Back to School oh nine!

My classroom 2009-2010!

I moved everything around to where the students now face the windows instead of the whiteboard. It gives a lot more room for them and me! And everyone can see better=)

On the shelves in the bins are the unpitched instruments like maracas, bells, triangles, wood blocks, drums etc. Then my stereo is on the top shelf. I have my recorder charts on the wall there and the basics of music poster. And the black thing with feathers on top is the keyboard.

Poster board, glue sticks, pencils, erasers, lamination, paperwork, homework, music, lesson plans, books, email, and scissors! These are the things that have been dominating my life for the last couple weeks! Its been very exciting getting ready for school to start up and I actually know what I'm doing! I know that sounds funny, but your first year of teaching, you just don't know what to expect, or really what to prepare for-so last year when school started, I put up a few posters, wrote my name on the board, and thought I was ready. WRONG. Ha, at least this year I know what to prepare for-and I've been going crazy trying to get a lot of stuff done. I'm a very 'do it in advance' kind of person, with little things-b/c I know later I'll get bogged down and the rest will go out the window. So I've been trying to get all the little things done, as well as the necessity 'big things' too.

I got these great teaching materials from another 'veteran' music teacher in GP, and I've been trying to get them cut out, glued and laminated so I can use them in my classroom. I've learned an AWESOME new technology that I can use in my room where I basically control my stereo and ALL my music (which is a TON of cd's) from my ipod-which has a signal sent wirelessly to my laptop-which is then plugged into my stereo, allowing me to 'wirelessly' control ALL of my music. It is SO very helpful for me, (thanks to Jordan) I love it.

It's been such a blessing this year to have such great teachers to work with in my district! I've had a handful really help me out, and I am feeling so much more confident to start this year. They've been letting me borrow materials, giving me more helpful hints and just being fun to work with.

I changed around my room to fit the larger school pop we will be having this year, and decorated my door a little differently-which I got a picture of!

I'm excited to start this new year. So far the first week has been great! The kids are SO sweet and cute. They say things like, "Mrs Carl, I missed you so much this summer!" or " I love you Mrs Carl, I want to run up and hug you from my seat!" and it reminds me of why I love my job!

I've really been able to have better classroom management this year, which has been so much more reassuring. I think it also helps that we have great kids at our school=)

This is my schedule this year:

8:00-9:00-my conference/planning time

9:00-9:50 5th grade

9:55-10:45 3rd grade

10:50-11:40 4th grade

11:40-12:15 LUNCH

12:15-1:05 2nd grade

1:10-2:00 Kinder

2:05-2:55 1st grade

Here is me in front of my room on the first day!!

I wanted to wear Hobbs Williams turquoise and I always wear a dress on the first day=)

What do you think of my 'Backstage with Mrs Carl' doorway!? I made the sign on top with my amazing cricut expression machine I got for Christmas, that I just now figured out how to use-it has saved my life this past week with making things for my classroom=)

PS I also made the curtains....last year actually...they were for my room windows, and then I never used em, so I had this idea!

These are my 'barred instruments' xylophones and metallophones-the kids love em!

This is my music Word Wall with musical symbols for the kids to reference...

And if you look on my cabinet doors-those are the 'flashcards' I have been working on. I copied em, then I glued them onto colored posterboard, and then laminated them...whew, it was work-but it will be good for the kids to see. Its the 'unpitched percussion' families and instruments that go with each family.

These are my wonderful collegeas! On the far left is Ms. Houston-the fun art teacher, and on the right is Coach Carroll-my life saver and amazing PE teacher! They are both veterans and know everything!=)

Days 4 & 5...Kauai

I decided to combine the last few days of our trip b/c I didn't take as many pictures, due to the rain and things like that. The rain started about Tuesday night, and it lasted through Thursday evening. The rain wasn't too big of a deal since Jordan was so sunburned and stuff like that. We were still crossing our fingers about the boat trip on Thursday, hoping the rain would subside...

We drove to a few places though while it wasn't raining hard to just check out the scenery...

These are the Waimea Waterfalls, they were gorgeous:

Someone took our picture, it was neat how you could see the clouds rolling in in this picture:

(the pictures are out of order, and the above picture, we have on lei's from our couple's massage)

After the falls we stopped in the rain and jordan went to get some of this 'Hawaiian fried ice cream' that sounded so tasty, and let me tell you-it was SOOOO delicious!!=)

There it is, the sweet sauce was so good!

On our way down to get our massages! I told Jordan to act excited=)

I don't have to act, this was real!

This is the hotel where we got our couple's massage, it was a lot of fun!

This was on Thursday. Our morning boat trip got cancelled due to rain, so we rescheduled for the 1:30 trip....On our way over there, we stopped at this Kauai Coffee Plantation.

It was pretty neat how much free coffee they gave away. There were about 6 tables with 6 different kinds of coffee on each one! I tried a few and they were yum!

we also had some 'coffee ice cream' there and that was also delish=)

Jordan got kind of bored and so we left.

When we got to the boat tour place for our 1:30 trip, they pretty much advised us not to go on it. The main thing you do on the tour is the snorkeling and scuba diving (they give you an introductory lesson and let you go down, not deep, just a little bit) However, they weren't sure we would get to do those things. Plus they said if we did, b/c of all the rain it would be really muddy and the waters would be rough, so it might no be enjoyable. so basically we would be spending a LOT of money for 5 and 1/2 hours of sitting on a boat looking at the same coast...that didn't sound worth our money...Especially when it could very well start raining at any moment again. Then their was the final seal on the deal, when the scuba guy found out we were flying out within 24 hours of the tour. You aren't aloud to fly within 24hours after you scuba b/c of 'bends' something with your blood (I'm sure you've heard of it so I won't explain). so that basically did it, and we decided not to go. I was SO bummed b/c it was the main thing we were wanting to do and it was the last day, and we couldn't go. But, the bright side is, we saved a lot of money!

So we stopped at this mini arboretum on the way back..jordan got kind of crazy.

Cool looking lizard on a cool looking plant

Thought this was nice too.

The next chiquita man

Then we went to the beach. I really wanted a picture on the boat with the sunset, so we decided to do one here with the almost-sunset=) See the storm clouds?

Getting dark, time to go back to our room and pack up!

This was just another angle

That night we went to TidePools restaurant in the Hyatt. It was a super nice hotel and the restaurant was really neat with all the coy ponds around the tables-it was all open and on the water, very very romantic=)

You can't see it b/c its dark, but beyond our table there are the ponds with the pretty fish. We had a great meal that evening, the food was fabulous and it was nice to get to reminisce on our trip and talk about our crazy year we are going to have together=)

We had a wonderful vacation, it was a great 'honeymoon' for us. I'm SO thankful that we were able to go, and I will always cherish the memories made! Thanks for reading and I hope you had a great summer!

School starts on Monday for both Jordan and I. We will be going like crazy until Thanksgiving I guess...but don't worry, I will keep you updated with blog posts=) I am going to take pictures of my room monday so yall can see the changes I've made-its cute=)

MAHALO for reading and ALOHA!=)

Day 3

So our 3rd day was lots of fun! We kinda just chilled a little bit, b/c we originally thought it was going to be raining, so we hadn't planned anything.

We got up early (of course!) and drove to Waimea canyon. We had been really looking forward to this b/c we heard it was absolutely gorgeous. We also had strong intentions of hiking the trails on this canyon as well. We even had a 'trail guide' with us...Well, we didn't really think about the fact that it would be much colder at 3400 feet...and yes, we were FREEZING! Being from texas, 65 is COLD to us ok? And you know what I'm talking about=)

We were thinking it would be hot, like it was when we woke up this morning, but no, it was SO cold...which was a bummer, b/c we were so cold that we could not hike. Instead we just enjoyed the views at the lookouts and then drove back down and went to the beach...lol

About to go see the first lookout we came to at Waimea canyon!

Look how gorgeous this is!!! It looked so much like the Grand Canyon except with greenery and waterfalls!! You can't see any of the waterfalls in this picture though.

It was very breathtaking. I wish the pictures could do it justice...

Jordan liked it a LOT! Especially since he hasn't seen the Grand Canyon=)

Someone was there and nice enough to take our picture! Look how gorgeous this place is!

Yea, it was windy, that's why it looks like my bootie is huge...but I don't think it really is...ha.

There was a river running through it at the bottom..

So this was at a different lookout, and I couldn't fake it anymore, I was cold!!

Jordan is makin me laugh here...I think he's makin fun of how I look....=)

A different lookout we were at...clouds were cool!

Trying to take our own picture...

Its difficult to do!

The storm clouds were rollin in...

These chickens were up at the very top of the mountain area. They were hanging out near the Museum/lodge of the canyon area....

Look how many chickens there are! You can see them in the background by that building too! Jordan was trying to befriend them.

The story with the chickens, which are EVERYWHERE-seriously...is that there are no natural predators on the island to kill em off...so they're everywhere and there's a LOT...bummer.

Then we drove to see the 'Spouting Horn' and I got sidetracked by these super cute little baby chicks!!!! =) Look how cute they are? Can't you just hear them going 'squeak squeak'? I wanted one. Jordan said no.

This is 'Spouting Horn'--sounds a lot cooler than it actually was...but there were some neat shops nearby where I got a couple really unique instruments for my classroom!

Another pic of 'spouting horn'...

that night since it was pouring down rain, we decided to go see the movie, The Perfect Getaway-which is about a couple on their honeymoon to this island! (kauai) and how they went to the 'forbidden coast of Napali' and met some mysterious murderers...it was scary, but good!

We saw Beau Bridges there too with his family...anyway, it was a fun and peaceful day...I didn't talk about the place we ate tonight or take pictures b/c it was absolutely terrible food...not to mention we were literally the ONLY people in the place..it was weird. We took a chance, and it will not happen again! lol. I should have known when it said 'BBQ and Chinese'...lol.

Thanks for reading=)

Day #2

The second day of our trip was probably our busiest. We tried to fit a lot in b/c we were wanting to 'beat the rain' that was supposed to be on tuesday and wednesday of our trip.
We started out the day driving up to the North Shore of the island. It is very famous for its beauty and for the surfing. You can only drive to a certain point going either east or west on the island and the road stops both ways. The in between is the Na Pali coast (which is featured in that new movie: a Perfect Getaway, out right now in theaters). The only way to see that coastline is by plane, kayak, or helicopter, so we had a boat tour planned for Thursday. They said the rain would be on tuesday and wed, so thursday would be best....
Anyway, the North Shore is a lot less populated and VERY green and beautiful. Lots of mountains and beautiful scenery. It was a great ride in the convertable, weather was perfect. It took about an 1hour and 1/2 to get to the furthermost beach. Then after snorekling there at Tunnels Beach (which was AMAZING!) we went back to the room and got ready for our 'Mudbug ATV tour' their motto is: do something dirty! And they weren't playing around! We got very muddy! Jordan and I had a blast driving around in the wet mud seeing things you can only see on the island's 'private land' on this tour.We got to see the main areas where they filmed a lot of the famous movies that they do here, ie: Jurassic Park, King Kong, Captain Hook, 6 days 7 nights, Indiana Jones, etc.
Here are the pictures=)

Driving up towards the North side of the island...lots of mountains, very green, very pretty!

lots of really cool shapes on the mountains, they look like ones from the movies, (like King Kong, Captain Hook, Jurassic Park) b/c they are! =) ...minus the telephone wires..sorry. ha.

just more scenic pictures of the drive we took....any of these mountains look familiar? =)

about to walk out onto Tunnel's Beach with our snorkel gear!! VERY excited about this, it was a long drive ,and everyone said its to die for snorkeling=)


At the Tunnel's Beach-sooo secluded, and gorgeous! There is no soliciting allowed so its very quiet and un-tainted..


Someone took our picture after our unforgettable snorkeling adventure. I got pretty scared a couple times, but Jordan held my hand, literally, and we made it through. I wish I had an underwater camera, b/c it was so amazing down there. We were snorkeling around with schools of really unique and beautiful fish. We saw huge fish, little fish, colorful fish, pretty much everything. It was soo neat, like nothing I've ever seen before. And the reefs were really cool too. It made it hard to get in and out of the water, but it was well worth the journey!!

This is just a beach we drove by on the North Shore

So this is the old sugar cane plant. This is where they processed the sugar cane. And this is the private land that the ATV tour has rights to give their tours on. It was cool to see this area, that you can only see on this tour. Obviously it's not operational anymore b/c statehood increased export tax to the point where it was not cost effective to ship to the mainland anymore.

Getting all strapped in and ready to roll in our mudbug!!!



driving down to the lookout by the coast-you can see the ocean up ahead

driving through the forest! slippery, wet, mud-equals lots of fun!! Jordan was soooo crazy drivin this thing, but it was a blast=)

i gave up trying to stay clean...lol

seriously, this man was dangerous! =)

the lookout on the old sugar cane plantation-you could see the coast, the mountains, and pretty much everywhere else! gorgeous! we were very dirty here...


I don't know if you can tell, but Jordan is VERY muddy! Its all in his hair, ears, nose and it looks like he has a mustache....but its all just mud=)

This is a picture right in front of the man made tree tunnel , very cool!!!

About to drive through!!! sorry, but my hair is a MESS, for real!

Jordan was just totally loving this, as you can tell...he felt very rogue.

Here is my muddy self, if you can tell...the picture just really doesn't do justice to how much mudd was all over me=)



We ate at a resturaunt called Tomcats, it was REALLY good food! The best BBQ Pork sandwhiches=) yum! And we figured out why it was called tomcats...literally, there were feral cats walking around while we were there at the table. It was an open type resturaunt with a patio and a pretty garden area (where we took pic below). And don't worry you cat haters, there were only 2 that we saw, here they are:

Taking a picture in the garden area next to our table, it was cute=)

In Old Town Kauai walking around after we ate...

One last photo of the evening=) check out Jordan's new shoes...psychadelic.

The end of a long and adventurous day #2 of our trip!!!!! Thanks for reading=)