Thursday, November 28, 2013

is this considered animal cruelty?

Every once in awhile, we like to annoy the cat.

Last week, a friend made an owl hat for our new baby niece/nephew. Yes, I know it's only girl colors....Ty was convinced my sister-in-law was having a girl, even though we don't know yet. Anyway...

When I brought the hat home, I insisted that we needed a model to try it out. You, know...to see if it works.

Well, the dog's head would be too big, sooooooo....

We had to settle for Model #2. He's a natural.




One could gather two things from this:
1. The hat is clearly functional.
2. Our cat should be paid to model infant apparel.

xoxo, wife.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

tonight we learned a new skill.

Ty has a business meeting tomorrow. We bought him a nice new suit the other day, and he wants to wear it to the meeting.

Dilemma: You should wear a tie with a suit. Neither one of us knew how to tie a tie.

Solution: Look it up on Pinterest, because Pinterest holds all of life's answers.

Exhibit A: The Diagram
How to tie a tie
I gave the directions. Ty followed them...and it worked!

We now know how to tie a tie. At 26 and 27 years old. So I guess you can teach an old dog a new trick.

And now my husband will rock his business meeting in his fancy new suit & TIE!
I promise I won't let him wear white socks.

By the way, this is what happens when you ask Ty to strike a GQ pose.


Anyway, the moral of the story is that teamwork is what keeps marriage alive, people.
xoxo, wife.

Monday, November 25, 2013

happy monday.

All is calm in my neck of the woods tonight.
I'm rejoicing in the fact that I only have two more days of work this week.
I'm enjoying our Christmas decorations.
I'm grimacing at the snow that's falling outside...
But I'm loving the fact that it's finally hot chocolate weather.



On the school front, we're doing a week-long pilgrim study this week.
I got a huge kick out of how much fun the kids had learning about them today.
They thought it was absolutely crazy that the pilgrims didn't have electricity, stoves, or toilets!
We had a 15 minute discussion about outhouses...it was so funny!
I've never seen this group of kids get so excited about something.
I had an Ivy Tech student observing me for one of her classes today, and we were both giggling at the kids' reactions to learning about how little the pilgrims had and how much work they had to do on their own.
Toward the end of the day, one of my kiddos said, "Man I'm exhausted." I asked, "Why?" To which he replied, "Cuz we've been learning about the pilgrims all day. They had to do so much work all the time that it's making me tired to keep thinking about it!"

We also talked about the Mayflower. We learned how crowded the boat was and that most people could only bring one or two items with them. So we wrote about what we would bring if we were getting on the Mayflower.




We're continuing the pilgrim study the rest of the week, but since they're having so much fun, I spent tonight gathering some ideas for our next unit: a 3 week study on presidents and american symbols, which will take us right up to Christmas Break. I found some really fun things that I'm pretty excited about. 

Happy Monday. Here's to 2 more work days before stuffing ourselves silly.
Cheers.

xoxo, wife.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

we decked the halls

Ty took the day off hunting yesterday! It's a Christmas miracle! I had some running around to do, and he asked if I wanted him to come with me and we'd spend the day together. Instantly my brain had a battle with my heart. My brain said, "Say no! You get so much more done when he's not around to distract you!" To which my heart replied, "Say yes! How often during hunting season do you get to spend the entire day with your husband?!" So naturally, my heart won out, and I said yes. :)

While he was getting ready he said, "Hey...can we put up the Christmas decorations today?" We normally wait until Black Friday, but I knew that Thanksgiving weekend is really busy with all the family gatherings stuff. So I said "Sure."

After we got home, we started decking the halls.



We got this rustic tree last year after the holidays for $60. I've been waiting all year to be able to finally put it up. And my mom emailed me a picture of an idea she saw for using a little chalkboard as the tree topper. So that's what we did! I like it because it's different than the norm.

I used these rusty metal stars instead of the normal ball ornaments. I love them!

My favorite ornament on the tree is this one that my mom made us a couple years ago out of some logs from my father-in-law.



How neat is that tree? Ty picked it out while we were shopping yesterday. I have to say, every once in awhile, the guy has good taste.

Kitchen table decor.

This guy was incredibly happy that we decorated early. He loves to play in the "box jungle" that becomes our livingroom.

My favorite part of decorating each year is watching this one get so into setting up his Christmas village from when he was a kid. To give you some perspective, I did the whole tree, set up the nativity, hung the stockings, decorated the coffee table, and set up some other random things before he was finished with this village! 



We had a bet on who would go lay on the burlap first. This girl won. You know, because burlap is SO comfy to lay on...

Now I'm off to church, laundry, chores, school work, and listening to xmas music while enjoying our decorations!

xoxo, wife.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

a peek into my day


  • One of my lovelies asked to use the bathroom. She then came back from the bathroom and announced that she didn't make it, twirling around to show us her totally soaked khakis.
  • My "wild child" (you know, the room destroyer) came back to school today. We started a new behavior plan for him that worked very well this morning. Then, at promptly 12:00 he decided that he was done being good. He refused to do anything in music, and said he wouldn't go to gym because "gym is toopid....I'm not goin'. I wanna go back with Miss Milluh." So then I had to spend my prep with him in my room, grunting every couple minutes in anger. This also meant I couldn't leave the room to go make copies or anything because I couldn't leave him unattended and he refused to get out of his seat and come with me.
  • Sent one of my students to the office for kicking another child in the face on purpose.
  • The fire alarm went off. It was 20 degrees. Took the kids outside. Was informed by the principal that this was not a planned drill, and the fire department wouldn't let us go back in until they came and had checked it out. Did I mention it was 20 degrees? And did I mention that my kids wear short-sleeved uniform shirts? And did I mention that I had 2 little girls wearing skirts with no tights? Yeah...so that sucked.
  • After we were given the all-clear from the fire alarm, we went back inside and tried to get back into the swing of things. 10 minutes later, the fire alarm went off again. As we were heading back out again, we were told to ignore the alarm and go back to class. So we turned around and went back, a total waste of 5 minutes of instruction time.
  • The fire alarm then went off 4 more times before lunch. Did I mention that it's incredibly hard to teach 5 year olds when the fire alarm is going off every few minutes? It is.
  • One of my students (a girl this time) got angry with me when I flipped her card for being disrespectful to me. She then yelled, "I hate you!" and began taking things off my desk and throwing them on the ground. (Now that my wild child has done it, they all think they can throw stuff and destroy the room.) She refused to go to the office and had to be carried out by administration. For the record, that's now 2 of my children in the office.
  • I picked up my kids from gym, only to be informed that while they were there, one of my students swallowed a quarter and choked on it, almost bad enough to call an ambulance. Luckily I was spared a trip to the hospital with that student when they were able to dislodge the quarter from its stuck position in her throat and it went the rest of the way down in her belly, where it now sits. Apparently, they said it'll eventually pass. She then whined the rest of the afternoon that her throat hurt. Well, I should think so!
  • And to top it all off, as I sit here typing, I'm pretty sure I may have pink eye. In both eyes.
Well played, Thursday. Well played.

xoxo, wife.

Monday, November 11, 2013

my monday night view.


Dim lighting, candles burning, soft acoustic music playing, slippers and a warm blanket.
If that's not Monday Night perfection, I don't know what is.

Ty and I had the day off today, so we spent it inside...away from the cold temps.
I spent my day sleeping in, finishing up laundry from the weekend, painting, and getting in some relaxation before going back to work tomorrow.
Eventually it began to snow this evening, and Ty had to leave for volleyball.
So I just took a looooong hot shower and got cuddled up on the couch for the next two hours before bed. 
As much as I HATE the weather that this time of year brings, I'll never get tired of snuggling up for a cozy night in.

I'll spend the rest of my night here. Making lists of Christmas gifts to get for family, watching Dr. Phil (my guilty pleasure), and enjoying the pumpkin scent of my candles.

Happy Monday Night, friends.

xoxo, wife.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

life this week.

Work:

Each year we take weekly number writing quizzes. I put these posters up on the cabinet and each time a kid passes a quiz, we cheer for them and write their name on that poster. The goal is to eventually get your name on ALL the posters and be able to write all the way to 100. Kids always seem to really love the motivation! We took the first quiz last week, and all but 3 kids can write to 10. Tomorrow we'll see how they do on the next one. (If you look on the card chart to the left, you can see that someone was on red today...red is the worst you can get. It means you go to the office. I can't imagine ever having to go to the office in Kindergarten!)

 We've been doing a study on characters and setting lately. This was our character "anchor chart" to help us remember our learning. The kids all drew the main character from the story, "Room on the Broom." It was a witch. Their drawings were all super cute.

 This is always a favorite lesson every year. We're working on labeling pictures with words when we draw and write. To really drive the concept home, students got to come up and label ME today! They got to pick a post-it and stick it on me in the right spot. I can only imagine that I looked like a total goofball when it was all said and done, but the kids were laughing hysterically, and they did a really good job on their labeling work afterwards!

I sat down on Sunday and got in this crazy work-groove. I don't know where it came from, especially in light of my recent frustrations with work. But I literally worked from the time I got home from church until about 7pm. I got so much done that I'm completely planned for the next two weeks. All I had to do on Monday was make some copies. So now I'm ahead of the game and I can just leave after work!

Home:

Now that it's fall, I'm lighting candles like a madwomen. I've got 4 lit candles within eyesight as I type. There's something so cozy about dim lighting, flickering candles, and good smells wafting through the air. Ty got me this one. He gets me these amazing candles every once in awhile from the Essenhaus out in Amish-ville. My favorite scents for this time of year: pumpkin, cinnamon, anything spice-y, gingerbread, or vanilla. My least favorite scents: anything pine. Or maple. Yuck. Also, I refuse to burn anything flowery or fruity in the fall/winter. Save that for the sunny months.

This guy. Can I just say that I love the crap outta him? We got some nice snuggles in before bed the other night. 

I made an important discovery. Drinking water out of a mason jar with a fancy paper straw makes it taste so much better! You should try it. 

This time of year just makes me want to curl up in a blanket and watch tv, read, or peruse Pinterest. I think I'll go do that last one now.

xoxo, wife.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

it's almost the season.

I can't believe it's November already.

It'll be time to get out the Christmas garb before we know it.

After Christmas last year, Ty & I got a new tree.

It's very rustic. Kinda Charlie Brown-ish...in a way.

So I want to make some simple ornaments to go on it.

Here are a few things that are on my craft agenda that need to get done before Black Friday (the day our tree goes up.)

Cinnamon ornaments strung with bakers twine.

Hand stamped salt dough decorations and gift tags  via Baking Hot Christmas

how cute... so simple !

Burlap Christmas ornaments

Looks like some craft days lie ahead.
Happy times!

xoxo, wife.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

the fit of the century.






Yes...that would be my computer on the floor. The student picked it up and threw it on the ground.





My heart races just looking back at these pictures. The same student as last time threw another massive fit on Friday. The crazy thing is...it happened out of nowhere and for no apparent reason. And this one was way worse. My entire class was on the rug that you see in the picture...so this was a very dangerous situation, as objects began flying through the air, and this student began charging at others. I was able to get the other 19 kids to the other side of the room for safety, call for help, and restrain the student as best I could until help arrived. I heard later that it took 3 adults to get him upstairs...where he then destroyed the vice-principal's office as well before being sent home.

-In my three years of teaching, I've never seen such a violent fit of rage from a 5 year old. 
-In my three years of teaching, I've never had to call another teacher to ask if I could take the rest of my students to her room for awhile because I was about to lose it.
-In my three years of teaching, I've never stormed up to the office shaking because I was so upset.
-In my 26 years of life, I've never stood my ground and told my superiors every single thought on my mind and every single feeling I felt.
-In my 10 years of work experience, I've never told my bosses that I'm not going to return to my place of employment the next year.
-In my 10 years of work experience, I've never cried 4 times in one day.
-In my 10 years of work experience, I've never felt so defeated. So unsupported. So unappreciated. So burnt-out. So done.

I laid it out there for the two administrators that were there on Friday. I told them I'm tired. Tired of asking for help with my class and not getting any. Tired of taking pictures similar to this one and seeing nothing happen...no consequences. Tired of cleaning up my room after each fit. Tired of working so hard and putting my heart and soul into my job, and being so unappreciated by my higher-ups. Tired of being told, "We know your class is really tough this year...we wouldn't want to trade places with you," but not seeing any help or support from anyone. Tired of no one "getting it" other than my Teaching Assistant, who is the only one who knows exactly what I go through every day. 

So I told them I'm done. I'm not coming back next year. They told me not to make any rash decisions. I told them that this decision has been a long time coming. It's not "rash" at all. This was just the final straw. 

People close to me have been encouraging to leave this school for a couple years now. But I stayed. I stayed because I've worked so hard to build a great Kindergarten program that our school gets compliments on daily. I stayed because these kids need me. I stayed because this is a new school and I wanted to see it grow and change. I stayed because I had hope that things actually would change. I stayed because this school was like my baby. And when you put so much time, sweat, and tears into something, you don't want to walk away.

And I'm not walking away. I'm being pushed away. Pushed away by administrators who are more worried about our upcoming Charter Renewal than about making sure their teachers are helped and supported so that they can be successful, which in turn will make their students successful.

It hurts.
It really hurts. 

xoxo, wife.