Coming to an End...

First of all, can I just tell you how wonderful it was to have yesterday off work!! And don't get me wrong here- I'm not trying to brag but I am oh so thankful for the men and women who fight for our country to give us our freedom! I thoroughly enjoyed getting to sleep in yesterday morning- especially after a full weekend! 


Today was back to the grind but not in a bad way.  Last week was our last FULL week of school and I have kind of been avoiding these last few days of school because honestly I am just a little sad about it all coming to an end.  This week I fully intended on getting my kiddos to help me take down my room and pack it up and do all of that fun stuff but little did I know, we would not have the time for that this week.  Today flew by! I'm talking-- snack time at 9, then the 5th grade "Clap Off" (we all lined up in the halls and clapped and cheered them on to be going to middle school next year, recess at 9:30, 5th grade vs. teacher kickball game at 10 that we took our kiddos out to watch, got back inside around 11, worked on our "memory books" for about 15 minutes, loaded up for lunch at 11:30, specials at 12:15, work on our books for another 15 mins, had the 2nd Grade Awards Ceremony- for A, A&B Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance and the Sunshine award, then it was a birthday party for one of my girls at 2:15, pack up at 2:30 for dismissal.  That, my friends, is a FULL day of fun!! and no work ha! 

kickball game

more kickball

There were so many things I wanted to get done this week and tomorrow will be just as jam-packed.  Tomorrow- we have Break-Out day in the morning which is like a mini-field-day... the kids get to play outside, go to the cafeteria to dance (there will be a DJ), go to the art room to do crafts, sidewalk chalk, or bubbles, go to the gym where the bounce house is, or go to the music room to sing karaoke.  Yes, the kiddos get to roam to wherever they would like ha! We are split into grades so not all the students are out and about at once.  Sounds fun right? The kids looove it! Then tomorrow afternoon- we have our class party at 11:15 with pizza, followed by a baby shower my kiddos are throwing for me.  They are SOOO excited about our baby and would not let this year end without throwing me a Baby Shower (side note- one of my moms told me a sweet story about her son who is in my class... he went up to her one night and as serious could be asked her why they would be "showering" me and where was this shower to be? hehe HOW CUTE right!? just love my babies!)

So yea, then Thursday- 1/2 day at school and we are done. Can I say BITTERSWEET!? That is really the only word that can describe my feelings.  I am so proud of my kids and how far they have come, and all they have accomplished this year.  It is so hard for me to let them go (to third grade-- can you image when its my own kids growing up!?)... I am going to miss them OH SO MUCH!

I leave you with some pictures of the disaster my room has become this past year- but it is a place filled with love and fun and I never want to forget these days, moments, kids, and this year!   

Cheers to Mrs. P's 2nd Grade Class of 2010-2011! What a great bunch!!

my class

the 3 ladies of 2nd @ Recess...

A Honor Roll! YAY!... and WOW... think I'm getting bigger? I look huge in this pic ha!

Have I mentioned I love these kids... and teaching... and this school...!!! :)

Telling my 2nd Graders!

For the past several weeks I have been really looking forward to sharing our BIG news with my kids!  I just wanted to wait until I was a little further along and the layoff wave was temporarily over. 

Finally, after lots of considerations about how to go about telling them, I decided on my way to let the news out.  Instead of just telling them I decided to make it into a game (they love games!)  The game was 20 questions-- where they are to ask me yes or no questions until they figure it out. I told them on Wednesday that I had a BIG surprise for them on Thursday so you can image all day long Thursday they kept asking.  I didn't let the game begin until they were packed up and it was near time for the bell to ring.  Wednesday some of the kids guessed that we were having a popsicle party (they were very disappointed when I responded with a noooo!)

So Thursday afternoon, the game begins.  I got great questions-- does it have to do with school? does it have to do with next year? your going to teach third grade!? and they kept on.  They finally narrowed it down that it had nothing to do with work/school and that it only had to do with my personal life.  Then the guesses started to flow-- your birthday? k's birthday? your anniversary? your getting married? (hello-- you all know my husband lol) etc.  It was so fun watching them all gaze at me with mystery and excitement dying to know! FINALLY, one of the girls guessed: "you're going to have a baby?!" and I SHOUTED YESS!!! and they ALL scrrrrreamed!!! (other teachers next door knew what I was doing and they said they heard the screams! ha)  I was quickly tackled with warm hugs of excitement and bombarded with the questions of was it a boy or a girl and when was I due!?  It was so fun and finally all my anxiety and nervousness about telling them left me and I was filled with the joy of a child!

The bell rang seconds later, and before I let them leave I explained that the only other people that knew were the teachers on our team and that this was their news- and they were to tell anyone they wanted to tell! Oh were they so thrilled!!! They went running out of my room screaming at the top of thier lungs (which is very loud for 8 year olds), "MY TEACHER IS HAVING A BABY!!" It was so much fun and a moment I will never forget and I hope they never forget either!


[ps i wish i could post a picture of their sweet little faces on here but for now you will just have to imagine]


{The story of telling the other teachers coming soon} {and other HILARIOUS stories/advice from these precious little 8 year olds!}

Weekend Wrap Up!

in bullets:

FRIDAY:

• came home from work, fell asleep (napped) around 5:30pm and didn't wake up till around 8:30pm ha!
• hubby fixed me a plate of food that I didn't even eat that night because well... I slept through dinner and wasn't hungry when I woke up ha!

SATURDAY:

• had to take the stupid ESL test at 7:30am... not how I want to spend my saturday at that time
• came home and hubby surprise me by taking me to one of my alllll time fav. resturants! Hang Out Deli!! 
• had some great phone convo's with people I love... got caught up on each others lives :)
• went to B&N and got some new books I am so excited about reading!
• lazied around here... and really enjoyed our time together because this was the first time in a million years hubs and I have been off allll weekend together!! sooo nice!
• ate Jason's for dinner for a Hot Date!

SUNDAY:

• "slept in" till 7am! 
• went to church at 11
• lunch with tara and rk at Rosas mmm! 
• dinner @ El Fenix with Kris and Erin mmm! (I swear we do more than eat!)

I'm super lame and haven't been taking pictures... honestly I am not sure where my camera is at the moment... maybe I should get on this! Sorry for the boring-no-picture-post :( 

hodgepodge

a hodgepodge of random thoughts...

...that i have been wanting to get off my chest- don't judge me.  :)

Tonight we went to PotBellys for dinner and had a great time enjoying the music of our great friend, Taylor.  He plays guitar there every week and we really enjoy getting to hear him play.

We also had a great Thanksgiving at our house this year! My family drove in and we at lots of yummy food and my cousin did some amazing work on my flower bed, planted 2 trees for us and created a new bed! He is wonderful and we really enjoyed his company!! I have lots of pics that I will try and post at some point (fingers crossed)!

Last night K and I went to dinner at Panda Express (we go there a lot) and about 1:30 this morning I woke up sick and nauseous! I went to school this morning but ended up taking a 1/2 day and I'm still not feeling up to par.  I'm hoping this will pass tomorrow as lots of things are going on and I want to feel better.

K and I have been wanting to move back home and a post from one of my friends going home has brought it more to the forefront of my mind.

Babies.... and stay at home moms!

This Thursday I have my formal evaluation at school. Nervous but trying not to be nervous.

Marriage, thankful and grateful for my husband.

I'm worn out- sooo ready for Christmas break!

The End... thanks for listening and loving me still :)

Bruised and Beaten but... I Love Living Life. I Am Happy.

OUCH!! Man was today a killer!! I feel like I have been beaten up. My kids just wore me OUT today!! I don't know what happened after lunch but suddenly they all forgot how to stay seated, how to be quiet, and how to do their work... ANY work... writing, listening, etc. Where oh where have I gone wrong!?! I mean man, my kids barely even left on time today... I almost got to spend the night with some of them at the school. that is the kind of day it was today. since when does it take second graders 30 minutes to write math, reading, and spelling. wow....Anyways, here is to hopes that the week(s) get better and not worse... {DEEP BREATH....}

This is the perfect video for a day like today:
(ps to leave a comment on my blog please click on "pieces of mind" underneath the bottom of this post- those of you who are getting this emailed to you: not all the pictures/videos will come through.  Please visit the blog directly at www.livingtheadventures.blogspot.com and leave a comment :) ) love you all!

First week of school- Check!

I survived my first week of teaching! 

Wahoo!! 

The first day went better than expected but my feet were killlllling me by the end of the day!!  I am used to being on my feet and them being sore but never so bad that at the end of the day I literally had huge blisters under the skin of my feet.  They are still recovering thanks to my hubby for surprising me with a foot massager after day 2 and multiple nice hand massages :) He is so good to me! 
So this week has been tiring for me (very tiring!).  I have a full class of 22 sweet 2nd graders and 2 more who are special ed that come to join us everyday for a little while.  Let me just start by saying all of my kids are as sweet as sugar!  BUT they do NOT behave as sweet as sugar ha.  I have the inclusion class for 2nd grade which is a challenge in an of itself.  If you aren't familiar with inclusion google it... this is the direction that most schools are heading these days as the learning is better for all of the children, research shows.  I also have several children who have behavioral issues so that is also very challenging.  I have "that class" if you know what I mean.  I survived the first week and do believe that I can get through the whole year if I managed this week- which I obviously did even if I did work for 6am to 6pm or later most days... wheph the life of a teacher! (hopefully this gets better with experience ;) )
This week we really just did a few assesments and lots of getting to know you type activities.  This was both a challenge and a blessing.  Since we didn't really have a set schedule or lesson plans it made it difficult for me to plan what to do during the day and how long it would take.  On the other hand it was nice because I was able to not be consumed by a schedule or "oh my goodnesss I havent done blah blah yet!" -- if that makes sence?
This next week is going to be our first week of instruction and I am a bit overwhelmed with the whole lesson planning part of it.  Luckily our team works together to plan so I have all the "plans".  Now, I am challenged with learning how to actually TEACH the lessons, and also learning to actually stick to the schedule.  This is what I will be doing all weekend :)
I am very excited about all that this year is going to bring along with it. I already (though I'm stressed out) feel so much happier (happier than I ever have been in a job) about what I am doing.  I can guarantee you, without a shadow of a doubt that I am doing what God has planned for me to do, even before he created me.  This IS my passion and I am so very blessed that he has finally given me the opportunity to live my dream! 
My motto this year is going to be that

"God brought me to this, so he will bring me through it!" 

I hope that after this year is over I can look back and know that I have changed childrens lives for the better, taught them intellectuial ideas as well as life lessons, I hope that I can missionaly live for God and do this job that he has placed before me with humility and grace!

Since I've Been Gone...

Well Hey Ya'll and WELCOME back to my blog! 
(I am still in the process of re-vamping-new layout, new background, new picture, etc- so please bear with me)

SOOO much has been going on over the past several months... but I don't really have all the time in the world to discuss that right now, although I assure you that I will. I am going to try my darnedest to get back into my blogging and now that I am back in town and near a computer it should be do-able :) 


So for a quick and short overview... 

"Since I've Been Gone..."

-I finalized our wedding plans

-Took a road-trip to Arkansas 

-From Arkansas drove to N.C.

-Enjoyed being in my hometown for a week

-Had the MOST BEAUTIFUL, FUN, & WONDERFUL wedding & reception to truly the MOST AMAZING man in this WORLD! {seriously, the BEST TIME EVER!!!}

-Took a road-trip/honeymoon to Orlando, FL- spent time at Walt Disney World and got to spend some Q.T. with my dear friends and their newborn daughter, precious girl!

-Took yet another road-trip to spend the remainder of our honeymoon in Destin, FL!

-Obviously (take a look at my new pic...) met up with the MOST TALENTED Patsy Brown and had her take some SMOKIN' HOT photo's of Hubs and I! 

-One last road-trip from FL to New Orleans, Louisiana and finally back to our abode

ohhhhhh and something MOST exciting....

-Got a NEW job TEACHING SECOND GRADE!!! {Squeels!}

And those are just the highlights! I swear I will try to share more soon! Pinky Promise! Oh how I have missed all of my faithful readers and blogger friends!! I have been in workshops all week for New Teacher Training, and tomorrow will wrap that up... so alas I MUST call it a night and get some shut eye... 6:30 am is going to come oh too soon! 

We LOVE you, Patsy Brown!!! Go check out her blog! oh and she travels :)