Saturday, March 16, 2013

Spring Break!

So this past week was Spring Break for me. It was much needed! Thankfully this week has left me recuperated and mentally ready for more teaching.

My fun week off started last Saturday. I met up with one of my best friends, Evelyn. We went to college together and we are both teachers.

We met up Saturday and headed to an event my town was having at the fair grounds. It's the first time they have ever had the event. It was called JUNK Hippy! I saw a flyer for it on Facebook and messaged Evelyn about it. We love to go thrifting/junking/(cheap) antiquing. So this was perfect!

We headed to the fair grounds and went in. The first booth we stopped at, we both spent money! The booth was full of vintage goodies at a really good price.

It was SO much fun! We both wished the event would happen more often, but then decided we'd be poor if it did!

Afterwards we went to Chili's for some food and talk time. Girl time. It was really nice! :)
My only regret is we didn't take a picture together!

Here is what I came home with:



This picture doesn't do it justice!
- Beaded necklace and earrings $9

My new favorite accessory!



- Yellow framed rocking chair $2
I added it to my trio of small frames in the hallway. 
It's the perfect punch of color!



I was just going to get the one on the left, but thankfully Evelyn convinced me to get the yellow one too!
This pair is going to go in the formal dining room :)
- $2 each

These are beautifully, embroidered linens
-$1 each


- Blue candy dish- $9
I couldn't make up my mind on the candy dish, even though I'd been looking for one for a while. 
Before I could decide, Evelyn grabbed it and was walking to the cashier. 
She got it for me! 
I am so thankful she did! 
It is so beautiful and I would have regretted not getting it.



Evelyn found this ornate tin, which had some damage.
At a later booth she found one just like it, with no damage.
She didn't want both, so I offered to buy the damaged one from her.
She just gave it to me instead :)


That was just Saturday!

The rest of the week I pretty much stayed home. Did much needed laundry (almost have an empty hamper...first time in a long time). I forgot how much clothes I do have!

Went around Tuesday and got things to make cupcakes. New pan from Marshall's, icing spatula and cupcake liners from Michael's. I really like their liners! $1.99 for 75!

I graded papers and added them into the gradebook since report cards are going out this coming Friday. I did all the comments on the report cards (2 straight hours) so I didn't have to worry about it later.

Yesterday Joey took the day off! Oh it was SO nice to have him home! We had a lazy morning. Then we made these!!

Final Fantasy Moogle and Chocobo cupcakes!!


Joey did the batter and filled the liners. We tried the trick with putting the batter in a ziplock baggie and cutting a corner. Makes it much easier to pour!

(We saw how to make these on Nerdy Nummies !)

I made the yellow frosting (vanilla buttercream) and decorated them!

I am so happy with how they turned out! :)

It was a fun, relaxing week. Now onto the weekend!

Have a great one!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Projects

Wow! So 2013 has been a year of projects so far!!

One of the first projects we did was add accent lighting to our kitchen. It may sound silly, but the only major lighting we have in our kitchen is a florescent ceiling light, a stove/vent light, and the one above the sink.

Joey had been talking about getting LED strips to go above the cabinets for a while. I always thought it would be that super bright blue-ish light so I said no. Then he showed me pictures and how I could get under the cabinet lighting. Once he said that I agreed! I've never had lighting that lit up the counter tops, but I have always thought that would be nice to have! We installed this in a night.

Before with florescent lighting
(Everyday mess included in picture)

After
Love it!!

I think it's one of the best projects so far! We got the tiny LED stripes from Fry's. They are just thin light stripes with heavy duty adhesive on the back. 

One thing I love is it changes to any color and their brightness can be changed. 
It comes with a remote with all the color choices, anything from red to violet. 
There are also many white settings. One more blue, one more yellow, etc. 
Defiantly money well spent!


One of the major projects we did this year was get us a shed!

We got a Lowe's gift card from my dad and step-mom so that went towards getting us a shed. 
Over Christmas we decided we wanted to eventually put the litter boxes out in the garage. 
However, we had all this carpet and lawn stuff in there.
We had carpet/flooring stuff from when we had wood laminate put in our house. 
Like 2 years ago!

So we hauled the carpet off and got to cleaning. 
We needed a shed so that each time we needed to mow, we wouldn't terrify the kitties by opening the garage door. 


It holds all our lawn stuff and we still have room!

Joey, my father-in-law, and I did that one weekend.



After that, the next weekend, we got the cat door. 
It was pretty easy to install.
 Joey cut. 
I supervised. 
;)

We have a major draft when it gets windy outside and it used to blow open the door out to the garage. Which always seemed happen when I was watching something like Supernatural or CSI!
The picture above was on a windy day, and the flap blows in. The cats were all fascinated by it! 

After we installed it, we moved the smaller of the two litter boxes out there. 
To help train them, we used treats and called them until the came through the door. 

It took about a week. Then I put the 2nd litter box in the garage. 
Now our house is litter box free!!!
YAY!


This past month I installed a dimmer switch in our formal dinning room. We bought it with a gift card right after Christmas. I was a little intimidated to do it, but decided that weekend I'd get it done. Everything went well! The hardest part was re-bending the wiring inside our walls to go around the screws on the new switch.  I love the effect it gives! Cheap and easy to do! 



This last thing isn't a project, but something fun Joey and I ran across at Academy. 
A little blurry, but I love how Lucius is looking right at the camera!

Rollerblades!!
They had a good sale on them, so Joey and I got a pair each!
I haven't roller-bladed since my pre-teen days and I am so happy we got some!
We got them a few weeks ago and have only been able to go twice.
The weather has been really windy or icky lately.
However, I am so excited to get to do that more when Spring comes!



That's all so far! I love how productive we are being! It feels so good to get projects done!

Have a nice night!

School Happenings!

Happy March!

I can't believe it is already March!

I've been staying busy with substitute teaching all this year so far. In January, I started in a fourth grade classroom teaching math and science. It was a vacancy, I applied and didn't get it. I'm okay with that now! :) God had better plans for me!

For a month now, I've been subbing in a first grade classroom. I LOVE it! It is crazy and hectic on some days, but the excitement the kids show when learning is something I love seeing!

So far in the classroom I have implemented:
- the tattle monster (tissue box dressed up to be a monster similar to the one I linked to)
        - The students write their non-emergency, not as serious tattles down and feed it to the monster
        - I have a poem next to it to remind them. Found here.

- the desk fairy

- Drops in the jar (classroom management- behavior management)
     - When they do great, the add a marble (the clear cheap vase filler from Dollar Tree)
     - When the whole class does well, we add a larger marble
     - These can be added or taken away.

- Mystery walker- love this one!
     - Choose a name at random. Don't tell them who it is. That way each child will think it's them.
     - Watch that child to see if they walk nicely/correctly in the hall
     - When they do, they get dragon dollars(a school-wide incentive) and they get to put a marble in our jar.
     - I announce the mystery walker if he/she did well and do not if they mess up. That way they are not  called out.

- Kindness cards
    - I found those at Michael's, they were $1.
    - If a student gets those they keep the card and receive a Mardi Gras necklace (I have a ton, since my father-in-law lives in Galveston, where they have a parade).
    - Getting a necklace means they are my special helper. They help with different things during the day. Lunch basket, cafeteria duties, any special notes I need sent to another teacher, etc.
    - They get to keep the beads. Again, I have a bunch, so I can afford to get rid of them.
   

Almost all  of those ideas have come from Pinterest!! I've linked the ones that are.

Yep, school has been keeping me busy! I love it though! I am at the same school, very near Joey's work so we are still carpooling! Such a blessing! We have saved a bunch on fuel costs! :)

Next week is Public School Week and Open House on Thursday. Then after that Spring Break!

The week before last, during writing, I had the students create their own super hero. Being a comic nerd, I thought this would be such a fun topic to write about. The students really enjoyed it. I told them they can create their own, with whatever powers. Nothing violent though. I told them not to copy super heroes out there, if they did choose one, they had to change something about them. (Batman but with laser eyes...Spider- Man with flying powers).

It was fun! I've learned I have a student who likes Deadpool. A first grader probably shouldn't know who that is, but he/she does! Lol! Also had 2 students ask me if I knew what World of Warcraft is. They were fascinated to know that I did and that I have played it. (They both have family members who play.)

It's an interesting journey that God has taken me on so far with teaching. I've questioned Him many times, but I am so happy that I am where He has put me. Even if it's not a permanent position. I know that there is a place for me, and I am waiting as patiently as I can! I am happy that I get to teach and impact lives while I wait. It's pretty awesome!