March Currently

So, I'm linking up today with Farley for her monthly Currently. Go on over to her blog to check it out!

In the meantime...

Listening...Silence. Something I have learned to appreciate more than ever.  I love those quiet moments when I know my boys are peacefully sleeping.

Loving...My new shoes from Nordstrom are coming soon! I can't wait! You can see them and
read about them here.

Thinking...Our school lives can be soooo dependent upon our secretary. Ours is wonderful and has been there for literally 30 years! She has become a great friend and I just hate it when she's sick and not feeling well.

Wanting...A change. And truly needing one, too. I've taught first grade for eleven years now and although I love it, I'm starting to get the itch. I'm not sure if it's for a new grade, a new school, or what. My awesome principal is leaving though, so that's causing more of my indecision.

Needing...some warm weather. I'm so ready to get outside and play with my boys. We live outside when the weather is nice. I'm starting to feel cooped up. Maybe having to do with my Wanting answer.

The last were difficult because if you read Farley's directions, you were supposed to find words that begin with the first letter of your first name. J is a tough one. But I managed. :)

First of all, I'm a girl, so of course I like jewelry, but I have really gotten into the big necklaces and bracelets lately.
I LOVE my jammies. Not really any specific ones, just my jammies in general. I should. I practically live in them when I'm home. Sometimes I put my jammie bottoms on as soon as I get home from school. They come on by 7:00 at the latest. It's those boys. They wear me down. Ha!
And finally, I don't hate jasmine, I hate that my jasmine tree/plant that I've had since my husband and I got engaged over 11 years ago is in a sad state.
I have lots of indoor plants. I really love them. I'm not as good at keeping up with my outdoor plants, but I do pretty well with my indoor ones. But my jasmine keeps getting spider mites on its branches. I keep battling them, but they keep coming back. Sorry if that bores you, but if you have a green thumb and have any advice, I'd love to hear it.

So that's it. Link up and comment below!!!!

Oh the Glory!!!

First of all, I must apologize for my non-teacher-y posts lately, but I am kind of swinging this into a "life blog" instead of just a "teacher blog." Yes, teaching is my life a lot of the time, but there are a lot of other things I like to talk about to.

Like these gorgeous things...

Oh my goodness! Do these beautiful things say Spring or what?!?! I just love them!

I just picked these babies up at the shoe sale at Nordstrom's. The internet is a wonderful thing, I tell you. I can't wait for them to arrive!!! (By next Thursday, in case you're wondering.)

I am sooooooooooo ready for spring!!! I know. Just a post or two ago I was complaining about our lack of snow days, but if we don't have any snow, I'd just as soon it WARM UP!

But....if you're like me, you will need to make a quick trip to get a pedicure. I am embarrassed to tell you how long it's been. Let's just say, there's only a little color left and I'm pretty sure it's a fall color, but I'm not even sure.

You're welcome for that! And you're welcome for telling you about the shoe sale at Nordstrom's. Be careful if you go to the website. I dare you to not find something you would love!!!

Happy shopping and let me know what you get!

Five for Friday

I'm linking up today with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for five random things for Friday.

1. We are in our "American Contributions" unit for LA Common Core so last week we studied George Washington and this week we studied Abraham Lincoln. 

They made a lot of CONNECTIONS (as the standard insists) between the two presidents, but I did still have a few confused souls.

"No, George and Abe were not friends. George died before Abe was born....yes, I'm sure they would've liked each other."

"No, Abe was not the 61st president."

"No, George's wife was not named Michelle."

But overall, they really got it and I was just happy that by the end of the two weeks, I don't think anyone thinks either one is our current president. That's saying something for seven year olds you know.

By far, the most well received assignment this week was done after we read the story, Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers by Karen Whinnick. 

Since the girl in the story, Grace, wrote to then Mr. Lincoln, I let my students write to our current president.

They LOVED this!

2.Where's the stinkin snow?!?!

I keep reading about all these snow days my midwestern blogging friends are having. I must say, I'm quite jealous. This is us....

Looks snowy enough, right?!?! Notice the grayish black asphalt? It stays that color. No matter how much snow we seem to get. I'm getting sick of it. Time's running out!!!!

3. Awesome treasure box idea, if I do say so myself. I was getting sick of collecting the junk lovely tidbits and happy meal toys to put into my treasure box and I'm also always trying to think of ways to get the students to use more technology in the classroom. I put these two ideas together and thought of these...

I made four of each card and put them in my treasure box AND when they "cash in" their cards, they have to give me the card back, so I don't have to make any new ones. And believe me, these cards don't seem to get lost. ;)

4. iPad Apps

Now that my school is starting to purchase more and more iPads, I'm constantly looking for more and more that are good AND will sustain the students' interest. I came across Cimo's Spelling. This little app is great practice for phonetic spelling and sight word practice. I also noticed it can keep track of the student's progress if you take the time to enter their info. Great stuff!!!

5. Why is it that I think of something I think my two year olds will love and it bombs and something else is the most fun?!?!

I bought easter eggs thinking those would be fun for hours, then they searched for the eggs once and wouldn't give them back to me because they were now Theirs. Done. Game over.

Then, I'm loading the garage fridge full of Dr. Pepper and Diet Coke and they come up dying to unload the boxes of drinks for me. I mean, yeah, one or two cans shouldn't be opened for a couple of months but other than that, they did a great job.

Oh well.

Link up and have fun!!!

Don't Be Afraid...

I just wanted to give you an update from yesterday. 

I wanted to get the boys out today and take them to a Bouncy house kind of place but I was afraid to take them by myself for fear of 

broken bones

lost teeth

lost children

icky germs

etc.

Well, glory be, I took them and what fun we had! AND we all made it back safely! I'm hoping too, that we didn't collect too many of the aforementioned icky germs, but sometimes, you've gotta take some risks in this life. (And we all germ-xed up when we were done.)

I must tell you all the boys had a lot of fun and I'm so glad we went. We went to our local place, Boingo Bounce. It was great! It was smaller than the other places we'd been to, which was perfect for us so I could generally keep an eye on all three boys (mostly) at once.

Here's some proof...

I love Taylor's hair flopping around!

Cole's becoming more daring every day!

So, the moral of this story is, go for it! Sometimes, your trips out won't be as successful, but they more you do it, the better they'll get!

Have fun!

This Mama's Gotta Get Out!!!!

As a mother of three little boys, I have to get out of the house. Often. As much as possible.

People always make me laugh because they always comment, You're so amazing! I can't believe how you just go with all those boys. 

If you came over and lived with us for awhile, you'd see why. There's nothing amazing about it. It is the fact that I get tired of picking things up, watching things get destroyed, and hearing one cry because his brother pushedhimdownkickedhiminthefacepulledhisarmscreamedinhisear, etc.

Our first choice is to just go outside. We are blessed with a house with a great backyard with MANY toys to play with and even a field of cows and horses to look at behind it. And also a great driveway, which as a mom learns, is so important to riding, skating, bouncing, etc. But as it is still so cold and my poor twins seem to get ear infections when the wind blows too hard, we can't go out right now.

My regular indoor place to take them is Target. We honestly go there probably twice a week. At least. I love it and I love their family sized carts because obviously, I need one. This was us...

Cole is on the bottom because it is just waaaaaaaay too difficult for him to walk in the store. 

The child can run as fast as lightning, has placed as a 5 year old in our community half mile races, but walking in the store, that's asking too much. His legs hurrrrrt. He gets soooooo tired. 

So, since I needed room for my purchases and I wouldn't let him get into the basket, he chose to just lay down on the bottom of the cart. 

I have since gotten smarter though, and now we ride with one twin in the big seats with Cole and the other twin in the front of the basket, like where those less fortunate souls put their ONE child they take to the store with them. 

Sigh. 

I remember those days. Don't worry. I don't wish I just had one child to take to the store. I wish I had NO children to take to the store!!! ;)

But obviously, Target is not the place to take them to get their energy out. I need to get them moving, running, bouncing. Whatever it takes to get them going. So, I'm thinking I may take them to a bouncy house place tomorrow after school. 

What do you think? Am I crazy? Will I regret it? Will this be the last I see of my children in one piece?

I think I'm going to have to do it. For my sanity and theirs. Wish me luck. 

Any last minute advice is appreciated. :)