Sunday, December 30, 2012

12 for 2012

12 Things I was Thankful for in 2012...


1. My Hubby

2. Our Families

3. Friends

4. Annabelle (Our Dog)

5. My Wonderful Job (That's not a job to me)

6. My Co-Teachers who have become my best friends

7. My Second Graders

8. Our House that we have made our home

9. Freedom

10. Alone Time with God

11. Our Patio where we can hangout, host friends, and relax

12. 2013

13 for 2013

13 Resolutions for 2013 (not in any certain order)

1. ***Do a little each day, so life doesn't pile up

2. ***Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't get so caught up in things that don't matter

3. ***Compliment someone everyday, including my second graders

4. ***Start and end everyday with prayer

5. ***Don't put things off, don't procrastinate. I believe the main cause of my stress is procrastination.

6. ***Put my many to do lists into action

7. ***Eat healthy of course!

8. ***Hit the gym, workout more

9. ***Create fun, memorable lessons for my kiddos to enjoy

10. ***Complete part of my Masters Degree

11. ***Save more, spend less. My Dave Ramsey refresher course will help this

12. ***Spend less time on Pinterest pinning fun projects and put them into action

13. ***Spend more quality time with the hubby

Happy New Year Everyone! What are your resolutions?

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Im not dreaming- it's a white Christmas!

It is our first Christmas in our new house (we bought in May, but it is still new to us), and it is a WHITE Christmas! I have never had a white Christmas/Birthday. What a perfect way to end this Christmas Day. Watching the snow with my hubby, snuggling on the couch, and drinking hot cocoa. God is good!











Ellie Renee

We are so blessed to have a new baby in the family. Beautiful, little baby Ellie Renee was born last Friday, December 21st. She was born a little early and weighed on 4 pounds 3 ounces. I am so blessed to have another December birthday in the family! Ellie and Ally will now have to celebrate birthdays on Christmas Eve at Chilton-James Christmas! God is great!


New Planner New Year

One of my favorite gifts this year was my Erin Condren 2013 planner! I ordered one last year, and I will never buy or find a planner that beats this one! I am a Type-A, OCD person who is obsessed with list making, note taking, and reminders. Therefor, my planner goes everywhere with me! I totally recommend this to everyone for the new year! Each Life Planner contains monthly, weekly sections, tabs for the months, address and important contact information, notes, stickers for birthdays and appointments, a folder, and a ziplock section for cards, sticky notes, etc.!

www.erincondren.com

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! We hope you have a relaxing holiday filled with love, laughter, family, friends, and good food.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Our Christmas Decor

Here are a few decor things we do around Christmas time...

Christmas Cards on display

Our tree, a silver, gold, mercury glass with a touch of "brown"

The stockings were hung on the cabinet with care

Breakfast table: black, white, and silver theme (we are in process of finding a bigger dining table that seats 6)

Note on the fridge, I learned that if you dip the chalk in water it will write smooth.









Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Charlotte's Web Unit

We finished our Common Core Unit on Friends. We decided to focus the unit on the wonderful children's book, Charlotte's Web. This is one of my favorite Children's chapter book. E.B. White was an amazing author. My class really enjoyed the story. At first they didn't understand why we couldn't just watch the movie?! I had to explain that the movie leaves out all the neat, little details and funny parts you don't want to miss! Here are some things we did throughout our unit.  We made a human web together and each person had to tell what it means to be a friend. We all got tangled and they loved it! They were so energetic with the human web!  I made a mini bulletin board where they created their spiders to be Charlotte' s friend. They made diorama's that turned out awesome!


Mini Bulletin Board




Favorite Character Wordles, Favorite Character Opinion Writing



Diorama of Zuckerman's Barn Take Home Project...They did an awesome job!






Table Teams




Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Christmas in the Classroom

Timmy, our class Elf came to spy on us for Santa right after Thanksgiving! He was a surprise every morning when the students arrived. We had a Christmas tree, stockings, and reindeer!

The last week was devoted all to a Christmas Theme.

Monday: Reindeer Day
We read Olive the Other Reindeer
We talked about what made Olive so special and why we are all special.
We made our own "The Other Reindeer" and put out on display for the school to see.
We finished by making reindeer food to put out Christmas Eve and watched the movie.

Tuesday: Grinch Day
We read the book, made Grinch Punch, and talked about how Christmas is more than just presents and how to make the Grinch Grin!
The Grinch Gum I gave to my co-teachers! (Inspired by Grinch Pills on Pinterest)

Wednesday: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Day
The staff wore tacky sweaters and the students were anything to do with Christmas.

Thursday: Polar Express Day
The students arrived in their pajamas and found a ticket to ride the Polar Express on their desk.
We read the book, made hot cocoa, made Traib Trail Mix, and watched the movie!


Friday: Sing-A-Long and Classroom Christmas Party
We decorated Sugar Cookies, Played Christmas-Noun Bingo, and made a craft




























Sunday, December 16, 2012

Honor & Remember

                                              

Friday, December 14, 2012

Tragedy

Today many young, innocent lives were lost in a place where children are suppose to feel comfort and love. My emotions are overwhelmed thinking about the teachers, family, and friends going through this.

I look back on my day with my 22 second graders and think about how much I love them. Today was an exciting day for them as well as me. They completed their Charlotte's Web projects and shared them with excitement. We ate a pancake breakfast together and watched Charlotte's Web.  I cannot even imagine life without one of my students.

Each one of those children were someone's whole world. Therefore I am going to continue to pray for their strength as well as the strength for schools around our nation, and for my classroom.  I am going to thank God each and everyday for my students. I am so blessed to be a teacher. Words cannot express my love for my kiddos.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Currently-December

It's been a bit since I last blogged. This week I'm going to try to make up my time.
Over the last few weeks I have been busy and under the weather. I have had bronchitis, pluracy, and now a sinus infection. My wonderful  babies are keeping me sick. I guess that is part of the first year of teaching! You gotta get your immune system built up.

Listening/Watching: I am watching Duck Dynasty. I love it! It's halirious, I actually laugh so hard my sides hurt. (Or maybe that is the pluracy, haha)

Loving: Timmy, my elf on the shelf at school. I love to see their eyes light up when they arrive in the morning. Timmy also keeps them in line, so their behavior is amazing!

Thinking: Please let it snow this winter season! I am ready for a wintery snow day where I stay in my pjs!

Wanting: Christmas Break to get here! I am so ready for life to slow down for a bit, and I am also ready to go to Denver!

Needing: to get back to the gym when I get over this sinus infection

Reading: I am starting a new bible study book, Unglued by Lysa Terkeurst. I am also finishing up The Last Baby Angel. Life has been so busy I haven't had time to read it much. It is great so far.