Last Day

Today was the last day of school.  I've been looking forward to this day for several weeks.  The winter was long which seemed to make the school year feel especially long as well.  But, I've also been dreading this day a little too.

I was lucky enough to get to teach the same three students for the past two years.  These kids were an awesome group.  They were so fun to teach and be around every day.  I'm going to miss the before the bell visits, hugs, Axe deodorant, their senses of humor, and spending each day with them.

It was very hard for me to say goodbye today.  As much as I hate to cry in front of people, I couldn't stop the tears as I got one last hug from "my kids".

Each one took a little piece of my heart with them as they left today.

january goal and today

Since it's the the last day of January I thought I would tell you if I accomplished the goal set for this month.

I'll call this one half accomplished.  I got the biggest job of organizing the office done. The two closets that I wanted to get cleaned out are still a mess.

We had the day off from school today because of dangerous windchills.

-11 is sorta do-able but -38 windchill is *a little* chilly!!

It's always nice to have an unexpected day off. And yes, I realize I could have cleaned out the closets today and completed my goal.  I just wasn't in the organizing mood though.  I did get the laundry done though so at least I accomplished something.

I went to the grocery store this morning and on my way out I noticed a huge sun dog in the sky. I grabbed my camera when I got home and went outside to take a couple pics. I didn't stay out there too long though since it was freaking cold.

Stay warm!

weekend recap

We made it out to the pumpkin field Saturday morning.

As always, Dave picked one of the biggest pumpkins in the field.

The weather was awesome and I was having fun taking a few pictures until I spotted a badger hole.  Yeahhh... I pretty much just picked out my pumpkins as fast as I could and then got the heck out of there.

I was going to take some picture of the pumpkins on our deck, but my mums are dying quickly so not sure if I'll get to that or not.

We went to the Special Olympics softball tournament that afternoon to watch a two of my current and two of my former students play.

We had planned to go to a movie that night but we decided to go out for supper and then hang out at home.

Sunday was just a laid back day of football watching and hanging out around home.

Hope you're all have a great week.  Two more days til the weekend! I can't wait...I'm wiped out this week.

five for friday

1. Summer school is over!  We did a 10 week session, which is 4 weeks longer than regular summer school.  I enjoyed it {most of the time} but am so glad to have the next two weeks off before school starts again.

2.  I'm happy to report that I broke the 20 pound weight loss marker this week!  I've lost 21.4 pounds to be exact.  I decided to stop doing the cbdiet posts because I wasn't getting the support from other participants for whatever reason so I feel kind of silly to keep posting about it.  So, I think I'll just update once a month or every two weeks in a regular post.  I haven't had any pop for over 5 months now so that's another another success for me.

3. Tomorrow I'll be heading to Sioux Falls to have a girl's day with my friend, Tasha.  We're planning to do some shopping and meet up with our cousin for lunch.

4.  My mom and I will also be spending some time together next week.  We try to do something together each summer.  We don't have any definite plans set other than to shop and eat. :o)

5.  Fall is coming!!  I'm so excited!  I'm just not a summer person.  I don't enjoy being hot and sweaty.  We're forecasted to have temps in the high 70s the next couple days so it makes me even more excited for fall.  I've been pinning lots of fall pictures and recipes that I'd like to try. Can't wait!

Source: lemonadeandivy.tumblr.com via Nichole on Pinterest

Source: sweetpeaskitchen.com via Nichole on Pinterest

Hope ya all have a great weekend!

a little miscellany

• I didn't write a weekend recap post this week because we didn't really do much of anything over the weekend.
• I had lunch with my friend, Andrea, today and her little girl.  Andrea is the teacher I'm working under this summer.  She has been really fun to work with.
• I can't even explain how happy I was to see this picture on Facebook today from Bath&Body Works.  I'm so ready for fall!

• I spent about a half hour this afternoon looking through this website and writing down ideas for my lunches this school year.  I got pretty tired of sandwiches and apples last year so I'm glad to have some new ideas.
• I'm planning to make one of my bulletin boards into quote/thought area where I'll post a new thought each week.  I've been collecting some quotes and thoughts that I like so I can start making some posters.  A few of my favorites:

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

Be so happy that when others look at you they become happy too.

One person can make a difference and everyone should try.

• That's all I've got.  We haven't had a whole lot going on lately other than work so I just don't have much to post about.  :o)

end of the year thoughts

I can’t believe this school year is already over.  It was such a great year.  I had the best kids … my favorite group to date.  I had a group of three…2 sweet girls and 1 hilarious boy.

Day-to-day things I’ll miss over the summer:

-          hearing the song Red Solo Cup sung out loud at random times of the day

-          group hugs

-          before school surprise visits

-          questions from my boy about the 1980s and 1990s because they were sooo long ago

-          and just seeing my kids every day and all the fun we had.

As happy as I am to see summer vacation, I was sad to say good-bye to my kids today.  But, luckily I will have the same group next year. J  

Randoms

I decided to go ahead with my personal challenge and write something every day this month.  It's the sixth day of the month and I'm already out of things to write about.   :o/


Sooo...randomness it is.  Be prepared, you may get a lot of randomness this month.  I guess that's really not anything new around here though.


I had a meeting with a parent at school today.  I'd been dreading it since it was scheduled last week.  It actually went pretty well.  I'm so glad it's over and I don't have to stress about it anymore.


I'm getting a cold or something.  I've had a sore throat and an earache all day.  Why do sickness always show up for a long weekend?


One of my "friends" at work is giving me the cold shoulder for some reason this week.  I kind of want to ask why but I don't want to make the effort to talk to her if she can't make the effort to talk to me.  Mature, no?


Ok, that's all I'll bore you with today.

One more day til the weekend!!

Miscellany Monday

-- Today in PE, the kids were practicing their football throws.  I was watching one of my kids off to my right when all of a sudden I got nailed in the left boob with a ball.  Kinda hurt a little.

-- The temperature today was 81.  We are suppose to have 80s all week.  I'm trying to enjoy it but it's fall...I'm ready for 50s and 60s!

-- I put away my fall decor yesterday and got out the Halloween decorations.  It's hard to believe it's October already!

--I bought a few new Christmas tree picks/sprays while shopping the other day.  53 days til Black Friday!!  Ohhh...the thought makes me so happy!! :o)

I'm gonna be a cryer....

I've mentioned before that I'm not a public cryer.  I don't know why, I just hate crying in front of people.  Keep that in mind as you read this post. 

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Yesterday I was in a 4th grade music class and got to listen in as they practiced for honor choir auditions.  Every kid in the class had the option to sit out if they didn't want to get up in front of the class to sing.  The music teacher went through the list of kids and 2 of my kids had already opted out.  She got to the name of my third child (I'm teaching a group of 3 this year) and asked if she wanted to try the song.  I was quite surprised when the girl said yes and walked up in front of her whole class.  The teacher ran her through a few warm ups then started to play the audition song (My Country Tis of Thee).  I was shocked by her beautiful voice.  I would say that out of the 12 or so kids that tried, she was one of the top two.  I was SO proud of her for just getting up there in front of everyone and even more proud when everyone clapped for her when she was finished.  I had to grab a kleenex and pretend to go blow my nose in the corner because I fighting back tears.....makes me teary-eyed just thinking about it now.

I love the kids I teach, I really do.  But, I am somewhat concerned about the emotions they spark in me.  If I get all teary watching them, what's it going to be like when I watch my own (future)  children?  I better get used to the thought now because I'm definitely going to be a cryer.  :o)

Weekend Recap

Dave and I had a really nice weekend.  We had some professional pictures taken on Saturday.  Last spring, if you made a donation to the Cancer Society, you could get a session with a local photographer.  The pictures turned out well.  Now we just have the hard part of deciding what to order.

We stopped at WalMart Saturday afternoon and I was SO excited to walk in and see this:

I know a lot of people think it's too early and blah, blah, blah.  But, I love it and it makes me happy.  :o)

It was windy and cool (somewhere in the 50s I think) Saturday so I had my first hot chocolate of the season.  Yum!!

We also went to the SD Special Olympic softball tournament yesterday and today. We got to watch the two boys I taught the past two years and two of the students I'm teaching this year. It was so fun to watch them play and to have them be so excited that I came to see them. Dave and I both got kisses and lots of hugs from one of the boys. :o)


Hope you all had a great weekend too!!

First week love

Well we made it through the first week of the school year.  I'm not going to lie, I'm really glad this weekend is a 3 day!  I much prefer when school starts on a Wednesday or Thursday for the first week.  Even though it was a long, tiring week there were a lot of things that happened that reminded me why I love my job.

I love:
 meeting new students
 seeing kids that I used to have at daycare/preschool as big 4th graders
 getting random hugs throughout the day
 seeing the boys in their football jerseys on Fridays
 reconnecting with my coworkers
 when students I taught last year are excited to see me again
 4th grade humor {most of the time anyway}


Yup, I love my job :o)

Saying Goodbye

Today was the last day for two of the students I've taught for the past two years.  They'll be moving on to middle school next year.  Ugh, I'm  so sad that I won't get to work with them anymore.  I'm going to miss all the hugs, high fives, smiles, and cheers.  I'll even miss all the sayings like"tartar sauce", "heavens no" and "oh yeah baby". 

I'm so glad I got to be a part of their lives for the last two years, and so thankful they were a part of mine.

4 days!

I'm so ready!

"This is you"

So yesterday one of my students was talking back, having a hard time following directions, etc.  It went on for awhile and finally I told him that he had to sit in our other room in the "time out" area.  I let him take a coloring sheet and some colored pencils with him since he wasn't in big trouble but just needed some time away from the class.
About 10 minutes later I went back to the other room to get him.  He was still a little grumpy as he handed me this picture and said, "This is you."  At first I wasn't sure what he was talking about because all I saw was this:

But then I noticed this in the corner:

It's always nice to see yourself through your student's eyes.   ;o)

Back to school

Well we've made it through our first two days.  The kids start tomorrow and I'm so excited to see our students!  I didn't run into any of them over the summer so it'll be fun to see how they've changed in the past 3 months. 

I did a quick little "craft" tonight to make-over my school calendar.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Nothing too spectacular but it's better than looking at pictures of random people all year.

That's about it I guess.  I'm beat already!!

Random Thoughts Friday

1. My brother has been working on restoring an ’83 Monte Carlo. He planned to take it to a track this weekend to drag race. He took the car out Wednesday night to check/test a few things. Something went wrong and the drive shaft came up through the floor board. Luckily he was able to keep control of the car and wasn’t hit by the drive shaft. I am very, very, very thankful for that.

This pic was taken this spring...it has a hood and bumper on now :o)

2. There are 9 days til we go in for inservice. 11 til school starts.  I'm pretty excited to go back but am really going to miss sleeping in.  I'm going to put myself on a schedule this coming week.....well, I plan to anyway.


3. I have a really good family.

4. Now that August is here it feels like summer flew by. July seemed like it would never end though. Try to figure that one out.


5. My mom and I are going to Sioux Falls next Thursday for a girl’s day. I’ve been looking forward to it for over a month.


6. There are 47 days until fall officially begins and 141 until Christmas. Why is it that 141 days til Christmas doesn’t seem very long but 47 until fall does?


7. The last four leaves fell off our plant this week. Now we just have sticks sticking out of dirt.


8. I’m going to make an honest effort to look decent when I go to work this year. That means put make-up on every day (not just eyeliner) and wear some sort of jewelry each day so I look a little more put together. I’m thinking Charlotte Russe for jewelry. I’m a fan of cheap jewelry for everyday wear. I’m hoping to find these when my mom and I go to the mall Thursday...

Hope you have a good weekend!

Weekend Recap

David ran his first 5K Friday evening.  Here he is before the race (in the yellow hat, standing with his brother in the gray hat.)

Start of the race:

Just about to the finish line:

Crossing the finish line (love how that stupid guy decided to step right in between David & me right as I took the picture.)

I was pretty worried about him since he only trained for 3-4 weeks before the race.  He finished with a time of 35:56. I am really proud of him!  I'm pretty sure this won't be his last 5K.  He's already been searching the internet for races near us this summer.  Maybe I'll get motivated and try it too....wouldn't hold my breath on that one though!

I bought and planted some flowers on Saturday while David was at work.  The greenhouses were packed with people.  It's been awhile since we've had nice weather so people were ready to get out I guess.  We didn't do a whole lot last night, just hung out at home.

Today we went out for lunch then went to the library for awhile.  Otherwise we've just hung out at home and relaxed.

This is my last week at school!  Our last day is Friday.  I can't believe how quickly this year went!  I'm so ready for a break though!!

Hope you all have a great week!  :o)

Ingalls Field Trip

Yesterday was the 4th grade field trip to the Ingalls Homestead in DeSmet, SD.  I haven't been there since I was in either 3rd or 4th grade so it was fun to look around.  It was really windy (nothing new) and I was exhausted by the time we left.  Some of the pictures aren't great since I was trying to supervise and take pics at the same time.  We were also rushed through some places since we weren't the only school visiting.

First up was a dugout home built into a hillside.  The Ingalls didn't live in a dugout here in SD but it was built as an example of what many homesteaders lived in before they built an actual home.

The sod walls inside the dugout.  One of my kids dug a big chunk out of one of the walls before I noticed what he was doing.  Yeah, I'm a super supervisor.

Our next stop was to the hayroof barn.

They had a calf and a few chickens inside.  The kids were going crazy climbing on the hay bales so I wasn't able to get a good picture of the inside.

Ma's house and the hayroof barn were reconstruced on the original sites.  We had to do a quick run through of the house so I didn't get the best pictures.  Looking at this house, it's amazing to think that they made it through the rough SD winter.

Looking left from the front door.

Looking right from the table.

The first bedroom straight in from the front door.

Standing next to the organ looking across the room.

Standing by the rocker looking back at the organ.

Next we got to take a covered wagon ride up to the old school house.  The  kids really enjoyed this as each one got to take a turn "driving" the wagon.

Inside the one room school house.

Outhouse for student/teacher use.

They also had activities for the kids to do: corn doll making, grinding wheat into flour, hay twisting, and rope making.

It was a tiring but fun day.