This weekend Shawn and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and got out for a little hike!  It was so fun going to an area we had really never explored.  There are so many trails here in St. Louis and even more spread out across Missouri.  While the weather is nice, Shawn and I are going to try to do a few more of these.  If you have never used trails.com, it’s a really neat site.  It lets you read reviews from trails people have traveled.  We were happy about the trail we picked.  Shawn and I both love camping and getting outside as much as we can.  We aren’t really a stranger to nature and Scarlett loves exploring just as much so she was so excited to tag along.

I brought my camera because I was hoping we would see some wildlife.  The camera turned out to just be something heavy to carry around because the only nature we saw were turtles, spiders, butterflies, and a small snake.  I was hoping to see some deer or something in the, well, “wild”.  On the way back home there were three deer standing on a sidewalk in the neighborhood.  If you are from St. Louis, you know deer aren’t really the rare occasion. Deer are not afraid of people around here.  Deer in the wild?  Apparently very rare or too scared to let you find them.

Right before I ran into the biggest spiderweb ever.  I might love nature, but I could do without bees and spiders!  I can’t stand them.

When we were finished we hopped in the car and went for a drive in the country.  I love doing that!  I found so many places I want to take some seniors for their session.  As we kept driving, we found this small town that had an old time gas station, ice cream store, and restaurant.  What I would give for three day weekends every week!

The other day I promised to share something fun from school.  So today I’ll be sharing!  Before I start though, I want to tell those that are new that I rarely share school stuff on my blog.  I think it was only one time last year that I shared about a fun craft or something I made for the kids.  Back to my point….this isn’t my place to share my teacher stuff.  I have a place for that, and it isn’t here.  Every once in awhile I might share something fun, but as many know… I keep that separate.  I never post any information about my kiddos and would never post a picture of them on here.  Really, they don’t have a lot of pictures taken by me anyway.  You would think they would, but really, I only get out my camera for really special occasions.  If you know how busy teachers are you understand, there just isn’t time.  My time is spent teaching, teaching, and teaching…and I like it that way.

The first week of school is a special occasion so I brought my camera with me every day.  I knew since summer I wanted to make a video for my kids with this song.  So late one night, I did it.  I took some video of the kids and my classroom, put it together with their pictures and made them a short little video.  Keep in mind, I made it for the kids, and for this blog, it’s cut short so you only see the classroom! It also is a little messed up because some pictures keep showing over and over. Anyway, take a look around at our classroom. A classroom that is also known as a second home to my 23 students, a fish, and I!

First Grade CLIP from Katie Stasiak on Vimeo.

Now that school has been added back to my routine, today starts my Fall Photo Sessions! Can you tell I’m excited?

Well I am.  I’m sooo excited to show you all the great seniors and families I will be working with this fall.

If only this fish could talk! He would tell you how great my class of 22 is in their own little ways.  He would tell you how much we have already learned and how much fun we have been having.

He would tell you we forgot to feed him once or twice last week!

It was one heck of an August!  My head has been in school 24/7.  At school I think about school.  At home I think about school.  In my dreams I think about school.

I’ve been super busy with school.

Tomorrow there will be a FUN blog post about the first week in First Grade to wrap it all up.

Then, my life will get a little bit more routine and back in the game with everything else…because today starts September!

My visit to Virgina Beach was perfect!  I finally met little Becca and let me tell you, I’m in love with her.  Let’s just let the pictures talk on this post.

Before we start-please note:  These pictures were taken with an old camera and are not the best!  I was there to visit, enjoy, and spend time with my BFF and this new little cutie!  I didn’t go to take pictures so I didn’t travel with a good camera..so the pictures you are about to see are for me to remember my trip to visit my best friend and her new little baby!

Here is Amy and Becca on the beach!  We went for a quick walk on the beach in between Amy’s doctor appointment and Becca’s doctor appointment!

Here is Becca’s first picture with her Aunt Katie!

Doesn’t Amy look amazing for just having a baby?!  Lucky her!

My favorite! She’s sooo precious!

Pineapple Princess 2.0

Here are a few pictures I stole from Amy!

We had a lot of fun over the long weekend!  Amy and Becca come to St. Louis in two weeks so I get to see them both again soon!

Put Something In |  Shel Silverstein

Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-grumble song,
Whistle through your comb
Do a looney-gooney dance
Cross the kitchen floor
Put something silly in the world
That ain’t been there before.

Invitation | Shel Silverstein

If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer…
If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!

I’m walking away from this summer like every summer, so excited to start all these new, fresh, best practice teaching techniques in my classroom.  This year I’m going to start doing “Poetry Friday”.  The kids will come in and have their own poetry and song book party.  Yes a party!  A reading party!  I won’t go into the teacher specifics as to why, (fluency, sight words, etc).  I’m just so excited because last year on the second to last week of school,  I implemented a poetry week.  I cannot tell you how much my kids loved that week.  Some brought in their own poems, wrote their own poems, and I could really tell how excited they were about poetry.  I already made a huge sign for my classroom that I’m going to hang up on the door every Friday.    I love short, simple, poems that are meaningful, silly, and sometimes leave you wanting more.  I cannot wait to do this with my kids this year!  I think the poems will bring our class together and help build our classroom community.

Shel Silverstein has always been a favorite of mine! I love how he challenges you to be a thinker, an achiever, a dreamer, and a creator.

I used to always say that. “Summertime is my favorite time.” Well it is. I also love fall, and spring, and come to think of it winter.
Ok, so I owe my blog a little personal attention. You know, personal, as in information about my life! The problem is this: I’ve been busy. I know it’s summer and I’m a teacher, but summer is busy for me.

My summer days are dwindling and soon I’ll be back to being Miss Stasiak, First Grade Teacher. I’m excited about getting back to school but I’m still loving the freedom of being able to sleep in. I say sleep in, but really, I haven’t been doing that past 7:30 in the morning. There is something about waking up early and drinking a cup of coffee and not having to be anywhere in a hurry. Coffee is something I’ve been doing a lot of this summer. I hope it doesn’t become too much of a habit.

This summer, I’ve worked hard. My blog has shifted a little bit more to my photography sessions and less about me. I’ve been super busy with my photography and have loved every single minute! I met my goal for summer sessions and I hope to keep adding sessions on my calendar. I’m so excited about all the awesome people I’ve met through my photography. I’ve been able to photograph babies and high school seniors, two of my favorite kinds of sessions. I also am working in some family sessions, which I love just as much!

I haven’t forgotten about school, nor have I really even taken a break from being a teacher. I’ve been to so many workshops and been working on so many new things I want to implement into my class this year. I’ve been up at school working on various things, but still not able to get in my class. Today I went up thinking that everyone would be gone and I could get some work done in my classroom. I found out that there are still some kids up there for the extended version of the already 6 week summer school. My class is one of just a few that are still in use and will be for two more weeks. I try not to worry too much. Even though I have a lot to do in there, I know it will all work out. Last year I didn’t get a ceiling and carpet in my class until a day or so before open house. So, I know I will get it all done this summer!

What else? I’ve been crafting, reading good books, visiting the pool, walking Scarlett, running with Shawn, and going to fun events around St. Louis. We’ve really been making the most out of summer. Do you remember that thing I told you awhile ago about taking a picture every day? I told you I was going to take a meaningful, artistic, and creative pictures every day. Well, I’ve sucked at doing that. Sooo, my summer hasn’t been all about meeting goals!

I’m still planning on visiting my best friend, Amy, at her home in Virginia Beach with her new little one, Becca. This weekend some friends and I are going to go on a float trip. A few of us have decided camping is a good idea. Yes, today’s low is 96 degrees and we decided camping is a good idea. I’ll let you know how that goes! Until then, I’m going to keep working on making the most of summer.

How sad is it that I do not have a picture to go with this personal post? Not a single picture! I wasn’t going to even post because of that reason!