It's been a while...

Sorry to all my loyal blog readers...

I have not posted in a while. I have actually been kinda busy these past few days! I know you have missed having something to read lately! (Since my blogs are usually so fabulous and everything!!!)

Anyways...

Last weekend was pretty fun! One of my students I taught last school year gave me two tickets to Washington D.C.'s newsest museum called the "Newseum." I have been wanting to go since I got the tickets. It is a museum on Pennsylvania Avenue that is all about the news. It is HUGE! There are all kinds of cool things to look at. You can even be a TV reporter where you read a news script and pretend you are a real reporter!!! I really wanted Jared to do it, but he refused. :( So did I! It would have been so funny though! Maybe next time...

My cousin Caitlin is currently living in D.C. while doing an internship. We called her up and she came with us! Caitlin is the D.C. pro and guided us around from the metro station to lunch to the museum and back to the metro station. We ate lunch at a yummy restaurant called Gordon Biersch.

While at lunch the first question Jared asked Caitlin was, "What kind of museum goer are you?!?!" He doesn't like going to museums with me. I do like going to museums... it's just that I don't like to go for too long and read every single thing. I get bored... I like to zip around and look at things, just to a certain degree. Not my husband. Jared likes to look at EVERY single thing and read EVERY single word. I swear I caught him stop to look at the "Please do not touch" sign. He is really into museums. It was nice to have Caitlin there. It was 2 against 1. We were able to see everything, but Jared kept up with us. We only lost him once. We were talking and all of a sudden Jared was MIA. I thought he might have been purchasing the extra ticket to be a news reporter. We searched for him and finally found him in a booth with head phones on doing some investigation on a computer. Don't ask me.... LOL

Here is a picture of the Newseum.

If you are interested in going... Here is the website.

http://www.newseum.org/about/overview/about.aspx?item=about_overview&style=a

I would like to go back to D.C. soon and visit the Holocaust Museum. We will go sometime soon I'm sure...

It was really fun to see Caitlin and spend time with her in DC. I do have some pictures we took together at the museum. They will have to come in the next post, though, because I have not loaded them to my computer yet. Look out for them soon! You'll love the one with us in our "4-D glasses!!!" Yes... 4 D. The Newseum has a bunch of theaters and my personal fav was the 4-D.

As for now, I am going to go because BIG BROTHER is on.

xoxo

Blabbering about teaching stuff

Last night I decided to work on some projects for school. I bought my kids folders at Target and have been working on setting them up. I have 25 blue folders for reading, 25 red folders for homework, 25 yellow folders for social studies, etc. I spent a long time creating a cute label for each folder and have printed them and taped them to the front of each folder. When I get my class list, all I will have to do is add the student's name to their new folder!

This will be my third year teaching... BUT it is the first time where I am going back to a grade level I've taught before. My first year teaching I taught first grade. I had all my files organized and ready to go for the following year. Then I moved to Fredericksburg and was assigned to second grade. Thankfully, I am not moving again! I loved second grade and am able to stay in the same place next school year. This is really good because I know what projects I can work on now so I am not completely overwhelmed when I go back. What am I talking about?!? I am going to be completely overwhelmed no matter what! At least I will have a start....

Teacher stores are awesome. I love going to teacher stores. It is like heaven for me. The only problem is I want to buy too many things.... and teachers just don't get paid enough. Jared always jokes with me about how I spend more money on my kids than I make. Trust me, I am a LOT better now about it than I was my first year teaching. It is just so easy to rack up a bill for classroom materials. The nametags for the desks alone were about $10. They are cute ones that have a number line, hundreds chart, alphabet, etc.

So back to my projects I started tonight.... I started the folders, journals, and making labels. I make labels for everything. If I get all the labels made now, I can just "slap" the labels on everything I need to at school. I have to label the desks, cubbies, mailboxes, books, materials, and the list goes on and on. I'm feeling pretty good to have these made now!

Every year at "Open House" where the kids and parents come meet you before school starts, I like to have something special for them on their desk. My first year I had really cute popcorn bags full of popcorn... It went along with the theme "Look who popped into first grade" where I had that sign, pocorn machine, and pieces of popcorn outside my door. (see picture below!)

It's kinda hard to see in this picture, but it was cute!

The "G" got messed up in the laminating machine! Hey- it was my first time using one of those things!!!

The kids and families really enjoyed the popcorn bags when they came to see their new classroom. :)

Last year, I did not do the popcorn thing... I like to try new things! Actually, it ended up being too much work and I just did not have time! ha! So I had a bag of "Lucky Charms" cereal on each desk with this special message:

This special treat is packed, because I’m glad you’re in my class! Don’t eat them yet – First, hunt for the special marshmallow symbols hidden inside!

An orange star – to remind you to always shine!
A pot of gold – to show you you’re worth a million!
A blue moon – every once in a while we make mistakes!
A colorful rainbow – a promise to me to always do your best!
A green clover – to give you good luck!
A purple horseshoe – Remember…U matter!
A red balloon – try new things and soar above the clouds!
A pink heart – As your teacher, remember I care about you!

Welcome to 2nd grade!!!

(Get it? Each thing was part of the cereal!) I did not make that up-- another teacher shared with me! It was cute, but really did not go with a theme. On my door I just had the "Welcome to Our Pack" thing with the kids' names on the crayons.

This year, I'm not quite sure what I will do. I have some ideas... "Look who landed in Second Grade" with parachutes hanging (falling) from the ceiling with the kids names on them. Cute, huh? But a lot of work. Who wants to help me make parachutes?!?!?

I also began writing postcards to my kids. The front of the postcards read, "Welcome to Second Grade." They are very cute! On the back of each postcard I am hand-writing a message to each child. Generic message, yes, but it still takes forever to write 20+ messages. :)

I have blabbed on about teaching stuff looooooooooooong enough. I am going to go now because it is storming really bad. #1. Fred does not like storms and he is FREAKING out! and #2. I think I should probably turn off the computer and TRY to go to bed at a decent hour. I have a big day tomorrow. I have a dentist appointment. Just a cleaning! :)

One more thing-- Before I go, I want to mention that today my cousin Zander is 7 years old! Happy Birthday, Zander! Zander is my adorable cousin, and Godson. He's a cutie! Here is a picture of Jared and I with the birthday boy.

This was taken at the beach a few weeks ago... at Jockey's Ridge.

We love you, Zander. Have a super FUN birthday! <3

Goodnight everyone.

xoxo

P.S. Sorry about the spacing between paragraphs... I give up trying to fix it! Every time I fix it the way I want, it automatically goes back to messing up my spacing!!!! Grrrrrrrr!!!!

Happy Anniversary, Debbie and Badi!!!

Just wanted to wish my cousin Debbie and her husband Badi a very happy 2-year Anniversary! You guys are great and I hope you have fun celebrating your special day together! I can't believe it has already been two years! xoxo

The Summer Life of Relaxation, Fun, and Games

I love summer vacation. It is such a nice feeling to know that I have a break from work where I am completely stress-free! I have already been to the beach for a week and while everyone else had to go back to work on Monday, I got to continue my summer vacation! This will probably be the last summer that I will have completely to myself. I mean, Jared will be done with Logistics and he will not have this crazy 3 am work thing!?!?!

I've been taking advantage of my time this summer. The apartments where Jared and I live have a nice pool...two of them actually! Although I have not gone as much as I thought I would, I have been a few times. I also have a book I have wanted to read for a while now and I finally have the time to read it. It is nice to get a break from reading children's books! (as much as I love them!) I have also been exercising at the fitness center our apartment complex has. At first going to the gym was a chore I dreaded, but now I can honestly say that I enjoy my daily trips to work out!

Thank goodness for DVR! Whoever invented the DVR is amazing. I don't know how I survived without it! I have been watching Days of Our Lives (yes, the soap opera) since I was in 5th grade...thanks, mom for starting me on that! I used to have to use a VHS tape and program the VCR to record this hour of TV every day. Then I would watch it after school. Now that I watch 57636582 reality TV shows, I can DVR them and watch whenever I want.

For Christmas this past year, Jared got a Nintendo Wii. I thought it was just going to be a silly game, but it is SO MUCH FUN! We don't have too many games for it, but we have enough to occupy some time. I love Wii bowling. Yesterday, we bought a new game for the Wii that has darts, air hockey, ski ball, and more! We want to get a Wii Fit next! :)

My life of relaxation, fun, and games will be over soon. Once school starts, school becomes my life... If you are a teacher, you know what I am talking about. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching! It just doesn't leave me much time for relaxation. That's another blog. ha ha

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

Today is another special day! It's my mom's BIRTHDAY!!! My mom is not only the greatest mom in the world, she is also my friend. She is always there for me, my brother, and my sister-- and she would do anything for us. She is a very loving and caring person and has made me who I am today. I have learned so much from my mom-- from cooking to balancing my checkbook to my cleaning habits to having lists of all the things I need to do to working hard and always doing my best! She really is a super mom and I hope one day I will be half as good of a mom as she is!


Here are some pictures of my beautiful mom. They are not in any particular order. :)



She always has a smile on her face. :)




Dad and Mom




Mom and Norm when he graduated from VCU in May 2008.




Mom with her girls... Stacy and Cindy at the beach in June 2008.




Stacy and Mom




All dressed up for a date with Dad!!!




I think this was when my parents were engaged.




Mom with her kids.




Mom with her mom <3



I hope you have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! Thanks for all you do for me. You are the BEST mom in the world!!!

Love you!

xoxoxo

Happy Birthday, Mom B!

Today is a very special day! It is Jared's mom's BIRTHDAY!




Thanks for being such a great mom to all of us! :)

Here are some pictures of Mom with us on our wedding day!

Here is Mom with her 3 boys and grandson.

Here she is with her wonderful, daughter-in-laws! :)

She loves being a grandma to Andrew!

She loves her dogs, too! Here is a picture of her with Henry.

We hope you have a very special day!!! We love you very much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

xoxoxo

Bark n' Bubbles

Groomer Has It!

Yesterday Jared and I took Fred to this awesome place called "Bark n' Bubbles." It's this place where you bring your dog to get them bathed. You can either wash your dog yourself, or you can have someone do it all for you. Everything you need is provided: big sinks for your dog, hose where you can adjust the water temperature, shampoo, conditioner, towels, dryer, etc. It was a neat place and we had a very good experience. We got Fred nice and clean and did not have a mess to clean up afterward!




Here is a video clip of Fred getting clean!




First you wash...



Then you dry...



We had fun drying!



The dryer looked like a car vacuum cleaner! haha

It worked really well and left Fred B-E-A-UTIFUL!




TA DA! The finished product! Thanks, Bark n' Bubbles!