Happy Memorial Day!

Kevin and I had a fun-filled weekend, as I hope all of you did as well! We spent most of our time at my grandparents' land near their home in Bryan. They have a bunch of 4 wheelers, a Ranger, and a trailer set up down there. We grilled, ate way too much, and got waaaaay too muddy. But it was a blast! We also went fishing, which brings me to a funny story:

We were fishing in the Navasota river, which apparantly is not supposed to have any bass in it. But I was feeling silly, so I declared, like in the movie Napoleon Dynamite, that I was going to catch a "delicious bass." Everyone laughed at me, saying that there was absolutely no way that it was going to happen, and that I was fishing in the wrong body of water. Seriously, no more than 5 minutes later, I caught a DELICIOUS BASS!!! My family justified it by saying that the recent flooding had introduced new fish from nearby lakes into the river. I chalk it up to my favorite saying:


If you believe, you will succeed!!!!

Don't pay attention to the extreme fashion crime I am committing in the above photo.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time this weekend with my family, as we always do. We left early this morning to head home because we HAD a lot of stuff to do today. I say HAD, because all of that went out the window when we went to "look" at bikes. We ended up buying one for each of us, and then spent the afternoon riding around our neighborhood and others close by. A neighbor kid came with us one time and showed us some "sweet trails and jumps." Apparantly we should be training on those before we head to Grapevine lake and tackle the 18 miles of off-road trails that we want to. Sounds like a good idea to me! We didn't get any of our stuff done today, but we had a good time together, which is more important to me :)

In other news, there are only 8 MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL!!! This year has been stressful and has truly tested my patience and strength. But I have learned more this year than I probably ever have or ever will in another single year. I'm a better teacher because of this year, so I'm thankful for the experience.

That having been said, let's hope these last 8 days FLY BY.

After that I'll begin teaching summer school, but only for 18 days. My summer will officially begin on July 2nd, and then I'll be done with first grade! I'm looking forward to my move to third :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful, short week!

Guest bedroom and funny quotes

Yesterday was a rough day at school, so I did what any girl would do to ease the pain of the day: I went shopping! I've been wanting to do something different with my guest room for a while now, and I found the perfect thing at Ross. I got this awesome comforter, RL sheets, and the cute down throw pillow all for less than $60! Then I moved some decor around from other areas of the house and I think I got the perfect combination! I love it; the only thing that would be better is if I would paint the walls. I'm just afraid that if I did that I would open a can of worms and decide to paint every room in the house!









Yes. I know I need to iron the wrinkles out of the comforter and bed skirt, I just havent gotten to that yet :)

I also have some funny quotes from the end-of-the-year book pages that we are working on in my 1st grade class. Most of the students said something about me in their page, which was very enlightening! While most of the comments were sweet - Mrs. White is the best teacher, Mrs. White is pretty, I love Mrs. White's class, etc., a couple stood out:

E: Mrs. White is sometimes angry.
A: Mrs. White is pretty nice. She is usually annoyed with us, but she's still a nice teacher.

They really do pick up on everything, don't they???

Catch-up, funny stories, and guest bedroom

This week was so long! I had an interview at school that lasted until 6:15 on Tuesday evening, then a PTA meeting Thursday night, and we did our first grade Teacher Treat last evening. For the teacher treat, we (the three 1st grade teachers) took the five highest bidding students from the PTA auction to bowling and pizza. We decided to drive my car, since we could all fit in it. It seemed like a good idea until the boys had been playing dodgeball in the gym up until our departure time at 4:30. They then proceeded to have competitions over who could rub the most sweat and "oil" on my new leather seats. Nice. We had a good time, though! Let me recap with a few short words: "ninjas, tooting, sweat, "oil," I C-U-P jokes." The best was probably when I asked the boys at bowling "Hey, who am I beating?" And they all yelled "No one!"

Yesterday was also a funny day with all my students in class. At our faculty meeting on Wednesday, we talked about using "Love and Logic" with the students. Yesterday T was very upset with me about math and I tried it out:

T - I HATE THIS MATH! I CANT EVEN DO THIS CRAP!
Me - That's so sad.
T - OH! SO YOU THINK ITS SAD THAT I CANT DO THIS CRAP???
Me - That's so sad that you think that.
T - OH? SO NOW YOU THINK ITS SAD THAT I THINK YOU THINK ITS SAD THAT I CANT DO THIS CRAP?
Me - Yep.
T - I think I need to go out in the hall for a brief cool-down.

Later in the day, C and T were butting heads, as usual. C is a new student in my class and him and T have a lot of tension and animosity toward each other, for some reason. I heard:

C - T, stop making that sound you are driving me nuts!
T - Oh? You want me to come hit you in your face?
C - You wouldn't dare.
T - Oh yeah? I'll show you how to respect me!!!
C - Don't use that tone with me, young man.

While the kids were sitting in line for the restroom yesterday morning, one of them came running out yelling "There is a small kid stuck in the restroom!" As I walked into the restroom muttering "just what I need..." I saw C dragging a kindergartener out of the restroom by the arm. He said "I saved this dude's life!!!" I said "Good, C. I'm glad you saved his life." I didn't have the energy to explain how I'm sure he would have found his way out and lived a long, fulfiling life.

A, on the other hand, apparantly did have the energy. She said "Actually, Mrs. White, he didn't save his life. He could have lived in there." My class then had a very SERIOUS conversation about it:

O - Yeah, but how would he eat?
A - Well, he would have all the water he needed to drink.
As - Yeah, and he could go to the restroom whenever he needed!
(the class laughs)
As - NO, GUYS! I'm SERIOUS. That is very important!

These are the things that are going to make me miss first grade.

After lunch I picked them up to take them back to class, and D was very upset. He sat down in the hall holding his little head with two hands and crying. I got the kids onto the rug to play the quiet game and sat to to talk with D. He was upset originally because he "asked for brocolli with sheese" and they gave him french fries instead. He then told me that he didn't eat any of his lunch because he had "all food that needs a fork" and he didn't have a fork. He didnt ask the teachers in there because they seemed too busy. I went to talk to one of them and she told me he had a burger and fries! Explaining to D that he, in fact, does not need a fork to eat a burger and fries seemed fruitless. Insetad I talked him back into the classroom and gave him some peanut butter crackers to eat. He acted like he wanted nothing to do with them until I started ignoring what he was doing and went along with my business. Then he scarfed them down.

These are the things that, while they make my job fulfilling, I will not miss ALL that much about first grade.

Regardless, as the year winds down I am torn with how I feel about the grade switch. I some ways I am SO excited. In other ways I'm feeling nervous, and a bit reminiscent. I'm just going to move forward with faith in my decisions and a smile on my face! (I've found this year that often times a smile is the only thing that keeps me from losing my mind, haha).

So that's the week. I forgot to do the guest room portion of the bedroom tour yesterday. So I just included a quick picture, in case you were interested.

Show Us Where You Live Friday - Living Room Edition

Welcome back for another week of the home tour, created by Kelly! This week we're touring living rooms!

Kevin and I have two living areas, so I decided to post about them both today. We only really use the TV room, but occasionally we will sit in the other room with company. Our decorations are a little bare, since I like to add a little at a time and we've only been here a year. I am looking forward to getting some good ideas from others participating today!

Here is the view of our TV room from the kitchen.


Here you can see our Guitar Hero supplies - one of our new favorite activities, haha.


I love my new cross that I got at Canton last week!


The rooms are connected with a see-through fireplace. I love it, but am sad to admit that we have actually only used it twice in the year that we have lived here.


These are on the mantle on the TV room side of the fireplace. They're my favorite, simple decorations because I love the message.


If you walk around the fireplace you enter the family room.






From the front door:


Through the half wall in the dining room:


So that's our living room situation! You may have noticed quite a few candles - I am obsessed! I usually have at least 4 going around the house at any given time!

Check back tomorrow because I plan to blog about the week's happenings - fits, funny comments, teacher appreciation week, and arms stuck in chairs. It should be fun - just like this week.

Show Us Where You Live Friday - Kitchen Edition

A great blog that I have been reading lately, Kelly's Korner, has started a fun Friday thing where we get to show off our homes. Okay, I realize that it is SATURDAY, not Friday. Last night I was too busy finishing my Action Research Proposal to read blogs and I missed out on this fun thing. So better late than never, I like to say.



Kevin and I moved into our first house almost one year ago. We have really put a lot into making it ours, but there are a few touches we still need to add. For example, we have no master bedroom furniture. I mean none at all. We have mattresses on a frame, and we use those clear pull-out container drawer things for bedside tables. He does have a dresser, but I use our old dresser which is now in the guest room. Thus, I had to move necessary items into my "bedside table" drawers so that I don't have to trek across the house to find my underwear. Bedroom furniture has just not really been a priority, but I think we'll start looking soon!

The other thing is our countertops. I love everything about our kitchen except for the old white formica countertops. It's not just about look, either. They stain so badly! I always have to use Mr. Clean Magic Erasers to get iced tea and some other certain things off of them.

So anyway, on with the kitchen tour:

This is my kitchen. I like that it is open to the TV room, and the office is on the other side so I can talk to Kevin when he's working while I make dinner :)



Here is a slightly different view:



I love cute things with our initials on them!



I have it decorated with apples. I actually didn't take a picture of my adorable clock, the artificial apples my mom brought me from Brazil last year, my paper towel holder, or basically anything good. My bad. But I do like these canisters I found at Garden Ridge!



My breakfast nook, also known as home to my plants.



We have only three sets of dishes the green and white and the black are both everyday sets. I found the black and gold in an entire set of eight place settings at the Target after Christmas sale for half off. The best part is that they can be use year round! Maybe when I actually use them I'll take some pictures of the whole ensemble.



Am I the only one who gets excited over teeny tiny organizational things? This is my latest organizer, found at Walmart for only $4. It stores my pot lids so I don't have to stack them and they won't fall when I reach for one!



Today I was at Canton and I bought these things, which are supposed to be great. One is a bread bag which claims to keep bread fresh for two weeks. The smaller bag is a potato pouch. If you haven't heard of it, it cooks a potato perfectly in the microwave in 5-7 minutes. It can do up to four at a time. I'll let you know how it goes once I get some potatoes, lol.



So that's my kitchen. Hop on over to Kelly's blog next Friday for the living room edition!

Now that I have a month off before my next grad school class starts (after completing the most terrbile course I have EVER taken in my entire 17.5 years of school) I may actually be blogging more, so check back with me in a few days! I have some funny and good stories to show you from school. I also have some HILARIOUS video to post, titled "First Grade Dance Off," but before I can post it I need to figure out how to edit it for confidentiality.

Tattle-Tail Tuesday!

I could post about why I haven't posted in almost two weeks...

...about how grad school is still kicking my butt
...about how Kevin and I have been yard-work maniacs in the little bit of spare time we have
...about how TAKS week is quite possibly as difficult on K-2 teachers (who lose all breaks throughout the day and spend the day with their students like caged animals) as it is on those administering it

But no.

As promised, I am going to blog about...


THE TATTLE BOOK!

Here are the latest entries; see if you can read them without reading the translations. It will be a fun game.

Disclaimer #1: No matter what you may think after reading this entry, I DO supervise my class. I have absolutely NO IDEA when most of these things are happening!

Disclaimer #2: While it is a positive thing, it is slightly disappointing for the tattle book entries to be spelled correctly, simply because it is not as funny for me. First grade is nearing an end and (most of) my kids can write!!!

1. G said that I was not helping in the math center, I'm not even in the dang math center! By D.
translation: (Ok, this one needs no translation because the kid is a genius)

2. G always growns at me.
translation: G always groans at me.

3. S kept luking at me when I was writing this taddle.

4. T was boderin me and then he boderd K and then he was boderin me again.
translation: T was bothering me and then he bothered K and then he was bothering me again.

5. G sed i wus a rat
translation: G said I was a rat.

6. A hit me! (mad face) When I am on the rug S and D pull my har and mes with me. (There is a picture of a huge mad face and all capital letters taking up the whole page, saying "I AM MAD! Grrr Grrrr")

7. G did not do her fluency box.

8. When she wus doin calndr E did't pake me but when A pot at me E pake me but now she did not pake me. I am rasting my han good but she stil wot pake me. She never pake me and she pakes sumbody else but not me. She nevr pake me no day evening if I am sheoning my mawth nice but she didt pake me.
translation: When she was doing calendar, E didn't pick me but when A pointed at me she picked me, but now she did not pick me. I am raising my hand good but she still won't pick me. She never picks me and she picks somebody else but not me. She never picks me no day even if I am shutting my mouth nicely but she didn't pick me. (There is a very detailed picture with this one of her sitting on the rug with her hand raised and a big x on her mouth, with E having lines coming out of her eyes looking at someone else. Talk about a rant!!!)

9. J was heating me and pushing me down.
translation: "hitting me"

10. Look at the blue table!

11. O did not do his floosy box. He was chatter.
translation: O did not do his fluency box. He was chattering. (Nice vocab, I guess...)

12. T touched R buty.
translation: T touched R's booty. (yikes)

13. G, D, W, A, N did not do there fluency box.

14. A said a potty word. and it is poo poo.

15. K kept singing a stupid song about people dieing.

16. top secret. Stop throwing oreos at me O. (this one has a nice picture of a messenger pigeon with a case on his back. The message is spilling out of the scroll).

17. S wus not doin things in independent reading

18. M thew my new book (sad face)

19. E telled me her list (our spelling lists are leveled and it is supposed to be only your business what list you get).

20. I tri to cher up S but he sed I am a cown.
translation: I tried to cheer up S but he said I am a clown.

21. I am NOT a cowmeedan!
translation: I am not a comedian!

22. Dring the gam E tuted and when I sed it was funny she got mad at me.
translation: During the game E tooted and when I said it was funny she got mad at me.

23. O liked all over his hands right befor he touched my desk!
translation: O licked all over his hands right before he touched my desk!

You can tell which words we teach as high frequency words, huh? They're the ones that are spelled correctly that stick out among the ones which are not!

If I get a chance in the next couple of days I'll blog about the field trip to ASI Gymnastics yesterday. It was so much fun! Best field trip we do all year. There are some pics of the activities on my facebook page, for now.

Okay. Back to work.

So I guess I only post on Fridays now...

This week has been a whirlwind of stress and extracurricular responsibilities. I finally finished Week 2 of my Research course (which is so poorly organized and instructed that it is laughable) for Lamar after spending 26 hours on it in 6 days. I stayed late Tuesday and Thursday night at school for 5th grade science game night and a PTA meeting, respectively. I was in co-charge of planning and teaching the lesson for Girl Talk after school today. And tomorrow, I am working at the Teacher Job Fair from 8:30-2:00 (although I may scoot out early). Don't get me wrong, for the most part I would not trade any of this. All of my school responsibilites I have CHOSEN to take on and I enjoy them. It's this ridiculous class that has me pulling out my hair. It's for that reason that I had an emotional breakdown at work on Wednesday (and had to take a half-day and leave at lunch) after having a migrain induced by staying up until almost 4am that morning doing grad school. But the purpose of this post is not really to complain, so I'll move on.

On Thursday, God knew that I needed some encouragement. So he sent me this gift at recess (excuse the quality; they were taken on my phone)
:



Maybe it was the beautiful rainbow, or maybe it was the innocence and pure joy I say in my kids as they ran toward it in astonishment. Whatever it was gave me a fresh perspective.

I must say, I have a Tattle Book FULL of entries! It has been getting a lot of use lately! But I regret to say that I accidentally left it at school today, so that post will need to wait until Monday. Okay, not Monday because I have no life during the week anymore. Let's just be honest. At the best you're looking at next Friday. However, I do have a HILARIOUS story to tide you over.

D is a little boy in my class who is pretty much in his own world, but he is as adorable as they come. He is soft-spoken, shy, and socially awkward. On Thursday he brought a yo-yo to recess and proceeded to tell me all about how "sheep" it was. "It's so sheep, Mrs. White, it's from the Dolla Store and it's so super sheep."

I asked him if he knew how to yo-yo and he said no, so I decided to show him. I slipped the yo-yo over my finger and started to show off my mad skills. A bunch of kids gathered around to watch and some of them asked if I knew how to do any tricks. So then I made the yo-yo "sleep." You toss it down hard to the bottom of the string and it spins there for a while until you pull it back up. D was so pleased with this and asked if I could do it again. Feeling pretty good about myself (you know you're awesome when you can make a first grader's yo-yo sleep, right?), I tossed it down even harder to make it sleep longer.

That's when it happened.

The loop came off of my finger and the yo-yo flew to the ground, smashing into smithereens. The entire playground went silent as we all surveyed the damage. I was the first one to speak: "Oh D, I am sooooo, soooo sorry!"

In his squeaky voice, he just said "It's ok Mrs. White, it's no big deal. Um, it's no big deal" as he stooped down to start picking up the pieces. As I was about to start helping him, he looked down at the pieces in his hand and the several still all over the sidewalk, and then he exclaimed:

"HOLY $**t!"