Now it's time for Silly Song with Mommy...the part of the day when the mom comes out and Sings a silly song!

(As sung to the tune of Veggie Tales Hairbrush Song)

Oh where is my camera??

Oh where is my camera???

Oh where oh where oh where oh where????

Is my Camera?

It's hiding somewhere in my house and I can't find it! I really need it and I can't find it...when I don't need it I'll find it but I really need it right now! If anyone has an idea of where I should look leave me a comment...in the meantime I will be looking for my camera!

Top 5 on Tuesday

1. Good Progress was made as I got to spend quality time on my room. It's starting to come together! WAHOO!

2. Good Deals! Got the fabric for my palm tree leaves...next step put it all together...feeling a little bit nervous about this one!

3. Good Friends! My buddy Katy was in town and came over and saw me for awhile! Love catching up with a good friend!

4. Good lights...the light that is giving us fits in the kitchen is working tonight! Praise God for little things...and light!

5. Good Time with the boy...Jaron and I went outside to play frisbee...the boy is really good...mom not so much but it was good quality one on one time with my little man!

Palmsitis

I am obsessed.

I am nuts.

I am trying to create a palm tree.

It's going in a specific corner and needs to be just right.

It's for my classroom

It can't fall down

It isn't up yet.

I'm feeling stuck with how to make it look good.

Only 11 more work days till school starts.

I need some inspiration.

Yummy

Saturday is grocery day in our household. So we headed out to the store to do the weekly shopping. Since we are trying to eat healthier the whole process took a lot longer than normal as we are double checking every nutrition label and spending more time in the produce section and trying to be more health conscious than we used to be.

I will say this our new healthy eating is benefiting Dan. He has lost 6 pounds in the last 2 weeks and is feeling much healthier! He has decided to go Vegan for at least this week. So tonight we made 2 kinds of stirfry...Dan had sprouts, mushrooms, zuchinni, squash, broccoli and cauliflower in a citrus lemon sauce...and I had chicken(I'm not going vegan), potatoes and broccoli in a citrusy sauce. They were both very yummy and delicious.

Dan made enough for several meals to take to work as well...all in all a very yummy and profitable dinner!

Top 5 Today

1. Got off work when I was supposed too! HOORAY!!! So I worked only 6 hours instead of 8!

2. VBS all week for the kiddos...lots of time to work on stuff at home!

3. Date night with Dan...out for dinner together, lots of time to talk and just hangout...yummy food too!

4. US Toy shopping for School. Dan and I had a lot of fun scouring every aisle and getting some additional things for my classroom.

5. It's Friday...tomorrow's Saturday!

School Countdown

My to do list keeps getting longer. School is only 2 weeks and 3 days away. Today my boss gave us our To-Do List broken down by day. This includes everything we have to do before the first day of school. AUUGHH! I think I may lose it...I forgot how much goes into getting ready for the first day of school. Plus my Computer hates me and Excel is being most uncooperative. So tonight I am working on my classroom schedule and jamming out to music and enjoying the quiet of my household as the kids are at VBS with Grandma and Grandpa!

I had jammed my thumb on Monday night at Vball and today I have less pain and more movement! HOORAY!

Maybe not

Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you
get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle:
"Take two aspirin" and "Keep away from children."
--Author Unknown

Only works if you aren't a mom or a teacher!

Long Day

It's been a long day for me. It's also been a really long day for this family whose blog I read. Please take a moment to check in on them and say a prayer for this sweet baby!

Busy Full Weekend

I can't believe the weekend is over! It's gone rather fast! We got some stuff done, started a few more projects and weeded through some more stuff. I need to get both my school stuff done and get the house back into shape for the upcoming school year. We need to start purchasing school clothes and supplies. So far the kids have gotten their new lunch boxes for the fall. I also need to start getting our morning routine moving more smoothly so that we are ready come August 18th. I can't believe that school is almost here.

On a side note if anyone knows how to cook Quinoa could you give me a few pointers since we are trying to figure it out.

Here's looking forward to a good week! The kiddos are going with the Grandparents to their church for VBS so I am hoping to getting a few more things done around the house this week as I will be kid free.

Countdown to the School Year

I have 3 more weeks of summer camp and then school starts!

So that makes counting weekends and the fact that we start on Tuesday only 23 more days till school starts.

Last night I took advantage of US Toys Teacher night. I went and got borders, a new calendar, new calendar headers since I am missing 3 months and the teacher across the hall has the same ones...(i'm not going to match!), table labels, shapes for my walls, a poster of feelings, and so forth...spent a lot...but it's stuff I need to replace since a lot of my stuff got destroyed last summer. My room is going to look fabulous(hopefully) and I hope I get it all done by the first day of school!

A Different Kind of Day

Ever just have one of those days. The kind that really aren't going to well but honestly it doesn't bother you. This is that day for me! Here's some examples:

* I woke up late and didn't have time for a much needed shower...oh well, threw on some jeans, extra deoderant and out the door I went...I'll shower later

* My class was being stressful, loud and disrespectful...all 22 of them...oh well, I leave at 1:30 and don't have to worry about them anymore...that's for another teacher to deal with!

* My lawn really needs to be mowed and it's hot...SCORE! a Neighbor boy said he and 2 friends would mow and edge it(I haven't edged all summer) for $15 dollars...some of the best $15 dollars ever!

* My children don't deserve a break but I am giving them one since I will be working them hard later...

I think I am feeling so much better that the little things that usually drive me crazy just aren't today! Hooray for a Good Day!

Thankful for the Rain

I won't lie rain isn't my favorite thing in the world! Especially after the flooding we experienced last summer and the stress that was caused by that! Today I am thankful for the rain. I have been sick this weekend and I didn't want to go to work this morning and I ended up being at work for nearly 9 hours both in the classroom and working on organizing the resource room. The last thing I wanted today was to have to go anywhere else but it's volleyball night and we have a game scheduled for 8. Fortunately I got an email telling me that all matches tonight were cancelled. So I can relax, rest and get refreshed for tomorrow and head to bed early! I am so thankful for the rain!

A Change May Do Us Good

Dan has decided that he needs to get healthier...I am all for that.

Dan figures he needs to get his nutrition in order to help with many different areas of his general "man" health...I am all for that.

Dan has decided to cut out almost all animal fats and adopt a more healthy whole food vegetable based diet...I am not really liking that.

We both need to lose a few pounds and get into better shape...I'm all for that.

We are going to be embarking on a journey of good nutrition and changing our diet from one full of processed foods to one of natural whole foods, the way God intended for us to live and eat. I'm excited to see what happens and yet at the same time worried that the convenience will outdo the good health. Here's to getting healthy and eating good foods that are good for you.

Sharing

As a parent I have wanted my children to be good sharers...of stuff not germs! Jaron got sick last Sunday and was sick for 2 days and then was better for the rest of the week. Janea helped out by watching her brother and was disappointed about missing school...then she woke up on Thursday with a fever and has been sick since...she is just now on the mend. Well, yesterday I got home from work and was feeling chilled. This is how I feel when I get a fever. So I am taking it easy this weekend, or at least trying to since there is stuff I must get done before the work week next week. I don't feel too bad this morning and my chills are mostly gone so I am going to do a little then rest off and on all day. Please pray that we all get over this little bug we've seemed to pick up and that we didn't share it with too many others.

Glad it's Friday..

Janea is still sick...glad I can stay home with her tomorrow.

I'm feeling achy...glad I have the day off tomorrow.

My house needs cleaning....glad that I can clean tomorrow.

So in a nutshell I am glad it's Friday!

Mom...I don't feel so good...

Janea woke up this morning with the same symptoms Jaron had on Sunday and Monday. She is running a fever, has a headache and achiness and as she put it...my mouth tastes like yuck! So the boy and I will be heading to work today and hopefully I will get off at my regular time...so thankful that Dan is able to have them stay home with him and still go to work in the evenings.

Gulp...

There is just under a month before school starts. I have so much to do and not enough time to do it...and I am starting to realize that I don't have as much time as I thought I had...Gulp...

This happens every school year...and yet last summer I was missing it...I didn't realize how lucky I really had it...oh well...life goes on...

Here's to finishing the summer strong and preparing for next school year!

Poor Kid

Jaron is running a fever...we noticed it yesterday as we went shopping. I hate when the kids aren't feeling good. I hate going to work knowing they are sick. I am blessed that Dan is home during the day so I can go to work and he is home...today both kiddos are staying home so that I can go to work. Janea will help take care of her little brother so Daddy can sleep and I will try to get home a little bit early.

Just what this Momma needed

Friday as I was leaving school my mom called and said that my parent's church( they pastor a church about 40 minutes from here) was having their annual VBS kickoff. This year it was going to be at a local families farm and there would be fishing and games and fun. She wanted to know if the kids would be able to go...they often go to VBS at Grandma and Grandpa's church in the summer. I was all over that!

4:40 the kids got picked up to go...and they didn't come home until almost 10! It was so nice to have a relaxing night off without the kids.

Dan and I went to Costco...but only had a half an hour to shop...probably would have spent even more if we had more time but we got the stuff we really needed!

After Costco because Dan is wise and we brought the cooler with us for the frozen stuff we stopped at PepperJax for yummy philly cheese steak sandwiches!( yeah for no cooking!)

Then we came home and just hung out...watched some shows we had DVR'd to watch together and relaxed...kidless...it was wonderful! I am so thankful for my mom and dad who were able to spend quality time with the grandkids and for those times when I get a break.

What A Week

I think this was one of the longest working weeks I have ever had. Not because of the hours but because of the DRAMA!

I took a vacation the last week of June first week of July and while I was gone one of the teachers quit. She just walked out...saying mean things and causing trouble. Well this was on Wednesday...I did kinda know what was going on because one of my good friends was my co-teacher and she and I exchanged texts and she called to let me know what was going on. Well, Sunday I get a call from the preschool director informing me that the employee that quit called the State of Kansas liscensing agency and that there would be a good chance that they would come to check out the allegations. Plus we were going to be short staffed for the coming week and that things may be challenging. I let her know that I could work 8 hour days due to the fact that I missed 3 days of work the previous week and would need a few more hours to compensate for my missing time(I normally work 6).

I made sure that I was early for work on Monday and my boss tells me that there would be some staff changes this week...in other words they have to let a few people go due to ongoing issues in one wing of the building. This had nothing to do with my wing, my wing is fine...just a head's up because there may be problems...well the employees who were let go went off...screaming and yelling and causing trouble...I had my class in our indoor playground so I wasn't directly involved but it was chaotic...made for a very long day.

Tuesday and Wednesday were okay at work but my son went nuts...see my Super Crab posts...and I was just worn out...plus I worked overtime at least one day since we were so short staffed because on top of all the problems with liscensing(who still hadn't stopped by) another employees sons were sick and she called in one day to take them to the doctor causing us to be even further shortstaffed.

Thursday was a day where we were trying to make sure that Friday was covered so our Program director could take a well deserved long weekend and another gal could have her scheduled time off...we were able to make it all work but things are still crazy and there is a feeling of stress in the air from the constant amount of upheaval...and the kids are sensing things are crazier than normal and trying to take advantage. On a plus note for me personally, I did sign my contract for the upcoming school year and I am very pleased with the nice increase in my salary and being officially a "teacher" as opposed to an "assistant"(though I really was a teacher)

Yesterday was long...our cook has been having car trouble and was 3 hours late for work so we were shuffling kids so someone could take over the kitchen to make sure that little bellies were filled! I had a volunteer helper who is so sweet but doesn't know what is going on with routines and normalcy and it rained...so we were stuck inside. So we were constantly checking to make sure that we were in ratios and following all guidelines for the best of our abilities. Makes for a long day...I was so ready to go home at the end of the day!

As I was leaving my mom called to let me know that their church is having VBS kickoff tonight and did I want the kids to go...yes please! So the kiddos will be gone for a while tonight and I get a night off...hooray! So if I have been tired and cranky this week that's why...I am thankful that all staff should be there next week and we may get back to some semblance of normal!