So Sleepy

Going at life 497 miles per hour has finally caught up with me. DVRing Teen Mom and getting to bed early tonight. See you tomorrow for What I Wore Wednesday!

Just another manic Monday...

Nothing says too busy for baking than a dinner of one slice of cold pizza, a half-eaten box of take-out Chinese, and a big doughy piece of Hawaiian bread {which was, by the way, the best part of the meal} - and, most of which, I shared with Beckham. I haven't taken your advice and broken out the old crockpot yet, though I do intend to, but I honestly haven't had the time to scroll through your recipes and blogs to locate ones that we would eat and that I have food for in the house. Plus, B just rearranged his schedule tonight to accommodate an evening class, so he's picked me up from school, we went to get Becks from his Nana's, and then he was out the door again for a three hour business class.

Did you catch the part where I said that B picked me up from school? Oh, yeah, that's because his car is D-E-A-D, dead. And that is just what we need right now. I went to start it this morning and I got nothing. Not even a light came on. And we replaced the battery in February of this year. So over that car (see this post #6.) Naturally, the car that is now dead is also the car that we paid off in January. The car that needed to be around for, well, a long time. I'm not sure what we're going to do. Play the lottery, maybe?

And, for posterity’s sake, here’s a pic of Beck taken yesterday, compared with a picture beneath of him taken exactly a year before on the same date. What can I say, he’s a man of many hats…

Weekend Wrap Up (or what I can remember at least!)

This weekend flew by. I don't even remember what we did on Friday night besides order Jimmy John's. My mind is a mess. It could be because I read 47 pages of text dedicated to multicultural education and gender studies today {because that is a thrilling way to end a weekend...}.

But anyway, last night I travelled to the Lex to play hostess and raise a glass to this fine couple:

This is Allison & Ryan. The newlyweds-to-be who will tie the knot in a little less than 5 weeks. I am Allie's matron-of-honor, and hosted a stock-the-bar party with Meredith and Katie (pictured below). Allison, you look like quite the bridal angel in this pic with that light hitting your hair just so ;)

{Geez Louise, do I look tired in that pic above or what?!}

So, this coming week is looking like a carbon copy of this past week, crammed with a whole lotta school-related fare. Oh boy. At least I get to look forward to a three day weekend!

More tomorrow. Have a great Monday!

This is a boring post. Really.

I am starving. So, despite the fact that Jimmy John's is on it's way (thank goodness), I am having a graham cracker pre-dinner snack. {I totally love Jimmy John's, btw. And I'm having The Vegetarian, if you must know.} Teaching first graders pretty much makes me ravenous. They deplete you of your energy real fast, and I'm learning quickly that you can't survive on a mug of coffee and 2 Diet Cokes alone when you're at school from 6:45am-4:30pm. Not happening.

Anyway, it's going to be a great weekend. My boys are picking up dinner after they hit up The Depot (i.e. Home Depot), and tonight I might drink a glass of wine and convince B to watch The Time Traveller's Wife with me since we've had it from Netflix since July-ish(???). I might also bargain for a backrub. If he makes me choose (he will), I'm going with backrub. And wine.

Furthermore, I get to have a leisurely morning with my boys, grocery shop (there is NO food in this house), and get to host a bridal shower for one of my favorite couples tomorrow. I'm might throw some grad school homework in there too. Maybe. Studiousness isn't high on my priority list right now.

Also...

I can't wait to try out the MANY MANY MANY recipes you all sent my way! Amazing and much appreciated! Thank you!

And, lastly, as if I wasn't having a hard enough time transitioning into the whole working mom role, Becks had to tug at my heart strings when I called him at lunch today...

"I want to go home, Mommy," his little 2-year-old voice said.

I cried a little bit on my end. I miss him :(

It’s Just Thursday…

Found this idea on I Teach for a Living…
from Murdock's Mama. Too tired to come up with anything else, so I thought this would be fun J

Outside my window.. 70ish and dark.
The time is.. 9:52pm. Going to bed soon. No Jersey Shore drama for me tonight. DVR, how I love thee.
Today I feel.. spent. So much going on I can't think straight.
I am thinking.. about my husband having a conversation in Spanish with himself next to me as I type. Hola, Senor Gomez! Hola, Maricarmen!
At the moment, I am thankful..that God has given us the opportunity, ways, and means to do everything we're doing right now. It's a rough go right now, but I know it will get better.
I am going.. to bed. In about t-minus 6 minutes.
I am wearing.. um, I bet you could guess – my nightly uniform: Walmart Tank Top + leggings J
I wish.. that there were an additional 8-12 hours in the day, that I could spend the majority of my day with Becks, that fall would get here fast! I'm ready!
I am reading..
The Truth Behind the Death at Columbine (for a grad school class). Very interesting.
I am working on.. the better question is: what am I NOT working on?
I am hoping.. that Beckham will transition into preschool with little to no difficulty.
I am hearing.. B. Still. Hasta manana, Senor Valesco!
I bet you didn't know.. that B and I do NOT have text messaging on our phones. Yup, we don't text. Not one bit. And haven't in over five years. Saves money and, ahem, I hated getting into "disagreements" through texts. So we're text free!
One of my favorite…snacks is peanut butter and carrots. YUM!
My weekend plans include.. lovin' on my boys, homework, work-work, and a bridal shower! And lots and lots of coffee.

I love my boy.

While playing outside with Becks today, it occurred to me that I don't get to kiss him now near as much as I did two weeks ago or get to greet his fuzzy little bed head in the morning followed by a lazy snuggle. I miss my boy. An awful lot. It's just not the same getting to see him only {gulp} four hours a day. Typing that hurts. Four precious hours. That's all I get. Tears well up in my eyes just thinking about it, so I try not to think about it too often. But it's constantly in my mind. How can I not think about someone as cute and charming as he?

The picture quality is awful, but I'll take what I can get!

What I Wore Wednesday

Lots of work outfits posted today for What I Wore Wednesday. I'm playing along with Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy! Check her out :)

Dress - thrift
Dress- Goodwill
Leggings - Target (on sale for $5 this week!)
Kicks - Walmart

Dress - Goodwill
Tank - Walmart

Sweater - NY&Co.

Leggins - Target

Kicks - Cato

Sweater - J.Crew outlet
Yellow top - Goodwill
Pants - Goodwill
Flats - Target

Striped tunic - Goodwill
Belt - Macy's pre-Becks
Skinny pants - GAP
Sandals - Target (for $6 on clearance!)

A New Date Night...

There's nothing like spending a romantic evening gathered 'round the kitchen table reading about diversity in education while your husband does his algebra homework.

If this isn't sexy I don't know what is...

{Please note, I totally took this picture using the timer on the camera. But, really, this is how we spent the past two hours!}

coxsackievirus and other things

For the love. Becks has HFM (hand, foot, and mouth). Again.

If you want to be fancy, it's called coxsackievirus. {Thank you, Dr. Blomer}

When he practically leapt out of his chair when eating ketchup last night, I just knew something was up. The fever combined with blisters in his mouth, on his lips and feet further confirmed my diagnosis. And it's one of those spectacular viruses that lends itself to letting it run its course. Fantastic. Just please, virus, don't run your course for the next 7-10 days as the CDC suggests. Please err on the low-end and give us a break at 4 or 5. We're kinda busy in these parts and I really don't think I can handle another weekend full of Wiggles. M'kay? Thanks.

In other news, I had a swift trip through Target {alone} tonight, and had a mild panic attack in the shoe aisle. As I was browsing for a pair of smart flats to kick around in during the school day, I suddenly realized that I had not purchased the pair of shoes for a wedding that is a month away. The bride sent an email over a month ago making this request. Gah! I just about keeled over into the a rack of booties. So I raced a couple of aisles over {seriously race - as in Super Market Sweep style}, and find ONE pair of the shoes left in my size. ONE. But it doesn't matter because one pair was all I needed, and they are not only super cute but cost-friendly too at $19.99. LOVE. THEM. Wait until you see the dress I get to wear them with. Girl's got taste.

Besides shoes, I also bought Diet Coke, Bronzer, pretzels, and Ovaltine. And a pair of new Converses for Becks. And a 20 pack of hangers. And that is why you never go into Target expecting to leave buying just anything. Because you leave buying way more than you anticipated. I'm pretty sure I went there just to buy B some folders for school. {Sidenote: when I walked in from Walgreens last night he about died when I held up four primary colored notebooks and asked if I wanted his classmates to know he was married to an elementary school teacher. He he :)}

Lastly, I need you all to supply me with some go-to quick-and-easy meals because this working momma fed her boys buttered noodles tonight, and I just don't forsee that cutting it for the next 2-3 years. We're talking 3-4 ingredients max with stuff I likely have or buy regularly. Don't go all white cooking wine on me. I need easy and available. All suggestions will be much appreciated.

Happy Monday :)

Enough of the bug.

Becks is still down for the count with some kind of bug. He's fairly tempermental, to put it mildly. This means that he pretty much gets to dictate when and if B and I so much as move from the couch, how many episodes of Wiggles we will watch (8+ hours - but who's counting?), and decide that donut icing is all he will eat for breakfast. I probably would have offered him a coke if he'd asked. It's called survival mode.

Despite being verbal, it's still difficult to know what - if anything - is bothering him. And that's frustrating for everyone. Does his head hurt? Tummy? Ears? Throat? Your guess is as good as mine.

{Sidenote: He just requested more Wiggles, and then changed his mind as I was pressing play. To Caillou. Possibly the most annoying preschooler I have ever met in my life. And I have met a lot of annoying preschoolers. Ugh.}

Here's to happier days. And hopefully only a 48 hour bug.

{PS. Go check out Lea Liz's shower curtain giveaway! Cuuuuute!}

Saturandomday.

Saturday is such a random day for blog posting and reading. Mostly because people have better things to do on Saturdays than to be on the internet. But, since it's 8:59am on Saturday and Becks isn't awake yet (the results of adjusting to his new schedule, I'm sure) and I've already got the laundry going and I'm not quite ready wrap my mind around anything remotely school-related...I'm blogging :)

And it's going to be a way random post because no one is probably going to read it anyway!

Jillian, the tanks from Walmart are the Faded Glory brand, but Miley makes a comparable alternative (with cuter patterns!) if you can't find the FG ones. However, you might spend $6 instead of $3.50 :)

Chelsea, Brandon is going back to school to work with animals. He's not sure in what capacity yet, but he knows that his passion is animals and that he wants to be in an occupation that allows him to work with them. Thus, the university he is attending has recommended a general degree in biology, and then possibly transferring to a different school that offers a more focused program.

Shubs, what on earth are you doing up so early on a Saturday morning?! And, yes, of course you have Gold Member Follower status - whether or not you read that early :)

I'm pretty sure I bought most of my fall wardrobe at Goodwill last night at the 50% off clothes sale. I love the thrill of the hunt and the a receipt that reads $32.18 for 10 new pieces :)

We're supposed to go tour campus today and get our books for our classes. My program is still online but B will spend from 10am-4pm every MWF for the next 4 months on campus.

Figures: Becks just woke up. On fire. Temperature of 101.2. Lovely. Has to be the back-to-school germies. But, on the plus side, he took his bubblegum meds with no problems and his hair looks like this, making him easily the cutest sick puppy ever:

Happy Saturday!

E.X.H.A.U.S.T.E.D.

I'm pretty sure there is going to come a point - soon - when I hit the proverbial wall. You know, the one you run into after your go! go! go! mentality backfires and leaves you a big crying, crumpling, snotty mess of emotions and exhaustion. I can just tell that's the direction I'm heading in and I need to be proactive and chill out before it happens. However, my mind is still go! go! going! so it's difficult to rationalize with a body that's pleading for sleep and relaxation.

It's 9:34pm and I've literally just sat down for the day besides when I was sitting in a very un-ergonomic chair to read Beezus and Romona during read-aloud around 1pm. From leaving the house at 6:45am, to picking up Becks at 4:30pm, to coming home to make dinner, to bathing Becks and reading stories, to straightening up the house, to folding and running loads of laundry, to making a trek to Walmart for necessities (i.e toilet paper) to unloading the dishwasher, to getting everything ready for go-time in the morning, I AM SPENT. Holy cow. My legs are throbbing and my lids are drooping. If I didn't find some serenity in journaling, I wouldn't be blogging right now. But this is an important transitional period in my life and one I want well-documented so that the day B graduates from college I can pump a triumphant fist in the air and say It all was worth it!

I thank God that this has only been a three-day school week. I'm going to need Saturday and Sunday to recover and love on my boys. Because I'm having to take whatever time I can get with the Beckster, he sat on the counter while I made dinner, happy as a clam to be close to his momma and eat dry rice grains. Love his heart.

Tomorrow is B's last day of work at a company he's worked for for the past 5 years. Ironically enough, he will start his new college career 10 years after he initially began his pursuit of a college degree. So proud of him for going back. {Cheers to the next Steve Irwin, B.}

And, for today, that is all she wrote. TGIF.

PS. Maybe I bought 2 more $3.50 tank tops at Walmart tonight... I am clearly an addict.

T.I.R.E.D.

I made it! We made it.

While Becks spent an activity-filled day with his Papa K, I had a reunion of sorts with my former, now-new, class. The day flew by. My legs are tired and my tongue is burnt {from scarfing down a way-too-hot Healthy Choice since my lunch time was all of 9 minutes after I saw my first graders through the lunch line for the first time}. Naturally, I was overplanned, hyper-caffeneited (2 cups of coffee + 2 Diet Cokes), and apparently I talked too much because my throat is getting that scratchy feeling.

{Sidenote: Despite having my tonsils out when I was 19, which, by the way was the most horrendous experience of my life - ranking only second in pain to childbirth - I will undoubtedly contract strep throat sometime during the first two months of school. It has something to do with a new batch of germies every year - probably from tying shoes, holding hands, and merely being within 100 yards of the building.}

So, the first day is over and I am exhausted. I missed my former assistant desperately and may have visited my old kindergarten team and gave them all hugs before the day began. I may have fought back a tear or two also.

But tomorrow is Day Two and the countdown is on: 179 days of school until Summer Vacation :)

What I Wore Wednesday

It's embarrassing how many Walmart tank tops I own, much less wore in one week, so don't look for a lot of diversity in these outfits. It's probably been 100 degrees or near 100 degrees for the past week. And the only reason I'm wearing a sweater and jeans in one of the pics is because we had an in-service and, teachers hear me out on this, the library is always a chilly 35 degrees no matter the season. Amen? Anyway, I'm linking up to What I Wore Wednesday with the Pleated Poppy. Play along if you like! pink tank - do I even need to say it?

black clamdiggers - Haystacks

black sweater - NY&Co.

top - a cast-off from my sister {AE}

skinny jeans - thrift {Old Navy}

slip-ons - Walmart

dress - Gap circa 2004!

belt - Target clearance

wedges - hmmmm?

dress - thrift {Old Navy}

leggings - cast-off from my other sister

And, no matter what I start the day in, I usually wind up in some variations of leggings and a tank top. Just keepin' it real :)

white tank - Walmart

leggings - Target

'Twas the day before school starts...

...and this is what I've spent naptime doing:

But, I'm finished! My room is ready, folders are stuffed, activities are organized and everything is ready to go. I'm pretty sure I won't sleep much tonight {not that I have been sleeping much anyway} and I'll probably wake up before my alarm even goes off. Some of that will be due to stress, but I am excited too! There's something so fun and rejuvenating about starting fresh into a new school year.

Teacher Idea: We're kicking off an author study about Kevin Henkes (I loooove him!), so we're going to read Chrysanthemum tomorrow and then make a name map that spotlights things that we love. {I borrowed this idea from Teaching Heart - another stellar site!} Here is my sample for the kiddos:

Tomorrow also kicks off this...

...and it's all going to be okay, right?

I truly appreciate your sweet comments on yesterday's post. Good to know I have the support of my bloggy friends :)

If I have the time and energy tomorrow I hope to post, and I'll still be linking up to What I Wore Wednesday with The Pleated Poppy.

Stressing Out

I bought one of these today. Who knew you could be them cheaply at Staples {$19.99}? Which then got me thinking about scheduling and time and our lives, and I arrived at the thoughts below...

I know that being a full-time working mother isn't a novel thing. I am not the first mother in the history to spend time away from her child and family pursuing a career. I know that. But, it's new to me. And, therefore, I plan to spend a lot of time lamenting over the fact that I won't be the main parent providing care for our son, that I'm going to have to relinquish some control of household duties to my husband, and that our dinners for the next few years may consist solely of cereal, frozen pizzas, and anything that comes in a to-go container. I make no promises that laundry will be cleaned and folded in a timely manner {much less put away} or that I won't let Beckham watch 30 minutes of The Wiggles every afternoon so that I can relax. Though I use the term relax loosely, in that it's difficult to actually do such a thing with four grown Australian men singing about the big red car or fruit salad.

In roughly 36 hours I will be waking up to a new school year and new role. 48 hours after that, B will start his last day of work. 72 hours after that, B starts his first semester back to college and I start the fall semester of graduate school.


Hello, Crazy, nice to meet ya...

I know. Life is going to be insane. But, hopefully, manageable. I'm not quite sure how everything will work out yet - who will do the laundry? grocery shop? take Becks to the doctor? fix dinner? make sure my sanity is in check? I hate not knowing how everything will work out, and as much as I'd like to schedule everything and be in charge of everything, I think I'm going to have to - in the words of an educator - collaborate. B and I are going to have to work as teammates and still find time to maintain and nourish our relationship.

And, Becks, how is he going to do through all of these changes? Will the transition to preschool be seamless? Will he favor daddy over mommy once they're home together so much? Will he miss me? I just don't know.

I am already losing sleep about it all. And my heart will start to race if I sit and think about it too long. Neither is healthy. Hopefully, once everything gets started, I will adjust to our new normal and life will be good. But I still have my reservations...

Thanks for listening. Just needed to put it out there :)

Reason #245 Why 2-year-olds are Awesome.

Sometimes there are conversations that must be had, while comfortably reclining on clean bedding inside a closet...

{And, yes, that is blue marker on his noggin.}

Mr. Personality

Being a two-year-old presents many challenges for everyone involved in his rearing, like stifling laughter after I reprimand him for hitting me with an ice cream scoop and he responds by holding my face and saying No talk, mommy. {I about died.}

But there are many perks too. Comic relief, for instance. Because only a two-year-old can accessorize his stripy jammies with rosy colored sunglasses and a plastic firefighter helmet and look darn good. Well, maybe him and Elton John...

Happy Saturday, friends. I'm hitting up a church rummage sale early this morning with my sisters and having coffee and cinnamon rolls with a friend for breakfast. But don't think it's all easy breezy sailing today. Because I have a school to-do list a mile and a half long. We're at the four day countdown until kids show up. And expect me to educate them. Gah! {Why do I feel like Snooki when I type Gah!} Have a good one, y'all :)

Just a swingin'....

Today I found this precious boy {in the pantry} helping himself to the entire box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Love him.

Teacher Week: Online Resources!

Last night was Open House at the school where I teach, and I got to see most of my little kiddos. And then there were the families who showed up at my door and were like Such and such is going to be in your room! And I'm all like, Um, you must be at the wrong room because I'm looping and don't recognize you as a former parent or student! But no, they were right - I gained three new kids last night. So, as of today, I have 25 students. {Cap is 24.} Cah-razy.

Anyway, today is the last day of Teacher Week, and today we are linking to our favorite online resources. Some of you have personal teaching websites in addition to your blogs, so be sure to link to that as well. {I would list the sites on your blog and use the Linky at the bottom to direct us to your post.}

Mrs. Meacham's Classroom Snapshots - If you are an elementary educator, you must visit this site! It is an amazing place for idea, resources, and lessons. In fact, I modeled much of what I did in kindergarten last year after finding this site. There's too much to mention, so go check it out!

Hello First Grade! - Another great site! You have to check out her links to Picassa to see pics of her room and activities. Very helpful.

Open Court Resources - This is a site where teachers of all grade levels can share information over the web and it includes lots of valuable resources.

WRSD - Amazing and detailed lesson plans for launching Reader's Workshop in grades k-5.

I could probably go on forever, but am going to stop there! I find a lot of websites through Google when I'm looking for something specific. I can't wait to see what y'all use :)

Additionally, if you wouldn't mind leaving any suggestions or comments concerning future Teacher Weeks, that would be great! I have had so much fun hosting this and wanted to see if there would be interest in doing it again sometime. Let me know what you think :)

I plan to get back to regular posting over the weekend, but will also post a Teacher Week Wrap-Up sometime soon too. Thanks again for participating! It has been fun :)

Teacher Week: Classroom Tours!

Wow! Day Four already?! Today is the much-anticipated Classroom Tours {or at least I'm pretty pumped about it!}. The placement of this day was strategic, as I knew my room had to be ready by Thursday for Open House. I hope that you post your classroom pics too - whether it's ready to go or not! I have learned so much by touring other teacher's classrooms - online and in person. This should be fun :)

I had to move rooms this year since I am teaching 1st grade and now reside in the former art room (art will be on wheels this coming year). My room is huge. However, it's wonderful and daunting all at the same time. Wonderful because I have an incredible amount of space to work with and daunting because, well, I have an incredible amount of space to work with! Trying to figure out the best arrangement has taken me a month, and I was rearranging and moving furniture in and out until about 9:30pm tonight. To see the before pics, see this post.

Okay, so this is the view when you walk in the door. I finally have desks. As of only yesterday. And they are all the bad ones (i.e. unbalanced legs, different heights, peeling desktops, etc.), but beggars can't be choosers! We added three new teaching positions for this coming year, so 90 desks are MIA right now, lost on a freight truck somewhere.

This view is standing at my desk. We are a green school, so our ceilings are angled to accommodate as much natural light as possible. You can't see the windows at the top of the angle.

This is standing in the corner opposite of my desk.

Here is my front whiteboard and bulletin boards. I think you can click on the pic to expand it if you want to see up close. Should be fairly self-explanatory, and I'm sure if you're a primary educator you have a similar looking set-up somewhere in your room. {Sidenote: I hate Calendar Math! I know it's a necessary component of early education, but the monotony of doing it every day bores me to tears. This year, my students will complete a calendar binder for morning work that we will discuss later in the morning during a student-directed/taught activity.}

This is the wall opposite of the door. Though it appears I painted directly on the wall, I did not - I painted it on a roll of IKEA paper and then hung it up with Velcro dots. The bulletin board divided into 4 blocks is where I will post "I Can" statements (learner goals). Most of the posters you see glue-gunned on the walls are just for fillers for the beginning of the year. Anchor charts will eventually go in their place.
Here is where a fraction of my books are camping out while I await cubbies (2-3 weeks away still!). I will eventually put them in the cabinets above the cubbies and house more organizational-type stuff on these bookcases.

Below are two different shots of our whole-group meeting area. I wish I could put a colorful carpet down here, but I cannot due to lice, bedbugs, and potential vomit. {Let's just say I had a small carpet in my room last year that a student threw-up all over during reading centers. I had to get rid of it and the stack of Dr. Seuss books he was reading...}

This is my current Word Wall wall, and the future location of my cubbies!

Here is my sink! A bonus from moving into the art room as only the kindergarten and preschool classrooms have them in room! Initially they wanted to remove the sink, counters, and drawers and put my cubbies here but they thought better of it (thankfully!) and I get all this extra storage and A SINK! Yay! This bare wall is the future location of my Word Wall bulletin board. I know it looks messy right now, but the counter is full of student supplies (folders, books, planners, etc.) that will disappear after the first day of school.

And, lastly, the bane of my existence: the tech corner. Besides the fact that I HATE exposed wires, this corner just looks blank and lonely. My mom and I just rearranged this particular area tonight, so there's still work to be done here. I'd like to hang a dry-erase board above my desk and hang up my ceiling tile art too, but it is not a priority right now!

So that's all I've got! I can't wait to see your rooms! I haven't had the time to get around to everyone's posts due to time constraints, but I've been visiting several a day. You all are so inspiring! But what should I expect? You're teachers :)

Please link up using the Linky below! (Also, I've never used Linkies before - is anyone having trouble loading my site? Please let me know if you are!)