Jenna's Day in 1st Grade

I love blogging. I take pictures to fit into my blog. I lay down at the end of each day and begin scripting my blog. Most days there is not much "blog worthy" activity, so I try to create such activity for the next day. This week I took Jenna to my old school- not the one I went to, but where I taught last year. Anza Trail in Rancho Sahuarita is a place filled with excitement, kids, teenagers, and germs; That is why we missed our last scheduled visit to see my old friends. I figured that since she is currently fighting her second cold this season, now was a good as time as any. I carefully selected our outfits so that it didn't look like we were trying too hard, I packed her bag with plenty of the essentials and off we went. I was nervous driving into the parking lot because I wanted Jenna to make a great impression. I walked into the office and signed the visitor's log and headed to the first grade building. It was lunch time so all my teacher friends were lunching together- and so graciously welcomed us. Jenna was all smiles. I used to sit around that table everyday, and I miss our 'not at all school related' conversation; We would talk about the silliest stuff! In the picture, Jenna is being held by Caroline Kappes, district teacher of the year, grandmother of two (with one more on the way) , my confidant & mentor, the first person besides David that knew I was pregnant (I think the morning after I took the test), but most important, my friend. We don't get to see each other as often as we should because life too often gets in the way, but we always pick right up where we left off. Mrs. Kappes was teaching the entire time just carting Jenna around. Jenna loved it! I thought for just a minute (a very small minute) that I could just strap her into her snuggli carrier and get my job back! The class loved to see Jenna and she didn't cry the entire time we were at Anza- nearly 3 hours. I was able to walk her over to the second grade building and see some of my second graders. I paused for just a minute outside of each second grade before I interrupted their current lessons to turn all the attention to me (Luckily the teachers were happy to see us). It was so great to see my kids. They are taller (Skylar, Mariah, Roman, James) and some needed haircuts (Travis, Ethan S.), but they all looked great. I loved being their teacher, and truly they are the part I miss most about teaching; making a difference in their daily lives and seeing them everyday. I do not miss planning, and testing, and cleaning, and stressing.... but I do miss being around the kids. I traded 24 almost 2nd graders for 1 of my very own! I attached a video of Mrs. Kappes' class singing to Jenna and her loving being danced all around.