First week . . .

How was your first week of school?  Mine was fantastic.  I feel this sense of belonging starting a new school year.  My classes are amazing.  I'm excited to see what is in store for me this year. 

A fun recap . .  .  I can honestly say I love my room this year !  My reading library came out better than I even imagined.  The solar system is hanging from my ceiling.  

I have two fantastic TA's this semester.  They come and help me stay organized, grade papers, make copies, and prepare labs for me.  Hopefully, I can train them in keeping my website updated.  

We has our first birthday celebration in home room.  Very excited. Kylee is a 6th grader and does not like having her picture taken.   And its our celebration day.  The students play games and build community. 

Boys are not shy !

Love this.  

Not so happy here ;) 

Share stories and pictures of your first week. Love to hear about it!  

Classroom Crazy !

What a crazy week!  In-service week started Tuesday.  We had meetings and catch up with staff ;). A great reminder when you are with co-workers how blessed you feel for an opportunity to make a difference in our students.  

My room was painted over the summer.  I was a bit nervous I wouldn't have much time create a fun learning environment for my students.  A bonus is feeling cozy in the room I will be in all year!  

I have included some pictures !

My solar system wall.  Angelina made a space ship with an astronaut lassoing a star!  

Love this wall !  Bought white letters and painted. A student came in and did some custom designs.  

Not done with this yet. Going to include names of my students.  

Behind my desk with all my professional development books ;). 

Do you see "Bones" - my skeleton? 

My favorite !!  I'm thrilled how this turned out.  

I ordered this decal for my literacy corner.  

Going to include quote by JK Rowling.

“If you don’t like to read you haven’t found the right book”

― J.K. Rowling

Have a great school year everyone. 

Wild Animal 5K Run . . . Brookfield Zoo

ZooRUNRUN . . . My first 5K run two years ago.  This will be my 3rd year running this race.  I'm curious who is a runner? Would you be interested in participating in this run?  This is a great run for a first 5K or even a veteran runner.  The scenery is beautiful as you run through the the Zoo.

Attached is a link to sign up or find out more information.


http://www.czs.org/CZS/getdoc/49ce9aac-cbc4-44d5-8ab2-958f2130f9e6/Zoo-Run-Run-for-the-Conservation-Fund

2011 ZOO RUN

My first 5K !!!

2012 ZOO Run

2nd Annual Zoo Run 

(for me)

American Girl Overnight . . .

July 17 - 18, 2013

I adore my baby girl, Angelina.  I overindulge her to no end.  I probably do all my children.  There is something about having a little girl, I cannot put into words.  She drives me nuts at times (most of the time), but when she isn't around I miss her terribly.  We love to cuddle and go to Starbucks for our dates together.

A tradition was started years ago.  Every year on her birthday, my mom and I take her to American Girl in Chicago for the day.  This year she begged to do an overnight instead of a party.

We stayed at the Omni Hotel in Chicago.  They have an overnight package for the girls.

http://www.omnihotels.com/Home/FindAHotel/Chicago/SpecialOffers/AmericanGirlDoll

This welcomed us in the room.

Included a bed for the American Girl Doll and PJ's. 

Girls together with Saige. 

My favorite place to eat!

Love this face :)

Time for bed. 

We had a blast at American Girl.

Angelina enjoyed her 7th birthday!!  

Any fun stories you have with your mom or daughter, or father/son ?  Share!! 

Money Pit . . . or Blessing ?

The overwhelming feeling of not being settled, has slowly creeped up on me in the last 24 hours. Today was a mental and emotional break down for me. Over the last 13 days I have gone through many emotions. My emotions have ranged from feeling extremely blessed to what did we get ourselves into. Every see the movie "Money Pit". Check the trailer out. . .

I have felt frustrated over this move. Here are a few highlights. . . Moving day . . . took 7 guys and 3 trucks to load our house. And the last truck had a hard time making it up our driveway.

Our last picture of us in our old house.

Closing day has arrived, and to our surprise the previous homeowners were not in any hurry to leave. They finally moved out 4 hours after closing. And they left their pile of garbage as a welcome home present.

We decided to take our own welcome home picture. 

  

You may not believe, this garbage took me 11 hours on the phone with Waste Management, and 7 days later before they picked up and removed. The garbage began to smell day 3. JOY!!!

Over the course of the next 13 days, we have found dead animals in our pool.  Yes, very sad :(  A/C stopped working (found out we had to bang the top of the compressor to get the fan to work).   There were bats and dead rodents in the attic.  Finally, the landscaper cut my cable and internet line that was not yet buried.  This caused my meltdown today.

A friend of mine posted this today on Facebook.  "Whether it be relational, vocational, material or emotional....  Wanting what we don’t have displays that we are not satisfied with God’s provision in our life."

I reflect on all the blessings we had over the last 13 days.  I am thankful for what I have and continue to be blessed with.  I adore my friends and family for help during this stressful time.  Do you have an experience where something or someone reminds you of all the blessings? 

Angelina jumping ! No  fear this one. 

 Timmy flying :) 

Justin doing a nice spin !

 Justin being an amazing brother to Timmy and play cards with him. 

 Momma's Boy :) 

I am going to end with a funny story from this entire week.  We have an entertainment center we cannot get down the basement stairs.  My husband decided to cut the entertainment center in half.  Literally!!   

Do you think it fit?

One of those perfect days . . .

I know all days aren't perfect, but for me I will say Sunday came pretty close! Months of feeling overwhelmed and crazy, I took a 'time out'. Have you ever done that? I would recommend for anyone. Sometimes, we need to step away for the craziness and just be. Just in case, I don't do this nearly enough. I put way too much on my plate. Heading back to my 'perfect day'. Sunday morning I woke up and went on a 4 mile run on Lake Geneva. I cherish my time in Fontana, and when I can wake up and enjoy a beautiful morning run I allow myself to just be at peace.

After my run, Timmy and I decided to have breakfast together. We drove down to Daddy Maxwells, the best breakfast place! I treasure going there and getting a port-a-prince feta omelet. Unfortunately, a 45 minute wait meant Timmy was not wanting to wait. We moved on to Starbucks.

When we arrived back to the cabin, everyone was ready for a beach day! Beach day means heaven, or close to. The whole family got ready and headed down to the beach. Loved every minute. We played in the lake, played catch, read a book, even my reluctant reader, Justin, was caught reading a book. Do you recognize it?

Timmy playing catch :)

We finished the day at Gordy's for dinner and ice cream ! We need moments to take a break from hectic life, reflect on our blessings and enjoy life. I don't do this enough, but plan on making a habit of taking 'time outs'.

Baptism . . .

Baptism . . . today is a day of celebration. My older brother, Steve, birthday is today. But that isn't the only reason to celebrate today.  On June 26, 2011, my oldest son Justin was baptized at Willow Creek. 

 

Willow Creek 

Justin with his small group 

He goes down . . .

Love this :)

Great memories! 

As I reflect on the impact this has had on Justin, and the friendships he has made and continued to grow in his own way I am truly blessed to be his mom.  

On June 26, 2005, I was baptised at Willow Creek (no picture).  One of the hottest days of the year !!! Timmy my little guy was only 6 months old.  I had the honor of being in a small group and being baptized with some amazing ladies.  

This was a God thing, not planned for us to be baptized on the same day 6 years later. 

The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

Psalm 118:24

Justin and me :) 

Love this kid!!