Classroom makeover!

I'm finally getting around to sharing pics of my classroom :)

I'm not going to lie... I'm super happy with how it turned out.  There are still a few things that need to be finalized before school starts next week... but it was up and ready for open house tonight!

I even got thumbs up from admin!

the "in process" picture

the board was yellow...

the long narrow board was peach :/ just like the board in the next slide...

there is really no way to say it, I hated the peach :/

this view is from my desk area

mckenna and sydney helping me out in class :)

the pennant fabric I found on clearance at Joann's and I sewed it to cover up the nasty bookcases.

first coat of paint...

 things are starting to look a little brighter

second coat of paint and the tables are placed..

library is starting to come together.

Janet and I found carpets at IKEA for $19!!!!

I was so excited!

at the end of the work day I found this note from Syd...

I am so lucky!

things are just starting to come together

from the front

word wall and writing station (still unfinished)

but getting so much closer!

this is this morning at 12:00am...

yes I went back at 9 and worked until 12 so that I could feel more prepared for tonight!

my friend Theresa who teaches 1st grade and works down the hall used her Cricket to cut out all the papers and then I put them all together.  Stole the idea off pinterest... it was originally for a door and in different colors... but I really like how it turned out :)

Have I mentioned lately how thankful I am to be back in my own room?

today we took pictures for our staff badges

:D  :D  :D  :D 

I was SO excited when I looked in MY OWN box and saw it there!

and it looks so wonderful and at home on my lanyard!

our first Storytown theme is ALL ABOUT ME... 

so I figured I would start out with me and then we can get to know the kids!

My desk area, birthday calendar, and part of my daily calendar.

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Tonight went well considering that  I still don't know who my kids are...

it was nice meeting some of the community and reconnecting with some of the siblings who I taught last year.  The hour with families flew by!

Thankfully the day ended on a better note than it started, in our morning meeting we found out that we would be doing the easyCBM for literacy and math this year.  We have switched from Alpine to Homeroom and F & P for running records are out the window...

Just one more thing to throw at all of us.

I was near tears... it is literally so overwhelming.

Then someone said to me...

"one day at a time"

That reminds me of Josh and his morning worships...

I let myself get ahead of myself.

One day at a time.

I might not even be here tomorrow...

and for some wonderful reason God has placed me at GHP and I am so thankful to have the opportunity!  And I know something... I am going to LOVE going to work everyday in my classroom. I just want to get a comfy chair and sit down to read a good book!

I promised my family that I am all theirs this weekend...

no stopping by the school...

no working on projects at home...

just hanging with the family & our good friends!

Its Brush Prairie Softball Tournament time :)

Lauri and Gerry are coming with the girls!  Whoot!

also...

wait for it...

OPENING GAME FOR THE DUCKS!!!!!

we are recording it and having a duck party Saturday night!

CAN.  NOT.  WAIT.

Late Post - - Soccer Camp 8/19-8/23

Last week was soccer camp.

My hubby amazes me with how much work he puts into running camps for kids in the Meadow Glade community. :)  

He is dedicated, committed, and good at what he does.

Syd is on the left with "coach" Nick, and friend Brenna :)

Sam and Emma with one of their campers for the week :)

meanwhile...

the dude buys his own churro after running errands with me...

after my meetings of course :)

I can barely stand it!

Friday-- Yeah!

This week has been a whirlwind!

3 days of day long district meetings has left my brain on overload.

Sam registered for Sophomore year...

Chuck's opens.

Book Club and Janet's house (and we even got dessert!!!)

Discussed Left Neglected and then Judy revealed our new read for the month!

I love book club!  I just wish everyone would read the book so the discussions could include everyone:)

So basically with soccer camp in full swing and me gone all day and into the evenings most nights this week... I am so thankful that it is Friday.

Even though I still need to go buy paint to paint bulletin boards at school...

and decorate my room at school...

I would just like to say that yesterday I spent 6 hours working in my room

(and being distracted by staff ;) if you are a teacher you KNOW what I mean!)

and I feel like I haven't even made a dent.

My easel isn't here.  My carpet isn't here. My library containers arent' here.... :(

I am trying to not stress out.

This color of paint is going on the bulletin board above the white board where my alphabet will be.

I will paint the others a light shade of yellow and turquoise :)  My borders are turquoise chevron... 

I hope it all comes together... I now have 6 days left until Ice Cream Social...

Did I mention that at the moment we are at only 4 sections of Kindergarten?  (not 5)

One teacher has two... One teacher one... and I have one.

If it is 4 sections we will likely have a larger sized class.

I don't know who my kids are yet because of this...

and we will not place the rest of the kids until Tuesday, Sept. 3rd?

This is not ideal I would like to just say... but I am going with it!

Anyway... I plan to post some pictures tonight of my minimal progress in my classroom.

So nice to get comments from my friends who didn't leave me even with my extended absence!

Danielson Framework... no this is not Karate Kid!

DAD IS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL!!!

Saying many thankful prayers and giving thanks to God.

They did not figure out where the virus was from... but no fever in over 24 hours and so he is home!

Tinkerbell is so happy!  so are mom and dad to be in their own beds!

They had also played with his meds and prayers are for him to PLEASE make the changes to his diet and exercise so that he will be around to watch my kids grow up. :)

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This morning I had the 2nd of many meetings in the BGPS district!

I might be a pro at this by the end of next week..

in any event I am a NERD and notice who is sitting the absolute closest to the speaker...

about that - at lunch the Principals came and were welcoming the teachers and my current Principal and my former VP were talking with me - a few moments later I went back to my Principal and he was standing with the speaker and he asked me if I had met her yet...

um.  yup.  front row right beside her.  we met. :)

hmmm.  I am a total nerd.  not a brown noser... just a person who wants to know what is going on and how can I best get myself to be the best I can be.

so after hours of learning the ins and outs of things we got to break down the 

DANIELSON FRAMEWORK for teaching...

Let me just say this is SO NOT the Karate Kid... like for a moment I was going to see Ralph on the screen.  Yeah not so much.

Instead I got a mini lesson on how I will be evaluated by my principal.

No worries, I am only FREAKING out that it is 9 days until I meet the parents...

why not throw EVALUATIONS into the mix! 

Josh looked over the rubric and said

"honey you already do that stuff"

But alas it always feels different when your Principal (and mine rocks btw)

is sitting there for an hour with his laptop watching every move you make.

no pressure.

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Got home just in time to take Sam to her registration at CAA.

I am cautiously optimistic for the year.

actually quite.

There are some unspoken requests that you can pray for... ;)

However, I think that our interim principal rocks and I was very impressed.

I think there is going to be a lot of positive growth happening at CAA and I can't wait to see how it will all work out.

BUT...

The biggest news of the day (besides Dad of course!)

was drumroll...

CHUCK'S OPENED IN SC!!!!!!!!!

Sam drove the girls and I over there.

I may have had white knuckles...

she even drove to the Target in town :/

She did wonderfully and we were lucky to get a princess parking spot... 

but I think I am not cut out for teaching my kids how to drive.

I am too much of a control freak.

I don't even like Josh to drive.  Sad but true.

I like to have control of the vehicle in which I am riding.

It's (one) of my "issues"

Just keeping it real.

Back to Chuck's

did I mention that I LOVE this place?

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place?

Gelatos were on a steal...

So I got one for each of us :)

and while we were standing there the teacher who is across the hall from me came by, chatted for a bit, we said "see you next week" and then she came back and gave me a $10 off my purchase.

What a sweetie.  I am SO blessed to be meeting all these wonderful people I would otherwise not have known.

Feeling thankful today.

and 

I am LOVING....

The last few days...

Before I begin this post I just want to say that my dad has been in the hospital since Sabbath afternoon and they have yet to discover what is going on with him.  His body is battling some sort of an infection that Drs. have been  unable to diagnose.

Thankfully tonight I received a very encouraging text from my mother that all the tests are coming back good and that likely he will be able to go home tomorrow... assuming the 103 fever he has been fighting doesn't come back.

That said all these photos are taken in between calls and texts with my parents trying to figure out how my dad was doing.  

Dad, if you are reading this, I love you.

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Sabbath.

A baptism.

I cried.

and yes Shelly this is your BIL in the blue shirt.

Jack played and chased and wrestled all afternoon...

with a dog named Tucker.

He didn't want to go home... and he wanted Tucker to come with him.

Sunday night.

Something new for dinner-

Sweet potatoes with tofu for some, chicken for others, green onions, bell peppers, peaches, & red onions with honey drizzled over the top for all.

It was almost split in half 4 yeas, 2 not so much, and 1 so-so.

That means it will make it on the family dinner rotation from time to time...

but at least we are trying to make smarter & fresher choices around this joint.

This morning at 7:30am...

Drop off for soccer camp.

It's always a long, tiring, yet fun week.  phew.

So just for fun lets throw in a dinner party tonight :)

I didn't take many photos... but for the last two years some of the faculty at Josh's school have auctioned off a dinner party at our house to the highest bidder.

We always have a blast getting ready and set up for this event and tonight was no different!   Josh works with an amazing group of people!

11 guests of honor + 7 staff/spouse +10 kids = 28 full people

Tomorrow...

The first of 3 days in meetings within the district offices for new teachers.

I am nervous.

I don't like being nervous.

I don't like being new.

But I realize that in order to grow and improve, sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone.

My daughter also registers for her Sophomore year in high school... 

where is the time going?

The family that volunteers together....

Friday...

Chores, piano lessons, grocery store, yard work...

and volunteering.

Just some of our crew handing out the supplies to the North County kiddos who needed school supplies....

This year Josh and I took the 4 girls and we worked our behinds off from 3:45 until 8pm tonight:0)

It was super fun and most of the people were very grateful.

I even got to see one of my students from last year and one from the classroom next door!

So tonight while I was getting our haystack supper ready for us to eat the kids started to watch

"The Prince of Egypt" Story of Moses

You can see how dead they all are from working so hard!

Nothing tastes better than haystacks with the family!!!

Happy Sabbath!

Pathfinder Ski Day

Today was the annual MG Pathfinder water ski day...

weather forecast... Rain.

No rain..

But instead of rain we had an empty lake...

extra smooth water...

80 muggy temps...

and 3 boat loads of fun!

the only bummer was I was the keeper of the shoreline making sure that no one went missing...

so I watched the fun and reconnected with some friends!

After 4pm when all the pathfinders headed home, allen showed up with his boat and he and Dietrichs stayed out for a few more hours...

so I jumped on board and got to watch my little man ski...

:)

Brad getting him ready!

The dude skiing!

Then em decided she would try to barefoot again 

(she has done this already once this summer)

let me tell you she took some hard falls and just kept getting back up.

I was impressed for sure!  

Can I just say that she is tough... like super tough...

fell hard 3 different times just like that and got right back up.

so at the end of the day 

I accomplished nothing great other than chilling with my kids :)

Tomorrow I can tackle my to do list...

P.S.  CHUCK'S Produce my FAVORITE ever store opens in Salmon Creek tomorrow!!!!!

Best news ever!

Wacky Wednesday...

So yesterday was CRAZY.

Crazy busy.

crazy overwhelming.

I had a benefits meeting at the district office...

let's just say that "overwhelming" would be an understatement.

Seriously I came home with a stack of papers and a not so clear idea of what I need to do :/

I at least know the days I need to be in more meetings... or actually in the classroom teaching!

I then spent the next few hours trying to order some things from the print shop, a new bulletin board for my classroom... and of course networking with my fellow staff - - whom I am quickly coming to love.

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So while I was laying in bed trying to explain it all to Josh I decided that for Today I needed a list...

I don't think this is what he had in mind...

Emma said "mom there is a bad word on your list"

oops.

Needless to say I have accomplished most everything that was on my list... 

but I still have a long way to go.

Ratti... I was outside and he was sitting behind be trying to play with my ponytail.

my pennant banner - still in the hot glue gun stage of things.

I made the kids clean out the library today.... 

wow did they do a great job!  

Everything is organized and ready :)

My dad was in Portland today and I didn't get the chance to see him :(

Tomorrow - Pathfinder Ski Day -

weather prediction....

rain?????  

It feels like Friday...

Since I haven't been home for 7 days straight....

Today is really feeling like the end of a LONG week instead of the beginning of a new one.

Syd and I had the chance to sneak to downtown BG and browse the antique/thrift stores for a new chair for my classroom... I found one but I decided to sleep on it.  

Found tons of adorable cute things though.... but only spent $4.80.

After that we bought 34 egg cartons and stopped by Freddies where I found this book...

yup, its a keeper and I will be using it this fall in Kindergarten while teaching colors

This girl cleaned dozens of eggs today.... like 20 probably.  

She already has her first few customers and will be applying the proceeds to her school bill.

Tonight Janet asked us to join her in stuffing the school supply bags for the North County Back to School Readiness... usually we just pass the backpacks out to the kids.  This time we will do both...

Friday will be the hand out day.

The girls with Janet :)

Never a dull moment around here...

Meanwhile I am in pennant mania...

my hot glue gun is going crazy!

Tomorrow is my first "official" meeting at the district office...

I'm trying to train my brain that it is NOT Friday... but Monday.

Tomorrow is Tuesday.  

I can do this!

Pathfinder Staff Training...

The last 3 days I have been at the Gladstone Convention Center...

It's that time of the year for us to do pathfinder staff training.

These people are getting invested with their Masterguide

My goal for Masterguide investiture is Osk Kosh... exactly one year from now.  

I am more than halfway done with the work :)

These beautiful ladies have been attending meetings with me for the last 3 years..

we are all on the same track.

This year they saw me cutting & tracing things for my classroom...

so they joined in and finished it all for me!!!

So blessed.

Meanwhile since I seriously haven't basically seen my family in a full week...

Some of the dads took all the kids on a hike up Multnomah Falls.  I wish I could have been there.. but they had a great time without me!

Sunday.... CPR/First Aid/AED recertification...

yup... I am ready to help save your life :)

Now... I get my act together and finish ordering the things I need for my classroom...

Stop worrying.

Pray more.

Enjoy the last 2 weeks of summer....

even if I am in meetings for most of the time :(