A Sacramento Thanksgiving

What were we doing Thursday, Nov. 12? Why, getting off work and driving to California of course! My dad moved to Sacramento over the summer for a job, and my family decided to go have an early Thanksgiving dinner with him! Leaving for Cali after a full day's work kind of takes a lot of energy...we were definitely in a rush, and therefore silly me...I forgot our camera! So these pics (sorry there are so many...I love pictures) are mostly from iPhones..my mom, dad, and little sister have iPhones haha. Boy do I feel out of style!

It took us 9.5 hrs to get to my dad's house...We slept in Friday morning and met everyone in the beautiful city of SAN FRANCISCO at Pier 39. I've always gone to San Fran in the warm summer...It was chilly in November! We spent the whole day there..what a FUN city!
We spent some time at the corner of Haight and Ashbury....the literal birthplace of the Hippie Movement...and I believe the permanent home for my dad's heart and soul :-). Haight Street is so amazing. There was definitely a ton of energy there...so many different people and awesome shops. Jake made friends for the second time in his life with a bum...well he said he use to be one. This bum wasn't drunk though, he was HIGH as a kite. I thought his eyes were going to explode because the blood vessels were seriously SO dilated. Quite an enjoyable conversation nonetheless.
Standing under the street sign..

There was an outstanding consignment shop and I think this little guy lived there! My sister discovered him.
The artwork on the street was brilliant. This sensual lady was painted on a DOOR that led to and ALLEY...hmmm what goes on back there??
This musician was rockin it on the harmonica. He said he "plays to heal."

The Puff Puff Pass smoke shop seemed like a popular place!

While Jake and I recovered (sleeping) from our drive, part of our group went to Alcatraz. Also known as The Rock, Alcatraz was a Federal Prison back in the 50's-60's. You can imagine the heaviness of the air inside those walls. Al Capone was just one of the crazy murderers that was sent there. The prison claims that despite 14 attempts to escape, no one has "successfully escaped." Six prisoners were shot and killed during their escape, 3 were lost to sea..and have yet to be found!!

Looks cozy...

Our loving family...They don't really know how to have fun ;-)

My little sister..who took most of these pics (thanks sister!)
And of course Thanksgiving dinner, which was delicious! Jake has gotten really good at studying for tests this semester!
Happy Thanksgiving family!

Inside a 5yr old's Head

I'm off track during Thanksgiving break so my class celebrated last week. After a short lesson on Thanksgiving, we watched "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving." If you haven't seen it, it's pretty cute. Charlie Brown and all his friends eat toast, popcorn, pretzels and jelly beans as their feast. So of course, my kids ate toast, popcorn and pretzels (forgot the jelly beans) after the movie. In the movie, they say grace before they eat....So one of my kids said "But Mrs. Peterson we have to say our prayers before we eat." haha pretty funny.

I love to ask them what they are thankful for. I even model it so they understand what it means. I usually say: "I'm thankful for my family, and for food." (yes...food) Then it's their turn. Sometimes, well, many times, I wonder what in the world is going on inside their head! Here's what they had to say:

- "I'm thankful for my parents and all they give me...like all my stuffed animals."

- "I'm thankful for my dad, cause he's in the army." (his dad is being deployed to Iraq in like 10 days)

- "I like writing gift cards."

- "I'm happy I have the holy ghost and my family and that I can have families forever and my family to eat with. And a doggy to sleep with." (WOW!)

- "I like to dress up my teddy bear in Spiderman."

OK and now for the grand finale, including the conversation that ensued amongst the kids:

- "On Valentines I'm gonna give you all some Transformer Cards...and that my daddy is here for us so we have lots of deer."

child 1: "Deer? Like hunt?"

child 2: "Deer?! Like from SANTA CLAUS!?"

child 3 in a matter-of-fact voice: "No...Deer, like they cook it."

I just sat there in my chair listening to all this and was speechless. It's a good thing Kindergartners don't get embarrassed to easily because I laugh at them a lot. We all laugh together actually. I'm glad I fit in with 5 year olds....

Petah...Petah Pan

Happy Late Halloween! Jandie and Bill had everyone over that night and we all ofcourse dressed up. She made scrumtrulescent taco soup and Carly made cute (and yummy) grave-cupcakes. I wore my costume all day long...One of my favorite parts about being a teacher (really!).

Group shot: Woody, Bo Peep and Buzz; Mummies...one Partially Wrapped!; Peter Pan & Tink; Cinderella & Fairy Godmother; and Skeletons!!

Barkley was Superman and Bella was a beautiful pink fairy...

One of my classes. I told them they had to be in character. That's the best they could do!
Belle's hair must have taken 3 hours...

La Dee Freaking Daa

It's report card season. This is me:

And I want to punch this lady in the face:
Ok not really. But, the last thing I need is dessert (I wish I had time to hit the pavement more)! The end of this week wraps up 3 weeks of testing, 48 Parent Teacher Conferences, 48 report cards, and hopefully whatever nasty sickness is going around our school. Swine Flu? Hope not!

But honestly, it is very nice to be busy...

Solid

This weekend Jake and I spent 6 hours curled up all comfy on the couch to watch Conference. We were so lucky to attend another 2 hours at the Sunday AM session (thanks for the tickets Jordan!!) It was a cold morning but well worth it!

The sea of umbrellas on a brisk Sunday morning!
Us bright eyed and bushy tailed! (actually we woke up pretty early so we weren't AWAKE until we hit the freezing weather)

Free hugs anyone? Pretty much I love the little guy in the center of the picture...He really wanted a hug!

About 4 1/2 years ago, I would have said "why in the world would ANYONE spend 8 hours on the couch, taking up their entire weekend to watch "LDS Conference?" My answer to myself would be:

"Kim. Look at your life in the 4 1/2 years to come. Look how your heart burns with the knowledge of that church. Look how blissful you are to be married to this guy Jake. Kim you got married in the temple, isn't that something? Bet you might be shocked to hear that now, but you better believe it. Ya, crazy huh. That temple will give you answers to lots questions in your life that you may not otherwise find the answers to. Look how overfilled with joy you are to know your purpose here in this life. Kim, you will have a miscarriage...and somehow through all the nasty, deep mess of devastation and crushing sadness, you will come to understand so much more about the Lord and his son, and guess what: because of that you will pull through and in 4 weeks you will be okay! Kim. Trust me on this. 'That' church is true."

Not gonna lie. Becoming a member of 'that' church was the last thing I thought would ever happen in my life! But as you can see, I think I am okay with it now :-)

I think I speak for everyone who watched Holland's talk..SOLID. That man can deliver. By the end my eyes were wide and I was taken back by his power! I just said "wow."

Huskies/Bengals Game

One of Jake's Young Men plays on Brighton's Varsity football team, so we decided to head out and cheer him on last night. Of course with me being a BENGAL and Jake being a HUSKIE we chose that game to attend! It was so much fun! Jake and I both love the "feeling" of fall rolling in....and football games are on the list of reasons.

*Final score: Brighton 49 Hillcrest 10 ....GO BENGALS!

My Huskie...Who Let the Dogs Out!? PS Jake tried to make me sit on the Hillcrest side...It felt so wrong to me! So he conceded and we finally headed over to the RIGHT side and sat with the Brighton fans.

You can see with our sidelines packed and counting the players on the field, Brighton had about 100 players total...Hillcrest had no more than 30...what's up with that Hillcrest?
Remember the student section!? Never sitting down, socializing, flirting...so fun.
Pretty sure I never wore anything like this to a game! But she looked cute!
Mr. Kyle Whittingham (Head coach of U of U football) and his wife showed up at the game, his son plays for Brighton. I don't know why that pic is so blurry!
Another memory of high school games: congregating behind the stands to "hang out." Not even watching the game!
I had to compare the fan turn-out. Brighton is above, Hillcrest below. But by the end of the game, Brighton had those bleachers pretty full!!

Tried 3 times to get a good picture of us...
But ended up with this :-)
Oh and this week I got a little surprise from 2 Kindergarten moms...They somehow heard what happened and brought me these beautiful flowers!

Keeping the Poopy In

I know, the title is probably too much, right? But it's really just a normal thing you hear when you're around 5 year olds.

Well today my kids were lining up after recess. I always count them, to make sure I am not missing any (you would be surprised at how many teachers DON'T do this!). Well I was missing one. The weird thing is, they always know who it is that's missing.

So we determined who it was. They kept telling me he was "still on the playground." I couldn't see him anywhere! Finally, we found him hiding behind one of the portables. He is honestly one of the cutest kids in my class, and so sweet. He was crouched up, with his hood all the way over his face, head down....sobbing. Here is our conversation from there:

Me: "What's wrong!? Why are you crying?"

Him: (I could barely make out what he was saying between his sobs) "My m-m-mom is g-g-going to killll mmeeeee.." (lots and lots of tears)

Me: "Why? What happened? What did you do?"

Him: "My mom is going to KILLLL MEEEE!!! She is going to put me in time-out!!!"

Me: "Tell me what happened.."

Him: (still sobbing) "I tried and tried to keep the poopy in, but I just couldn't! It just came out, but I tried not to let the poopy out!"

Needless to say the poor kid was super embarrassed and very disappointed in himself. I felt so bad for him!! I told him everybody has accidents...and he just said "But I have them too much."

I called his mom and walked him to the office so he could go home and change. I have heard my fair share of #2-stories, but this one just breaks my heart!! Here's to tomorrow being a better day..