God's Thoughts Toward His People

Is this you?
Are you a Child of God?

If so, these are some of God's thoughts
toward YOU!

Be
ENCOURAGED!

~ Jeremiah 29:11-14a ~

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,
saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil,
to give you an expected end.

Then shall ye call upon me,
and ye shall go and pray unto me,
and I will hearken unto you.

And ye shall seek me, and find me,
when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
And I will be found of you, saith the LORD..."

Holy Bible

Professor Noggin Games

Professor Noggin's Educational Card Games
are fun and educational at the same time.
The kids all enjoy playing from our oldest (15) to our youngest (8).
If you want to switch it up a bit for some creative learning,
why not add a couple of these to your educational supplies?
We keep them with other games for easy access...
the kids don't think of them as "school".

One word of caution ~
they are not "Christian" and therefore,
do not present the Biblical timeline for all things Scientific.
I have not found anything other than that to worry about,
keep in mind that we do not own all of the titles.
However, as with any resource,
it is wise to review and censor as you deem
appropriate for your family.
And, of course, teach your children the reason why
we as Christians view the world the way we do!
How do we handle this?
We just honestly tell the children what is "wrong"
in how they may represent the "facts"
and direct them to the Truth found in the Word of God.
If one particular card is full of error,
I have no difficulty throwing it away ~
it does not ruin the game to do so. :)


**Disclaimer ~ I am in no way compensated for this opinion.

Name Caps

Save your water bottle caps! Those little guys can be used to make fun center activities! You can write numbers on the top of each cap and have the kids put them in order--I call it the "number order caterpillar". So far my number caps go all the way to 100, but you could try different variations: counting by 5s, 10s, etc. The newest idea I have found for bottle caps is to put student names on them! I love the way they turned out, and they were quick and easy to make--started and finished them during Emma's naptime! You could use these for beginning of the year games, the kids can practice putting the words in ABC order, make 2 of each child's name to create a matching game, or put them in a sack and choose a name for times when you need to pick a helper.

Study Like a Scholar...

"Look at your grades. Now look at mine..." Too cute!

Anchor Charts

As the first day of school approaches, I have been looking through some of my beginning of the year files, and trying to prepare for our school/county reading foundation for the year, called "The First 20 Days." In those first 20 days, we focus on building classroom routines and stamina in reading, and daily modeling of procedures and expectations during the literacy block. As we introduce the procedures that are ultimately responsible for the success of the literacy block, we develop anchor charts to hang on the walls to serve as a visual reminder for the kids to remember station choices and behavior expectations.

These are few of my anchor charts from last year.

Favorite Books Scrapbook?

As I was going through my closet this morning, I found some of my college projects and binders. It felt strange looking back through all the things I had written and created before I truly knew what teaching was all about! I found one of my favorite projects from my Elementary Literature class. The assignment was to create a Newbery books scrapbook (yes,teachers, the front cover happens to be spelled incorrectly)! Anyway, I thought this same concept could be used for my first graders, but I will ask them each to choose any favorite book and make a page for a class scrapbook! I think it could be another fun way to get kids to share wonderful books with each other!

Here are few examples from my Newbery scrapbook. I left this near my classroom library when I taught 4th grade. It was a huge hit! The kids loved reading my "homework"! If you are just feeling crafty, you could make one yourself!

Birthday Blessings

I don't count anymore.
I am THAT old ~ *wink*

I just
C.E.L.E.B.R.A.T.E.

And it keeps getting better and better.
The only thing(s) missing from my day
this year were boys #1 and #2.
Austin and Calvin were at camp.
Howie had a business meeting on the Island
scheduled for "my" day.
I invited myself along.

How FUN!

Fraser and Emma joined in
to make an *almost* perfect birthday.
If Austin and Calvin had been with us,
the day would have truly been
P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

But God in His providence gives
EXACTLY
what is BEST.
How precious it is to
REST in that FACT!

Here are some of my treasures enjoying the beautiful day
and scenery on the outside deck of one of B.C.'s ferries.

We go through "Active Pass" on the way to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island.
You see MANY smaller islands along the way!

Seagulls flying alongside the ferry.

Passing another LARGE ferry in Active Pass.
It has a Vancouver 2010 mural on its side.

The children and I explored while Daddy had a meeting in Victoria.
There are MANY things to see within walking distance in the downtown area.
The Parliament Buildings are in the background here.
This is where our Provincial government meets.

Inside the Parliament Buildings there are many ornate
and beautiful things to see.
The dome is shown below from the inside looking up,
first from the lower level and then from the
highest level you can go (as a tourist).

This is taken from inside the Main Entrance looking out towards the bay.

The Empress ~
A famous historical hotel in Victoria,
was the next building we did a bit of exploring in!

They even have a sitting area in the ladies public washroom
inside the Empress ~ complete with a fireplace!

The lovely sitting area behind the children here
is where afternoon tea is served for about $50 per person!
Needless to say, we did not eat there! :)

Looking out one of the ivy lined windows toward the bay.

Ahhh, FINALLY, a park to play in!
Apparently, this was the
HIGHLIGHT of the day for Fraser and Emma!

We travelled back toward the Parliament Buildings (they are HUGE)
from another angle and enjoyed the water fountain.
I enjoyed photographing these two all day long...
it isn't obvious, is it? ;-)

And then we discoverd a place to
J.U.M.P.

And so as not to be
O.U.T.D.O.N.E.
Emma joined in! :)

Here we are heading back to meet up with Daddy
where his meeting was nearly done.

On the ferry ride back home Howie treated us to the
Buffet Dinner ~ which was a WONDERFUL treat!

The Birthday display Howie set up for me while I was away from the table...
complete with CANDLES! :)
~ Thank you Sweetie! ~

The food was fabulous and the views
S.P.E.C.T.A.C.U.L.A.R.
The snow-capped mountain you may (or may not) see at
the left hand side of the photo below
is Mt. Baker ~ Isn't God's Creation
MAGNIFICENT?

At Last...

The camping laundry is done!
It *only* took a few days (5 to be exact) to be able to say that!
And only TWO went camping!
When boys camp without Mum around to check up on the
"clean feet" situation BEFORE going to bed,
or on the "clean anything" for that matter,
the wisest thing (in my experience) to do is ~

W.A.S.H.
E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

So in the back door came the boys.
And the
STUFF!

I got them to strip down and shower
REALLY WELL!

N.O.T.H.I.N.G.
Was to enter the home that night
beyond the laundry room doors!
Except, of course...
THE BOYS! :)

In the photo above, you can see the last of the laundry.
What may not be readily apparent is the nature of that laundry.
It is somewhat CONTRADICTORY.
Upon closer examination, however,
you will discover a little something "special" about us.

We live in a border town.
We cross the line usually once a week.
Gasoline is cheaper.
Chickens (to cook) are cheaper.
Butter and eggs are cheaper.
Our Fraser thinks we must be "part" American!

During the recent Winter Olympic Games held here in Vancouver,
my brother drove some of the USA Olympic Committee around town.
He acquired some cool souveniers from that experience.
Each of the children were given an "official" athlete's blanket
and Howie received a gorgeous winter jacket.

Of course, we are Canadian, so we have to support "our" team too!
In this photo, you will see a sampling of the winter hats
the CANADIAN athletes wore.
We also have the "official" gloves.
We ARE patriotic, but if it's free,
well ~ I suppose you get the point! :)

671. Winter Olympics memorabilia ~ from TWO countries!

672. A brother who is generous and thoughtful

673. Living in a border town

674. The blessings of cross border shopping

675. Nexus ~ pre-approved border "fast pass"

676. My clothesline
~ it's up high and doesn't interfere with the yard

677. The smell of freshly laundered sleeping bags and pillows

678. The ability to clean said sleeping bags and pillows at home!
~ We have a tumble washer

679. The smell of freshly showered boys! :)

680. That the boys got home safe and sound!
I'm glad I wasn't aware of some of the things that *could* have gone wrong!

Many Blessings,
Camille

Afraid?

There is no need to fear.
If the LORD is for you,
who can be against you?

First, be sure HE is your LORD ~
and then you can be comforted by the verse below!

TRUST in HIM!


~ Isaiah 41:10 ~

"Fear Thou not; for I am with thee;
be not dismayed; for I am thy God;
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
yea, I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness."

Holy Bible

Labels, Labels, Everywhere!

I went to work in my room today with my little helper, baby Emma! Today my job was to try to label everything with my new first grade friends' names. Here is what I have done so far:

First week name tags! I like putting them into plastic ID badge holders--they last all week. The dots match my new bulletin board border.

Helper Owls! I have two new helpers each day, one boy and one girl.

Birthday cupcakes! When one of my students celebrates a birthday, I attach the cupcake to a sentence strip, and they wear it all day as their birthday crown!

Book bags! (These are new!) Books that the kids choose to read from the classroom library will go in these colorful book pouches!