Easter

We had a pretty good Easter. The food was amazing as usual. I ran to old navy and stocked up on some tanks and stuff before heading home to do lesson plans. I feel better now that they're done but the Sunday evening blues have hit me hard. I accomplished a lot this week and I know summer is right around the corner. I wanted to share a few things I've painted/distressed so far. I can't wait to do my table. I may start the chairs next weekend. The first is a shelf that I literally pulled from the side of the road somewhere. It was the first piece I did and was relatively easy. The second is an antique radio cover that my grandma gave me. My family has tons and tons of old furniture and wood from my great grandmas house so there is plenty to work on.





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What I've been up to

I'm thinking about getting back into blogging again for about the 100th time. I haven't been successful so far and my life is pretty boring. Today (Easter Sunday) makes 4 months without my brother and I don't know how long it will take for holidays not to suck so bad. My sweet great aunt came and gave my house a major overhaul. I got new furniture and curtains for the living room and I no longer have miscellaneous crap in the guest room or office closet. I went with bonded leather because it's so much easier to clean. Faith sheds a ton for a pit bull and the bonded leather doesn't scratch.




I'm working on refinishing my dining room table and chairs. All of my furniture is espresso colored and I've had it awhile so it's time to paint and distress a little so everything isn't so dark. I broke down and bought a pretty nice sander so that should make things easier.





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School

Is it really almost Monday again? Ugh. This past week was crazy. We got a new student in the middle of the week. I had two kids that had poop accidents, my evaluation from our facilitator was terrible. She came on a day when we had recess inside, no one was cleaning their centers, and we ran out of time during the lesson. It doesn't go in our file and I know this is my first year in head start but I still feel like a huge failure. I'm such a perfectionist and I want to make sure my kids are getting what they need. There is a lot of freedom to teach whatever in head start and I'm just not used to it yet. The principal I had last year could be downright hateful so I'm still kind of afraid of getting fussed at. The facilitator was so nice and offered help if I needed it. I tried posting some photos of the kids but apparently it's not working . Please Lord let this week get better. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hurt

"My brother died last week" does not say enough about how I feel. Thursday, December 8, 2011 a piece of my heart went to heaven. I had a typical day at school, my kids were just starting to get the pre Christmas crazies. We got our school iPads that day and I sat in a training for an hour or so. After that, I went and met my parra and we bought critter hats. I walked in my house about 4:15 thinking I could take a quick nap. I had just settled myself down on the couch when my mom called and told me they were taking him to the hospital. While we were talking she had to let me go because his friend he was working with was calling. My heart knew then that he was gone, I can't really explain it other than its like a part of you is sucked out. She called back about 10 minutes later. Now I remember that she didn't actually get the words out, but I lost it and my grandma came to get me. We had to wait until Sunday to get his body back because he was working in Pennsylvania. All we know is that he had an enlarged heart and died peacefully in his sleep. He was only 24. I'm officially done with Christmas this year. My grandma is still going to do her thing and cook. She says that it would break his heart to feel like he ruined Christmas and she's right but i can't get rid of the feeling of wanting to rip my tree down.

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Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was an interesting one to say the least. My mom is still recovering from having a colon resectioning and my grandpa just got out of ICU today after having surgery on his carotid artery. I have a lot to be thankful for that they are doing better now. I spent Thanksgiving in Houston and will be trying to avoid Black Friday as much as possible.

What's on my mind now:
Nearly went postal in giant 2 story Forever 21 due to over abundance of teenagers
I hate Houston traffic
Dogs are driving me crazy (7 total staying here)
This week went way too fast
Still need to do lesson plans, get kids a tree and ornaments
Home is waiting with 100 loads of laundry
Tried sock bun curls. Cussed. A lot. Will see when I wake up.
Tired. Goodnight.



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Life

I can't believe Thanksgiving is almost here. Pretty soon we'll be working on the Christmas program and ringing in the new year. School has kept me so busy lately. We are working on home visits this week and next. My parents have been pretty cooperative which is great. This is a short week at school for me since I'm off tomorrow for my mom's surgery (she's having a cancerous part of her colon removed) and Friday is Veteran's Day.

I'm loving the iPad and the kids have gotten the hang of it. At first they seemed kind of afraid to touch it and werent pressing hard enough. We've been working on Starfall and ABC Trace for the past few weeks. I need to find a number trace app because we just started working on writing numbers.

I officially adopted Faith on October 22nd which is also pit bull awareness day. She finished up her classes for CGC and all we have to do is work some more in public places so she can get used to distractions and we will be all set to take the test.


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iPad apps

As promised, I will share a few of the iPad apps my district has recommended. They are mainly early childhood and sped.

Little Speller- this app is very customizable. You can include your own pictures and input your own spelling list as a scramble or for younger students, include the letters in their proper place to teach students to drag letters. Sound can be turned off or on.

Sock Puppets- can record voices, choose different characters and settings then play your puppet show. Great for story retelling.

Sas flash cards-very easy to customize

Answers yes or no- great app for sped. You can customize questions ad answers with pictures.

Autism apps- collection of apps to assist children with autism. Unlike the previous apps I posted, some of these are not free. I highly recommend some of the ABA flash card apps that have great pictures.

It's getting late and on top of that, I'm starting to get sick. (the day before we foto the pumpkin patch no less) so I will continue this list later.


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Technology

I had a rough week at school. It seemed like every day we had a few friends that were tardy. We go straight to bathroom and breakfast when the kids come in, so it's an extra hassle if anyone is tardy. Thursday was our Grandparent's Day breakfast so Wednesday afternoon was spent doing decorations and preparing everything.

I needed a break this weekend so bad but Saturday I had to attend an all day technology conference. It was actually very informative. We discussed literacy with Promethean boards. I don't have a Promethean in my classroom this year but some other teachers and I are working on writing some grants to get some. Even though we may not see the boards this year, I felt like it was very important for me to catch up on the new stuff since I've been without mine.

I attended three sessions on iPad. We actually got to borrow the iPads for the sessions. It was great because we got to see some apps that we can actually implement with our younger students. It's so hard for Pre-k and Head Start teachers to get a lot out of these conferences because they are always tailored to upper elementary. I attended the SPED seminar also and got some great ideas on how to better engage some of my kids.

I also spent some $$$ I probably shouldn't have and bought an iPad. The iPad 2 is apparently on sale to make way for the 3 and I couldn't pass up the price so I brought it home. It's hooked up to iTunes now and getting the IOS 5 update. For my next post, I will share our district's list of iPad apps and do some reviews on a few.

Milestones

I feel like I've hit a major milestone in the year. I no longer feel like I'm constantly freaking out all the time about everything I have to get done. I managed to turn my first set of assessments in without a hitch and my lesson plan review went well. Things are falling into place and my little friends in class are doing so much better. They are getting procedures down and learning to keep their hands and feet to themselves.

Last Wednesday, I turned 28. Not so happy about creeping up on 30 but I had a great birthday. I bought myself this little present for all my hard work. I've been wanting an MK watch forever and the fact that I found a nice little stipend on my check this month sealed the deal.

What's In My Pocket

I decided to start a weekly addition of what's in my pocket to show some of the interesting things I collect from my kids at school. Today I have a penny, package of salt, and a googly eye.


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One Week Down

My first week in class with the kids is over. It was an easy one because we only had 7 this week. I will have 17 total. Everyone is doing great with procedures but they are getting so spoiled by being such a small class. My theme for my room is safari and as soon as I can get to it, I'm going to post some pictures. I got some really neat fonts for the newsletter and folders at fontspace.com under the animal category. I finished their take home folders yesterday and I decided to use

Safari

And

Families

Are

Responsible and

Informed

since I teach HeadStart and we're all about family involvement. I thought this one was cute also:

Little

Experts

Organizing

Practicing

And

Remebering

Daily

Skills

I got this from smithsroom.com under Moose acronyms. They have so many cute ones.

I'm trying to take it easy this weekend because my brain is a little mushy but we have to start screening on Monday so I've got to get a few things together plus I need to go through my cd's and make daily ones so I don't have to waste so much time changing cd's all day.

Back to School

This is where I've been for the past few weeks. This was the before picture. I sent this to a friend along with "HELP!!!!" She replied back with "I see potential". It's all coming together and hopefully I will have an after picture to put up here soon. I thank God every day for my job and can't wait to meet my students for the year.

Things are looking up

I got a job!!! I'm so excited and I feel like a huge load has been lifted off my shoulders. I found out Friday. Next week I'll be getting my classroom into shape and working on things at the Media Center.

On another note, I'm fostering this cutie pie for the local pit bull rescue. She is an absolute doll. I got her today and she's fitting right in. Hopefully I can get her adopted before I fall in love with her too much.

Coupons

I'm really not into all this extreme couponing business. I don't have the patience to sit, clip and organize all of that. It's kind of a shame because my house is pretty organized and my classroom always was too but I guess having to make that big ol coupon binder just is too much for me. Plus, I don't need 700 bottles of Powerade or 200 cans of oatmeal. I don't have the place to store all of that stuff. I did however, get roped into liking RainingHotCoupons.com on Facebook by a friend. Today's deal is a free $12 voucher from cellpig.com. They have a few iPhone cases and car chargers so I decided to get a case. I have the iPhone 4 and normally keep an Otterbox on it because 1, I'm destructive and 2, I let kids play on it all the time. I have an iHome dock which of course does not work with the Otterbox on it so I needed a smaller case so I don't have to dock it naked. Even switching the cases back and forth freaks me out but heck it was free. The deal ends today so mosey on over to raininghotcoupons to check it out.

What I've been up to

Still no word about a job for next year. I had two interviews but there are so many administration changes in the elementary schools so hiring is taking longer. Gotta love Louisiana and the value they place on education.
To keep myself busy I've been working on healthier eating at home. I got Hungry Girl 300 under 300 and I'm working my way through the recipes. I've also rededicated myself to my old 6 days a week at the gym so maybe I can shed all the extra pounds I packed on last school year.
In addition to all of that, I've been working on redoing some furniture pieces I've had for awhile. I basically just sand them down a little bit then paint with sponges to make sort of an antique look. To seal it i just spray with a clear coat. The chair and stool are for my future classroom. I will be so glad to get rid of all my teacher stuff that's taking up so much space. Pardon the mess in my kitchen, I'm in the process of organizing and overhauling my entire house. I'm almost done.








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Summertime

I've wanted to blog more instead of just stalking other blogs but this summer hasn't provided much in the way of excitement. I'm working 2 CASA cases and I've been working on a benefit for a friend's niece. It's on Saturday so we've been collecting donations, baking all sorts of things for the bake sale and running around like crazy people all week. After doing all of this, I'm reminded once again what a great community I live in. People as far as Lafayette have donated. Right now, K and I (thank God she lives behind me) have been funneling baked goods across our yards all morning. My oven is baking the second batch of beer bread and she's baking what feels like 10 million cookies in hers. I still haven't found a permanent teaching position but things are looking better than last year so I just have to continue to pray and have faith that something will come up.

St. Tropez Self Tanner

As much as I hate to admit it, I still can't get over my tanning bed addiction. Last summer, I skipped tanning in the beds and this summer I've failed a little. I know it's terrible for my skin but I have found a little gem that makes staying out of the tanning bed a little easier. Enter St. Tropez self tanner. It comes in a lotion and mousse form. I bought the lotion at Sephora and have been pretty pleased with the results. I am naturally a little darker complected and don't burn in the sun (thank God for Native American blood) so self tanner doesn't turn me orange. It's about $28 and well worth it. It applies pretty quickly and for troublesome spots like knees and elbows, I do one pump of St. Tropez and one pump of lotion to even things out. The bottle says to apply it then rinse in the shower after 4 hours. I put it on at night, dry it off a little with the blow dryer on cold shot, and go to sleep. I feel like it helps the color build a bit better but maybe it's just me. It lasts for about a week, then just reapply and you're good to go.

I've been driving myself crazy trying to find someone in town that does Shellac. My fav nail tech ever does them but shes 40 minutes away and gas in my Yukon is not cheap plus it's impossible to keep find time once school starts back up (we are on Spring Break this week, thank you Lord). I found a few so far after searching forever. Most of the responses I got where "What?" "Who" or "No she no come in til tomorrow".

Today in itself was bizarre enough. Last night, General my Boxer had an "episode". He just fell down in the laundry room and would not get up. As I'm freaking and looking for the phone to call the vet, poor baby could not control his bladder and peed all over the floor. He still just laid there and after about another minute or so, he just popped back up like nothing happened. He ate and drank after than and I kept him with me the rest of the night. He's all good today, and I still have no idea what caused it.

I couldn't sleep after all that excitement plus the weather was terrible so the dogs and I camped on the couch to watch tv. About 5:30 or so the lights go out. And they stayed out. Apparently until 3 this afternoon (thanks a lot Entergy!). I went and ran the roads with my grandma so I was out of the house until about 4.

New Job Title?

I officially would like to change my job title from Teacher Without A Class to SAHPM or Stay At Home Puppy Momma. I'm starting to enjoy this a little too much. The pros are: house is always spotless, I'm getting to the gym every day and actually enjoying it, cooking at home is saving lots of $. The cons: Being a SAHPM doesn't exactly pay that well. I'm subbing as much as possible but this week has been slower with LEAP testing. Today I have to meet BFF at her school to assist with cheerleader tryouts. Middle school scares me to death but I think I can deal with 30 hopeful cheerleaders for a few hours. It is Friday so BFF has successfully bribed me with several adult beverages.

Sunday Chores

I started my Sunday chores tonight so I could get an early start. The 2 big dogs have been bathed and I changed their bedding. Little Moo isn't feeling so well today. Poor baby decided to help himself to some extra food.


Tomorrow I am going to head to early service at church, find some lunch and go shopping. Monday I have to inventory and clean out my closet. It's horrible.

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