Firsts and Lasts

Once again I can't believe the school year has already come to an end. This year was so much more emotional because it was also my babies first year of school which definitely brought the ugly cry out even more yesterday. So after lots of hugging, lots of pictures taken, and maybe a little wine I put together a few pictures from Mckinley's first school year.

Mckinley on her first day of school and last day of school.

 

 

I didn't get a chance to get very good pictures on her first day because A. I was super emotional and B. My students started arriving at my own classroom.

Graduation Day!

Mrs. Barbara and Mrs. Joy made Mckinley's  first year of school so amazing! I will never be able to thank them enough for making this year so wonderful!

Mommy and Mckinley first day and last day.

So here's to an amazing first year of school and we are already looking forward to next year!

A Back To School Dilemma

It has now been 3 weeks (2 full weeks) since school started and it has been quite the whirlwind. I have been posting more over on my school blog Insane In The Pre-K Brain about the fun things we have been doing in my class, but that is not what I want to talk about today. What I want to talk about today is this kid.

I will be honest and tell you I was kind of worried about school starting . I was so afraid that I would be scraping her off of my body everyday with tears and snot everywhere. I was especially worried about what would happen when she saw me during the school day. Brent and I discussed what we would do on the first day of and we decided that it might be best if I went ahead to school and get ready for my class wile Brent brought Mckinley to school a little bit later. This plan would have worked perfectly if I hadn't desperately wanted a first day of school picture and told him to bring her down to my classroom before walking her down to her own class.Well you can guess what happened next! There were tears, leg grabbing, and a very sad baby and daddy. She of course was fine after a few minutes, but it still broke my heart and had me worried for the rest of the school year.

Let's fast forward to the first full week of school because this is where things get interesting. As a parent you want your kids to always be happy, but you also want to know your child still needs you. You know what I mean mom's! You want them to enjoy themselves, but you also don't mind  a few tears or a lingering hug because it makes you feel needed. This is what I was expecting on our first full day of school. Mckinley and I drove the 2 minutes to school together for the first time and she of course begged to listen to her Llama Llama Time To Share cd to which I happily obliged. I had to get a few things ready for that day and Mckinley played in my classroom until it was time to walk her down to her classroom. I think I was holding my breath the entire 30 seconds it takes to get there so imagine my surprise when she refused to stand still for a picture in front of her classroom door and ran into her classroom to hug her teacher Mrs. Barbara. She never looked back and forget giving me a hug or a kiss. I was so happy there were no tears, but what was this other emotion? Heart Break!! I immediately turned and slowly walked back to my classroom because  as a teacher I know better than to call her back because that is when things always go downhill.

I know I know I should be happy that there were no tears or screaming, but I at least wanted a hug or maybe just a tiny wave!So I dealt with the fact that my child handles change well and moved on to worrying about what I should do if she saw me in the hallway during the school day. I wasn't sure if I should just roll with it or hide from her for the first few days. I was good and went 3 days without checking in on her or letting her see me in the hallway. Thankfully the band aid was ripped off for me because she spotted me one day before I could hide. I wish I had a picture of the way her face lit up when she first spotted me! I had to keep myself from running over and scooping her up and kissing her on both cheeks! She wanted a hug and asked me if I could get her (mama heart exploding here!), but was super cool with her hug and a kiss and I told her I would get her after nap. This totally made up for her dissing me on the first day.

Basically what I am trying to say is my child loves school and as a teacher that makes my heart happy! She wakes up and immediately starts asking if I am ready to go yet! It doesn't hurt that she is completely spoiled at school. People just can't resist my tiny ray of sunshine. She is so sweet and entertaining and that toothy grin of hers makes for a perfect little package.

It just makes me happy to know that she is so well loved and taken care of everyday.
How could you not love this tiny piece of work?

Meal Planning With MOMables

Recently I was contacted by MOMables to see if I would be interested in working with them to help share their online school lunch meal planning service. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to let someone else do a little of the meal planning for me because right now I am in a rut! Meal planning is typically an everyday thing for me, but ever since summer break started I have slacked off because I was starting to get tired of planning out every step or bite I took. I wanted to be able to go with the flow and be footloose and fancy free for a few weeks. So go ahead and ask me how that worked out! Not good. Not good at all my friends. I was stuck eating anything I could find that was "safe" for me to eat. That meant there were many days I was eating plain chicken hot dogs, hard boiled eggs, and canned green beans. It wasn't pretty and I wasn't excited about eating and the only thing that got me a little excited about eating most days was a piece of bacon and a fresh smoothie. 

It's so funny that they contacted me this week because I have been scouring Pinterest for new recipes and had just gotten my meal planning calendar out so I can get back into my routine before school starts again. I know I know you are all yelling at me that school doesn't start for another 6 weeks, but I need to get my butt into gear and get back into my meal planning habits before it gets to close or I will panic and just start throwing things into lunch boxes because there will be so much going on! Remember not only will I be starting a new school year, but my baby girl will also be going to school (sniff sniff)! I also have her birthday coming up and this year not only are we having a Thomas The Train Birthday, but we are having  a joint Thomas The Train Birthday with Mckinley's BFF and future husband Noah! So I need to get into tip top shape before all of this biznass goes down! 

Here is where MOMables comes in. They have sent me a 3 month subscription to try and in return I am going to give my honest opinion about their program and I am also going to giveaway away a 3 month subscription and a $15 Amazon Giftcard so you can buy all of the fun accessories you will need to go along with your MOMables Subscription! MOMables is also offering a free week meal plan when you sign up for their weekly newsletter. Just think mom's 3 months of school lunches planned out for you! They even send you a shopping list for 5 meals which means 5 fewer meals you  have to think about and plan! You buy the ingredients and follow the directions and then you can sit back and relax and wonder why you ever stressed about packing lunches!

MOMables offers vegetarian, gluten free and nut free options so no matter what your needs are you can adapt every plan to fit your family. I definitely understand what it takes to plan out every bite you eat because of my dietary restrictions so I am excited to show how I make this program work for us by showing you how I make simple exchanges to make it safe for us to eat. For example this upcoming week there is a recipe for a delicious strawberry kiwi wafflewich so I will be making my homemade almond flower waffles which we can eat for breakfast and then I can use the same waffles for our sandwiches. So whatever the dietary needs are you can make any of these recipes work for your family.

All you need to do is fill out these few simple Rafflecopter entries and you can win a 3 Month MOMables Subscription and a $15 Amazon Giftcard to help make this upcoming school year a little less painful.

Goodluck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just Another Day

I started a post about school starting back the other day and then school started back and I never got a chance to finish it. My life is now consumed with my little family and school and making sure I am prepared ahead of time so I am not running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. 

I have done surprisingly well so far. I put together all of Kinley and my lunches and snacks on Sunday and I make sure her bag is fully packed the night before. I tried laying out my clothes last night, but I have this syndrome where even if I have worn that exact outfit a million times I will hate it the next day. I already changed from my teal cotton dress to my black cotton dress and now I am wearing my brown polka dotted shirt dress and I am feeling pretty cute and comfy. 

Now I am just waiting for this little gal to finish eating her Eggies and peanut butter English muffin or English muff as we call them in our house while one of us giggles and yes we are that immature and yes it is usually me giggling or saying "That's what he/she said". I have issues and I am aware of this and Brent always says the first step is admittance.

My posts may be a little farther between as I get into the swing of the new school year, but I will try to at least stop in to post updates on mom and of course Mckinley updates since she is the whole reason I started this blog. Speaking of updates Mckinley's top left tooth is through, but it in a holding pattern and as long as it isn't hurting her and we can get some sleep I am a happy girl. 

Hope everyone has a great day and are getting as ready as we are for some Tiger Football! We kwwp saying the first word Mckinley will know how to spell will be T-I-G-E-R-S Tigers!

First Things First

I honestly don't think I have EVER had a first day of school go so well because today was absolutely Perfect! granted I only had 7 babies and it was a half day of school, but the babies I had were absolutely precious!

Now let's talk about how I have decided to be all organized and prepared because today I was more unprepared than I have ever been. I am still not sure what we got done during Inservice and I am not sure what I was doing yesterday at my mom's because I thought I had gotten a lot done, but I guess I missed the important stuff like our Kissing hand craft or the cookies with the children's names for our Who Stole The Cookie From The Cookie Jar game. I honesty felt like I had done absolutely nothing the past week. Don't worry my babies all had a craft to complete and a cookie for the game, but I just wasn't ready when everyone started arriving at school at 7:30 (school started at 8:00 today). 

Lesson learned and I am ready for the next 3 days and will be working on the rest of next weeks lesson plan this week and this weekend. I got to far ahead of myself by about 10 months (I planned out my whole year before my maternity leave) and that didn't work for me because I forgot a lot of the stuff I wanted to do or how I wanted to do it so I want to only be a week or 2 ahead with everything so I am never scrambling to get everything together.

Back To School

I snapped a few quick photos of my Parent Orientation Set up and a little bit of my classroom before my camera battery died. That's what I get for having a mobile child and nowhere to plug in my camera battery. Damn you tiny house!

Station # 1 

Parents signed in and filled out how their child would be going home each day. We have some students who leave half day at 12:00, most go to Car Line at 2:30. Some are picked up by older siblings, and a few go to After school care.

Station # 2

Parents picked up the folder with their child's name on it which contained the student information packet to fill out and the Classroom information we would be going over together.

 Station 3

Each parent chose a Portfolio Page to take home and complete with their child. This will be the first page in their child's assessment portfolio.

Station # 4

Everyone got to chose a treat for their child and a treat for them to take home and enjoy as a little Thank You for coming and not laughing at me for turning 5 shades of red. 

 At Station # 4 I also included examples of all of the class supplies and offered extra supply lists in case someone needed one.

All in all I think it was a success. I don't think I made too big of a fool out of myself and my Principal kindly stayed out in the hallway behind me while I spoke. His sweet little girl is in my class this year and I jokingly told him he wasn't allowed to sit directly in front.of me while I spoke. I was glad his sweet wife was there because she knew a few things I could not answer and was super helpful.

I still have a few things to finish the next few days and I hope to take better classroom shots, but here are my centers as they are right now.

Dramatic Play

Here my babies can dress up and pretend to be and do whatever they want. I want to create different settings for them to play in. I would love to create a dr. office, vet office, dentist office, restaurant, grocery store, stage for performing, and many other fun ways for them to use their imaginations.

Listening Center

This center needs a little help right now. I am planning on getting a small rug to place on the floor so my babies can sit and read.

Prayer Table

teaching at a Catholic school is an amazing job and I love teaching my babies all about prayer and the Catholic religion. I want to use this table as a way to showcase the Liturgical calendar and to reflect what is happening during the mass at that time. I would love to create a place for my babies to pray and reflect by placing the Liturgical colors on the table and other elements.

This is my area. My fabulous rocking chair and our Daily Calendar.

Weather Chart 

Each day we graph the weather and decided which type of weather has the most and the least. 

Letter of The Week Chart

Each week we have a letter we focus on and this is where we display this. Each letter has a poem, Uppercase adn lowercase cards, pictures that begin with that letter, and a tactile card the students use to feel how to make the letter.

Daily Routine. The colorful pockets on the far right and the clouds on the sticks about them are how my babies sign in each day. When they arrive in the room they hang their bags up, take out their K.I.T.E. binders, and find their cloud adn place it in a pocket on the attendance chart. After lunch and after they go potty they take their cloud out and place it on the board so we can keep track on who has and hasn't gone.

To the left of the attendance chart is our job chart. Each student has a job they complete each day and these change weekly. To the left of the Helping Hands Chart is out Compliment chart. If the whole class is doing a great job walking in line in the hallway or they are being great listeners they can earn a letter and whatever they spell out is the Compliment Party we get to have. Our favorite Compliment Party is a Pajama Party, but we also have veggie parties, toy parties, s'more parties, hot coco parties, and many more. On the top far right is our dismissal chart which helps us keep up with who goes home how everyday. To the left of that is My happy face sad face signs. If someone makes a good choice I have a happy face. If someone doesn't make a good choice I change it to a sad face. Last, but not least are my Direction Numbers. Whenever we have an activity to complete I place direction visuals next to the number that they should complete it. This really helps with babies asking me over and over again what they should be doing.

Block Center

 

Felt Board

 Reading Center

 Math and Manipulatives

 Computer Center

Aren't my new classroom computer beautiful??

Art Center

Science Center

My Writing Center and Prayer Center aren't shown because they aren't ready just yet. They will be up and running by the first day of school don't worry. We need them with a classroom full with 19 babies. I still have a lot to do, but I feel like I am ready for the first 3 half days coming up so wish me luck. 

You Know You're a Preschool Teacher When

You reach into the box to get a new tissue, and pull out one that is partly used.

You come home with blue fingernails because the food coloring spilled.

You come home with red fingernails because the water colors spilled.

You come home with glue all over your fingers because someone squished the top back on the glue stick without rolling it down.

You find yourself using "We" when you talk to your class (“We all need to catch a bubble, we keep our hands to ourselves, we use walking feet, etc…..”).

You come home from work with smears on your shoulder from the child who cried on it that morning.

You keep losing your pen only to find 5 stuck in your bun.

You hair started out cute at the beginning of the day then transformed to a messy pen filled pony tail.

You have ever uttered the phrase "We do not call our friends pickles, Baby Diaper, or tell our friends they can't come to you Birthday."

You see at least 2 bottoms per day. Either running to the bathroom or nonchalantly hanging out with a hand or 2 upon it. 

You pull out toilet paper tubes out of the trash because you know you will need them in class.
You have at least one piece of light-up, holiday, character, sea.sonal jewelry.
You come home at the end of the day with only your midsection smeered with dirty hands, markers, and paint.
You find yourself humming Tootie Tah, Days of the Week, Skinamarinki Dinki Dink
You find glitter in your hair, stuck to your skin, in the bottom of your bag, in the upholstery of your car, in every article of clothing you own, in the carpets at your house...basically everywhere you've ever been! And no matter how many times you shower you are still covered in glitter!
When leaving the room to use the restroom, you tell people that you need to use the potty.

At the store, you dig in your pocket for change and pull out beads, legos and a marble.

You tie your shoes in double knots.
You have clothing for every season.
You know that the last puzzle piece is hidden under the rug or shelf.
You can name 5 techniques for unjamming a zipper.
You carry extra tissues and hand sanatizer wherever you go. 
You can continue reading your story with a straight face midst toots and giggles.
You have an extra set of clothes for emergencies. 

You can read an entire book upside down while showing all pictures.
You go to to the store and realize you are still wearing a fruit loop necklace that was made for you earlier that day.

You find stickers in very interesting places.

You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.
You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.
You know each child's individual sneeze, cough, and other strange noises they make
You walk into a store and hear the words "It's Ms/Mr._______" and know you have been spotted. And then the child won't even look at you because they are freaking out that you have actually LEFT THE SCHOOL!
You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another.
You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty minutes.
You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and planning period.
You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that coffee can or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.
You believe chocolate is a food group.
You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.
You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."
You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.
You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own needs.
You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least five items!
You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a "good choice or a bad choice."
You find true beauty in a can of perfectly sharpened pencils
You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer or as we call it magic soap.
You choose the scent of tempra paint over victorias secret "angel" any day
You know all seven verses to "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee" because you made three of them up yourself
You can make paper chains with a perfect pattern in your sleep
Everywhere you go they find you with the children
You go home with rubber bands on your wrists.
You are in the grocery store and tell a child who is running to show you their walking feet
You have mulch lining the cuffs of your pants.


I can't think of anymore 


Anyone got anything to add

Welcome To The Jungle

I don't normally write about work, but I thought I would today. I LOVE my job. I enjoy going to work each day and I do not like my days off. I teach preschool and it is the greatest most rewarding job I think I could ever have. My 4 year olds (all 17 of them) are awesome, hilarious, and entertaining and that is just in the first few minutes of arrival each day. I get at least 25 hugs a day and then they tell me they love me just out of the blue. The nice thing is I truly believe them. Today was an interesting day at school. We had a lot going on and lots of special visitors and I had to work my lesson plan around all of this. Funny thing is these are the days I like the most. I like these days that are a little hectic and crazy. I love routine and I know my babies do too, but every now and then it is fun to shake things up. My job is NEVER boring and it is kind of like being in the zoo. Something is always happening, it is really noisy, and they move around a lot. Thank goodness for nap time or I would probably pass out before the day is over. Sometimes I feel spoiled because I have this amazing job. I know I may not make as much money as most people, but it is totally worth it. We don't need a lot of money to be happy in our little house. As long as we are making it we are good. The funny thing is I don't want Brent to get a new job because he will make more money and we will be more secure I want him to get a new job because I want him to be happy to go to work each day like I am. I know he likes what he does because he is really good at what he does even though it isn't his true profession. I want him to LOVE his job. I know I am going to have to bend my life around baby love, but it will definitely be worth it to break out of my routine. I am trying to get into a better routine now before it is time for action. Brent and I do a pretty good job of keeping our tiny house clean, but it can get cluttered in there sometimes because there is really nowhere to put anything. My biggest project coming up will be getting the bed out of the extra bedroom and getting ready to make it a baby room. Mom and I will be hopefully accomplishing this task over spring break because I will be going crazy with nothing else to do. We also need to de-clutter the office, but that is the last thing on my list. I am trying not to start "nesting" too early, but I just can't help myself. I found myself scrubbing the bathtub the other night around 9:00pm. My back was killing me and I was exhausted, but I just couldn't help myself. There is still so much more to do before baby gets here and now that I start thinking about it I start to actually panic! I think this is the first baby panic I have had so far. The biggest thing that worries me is not being at school for the very beginning of the year. You may not think it to look at my classroom or my home, but I can be quite the control freak. I like things done my way and if I don't think you will do it my way or to my standards then I will just do it myself (hence me climbing a 20 foot tall ladder to paint the top of my house). I am almost finished planning for this school year and then I have to go back and plan for the weeks I will miss. We really tried so hard to make sure I wasn't having bebe at the beginning of the school year, but I knew that was exactly what was going to happen. I can definitely say I am way more excited to be finally have my baby, but I am freaking just a tad. I want to make sure things are easy and accessible for my assistant. She will be in charge while I am gone and I want to make sure everything gets done. I just hope my babies aren't insane when I come back, but thank goodness for Cathy because I know she will keep them in line. Being a teacher has taught me how to be loving, but tough and to show my babies school can be fun, but we still have to work hard. Wow I really didn't think I had this much to say today. Final thoughts of the day

5 more days (4 if you are rounding up and this day is really almost over) until we know who baby love is

I am going to buy fleece fabric to make cloth wipes (yes Brent we will get you some baby wipes too)

And I am buying some pretty fabric and metal rings to make a baby sling this weekend (now all I need is mom to show me how to use her sewing machine so I can make everything)