new school year...

It's been one week and two days and I'm exhausted. I have an amazing class, they are so sweet. We have lost a second grade teacher, so I got four of her kiddos. The entire losing a teacher situation is very sad, but I hope her kids adjust well. The other kids and I have a great bond. I look forward to a great year with them. So far, my kids enjoy telling me about their future plans to outer space (they just plan to call NASA and tell them they need to get on the spaceship, simple as that!), complaining that people are breathing on them, and they LOVE when I read them books. I've had one blackout episode, last Tuesday, and I was sent home. It was highly disappointing, but I'm just taking it a day at a time.
We were scheduled to go to Louisiana to see our boys this weekend, but we've cancelled the trip. We thought we wouldn't have a game this Saturday, since it's Labor Day weekend, but we do have a game. Russell didn't want to miss the game, and apparently there are storms headed to Louisiana, so we aren't going. I'm bummed we aren't seeing the boys, but I'm sure we will eventually. :)
That's the update for now. More to come soon, if I remember...

classroom photos...

Today Russell and I went and worked in my classroom. It's not ready, but it's getting there. We (er, Russell) hung my alphabet, made my tree, and got lots of other stuff done. I have pictures, but they were taken with my phone. I can't find my camera cord, so these pictures aren't the best. I LOVE my alphabet. We had a hard time finding things for a few letters. For N we put an animal and an arrow to the nose. For V we used velcro, and a copy of one of my X-rays for the X.

All of the colorful paper on the bulletin board is for students to put their favorite completed assignment. Looks so colorful. :) I'm excited to meet kids on Thursday!!

back to school

Ah, we are back to school. Today and tomorrow we have district training, next week we have training Wednesday-Friday, and meet your teacher on Thursday afternoon. Luckily, my room is pretty much ready to go. I made my own alphabet this year, like crafy! I'll have to post pictures when my room is complete. My wonderful brother-in-law, Cole, is coming to put a tree on the wall with clouds and a sun, for my reading area. That will be Saturday, I'm hoping to take Monday or Tuesday off before we are back for good. We were supposed to go to Louisiana this weekend, but that's been changed to Labor Day weekend. The boys are working with their praise team at church coming up with a special performance for the Sunday morning we are there. I'm not supposed to know, so I'll be sure to act surprised. :)
As I've been preparing for back to school, I've done lots of shopping. Not shopping for myself (not money for that :( ), but for my classroom. We desperately need pencils, crayons, folders, etc. I've come up with a ranking for places to buy supplies.

1. My favorite place has got to be Wal-mart. They always have great prices, like crayons and glue for a quarter, you can't beat that. The best part is, they don't put a LIMIT on how much you can buy like other places.
2. Target - they have some good deals, but some aren't so good. Markers for 3.00?? Um, no thanks, Wal-mart has them for 1.00. :) You really have to watch it at Target, but their stuff is super cute usually, very tempting.
3. Staples - they have PENNY sales, BUT, these only last Sunday - Wednesday of the week, and they limit how much you can get. They normally will up the limit for teachers, but it's never enough.
4. Office Depot - they had my binders on sale for a quarter this week (normally 3.00) and they allowed me to get 20 of them. The limit was 3, they wanted to only double the limit, but I begged and pleaded with them. The rest of their prices are pretty high and disappointing.
5. Office Max - I've been so bummed by Office Max this year. :( They wouldn't double their limit or anything this year for me. I guess that's ok, since their deals weren't too super.

Since I have an aquarium, I also do some shopping at PetsMart. Some of the goldfish I buy swim upside down, but when I think they are dead, I try to scoop them out, and they swim again. Very strange. This happened last year too, and my fourth graders grew used to it, but I'm not sure how the second graders will like it.

Football practice has started, and since the boys moved, we don't have a kid on the team really. Kennie is on the team, but his parents get him there. So, I thought our nights would be free, I was wrong. Russell is still going to practice...and wants me to join him. Doesn't he know it's HOT!! He also said he would run with the slow guys to encourage them, but maybe he hasn't because it's so hot. Hehe. So far this week the boys have practiced in just shorts and t-shirts, I think the pads would make them pass out. I can't believe Kennie will play for his middle school and the city, that's a ton of football.

Everyone is getting so old. :( Kennie is going into seventh grade, Sarah and our oldest nephew into third, and our youngest nephew into pre-k. They will all be going to college before I know it.

We had one of our hard milestones without Penny, my mother-in-law. August 10th was the six month anniversary of her passing, and it also would have been their 36th wedding anniversary that day. We all went to dinner with my father-in-law, Duane. It was nice being together, but I still catch myself thinking she's in the bathroom or something. It seems very empty without her. Her picture is ALL OVER their house, so going there isn't easy. I'm not sure when it will get easier, but I guess eventually it will. We still have our first Thanksgiving, Christmas, her birthday, Russell's birthday, and his youngest brother's birthday to get through for the first time without her. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be the toughest, for sure. We didn't spend last Thanksgiving with her, but Christmas Day last year was the last time I saw her as her "normal" self, so that will be hard.

Enough sappy, back to the Cowboy game.

I should have taken a picture...

I'm back in my classroom, and I should have taken a picture of my classroom when I walked in! All of the desks were stacked in the middle, boxes everywhere, and BUGS!! EEEEKKK!! That was yesterday afternoon. When I walked in, the room was at a steamy 89 degrees. Nice. Luckily, it was down to a cool 78 by the time Russell came to help at 5:30. I went back today, got there earlier, and it was only 79 when I walked in, and I was able to keep it cool all day. Fabric is on the bulletin boards, borders up, furniture arranged, computers set up, boxes unpacked, cabinets sorted, greenery arranged, and lots of other stuff. Sadly, there is lots more to do, but I'm not going tomorrow. Nope, the doctor ordered me to swim more and drink more water, so I'm swimming tomorrow. : ) I figured two good days in my room earned me a day by the pool.
Next week we have training on Thursday and Friday, and then we are driving to Louisiana and back on Saturday to see our boys. Yep, LONG day, but well worth it to see the boys.
The next week we have 3 days of training, meet your teacher night, and then school starts the following Monday. It will be a great year, I'm sure of it! :)