andrew...

This is Andrew (one of two Andrews in my class...so really this is Andrew E. or Andrew 7).  Andrew was new to St. Chris this year but actually I told him this week it seems like he has been there forever.  Andrew is everything you would want in a kid...sweet, handsome, smart, well-behaved and what really captures my heart...he is a red head.

Andrew and his family (well...at least his Mom) and I could be kindred spirits...they are animal crazy.  At last count, they had three dogs with another one joining them around Halloween, four birds (parakeets) and three fish.  They REALLY need a farm cuz then they could have horses, goats, llamas...I must introduce them to the Witek parents.  Andrew...you were a darling "kid".

When I first met the Eller family (on their initial tour of St. Chris) I just knew that I was going to like them and we had so many connections that I didn't even know about.  First...Andrew's two older brothers had graduated from Cardinal Ritter High School which is a huge connection as that is where the majority of our kids go for "higher learning" and second...one of Andrew's older brothers dates one of my favorite "old girls" Samantha W.  What a small world.  I kept my fingers crossed that the Eller family would pick St. Chris and that Andrew would be in my first grade...check and check!

What a lovely family picture...Mom and Dad Eller and older brothers Justin and Zach and right there in front on the left...my Sam!

When I asked Andrew how he likes St. Christopher he just kind of "melted" and said he LOVES St. Chris and his two favorite things about our school are the teachers (awww!) and his very favorite time of day is math time (double awww!).

Love a man who loves baseball.

Andrew said that the secret power he would most like to have is to be able to fly like Iron Man...well yeah...me too.  He also said that he has a very good friend who is almost like a sister to him...they just don't have enough room at their house for a real sister...HA!

I look at this picture and all I can think is how lucky Andrew is to have two big brothers like these.  I don't know them but they certainly are handsome boys...and, let's face it...I think they are pretty lucky to have a little brother like Andrew.

Andrew is a little train "crazy" and definitely thinks steam trains are better than diesel...me too Andrew! (???)  It is a definite theme when he writes.  

Yep...they need a farm.

Of course Andrew took to the classroom critters like a duck to water.

Andrew and Topher

I am so happy that the Eller family decided that St. Chris would be a good fit for Andrew and his mother has quickly become my right-hand gal on Fridays...listening to kids read, organizing and grading homework and just generally willing and able to do anything to help.

Not only did they decide that St. Chris was a good fit for Andrew but for the whole family as well and I will be there for the Easter Vigil Mass (it's like 8 hours long!) to welcome them into the church.  

I told Fr. Mike that I enroll them and convert them...all at the same time!  Seriously though, this is something they have been thinking about for awhile and I am so glad that I can be a little part of that experience.

Glad to have you Andrew and clan.

Next up: Kate

emily...

This is Emily.  She is a younger sister to Lucas, who also was a student of mine a few years back.  She is also a first cousin to three other former students of mine...this family line and connection to me goes back a loooong way.  Unfortunately Emily will be the last for me because I "doubt" I will be teaching when the next generation enters the halls of St. Christopher...actually I am pretty sure of it!

I asked Emily what super power she would like to possess and this sweet, demure, angelic little girl would like to be able to shoot lightening out of her body...okay.  I'm sure that would come in handy if...?

A little girl's dream...being hoisted into the air by three Cardinal Ritter cheerleaders (and two of my former students).  Cousin Katie is in the middle and just had her Senior pics taken by molly connor photography.
P.S. All three are also members of the Westside Cheer Club and compete all over the country.  Thank God they didn't drop her...that would have not looked good on their cheerleading resumes.

She would like to have her own horse and she knows exactly what kind of horse she wants.  She wants a brown and pink girl horse named Rosie who has flowers in her mane...I think if her parents REALLY love her they could make this happen...they live in horse country after all and I did explain to Ems that there are lots of stables up where she lives and they could easily board a horse...I mean, how can you say no?

Obviously she is easily entertained.

Emily loves little Topher and the feeling is mutual.   She is fascinated that bunnies have teeth under their chin. 

Speaking of teeth...I can't tell you how happy I was when she lost this one.  You know those teeth that are so loose that a little breeze could knock it out...that was Emily's tooth...but it was a stubborn one...or she stubbornly hung on to it.  

L.O.V.E.

I wonder if apple eating hurried along that tooth process.

Emily says first grade is awesome and she especially loves math, homework and writing in her assignment notebook each day (we train them young).  

She also recently started piano lessons...but would still have time to take care of a horse Mom and Dad.
Emily has the cutest little dog Daisy, a Coton de Tulear, who is just a ball of fluff.  Emily said that Daisy gives kisses but can be pretty annoying when she barks.  She also said Daisy just might like her "a little" better than her brother.

One of our vocabulary words several weeks ago was "giggle" and since Emily is such a good giggler she was willing to demonstrate when I asked her what made her giggle.

Ahhh...tickling makes her giggle!  As cute as Emily was giggling, I also love Kate and Macy's expressions in the background...I do have so much fun with this merry band of first graders!

Thanks Emily for answering all my annoying questions and thanks Mom for sending me the pics...even though they were somewhere called the cloud (???) Molly was able to retrieve them and all's well that ends well.  I thought I was doing well just to download emailed pics and upload them to the blog and now there is a cloud I have to deal with...sigh.

P.S. Emily...talk to Santa about that horse thing.

Up next: Andrew E.

olivia...

I am so enthralled with my class this year  that I decided to introduce them one by one.

This is Olivia.

I said something to Miss King (Kindergarten teacher) about how shy and quiet Olivia is and she said "OLIVIA???"  So we shall see... 

Last week Olivia got married...oops...I mean Aunt Courtney got married...but I am sure Olivia felt it was as much her day as the bride's.  Mom Amy is on the left (obviously).

I asked Olivia what the best part of the WHOLE wedding was and as you can tell from this pic, the answer was "the dancing" and apparently Olivia has some "moves" and really...that dress was made for some dancing!

THE glasses...

...I asked Olivia if the glasses were to make her look smart or for sassiness...duh!  Sassiness, of course, and it also appears that anything from the store Justice is just way too cool and reason enough to wear...didn't know about Justice. 

Of course when interviewing a first grader I didn't want it to be just a fluff piece so I went in for the hardcore question..."do you ever fake cry?"

Apparently she can and does but when I asked her how that usually worked out for her, she said "not so good...I still don't have an ipod".  Really Mom and Dad...you are strong people...I almost went and got her one.

I asked Olivia what she wanted to be when she grew up and without hesitation she answered "a zookeeper".  In recapping the duties of a zookeeper, animal poop "naturally" came up and she said that she would be okay dealing with that because she has been watching Dad pick up dog poop for years...who says training doesn't begin at home?  I think she will be a natural...and so does Topher.

I also found out that Dad cooks the most at their house but Mom cooks better.  Dad's best "dish" is dinosaur chicken nuggets and Mom's best "dish" is chocolate waffles...from scratch Mom?

...and with that we temporarily say good-bye to Olivia.  I'll get back to everyone about the "shy" thing.

Oh yeah...I almost forgot the most hard hitting question of all...who is the most annoying member of your family (see...I dig deep).  
And...the answer was...Sharpay and Max (the family dogs...HA!)


Next up: Harley (he begged me!)

"i'm retiring"...

...said Malcolm the bunny.  Almost nine years ago Mrs. Lois Peterson asked me if I would be interested in a year old lop for my classroom.  Without hesitation I said "YES!"  Malcolm has been a faithful classroom pet ever since and has provided hours of enjoyment and entertainment to many first grade classes.  His first class is entering high school this year...oy vey!

Now Malcolm is ten and according to his vet (that he sees on a regular basis now)" lops don't live to be ten".

Malcolm is now fighting the years and receives two oral doses of arthritis meds a day, four doses of eye drops a day, glucosamine chondroitin and immune support supplements.  Of course, who doesn't take glucosamine?  Plus he has some funky fur issues that he gets treated for once a week.

So...the time has come for Malcolm to lay back, take a breather and spend his days with four dogs and a cat surrounding his cage watching his every move...only mildly less chaotic than a room with 20 kids!

Well, I had to have a classroom bunny so the search began.  I contacted rabbitrys all over Indiana and in my obsessive multiple animal ways found TWO new additions to Room 7.
I thought about naming the little boys Mike and Dave...and then thought better of it.  So here they are...

Francis

 (yes, after the new Pope)

Francis is a 10 week old Velveteen Lop whose ears will get to be 15 inches long and yes, the breeder assured me that Francis will provide hours of entertainment stepping on his own ears.

He is exceptionally lively and has tons of personality.  He eats, eats, eats and poops, poops, poops.  We are undergoing potty training as I write!

He is kinda getting the hang of it and is providing lots of entertainment for the dogs.

Who doesn't love a wide-bodied bunny.  He feels just like velvet!

Topher

Chris/topher

Topher is an 8 week old mini lop who is actually gray but photographs brown-ish.  He will be the smaller of the two.  Potty training of any kind seems to allude this little guy but his cuteness makes up for it.  He is a snuggler.

Loves a good drink.

So soft and so cute...

...but very shy.  Spends a lot of time in his little rabbit hole but comes out to rub noses with my dogs.

If there is one thing we Connor gals like to do, it is to take credit for our cleverness, SO... before Daughter Molly chimes in, I will admit that she came up with the names...Mike and Dave still would have been a good choice.
They will be in place in Room 7 for the opening of the school year. 

Malcolm...you will be missed but enjoy your retirement years. 

wild animals...

The wild animals I am referring to in the title were not the kids...but I must say by Friday of Catholic Schools Week they were getting very close to that...very close.  Friday was a big day closing out the week and we started off with Silly Safari and Amazon John!

I l.o.v.e. a man who brings his dog to work and what a nice, well-behaved dog this was.  One of mine would qualify.

I wish they looked this way when we are doing Phonics.

Brady looks like he is saying "Yep, he picked ME!"  Doesn't seem phased that there is a snake next to him...such a boy! 

I love this picture...Amazing Amazon John and his Amazing...Crow???

Sorry...my camera is obviously not good at action shots but this crow would fly from the stage to where ever Amazon John was and the lower the kids ducked the lower the crow would fly...it was awesome!  And not one accident...if you get my drift.

Tawawa and the slimy toad...lucky girl.  She's touching it!

The kids got to touch some of the animals on the way out and I loved the concept of the hare and the tortoise.

Amazon John was soooo good.  He talked a lot about God and Mass and what we are about at a Catholic School (I understand his kids go to Catholic School).  He does children's parties too and I can't recommend him enough but be sure to ask for him by name.  

Amazon John

at

Silly Safari

Catholic Schools Week...over and OUT!

cardinal ritter high school...how do we love you? let us count the ways:

Dear Cardinal Ritter High School,

   We have loved you for a long time.  You treat our students so well when we send them over to you and you always tell us how well- prepared and mostly well-behaved they are...music to our ears.

  But then comes Catholic Schools Week and the love continues...here are the other reasons we love you:

1. Anyone else would have thought flowers was a nice gesture...but you step it up and send a candy bouquet...you know us so well.

2. You send us pizza...omg...

3. ...and salads...that's our volleyball ringer Corinne...we wanted her nice and fueled.

4. And then...when it couldn't possibly get any better...you send us chocolate covered cherries...sigh.

5. Food aside...you are the best Catholic High School around...we love you Cardinal Ritter!

P.S. A special thanks to all the Ritter families that make this happen and contribute to our wonderful luncheon AND... more chocolate covered cherries would make a nice Valentine treat and we would probably send you even more children...just saying.

6th grade versus faculty...and a ringer or two

To close out Catholic Schools Week we tried something new this year...a volleyball game between 6th grade and faculty...yep...fabulous idea!  Mrs. Betz (who normally would have been a strong faculty player...height-wise anyway) was side-lined with a knee injury (very convenient Mrs. Betz) so she took over coaching duties for 6th grade.

Now quite a few of these 6th graders play professionally (or as professionally as CYO gets) so they really do know what they are doing...right Wes?  However there are several kids in the background who look a little intimidated and worried...right?

Oh oh...they have some size on their side!

Took this pic of Kamryn because she has never met an event where she didn't get injured and I thought I'd get a good before/after picture but...she did come through unscathed. However, I did noticed Mr. B photo bombing in the background...he's got his camera smile going on there.

There were wild rumors floating around 6th grade that the teachers were bringing in some "ringers" to play on the faculty side...even word of a PROFESSIONAL VOLLEYBALL PLAYER...really?  Was the faculty that desperate?

Obviously we WERE desperate...Fr. Mike made a bunch of excuses why he couldn't dress up so we got the next best "ringer" available...Mr. Tom Steiner...he came in disguise so the kids wouldn't recognize him.

And here is our very own professional volleyball player...ex-student, Miss Corinne Owens, (sister of Mrs. Barker) and not quite a "professional" but an awesome player and a member of the volleyball playing Owens family.

This is our absolute darling second grade student teacher finding out that how well she played for the faculty would be reflected in her student teaching grade from Mrs. McKee...really?  Yes.  I wish I knew how to put thought bubbles above her head!

Mrs. McKee saying..."we've got this...no problem...I could sleep through this with one hand tied behind my back".

I am going to get killed for this picture but...it will be worth it.  Our unbiased referee (she does have a 6th grader but she knows whose side her bread is buttered on!) and she was very good.  There is Coach Betz in the background.

This was my seat companion throughout the game.  Future student (now how many years before I retire?) Bella poked me during the whole game but I gave as good as I got.  Isn't she the cutest?

This was a F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S. idea cooked up (as I understand it) by the Student Council...well done school representatives!  Not that anyone was keeping score (actually we did have an official scorekeeper...well done Mr. Guenin) but the teachers did VERY well...

Oh...and if anyone out there is wondering why I wasn't playing...really?  I had to document it...duh?  What was your excuse Miss King?