A to Z book

Throughout the year my students make several class books. I especially love doing A to Z books. Most recently we made A to Z books for the secretaries at our school (Mrs. Higginson is Awesome, Beautiful, etc). Each kid gets a different letter and it makes it more fun to read rather than having all the kids do the same thing.

We were reading an A to Z artifact book that had all sorts of different historical artifacts, so we made our own 2010 A to Z artifact book. The criteria was: 1. What is it? 2. What is it used for? 3. Who uses it? This is some of what they came up with: (I thought they were hilarious, and in some cases very clever)

A is for Apple. We uss apples for snaks. Apples have been around for a long time.

B is for Base (Bass). It is So tall it is hard to play! You play it with musicians at a place. Anytime you want.

C is for Camal (camel). a camal is ugly. and fat. and stoopid. and lets people ride on them.
(We only talk about capitalization EVERY DAY. Not to mention complete sentences... c'mon kid)

E is for Easter Eggs. Lots of people use easter eggs because it is a holaday! Lots of people use them a lot. Lots of places.

F is for Fish. Pleople used fish for oil to keep their skin from becomeing dry. Ther are a lot of kid of fish in the world. Fish oil is used in peels too. They have been around a long time. They live in rivers, seas, lakes, and ponds.

I is for Ice Cream. Ice cream is A flavored liquid frozen. Boys and girls use ice cream. It has been around for tons of years.

K is for Killowate. scientists use if for lights and phones.

M is for Megaphone. A person who talks to a large crowd uses one of these. It's like a cone, or electric device that amplifies the sound of a voise. You can use it at places such as track meats, circuses, and places with large crowds to get their attention. I don't know how long it's been around.
(haha an 8 year old who uses "device" and "amplifies." There's 1 in every class)

N is for Naked. A person without clothes. You will be in your home. You would be without clothes, uncovered, nude. You would be naked when you are in the shower.

P is for Platashin 3 (playstation3) It is the best. it has games. it is kool. I dont care when it was made.

R is for Ravioli. it is a type of pasta. It was started in Italy. lots of people use it. and like it.

T is for Treat. Some thing that is very good and tastey. Everyone likes this.



I love 3rd grade.

Brian's Graduation

Brian graduated! We didn't do a very good job of getting pictures, we may add some more later when we get them from various family members off of their cameras.

We started off the day with a very exclusive breakfast (only 3 graduates and their families were invited). It was put on by the Honor's Program, and Brian got invited because he had been selected as the student speaker for commencement (the other students were speaking at the Honor's Luncheon). The food was delicious!

We went straight from the breakfast to a run-through at the Marriot Center. I had a fun time acting like paparazzi and taking pictures of Brian. :)

The two graduates!

After the run-through, there was an Honors Luncheon and then there was the Commencement ceremony! Brian got to sit in a small pavilion with President Samuelson and all the other big-wigs while all the graduates promenaded past.

Here's a picture of him on the stand with all the dignitaries after they came into the Marriot Center. He said that Elder Christofferson's body guard was disguised as a dean sitting right behind the apostle! (he was the only "dean" with a pistol and an earpiece...)
Brian did a fantastic job on his talk!


We got a picture with Elder Christofferson and President Samuelson after the ceremony, but not on our camera.... so stay tuned!

Congrats Brian! Only 9+ years of education left.... ;)

Book Review

If you know us, you know that we love books. Despite our recent oath to NOT buy any more books, we caved and bought a few... but honestly, they are such good books, we couldn't resist. Here are some of our more recent acquisitions and recommendations:

Ranger's Apprentice Book 1: "The Ruins of Gorlan"

I know, it does look a little creepy. But the story is definitely not as dark as the cover. I wouldn't recommend it for young children, but maybe 6th grade and up, just because of the fancy language (I came to a word I had never seen before!)

These books have kind of a Lord of the Rings feel, but they are much more accessible. It is set in medieval times, and a group of orphans receive their apprenticeship assignmnets. Young Will wants to go to Battle School but is too small, so he becomes the Ranger's apprentice....

There are 7 books in this series, the 8th one comes out in the US later this summer, and I believe the author is planning to write at least 10. ooooh I can't wait!

The Heir Series: Book 1 "The Warrior Heir"

This is a really interesting series. This is more of teenage/adult fiction (I know!! Who thought I would read anything except children's literature?). It is similar to the "Percy Jackson" series in that it is about an adolescent boy who finds out that he is not as normal as he grew up thinking. This knowledge unleashes a host of enemies that hunt for him. It is similar to "Hunger Games" in that there are characters that are basically being trained to be gladiators.

Brian and I both read "The Warrior Heir" on the plane ride to Nashville. It is thrilling, suspenseful, and entertaining! I haven't read the next two books "The Wizard Heir" and "The Dragon Heir," but I have high expectations.

Kaleidescope

So here's a kaleidoscope of what has been going on with the Wrights in the last few months:

Avatar

We saw Avatar in IMAX 3-D and we loved it! Brian bought the soundtrack online minutes after we got home and we've already pre-ordered the Blu-ray (even though we don't have a blu-ray disc player... hmmm can you tell what our next big purchase will be?)

Disneyland/California Road Trip

We had an awesome road trip to California, thanks to Tucson's Rodeo Break (my siblings were off.... I actually had to take off a few days of school)! Brian drove the whole 10 hours to Anaheim!
We LOVE Disneyland!
10 minute wait for Space Mountain? Brian has died and gone to heaven.
We also got to visit the Science Museum at USC and snuck over to get a picture by the Coliseum.

When we returned to Home Sweet Home, it didn't seem so sweet... Will spring ever come?
3rd Grade
Teaching is going great! I really love my job. My 3rd graders are 31 of the most awesome kids ever and we have a blast every day discovering new things. We are reading "Where the Red Fern Grows" for read aloud and it is so fun for me when they raise their hand in the middle and say "I have a connection..." or "I want to make an inference..."It is so awesome how they see themselves as readers and they feel so grown up analyzing literature. They are so proud of themselves and it is so cute.
We got to go on a sweet field trip to the Clarke Planetarium in Salt Lake! Brian even got to come (he's taking the picture).

Vanderbilt
Right after the field trip, I sent my students back on the bus with a sub and Brian and I took off to the airport. We had an awesome time at Vanderbilt's 2nd Look Weekend!

We spent the first morning walking around checking out the various housing options. We found a place named after our good friends, the Hamiltons! Maybe if we lived here, it might blunt the sting of moving so far away from them? ;)

We were exhausted by the time we had walked all day, and extremely disappointed with the fact that the fancy hotel that Vanderbilt put us up in had NO POOL! boo.

It's too bad we didn't take more pictures while we were at Vanderbilt. We actually had a blast! Especially the night that everyone else went out drinking and we got to play volleyball for 3 hours with all the other students who didn't want to drink! :)

The only "grumpy point" of the weekend was the fact that I was not invited to any part of the second-look-weekend besides the banquets. Brian even tried to get me a free t-shirt (they were giving them out to all the prospective students) and they wouldn't let him have one! Yet... there was another married couple there and she tagged along to the all-day events! Still, I wasn't too bugged by it because I got to sleep in (wonder of wonders), lounge around the hotel, watch Harry Potter on ABC, and I even went out and bought Krispy Kreme donuts. It wasn't a bad day. :)

Addiction

We recently found a quote that describes us pretty well:

"When I get a little money I buy books, and if there is any left, I buy food and clothes." --Erasmus

To illustrate:

Brian is putting together a spreadsheet where we can keep track of our budgeting/finances. He was especially excited about the charts he rigged up to show our expenses (since I am a very visual person). I went to look at it on the computer and this is what I saw:



That's right. For those of you with poor eyesight (that legend is really small!), the yellow section is "books." Compare that to the purple section, which is "food." I am thinking "woah, we have a real problem!"

But then Brian told me that he had just taken a break and was not even close to finished entering data for the other categories. So this chart isn't exactly accurate.... (but it's funny).

But I still think we have a book addiction problem. People are seriously going to hate us when it comes time to help us move.

Catch up!

I can't believe it's already February! But my neighbors still have their Christmas tree up (it's covered in valentines-day themed ornaments now), I figure it's not too late to post about our Christmas break...

We had so much fun in Tucson! Brian was officially initiated into the Evan's boys brothership, as he received his very own "Ultra-Saber" on Christmas morning:He can now duel in realistic hand-to-hand lightsaber combat with James (17), Clark (15), and Michael (9). :) Unfortunately, the ultra-saber had to be left in Tucson because it wouldn't fit in our checked baggage and I don't think the airport personnel would let him carry it on. We'll have to wait until May when we drive down to get it.

Brian was also privileged to experience several of Dad's "bike trips." Between two excursions, they rode over 60 miles together in the beautiful Tucson desert.

Here's Brian after donning all the gear:

...and off he goes!

My favorite part of the trip was hiking Picacho Peak (the site of the only civil war battle fought in the west). It takes about 2 hours to reach the peak and 2 hours to get back down.

at the base

at the peak

I wish we had taken more pictures as we went, because it is a fun hike! There are parts that are so steep, they have installed wire cables to hold onto as you climb up the rock.

We saw a lot of UofA fans on the hike, and of course we were all decked out in our BYU gear (BYU had beat the UofA basketball team the day before, with Jimmer Fredette breaking several records during the game). We heard all kinds of comments-- mostly positive ones about what a great team BYU has. :)

Another fun part of our stay in Tucson was dodgeball. Almost daily, we would go down to the church gym and play our version of dodgeball (I think my siblings have named it "fungus"). It is a blast to play or watch. Basically 2 teams throw things at each other and if you get hit, you go to the other team, until everyone is on the same team. It's great because everyone wins in the end!

We can't wait until we are in Tucson next! Even though it will be a bit warmer...

DELAYED-- our new favorite word.

Holy. Worst. Experience. Flying. Ever.

We got to the SLC Airport 2 1/2 hours early because there was a storm coming in and we wanted Alene (who was SO nice to drive us to the airport) to be able to get back to Provo before it hit. (not to mention get back in time to watch the Las Vegas Bowl Game)

Our plane was delayed in getting there. Of course. But it eventually came and we only boarded 15 minutes late. We were thinking "great! we will still be able to make our connecting flight in Las Vegas!" We taxied out to the run way..... then sat there for an hour. Yes, delayed 1 hour. The storm just kept getting worse and they had to de-ice the plane for a while. Just when we thought we would be stuck there all night, they were able to take off. We were starting to get a little nervous about making our connecting flight. We talked to a flight attendant about it but he was not helpful, even a little bit RUDE.

(Sub plot: Brian was by the window and I was in the middle. Our flight was full and an older woman sat next to me who smelled r e a l l y w e i r d. On top of that, she ordered coffee, which I cannot abide the smell of. Not a good combination...)

Due to adverse weather conditions, our 1-hour flight took 2 hours. We had long since given up hope of making our connecting flight. Also due to adverse weather conditions, our flight was more like a roller coaster/elevator on steroids. I am not usually prone to motion sickness, but combined with all the lovely odors coming from the woman next to me, I was rather ill. I will spare you the details, but I will say that I hope I never have to use the little white bags in the seat-back pockets again.

But wait. The drama is not over! We landed in Vegas. If you were watching the Las Vegas Bowl Game BYU vs. Oregon State, you know that Vegas was experiencing winds upwards of 60 mph. Apparently winds like that make it hard to fly airplanes, so the Vegas airport only had 1 runway open. The place was mass chaos. Every flight was delayed. We had completely missed our flight to Pheonix, but after a lot of talking and negotiating, we were finally able to get stand-by tickets on a later flight, that also got delayed.

I still wasn't feeling well but sweet Brian braved the mobs and bought me over-priced food and very over-priced motion sickness medicine (the drowsy kind), which knocked me out until we arrived in Pheonix at 11:15 pm (3 hours after we should have been there). I hope I am worth it.

We got to the baggage claim and couldn't find any information about our flight. Finally, an announcement came on: "Passengers of flight 3926, your baggage has been delayed. Thank you for your patience."

By the time we got our baggage it was midnight. My poor grandparents who were picking us up! We are so grateful that they were willing to come get us!

We are just glad that we've finally made it to Tucson. It was a rough trip-- and it's debatable if it would have been faster to drive or not-- but I'm just glad we're here!