Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

Well only two more days and I am officially done with school for the summer (minus any PD that I sign up for ).

Hard to believe that there is another one in the books! And one in fourth grade to boot! 

I have to admit that I was a little scared to take on fourth graders after having been with K and 1 for all of my teaching time. Something happened though that made me fall in love!

I loved the (semi) independence! I loved being able to read and write and create on a level that I had never been on before.

I did miss so many things- but there was a trade off of sorts :)

I even put in for transfers to four middle schools for ELA positions (I know, what is that crazy squirrel thinking- but hey, you've known me long enough to know that I'm NUTS!!!)

It is district policy that they contact you by June 15th to let you know either way. I am beginning to get the feeling that these  middle schools have already made their teams for next year.

So I am not putting all my nuts into one nest. I am considering our neighboring state- there are three counties with middle schools, all less than a half hour from where I live. 

Scary, eh? 

I watch the Jobs Posted section religiously- and I wince each time the phone rings- we'll see what they think before summer's end!

While I am playing the "waiting game" with next year's assignment, I am not waiting around for other changes.

These are just a few "changes" that have happened for me:

1. Out of the last 10 days, I have exercised (on purpose) for 9 of them.
2. I have gone 9 days with NO SODA.
3. I made a concerted effort to make healthier shopping and cooking choices for ALL of us!

Let's go through these changes one at a time

#1- My exercise includes walking. (And a "fitness hoop" that I am trying to master) I walk out my door, turn left, and follow the road and all the cul de sacs until I am back home. If I stay on track, it's about 5 miles. This is NOT my first time to say I was going to stick with this. I WANT to stick with it. I PLAN to stick with it.
The app I use says that I burn (depending on how fast I go) around 600 calories on each walk. This is what has lead to and helped with the #2.

#2 I have said for awhile that I was going to give up soda. My beloved soda. We had a "thing". I would send Littlest Little to the break room with $ to buy my soda before I was ever even thirsty in the morning!! And I would drink it all day long. Then if we went somewhere where they served it, I drank it. If I got it in a cup, I would refill it so that I would be sure to have some when I came home.


And then I looked at the calories.
That one soda is about 1/5 of the calories I am burning. It's about 15 minutes of walking. 15 minutes of sweating- profusely.
My time is valuable. And I AM NOT going to waste it! The way I think about it now is, if I drink that soda, then I have WASTED 15 minutes of walking!!!
So soda is OUT THE DOOR! As The Mr. and I grocery shopped today, I looked at the Nutrition Facts and did lots of mental math- "That's 10 minutes. That's 25 minutes. That's only 3 minutes! Get in the cart!!"

#3 We have been drinking a lot of fruit infused water for the last few months. Lots of lemon and oranges. Recently, we have been experimenting with other fruits. I even bought the Littles their own pitcher because they don't always like what I make for myself.

And we have purged the pantry, discussed the importance of eating meals at meal time and "snacks aren't supposed to fill your belly" (they hate that lecture), and I've replaced all the junk with much healthier choices. It's a transition for us all. And I am sure that we will be a household full of angry squirrels as our bodies begin getting used to not having CRAP snacks - but we will trudge through it together. The Mr. said that as long as I don't become the Food Nazi, we will be okay.

So there are a lot of changes. Hopefully a lot more to come. And hopefully all good ones. (I look forward to being able to post great news) As soon as everyone gets over the "grouchies"!

If you aren't out yet, here's to a speedy week!!

A Mother's Love... {and Lots of It}

Wowwee Wow Wow!

Mother's Day is gone.

 {insert sad face here}

There was such a "build-up", too!

I was all about having this one day. Just one day. (Can you hear the Les Mis...."Just One Day....")

 I had it all worked out in my mind that I would wake up to a glorious smell from the kitchen and then my beautiful children would come into my room with a pretty tray adorned with freshly cut flowers and a delicious meal.

Cue to the dream like music.

And.....

It's over.

Guess what part of that happened.

Uh- NONE of it! That's how much of it happened!

I was the first one up- AND I made breakfast for everyone. 

What the What!?!?!

I guess it's better that way, at least I didn't have to hurt someone for waking me up too early!

All of The Littles did  a wonderful job of helping out The Mr. to find just the right gifts.

***Disclaimer- I know that makes me sound greedy- which is not my intent. I merely think that if we are actually going to spend $$$ on each other that it needs to not be frivolous or wasteful. 

I love a handmade ANYTHING with all my heart- and I keep it all and will cherish it forever! But if you are gonna spend cash on a squirrel- be practical!***

After everyone was awake and their bellies were full, they came out of their rooms with my "loot". The piece of paper there is a GC for a pedi at the spa where I get my hair done- which is good- because these toes are not ready to be seen in those flops!

(The chocolate didn't last 24 hours).

We had a great morning ! I think the best part about the morning was that we didn't "do" anything! The boys sat in front of the ent. stand and went through the movies, trying to find something that we would all like to watch- while "looking" we got distracted with some of the other stuff that was in there. In the time we sat laughing and joking about what we found, we could have watched two movies!!!

These are some of the lovely finds from the back of the stand. These are from our- "everyone do thumbs up right before the picture" stage!!

Lucky me, three horrible "dos" in a row.

Good times. Good times.

And our "good times" do seem to out weigh the not-so-good.

I consider myself to be a very lucky mom of three beautiful Littles. Inside and out.

 They have their moments (they get that from him).

  For the most part my life consists of a table full of sweet faces that sit across from me at the dinner table every night. And even if it tastes like I was trying to poison them, each night they pass my chair as they are excused and say "That was good. Thank you". One of them still kisses my cheek when he says it.

I also have to "deal with" two of them getting out of the van every morning when I drop them off and saying "See you later, I love you". Ugh - my life, right?

(Littlest Little comes in with me, so I get his goodbyes when he leaves for his classroom).

And whether it's out of habit or genuine concern- I have to "put up with" all of them asking how my day is. 

Woe is me. 

I guess it isn't so bad that it's over. I get a little Mother's Day "love" each day. 

I guess the moral of the story is that 

"A mother should be happy that she has the love of her children".

or

"A child's love is priceless"

or

"Let your heart be filled with the smiles of your children".

Screw that- the take-away here folks is-

 "If they didn't make it by hand at school and you have to buy it, make sure it's worth it- also it wouldn't hurt to let her sleep in and  bring her breakfast in bed every once in awhile".

BWHAHAHAHAH!!!!

Speaking of Love

there's a WHOLE LOTTA BIRD LOVIN going on in my hood! This top pick is the nest that is in the bush next to my front door.

Dear Robin #1,

I'm so happy you have built your home in a location where we are able to scare the $%^!> out of each other EVERY morning!!!

Love, 

Squirrels

Dear Robin #2,

Thank you for watching my weight for me and making sure that I don't have any juicy burgers or gigantor steaks until your CHILDREN decide they can feed themselves and get the $#^@ out of my grill.

Love,

Squirrels

NO matter if you gave or got Mama love this weekend, here's some Squirrel-love!
Hope you all had a great Monday!

Throwback Thursday Trio

It has been a year since my friends, Fern and Michelle began their Dynamic Duo monthly giveaways.  They have had a fun time working together and of course they love to give stuff away!

Fern recently came up with a new idea.  Each week, they  are going to make one of their normally priced packets free for one day.  This is their way of showing a little appreciation to their followers who have loyally followed their blogs.  As an added bonus, they are going to invite a different blogger friend each week to join them.  Not only will you get free stuff, you might get to "meet" someone new and want to follow his or her store, too.  How great is that?!!!  Make sure you visit their blogs every Thursday!

This week- they chose me!!! Have you met me? Yes? Well, have you met them? If the answer is yes, then you are so lucky already. If the answer is no, then you need to get over there and meet them- they are both amazing!

Today you can click here and get this great assessment tool that I made when I was still in first grade FOR FREE!!

I used it when they entered my class and I was able to have the cards ready and at hand when I needed to assess a new student on beginning skills. They also made for great interventions for some students!

Click HERE to download your freebie.

Just a reminder:  You will not be able to leave feedback after we change it back to a paid for lesson.

Five for Friday {April 12}

Doodle Bugs Teaching

Good Morning and happy Saturday!
You should celebrate Saturdays. You don't have to throw a big party or buy decorations or anything, but you should celebrate it.
You should also celebrate the fact that I have 27 instructional days left in my school year. I know it's sad to see the little ones go, but there is hopefully some great news on the horizon for me (that's a different post).

Let's start this off with the fact that it is absolutely GORGEOUS here! These are my two favorite trees that I see everyday on my way in and way out of the neighborhood. And when the wind blows, it's like something out of a dream....and then the little boy who lives there comes out of his house and ruins that dream yelling "Miss Squirrels! Miss Squirrels! " when I drive by- he's zoned for my school:)

Now let's move on to this little lovely Lego set that I came across while playing on my phone yesterday. It's a Squirrel! With her own private tree! And her own little collection of nuts! Um, I totally went to Toys R US last night looking for this. OK, We were also looking for a laser tag thing that Littlest Little wants to hook up to his iPod. But I also scoured the Lego Friends Section.

I'm kind of going to cheat with my last pics and mush them all into one. This is one of my favorite dinners that we had this week. It's SO easy and so delicious!
And being a teacher, I am sure that the word problem
 kitchen + easy = dinner
 makes you happy.

So simple!
Such an easy crockpot dinner. I set it up in the morning while the boys are in the bathroom fighting over who's turn it is to use the toothpaste and I am done before they both make it out.
Add the roast, fill the bottom of crockpot with Coke (don't cover the top the of the roast with Coke). Then cover the top of roast with ketchup and one packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Put the lid on, set on low, and when you get home you have a yummy roast that is not soggy and gooey. But instead it is melt in your mouth tender with this yummy, crusty flavorful top.

Easy Quick Dinner

Coke Roast

When I make this, I usually throw a bag of red new potatoes in foil bag, with butter and garlic in the oven when I get home. They cook while I am unpacking and unwinding- and before I know it, I am ready to open a package of vegetables that everyone will complain about and no one will eat and we all sit down together! Ah, dinner time. The time that brings us all together.

It is time for me to go enjoy this Saturday! There are lots of busy squirrels in the nest today and I get to be the nutty chauffeur!
Enjoy your sunshine (and cross your fingers for my good news)

Memory Lane Monday

 Hey there! The last couple of weeks, I have been all "weepy" about how neglected my blog is :( Chickadee and I were looking through old posts and rereading all the fun we used to have- believe it or not, The Littles actually get a kick out of them (the ones that aren't school related)

We came across this particular WTH, and I JUST had to rephotograph "Fat"-
He is the reason that you are here- probably because you saw his famous mug (or lack there of) somewhere else....

The one on the right is Fat today (two years after the photo taken below)

 I giggled the entire time I reread this post! Hope you enjoy it too!


Originally posted June 28, 2012

Yikes! I am cuttin' close-
but with time changes and zones-
it is still going to be Wednesday SOMEWHERE when I finish this:)

(I'm a half-full kinda gal).

Soooooo
I thought that the LTT (Lack of Teachery Thoughts)
would back off a little since we are trapped inside-

What?!?! Trapped inside?
Did something collapse?
Has there been an accident?
HOW DID THE SQUIRRELS GET TRAPPED??!?!?!

Here's how:

WHEN THE HECK did I move to the desert?!?!?!
I live in TN! It shouldn't be this hot!
I can't even let the Littles out of the house for fear that they
will spontaneously combust
(and I watch Myth Busters- it can happen) :)

We are trapped in this house...
no rain
no wind
no motivation
(and increasingly)
no patience.

Why?
Oh, you KNOW I'll explain:
WHO THE HECK knocked this over and left it???

I don't even know what the original plan was for these anymore?!?!?




(ok, I had a little something to do with why it spilled- but it wasn't this bad)

More ranting-
WHEN THE HECK did these start tasting so good?

You should NOT be able to see through his head already- he hasn't been here long enough-
but I think they are fat free (like I care).

WHO THE HECK was the evil GENIUS who came up with Skylanders???

Have any of you other moms been affected by these?
They are like weird little creatures who play this weird little game that is on the Wii.
See that stage (portal)? When you put the character there- it shows up on the television-

great right? buy a few. play the game.
NOT SO MY FRIEND.
Because the genius who created this game, has made it to where the characters get "tired" and have to
go rest, so in order to finish a level, you have to change them out.....in other words-
YOU NEED MORE CHARACTERS!!!!
No one told Santa this and he brought the "starter" pack- which he thought was all you needed.
TWENTY characters LATER..........


WHO THE HECK is loving the Pinterest idea to use the holes in the sterlite container for ribbon?
ME, THAT's who!!
I am using it to keep my yarn separated- so easy- so smart-
why don't I think of these things? (on my own)

WHEN THE HECK did the Middle Little get his doctor's degree???

This past Friday, I am awakened by the sniffles and cries of the Littlest Little.
He crawls into bed beside me and cuddles up and says,
Mommy, I woke up and I just don't feel right (sniffle sniffle) and my head just hurts really bad. It's like a really bad one.
(so I was going to do that feel the forehead, take temp thing and see where we were at)
but he says
No, mommy, don't worry- I already took medicine- brother gave it to me.

WHAT!?!?!?
So after running to the front with him and making him show me which bottle and how much, I was relieved to find that it was the right dose and right medicine- whew-
but brother and I had a talk, regardless...

And lastly this evening-

WHO THE HECK loves something- THIS MUCH???

Short background story-
When Chickadee was a baby- her room was done in Winnie the Pooh.
We went to the disney store and bought all of the plush characters
so they could live on her bookshelf.
As she grew a little, she wanted to play with them.
She took a liking to Rabbit.
He was her favorite!
She was only 18 months old and could not say rabbitt,
so she called him "Fat".

Over the years, Fat has had many "surgeries".
There have been attempts to replace- she was not having it!
I even found an identical one on eBay, and when it came in the mail
I told her it was Fat's sister who had come to live with us....
Fat's sister was quickly lost in the bottom of her closet.

We have actually had bday parties for Fat.
I have gone to the bakery and asked for them to write
Happy Birthday Fat on a cake.
Fat had his own car seat for awhile-
imagine strapping in everyone else and having to make sure that
%(#&$ rabbit was safe too!

This first picture is what Fat looked like when he was purchased (this is actually his sister who is in very decent condition because she lives in the top of a closet now)







This is Fat today.
Warning: The following photo is graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.







Told ya!
Have you ever seen Donnie Darko???

She will be 16 in October- and he sleeps with her every night.
We go out of town, he goes.
When she was in the hospital- he was right there with her.

One day, he will probably live in one of those glass display cases that Woody from Toy Story almost ended up in- but I don't think it will be anytime soon and I don't think there will be much of him left to put in there!!!


Have a great Thursday!