Sunday, July 27, 2008

Dancing the Night Away...










This is when we first made it out on the dance floor!







Last night Sara, Ashley, Ashley's husband, and I celebrated Valen's wedding with her! Valen made the most beautiful bride! The ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was a lot of fun! For the first time since my accident, I was able to dance! What a huge accomplishment! We had a WONDERFUL time! I am going to miss those girls so much!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Day Four of My New Adventure...On a Saturday!


A Teacher Can Never Have Too Many Expo Markers!! I have many white boards throughout my new room! I am so excited!!My files finally found their home in the top drawer of my filing cabinet.

This is the beginning of what will be my cozy reading center! The black shelf is my Book and a Buddy Center! I plan to use the small wooden shelves for social studies and science books devoted to the units we are studying throughout the year! I love the window in the reading center!

Can you tell which one of us actually didn't do any work today, and just showed up to get the van for a jewelry party?!?


The cursive alphabet chart is the first thing I have hanging on the wall!

These are some multiple copy books I have for reading.

Each drawer is organized according to subject. My first drawer is the home of all of my construction paper, the second drawer has miscellaneous hanging materials in there and sentence strips, the third drawer is dedicated to all of my reading materials I would hang, the fourth drawer is the home of my writing posters, and the fifth drawer will house all of my social studies poster sets.

No comment is needed here!!!!!!!!

This is the top drawer of my desk.

Today my wonderful mom agreed to come help me in my classroom! I couldn't wait for her to be able to see the beautiful school I would be teaching in and where Carson would be going to school. Also, my mom is one of the best helpers I know. She is very organized, quick, and doesn't have any problems getting distracted like I do. She loaded her Blazer yet again today full of more of my "stuff"! Today's main focus for me was on labeling all of the new books that I have been buying throughout the summer! We also organized more of my teaching materials, supplies, my Book and a Buddy center, and moved some furniture. We stayed a little longer than originally plan and even had a special visitor stop by, but not to do any work today!!!!!!! Thanks Mom for all of your help!!!!!!

Friday, July 25, 2008

When Necklaces Just Aren't Enough...

Day Three of My New Adventure

Just a few of the MANY plastic organizational baskets I have and my new pillows that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE
Finally all of my teaching trade books found a home.

The five tubs we unloaded today! :)

Can you tell which one of us worked the hardest today?

Today Liz and I ventured back to my school for just a little while to take and unpack another load of "stuff"! To look in my room today, it doesn't look like we got a lot done, but we did unpack several more tubs and found new homes for the many items. We also cleaned all of the lots of plastic baskets that I keep accumulating. I am planning to go work for a little while tomorrow morning. Hopefully, it will LOOK like I made some progress!

Day Two of My New Adventure

All of My History Books and Teaching Materials Divided into Units From Native Americans to the Civil War

All of My Old Lesson Plan Notebooks (minus 99-03 because I was made to throw those out!), Professional Development Books, Teaching Resources for Reading and Writing, and Mini-Lesson Trade Books

Construction Paper All Neatly Organized In One Drawer

My Craft Drawers


Yesterday Liz and I ventured back to my school after physical therapy and began unloading all of the MANY tubs I had full of "stuff"! We even took five more tubs with us. It was an overwhelming task at first, but once we began working as a team we began making lots of progress! I believe by the end of our time there we had about five empty tubs to take home with us! Oh, there is so much more to do...

Thanks Liz for helping me so much!!!!! I can't wait to help you in your library! :)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Day One of My New Adventure!











Today was the official first day I could visit my new classroom. Brian and I loaded up his truck and my van and headed to begin my new journey. I was AMAZED when I first walked into my new classroom! It was absolutely FABULOUS! It was much larger than what I am used to and had all NEW pieces of furniture, materials, carpets, etc. It took us at least one hour to unload both cars, and that completely exhausted me! The only progress I made was putting my book baskets on the bookshelves. I met some of the kindest people today, and my partner came toward the end. I am so blessed to be provided the opportunity to teach in my new school, and Carson is going to LOVE it!!! Of course, we had to sneak by a kindergarten room on our way out!


The ONLY Progress I Made!!!



Monkeyin' Around!










Carson, Ella, and Ethan enjoyed a fun play date at the new Monkey Joes in the area! Carson had a blast on all the big blowup jumpy stations playing and racing with Trisha. Ella prefered the solid ground! She enjoyed drawing on the chalkboard and riding on the little tricycles.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Roo at 17 Months






  • Weighs 21 pounds
  • Finally had her 12 month shots (only the chicken pox one)
  • LOVES her necklaces
  • LOVES her shoes
  • Is beginning to put together words ("go outside")
  • Is a little cookie monster ("Cookie", "cookie", "cookie" are frequently heard around this house!)
  • Takes one long afternoon nap each day
  • Loves to be outside
  • Loves to ride in the van but must have her "maa maa" each time
  • Finally enjoyed a swimming pool for the first time
  • Says "da da" all day long
  • Loves her Big Brother
  • Loves to play with cell phones
  • New words include "hat", "doll", "bite", "ball", "book", "papa", "cracker", "cookie", "na na na"
  • Enjoys playing with her baby dolls
  • Loves to go to her bed each night, but only if her daddy takes her
  • Loves to lift up her shirt or someone else's shirt and tickle as she says "tick tick tickle"
  • Has a mouth full of teeth
  • Can't see any of her upper teeth when she smiles
  • Loves to have her teeth brushed and to brush her own teeth
  • Loves to clean with baby wipes or any towel she finds
  • Is an angel when you take her to a restaurant
  • Loves table food
  • Doesn't enjoy baby food anymore at all
  • Still will NOT drink from a sippy cup
  • Loves to play with balls and is learning how to throw one
  • Enjoys music and begins dancing when she hears songs
  • Lets someone know she has on a stinky diaper by coming up grabbing her diaper and saying "shoo shoo"
  • Won't stay still long enough for Mommy's photo shoots
  • Makes a sucking sound with her mouth when she wants her pacifier
  • Must have her pacifier string clipped to her at all times
  • Is growing up much too quickly