This Teaching Gig

I am super thankful for where I am in my life right now.

Everyday I get to spend time with my boys and their amazing vocabularies.  I just love talking and listening to them tell their stories and tales of their busy school days.  It makes me smile to think that Kenny and I have guided them to be the men they are becoming, maybe a little too quickly for this mama's heart.  What amazes me most is the vocabulary we have helped them gather. 

People around us say talking to our kids is like talking to an adult.  I love it!  No baby talk around here, they were born as little humans and that's how we talked to them from the beginning.  It gives my heart such joy to continue to see them blossom.

Then I get the pleasure have the duty to go into my classroom each day.  It's no joke that this year has been a challenge. 

I am exhausted at the end of most days, but by the grace of God I am seeing progress in these little people in my care.  I about cried yesterday when one of my kiddos read a book on grade level and was able to retell the story beautifully.  Now mind you she was only reading kindergarten level when we began this journey in August.  The pride that was shining through her smile was amazing. 

Those moments are what push me to keep going to a job in a place that causes such a range of emotions in my soul.  Getting ready for report cards is always a little stressful, but getting to spend a few moments with each of these kids one on one proves that I am making a difference and pushing these kids down the right track.

My teaching gig is a pretty sweet deal.  I love teaching my own kids and to know my job right now is to help teach another batch of kids makes all the adult junk worth it!  Challenges will keep coming up, but I know that my children and my students will be prepared for whatever crosses their paths because I helped build their foundations!

Until next time,

Homemade Halloween

My boys are usually pretty ambitious with their Halloween costume ideas.  I guess they know their mama and daddy love a challenge and are just as detail oriented as they are!  So this year was no different!

My Lukas decided he wanted to be Doctor Who (the David Tennet version), so we went through closets and made a list of what we needed to make and or find for him.  It was so much fun seeing him get excited when we found the perfect suit at the thrift store.  With just a few alterations he was ready to assume the character in full force!

Nikolas's costume was more of a challenge.  My sweet spiky haired boy wanted to be Ezio from the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood video game.  Holy smokes!  This costume is medieval times and very detailed.  There was no pattern and no running out to purchase unless I had an extra couple of hundred bucks to blow.  Since that wasn't going to happen we headed to Joann's and got some great fabric on super sale!  I got busy trying to recreate each piece of the costume.  I am so pleased with how it turned out!

Kenny and Zackery were easy.  Zombies.  Another trip to the thrift store and a couple of questionable suits later we have great costume materials!  I let them do their thing and I think they were pretty successful with the creepy factor as long as they didn't break out into smiles! 

I loved the challenges they brought us this year!  It was fun and we got all four of them decked out for less than $50!  Way better than we could have done if we bought everyone a store made costume!

Until next time,

Menu Plan for the Week 10-30-11

I know I haven't posted our menu in a while, but we've had one!  I don't know what I  would do without sitting down and hashing out a menu each month.  It would be chaos I tell ya! 


I did my marathon shopping this weekend.  So crazy for nearly 4 hours, but I hit every place on my list and got just about everything we needed.  It's a lot of work at one time, but the up side is I rarely have to hit any stores for the rest of the month.  I go to the farmer's market every Saturday for milk and produce, but that is fun compared to a regular store.  It works well for us and our budget! 

My sister wants me to teach her how to make it work for her family too.  It should be fun teaching her my strategies for monthly planning and budgeting! 


I also finished up my part of the monkey's costumes.  I can't wait to get pictures up! They turned out so well!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!


Here is what we have planned to eat for this week:

Breakfasts: Cereal, Oatmeal, Biscuits, Muffins, Pancakes, French Toast, Waffles, Fruit

Lunches: Ham or PB & J Sandwiches, Meat and Crackers, Leftovers, Fruit or Veggies, String Cheese, Hard Boiled Eggs, Granola Bars, Fruit Leather, Homemade Chewy Bars

Dinners:

Sunday- BBQ Tri Tip, BBQ Chicken, Steamed Red Potatoes, Broccoli, Fresh Rolls (made without the garlic and seasoning this time)

Monday- Hot Dogs, Creamy Mac-n-Cheese

Tuesday- Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Veggie Tray

Wednesday- Leftovers

Thursday- Pot Roast, Red Potatoes, Broccoli, Rolls

Friday- Nachos Grande

Saturday- Taquitos, Spanish Rice, Beans

Find more menu planning inspiration at Organizing Junkie.

Until next time,

This is Where I am

It's been way too long since I've done a post, but sometimes life just zooms past at mach speed.  My routine streams from one day to the next, not much changes and it suits me.  I sometimes wonder why I blog. I know I love reading other blogs, but why would folks want to read about the goings on around here?  Then I stop and think that maybe, just maybe my little ramblings will help someone push through a tough time or giggle at something silly that happened with my monkeys.

Whatever the reason I know I need to keep sharing and checking in with my bloggy corner!

Each morning begins the same~ gathering the laundry baskets, sorting, and deciding which basket needs attention first.  I am a laundry fanatic.  I do a load a day at least.  I was FLY-washed and I haven't looked back since.  No crazy marathon laundry days for me.

I savor the quiet of everyone still out cold.  I move back to my room and make the bed then I head to the computer.  Check email, check Facebook, and twitter.  If I'm up to it I'll check my school email too, but I am trying to keep that separate from home time.  I mess around fluttering from blog to blog for a bit and then I head back upstairs to finish my morning routine.

I just added treadmill time back into my day.  Between the frustrations at work and my energy needing a boost it was time to get my backside back in a walking routine.  So far so good!  My attitude is definitely seeing the benefit!

After my walk I get showered and ready for my day.  I prep the boys' lunches and then get them up and ready for breakfast.  I love making sure they have breakfast at the table together each morning.  I'm a bit of a short order chef in the morning, but it's all good.  They love it and my oldest boy thanks me each morning for getting their breakfasts ready.  Those words coming from a teenager makes me feel awesome.

By the time they're done it's time for me to hit the road and get myself to school.  My school days are all about routine and order, but we are still working on the order part.  I teach in a pretty rough town, so a lot of our kids come in with a lot of baggage.  Most days fly by and then I head back home.

Evenings are dinner, signing papers, hanging out a bit, and sometimes getting on my sewing machine for a bit of fabric therapy.  Baths, stories and bedtime come early, but it works for us and my babies perform so well in school I don't think we should change the routine!

So that in a nutshell is my day, nothing exciting, nothing glamorous, but it is mine and it is pretty cool.  I am so blessed to have healthy kids, mostly happy kids, and a hubby that is pretty awesome.

I guess the message in my post is sometimes the most routine and genuine days are the best days.  We don't need fancy things to know that we love each other and are here for each other everyday.

Until next time,
 

 I'm joining in!