Poems

Today was an interesting day. I have been working on poems at work with the kids. We've done the rhyming ones, roses are red, violets are blue and they end it on their own with some goofy rhyming words, we did haiku poems and even cinquains. Today they did acrostic poems. You know, the kind where you write your name down the side of the paper vertically and then come up with a word or phrase for each letter of your name. I did my name as an example on the board....and I let them come up with the words and phrases:

L is for looney

I is for intelligent (I fed them that one)

N is for neat nick

D is for dark (I have no idea where this came from because I'm SO NOT)

S is for silly sometimes

E is for energetic

and my favorite, Y is for yellow hair

They weren't too harsh. I was thankful we didn't use middle names, because that would have required an M and I'm quite sure they would have said mean. Because I have been now for about a week. As I've said before, this class is wonderfully brilliant, and oh-so-irritating at the same time. But I still do love them.

Tomorrow is the last day of sanity, maybe. Friday, quite obviously Halloween, will be filled with costumes, runny makeup, too much candy (not allowed to eat it at school mind you), cupcakes, punch, meltdowns, a spelling test at some point (I hope), an extended recess, the Charlie Brown Halloween movie (can't remember the name), probably some more meltdowns at some point over lost/stolen candy, and me running to my car at precisely 330 and driving home to either drink a beer or go to sleep, whichever happens first. I love holidays at school. Love 'em! So I will be getting as much work done at school tomorrow as I can with the kids. They will have zero down time and as much work time as I can get out of them, because they won't be doing much of any work on Friday. Whew.

What I am looking forward to is carving pumpkins with Kenny tomorrow night and passing out candy on Friday to the neighborhood kiddos. That is always fun! I might even try to sneak a costume on the dog!

Where do weekends go?

Where? One day here, and 4 hours later, GONE! You blink, it's over, and you are back to work! Friday was wonderful, it was a professional development day so there were no kids at school, and we actually had worthwhile meetings and learned things! It was very enjoyable. And they fed us breakfast and lunch too. That was an extra bonus. Friday evening I went with my inlaws to see our nephew's last football game. He's graduating in the spring so this was it for his regular season. He is AWESOME. I didn't know how good he was! Plus it was fun being at a high school football game again. I haven't done that....since high school! I loved going when I was in high school, and being there on Friday night brought back many fun memories. There's a certain smell of a high school football game....cold air, slightly rainy, popcorn, the crowd, the announcer...it was just like I remember it. And yesterday I did a lot of computer work for Kenny and then I went to work with him. That's always a nice change of pace on the weekends. It is NOTHING like my work, and I don't have to dress up! Today I'm going to meet my mom at my brother's place and go out to dinner for his birthday. I haven't seen either of them in a couple weeks so I'm looking forward to that. I wish my laundry would magically do itself while I was gone...anybody have any advice for that? Heh. I'm really going to have to get geared up for NaBloPoMo that's starting on Saturday. I haven't been a very good blog poster lately....I'm going to have to step it up! Is anyone else participating?

I'll leave you with some animal humor. I wish I had pictures, but Kenny was too tired to get up and take them. I was sitting in "my" chair last night, a very comfy overstuffed leather recliner, and I had a blanket and a pillow, so chances are I was falling asleep there. The dog isn't allowed in the livingroom, and the chair is right where the carpet in the livingroom meets the hardwood floors. She was on the hardwood, puts her paws up on edge of the chair. Sometimes she will jump in the chair on my lap (she's no lap dog either) for a little while, but then get right back down. Not last night. She jumped into my lap, all 62 pounds of her lab self, nestled in on my legs, and fell asleep. A little while later she stretched her head out on my chest and that's how she stayed most of the night....how sweet! Like a baby, she just wanted her mama!!

Happy Hump Day

Halfway to the weekend!! Actually, it's more than that now. Tomorrow is the last day for kids this week. Friday we have a professional development day for staff, so we'll get to leave work at 3pm. No dismissal for 30 minutes, no anything, just getting to walk to my car and leave! That's the best kind of Fridays...except for payday Fridays of course.

I have finally figured out why things aren't running super smooth in classroom yet this year. I am embarrassed to admit that it's taken me this long in the school year to pinpoint the problem. Here's the situation: I have advanced kids, 8 first graders, 9 second graders, and I have the kids for both grades and then they move onto the 3rd, 4th, 5th grade advanced classroom next door. My second graders obviously know how things work in the room because they were with me as first graders. I never have to worry about them....they are my rocks. Usually the first graders are fidgety for a couple weeks, because even though they are advanced, they are still babies. All 8 of the first graders, as much as I love them, drive me crazy every day. They are STILL constantly out of their seats, running up to me to ask questions (they usually can figure stuff out on their own, they just like the attention), blurting out when I call on someone else, interrupting me ALL THE TIME. Can you see why I'm so irritated every day???? I mean this goes on ALL DAY LONG. They get the punishments I give...no recess, phone calls home, no Fun Friday, no special activities....they don't care! I don't mean that they don't care about what I'm saying or teaching them, they just accept their punishment, do the time, and go on about their business of driving me up the wall. And again, they are GOOD kids, I mean loving, sweet, cute, smart, all the things that make it hard to get mad at them. But they are making me crazy. And here's the whole point of why I'm babbling...when they were in kindergarten, their teachers (and I probably would have done the same thing they did) overlooked their fidgety-ness and interrupting because these kids are mostly very well behaved and get exceptional grades, so if they were out of their seats or blurting out, it wasn't that big of a deal. And, if I had them in my kindergarten class, I would have probably done the same thing. But here I am dealing with it now, and it's not pretty. I should say I'M NOT PRETTY at the end of the day. Around 1pm I'm wanting to throw the towel in. Of all the things they do, it's the interrupting that gets me. I can't tell you how many times I have to stop talking/teaching because they are interrupting me. And then as I start talking again, so do they. AHHHHHH! I really love these kids, all of them, and they are probably the smarted bunch I've had yet, but OMG I'm going nutty! So with the help of my parapro I am cracking down. They are losing a lot of privilages, such as classroom jobs that THEY LOVE, and so on. I really hate to do that, because it teaches them responsibility, but I have to do something so that I make it to June!

Enough about work....my 6 month wedding anniversary is Sunday. Yes, I'm one of those people who knows that, but there's a reason for it. Our dating anniversary is also Sunday, October 26th. When we picked our wedding date (we only had 3 weekends to choose from), we decided on April 26th, and a few days later I realized that it was exactly 6 months from our dating anniversary. How crazy is that? So we've been celebrating our dating anniversary for 6 years, hence the reason I am acknowledging that it's our 6 month wedding anniversary. Are you confused now? I hope I didn't lose you on that, but all I really meant to say was that it's good to be a newlywed and I love being married!! Living together first for a couple years helped us have a great beginning to our marriage. I am so glad things worked out the way they did. I always wanted to be married earlier than we were, but in all actuality, it was PERFECT timing. I wouldn't change a thing! Here's to the next 6 months....and MUCH longer!

And to all the Grey's Anatomy fans....what are your thoughts on the show this season? I'm still undecided. It's good, but it just isn't great. What are you all thinking?

Going to be sore tomorrow!

I should be sleeping right now! We are going on a field trip to the apple orchard tomorrow and I need my rest, but here I am on the computer. GO figure.

My BFF Danielle and I have been taking cardio kickboxing classes at our gym lately. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then we work out other days on our own. Tuesdays classes are great. Thursdays classes are suicide. I mean it. The instructor does the boot camp at our gym if that gives you any indication of how tough he is. It's like he knows your weakest moments and chooses those moments to come and stand by you so you have no choice but to step it up. I got to punch him in our class tonight. He said to me, "You can't be tired!" Yeah right, after 40 minutes of hell I was dead on my feet but I didn't stop moving. Then he says, "Hit me, go on, hit me....." so I did. 16 times in the shoulder. He loved it. I never cracked a smile or even look at him in the eye. I was too afraid!!!! But I did hit him with the elbow jab that any of you who know kickboxing know the move. It felt good. Both classes are 60 minutes, and I admit that I can't work out on Fridays now because I have trouble walking after this guy's class. And I won't even talk about the abs and the pain there. But it's good for me, I know it, so I keep going. Maybe one of these days I'll start to see the results!

Now I really have to go to bed. I'll regret it tomorrow if I don't!

TGIF!

2 Days in a Row!

I said I was going to try to be a better blogger...and I'm keeping my word!

Today was picture day at school. You remember the days...the photo company comes to your school, usually sets up shop in the library or some large room, kids get called down by grade or even by classes to get their pictures taken, things go back to normal. Not this year, however. My school opted to go with a new picture company this year. Maybe it was to save money, maybe there were better deals, I'm not sure, I just know that it wasn't good. Our grade was called in at 830 this morning, the first grade to get their pictures taken after administration and the principals. So we take the kids in the auditorium and line them up, and then the photo person walks up to me and asks me where my cards are with the kids' names on them along with their grade and my name. Well, isn't that his/their job to provide those cards to the school? Yes, it is, and here we are WAITING IN LINE TO GET PICTURES TAKEN with no cards. How will they keep the kids' names straight? OMG is was a mess. Apparently they had the cards, but every child had the wrong teacher's name and the wrong grade, and it was a huge jumbled mess. It took 45 minutes to get it together when it should have been a 10 minute in-and-out deal. I think when we have spring pictures taken we will be going back to the old company. At least, if I were in charge, we would be. Happy Monday morning!

I promised some pictures of my brother's new puppy. Here she is! This is Lola and she is now 9 weeks old! I love the way she's leaning back trying to kiss my mom....so cute!!

And just because Kenny asked me to include this picture, I will. He loves taking cruel pictures of me just as I wake up.

Where have I been??

A whole week!!!!

It's been a whole week without posting for me!! Yikes! This past week has been super busy. Now that it's over, things around here can finally settle down. I feel like I've been riding a crazy rollercoaster since school started in September and I'm happy because it's slowing down.

Funny story:
My MIL went on a gambling trip to a casino (she does this often) with her aunt, who is almost 90. The two of them are great together...the aunt wears a hat that says "Dare to walk..." on the front and on the back it says "...on the wild side." That should explain the aunt's personality so you can get a clear picture for this story. Anyway, my MIL was supposed to be home at 530 on Friday night. Kenny called her at 2pm on Friday to ask her a question and normally when she answers the phone and she knows it's him calling, she answers all excited and "HELLO KENNY!!" This time, she answered in a whispered voice, and Kenny could hear bingo numbers being called out in the background. He says, "Ma, I thought you were going to be home at 530! Why are you still at the casino playing bingo??" She says, again in a whispered tone, "I will be home at 530." Kenny says, "How can you be home at 530 if you are still at the casino?" (the casino is 3-4 hours away) My MIL says "We're playing bingo on the bus....I gotta go." And she hangs up. So my MIL is now officially addicted to bingo. And I guess all the other people on the casino tour bus are too, because there's a surround sound bingo game going on to and from the casino! OMG!!!! She's so addicted!!!!!

My students are slowly driving me crazy. As smart as they are, I have never met a more talkative group of students in my life. I got to leave early on Tuesday last week because I had to help Kenny with something and I thought it was the greatest thing ever that I got to escape from prison (AKA-work) an hour early AND miss the whole dismissal process....such small things bring me the greatest pleasure!!

And that is what is going on in my neck of the woods. I promise to be a much better blogger this week:)

Cleaning Bug

Kenny and I caught the cleaning bug today. We cleaned the entire house AND the yard. I always clean on the weekends, and pick up during the week. I must have passed the cleaning obsession on to him recently because he was all into it today. I was in heaven, let me tell you! He only had one room to take care of, and it took him the same amount of time to clean the livingroom as it did for me to do the rest of the house, but I'm not complaining because he actually took everything off the shelves, dusted EVERYTHING in the room, moved furniture to vacuum under it, you know, the stuff that doesn't get done very often. Have I mentioned how much I love this man? And the yard, OMG for the last 6 weeks it's looked like red neck city out there. Ugh. Kenny "cleaned" out the garage the week before school started and things have been sitting in the driveway ever since. I gave up keeping it all together because it was too much for me, and finally he felt the need to take care of it today. I helped him since he helped in the house, which, BTW, has earned him browning points for about a month. Then, he mowed the lawn for probably the last time this year and used the blower with the leaves. I WAS SO HAPPY. You know cleaning is a slight obsession when you get this happy over things like this:)

In other news, my brother has an 8-week-old chihuahua. I was shocked!!! He came to visit today and he got out of his truck with this teeny thing in his arms, and I was like, "WHAT IS THAT?" and then our dog went crazy trying to get to the puppy. We put her in the backyard and took the baby puppy in the house.....so cute!!!! I could just kick myself for not getting pictures....she is still nameless, but she is so sweet.

I'm off to stake our my spot on the couch for Desperate Housewives...Kenny has taken an interest in the show (last season) and insists on watching it with me....but since it's MY show, I get the good spot on our couch!

October October October!!

I think this is my favorite month. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fall. I am currently loving the cold weather. Last night our neighbor was burning leaves (yes, it's again the rules, but whatever) and it smelled so good, especially with the crisp air. Then there's the promise of all the holidays, my birthday, and just a bunch of fun stuff. That's why I heart fall so much!

Back to what I said about loving the cold weather....I really do, but it caught me off guard last night. We still had windows open in our house yesterday. They have probably been open for weeks because it's been so nice in Michigan lately. I fell asleep on the couch last night and woke up around midnight SHAKING because I was so stinkin' cold. Kenny was working on the computer, and I sleepily got up from the couch and staggered down the hallway to turn the heat on for the first time this season. While I moaned and complained about FREEZING, I went to our bedroom which is on the end of the house, and it always the coldest room in the house. It was so cold in there!!!! I got in bed and realized a sheet, thermal blanket and comforter was not going to cut it until the heat was on full blast, so I begged Kenny to bring me a couple fleece bankets. I wrapped myself in them, THEN got in the covers, and was still convulsing from the cold....it was pathetic. It took Kenny laying on me to keep me warm for about 10 minutes and then I started to warm up. I woke up at 430am with a nice, toasty warm house, right at 75 degrees. I know that's too warm, and I probably turned up the heat too much, but I WAS SO COLD!!! Seriously, when I got to work my fingers were still cold. But even after all of that, I still love October!

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I need some advice from anyone who has ever made a baby ringsling....I'm making one for Tasha and I'm using a jersey fabric, soft with a touch of stretch to it. When it's folded properly, it's too thick for my sewing machine. Any advice?

Gettin' better

Ahhhh Monday morning. Nothing like it. Large coffee to go instead of a medium one, laundry list of things to do when I get to school, a mailbox of memos and reminders to sort through, lesson plans to turn in, projects to plan swirling in my head, papers to grade still from the weekend...

This is my typical Monday morning. My copilot called and said she needed an extra 30 this morning, so I decided to blog!!

I am feeling better, almost 100%. It wasn't a sinus infection, a toss between a cold or allergies, I'm leaning toward the allergies at this point. Seriously though, it doesn't matter. I was sick, still am a teeny bit, but I rested up this weekend and hopefully after work today I won't be down on the couch at 5pm. Keep your fingers crossed!

I went shopping last night in the small town where the family lakehouse is before leaving to come home. I just have to comment on the wonderful shopping experience it was. I had lots of room in the aisles to move around, no one was nasty, no one was snotty, and best of all, there wasn't a 40 minute wait in the checkout lane. I waited for NO ONE. Can you believe it? I love small towns. I miss small towns. Maybe that will be our excuse every weekend to go back to the lakehouse, even when it's winter, just so that I can have a pleasant grocery shopping experience!

Happy Monday!! Happy Fall! I'm so glad it's here!!

Wednesday Funny

This is the student that I always talk about...the one that has funny funnies to say. I went over how to answer this question with the kids before I turned them loose to answer it on their own. This is what she came up with. Can you tell she's the drama queen of my class? I asked her if she was classroom pet. You know she had some long, drawn out answer, and the result was, of course, "Yes, I'm a pet. I'm my mom's pet."

I'm currently fighting off a cold, and hopefully nothing more. My students came to school the first day of the year coughing, sneezing, and snotting all over. It hasn't stopped yet, so I knew it was only a matter of time till I got sick. Two more days till the weekend.

Finally Fall

This weekend was AWESOME. Saturday Kenny & I packed a quick bag and went to the family lakehouse. The weather was perfect, warm but not hot and then very cool at night. PERFECT fall weather. We trudged through the woods to find some trees for his tree stand when he starts hunting, rode the 4-wheeler, I got to read my book on the deck for hours, slept in Sunday morning (a rarity these days), Kenny popped in the water with the canoe, visited with his parents, and overall, just relaxed.

It was such a nice getaway. On Sunday we visited the same farm we went to last year and picked our own pumpkins from the vine, along with other fall decor stuff for our porch. The dog had a blast and wasn't such a pain this year. She only chased SOME of the farm animals, whereas last year she terrorized all of them because she was still a baby puppy. This time, she thought she was tough stuff walking up on a peacock, until the thing unleashed it's feathers and then, I hate to admit it, our puppy turned into the biggest wuss. She hid from the peacock! Go to my flickr to see all the pictures.

Back to reality today. It was so hard to get up and go to work this morning, it really was. But I did, and it turned out to be the best day at work yet! I have an awesome class!

Why I love Quiet Mornings

Awww Saturday morning. I feel like I can sit still for a minute. It's quiet, the dog is outside, Kenny is still sleeping, I just cleaned the kitchen (taking a break until I move onto the next room), and a minute to think to myself. This school year I'm trying something different. I've always struggled with how to properly "correct" student work and what to do with it then. Normally I just put a check on the page and put it in the kids' mailboxes, they take it home, and probably it goes right into the trash. I seriously doubt parents looks at it, so it's kind of a big waste.....of paper, of time, of everything. I have advanced kids, my WHOLE class is advanced. I have first and second graders, all pretty much working at their own advanced pace, which is why I have a smaller class, so I can actually work one-on-one with them every single day. This is only my third year teaching multi-age (7th year overall), so there are still things I'm changing and trying and getting rid of. Here's how I've changed so far this year....when students are done with their work, they come to me. I look at what they have done and if something is wrong, it's addresses immediatly, fixed, discussed, worked out, and then turned into THEIR MAILBOXES. I'm sure parents still aren't going to look at the work, but at least it's not sitting in the try for me to have to put a check on it later when I don't even remember what it was and the kids aren't looking at it a week later thinking, what did I do wrong? They won't even remember? The problem with this method is that I am constantly talking/instructing ALL DAY LONG. From the second the kids get into the room, I have one or two right there at the table with me, working on things. I know that's my job, and believe me, I love my job, but this method allows me ZERO time to STOP teaching/talking. It's one child after another. If all the kids were "on the same page" with their assignments, I would have 5 or 10 minutes here or there to walk around the room or sit down for a second, just to recoup my mind. But with these smarty pants kiddos I have (and love dearly), I don't get that minute to unwind. Despite all that, the kids are learning better and more effectively from me this year than in the past. Even though they are constantly checking in with me, things are progressing much better for them. I have to say that I am more exhausted at the end of the day than I have ever been though. I can feel it every single day when I get home. Man, am I tired. As October begins, I think I am going to give them more independence with turning work in. Not go back to the way I used to do it before, but just to balance it out a little, because I know that I'll get burnt out this way real fast, and they will too. But I do feel good about the way they are progressing already this year. Advanced kids are so great to work with. I can introduce a concept to them (for example, borrowing) and in two days they get it and are ready to move onto the next concept. Just like that. And another thing I love about advanced multi-age is that the older kids can help the younger ones....they can explain things in their own "kid" words and sometimes the younger ones understand it more coming from another kid versus me. It's so cool how my classroom works. But this is why my brain is fried on Fridays. Or everyday. That's why finding this much needed peace and quiet at home is important. It won't last forever, in a minute Kenny will be awake and talking my ear off and trying to get me to go here and there with him. The dog will want to play and the phone will start ringing. But right now, it's still quiet, I'm still in my PJs and there's no one sitting in front of me needing an explanation as to why they have to put the "one" here and subtract. I love it.

Sick

I called in sick already. Can you believe it? Week three and I called in! I had a doozy of a headache yesterday and it was persistant, so when I woke up this morning, and it was still there, I know there was no way I could function in charge of 20 kids. So I called in. I felt SO GUILTY. Seriously, I still feel guilty. But I had to do it. My main concern was that all day yesterday I was experiencing dizzy spells, more than the normal get-up-too-quickly kind. I thought maybe it was a hormonal issue, because it's just about that time, but I wasn't sure, and it was happening a lot. So that and the headache had me worried. I do get headaches frequently, but not with dizziness. So Kenny took me to the ER at 5am. When did ERs get flat screens in every room? And I do mean ROOM as in a square foot room with 4 real walls and a real closing door, and PRIVACY?? Oh yeah, when a state of the art hospital is built. Talk about royalty. Kenny asked me if we could go back to the ER every time I get a headache. I find humor in that now, but at the time, it wasn't fully. So after mumbo jumbo of the ER, I had a clean CT scan (duh people, just a headache) and no clear reason for the dizziness, I got a shot (you know where and it hurt LIKE HELL) and the headache was gone in 15 minutes. We are thinking the dizziness if from either allergy or sinus junk or from PMS, not really sure, just keeping an eye on it. Kenny was sad to leave. He was having a great time with the remote while I slept in the ER bed. He's so goofy. I came home and slept some more. The shot I got knocked me out for about 6 hours. I woke up groggy and happy. End of story!

If you get an extra minute or two, hop over to Lori's blog and send her some love. She needs it right about now. And then visit Steff's too, she needs it!

TT sent me this MEME in an email, so I made a post out of it. It's been a while since I did a MEME. It was time. Here ya go. I tag anyone else who wants to do it!

1. What is your occupation right now? Elementary teacher
2. What color are your socks right now? None on! I love my bare feet at home!
3. What are you listening to right now? Dishwasher and the hamster in his wheel
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Green grapes
5. Can you drive a stick shift? YES! My first car was a stick shift, had it for 5 years! I learned to drive on a stick shift, so it was actually WORK to think about not using my left foot when I drove an automatic!
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Niki
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Of course! Love ya Tana!
8. How old are you today? 29. Gulp. For real.
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Hockey or baseball
10. What is your favorite drink? Diet coke
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes
12. Favorite food? Mexican
13. What is the last movie you watched? The Bucket List. Very sad.
14. Favorite holiday of the year? I love them all!!!
15. How do you vent anger? Cry mostly, if it's at Kenny, I yell (I know, BAD ME), sometimes stomp around
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? I loved my Barbies, My Little Ponies, and my dolls
17. What is your favorite season? Fall/Autumn.
18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries
19. Do you want your friends to e-mail (post on their blog) you back? Only if they want to!
20. Who is the most likely to respond? You know who you are.
21. Who is least likely to respond? You know who you are.
22. Living arrangements? 3 bedroom ranch with the hubs, a hamster, and a one year old black lab who is very smoiled.
23. When was the last time you cried? Today...I had a headache AND pms. Not a pretty sight.
24. What is on the floor of your closet? NOTHING! I cleaned it out this summer and it's still clean. My shoes are ON A RACK! Can you handle that?
25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to? You know who you are!
26. What did you do last night? Went to bed early with a headache
27. What are you most afraid of? Too many to name!
28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Cheese!
29. Favorite dog breed? Well, I'm biased because I have one, but LAB at the moment!
30. Favorite day of the week? Thursday, it's the promise of Friday and the weekend!
31. How many states have you lived in? 1
32. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds!
33. What is your favorite flower? It was roses, now I'm not sure. I love violets and hydrangeas too, but really, flowers at anytime are wonderful, so I love them all!

Catch Up

I did it again....I let so many days go by without posting! I promise it's not from lack of things to write about. It's the time thing!

The second week of school was pretty good. My students continue to be mostly well behaved every day, which I LOVE. I'm really feeling the time crunch with things that bog down the beginning of the school year.....lesson plans, extra meetings, new routines, adjusting to less sleep...the list goes on.

One of my BFFs joined our gym and has inspired me to take some classes. Kenny & I have been members for almost 5 years and I've always been too intimidated to take the classes. I always thought "what if I can't make it the 60 minutes?" She told me I was ridiculus and we took our first class together last week called STRIKE. It's like taebo, only better, and you use weighted gloves and a big stick and it's awesome! And the best part was the 60 minutes FLEW by and it was high impact so I was feeling it the whole time, more so than when I just jog. We liked that instructor even though she was slightly crazy, so we took another class that she taught, cardio ballet. You can stop laughing now....we really took it. It was awful, but a good workout, but never again! So this past week we went to STRIKE again, and when we got there, there was a different instructor who said there was a change in schedule and that it was cardio kickboxing, not STRIKE, that the only difference was that there were no gloves or bars needed. So we thought, no biggie, we'll take it anyway! IT KICKED OUR ASSES. This guy (the instructor) was military style, and he was mean. If you even looked at the door with thoughts of bailing, it's like he sensed it and moved over to where you were. It was so hard, the hardest, most intensive workout I've had since high school softball. To make things worse for me, my BFF got paged about halfway through the hour because her son was crying in daycare and wouldn't stop, so she got to leave early and go downstairs and get him. I SO BADLY wanted to leave with her, but the instructor would have kicked my butt, so I toughed it out and kept going, all the while knowing I wasn't going to be walking the next day. I think I kissed the ground when it was over and done with. That was Thursday, and we both wanted to take another class on Saturday, so we opted to take WATER aerobics, which is still cardio, but a low impact version. Which was about all we could handle because of how sore we were from Thursday. The instructor for the water class was awesome, and he teaches his own cardio kickboxing class, which, after having survived it on Thursday, I have to say that I'm proud of myself and we decided we will take it again on Tuesday with the good instructor. He promised to not be so hard on us. We'll see:)

A word of caution to ladies who carry purses....

The same BFF that I suffer through aerobic classes with was grocery shopping yesterday. She opened the egg cooler to grab a dozen eggs, saw that one was cracked, and grabbed another dozen, turned around and set it in her cart and her purse was gone. It was taken in the time it took her to pick up two egg cartons. So be VERY CAREFUL when you put your purses in shopping carts. I'm guilty of it too, so just be careful! It only takes seconds!

Now I have a question to all the mommas out there. As a teacher, I am required to assign my students nightly homework. I send home the homework packet every Monday along with a reading log, and it's due on Friday. The packet includes one page of spelling word activities, and three pages of math practice. It's never work that is new that week, it's always a review of the week before's lessons. Do you think that's too much? Do you think first and second graders should or should not have 20-30 minutes of homework and reading a night? Leave a comment, even if you aren't a parent, leave a comment. I really want some opinions!!

Now that school is in full swing, we have full length lesson plans due. So I will be spending the next three hours working on them!

Wow it's been 5 days since I posted! Not good!

The first week of school was busy as usual. My class is pretty good so far. The kids are very funny, and I have enjoyed them all four days. I was VERY thankful for the weekend though. This coming week is going to be even more busy. We have meetings, open house, a cupcake fundraiser where teachers are required to make cupcakes, as well as all the normal teaching routines. I'm tired just thinking about what I have to accomplish this week.

This weekend I really took advantage of being home. I cleaned and did all that house stuff that never seems to go away, but really, I just LOVED being home with Kenny. I already miss that from vacation.

Today we went to a couple estate sales in our city and then to an outdoor craft show/flea market. The weather today was really nice for this time of year, which tends to be very hot and humid. It was sunny and warm with a breeze, perfect September weather. Although, I'm ready for it to be cooler because I practically melt everyday in my classroom without AC and so do the kids, so cool weather is welcomed to come anytime! We took the dog with us to the flea market on her choker leash (it's not mean, I swear!!) and she was so good. The leash helps out, and let me tell you, I've tried EVERY leash out there to find the one that doesn't allow her to rip my arm out of its socket. I finally found it, just a plain old choker leash, the kind where when she tries to pull on me, it pulls the leash around her neck and is uncomfortable, so she won't pull too much. I had her on a normal leash for a while, and she did okay with it, put I had to hold it so tight that it wasn't enjoyable to walk her, so I quit until I found the choker one. Thank goodness because even though she has an entire fenced yard to herself every day, she loves going for walks on a leash.

I'm off to bed early, or at least to watch TV and then bed, but it's still way earlier than I normally go to bed.....I need every extra minute this week!!

Survived!

The kids survived the first day with me as their teacher! Or, should I say, I survived the first day with them as my students. Remember how they are advanced? Yeah, well, this year's group seems to be SUPER advanced. And funny. Here's what happened during the first round of show-and-tell (minus the show...it's just tell in my classroom).

TEACHER: So, H, how was your summer?
STUDENT: It was good. My cat puked 6 times in one day.
TEACHER: H, let's try to talk about things that aren't nasty, okay?
STUDENT: (laughing) Okay. Well, I got a whoopin' one day from my mom because I......
TEACHER: H, that's not a fun thing to talk about. Remember, you are supposed to tell us about things that were fun for you on vacation.
STUDENT: Um, well, I went swimming with my friends and my bathingsuit came.....
TEACHER: Okay, thanks for sharing H! Next!
STUDENT: But I wasn't done with that part of my story!
TEACHER: Yes, you were. You will get show and tell again next week.

This is one of the same students I had last year, and she's super funny. She always has off the wall comments and talks about goofy things. I promise there will be more funnies coming from her this year!

My day was a great first day. The kids were great, they were happy and excited. I did have one crier, but he eventually stopped when his mom left mid-morning, and he was just fine from that point on. I let him eat lunch with me and all was good.

Kenny was STILL cleaning out the garage when I got home. It's looking a little better, there isn't a fleamarket going on in our backyard at least, today anyway. That's what it looked like yesterday. I'm NOT kidding either. I really wanted to take pictures, but then I felt bad because he's been working very hard to clean it all out and get rid of stuff. Just trust me when I say the garbage pickers in this town are going to have a field day when our garbage day rolls around this week. It'll be like Christmas for them. I'm proud of Kenny for parting with so much stuff. He has issues when it comes to parting with "stuff."

His funny moment of the day was when I got home and was checking my email in the computer room. He was watching TV and out of nowhere he says, "Do you think I look more like Trace Adkins or Matthew MCconaughey." I think I fell out of the computer chair when he said that!

I'm going to bed early. Today kicked my butt. I need more rest to go back and do it again tomorrow!

Real Last Day of Vacay

Lindsay over at Splat Designs is having a contest.....click on the box to find out details!

Today is my last day of sane-ness before the kids arrive in my classroom tomorrow. I am in shock! I am meeting one of my best friends (since first grade) at the gym this morning for a good workout and hopefully some pool time too. I'm so excited that she and her family signed up at our gym! I've been waiting for about 5 years for someone I know to be there! It makes it so much more fun to workout.

Kenny started cleaning the garage last night. He hasn't finished because it's going to be a multi-day project and I'm concerned because of his ADD tendencies. I woke up to about 15 things spread across the backyard, including, but not limited to: lawnmower, 4wheeler, snowblower, several other lawn items, tubs, a bike rack (where did that come from???), a new freezer we just purchased (that's what prompted the cleanout), I could go on and on and on. I'll spare you the details, but there's a lot of stuff out there. He was up late working on it. He will be out there working on it today, I hope:)

I got some clothes for school yesterday. That always makes me a little more excited...I think (THINK!!!) I'm wearing a dress on the first day.....OMG that hasn't happened in a long time! If I do, there will be pics to prove it! I do wear dresses, especially in the spring and summer time, just not to school. Maybe I'll make a change this year.

I will leave you with this picture Kenny took of the dog. She was laying in the chair with me, sleeping. I know, I know, how spoiled is she. I can't help it though. She's just so cute!

Classroom Pics

I survived an entire week back to work with my coworkers. I think it's going to be a good year. The kids start on Tuesday and here's what my classroom looks like now:

(entrance to my room)

(looking at the entrance from the room)

(word wall board & reading area)

(computer center and listening center...the plastic on the NONWORKING ac units has to remain until the new sc units arrive, sometime around NEVER)

(windows looking onto playground, love all the plants?)

(carpet & board & calendar area)

(my desk area)

(closeup of my desk...thrilling, I know!)

(the whole front of the room)

(wall on the hallway side of the room)

I moved things all around this year because I needed a change. I like it so much better this way now! I am not really looking forward to starting work again, but I am looking forward to seeing my kiddos and getting back into the routine of teaching. I LOVE all the freedom of summertime, but I do like routine too. So once the first week is gone, I'll feel back into routine. It's funny how now that I'm back at work, Kenny is doubling his work time too. I think when I'm home, he wants to be too:) He denies it, but I know I'm right. Hehehe.

You Won't Believe What I Did

I'm still here. Just tired. Yesterday I worked in my classroom and sat through the usual boring meetings at our back-to-school week. And today I was working in my classroom from 715am to 115pm......I took exactly one break to get a diet coke from the pop machine and visit Niki in her classroom. That's it! Then it was more meetings and such. I tell ya, just two days of going through my teaching stuff, organizing, labeling, filing, THROWING THINGS OUT (my favorite thing to do), stapling, taping, searching, talking, yawning, and constantly moving around, and I am whooped! Last night I was so tired, I came home and decided to sit down and finish up a book that we are required to read for work. I had about 100 pages to go, and about two hours before I knew I would fall asleep. So I took my book to the patio and put my feet up in a chair, it was very comfy and cool outside, PERFECT reading weather. Then I realized that my feet were tired and sore (I wore flipflops for about 5 days in a row, some while working, NOT a smart thing to do). Then the best idea I've ever had dawned on me.....

Notice the whirlpool foot spa happening under my feet, the cord running in through the slider, and my reading material, and the crazy setup, but it was awesome! It was my own personal spa in my backyard. What a great idea! My feet felt SO good this morning. It was worth it. I will be doing that again.

The rest of this week will be crazy. Two more days of work without kiddos, then Friday I will working with Kenny all day. This weekend it might be the lake or just staying home, we'll decide when we get there. The weather here is starting to get a little cooler, especially in the mornings, and it is turning into my favorite time of year...FALL! Knowing typical Michigan weather, it will get hot again, but fall is on its way when it starts to get that cool in thr morning! There is evidence of leaves on the ground too.

Lindsay over at Splat Designs is having a contest...click on the link to see the details!

Back to Work is officially ON!

I woke up this morning feeling hung over, but not from drinking. The last two days have been blurs, going through so much of the initial-back-to-work-before-the-kids-get-there-stuff and trying to squeeze in time to get my classroom put together. It's coming along pretty well. I didn't take too much stuff down in June and mostly just boxed some things up, so setting up hasn't been too bad. What took me several hours was reorganizing the furniture, figuring out what would go where. I finally got it the way I want it now, and everyone who comes in my room compliments me on how much better the setup is now, so it must have needed it!! Yesterday my coworkers and I met in a rural area far away from our school for an all-day team building workshop, outside, with an obstacle course and in our workout clothes. Most of the activities were fun, a few were not, and I was pooped at the end of the day. I came home and slept for about two hours, then stayed up late with Kenny, which accounts for the groggy feeling today! I'm working on school and classroom stuff today, nothing exciting, but I have to say I'm still in a daze from the summer ending. Oh well, it ALWAYS goes too fast!

I wanted to recap my favorite moments from the Olympics. I wish I could have watched more of them in the last two weeks, but I've just been on the go so much. But I did make sure I saw the American gymnasts and hurdlers, my favorite Olympic competitions to watch. And you can bet there were tears too. Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson were AMAZING in all their performances....I cried every single time they competed, and they both ended up with several medals.

And for the American hurdler, my favorite was LoLo Jones. Here she is when she finished first in the finals before the Olympics....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm6aLIoZpQg

And here's her performance in the Olympics, she's the third from the right (I couldn't find the English version, sorry!!)....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew0rxyS5t_4

Can you imagine? I watched this in real time when it happened and of course, I was all tears. She's still my favorite though. I hope she comes back in 2012 and gets the gold.