Hello Fall

Not a lot to update on this week. Monday and Tuesday I had my kids do a kinetic energy project, and for the rest of the week I was gone for a SIOP training with several other teachers from the school. So Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday the kids were wild animals at the school because there were 15 teachers missing and it was only the second week of school...I'm just glad I was gone for the training so I didn't have to witness the crazy! But now I get to deal with the fall out this next week... but a few kids got suspended so, hey that will make life a bit easier for the next few days... #ICan'tBelieveThisIsMyLife Ha!

Wednesday Justin was in charge of "Office Olympics" at his work. He created all kinds of games for them to play, inspired by the episode on The Office. He had a lot of fun with that, and so did his work peeps!
  

 




Thursday night I threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law Laura. We had a few family members and close friends come. I borrowed Gabe and Christy's "Soups and Sweaters" idea and had three different soups for people to enjoy. I made lasagna soup, Judy brought taco soup, and one of Laura's other guests brought a broccoli cheese soup. It was all sooo yummy!

We got this chair for free from someone in our ward. I love free!

Judy brought balloons and cake along with her soup.

I made oreo truffles - yumm!

Friday we had a very low key day as Justin came down with a cold so we watched cartoons all night while I graded papers. Saturday I taught a lesson about the Book of Mormon with the sister missionaries. It reminded me of a student I had in Las Vegas who is still investigating the church. She knows the Book of Mormon is true, and she asked me to send her another copy so she could give it to one of her friends. Love it! We went to The Old Cannery which is a furniture warehouse in Sumner to look around. It's moments like those that I say, "I wish I had $10,000!" Am I right? We spent the afternoon with Jon and Clara: we took a joy ride out to Orting and spent time at a park in Auburn. The weather was to DIE FOR! We have had the most gorgeous, beautiful fall days! The leaves are gorgeous right now. I watched the General Women's Broadcast at the stake center with my friend Kristin. Afterward she and another gal came over to my house for leftover soup.

*It's the law of conservation of angular momentum....not conservation of energy. My bad!

Today we have another gorgeous fall day. I hope the weather stays this gorgeous this week in case Mom and Dad come to visit. That's pretty much it!

Week One Down: Treat Yo Self

Hey folks! Well, I have survived the first full week of school! I have crazy kids and I have awesome kids. Doesn't really matter where you teach: there is trouble everywhere and there are rock stars everywhere too! Just to review, I'm teaching 5 classes of 7th grade science. I have one accelerated class. I am THRILLED it is 6th period because I work out all the kinks of the lesson by that time, and I always end my day on a positive note. My other class periods only have a few hooligans to manage. My 5th period is HARD. Oh my goodness....these kids! But this week we've actually had a couple good days. Probably because some of the kids in class have been suspended all week...sad but true. I'm over here singing praises for the break from the crazy!

My "I made it through the first day teaching" selfie

I armed myself this year by reading a book about setting limits in the classroom. It has made SUCH a difference. Had I not read it, I think I'd already be burned out. There's a teacher next door that came from teaching seniors in high school and she and I have become friends. I gave her the book to borrow and she agrees it's a life saver! My kids know to pee, drink water, and come prepared and on time because there is NO leaving my classroom and you dang well get sent to the attendance office if you're late. These kids are held ACCOUNTABLE dangit! Ha. It may sound harsh, but as a teacher, it's the only way to keep my sanity! They know at this point that if they don't want to cooperate, they get extra homework so heck yeah they are shaping right up. The kids know I mean business but I'm also fun. It is a great balance.

This week has been interesting. I've had kids with asthma attacks, crying, kids storming out of my room swearing at the top of their lungs, fist fights, and non-compliance in every form imaginable. I've even had kids accuse me of yelling the F-word at them. Ha...do you know me at all? Seriously, these 7th graders are crazy! Ha! But somehow, I think they've learned a little bit about kinetic energy - you know - the stuff they're supposed to be paying attention to but it's slightly impossible when kids are throwing chairs across the room.

I really love the other teachers I work with and my administrators. They have my back and I have great support from them. I have two class periods then prep, then lunch, then two periods and then my accelerated class. It's a sweet schedule!

This week Justin and I went to the temple on Thursday night. Wednesday night we had McTeacher night where the teachers served food at McDonald's. Our school got 20% of the funds McD's made that night. My job was to dance outside the place and lure in traffic to come get a burger. You know you did a good job when you can get other drivers to dance with you on their grumpy commutes and even get them to come buy a shake to donate to your cause! It was fun to see kids and parents outside of school - "it's like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs." https://vine.co/v/Ou6przvji7d

I've been really tired all week getting used to my new schedule. I go to bed no later than 9:00 and we get up every morning at 5:00. I'm excited about that healthy new habit as I now read my scriptures and pray every morning before getting ready. I'm getting proper sleep and forming good habits so my physical and spiritual self is thanking me.

Sassy Justin quote of the week - upon getting home from the temple, we went to get dessert at safeway. He got chocolate chip cookies then asked what I wanted. I said maybe Oreo's but that I "probably didn't need it." Justin - in his most sassy-self ever - said, "You made it through the week: Treat Yo Self!" If you missed the reference, check out this short clip:
Treat Yo Self

Treat Yo Self! And yes, we watched this the last 10-15 minutes of class today because it was PAT time Friday so it introduced us to the weekly prize.

It's the Washington State Fair in Puyallup for the next few weeks. We got free tickets cuz I'm a teacher so we may go, but we may just have a chill weekend. Until next time remember to Treat Yo Self!

Labor Day Weekend

So much to update on this week :)

Monday I met with all the other teachers in our school district and we received our chrome books. Because of a STEM grant, all science teachers in the district will have a class set of chrome books for our kiddos. Everyone else will get a class set in the next 1-3 years so lucky me~ That means my teaching is about to get a face lift and I cannot wait!

Tuesday our principal gave us the day to get our rooms ready. For me, that meant cleaning out the junk from the previous teachers. It was a nightmare, but thankfully I have an amazing friend Kristin who came to help clean, along with her two oldest kids! We worked a miracle and I am so grateful for her help! Not only did Kristin help me clean my room, but she donated supplies to my classroom. Talk about selfless. Thank you thank you Kristin!

I brought in my vacuum to clean out every drawer/cupboard. Rigdon rocked it.

Kristin cleaned out every cupboard and did pretty much anything else I needed. She's the best ever.

Madelynn scraped every piece of tape on the tables and cupboards...bless her

Tuesday was also our anniversary. Oh my gosh....three years! I love Justin soooo much and I'm thrilled that he's MINE. We went out to eat at El Gaucho in Tacoma. We did their four-course meal which was amazing! I had delicious beef tenderloin, the famous Caesar salad, Halibut, and "blackberry" sorbet (the blackberry part, we think, was missing...). Justin had shrimp, fennel soup, filet mignon, and strawberry cheesecake. It was to die for...Love you Justin!

The rest of the week at school we worked on implementing our school's new progressive discipline program. It's still in the works, so that's a little nerve-racking to me. Being new to the school, I'd like the kids to believe I know what the heck I'm doing, but looks like I'll be implementing the "fake it 'til you make it!" philosophy until administration makes a decision.

Thursday night Justin and I went to the temple with some family names. We went down to the baptistery to find it completely empty and dark! Ha...it was so slow, the workers were delighted we showed up! We did some temple names along with our family names, then did their initiatory work on top of that. We loved it! We decided to make temple service a regular part of our life, so we've committed to going to the temple once every other week.

Friday Justin took the day off and I brought him to my school with me to set up all my tech-work. He fixed my classroom printer (which makes him a bit of a celebrity at my school as that problem hasn't been fixed for 3+ years), and hooked up my projector, document camera, and my chrome book. He's seriously the best! We took the car in to get a new battery because it wasn't starting correctly all week. James and Bonnie came to visit for the weekend, so we met up with them for Mexican food in the afternoon. That evening we played games at Jon's house and had pizza.

Saturday we did a lot of yard work and then drove to Gig Harbor. I shopped at Loft and we skipped rocks on the water at Fox Island. It was gorgeous weather! That afternoon Laura and I went to a baby boutique in Sumner. Her baby is due in early November, and I'm throwing a baby shower for her at the end of this month. She made her wish list and then we got gel pedicures. Love it! That night our friends Julie and Jeff had us over for dinner. We played "Pegs and Jokers" afterward.

Sunday we had the whole family over for dinner potluck style. We made BBQ pork sandwiches for everyone. After our fabulous lunch we did our annual fantasy football draft. That night James and Bonnie stayed the night and we watched "The Ghost and the Darkness."

Labor Day Justin and I took it way easy. We went to Sherwin and Williams and picked out a few paint colors for our bedroom. After painting a few spots around the room we decided on a color and had two buckets of paint made. We rested up and then started painting in the late afternoon. We got the whole room painted with two coats, then left to babysit Clara so Jon and Laura could go out. When we got home we were pleasantly surprised that the paint looks wonderful! We love the new look and can't wait to update the bedding and decor. All in good time...

We went with the color on the right.

Tomorrow is the first day of school for me. I had all day today to get the last minute touches finished. I'm getting my hair cut and colored later this afternoon. Hey - teachers gotta look good the first day of school too ;) I'm totally nervous. Last year on the first day I felt like throwing up, and I knew at least half of the kids already! This year...oh my goodness...I think I'll watch Freedom Writers tonight to give me motivation. Ha! Wish me luck!