Sick Squirrels and Secret Sisters

Hi Diddley Ho Neighbors!

I had a plan- I swear I had a plan!
There are some amazing linky parties circulating right now- and I wanted to post and link to so many.
I was taking notes and strategically planning what I was going to write, who I was going to join, and where I was going to link-
and all of it was gone.
Gone in a matter of minutes.

How does this happen?

One Little Word.

(No, not THAT One Little Word)

Trust me, no one chooses this as their OLW.

The word....

STREP.

I took Littlest Little in this morning, and sure enough- it's strep.

Bleck-
You would think that with all the germs that I bring home everyday that these lil squirrels would have some immunities built up!!
I'm like  a petri dish by the time I get home-
But these little germies were tough ones and they made their way through.

I had to stay home today with him and we are also home tomorrow.

I was dreading having to set up for Day 2 of a sub, especially since it is not the same one. It is just sooooo much work.
I went looking for something to ease the planning- and I found a wonderful surprise!
I found these ladies in TpT and then moved on over to check out their blog.



I found this unit that covered my ENTIRE day tomorrow and the prep time was MINIMAL!!

 Check this out!

See that on my writing table?
That's it.

Clockwise starting at 12:00
Breakfast count
Packets for each child for the day
book
schedule
"Teacher" copy
School procedure

In the words of a close friend-
BOOM!
Done.

The pages are all separate- but I decided to make a "packet" for the day for each student (the copier did all the work there).
That way, our sub would only have one thing to pass out.

They will still have regular Math and Reading centers - but the day is centered around the book.
Activities for the whole day.
Talk about an easy plan:)
Thank you ladies!!
If you are planning (or NOT planning) on being out- go check these ladies out- give em some love, tell 'em Squirrels sent ya:)

------------------------------------ME!---------------------------------

You may have noticed things were a little nuttier than usual on the blog-
up there
at the top.








They were all  there in some form or another before.
Little birds.
Red Boxes.
Pink hearts, green clovers, wait....nope that's something else...
anyway
But now they are all cute little acorns.
And there's a new one.

Yep- I did it.
I added this nutty blog to the world of facebook!
(I know, I know- I'm the last squirrel in the world to not have a page)
but I fixed that-
now Squirrels has GONE GLOBAL!!!
Be sure to head over there and "like" me.

I tend to be jittery and nervous- (squirrelly characteristics) and it is totally compounded when i have to worry about whether or not someone likes me!
This is going to cause me to be on more meds.

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday-

Smooches!!

Pretty Pencils!!

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

Was it an awesome Tuesday for you?
Did you rock that reading group?
Did you smoke that science lesson?
You did, didn't you?!?!

I am so proud of you!

I would like to say that I did both of those and then some, but it was not in the cards today.
We headed into school this morning two hours late because of a "wintry mix" that was on it's way.
Forty minutes after they were all in,  it was announced that we were dismissing an hour early.
So we came in and ate breakfast and then 45 minutes later we ate lunch.
Read a story.
PE
Language
20 mins of Math
Pack up-
Load buses.

And we are closed tomorrow.
Ice storm.

(In my little "squirrel brain", I picture ice cubes falling from the sky.
But not like Sonic crushed ice or even the kind your freezer makes, but the ones from the ice trays
you know, the blue ones that NO ONE ever filled back up?....I make myself giggle).

My goal is to use my time wisely tomorrow- and treat it like a work-at-home-day.

However, I am very confident that won't happen.

I do have to work on a WTH Wednesday post- Where the heck have those been????

I have lots of other great posts that are started, almost finished, or just living in my head.

There's just so much to share- but I get sidetracked so easily- really.
Easier than you might think....

For instance, I was taking pictures last Friday of a great center they were working on and something caught my eye.
What was it?

 Pretty Pencils!
They are all so used to me having my phone or camera out, so taking pictures isn't the issue.
BUT they all thought Miss Squirrels had finally lost it when she started taking pictures of the pretty pencils!

Over the Winter Break I got my Classroom Friendly Supplies pencil sharpener in the mail!
I had it shipped to my house because I worried that it would come to the school and be lonely since we wouldn't be there with it.
I was so excited and couldn't wait to use it. Believe it or not, I had NOT ONE PENCIL in the house to sharpen.
Not one.
So I sent Littlest Little next door and he came running back with a handful! We all took turns sharpening!
It was a bonding family time for us.

It really is just as easy to use as the videos show on the site. And so far, every one we sharpen in the room looks exactly the same.
I use the "sharpened" "needs to be sharpened" cans in the room, so hearing the sharpener was never an issue for me. It was always the actual sharpening.

The best part about it is the fact that Littlest Little still thinks it's "fun" and I don't have to do it!

As much as I would like to stay up and chat, I still have to go to bed at a decent time.
I will have to brave the ice (maybe) in the a.m. because Chickadee has her last appt before the braces come off!! She is so worried that the roads will be too bad for me to take her. (I am worried, too).

Stay Warm!

My Mom Said.......

Great Buckets of Wild Geese!!
Welcome back!

As I pulled into the parking lot with Littlest Little this morning, I was certain that after I got everything set up,
the sweeties would be walking in and the sounds of
 "Oh Miss Squirrels I missed you so much!"
or
"Oh Miss Squirrels, I am so happy to be back!"
or
"Oh Miss Squirrels, I don't ever want to be away from you for that long ever again!!"
would fill the room.

{{{{{ cue the Dream Sequence music}}}}}

I mean, everyone expects that, right?

It happens every year!!!

{{{{Record Scratch.....}}}}

Those are not the words that I heard.
At all.

Oh, now there were quite a few who hugged me a little tighter today. But I didn't have anyone profess their undying love to me or anything. Half of them couldn't wait to tell me what they got for Christmas. The other half wanted to know if we were gonna have homework!?!?!

They all looked so cute in their new Christmas clothes. Tutus were extra fluffy. Boots were extra sparkly.
Collars were extra pressed. Jeans were extra dark.
There were a ton of new hat/glove/scarf combo sets. I counted several kitty cats.
And a few new lunchboxes.

Everyone just looks so great right after the break!
But it kind of stresses me out~
Do you know what else I saw on these dapper little dudes and dudettes?
While it added to their new style for the new year, it made me cringe just a little. I knew for certain that it was going to lead to headache for me and heartache for them.
What could it be? What did I see? What was it that was making me so distraught?

Sneakers.
Brand New Sneakers.
Lots and lots of squeaky clean sneakers!

These sneakers lead to one of the most common phrases heard right after the holiday break....
Can you guess what it is?

(You may have heard it today. )

You got it!

"My mom said I can't get these dirty."

Really?
I had three friends CRYING today because we were going outside for recess.
"I'm gonna get in trouble!"

Our sweeties play on a playground that has rocks (pebbles) inside of the railroad ties- to soften the blow and avoid giant mud puddles.
These pebbles are local.
They come from the river.
Know what river?
The RED RIVER.
Know what makes it RED?
The clay.
The RED CLAY.
Know what that clay turns to when they pull the pebbles out?
Dust.
RED DUST.

So all that dust gets stirred and whirled around and sticks to anything that touches it.
I quit buying my children white shoes when Chickadee started that school in 2004!!!
It's not a secret.
We don't hide the dust. And when the rain falls and makes that pretty red mud, we don't hide that either.

I had a gang of children with baby wipes trying to get their shoes cleaned when we got back inside today.

When they weren't dreading the bus ride home because of dusty tennies, they were quite productive today.

We started out chart for OLW. Last year was my first year to do it. I wasn't going to do it this year- but it made quite an impact on several of my sweeties last year. One of them actually still carries her OLW card in her purse . Her word was "Confidence". Talking to her mom over the break, made me realize I needed to do it again.
I'll link last year's at the bottom of this post.

We talked about some goals for this new year to lead us into the process.

 Check out what they are planning on doing this year:

 This year I am going to look forward to be a great reader.

 This year i am going to learn to double knot my shoes.

 I love this guy!
This year I am going to eat healthy. No desserts. No cookies! No Brownies?
(Looks like he was questioning his decision there towards the end).

 This year I am going to practice how to be an artist so when I grow up I can be an artist.

 This year I am going to learn about animals. And young animals.

 This year I am going to PLAY the Wii!

These are some attainable goals. I am glad they are being realistic. (Except for "no brownie boy"- that's just not going to happen)
At least they didn't have a silly goal like:
Drink less coffee.
Eat more veggies.
Exercise.
Sleep better.
Read for fun.
Lose weight.
I mean, those are just ridonkulous- right???
(Please back me up on this one).


Before I go tonight- I have a few searches to share....hee hee...

Why, yes I am! How did you know???

 I don't know? Maybe I was planning on being a sleepy chick and forgot??
(I love that someone missed me):)

I started our bulletin board- but didn't finish before I left tonight- I will have to finish up in the morning:)
I think he needs a stache- whatcha think??

Have a Terrific Tuesday!!
Smooches!

Last year's OLW project

Happy New Year or Holy Headaches!!

"Happy New Year! "
and
"Good Morning!"
Why is it morning? Cause I haven't been out of bed very long- and when I get out of bed,
THEN it is morning.
Not before.

I went to a New Year's Celebration last night and I indulged in a few too many adult frothy beverages.

All is good though..
Thank goodness I do not return to work until Friday because I have been totally worthless today.

Don't believe me?
I'll recap my day for you.
2:00 am Went to bed.
4:30 am Asked the Mr to bring me Motrin and water (stayed in bed)
7:00am Asked for more water
8:00 Asked for more Motrin
9:00 Stuck foot on to floor to make sure it was still there
9:30 Weighed head- confirmed it was 100lbs- dozed off again

Somewhere between 9-12 I had a horrible dream that the cat from Coraline came in through the window of my classroom (I do not have a window in my classroom) and attacked me. He tore my arm up! It was awful!! And my school was really different and I couldn't find the nurse's office. When I got there (finally) she put Vaseline on it and sent me back to class!!!
What?!?!?
She should have called 911 for sure!!!

Fast Forward to Noon
12:00pm More Motrin, water, attempt at walking
12:15pm Moved to couch
From that point on, I switched between comfy chair and the couch. Watched a little Tv. Dozed on and off. Talked to a few friends on the phone- so I could wish them Happy New Year and confirm that I did not have to apoligize for anything:)
Whew.
I do not.

I tried to think of something teachery to share with you- and again I came up with nothing.
So I thought I would share something else I have done over the last few days.
Let me reiterate- not today. In the past....I have done nothing productive today (except for this post).

We took the Mr's mom to a local distillery this past week, and amongst the yummy bottles of grown- up deliciousness, there were displays of goods by local businesses.
One of those displays contained baskets upon baskets of these little tarts.
She also had regular candles, but I am terrified of an open flame in my home, so I use an electric tart warmer.
These smelled so good that I had to buy several-
Blue Christmas is melting right now.

These little puppies were $1.75 each! And they are little.
I got to thinking about all those great smelling candles that received from my students and families that I don't burn because I don't like the fire part.

So I put a few candles on the warmer plate of my tart warmer.

I love the smell of this one! Smells like you are baking, which is something else that I don't do- so it is nice to smell it and pretend.

This one was a great clean linen smell. I don't enjoy cleaning either, so this is also great!
All I had  to pour them into at the time was these egg trays.

(What's up with all the chickens??)
After they went into the freezer for a bit, they popped right out!

Chickadee says to hide them because she doesn't want anyone to mistake them for candy-:)

So I ran a few errands and when I went to Target I found these. And of course, teachers have the gift of seeing so many uses for something (often nothing near what the original use was supposed to be).

Final product? I have tarts galore!!! There are Japanese Cherry Blossom from Bath and Body Works, Gingerbread, Clean Linen, and Apple Pie tarts.

That is way too much for me to use- so I shared with my neighbors.
Just thought I would share what little productivity I have mustered with you. Maybe it is something you can do with the closet full of candles you have received over the years.

For everyone who has to work tomorrow, I send my deepest condolences:)
I head back on Friday for staff development and then kiddos return on Monday.

Whatever you venture into tomorrow, I hope it is great for you!
Smooches!

Holiday Overload!

Hello my dear, sweet friends!
My posts are beginning to be fewer and farther between-
this makes me sad-
1) because I love writing.
2) because I love that you are reading it.


I have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING EDUCATIONAL to share with you.
Zip.
Zilch.
Nada.

We have had SO MUCH CHRISTMAS packed into our Christmas break.
For Real.
Like Christmas EVERYDAY.
Our Christmas morning was great! Lots of oohs and ahhs . And batteries, And loud noises. And wrapping paper. And naughty puppies. And smiles and hugs. And coffee- and more coffee.

The day after Christmas we went to Santaland. After going through some drive through lights, we ended up in a tent with bungee jumping, spider crawling, and rock wall climbing.
All the things you would expect to find in Santaland!
There was also a petting zoo.
Yes.
I said petting zoo.
There were frisky bunnies. Greedy goats. A grouchy (smelly donkey) and chickens and roosters.

As some of you may know- Betty is lost! So when  I saw those chickens I was so anxious!!!!

This is Colonel Cluck, he is new to our home and is helping us to find her. I hope we find her soon.

For those of you who do not know who Betty is- It's okay- As you get to know me, it all starts to make sense.
(Not really, but it makes me feel better to say that).

Yesterday we went to see MORE lights and ate at Patti's Settlement in Grand River KY.
Ignore the "do" on "Thumbs". He was wearing a hat. When he took it off, there was a slight resemblence to Conan O'Brien.

The food was AH-Mazing! The Mr ordered a 2lb pork chop.
I like to call it a small roast.
Not kidding. The leftovers alone fed two Littles.

Some of you may remember last Christmas when we went to "Cock of the Walk" in Nashville. It was, again, great food.
It was very smiliar to Patti's. Food was different. But check this out:

And I DON'T DO METAL!!
Made it a little hard to enjoy the great food. I did my best to drown it out.
We are going to have to start scoping out the places we eat during the holidays a little better!

Ugh. That's all I have for that one.

Grandma saw an opportunity to make them be SERIOUS in a photo- which they NEVER ARE.
She gave them guns.
I hardly ever see my Littles without their glasses. So this is a nice one to have.

We trolled all of the little gift shops. Everything was half off and if it was Christmas related- 75% off.
So we went to all of the shops.
I picked up these tiny guys.
Love them.

When we got home, we just started to vege. I was in a great place.
Had my coffee.
My footed jammies. (I totally look like I belong in  a Dr Seuss book when I wear them).
But nonetheless, I was ready to blog.
I wanted to share my Holiday Adventures with you.
So I grabbed my Mac, went to plug it in-
and SAW SPARKS!!
The cord to the adapter was ALL CHEWED UP!
Wonder who did that?!?!?!

Oh, don't say how cute he is in any comments cause this little guy is in BIG TROUBLE!!

Well a Non Educational Post from Squirrels wouldn't be complete without involving a funny search or the word "Poop".
No searches tonight.
So what does that leave us with?
Yep.

This was in the Littles' stockings.
The side says "Grandpa says: If you rub chicken poop on your lips, you'll never lick 'em!" Which in turn I guess keeps you from getting chapped lips.
The best part is the disclaimer. "Contains no real poop." on the side.

Also, they say that things are "tailored to you" when they show up in your sidebar. Really?


So this has been a random collection of "stuff"!

Tomorrow brings napping cleaning, napping organizing, and celebrating.
(Really, I will be celebrating)
So chances are, I won't see you until next year!

Caution: May include mushiness.

Thank you everyone for your ideas and support and love in this beautiful bloggy world! I really feel like I have become a more thoughtful and reflective educator. I just feel like I am on the best possible team that I could be on with all of you! Blogging brings new meaning to the word collaboration!

Enjoy the rest of your break and best wishes to you and yours in 2013!
Happy New Year!!!

Button Courtest of Jen Ross

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