BACKYARD BEAVER

We are in love with our backyard. Our property line ends right at a beautiful field that borders the Teton River. We spend a lot of time back there playing in the trees and the water. It's really fun how much wildlife we see in our mini wilderness. We've seen turtles, snakes, quail, ducks, Canadian geese, herons, bald eagles, coyotes, red foxes, and signs of or reports of moose, deer, bobcats, and even mountain lions.

The most conspicuous animal however, has been the beaver. The. dam. beaver. 

We actually lived here over a year before we ever saw the thing. But we knew it was there. It's home is huge...like, bigger than our bed, huge. Bigger than our bathroom, huge. If it just swam happily in the pretty river, I wouldn't complain. But instead, it spends its spare time cutting down half the trees in our private forest. 

I'm not exaggerating. We've counted 40+ trees downed! This spoils our back window views and makes me steaming mad.

The day we formally met for the first time, was a special day in June. Special because my little sister was visiting us all by her big-self from 2 states away. And special because it was as if the beaver's emergence was preserved specifically for her.

Throwing sticks in the river for Moose to retrieve, we heard what sounded like large rocks getting thrown into the water from the opposite bank. When there was no sign of anyone, we figured some boys were trying to be funny by hiding in the reeds. We ignored them. 

But it kept happening. And it was LOUD. 

Finally I spotted this guy! That beaver was slapping his tail against the water in an attempt to be threatening and scare us away! 

Fat Chance. We weren't going anywhere.  

At the time, all I had was a cell phone, but I caught this sweet action shot. 

And a video.

Soon, Andrew joined us with my camera, so I could get some real shots. By this time, all that tail thumping must have made the beaver hungry, because he was got out to munch on a bush...keeping one cautious eye on us at all times. 

This gave us an opportunity to see how big he really was. 

And he was fat. Fat from eating 40+ of my trees! 

I tried to get Moose to eat him, but our playful pup was only interested in the stick my sister was holding.

Like a big rat.

And then he was back in the water. Eventually, our excited family hiked home while I pondered the fashion forwardness of a beaver pelt hat. 

CAMPING THEMED CLASSROOM

I am so in love with my classroom theme this year! It was a blast to pull together, though it took a lot of work. I'm sure the principal, who walked in on me countless times working over summer vacation, thinks I'm insane. I tried to convince him that I really was having fun!

The camping and woodsy touches are fun and relatable for these small-town Idaho kiddos. The lighting is awful, so I apologize for the poor photo quality, but let me show you around. Many of my ideas are taken from the Internet and tweaked for my own use. I'll give credit at the end to those who inspired me!

In the hallway, I welcomed my new students with a silly display:

"3rd grade happy campers...the s'more the merrier!"

This wooden sign sat outside the door to give my room a real campground feel. Andrew helped me build it, and then I painted the lettering. This project cost nothing, because we used free pallets and wood scraps on hand. 

This is an activity we did in the first weeks. I wanted to incorporate fireflies somehow. Attempting to help them recognize the difference between long and short vowels, I wrote spelling words on Carson Dellosa cartoon fireflies and hid them around the room. After the kids "caught" a few fireflies each, we placed them in different glass jars based on the vowel sounds of the printed words. 

Afterward, we used yellow paint, our thumbs, and some black markers to create the above craft. They wrote a word with a long vowel sound next to each firefly in their "jar." Long Vowel Lightning Bugs. Super simple, quick, and fun learning activity. 

Inside, you get a view of our class library. The bulletin board over the books says "Reading Under the Stars" where paper stars dangle from the ceiling. I sewed those garlands together quickly using my sewing machine. 

For six months, I collected fake pine trees at thrift stores for cheap. They are placed throughout the room to make the room feel forest-y. A dollar store picnic tablecloth adds more character and color. A bunting made with camping themed scrapbook paper is strung behind my desk. 

The couch is decorated with forest animals and pillows with wood grain or leafy patterns. 

Kids can earn the privilege to read in this tent. Andrew and I built the frame before I simply draped fabric over the top.

The math fact charts I made on Photoshop using random Internet clip art. It is available to print at my TPT store HERE. 

I bought pine tree borders to decorate many of the bulletin boards in the room. 

And I added random forest animals. I thought the skunk was a cute way to reinforce my two classroom rules. 

I made this sign to post by the hooks where the kids hang their backpacks. It is available to print at my TPT store HERE. 

Of course we had to have a fire! I built this with rocks and sticks from our yard, a black fabric covered bucket lid, and tissue paper. Andrew's construction glue keeps it all attached. Inside the tissue paper is a string of orange twinkle lights. We plug it in and enjoy our glowing fire on special occasions, or when we are gathered around to hear one another's writing. 

A mini picnic basket holds the teacher's random junk. 

The kids work hard to earn "Cocoa Points" with good behavior (polite assembly manners, everyone getting their jobs done before the music ends, working hard to learn a new skill, etc.) After 20 marshmallow are added to the mug, we'll have a cocoa party! 

I found the four free woodland animal CAFE signs on TPT. Everything else is my own creation. The CAFE circles (along with a matching CAFE binder cover sheet) can be found on my TPT store HERE.

Each student chose a tent to represent them next to their assigned classroom job. Hence the "We All Pitch In" sign. I simply printed tent clip art on card stock.

Random reading corners are set up with kid-sized camping chairs or park benches acquired at garage sales.

I also printed signs on card stock that you might find posted at a real campsite and taped them to yardsticks. There are six of them around the room.

Well, that wraps it up. Thanks for stopping by!


Credits:

• I got the pennant flags in the hallway as a free printable from here. 
• My "Moose Ashmore" door idea came from here. 
• "Reading Under the Stars" bulletin came from here, though I added the hanging stars. 
• Printable camping signs came from this website.
• The original firefly craft came here. I added the vowel sound practice to it. 
• I saw a "marshmallow points" example here, but I used my own mug clip art. 
• A"Drop Your Pack" sign at a camping themed party inspired my own. 

AAAAAND...WE'RE BACK!

Hi, there. It's been awhile. Andrew and I decided it was time to start blogging again--for reasons we will explain later. But in the meantime, here is a speedy update on the last four months via cell phone pics. I apologize if you are already an Instagram follower. 

A new school year began. I have fifteen third graders, and I love them. I'm excited to show off my entire camping theme classroom in a future post. 

The kids made class "camp shirts" with tie-dye. 

Andrew and I enjoyed a lovely Idaho autumn. This was our view from our hike up to Cress Creek.

Our garden was a success. 

Sort of. 

We have pumpkins, squash, and zucchini coming out our ears! But honestly, who actually wants very many squash and zucchini? 

The goal next year is to harvest a single onion, carrot, spinach, lettuce, or bean plant from the backyard. Apparently, the soil around is here is super heavy in clay. It takes a few years of rich fertilizer before you can have much of a reward with gardening. 

Andrew now officially runs his own business! It has been fun and a blessing that he's stayed busy. Here, he shows me the progress on a lovely house he's building in town. Andrew's good at what he does.

Moose is still kicking. This is largely due to the fact that he is no longer allowed to sleep with a blanket...regardless of how cold it is. He now gets wood shavings. Otherwise, there is a 99% chance he will chew it to bits, ingest a vast majority of the fiber, requiring a second expensive surgery to save his life. 

Big, crazy lug.

We've been enjoying a gym membership. 

Well, Andrew has been enjoying a gym membership. I still find little joy in formal exercise. As motivation, we shake it up with an occasional racquetball game. This picture is after a close, tiring battle...that didn't seem to wear Andrew out at all. 

Andrew lives and breathes BYU football. For his birthday, we bought a package deal and got tickets for two home games in Provo. Fun memories.

For Halloween, we dressed as a hiker and a bear. It took us approximately 20 minutes to throw it together, yet we ended up winning the award for "Most Original Costume."

We inherited 800 square feet of free sod from a neighbor. This isn't a lot of grass, but we feel blessed to have a patch of green in our backyard. Moose is strangely squeamish of too much mud and dirt, so he has been especially grateful to have it...rolling around on his back for ten solid minutes for no obvious reason except to revel in its soft glory.

The rest of the sod will have to wait until spring. In the meantime, we have been busy making progress with steel banding to create flower beds on three sides of the house, and a handful of twiggy trees planted along the driveway and deck. 

The sprinklers are also installed and ready to go. 

In somewhat related news, Andrew is still studly in plaid. 

My last blog post (back in July!) was asking for input about a rug for the front room. This is the one I chose. 

Unfortunately, it was not the lovely light blue it appeared to be online. It was more of a hunter green! Thus it did not match, and it was shipped off to be returned. I have yet to replace it with another one.

My current project is a painting for over the fireplace. Here it is in its early stages. My inspiration is our view from the kitchen window. It's been fun to get back into art after so long!

Well, I'll be seeing more of you from now on. I'm going to have to dust off my 'ol Canon, so I can have some real pictures for you next time!