New roomie

I don't think I have mentioned this to many people, times have been crazy lately, but my sister Alli and her dog Deshka are coming to live with us for a little while! They are actually expected to arrive sometime today! Alli graduated from UTSA in May and recently got offered a job here in Dallas. I am so happy for her and it will be nice to see her pretty face more often. We have the best time together. She is going to stay with us till she gets back on her feet and can find a place to live. Her office is downtown so she will be making the long commute every morning like Mikey. Deshka doesn't particularly like Macy so that situation should be interesting. They will be able to live together just fine but there will be absolutely no playing with Macy involved if Desh has anything to do with it. It is really funny to watch Macy try so desperately to play with her. I am sure with Alli and Deshka living here I will have many adventures to blog about!

First Week Back

I have almost made it through my first week of school! It has been a really good week, in fact it just might be one of the best 1st weeks I have had in a long time. Having only 15 kids in my class has a huge part to do with it and I think also the fact that I have more years of teaching under my belt has made it easier. The kids seem to be adjusting well to 1st grade and the majority of them are very well behaved. Last year had to be one of my toughest years of teaching and it seems this year I have been dealt with a much easier class. There is a lot more calmness in our classroom which I love! Other than being extremely exhausted at the end of every day this week has gone well. The icing on the cake happened today when I walked in my room from planning with my team and noticed a bouquet of roses that my sweet husband had sent wishing me a happy first week of school! How sweet is that?! The kids asked who sent them to me and when I told them Mr. Seamans many of them said, "He sure is nice"! I heard another kid say " but you don't even know him" and someone replied "yeah, but I know he is nice". Haha!

Here is another kid quote of the week....
I told the kids today to take out thier "chunky" eraser, the big pink one, to use for thier writing assignment (I don't know why I call it that by the way) and one little boy raised his hand with a sad look on his face and said " I don't have a funky eraser".

I will have many funny quotes throughout the year so stay tuned! I could write a book from the ones I have heard over the years!

Work Work Work

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. My posts probably won't be coming as frequently now that I am back to work again but I will try my best to post at least once a week with updates. This past week was teacher work week and it was jammed packed with meetings, planning sessions, getting my room ready, and meeting some of my students at the back to school picnic. We didn't have as much time in our rooms to get ready so I even had to go up yesterday, Saturday, for about 4 hours to do last minute preparations. Needless to say it has been an exhausting week and I didn't even have a classroom full of 6 year olds! I think I am finally ready for them though. This year should be a really good year. (I am trying to be optimistic.) We have a new teammate, that makes 3 of us for the first time since I have taught 1st grade , and therefore I only have 15 kids in my class! I set up 18 desks though because I am expecting a few more to come on the first day of school since many schools have "overflow" students that are sent to schools where there is room. Anything lower than 23, what I had last year, will be awesome! Here are some pictures of my classroom. The reason it took longer to get my room ready this year is because EVERYTHING was in boxes because we were having some work done in our rooms this summer and they didn't want anything out. Somehow it all got done.

Beautiful Minnesota

We are back in town from visiting Ryan and Paige in Woodbury, Minnesota! Our trip was amazing and we had so much fun with the Reynolds as always! The weather was absolutely beautiful, cool in the mornings and warming up to high 70's/low 80's. The trees and the landscape were unlike anything in Texas. Now we know why Ryan and Paige love it so much there. We were only there for 4 days but we managed to squeeze in a lot of activities AND even had time for a daily nap (something Mikey doesn't get to experience too often)! Here are some pictures of all the fun we had! Thanks Ryan and Paige for being such gracious hosts and being our tour guides of the city!

Ryan, Paige, Me, Mikey at dinner at one of their favorite spots! (Forgot the name!)

Playing Mexican Train after our first nap of the trip!

This is Bela, R & P's dog and Macy's BEST friend. Macy still tilts her head when Bela's name is mentioned even though they have not played together in over a year.

We had a picnic at the Chain of Lakes in Minneapolis and then went for a walk around one of the smaller lakes. Aparently it was the place to be on a beautiful day like we had!

I love this girl! I forgot just how much we think the same!

Happy Couple #1

Happy Couple #2

Group shot after our picnic. The lady taking this picture was cracking us up because she was holding the camera right up to her face. Guess she's not familiar with digital cameras!

Lakeview from our walk

We had originally planned to rent bikes and ride around the lake but they were all taken so we walked instead which was just as fun.

Of course we had to catch a Twins/Yankees game while we were town also.

Oh, and how could I forget to mention that we went to my first ever Casino on our last day. It was exactly what I expected it to be. Black Jack was the game of choice and I was the cheerleader. I hadn't a clue how to play! Cool experience though!

The summer fun is over for me. ;( I start back to work on Monday and have a week to prepare before the kiddos arrive. Anyone who lives in the Dallas area and is looking for something to do next Tuesday let me know! I would love an extra pair of hands helping me unpack and setup my classroom. Oh what fun!

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

First of all, YOU GO JOSHUA for winning So You Think You Can Dance last night! He wasn't one of my favorites in the beginning but he won me over when he got in the top 4. The show last night was SO good. I especially loved the part at the very end when all the best dancers from the past season performed! I am sad the show is over but my life is about to get real crazy once I start back to work and watching tv for two hours ,two nights a week is just not going to cut it!

I am however VERY excited to be leaving town for a few days! We are traveling to Minnesota to visit some very dear friends of ours, Ryan and Paige. We haven't seen them since they moved about a year ago. We always have such a great time with them and we cannot wait for our last little vacay of the summer! I will not be a happy camper when I get back home because my summer will be coming to an end and I will be in full back to school mode getting ready for my little darlings to arrive.
I will post pictures of our trip when we return!