Snowshoeing

SNOWSHOEING ABOVE THE CLOUDS

Fog in the lower mainland can be really cool and can make you feel as if you are in an airplane flying through the clouds in the sky. But when you have weeks and weeks of fog, it can get to you after a while. Some friends and I decided it was time to get above the fog!





We trekked up Seymour Mtn and did the Dog Mountain trail. It was a great day to head out with some snowshoes and see where the trail would take us.



There was a time of inversion where it was actually cooler at the bottom of the mountain underneath all the clouds. The further we traveled up, the warmer it got. At the top of the mountain, it felt like it was 16 C while underneath us it was cold and rainy.



People at the top of the mountain were suntanning while eating their lunch. People were stripping layers of clothes left, right and centre it was so warm.



Allison, Heather and I at the top of Dog Mtn.



Here are some pics of what was happening in Vancouver below us.





Looking down on Vancouver through the clouds.



The End.

Farewell to a Good Friend I hardly knew

In the summer, my brother developed a severe allergy to peanuts/nuts while walking home from work. This brought on a conversation about foods that we would never want to be allergic to or foods we could not live without. My brother said that he could not go without cheese, my mom could not go without bread and I could not go without peanut butter. I thought my answer was the best, I mean, peanut butter is just so good. You can eat it on icecream, apples, bananas, graham crackers, bread, cake, smores, and you can make cookies, squares etc. You can even eat it plain out of the jar. It just made sense.

A couple weeks ago I was waiting for results of a food allergy/sensitivity test I was recommended to take. I nervously thought that it might be peanut butter or maybe even icecream and dairy products in general. When I was told the results, I was so relieved that I was not allergic to dairy or nuts that I didn't really think about how my food sensitivity was much worse than being allergic to dairy and peanut butter.

Gluten... I don't even think I knew what it was a couple weeks ago but now I'd do anything to be reacquainted with it. Gluten is pretty much in everything. You name it, gluten is in it. Breads, pastries, noodles, flour.... everything. Not only do I have a sensitivity to gluten but I have a sensitivity to wheat, rye, barley, cucumbers, pineapple, almonds, coffee and beer. I was so happy I was not allergic to icecream but yet many of the icecream flavours i can no longer eat because they have brownies, cookies, or other scrumptious things mixed in. I can have peanut butter but I can't have it on a sandwich any more or in a brownie sundae. I just can't win! I feel like I can't eat anything.

I've been gluten free for almost 2 weeks and it has been painful. I feel like I'm always hungry because I'm living off vegetables and rice cakes. I walk down the aisles in the grocery store and pass all the food I can't eat. I have to look in the gluten free section and buy the 7 dollar spongelike gluten free pizza crust or the hard, crackly gluten free tortilla shells that fall apart when you try to roll them. Not many options here.

I've decided it's a hard time of year to be gluten free. Christmas parties with amazing deserts packed full of flour and almonds, cheese and crackers with dip, oven baked pastries and mini sausages in bbq sauce, Christmas beer alongside friendship cheer... and all I can eat is the cheese and the lowly rice krispie treat that has been abandoned by all but the gluten intolerant ones. Kids handing out birthday doughnuts in the hallway, parents bringing in holiday treats to share, hot lunch days of noodles and pizza at school and the gluten intolerant have to stand aside and say "No, thanks." Sigh....

Goodbye good friend. It's so hard to say goodbye. I wish we had had more time together. Maybe one day....when everything is right again...

School Daze

Christmas holidays are quickly approaching and after 2 and 1/2 months of school, the break will be much needed and welcomed. I have 2 polar opposite classes this year which has made the year seem like a roller coaster with many up and downs. I am really enjoying my one class and those are the days when I know that teaching is what I really want to do. I call these guys my DREAM TEAM. I feel confident and in control and feel like I can conquer any 5 yr old problem that could come my way.

Cute things that have been said in Kindergarten this year:

"But, Miss Taylor, my mom doesn't want me to sit at the time out table. She doesn't like it when I do."

"I keep calling my hoola hoop to come back like you did but it just won't come"

"That's what teachers do, they wait."

"God created everything. He had so much time. He is just so old."

" I have good manners because I got a good manners book for my birthday."

"I can't. I'm laying an egg"

"Miss Taylor, have you ever seen my dad? He looks exactly like Jesus."

After time out...
" You know what Miss Taylor, I'm not going to go back there. I'm going to find another activity that's less rough." (WOW, I've never had a kid say that on his own before.)

About a boy with special needs who cannot speak and can only mumble words...
"It's okay that you don't know what he is saying because he is speaking Spanish."

"My dad goes to the gym too. Because he is fat."

~What kinds of things did God make in His world?
"Well... you know.... long pause... you know... eagles of course"

"Hug it like you love it"




BUT THEN

The next day rolls around and I have my difficult class.... on these days I feel like throwing in the towel and serving tables at local restaurants for the rest of my life. I call these guys my SCREAM TEAM because either one of them is screaming or I feel like screaming!

New Rules that I think need to be implemented better in Kindergarten this year

No shoelace shoes if you cannot tie them.
No cute small school bags that hold absolutely nothing.
No tattle taling.
No peeing on each other.
No pulling down your pants in gym class.
No walking around in your tighty whities.
No wearing your dress over your head.
No swearing.
No lying when it's obviously not true.
No slapping children in the face.
No punching others in the face.
No scratching others in the face.
No strangling others.
No hitting and kicking teachers.
No biting other children.
No sitting on each other.
No eating the erasers.
No eating the pencils.
No eating the pencil crayons.
No eating random food off the floor that doesn't belong to you.
No colouring yourself with the markers.
No colouring on other people's pictures.
No spitting on the carpet.
No talking back to the teacher.
No calling the teacher "teacher".
No tapping the teaching constantly.
No calling the teacher 10 times in a row. If by the 6th time she doesn't respond, she might just be busy.
No mixing all the new colours of playdoh together.
No mixing all the paint together.
No sneezing in your teacher's face.
No walking backwards in the line.
No climbing over the loft railings. (you will fall off)
No running away from the teacher if she is talking to you.


I won't say which class is which...

Hollyburn Peak

"In autumn, when succulent blueberries abound, so do black bears. Keep an alert eye out; bears can become oblivious to just about everything when hoovering berries." Although the book warned us about whistling, singing and talking loudly along the trail, we did not see any bears on the Hollyburn trail. The closest we got were dog prints in the muddy trail up the mountain. We didn't get attacked by any bears but we got attacked many times by Whiskey Jacks at the peak of the mountain.


Andrew, Kimberly, Daphne, Tim





Hollyburn Peak was a great trail for a crisp autumn day. The colours were beautiful and although it was a bit chilly despite dressing in multiple layers, it was well worth making the muddy trek up. The 360 degree view at the top was breathtaking and easily reminded me of what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving break. It was such a great chance to be in the mountains and see the October colours in the trees and see fall during into winter before your own eyes. There was already some ice starting to form on the lakes near the top. The hike was a bit shorter than some of the other hikes I've done, but for being a bit out of shape since school started in September, I think that this was a very good thing.


Andrew, Daphne and Tim at the top looking out.


Being attacked by the Whisky Jacks


Lounging out at the top of Hollyburn.

A Parent's Love

If you are a teacher, you are still in that first month of transition. You have new students to get to know and new class dynamics to figure out. The students also have a transition, in each grade they enter, they have a new beginning. In Kindergarten, children have a huge transition, from being home or in daycare to being in school and what that all means. Transitions can be exciting; buying the first school bag, having a cubby with their name, and a hook to hang their coat. But, they can also be terrifying. This year I have a little boy who needs to be pried off his mom every morning and who will scream and cry for the first 10 minutes of the day until he really believes that his mom will come back to pick him up. Transitions can be scary. Knowing what to say as a teacher in that situation can be tough when emotions take over and no words are soothing enough. No words; but only a parents loving embrace.

These are some moments you realize a parent’s love for their child; when they will stay in the hallway for three hours just to make sure that their son is okay. A parent’s love for their child is remarkable. You see it in how a parent sticks around to ask how their son or daughter is doing and is excited about any little detail you provide about the day. You can see it in a huge hug they give their child in the hallway at the end of the school day, with a concerned phone call about a certain incident, and with the big smiles when a child hands them a messy dripping painting they so desperately want to take home. Their love is huge!

Parents go through that transition each year too. Each year, they entrust their children in your care, hoping that you too can share in the love they have for their children. They want you to see what they see and know what they know about their children.

Parents know their children. They know when they are sad, when they are hungry, when they are having a bad day and sometimes even when they have to go to the bathroom. They just know! It’s remarkable how they JUST know. A parent’s love is great. But how much greater is God’s love for his children who he knows even more than we can understand. Psalm 139 reads, O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down. You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely… vs 13…. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

God’s love is unconditional and surpasses our understanding. God’s love for each of the children in our classrooms is huge and He too wants us to share in that. Sometimes it can be hard to love the child who gets on our nerves, who asks us the same question 3 times because he has forgotten to listen to the answer, who always forgets to put his inside shoes on after recess, who puts glue in the bottom of the pencil jar, who mixes all the playdough together, whose shoelace seems to come undone every 5 minutes, who steals the sticky tack from the backs of posters and puts it in people’s hair etc. But… we need to remember that each of these children are precious to their parents in their own way. Each of these children are children of God, and as teachers we are given the great responsibility to nurture them, teach them, know them and care for them. In James 3:1, a verse that is probably well known to all Christian school teachers, it reads, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers my brothers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

That’s a huge responsibility to bear. A teacher can have a huge influence on a child’s life. To this day, I can remember the grade four teacher who gave me a thank you card for playing hockey at recess with a girl who usually got picked on. I remember how that card showed me she paid attention to me. I can also remember the time in grade two when I saw my Kindergarten teacher for the first time in over 2 years. She did not say hi. I remember the sad feeling I had that she did not remember who I was. Teachers have an impact. What a huge responsibility to carry. Often times I think that the responsibility is too much. There is too much to remember, too many things to be aware of, too many things that can be said, and too many needs to be met. But I am encouraged by the story of Moses in Exodus which I was reminded of this past Sunday. I hope you can be too. The Israelites are in slavery and God knows the longings of their hearts. He knows them well. Moses is asked by God to take on the task and responsibility of going to Egypt to lead the people out of slavery. He doesn’t feel fit and tells God many times that he is not the one and that another one, who is better with his words, should go in his place. God answers and says “who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you the words to say.” (Ex 4: 11-12)

The Lord knows his children and what they need. The Lord knows the longings of the children in our classes. He knows them well. The Lord works through his people and he can give us the words to say and the hearts to listen to what they need as well. Take comfort in that fact and enjoy the children that God has entrusted to us.

Welcome Back to School

Welcome Back to School

September brings with it a new school year. It is a month of adjusting to a new class and a new routine. This year is my second year of teaching and my first year being full time. I'm thinking that this job might keep me pretty busy and on my toes all year! I now have two Kindergarten classes so that means I have a lot of names to memorize and a lot of little personalities to get to know. But, this year has been great so far. I am enjoying both my classes and am feeling better equipped and more confident than last year already. I am finding that I have fewer stresses than last year and can enjoy teaching much more. I think that it's because now I have the bigger picture in my mind. I have seen a whole year played out and now I can just relax a little and remember the previous year. I can anticipate certain situations and be better prepared to handle what might come my way throughout the day. The second time around gives you the opportunity to improve what went wrong the year before or maybe do something completely different. I cannot be prepared for every situation because everyday brings its own new challenges and its own new adventures but knowing what typically happens throughout the day of Kindergarten is really helpful. Before school started, I was quite busy rearranging and figuring out how I wanted the layout of my classroom to look. It was quite fun to decide but it was also a little frustrating since I had ordered a bunch of new furniture that did not end up arriving until 2 weeks after school started. Things are mostly in place now and I'm enjoying the different feel to the classroom this year. It is so nice to have my own classroom and not have to worry about leaving things around at the end of the day. Here are a few pictures of my classroom this year...



This is a pic from the back door. The white table is our new water table.


This shows the front of the classroom. We got new circle area rugs which was pretty exciting! My desk is tucked away behind the block/tool/car centre.


Here is a picture of our circle area again where we do calendar/weather/ morning message etc. You can also see our cubbies and our famous Kindergarten loft!


Here is our reading centre with our new reading shelves!


Another view of the reading centre, sandbox (on L) and writing centre. Note: See how it's all wet outside. Yup, the winter rain is starting already!


Work tables and painting centre.


The house centre underneath the loft.


The dress up centre in the loft.


Another view of the reading centre and our new red/white chairs.


The puzzle centre and doll house centre.

Kindergarten is so fun!

Mt. Seymour

The "Three Peak" Adventure

"Each year hiker's get lost on Seymour. The lucky ones get out cold and a bit worse for fear. But others have been seriously injured or died. Don't underestimate the mountain. Be prepared!" This is just one of the comments in Dawn Hanna's book Best Hikes and Walks in Southwestern British Columbia.



















I didn't get lost on this hike nor did I get seriously injured or die but I did have to hobble up the last 0.8km of rock to get to the summit because of a bad knee from a previous hike I had unfortunately forgotten about. I wasn't going to back down from the mountain's summit and so at a snail's pace, I climbed my way to victory. I was prepared to fight this mountain for all it was worth!




















Conveniently at the top of the mountain there were snow patches. Because we were so "prepared," Andrew had a big plastic bag that I could put snow in to use as an icepack during our lunch break. (and also use to toboggan down the hills of snow.)





















Although feeling proud and strong to have made it to the top in my broken state, I forgot that if you go up, you must also come down. Wups. After having iced my knee and letting it rest, it was now seriously seizing up for the descent down the mountain. Finding a branch as support, I was able to tred slowly and painfully down the third peak to the second peak, down the second peak to the first peak, down the first peak to a nice lake located somewhere on the mountain. I think about 20 minutes from the bottom. Too bad the water wasn't drinkable because we were out and dying of thirst too.















A hike that should have only taken about 4 hours ended up taking 5 and a half because of my hobbling slowness. (probably why we ran out of water) So, no records were broken, no medals received, and overall I think the mountain ended up winning. Mountain 1 Kimberly 0.




















But despite being broken, the hike was really cool with some amazing views and scenery! I'd do it again!















Interesting FUN FACT of the day: This mountain is named after BC's Governor from 1864 to 1869 who died from acute alcoholism.