed set of the Dog Tags books because I sure want them to connect reading with awesome surprises, not disappointing and arbitrary level judgements!

And thanks for all the work you do to get the right book to the right kid at the right time. It means the world.

best wishes,

__
Alexander London
http://www.calexanderlondon.com/

I cannot even tell you how much this all meant to me! 

Then, I attended another one by Ken Stamatis.  Another phenomenal presentation.  (I tweeted him and he re-tweeted it!) But what touched me the most was the organization he runs called “Africa Reads”.  I felt strongly I should contact them and get involved.  Long story short, I wrote his wife and she said they would LOVE to have me come along to Rwanda, Africa as their librarian.  The team will be put together in October.  Fingers crossed this will come through for me.  In the meantime, its a great way to get my students involved in a global project!  Another great, possible opportunity!

If you want to check it out: http://www.africareadsnow.com/home/

 

I also left with some amazing ideas on integrating Virtual Field Trips (using Skype in the classroom) and I already have a teacher willing to pilot the program with me at Excelsior next year! 

Penelope and Misty

So I have been thinking a lot about this story…

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. 

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

We were not planning on taking in any more animals.  However, I heard about some rescue guineas and one had her leg broken.  I ignored the feeling I should take them in, but it kept bugging me…to death!  Finally I contacted the lady (who rescues many animals) and told her we would take them.  I know we provide a safe place for them to flourish.

Penelope is the light brown one.  The only way to fix her leg would be to amputate it, but she seems to be using it to push off, so we decided it would be best for her to keep it.  By the way, I am convinced there is a special place in hell for those who abuse animals and people…  Anyway, they were super scared when I 1st got them.  Hid all the time and wouldn't eat.  Now they are doing great, running around the cage, and get super excited when I come with food!  I love seeing them so happy!