mikey is three!!!

my sister designed mikey's birthday invitation. it was awesome. we said, "whoa!"

sunday night was family night with garrett's family. we celebrated mikey's birthday then. 

mckay and sindi gave mikey this jake and the neverland pirates treasure chest complete with a sword. he now insists on wearing pants with belt loops. 

tuesday nana took mikey to build a bear, as she does with the grandkids on their 3rd birthday. what a special tradition!

mikey was a little overwhelmed at everything in the store. he fixated on ivor's backpack... until he woke up from his nap and then he fully appreciated ivor. [ivor is the baby's name on henry hugglemonster... one of mikey's new favorite shows. also, where we got any form of hugglemonster nicknames for henry!]

 mikey started preschool last week - before he was even 3! - and this is his teacher giving him a lil' present and singing happy birthday to him. 

grandpa was able to go read a book to the kids on mikey's birthday, too. what a special treat for me, him and mikey. 

 we had mikey's wall*e birthday party last night. grandparents and a few aunts and cousins came. it was fun. 

 mikey got a few REALLY cool airplanes! he is in hog's heaven!!!

 cars cookie cutters!!!  like we need another excuse to have more treats. as i'm typing this, garrett is making the dough! mikey is running around with a balloon in hand squealing in excitement about making cars cookies.

 this airplane came from auntie tiff and crew - its amazing. mikey built the airplane and can take it apart and build it again to his little boy's heart's content. it is seriously awesome! thanks, auntie tiff!

 we made cupcakes [complete with green plants a la my amazing & talented mother] in a cup. courtesy of buy-n-large. 

 the big boy blowing out his candle. you can also see a fairly decent shot of his wall*e t-shirt that we made. this will be a part of our family themed hallloween costumes, too. more on that later. 

auntie heidi gave mikey some water color and finger paints. with special papers. when he opened it last night, i said, "we'll do that tomorrow!" and this morning when we woke up, he had an agenda. we got down to business painting. we might be painting every day for the next while - maybe until we run out of paper or paint. another awesome present.

we didn't even give mikey his big present yet. cause we forgot until everyone was leaving and it was way past his bedtime. its a bike. and since we didn't want to torture the poor kid, we're waiting until tonight when garrett is done with work to give it to him. when they can go outside and play with it for a while. 

i love being his mom. he's a special kid. i am in awe at how fast he's growing up, too.

my school album

as some of you might know i'm on a project life craze right now. i've been using project life since mikey was born. this year, becky higgins has a bunch of new products out [and still coming out] and my sister and i have a sickness. i blame holly for this - she's the one that introduced me to project life. and i love her for it. when the mini albums came out, i loved them... but i know i'm a few years off from needing one for my boys. and then i had a thought about doing an album of my school years. i started gathering pictures. i picked the childhood mini album. i picked the mini album. i ordered. i printed pictures. then i put things together. LOVE. obsession. happiness. pretty much if you've come to my house since i finished the album, i've shoved it down your throat.

you should also know that i didn't post a lot of the pages here because i don't want to post pictures of my students. or former students. i put a heart over the one page that had a student. also, you should note that the mini albums are on sale this week. i've ordered one today for a little project i'm going to do this spring. like i said, i have a sickness. i love it though. i have class pictures. i wrote about the 3 principals i worked under, i wrote about big things and little things. this album was perfect. and i totally love it. 

and here is a link of where becky higgins shared it on her blog. i'm kind of a big deal! :)

teachers

i quit teaching a little over 2 years ago to stay home with my son. it was what i wanted to do, even if it was a sacrifice financially. i have been very happy with my decision, but i am still a teacher at heart. i still have a passion for it and will probably go back to it some day. somedays, i wonder if i should do it now, i'm not a great housewife. i don't feel the same satisfaction in folded laundry, a clean bathroom, ironed shirts and a neatly prepared dinner table as i did in helping kids learn. i challenged my kids, i pushed them to do better. they didn't always like me, but most of the time they did [same can be said for parents... sometimes it is hard for people to see that working hard is a good thing] and i liked them. i know i was good at what i did. when i see a video like this, it kind of makes my heart ache.  [also, i'd like to note - i let 2nd graders go to the bathroom, 99% of the time. cause accidents aren't fun & they didn't typically pull that one on me. cause if i thought they were bored and faking, i'd time them and then make them pay that time back to me at recess if they stayed longer than 2 minutes...]

found on pinterest, via a teacher friend, heather.

missing my first conferences

i realized yesterday as i drove past my old school that i was missing my first parent teacher conferences. garrett asked me, "are you sad you're not there?"  and i didn't even hesitate to say, "NOPE!" granted, conferences make for some really long days and there is a ton of prep work going into them, so you'd kinda have to be crazy to miss that...  but, in general, i am not really missing working. sure, i miss my friends & sure, i miss some of my favorite students that would always come say hi to me at the end of the day. but i'm perfectly content doing what i do now. and really, the majority of what i do is wipe a poopy butt & allow this little bugger to nurse. but i love it. i'm so thankful for this opportunity to stay at home & just take care of my growing little baby.

feel free to remind me that when everyone else was going back to school & i was stuck at home doing practically nothing, before mikey came - i was in tears. now, i like to blame it on boredom, but at the time, i was questioning everything... 

why couldn't this have been available last year?

oh, this is something that is making me wish i was teaching this year.  i hope one of my teacher friends decides to do it. [and if you do, tell me & show me how it turns out!!!] what a cute little project!!! this whole yearbook project is FREE and downloadable here. i'm liking that becky higgins more and more everyday. and, i think i'm going to be printing one of baby sleeping signs, too.

the fourth was a bust here.

well, the 3rd wasn't. we had a nice day with garrett's family. movie. bbq. fireworks. by the time 9 o'clock rolled around though, i was feeling off. i hadn't quite pinpointed what was wrong, i just knew that i was tired and not right. i woke up around 2 in the morning and "the sick" started. that lasted most of the morning, along with miserable body aches. apparently - and yes, i confirmed with my dr this morning - i am sensitive to lots of "activity" and need to have plenty of water. i will confess saturday i didn't drink enough water. and paid dearly for it yesterday. ["the sick" is a polite way of describing: barfing, diarrhea, or if you're super lucky - a combo deal of both at the same time. i had all three this lovely weekend.]

dr says: my blood pressure is "good" - and the swelling is due to probably a combination of too much salt, too much on my feet time, not enough taking it easy time. which is good, cause the last 3 weeks were definitely rough with moving out of my school. but that's done now. i won't have to be outside if i don't want to be. i can put my feel up when i need to & try to stay cool as much as possible. i will, too. i will have more time and energy to eat healthier. and i'll never leave home without my water bottle again.

i was so worried that i had killed garrett's 4th. i kept apologizing for it. i think he thought i was silly. he kept saying "you aren't ruining my holiday." and i said, "well, this is ruining mine!"

today we're going to go to the pool with garrett's siblings. i'll stay in the shade with my water as much as possible, considering i still don't feel 100%. i feel much better, but my energy is low and i've still got some of the aches and pains. yikes.

i'm done with school. thursday afternoon was really hard. friday morning was hard. but i pulled it together and survived the day. i love teaching. i will miss it indeed, but i know this is a better choice for my family. and i can't wait for this baby to come along. i still can't believe i'm done. 9 years is a long time.

i'm off to enjoy the last day of this long weekend with garrett. yesterday doesn't count cause i was puking most of the day. this day needs to end our weekend with a bang.

p.s. i love my country.

the cons of 9 years

in an effort to not be completely depressed about quitting teaching, i've been compiling a list of things i won't miss about teaching. not all reflect my feelings about this year's class, in fact many. i'm not complaining about this group, in fact - for the most part, being with them again this morning after a little break, they are the reason why i'm reminding myself there are downsides...

so, here is my list of things i won't miss:

• fire drills. i've never liked them. including and not limited to: earthquake drills, intruder alerts. especially when they are real drills and i've got a bladder infection. [i don't have a bladder infection now. i did last year & there was a real lockdown. we were trapped in our rooms for an hour and a half. finally i snuck across the hall to pee & was caught by the cops. i got reprimanded. the cop didn't seem to care that i just had a bladder infection and had called the office to make sure we were secure. and i didn't leave my kids, i had a trustworthy mom in there...]
  
• field trips. we're going to the zoo tomorrow, and i wish i would enjoy it more. i don't love the long bus ride, i don't love the worrying about one of my kids getting lost. i don't even love the smell of the zoo animals in the heat. sorry. i just don't.
• parents who think their kid is perfect. especially when said kid is kinda a pooh chunk. i know these parents won't stop existing, it is just that i won't have to deal with them often. i could go on and on here, but i won't. i wish people could come down to earth a little. just because your kid isn't perfect, doesn't mean i don't love him. or her.
  
• getting ready for parent teacher conferences. i don't actually mind the actual meetings with the parents. [most of the time.] it is the craze of getting report cards and everything ready and organized before hand. then, the parent teacher conferences are just long days.
  
• uninvolved parents. you know, the ones who treat me like a babysitting service. and then want to freak out when grades come out & their child's scores are low... the ones who's excuse is always "i didn't see that paper." well, if you don't ever look in a backpack or ask to see things from your child - you won't. i can't hand deliver everything.
• the stinky kid. i'm sorry, but there is almost always one, in every class. i wish parents knew what harm they were doing to my nose when they don't send kids to school in freshly laundered clothing and freshly bathed skin. i know it isn't the stinky kids fault, at 7 or 8 years old. but still. it hurts. me and them.
  
• the helicopter parent. the one who feels a need to call or send a note every day. or if i am really lucky, stop in for a chat. especially over issues that really don't matter. i really won't miss those ones.
• district politics. 'nough said. i won't miss that part of teaching one bit. included here are the ridiculous deadlines and expectations we're expected to meet each year. with less funding and support every year.
  

thanks for indulging me. it kept me from getting a little teary this morning. i don't mean to confuse anyone - i am really thankful i get to stay home with my baby. i just will also really miss teaching.

orange helicopters - here we come!

i can't get over people's generosity when you announce you're having a baby. we've received so many sweet little gifts from friends and family. besides being amazed at how loving people are, i can't get over the cute little goodies this baby is getting. i mean, he's going to have some of the cutest little outfits i've ever seen.

this little goodie comes from one of my students and her mom. the mom came in to volunteer every week this year, until april - when she had her baby. when the baby was 3 weeks old, she brought him in to show me. i sat and held him for a few minutes & just couldn't get enough of how good he smelled and how cute he was. he was wearing this little outfit. i thought it was adorable. garrett loves orange, and it has made me notice anything orange a lot more. and like it more, too. well this morning, my little student brought me in a bag o' goodies. this orangie helicopter onesie, that i swear, i almost want a 9 pound baby so i can bring him home from the hospital in this and another little bag of onesies. they're adorable, too. [p.s. another time i'll share my feelings on how bad i want this kid to like orange and transformers... all because of his daddy.] but the picture i took with my phone wouldn't turn the right way and it was bugging me, so i'm going to just use that picture.

guess who is getting straight A's on her last report card? kidding.

no more slop 'round here!

this week, i was the handwriting nazi. i wouldn't accept any work if it wasn't neat, letters formed correctly - while touching the appropriate lines, and if their spacing wasn't proper. for a few kids, this wasn't an issue. for most kids, they really had to slow down & pay attention. but by today, their work quality has seriously improved and i'm a much happier teacher. i tell them i'm getting them ready for 3rd grade - and cursive - but really, i was just sick and tired at having to guess. i have started a strict "no guessing" policy for the rest of the year. if it isn't clear to me, it is wrong.

yesterday i had 2 dr appointments. neither were fun. at the 2nd one, i might've said something wildly inappropriate to the dr who i felt was being a little smug with me. i can't share what i said. my dad might see this. i'm not using wildly inappropriate loosely here. i promise. i get red in the face when i replay the situation back in my head. but i think i made my point.

we've got a few errands to run tonight, but we mostly plan on being home and maybe watching a movie together. i just texted garrett and said that i'd also like to watch some tv from last night. "grey's private 30 rockin' office." he wrote back and said that i'm the coolest person on the planet. apparently he liked my cleverness. that feels good to be appreciated. garrett, i think you're the coolest person on the planet, too.

ice cream haunts me right now. i can almost taste the minty chocolate chips. too bad i don't have a pint here at school. i might have to rectify that situation. what a recess treat that would be!!!

am i the meanest teacher in the world?

one huge pet peeve of mine is when my kids don't take care of things. like when the bookshelf looks like a disaster. or my game boxes get smashed and i find pieces all over the room. so many lectures have been given about taking care of things, especially when they don't belong to you. especially when teachers are poor and so many things in our classrooms have come out of our own pockets.

we have these gel boards that i found at some convention many years ago. they're cool. they're also not cheap. i bought a class set & every year, when i let my kids use them, i specifically explain that if i ever see them abusing their gel board, they will be taken away permanently. no second chances. every year, i have to take away 2 or 3. this year, so far - only one. we use them pretty frequently, and the kids love them. it makes so many things we do in class more fun. [once a child loses his gel board, he has to just use scrap paper for the rest of the year. not nearly as fun.]

i also have a basket of things that the kids use occasionally. in that basket is markers. typically my students use crayons, cause 2nd graders get a little out of hand with markers. they've also been warned that if they don't take care of markers, they'll lose the privilege. like replacing the cap, or drawing on themselves or things that they shouldn't. well, yesterday i caught one of my kids drawing on himself. i told him to put away the marker and to use his crayons. this morning, when we were using markers to sign a birthday card, he asked me if he could use a marker. i said no. i told him he was done for the year, unless there was a special circumstance that i allowed it. [gave myself a little out there, in case i want to change my mind.]

thing is - the kid that lost his gel board and the kid that lost his marker privileges are the same kid. he clearly is struggling with either listening to me or just plain taking care of things. he's a good kid, his things are all just thrashed. i'm not trying to be mean to him but i'm also not dying for things that i bought to be ruined.

am i being to hard on him?

acrostic poem

Has lots of hair
Accident prone
Yawns when tired
Lovely
Early riser
Yells during football games

written by my students and me. they gave suggestions, i made some improvements:

has lots of hair was suggested as hairy. i clarified that i do shave my legs. he was just talking about the fact that i have a lot of hair on my head.

accident prone was suggested as has lots of accidents. i wanted to say "no, honey - you do!" but i didn't. i don't piddle myself [often] i think they're talking about being clutzy, cause i am that.

yawns when tired was yawns a lot. cause i had just yawned. and i am tired today.

lovely was just lovely. i have a new favorite student in case anyone was wondering.

early riser was gets to school early. today i did. about 7.20.

yells during football games was yells during school hours. that too, but let's not talk about that so much.

it is good to be back in school. they surely keep me on my toes.

touche

5th graders are smart. i'm subbing for a friend who had surgery this morning. she teaches 5th grade, which is a little scary to me, but so far, so good.

the secretary just got on the overhead pa system & said "we've got the phone people here & if you're having phone troubles, call down & let me know."

one of the kids blurts out, "i'm confused. if you're having troubles with the phone, how are you supposed to call?"

i burst out laughing. it is true & he was right. duh. you wouldn't hear that out of a 2nd grader's mouth.

my "thanksgiving present"???

i had a little surprise visitor in my classroom this morning. he was the stepfather of one of my students & i hadn't met him before. he dropped in with a "hey guys, how you doing this morning?" i was like "who are you? and why do you think you're wanted in here?" don't worry, i wasn't quite that hostile, but... then i noticed that he was carrying this:i don't know if my reaction was the best... i said "oh dear! are there bees in that thing?" such a kill joy, i know. but seriously. he said he brought it to me as a gift, they found it in their yard. thanks, but i like gifts more in the form of a 2 liter of soda or a gift card, for future reference.

and in other ungrateful whining - what in the h.e.double.hockey.sticks am i supposed to do with that thing next week when i go off track? i don't have room for it in my off track storage closet!

the kids have enjoyed it today. and i even shook it at a few of them saying "let's see if there are bees!" and yes, i know it's hornets. i like to say bees more. shock value or something, so suck it.

momma likey a productive afternoon

i wish i didn't need a list like this for my friday afternoons. but i do. and i love the feeling of checking things off the list. last friday, i left early. i was tired, i didn't feel well, and i had permission. all week, i've been saving things to do for this week's planning time. aside from this little blog post, i've been very productive. and i'll be here for another half hour or so. 2 more things i want to get done & cross off. the rest will wait til monday morning. ok, i'm back to work.

down and out

so for the last few weeks, garrett's been extremely busy with work. and since there's always work for me to do, i've busied myself with work too. some nights we have worked late at our works, come home & had a fast dinner, then proceeded to work until 11 o'clock or so. only to turn around and start up the next morning again. it has been a long past couple of weeks, let me tell you.

we've eaten out a lot. cause it's easier to grab something on the way home than it is to worry about what to make, and to take the time to cook... you get the picture. i'm sure this doesn't help my weight issue, but what do you do? and if anyone lectures me here, i'll punch you in the baby maker.

i think all of this work has taken its toll on me physically. i've had a cold. i can't seem to get rid of this obnoxious, unproductive cough. at least i've been sleeping well. every few days, i feel feverish and just achy. i've also been more grumpy than normal. i can't be bothered with doing laundry or cleaning. i mean, garrett will throw a load in when he needs underwear & that's about it... we're kinda in survival mode. poor garrett. in so many ways.

the good news here is: i'm liking my class more. they're still pretty young & immature. but they're getting the hang of how we do things. they're sweet kids, for the most part. i really like some of the things we're doing this year.

now if only life could slow down a little. i need a break. or at least one night where we're not either working til way past my bedtime or doing something else.

grossest thing possibly ever

at the end of the day, after we sing our class song, my kids high five me on the way out the door. in the last five minutes of school today, i told one little particular boy to stop picking his nose twice. he was the last one out the door. the last high five... and guess what treasures he left me with in the palm of my hand?

a big ol' bloody, slimey booger.

i almost threw up. you have got to love being a teacher.

can i go home yet?

hi. my name is hayley. i survived the first day of school. without dr pepper!

sadly, i will say that this class is going to be much more difficult than last year. but not as bad as the year before that.

i have a little girl in my class that is going to struggle with authority all of her life. she wants to control everyone around her & gets frustrated when that gets her behind. i have a little boy who is just plain ornery. i have another little boy who talked at me constantly... his desk will promptly be moved.

i do have a bunch of darling, smart little kids too though. [luckily for the stinkers, they're cute, too.] it won't be as easy a year as i had last year. but, if i were to go back & look at my first day impressions last year, i'm sure i didn't think they were all so dandy. they needed my training. i am prepared to train.

why is it always so shocking & overwhelming to me that they come EVERY year like this? they talk more. they need to show me everything. they can't sit in their chairs the right way. every year, i'm dumbfounded. yet every year it just takes me a while & then i'm over it. where's my while?

hey, i might just have good stories to blog about like i did a few years ago. that's how i'll see the bright side here - good blogging opportunities.

p.s. only one little girl cried today, but i hear she cries often & it wasn't my fault... well, she wasn't crying as a direct result of something i said to her. it was someone else bothering her.

must do report cards

doesn't mean i don't have another 100 things on the agenda tonight.

doesn't mean i want to do anything productive.

if i must say goodbye to these kids, i just want this week over with.

too much moving. too much filing. too much rushing to hit deadlines. too much dust from not rotating for a whole year!

i need to spend a few days relaxing at the pool. oh wait, i will be doing that this weekend.

yahoo!

now, on to my report cards. wah.

as excited as i am for a little break

i'm also sad about it.

may/june/july is my very choppy time of year, calendar wise. i have two three week breaks during this time. and i fully enjoy them. don't get me wrong. [although the 2nd three week break is really only a two week break, cause i work one of those weeks, i just don't have students yet.]

but. and this seems like a giant but to me this year - i'm not ready to be done with the kids that i have right now. sure, there has been struggle. sure, some of these kids are going to go into 3rd grade still below grade level... but they have made huge amounts of progress, every one of them. and - they have by far been the nicest bunch of kids i've ever had the privilege of teaching. i haven't had to deal with behavior problems... the boys - not too naughty, just the right amount to keep me entertained. and the girls - have played nicely and been sweet. even the parents have been good. [minus one unfavorable one, but she hasn't been in my hair too much.]all year long.

classes like this don't come along every year... and they surely don't happen 2 years in a row. i'm a little nervous.

guess i'll just have to try and enjoy the break. and the last 6.5 days i have left with these kiddos.

field trip at the zoo