A school year that came and went.....

It has been a long time since I have updated our blog. Maybe because I've been crazy busy! My goal was to update at least once a month, well clearly that did not happen! My school year literally came and went! I was the busiest I have ever been. I had a GREAT group of kids this year and they all did so wonderful! I bonded with one in particular, his name is Cody, and he is precious. Chad got to hear so many "Cody" stories almost everyday. He is adorable and made my year even better! I love my job and working with the kids I work with! This year I got the opportunity to spread my wings a little bit and work with two other groups of children other than "my kids." The first group happened accidentally. This past summer Frenship had a group of boys on a little league team called "The Lubbock Westerners." They ended up making it all the way to the World Series and got second place. It was the most excitement this town has seen in a while. Well, after the boys made their way back to the 806, the school was preparing them all for a crazy home coming. You see, these boys were celebrities! They had a huge parade, a bus that circulates throughout our town with their names and faces on it and they made the cover of the yellow pages. To make the "transition" from celebrity to 7Th grader, the principals asked that all the teacher help them and to keep the kids as normal as possible. I was already close with one of the boys, Jay Pendergrass, and automatically became a familiar face for him to turn too. The first day the boys came to school was actually our fourth day. They rules had already been covered and one of those rules was no book bags in the classrooms. Jay in a a panic came to my room saying he didn't have a locker yet and pretty much thought his life was over! I took him to the office and talked to the lady in charge of locker assignments. She promised Jay he would have a locker by the beginning of next week and that everything was OK and that he could take his bag to class with him and to explain to the teacher what is going on. Well Jay came back to my room in fear that this whole "explaining" thing would not work out, and asked if he could leave his bag in my room. To lesson his stress level I agreed. The next couple of class periods came and went and I returned to my room to find three more Lubbock Westerner bags in my room. I thought "man, Jay has a lot of bags." Then the bell rang and Bryndan, Steven and Bo came in to get more supplies from their bags. I said "Hello?" They smiled and said hey and thanked me for letting them keep their bags in my room. Then I see Jay pop his little head in. I asked Jay how the word got around and he as innocent as possible said, "oh I told them." All I could do was smile and hug the kid. I thought, no biggie, just a day of boys crud on my floor. The next day the newest Westerner joined the FISD crew. He transferred from Trinity and was a nervous wreck. I was in the office when he was enrolling. His name, Garrett Williams. He is as precious as Jay! I told him I would show him around and walk him to his classes. After I gave him and his father the grand tour, I told him I would show him my room so if he needed anything he could come to me. His dad was very nice and told me Garrett was very nervous and he has me to check in on him from time to time. I took Garrett to my room. To my surprise I found four Westerner bags on my floor again! Garrett then laid his bag on the floor and said "Jay told me about you." I just smiled and let it go. After the first couple weeks of school I started to ignore the fact that I tripped over a Westerner bag almost every day. I quickly became the boys mom at school. I would give them lunch money if they forgot it, write them passes when needed, they ate lunch with me almost everyday and I literally became their BFF. I was told this on many occasions. My classroom would smell like athletic boy after 1st period everyday and I was constantly picking up after them. After a while, It became my everyday ritual. As the year went on I started to notice a couple more bags appearing...these were regular bags. Everyday after school my classroom became the "meeting grounds. The boys had recruited a few others to join the Ketchersid locker room. It was ridiculous! I tried a few times to kick them out and not allow their bags to be on my floor and you would have thought I killed their dog. Sad Sad faces and bottom lips would appear. Jay told me once my room was the only place he felt safe and could smile. (You think they had me tricked or what) I gave in to these boys and literally let them do whatever they wanted! It wasn't all bad. These boys taught me a lot and helped me and my kids as well. Cody didn't have any friends, and it was hard for him to be social with other kids his age. I will never forget the day Garrett asked to come eat with me and turned to Cody and said "hey Cody want to eat with us today?" My heart fell to the floor. I never pushed him to do that or to reach out. He did it on his own. Throughout the year Garrett, Jay, Bryndan and Cameron became Cody's friend. They would talk to him even when Cody wouldn't respond. They knew he had a few problems and they didn't care. I have never been more proud. They are such great kids.

My second group of kids I got the pleasure of spending time with happened because I thought "WHY NOT?" A group of 8 young ladies changed my life this year. One in particular. Her name is Christiana and brand new to Frenship. Her mom knew I was the cheer sponsor and asked me if there was a Prep Cheer class her daughter could be in, even though she was in the self contained special education program at our school. I thought "why not?" Then that idea got stretched even further. I have known most of the girls since they were in the 5Th grade. I knew they were a great group of girls and knew they would love to cheer. SO instead of a prep cheer class, I went to my principal and asked if I could start a Special Olympic cheer leading squad. He said "why not?" I got on the phone and contacted several area business's and asked for donations. The girls needed uniforms! We got the donations and we were ready to go! Practices began and the girls were excited! My other cheerleaders were so supportive! They loved this idea! They wanted them to be apart of the pep rallies! Before I knew it, the word got around, and my little idea was making news. Not just local news, but headline CNN news. I was shocked. I couldn't believe this little bitty idea had blown up to be a huge deal! It was such a humbling experience. The girls were awesome! Never changed a thing. They just wanted to cheer!!!! They got an award from the school board and a TOAST award from Justivacare. The school had a huge assembly to give us the award and the students were so supportive! Standing ovation. There wasn't a dry eye in the building! It was so wonderful!

I guess you can say this year has been so amazing! I learned a lot at FMS this year.

OUR AWARD

THE BOYS

First Pep Rally ROCKED!

Our theme was ROCK the HERD, and we did just that!
The girls first pep rally was awesome. I was so proud of how cool and calm they were. I was even proud of myself, I actually handled this pep rally way better than the first one last year. The decorations were fantastic, thanks to the Kinards, the Thomas's and Denise. They provided me with left over party supplies from a party that was thrown this summer. Denise had the HOOKUPS from the drive inn in Lamesa. We had records strung from goal to goal and film strips posing as streamers. TONS of posters hanging on each wall and balloons, that were blown up by myself and one of my students. (Note to self, do not attempt to blow up balloons the day of the pep rally with out eating food, its just not a good decision). Marci provided not only help with decorating, but also her yearbook staff posed as the Paparazzi. Using disposable cameras that Denise went to get me about an hour before the rally, (as well as rope and a blow up guitar thanks Nap), the year book staff truly did a great job. Chad came and took pics using Davids camera, and got some amazing shots! It is so wonderful to have such a supportive fiance'. It made me feel even more at ease that he was there to show his support as the FMS CHEER DAD (a new nickname given to him by my girls).
My mom of course came, and when I saw her in the audience it made me flash back to the days when I was on the court! She still had that nervous-excited-I may throw up look on her face! She made all four of the rallies last year, and I am sure she will do the same this year. She is extremely supportive!
The rally started out with the girls doing a chant "Tigers, Rock it Out." It was great! Then the boys ran in to the lovely music of the FMS band playing the fight song! Then Mr. Jerabek led us in the pledges, and a 7th grader came up to sing the National Anthem, and I am pretty sure the entire gym got goose bumps! It was amazing!! The girls then Introduced themselves in a very UNIQUE cheer, involving Chad and I staying up super late trying to rhyme words like, Girls, Cheer, Rock, and bring it on!! It was a night I will never forget, because I now know, Chad could never be a cheerleader! Then the girls did their EXTREME ROUTINE that won them CAMP CHAMPS at the UCA camp this summer. It was GREAT! We then played a game with all three principals, including my aunt Dana, and the two head coaches! I had a box of props put out in the middle of the court, and told them that we were having an air guitar contest. I gave them about 30 seconds to pick an outfit, and I called them out 1 by 1 to ROCK OUR FACES OFF! Chad downloaded songs like Pour Some Sugar On Me, American Woman, Sweet Child of Mine and I Believe in a thing called love. Coach Rogers won, although, they all did AMAZING! Then we brought back an old school Frenship tradition, the BOOGALOO. I asked several teachers that were at FMS (then FJHS) when I was a student, to help the girls out in teaching the rest of the crowd. It was great! We had a lot of fun! After that we had an 8th grade speaker, that was so nervous to speak he looked like he might throw up, (he did great). The pep rally ended with the BATTLE CRY, which of course went to 8th grade, school song and fight song!!
All in all the rally went great! I am so blessed to have the girls I do, the family I do, and especially the love that all of you have shown me!! Its going to be a great year!
GO TIGERS!!!

THE PEP TALK!


THE BOOGALOO


THE FIGHT SONG


BREAKIN IT DOWN


THE TEACHERS LOVED THE BOOGALOO



FMS CHEER 2007











MY AUNT DAN FOLKS!

AND THIS WOULD BE THE MAN THAT IS MARRYING US!!!

My cheerleaders

I am the cheer sponsor at the school I teach at, and let me just say, it is a fun, yet drama filled line of work! I love my girls and love this squad, but as we all know, Junior High girls can be a bit over dramatic, as so am I!!!

I am so proud of the squad I have. So far we have won over 16 awards, including Camp Champs at University Cheer Camp this summer! We have also done community service such as, working the Parade of Homes, been in charge of a fundraiser that raised money for a teacher in our district that had cancer, worked at United for an organization that raises money for under privileged kids called "Stuff the Bus," cheered at the Western All Star pep rally here in Wolfforth, and has provided many hours helping with registration and other "teacher" related duties!

I am proud of the girls in all of their accomplishments on and off the cheer Field! Most of my girls are in National Honor Society, and are on other teams. They are busy throughout the year with Volleyball, Basketball, Track and of course Cheer.

I am also starting up a new Pep Squad. It is for the Special Olympics events. It is a squad of all the girls in the self contained classroom. They are adorable girls that deserve the Chance and opportunities as our other students. I am excited and nervous. I am so proud of my cheerleaders now, because they are THRILLED to be working with these girls! They are a great group of girls and I am asking for prayers that all goes as planned, and we have TWO amazing squads!
















I am sure as the year progresses, I will have a lot of fun stories to tell.....

Engagement Photos

IM ENGAGED!

I am the happiest girl alive, and it is all because of one amazing man! His name is Chad Smith, and he is not only my fiance', he is also my best friend!

Chad and I met in the mall in 2001. He was the manager at Hat World and I was the manager of a supplement booth right across from his store. We soon became very close friends, and I spent most of my time in Hat World. One day I got flowers delivered to the booth from a secret admirer. I later found out they were from Chad. Throughout the years there were a few moments of attraction and thoughts that maybe we should be more than friends. Chad knew 6 years ago that he wanted to be with me, I however took a little longer to see it. After almost a year of not talking, Chad found me on Myspace. He sent me a message and we started chatting back and forth. We decided to go watch one of my favorite bands at one of his favorite bars on a random Saturday night. I was extremely excited; it had been forever since I had seen Chad. When Chad showed up that Saturday night, I looked at him, and my heart fell to my feet. I almost backed out, because I didn’t know how to handle my feelings. I had butterflies, and I felt like I was meeting Chad for the very first time. We went to dinner and then out to the Blue Light. We sat around and talked, and then my favorite song, (which will be in our wedding) came on, and Chad asked me to dance. When we were dancing I knew at that very moment, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Chad. A few days later, on Valentines Day, Chad and I decided that we belong together, and the rest is history!

WHEN WE GOT ENGAGED May 22, 2007

HOW IT HAPPENED He popped the question last May 22nd at the United Spirit Arena. He told me we needed to help his brother-n-law set up the video equipment, and that it shouldn't take very long. When we walked in, David was VERY convincing, and I had not one clue what was about to happen. We walked out unto the court, which was set up for graduation, so the RED carpet was laid out (I mean how PERFECT). It was just Chad and I on the court, when Chad told me to look up at the Score board. I looked up I saw the 5 most FANTASTIC words ever written..."Kayci will you marry me?" I cried, and said yes!!!! I hugged Chad and looked over his shoulder and saw my mom, dad, his sister, brother-n-law and nephew. They were all in the control room watching the magical moment in action. His brother Jeremy was extremely sneaky hiding in the stands taking pictures, the entire time! It was very special and I am so blessed to have such an amazing man!

I am beaming with this HUGE smile that I can not get off my face! We are in the process of planning, and let me tell you I couldn't do it with out the love and support of so many people.

My mom, his mom, Keila Ketchersid, Michelle Hougland, Denise Napper, all of our many friends, and of course CHAD! I have even dragged him to TWO bridal fairs, and he went without any complaints.

I am so very lucky, and I can not wait to spend the rest of my life with this man!