These are the deviled "spiders" that I made for our staff halloween potluck. Don't ever try this. It takes much longer than you would think. 

This is the class pumpkin we picked out. We carved it later but I forgot to take a picture of that. 

This is the pumpkin patch where we took a field trip this week. Each child got to pick out thier own pumpkin. 

My kindergarteners have been skipping school to go hunting.

Part of a conversation with a third grader today:

..."I know my watch is the right time because I set it by the TV and the TV is right because, well, it's the TV"...

"I should be able to tie my shoes soon. Probly by when i'm thirteen."
KINDERGARTENER

Kindergartener: (looking through a magnifying glass at me) Teacher your body looks sooooo big!

Fall colors 

Paul and Annie take a walk in the fall. We were a little wary. It's hunting season here and that means that wifes often get a welcome respite from thier husbands. It also means there are alot of men in camo with guns walking through the forest.  

Quote of the Day:

from a young life leader who moved here from puyallup to be in ministy:

"This isn't a place you move to, it's a place you move away from."

"Gues what teacher, Alice popped my neck and (throws her head back so she is looking behind her) now I can see all the way back there!"

KINDERGARTENER: Does mop have a 'k' in it?
ME: No. m-o-p
KINDERGARTENER: (throws down his paper and throws back his head) OOOOHHHH that makes me so mad!

Fall and baby caterpillars

Fall is here and as the title of one of the books in my classrooms says, "Fall is Not Easy". Lately the little ones have been coming back in from recess with cold noses and cold hands. We have a cocoon in our classroom that was given to us by another teacher the first week of school. It's in this little jar with some leaves and grass. After a while it started making scritching and scratching noises inside the coccon like it was trying to get out. But then it stoped making noises at all. I thought, "we have killed this creature, how am I going to tell the children?" So I made a big speech about how sometimes baby caperpillars die. There were solem faces and droopy eyes. So then I said, "how about we break open the coocoon and see what's inside?" (which I really had been dying to do). This seemed to cheer them up a little. So I reached down inside of the jar to get the cocoon from the leaf. And that's when I heard a little ... faint ... weak ... "scritch, scritch" from the inside of the cocoon. I think moths know when they are about to throw in the towel. Either that or God was trying to save me from a major educational nightmare. I can just imagine me opening the cooccon and the little creature writhing inside, plainly alive, for all five year olds to see. I would have become a murderer of baby caterpillars in thier eyes. A torturer of the weak and small. Thank you God (and baby caterpillar)!

Tenino resident Jack LaRue darts away from more than 1,750 pounds of falling pumpkin Saturday afternoon after releasing the gourds from a crane situated about 70 feet above a Ford Taurus. The drop took place as part of a weekend of autumn-themed festivities at Pioneer West nursery in Centralia.
 

A black bear runs across East Main Street between Green Street and Barner Drive toward Centralia?s Seminary Hill Natural Area Tuesday evening.
 

ME: "Let's take it easy today?"
KINDERGARTENER: "What's a neasy?"

We have a science book on our classroom with a picture of a gray haired scientist on it. My students are all convinced that he is God.

Kindergartener: "If you say you'll marry me I'll be on your baseball team."

I got my hair cut! 

While in Olympia we took some time out to visit our favorite place, the walmart supercenter. Just kidding, here is Paul at starbucks in downtown Olympia. 

Our quest for an alternative grocery store stops here, a mere fourty minutes away from our house. The Bayview Thriftway is like walking into a Trader Joes and Wild Oats rolled into one perfect grocery store. We had been able to find some natural foods at an odd store called Shop N Kart, but the experience was marred by the twenty foot "yard bird" gracing thier entrance. Otherwise, we are doomed to the Walmart Supercenter with it's long lines, screaming children and appalling lack of soy ice cream. 

Our place: From this side it looks more like a house than a barn. 

Mt. St. Helens: We have not been able to see it for a few days. Just as we were coming home today we caught a glimpse of a SNOW covered Mt. St. Helens, something we have not seen all summer until now. 

You had probably guessed that Paul's fascination with mountains has not suffered since we moved north. Last week he drove to Mt. St. Helens in the hopes of being caught in the path of death and destruction. Sadly, he missed the mountains latest hiccup by an hour. You can see the last of the steam plume hanging in the crater and the news media in the foreground. 

Paul took his grandpa to see the salmon at Bonneville Dam. 

Paul's Grandpa, Paul Smith, has been visiting the Northwest from New Jersey. Here is a picture of Paul and Paul in Paul's parents backyard. Interesting fact: both Paul's grandfather's names are Paul.  

I just posted some pictures of our new house. We have spent the last few days moving in with the help of our families. I am really excited about the fact that we will actually be able to get DSL there. I'm actually really excited about not being homeless. Also, next weekend we are going to Portland to visit our family, friends and our "old" church (although since we haven't found a new one yet we still refer to it as our church). Last weekend we tried a church and ended up going to the old folks service (you know the traditional one). It wasn't really that uplifting. Tomorrow we will try a new one which is supposed to be more contemporary. Paul, Anna and Wes are sick and I am trying to avoid thier germs. It's really hard not to kiss a baby though.

This is the other half of the barn looking out from our back door. 

This is our view. The house belongs to the people we rent from. 

Ozzie 

Our house! This half is ours, the other half belongs to the horses and dog. 

My Mom, Grandma and I setting up the kitchen. 

Our class turtle "Tornado". This is his mean face. 

The other day I prayed for an apartment. I told God the specifics of what I wanted, which is not something I normally do, even though I know He can do anything. Last weekend, after looking at two dumps, we looked at a barn apartment that we loved and put a deposit down on it. That's right, we share a building with two horses and dog named Ozzie. As we were moving a few boxes in yesterday we were greeted with a gentle neigh every time we walked through the barn doors with our boxes. It's a beautiful apartment with a view and a yard and it's exactly what we wanted. The people we are renting from are Christians and on the day we looked at the apartment we talked to them for about an hour and a half over tea. We could not be more happy and thankful. Pictures soon!! (I promise)

Our turtle can eat goldfish. Real goldfish. We haven't tried it yet but today a student brought me a little bag of goldfish crackers for the turtle.

We have these play barn and zoo animals in our classroom. The other day I over heard some kids playing with the ducks and saying, "Aflac! Aflac!"

My class named the turtle "Tornado". It was down to the wire between Swimmy and Tornado. Soon I will have a picture of it for you!

"There are ten people in this class. Please tell me there are ten people here!"

-Kindergartener

"This is the sign of the closed expression."

Kindergartener

I got a turtle for my classroom! My family has unofficially named him Red Green (this is an obscure canadian tv show), but I think I will let my kids name him. I'm not so sure he is a him, now that I think of it. I assumed it was a him because he hissed at me once. I guess it could be PMS...

Hinson house alumni 

Sarah and Paul 

Mom's garden 

Our faun - it visits our house!