A Work in Progress

Or is it?  Oh brother, do I have my work cut out for me.  Not only do I have little knowledge of what I'm going to be doing in my classroom, it looks like an absolute wreck.  The week after school, my parents and I boxed up all my belongings in my comfy, familiar Room 14 of Building 3.  And we made MANY trips down the long sidewalk to Room 1, Building 1.  From third grade to first grade.  Nine years of experience to zero.  Sigh.

Slowly, slowly my room is taking shape.  And today I received some of the many first grade happies that I had ordered at the end of the last school year.  So that helped me to realize that I can, in fact, do this.  I really think it will put a little spark back into my attitude.  I had just about had enough of the whole state testing gig.  I'm ready for something new and exciting.  And I truly anticipate first grade being both!

Below proves my classroom (as well as myself) is a work in progress.  Yes, I know I'm a pack-rat.  Don't judge me until you've been a teacher (and for all [four] of you non-pack-rat teachers...I envy you!).  Believe it or not, I filled at least two *huge* recycling bins (I mean HUGE!) and at least three to four huge trashcans.  I'm getting there.  I've got a lot less clutter going on.  And that is a huge blessing!  Don't judge me by all the junk you see.  When you see the finished product in a week or so (hopefully sooner), you'll say "WOW!" :o)  Maybe.

 Oh, this is so sad.  Ha.  I should have actually taken a "before" picture...even though this might seem pretty "before".  lol.  There were tons of boxes stacked three and four high.  And the desks were all pushed to the front.  So in order to get a little order in my room, I arranged the desks the way I want them and then put all the junk on the desks.  I know, I know.  Crazy.  But there is an order to my madness!

Those bulletin boards on the left, above the windows need to have the cork replaced.  There is currently a work order for them.  I'm hoping they get done before Meet the Teacher night!

Alright...a little color is getting splashed onto the walls. :o)  But look at my desk!  Ack!  Of course, that's pretty much what it looks like after the first week of school anyway!  Ha!  (I'm kidding...sort of.)

A little more color, and the curtains are getting up.  My mom spent almost two weeks with me and made curtains for underneath my bulletin boards (we removed the sliding doors), the windows, and then to cover the old air vents

I spent an entire day organizing my desk and closet along with a few other things (which include filling a few trash cans)!  It was a task! 

Looking a little better! (Ugh, that mammoth-size continent map has got to go!)

OK--this was today...and isn't looking a whole lot different from the other pictures.  Haha.  I have been doing a lot of laminating and micro-organizing. :o)  And I did get a couple of bulletin boards up.

The reading nook.  I'll have fabric on that bulletin border with super cute border tomorrow.  And I'm going to eventually (hopefully before school starts) put a curtain on the bottom portion of that bookcase so the kids aren't totally overwhelmed at the monstrous amount of books in their reading station.

The Big Book Station...by my desk.  And the blue bulletin board will be my board for notes and such.  I don't think I'm keeping the little mailbox system.  I have no idea where I'll put it if I do.  I want to paint the front of my desk with magnetic paint so I can use it as a station.  We'll see.  Thinking about it, I probably shouldn't have spent over a month in Alabama on vacation.  Ha! 

A view from the corner.  I got a lot of boxes full of first grade goodness today (hence the opened Lakeshore box).  So now I have more boxes to unload.  But I'm thrilled b/c it'll really begin looking like a first grade room when I get all those things in their proper place. :o)

This will be my small group station.  It was looking nice and neat until I got those boxes today.  And there are two extra desks (under those boxes--ha) and a chair that are leaving the room.

The Calendar/class meeting area.  I still need to put up a little math wall on the green bulletin board.  In the corner, there is a small group table.  Don't you love my rug?!  And notice the lovely curtains my mom made!

The math station corner.  The bulletin boards above the windows will be our Word Wall.  Hopefully the cork will be replaced soon!!

My desk.  Let's see if it'll soon look like the "before" picture again! Ha!  I got those fabulous file folder games (on the left) today in one of those many boxes.  Now I have to laminate and cut out all those! 

So...it's coming together.  It isn't there yet, but it will be soon.  I have the rest of this week to work and then next week some.  The kids don't come until the 22nd, so there's time.  I hope! :o)  Check back soon...I'll have more "after" pictures. :o)

Car Wash

Triple digits.  That's where our temps have been since July 2.  And according to The Weather Channel, that's where our temps will stay until at least August 16th.  Then it'll just be in the upper 90s.  Ha. :o)  Due to the high temps, there has been a heat advisory (duh) every single day...in other words, don't go outside unless you're well hydrated and just have to. So...we just haven't been outside since returning from Alabama.  And that makes for a slightly depressing summer.  Boy do I wish we had a pool!

So today, to break out of some of the high temp blues, we decided to wash the cars together...at least we could hose each other off when we got too hot.  And we really did have a fun time...until it got a little too hot, and the water from the hose didn't get below 80 degrees.  Oh well.  It seemed like a good idea at the time. At least we have shiny, clean cars.

Hallie and Daddy washing Mommy's car.

If you need someone to clean the rims of your car, Hallie's your girl.  She did a great job. :o)

Hallie:  Daddy...I have a surprise for you!  You haven't had them in a long time!  RAISINS!

I love this little girl!

Cooking with Hallie

My sweet friend Kyetra inspired me to cook more often...even simple things.  OK, our budget inspired me as well.  It seems we eat out entirely too much and are really trying to achieve the "eat at home more often" mentality.  Since being back home, I've tried to cook more just to get back into the habit of it...especially before school starts.  Before Hallie joined us, I cooked often...though Jonathan probably doesn't remember.  Ha!

Anyway.  Kyetra has a cooking blog Cooking with Kyetra where she sports pictures of perfectly cooked yummies and the ingredients to copy the yumminess. :o)  I will never have a cooking blog (and will gladly "eat crow" if that one day happens--ha!), but I did want to share the fun Hallie had fixing our supper tonight.  Simple, yet yummy, pizza bagels.  And I don't mean the out-of-the-box-mini-pizza-bagels either.

Nothing fancy.  All you need are bagels, pizza sauce, and the cheese/toppings of your choice.  Here we have some mozzarella (for Jonathan and Hallie) and cheddar (for Hallie and me) and turkey pepperoni on bagels. :o)  So easy, Hallie has "cooked" our supper.  And she *loved* doing this.  She's usually not a big bread eater (she doesn't take after her mommy), but she ate her pizza bagel--I think b/c she fixed it. :o)

 Adding the sauce

Adding mozzarella and cheddar to her bagel

Hallie calls this cheese "messy cheese"...and she was *thrilled* to get to add as much as she wanted.  Can you tell she added more than necessary?! :o)

LOL--ready to put cheese on top of the pepperoni

More pepperoni

Ta-da! Hallie's supper--pizza bagels, carrots, apple slices, and pickles. :o)

Lemonade! Fifty Cents!

When I walked out of the shower today, I was greeted by a lemonade stand.  lol.  Hallie had decided that she wanted to have a lemonade stand (like Olivia--we *love* Olivia!).  So Jonathan helped her make lemonade.  And she sold it to me when I got out of the shower.  Jonathan was her very first customer.  And she actually charged both of us fifty cents. :o) It was tasty...especially on a hot summer day when we're stuck inside!  Ha!

Testing her product.

First customer!

Our little entrepreneur. :o)

Front Seat View

Texas Ranger...and I'm not talking about Chuck Norris

Everytime my dad comes to visit, he mentions wanting to go to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum.  I'm not going to lie--until a couple of years ago, I thought this was for the Texas Rangers baseball team and always thought how very odd it was to have a museum for the Rangers in Waco.  HA!  Yes.  I'm aware of how stupid this makes me look...I'm just keeping it real. :o)  Nonetheless, it's not a museum for the baseball team.  It's much cooler than that.  It's a museum for a very elite group of law enforcers that dates back to the 1800s.  Very cool.  And maybe I'm the only person alive who didn't know what Texas Rangers were until several years ago.  I'm sorry...I didn't watch Walker, Texas Ranger.  Ha.  Anyway.  During my dad's most recent visit, we went to the museum.  And I'm pretty sure the two hours we spent there weren't long enough for my dad...we totally should have dropped him off that morning and picked him up at closing.  He still could have probably gone back the next day.  Love you, Pop!

Hallie and Nonna riding off into the wild blue yonder.  Ha!  This was Hallie's favorite thing about the museum. We'd look at an exhibit and then the next thing we knew, she had run back to these little horses. :o)

Pioneer Woman?  HA!

Believe me, the fact that she looks like a little girl and not a toddler in this picture is not lost on me.  My little girl is getting too big too fast!  But look at that face...isn't she precious?!

I'm a slave-driver!

This is what my mom did almost the entire time she was here.  And if it wasn't at our kitchen table, it was in my classroom.  Wondering what she's doing?  She's trying to make my classroom look pretty!  I might not have a clue how to teach first grade, but dadgumit, my classroom will be spiffy!  Ha!  Here she is making curtains.  And I'm not joking...this is what she did almost the entire time.  At one point Jonathan told me I needed to give her the day off.  Ha!

Actual Date: 07.27.11

Pop Pop Pop!

Happy Birthday to our Pop!  He flew from Birmingham to Waco on his birthday...and that was a long day for him.  His request--to not go out to eat.  Ha!  So, we cooked some fish (his favorite) and had some cupcakes from Simply Delicious Bakery.  Oh my!  Those cupcakes were divine!  And if you can see the two on the back left...those are sugar cookie cupcakes.  Too good for words.  So good that I got another dozen just last week and we devoured ate them all at once over the course of the week. :o)  Ha!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POP!

Gramps also celebrated a July birthday...the 24th!  He and RahRah went out of town to celebrate--wish we could've spent it with him and hope he had a super duper day!

Actual Date: 07.26.11