Baby Mama Drama Update

How far along am I? 19 weeks

Cravings: I can always go for Papa John's pizza with garlic sauce, but that was the case before I was pregnant, too.  I mean, it is so good.  I have enjoyed citrusy candy much more than I did before I was pregnant (sour patch kids and starburst)

Physically: I feel great.  This week was especially exhausting because of parent-teacher conferences.

Emotionally: I have had a couple of big breakdowns lately.  Last week, we painted a huge portion of the inside of our house.  We had lots of help, which was so nice because we got it all done in one day; however, it started off kind of rocky trying to mesh everyone's different painting styles.  I couldn't handle it.  Lots of tears. I remembered my husband's birthday (yay!), but we both had Bible Study the night of his birthday, his dad took him out the next evening, and by Wednesday I had completely forgotten to do anything:(  Womp.  Womp.

Feelings about the baby: I think I felt the baby kick this week, but it could be gas because that likes to hang around, too.  Sometimes I really don't feel like I am pregnant.  We have had several sonograms because of my earlier issues.  Even then, the image on the screen seems like just a movie instead of something INSIDE me.

We will be going for our 20 week check-up soon and will hopefully find out the gender.  I would be okay without knowing, but I think Anthony would really like to know.  We have a boy and girl name both picked out but will be keeping those a secret until the baby is born.

I haven't told my students or their parents yet.  (Minus the parent that the counselor shared the information with.  Good grief-adults and sharing information that is not theirs to share.  I could write a whole couple blog posts about that.)  BUT, I won't be able to keep it a secret for much longer as my belly continues to expand.  A student the other day asked if I was pregnant.  I pretended not to understand what she said.  Soon though, I need to have a better response than I ate a big lunch.

The best day of School so far

The other day a friend from my old school asked me if I felt like I made a good decision leaving and going to a new school.  I had to think about it for a while.   Even though there are some good things (the students are smarter, the students behave in a social acceptable manner, I have parent involvement), there are also some negatives (more is expected of the students-we don't want just passing, we want commended, I have more parent involvement).  I miss my good, good friends at my old school.  My new team is nice, but I am not to the point where I can talk to them about whatever.  (Look out, Debbie and Kriston, the time is coming where you will soon hear of my bathroom habits!)  After a few days of mulling over the question and listening to a lot of feedback from different people at my old school, I decided that even though I am unsure about whether I love, love my new school, I know that I would not being doing well at my old school with the new principal, and the low, low students, and the obnoxious behavior problems, and the lack of support from administration.  I know that this would be my last year in the teaching profession if I had stayed there.  At least, at my new school, I feel a glimmer of hope that I might last a little longer.

But let me tell you about the best day of school so far.  I have had some rough ones; every day is not wonderful.  First off, I had scheduled my observation for PDAS for Thursday.  That's right, my new principal let me tell her when I wanted her to come and observe me.  What a pleasant surprise as opposed to in the past having to wait two weeks on pins and needles never knowing when I might be observed.  Now, it is done, and that makes me happy!  Secondly, it was pouring rain and cooler on Friday morning.  Hello fall weather!  I grabbed an iced hazelnut coffee from McDonald's on the way to work.  How could the morning get any better?

Well, beside the fact that it continued to be dark and gloomy the rest of the day, the students finally clicked with how I wanted math workshop to look.  Ideally, students are able to work interdependently on their investigations and math problems while I pull struggling students to meet with me.  All week, we had been working on talking and helping people at your table if they are struggling, so the confusion can be solved before they all come bombard me with questions.

This is a conversation I overheard from one table:
W was telling S (struggling student) how to solve a problem.  R butted in and told W to "make sure you tell him WHY he needs to do that."  Be still my heart!

Friday I also assigned some teacher helpers.  Students would check in with other students for specific problems.  The teacher helpers would give them a sticker if the problem was correct or send them away to go work on the problem some more.  I saw written in red pen on a student's paper, "please solve in another way."  Love it!

And then while we were discussing how math workshop went, my students told me how "efficient" and "beneficial" the teacher helpers were.  Need I continue?

Because I did not have to check in with students who had little stumbling blocks, my really confused kids were able to have some awesome ah ha moments!

Friday continued to be awesome because I had a parent come make copies and cut things out for next week.  Because my plans were already in, all I had to do after school was file my copies and head out.
School was awesome on Friday!

Day One is in the Books

Wow!  Today went by so fast!  What is really nice about team teaching is that halfway through the day, you get to get rid of those kids, get some new ones, and repeat the lesson you already have taught.  It makes the end of the day so nice!  Although, if today was any indication, that probably is going to have some behavior issues.

I wanted to document some differences and similarities I noticed between teaching at a Title 1 school and teaching in Lantana.

Although I expected all students to come with all of their supplies, a few of them were without.

Several parents picked up items on my wish list, and the students brought them today.  Yay!

What really struck me as a big differences was not so much between Title and nonTitle but really the layout of the school.  Or I guess maybe where I am positioned.  The cafeteria is like a few seconds from my room.  Special areas are just around the corner for the most part.  When students are finished at lunch, they can go directly outside to the playground which is right by our room.  At my last school, I had to walk all the way upstairs to get to the cafeteria and walk way out to the playground after lunch.  It was ridiculous.

Dismissal was a little crazy in the hallway, but we don't dismiss from our rooms until the end of school bell rings.

I can't think of any other differences right now.  My feet hurt the same at Title 1 or not.


I somehow managed to ruin the sauce for dinner tonight.  Oh well, it is pasta and cheese!  It can't be that bad.

We made it, day one, teachers!

Back in the kitchen again

Good Sunday Morning!
Hubby is at the gym, and I figured I could get a blog in before we headed to church.  This week has been a whirlwind of inservice.  I even went up to school Saturday to wrap my head around what is going on.  We will say that is my one Saturday for the school year.  School starts tomorrow, and I am excited to get back in the groove.  For the most part, I really do love teaching.  I am hoping that I will be able to form good relationships with people at my new school that will make going to work super fun.

I am not going to be too ambitious here or anything, but I have got to start meal planning again.  I have been so lazy this summer.  Nothing sounded good, so it was hard to cook anything.  Before the end of the school year last year, we were packing and moving, so I wasn't cooking then.  So, I am going to try three meals this week.  With leftovers, that should be plenty.

Monday:

SKINNY FETTUCCINE ALFREDO WITH SPINACH 
YIELD: 4-6 SERVINGS INGREDIENTS: 13.25 oz whole wheat linguine, 1 package, you could use any other pasta of your liking 1 cup cottage cheese, or low fat cream cheese, I did this once and it works well 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, plain, I used 2% fat 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 2-3 tablespoons blue cheese, I used crumbled blue cheese 1/4 cup Manchego cheese, cubed 8 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed out and drained 2-3 garlic cloves 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, to prevent curdling Pepper flakes, optional DIRECTIONS: Add all the ingredients, except the pasta of course and the spinach, to your food processor and process until smooth. Pour sauce in a non stick pan and add the chopped spinach. Over a low to medium heat, heat the sauce through for a minute or so before adding the pasta. Add the pasta to the sauce and heat until sauce starts to thicken and adhere to pasta, about 3-5 minutes. Add pepper flakes if using and serve.
Read more at http://www.eatgood4life.com/2012/02/skinny-fettuccine-alfredo-with-spinach.html#4PgzrgMwh6iOc1wL.99
This looks super easy and super yummy.  She has a really pretty picture on her website, too.  I will probably not use all the fancy cheese and will add some shredded chicken.

Wednesday:
Hamburger Steak with Onion and Gravy

I have done something similar to this before called Salisbury Steak.  The picture on the website is with corn and mashed potatoes, and that looks really good!

Friday: BBQ Pulled Chicken

This is one of my recipes I got from my sister.  Super easy.


So, if I was a productive girl, today I could...
1.) make the alfredo sauce, bag it, refrigerate it
2.) make and brown the steak patties
3.) cook and shred the chicken (it's crockpot) and put in the freezer

Doing those steps would make for a much less messy kitchen during the week when I have absolutely no motivation to clean.

Hollar!  Now to make a grocery list...

Have a great week,

All our ducks in a row

 

Good Morning,
I am sitting in a hotel room with one of my teacher friends in Austin, TX.  My sister has nursing training down here for the week, and we are accompanying her.  I wanted to update everyone on life because it has been happening very fast and several big things have changed.

In chronological order:
1.  We bought a house!
As many of you know, we have been house hunting for a while.  We had even put in offers on a couple foreclosures that didn't pan out.  We moved in May 17th.  We still have boxes scattered throughout the house, and most things are mismatched, but we are in no rush to make our house perfect.  We want to enjoy the process.  I do have some summer plans that I am sure I will keep you updated on.

2.  We have a furbaby!
I know that word probably grates against some of your ears as it has the potential to be somewhat annoying, but I love the word!  We drove to the middle of nowhere to pick up Gentry.  At that point, she was 7 weeks old.  She is a boxer\australian shepherd mix.  Little background--I have never owned a four-legged pet.  We had chickens, turkeys, and ducks.  I had no idea what to expect, and for some reason I thought we needed a puppy.  She is a lot of work, but she is super cute.  She wakes us up on mornings that we would normally sleep in.  She cries in the middle of the night.  She makes messes.  She bites.  We call her our monster.  I take a lot of pictures of her on instagram, you should follow me.  (Username is livingpretty22)

3.  I got a new job!
I have been thinking about quitting teaching since last year.  Last year was tough (team issues).  This year the students and parents were the most difficult I have ever had.  (Thank goodness for an awesome team!)  I was really contemplating leaving the profession altogether.  This year I started revising my resume and networking with other teachers and principals.  I had had an interview a few months back, but I never heard back either way (rude!).  Last week, I had another interview that I totally thought I ended on the wrong note.  Surprise, two days later the principal called and offer me the job.  I am so excited about this transition.  I am hoping that it will reenergize my love for teaching and students.

All of this happened in the time frame of less than a month!  Wowzers!  I am thankful that God has a plan for my life, even the itty bitty details.  Anthony and I very much try to make decisions to do things if all our ducks are in a row.  Fortunately, God has blessed us when he sees fit.


Hopefully, now that I have caught everyone up on life, I will be back in the blogging scene a bit more.  I miss writing.


xoxo,

The day someone was in my car

I talk to myself.  In the car.  All the time.  I have always thought it would be totally embarrassed if anyone heard me. Well, the other day, it happened.

I was on my way home from school after a particularly stressful day of dealing with child who have been given permission to act anyone way they choose without having consequences.  I was ranting in the car pretending to talk to this child's mother about her lack of parenting and how she should not be blaming me for the way her child is behaving.  I was expressing my frustration with my administration and lack thereof when all of a sudden I hear,

"Who is this?"

I look down in my lap to see that I have accidentally dialed a friend from school, which is embarrassing enough, but a friend who knows my frustrations.  Whew!

"Lisa?" I say after I see which contact I have been complaining to for the last five minutes.

"No, this is Grannie."

Gulp!  Not my Grannie even, this is Lisa's mom...who I have never met.  She has no idea who I am.  I had saved her number a long time ago in case I needed it.

Whoops.  Rant ended.

*Of course all of the details about students, parents, and administration are completely made up because I work in Utopia ISD, and those type of people do not exist.  People not doing their job--I have never encountered those people before.  

You never know who is listening...




P.S.  Any guest bloggers out there?  Free Button Swappers??

It's ok!

It's ok jl;dfkjf;lksdjfdjhfjsdhfjhfjhdjfhjdfhldjfhdklfhdskjfhdsklfhsjdhf.  Sorry I can't say it.  It could be used against me in a court of law.  For real.
It's ok that I won at Bunco this week!  Score $16!
It's ok that I woke up this morning and contemplated wearing the leggings that I wore to bed last night under a dress to school.  I decided against the outfit for other reasons, though.  Check out my instagram pics.  I got lots of sweet compliments on what I decide to wear.
It's ok to be indecisive about a house even though you are in love with it!  If it is still there when we feel ready, then it is the right house for us.
It's ok that I am only cooking like one meal a week, and we are eating off of it all week.  Or we are eating cereal or popcorn.
It's ok to be scouting out potential future bosses while standing next to your current one.  
It's ok that I have the evening to myself because I just remembered that I haven't finished all of The Bachelor!  
It's ok that this week has been the hardest week to motivate myself to go to school.  I literally sat in my car this morning and was like, "Awesome, I have 5 more minutes before I have to see students."

I quit!

I have thought this so many times this week at school!  I cannot be everything these needy children require.  I cannot be their counselor, friend, parent, teacher, and disciplinarian.  I am not emotionally and mentally able to handle that.  I am overwhelmed hourly.  I am constantly reminded of everything I am not doing right.

Fortunately, as one fellow teacher reminded me, I am not doing this for my principal, the parents, the scores, even the children.  I am striving and doing the best I know how to do for God.  He is my audience.  He is the one I will be accountable to for my actions and word choice, oh gosh, even my thoughts toward my children.

Unlike the state of Texas, God does not have a pass or fail, He graciously gives me another chance. 

So, I guess, I need to stop thinking about how often I want to strangle them.  jk, but not really.

 xoxo,

Secret Pal

At our school this year, we were assigned secret pal.  Every now and then we are supposed to drop them a note or a little gift to brighten their day.  And if you are a teacher, you know that there are some most days that you need a little encouragement.  I have no idea who my secret pal is, which is super exciting!  I found this in my mailbox a couple weeks ago.

I love, love, love dark chocolate!  I ate them all in two days and did not share.  I have no self-control.  But to top it all off, this was the cute bowl I got with it:

 Is that not the best bowl ever.  I love holiday decorations!  I think I was more excited about the bowl than the candy.  Partly because the candy is all gone, but the bowl is currently decorating my kitchen table.  

Thanks Secret Pal!

I know there are some things similar to this in blogging world (sending people stuff, surprises).  Anyone done any of those?  Any suggestion on where to get started?  I love getting and giving goodies:)))

Joey voice: How YOU doin'?

Link Up with Neely.

It's okay that I am eating two huge chocolate chip cookies from Chickfila because that is a cut-down from the three I was eating.
It's okay that I have to wait to call my parents until I am not driving because they will hang up on me if they know I am driving and on the phone.
It's okay that each week of the school year makes me more stressed out and causes me to contemplate other careers.  This week's option: hotel customer service.
It's okay that I am a little jealous of all those people who like wine.  I so desperately wish to be in my kitchen, with an apron, cooking dinner, with a glass of wine.  I pretend with my tall stemmed glasses.
It's okay that other people have different birthing plans than I do.  (And it's okay to decline commenting about that because you don't want their opinion.)
It's probably not okay to vote only for the people who your dad tells you who to vote for.
It's okay to enjoy an evening alone at the apartment.

Are you doing okay?

Mix and Match

I am still working on taking pictures of myself.  Clearly, I am a newbie, but show me some love for my effort:)

I was trying to branch out on this outfit.  I have stripes on my skirt, pink polka dots on my shirt, and green shoes.  Woah!  Somehow, though I think this works.

 I bought the blazer a couple years ago, following Clint and Stacey's What Not to Wear advice.  However, I have struggled feeling comfortable wearing it because it is not my norm.  In this outfit, I feel like it helped pull it all together.

I wore my blazer for Meet the Teacher night as well.  For some reason, my principal thinks we all have to wear jeans and a tshirt the first time we make an impression on our parents and students.  I don't agree with that, so I put this blazer over the tshirt and wore heels with my jeans.  I think it helped me stand out a bit more and definitely was much more authoritative and professional.

Black Blazer: Target $20
Pink Polka Dotted Sleeveless Top:  New York and Company $8
Striped Skirt: Target $10
Green Shoes: Twice as Nice (Thrift store in Denton) $9

Any advice on how to take good pictures of oneself?  I might need to invest in a full length mirror.

It feels like fall!

*UPDATE: I forgot to post this a few weeks ago, but now that it is starting to feel like fall again, I decided I would let you in on my fall obsession.

 

As I have mentioned before, I love holiday decorations.  Love, love, love.  As you probably also know,  I love, love, love a sale.  This last week, we got a cold front, and I could no longer resist the urge to decorate.  Out comes the fall stuff:)))

 Outside my classroom:

 By my window, the leaves coordinate so well with my curtains.

 I also stopped by school on Saturday and realized that I have lots of decorations up there, too.  I get to decorate two places.  Be jealous!

Scarecrow in my fish water.  Hopefully nothing nasty happens.  On a side note, the fish are still alive, and the students love them!

Writing Materials

Writing has begun!  As most of you who know me, know that I love grammar.  I was super excited when our principal decided to departmentalize fourth grade.  That plan has slightly changed, but I will get into that later.  I started teaching expository writing, and we finished our first draft this week.  I am using the 4 square brainstorming technique.  This is the first time I have used this, and I will keep you updated on how effective it is.

This is similar to the book I am using.

It is always interesting to read and decipher my students' writing.  One student was adding vivid language to his paper.  Referring to when he eats nachos, "My taste buds aren't just buds, they're bros." I chuckled.  

Another book I found really helpful is Daily Oral Language.  Each student has a copy of this book.  It is their bell work.  There are two sentences with grammar mistakes, and they have to find the mistakes and correct them. I try to make it sound as exciting as possible.  I mean, I love grammar, but I know that it is not everyone's cup of tea.  I encourage them to "beat" the sentence by finding more mistakes than the sentence is able to hide.  I also bust out my best stamps and stickers.  I loved getting stickers, even in high school.  (Thanks Mrs. McCord!) Sometimes, I let the students correct the work under the document camera.  They love that!  Like I have heard before, teaching is one-fourth teaching, and three-fourths theatrics.  

What strategies do you employ to help motivate students in a potentially boring activity?

Back in the Saddle Again

The week back to school after a break is always a killer. Waking up early is not my fav, but fortunately I have a great group of students. Some of them I actually missed over the break. I have had these kiddos for a year and a half. In a few short months, they will no longer be mine. I want to make the best impression on them as possible. I want them to remember me as someone who inspired them to be something greater.

We got a new car this week. We are thankful that God has provided the means for us to get another mode of transportation, and we are praying that this car will last us a really long time. My old car has been kind of finicky about going in reverse, so we figured it was time.

Before we had completely decided to buy a new car, we took it to a friend of a friend at Christian Brother's Automotive in Corinth. We were discussing the financial situation and mechanical issues with Brandon. Buying a car is a big deal. Being good stewards of God's money is a big deal, too. So, obviously stress levels were a little higher than normal because we wanted to do the right thing for us. Brandon said something that really stuck out to me. He said, "Remember, it's just a car." It IS just a car. The kind of car you drive is no indication of the type of person you are, how much money you have, what kind of job you have, or how successful you are. You could have a really fancy, shmancy car and be up to your ears in debt. You could have a really old car and have financial peace about your retirement plans.

It is important for me to remember that we don't need two cars and having the additional car is just an added blessing for our convenience.

Anthony and I have really enjoyed the guidance of Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University. If you are looking for a good way to get started with paying off debt, budgeting, and saving his book is definitely worth reading. (We listened to it on a car ride!)

Drowning

Ever felt that way? I have been feeling this way since the beginning of this school year. This school year has been harder for me than any other year. There are a lot of reasons for this but I am not going to go into those because that is not the reason for this post.
Yesterday, I ran into an old Bible study leader. She asked how the year was going and in response, I told her that I felt that I am in constant state of drowning. She reminded me of the story of Peter walking on water. We, as Christians, are always striving to have that faith like Peter, faith strong enough to walk on water. Sometimes I feel that when I am not having that level of faith, when I feel like I am not strong enough to have that faith, that I am not close to God. But my sweet leader reminded me that whether I feel like I am walking on water or whether I have slipped below the surface, God knows it! In fact, He has allowed it. This year is not going to be easy. And that is ok. (I have to keep telling myself that!) It is ok because God has allowed me to encounter these trials. In the end, I will be stronger.

Goodbye Third Grade

Last week I found out that I was being assigned to 4th grade next year. This came as a huge surprise considering that the week before my principal had told our team that she was going to keep us together. I love my team. They are so amazing. Last year was our first year together. We all came from different places, but we meshed so well. Our personalities are really different, but we have had the same goal: success for our children--no personal agendas. I may be leaving my wonderful well-working machine of a team, but I have gained friends for life. Corny, but true.

Michelle-Thank you for sharing a wall with me, for letting me pop my head in whenever I have a question, and sending me attachments over and over again because I have deleted them.

Alice-Thanks for being the bilingual queen. You do so much more extra stuff that I don't even know the half of it. Thank you for always making puppy chow-it is the best. PS I still have your bowl.

Ann Marie-You were the one person I knew on the team when I started. Thanks for sharing all the first year teacher ropes with me. Thank you for letting me copy your files and always sharing everything you create.

Ernesto-Mr. Handy Man: Thank you for always have nails and batteries and rope and krazy glue and anything else that we could possibly think of. Thanks for taking our difficult kids and being flexible.

Alexa-my running buddy. You are so willing to drop everything to do anything for someone else. Thank you for all the encouraging words.

I will miss all of you next year as I move down to the dungeon, as Michelle calls it. Please come visit. My classroom, and life, is always open to you. You guys have been the best introduction to teaching!!!