Back to School

We have finished our first week of school. The boys had a good first 3 days. Luke loves 1st grade and already made a new friend. Wilson said 3rd grade is "awesome" and is in class with his best friend! I was absolutely exhausted but have recovered this weekend. :) Luke is still recovering...he has been pretty grumpy!

Our school is still under renovation so I just started unpacking my room on Friday. I don't have students yet so it wasn't a big deal. I am happy to have a place now and am going in this afternoon to work on setting up. The main corner of my room looks something like this:

Tyler sure misses his "bruders" when we are gone to school. He starts school after Labor Day. He is so ready! I can't wait to see how he likes going to school. I think he will love it.

Back to School!

The boys both had a great start to school. Wilson has walked right into class every day with no problem. So thankful! We have come such a long way! He is really happy in his new classroom and has many of his friends from 1st grade in his class. Luke loves school already. Andy dropped the boys off for the first day of school and he said Luke walked right in, no problems. By day 2 Luke wanted to walk from the cafeteria to his classroom by himself. He said he didn't need Wilson to walk him to class! I was shocked but oh so thankful! Luke was so happy on the first day because he got to go to the treasure box and had 2 recesses! I think he is going to love going to big school with Mommy and Wilson. He has been EXHAUSTED but happy. He has been rather grumpy but we are trying to be patient with him as he adjusts to a school schedule. The pictures are from the first day of school!

End of Summer

So I'm officially back to work. The boys were able to go swimming with Andy today.  Andy is thinking of taking them to Krispy*Kreme for breakfast tomorrow as a last hurrah. He is such a good daddy. (Not because he buys them donuts but because he is so good at taking care of them and doing things with them. It's hard with all three!)

We let them play outside tonight until about 9pm for the last night. But before that we did the neatest thing at church. From 7-8 we had a Backpack Blessings night. The school age kids came to church with their backpacks. We sang some songs, prayed over the kids, schools, teachers, etc. Then played a game outside and the kids had icecream sundaes. It was such a positive way to start the new school year. Ty brought his backpack too (filled with wipes & diapers) and had a great time as well. Boy is he going to miss his brothers come Thursday!

The boys are excited about school but a little nervous. Andy will bring them for the first day so they can be dropped off. Pics to come later this week!

Hats off to another great year!

Another year ends!

My classroom is packed up and ready for moving! CME is undergoing renovation.They have already begun working on our school. The movers started last Thursday. Half of our school will be in portables for the next 18-24 months. Every box and item is labeled with a yellow label for moving. With my new job I had boxes going to 4 locations...I'm sure the movers loved moving this classroom! 

This was my teacher corner for the past 5-6 years. I can't exactly remember how many years I was in Room 10.

 SOO much stuff for 24 little 2nd graders! I couldn't believe how much stuff I had. I threw a lot of it away and gave a lot of it to my former student teacher.

The view from the very back corner of the room. I taught 2nd grade for 10 years! It was bittersweet to pack everything up and know that so much will be different next year. I'm not a very sentimental person and it all hit me suddenly the last couple days of school.

I'll still see much of this stuff in August! So glad I'm getting to try something new at CME, I couldn't imagine not being at such a wonderful school!

I have a new job!

Last week I found out at work that I have a new job for next year! I am SO excited. I will be an intervention teacher for grades K-5, teaching reading and math groups all day. I'll have between 3-5 kids per group and each group will last 30 minutes. I told my principal in March that I was interested in the position. It was a long 2 months to find out the result - but it was worth it! It will be nice to be doing something different at my school. I was ready for a change. This will stretch me since I haven't taught intermediate kids before but I'm ready!

I have taught 2nd grade for 10 years with my friend, Jenn. We have been there for each other through everything it seems. I've had so many wonderful teammates over the years but Jenn and I have taught together since we graduated from college. It was hard to tell her I was going for a different position but she has been so supportive. Even when I told her I got the job she was so excited for me. It will be weird to not be teaching together!

I'm looking forward to next school year and everything that it will bring. I have a LOT of packing to do. Packing up 2nd grade stuff for the new 2nd grade teacher, packing up my personal teaching stuff that I won't use in intervention, and packing stuff up for my new intervention classroom. Lots of weeding out, organizing, and packing to do!! As I look around my classroom I got very overwhelmed so I started with my filing cabinets this past week. I cleaned out both over a few days! Recycled a LOT of paper. Amazing how much you accumulate in 10 years.

MIA

Here's what's been keeping me busy...it's been a WHILE! There is so much going on right now I've barely kept myself afloat!

* Last week we worked most evenings on our new furniture prep and set-up. We moved the bed frame out and put our old mattress/box spring on the floor the night before our mattress was delivered. Unfortunately the platform for the tempur pedic mattress was delivered broken so now we are still sleeping with our new mattress on the floor! At least it is comfortable. :) Our pretty new bed is covered in the living room with blankets. The next evening we moved our old chest and dresser out of the bedroom. We moved furniture around in the boys' rooms and got rid of the changing table and Luke's toddler dresser. So now the boys all have plenty of drawer space with their new furniture! Our new bedroom set was delivered on Thursday. We spent the next several days moving our clothes over and rearranging etc. It is now all set except for the bed frame.

* I had parent conferences last Friday - 12 showed up (out of 15) so I am a little more than halfway done. There was a lot of prep for those and for the remaining conferences I have scheduled in the next couple weeks before spring break.

* Report cards go home this week so I've been working on those and writing comments etc. One more round of RC this year!

* The consignment sale at Luke's school starts tomorrow. All of my items had to be entered, hung, tagged etc. Thankfully with a little help from Andy and my mom the stuff was ready tonight.

* This Saturday my SIL Stephanie and I are having a wedding shower for our SIL Katie. Andy's little sis is getting married this June! It is at our house so I need to clean, go to the grocery, prep food, decorate, etc. Thankfully Steph and I will work together on everything but the cleaning. We've already planned everything so once the cleaning is out of the way it will be time for the fun stuff! Pictures will come next week. We have a couple surprises planned for Katie. I've also chosen several new recipes to make for the shower. You might think that sounds crazy - new recipes for an event but that gives me a chance to try new things!

* Of course the rest of my life hasn't stopped for the above mentioned things so you can see why I've been MIA!

Many thanks to my mama who came over on Sunday to donate her time to help me. She cleaned our double stroller so we could take it to the consignment sale and helped me clean up and rearrange the boys room. She helped me bag and tag things for the sale. I so appreciated having you here mom to help me! Love you. :)

Bumblebee Scare

My sweet Luke has been terrified of bees at bedtime the past two nights this week. Monday and Tuesday night he cried in his bed because he was afraid of bumblebees. I'm not sure what has brought this on - he said he hasn't talked about bees at school/with friends/etc. It's only February so he hasn't seen any outside. He was sobbing both nights. We prayed that Jesus would take his fear away and one person (ahem) might have prayed that he would never get stung by a bee - ever...that wasn't the best thing to pray for in this situation! Anyway, the next night the prayer was WAY better. Tonight we made it through bedtime with no talk of bees and no tears. My poor little guy. Andy said he thinks Luke holds stuff in...not sure WHERE he gets that trait. Here's hoping for a bee free summer...and no stings for Luke!

On another note, I registered Lukie for Kindergarten last week! (Do I have to stop calling him Lukie when he start elementary school?) I can't wait to have him at school with me and Wilson. It will be so fun to see him in the hallways. LOVE that they come with me. Even though it makes the afternoons rough sometimes! Wilson said to Luke today that he couldn't wait until he was at our school with us. I thought that was really sweet. I can't wait either. :)

Whirlwind

That's how life is feeling. Like I'm in a whirlwind. I'm trying to keep things running smoothly at home and school. So many things to juggle. I've been sick for two weeks on top of my allergies. Went to the walk in clinic this past Sunday and didn't get much help. I did get a cough syrup that allows me to sleep so that was good. Finally made it to my pcp today and found out I have bronchitis. Thankful for the antibiotic and an inhaler so I can breathe a little easier. I'm taking 3 OTC medicines for allergies, 2 medicines for bronchitis, and a cough syrup at night. I'm ready to feel well again! Thankful to have a pharmacist for a sister - she helped me out a lot last weekend in knowing what all I could take. I never would have thought I could be taking this many medications at once. That seems kind of crazy to me but she assured me it was ok as did the nurse practitioner today!

School has been good but busy of course. My student teacher has been a HUGE help. I keep getting new students. Four new students have joined my class in the past 3 weeks. It's been a little wild. I get one settled and then the next day it seems another new student is at my door. I knew it was coming- I started the year with 19 students. Now I'm up to 23. It's just been a lot of new students in a short amount of time. Next week is my student teacher's solo week and my list of things to accomplish is LONG! I'm soo grateful for the time to work. It's always weird to be there, watching in your room, and not teaching!

The boys are doing well overall. Luke loves pre-k at his preschool. He started walking by himself from the drop off lane on the second day. Tyler is cute as can be and talking a mile a minute. He loves playing and eating peanut butter now. Wilson is having set backs in the anxiety department. It's been quite difficult at times but I was so proud of him today. He had been worrying about something happening in his class at school for 3 days. Up at night trouble sleeping, wringing hands, biting nails, saying he didn't want to go on Friday etc. But today with bribing of a piece of cake after school and a trip to the public library this afternoon he used his courage and went to class by himself. That was HUGE! I was kind of dreading today because of what I thought he might be like. He surprised me and I told him many times today how proud I was of his courage. He got 9 books at the library and a piece of cake! :)

I've stopped the thankful journal and I need to start again. It really helped me to focus on the positive things from the day instead of being bogged down by the overwhelming craziness of life. I just keep telling myself to take things one day at a time. Even one step at a time. I'm an organized procrastinator. But I think my procrastination often stems from being a working mom from 7am-8pm when the boys go to bed! LONG day. EVERY day. I remember when I used to come home from work before kids and think I was soo tired. Wow. Somehow things keep getting accomplished, maybe not as soon as I'd like - but I'm getting it done! I'm so thankful for my friends and family who help me!

Remember the first day of school?

So we finally got the "First Day of School" picture done. I've obviously been having trouble updating the blog. My camera wasn't working for a while but now it is magically fixed (yea!) so I have no excuse for not posting pics anymore! Here is a link to the post from Wilson's first day of school as a big First Grader! He was so excited when we found this shirt. It says Colorado Trail Hike. Has a picture of a campfire on it. Andy was in CO backpacking on the first day of school so Wilson loved this shirt!!

Hello, Blog.

So much going on. Back to school has kept us BUSY! I've had things to post about but it hasn't gotten done...here are a few updates for now!
- I have a wonderful class- of only 18 students!
- Wilson has had a few rough days with going to class, but overall doing very well at school.
- Lots of intense behaviors to deal with at home from Wilson. I'm thankful that he is well behaved at school. Really. But that means he saves up all of his intensity for home. Some nights are rough!
- Doing pretty well with my thankful journal. Trying to keep perspective!
- Haven't run but 1 time since Andy left for Colorado. He was gone two weeks and now has been home for two weeks. Hmmm...guess I need to get back at it so I can do Race for the Cure in October!
- Overwhelmed is my normal state right now. Which isn't healthy. I've lost 7-8 pounds which hasn't hurt me any! 5lbs while Andy was in CO. I'm happy, just trying to take each day one thing at a time!
- I'm really enjoying being on our Leadership Team at school.
- Luke got some kelly green converse and he is absolutely adorable in them! I'll post about his back to school shopping this weekend.
- Tyler is doing well, talking soo much! So proud of my big boy. He'll be two in a few weeks. The way he says light is hilarious! He rolls his l and then adds ight. lulight is the only way I know how to type it!
- Andy and I have laughed the past two evenings watching the double rainbow on you tube and then the double rainbow song. So funny!
Hoping this weekend to catch up on some cleaning around the house...

What Happened?

If you read yesterday's post you know how well Wilson did going to class on his first day. So why was the second day harder?? He went to bed excited and woke up very excited before I even went in to wake him. Then we got to school and his tummy started hurting. I tried all the usual things. He was then hiding under my desk while my students were coming in. I finally left with him (don't worry, Mrs. B was in there!!) and went to the office. Got some tums which he refused to eat, tried to make him go to the bathroom, had his temp taken. At that point I knew it must be nerves. Took him to get his back pack and walked him to class. There he stood with this painful look on his face whimpering and stuff. I got down to his level and told him I couldn't do this right now. I needed to be a teacher. Told him I loved him and I'd see him around the building. Reminded him of how well he did yesterday and that it would all be ok. He would not show me where he sat. I walked in and found his seat. Then he slowly came in. I told Mrs. G that his tummy hurt and to let me know if she needed me. Then I left him in his classroom.

Saw him less than two hours later and he was all smiles! Tonight when we talked about it he said he thought he knew why his tummy hurt - because he was nervous. Yesterday was SOO good. Hoping tomorrow he can have courage again!

School Shopping with Wilson

One of my favorite traditions growing up was back to school shopping. I loved going with my Maw-maw for school clothes, supplies, and out to lunch. It was a really special day. I'm carrying on the tradition with my own kids. Wilson and I went school shopping this week. We went out for breakfast at Panera because he wanted a cinnamon roll! Then we found his back to school outfit at Target. We went to Wal-mart for the school supplies. He chose green whenever possible and had fun picking out a pencil case. He was pretty excited about needing a pencil case for 1st grade! We had a great morning together!

Back To School

OK, now I've had my first back to school breakdown. So it is officially time to head back to work! The feeling of being overwhelmed about too many things got the best of me. It happens every year - you'd think I'd be used to the transition by now. It's hard to return to working 45+ hours a week after being home with your kids for the summer. It seems HUGE. But it will all work out and life will go on. Trusting...

Teaching - Year 10

So I can't believe I'm coming up on my tenth year of teaching. That sounds crazy to me. I did start young but I don't feel like I'm old enough to have been in my career long enough to start year 10! Maybe 5...definitely not 10! I'm very pleased with what I've accomplished in my teaching years so far - Master's degree, National Board, supervised student teachers and practicum students, and started a club last year. All while making babies with Andy and growing our family! There is no way I could have done this without my family and the support they give me. Andy and I have found a way to make it work with kids, jobs, stress etc. It's not always easy but we've made it work. I'm thankful to him for the countless times he's told me it will all be ok, we can get through this, and life will get easier! My mom has been another huge supporter and given me the courage I needed to return back to work after maternity leaves, get through the National Board panic attacks, and keep tackling school stress day after day.

I'm thankful to be at a wonderful school and have so many friends at my workplace. The upcoming school year is full of change. New staff, new staff roles, new teammates, new math curriculum, new students...you get the idea! Lots of change - which can be good. But it also makes me a little anxious. I will continue the club, serve on SBDM council, have a student teacher in the fall, and be a national board mentor. I'm trying to wrap my mind around a new year and the fact that summer time will be over next week.

I can't believe Andy and I will have a 1st grader in our house!

Wilson, 1st Grader!

Wilson finished Kindergarten! He is so excited about being a 1st grader. He made so much progress this year in Kindergarten. I am SO proud of him. He went from not even being able to walk to his classroom b/c of his fear to leaving as soon as the bell rang to go help Mrs. Dowd. His teachers were wonderful with him. He made several friends, one best friend, and was a nice helpful boy. He received so many compliments for his behavior, being a friend to his classmates, and being helpful by sweeping the cafeteria and helping in the classroom. Those things are SO important. He also made lots and lots of progress with his academics! He learned so much in reading and math. I got to look through his writing journal on Thursday and see the sentences he had written. He earned an award "Non-fiction Enthusiast" because he loves reading non-fiction books. Since Luke had an end of pre-school celebration Wilson planned one of his own! It was adorable really. He chose O*Charley's for dinner Thursday night and wanted to get his free scoop of icecream from Grae*ter's for dessert. He tried to talk us into a new Lego as well...but we said no! I forgot my camera for his Kindergarten recognition ceremony and am too lazy to try and figure out how to get the pics from my iphone onto the computer. Maybe I can add it to the post from my phone? So proud of you Wilson!

Big Week Ahead

Wow- this is going to be a crazy week.

Consignment Sale- All items have to be entered in the computer by midnight tonight. I think I have that part done. Now I'm ironing and hanging clothes. I ran out of hangers so as soon as I get more I can continue. Tomorrow I will print tags, cut tags, and pin them to all the clothes. Then they will be ready for Andy to take to his work shift Tuesday night. Monday may be a late night.

Poetry Cafe- On Wednesday each 2nd grade class is having our annual Poetry Cafe! It is one of my favorite things we do. The kids have been writing poetry for the last several weeks at school. Now we are publishing our poetry on cute paper and preparing to share a poem out at the cafe. I cover the tables with tablecloths in spring colors, put flowers on the tables, and have refreshments out. So, lots to do here. Finish publishing with the kids, practice reading their poem outloud for the BIG audience, make the program, and figure out the food...Tuesday will be a late night!!

Conferences- On Friday the kids are out of school so I'm using the day to get as many parent conferences completed as possible. At this point I think I have 13 signed up! Yea! Makes my life after-school a lot easier with kids of my own. I need to get report cards filled out and print test results to prepare for these conferences. That will be my plan on Wednesday/Thursday...

Baby Chicks

At school we are studying Life Science right now. So in each 2nd grade room we have had eggs in an incubator. Yesterday they started hatching! I have 2 chicks in my classroom that have hatched and 2 more were starting to break through the egg shell this afternoon. It is so neat to watch! The kids have been beside themselves the last two days. Very exciting.

Andy brought Luke and Tyler in this afternoon to see the chicks. I knew Luke would want to see them. Wilson has been spending a lot of time in the back of my room watching them. Luke held a chick and Tyler was very interested in them. It was so cute to watch! Tyler put one finger out and patted a chick on the head. He kept wanting to look in the box and see the two chicks. Can't wait to see how many more hatch this weekend. So thankful to Gayla for going to check on our little babies this weekend!

Wilson's Christmas Program

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Luke

He has said some cute things the last few days! At bedtime the boys like me to "squeeze and scratch" their backs. The last few days Luke has been asking me to rub his back by saying :
rub and scratch / the next day: scratch and scrub / and tonight: squeeze and scratch. When he said it correctly I was kind of dissapointed because the others were so cute! When he said scratch and scrub last night I almost busted out laughing.

Today after school he told me he learned that azul is blue in Spanish. Then he remembered that everyone will get a turn to be the "leader". Meaning line leader. I am SO glad we decided to send him to 3year old preschool! He LOVES school!

Teaching is Tough!

So I've survived my first two weeks at school with students. I have a great class, 23 second graders. I am getting to know them and love them quickly. Back to school is hard - there is SO much to do to be ready for a new group of students. I won't go into the details but I spend about 2 weeks setting up and getting ready for the first day. Now that the first two weeks are complete my team is starting reading and math instruction, with trading kids etc. on Monday. This is big because we group our students based on their assessments and form groups. We usually aren't ready to start this early in the school year but we are there now! Yesterday I worked from 7:30-4:30 with no students and still didn't get everything done that I needed to for MONDAY! My to do list is always long. I cross one thing off and add 3 more. Teaching has changed so much in just the 8+ years I've been at it...the rigor of school is so different now. So as of Monday we're in our full schedule with reading, writing, math, and social studies. AHHH!!! Yesterday I had a lot to do for my reading room - I'm teaching a new level this year. It was very overwhelming this past week as I wrapped my mind around all the components and got materials ready. I still have new things to add but I can only do so much at one time! I work with the best team of teachers and couldn't do this job without the support we give each other.

The other part this year that is a new challenge is having Wilson with me before and after school. I love having him at school for kindergarten, believe me! It is so fun to see him in the hallways and know his teacher and hear lots of things about his day from many different people! I love it! But it is hard to have a little guy following me around in the morning and after school, talking to me and asking when we can go home! It's definitely an adjustment - he plays legos, gets on the computer, and sometimes watches a cartoon which all allow me to work. We'll get used to it I'm sure. Andy picks him up a couple days a week to help me out so that is good. It's just a big change! I'm with kids from 6:30am-bedtime. Some days that can make a girl crazy! ;)